Deadly Force (20 page)

“What happened to Mojombo's lookouts?” Murdock asked.

“We found two bodies down here that had been tortured and then took a bullet in the back of the head. Probably two of the outpost guys.”

“The others are probably in the jungle somewhere,” Senior Chief Sadler said.

“Let's clean up the weapons and ammo and get moving. Meet us here, JG.”

“Roger that.”

For Murdock it was a long walk home. He had to report to Washington, D.C., that Stroh and the Vice President had been captured by the federal troops. He couldn't decide how to tell what had happened. In the end, he forgot about strategy. He'd just tell it the way it was.

Mojombo was not back from his political campaign when Murdock and his men arrived back at Tinglat. The mayor came out and welcomed them. They put the stack of enemy weapons in front of Mojombo's tent. The mayor grinned when Murdock told him about the federal troops that had died.

“How did they strike so fast with the Loyalist soldiers here?” Murdock asked.

“Almost all of the soldiers were on a training hike up the trail,” the mayor said. “Mojombo told Lieutenant Gabu
to work them hard. All gone but three injured ones.”

“I thought Mojombo had security out.”

“He did, but the federal soldiers must have killed them. It is a sad day. We have found two more dead. They killed five men in our village.”

“I just hope that they didn't take the SATCOM,” Murdock said. “Then they could listen in on our broadcasts.” Murdock found one SATCOM in the leader's tent and another one in Stroh's tent. Murdock had two of his own. He called Bradford to set up the SATCOM and aim the dish antenna. When it beeped, he picked up the handset and made the call.

“D.C., this is Murdock.”

There was no immediate response. He made the call again and on the second try, he made contact.

“Murdock, this is Don Stroh's friend.”

“I have some bad news. Don and the Vice President have been captured during a military attack on a village north of Sierra City. It came as a complete surprise. We had no idea the military knew that the Mojombo forces had moved south ten miles. We followed them, but they put up rearguard actions until the captured men were taken into the city. We don't know where they are. But we're sure that the Sierra Bijimi federal troops captured them.”

“This is what we have been afraid of. Any way to get them back?”

“We're working on it. Might take some time. You have no diplomatic contact in Sierra City. Who do you protest through?”

“I'm not sure. I'll let State take care of that. Stand by while I spread the word. Keep your SATCOM on at all times. We'll figure out something and send you some orders. This is going to cause a crisis situation back here.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I'll call you back.”

Murdock took Sadler, Lam, Jaybird, Gardner, and Miguel Fernandez to a meeting at his tent. “You know the problem. We're going to get orders in a few hours to go into the city and get the men back, especially the Vice President. I want suggestions how we do that.”

JG Gardner spoke first. “Your guide the other night, Tehabo, knows the town well. I'd put him on one of our motorcycles and send him into town to use his contacts to find out where the men are being held. It can't be the Army base. Maybe the Government Building, a locked basement room perhaps.”

“I like it,” Jaybird said. “Only, let's send in at least two men in case one gets compromised or captured. One of the Loyalist troopers or somebody from this village.”

“A villager would never have enough money to buy a motorcycle,” Fernandez said. “Send in two Loyalist men. In the meantime we can stir up the pot by taking out two more police stations. Keep them on the run.”

Murdock pointed at Jaybird. “The Loyalist troops are back from training. Find Tehabo and get him over here. Have him pick out another man who can ride a motorcycle and can do some nosing around in town without getting shot.” Jaybird left at once on a jog toward the Loyalist troops' tents.

“We'll use Gardner's Loyalist trooper guide for the next police station, but let's just do one. I don't like the idea of splitting up our men for what could be a heavy firefight. Fernandez, go find the guide you used the other night. Bring him back here. Tell him he'll get some extra pay for his help.”

Murdock looked back at the three men left. “Any more ideas about finding the Veep?”

“My guess would be he's in the Government Building,” Lam said. “It must have some secure rooms in there.”

The SATCOM radio sounded. Bradford gave the handset to Murdock.

“Murdock, this is the office of the President calling. I'm Sage Billings, Chief of Staff. Are you there?”

