Transmission: Voodoo Plague Book 5 (15 page)

Martinez brought us in fast and low.  She made a sweeping
turn around a couple of hills, flaring at the last moment and landing next to
the stock tank I remembered so well.  We were 30 minutes early, but needed
every last minute.  Slamming the side door open I jumped out on the sand.  A
brand new, fresh from the box, pair of NVGs let me see everything.  I took full
advantage of them and scanned the area, happy when I didn’t detect anything to
worry about.

I moved away from the aircraft, which was Rachel’s signal to
come out and a moment later she and Dog jumped down.  She also had a new set of
NVGs, and Dog… well, he didn’t need any.  Cummings waited until she was well
away from the Stealth Hawk before following.  I didn’t like him, and Dog had
instantly picked up on that, so Dog didn’t like him.  Dog would growl at him if
he made any sudden moves or got too close to Rachel or me. 

He had protested Dog coming along, but I’d told him I’d
leave his ass behind before I did Dog’s.  He’d seen something in my face to
convince him to drop the entire subject.  Perhaps he was worried about me
leaving him behind in the West Texas desert. 

On the far side of the flat area I could see a large, earth
colored object that looked like a partially deflated water balloon.  In a way
it was.  It was a fuel bladder that an Air Force tactical team had dropped here
several hours ago, flying in and out in a stripped down Pave Hawk.  The Stealth
Hawk we were flying didn’t have the range to get us here and back home to
Tinker, and with passengers we had no room for one of the fuel bladders.  In
fact, we’d come in on fumes.

The team that had brought the fuel had carried two fuel
bladders.  One to leave for us, the other to refuel their helo so they could
get back.  Now, we had to get our aircraft fueled in a hurry.  I didn’t want it
on the ground when the Russians arrived.  Looking over my shoulder I motioned
at the cockpit and Martinez and her co-pilot jumped out.  I helped them stretch
out a hose and connect it to the bladder and the helicopter.

While they handled the fueling process I unloaded the SADMs,
stashing them at the base of the old windmill.  The Stealth Hawk finished
fueling in 20 minutes.  We got it disconnected from the bladder and I helped
Martinez disconnect from the aircraft’s fueling port.

“Watch your ass, sir.”  She said.  “I won’t be far if you
need me.” 

“Keep an eye on that herd with FLIR.”  I said.  “If they
start heading this way, come get us.”

This was already the plan, but I felt better reinforcing
it.  A couple of minutes later the helicopter lifted off and I was glad for the
NVGs protecting my eyes from the storm of sand and debris that the rotor
churned up.  Cummings, to whom I hadn’t issued NVGs, turned his back and
covered his face.  He also didn’t have a weapon. 

He’d thrown a fit when I’d vetoed his request for a rifle,
claiming he knew how to use one.  I didn’t care if he was the best fucking shot
in the world, I didn’t trust him with a weapon.  He’d gone over my head,
complaining to Crawford, but the Colonel had supported my decision and shut him
down. 

In less than 30 seconds I could no longer hear the
helicopter.  I shook my head in amazement at how quiet the damn thing was. 
Scanning the area again, I was glad to see it was still clear of infected.

“So this is where you used to bring your girlfriends.  Not
very romantic, is it?”  Rachel had stepped up beside me and was keeping watch
on the area to my rear.

“Oh, I don’t know.  I used to do pretty good here. 
Something about the spot.  Got you here, didn’t I?”  She didn’t say anything,
but a moment later a sharp elbow struck my lower back.  Good thing I was
wearing a plate carrier vest with ballistic plates.

“Ouch!”  Rachel muttered, rubbing her bruised elbow.  “Why
didn’t you remind me you were wearing body armor?”

“That would take all the fun out of it.”  I answered, then
our banter ended when we heard the sound of a distant, heavy helicopter rotor. 

It wasn’t Martinez.  The Stealth Hawk didn’t make that much
or that kind of noise.  Had to be our Russian friends.  Moving quickly, I put Cummings
and Rachel behind the stock tank and told them to keep their heads down until I
called.  Dog and I settled behind a large pile of boulders at the edge of the
area.

The sound of the helicopter kept growing louder, and I was
finally able to see it with night vision.  It was a Russian Hind MI-24,
complete with stubby wings and a whole lot of missiles.  Basically a flying
tank.  It was a dated design, but still as deadly as the day it was drawn up by
the Soviets.

The Russian circled once before coming into a hover and
gently setting down where Martinez had landed.  The Hind’s rotor was significantly
larger than the Stealth Hawk’s, which meant a lot more sand got blown up into
the air.  For a moment, that was all I could see, then the rotor slowed and the
air began to clear.

