Kevin Miller - Declared Hostile

They were going to run out of bullets — and fuel. Where were the other sections to relieve them?

“ Lumber three-one and Jelly , say your posit.”

“Jelly flight is eighty miles.”

“ Lumber three-one is ninety-five.” Annie knew both sections were at least ten minutes out. Maybe the Jellies could cover the distance in eight minutes.

“Roger, Jelly. Your signal is buster . Need you now. We’ve got our hands full.”

“Roger that. Jellies, gate .”

Macho took her place in the irregular “circle” of fighters and picked out a ski-boat bouncing on the waves at high speed. The sun was sinking below the horizon and visibility was deteriorating. None of them had a visual on Lemur, and the twilight condition was making it more difficult to pick out the small craft, even with their distinctive wakes.

The Americans continued to cull the herd as they approached Lemur’s raft. In the low light, the Venezuelans could not see the survivor either. They counted on sending overwhelming numbers to comb the area — and hoped someone would come across him. Once they got him aboard, the Americans would stop firing. The setting sun was a worse problem for them, knowing as they did the Americans’ superior ability to acquire and prosecute targets at night. Both adversaries were in a desperate race against the clock, and the boats were closing in on Lemur.

Annie squeezed the trigger, and, after a few rounds, the gun stopped firing. Out of bullets. Winchester.

“ Lumber two-zero is off. Winchester.” Macho and Woody acknowledged. Fuel states were dwindling, too. Woody rolled in on the boat Annie had missed and peppered it. As he did, he noted a few small lights zip past his canopy. Small arms! A lucky bullet could ruin his day.

As the Americans flew in tighter and tighter circles to keep a nose pointed at the threat, the airspeed decreased under the g they were maintaining. Whenever they extended away to regain airspeed, they gave the enemy a momentary “sanctuary”—and expended fuel they didn’t have.

Annie had no choice. She would have to make cold runs, as would the others when they ran out of 20mm, keeping pressure on. Then she had an idea.

Recalling a story from the Vietnam War, she selected Sidewinder and caged the seeker head. The missile seeker growled in her headset as she pulled around to the right to find a target. She picked out a cabin cruiser, a small yacht that was easier to see at range. She maneuvered to place the boat in her HUD field of view and inside the seeker head circle. She got a high-pitched tone, and, once she uncaged the missile, the circle remained on the boat. Yes! she thought and pulled the trigger.

The Sidewinder shot off the left wing with a sharp bottle-rocket whoosh and twitched in flight as it bore in on the yacht. Small arms flashes from several watercraft were visible all around her as Annie pulled up and peered over her nose to assess the effectiveness of her attack.

A bright flash popped next to the yacht as it continued ahead for a moment, then veered left to the west. The yacht then slowed as other boats raced past it. Annie must have damaged it, despite the absence of flame or smoke. She keyed the mike to tell the others.

“Use your ‘Winders. Keep their heads down. Go for the northernmost boats!” Macho and Woody rogered in order.

“ Lumber two-zero, Flintlock. We see the enemy boats. Looking for you.”

Annie, maneuvering hard at the moment, scanned the horizon for the Sierra . She didn’t have an exact position on Lemur floating on the darkening water. Maybe he could see the helo.

“ Lumber one-two, lead. Do you see Flintlock coming in from the northeast?”

“ Condor. Pop-up contact. One-seven-zero at ten. On the deck. Hot.” The E-2 controller transmitted.

“Negative on Flintlock. Flash external lights!”

The Sierra pilot energized the anti-collision strobe lights of the helicopter and flashed the searchlight before dousing them both.

“ Whisk one-two has a visual! Check right ten!” With Lemur directing, the helicopter swerved right ten degrees to bring it over him.

The Hornet pilots still didn’t have a visual on Lemur. Their hands were full prosecuting the boats.

Macho rolled in on a boat and tried to lock it — no joy. In a dive, and with range decreasing fast, she uncaged her missile and immediately got a tone. She fired the AIM-9 from inside a mile and pulled up hard among the muzzle flashes. The missile’s rocket motor was still firing when it slammed into the go-fast boat. In their race to the north, none of the other boats came to the aid of the go-fast as it stopped in the water and began to burn.

As Macho pulled off left and did a belly check to the right, her heart skipped a beat. About two miles away, a lone fighter, low on the water, was barreling down them on from the south. She only had time to blurt out a disjointed warning to the others.

“ Bogey coming in from the south! At my three o’clock! On the deck! ”

By instinct, all the American aviators looked south. Annie and Woody both picked up a gray object with a small light— burner plume! — at fifty feet over the waves coming right at the lead boats. Appearing supersonic, it stayed on course with no indication it saw any of the Americans, including Lemur. Annie snatched her jet back to the right, over the winking boats, as the g-suit grabbed her legs and torso. In the low light, she identified it as a Flanker, lights out. By habit, she searched around the bandit to spot any wingmen.

“ Condor , we got a bandit out here!” Annie radioed with dismay.

“Affirm, merge plot! I’ve been trying to tell you! ”

Woody was at his roll-in point when the jet appeared at his one o’clock low. “ Tallyho! ” he cried as he tried to put his nose on it and shoot, but it was too close and fast. The enemy fighter shot down his right side and maintained course. That guy doesn’t see us! Woody thought.

Then, Woody realized he had as the Flanker pulled up into the oblique through northeast, unable to pull hard with its excess airspeed. Though he tried, Woody had no chance to turn and run it down.

Macho did. Although slower, she saw the Flanker flash past her six o’clock from a few miles away, and reversed left. All she had left was a Sidewinder to fight the bandit arcing up and zooming into the sky, still in burner, at her eight o’clock high. She lit the cans and squatted her jet, selecting BORESIGHT on the HUD to get a lock as she placed the Flanker above her and pulled.

The radar and missile locked on with a screaming tone, and, with no time to assess range, she pulled the trigger in a desperate attempt to hit the fighter as it extended away. The missile shot off the rail, a rabid dog chasing the hot point against a cold sky. Because of the speed differential, it was a tail chase, and Macho didn’t have the airspeed to go up with it. She had to depend on the missile to find its mark. If the bandit saw it and broke, chances are the Sidewinder wouldn’t have the energy left to track it.

The FAV pilot must have seen Macho’s missile come off the rail. He broke down and right and deselected burner, which made him “invisible” against the eastern twilight. Macho still had a radar lock and had little choice but to pursue. She called to the others.

“ Lumber two-one engaged with a bandit. Twelve o’clock high, passing through east, nine thousand! I’m Winchester missiles!” The Venezuelan extended further away to the southeast with Macho in lag pursuit, tracking him on radar and FLIR.