Part 31 (1/2)

Lynn grabbed Jamie's arm and squeezed back, nodding, her face tense, her difficulty swallowing apparent.

”Then let's crank it.”

Jamie winked at Lynn and turned away, signaling North Carolina as she walked quickly toward the cave entrance. At the edge of her vision, she saw North Carolina step in alongside Lynn, saw Lynn watching her as she put on her eyewraps and then her boonie hat. She looked over her shoulder one final time and smiled again-to make sure the last Lynn Hillinger saw of her was that smile.

* 252 *

Chapter thirty.

pranCer aCtual This is Rubyfish Actual. We are taking fire from the south and will engage.”

Oh christ, already a cl.u.s.terf.u.c.k. So much for stealth.

Rubyfish had dropped onto the plateau almost an hour earlier than scheduled because previously undetected PIA had been eyeballed little more than a kilometer south of the cave. Jamie and the five others with comlinks flipped on active signaling just as the last of the escapees emerged from the cave.

At least the chaos somewhat impeded the enemy's ability to track their comlinks' active signals, but Jamie didn't find this consoling. She would much rather have traded easy commo and real-time ops center chatter for the chance to get everyone on the helo before the enemy found anything to shoot at.

Now all that was moot and Jamie worried about her cover teams.

Not Prancer-Dog One and Prancer-Dog Two. They should be okay unless the pickup itself goes all to h.e.l.l.

But only Vargas and Tibay held Prancer-Dog Three, that high, fortress-like spot on the rocky ridge above the cave entrance. They had both SAWs, an E19 a.s.sault rifle, an E112 sniper rifle, and sweeping views of Rubyfish's position to the southwest as well as the escapee pickup point, Prancer X-Ray, to the north. s.h.i.+t. Prancer-Dog Three is the crux of this. If Vargas and Tibay can't hold long enough, the pickup'll turn into a turkey shoot. Should've risked putting more people up there.

”Prancer Actual,” a familiar voice called through Jamie's comlink, ”this is Bravo Overlord confirming commo up.”

* 253 *

”Prancer Actual rogers commo up,” Jamie answered. Hey, that's Embry. So the old man's commanding this one himself.

”How's the senator?” crackled Embry's voice.

”Cool beans, sir. She'll be first on the boat.”

”Roger, Prancer Actual.” Embry's voice relaxed some. ”Thanks.” Because of the scout team's earlier clearing efforts, Donato and Sherman had little trouble moving everyone as planned along the rough slope. They progressed well despite steep, jagged ground and the effort of keeping themselves camouflaged under tarps as they went. Soon they'd be crossing the coulee.

A broad, shallow scoop-out of the land, the coulee's eroded limestone floor was already mostly dry and free of mud. Scattered with boulders and outcrops of darker, crystalline rocks, the coulee began as a narrow dip in the ridge above the cave and widened to the northwest, then due north around a wooded knoll to a wide, flat area that had been selected as Prancer X-Ray.

”Make sure they're under the tarps, sir,” Jamie had reminded Donato, who did better when reminded. ”And once you get to that knoll, stay near it along the east side of the coulee where there's concealment.

Use that concealment 'til you reach Prancer X-Ray.” Now, as she prowled the knoll watching over the line of escapees, mini versions of the ops center's screens appeared near the bottom of Jamie's comlink's shadowscreen; she took a moment to eyeball one of them, and a second later a semitransparent version of it zoomed larger.

It showed the pickup drama playing out from a satellite point-of-view, complete with precise topographical grid overlays and real-time helo movements. Yes! The helos were right where they should be. Jamie dared to allow herself some optimism.

Positioned finally above the southeastern edge of Prancer X-Ray, Jamie saw Lynn crossing the coulee. The only weapons fire remained on the other side of the ridge, south of Rubyfish. Much closer than she'd have liked, but still far enough away. Just thirty minutes, that's all we need...

Then everything popped at once.

”Prancer-Dog Three reports PIA in multiple positions approaching fast,” rasped Vargas. ”s.h.i.+t! Some are trying to move between us and Rubyfish. Count maybe thirty at OC grid November-Niner-Six moving * 254 *

northwest. Count five-make that eight, nine, more, there's more-at November-Niner-Seven, moving north.”

PIA fighters-too many of them-now threatened to cut off Rubyfish and trap it in crossfire. The good news was that the Rubyfish commander didn't have to be told what to do.

