OUTCAST Ops: African Firestorm

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Fighting pain, dizziness and the urge to black out, Tanner drove a knee up into his attacker's chest while slamming his opposite elbow into the man's back between the shoulder blades. The fighter, wearing brown overalls, wrapped his arms around Tanner's waist and screamed something in Arabic.

Tanner kneed him again, but beyond a grunt, the assailant didn't react. Instead, he tightened his grip around Tanner's midsection and tried again to slam the OUTCAST leader into the support framework.

Tanner braced himself and lashed out with a foot, his steel-tipped boot finding the attacker's shin. A sharp crack was followed by a cry of pain. The man dropped to a knee, but maintained his death grip around Tanner's waist.

The sharp staccato rhythm of weapons fire came from Tanner's left and suddenly the grip around his waist loosened. Tanner grabbed the man's head and thrust his knee into his face. The crack of bone and a choked yelp of agony told Tanner that the strike was a good one.

As the extremist crumpled to the ground, Tanner noticed the man's leg was bleeding. He glanced at his face and recognized him as the one who had been talking to the crewman just before the assault. He ignored the zealot’s anguished moaning and sobbing.

Naomi slid up next to him. "You okay?"

"Never better.” Tanner stuck the MP5 around the corner of the launcher and fired off a burst. He was rewarded with a high-pitched scream, then yanked back as bullets bounced off the corner's edge, sparking off the steel.

Heavy gunfire from the other end of the space erupted, hardening Tanner's expression. "Prime to Two… Status?"

Liam’s voice was calm "They're trying to rush us. About six tangos. We have them pinned down, but they're still pressing."

"Javelin to OUTCAST," the SEAL team leader cut in. "Egg number one is ours. How are you doing with egg number two?"

"We have it for now, but they don't want to give it up."

"I have Javelin Two and Three moving in. Resistance is fading."

"That's because they're closing in on us!" Liam snapped. "Four and Six — grenades!"

"We're on our way. A minute, maybe more."

Tanner leaned out around the launcher’s base, looking for the gunman, but he could only see one body next to the launcher. There were a couple of crates near the launcher large enough for someone to hide behind. As he looked, several explosions went off at the far end, followed by screams and weapons discharging.

"Five: We've got one loose Tango around the missile. Do you see him?"

"Negative, Prime," Dante said. "If I see him, I’ll pop him."

A jihadist from behind the crates and opened fire. Tanner pulled back as the bullets ricocheted off the steel frame, sounding like rocks striking a tin roof.

"Tanner!" Naomi hissed. "If he shoots this missile full of holes, this entire space is going to be an inferno!"

Tanner reached for a smoke grenade and held it high enough for Naomi to see it. With a few hand signals, he outlined his plan.

Naomi removed a smoke canister from her harness, pulled the pin and chucked it around the corner. Tanner followed with his, and the area between the crates and the launcher was quickly inundated with thick white smoke.

Tanner stood and stepped around Naomi, who stuck her MP5 around the corner and let off a long salvo in the direction of the crates. There was immediate return fire from the gunman behind the crates, his swarm of bullets raking the launcher's frame and forcing Naomi to take cover.

Tanner paced toward the other end of the launcher, keeping the bulk of the structural supports between him and the enemy on the other side. "Five, you have me covered?"

"Like a blanket, Prime," Dante reassured. "But that smoke's making it impossible to see anyone on the other side of the launcher."

"That works both ways," Tanner said. Naomi and the ICA soldier were still firing at each other, short bursts that sought flesh, but found only steel and wood.

"Two, status?"

Liam said, "We pushed them back, but they're gearing up for another rush. Pulling bodies out of the way."

A string of sharp explosions and intense flashes of light came from portside, followed by a short, but vicious-sounding gun battle.

"Calvary's arrived," Liam said.

Tanner reached the end of the launcher, the bulk of the missile's engine between him and the shooter. Smoke was beginning to drift around the engine nozzle. Raising the MP5 to his shoulder, he slipped around the exhaust nozzle and into the acrid vapor.

Saleh Narsai again tried to clear his head of the ringing in his ears and the spots that continued to dance in front of his eyes. At least one of his eardrums had been blown out by the explosion. His head felt as if a hundred devils were hammering inside his brain.

He still retained enough sense to pick himself up, grab his AK-74 and run for cover. Faisal was dead, killed by the invaders. On the other side of the nuke, his soldier Basir had been wasted by the attackers, forcing Narsai to seek cover behind the wooden crates. Before all the smoke, he'd seen Dr. Masood lying near the front of the launcher, his brave but doomed attempt to fight the unholy ones bare-handed still fresh in Narsai's mind.

But now he was trapped; his men were failing to hold the enemy back. He could still hear the skirmish playing out on both sides of the ship, though to him it sounded distant and muffled. Even his own assault rifle sounded like it was being fired from a hundred feet away.

He fought the urge to cough as the smoke drifted across the crates. His eyes watered and his lungs felt like they were on fire. He unloaded the rest of the AK's magazine into the smokescreen, then removed the magazine and dug into his ammo pouch, only to find one last magazine left. He cursed bitterly as he inserted the fresh ammunition and glanced at the cruise missile. They had been so close! What happened?

Then it came to him, a vivid image that burned away the stunned feeling and cleared his mind. The nuke may not able to be fired, but it did contain enough liquid fuel to turn a good part of the cargo ship into a fireball. With a little luck, that might set off the warhead, ensuring the death of the attackers and everyone else on the ship.

Narsai pulled the bolt back and aimed the AK at the missile, just forward of the folded wings. He would rake the entire middle of the Babur, punch through the relatively thin skin and ignite the fuel.

But before he could pull the trigger, a shadow emerged from the smoke to his left. Instinctively, Narsai brought the AK down, but before he could fire, intense pain registered in his chest and arm, staggering him.

He steadied himself and began pulling the trigger. A second swarm of something ripped into him and now the pain level was completely debilitating. He stumbled and his legs gave way. His strength gone, Narsai realized he couldn't keep his eyes open. He closed them—

— and died.

Tanner looked down at the man he had just killed. They had been lucky — it looked like the dead terrorist was about to shoot into the missile. It had taken two bursts to take him out, but he was down and no longer a threat.

"Javelin to OUTCAST. Deck secured. Coming in."

Tanner looked up. The gunfire had stopped. The smoke was beginning to dissipate and he could see more of the space around him. He transmitted: "Prime to team. Status?"

"Still breathing," Liam replied. "Six is a bit bruised up, and Four has splinters in his hand, but otherwise, were all right. SEALs inbound."

Tanner checked both ends of the ship and saw dark-clothed men moving toward him. They stepped cautiously but with firm purpose.

"Two: Axiam with you?"

"Right at my shoulder," Liam confirmed. "He's already lowering his AK and holding up his hands."

"Make sure the SEALs know he's friendly. Three, Five — form up on me."

Naomi and Dante acknowledged. Tanner walked away from the body, feeling sapped as the adrenalin finally began releasing its hold on him.

"OUTCAST to Javelin. I'm at the launcher."

"Copy. Looking good so far."

Tanner leaned against the launcher, closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.