The three men watched as the soldiers moved closer. Murdock aimed at the three on his side and waited. Sweat popped out on his forehead. He hated waiting. All his years in the Navy had never taught him patience. He remembered the prayer his mother had told him once. "Lord please grant me patience — and do it right now!"
The Chinese were within fifty feet now, and Ching nodded. "They're talking about a leave they went on. Many girls, much wine, and plenty of food."
"Fucking big help," Jaybird said.
Now the soldiers looked left and right and slowed.
Murdock squirmed where he sat looking out from the hole. The Chinese moved again. Now they were within twenty feet of the blind made of cut-off branches rammed into the ground. If they hit it with their rifles, the whole thing might fall down revealing the tunnel.
The Chinese chattered again and Ching nodded. Then one of them held up his hand and the talk stopped. He looked to the left. The soldier laughed and waved at his buddies. He said something and they all cheered.
Murdock looked at Ching.
"Break time," Ching said. "They have a ten-minute rest period and can drink water if they have any."
The six men looked around, then walked forward to within six feet of the blind and sat down in the shade.
Murdock signaled Jaybird to move back. He and Ching sat near the opening watching the Chinese. They drank from canteens, laughed, and talked.
Ching listened, but couldn't even whisper what they were saying. They were so close Murdock could smell their sweat. He looked at his watch. Ten minutes would be an eternity. Then where would the six Chinese soldiers go? If they found the blind and the entrance to the tunnel, it would be time for the SEALS to shoot their way out and get over to that patch of thicker trees. He'd lose some men, he knew. There were just too many Chinese out there.
They waited.
Murdock held up five fingers. Ching nodded.
After nine minutes on Murdock's watch, the Chinese soldier evidently in charge of the others stood, yawned, and stretched. He said something and the others stood. They talked back at him, and he shouted something and they quieted. He waved, and they began walking away from the blind.
Murdock looked at Ching. When the soldiers were twenty feet away he whispered. "He said they were moving back to the trucks. The search here was over."
Murdock took his finger off the trigger of his room broom. It was over for the moment.
Ed Dewitt came up and looked out. He nodded. "About time we got a little good luck for a change. Where will they go when they get in the trucks?"
"They said something about getting back to the trucks and moving down four kilometers," Ching said. "Damn glad they closed off the search right there."
"Anybody who wants to sleep can sack out," Murdock said. "We'll have a long night of it, so better get some rest while you can. Frazier, you'll be on the lookout as soon as it's safe to take a hike up there."
Murdock looked around until he spotted Red Nicholson. "How you doing, sailor?"
"Good. I'm good. What do you need?"
"Soon as it's safe to leave, want you and Magic to go up and over this mountain and see what's on the other side. Also hope you can see the water out to the east."
"Will do."
Ed Dewitt called to Murdock from the opening. "Better come see this."
Murdock bent down and looked out just in time to see two jet fighters go roaring across the valley not more than five hundred feet off the ground.
"The Russian-built jets are back," Murdock said. "Now I wonder what those Chinese are up to this time."
32
The two sleek SU-27 jet fighters made one more low pass over the valley as if they were trying to see how low they could come to the ground, then pulled up and vanished.
"Playing games," Dewitt said. "Probably don't let them fly them all that much, it gets expensive, so they play around when their leash is cut."
"Wouldn't care if they stay away," Murdock said.
It was twenty-five minutes more before the trucks in the valley below pulled out with their Chinese soldiers. Then Red and Magic took their weapons, added more camo streaks to their faces, and headed up the hill.
"Check it out and come back," Murdock told them. "Don't get into a firefight with anybody. We don't want our Chinese brethren to know where we are."
Less than half an hour after the two men left to scout the new route, Jaybird called from the tunnel entrance.
"Might want to check this out, L-T."
Murdock looked down the valley and saw a formation of six medium-sized choppers churning along. Then they turned and the formation fell apart a little as they came straight up the valley toward the tunnel.
"They could be real trouble if they have even ten troops each," Jaybird said. "Big trouble."
They kept watching, and soon the birds wheeled to the left, did a 360, and headed back the way they had come. A minute later they were out of sight.
"Now what the hell was that all about?" Dewitt asked. "Were they ready to drop off troops to sweep this area?"
"Maybe they got some radio message that this one had been covered and they moved on to another zone," Murdock said. "It's good to remember they have that kind of mobility. They can get troops in faster and where trucks can't go. Which is bad news for us bears."
"I saw that movie," Jaybird said. "The Bad News Bears."
"Let's talk," Dewitt said. Murdock and Jaybird settled down near the entrance. "Our main objective is to get to the fucking coast where we can get wet and hope for a U.S. Navy pickup. How do we accomplish that?"
Jaybird shrugged. "Hell, we move east. We move silent at night and not get in any more firefights."
Murdock shook his head. "Ideal but impossible with all of the troops and equipment they have blocking us. We're going to have to go through one of these major units sooner or later to get our asses into the water. I hope it's later when we're on the coast road down there."
"There's a coast road?" Dewitt asked.
"My make-believe map doesn't show it, but there must be a coast road."
"So, just before we hit the water, we use the SATCOM and let Uncle know about where we are and that we want a pickup, and then we start swimming," Jaybird said.
"Without our rebreathers and our fins," Murdock said. "So we don't count on any five-mile swims."
"Don't forget, we've got two wounded," Dewitt said.
"We swim at the pace of our slowest man," Murdock said.
"So, how do we get to the coast?" Jaybird asked.
"I hope Red and Magic can tell us where the fuck it is," Murdock said. "That will help. Then we look over the terrain and make our plans."
"What about our ammo supply?" Dewitt asked.
"Jaybird, make a survey. Find out what ammo every man has left including for the AK-47's."
Murdock tried to remember the sketch maps they had seen of the China coast. He knew they had traveled south some, but mostly west to get away from Amoy. Then they had switched to a southern and easterly route, and now he wasn't sure where the hell they were. Maybe ten klicks from Amoy. But just where the Taiwan Strait was, he couldn't be sure.
Jaybird came back with the report. He'd written it all down in his ever-present notebook, a three-by-five-inch number with a spiral bind on the top. He was never without it.
He gave a rundown. The gist of it was that the men had about half of their ammo left. They had six AK-47s in good working order, had thrown away two that jammed. There were about seventy-five rounds for each of the 47's. Murdock had three magazines for his MP-5, and so did Dewitt. Murdock had an AK-47 as well.