Silent Vengeance

Chapter 9

Fuel crewmen, wearing purple long-sleeve shirts under life vests, hauled a heavy fuel hose away from the Sea Knight. Even with the fuel tank and two auxiliary tanks being "topped off," the chopper would require in-flight refueling on its return trip.

Sitting in the cockpit of the Sea Knight, Lieutenant Ethan Gore and Lieutenant.(j.g.) Rich Feith were preparing for takeoff. A plane director, using lighted wands, gave them the all clear signal. Gore turned on the battery switch, rolling the throttle to idle detent. He pulled the start trigger switch at the end of the collective, used to increase the pitch of the rotor blades by the same amount. Once the engine reached forty percent, he released the switch. Within 15 seconds, the engine was at idle.

Team A.T. stepped out from the island's WTD, then ran across the flight deck. Straps of their submachine guns were slung over their shoulders. SIGs were holstered. Rucksacks were in one hand, as the other held down wide-brimmed jungle hats. Boots pounded on metal as the men ran up the ramp and into the cargo bay.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Blake Milton, crew chief, stood at the top of the ramp. "Welcome aboard!"

"Thanks," Grant responded, as he put his rucksack on the deck.

Milton handed him a helmet with wire mike. "Here you go, sir. It'll be easier for us to communicate once we're airborne." As Grant adjusted the wire mouthpiece, he looked toward the cockpit, noticing a .50 cal machine gun near the port side window just behind the cockpit. A gunner stood behind it, repositioning the link-belt to the right side, before he adjusted a Starlighter scope.

The scene was becoming all too familiar for Team A.T. Adler leaned toward Grant. "It's déjàvu all over again!"

The men lowered a continuous row of fold-down jump seats, snapped seat belts in place, then signaled with a thumb's up. They were ready. "Looks like we're good to go," Grant said to the crew chief.

A motor whined, raising the steel ramp. Milton hurried toward the cockpit. Giving final word to the cockpit crew, he got last minute instructions. He took his position just behind the cockpit near a 3x3 open window, opposite the gunner. He adjusted the leather holster with his .45, then swiveled his M16 around to his back. With NVGs in place, he leaned an arm on the window frame.

Gore opened the throttle completely, increasing the speed of the tandem rotors. He pulled up slowly on the collective, effectively changing the pitch of all rotor blades by the same amount simultaneously. Depressing the left foot pedal, he kept pulling up on the collective. The chopper got lighter on its wheels, slowly left the angle deck, then transitioned from hover to forward flight, making a slow bank to port.

The Sea Knight flew on a northeast heading over the Andaman Sea. As it approached Zadetkyi Island, Gore pushed the stick forward, sending the chopper even lower. Heading more north now, it flew along the channel separating the island from Burma's West Coast. Seawater swirled violently beneath the chopper, kicked up by rotor wash. It was flying at max speed, and would remain on its present course another 15 miles before turning east. A satellite image had showed a small clearing, one klick north of the target. If the chopper couldn't land, the Team had an alternate plan: fast rope.

Sitting on the jump seats in the 7'3" wide cargo bay, A.T. was dressed out in camies, with green and black paint streaking their faces. Jungle ops were nothing new. They took extra precautions, protecting themselves from spiders, ticks, snakes, or anything that could crawl up their pants. Using strands of paracord, they tied the bottom of their pant legs securely around the outside of jungle boots. Shirts were tucked in, sleeve cuffs buttoned. Inside their chest vests they carried extra ammo, vials of tear gas, M67 frag grenades, lock picks, signal flares, signal mirrors, two tourniquets, passports and "haul ass" money. Adler and Diaz had small blocks of C-4, det cord, and chemical pencils.

Weapons were ready. HK MP5SDs (9mm), a full-time suppressed variant of the MP5 submachine gun, with a wet-technology, stainless steel sound suppressor.

Their new SIG Sauer P226s, with silencers, operated by the locked breech short-recoil method. The barrel and slide were locked together using an enlarged breech section of the barrel locking into the ejection port. The hammer could be manually cocked at any time to fire in single action mode.

Novak had his sniper rifle, with an AN/PVS high-powered scope, specifically for night ops. The scope could detect at 650 yards, with a range of recognition of 437 yards. The rifle's GPS system would be practically useless because of the jungle's thick overhead cover. But one significant capability it retained: rapid fire.

Slade and James each carried an additional piece of gear — a razor-sharp machete. Sat images and maps indicated the terrain they'd be crossing was heavily treed, and if it were anything like Vietnam, they expected hanging vines and vegetation in places too thick to walk through.

Adler tapped Grant's shoulder, then leaned toward him. "Lieutenant Gore's got the pedal to the metal! He must think we're on a bombing run!" Grant responded with a grin and nod. No sooner had Adler said it, when the chopper banked starboard.

Grant heard Milton in his earpiece: "We're getting ready to start flying NOE! I'll advise when we're close to LZ!"

Grant gave a thumb's up, then looked at his men, signaling with a hand motion. They were going lower.

Gore and Feith, adjusting their NVGs one last time, were ready for the risky maneuver: flying NOE (Nap-of-the-Earth). All navigation lights had been switched off. Small lights inside remained red.

Remaining at the same speed, Gore adjusted the altitude, skimming over treetops. With a clearing ahead, he dropped even lower, flying with the wheels a few feet above the ground, leaving a whirlwind of brown dust and dirt in the chopper's wake.

"Power poles," Feith reported.

"I see 'em," Gore responded, as he pulled back on the stick, opting to fly over the structures. Wires, strung between the poles, were nearly impossible to detect, and could snag a chopper in a heartbeat. Once clear, he aimed for the ground again.

Just as quickly as the maneuver began, a sudden change in engine noise and vibration throughout the cargo bay indicated it was decelerating.

Milton checked with Gore, then reported to Grant. "We're coming up on the LZ, sir! It's a go for landing! Ramp lowering in one," he added, holding up a finger. An automatic loading and unloading system could be operated even when the helicopter was in flight.

Grant gave a thumb's up, then looked at the Team. He pointed toward the ramp, help up one finger, then crossed his wrists in front of him, the signal for landing. A.T. pulled rucksacks closer.

A motor whined as the ramp started lowering. Wind and rotor noise increased dramatically throughout the cargo bay.

The crew chief requested, "Verify extraction time as 0730!"

"Affirmative!" Grant answered, before handing the helmet to Milton. He shook the crew chief's hand. Putting on his black watch cap and pulling it low on his forehead, he immediately picked up his NVGs, and rested them on top of his head.

Grabbing their rucksacks and hoisting them over their shoulders, the men adjusted mikes and earpieces. Slinging the MP5 straps over their heads, they lowered the NVGs. A recon of the target area was imperative, and well before sunrise at 0600.

The chopper came in low, hovered briefly, then descended. A.T. snapped open seat belts, then scooted near the edge of the seats, ready to haul ass.

Just as wheels touched earth, the seven men sprinted down the ramp. Within seconds they disappeared in the darkness.