Whiplash (37 page)

Eastern Sudan

S
UGAR TRACKED THE PICKUP TRUCKS AS THEY CROSSED
off the road and headed toward the bus. She could see Boston running well off to her right, camouflaged by the smoke. With luck, she thought, he would escape to the hills without her having to fire.

No such luck. Someone in the rear of the lead truck noticed him just as he reached the road. They banged on the roof of the cab, and within seconds the truck and then the motorcycle veered in Boston’s direction.

Sugar started firing as soon as it turned. Her first shots missed low, the slugs burying themselves in the sand about thirty yards in front of the truck. She pushed down on the handle of the gun, bringing the machine-gun barrel up slowly until the stream of bullets sliced into the Toyota’s radiator. The men in the back of the vehicle threw themselves
off as the .50 caliber slugs smashed the engine compartment and windshield to pieces, chewing through the vehicle like a pack of crocodiles going after an antelope at the edge of the river.

Sugar swung the gun left, taking out the motorcycle. Then she turned to aim at a second truck that had started to follow the first. But the driver had seen what was happening and jammed on the brakes. As he nose-dived to a stop, he jumped from the cab and got behind the truck for cover. The men in the back did as well—except for the machine-gun operator and his assistant, who began firing in earnest at Sugar.

The ground shook with the thick stutter of their Russian-made heavy machine gun. It was ancient but dependable; its ancestors had backed swarms of troops in suicide attacks against the Germans north of Moscow in the dead of winter. Sugar put a dozen rounds into the truck’s side and the sandbags protecting the gunners, then had to duck as the enemy weapon found its range, splintering the rocks she was hiding behind. Before she could get back up, one of the mercenaries manned the machine gun in the back of the first truck and began firing as well. All Sugar could do was hunker down and wait for the firestorm to let up.

Boston managed to reach an outcropping of rocks at the base of the hill before anyone remembered him. He ducked behind them to catch his breath and plot his next move. Daily PT may have kept him in decent shape, but it was no substitute for the decade or so that had passed since he’d last done something like this.

His rifle was with Sugar and Abul up in the rocks; the only gun he had with him was his Beretta sidearm. He’d never been a particularly good shot with a pistol, and at this range the weapon was practically useless. His only option was to circle back to Sugar and Abul around the sheltered side of the hill. The only way to get there, however, was to leave the outcropping and run across an exposed rise for about thirty yards.

The distance didn’t seem like all that much until one of the machine gunners spotted him and bullets began cascading around the rocks. By that time Boston was about halfway to cover and committed to moving forward. He pushed up like a sprinter, head low, legs pumping. As he reached the rocks again, he threw his arms out, diving head first into the small depression, curling his body into a ball as the fusillade intensified.

He didn’t just taste dirt in his mouth. He tasted the metal scent of the air, roiled by the passing bullets, the fury of the battle permeating everything.

On the other side of the fence, the Ethiopians crouched in a holding pattern, baffled and confused by what was going on. From their point of view, it seemed as if the bus and the trucks were part of the same unit, probably a rebel group trying to crash the border as they fled Sudanese army regulars. They concluded that the force in the hills was an advance group of regulars, assigned to ambush the rebels and hold them back until the main unit arrived.

While they were under orders not to let anyone cross, they were more than happy to let the Sudanese battle among themselves; they liked neither side. The Ethiopian commander formed a defensive cordon in front of the bus, then moved the bulk of his army behind it. The equivalent of a platoon was left to watch the refugees back near the gate; they could be dealt with later.

The mercenaries had been reinforced by another troop trained by Hienckel, which had come down from Port Sudan. Shortchanged by their employer—a trucking company hired and protected by the Sudanese—they saw their brothers’ cause of revenge as holy, and had vowed to assist them before the entire group moved on to Khartoum and a job waiting there. Their courage—as well as their anger—had been enhanced by a homemade alcoholic berry drink that was nearly 180 proof. Though terrible tasting, the liquid was said to convey nearly magical powers on anyone who drank it, making them
impervious to bullets. Most of the mercenaries didn’t believe this, but after a few drinks it didn’t really matter.

