Текст книги "Ghost Recon (2008)"

Автор книги: David Michaels

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 16 страниц)

Once they reached the edge of the tree line, Mitchell led them up the hill, and near the crest, they tucked themselves deep into the underbrush and set their own eyes on the valley, a rolling, dark green mat speckled with a cluster of yellow diamonds.

"It looks a lot bigger in person," said Diaz.

"No kidding," Smith added. "And those buildings do look like missile silos from up here."

"Paul, get the drone ready for deployment," ordered Mitchell, cutting off the small talk.

"You got it, Boss."

Paul Smith dug into Mitchell's pack and withdrew the MAV4mp Cypher, a newly designed man-portable drone not much larger in diameter than a Frisbee and even quieter than the UAV3.

While Mitchell continued studying the satellite images, Smith activated the drone via its controller, then announced that it was ready for launch.

"Bravo Lead, this is Ghost Lead," Mitchell called over the radio. "Stand by to cut power."

"Roger that," answered Beasley, whose truck had just stopped to let off his team. "And we're inbound for the choppers and vehicles."

Mitchell switched views to his Situational Awareness Tactical Display showing the four green diamonds–Bravo Team–heading toward the north side of the castle, where two choppers were parked in the field, along with two more trucks. The map was color-coded, with hostile terrain glowing orange, secured terrain in blue, and inaccessible areas in gray. Bravo Team would quietly ensure that none of those rides remained operational. If any Tiger tried to escape, he'd be doing it on foot.

Abruptly, the uplink channel window crackled to life with the image of a young man with bleached blond hair impaled by a headset. "Captain Mitchell, this is Lieutenant Moch, sir."

Ah, yes, Mitchell had met him briefly and heard more about him from Diaz. "Go ahead, Lieutenant."

"Sir, we had a clean launch, and you'll have Predator support in one minute, thirty seconds, sir."

"Roger that. And just remember to keep that flying lawn mower on the perimeter. You scan for outside threats and complement the satellite. We've got the AO covered from here."

"Uh, roger that, sir."

Mitchell grinned to himself. The "aviator" wasn't happy, but he had admitted on the sub that the Predator's engines could blow everyone's cover. Still, having the drone provide additional surveillance of the mountains was certainly welcome.

"Ghost Lead, this is Bravo Lead. We have drivers and pilots posted near their vehicles, and we're in position. Waiting on you, Boss."

"Roger that." Mitchell glanced at the time in his HUD. "Still a little early."

He then stole another look from the satellite images, waited a moment more, then switched to the Predator's thermal infrared sensors just as the drone came online.

He immediately spotted the two snipers posted in the hills, red diamonds flashing.

"Diaz, check your HUD. Predator's got two out there."

"I see them. All right, sir, they're mine."

"Alicia, when that power goes down and I signal, you'll need to work faster than you've ever worked before. Snipers, then main gate sentries. Then you move again."

"I understand, sir." She backed out of the brush and darted off into the woods across the path.

Mitchell unclipped the cell phone from his waist and called Buddha. "Okay, where are my targets?"

"Sorry, Captain. He has not called back yet."

"What's the delay?"

"I don't know."

"Then call him!"

"Too risky. We must wait. He will call."

"What if he has second thoughts?"

"I have read this man correctly. He is scared, but he will help. He wants the best for his village."

"Buddha, I got air assets, I got people waiting."

"Captain, you may launch your attack now, but it seems there are still people awake at the castle, and I can't promise how soon that information will come."

Mitchell thought a curse. "Understood."

"Sir, do you want to launch the drone?" asked Smith.

"No, we'll wait till we cut power–but I was hoping to have our targets pinpointed before then, damn it."

Of course, if they didn't, they'd be searching for four needles within five haystacks. Yet for every second they remained in position, the odds of them being spotted increased.

Below, a few more castle windows darkened.

The uplink channel in Mitchell's HUD switched to a view from the tiny camera mounted on Diaz's headset. "Captain, I got a bead on our first sniper. I'll have to move to get the other guy."

"Hold."

"Holding."

"Captain, we're still waiting here," called Beasley from his position in the forest near the choppers and trucks.

"I know, I know. Just sit tight."

Inside the castle grounds, Huang held the leash of his dog and started toward the main gate.

"Where are you going?" asked one of Fang's men posted there.

"For a walk," Huang snapped.

The guard frowned. "Walk him here."

"He will not go here. I take him to the field."

"No."

"Do you want me to call Captain Fang?"

