“Beats me. I guess because this is changing his plan of the day. He doesn’t like change.”
When they arrived in the wardroom, Plug and Caveman were waiting. They had aviation charts of South America. The Colombia and Ecuador charts were spread out on the tables. The two pilots had rulers, pencils, and yellow highlighters and were quickly marking up the charts.
Plug handed Victoria a manila envelope. “Mission orders are in here.”
She took out the two white sheets of paper and read over them. “It gives us a few checkpoints to hit, and a time to be at the LZ. Other than that, it’s not very detailed.”
“Nope.”
“It says we have to be there in three hours. Can we make that?”
Plug said, “We just got done doing the math. As long as we don’t have any mechanical trouble with the second aircraft, I think we’ll be in good shape.”
She shook her head. “This is crazy.” She looked at the charts. “Show me the landing zone.”
Plug pointed to a spot on one of the charts that showed her the location of the landing zone in Ecuador. It was about fifteen miles inland, just east of a mountain range. It looked like it was in the middle of the jungle.
Victoria read the orders. “It says we’re supposed to shut off our transponder and lights and not make any external communications once we get within fifty miles of the coast. We’re not even supposed to notify Colombia or Ecuador that we’re coming. Expect up to fourteen SOCOM passengers.” She looked up at her maintenance officer. “We’re going to need to get rid of all of our extra weight.”
Plug nodded, a rare serious look on his face. “I already asked Senior Chief and AWR1 to see what they could do to make us lighter and clear out any extra space for passengers. Boss, this sounds like more than a training mission, huh?”
“I would say so.” Victoria turned to OPS and said, “So do you have any idea what this is about? We’re picking up some special operators in the middle of the Ecuadorian jungle?”
“Pretty much. We didn’t get anything else in the radio notification. Just to open up the mission brief and execute as planned. And that it was urgent.”
“Ever seen something like this before?”
“No. But I heard a story once where they sent a helo from a cruiser into the middle of the desert in Saudi Arabia. It picked up some CIA guy wearing a suit and brought him back to the ship. Once they landed, he gave them a time and location in the middle of the Red Sea to drop him off. Sure enough, a submarine popped up, and they did the Hunt for Red October thing where they sling him down to the sub.”
“So you think we’re gonna be doing that? Dropping these guys off in a submarine?”
“Well, I don’t think you’re going to be picking up my newest group of ensigns, let’s put it that way.”
“Plug, how far is the trip?”
“One hundred and twenty miles. I told OPS that we’ll need to head east to make sure you’re good on fuel.”
She realized what he meant. “Christ, we don’t even know if I can get fuel there?”
OPS shrugged.
She closed her eyes. “This is so messed up.”
OPS said, “I’ll make sure we close the distance so you’ll burn less fuel on the return leg.”
“And have the TACAN on high power. I’ll be climbing up high to get comms and a good navigational lock once I head back from the beach. But if I don’t find you guys by the time I get to my bingo, I’m turning around and taking an all-expenses vacation back in Colombia.”
“Easy there, Air Boss.”
“I’m serious about the bingo fuel. Don’t screw with me. Close the distance. I don’t mess around with fuel.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The wardroom phone rang. Victoria answered, listened, and then hung up. “Alright, gents, everyone still safe to fly? Any questions?”
They each shook their heads, excited looks in their eyes.
Victoria said, “My aircraft just finished fueling up. Juan’s on his way here. Let’s see if we can wrap up our mission brief in the next ten minutes. Then we’ll roll.”
One hour later, Victoria was headed east over the Pacific at two thousand feet, with Plug’s helicopter in trail.
18
Lena watched the American Special Forces soldier fall after her bullet hit its mark. She could have taken out many of the others in their unit, but then a few of the Leishen Commandos began firing their automatic weapons, costing her the element of surprise.
That had frustrated her. Lena preferred to work alone. Especially when conducting this type of work. She tapped her ear and spoke into her headset. Now that the Americans knew they were so close, there was no reason to hold off on the drone strike.
“Send the drones to drop their bomb clusters.”
The Leishen commander crouched down next to her. “Ma’am, my men are ready to cross the stream upon your command.”
“We have air support coming in. Let’s soften them up first.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She looked through her scope again, searching the far embankment for a target.
There. Two of them were lying down speaking to each other. She had a clear view of one of them…
Him. How was that possible?
Of all the people they could have sent here, why would they have sent Chase Manning? Did they know she would be here?
Her mind raced. She hated coincidences. She didn’t believe in them. In her line of work, there were no coincidences. Coincidences were often really preplanned events, and things to be investigated. Or they were timed to have a psychological impact on one’s prey. So, was she the prey here?
The thought angered her. Her finger began to depress the trigger. She could end it here by killing him. No compromising emotions. No more thoughts of him in her bed.
But he had let her live.
And burned her, she reminded herself.
She could still see the white curved architecture of the Burj Al-Arab, the rotors of the Iranian UH-1 helicopter, about to take off. She could still smell the disgusting smell of her own skin cooking, burned from the Molotov cocktails Chase had thrown in her direction. As he had climbed up the stairway of the helipad to save his brother, he’d had a clear shot. He could have ended her life. She knew that a man of his talent would not have missed her from that range.
But he had.
It was for the same reason she had spared his life only moments earlier. She had met him in the Skyview bar and had told the Iranian she was with not to harm him. She had just wanted to see him one last time.
So were they now even? It didn’t feel like it.
The water in the stream began exploding up again as the drones came in to attack the Americans. The explosions moved from the stream and into the forest. Rapid blasts filled with shrapnel rang through the forest, violent and merciless. They ripped through the trees, where the Americans were firing back at her platoon of Chinese commandos.
When the dust settled, she tried to find Chase again. She moved her telescopic view throughout the area, but couldn’t find him. A part of her was… what? Worried? She cursed herself. Her emotion was a crutch. She needed to control it better. There was no logic or honor in letting Chase survive because of their past relationship. Too much was on the line.
She tapped the button on her headset. “Hold fire on the airstrike. Hold fire.” She looked down at her map. There was a road about two kilometers behind the American position. If she could get there with reinforcements, they could surround them.
Lena turned to the Leishen commander. “A change of plans, Major. Move your men forward immediately. I will fall back and gather the other Leishen Commando platoon. I will take them around in jeeps and flank the Americans. If they run, keep following them and forcing them to me. Let us finish this.”