Dick Stivers - Deathbites

Lao Ti and Deborah Devine had had a busy afternoon. They had kept machines running, freshened coffee in cups, lit cigarettes and left them in ashtrays, coming back later to butt them and mess the ashes, and done many other small things to make the building look as if it was in use. Ti knew their survival required a psychological edge.

They also booby-trapped files and planned their own movements and routes to pick off the stragglers without exposing themselves to counterattack.

When the terrorists finally arrived, Deborah and Ti found themselves working like a well-trained team.

Ti waited in the crawl space for some of the traps to cause confusion. Deborah slipped outside, jogged over to the buses and easily took out the two amateur guards. After that, it took very little persuading to convince the bus drivers that they should leave.

Deborah then picked up the guards' M-16s and spare clips. Able Team had left weapons as well as grenades and explosives behind, but Deborah and Ti both preferred the psychological effect of using the enemy's own weapons against them.

Deborah delivered one weapon to Ti and then returned to the parking lot and waited for the wounded to be delivered to the buses, which were no longer there.

Ti heard the file drawers blow up. She was already in position over the storerooms. When someone hit a trip wire and the shelves collapsed on top of the goons, she dropped the bottles of ammonia where they would do the most damage.

She then had managed to slip into the reception room and rig the grenade booby trap while the wounded were being carried to the parking lot.

Ti had also dropped the two grenades into the computer room, timing the blasts to occur just as the frightened terrorists arrived from the office area. She then had to scramble into position to start the shooting war between the two groups of terrorists. She had not counted on one side being so frightened that they dropped their weapons. Her psychological war was more effective than she had imagined.

When Ti heard Jishin shouting that the enemy was above, she knew she had lost more than her psychological edge.

Deborah Devine was outside the building. She witnessed the breathtaking stall of the black jet and the parachute exit of Able Team. Her rapt attention was broken by the sudden charge of terrorists out the loading doors of the building.

She quickly faded from sight. She had only one full clip of ammunition for the M-16 in her hands. The terrorists were already spreading around the perimeter of the parking lot, preparing a trap for the parachuting fighters.

Able Team was drifting on a beautifully controlled descent, headed straight for the largest open space in the parking lot.

Deborah could not wait while they dropped into the trap. She charged, determined to wipe out as large a circle of killers as she could. At the least, the gunfire would attract the attention of the jumpers.

Two terrorists were crouching in long grass. When Able Team was on the ground, the two killers would have a choice field of fire. Deborah emptied the clip from her M-16 into the pair. She stopped and snatched up the dead men's assault rifles.

Two more terrorists were crouched behind a parked car. Half a clip of tumblers taught them to dance before dying.

Deborah continued at a dead run, not daring to stop.

Three terrorists had their guns pointed at her. She dived into a ditch with tumblers crackling over her head. Jishin and three more killers were there, waiting.

Deborah reacted immediately. She swung her rifle butt into the face of the first terrorist, knocking him backward into one of his companions. Jishin was on her like a flash, plucking the rifle from her grip. Jishin then caught the wrist that was still outstretched and did a circular twist, levering the arm behind Deborah's back.

A sudden shove and Deborah Devine found herself staggering into the exposed area of the parking lot with no cover and no shelter.

Bullets riddled her body.

As soon as Jishin had shouted, Lao Ti sprinted for another area of the crawl space. She flipped a ceiling tile out of place and found herself over an empty office. She carefully lowered herself and hung by one hand while she replaced the tile. The shooting had stopped. The goons would be cautiously poking into the attic at this point.

Ti had left the empty weapon behind. She moved quickly, knowing she had to either find a weapon or stay out of sight. She could hear the shouts of the terrorists, muffled sounds through the ceiling tiles.

Suddenly a ceiling tile was thrown aside in the hall she was traveling. A head poked down six feet ahead of her. "There's our target!"

Ti was off like a flash. Two quick steps and a leap and her small fist grabbed the open jaw. Then the weight came down, dragging the terrorist from the ceiling. The man crashed at Ti's feet, his M-16 still over his shoulder. A quick stomp of the foot into the bent neck gave the goon a lesson in permanent relaxation. Ti took his weapon and ran down the hall, bullets smacking the tile behind her feet.

Being inside the building was not safe now that the terrorists controlled the crawl space. Ti took off for the nearest exit.

Carl Lyons was the first to jump. He grasped the shroud lines and dumped air from one side until he was over the parking lot. Then as he drifted down, all hell broke out on the ground.

There was no mistaking the pale gold of Deborah's hair as she began her sweep of terrorist positions. Lyons could see that he was heading into an ambush. He pulled on the shroud lines, falling faster in a desperate attempt to gain the low flat roof of Elwood Industries. He looked up to make sure that his teammates were following his example. They were. He looked down again and saw Jishin shove Deborah into the open space. He saw bullets cut into her body. He felt his stomach twist, his heart pound. He knew she was dead. He knew the bastards would pay.

Lyons unbuckled the chute and was in motion before his toes touched the roofing tar. Every muzzle-flash that had contributed to the decimation of Deborah Devine was etched permanently on Lyons's tormented mind. He unslung the Atchisson automatic Assault shotgun and jammed home a thirty-round drum. By the time the first round was chambered, the automatic-rifle fire was beginning to zero in on the roof. If Deborah had not furnished such a demanding distraction, Able Team would have been chopped to pieces in the air.

Lyons crouchwalked to the edge of the roof. Each muzzle-flash was answered with a boom from the assault shotgun. Each boom resulted in one bloody death.

Pol and Gadgets landed safely twenty seconds after Lyons. They threw themselves on the flat roof and methodically picked off the terrorists on Lyons's flanks.

When Lyons reached the edge of the roof, he kept walking. The ten-foot drop to the hard surface of the parking lot pounded him less than the jolts he had been receiving from the low-altitude parachute jumps. He automatically flexed his knees, unaware of any shock he was absorbing.

One does not become a successful terrorist by fighting on an equal or near-equal basis. Terrorism is a matter of destroying the defenseless. Aya Jishin understood this very well. When she saw the terror returning to her troops, she ordered them to cut through the building and escape. They grouped and made a charge toward the side door nearest the computer room.

The charge took the terrorists directly under Gadgets. He put his Ingram aside and pulled two antipersonnel grenades. He was about to release them into the stampeding killers when Lao Ti emerged from the door, directly in their path.

Gadgets reacted immediately. He tossed the grenades far enough away that the flying bits of wire would not affect Ti. The double blast shredded terrorist backs but killed none. They were still shook up from the blast when Gadgets landed among them.