Under Siege (36 page)

* * *

Three days later, just after midnight, Murdock felt a hand on his shoulder. He roused and came wide awake. Kanza was there in a white nurse’s uniform. Salama Masud wore the white lab coat of a doctor. They had him sit up and put on heavy pajamas and a hospital robe, then slippers, and eased him into a wheelchair.

“Is this it?” Murdock asked.

“If it works out. Otherwise none of us will worry about retiring.”

They rolled him out of the room, down a corridor, down two floors to the ground floor, and into a waiting ambulance that had a wheelchair ramp. Masud and Kanza both stayed with him. They strapped the wheelchair down and drove.

A half-hour later they stopped. When the doors opened, Murdock saw a silver business jet sitting on the airport tarmac.

“That’s my new bird?” he asked Masud.

“I prefer to think of it as more of a camel. It can go a long time without a drink.”

They freed the chair and rolled him to the aircraft. It had no markings other than a number on the rudder. Strong hands helped him go up the steps one at a time, then eased him into one of the first-class-style seats. Kanza and Salama Masud belted him in, made sure he was comfortable.

“Can I get you a pillow or a blanket?” Kanza asked.

“You’re coming with me?” Murdock asked.

She nodded.

“Her position at the hospital was too dangerous. The head nurse said if she didn’t show them her certificates by tomorrow, they would turn her over to the secret police.”

The jet rolled down the runway and took off. Murdock felt a surge of satisfaction. He was on his way home. No
more hiding under an Iranian name. He figured the Company would bring out Masud as well, since what he had done against Iran couldn’t be covered up for long.

Murdock settled into the seat, wondering what the first thing he would do when he got home. More hospital time, he knew that. Somewhere near DC, close to home. At the first real stop he was going to make them take him to a phone where he could call Ardith, then the CNO. He grinned. The admiral would chew him out for getting shot up. Yeah, he could take it. Ardith would be a different matter. He could see the worried, agonizing, frightened look on her face. Now that would be a real problem. He wished he had Jaybird and Lam there to help him with it. He sighed. He’d just have to cope, like a real SEAL!

MILITARY GLOSSARY

Aalvin:
Small U.S. two-man submarine.

Admin:
Short for administration.

Aegis:
Advanced Naval air defense radar system.

AH-1W Super Cobra:
Has M179 undernose turret with 20mm Gatling gun.

AK-47:
7.64-round Russian Kalashnikov automatic rifle. Most widely used assault rifle in the world.

AK-74:
New, improved version of the Kalashnikov. Fires the 5.45mm round. Has 30-round magazine. Rate of fire: 600 rounds per minute. Many slight variations made for many different nations.

AN/PRC-117D:
Radio, also called SATCOM. Works with Milstar satellite in 22,300-mile equatorial orbit for instant worldwide radio, voice, or video communications. Size: 15 inches high, 3 inches wide, 3 inches deep. Weighs 15 pounds. Microphone and voice output. Has encrypter, capable of burst transmissions of less than a second.

AN/PUS-7:
Night-vision goggles. Weighs 1.5 pounds.

ANVIS-6:
Night-vision goggles on air crewmen’s helmets.

APC:
Armored Personnel Carrier.

ASROC:
Nuclear-tipped antisubmarine rocket torpedoes launched by Navy ships.

Assault Vest:
Combat vest with full loadouts of ammo, gear.

ASW:
Anti-Submarine Warfare.

Attack Board:
Molded plastic with two handgrips with
bubble compass on it. Also depth gauge and Cyalume chemical lights with twist knob to regulate amount of light. Used for underwater guidance on long swim.

Aurora:
Air Force recon plane. Can circle at 90.000 feet. Can’t be seen or heard from ground. Used for thermal imaging.

AWACS:
Airborne Warning And Control System. Radar units in high-flying aircraft to scan for planes at any altitude out 200 miles. Controls air-to-air engagements with enemy forces. Planes have a mass of communication and electronic equipment.

Balaclavas:
Headgear worn by some SEALs.

Bent Spear:
Less serious nuclear violation of safety.

BKA, Bundeskriminant:
Germany’s federal investigation unit.

