The three trekked westward for some fifty meters before finding a trail. It led downward toward the area they were to occupy, and the patrol moved gingerly, keeping on the alert. The photoreconnaissance that showed it unoccupied was forty-eight hours old, and a lot could have happened during the passing of two days.
It was a short fifteen-minute walk down to the area that was obviously the site where the Pashtuns had lived when they inhabited the locale. The SEALs went into the nearest cave, pausing for a moment. "These'll make great bunkers," Mike remarked. "I'll check out this first one." As soon as Garth and Dave were ready to cover him, Mike rushed in with his M-16 ready. The place was empty and also very clean and swept out. Further investigation along the mountainside revealed the same in all the grottoes.
"Them Pashtuns are neat freaks, ain't they?" Mike remarked.
"Y'know," Dave said, "I think this place could pass inspection from the senior chief."
"Are you shitting me?" Garth said. "Dawkins would gig an operating room."
"There's another path," Mike said. "Let's check it out."
The lower level had more caves and some small stone houses. Three mountain springs in the near vicinity produced streams of cold, clear water that gave more favorable indication of the livability of the place. When the SEALs turned their attention to the dwellings, they found clay baking ovens. Countless fires had turned them brick hard, while scorching the interiors to a deep charcoal black. Dave was thoughtful for a moment. "All this orderliness means only one thing. Those people were planning on coming back here someday."
"I think you're right," Mike said. "Well, let's check out the defensive features of our new neighborhood. Then we better hotfoot it back to the LZ."
A short but efficient walk-around brought the discovery of several well-maintained fighting positions. The trio of SEALs gave each location a professional study. Garth stepped into one and looked around. "This place is solid as if it were carved out of rock. The camouflage is all dried out now, but it's easy to tell it was effective when fresh. Everything blends perfect with the surroundings."
"That's why it's called camouflage, wiseass," Dave remarked.
"I don't like stone defenses," Mike complained. "When a mortar shell hits it, the stuff splits up and adds to the shrapnel."
"Well, this place ain't exactly Sherwood Forest," Dave said. "If they got no trees to cut down, then rock is their next best choice."
"Their only choice around here," Garth added. "I'm glad there's a shitload of empty sandbags coming in on the Pave Low. It'll be a lot of work to fill 'em up, but they'll strengthen the defenses and make 'em safer for the guys using 'em."
"Okay," Mike said. "Let's get back up to the LZ. The rest of the detachment ought to be coming in pretty soon."
"I hope to hell that Connie and Matty remembered to put our gear aboard that Air Force chopper," Dave said.
"If they didn't, we'll take their stuff away from 'em and split it up," Garth said sourly. "It'll be share and share alike."
Mike could hear the approaching Pave Low in the distance. He spoke into his LASH. "Brigand Boss, this is Sneaky Pete. The Oscar Alpha is secure. Over."
"This is Brigand Boss," came back Brannigan's voice. "We're coming in. Out."
.
OA LZ
0710 HOURS
THE Pave Low helicopter nosed up slightly as it eased down to the ground. The three-man recon patrol double-timed over to the aircraft as the rear ramp slid open. The first guy out was the Skipper, followed by the two officers and the senior chief. Immediately the rest of the detachment unassed the chopper, falling into formation by sections, with the officers standing off to the side.
Mike, Dave, and Garth joined the Headquarters crowd, falling in beside Connie Concord and Matty Matsuno. Connie nodded to them. "You're gear is aboard on the starboard side."
Before the three could respond, Dawkins called the detachment to attention. "Alright! We got mucho crapolla to get off the chopper and down to our new home. Alpha and Bravo fire teams form a relay line starting in the aircraft. Charlie and Delta join the line and stretch it over to the edge of the LZ where that path begins. Echo and Foxtrot continue it down to the bottom and stack it there." He looked over at Chief Gunnarson. "Matt, take your men and machine guns down to the front line and pick out three good spots to set up your weapons. Have your bullet toters take along some ammo boxes so you can go into business ASAP."
"Right, Senior Chief," Gunnarson said. He turned to his six men, shouting, "Let's go, Fire Support Section!" He led the gunners and ammo bearers toward the chopper to pick up their personal gear along with the M-60s and ammunition.
Dawkins turned his attention to Headquarters. "Gomez! Bradley! Get your radios and medical stuff below. Then hold up down there and wait for word where to set up. When that's done, get on line with your M-sixteens and keep an eye peeled across the valley. Consider yourselves on watch."
"Say, Senior Chief," Puglisi called out, "can me and Joe take our AS-fifties and whack somebody over there?"
"No, Puglisi," Dawkins responded in an irritable tone. "Not now. There's other things to do. Find a place in the relay line and lend a hand." Dawkins noted the three officers off to one side at a stand of boulders. He gestured to Connie Concord. "Take your team up there, where the Skipper is. He wants to see you Sneaky Petes. Alright! Ever' swinging dick turn to!"
By then Chief Gunnarson and his machine gun crews were already heading for the ledge. Concord took his four scouts up toward the location where Brannigan, Cruiser, and Taylor gazed over at the enemy positions through their binoculars. It took the Sneaky Petes a couple of minutes to reach the spot, and when they reported in, Brannigan put his binoculars in their case while Cruiser and Taylor continued to study the Zaheya area.
"You guys take a seat," Brannigan said to the team. He sat down with them on the ground, pulling a map out of his side trouser pocket. "Okay. Tonight you're going to make an area reconnaissance. And I want to emphasize the word reconnaissance ! You are going to avoid combat at all costs.
Your mission is to scope out the enemy's positions. I want to know the extent of their fortifications, routes of approach to and from their fighting positions, and how many men they have along their front line. This includes any other interesting tidbits of intel you're able to pick up. Keep in mind that the information you're looking for will be used to set up combat patrols."
Concord nodded. "It sounds like you're not planning on any all-out assaults for the time being, sir."
"Right," Brannigan replied. "I want to look around for weak spots to probe. You'll leave our lines at zero-one-hundred hours, and you should be able to find advantageous positions for observation relatively quickly."
"Yes, sir," Concord said, now pulling out his own map. "I'll split us up into two teams. The Odd Couple will work from north to the center, and I'll take Redhawk and Matsuno from the south to the center." He checked the lay of the land as indicated on the topographical sheet. "We'll meet here, behind this hill."
Matsuno looked over at the spot. "That doesn't look like much of a hill to me."
"Well, semihill," Concord allowed. "At any rate, it will provide us with cover to converge for the return to our side of the valley."
"Mmm," Assad said. "It looks like me and Dave have a bit longer to travel, so we'll get there a little later."
"You guys come up with a challenge and a password," Brannigan said. "Use the odd-number system."
"Aye, sir," Connie said. He turned to his team. "Listen up. Say I choose an odd number like thirteen for the password. So the challenger says a number less than that, like nine. That means the guy being challenged has to come up with a number that equals thirteen." He winked at Mike. "Don't count on your fingers. The answer is four."