| Subject: ...For Meritorious Service, Chapter 27 - continued |
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TxJAG_b
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Date Posted: 10:56:42 07/07/10 Wed
From yesterday:
Steve this time let a sigh escape. He knew what Hafez was alluding to. He didn’t need this right now, but given all that had happened and what came out at the courts martial, he was within his rights. The Captain nodded. “Your prerogative, Lieutenant; now get your machine airborne!”
“Aye sir.” Lieutenant Hafez said as he saluted.
*~*
Hatchet 07 slowly began to descend again. Mac anxiously looked out the sand blasted window and saw two Dodge pickup trucks waiting for them.
As they settled to the ground, the ramp lowered and Shark Two hustled out of the helo. The Light Colonel could see Sal Williams and Don Burges waiting for them.
“Good to see you again, Colonel,” Sal said as The Colonel and Kayce Danvers approached his truck.
“Likewise Sergeant,” Mac returned with genuine warmth.
Don Burges was pleased to see the two Recon Marines but he also had something else on his mind. Before Mac could ask him about it, he spoke up.
“Colonel, Sergeant Williams and I did some scouting before you arrived. We know that Sergeant Cienfuentes is on that hill over there and Lieutenant Bailey’s unit, Shark Three, has to be somewhere close. I don’t think the Sergeant is part of Darcy’s group.”
“Can Sergeant Cienfuentes be trusted, Corporal?”
“Yes ma’am; I’d stake my life on it.” Don Burges replied. “Cienfuentes and Gonzalez made sure Samir’s bad guys didn’t get you when you went into Amariya.”
“But they couldn’t prevent Lieutenant Ebbits’ death…” Kayce pointed out to Don. She hated to side against him, but really the only people she trusted right now were in Shark Two. Anyone else was an unknown factor at this point.
Don had to admit Kayce had a point. “No Kayce, they couldn’t. Nobody could have. If those insurgents hadn’t killed him, Sergeant Gonsalves was supposed to.”
Mac hadn’t heard this before, but she was fairly certain Gonsalves would have killed Ebbits if ordered to. She glanced at Kayce and then at Don. “We need all the allies we can muster, Corporal,” she told Kayce. Then she nodded to Don. “You have your chance, Burges; feel out Cienfuentes,”
“Thank you ma’am,” Don said and ran to his truck
Mac glanced over at Sal Williams. “Sergeant Williams?”
“Yes ma’am?” Sal answered, ready for her orders.
“We’ll ride with you.” The Light Colonel advised the Sergeant. Mark Dallas who had been talking with Sal noted that JAG Corps officer had orders for him as well. “Staff Sergeant, pick a team to ride with you and Burges.”
Mark nodded. “Aye, aye, Colonel.”
Mac carefully phrased her next order. “And Staff Sergeant; if it sours, get Burges out of there. Even if you have to kill Cienfuentes and any others who are there.”
“You’re authorizing use of lethal force against fellow Marines ma’am?” Dallas knew his question was close to insubordination, but he had to know that if he was stepping off a cliff, that she was going to back him up.
Mac understood why he was asking. “Staff Sergeant, you know these men are associating with a known traitor and enemy combatant. Use deadly force. Those are my orders.”
Mark Dallas nodded gravely. “Understood Colonel.”
“And Staff Sergeant…volunteers only for your team.” She added softly, but it had as much impact as the permission to kill. “They need to know what’s going to be asked of them….”
“Thank you, Colonel.”
Mac nodded; she understood the gravity of what she was asking them to do. It was tough enough sometimes shooting an enemy not firing at you; the lines become a lot blurrier when the enemy is wearing the same uniform as yours.
Mac and Kayce got in the pickup truck while the reminder of her team not going with Dallas and Burges climbed into the truck bed. She looked over at Williams. “Let’s move out, Sergeant.”
“Aye, aye, ma’am,” Salvatore Williams said as he dropped the truck into gear and followed Corporal’s Burges’ truck.
*~*
Jay Raden’s LAV-25 rolled to a silent stop within sight of a group of dark houses. The Corporal could hear Lance Corporal Pogue swearing as he cranked the armored truck’s starter.
“Lance Corporal! What’s the problem?” He barked.
“Damn fuel gauge is faulty!” Pogue shot back, “We’re outta fuel!!”
Jay couldn’t believe this run of luck. “How’d the hell did that happen?!”