 My rifle was up and aimed at the helicopter, but unless
someone got out I knew I’d just be wasting bullets if I decided to shoot.  The
Hind is heavily armored, and light weapons like the M4 can’t hope to cause any
damage.  Well, I might be able to chip his paint a little if he really pissed
me off, or maybe flatten one of the landing gear tires.

The side door slid open and Irina Vostov jumped down,
favoring her injured leg.  She was dressed in clothing more fitting for the
environment than the skirt and lab coat I’d last seen her in.  Despite dressing
appropriately, she’d revealed her vanity by selecting camo pants that hugged
her curves and a skin tight black shirt.  Her blonde hair glowed where it
spilled across the black fabric.  She wasn’t armed, but right behind her came
Igor and the other Spetsnaz soldier I’d met in Los Alamos.  They both had sound
suppressed AKMS rifles up and ready, looking around through their NVGs.

Telling Dog to stay put, I slowly stood, rifle hanging on
its sling and my hands out to my side.  Igor spotted me instantly and started
to swivel his rifle in my direction, but caught himself in time when he
recognized me.  He settled for pointing me out to Irina, and they began walking
in my direction.  I shoved the NVGs off my face and met them half way across
the open space.

“Did we really need to meet all the way out here?”  I asked
Irina by way of greeting.

“Aren’t you happy to see me, Major?”  She said with a
smile.  “I thought you liked bringing girls to this spot.”  She leaned in and
kissed me on each cheek.

I stared at her for a long minute.  Her eyes were twinkling
and the corners of her mouth were turned up in a small smile. 

“I won’t bother to ask how you know that.”  I said.

“I don’t mind telling you.”  She responded with a laugh. 
“Those days are over.  The days of us spying on each other.  Killing each
other.  Like the KGB Colonel you killed in East Germany.  That kill brought you
to our attention for the first time, and we spared no effort to find out
everything about you.  You should see your file.  It’s quite impressive.”

“I’d love to get a look at it.”  Rachel said from behind
me.  I let out a long, mental sigh.  Reminder to self.  Leave the girlfriend at
home when you’re on a mission.  If you don’t, she’ll forget everything you’ve
taught her as soon as she sees you talking to an attractive woman.

I performed the introductions, to a degree.  Irina didn’t
need to know anything about Rachel.  Dog had come out when Rachel had walked up
behind me, and to my chagrin, he immediately took to Igor.  Within minutes of
meeting, he was on his back getting his belly scratched; giving me a look that
said “don’t you wish you were the one doing this?”  Fucking traitor.

Reminding myself about the approaching herd of infected and
that time was short, I waved Cummings forward and introduced him to Irina.  She
held her hand out and he took it, holding it well beyond the amount of time
dictated for a professional greeting.  Irina pulled her hand away and wiped it
on her pants.  I couldn’t tell whether it was a subconscious act or
intentionally sending a message.

“And why is it you are here, Mr. Cummings?”  She asked, a
frown creasing her forehead.

“I am the Chief of Staff for the President of the United
States.”  He said in a formal, self-important voice.  “She has asked me to meet
with you to lodge a formal complaint in regards to the unprovoked attacks on
the United States by the Russian Federation.”

“Excuse me?”  She stared at him with her mouth open, and I
realized I was doing the same.  “Do you understand what I’m doing and why I’m
here?” 

“We understand perfectly.”  He said, crossing his arms
across his chest.  “And while the military may support your actions, I’m afraid
the President does not.  She would like to resolve this diplomatically.  In
fact, she is in contact with your President Barinov and working out terms that
are mutually beneficial to both of our countries.”

I didn’t believe what I was hearing.  It was like one of
those dreams where everything is so surreal that you can’t move or speak.  This
douche bag was telling us that the new president was betraying us to the
goddamn Russians.  Stunned, I looked at Irina who appeared to be as completely
mystified.

“What the fuck are you talking about, Cummings?”  I growled,
anger pulsing though me.  Had this idiot and his boss betrayed us?

“The President has decided that we’re better off to work
with the Russians than fight them.”  He said in a condescending tone.  “She’s
working out the details right now and will be flying to Moscow in a couple of
days to meet with President Barinov.  I’m here because we knew Admiral Packard
and Colonel Crawford would never stop fighting, even with a Presidential order. 
It’s my job to put an end to the United States military involving itself in
Russia’s internal problems.”

I stepped in and grabbed him by the straps of his ballistic
vest and pulled his face into mine.  “What did you do?”  I asked in a low
voice. 

