Specter

4

"My General," the aide said. "This does not look like the work of Turk rabble."

Mihajlovic nodded, watching the flames in front of the monastery dwindle. "I am beginning to agree. Sergeant."

"Da, moy Djeneral!"

"You say you were just there, by the southeast corner, when the attack occurred?"

"Yes, sir."

"And the commandos must have been there… hidden in the brush at the tree line."

"Yes, sir."

There was little left of two military trucks save for the charred and twisted frames. There were no bodies lying around as Jankovic had claimed, but there was plenty of evidence of a massacre — splatters of blood on the ground and on the front wall of the monastery, bullet scars on the stone.

"You are right, Major," Mihajlovic said thoughtfully to his aide. "Someone has gone to considerable trouble to clean up after himself." He'd already had the men with him using flashlights to scour the area for empty brass casings that would have identified the weapons the intruders had used, but so far they'd found nothing, no shells, no discarded equipment or wrappers or food tins, nothing that would have told Mihajlovic who had been here. "Muslim militia would not have been so thorough. Even Croats would simply have ambushed our people, then melted away into the forest. Besides, I suspect they would have left some bodies about as a kind of calling card, ne?"

The bodies of the militia troopers and their weapons, he thought, had probably been dumped in the trucks before the fires had been set. The attackers could be anywhere now, hidden by the night and the forest.

But they would not have gotten far. The fire was still burning; it couldn't have been set more than thirty minutes or so ago… and maybe less. That meant that the invaders were still close, within two or three kilometers at the most.

"Major, if the intruders were, indeed, Americans or other members of NATO," Mihajlovic continued after a thoughtful moment, "then they are on their way to an extraction point. It is up to us to guess where that extraction point might be."

"Extraction, my General… by helicopter?"

"Possible… possible. We shall alert the Air Force, have them watch for incursions in the area by low-flying, unidentified aircraft."

Helicopter extraction did seem the most likely way out for the intruders… but Mihajlovic had been giving the situation some hard thought during the past few minutes, and he was not convinced of that scenario. Despite their bluster, NATO had not been enforcing their no-fly zones lately, yet their AWACs aircraft must be tracking the Yugoslav aircraft that were being employed against Dubrovnik. It didn't make sense to risk a helicopter extraction in heavily wooded, mountainous terrain, in a region where Yugoslav interceptors were active.

So… would extraction be more likely by air… or by sea? American Special Warfare groups commonly used both means of exfiltration. The Americans were good at undersea incursions, made from submarines… their Special Forces, their SEALs…

SEALS. Their Navy commandos. With the fighting at Dubrovnik, even with fighter cover the Americans would have been foolish to risk their special forces aircraft to SAM and antiaircraft fire. And St. Anastasias was only six kilometers from the sea.

"Both of you, come with me." Paced by Jankovic and the aide, Mihajlovic returned to the helicopter, which had landed on the main road just outside the monastery turnoff. In the back of the main cabin, he selected a map case from a storage rack and pulled out a military topo map covering the region between Kotor and Dubrovnik. Using a pocket flashlight, he studied the terrain carefully for a moment. "Sergeant Jankovic?"

"Da, moy Djeneral!"

"How would you like another chance against these mysterious commandos?"

Jankovic hesitated, and Mihajlovic could almost hear the wheels turning as the man considered his reply. He couldn't be eager to face those black attackers again.

"I would welcome the opportunity, my General. Of course."

Mihajlovic pointed to a spot on the map. "They almost certainly came ashore somewhere about here… east of Dubrovnik. I suspect that they have hidden diving gear somewhere along the coast. All we need to do is put down a force along M2." He dragged his fingertip along the coastal highway on the map. "Patrol from here to here and we will have our frogmen trapped, high and dry like a beached fish."

"Do we have troops enough available for such an operation?" the aide wondered. "That's a good five or six kilometers of highway."

"We can bring JNA regulars from the front lines at Dubrovnik, Major. I will give the necessary commands at once. Sergeant, you may draw a weapon and join my escort. I will be heading this operation personally."