“How the hell should I know, Jay?” groused the Lance Corporal, “Maybe they didn’t top us off when we left. Maybe our high speed maneuvers gulped more fuel than we thought--”
Most likely though, it had to do with an armored panel over the fuel tanks that had come loose and allowed some of those Polish 12.7mm rounds to puncture one of the tanks.
While Lance Corporal Pogue continued to outline possible reasons for their running out of gas, Lance Corporal Strong wanted to get this errand over with. At first, the idea of all that money they would be paid just for helping out Colonel Livingston seemed like a dream come true; but now the dream was turning into a horrible nightmare. “Listen guys,” Jesse said interrupting Pogue’s commentary, “we’re here; let’s just--”
“Jesse, do you mind?” huffed Pogue, “I’m trying to tell our *noble leader* here what might’ve happened with the gas--!”
Sierzant Lensinki’s driver, who up till now had done a good job shadowing Rover One, broke cover as the BRDM, instead of going around a bush, went right over it. It was a mistake born of fatigue and getting in a hurry and everyone on board cringed when the armored car noisily flattened the desert shrubbery.
Former Taliban scout Mahmet al-Izz immediately noticed the presence of the armored car and opened fire with his PKM machine gun. That immediately got the attention of his squad and the bickering crew of Rover One.
Jay swung the LAV’s turret back down the road. In addition to seeing the trail of fuel, he also saw the squat sand colored Polish BRDM outlined by the trees surrounding it and under fire from the Fedyeen machine guns.
“Company! We’ve got company! Gunner! HE on that BRDM in the tree line!!”
When gunner/Corporal Jesse Strong hesitated, Jay took over the firing controls. To his mounting anger, he was only able to get off a short burst before the gun jammed again.
But unknown to him, it was enough; despite rounds going short and long, ricochets from the large caliber rounds’ shrapnel combined with the fusillade of 7.62mm machine gun rounds, chewed up the launch rail of Lesinki’s ATGM. The AT-4 missile slumped sideways.
Inside the BRDM, the crew and the scouts could hear as shrapnel bounced and pinged off the armored hide of the Polish vehicle. Luisa cursed their bad luck.
“Cover fire!!” Andre Lesinki ordered, “Driver! Back us into the woods! Now!!”
The BRDM dug into the baked sandy crust and immediately backed away from the incoming 7.62 rounds that were still being fired.
*~*
Tony exchanged curious glances with Gibbs “Why are we slowing?” The former Baltimore detective asked.
Before Tony could get his answer, Sergeant Damato barked out the reason.
“Sergeant Canella! Special Agent Gibbs! Colonel Baranova’s armored car is taking fire!!”
Sergeant Canella quickly climbed into the commander’s seat and looked through the vehicle’s periscopes. “It’s Corporal Raden! He’s firing on her!”
Gibbs knew from experience that a BRDM’s heavy machine guns were no match for the LAV’s 25mm chain gun/autocannon.
He grabbed his rifle. “Sergeant! Get your men dismounted and take the pressure off Colonel Baranova!”
Coming from any other NCIS Agent, Gibbs’ words would have been insulting to the military police Sergeant. But Leroy Jethro Gibbs wasn’t any ordinary ‘Navy cop’. “Aye, aye, Gunny!” Canella replied.
Gibbs grabbed Tony’s arm as the MP’s began gathering their gear. “C’mon DiNozzo!” he said urging the younger agent toward the lowering ramp.
Tony, his rifle still slung gave Gibbs a bewildered look. “Uh Boss? What do you plan on doing?”
“*We* are going to *help* take the pressure off, DiNozzo!”
*~*
Sergeant Williams rolled his truck to as quiet a stop as possible. Just down the hill from them was another pickup truck facing away from them.
“I sure hope Flemming is right about Garcia,” Kayce said tensely.
Privately, the Light Colonel was hoping this too. She was the one who had agreed to let Oscar Flemming parley with Shark Three’s sniper, Corporal Garcia. And if this didn’t work, things could get very bloody, very quickly.
“Colonel!”
It was Lieutenant Flemming; and with him was Corporal Garcia.
Mac and Kayce got out of the truck to meet them. “Corporal,” The Light Colonel said to the approaching Force Recon sniper
“Ma’am,” Garcia returned neutrally. Mac noticed that like most snipers, Garcia was not much of a talker.
Oscar Flemming nodded to the sniper. “Rafael told me that Lieutenant Bailey and his men are in those houses down there, Colonel,”
“Bailey has his scouts in the first two houses closest to us,” Rafael Garcia explained, “I’m supposed to keep watch for any intruders.”
