Уильям Дитц - Seek and Destroy

Once Mac arrived at the front end of the vic, things opened up. She was wearing her helmet and night-vision gear but had no need of it yet. The cave-in was easy to see thanks to the glare from the Stryker’s headlights. Mac eyed the pile of dirt, rock, and broken timbers, looking for a passageway. She didn’t see one at first. But up top, and off to the right, she saw what looked like a hole.

After climbing up the pile of debris, Mac confirmed that yes, there was a way through, and allowed herself to slide back down. Worsky was waiting at the bottom of the slope. “Get on the horn… Tell Charlie-Three to remain where he is. Tell the rest of the company to shed everything except their combat gear and follow me.”

Worsky was relaying her instructions as Mac and Huntington scrambled up the slope and wiggled through the hole and into the darkness beyond. The tunnel assumed a greenish hue as Mac turned the night-vision gear on—and Huntington was using a penlight to find her way. The rusty tracks led them east. Water dripped from the ceiling, and Mac was forced to splash through a series of puddles.

It wasn’t long before Mac spotted blobs of light up ahead. As she got closer, Mac realized that they were holes in the wooden doors that protected the east end of the tunnel. They were a problem, but a relatively minor one. Her people could blow them open if necessary.

The larger issue was Howard… Where was he? Miles away? Laughing as the rebs bombed her? Maybe. But Mac didn’t think so. She stopped as soldiers ran forward to deal with the doors. Huntington was standing next to her. “Tell me about the lodge, Sarah… Does it have a basement?”

“No,” the scout answered. “But the doors open onto an old trestle that leads to the mine. And it’s located under the lodge.”

“Is it possible to enter the mine from the lodge?”

“Yes. Immediately after the lodge was converted into a hotel, the owners installed a spiral staircase in one of the air shafts. The staff took guests down for tours.”

That’s where he is, Mac thought to herself. Waiting for the bombing to stop. Then he plans to come out and ride away.

Maybe her theory was accurate, and maybe it wasn’t. It didn’t matter. Because if the warlord of warlords was gone, then the battle was over. But if the bastard was there, waiting for her, then it was important to be prepared. A sergeant yelled, “Get back!” and the women obeyed.

Then a private shouted, “Fire in the hole!” and pressed a button. That produced a flash of light, a loud boom, and a cloud of dust. As a hole appeared, the horde opened fire from the opposite side of the canyon. The hail of machine-gun bullets sent everyone scuttling for cover. He’s there all right, Mac concluded. That’s why the mine is so well defended.

From her position against the left wall, Mac could look up and see smoke billowing up from what remained of the High Fort. But that was irrelevant. Focus, Mac told herself, and shifted her gaze to the trestle. She turned to find Worsky standing there. “Put out a call for every AT4 we have. Get ’em up here.”

While the RTO took care of that, Mac spoke over her radio. “Bravo-Six to Charlie-One… We’re going to put rockets into the entrance. Then we’re going across. Get ready. Over.”

Lieutenant Kevin Tyler, AKA Charlie-One, was a platoon leader. His delivery was matter-of-fact. “This is One. Roger that. Over.”

Mac grinned. She’d been a platoon leader and knew how Tyler felt. Scared, excited, and sick to his stomach. None of which could be allowed to show.

Bullets raked the entrance to the tunnel as three soldiers arrived. Each was carrying two single-use AT4s. “Take cover!” Mac shouted. “And put your rockets into the tunnel on the far side of the canyon.”

One of the men took up a position behind a rusty ore car, another knelt next to a pile of timbers, and the third chose to stand just inside the mouth of the tunnel. All three of them fired. Two of the rockets sailed into the hole and exploded. The force of the explosions blew smoke and dust out over the ravine.

The third rocket was high. It hit a spot over the entrance to the mine and detonated. That produced a small avalanche of rock and dirt. The curtain of debris continued to fall as volley two went home. Mac was already running by the time the explosions were heard. “Follow me!” she yelled, and hoped that someone would.

The heavy machine guns had fallen silent. But some of the bandits were not only alive but firing assault weapons, as Mac made her way forward. It would have been nice to fire back. But the two-foot gaps between the railroad ties meant that it was necessary to look down or risk a fall.

Bullets buzzed like angry bees, tore chunks out of the wooden bridge, and took some of the soldiers down. Mac heard a scream but couldn’t look back. Fortunately, Charlie Company’s snipers were hard at work smoking targets from the west side of the canyon. And that gave the soldiers on the trestle a chance to make it.

Mac tripped, fell onto a tie, and lost her carbine. And that’s where she was when a rocket hit the bridge behind her, blowing a hole in it, as an F-111 screamed overhead. Mac looked back over her shoulder. At least a third of the company had been cut off!

A bullet snapped past Worsky’s head as he reached down to give her a hand. The fuzz-faced kid was a hard-assed soldier now. “Stop lying down on the job. We aren’t there yet.”

Mac couldn’t help but laugh even if it sounded hysterical. Mac crossed the rest of the trestle with two dozen troops. The entrance to the mine yawned in front of her, and there was a quick flurry of shots as Union soldiers flooded the tunnel.

Now they were in the area that had been targeted earlier. Bodies, and parts of bodies were strewn all about, and the soil was wet with blood. Mac accidentally stepped on a hand and heard a groan. The bandit’s guts were hanging out. She shouted for a medic and knelt beside him. “Howard… Where is Howard?”

His eyes blinked rapidly. “I’m going to die again,” the bandit said. “My brothers are waiting.”

“That’s nice,” Mac said heartlessly. “Where’s Howard? The Khan wants to speak with him.”

The man squinted up at her. “The strong room… Where the gold was kept.”

A medic arrived as Mac stood. Lieutenant Tyler was waiting a few feet away. “Let’s find the strong room,” Mac said. “And be careful.”

Tyler sent soldiers deeper into the mine, and Mac followed, with Huntington at her side. A spiral staircase appeared on the right, and the strong room was just beyond. It was labeled STRONG ROOM for the benefit of hotel guests—and protected by a rust-pitted iron door. Mac turned to Tyler. “Blow it.”

It took the better part of five minutes to get people positioned and set the charge. It went off with a bang, the door sagged open, and smoke eddied. At least a dozen weapons were pointed at the person who emerged. She was a thin slip of a girl. Robert Howard was there, too… With an arm wrapped around her chest and a pistol to her head. He said, “Back off,” and pulled the revolver’s hammer back to full cock. “And I mean now .”

Mac’s eyes were on the girl, or more specifically on the girl’s face. She saw determination there… And that’s as far as the thought went before the hostage allowed herself to sag. That exposed part of Howard’s head. Mac was reaching for her pistol when Huntington’s six-shooter left its holster. The .45 produced a loud boom, and a chunk of Howard’s head flew off. The warlord’s eyes went blank, his body swayed, and he collapsed.

The girl turned to look. She nodded and turned back again. “Thanks.”