“Yes, Mr. Billings. We read you loud and clear.”

“Good. We've had an emergency meeting here and everyone is upset about this development. We thought you had better protection for the two men. Now to cases. Your orders are to go into Sierra City, find the two men who are held captive, and bring them back under U.S. control. Tie them up if you have to and put them on the chopper and fly them out to the aircraft carrier just offshore.”

 

 

“Roger that, Mr. Billings. We're working on plans now to find where the men are being held. It may take us a day or two to find them. Then we'll figure out how to extract them. Remember that down here the federal troop strength is a little over four thousand men.”

“I hear you, Murdock. The bottom line is the President wants Adams out of their clutches and onto that carrier where he'll be safe.”

“Roger that, Mr. Billings. We'll keep you informed.”

Murdock put down the handset and turned to his men. “Now it's official. We get them out of there as fast as we can. First we get the two men off on their motorcycles. Gardner, you coordinate a hit at the next police station tonight. We'll leave at 0100. Cover all the bases. Now where are those motorcycle guys?”

Jaybird brought his two men back. “You both can ride the motorcycles we have?” They nodded. “Did Jaybird tell you what we want you to do? You'll be spies in the enemy camp. You'll have to find federal troop hats; otherwise your uniforms are the same as theirs. Look for special guards, lots of guards. Check out the Government Building if you can. We suspect they might be holding the two men in there. Any questions?”

“Do we take our weapons?”

“Do federal troops around the city carry weapons?”

“No, sir, usually not,” Tehabo said.

“Then keep only concealed weapons. Be as inconspicuous as possible. Don't drink anything, don't get in a fight,
and don't challenge anyone. Move with confidence but not like you're a spy. Okay?”

“Okay,” Tehabo said. “We will work together since many of the federal troops work in pairs around the city.”

Murdock dug into a case in his tent and brought back two stacks of dagnar bills. “You may need some money. Act as any other pair of soldiers would. But no drinking. Now, get on your bikes and get out of here. Oh, it might be good to ride round the outskirts of town and come in from the south.”

The men saluted smartly, turned, and hurried to the motorcycles.

Gardner came back and sat on the grass outside Murdock's tent. “We have our target. The guide is here and ready to go. We have alerted Lieutenant Halstrom, the pilot. They will have the bird ready to fly at 0100. We're working on resupply of ammunition now. Most of our men are down a little. We'll get up to full normal load after I talk with the sergeant in charge of the armory tent. Right after chow I'm putting the men down for a five-hour sleep period. We need to be awake and ready for anything tonight. I expect there will be outside lookouts at all of the police stations.”

Murdock nodded. “Good work, Gardner. Give us a year and we'll rub that JG off your rank.”

“That would be good, Commander. My father has been chiding me about that.”

“He's the admiral?”

“Yes, sir, two stars. He expects me to get three.”

“Bummer.”

As they talked, Mojombo came into camp with his ten men. They heard about the raid on the village as they arrived, and Mojombo came directly to Murdock.

“It's true?”

“Afraid so. The SEALs were on a march up the valley, and your men were on a training run up the trail north. The federals hit us at exactly the wrong time. I'm afraid they killed your outpost men. We found two of them.”

Mojombo slumped to the ground. “It was going so well. We are to send a platoon of soldiers and an officer down
to Salal tomorrow to protect them. They are completely on our side. Now this.”

“Mojombo, may I make a suggestion?”

The distraught leader nodded.

“Your outposts and lookouts must be hidden so no one on the trail can see them but they can see everything. Each of your lookouts must have a radio. If they see anything, they should report it at once. I can send Lam with your men to help them find positions and conceal themselves if you wish. You should get new lookouts in place before darkness.”

“Yes, good suggestions. We'll accept Lam's help. We have the radios. I was overconfident. I won't be again. But you have a problem now as well. How will you get your two men back?”

Murdock outlined the plans. The Loyalist leader nodded. “Yes, if your men can find out the location where they are held, you will have your hardest part done.”

He stood and let out a long sigh. “It seemed so easy at first. Now it is becoming harder and harder. I need to get the lookouts in place.”