Mac nodded, mulling over that information. Then she gave Garcia a momentary contemplative look. “Corporal, do you think you can incapacitate them?”
“Incapacitate?” Rafael said with a hint disbelief in his voice. He was used to killing people, but then again, he was trained to disable targets as well. He looked back at the two houses. “Aye ma’am. If you can flush them out in the open, I can.”
Mac turned to Kayce, “Follow his lead, Danvers; you’re to wound, not kill.”
Kayce understood what the JAG Corps officer was trying to accomplish; but, deep down, she wondered if the Colonel was being just a bit too idealistic. After all, these people had just tried to kill both of them. What was wrong in giving them a little payback? But, this was the Colonel’s show, not hers and they would do things her way.
“Then I had better use my M-4 carbine, ma’am. My light fifty is too powerful--”
The Light Colonel stopped her just as she started to put her Barrett rifle down. “Before you trade weapons, Corporal, I need you to fire at one very special target….”
*~*
Rover One had suddenly stopped firing 25mm rounds, but was still pounding away at the trees and undergrowth with its machine guns, searching for Colonel Baranova’s armored truck.
Sierzant’s Lensinki’s machine guns answered back as best they could from the underbrush.
As the firefight continued, Sergeant Canella’s men, Special Agents Gibbs and, Special Agent DiNozzo slowly, and cautiously made their way toward the Polish armored car. They were trying their best not to reveal themselves to the renegade Marines.
Gibbs looked over at Canella. “Tony and I will try to flank them, Sergeant; give us all the cover fire you can.”
“Aye Gunny!”
While Canella issued orders to his men who were finding cover and preparing to open fire on renegade Marine armored truck, the two NCIS Agents moved away from them.
“Tony, maintain visual contact with me.” Gibbs said as he moved toward the stand of date trees and ferns.
“Got it, Boss,” Tony said as he quickly followed behind him.
The two NCIS Agents carefully moved closer to the BRDM which was still trading fire with the LAV. Miraculously, the armored truck did not respond with its autocannon but continued to pepper the underbrush and BRDM with 7.62mm fire.
Bullets whizzed by the two agents like angry bees, causing them to crouch lower as they headed toward a slight rise that would protect them from incoming fire from the LAV as well as the insurgents.
“Boss, I gotta go on record here; this may not be such a good idea.” Tony said honestly
Gibbs who had turned back over and was started to make his way forward again, stopped and turned to stare at him. “Well just what should we do, Tony?”
The former Baltimore police detective hadn’t expected that. “Well, uh, we should try to draw their fire, Boss…”
Gibbs nodded. “Good idea Tony; go draw their fire!”
Tony’s eyes flared at the suggestion. “B-But Boss! That’s not what I--”
“It was your idea, DiNozzo; now get going!”
“Me and my big mouth…” Tony said to himself as moved away from Gibbs and armored car. He spotted a low rise just to the right and ran towards it. The LAV-25 machine guns swiveled and tracked his movement. The Senior Field Agent dived for safety just as bullets ripped into the top of the rise just above his head.
“Great, just freakin’ great…” he mumbled to himself. Then he Gibbs-slapped himself on the back of his helmet. “Way to go, Anthony…”
“November Two! Are you going to return fire?!” Gibbs yelled into his mike as the LAV resumed firing on the BRDM.
“On it, Boss!” Tony yelled back, breaking radio protocol and causing the LAV turn its guns on him again.
“What the hell…guess I get to die in slow motion like William Holden in the Wild Bunch…” Tony said ruefully to himself.
The gunner on board the LAV in the meantime must’ve gotten bored with chewing up the ground above his head, so it switched back to firing at the BRDM and Gibbs.
Tony stuck his head above the rise and fired off a long burst at the LAV with his M-16. The Senior Field Agent couldn’t hear himself yelling above the firing of his assault rifle.
Gibbs couldn’t believe what he was hearing. But Tony’s antics did give him the opportunity he needed. As the LAV swiveled to respond to Tony, the Senior NCIS Agent aimed his rifle and fired off a three round burst at the truck.
Inside Rover One, Jay Raden flinched as his periscope lenses starred, spider web cracks obscuring his vision. “Lance Corporal! Have you got that jam cleared yet?!”
Jesse Strong looked over at him. “Give me another minute--”
*~*
The whine of the high caliber bullet was barely noticeable as the radio aerial leaned slowly to one side and then fell off the roof of the building that served as a command post for Shark Three. Kayce looked at the Light Colonel and she gave her a satisfied nod.
Now, on to the harder task.