The soldier swallowed. "You know him?"

"I'm going to walk my dog." Huang turned around, moved to the gate, unlocked the door, then started outside, deliberately leaving the gate open.

Once he reached the bottom of the path and was turning toward the field, he tugged the phone from his pocket and nervously made the call.

Forty-three minutes later, Colonel Xu Dingfa was lying in his quarters inside the central, rectangular-shaped building. Fresh flowers had been arranged in vases, and the beds had been made with clean and sweet-smelling linen. Captain Fang had made all the arrangements for the "comfort girls" who had recently arrived, and one of them was already giving Xu a deep and erotic massage. The other three Tigers were, assumably, enjoying their own nights of pleasure before turning to much more grave business in the morning.

When they had planned the meeting, Xu had suggested that they gather immediately within the first hour of their arrival, but his impatience had been summarily quashed by the older Chen, who considered the "event" a long weekend and chance to work, celebrate, and unwind. Consequently, Xu had arranged for the girls and the banquet-style meal.

In the morning, they would establish the chain of command, finalize their timetables, and clearly identify the individual types and numbers of ships and aircraft involved. Call signs would be issued, as well as operating area assignments. Chen would distribute the communication encryption key cards for secure communications on what he had dubbed the Pouncing Dragon Primary Tactical Network (PDPTN).

Xu sighed as the girl dug her soft hands a little deeper into his shoulders.

The lights suddenly flickered a moment, then went out.

The girl gasped.

Xu rose, fumbled in the dark for his radio, found it, and called Fang.

The captain sounded irritated. "Sir, Huang tells me they are working on the transformers every night. The power should return within thirty minutes. It is no worry."

"I don't like this, Fang. Security is your mission. Do not fail us."

"I will not."

Xu thumbed off the radio and thought of calling Major-General Chen to give him the news. Then again, Chen could already be asleep. Why alert him to something that he might never discover?

Xu rolled over and grabbed the girl, who giggled.

Chapter Twenty-five.

HAKKA CASTLE

XIAMEN, CHINA

APRIL 2012

Master Sergeant Matt Beasley was ordinarily a patient man. All those years as a student of human nature had taught him to be still like a predator, always looking and listening.

But the lights had just gone out. And the captain had ordered them to do . . . nothing.

They were waiting ten more minutes to give the Tigers' security team time to check in with each other, time enough to give them all a false sense of security.

Hitting the castle directly after the power went down was much too conventional, and they would be tense, despite whatever story the CIA's inside man told them about the outage.

And that explained why Beasley, Brown, Jenkins, and Hume continued lying on their bellies within the ditch at the edge of the woodland. The pair of small, two-man civilian helicopters were less than a hundred meters away.

Images of those choppers had been captured by Beasley's camera and uploaded to the network. Within a minute the helicopters had been identified as Brantly B-2Bs manufactured by a Texas company that had been bought out by the Chinese. A detailed set of schematics and even a suggested sabotage point within the cockpit focusing on the bird's electronics systems accompanied the intel.

Parked near the choppers were a pair of jeeplike SUVs identified as the new Brave Warriors, and Beasley didn't need the geeks back home to tell him how to sabotage them.

Out there, a few hundred meters beyond the vehicles, lay the castle, growing even darker as swollen clouds descended like enormous zeppelins to blot out the stars. From one window came the faintest trace of a flashlight being switched on.

Beasley returned his gaze to the helicopters. He'd hoped that the Tigers would have chosen much larger birds so that the Ghosts could've revised their exfiltration plan to include a swift chopper ride back to the coast courtesy of a Chinese pilot held at gunpoint.

But as Murphy and logic would have it, the Tigers had chosen to be discreet and flown in via those smaller civilian birds.

A few drops of rain struck the ditch, followed by a few more. Beasley hoped the captain didn't wait much longer, because once the storm really kicked in, their targets would seek cover in their vehicles, making them even harder to pick off.

The two chopper pilots and two drivers had gathered near the open tailgates of the trucks and were drinking, smoking, while one was engrossed in a small, handheld computer game.

Beasley had already played out Bravo Team's raid a half dozen times in his head. He'd initially considered a standoff attack, dropping each guy quietly like snipers and taking full advantage of the camera mounted on his Modular Rifle–Caseless (MR-C) to peek around the vehicles. However, once those men had gathered in close, he'd realized that the raid must be more swift, that all four needed to go down at once.

And to ensure success, Beasley knew they had to get in close. Very close.