Lam stood. “I'll be ready whenever you call me.”

Mojombo waved at him and walked toward where many of his men had congregated around the tents.

Murdock went into his tent and dropped on his cot. What else could he be doing? How else could he try to get the Vice President returned to them? Now he knew that he should have put the Vice President on the Skyhawk as soon as it landed and accompanied him out to the carrier. The damn barn door. He laced his fingers together behind his head and tried another angle. What would Kolda be doing with the two men? Some propaganda story to the world press? Neither man would have a passport. They had diplomatic status, but that did them no good if they couldn't prove it. What in hell would Kolda do?

He gave up and closed his eyes. Let go of it. Just forget about the damn problem. Maybe his subconscious would come up with something. A small nap. Yeah.

 

It seemed like only seconds later when somebody pushed his shoulder.

“Hey, Cap. You almost missed chow. Not the best, but my guess it's some kind of dog-meat stew. Not bad. Some good bread made out of something. No flour around here. Got me. You can still make the end of the chow line.”

Murdock sat up and wiped his eyes. “Yeah, thanks.” He figured out it was Senior Chief Sadler talking. “Thanks, Senior Chief, I owe you one.”

On the way to the mess tent, Murdock remembered the problem. His subconscious had let him down. Not a hint of an idea about Stroh and the Veep.

 

That night at 0100 they took off in the Skyhawk on their way to Sierra City. Gardner and his guide, Gamba, had selected the site for their attack. It was a larger police station than the other two and would for sure have security out. Gardner had redlined Omar Rafii.

“Rafii's limp was worse, and when we checked the wound it had broken open. Mahanani said it could get infected. He pulled it together and dosed it with medication and wrapped it up tight. He's supposed to stay on his bunk until tomorrow noon at least.

“The rest of the men are ready. We don't have Lam for our point, so I suggest we use Fernandez.”

“Your ball game, Gardner. I'm just along for the fun of it.”

Then the noise of the chopper made talking too hard and they settled in for the ride. They circled around the city ten miles out from the last lights, and came in from the south. They were about ten miles from the first lights of the city when they let down. Gamba jumped from the bird and looked around.

“Want to know where we are, so I can get back to this spot,” he said. A small stream worked its way across the gently sloping farmland. At last he nodded.

“Okay, we go now,” Gamba said.

“This time the pilot has one of our Motorolas,” Gardner said. “With him at two thousand feet, the little radios should be good for eight miles. I told the pilot to stay here unless
he started taking enemy fire. Then to memorize this spot and get back here every hour on the hour after the first three hours.”

They jogged across the fields, found a road going their direction, and kept up the pace, moving at a little better than seven miles an hour. That was about a nine-minute mile, and they could keep it up for four hours if they had to. Murdock remembered once or twice on past missions when they had been forced to go that long.

Gamba worked the point with Fernandez.

“We're coming into some of the city now,” Fernandez said. “Looks like almost every house and building is dark. No streetlights out here. Just downtown is my guess. We're home free along here.”

They slowed their jog to a fast walk and kept three yards apart in a column of ducks.

After twenty minutes of hiking, the streets became more commercial, and soon there were business sections, then residential, and sometimes mixed. Gamba called a halt ten minutes later. They were in an alley, and the darkness was complete as two-story buildings loomed over them.

Gamba talked to Murdock and Gardner on the radio. “Now I need to do some looking around. We're two blocks from the police station. They could have guards out this far. If I find one, there will be more. Smoking will give them away. Everyone here wants to smoke. I don't understand that. I'll take Fernandez with me for support.”

“Be back in fifteen minutes,” Gardner said.

The SEALs slumped on the alley dirt. The front man automatically went out as security, and Murdock, who was at the tail end of Alpha Squad, went back twenty yards as rear security.

After twenty minutes, Gardner called on the Motorola. “Fernandez. Where the hell are you?”

The whispered voice came back. “Just watched Gamba eliminate a guard with his knife. He can play on my team anytime. He said there are no more guards between us and the station. We can move down to the end of this block and have open fields of fire at the front and side. I'm coming back to lead you here.”

