Desperate Situations (23 page)

***

"Crap," Megan said softly. They had been flying for some time in silence. Megan was concentrating on the road, Cowboy was doing everything else, navigating, checking radar, and adjusting gauges.

"What?"

"She got shakier. We're losing something."

"We're almost past the mountains, if we can get clear of the foothills we can radio for help."

"Not until we are well beyond the mountains."

Cowboy frowned at her.

"Contacts tell me that al Qaeda
has been monitoring radio communications. If we call out too soon, our guys will never get to us in time."

Cowboy cursed loudly.

"I'll push her as far as possible before calling," Megan said then thumbed the intercom on. "Guys? How're the wounded?"

Cupcake's voice came on. "Not good. Tippy's in shock. He's no longer responsive. And Snake isn't much better. The other two will make it." There was a pause. "Ghost, you're doing good."

Megan gave a half second smile. "Thanks, Cupcake. We'll be leaving the foothills soon. After that it's a straight shot home. Hold'em together back there." She shut off the intercom.

It was about ten minutes later
, and they had just cleared the mountains when Tiny's voice came on. "Ghost, we got company. Left side. Nine o'clock."

Cowboy immediately looked
out his side of the helicopter. "Damn. Trucks. Can't see how many. Heading our way fast on an intercept course."

Megan cursed softly. "Tiny, get me a count." She clicked off. "Not that it matters. It won't take much to bring us down."

"Maybe five. It's hard to tell in the dust," Tiny answered.

Megan chewed her lip. "How close Tiny?"

"Half mile, maybe."

Cowboy stared at Megan then glanced back out the windshield. When he looked back, Megan was smiling. "There's a shitty grin on your face, Darlin'. I don't think I'ma gonna like this one."

Megan chuckled. She slowed down, then turned to face the approaching trucks. "Cowboy, arm missiles."

"Shit fire, woman, I totally forgot 'em," Cowboy said with a smile appearing on his face. It was mere seconds. "Armed."

Megan hovered and waited. It wasn't the fuel she was worried about it. It was holding this damn wiggling contraption steady. "How many did you arm?"

"All of them."

"Good deal," she said glancing at her co-pilot. "Wait until they start firing at us. I want to be able to spit on them."

Cowboy keyed the intercom. "Hells bells boys, we gonna have a little weenie roast out front here. Hold on ta ya pants." He let out a yee-haw.

Both of their eyes were riveted on the quickly approaching trucks.

"Wait for it," Megan said softly.

Cowboy grinned.

Suddenly the trucks stopped. Quickly, they began backing up.

"Chickens," Cowboy stated.

Megan smiled. "Do it."

"Don't mess with the best," Cowboy said and he sent one then another missile toward the group of trucks. Both struck the trucks head on. The Stingers were heat seekers and the engine block was a perfect target.

"Again."

Cowboy fired another. This one hit too.

Megan chuckled as she turned the helicopter homeward again. She clicked on the intercom. "Fly fast and carry a big stick."

Laughter from the guys in back was heard over the intercom.

She turned to Cowboy. "Give me another five miles then call for help."

Cowboy nodded.

"Hold on, baby. Hold on," Megan pleaded with the helicopter.

***

Megan sat in the cockpit
, her head resting back. She didn't move, she didn't even have her eyes open. She just sat there.

"Are you okay, Chief?"

Megan finally opened her eyes. She turned her head slightly and pulled the scarf off her face then took off her helmet. She held it in her lap. Only then did she sigh. "Yeah."

Jake smiled at her. He glanced at Cowboy who looked like he had wet his pants. "Congrats guys. You got us here in one piece."

Megan nodded and closed her eyes again.

Cowboy sat up, releasing his seatbelt harness. "How are the wounded?"

"Same as before. The Army is transporting them to the hospital," Jake said standing outside the cockpit door.

They had called for help shortly after clearing the mountains because the wobble became worse. Within minutes, several more trucks were following them. The trucks hung back, due to the 'sting' of the helicopter
, but they paced the helicopter across the plains as they approached Kabul, apparently hoping that the helicopter would crash. The military radioed back that they were sending out the last running Black Hawk to help them.

Megan made a decision to keep flying instead of transferring the wounded to the military helicopter. She didn't know if once she landed she'd be able to take off again. The other Black Hawk flew nearby but at a higher altitude, just in case. It also caused the trucks to abandon the chase. As long as she had control over the Pave Hawk
, she wanted to bring it home. So she flew directly to the military base, which luckily happened to be on this side of the city.

It had been tense.
The closer they got to the civilized area the worse the aircraft flew. Still she pushed it. After landing just inside the fenced-in military base, she shut down. The wounded were transferred to the military helicopter and it took off immediately.

Jake exited the back to see the two pilots sitting in the cockpit, laying their heads back in relief. At first, he'd been worried that they
'd been hurt, but after opening the cockpit door, he realized they were just relaxing after the harrowing experience.

"Sure you're okay?" Jake asked both.

Megan merely nodded.

Cowboy turned to look into the back of the helicopter to see that the rest of the crew was out
and resting on the ground nearby. He held up a finger to wait. "White Pine Tower, this is Death."

"Go ahead, Death. We've been monitoring your communications. We have land transport on its way to you. It'll be about half an hour until it gets there. How are the wounded?"

Cowboy relayed the facts as Jake looked closer at Megan.

