Necessary Retribution (8 page)

By the light of two campfires, Rocky saw two hostages were asleep on the ground and one sat on a log with her head in her hands. There were at least four terrorists in the immediate area of the hostages. Two were awake and talking to each other and the other two slept on the ground nearby. Rocky tapped Mark's shoulder and pointed to the hostages.

Mark nodded.

Rocky tapped Doug's arm, pointed to the sleeping men and ran his finger across his throat.

Doug nodded.

Rocky pointed to himself and then pointed to the two terrorists who were awake. Doug and Mark acknowledged and the men then focused their attention to the camp. A few seconds later, Robin's static hash broke in their ear pieces. They moved forward…dark, dangerous shadows gliding through the night.

Rocky held his silenced Glock at eye level, the tritium night sights lined up on the awake terrorist farthest from him. At fifteen yards, Rocky fired two rounds and the man fell over. He swung his pistol to the right, his shots made the other man's head snap back as he dropped to the ground.

Doug took care of the sleeping men and Rocky motioned for him to help Mark with the hostages while he covered them. Rocky holstered the Glock and unslung his Commando assault carbine.

Jessica Lanthrop had no emotional reserves left. She believed she was going to die all because she wanted to prove she wasn't a mindless, spoiled rich girl. She looked up at the stars. Well, at least she did prove that before she died. Jessica almost screamed when she saw three shadowy figures moving toward her from the dark
jungle, but the closest man to her put his finger to his lips. She realized they were there for her and her friends. She jumped when one of the men shot two of her captors who were talking to each other and then again when the third man shot two who were sleeping.

“Americans,” the closest man whispered. “We're getting you out of here. Wake your friends.”

She bent down and shook Alana. Betsy raised her head and started getting up. A man yelled and a shot rang out. Then more shots. Fear churned through Jessica's gut and she screamed as her rescuer grabbed her and pulled her to the trees.

Marv's team was set to cover the extraction. He saw Rocky take out the guards. Marv repeatedly scanned the area in front of him and could see there were a lot more than thirty terrorists.

A head popped up.

Marv put his night sights on it and fired one round. The head disappeared. Other men rose only to be cut down by Marv's team. The number of awakening terrorists grew rapidly and soon there were more shooting terrorists than the covering team could handle. Fortunately, the terrorists were undisciplined and fired wildly in the night.

Rocky's voice came over Marv's headset. “We're moving out, Marv.”

“Just in time. We're right behind ya.”

Robin barely noticed it started raining as he moved as quickly as he could down the trail carrying an extra one hundred and ten pounds. He wanted to create distance so he could give the woman first aid until Willy Young could get to them with his paramedic kit. Heavy gunfire reverberated in the jungle until he heard an explosion and then three more. Robin smiled.
Mike's handiwork
.

He went for another half mile before he began to feel an all too familiar pain in the middle of his back. He stopped and gently propped the woman against a tree. He suddenly gasped and arched as an invisible fist twisted the muscles in the middle of his back. The spasm passed and he bent over to help release the tension. When he straightened, the woman looked at him with questioning eyes.

“Just an old wound.”

She nodded in understanding.

Robin pulled off his pack, retrieved his trauma kit and started cleaning the wounds on her face.

“Please do not move.” A deep male voice with a Russian accent spoke from the jungle. “We would rather not kill you.” Robin slowly raised his hands.

Men in Russian Spetsnaz jungle fatigues armed with AK-47s moved in around them. Two of them lifted the woman onto a stretcher.

“She's badly injured and needs immediate medical attention,” Robin said quietly.

A man in civilian hiking clothes stepped forward. “She will get it.” He looked closely at Robin. “You took Ivanov!”

Robin just looked at the man.

He laughed heartily. “Good riddance, although if you ever meet my KGB comrade, be prepared for a boxing match!” The man laughed again, but then his face turned to stone. “What happened to the men who did this?”

“We sent them to hell.”

The Russian's face brightened. “I hope you will let me buy you a drink someday.”

“I'd be delighted,” Robin said with a smile.

The woman said something to the men holding the stretcher. They brought her closer to Robin. She raised her hand and put it on his cheek. “Thank you, my angel. I will never forget.”

“You're welcome. Take care.” She gave a weak smile as the sound of a helicopter in the distance had the Russians hustling down the trial.

Robin heard people coming down the trail, so he stepped into the jungle until he saw Rocky, then the rest of the team and the other three hostages.

Rocky looked at Robin and then around the ground.

Burke walked up.

“What the hell is going on, Rob?”

“The Russians have come and gone.”

“What?!”

“The woman in the shack was Russian and I suspect one of their agents. Probably a very important agent. Spetsnaz and the GRU came and got her.”

“Holy shit! I'm glad we didn't have a fight over her!” The sound of the helicopter faded in the distance.

“Me, too. Everyone okay?”

“Yeah, just some minor injuries, but we gotta get these ladies out of here.”

“Okay, Rocky move us out.”