1st Lieutenant John Bailey, Shark Three OIC (Officer In Charge), was dozing in his chair when the first ‘flash-bang’ grenade sailed through the open window.
The concussion and flash of the first grenade sent the young OIC tumbling to the floor, covering his ears in feeble attempt to keep from being momentarily deafened. The rest of the men in the room reeled about; totally disoriented by the multiple detonations that echoed in the room as three more grenades were tossed in through the window. In lightning succession, the actions were repeated in the building next door.
During all this, a fifty caliber round from Corporal Garcia’s sniper rifle flattened the wheels of the left side of Shark Three’s Dodge pickup truck. Sergeant Roscoe Collins flung open his door and dived for the protection of a nearby boulder. A second round broke the truck’s M-2HB machine gun from its pintle mount, sending the junked remains clattering to the ground.
Within moments, it was all over. Lieutenant John Bailey and Corporal Scott Dunlap and his scouts were being handcuffed by Mac’s team. Sergeant Collins raised his hands high and stood up from behind his boulder.
As Kayce was securing the last prisoner, Don Burges drove up in his truck followed by Sergeant Dahl’s with Pedro Cienfuentes and Hernando Gonzales. Don’s gamble [and Mac’s] had paid off. With the exception of Rafael Garcia and these three men, Shark Three was out of commission.
Don nodded to Mac as he got out of the truck and approached her. “Thanks ma’am…”
She smirked at him. “No need to thank me, Corporal, I trusted your judgment.” She turned to two men with Don. “Sergeant, Corporal; glad to have you on our side.”
Scott Dunlap mumbled something under his breath that sounded like an expletive.
Corporal Logan, who had hustled him out of the house earlier, gave him a cutting glare. “What did you say?”
Dunlap’s hatred of Logan was palpable. He sneered at her. “I wasn’t talking to you.”
She approached him threateningly. “You’d better watch your mouth, you--”
“Enough Logan,” Casmir Szymas said standing between them, trying to defuse her anger, “he’s just trying to goad you.”
Pedro and Hernando threw disgusted looks at Dunlap, who settled into a sullen silence.
Pedro turned back to Mac. “As I was about to say, Colonel; this has been coming to a head for a long time. We figure you are one of the few people who can put a stop to this….”
John Bailey, who had been listening quietly to the whole conversation, scoffed at the assessment of the JAG Light Colonel’s abilities and then spit in her direction.
“You dirty son of--” Mark Dallas raised his rifle butt threateningly towards Bailey’s face.
“Stand down Staff Sergeant!” Mac barked. Kayce, and the others looked on in stunned amazement. Even Vicky Logan was shocked by her Staff Sergeant’s reaction. Of all people, they never expected the ‘rock’ of the unit to react so violently.
John Bailey though was still defiant, and began taunting him. “Go ahead Mark, hit me! C’mon tough guy. It’ll be your last heroic act!” He looked at the Force Recon soldiers of Shark Two and Three who had joined Mac. “All of you will be dead before sunset!”
Mac was running out of options. It was obvious these guys were intent on delaying them as much as possible, by whatever means necessary. So the Light Colonel made a snap decision. “Staff Sergeant; you and Corporal Logan muzzle the prisoners.”
Mark gave her a wolfish smile. “With pleasure, ma’am! Corporal! Help me muzzle these thugs!”
“Way ahead of you, Staff Sergeant!” Vicky said as she roughly began to gag a shocked Dunlap.
Mac watched as Sergeant Cienfuentes observed Logan and Dallas. She could tell he was concerned by the prisoners’ outbursts and Dallas and Logan’s response to Mac’s orders.
“Sergeant?”
“He’s right ma’am. Colonel Livingston has us out-numbered and that’s even without al Sahood’s men. They also know what buttons to push. We need some heavy duty support; where is your ANGLICO?”
Her ANGLICO; someone else who was an unknown element in all this. “He was with Master Guns Galindez--” she began to say.
As if on cue, a dust covered HMMWV crested the hill followed by a small dune
buggy- like vehicle mounting a heavy machine gun. Everyone in Mac’s group turned toward these new arrivals, weapons at the ready.
Mac was surprised with tensions as high as they were that no one had inadvertently fired. The HMMWV and 4x4 Desert Patrol Vehicle pulled up to stop and Victor Galindez got out of the HMMWV followed by another soldier in fatigues.
The Light Colonel was really glad to see a familiar face. Especially one who might be able to keep this unit together “Good to see you again Master Guns,” she said warmly.
