Bear Grylls - Burning Angels

Jaeger searched for Narov. She was sprinting down the length of the pier, unleashing rounds from her MP7 into the engines of the tethered craft. She was trying to ensure that Kammler’s gunmen had no vessel in which to mount a pursuit, but in doing so she was exposing herself to a murderous amount of fire.

As the RIB rounded the end of the pier, she made a final dash and a leap. For the briefest of moments she sailed through the air, her arms reaching for the speeding craft, and then she hit the water.

Jaeger reached over, grabbed her by the scruff of her shirt and, with powerful arms, hauled her sodden form aboard. She lay in the bottom of the RIB, fighting for breath and choking out seawater.

The RIB approached the first reef. Already it was well out of range of any accurate fire. Jaeger helped Dale lift the heavy outboard engine and tilt it forward, so it was free of the water. The hull bumped over the shallows, where there was a narrow gap in the coral, and then they glided out into the open sea beyond.

Dale went to full throttle, and the boat powered away from the dark, smoke-enshrouded beach, leaving the burning wreckage of the Wildcat, plus the dead aircrew, behind her. Yet Jaeger remained painfully aware that most of his crew was trapped on that beach, embroiled in the fight of their lives.

Narov glanced at him. ‘I always hated beach holidays,’ she yelled over the noise of the engine. ‘The kid’s alive. Focus on that. Not your team.’

Jaeger nodded. Narov seemed able to read his mind, always. He wasn’t sure he liked that.

He searched out Simon Chucks Bello. The boy was crouched in the lowest point of the RIB, eyes wide with fear. He seemed a lot less cool now. More like the orphan kid he really was. In fact, he looked distinctly ashen-faced. Jaeger didn’t doubt this was the first time this kid from the ghetto had ever been in a boat, let alone experienced a full-on firefight.

All things considered, he was bearing up remarkably well. Jaeger was reminded of Falk Konig’s words: they build them tough in those slums.

They sure did.

Jaeger wondered where Konig was now, and where his allegiances ultimately lay. They say blood is thicker than water, but he still figured that Falk was on the side of the angels. Even so, he couldn’t exactly bank humanity’s future on it.

He turned to Narov, jabbing a finger in the kid’s direction. ‘Keep him company. Calm him down. I’ll sort the RV.’

He pulled out his Thuraya, punching speed-dial. A flood of relief washed over him as he heard the calm tones of Peter Miles.

‘I’m on a RIB with the kid,’ Jaeger yelled. ‘We’re moving due east at thirty knots. D’you see us?’

‘I have you visual via the Taranis. And you’ll be happy to hear the Reaper drones are no more.’

‘Nice one! Give me a grid to head for, for the pickup.’

Miles gave him a set of GPS coordinates some thirty kilometres out from the coast, well into international waters. With the Airlander needing to descend from ten thousand feet to sea level, it was also the closest practicable interception point.

‘Half my team is on the beach fighting a rearguard action. Can you get the drones over them to mallet Kammler’s guys?’

‘There’s only one Taranis remaining, plus it’s all out of missiles. Gone in the dogfight. But it can fly low-level runs at Mach 1, burning up the sand.’

‘Do it. Keep eyes on the team. We’re safe. The kid’s safe. Give them all the support you can.’

‘Understood.’

Miles would get his drone operator to bring the Taranis low across the beach, flying repeated shows-of-force. That should drive the gunmen’s heads down. And under the shock of those low-level passes, Jaeger’s team would have to seize their chance to escape.

He allowed himself a moment to relax now. He rested against the RIB’s side, fighting off the waves of exhaustion. His mind drifted to thoughts of Ruth and Luke. He thanked God they were still alive, and that Simon Bello was too.

It was close to miraculous that they had the kid safely in that boat.

More to the point, he was the key to Jaeger’s family’s survival.

As they sped across the ocean, Jaeger thought about the aircrew of the Wildcat. Not a nice way to go, but at least it had been instantaneous. Theirs had been a sacrifice to save humankind; they were heroes and he would not forget. His job now was to make their sacrifice worthwhile. And to ensure that Raff, Alonzo, Kamishi and James got off that beach alive.

Jaeger reminded himself that they were good operators. Some of the best. If anyone could get out of there, they could. But that stretch of open sand offered precious little cover, and they were outnumbered three to one. He wished he were back there, fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with his team.

His mind flipped to thoughts of the orchestrator of so much death and suffering, the architect of the evil; to Kammler. Surely they had enough evidence now to nail him ten times over. Surely his boss, Daniel Brooks, would start hunting for him properly. Surely, that hunt must have already begun.

But as Narov had warned, Kammler would have anticipated it, and he would be hidden where he figured no one would ever find him.

The ringing of the Thuraya brought Jaeger’s mind crashing back to the present. He answered.

‘It’s Miles. And I’m afraid you’ve got company. There’s a fast motor yacht bearing down on you. It’s Kammler’s people; they somehow made it out of Amani.’

Jaeger cursed. ‘Can we outrun them?’

‘It’s a Sunseeker Predator 57. It can top forty knots. They’ll catch you, and soon.’

‘Can the Taranis deal with it?’

‘It’s all out of missiles,’ Miles reminded him.

A sudden thought struck Jaeger. ‘Listen: remember the kamikazes. Japanese pilots who deliberately flew their aircraft into Allied ships, in World War Two. Can your drone operator do something similar? Take out the Sunseeker with a missile-less drone strike? Slam the one remaining Taranis into it at Mach 1?’

Miles told him to wait while he checked. Seconds later he was back on the line. ‘He can. It’s unorthodox. Not exactly what they train for. But he figures it’s doable.’

Jaeger’s eyes blazed. ‘Perfect. But that means we’re leaving our guys on the beach with nothing: with zero top cover.’

‘It does. But we’re all out of options. Plus the kid is the priority. He has to be.’

‘I know,’ Jaeger replied reluctantly.

‘Right, we’ll re-task the Taranis. But the Sunseeker’s catching you fast, so prepare to put down fire. We’ll bring the drone around as quickly as possible.’

‘Got it,’ Jaeger confirmed.

‘And just so we’re absolutely certain the boy will be safe, once you’re on board, we’ll shortly have a pair of F-16s flying escort. Brooks has scrambled them from the nearest US airbase. He says he’s ready to go overt on the whole Kammler thing.’

‘About bloody time.’

Jaeger killed the call and readied his MP7, signalling Narov to do likewise. ‘We’ve got company. Fast pursuit boat. Should be visible any time now.’

The RIB powered on, but just as Jaeger had feared, they spotted the distinctive white bow wave and plume of spray heading fast towards them. He and Narov took up position, kneeling at the RIB’s gunwale, MP7s braced against its topside. It was at times like this that Jaeger wished he had a longer weapon, one blessed with a more generous range.

The Sunseeker’s sharply raked prow cleft the sea like a knife, the wash from its engines throwing up a massive swirl of white water in its wake. Those on board were armed with AK-47s, which in theory had an effective range of 350 metres, as opposed to half that for the MP7s.