With her machine-gun position caught in two fields of interlocking fire, Sugar slid down the hill a few feet to her rifle and grenade launcher. Picking it up, she packed a grenade in the launcher, then rolled onto her back and lobbed the fat pellet toward the second truck. Unaimed, the grenade flew too far right, exploding harmlessly thirty yards away from it. But the explosion drew the mercenaries’ attention; the ones who had been firing at Boston changed their aim, thinking the grenade had come from the fence area. While Boston scrambled up the hill, they concentrated their anger on the smoldering bus. Their bullets whizzed toward the Ethiopians, several of whom began returning fire, despite orders not to.

Boston scrambled up the rocky side of the hill. Abul crouched behind their gear, cradling a rifle against his chest and mumbling a prayer nonstop. His exhaustion paralyzed him; he looked wide-eyed at Boston as the American took the rifle from him.

“You all right?” Boston asked.

Abul didn’t answer.

“We’ll get outta here,” Boston told him. “Don’t worry about it.”

An explosion against the side of the hill seemed to put the lie to Boston’s promise, shaking the ground so severely he lost his balance. The mortar shell didn’t hurt anyone, but it put a good dent in the rocks, pummeling them all with dirt and rock splinters.

Sugar loaded the grenade launcher again. This time she rose over the crest of the hill just far enough to get her bearings and fired point-blank at the nearest machine gun.

It was a hell of a shot: The grenade hit the gunner square in the chest. The explosion diced him into so many parts that only his Maker could have put him back together again.

But the gunfire hardly slowed down.

“Put a grenade into the trucks,” yelled Boston as he scrambled up to her. “Blow them up so they can’t use them for
cover.”

“You don’t think I’m trying to do that?” Sugar yelled back.

“Just making sure we’re on the same page.”

She fired another round. This one went short, exploding harmlessly in the dirt forty yards from their nearest enemy.

Boston circled back to a cluster of rocks on the left, peeking out from behind them to try and sort the battle out. The mercenaries had concentrated into two groups, one clustered near the four trucks by the road, the other to the right around the battered vehicles, spread out between them and a dried gulley that ran down from the hill.

Meanwhile, the Ethiopians had increased their fire. If they kept it up, the mercenaries would have to retreat pell-mell, or try to take the hill so they had some sort of cover.

The north side of the hill wasn’t the easiest to defend, but Boston believed they could hold the mercs off as long as they had ammunition. The western side gave no cover, but to get there the mercenaries would have to backtrack quite a bit.

Unless the ball of dust appearing on the horizon was being raised by their reinforcements.

Cursing, Boston scrambled back to the gear, grabbing a set of binoculars. He took a few grenades as well and ran back to the outcropping. The dust had grown somewhat. He focused the glasses and saw that there were a half-dozen pickups in front of it.

Boston thought the trucks held more mercenaries. In fact they were a Sudanese militia responding to monitored radio reports. The commander who paid them promised a two dollar bonus per rebel killed, but generally didn’t ask for much proof of allegiance once the dead man’s ear was presented.

Women’s ears were worth only a dollar. Since there was generally no way to tell what their owner’s gender had been, the ears presented were almost always male.

“More company on the way,” Boston told Sugar.

“We’re going to run out of ammo soon.”

“Yeah. We need the Ethiopians to fight harder.”

“We don’t want them too aggressive,” she said. “They may
just come for us, too.”

“I’ll take some grenades and hit the reinforcements from the west,” said Boston. “I’ll take them out before they can get close.”

“I don’t think we should split up. When’s that Osprey coming?”

“Soon,” said Boston. Optimistically, he thought it was at least twenty minutes away—and more realistically maybe an hour. “But we can’t afford to wait for it.”

“All right,” said Sugar. They didn’t really have much choice.

“Put the radio on. Stay in touch,” said Boston, grabbing some grenades.

T
HE SMOKE FROM THE BUS LINGERED ON THE HORIZON, A
black snake curled around a pulverized victim. Breanna told the computer to head directly for the smoke. Then she dialed Boston’s sat phone.

Boston didn’t answer. The phone had fallen from his pocket when he jumped from the bus. He hadn’t even realized yet that he’d lost it.

