Will hunkered down behind rocks with Estrella and Nita, who looked pale.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” Nita said tightly. She had her arms wrapped around herself. She hadn’t often been in the field and hardly ever under these conditions. “I’ll be fine. There’s just a lot-a lot of noise.”
“You’ll be out of this in another few minutes,” Will said.
“Commander Coburn,” Captain Phan called.
“Yes.”
“We see you.”
“We’re actually to the right of the flare. Your right. Behind a stand of rocks.”
“Yes. We have you. We’ll be there shortly.”
“Captain Phan,” Larkin said.
“Yes.”
“Did you call in air support?”
“No.”
“Then we’ve got trouble. Two helicopters just lifted from the brush only a few klicks from you. They’re speeding in your direction and will be there within minutes.”
That, Will knew, wasn’t good news.
›› 1929 Hours (Local Time Zone)
Savage glee hammered through Victor Gant as the two pilots of the helicopter gunships he’d had lying in wait contacted him.
“Bring ’em on,” Victor crowed. He gazed up at the sky and saw the helicopters shifting back and forth as they sped toward the rendezvous point.
Both helicopters were outfitted with 20 mm rocket pods and. 50-cal machine guns manned by expert door gunners. It was more firepower than the NCIS agents and their Vietnamese army unit could deal with. Their trap had just been sprung and turned into a trap of its own.
Victor smiled and watched the helos zip by overhead as he tried to spot the NCIS agents in the darkness. The helo pilots would have an easier job at it because they were FLIR-equipped. The forward-looking infrared devices would pick up body heat in the darkness.
“Hey, Fat Mike,” Victor growled as he watched the choppers sail across the sky just above the treetops, “seems like old times, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Fat Mike replied.
The dirge of the helicopters’ rotors beating the air grew louder.
62
›› Eleven Klicks Outside Qui Nhon, Binh Dinh Province
›› Socialist Republic of Vietnam
›› 1931 Hours (Local Time Zone)
Shel pulled back into the shelter of a stand of tall trees just as the lead helicopter opened fire on his position. He hooked Max by the scruff of the neck and pulled him tight, wrapping both arms around the Labrador’s neck to shelter him.
The. 50-cal rounds chopped through the tree branches and smaller trees like scythes. Leaves, branches, and trees fell to the ground like the rain that continued to relentlessly pound the jungle. Purple tracer rounds made the bullet streams visible, and they danced only a few feet away.
“Shel!” Remy called over the headset.
“I’m good,” Shel replied as he watched the helicopter swing around his position. “But this guy must have night vision. He’s circling my position like he can see me.”
“There’s a FLIR mounted on the undercarriage,” Remy said calmly. “He’s got your number.”
Desperation filled Shel as he burrowed more deeply into the trees. The bullets struck rocks and threw sparks that flared only briefly before dying. He caught momentary glimpses of the door gunner hanging outside the helicopter’s cargo doors. The chopper looked like a predatory insect in the darkness.
“Know what the weakest point on any helicopter is?” Remy asked almost conversationally.
“The tail rotor,” Shel answered. He shifted, dragging Max with him, putting trees between himself and the helicopter gunner.
“Hold tight,” Remy warned.
Even as he moved, Shel saw sparks suddenly dance along the helicopter’s tail section. The chopper was moving slowly, so the target wasn’t as difficult as it could have been. In the next moment, the tail rotor suddenly swung out of control. The pilot tried to recover, but the chopper started turning circles in the sky. Then it descended and smashed into the trees.
There was no explosion. It just went down seventy yards from Shel’s position. By the time he was in motion, the second helicopter had marked Remy’s position and was moving in for the kill.
“Hang on,” Shel said. “Help’s on the way.” He ran through the jungle, dodging trees and brush. He cradled the assault rifle in both hands as Max loped at his side.
The second helicopter was too far away, on the other side of Remy rather than being between them as the first one had been, so Shel moved toward the downed chopper.
Both door gunners had survived the impact and were struggling to free themselves from the safety rigging. When the first one saw Shel, he reached for his sidearm.
Shel shot the man on the run, stitching a three-round burst from the gunner’s hip to his shoulder. The man slumped in the rigging.
The pilot stumbled from the cockpit and brought up his pistol. Before he could use it, Max clamped his huge jaws over the man’s forearm and smashed into him, knocking them both to the ground.
The other door gunner turned and fired at almost point-blank range. In his hurry, he missed. Shel spaced a double tap over the man’s heart, then tracked a round up between his eyes in case the man was wearing Kevlar.
Shel took hold of the. 50-cal machine gun, twisting it experimentally on its gimbal. It still had full movement.
Tracking the. 50-cal drone of the other helicopter, Shel turned the machine gun in that direction, found the aircraft, and then lit up the night with tracers. He was wide and low of the helicopter for just a moment; then he tracked the tracers onto the chopper’s dark body.
The. 50-cal rounds punched through the helicopter’s body and marched toward the cockpit. The pilot juked and tried to take evasive action. Shel stayed locked on, knowing the fuel tank was there somewhere.
Finally the tracers ruptured the fuel tank and ignited the gas. In the next second the helicopter became a roiling ball of orange flames and dark gray smoke against the black sky and silver rain. Flaming pieces of the aircraft showered down over the landscape.
“Not bad shooting, Marine,” a gruff voice said. “Looks like I’ll be walking out of here.”
Shel spun as he recognized the voice as Victor Gant’s.
“But that’s okay, because I’m gonna walk out of here knowing I squared things with my son’s killer.” Victor Gant stood next to a tree. Only the M79 grenade launcher and one eye were visible.
Shel knew he wouldn’t have a chance if he ran, so he jumped back through the helicopter’s cargo area toward the open door on the other side. He was in midair when the 40 mm grenade slammed into the helicopter’s interior and the explosion engulfed him.
›› 1934 Hours (Local Time Zone)
Victor Gant watched the incendiary grenade fill the helicopter’s interior with twisting flames. The illumination spun and whirled as it chopped into the darkness. He didn’t see the Marine’s body anywhere.
Cursing, wishing he’d been able to kill the big man less quickly and regretting that it was already over, Victor tossed the M79 to the side and pulled the M14 into his hands. He stayed low and duckwalked to the back of the helicopter. Staying next to the downed aircraft while it burned wasn’t his first choice, but Victor wanted to make certain of his kill.
“Fat Mike,” Victor called.
“Yeah.”
“You got my six?”
“Like always.”
Fat Mike stayed in the brush and kept a weather eye peeled while he held on to his M60 machine gun. If anyone made a move against Victor, Fat Mike would cut the assailant in two with the weapon.
“That dog was with him,” Fat Mike said.
“When you see it, euthanize it,” Victor said. “We’re scorched-earth here.”
“Reading you five by five.”
Victor felt the pressure of the clock against him. Maybe they’d chased the NCIS team off, but the Vietnamese People’s Army soldiers were moving in. His window for escape was closing.
“Victor,” Tran called over the radio.