"Yes, sir!"

The timing, Mihajlovic thought, would be tight… but he was pretty sure they could pull it off. More than revenge was riding here. If these frogman commandos were Americans, he wanted to take one or more of them prisoner. With solid evidence of covert American military action on Yugoslav soil, Belgrade might well be able to break the coalition of European and UN forces arrayed against Serbia in this damned, festering civil war. It would mean disgrace for the Americans, a propaganda victory for Greater Serbia, a promotion and an opening of political goals for himself.

In fact, it would tie in perfectly with Operation Dvorak, which had many of the same goals. A victory here would nicely complement his operation in Macedonia — a complex plot that had been in preparation for months now and was due to reach a climax in only a few more days.

Would this affect the timing of Dvorak at all? He didn't think so. It probably couldn't have been better if he'd planned it this way from the beginning.

And all he needed to do was to capture a handful of lightly armed men before they could reach the safety of the sea.

They'd alternated running and walking down the flank of the Gora Orjen, using a ground-eating pace across the open, pine-needle-covered forest floor to put as much distance as possible between them and their pursuers. The hunt was definitely on. Possibly the missing militia trooper had managed to call for help; more likely, a passing JNA helicopter had sighted the burning trucks and come to investigate. Either way, the Serbian military command in the Dubrovnik area would be alerted. At the very least, there would be patrols out, both on foot in the forest and in vehicles along the road. If the JNA commander decided to risk the threat of NATO air involvement, he would have helicopters up as well, both transports carrying squads of soldiers, and gunships.

At least that's what Murdock knew he would do if he were in the enemy commander's place.

They reached the edge of the forest just above the border fence, and Murdock called a halt. The coastal highway lay another four kilometers down the hill, across an open, gently descending field. Beyond that was the seawall and the beach.

They'd emerged from the woods within a few hundred meters of where they'd gone in. As the other SEALs took up position crouched in a defensive perimeter about the area, Murdock and MacKenzie both checked the GPS, pinpointing their position and giving them a fix on where they'd left their equipment.

"So," MacKenzie said. "What do you think? Looks clear."

"Yeah, it does. I think to be on the safe side, though, we should call in. Higgins!"

The squad's radioman crawled over to them. "Yeah, L-T?"

"Break out the sat-comm gear, Prof. We're going to phone home."

"Will do."

It took only a few minutes to set up the sat-comm system's antenna, which was stowed in a pocket of one of the rucksacks like a folded-up umbrella. With legs and arms extended, it sat on the ground, facing south, its dish just seventeen inches across. A coaxial cable extending from the back of the antenna was plugged into Higgins's HST-4 unit.

Using a small manual, the Equatorial Satellite Pointing Guide, Higgins began lining up the antenna while the commo gear ran through its automated self-checks and calibrations. When he heard a tiny peep, the antenna was properly aligned with one of the military communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit above the equator. "Ready to transmit, Skipper," he said.

"Okay. Give him a sit-rep. Tell 'em we have the package and we're four klicks from the beach, but that we got into a firefight and could have bad guys on our tail."

"Yes, sir."

As Higgins began speaking in low, measured tones into his microphone, Murdock unpacked a pair of 7x40 binoculars and began to carefully study the highway below. Low-light gear didn't help much at ranges over 150 meters; there were still situations where relatively old-fashioned equipment was more useful than modern, high-tech toys.

MacKenzie was also using binoculars to sweep the landscape. "Don't see a damned thing, Skipper."

"Affirmative. Looks quiet." Murdock lowered the binoculars. "Well, only one way to find out. Professor?"

"We got an acknowledge, L-T. They say Night Rider's on the way. ETA thirty minutes. They've also alerted Gold Squad. They're getting wet right now."

"We can't wait that long, not with the road still clear. Pack up your gear, Prof. We're moving."

"Aye, aye, Skipper."