Black Talon:
Lethal hollow-point ammunition made by Winchester. Outlawed some places.

Blivet:
A collapsible fuel container. SEALs sometimes use it.

BLU-43B:
Antipersonnel mine used by SEALs.

BLU-96:
A fuel-air explosive bomb. It disperses a fuel oil into the air, then explodes the cloud. Many times more powerful than conventional bombs because it doesn’t carry its own chemical oxidizers.

BMP-1:
Soviet armored fighting vehicle (AFV), low, boxy, crew of 3 and 8 combat troops. Has tracks and a 73mm cannon. Also an AT-3 Sagger antitank missile and coaxial machine gun.

Body Armor:
Far too heavy for SEAL use in the water.

Bogey:
Pilots’ word for an unidentified aircraft.

Boghammar Boat:
Long, narrow, low dagger boat; highspeed patrol craft. Swedish make. Iran had 40 of them in 1993.

Boomer:
A nuclear-powered missile submarine.

Bought It:
A man has been killed. Also “bought the farm.”

Bow Cat:
The bow catapult on a carrier to launch jets.

Broken Arrow:
Any accident with nuclear weapons, or any incident of nuclear material lost, shot down, crashed, stolen, hijacked.

Browning 9mm High Power:
A Belgian 9mm pistol, 13 rounds in magazine. First made 1935.

Buddy Line:
6 feet long, ties 2 SEALs together in the water for control and help if needed.

BUD/S:
Coronado, California, nickname for SEAL training facility for six months’ course.

Bull Pup:
Still in testing; new soldier’s rifle. SEALs have a dozen of them for regular use. Army gets them in 2005. Has a 5.56 kinetic round, 30-shot clip. Also 20mm high-explosive round and 5-shot magazine. Twenties can be fused for proximity airbursts with use of video camera, laser range finder, and laser targeting. Fuses by number of turns the round needs to reach laser spot. Max range: 1200 yards. Twenty round can also detonate on contact, and has delay fuse. Weapon weighs 14 pounds. SEALs love it. Can in effect “shoot around corners” with the airburst feature.

BUPERS:
BUreau of PERSonnel.

C-2A Greyhound:
2-engine turboprop cargo plane that lands on carriers. Also called COD, Carrier Onboard Delivery. Two pilots and engineer, Rear fuselage loading ramp. Cruise speed 300 mph, range 1,000 miles. Will hold 39 combat troops. Lands on CVN carriers at sea.

C-4:
Plastic explosive. A claylike explosive that can be molded and shaped. It will burn. Fairly stable.

C-6 Plastique:
Plastic explosive. Developed from C-4 and C-5. Is often used in bombs with radio detonator or digital timer.

C-9 Nightingale:
Douglas DC-9 fitted as a medical-evacuation transport plane.

C-130 Hercules:
Air Force transporter for long haul. 4 engines.

C-141 Starlifter:
Airlift transport for cargo, paratroops,
evac for long distances. Top speed 566 mph. Range with payload 2,935 miles. Ceiling 41,600 feet.

Caltrops:
Small four-pointed spikes used to flatten tires. Used in the Crusades to disable horses.

Camel Back:
Used with drinking tube for 70 ounces of water attached to vest.

Cammies:
Working camouflaged wear for SEALs. Two different patterns and colors. Jungle and desert.

Cannon Fodder:
Old term for soldiers in line of fire destined to die in the grand scheme of warfare.

CAP:
Continuous Air Patrol.

Capped:
Killed, shot, or otherwise snuffed.

CAR-15:
The Colt M-4A1. Sliding-stock carbine with grenade launcher under barrel. Knight sound-suppressor. Can have AN/PAQ-4 laser aiming light under the carrying handle. .223 round. 20- or 30-round magazine. Rate of fire: 700 to 1,000 rounds per minute.

Cascade Radiation:
U-235 triggers secondary radiation in other dense materials.

Castle Keep:
The main tower in any castle.

Cast Off:
Leave a dock, port, land. Get lost. Navy: long, then short signal of horn, whistle, or light.

Caving Ladder:
Roll-up ladder that can be let down to climb.