"Well, that's ten minutes," whispered Jenkins over Bravo Team's radio channel.

"Ghost Lead, this is Bravo Lead," called Beasley on the main channel. "Still waiting on you, Boss."

"Uh, yeah. Sit tight."

Something ominous had crept into the captain's tone.

"What the hell's he waiting for?" asked Brown.

"The captain knows what he's doing," Beasley retorted, only half buying the assurance.

"I know he knows. Wish he'd share it with us."

"He sounds distracted," said Jenkins.

"We're all distracted," Beasley snapped.

"I think something's going down," said Brown.

"Yeah, it's called Operation War Wraith," Beasley finished.

"Uh, I don't know. This . . . this ain't right," said Hume. "Every time we work with the spooks, there's always something they don't tell us–and I got a feeling the captain just got a piece of intel he definitely doesn't like."

Beasley sighed. The longer they waited, the more paranoid they would become.

Huang used the small penlight to lead the village elders into their usual meeting room. Eleven of the twelve men stared worriedly at him as he spoke. "Everyone is in their rooms. The gate door is open. Our visitors are asleep, and Fang and his men remain at their posts. I'm told there will be four men, dressed all in black. We need only stay out of their way. It will all be over soon."

One of the other elders, a ruddy-faced man named Pan who had never liked Huang because of a dispute between their sons, both now grown, widened his eyes. "I will say it again. I'm outraged that you've made this deal with the secret police. If anyone is hurt, I will blame you, Huang. You."

"What is worse? Dealing with the police or being forced to open our doors to these criminals? Tonight, our problems will end once and for all. Go now to your posts. Keep low. And watch. I am told it will happen soon."

Pan held up his index finger at Huang. "I know he's agreed to give you his truck, but you'd better not accept it. That is, as you say, a gift from a criminal."

Huang glowered at Pan as the man passed by.

Interestingly enough, Fang had driven his truck inside the central building and parked it in the courtyard, beneath a long row of canvas awnings, out of sight. He'd certainly made it appear as if he were leaving it behind.

As Huang stepped outside, he glanced at the truck then up past the balconies to where Fang now stood on the sloping roof, his cane a dark slash mark across his hip.

Huang grew rigid, and his breath became shallow. His need for revenge or baochouhad been carried down through the ages and was necessary because there was no god, no law, no earthly power that would carry it out for him.

Exacting baochouwas the only way Huang and the elders could save face, so Huang had decided that if the secret police did not keep their promise, then he alone would kill the man. The blemishes must be wiped clean.

There was no other way.

Frowning over the drizzle, Diaz checked her Cross-Com's downlink channel for a weather report. Damn, the radar indicated it would only get worse, and the wind speed was picking up, the direction shifting more to the southwest.

Her target didn't like the weather either. He had twice wrestled with his position, his Type 88 rifle resting steadily on its bipod. She found it curious that he wasn't toting a more powerful weapon. Still, she knew that the 88 had only been issued to the PLA in small numbers. Perhaps it was one of his personal favorites.

Diaz's own DSR 1 subsonic sniper rifle had been manufactured by the German company AMP Technical Services, and the rifle had been adopted by the GSG 9 counterterrorism group and a few other elite European agencies. DSR stood for Defensive Sniper Rifle, but in Diaz's hands, it was nothing but offensive.

The rifle had a bullpup design, meaning the action and magazine were located behind the trigger. The design increased the barrel length relative to the weapon's overall length, saving weight and increasing maneuverability. The bipod was mounted on upper rails, and the adjustable front grip was mounted on lower rails. Diaz had already made slight adjustments to the buttstock and cheekpiece, and she had inserted a spare four-round magazine into the holder in front of the trigger guard. The extra mag sitting right in front of her hand made reloading much faster and kept her gaze locked ahead on the target zone. The rifle's bipods were firmly planted on her carrying bag, which doubled as a shooter's mat, and the bag sat atop a long, flat rock.

Additionally, the DSR had a rack-and-pinion fully adjustable monopod jutting from the bottom of the buttstock; as a result, the rifle was fully seated on the firing surface by bipods up front, monopod in the back.

Diaz's subsonic variant had been adjusted to incorporate the 7.62x51mm NATO rifle cartridge instead of the more overt .338 Lapua Magnum, and while she preferred the latter ammo, the mission dictated more stealth and those unmarked shell casings provided by the general and friends in her home state.