Minutes later, the SEAL squad was back across the border and moving down the open slope, walking now, because the ground was more uneven than it had been in the forest, with numerous boot-sized holes masked by the long, dead grass. Magic had the point position now, followed by Mac and Murdock. The clouds overhead had thickened during the past hour, until the sky was almost completely overcast. The light of the moon had been lost completely; the only illumination in the sky now at all was the sullen glow over Dubrovnik.

A rumbling sounded out of the east, swiftly growing louder. Magic gave a sharp whistle, and the SEALs went to ground, making themselves as nearly as possible a part of the cold, hard landscape. The rumble neared… then exploded overhead, as thunderous as an exploding shell. The ground seemed to shake, and then the sound was dwindling away once more.

Two aircraft. Murdock could see their afterburners glowing like paired stars beneath the cloud canopy as they roared toward Dubrovnik. "Anybody see what they were?" he asked.

"Negative, L-T," Roselli said from somewhere behind. "But they sure as shit were goin' somewhere in a hurry."

"Maybe," Doc said, "they were afraid of bein' recognized."

The aircraft might have been friendlies. NATO and the U.S. had been attempting to enforce no-fly zones over Bosnia and the Adriatic coast, but with a notable lack of success. It was just as likely that those had been Serbian MiGs out of Kotor or Titograd, on their way to attack Croat positions at Dubrovnik or further up the coast.

Or…

"On your feet, people," Murdock called. "Fast!"

Or they could be air assets brought in to cover Serbian ground forces, especially airmobile troops.

"You think those guys were looking for us?" Mac asked.

"Maybe. They could be flying ground support. Even if they weren't, I think it's time we found a less hostile environment."

Though SEALS, unlike their UDT forebears, were trained to operate well inland from the beach, their training constantly emphasized that the sea was the SEAL's natural habitat. When things started to get hot ashore, the water offered cover, security, and escape. The sea lay just ahead, black, featureless, and welcoming, picking up just a hint of the sky glow from the direction of Dubrovnik.

Another forty minutes and they'd be there.

Ncirednik Jankovic's grip on his newly acquired AKM assault rifle tightened as he leaned over to stare out the Mi-8's circular window. It was still too dark to see anything but a faint blur that might have been surf washing up the shelf of the beach. The transport was racing along through the night at an altitude of less than one hundred meters; somewhere just ahead, the second helicopter, the one with General Mihajlovic aboard, was also paralleling the coastline east from Dubrovnik.

The general, Jankovic reflected, certainly knew how to get things moving. They'd flown to the Serbian lines just outside Dubrovnik, and within minutes Mihajlovic had rounded up sixty troops, forming up what he'd referred to as an "ad hoc counterterrorist team." More troops were on the way by road, packed into trucks commandeered at the Serbian camp. Mihajlovic seemed fanatical on the subject of finding the intruders and running them to earth.

Jankovic wondered if the fact that the man's name was Mihajlovic had anything to do with it. Dragoljub Mihajlovic had been a colonel on the Yugoslav Army general staff during World War II, the man who had organized the original Chetniks. He'd been shot by the Communists in 1946 — naturally enough since the Chetniks had in some cases openly collaborated with the Nazis, especially late in the war.

Well, it probably meant nothing. Mihajlovic was a common Serb name. But the general was old enough to be a son or a nephew of old Dragoljub, and such a connection would go a long way toward explaining his ambition… and his enthusiasm for this mission.

Jankovic almost hoped the commandos, whoever they were, had already made good their escape. Their ruthless and deadly efficiency at the monastery had burned the warning into Jankovic's brain. These were not men to trifle with, not men to put into a corner where their only option was to fight their way out.

"Hey! Sergeant!"

Jankovic turned from the window. The kaplar — the corporal — sitting in the next seat grinned at him hopefully.

"Yeah?"

"I hear you actually saw some of these terrorists we're supposed to be hunting. What were they like, huh?"

"Dangerous," Jankovic said. "Extremely dangerous."

"Chopper incoming!" Roselli called. "Take cover!"