Victor gave her a wry smile. “Begging your pardon ma’am, could we drop the ‘Master Guns’?”
Mac almost chuckled. She could understand his weariness with this charade. “Sure Gunny; welcome back.”
“Thank you ma’am, glad to be back.” He said giving her that winning smile of his own.
She didn’t recognize the bespectacled officer who had gotten out of the Hum-vee with him. “Who’s that with you, Gunny?”
Victor turned to his ‘companion’. “This is Commander Brad May, Colonel; the leader of the SEAL Team that has been shadowing Colonel Livingston for the past few months…”
“Commander May,” Mac said stepping forward. “Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie; JAG Corps. You can call me ‘Mac’”
“Colonel MacKenzie,” Brad shook her hand, but he wasn’t about to get that comfortable with her just yet. There were lot of shifting alliances around here. “Ma’am, thanks to my man in your unit, I feel like I know you already…”
Before Mac could ask how or why, Victor spoke up again. “He’s referring to Petty Officer Yader, Colonel; he’s part of Commander May’s team. His real name is Ryan Burke.”
Ryan got out of the HMMWV. “Colonel; sorry for the deception….”
Kayce couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You were spying on us? Wait a minute; that was a stupid question, of course he was spying on us…”
Petty Officer Burke was unrepentant. “Had to Corporal; until Special Agent Webb revealed what was going on with Colonel MacKenzie joining your unit, everyone who worked with Darcy was suspect. Our orders were to observe and report, but not interfere.”
Mac fought the urge to hiss out an angry breath at that remark. Why was it that Clayton Webb always had people nearby, to observe, but he never let them help? Were they there when Carlson Ebbits was killed? What was it; some sort of CIA regulation or something to do this kind of thing?
She decided holding it against Petty Officer Burke and Commander May would not help their situation. She’d save her ass chewing for a certain CIA Agent for later. “Where’s Sergeant Witt, Gunny?”
Gunny looked hacked; just as he’d gotten himself captured by Raul Garcia’s men in the Chaco. “He escaped ma’am when Yader…that is, Burke, and I were caught by Darcy’s soldiers.”
She did not want to hear that. “Where did he go?” Her tone was insistent and direct.
May came to Gunny’s rescue. “We’ve got him under surveillance, Colonel.”
But Mac wasn’t interested in just ‘keeping tabs’ on him for a very important reason. “We’ve got to stop him, Commander. He’s part of the unit ANGLICO. He can give orders to all Navy and Marine air and artillery assets---”
Commander May knew what Witt could do. But he also had his orders. “He’s getting ready to meet with Colonel Livingston. I have some of my men following him--”
Fate intervening took the form of MCPO Coskill sticking his head out the HMMWV passenger side window. “Commander! A blue-on-blue firefight has just broken out between a Marine LAV and Polish BRDM at Witt’s rendezvous point with Livingston! Petty Officer Cameron reports an AMTRAC has also joined the firefight against the LAV!”
There was a good chance that AMTRAC was filled with military policemen and that Polish armored car had to be from Colonel Baranova’s unit. That also meant that Special Agent Gibbs and or Bud were nearby as well. If they were slugging it out with Darcy and Samir, she wanted to help. “How far away are they, Commander?”
Brad May turned and pointed to the rise behind them. “Just over that ridge, Colonel!”
Mac figured at this point, the SEAL observation mission was over. Of all the people in Darcy’s group right now, ANGLICO Frank Witt was the most dangerous. “We need to capture Sergeant Witt before he can send out any orders!”
The Commander readily agreed. At least he didn’t debate the issue like Webb would do sometimes. “The firefight is gonna buy us a little time, ma’am, so let’s not waste it! Vickers! Gifford! Man your stations!! Let’s go!!”
Mac turned to her ad-hoc unit. “Mount up Marines!!” The Force Recon Marines of Shark Two and Three quickly hustled to the undamaged pickup trucks. All that is, except for Staff Sergeant Dallas.
He stood next to Bailey and the others who were beginning to realize they were on the losing side. “What about the prisoners, ma’am? What should we do with them?”
Mac prayed that Mark Dallas hadn’t slipped that far into revenge mode for all the deaths Darcy had caused. She quickly glanced at the enemy combatants. “We’ll have to bring them with us Staff Sergeant; we don’t have a choice. Secure them so that they can’t interfere.”
If she had expected him to protest, she was pleasantly surprised. The Force Recon Marines of Shark Two had readily accepted her leadership. Mark Dallas nodded his agreement. “Aye, aye, Colonel! Logan, Calapango, Bledsoe! Get these prisoners secured!!”