She blinked hard and returned to her night-vision scope. He was still there, all right, and at any moment he would begin speaking into the microphone covering his mouth. As soon as he did, Diaz would tip off the captain that her man had just made his radio check.

USS MONTANA (SSN-823)

SOUTH TAIWAN STRAIT

SOUTH CHINA SEA

APRIL 2012

Captain Gummerson asked himself for the second time, What is Mitchell waiting for? He's got the lights out, rain coming in, and he has the location of his targets.

Gummerson stood under the control room's crimson lights, ears pricked up for the next message. Montana's electronic countermeasures (ECM), electronic intelligence (ELINT), and Sonar teams were probing a three-dimensional battle sphere–air, surface, and subsurface–for any hint of enemy counterdetection.

Meanwhile, the OE-538 multifunction masts that were Montana's "big ear" continued to track each Ghost while monitoring all exchanges between them. Total situational awareness via mutually shared information in a common tactical picture was the epitome of network-centric warfare.

"They move in yet?" asked the XO as he entered the control room.

Gummerson shook his head. "No. All Mitchell's done is step up to the plate."

The XO shrugged. "Sometimes you wait for your pitch."

Gummerson cocked a brow. "And sometimes you strike out looking."

UNITED STATES SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE

TAMPA, FLORIDA

APRIL 2012

While it might be the wee hours in China, it was twelve hours earlier at USSOCOM, and General Joshua Keating strode past banks of screens displaying network data, from satellite intel all the way down to the camera mounted on Captain Scott Mitchell's earpiece.

At the moment, Keating couldn't understand why Mitchell was taking so much damned time to analyze the pictures captured by his portable drone.

Keating was, in fact, a few seconds away from getting on the horn and blasting Mitchell for his delay.

But he liked Mitchell. Wanted to trust him. Wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Dr. Gail Gorbatova of the DIA, who was seated beside one of her intelligence analysts, rose from the desk and approached him. "General, we are wondering–"

"About the delay," he finished, drawing in a deep breath through his teeth.

"Our colleagues at the CIA are wondering the same thing and have no explanations from their people. And we have our mole standing by."

"Excellent. Now we're still gathering intel, so if you would, Dr. Gorbatova, just have a seat."

Keating returned to his computer and keyed up the intel coming in from Mitchell's Ghost Team: grainy green pictures of the castle, the helicopters, the trucks, and even Diaz's point of view as she balanced her crosshairs over one of the two Chinese snipers. Everything looked perfect.

Come on, son. Give the order. Move out!

A voice echoed through the room: "Ghost Lead, this is Bravo Lead. Our targets will take cover from the rain any second now. Captain, we need to move now!"

"Ghost Lead, this is Diaz. Wind speed is getting worse and can really mess up my shot, sir."

Give the order, Mitchell!

"Bravo Lead, this is Ghost Lead," said Mitchell. "Stand by. And Diaz, hold."

"Captain Mitchell? This is Lieutenant Moch, Predator support, sir. We've identified a power company truck en route to your transformer station. ETA approximately ten minutes, sir."

Keating clenched his fist and imagined himself screaming at Mitchell: What's the holdup, son? I need those Spring Tigers taken out now!

Despite his frustration, Keating knew that senses and intuition captured in real time by a commander on the ground far outweighed any digitized picture transmitted over thousands of miles.

Special Forces truth: Human beings were more important than hardware. What's more, Mitchell's own tactical assessment could be very different than what they viewed at USSOCOM. If the captain were waiting for something, then he had a damned good reason.

However–and this was a bighowever–he'd made no attempt to explain himself, and that was highly unlike him.

Damn it, Mitchell! Attack!

HAKKA CASTLE

XIAMEN, CHINA

APRIL 2012

More voices echoed in Mitchell's earpiece, and more faces appeared in his HUD, but he just lay there, mouth hung open.

At the moment the power had been cut, Mitchell had ordered Smith to launch the MAV4mp Cypher. In the minutes that had followed, Mitchell had navigated the drone high above the central building and had been able to identify the positions of every guard posted there: three at each of the silos, two at the central building with one on the roof, and the two snipers. His threat assessment, replete with flashing red diamonds, was complete and available to his people.

Mitchell steered the drone as low as he dared, and just as he had tapped the joystick, ready to fly the Cypher home, the guard on the roof turned to reveal a cane fixed to his belt.

With jittery hands Mitchell zoomed in with the drone's camera, trying to pull up a more detailed side view and muttering to himself that no, it couldn't be, that these kinds of Escrima sticks or canes or other martial arts clubs were commonplace among military men, that after ten long years, there was no way in hell that this guy, on top of this roof, in China of all places, could be Captain Fang Zhi.

