A moment later Manny lifted his head. “Twenty more minutes, but they’ve got our coordinates.”
McGriffin drew in a breath. “That’s not good enough. The plane will be gone by then.”
“So what do we do?”
McGriffin looked around the helicopter. The shotgun and pistol had to count for something. “Let me down. Land me by the edge of the clearing. I’ll try to sneak around and slow them from loading their plane — anything to stop them from taking off.”
“Land there! They’ll take out us out!”
“Got any other suggestions?”
A moment passed. Manny said slowly, “You’re crazy. You know that? Absolutely crazy. If this was special ops, I’d lay you down over the ridge. But with the time constraint you’ll never get to them before they take off …” He bit his lip. “Okay, but what about me after I drop you off?”
“Get some altitude. I’ll need you to vector the fighters in. They’ve got to take out that plane.”
“If they hit one of the nukes, it’ll take the mountain down.”
McGriffin shook his head. “It’s nearly impossible to set those things off. The worse that could happen is that the H.E. would detonate.”
“H.E. — you mean high explosives?”
McGriffin set his mouth. “Yeah. The H.E. is used to initiate the nuclear implosion, or something like that.” He wished he’d paid more attention to Lieutenant Fellows’s explanation. He turned for the rear of the craft. “Keep in contact over the link. Once I’m down, grab some air.”
Manny shook his head. “Right.”
Manny started combat landing number three: the other two were a piece of cake compared to this.
McGriffin lost all depth perception. They fell into the black abyss as quickly as they could. The peaks flashed by, their features painted silver by the starlight. McGriffin prayed that Manny’s night vision was better than his. He didn’t see the ground when they landed.
Manny screamed at him. “Out, mo-fro. Call me when you’re done.”
McGriffin leaped from the chopper as it thundered upward. He rolled away from the landing area, certain that they would start shelling him. As the helicopter accelerated upward, a missile raced over his head.
Manny’s helicopter lit up in the night. A doubled explosion sent the chopper rolling to the right. Light flashed inside the craft. Slowly, the super Jolly Green Giant crumpled to the ground, spinning as the blades careened off the meadow. The helicopter crashed not fifty yards away.
McGriffin watched, horrified. He got up and started running toward the downed chopper. Flames licked at the craft. He expected the helicopter to explode any moment, and at fifty yards away, take him with it.
He stopped in mid-stride, suddenly throwing himself to the ground. Silence. Were they waiting for him to expose himself? If he tried to rescue Manny, he’d be an easy target. So what would it be — Manny or the terrorists? He couldn’t get to both.
He grit his teeth. God, help me! A scream came from the helicopter. Manny shrieked in pain.
McGriffin tried to get his wits about him. Scanning the clearing, he quickly got his bearings. The light from Manny’s helicopter splashed throughout the meadow. Behind him the plane showed up as a dark, menacing outline against the mountain. Purple flowers pocketed the field. The tall grass hid him from view. But they would be watching.
Or would they? Did they know that he got out, or did they think the chopper was coming in for a landing? Either way, he couldn’t tip his hand. He backed up on his belly, trying to slide away from the helicopter and the light of its fire. Cradling the shotgun in his arms, he moved quietly back.
He tried keeping track of the distance as he drew away. Push, slide, and keep the head down — it seemed to go on forever. By the time he got to the one hundredth slide, he was out of the brightest circle of light. Hang in there, Manny!
The chopper still hadn’t exploded. Maybe they had been low on fuel … or maybe they were just plain lucky. Manny’s shrieks died to moans, now barely audible. McGriffin felt sick to his stomach.
McGriffin swiveled around and surveyed the meadow. Now that his eyes adjusted to the dim light, the plane stood out against the mountains at the end of the meadow, a good quarter mile away. It was a C-130! McGriffin held back a whistle of surprise. It started to come together — this was the bird from “Peterson Field” that had started tonight’s nightmare.
Turning on his buttocks, McGriffin spotted the hijacked HH-53. Its seven blades drooping in the starlight, the chopper sat a hundred yards from the C-130.
No one was around. Six white barrels dotted the field, laying in between the helicopter and plane. An unnatural stillness permeated the air.
McGriffin rocked back and waited. Another moan from Manny pierced the night—
A whistle alerted him. Slowly, a figure appeared from the C-130. It rushed to one of the white barrels. Two other figures picked themselves up from beside the barrel. An expletive. Then, “Hurry up. No telling when the next one will come.”
One of the figures kneeled. Grunting, he picked up a long tube. “What about the Stinger, Dr. Harding?”
“Keep it with you, you idiot. You’ll get just as little warning on the next attack.”
Two more figures emerged from hiding.
Then he heard a voice that floored him. “Do you think that was the helicopter hovering above Alpha Base?” Vikki! “There’s someone still alive on board.”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter anyway. After the nukes are all loaded, we’re leaving. So shut up and help.”
McGriffin strained to see through the darkness. The figures appeared as blobs. He was closer to the helicopter than the C-130, but was still at least fifty yards away. Vikki. It still seemed incredible — the hardest thing to accept was that she was a part of all this.
And from the tone of her voice, she obviously wasn’t a prisoner. It cut through him like a knife: she was one of the terrorists.
But through the disbelief, the reason why he was there reared its head: he had to stop the C-130.
Vikki’s voice shook him again. “Listen, Anthony. I don’t give a shit about putting any more of these nukes on board. You’ve got five already. How many more nuclear weapons are you going to need?”
One of the figures strode up and grabbed her arm. It was the one they called Dr. Harding. “I said, get to work. Every one of those containers is another hundred million in the bank. Ten more minutes, that’s all it’ll take.”
She shook off his arm. “And I’m not leaving another maimed body. For someone who’s fighting for peace, you sure as hell have killed your quota tonight. I’m pulling that guy out of the fire.” She stomped away.
“Yeah, and don’t forget about how you pumped poor innocent Britnell with lead, you bitch. What else are you going to do now? Screw that helicopter pilot after you save him?” He threw a rifle after her. It bounced on the ground and disappeared in the tall grass. “We’re leaving in ten minutes, with or without you.”
Vikki suddenly turned. She rummaged through the grass and found the rifle that had been thrown at her. Glaring, she stalked wordlessly away, toward Manny’s helicopter.
Harding turned to the others and barked out an order. “Hurry. Get these on board.” He pointed to one of the men. “Rev up the engines.” Throwing a glance over his shoulder at Vikki, he turned and put a shoulder to one of the barrels. He scowled, “Ten minutes and we’re out of here.”
He had a plan.