by Matt Lincoln
Two men wearing Coast Guard uniforms approached us as we got out of the cars.
“I’m Officer Dale,” he greeted us as he took a look around the group. “This is Officer Volkov. We’re going to be taking you up today.”
“Agent Ethan Marston,” I introduced myself as I reached forward to shake the man’s hand.
After going through all the introductions, Dale stood back and assessed the group one more time.
“How will you be splitting up?” He asked. “For safety reasons, it’s ideal to keep the load at about three passengers per chopper, not including the pilots. Each one is also equipped with an M240 machine gun. Normally there would be a gunner on board, but since our job is to hold back until the fighting is done, in this case, we do not. However, that does not mean things won’t go wrong. In case they do, we need to be able to protect ourselves. Do any of you have military training in using one of these?”
“Agent Holm and I are both former SEALS,” I replied.
“That’s excellent,” Dale replied. “I’d highly recommend that each of you goes into a separate chopper, then. If everything goes well, it won’t be needed, but just in case something does go south, it would be good to have someone on board who knows what they’re doing. Otherwise, we’re just going to have to take our chances in a retreat.”
I turned to look at Holm, nervous about the proposition. He was my partner. Our jobs were to have each other's backs, which we obviously couldn’t do if we were in separate helicopters. On the other hand, it was undeniable that out of everyone, we were the ones with the most experience in these kinds of things and the only ones with any kind of military background. There was no doubt that either of us could operate that kind of weapon, unlike Hills or Chapman.
Holm met my gaze and nodded, the expression on his face confident. I was still nervous, but I turned back to Dale, anyway.
“Alright, let’s do that,” I replied with a short nod.
“Let’s go then,” he said as he turned around to lead us toward the two choppers.
I took one last look at my partner as he walked off toward the other helicopter.
He’s going to be okay, I told myself as I climbed into the chopper. Hills and Chapman had split up as well, with Hills in my helicopter and Chapman going with Holm. Leeland was also with us, while Finch had elected to go in the other one.
She was chatting Chapman up animatedly as the Coastie helped strap her into the harness. Now that I was actually paying attention, I could definitely see what Hills meant about the flirting. She was all smiles as she talked to him and kept patting his arm or touching his shoulder as she spoke. It seemed like Chapman had noticed it now, too, by the way he was smiling awkwardly and leaning slightly away from her.
I might have laughed at the scene if the situation didn’t have my stomach all twisted up into anxious knots.
I put on my headphones as the pilot started the helicopter, the noise from the blades slightly audible even through the thick, padded headset.
“Everyone ready?” the pilot spoke into his speaker. His voice sounded tinny and electronic through the headset. “Let’s go.”
We were off the ground in just a matter of seconds, rising higher and higher with every passing moment. The sides of the helicopter were open, and I could feel the wind whipping through my hair as we soared out over the water and further up into the sky.
It didn’t take long for us to catch up to the other helicopters that were flying in formation toward the coordinates Gray had given us. It had been about two hours since then, so Viper had certainly moved already, but there was no way he’d gone very far in that amount of time. We’d find him soon, and the moment we did, we’d be able to get word to the Coast Guard down on the water. Once they were being assaulted from both air and sea, the pirates wouldn’t stand a chance.
Three helicopters flanked us on the left side of our chopper where I sat. I couldn’t see very well out through the other side, though I knew there were a few on that side as well. Those choppers were bright orange as well, but unlike ours, which was only equipped with one machine gun for emergency use, those were fitted with massive, stationary launchers that were fixed to the floor of the helicopter. They were large and heavy enough that they needed to be bolted down in order to not fall out of the chopper mid-flight. Those guns were powerful, designed to neutralize enemy threats and take down boats. They were exactly the kind of weaponry we would need to go against that monster warship that Viper had been using.
I turned back to the pilot as I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. He was lifting his hand to the side of his headset. His mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. He must have been talking through a different signal. A moment later, he pressed something on the side of his headphones, and I could suddenly hear his voice again.
“We’ve located the ship,” he informed us as he turned the steering handle sharply to the right. “We’re heading straight there now.”
Anxious excitement rushed through me at his words. We were really about to catch up to Viper. I turned to look at Hills, who was staring out of the front window of the helicopter. His face was as placid as ever, but there was a fire in his eyes that belied his stoic demeanor. His branch had been after this group for months longer than Holm and I had. If I was this excited about finally grabbing him, I couldn’t imagine how he felt about it.