“Aye, aye, Staff Sergeant!” The three hurried to complete the task and if they were a bit rough in their hurry, no one cared.
“I’ll radio Captain Casey, Colonel” Don said to Mac as she clambered into his truck. “Maybe he can help…”
*~*
Frank Witt wiped the sweat from his brow. But the heat of this day wasn’t the only thing making him sweat. Darcy had just finished impressing on him how important it was for the ANGLICO NCOIC to divert the Navy’s Alpha Strike. Before she left, Darcy casually mentioned that Bullard and Reynolds had been found. It seems desert bandits had discovered them, and well, he knew what these ‘desert bandits’ did to folks that Darcy had determined to be ‘unnecessary’.
Sure, he’d get their share of the gold promised them by the Colonel, but this gold was getting awfully bloody. And he wondered if he would even get the chance to enjoy his share….
He could cut and run…yeah, he could do that…if he was suicidal. (No, better to do what she asked and then surrender, yeah; he could say that she’d forced him…)…that is, if Colonel Briggs found them. Besides, all Darcy was asking him to do was to cancel some air strikes. They were probably overkill anyway, he rationalized.
Corporal Bruce Day and Sergeant Greg Saunders opened the door to his stuffy little room. “C’mon Frank,” Greg was ready to get out of here. “Our bus has arrived, man. You can send those wild goose chase orders from out there.”
Frank started to get up and grab his gear when shouting voices and machine fire filled the air. Stray bullets shattered the window and dug themselves into wall just above Sergeant Witt’s head.
“What th-!”
Bruce made his way over to the window and cautiously peered out. “Those damn nosy Polish Peacekeepers followed Jay!” he spat out, “And they brought the MP’s with them!”
“That idiot!” Groused Saunders, “Darcy will kill Jay herself for that damn stunt!”
Frank meanwhile was trying to listen to his radio. He could barely make it out, but he was certain the radio talk he heard was from the incoming vanguard of the Navy’s Alpha Strike.
“Guys! I’m picking up radio transmissions from one of the Navy’s squadrons involved in the air strikes!!”
More stray bullets flew through the room causing the three men to dive to the floor. Bruce Day looked over at the ANGLICO NCOIC.
“Dammit! We gotta cut our losses Frank; start sending that abort message so we can get the hell outta here!”
Harm was watching the terrain as he scanned for signs of insurgent AA guns or missiles. It was about time to contact the Force Recon ANGLICO. The aviator/lawyer sure hoped that his Marine partner had been able to handle Colonel Livingston.
“Bassett Four this is Eagle 21, Misno one one; eighteen fox bravos; fourteen fox fourteen delta, four fox bravo eighteen delta. Northeast grid 38 Angels 4 and sliding. Continue? Over…”
Harm was startled by the gunfire he could hear in the background as the ANGLICO answered. If the recon team was under fire, that couldn’t be good. He tried not to think what might be happening to Mac.
“Eagle 21, this is Bassett Three….” Harm felt his heart drop. If the ANGLICO NCO in charge was calling him instead of the ANGLICO officer, things must be bad.
Harm, tamping down his emotions, followed radio protocol. “Bassett Three; please authenticate--”
Frank nearly stomped on the aviator/lawyer’s transmission in his hurry to get this over with. The hell with Darcy; once this was over with, he was out of here. “Eagle 21, I authenticate; Charlie, alpha, juliet, uniform, november, over.”
Harm gave his new position. “Bassett Three, Eagle 21; Northeast grid 39, Angels 2 and sliding, Continue? Over.”
Frank glanced at Bruce and Greg who silently urged him to finish this. “Eagle 21, this is Bassett Three; abort delta bravo; abort delta bravo; abort delta bra--”
Frank Witt keeled over onto his back, an ugly bullet hole marring his forehead. His death could have been caused by one of the stray bullets from the Polish BRDM or even the weapons of Sergeant Canella’s MP squad, Special Agent DiNozzo, or even a precise shot from Special Agent Gibbs.
But the bullet that killed Sergeant Witt came from Bruce Day’s pistol. And instead of being confused or horrified by Day’s action, Greg was pleased.
Harm had heard Witt’s call sign, then what sounded like the abort code for the operation, but the rest of his voice was drowned out by a pistol report.
“Bassett Three; confirm, abort delta bravo? Over.”
Sergeant Saunders nodded to Day, who mimicked Witt’s voice. “Eagle 21, this is Bassett Three; continue…you are cleared hot…”
---TBC...
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