Some SEALs had dug out trenches in the shade of the mountain, in a gully on the downslope, leading from the top of the saddle. They dug in and covered up with the camouflage cloth when needed.
Both times the chopper came over, Magic Brown asked for permission to shoot it down with his .50-caliber sniping rifle.
"Come on, L-T, I've got him in my sights. Just one trigger squeeze and he's history."
"So are we, Magic, when they realize there are more than rattlesnakes and scorpions out here in the hills. We don't want to give ourselves away."
"Hell, I know that, Skipper. Just had to ask."
Murdock and Lampedusa had straggled into the position about 0200 and found half the SEALs up and eating.
"It's a two-hour hike into the target," Murdock told those awake. "We'll plan on leaving here about 1700 tomorrow and should get there at first dark."
That had been the plan. Now Murdock watched the chopper vanish over the hill. He had cautioned the men to keep under cover for another ten minutes after the bird left. He could pop up over the edge of the mesa without warning and surprise them.
This time he didn't.
Murdock checked his watch. "No chance we're going to leave here now before it gets dark," he told the troops. "Pass the word. We'll keep secure here until that time. Fucking chopper could check back this way anytime and catch us on the trail."
He looked over at Kat. She had functioned perfectly so far. She had her hole dug and camo ready before half the men did. Of course she had a smaller hole to prepare. She was about ten feet down the gully from him.
"Kat, you might as well have something to eat. Might be some time before we can take a break for food again. Try the chicken A la king."
Kat laughed. "Hey, we had that out at Niland, remember? I think I'll go for the beef stroganoff."
Murdock tore open an MRE and picked out the crackers and peanut butter. He made a cold drink from the powder. He looked over at Douglas, who was nearby. Douglas had a stack of water bottles and food behind him.
"Douglas. How in hell did you get all that stuff in here?"
"Chogie straps, remember them?"
"Never heard of the term."
"Korea. Some of the old Army guys told me about them." He explained how they worked. "We didn't know how long we'd be here or how much water we'd need."
"We might use some of it before we leave. Have all the guys fill up their canteens. Then we're hoping for water at the nuke factory."
They had talked half the morning about the strategy for hitting the big plant. What it came down to was what Lam had suggested the night before.
"So it's set," Murdock had said. "Three of you will work to the west end of the complex. Up at least a quarter of a mile from our attack point."
"Got it," Magic said. "We go on your signal on the Motorola. We keep as many of them occupied up there as long as we can, then we drift south, and give you guys support fire when you're inside the fence."
Kat had talked for more than an hour with Lampedusa. He had described to her as much as he could remember about the worktables, and how far assembled the devices were.
"None had an outside shell on it?" Kat had asked.
"No, none of them. I didn't even see anything that looked like a bomb casing."
"Good. They may not be halfway along. The problem will be finding the plutonium and disposing of it. Wish we had a nice deep oil well we could pour it down."
"We'll figure it out," Lam said.
"If we don't, it stays there in a safe container. I'm not going to scatter it over the hills and kill a few thousand people."
"That's a Roger, Kat. I understand."
At 1930, Murdock had them packed up and ready to go. They all had filled their double canteens. Some of them carried an extra two-quart plastic jug of water that Douglas and Franklin had packed in. Two quarts of water weigh another four pounds.
"Let's use our NVGs," Murdock said. "It helps in this uneven terrain. We'll use regular squad order. Let's move it."
Kat had broken down her tool kit at Murdock's insistence. He had half of it, Kat had a quarter, and Ron Holt, who hiked right behind her, had the other quarter. Kat still had almost forty pounds of gear and ammo.
The first hour went easily. They were more than halfway to the objective, when Murdock called a halt. He went from man to man, checking on assignments, making sure the battle plan was clear to everyone.
An hour later, when they topped the last ridge, and could look directly at the facility, there were soft whistles.
"Big sucker," Magic said.
"Glad we don't have to level the whole thing," Gonzalez said.
They quieted then as Murdock led them down the last slope, and up the next small rise to where the ground had been leveled out for the complex. They lay on a slope about four hundred yards from the fence.
Magic Brown with his big .50-caliber sniper weapon and forty rounds of armor piercing and HE rounds; Harry "Horse" Ronson with his HK machine gun; and Rodolfo Gonzalez with his Colt M-4A1 with grenade launcher, and twenty rounds of the 40mm, moved to the west to set up their diversion.
Everyone had his radio turned on. Murdock called for a quick radio check. Each man reported with his last name, except Kat, who used her first.
"Magic, give me a ready one, when you pick your spot. Keep about twenty yards apart when you start shooting. Hope you get a shot at the chopper. That might be a good time to start this party. Let me know when you get a chopper shot. The bird should come around every half hour."
They left lugging their extra ammo.
Ten minutes later, Murdock heard a ready one in his earpiece. Magic was ready. Murdock had his teams spread out, and ready. Fred Washington, the platoon's second black, would lead the way with his wire cutters, and do a man-sized peel-back on the wire. They knew it wasn't electrified.
Once the fourteen men were through, Washington would temporarily wire the fence closed.
They moved up so they were twenty yards from the fence, and its lights. Murdock had Miguel Fernandez with his HK PSG 1 silenced sniper rifle ready to take out the lights on both sides of the cutting spot. They would do that after Magic had a shot at the chopper.
They all waited.
Ten minutes later, Murdock heard the chopper. He couldn't see it. But Magic could.
"Have target," Magic said in the mike.
A minute later the chopper rose higher, and Magic fired. He worked the bolt, and fired again. He got off three rounds in less than a minute. Now Murdock saw the chopper. It had lifted a hundred feet over the complex. He saw it shudder, then tilt to the right. Another round hit the engine and the whole chopper exploded in one big ball of fire.
At the same time they heard the machine gun rattling away.
A moment later the karumph of the 40mm grenades came as Gonzalez lobbed them into the production facility. Alarms sounded. A loud siren went off.
Murdock touched Fernandez's shoulder, and he settled in aiming at the first light, a standard twenty yards from the entrance point. His silenced round knocked it out. He turned the other way, and with two shots blew out that one.
"Go, Washington," Murdock said into his lip mike. The black SEAL darted forward and worked on the wire. He cut through the chain-link fence, and soon had it high enough so the first man could squeeze through. More followed as Washington cut more links. By the time he had it four feet high, all the SEALs were inside. He bent the chunk of fence down where it had been, and tied it in place with wire twists.
Murdock spread out his men, and moved toward the central building they needed to capture. He could see armed men running to the west. Good. They waited a moment, then moved forward again until they were just outside the wash of the one-story building's lights.