The other woman was reported to be smart as a computer and an expert in public relations, but as plain as a mud fence.
Murdock ran forward ten yards and stopped behind a tree trunk. He could hear nothing from above now. They must have protection out. But a 360-degree circle protection would be tough with the men spread thin. Still, the SEALs were getting so close. He would have had at least an outpost out this way.
Lam came on the Motorola. “Skipper, I don’t understand this. Where the hell is the defense? It’s a walk in the park right here. I must be no more than five hundred feet from the top of the ledge.”
“Hang on. Won’t bother me if we can walk right into the middle of them.”
Five minutes later, they knew the problem. Murdock sat on the ground looking up. It was a sheer cliff with not a chance climbing it without a lot of pitons and ropes. No wonder the Chinese didn’t need any security along here. It was natural protection.
Murdock used the radio softly. “Okay, we’re stopped here. We move on around the side of the mountain until we find a way up. This rock wall can’t last forever. Let’s move out. Lam, get to the front of the column. Maintain the ten yards. Move it.”
Sara Livingston stood in the middle of the tent and stared at her captor. “Lieutenant, I have no doubt why you brought me here. We are both intelligent adults. There is no reason that we should have to act like animals. I have been married twice. Usually I enjoy sex. Now, with your brutal start, I’m not sure that I would.” She watched him closely for some indication of compassion. She found none.
“Lieutenant, I won’t try to fight you off if sex is what you want. Is that why you brought me here?”
Lieutenant Hing smiled. “Of course. I spent four years in school at UCLA. I know all about American women and their fondness for wild sex. I’m glad that you are taking a reasonable approach to this situation. I find you most attractive.”
Sara nodded and sat on the bunk, which had an air mattress on it and army blankets. She began to unbutton the white blouse that she wore under the warm ski jacket.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Undressing. I assume you want me to.” She paused in the opening.
He smiled and then laughed softly. “Yes, but I want to do the unwrapping myself. Like on your Christmas.”
Sara nodded and folded her hands in her lap. He sat down beside her.
“This will be much more pleasant for both of us,” he said. His hands covered her breasts and fondled them through her blouse and bra. “Oh, yes. I had forgotten about you American women and your big tits. I love big breasts.”
“You can call them tits, I don’t mind.”
As he undressed her, Sara let her mind drift away. She saw herself when she was thirteen and overwhelmingly interested in boys. She had found out something new about boys when one afternoon in the woods behind her parents’ house, two boys undressed her. They were too frightened to do anything else. They both ejaculated and then ran away screeching in wonder and delight. She had smiled and put on her clothes.
He shook her gently. “Pretty Sara, you are not with me. You were far away. I like my women to be with me.”
She saw that she was naked and so was he. He was just another man. Nothing she hadn’t seen before. She sighed and nodded.
“What do you want me to do?” she asked.
He told her.
Afterward he said she might as well spend the night with him. The bed was softer and they had plenty of blankets. Sara nodded. It made little difference to her. Here she might be able to do some damage to the lieutenant, but she had seen nothing in the tent that she could use as a weapon. There was always the three-inch hat pin she used in her hair to keep part of the side in place. He might find that.
She looked around. He had been careful to keep his submachine gun and his knife on the far side away from the bed. She relaxed. This was just another small problem she had to help solve for the governor. The big problem was his wife. That one would take a lot of planning and work, but she would do it. The current first lady would be gone within a year. That had been the promise she made herself.
The lieutenant dressed and went outside to check on his troops. He told her not to dress; he would be back soon.
Now he came in shivering from the high-altitude chill, and flipped the blankets back and stared at her naked form.
“Again,” he said.
She nodded. “Why not?” she whispered.
This time she thought about her first two marriages, her husbands. The first time when she was only twenty and Miss Hawaii. Grand and glorious, a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs and loops and standing on your head wondering who you were and if people really liked you or only your title.
Then the year was over and she married in haste and not well. It lasted three months.
No, no. Don’t think about old days. Today. How could she help Tom get out of this one? This jaunt was no surprise to anyone. Everyone had known where they were going for the week. The Chinese must have known as well. His gun. She had to get hold of his gun and kill him. She never blinked or wavered. As she had done all her life, she would do what was required to get the job done. She could do it. Now all that she needed was the opportunity.
From outside she heard gunfire rip into the softness of the Hawaiian night. Lieutenant Hing tensed for a moment, then leaped off the bed, ran naked toward the door of the tent, and looked out. He held the submachine gun in his right hand.
Quickly he pulled on his pants, scooped up a belt filled with magazines for the weapon, and ran outside.
Murdock fired again. “Where the hell them motherfuckers come from?” he bleated on the mike.
“Six of them up here from the look of the muzzle flashes,” Lam said.
“I’ve got at least four on my end,” DeWitt said.
“We’ve got a shit-pot full,” Ron Holt chimed in.
For the past one hundred yards they had been moving around the slope of the mountain. They had been forced downward until they were at least a thousand feet below the camp. The terrain over them now looked to be one gentle slant up to the top. An ideal spot to attack, and just as perfect for the Chinese to set up a stiff defense.
“Use the twenties,” Murdock said. “Laser on the flashes. It should work.” As he spoke he brought up his Bull Pup and sighted in on the next series of flashes. Then he pulled the trigger. The weapon was new enough that the blast of the 20mm round caught him by surprise. The heavy weapon recoiled more then he remembered.
He sighted in on the next laser flash, but caught an airburst flash instead and triggered. By then there were six men firing the Bull Pups at the targets. He let each man fire four or five rounds, then called a cease-fire on the radio. One more flash came from above, then the night quieted.
“What the hell, we waste all them puppies?” Bill Bradford asked.
“At least we scared the shit out of them,” Jefferson said.
“Any casualties?” Murdock asked on the net.
“My turn,” a weak voice said.
“Doc, that you?” Murdock asked.
“Yeah. My lucky day. Caught one in the arm. When the fuck am I gonna learn to keep my damn head down.”
“How bad, Doc?”
Jack Mahanani sighed. “Hell, not sure. Went through. A five-five-six maybe. Ostercamp, you near me?”
“Moving your way, Doc. Hang tough.”