I spotted the signs of the fight long before I could see the boat itself. A large cloud of dark, acrid smoke was rising into the air in the distance.
“What’s happening?” I called to Dale as I watched the plume of smoke grow larger on the horizon.
“They’re firing,” he replied hastily, his voice rising with agitation. “Dammit, they’ve hit one of our choppers. Hold on.”
He turned sharply to the right this time, the helicopter tilting as he did. I could see the blue water below me as we made an arch around to the right side of where the smoke was coming from. Large, orange-and-gray boats flew across the water with frightening speed. The Coast Guard boats were on their way to the scene.
“We’ve got men in the water,” Dale shouted as the helicopter moved closer to the smoke.
I could see the ship now, the familiar Colombian flag flying high above the black warship. It looked even bigger in person, and it absolutely dwarfed the Coast Guard ships that were surrounding it, launching their own missiles into the sides of the pirate ship’s hull. From above, the helicopters were attacking as well, firing explosives and using long-ranged weapons to combat the men standing on the deck of the ship.
About fifty yards away from the starboard side of the ship, I could see the remnants of one of the massive orange attack helicopters floating in the water, its blades mangled and its tail rotor completely gone. Judging by how charred and blackened the rear part of the elevator was, it looked like it had been blown off.
The first horrifying thought that had come to mind when I’d spotted the ruined orange helicopter in the water was that it might have been the one that Holm and Chapman were on. However, I quickly realized that it was too big. The choppers that we were on were slightly smaller than the massive, military-grade ones that the offensive line used to attack the pirates. Ours were designed for multi-purpose use and specially designed for search and rescue operations.
I looked around the sky frantically in search of Holm’s chopper. Everywhere I turned, I could only see the bulky orange and gray ones that were designed for gunners. My heart was beating more erratically with every second that passed without any sign of it, until finally, I spotted it, all the way on the other side of the ship. Orange with a white stripe down the side, it was comparably smaller than the other helicopters hovering around. It also wasn’t shooting down at the pirate’s ship, unlike the other ones beside it.
I turned back to Dale, who had pulled our chopper close to the wreckage below. I could see it clearly now, plumes of some rising from it as it slowly sank into the water. I couldn’t see anyone aroun
d it, though. That was a bad sign. If the pilot was passed out inside the cockpit, he might drown before he had a chance to swim to safety.
I opened my mouth, ready to speak up and offer to help. I was a former SEAL, after all. Search and rescue over water was one of the main components of what we did. If I couldn’t help take down Viper’s ship, then the least I could do was help to ensure that we kept everyone on our side alive.
Before I could speak up, though, an explosion rocked the helicopter. I shut my eyes against the blindingly bright light as a painfully loud bang nearly ruptured my eardrums. For a moment, I thought that we’d taken a direct hit, but after spinning out of control for a moment, the chopper finally steadied, and I realized that only the shock wave had hit us.
I turned to look out the right side of the helicopter where the flash of light had come from and nearly gasped at the sight unfolding before my eyes. One of the large attack helicopters had been hit with a rocket and was currently spinning out of control. It was completely sideways and corkscrewing around as the pilot desperately attempted to regain control.
It was a horrifying sight to watch, knowing that there was no way to recover from that kind of damage and that the best we could hope for was a smooth crash landing over the water. However, the horror I felt only grew more intense as I watched it suddenly careen to the right, straight toward the chopper that Holm and Chapman were in.
I swore out loud as I watched the smaller helicopter awkwardly attempt to maneuver sideways and out of the path of the plummeting attack chopper, but to no avail. The edge of the tail rotor managed to clip the side of the cockpit as it went corkscrewing by. It barely touched it, but at that speed, it was still enough to send the smaller helicopter into a tailspin as it rapidly lost height.
I was so aghast at what I was seeing that I couldn’t even yell as I watched the chopper strike the surface of the deck, skidding across it before flipping over twice and smashing into the side of the bridge.
34
Ethan
“Turn around!” I screamed at Dale, who was quickly ascending, pulling the helicopter we were out of range of fire.