HEAVY GROUND FIRE AHEAD
, warned the computer.

“Circle east,” said Breanna. “Bring altitude to two thousand feet.”

ALTITUDE NO LOWER THAN
15,000
FEET RECOMMENDED.

At 5,000 feet, the Osprey was an easy target for a shoulder-launched missile. It had several defensive systems—flares and a laser detonator, as well as a design that minimized the heat signature of the engines. Still, like all aircraft, it was vulnerable, a fact the computer had been programmed to dislike.

“I realize that,” Breanna said, though she knew the computer wouldn’t respond. She wanted to grab the yoke and take direct control, but knew the computer could do a much better
job than she could, especially at low altitude.

There was a column of trucks on the road to her right as she approached, and two knots of soldiers firing guns in the direction of the border and the hill. Then there were the troops on the Ethiopian side. But where was Boston?

B
OSTON HEARD THE
O
SPREY APPROACHING IN THE DISTANCE
as he ran to take his position on the road. He reached for his phone, then realized he didn’t have it.

His only alternative was to use his radio to broadcast a message on the international rescue frequency. The problem was, anyone with a radio could hear him, including both the mercenaries and the Ethiopians.

“Whiplash ground unit to approaching Osprey. Can you hear me?” he asked.

The Osprey didn’t respond.

“Osprey, this is Boston. You there?”

“Roger, Whiplash, we’re reading you,” answered Breanna. “Where’s your sat phone?”

“Lost it. We’re under fire. Can you take out those trucks?”

“Negative. Set a rendezvous point.”

“South of the hill,” said Boston. “Just in its shadow. We can get there in zero-three.”

“Osprey One is inbound,” said Breanna.

“Sugar, the Osprey is three minutes away,” Boston said, switching over to the team channel. “We’re going to meet them down at the base of the hill. Can you get there?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

“Don’t forget Abul.”

“I won’t forget, don’t worry.”

“Leave anything you can’t carry easily.”

Sugar rolled up out of her hiding spot and fired one last grenade at the mercenaries. Then she scooted toward the pile of their boxes and rucksacks. Hidden among the gear were explosive charges she’d set earlier; she’d blow them by remote control.

Abul was crouching where Boston had left him earlier, rifle in hand.

“Help me with McGowan,” Sugar told him. “The Osprey’s going to pick us up.”

“The helicopter?”

“It’s like a helicopter.”

“Where?”

“At the base of the hill.”

The words were no sooner out of her mouth than Abul charged down the hill like a madman. Sugar yelled after him, but it was no use; he didn’t hear her and wouldn’t have stopped if he did.

McGowan was heavy, his body stiff and bloating. Bent low under its weight, Sugar began treading her way down the hill, sliding as she went. She was only halfway down when the Osprey appeared above her, its tilt rotors full overhead, helicopter style. The wash threw dust and grit in her face. She lost her balance and fell on her back, McGowan’s body bag on top of her. They rolled together down the hill, dirt swirling around them.

Sugar’s nose and throat clogged with the sand as she slid into a crevice between two rocks. McGowan fell on top of her. The world closed in. She coughed, having trouble breathing. Two mortar shells shook the hill, crashing more rocks around her.

Forty yards away, Abul froze, watching as the black Osprey settled down. It looked more like a dragon than a helicopter, an angry beast with two hammerlike arms ready to smash any creature in its way.

The rear hatch slapped to the ground. Breanna ran from the back of the aircraft, sprinting toward him.

“Get aboard!” she shouted. “Get in there. Where are the others?”

Abul looked at her as if she were an alien.

“The others?”
she demanded.

He held out his hands and said in Arabic that he didn’t understand what she was saying.

“Get in the aircraft,” she told him.

Something moved in the rocks about forty feet from the Osprey. Breanna began running to it. There was a large gray-green bag there—a body bag.

It was moving.

God, she thought, did they put McGowan inside when he was still alive?

She ran faster. The bag slumped. Breanna reached it and started to pull upward. She heard a moan.

“I’ll get you out,” she said, but something wasn’t right. The body was stiff and heavy, not moving. She pulled it up, dragged it to the side, then saw Sugar beneath it.