He still didn’t show fear, only the supreme confidence and
arrogance of someone who thinks they know better than anyone else.  Uh oh.  A
man like Cummings wasn’t brave by nature.  I knew his type, having encountered
plenty of them, both during my time in the Army as well as the corporate
world.  He was what I called a paper warrior.  He played his games behind the
scenes, striking deals and betraying people who thought they could trust him. 
These types of people didn’t stand up and exhibit a backbone unless they had an
ace in the hole.  Unless they knew someone had their back.

“Civilians are back in control of the American military and
we will not allow the hawkish actions of a few officers to continue.  It’s time
to start acting like civilized people again.”  He said with a sneer.

I lifted him off his feet and shoved, sending him sprawling
onto the dirt.  “Move and I kill you.”  I said, finally seeing a flicker of
fear cross his face.

“Igor,” I said, lowering the NVGs over my eyes and turning
to look around.  Igor was a well trained operator and didn’t need to have it
explained.  He dropped his goggles over his eyes and raised his rifle.  Before
we spotted anything a shot sounded and the other Russian soldier was punched
off his feet by the rifle round that took off most of his head.

Igor grabbed Irina and I grabbed Rachel and we all ran for
cover behind the large rocks I had been behind when the Russians had landed.  I
noted that Cummings was running out into the desert, towards the firing that
was directed at us, but didn’t have time to do anything about it at the
moment.  Bullets were spattering off the rocks as we ran, and I spun to run
backwards and fired a long burst of full auto fire out into the desert.  I
didn’t have a target, but hoped I could make our ambushers keep their heads
down long enough to reach safety.

A bullet smashed into my chest, knocking the wind out of me
and I stumbled, nearly falling.  Igor had already propelled Irina behind the
rocks and pulled me to safety as more rounds struck all around us.  I reached
to where I’d been shot, thankful for the ballistic plate in my vest that had
stopped the bullet.  It had still hurt like a son of a bitch, and if I didn’t
have a broken rib I certainly had a bruised one, but I didn’t have a hole in me
and I was still alive.

The Russian pilot had started the Hind’s engines and the
rotor was just starting to spin when I heard the distinctive sound of an RPG
being fired.

“Down!”  I screamed, wrapping one arm around Dog and the
other around Rachel a second before the high explosive struck the helicopter’s
rotor housing. 

The explosion was loud and violent, but the helicopter had
been designed to withstand this very type of attack.  Its hull was dented and
burned, but the rotor continued to speed up.  Moments later there were two more
RPGs fired in series, the first to arrive penetrating the windshield and
destroying the cockpit and everything in it.  The second one struck the rotor
head and sheared it off, sending it spinning away to smash into the windmill,
which collapsed under the impact.

Cummings was still running.  Running towards the ambushers
that I could only assume were Russian troops sent by Barinov to put an end to
the coup.  Raising my rifle I hesitated a moment.  This was the fucking White
House Chief of Staff and I was only a step removed from pointing a weapon at
the President.  Then I remembered my oath when I’d enlisted in the Army. 

Well, I remembered part of it.  The part about defending the
country against enemies, both foreign and domestic.  Fuck it!  We had an
unelected president plotting with an invading enemy to ambush American forces. 
I don’t know what the original intent was when the whole domestic enemy thing
was added to the oath, and I didn’t care.  As far as I was concerned, betrayal
deserved only one response. 

But I had spent too long making my decision.  More enemy
fire started hitting the rocks and I had to duck behind them without putting a
bullet in Cumming’s well barbered head. 

“What the hell?”  Rachel shouted in my ear.

“Son of a bitch betrayed us!”  I said.  “Him and the
President.  There’s a team of Russians out there sent to take us out and get
the SADMs secured so they can’t be used.”

Irina and Igor were also having a conversation in rapid
Russian.  She looked worried.  He looked pissed off.  I was curious.  Our
attackers had RPGs.  The rocks we were behind would provide some protection,
but not enough.  Why weren’t they attacking?

“Why didn’t we see them?”  Rachel asked, fear making her
eyes large.  She sat hunched low to the ground, both arms wrapping Dog into a
hug.

“They were in place ahead of us.”  I answered.  Irina and Igor
had finished their conversation and were watching me, listening.  “Night vision
only lets us see what we could see in the day.  It’s not magical.  They can
still conceal themselves.  They’re probably also using thermal blankets to hide
their body heat from the FLIR in the Stealth Hawk.”

Irina nodded her head.  “That’s what Igor thinks as well.”

