For an instant, upon waking, Finn forgot where he was and what he was about to do. Unfortunately the blissful ignorance didn’t last long, as he quickly remembered what was happening. The squad gathered in the cave where Higgins and Taylor were giving the day’s briefing. The attack group needed to leave by 1000 hours to make the target on time.
‘All right, men,’ said Higgins. ‘You all know the plan. Attack team, we need to be on the bikes and out of here at 1000 hours on the dot. Check your gear and the bikes; we can’t afford any mechanicals out there. That is all, unless you have anything to add, Lieutenant?’
‘No, thank you, Sergeant. Except that this is a momentous day, gentlemen. This is the day Australia fights back against our adversary. It’s up to us to make sure they get what’s coming to them.’
At 0951 Higgins was standing with Finn, Carver and Bull. ‘Boys, you can bet the Chinese are going to be upset about what we’re up to, so stay frosty and keep your eyes to the skies. Our primary threat is the San’s. Any sign of one and you know what to do. Now, let’s get moving.’
They mounted the electric-powered bikes and started them up. When idle, the bikes emitted a crackling, low-pitched hum. The sound, though not loud, seemed to electrify the whole canyon. Finn’s heart was racing, the adrenalin was pumping around his body.
At first, they just coasted along the canyon floor, weaving around obstacles. The canyon then dipped down and after a few minutes they came out of it and into an expanse of desert. The going was rough but the bikes were more than up to the task. Finn felt strangely relaxed riding with the others. He knew he had a job to do, he knew how to do it and he trusted the guys around him.
‘Okay, boys. Stay focussed. Let’s pick up the speed now,’ Higgins said over the comms. Leading the men, Higgins twisted the throttle and leant into the bars, lowering his body. They all accelerated their bikes and their powerful motors crackled, the noise becoming a higher-pitched whine. They were tearing across the vast, flat desert plain in a tight formation. Each rider hunched down low, with elbows flared out to the sides so their arms could absorb the bumps that their suspension couldn’t handle.
What a rush, thought Finn, if only Chris could see me now. Fuck, stay focussed dickhead, he reminded himself as he hit a rock that caused him to release the throttle momentarily. His body armour lifted and jagged him painfully in the throat.
‘Keep it tight, boys. This speed is good. Eyes on the ground, no stacks,’ said Higgins through their comms units, loud in their ears. None of the others spoke. They were too busy concentrating on the tricky terrain.
After an hour’s riding Higgins ordered the men to stop.
‘Hunt, let’s see the map.’
Pulling the mapscreen out from a holster on the side of the bike, Finn unfurled the tough A3-sized digital sheet. Pressing a button on the side, the mapscreen flickered into life.
‘Here you go, Sarge.’
Looking at the map for a few seconds, Higgins furled it back up and handed it to Finn. ‘Okay. We’ve got another 10 clicks to the target. We pull up a click short, secure the area, ensure it’s clear, then Bull and I go in, place the device and rejoin you before detonating.’
The guys knew the plan inside out and backwards, so there was no confusion, no questions. ‘Right. Let’s hit it!’ said Higgins, revving the bike hard. His rear wheel tore up the red dirt and he sped off with the others following.
At the one-kilometre mark they stopped. Finn, Carver and Bull dismounted their bikes and unpacked their weapons. Higgins turned off his bike but stayed straddling it. ‘Hunt, Carver. Set up the tactical surveillance gear. I want a sweep of the area to make sure there are no patrols in the vicinity.’
Carver pulled out a computer tablet from his pack and sparked it up. The screen gave an aerial view of the surrounds. If it detected human biometric readings apart from their own, they would have shown up as red dots.
‘No bio readings, Sarge,’ said Carver.
‘Electronic?’ replied Higgins.
‘Just checking… nope. We’re clear,’ said Carver, still pressing buttons on his tablet. ‘No patrols, no drones, no other airborne objects.’
‘Okay then. Bull. You’ve got the device there. One last check, please.’
Bull pulled the small explosive package out of his pack and checked its digital screen. ‘Green light, Sarge. We’re good to go.’
Higgins looked at Finn and Carver. ‘Eyes in the skies, understood. I want you to talk to me the whole time — regular updates. I want to know that you two are watching for any sign of the enemy.’
‘All over it, Sarge,’ said Finn.
Higgins called into their ops base. ‘Lieutenant, we’re in position. Ready to place device now.’
‘Roger that Sergeant. Proceed,’ came the reply.
‘C’mon, Bull. Let’s do it,’ said Higgins before starting his bike and tearing off towards the target, Bull right behind him.
Higgins pulled up five metres from the rail track, got off his bike and left it to be kept upright by its proprioceptors, engine still running. Bull did the same.
Both men looked around, somewhat surprised by how eerily quiet and empty it seemed.
‘Place the device, and let’s get out of here,’ said Higgins.
Bull walked up to the railway track and placed the device. It was small, but he knew how much damage a rail-splitter could inflict.
Higgins felt that at any moment a chopper or a drone would drop out of the sky to wipe them out. Memories of the first battle for Australia surged back — the Jians that flew in formation and annihilated so many of them. Nothing like that here, though. It seemed surreal, being so quiet and empty. As if on cue, Hunt’s voice came over the comms unit saying all was clear.
Within three minutes Higgins and Bull were back with Finn and Carver, all of them lying chest-down on the ground, facing the target.
‘Still no sign of patrols or aircraft, Sarge’ said Carver.
‘Very good. Detonate the device,’ said Higgins, calmly.
Bull took the small remote detonator, tapped in the activation code and pressed the button. A second later they saw the massive dust-and-fire-ball erupt from the tracks. A split-second later, the shockwave hit, causing them all to drop their heads into the dirt.
Once the dust had settled, Higgins contacted Taylor to advise him that the operation had been executed.
‘I can see it from here, Sergeant, on our sat imaging. I think half the bloody world can see it. Now, get your arses back here immediately,’ replied the lieutenant.
‘Right, boys. Job done. Let’s get a hustle-on back to base,’ said Higgins to the men as they picked themselves up off the ground.
The ride back to the base was as fast and exciting for Finn as the ride out. They were constantly being updated of enemy positions or aircraft by the ops base. Even though the bikes left minimal tracks, there was still a risk the Chinese surveillance technology could identify their signature so they had to ensure they spread out to minimise the risk.
After more than an hour of flat desert the gradient began to increase, as they rode up to the entrance of the canyon. At the entrance Higgins ordered them to stop. Looking back, there was still an enormous dust cloud where the device had been detonated. And still no sign of Chinese patrols — Higgins couldn’t believe their luck.
‘Sarge, look over there.’ Finn pointed to the south of their target where a plume of dark black smoke was rising into the air.
‘Gimme the binos,’ demanded Higgins.
Looking through the powerful binoculars, Higgins could make out three Jians circling an area near the source of the smoke plume. The dust cloud below them made it impossible to see what was happening on the ground.