The SEAL squad went to ground, still a full hundred meters short of the highway. The helicopter… no, two helicopters were coming in low from the west, with running lights blinking, with searchlights on and painting the road beneath them with dazzling white shafts. The lead aircraft flew past the SEALs' hiding place, racing toward the east, Its rotor wash set clouds of sand swirling in its wake, illuminated by the glare of its spotlight.

Roselli lay stretched out on the ground next to Murdock, his HK's stock pressed to his shoulder. "Whatcha say, L-T?" he asked. "Shall we take 'em?"

"Negative, Razor," Murdock replied. "Some of those Mi-8s sport a fair amount of armor. All we'd do is pinpoint our position."

"Shit. What I wouldn't give right now for a couple of LAWS."

"Just sit tight. We'll wait 'em out."

"I dunno, L-T. Looks like that second bird's gonna touch down right over there."

As the lead Mi-8 vanished toward the east, the second aircraft was flaring out, nose high, settling down toward the road in a whirl of windblown sand. The line of poplar trees beyond whipped frantically in the breeze. As the helo's wheels hit the pavement, the cabin door on the port side slid open, and soldiers armed with AK assault rifles began piling out.

"How many you figure?" Boomer asked from nearby.

"A Hip's normal troop complement is thirty-two," Murdock replied. "Hip" was the NATO designation for the Mi-8 in its troop-transport role. "But I guarantee you there'll be more coming down the road by truck any time now. This'll just be the advance guard."

"Looks like first-string JNA stuff," Roselli said. "They must want us pretty damned bad."

Murdock reached behind him and pulled out his night-vision set, pulled off his hat, and settled the goggles over his head. Roselli already had his goggles on his head, pushed up above his eyes, so he simply slid them down into place and switched them on.

The NVDs didn't make the helicopters that much clearer, not with all the flying sand and dust and the sweep of searchlights, but the soldiers sprang into sharp relief. "No night-vision gear, L-T."

"I see, Razor. That gives us a chance."

It was a little like being the invisible man, Roselli thought. You could see them, but they couldn't see you, wouldn't even know you were there unless you did something stupid like step on a branch or fall over your own two feet. All of the SEALs were wearing the NVDs now, and the scene below them glowed in eerily shining greens, blacks and silvers.

"Here! L-T!" Higgins said. "They're forming up and coming this way!"

While perhaps half of the Yugoslavian troops stayed near the helicopter, the rest were drawing out in a long line along the highway, with eight or ten meters separating each man from his neighbors. NCOs wielded flashlights and barked commands. Sixteen men started forward, walking up the hill toward the waiting SEALS.

"We could go around them, Lieutenant," Mac pointed out. "Cross there, to the left, then move back up the beach behind the wall."

"I don't think so," Murdock replied. "Look there."

A convoy was coming up the road from the direction of Dubrovnik, seven Army trucks, each crowded with troops. From the look of things, they were dropping men off along the road. One stopped several hundred meters further on. Five more grumbled past the tableau on the highway below, edging past the point where the helicopter blocked the road, then racing further toward the east as though they were in pursuit of the other helicopter. The seventh truck pulled to a halt just before it reached the Hip, and men began piling out, calling noisily to one another and tossing helmets and weapons down from the back of the vehicle.

"Definitely regular army," Murdock said, studying the men through his binoculars.

"They sure are loud," Roselli said. "You'd think they wanted us to know they were there."

"They may want to spook us back up the mountain," Mac pointed out.

"Yeah, or they may not care," Magic said. "Shit, they've got an army down there."

"So what?" Roselli replied. "Since when is an army a match for seven SEALS?"

The line of men grew longer as men ran up the hill to join it… and longer… and longer still. Flashlights probed and stabbed the darkness, flashing now toward the waiting SEALS, then away. The troops were closer now, perhaps fifty meters, and a searchlight mounted inside the helicopter's cockpit was being directed at the hillside.

"A cordon," Murdock said, his voice grim. "They know we're up here somewhere. They mean to stretch out a cordon and catch us like fish in a net."