“Roger that,” said Zen, sliding over the Quick Bird.
Danny pulled Colonel Bastian into the helicopter and held him as they rushed to get away. He pressed his weight down against Dog’s back as the chopper whipped over the nearby tree tops.
“We’re all right,” said the pilot as the airstrip appeared ahead, but Danny didn’t stop leaning against Dog until the helicopter’s engine had been cut, a few minutes later.
“You look like hell, Colonel,” he told him as he helped the colonel out onto the concrete.
“I feel better than I look, I think,” he said. “You okay, Tommy?”
The SF soldier started to grin — then leaned over and threw up. “My stomach feels like his,” said Dog, taking a step away. “What happened here?”
“Base was hit by a mortar attack,” said Danny. “That’s all I know. What happened to you?”
Dog recounted how they had been ambushed, and what had happened to the driver. By the time he finished, the Special Forces soldier who had stayed behind had found them. He filled them in on the casualties, which included Major Alou and Kick.
“Why the hell did they try to take off when they were under fire?” said Dog. The cuts on his face had turned deep red. “Danny? What the hell did they do that for?”
“I don’t know, Colonel,” said Danny. “Maybe they were trying to save the planes.”
“God damn it. God damn it.”
“It’s lucky for you they did,” said Danny finally.
“Losing two of my people is not lucky for me,” said the colonel angrily, stalking toward the hangar bunkers.
Chapter 93
Prince bin Awg waved his hand over the map as he finished his summary of the situation. All over the country, people had shaken off their initial shock and were fighting back against the madmen; there were uprisings throughout the areas held by the terrorists.
That was the good news. Here was the bad: the terrorists were slaughtering many innocents, indiscriminately killing women and children as well as legitimate combatants.
“It is a grave, grave sin and evil,” the prince told McKenna and the local commanders, whom he had gathered for a briefing. “To spare our people, the army must launch its attack against the capital as soon as possible. The sultan has ordered it.”
The army was already on the move. Two separate columns of armored cars, augmented by pickup trucks and a few private vehicles, were now within ten and fifteen miles of the capital, approaching from different roads. They were being helped by intelligence flowing in from Dreamland’s LADS system, which was fed directly through a video hookup at the sultan’s headquarters.
“Troops should reach Bandar Seri Begawan by nightfall,” said Prince bin Awg.
“By nightfall?” asked McKenna.
“The people are rising everywhere. We cannot move quickly enough.”
“Well, fuel my plane and let’s get going,” said McKenna. “We’ll fly out in support of the column, bomb whatever we see, come back, refuel, and bomb some more.”
She punched her wingman’s arm. “You too, Seyed,” she told him.
“Yes, ma’am,” said Captain Seyed.
McKenna turned to the techie who’d come in with the prince to maintain the planes. “Can we put the bullets from the Dragonfly into the MiG?”
He shook his head. The bullets were the wrong caliber and there was no way to adapt them or the gun so they could be used. “Can we put bombs on, at least?” she asked.
“Bombs, sure. You have four hardpoints.”
“Do it.”
“The MiG is not much of a bomber,” said the prince. The sight on his MiG was an afterthought, added by the Poles after the aircraft had become too antiquated even for them to use as an interceptor. Bin Awg had purchased the plane through an intermediary when the Poles surplused it after years of storage; it was likely the plane had never dropped more than a dozen bombs, and those had all undoubtedly been dummies.
“Not much of a bomber’s better than no bomber at all,” said McKenna. “Let’s load her up.”
Chapter 94
Mack felt his leg starting to go to sleep. He rose, shook it, and then walked back and forth. The man with the pistol paid no attention to him.
What would happen if he just walked away?
He had started toward the door when the man who had brought him here came in, followed by two others whom Mack had not seen before. The men started talking to the man with the pistol excitedly; they seemed to be arguing.
“Say, uh, you mind if I ask some questions?” said Mack finally.
One of the men gave him a disdainful look, then signaled for the others to go outside.
“Don’t leave on my account,” said Mack, watching them go. He sat back down.
“They’re arguing about what to do,” said one of the women near them.
“You speak English?”
One of the other women reached to stop her but she pushed away, defiant. “They said they would kill us and our children if we spoke. They’ve taken the men who were here. They arrived two days ago. They wore white uniforms until today. Now they seem scared.”
“Where did they take the men?” asked Mack.
The woman said nothing, instead looking toward the door.
The two men Mack had seen before came in. They walked to the nearest woman, yanking her up so ferociously her baby slipped from her hands. They pushed her, not letting her bring the child.
“What the hell?” said Mack as they left. “What the hell?” The answer came a few seconds later, with the muffled crack of a pistol fired into a skull at very close range.
Chapter 95
Jennifer watched the display as LADS Vehicle One tracked the two ships approaching from the north. Both were Malaysian navy vessels, according to their markings and flags. The first appeared to be a Spica-M class attack craft; the computer ID was tentative but Malaysia had several, and it was of roughly the right size.
The second ship, larger and better armed than the first, was clearly the Kalsamana, an Italian-built corvette obtained only a month ago with her sister ship, the Laksamana. The Kalsamana packed Aspide anti-aircraft missiles and Otomat anti-ship missiles, along with a sixty-two-millimeter cannon and a twin forty-millimeter gun.
“Sergeant Garcia, what do you make of this?” Jennifer asked, calling Garcia over to the control station. “These are Malaysian navy ships.”
“Maybe they’re looking for those bastards we took care of the other night,” said Garcia. “They claimed they were rebels who had stolen the ship.”
“Maybe we should send the helicopter up, just to get it off the platform so we don’t call attention to ourselves,” said Jennifer.
“Let me get Sergeant Liu,” said Bison.
Liu and the helicopter pilot came down and took a look at the screen, staring at it as Jennifer explained how she had tracked the two ships.
“The Malaysians are our allies,” said Liu.
“I know,” said Jennifer. “But I don’t trust them at all. I think we should launch the helicopter and lay low.”
“Agreed,” said Liu.
The pilot nodded. “I’ll loop away, then come in from the north, ask them what’s going on.”
“Have you received an update from the base in Malaysia?” asked Liu.