"I want every man to take care of his own chute and harness. Bury them down the sides in the gullies where moved dirt won't be a clue. Lampedusa, we'll leave our gear and chutes here for Franklin and Douglas to take care of. All of you find a hide hole and get situated. You can get some sleep in before dawn. Lam, let's get the hell out of here."
They used their NVG, night vision goggles, and that helped out at once, showing a gentle slope down from the saddle to a small valley below and then a ridge beyond it. They climbed the second ridge without finding much in the way of an easy route to the nuke plant. It would be muscle versus the mountain.
Murdock checked his watch every half hour.
They took a break at the top of the third ridgeline. From there they could see the lights of the factory.
"Not sure if they have a night shift or if those are security lights," Murdock said.
"They must have barracks or houses, supply and stores, a whole damn city up here. Wonder how many workers they have inside that place."
"Too many, I'd guess," Murdock said. "I hope they are beyond the point where they need a night shift. We'll have to chase all the civilians out of there before we blow the place."
An hour later they lay just outside of a high wire fence around the nuclear bomb operation. The wire could be electrified; they'd find out about that later. Here earth-moving machines had widened a good-sized valley by shaving off the sides of hills until the space was big enough for the complex.
Murdock figured it was about a half mile long, with a series of large and smaller buildings. They'd have to find out which one held the final assembly.
"Up there, L-T. See where that cut is on the hill? The fence is not quite as high as the cut. We could jump over there easily if the damn fence is juiced."
"Noted," Murdock said. "Which building is the one we want?"
"We watch them for a while," Lam said. "My guess would be the smaller one in the middle with the extra lights around it."
As they watched, a jeep-like vehicle came around the corner of the structure, paused, and two men in the rig went up and checked on the doors. They got back in, and drove around the far corner of the place.
"So, probably no workers inside that one at night," Murdock said. "Does it get special protection, I'm wondering."
They ducked low into the smattering of weeds and boulders as a vehicle swung out from the nearest building and drove to the fence, then along it, as it made a circuit around the part of the fence they could see.
When it was gone, Murdock lifted up and checked his watch. "Better time this one. I figure the jeep is on a schedule, and makes the rounds of the fence every so often. Be good to know. We'll have to be through our hole, and have the fence rewired, and be out of sight forward before the driver comes back here."
"L-T, we gonna move up during the afternoon and get here just after dark?"
"That will give us ten hours of darkness to get the job done and haul ass out of here. They'll hound us all the way to the coast. Probably bring in a blocking force once they see where we're headed. That could be rough. First we have to get those bombs taken care of."
A half hour later the jeep did its run around the fence again.
"A half hour should be time enough," Lam said.
Murdock stared at the complex. Where would be the best place to breach the fence? There should be the least security at the far end, but then they'd have a longer run to whichever building they needed.
They heard a chopper. It lifted upward from the far side of the largest lighted building, and swept over the complex end-to-end, then it did a circuit of the fence with its brilliant spotlight tracing a twelve-foot-wide circle on the ground, as it moved along little faster than a walk.
"That could be real trouble," Lam said.
"We'll have to take it out early on. I hope they have only one. Wish there was some way we could know how many troops they have inside that wire."
"Looks like we'll need a diversion hit," Lam said. "We send three guys up to the far end, maybe one of the fifties, and an MG. We put some forty mike-mikes in there and blast a building with the fifty, and MG, and get them all shook up."
"At the same time we breach the fence and go through silent as a ghost," Murdock said. "Yeah, it might work. We've got our work cut out for us on this one."
Lam rolled over and stared at his commander. "Skipper, I've got an idea. Why don't I go in now, move around enough to find which building is the final assembly? I can work around there until almost daylight if I have to, and then get out, and wait for you guys to come tomorrow night. That's later on today, I guess."
Murdock shook his head. "Too dangerous. They could nail you, and know we were coming, and be ready."
"No chance they could grab me, L-T. I can hide in a damned tomato can. Been doing it all my life. How in hell we gonna shoot our way in, and then try to find the right building? Not a chance. If I go in, and find the right spot, and get out and tell you, we're well ahead of the game. If I get in, and don't find it, and get out, we're no worse off. I can find it. No shit, L-T. Think it over."
"Nothing to think over, Lam. Your idea is good. Should I risk you or not?"
"Not much of a fucking risk, L-T. The big risk is not knowing where to go once we get inside. As soon as they know we're here, they'll put all their guns inside that final assembly building we want, and hold us off until they fly in reinforcements. No other way. I got to get through the fence and see what I can find out."
"Jump over down there?"
"Yeah."
"How will you get out?"
"Dig under at one of the gullies the cloudbursts make. There's one over there, a foot deep under the fence already. Quicker to jump over now, and then dig out when I find the assembly area. Is it a go, L-T?"
Murdock scowled into the darkness. The kid was right. They needed more intel. He'd had no idea the place would be so big, so many buildings. Slowly he nodded. There was no other reasonable way.
"Okay, Lam. You take my MP-5 and four mags. The silenced rounds might help."
"Hey, I won't waste anybody unless I have to. The first body that shows up in the morning, they'll have security scouring all the hills around here. No bodies, I decided that. I might have to knock out one or two."
"Okay, Lam. One other thing. While you get over the fence, I'll move up with my K-bar and dig out that gully under the fence so you can slip right under it when you need to. I'll be in the light so it will have to be a low motion kind of operation."
"Done," Lam said. He handed Murdock his issue Colt M-4AI, took the MP-5, and extra mags. He dabbed more cammie makeup on his face, hands, nose, and ears. He tugged down his floppy hat. "I'll see you right here if I find the right building quickly. If not I'll have to move back a couple of ridges after I get under the fence. No sweat. I'll either find the right building or give it one hell of a try. What I won't do is tip their hand. See you around, Skipper."
Lam moved away in the darkness, toward the cut in the hill three-hundred yards away. Murdock watched him go, sent along his best wishes, and then began working toward the small wash under the fence so he could dig it deeper.
Lam lay near the splash of light along the fence, and evaluated it. He could spot no lookout towers or sentries in the area. If somebody watched the area with binoculars, it would be on a casual and intermittent basis. He had a good chance of going over the eight-foot fence, and not being seen.
He was about to move when he heard the chopper coming. He blended in behind a two-foot rock, well out of the airborne spotlight, and waited for it to pass.