CH-46E:
Sea Knight chopper. Twin rotors, transport. Can carry 25 combat troops. Has a crew of 3. Cruise speed 154 mph. Range 420 miles.

CH-53D Sea Stallion:
Big Chopper. Not used much anymore.

Chaff:
A small cloud of thin pieces of metal, such as tinsel, that can be picked up by enemy radar and that can attract a radar-guided missile away from the plane to hit the chaff.

Charlie-Mike:
Code words for continue the mission.

Chief to Chief:
Bad conduct by EM handled by chiefs
so no record shows or is passed up the chain of command.

Chocolate Mountains:
Land training center for SEALs near these mountains in the California desert.

Christians In Action:
SEAL talk for not-always-friendly CIA.

CIA:
Central Intelligence Agency.

CIC:
Combat Information Center. The place on a ship where communications and control areas are situated to open and control combat fire.

CINC:
Commander IN Chief.

CINCLANT:
Navy Commander-IN-Chief, atLANTtic.

CINCPAC:
Navy Commander-IN-Chief, PACific.

Class of 1978:
Not a single man finished BUD/S training in this class. All-time record.

Claymore:
An antipersonnel mine carried by SEALs on many of their missions.

Cluster Bombs:
A canister bomb that explodes and spreads small bomblets over a great area. Used against parked aircraft, massed troops, and unarmored vehicles.

CNO:
Chief of Naval Operations.

CO:
Commanding Officer.

CO-2 Poisoning:
During deep dives. Abort dive at once and surface.

COD:
Carrier Onboard Delivery plane.

Cold Pack Rations:
Food carried by SEALs to use if needed.

Combat Harness:
American Body Armor nylon-mesh special-operations vest. 6 2-magazine pouches for drumfed belts, other pouches for other weapons, waterproof pouch for Motorola.

CONUS:
The Continental United States.

Corfams:
Dress shoes for SEALs.

Covert Action Staff:
A CIA group that handles all covert action by the SEALs.

CP:
Command Post.

CQB house:
Close Quarters Battle house. Training facility near Nyland in the desert training area. Also called the Kill House.

CQB:
Close Quarters Battle. A fight that’s up close, hand-to-hand, whites-of-his-eyes, blood all over you.

CRRC Bundle:
Roll it off plane, sub, boat. The assault boat for 8 SEALs. Also the IBS, Inflatable Boat Small.

Cutting Charge:
Lead-sheathed explosive. Triangular strip of high-velocity explosive sheathed in metal. Point of the triangle focuses a shaped-charge effect. Cuts a pencil-line-wide hole to slice a steel girder in half.

CVN:
A U.S. aircraft carrier with nuclear power. Largest that we have in fleet.

CYA:
Cover Your Ass, protect yourself from friendlies or officers above you and JAG people.

Damfino:
Damned if I know. SEAL talk.

DDS:
Dry Dock Shelter. A clamshell unit on subs to deliver SEALs and SDVs to a mission.

DEFCON:
DEFense CONdition. How serious is the threat?

Delta Forces:
Army special forces, much like SEALs.

Desert Cammies:
Three-color, desert tan and pale green with streaks of pink. For use on land.

DIA:
Defense Intelligence Agency.

Dilos Class Patrol Boat:
Greek, 29 feet long, 75 tons displacement.

Dirty Shirt Mess:
Officers can eat there in flying suits on board a carrier.

DNS:
Doppler Navigation System.

Drager LAR V:
Rebreather that SEALs use. No bubbles.

DREC:
Digitally Reconnoiterable Electronic Component. Top-secret computer chip from NSA that lets it decipher any U.S. military electronic code.

E-2C Hawkeye:
Navy, carrier-based, Airborne Early Warning craft for long-range early warning and threat-assessment
and fighter-direction. Has a 24-foot saucerlike rotodome over the wing. Crew 5, max speed 326 knots, ceiling 30,800 feet, radius 175 nautical miles with 4 hours on station.

E-3A Skywarrior:
Old electronic intelligence craft. Replaced by the newer ES-3A.

E-4B NEACP:
Called Kneecap. National Emergency Airborne Command Post. A greatly modified Boeing 747 used as a communications base for the President of the United States and other high-ranking officials in an emergency and in wartime.