VI
SNAKES IN THE JUNGLE
Chapter 65
Danny Freah tightened his hand on the side of the seat as the Quick Bird thundered over the Brunei Jungle, heading for the last launch point for the LADS system. He’d given up his usual spot in the front of the helo to Jennifer Gleason, who had hooked one of her laptops into the blimps’ command system. Jennifer had modified some of the programming en route, allowing them to activate the sensors on the fly as each blimp was launched. Though the system was scalable (meaning units could be added without major hassle), before her alterations it had to be shut down and rebooted, a lengthy process, each time a new unit came on line.
Who said scientists weren’t useful? And this one, even in a carbon-boron vest, was damn easy on the eyes.
“Thirty seconds to touchdown, Captain,” announced the pilot. “Hawk Three says we’re clear.”
“Good:’ said Danny. He stamped his foot up and down, trying to knock away the pins and needles.
“Problem, Cap?” asked Boston, who was sitting next to him. “I’m all right.”
“Foot fell asleep, huh?” Boston laughed.
“My leg,” said Danny.
“My grandmamma had an of recipe to fix that.”
“Your grandmamma, huh?” said Sergeant Garcia. “Did it involve castor oil?”
“Mighta. She put castor oil into anything, including the stew”
Danny’s grandmother had actually done the same thing. But he wasn’t about to encourage Boston, who’d find some way to make another joke out of it.
“Here we go,” said the pilot, tipping the helicopter downward.
Danny and Garcia jumped from the helicopter just as it set down on the wide highway. They ran in opposite directions, scouting the dark terrain around them with their helmet sensors. Once they were sure the area was clear, Danny had Boston and Jennifer unstrap the small LADS vehicle kit from the side of the helicopter. The helicopter cleared out to scout the area as they began inflating the lighter-than-air vehicle.
“Cap, got something moving down off the road,” said Garcia.
Danny spun around and ran down the highway. The long day and steamy weather were starting to take their toll, and he was huffing before Garcia came into view, crouched at the side and looking down a long curve.
“Too far away to get a good view,” said Garcia, pointing along the ravine. “Two bodies, but I can’t tell if they’re people or what”
Even at maximum magnification, Danny couldn’t see anything.
“Whiplash team to Quick Bird, I want you to stay clear of the area south of us,” Danny told the helicopter pilot. “We have something moving. I’m going to get the Flighthawk to take a look.”
Chapter 66
Lieutenant Kirk “Starship” Andrews acknowledged the request from Captain Freah for a close-up of the area to the southeast of the LADS deployment team and turned his Flighthawk back in that direction.
Lieutenant James “Kick” Colby sat next to him on the Flighthawk deck of the Indy, controlling Hawk Four. Kick had just taken his plane up for a refuel, leaving Starship to handle the reconnaissance request on his own.
Not that he didn’t prefer it that way.
The U/MF-3 slid through five thousand feet, descending toward a blur of vegetation. Starship rode the plane over the right shoulder of the road for about a mile and a half, then started his turn to bank in the direction of the area Whiplash had pointed out. The sensors in the belly of the Flighthawk scoured the ground as he flew; the computer gave him two frozen frames as he pulled up.
“Hawk Three to Whiplash ground team. Captain, we got some blurs on that pass. Computer ID’d two people, but there may be more. I’m taking another run. I’ll feed you the video from the sensors,” he added, reaching with his left hand to the one-switch toggle that allowed the data to flow through the Dreamland network. “Thick canopy,” he added, meaning that the trees and vegetation would limit the sensors’ ability to see.
“Whiplash leader,” acknowledged Danny.
Starship banked Hawk Three well south of the target area and lined up again, practically walking over the area. He came around and found himself barely fifty feet higher than the rock outcropping on the opposite end of the highway. He’d been so intent on flying the airplane that he was surprised when Danny asked if he could give him another view of the troops.
“Sorry Whiplash, I lost that:’ he told the captain on the ground.
“Take another run,” said Danny. “I couldn’t tell if they were rebels or regular troops.”
Starship banked around and began another pass. As he did, he got two warnings from the computer — one because he was drifting too far from the Megafortress to control the Flighthawk properly, and the other because he was into his fuel reserves.
“I can manage one more pass,” he told Danny, “but then I have to refuel. Hawk Four is en route to take over.”
“Give me a good one then.”
“I can’t tell who they are,” Danny told Garcia after the third pass failed to show anything definitive. “We’re just going to have to wait and see if they get close.”
“Yeah,” said Garcia.
Danny ran back to Jennifer and Boston. They had not yet begun to inflate the blimp.
“We have some people moving up about a mile and a half from here, in the jungle:’ he told them. “We can’t tell if they’re good guys or bad guys. How long is it going to take to get that bag up in the air?”
“Another five minutes before we can start the inflation,” said Jennifer. “Then about ten minutes on top of that.”
Once inflated and launched, it would take the blimp at least ten minutes to climb up and out of easy range. The engine was fairly quiet, but could be heard when the craft was at ground level.
“All right,” Danny told her. “Move as quickly as you can. “Boston, you’re the last line of defense here. Garcia and I are going to go down into the jungle off the road. This way if that patrol comes up in your direction we can cut them off before they get close enough to do any damage. We’ll hold them off long enough to get the LADS vehicle launched and you guys out”
“We’re not leaving without you,” said Jennifer.
“Yeah, Captain, no way.”
“It won’t come to that,” said Danny, turning and running back to Garcia.
Chapter 67
Kick finished the refuel and ducked away from the Megafortress, gliding back to the southwest. He could see the Quick Bird that had deposited the LADS team off on his right as he descended toward the jungle to update the Whiplash people on the situation.
“Hawk Four to Whiplash leader. Looking for you,” said Kick, trying to orient himself. He banked and got the road on his right. He had two people at the top of his screen — the LADS team, getting ready to inflate the lighter-than-air vehicle.
The response from the ground was garbled and partly overrun as Major Alou gave an update on Indy’s position, flying north so it could cover one of the government’s strongholds as well as the Whiplash operation. Kick double-checked his Flighthawk’s position to confirm for Alou that he would remain in communication range. He lost his bearings again; as he banked he temporarily lost sight of the road. He came westward and realized he was completely disoriented, now nearly two miles south of the team’s position. He found the road again and flew along it, following the curve back in the direction of the LADS unit, which had just activated a radio beacon as part of its start-up.