"Megan?" Jake asked softly, he glanced back but no one was listening. "What's wrong?"

Megan sighed and lifted her head wearily. "You need to thank God for looking out for us today. We shouldn't have made it."

Jake frowned.

"She broke right as I shut down. Did you hear the big clunk?"

Jake nodded.

"Something fell off. Take a look."

Jake backed up and looked. There was a tube hanging down near the main column about eight inches from the top. Three of the rotor blades were horizontal, the fourth was at an angle. He took a closer look at the tube, it was broke
n in two. He swallowed hard.

"Yeah," Megan said exiting the cockpit. She stepped up to Jake's side. "We got lucky. Damn lucky."

Jake shook his head as he noticed the other guys were also now looking up at the rotors. Shocked expressions showed on their faces. He suddenly grinned. "Three cheers for the Ghost and Cowboy."

The others yahooed and whooped.

Cowboy smiled as he rounded the front of the helicopter. He held up his hand to Megan who high fived him. "I swear Darlin', you play with fire and beat the devil at his own game."

Jake smiled at Megan who was chuckling.

***

An hour after getting back to base, a knock on the door sounded
. Megan rounded the desk, opening it.

Jake. "You wanted me?" he said with a wry grin.

Megan frowned. "Come in." She closed the door behind him and noticed the smile fled his face when he saw the person sitting near the desk.

William Harding.

"Sit." Megan said as she headed back around the desk. Both of them had been studying the small, black box Jake had beaten off the top of the helicopter.

Jake took the other seat in the room.

"You've heard that the other White Pine helicopter, the first one that had trouble, barely made it to the ground outside of Kabul, right?" Megan asked Jake. He nodded. "It too had one of these on its transmission." She pointed at the box. "Like you said, it's some sort of remote device. This one should have gone off as you were beating on it. There was a small amount of explosive in it, probably meant to damage the rotating swash plate, causing us to crash instantly."

"Why didn't it go off?"

"Faulty wiring," Bill Harding spoke.

"Lucky for us
, who ever put it together is an amateur." She smiled at Jake. "Still, it might have worked."

Jake looked at her then Harding. "Why?"

Megan sat back and stared at Harding.

He cleared his throat. "My sources say it was in retaliation for stealing Afghanistan artifacts from the al Qaeda group. They knew it was a White Pine employee
from the helicopter crew, just not which one. One other box was found on Megan's Chinook. It was also mis-wired. That one malfunctioned and did no damage."

"And, so?" Jake asked him.

"Just be aware," Harding said with a piercing gaze. After his statement, no one spoke, but he continued to look at Jake. "Your decision?"

"Not yet." Jake shook his head.

"I need to know soon," Harding replied.

"And when I know, I'll let you know."

Harding stood and looked at Megan. "Talk to him." He walked out the door shutting it behind him.

Jake turned to Megan.

She ran a hand over her face. "That was way too close today." She held out a shaky hand in front as her.

***

The next night after curfew, Megan was standing in her office, hands on hips, pissed off. "Why now?"

"Because we have a tip that he'll be in the village during tribal quarrel disputes. Since it's so close to last time and we don't have a team operational, they won't suspect that we'll try again," Harding
insisted. He sat behind the desk with an open file on top. It showed the picture of a man, the local warlord, and information about him.

"Well, they would be right
; we don't have a team operational. Gunner's just barely alive."

Harding nodded with a slight smile.

"I hate it when you smile," Megan said with a quiet sigh.

Harding pulled another file from his briefcase. He pushed it across the desk.

Megan sighed out loud this time, picked up the file and sat down. Opening it, she saw immediately it was the military operational jacket of one Jacob L. McGrew. She looked up at Harding then returned to reading. After quickly skimming the report, she saw what Harding wanted her to see. "Damn."

"You leave in four hours."

"No."

"You have no choice."

"Yes, I do. You can't just buddy us up like that without spending time on the range. Damn it, Bill, we're talking lives here. I can't take a guy out without working out the bugs."

"This is easy enough that you could do
it alone. I'm sending McGrew to help. You're not back up to speed, despite what the doctors say. I know you; you pushed the flight surgeon to certify ahead of time. Again. Combined with the near miss of yesterday, you're still weak. Besides, this will give him a taste of what might be expected." Harding crossed his arms as he leaned back.

Megan narrowed her eyes. "And who knows about this?"

"You, me, McGrew, and you'll have to inform Cowboy." Harding for once seemed nervous as he wiped his lips with his hand. "I've looked into your claim of a leak. I have reason to agree with you, besides the sabotage on the helicopters. My sources are checking things out. As soon as I know who it is, he'll be taken care of."

Megan shook her head as she tossed the file back on the desk. "We'll have to be dropped a distance away from the valley. That means a longer time in country."

Harding nodded. "Supplies are already being loaded on the aircraft. Gunner's pack with supplies is also on board. All that's required are personnel and your pack."

"Damn it."

"You've already said that."

"Full secrecy until we return. Make something up about our absence."

Harding agreed.

"I'll wake them in three hours," Megan said as she stood, motioning for Harding to move out from behind her desk. "Hand me the mission file."

He left the file lying on the desk.

Her heart constricted as she went over the information. She would, in less than four hours, be revealing to Jake one of the biggest secrets of her life. She didn't know how he would respond to the news. And if he responded badly, she knew her heart would break in pieces.