The rain kept on coming as the team worked their way back to the river. The men made a raft out of logs and bamboo so they could float the women and save them the walk. Robin contacted Ernie by satellite radio.

“SpearTip, you have to watch out!” Robin could hear the excitement in Ernie's voice. “There are hostiles in the area!”

“Yeah, we know, Fatboy. We just had tea.”

“What?!”

“It's okay, they just wanted one of theirs.”

“It's not that simple.”

“Roger, we'll sort it out later. Just get the Filipinos to the delta ASAP.

“Roger, I'll get them rolling.”

The team finished the raft and taught the three women how to control it with long bamboo poles. The group moved down the river and the men had to hustle to keep up with the raft in the rain swollen river. After thirty minutes the night gave way to light grey overcast with the coming dawn and the sound of helicopter blades blended with the rush of the river.

“Okay, ladies, your ride outta here is coming. Remember, we were never here. The Russians came and got the other woman, whatever she called herself and you escaped. Don't contradict anything you see in the press. It's essential to our survival you follow that script.”

“Thank you, everyone.” Jessica said. “You're truly wonderful.” She reached out and touched Mark's shoulder and he put his hand on hers.

“Sometimes,” Robin replied. “Now, on your way.”

The women started polling as the team faded into the jungle and Robin saw Jessica looking back at Mark.

The team moved two miles down the coast to the Talinga River delta. Marv found a cave one hundred yards from the beach and everything dropped; packs, recovered chutes and tired bodies.

“SpearTip to Fatboy.”

“Go SpearTip.”

“What's our estimated extraction time?”

“We're in Davao City, so it will be forty-eight to seventy-two, SpearTip.”

“Roger,” Robin replied with a tired voice.

He looked at his men around him, their faces ghostly and showing disappointment in the glow of chemlites.

“Well gentlemen, you heard the news. Looks like this will be home for a couple of days. Before any of you turn in, I just want you to know how proud I am of all of you. We pulled off a very difficult mission with less than ideal prep time. The important thing is four terrified women are going home and none of us got hurt. It doesn't get much better…”

“Okay, boss,” Burke interjected. “Enough with the speeches. Can we just go to sleep now?”

Robin laughed. “Yeah, go to sleep. I got first watch.”

N
INE

THE RAIN CONTINUED COMING DOWN
two days later when Gary Perkins showed up in a fishing boat. It took three runs in a small life boat to get all the men and equipment on board. They were all glad to get out of the cave.

Robin looked out on the transom of the boat. The monsoon weather had the boat riding waves like a roller coaster and half the team were bent over the rail even though rations ran out the day before.

“Well, I guess we're separating the men from the boys!” Rocky flashed a sardonic grin.

“Be gentle, Rock. Most of those guys over there were born and raised in the Arizona desert.”

“I know, Rob. I'm just feeling a little superior right now. We pulled off two great capers with none of us getting more than scratches and bruises.”

Robin looked up at the sky as rain incessantly splashed on his face. “We were damn lucky. I wouldn't want to HALO in a storm like this.”

“In my experience, success in operations like these depends on luck more than we care to admit. I suppose that's why we always say God is on our side.”

Robin looked at his teammate. “I'm glad to have your experience on this team, Rock. There are very few team leaders who can depend on every man. I can.”

“I wouldn't have missed this gig for the world. We're doing important work and making good money to boot.”

“It is pretty damn good right now.” Robin looked at the rail huggers. “Well, for some of us.” Both men laughed.

“Rob!” Gary Perkins slid down the ladder from the bridge. “We have radar contact with two high speed boats coming towards us on the starboard bow. They've been shadowing us for at least four hours before we picked you up.”

“Do we know who they are?”

“The skipper isn't sure, but he thinks they may be Indonesian pirates.”

“Rocky, get everybody on deck ready to fight and please ask Burke to bring up my rifle and tactical vest.”

“That's a big roger, boss.”

Robin climbed up to the bridge and entered the wheelhouse.

A grizzled mariner who had manned a landing craft during the invasion of the Philippines in 1944 at the age of seventeen, Gary found Johnny “Whisky” Walker after doing a little investigating on the Davao docks. Walker's landing craft sunk and he ended up fighting with the infantry. He fell in love with a Filipino girl and never left.

“Hey, Skipper,” Robin nodded to Walker. “You ever deal with Indonesian pirates before?”

“That I have, Colonel.” Robin cocked his head. “Gary told me your rank. The boy thought he had to impress me I think, but I figured you for an officer right off.”

“Is that good or bad?”

Whisky looked to the transom where the team prepared for trouble.

“Judging by the way those men look up to you, I'd say it's a good thing.”

Robin looked at his men for a thoughtful moment. “Tell me more about these pirates.”

“They took one boat from me, when I was young. Kids were little, didn't think I could chance a fight. They tried again last year. Me and my boys fought ’em and beat ’em. I figure we killed four of ’em. If those boats are pirates, they're coming after me. It ain't your fight.”