"All right. Mabel, it's your move. Make that call to President Djonjo, and let's get this moving. Eight hours. The time in Kenya right now should be about 8 P.m. Maybe a dawn attack could be worked by the Navy. Secretary Kilburn, see how they want to play that part of it.
"Mabel, and gentlemen, I think we have a solution that will be effective now and work for us in the future."
23
"Damn right I want to take the fifty," Magic Brown said. "Look, the medics gave me an okay. I did moves and exercises for them and the wound didn't break open. I got a go. I want the fucking fifty in case we need to slow down some armored cars or trucks. Can't tell what we'll wind up working against up there."
"Okay," Lieutenant Blake Murdock said, grinning. "You have to carry the bitch, not me. Now, any other ideas about how, what, and where? If we go, I'd say it could be either day or night. They might want to hit his HQ during the daytime with the hopes that he'll be inside. A good five-hundred-pounder right through that plate-glass wall up there on the third floor would be great shooting."
Don Stroh had given them the word from the company spy in Nairobi a few minutes earlier about where the general would be hanging his hat.
"So we've got fifteen men," Jaybird said. "How many of the bad guys will be on that base?"
"No idea. Our spy didn't find out that kind of information. At one time I heard the general had five thousand men up there in Nairobi, but the way whole companies have been deserting, I'm sure he doesn't have anything like that left."
"Still should be worthwhile odds," Jaybird said. "I hate it when we got to go up against somebody one on one."
The SEALs hooted him down.
"To business," Murdock said. "We need to finalize our plans, so Don can get them up to the XO as soon as possible, so he can coordinate the rest of it. We're assuming that the President will give the flyboys a go on dropping some eggs on this place. Then we go in and mop up. If for any reason the general survives and tries to run, we run with him, only faster, quicker, and with better marksmanship. If we have to, we run him to ground and chew him up and spit him out for fertilizer."
"We still going in by chopper?" Ching asked.
"Best way this time. No real need to do a parachute drop. Those old Seahawks can dump us out there in about two hours. The carrier will move up toward Formosa Bay, which is about twenty miles closer to Nairobi than Mombasa. The bird cuts back for the ship and we go do our thing."
"Double ammo?" Al Adams asked.
"Yes, except for the fifty," Murdock said. "Not even Magic can pack that much and still fight. We'll go with our jungle cammies — could give us better cover — and the rest of our standard equipment. Bishop, we found a replacement SATCOM box that you get to pack along. It came in damn handy last time."
"With that bird sweeping in, they gonna damn well know that trouble has arrived," Ross Lincoln said.
"That's why the Seahawk will swing around on the opposite side of the base and work its machine gun on the far gate to give us a diversion," Murdock said. "We hope most of the bad guys will rush over on that side. We don't know for sure, but the aerials look like there's some woods to cover our landing about a quarter of a mile from the fence."
"We all using our weapons of choice?" Jaybird asked.
"Almost. As long as we keep the balance we need. You take your MP-5 along, but you can smuggle in that shotgun you like if you want to. You've got to carry it." They went over the satellite photos again. They would come in from the back side of the place, with the main entrance in the front and side gates to the left and right. There was no rear gate. The land looked comparatively flat, and evidently had been cleared of all brush and trees for about a hundred yards.
"Lot of real estate to cover if they've got machine guns trained on that open space," Ed DeWitt said. "If we get a go, why don't we go in on the chopper an hour before daylight. We get down, move up to the fence in the dark, cut our holes and get inside quietly to some kind of cover, and wait for the bombers to come over at dawn."
Murdock nodded. "Damned fine. Stroh, what about that?"
"Should be no problem. You'll be going in far in advance of the takeoff of the bomber-fighters anyway. I'd guess they'll use the F-18 Hornet. She'll pack almost eight tons of bombs, and they have the twenty-millimeter Vulcan cannon as well."
"The eighteen," Murdock said. "Yes, probably what they'll use. Just so they blow that top-story front into the basement. Anything else anybody is wondering about?" Murdock asked.
Somebody came to the door and asked for Don Stroh. He went out quickly.
"Something cooking with the go-ahead?" Magic Brown asked.
"Hope so," Murdock said. "Now, if we run into a heavy force along this rear perimeter, what is our alternate course?"
They went on working, planning, trying to come up with a solution for every problem they could think of.
"What if the bombs miss the three-story building and we're already inside the fence waiting to assault it?" Horse Ronson asked.
"We go right ahead and assault it," DeWitt said. "We get inside, clear rooms, move to the top floor, take out everybody up there we can see, and make sure that one of them is a big fat tall son-of-a-bitching general." The men laughed.
"No chance these Navy aviators are going to miss a big target like that," Murdock said. "They have smart bombs too, computer-guided bombs that are supposed to be able to hit dead center in a three-foot circle."
They were still working an hour later when Don Stroh came into the room. Everyone stopped talking, and watched him as he went to the front.
"Anybody here want to go on a short trip to Nairobi? We just got a firm go-ahead from the President." The SEALs cheered, and he shushed them. "The President said that his council had decided to make the hit. The Secretary of State has already phoned President Djonjo of Kenya, and he's given us permission for one more air raid on his country. After this we can't use any more air attacks."
"So it's a go," Murdock said. "What about the timing?"
"Told the XO about your idea of a night drop for you guys just before the bomb run. He liked the idea. No problem for the bird. They made the run before in the Seahawks. He worked out a schedule. Two hours for the flight. The Monroe is moving up to that bay to cut down the flight time. Sunup here tomorrow is supposed to be about 0530. We get you out of here at 0200, gives you over an hour after you arrive to move up, get inside the fence, and find some cover. Enough time?"
"Should work," DeWitt said. "We get a diversion with the bird's machine guns on the front gate?"
"You got it. As soon as he dumps you, he goes strafing. This bird will bring M-60 7.62-millimeter machine guns in both cabin doors."
"Little buddy, you just got yourself a deal," Murdock said. "Now we can get the final touches to our plans. We're going to need some more ammunition and forty-millimeter grenades and some WP. We better get some M-67 fraggers too. Jaybird, make a list. See if all the men have all the ammo they need. Then get a guide and find the armory or the arms locker or whatever they have on this ship. Looks like we're about ready to go catch ourselves a general."
By 2300, the SEALs were outfitted and ready to go. They had all the ammo they could carry, but they didn't have to worry about sinking in the ocean. The ammo load would lighten quickly as they moved up to the HQ building. Murdock arranged a 0100 supper for the SEALS.