“Roger that. Moving out.”
Priest renewed his slow creep through the vegetation, reaching his sniper post on the river bank a hundred yards upstream from the bridge about two minutes before Jed and Volodya would reach the objective.
Volodya and Jed, six feet under the murky water, couldn't see the central spar of the bridge. As they approached the bridge, Volodya and Jed received directions from Douglas, who was reading their position from the GPS map display on Fei's computer.
"A hundred yards out… angle right… ninety yards… angle slightly left…" and so on until Jed noted, "Just bumped into the sumbitch."
Volodya and Jed kicked off their flippers. If everything went according to plan, they wouldn't need the swim gear on the way out. They checked their weapons and equipment one more time, taking their time to ensure everything was combat-ready. Finally, it was time to climb the central spar to the top of the bridge.
The two commandos slipped on the gloves I had acquired from the Taiwanese and began to climb.
Researchers discovered the biological secret that allowed geckos and other climbing lizards to get a secure hold on wet surfaces about fifteen years ago. Geckos have hundreds of adhesive foot-hairs, each only 200 nanometers in diameter. Each hair is so strong that a single foot-hair can lift an ant. A million of the hairs, which can easily fit onto the surface area of a dime, can lift a human child. Taiwanese material scientists finally figured out how to artificially produce the gecko hairs about five months before the war started, and their first real field testing was happening on this railroad bridge in China.
When the Taiwanese weapons technicians explained the science to me, I didn't understand all the specifics about how the Van der Walls force allowed the gecko hairs to exploit the strength of covalent molecular bonds, but I did consider that the ability to climb any surface in any condition was something I wanted for my men. Consequently, Volodya and Jed scaled the fifty-foot central spar of the bridge in about twenty seconds, as effortlessly as if they were climbing a ladder.
The climbers froze about five feet below the surface of the bridge when they heard Fei shout a swear in Chinese.
Douglas angrily said, "Keep it in English, Radio Shack, our boys probably thought you were a fucking PLA battalion yelling in their ear."
Fei responded, "Sorry, sir, but the information feed from the satellite is down. Must be a solar flare or something."
I asked, "So no overwatch of the mission?" Fei shook his head. "When will the signal be back up?"
His voice a bit squeaky, Fei said, "I don't know, sir."
I watched as Volodya's gaze flicked skyward. A cargo plane was headed toward the Quanzhou airport, otherwise the sky was clear.
Volodya whispered, "Don't worry, Lieutenant Fei. You high-tech types might panic when the computers freeze, but back in Spetsnaz, we never had them in the first place. Priest, where are the guards on our side?"
"Three of them are patrolling on the left side of the bridge. Probably about one minute til they reach the end and turn around. I can drop them at your command. There are two more on the far side, but I'm too low to see them at this angle. They might see you the second you pop up over the edge of the bridge."
Without turning his head, Volodya quietly said, "follow my lead, Jed."
The former SEAL was breathing heavily, visibly nervous. "Alright, man."
Volodya looked at Jed. "What was your father's name?"
"Dave."
"Well, Jed Davidovich, you and I are going in the Spetsnaz way. No intel, no cover — no problem. You know what you need to do. Anyone on that bridge is a target. Drop them instantly. Do you understand?"
Douglas stridently cut in over the radio, "Negative, negative, Volodya, do not go up there. Give it a few minutes and if the satellite still isn't working, we give up and try another night."
Occasionally pausing to mimic a radio failure, Volodya replied, "Roger — at — lnel, going up."
Volodya grinned, pulling the Ak-2000U off his back to his right hand. “Are you with me, Jed Davidovich?"
Taking heart from Volodya's bravado, Jed replied, “Let's do it.”
With that, the Russian pulled himself up to the edge of the narrow walkway along which the PLA soldiers patrolled. He peeked over the edge, but well beneath the railing on the walkway to scope out the situation.
Four guards on the far side, looking off to the east, away from Jed and Volodya. Volodya couldn't see the three other guards that Priest had reported because of the tangle of support girders and railings.
Volodya glanced to the sky again, noting the position of the cargo plane about to fly over the bridge. He whispered, "Priest, drop your targets in seven seconds."
Priest had observed his colleagues climbing through the scope on his sniper rifle. He'd heard Colonel Douglas order Volodya not to attack. Volodya's request for support confused him.
"Hammer, we do not have clearance from Bird." Priest adhered to the radio callsigns for Volodya and Colonel Douglas.
Volodya looked at the sky again. The cargo plane inbound for Quanzhou was close now, the whine of its four jet engines increasing in volume.
"Shoot those fucking guards, we're going loud in two seconds."
Douglas roared over the radio, "Volodya, if you go over that damn railing—"
"Go." Volodya whispered the word as he pulled himself over the railing at the edge of the bridge. Jed was over a split-second later.
The cargo plane, rapidly descending for a landing in Quanzhou, screamed 200 feet overhead. The sound of Priest's silenced sniper rifle was totally lost as the Taiwanese commando fired at the group of three guards on the near side.
Two of the near side guards faced the river, and Priest knew these had to be the first to go. He placed his first shot directly in the forehead of the rightmost guard, shifted aim, and put another round into the chest of the next guard.
The last PLA on the near side of the bridge just had time to hear the body of the first guard collapse to the ground when Priest's third round struck his arm. Priest cursed himself for poor aim and put the fourth round into the man's forehead just as he began to cry out in pain.
The sequence spanned two and a half seconds. One hundred and fifty yards upstream of the bridge, Priest's heart continued to pump adrenaline through his bloodstream as he saw Volodya and Jed take their first steps on the bridge and open fire.
Volodya came off the railing and landed on the small walkway next to the railroad track. Across the tracks, he saw four guards on the opposite walkway. One of them looked right back at him, his eyes raised in alarm.
The Russian brought up his Ak-2000U and held down the trigger. He emptied his magazine into the four PLA soldiers. A moment later, Jed poured his own fire into the group. The encounter lasted three seconds. The only sound on the bridge was the receding whine of the engines on the transport overhead.
"Bridge clear." Volodya pushed Jed toward the tracks. "Hurry up and rig the explosives. The train's due in four minutes. I'll cover you."
This was, of course, a placebo promise. Volodya could look out for trouble coming from the PLA stationed on the north side of the bridge or the south side, but not both.
Nevertheless, Jed was professional. "I'm on it."
Jed retrieved the explosives from his bag and affixed a detonator and timer to each charge. He planted a ten pound shaped charge on each track and leaned over the far railing to place a shaped charge on the central spar.
With the radio turned off, Douglas looked to me. “Volodya can be a headstrong bastard, Mr. Cortez, but I trust his judgment.”
Surprised, I asked, “You're just going to let him disobey an order like that?”