Part 24 (2/2)
'Can I?' Sky Monster scoffed. 'My friend, give me something harder next time!'
'Great.' West made to leave the c.o.c.kpit. 'See you down on the ground.'
Ten minutes later, West strode into the lower hold of the Halicarna.s.sus Halicarna.s.sus, dressed entirely in black and wearing his back-mounted carbon-fibre wings.
Zoe was waiting for him, also dressed in black, also wearing a wing-set. The tight form-fitting bodysuit brought out the best in her slender figure. Lean and shapely, Zoe Kissane was beautiful and fit fit.
'I hope you're right about this,' she said.
'Surprise is the key. Their guns are pointed at the Cubans and at their 700 prisoners. The Americans don't think anyone is stupid enough to take Guantanamo Bay head-on.'
'Nope. Only us,' Zoe said.
'Have you checked out Stretch's satellite image of Camp Delta?'
'Three times,' Zoe said. 'The intel from Mossad says that Zaeed is in hut C-12 of Camp 3, solitary confinement. Hope we can spot it in the dark. Is there anything Mossad doesn't know?'
'Mossad knows what my Aunt Judy eats for breakfast.' West checked his watch. 'We're eight minutes out. Time to fly.'
Moments later, the rear ramp of the 747 rumbled open and they leapt out of it together, disappearing into the night sky.
Inside the Halicarna.s.sus Halicarna.s.sus itself, every battle station was manned. itself, every battle station was manned.
Big Ears, Fuzzy, Pooh Bear and Stretch all sat in the great black plane's four gun turrets-Big Ears and Pooh Bear on the wing-mounted turrets, Fuzzy on the underbelly, and Stretch up on the 747's domed roof.
Their six-barrelled miniguns were currently loaded with super-lethal 7.62 mm armour-piercing tracer rounds-but they had special instructions from West as to what to use later, when the battle got really hot.
Wizard, Lily and Horus had been dropped off at a safe island location nearby-it was far too dangerous to bring Lily on this mission.
The Halicarna.s.sus Halicarna.s.sus thundered through the night sky. thundered through the night sky.
It flew without lights, so it was little more than a dark shadow against the clouds; and it had long ago been stripped of its transponder-so it gave off no electronic signature.
And its black radar-absorbent paint, the same as that used on the B-2 Stealth Bomber, deflected any radar scans the Americans projected from Gitmo.
It was a ghost.
A ghost the American forces at Guantanamo Bay would not know existed until it was right on top of them.
In the end, it was a pair of night sentries who saw it-or, rather, heard heard it-first. They were posted on one of the most far-flung sentry towers on the base, on a remote headland overlooking the ocean about two klicks east of Windward Point, near the Cuzco Hills. it-first. They were posted on one of the most far-flung sentry towers on the base, on a remote headland overlooking the ocean about two klicks east of Windward Point, near the Cuzco Hills.
They saw the huge black shadow come roaring in low over their heads, zooming in from the south, from over the Caribbean Sea.
They called it in immediately.
And so the alert went out, and the 3,000-strong American force at Guantanamo Bay declared war on Jack West Jr and his team.
The Halicarna.s.sus Halicarna.s.sus shot low over the Cuzco Hills, bearing down on the rumpled moonlit landscape of Guantanamo Bay. It was 3:45 in the morning. shot low over the Cuzco Hills, bearing down on the rumpled moonlit landscape of Guantanamo Bay. It was 3:45 in the morning.
Then the big 747 banked sharply to the left and disappeared below the treeline...
...landing right on the fairway of the 16th hole of the Guantanamo Bay Golf Course, its winglights blazing to life as it did so!
The plane's ma.s.sive tyres ripped up the pristine fairway, churning up great ragged chunks of gra.s.s, its glaring winglights lighting the way. It romped down the 16th hole, rumbled onto the 17th.
The stand of bushes separating the 17th from the 18th hole loomed in front of it and Sky Monster just smashed straight through them, crunching over them in an instant, and the rampaging Halicarna.s.sus Halicarna.s.sus rumbled down the 18th fairway. rumbled down the 18th fairway.
Klaxons and alarms wailed all over Guantanamo Bay. Flas.h.i.+ng lights erupted everywhere.
Marines leapt out of their beds.
Guard-tower sentries scanned the perimeter down the barrels of their M-16s.
Spotlights searched the sky for more aircraft.
The word went out: they were being attacked ...from the golf course!
Two crack teams of Recon Marines were dispatched to the golf course, while Black Hawk helicopters and a much larger force were a.s.sembled to follow up behind them.
And every single jail on the base was instantly placed into lock-down-every gate was double-locked via computer, every guard-post sentry team was doubled.
It was chaos.
Pandemonium.
And in all the chaos and confusion that had followed the Halicarna.s.sus Halicarna.s.sus's spectacular landing on the golf course, no-one noticed the two black-winged figures that descended over Gitmo with graceful silent swoops, landing lightly and silently on the flat concrete roof of hut C-12 in Camp 3 of Camp Delta.
West detonated a Semtex charge on the roof of the cinder-block cabin, blasting a hole in it big enough for him to fit through.
He jumped down through the hole- -and landed in darkness on the roof of a cube-shaped wire-mesh cage. A blowtorch made short work of the cage's roof and West leapt down into it- -to see a skeletal wraith-like figure come rus.h.i.+ng out of the darkness at him, arms outstretched!
West pivoted quickly and sent Zaeed thudding into the wall, where he pinioned the terrorist and shone his barrel-mounted flashlight right into the man's eyes.
By the light of the flashlight, Zaeed looked positively scary scary.
The terrorist's beard and hair had been shaved off, leaving him with a crude stubble on both his angular chin and his scalp. He was thin, malnourished. And his eyes-those eyes-they were hollow, sunken into his skull, accentuating his overall appearance of a living skeleton. They blazed with madness.
'Mustapha Zaeed?'
'Ye-yes...'
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