“We shot before they did. You did too. We ran past them and out. We made it. You’re not dead, believe me.”
The guide took a deep breath. “My tooth still hurts, so I guess I’m not dead.”
“We need you to take us back to the chopper pad,” Murdock said.
“Oh, yes. Right. Sorry. Yes, I know this area. We came through here. We need to work to the left out of here.”
“You ready to move?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Let’s go.”
Tahabo looked up the block, then the other way, then headed straight south down a street, which soon turned into a trail. They went across two fields, then came to a pair of trees at the edge of a field.
“This is where we got off,” Tahabo said. “See the two trees? Not many in fields out here.”
“Time?” Murdock asked.
“0112, Skipper,” Jaybird said.
“Was he going to stay here or come back?” Lam asked.
“Supposed to stay here unless he saw trouble,” Murdock said. “Now we have no timetable. Can he find this place again?”
“Let me take Tehabo and scout down toward the other target,” Lam said. “If we find Bravo, we come right back here. Then we’ll try a couple of flares to attract our flyboy’s attention.”
“Go,” Murdock said.
The rest of the SEALs flaked out in the grass. Some of them pulled magazines from their weapons and put in fresh ones, then charged a round into the chamber to be ready.
“Take it easy,” Murdock said. “We may be here a while.”
It was just over an hour before Lam gave a bobwhite call and came in leading Bravo. They carried one man. Murdock ran to meet them, and took over carrying Frank Victor.
“He got cut up pretty bad, Skipper,” Mahanani said. “They were waiting for us outside, caught us setting up. We’ve got three wounded. The other two not so bad.”
“How is Victor?”
“He took a round in his chest and one in his neck. The neck shot was lucky, went between the carotid and the jugular and missed his spine. Bled like a stuck shoat. Got it stopped. Worried about his chest. He can’t walk. Might be bleeding inside.”
They eased Victor off at the assembly point and Mahanani worked on him again.
“Jaybird, one red flare in the air, now,” Murdock said.
Gardner came up with his arm in a sling. “Bastards caught us setting up,” Gardner said. “We beat them back, then burned down their fucking building. We must have nailed about ten of the blue shirts. Carrying Victor slowed us down.”
“How’s the arm?” Murdock asked.
“Not bad. Mahanani thought the bone might be broken. Sling and splint just precautions.”
“You did good, Gardner. You brought back your squad and you burned down your target. Now if that fucking chopper would get here…”
When the red flare burst high overhead, the SEALs went motionless. It drifted in a gentle breeze away from town. When its twenty long seconds were over, it sputtered and the sky went dark again.
Murdock turned to Lam. “Hear anything?”
The scout with the best ears in the platoon shook his head.
“If he saw it we should get some sound by now. Wait five minutes, Jaybird, then one more red flare.”
Murdock waited. He turned, but couldn’t see Bradford. He used the radio. “Bradford, you have that SATCOM?”
“Aye, sir. Strapped on my back like a second damn skin.”
“Good. If that chopper doesn’t show up, we’ll have to try to contact Stroh. I told him to keep his set on receive while we’re out on a mission just in case.”
The second red flare jolted into the air, burst, and floated slowly toward the ground on its small parachute.
It drifted faster this time, and was halfway down when Lam used his Motorola. “Yes, Cap, I’ve got some sound. A chopper for damned sure, coming from the west. What’s it doing out there?”
“You sure, Lam?”
“I’d bet my last sputnik on it.”
“Sputnik isn’t money,” Fernandez said.
“So it won’t cost me much. He’s headed this way. You want a ground flare, Skipper?”
“Wait until he’s closer. Any way to ID him?”
“Not a one, other than he should be the only helicopter in the whole nation right now.”
They waited. Soon they all could hear the whup-whup-whup of the rotor blades as the craft moved toward them.
“Light sticks,” Murdock said. The SEALs took out the plastic tubes with chemicals in them, broke the seals inside, and the mixed chemicals gave off a pink or green light. They held the cool sticks high over their heads.
“He’s turning our way, not chasing the flare,” Lam said.
Two minutes later the chopper slanted over the light sticks, did a fast turn, and set down in the open field thirty yards from the troops.
Gardner carried Victor on his back. The SEALs stepped on board and made room to lay Victor on the floor. Mahanani shook his head when Murdock looked at him.
“Not the best, Skipper. He’s unconscious. Has lost a lot of blood. He needs a doctor and a hospital.”
Murdock went forward and talked with the pilot.
“Halstrom, how far to your destroyer?”
“From here about two-fifteen.”
“You have a doctor on board?”
“Yes, sir. Three of them, and a small operating room.”
“How close is the carrier?”
“She’s about ten miles to sea from us.”
“You have juice enough to reach the carrier?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Let’s get off here and head directly for the carrier. Tell them we’re bringing in a wounded man, shot in the chest and the neck. He’s unconscious, breathing is ragged. Pulse is slow and weak. Let’s move, Lieutenant.”
When they were in the air, the copilot called the carrier and gave his report the way Murdock had told him. The response came on earphones, and he turned to Murdock.
“We have clearance for a direct flight. Our time to the carrier deck is eighty-eight minutes. We can cut that some, but we’re pretty heavily loaded. Tell the men to hang on, we’re moving up to four thousand.”
Murdock told the men where they were going.
“Victor woke up for a minute, said it hurt like hell, then passed out again,” the medic said. “His pulse is a little stronger now and his breathing is better. An hour and a half. Damn. Wish we could do better. He’s got a chance of making it.”
Murdock went back to the pilots. The copilot turned to him. “Need to tell you why we weren’t there when you got back. We stayed on the ground for a half hour. Then a jeep or something with a searchlight came looking for us. We lifted off and led him off to the west, where we quickly lost him. Then we worked back a couple of miles at a time watching for a flare. We figured you had some. How many did you fire?”
“Two. You must have been close enough to see the second one. Glad you got here. Can you go to max cruise and still have enough fuel to get to the carrier?”
Halstrom nodded. “We’re on forty-nine percent now. We can go at least halfway on max. That should cut our time down by ten minutes.”
“Do it. That ten minutes could save my man’s life.”
They landed on the carrier after a flight of seventy-two minutes. A dozen men waited with a gurney, and they ran to the chopper before the blades stopped spinning. SEALs dropped out of the craft to make way for the medics. They lifted Victor gently onto the gurney, and a doctor began examining him as they rolled toward some doors. A commander poked his head in the side door of the chopper. “SEALs?”
“Yes, sir,” Murdock said. “Can you bunk these men down for the night? Then we’d like to get this bird refueled and ready to take off about 0900. I’d like to go to the hospital and be with my man.”
The officer pointed at a sailor nearby. “Take the commander to the hospital.”