Уильям Дитц - Seek and Destroy

So at 0200, a fueler, plus fourteen Strykers and 108 soldiers left Fort Carney on a mission that was almost guaranteed to produce a stunning victory or a terrible defeat. As the convoy drove west on Highway 20, doubts plagued Mac’s mind as they passed through Natrona, Shoshoni, and veered north to Thermopolis. From there it was a short trip to Worland and Highway 16 east.

By the time 0445 rolled around, Mac knew they were deep inside horde-occupied territory. The fact that they’d been able to travel that far without being forced to fight was thanks to good luck, the early hour, and complete secrecy. Only Mac and Lightfoot knew where the convoy was headed—although the troops could guess by then.

Mac felt an emptiness in her gut as they cleared Worland and continued east. The first part of the mission was over—but the most dangerous section lay ahead. Mac had chosen to ride in the lead vehicle. It was an ESV Stryker with a dozer blade mounted up front. She ducked down into the cargo area below. The air was warm and heavy with the smell of hydraulic fluid. Her RTO sat up straight. “Send this message on this frequency,” Mac told him.

Worsky accepted the piece of paper, made the necessary adjustment to his radio, and spoke into his mike. “Starlight to Star Bright… We cleared Worland. Over.”

The reply consisted of two clicks. That meant Huntington had received the scrambled message, understood it, and was waiting. Mac felt a sense of relief. Thank God. The whole plan would have gone up in smoke had the civilian scout been intercepted or killed.

Fifteen minutes later, Mac was standing in the hatch, struggling to stay warm, when the vehicle rounded a curve. Lights appeared in the distance, and Mac knew they were approaching the town of Ten Sleep. Huntington claimed that Ten Sleep had been a favorite with tourists prior to the May Day disaster. Now it was home to fifty or sixty bandits who were stationed there to protect Howard’s southwestern flank and collect taxes from travelers.

The outlaws were a threat in and of themselves, of course… But the greater danger lay in the possibility that they would tip Howard off to the convoy’s presence.

Even though the sun hadn’t cleared the horizon, there was enough light to see by as Mac raised her binoculars. Barricades to channel vehicles through a checkpoint had been put in place. “This is Bravo-Six,” Mac said. “One-one and one-two will pull over to the side of the road. One-three and one-four will engage the position ahead. Hit them hard , people… And take that antenna out immediately. Execute.”

Mac was thrown sideways as the ESV swerved to the right and stopped. One-two turned left and pulled over. That cleared the way for one-three and one-four to advance side by side. One-three, AKA OL’ SLAB SIDES, was equipped with a 105mm cannon. Mac heard a loud boom and saw a bright flash as a shell hit the checkpoint. “Good morning, assholes,” the Stryker’s driver said. “Eat lead!”

“That will be enough of that,” Captain Lightfoot said from his position at the tail end of the convoy. “Cut the crap. Over.” Mac grinned and knew that everyone else in the convoy was grinning, too.

One-four was armed with a 40mm grenade launcher, and it chugged away as the vic called LUCKY LOUclosed in on the concrete barriers. A steady stream of grenades swept left to right across the enemy checkpoint. The overlapping explosions threw bodies into the air.

SLAB SIDESjerked to a halt, its gunner sent another round downrange, and Mac saw a flash as it hit the thirty-foot-tall com mast. That was followed by a loud bang. The top half of the antenna crashed onto the top of the thirty-foot trailer parked beside the highway. An office perhaps? Or a ready room? Mac hoped so. She keyed her mike. “Nice shooting, one-three… All right, get some troops in there and mop up. Over.”

Two squads left their Strykers and made their way forward. Mac heard firing and a series of bangs as more grenades went off. A lieutenant named Swanson was in charge—and she called in five minutes later. “This is Charlie-Two… The area has been secured. Twelve bandits are down—and about ten got away. One of my soldiers was wounded, but the doc says he’ll make it. Over.”

Mac swore. Some bad guys were on the loose and, if they had the right kind of radio, were talking to Howard. And even if they couldn’t, the survivors would send a messenger to the High Fort in order to warn him. But that was to be expected. The race was on. “Roger that, Charlie-Two. Well done. Pull back and mount up. We’re out of here. Over.”

Mac ducked down into the cargo compartment. “Worsky… Send this message on the same frequency as the last one.”

Worsky accepted the slip of paper and read the words aloud. “Starlight to Star Bright… We’re leaving Ten Sleep. Over.”

Mac listened for the clicks, heard them, and felt the ESV jerk ahead. She went forward to speak with the driver. “Watch for a flashlight on the left. It will blink three times. Stop when you see it—but warn the rest of the column first.”

The truck commander was named Castel. He kept his eyes on the road. “Yes, ma’am.”

Mac went up top. The sun was higher but hadn’t cleared the mountains. Five minutes dragged by as Mac waited. Then she saw it! A blink followed by two more. Huntington was waiting at the point where a dirt road met the highway.

Castel put out a call to the other TCs and braked. As the ESV came to a stop, Huntington climbed up onto the vic. She was carrying a scope-mounted rifle and a light pack. “Good morning, Captain. You’re right on time.”

“So far so good,” Mac said. “Hang on.”

Then, to Castel, “Hit the gas and turn left. Let’s get off the highway.”

“Bravo-Six actual to Charlie-Six… We need to clear the highway without being seen. If you see a vehicle, destroy it.”

It was a cold-blooded order, and one that might cause completely innocent people to die. But Mac had 107 other lives to preserve, prisoners to free, and a scumbag to kill. Did that make it okay? No, it didn’t. And Mac knew that if Lightfoot was forced to obey her order, it would haunt her forever.

Seconds turned into five incredibly long minutes punctuated by a burp of static. “This is Charlie-Six. The last vehicle cleared the highway. No vehicles passed in either direction. Over.”

Mac felt a tremendous sense of relief. “This is Bravo-Six. Roger that… Once your vehicle is hidden, send a squad back to clear our tracks. Over.”

Mac knew Lightfoot would understand. It was just a matter of time before Howard learned about the attack in Ten Sleep. But if he didn’t know where the column was, he’d have to send people to find it. That meant a large contingent of bandits would be ordered to block Highway 16 west of Buffalo—and that would reduce the number of men available to defend the High Fort. “This is Bravo-Six actual… All units will stop. Bring the fueler forward. TCs will top off their tanks. Over.”

The column came to a halt, and it wasn’t long before the tank truck pulled up level with one-one. Once the lead ESV was fueled, it pulled forward so that one-two could take its place, and so on until all of the Strykers had full tanks. And that was important because it would be disastrous if any one of them ran out of gas during the final phase of the attack. In the meantime, each squad had a short bio break. The entire process consumed thirty precious minutes but was absolutely necessary.

Finally, assured that the company’s tracks had been obliterated a full fifty feet back from the highway, Mac told Castel to get under way. The ESV jerked ahead, forcing Huntington to hang on or fall off. The scout had been invited to ride down below, but she wanted to see, and Mac couldn’t blame her.