Before she could say anything else a male voice speaking
Russian shouted out.  Irina and Igor tilted their heads to listen.  After a few
moments she turned to me and translated.

“It is Colonel Kirov.  He is my commanding officer.  He
knows I am here and orders me to surrender immediately.”  She said in a quiet
voice.  Fear, whether of the man or the situation I couldn’t tell, was apparent
in her face.

“So he’s GRU.  How many soldiers will he have with him?”  I
asked.

Irina consulted with Igor before answering.  “He’ll have at
least one squad of 7.  Possibly two.  He likes to do things on a grand scale,
so it wouldn’t surprise me if he brought two squads when he only needs one.”

“Spetsnaz, or regular Army?”  I asked, shrugging out of my
pack and starting to remove the ballistic plates from my vest.

“Spetsnaz.  Definitely.”  She answered.  “What are you
doing?”

“You’re forgetting, Irina.  I grew up here.  I know this country
like the back of my hand.  They don’t.  Would you ask Igor if I can borrow that
laser designator he has attached to his rifle?”  I continued to lighten the
load on my body so I could move quickly and quietly in the dark.

 “You’re not doing what I think you’re doing.”  Rachel said,
but Martinez’ voice in my earpiece distracted me.

“Dog two six.”  I answered her; glad we were using encrypted
radios the Russians couldn’t eavesdrop on.

“You must be having a hell of a party down there.  The herd
has changed direction and is coming straight for you.”  Damn it!  The RPGs,
gunfire and exploding helicopter had been loud, and that noise had alerted the
herd to our presence. 

“How long?”  I asked, reaching out and taking the small
laser unit from Igor, nodding my thanks.

“You’ve got 15 minutes at the most before you have a whole
wave of sprinters crashing the party.  Ready for extraction?”

“Negative.”  I spent half a minute filling her in on what
had happened and what I was going to do.  Irina spoke softly to Igor,
translating what I was doing.  With confirmation from Martinez that she was
ready, I shared the rest of my plan with Irina and handed her one of the SADM
keys.  She took it and wished me luck, then turned to Igor to explain in
Russian.

“Stay with Irina.”  I said to Rachel.  She reached out and
took my hand and I could tell she wanted to say something.  Maybe argue my
plan, maybe not.  Either way, I didn’t give her the chance, turning and
crawling towards the rock face to our rear.

As I moved, Irina shouted back to Colonel Kirov.  Her job
was to keep his attention focused on her.  It was apparent that they wanted her
alive.  I was almost certain they wanted to take her back to Russia for a very
public trial and execution.  A reminder to anyone else with treasonous thoughts
of what happens when you plot to overthrow the government.

The rock face I crawled towards looked like a solid,
vertical chunk of stone that stuck up out of the sand.  It was actually two
solid, vertical chunks with a narrow path between them that was well hidden.  A
thorough and time intensive search of the area would have found it, but I
seriously doubted the Russians had gone to that level of effort.  I knew it was
there because on more than one occasion I’d used it when I was a teenager.

Leading deep between the two massive hunks of sandstone, it
twisted, turned and climbed until reaching the highest point for at least 10
miles in every direction.  That high point was a great place to spread out a
horse blanket and “watch the stars” with a girl. 

What I didn’t remember was just how narrow the damn path
was.  Guess I’m a little bigger than I was when I was 16.  Several times I had
to force my way through when the path narrowed, and once I had to remove my
vest to squeeze my body between two boulders.  Behind me, I could hear Irina
shouting in angry Russian, still keeping the Colonel occupied.  At least I
hoped she was keeping him busy and he hadn’t already sent his troops forward to
capture or kill my friends.

A faint sound from behind caused me to stop and spin, but it
was just Dog, nails scraping on a rock.

“What the hell are you doing here?”  I asked him in a low
voice.  He looked at me and wagged his tail, then came up and bumped my leg
with his head. 

“OK, let’s go.”  I said after almost telling him to go back
and stay with Rachel.  Then I heard another sound and I didn’t even have to
turn my head to know who it was.

“You can’t do anything you’re told to do, can you?”  I asked
Rachel as she slipped easily between the boulders that had given me problems.

“We’ll discuss the fact that you’re not in charge later.” 
She said.  “Right now, we’d better get moving.  It’s already been five
minutes.”

Shaking my head I kept going, soon reaching the part where
we climbed.  A few minutes later we emerged on top of a giant rock.  Dropping
to my stomach I motioned Rachel down and crawled to the edge that overlooked
the ambush site.  With the NVGs back in place I had a view that would be the
envy of an owl.  I could clearly see the Colonel that was talking to Irina, and
in a large semi-circle around him were 12 soldiers.  That meant there were
probably two more I couldn’t see, and it was those two that worried me.