But the camera's zoom worked remarkably well. And Mitchell knew that cane. That face. Those eyes.

Was it a remarkable coincidence? Fate? Was Mitchell being forced back through an open door that had never closed?

What the hell was Fang doing in China? Had he defected? Mitchell had lost track of the man–and purposely so–because he'd had to go on with life. That was the advice he'd given Rutang, and that was the advice he'd lived by.

But he'd never forgotten Fang's cowardice, or Captain Foyte impaled on those punjistakes, or Warrant Officer Alvarado clutching that dart in his neck, or poor Carlos bleeding out and telling him to go back for Billy. Mitchell would never forget that row of bodies lying on the field.

Twelve men had entered the jungle on Basilan Island, and only three had come out, thanks, in part, to Fang Zhi.

The scar on Mitchell's chest burned anew.

And now he was back on that field, squaring off with Fang, only this time Fang had no chance to draw his sword. This time, Mitchell had a pistol jammed into Fang's forehead, and when he squeezed the trigger, all he heard was Beasley crying in his earpiece, "Captain, we have to move– now!"

Chapter Twenty-Six.

HAKKA CASTLE

XIAMEN, CHINA

APRIL 2012

With a gasp, Mitchell was back, hot-wired to the moment, his senses flooded with input.

"Ghost Lead, this is Bravo Lead," Beasley called again. "Don't forget about us, Captain! I need that order!"

As chills raced up Mitchell's spine, he checked the downlink channel now showing Beasley's camera, zoomed in, and enhanced. Bravo Team's targets were seeking cover.

Instincts honed by years of combat experience took over. Mitchell began processing information and issuing orders with cool, calm efficiency:

"Bravo Team, attack."

"Roger that," Beasley answered in a stage whisper. "Moving up to attack."

"Diaz, snipers, then main gate, fire now."

"Roger that, Captain. Sighting my first target."

"Smith? Police up the drone, then fall in behind us. Ramirez? Nolan? Move out!"

Mitchell burst from cover, and Ramirez was already a few steps ahead of him and took point, his MK14 EBR rifle with attached silencer held at the ready as they raced along the road, then started down toward the castle, picking their way through streams of rainwater washing down the mountain.

Nolan was hard on Mitchell's heels, carrying his P90 SD Belgian-designed submachine gun with suppressor because, as many medics argued, the best form of preventative medicine was superior firepower.

"Got the drone," Smith reported, then hustled up behind them with a Modular Rifle–Caseless (MR-C). The MR-C fired caseless ammo at 900 rounds per minute, and while the regular army did not field the rifle, the Ghosts endorsed it wholeheartedly.

They had guns, all right. Lots of them.

But only four shots really mattered: one in the head of each Spring Tiger.

Or was it five shots?

Mitchell considered shouting to the others, The guy with cane? He's mine!

However, he could not reveal his personal bias and immediately undermine his command. The mission and his people came first. He knew that. They knew that. If Fang were killed in the crossfire, then so be it.

But who was he kidding? He wanted to fire that shot more than anything else in the world. His anger had grown talons that ripped apart his gut, and over and over he watched himself squeezing the man's neck and firing that shot. Mitchell gasped, shuddered off the thought, and hustled on.

Beasley sprinted along the edge of the forest, then he broke into a Motor City madman dash across the field, coming toward the choppers and trucks from the left flank.

Two of the men, the drivers, had pushed themselves deeper into the back of one truck, leaving the tailgate open. The other two guys, the pilots, had sought refuge inside the other Brave Warrior's cab.

Those drivers they could reach. But the pilots in the cab were already giving Beasley a headache.

He signaled for Jenkins and Hume to get low on the driver's side of the pilots' truck, while he and Brown rushed up to the other truck with the open tailgate, their pistols clutched tightly in gloved hands.

One of the pilots was about to light a cigarette. The other was lifting his glass to take a sip.

Brown shot the drinker in the head. Thump!

But Beasley opted for two shots into the smoker's chest–because the man would become helpful, even in death. He rushed forward, caught the guy before he slumped forward, and whispered to Brown, "Help me stand him up!"

"What the hell are we doing?"

"Marcus, trust me. And we have to move. I need to check in with the bot. That power crew will be there any minute."

"Okay. I think I get it now."

The captain's firing order had come so abruptly that it took Diaz's brain a moment to catch up to her ears.