”Rubyfish Actual copies,” declared a steady male voice.

”Rubyfish moving northeast toward Prancer-Dog Three and will engage additional enemy at November-Niner-Six and Niner-Seven.” But Vargas hadn't finished, and this time fear pitched his voice higher, tighter. ”Oh christ, there's a whole other crew east-southeast of us, heading for the dip in the ridge. Prancer Actual, they'll be coming into the coulee straight at you. At the rate they're going, estimate twenty minutes before they have line of sight to Prancer X-Ray.” Ops center surveillance was useless, of course. The PIA fighters wore countermeasures that made them invisible to radar, infrared, or thermal detection. Now came Jamie's turn to stay steady. ”Prancer-Dog Three, report number and location.”

”Twenty-plus at November-Niner-Niner moving west-northwest.”

”Prancer-Dog Three, priority target those heading for the dip in the ridge,” Jamie ordered.

s.h.i.+t. s.h.i.+t. Hardly any margin. The PIA fighters approaching from the east-southeast were a mere three hundred meters from the escapees, maybe less. Time slid into slow motion as Jamie snapped off a series of orders while she scrambled to intercept the enemy. Not enough helo support. Not enough.

Jamie requested more, although she knew help would arrive too late. But at least she managed to get Rubyfish's Barracudas diverted, so now two attack helos targeted the PIA approaching Prancer X-Ray while two others protected the escapees' Shark transport helo. And she ordered the Shark to leave without Prancer-Dog Three or Prancer Actual.

”We will extract with Rubyfish,” Jamie yelled over her comlink.

”I say again: Do not wait for Prancer-Dog Three or Prancer Actual.” But before the Barracudas had a chance to pounce, before the Shark got close enough for the escapees to scramble aboard, someone very close to Prancer X-Ray initiated fire. A second later, Jamie heard * 255 *

Donato shouting at the escapees to find cover. Then he screamed at Sherman to come back.

The lieutenant, covering the rear of the line of escapees, had abandoned his concealment to return up the coulee toward the ridge, climbing to his best guess about the source of PIA fire and shooting blind. Immediately, a PIA fighter with a Chinese Type 86 sniper rifle returned fire.

Probably a scout out ahead of the rest of them, already in the coulee. b.a.s.t.a.r.d should never have fired at Sherman and given away his position, but maybe he figures it doesn't matter, because now, right now, he's reporting the location of Prancer X-Ray.

Which meant the enemy wouldn't need line-of-sight to Prancer X-Ray. All they need is a decent grenade launcher. If a single well-aimed smart grenade exploded a few meters in the air above them, it could kill or maim every one of the escapees. And once over the dip in the ridge, the enemy would be plenty close enough to try. Hollering orders as she went, Jamie humped, hoping to close in on the PIA scout first and then get around the knoll in time to cut off the rest of the PIA fighters as they came over the dip in the ridge.

”Some're getting past us!” yelled Vargas.

Jamie pumped her burning legs, forgoing stealth for speed, and made it back to the coulee with seconds to spare before a PIA crew appeared ahead of her. She took out three of them before they realized she was there, hardly noticing the effect on her hands of aiming the weapon, squeezing the trigger. Another ten or twelve PIA quickly turned their attention to her, exactly as she'd hoped they would.

But the PIA scout had gotten past her. ”Prancer X-Ray.” Jamie worked to keep her voice even and sure. ”PIA snipe to your-” Three shots popped off behind her, between her and Prancer X-Ray. ”Got him!” screeched Sherman. ”I f.u.c.king nailed him!”

”Good, Sherman,” Jamie told him via comlink. ”Glad you're a better shot than he was. Did he clip you?”

”Negative. I'm okay.”

Jamie hesitated for a nanosecond while she decided: Send Sherman back north to Prancer X-Ray and out on the Shark, or let him stay and fight. She could use the help. And she wondered if he'd even obey an order to withdraw. Okay, boy, you asked for it. ”New orders, * 256 *

Lieutenant. I want you to cross the coulee and make your way up the bluff to Prancer-Dog Three.”

”Roger,” huffed Sherman. ”Where?”

”Prancer-Dog Three. You will ascend the bluff and join Vargas and Tibay at Prancer-Dog Three. But first you have to cross the coulee.”

Jamie got no reply but could see Sherman on her shadowscreen.