Sniper team?  Or were they advancing on Irina and Igor?  I
kept looking, spotting Igor just arriving at the debris that was all that
remained of the windmill.  He was crawling on his belly, using the minimal
depressions in the terrain to stay hidden.  Irina was still huddled behind the
rocks and I could clearly hear her and she was quite animated.

Turning and looking farther out I scanned again.  Where
would I be?  300 yards away another group of large boulders sat tumbled
together.  Taking my time, I started checking every horizontal surface, nook
and cranny, finally spotting the two man team.  They had a commanding view of
the ambush site, the sniper with his rifle trained on the rocks Irina sheltered
behind.

Moving slowly I positioned the laser on the flat rock in
front of me and turned it on.  A focused beam of light that was invisible to the
naked eye shot out and struck the rock a few feet below the sniper’s position. 
It was clearly visible in the NVGs and I took a moment to adjust it until I was
illuminating the rock about a foot below the two Russians.

“Boomer three, Dog two six.”  I said softly into the radio.

“Boomer three.  Better step it up, sir.  Females at your
location in five.”  Martinez answered immediately.

“Copy.  Target is painted.  Red force is now exposed and
oriented southeast to northwest.”  I said.

“Fox one.”  Martinez replied a few moments later. 

She must have been close, because it was only a couple of
seconds before the Hellfire missile arrived, homing in on the reflected laser
light.  The warhead struck the rock a foot below the two men, but it could have
hit ten feet away and had the same effect.  I didn’t know if this was a missile
equipped with the 20 pound anti-tank warhead, or the 18 pound metal augmented
charge.  It didn’t matter.  The detonation killed both men and vaporized their
bodies and equipment a fraction of a second after the missile’s arrival.  It
also blew a chunk the size of a truck out of the side of the massive boulder.

I quickly moved the laser to shine on the GRU Colonel’s
chest, noting that Cummings was standing next to him.  Both men were staring at
the rocks where the Hellfire had detonated.

“Target two painted.”  I said quickly.

“Fox two.”  Martinez answered almost instantly. 

Kirov knew what was coming and started running.  But it was
too late.  The missile faithfully homed in on the laser and struck the ground a
few feet behind him and only a couple of feet to Cumming’s left.  Both men, and
a couple of the Spetsnaz were blown into a few million pieces in the blink of
an eye. 

Martinez had been close, the Stealth Hawk streaking overhead
only a few seconds behind the Hellfire.  Immediately opening up with a minigun,
she began shredding bodies.  Three more Russians went down under the withering
fire, but these were trained, combat hardened troops.  They didn’t break and run,
nor did they freeze under the attack. 

Ground fire erupted as all of the ones still alive targeted
the helicopter.  I had my rifle up and ready, drilling the grenadier a few
moments later when he raised an RPG in the direction of the attacking Stealth Hawk. 
Martinez looped out of range of their weapons and I checked on Igor.  He was
looking in my general direction and waving.  He was ready.

“Extraction now!”  I called on the radio, turning the laser
to reflect off the ground at my feet so Martinez could spot me easily with her
night vision. 

Circling the area she approached from behind and brought the
big helicopter into a hover behind the protection of the rocks.  Rachel, Dog
and I ran, Rachel hopping through the open door then turning to grab Dog when I
lifted him up.  I scrambled aboard and shouted for Martinez to go.

She spun the aircraft and the deck tilted and I started
sliding out the door, catching myself at the last moment by grabbing on to a flailing
safety tether.  Pulling myself back in I snapped the tether in place and
shouted at Rachel to hold on tight to Dog as I dug a Fast Rope extraction line
out of a locker.

Clipping it into place I kneeled at the open door, ready to
push it out as we came into a hover over Igor’s position.  The minigun started
firing and I heard a couple of pings as Russian bullets hit the helicopter. 
Kicking the line out the door I watched it uncoil and hit the ground a few feet
from Igor’s prone body.  He fired another burst at the ambushers before jumping
up and dashing to the rope.

He got his foot in a loop in record time and Martinez lifted
him off the ground and moved to Irina’s position.  She dropped a little
altitude and Irina dashed for the line and Igor’s waiting arms.  He wrapped her
up after getting her foot in a loop and on my shout Martinez spun us around and
climbed to clear the rocks.  Just before we were clear of the battle there was
another ping followed by a loud explosion from the tail of the Stealth Hawk.