Holding her breath, she made the slightest tweak to her aim before squeezing the trigger.

While she doubted the click from her rifle was loud enough to be detected by the guards posted around the castle, that second sniper might've heard it. She squinted and observed a blood cloud envelop the first sniper.

Clean kill.

Using the knife edge of her firing hand, she worked the bolt effortlessly and ejected the spent case. After chambering the next round, she clambered to her feet, grabbed the firing mat, and stole off along the ridge.

She needed to cross just ten, fifteen meters to the west to get a more direct bead on the second sniper on the north side. She already envisioned herself in place and taking him out.

The rain was torrential now, and the first jagged seam of lightning ripped through the sky, backlighting the gnarled and dripping limbs in her path.

Just a little farther,she assured herself, her boots thumping, her breath growing shallow.

She was at once scared out of her mind and riding an adrenaline high unlike any she'd ever experienced. She'd been in a lot of foreign countries before, but none held the mystery and foreboding of China.

Too bad she didn't have time to sightsee. She was here to meet exotic people, and, like the old bumper sticker said, kill them.

In fact, Captain Mitchell and the rest of Alpha Team were already heading to the gate, and they needed those entrance guards taken out, so every second counted. Every last one. But she hadn't found her next firing position yet.

She sighed loudly in frustration and gritted her teeth. The balaclava, with a small hole cut out for her Cross-Com earpiece, was soaking wet and beginning to itch. She cursed and reached up, removed the earpiece/monocle, then grabbed the balaclava, tore it off, and kept running.

"Come on, come on, come on," she whispered.

Within a minute Diaz finally settled into her next spot, the balaclava now tucked behind her belt, the Cross-Com back on her ear.

The cold, wet rifle felt perfect against her cheek. She homed in on the second sniper.

Time for him to check out.

But damn it, he was already moving, the red diamond IDing him sliding across her HUD.

She breathed another curse, dragged herself back up, and got moving again.

Mitchell, Ramirez, Smith, and Nolan worked their way across the field, the mud rising to their ankles.

With the rain and their black uniforms, they should be near impossible to spot. Still, sharp veins of lightning printed the sky negative, and the ground rumbled with racing cracks of thunder. During any one of those flashes, a keen-eyed guard could turn his head in the right direction, make his radio call, and open fire. Surprise party over.

A long, earthen wall about four feet tall extended from both sides of the wrought-iron gates, and Ramirez was first to reach it, followed by Mitchell, Smith, and Nolan.

Crouching in the shallow mud puddles, Mitchell activated his MR-C's gun cam, then he rose and slid the rifle over the wall top while peering into the camera's display, which flipped open like a portable video camera's. The screen allowed him to shoot around corners and over the tops of walls, but for now he exploited its recon possibilities. He panned right, then left, and despite the grainy image, he saw enough to elicit a huff of frustration. The two guards posted outside the rectangular building were still at their posts, so Mitchell and the others would have to risk moving in closer to ensure single-shot, clean kills. And the question lingered: what had happened to Diaz?

He slid back down and shook his head at the others, then he checked his HUD, switching to an image coming in from Diaz's camera: she was on the run.

"Diaz, SITREP."

"I lost the second sniper for a minute. Got him now in my HUD. I'm moving position. Can you wait for me?"

"Negative, I need my guards down now."

"Roger that. Stand by."

The truck's schematics had given no indication if the windshield and side windows were bulletproof, and Beasley couldn't take the chance of allowing Jenkins and Hume to make a firing attempt through the glass.

Time for plan B, as in use an enemy body to your advantage. Beasley and Brown kept low behind the dead driver, bringing him over to and propping him up near the truck. Hume, who was hunkered down near the driver's side rear door, moved up and knocked on the driver's window. The guy at the wheel turned.

Between the pouring rain and the darkness, the guy would fail to get a good look at his dead colleague–and that's what Beasley was counting on. The window lowered, and the second it did, Beasley and Brown let the body fall back, giving Jenkins, who was positioned near the truck's front tire, room enough to slide up and direct his pistol into the cabin. His Px4 Storm SD thumped twice. Blood began dripping down the side windows. Jenkins reached in and opened the truck's door.

"Outstanding," grunted Beasley. "Now start with the choppers while I take care of the bot." He opened the truck's rear door and climbed inside, out of the rain. He called up the SUGV's main camera in his HUD and worked the wireless controller to pan that camera toward the main gate. Headlights grew brighter in the distance.