In five minutes he keyed his radio again. “Move it, SEALs, to the end of the block you're on. I'm at the first cross street.”

 

Ten minutes later JG Gardner had the men in the positions he wanted them to be. Half would fire at the police station. This one was made of concrete block, so they would have to hit windows with the twenties and maybe blow off a door. He put three SEALs behind them for security, and put two more on each side in a square perimeter.

“All units in position?” he asked on the Motorola. The four groups checked in. Murdock had worked forward to the eight men who would put fire into the police station. He had his Bull Pup and figured he could help.

“Four rounds each with the twenties,” Gardner said. “The three twenties on the left of center hit the doors and windows on the front of the building. The other three fire at the side windows. Your weapons are free.”

Murdock had knelt down, and now aimed at the large door on the front of the building and fired. The sound of the six Bull Pups going off created a crescendo of sound that kept increasing until the twenties stopped.

Reaction inside and outside the police station was quick. Ten men lifted up from the left side of the station and charged across the open street toward the street mouth where the SEALs had fired from. The two SEALs on that side cut down three of them with the MP-5's. A twenty-round burst just in front of them blasted four more dead, dumping them on the concrete street. The other five dove behind cars and an old truck, and began firing at muzzle flashes.

“Cover,” Gardner barked into the Motorola. The SEALs in the street mouth rushed to the near side of the building, which came to the sidewalk.

Then three Army men pushed sandbags off their weapon and fired a machine gun from an emplacement near the left side of the police station. Murdock targeted it with a twenty, and the impact fuse detonated on the side of the weapon and destroyed it and the three men manning it.

MP-5 fire kept down the heads of the men who had
hidden behind the cars on the street. Two twenty rounds hit one of the cars, exploding it and igniting the gasoline in both rigs in a second spectacular blast. Now men ran out the front door of the police building, one of them slapping at his burning shirt. Two 5.56 rounds cut him down.

“Let's use two rounds each on the twenties with WP,” Gardner said. The rounds soon slammed into the building, some falling harmless as they missed the blown-out windows. Half of them penetrated the building, and soon smoke billowed out of the front of the structure and windows on the near side.

Gardner surveyed the scene. No more opposition. He was ready to give the order to pull back when they heard a racing motor and saw a tanklike vehicle roll around the near side of the station and move directly at them. A heavy machine gun chattered on its front roof mount as the rig rolled toward them. They could hear the tread as it worked over rollers.

“Light tank or armored personnel carrier,” Murdock said on the net. “Everyone take cover, cease fire. Our rounds won't hurt him, not even the twenties. Get your C-4 out and make it into quarter-pound bombs. Insert a timer detonator, but don't set it yet. We'll see what he does. We should spread out along here. Ten yards between men. Find any cover you can. He's stopped firing. He can see no targets.”

“Any casualties from that last action?” Gardner asked.

“Caught some shrapnel or a ricochet in my left arm,” Senior Chief Sadler said on the net. “It's okay, I wrapped it up. Ready for duty.”

“Here he comes,” Gardner said. “He's got no headlights, maybe a nightscope. He must have viewing slots up there in front. Anybody know where they should be?”

Jaybird sputtered a moment. “Oh, yeah, viewing ports on both sides of most of these rigs. I can get on top of him and work down to the slots, push half of a quarter of C-4 into it, and set the timer/detonator. Half is inside, half outside.”

“No way,” Murdock said. “Too dangerous.”

“We move up and try for the tracks?” Mahanani said.

“Best bet.”

They watched the rig crawling toward them. They could see it better now in the soft moonlight. It was a half-track with tires in front where the body of the rig slanted sharply up to the top, six feet off the ground.

“Hold fire,” Gardner said. “Two men on each side of him when he gets closer. It'll take a sprint across the street.”

“Who the hell?” Murdock asked as a shadow eased away from a building closest to the police station, then charged across the open street and slammed against the side of the station. The half-track had just passed that point. Then the figure raced up to the back of the slow-moving machine, jumped on board, and crawled over the bare metal toward the front.