“I can’t do that,” he called back. “It’s too dangerous. We’ve already lost three units. We need to retreat.”
“Go back!” Hills added, his face twisting into a snarl. “Our partners are down there! We need to go assist!”
“That’s suicide!” Dale yelled back, his voice harsh with frustration as he looked at us over his shoulder.
“Then just get us close enough to get down on the ladder!” I yelled back. “We’ll go down ourselves. I’m not going to just leave our people behind.”
“Look, I can’t--” Dale attempted to protest.
“Go back, or you’re going to have another search and rescue mission to conduct,” Hills yelled as he began to undo his harness.
“What the hell are you doing?” Dale roared at him. “You’re going to get yourself killed!”
“I’m getting off this thing one way or another!” Hills replied insistently. “If I have to jump, then that’s what I’m going to do!”
Dale glared at him before opening his mouth to speak. He clamped it back shut a second later as he stopped to listen to something over his headset. A moment later, he sighed before shaking his head.
“Get ready then,” he yelled at me. “I’ve just been given orders to help conduct rescue operations, so we’re going back. You get off this bird, though, I can’t guarantee what will happen to you.”
“We’ll take our chances,” I replied as I prepared to undo my own harness. As I did, I turned to look at Leeland, who hadn’t said much up to this point. “What will you do?”
I didn’t expect him to come with us. Honestly, what Hills and I were intending to do was something of a suicide mission. Nevertheless, my partner was down there. Maybe hurt or dying. I couldn’t just leave him, but that didn’t mean that Leeland had to risk his life as well.
“I’ll stay and help with the rescue operations,” he replied. “I’m sure Officer Dale will need a hand if he’s the one piloting.”
“Understood,” I called back as Dale lowered the helicopter back down toward the deck of the ship. The firing had abated somewhat. By now, it seemed like the Coast Guard had managed to gain the upper hand. The warship was in a bad state, fire and smoke rising from all around it. Down on the boats below, the Coasties had set up long ladders and were rushing up onto the deck to confront the pirates head-on.
“This is as low as I can safely get,” Dale yelled as the helicopter came to a stop some distance above the deck of the ship. I got up and quickly set to work extending the flexible ladders that were typically used for rescue and recovery missions. My hands moved on autopilot, the movements ingrained into my muscles from years of repeated action.
“Can you do this?” I turned to look at Hills. As far as I was aware, he didn’t have any military training and had almost certainly never done anything like rappelling several hundred feet down a floppy ladder.
“Don’t worry about me,” he replied gruffly. “Let’s move. We need to find our people ASAP.”
I nodded before tightly gripping the rungs of the ladder and stepping off the side of the helicopter. For just a moment, as my feet left the solid surface of the chopper, my stomach did a flip. We were high up enough that falling from this height would undoubtedly kill me. Normally, we would have used harnesses and security straps to make sure we didn’t accidentally fall and kill ourselves, but there was no time for that now. We needed to get onto the ship and find our partners now.
I climbed down quickly. The ladder was more unstable than I remembered, or maybe I was just out of practice. Either way, I had to grip the rungs tightly in order to maintain my hold as I descended as quickly as I could manage with a single arm.
I’d nearly made it to the bottom when the sound of a gunshot rang out from somewhere to my left. I jumped and nearly lost my grip as I turned to find the source of the sound.
It was him.
I recognized the distinctive snake tattoo instantly. Going up one arm and coming down the other, winding around each limb like a boa constrictor, there was no way I was mistaken. It was Viper, standing just feet away from me on the deck, his gun held aloft in his hands, pointed directly toward me.
I gritted my teeth as he fired again, and the bullet tore through the fabric holding the rungs of the ladder together, causing it to split and dangle precariously by one side. Normally, I would have drawn my gun and fired back, but there was no way I could do that with one arm injured. If I let go to grab my gun, I’d fall off the ladder.
Fortunately, Hills didn’t have the same problem because a second later, three bangs went off above me in quick succession, close enough that the noise caused my ears to ring.
Viper threw himself to the side as Hills shot at him, tossing us one last glare before turning and running off.
“Go!” Hills yelled from above me. “Don’t let him escape!”
I resumed my descent at double speed, practically sliding down the side of the ladder until my feet hit the ground. The force of the landing sent shocks of tingling pain up my legs, but I ignored it as I turned to look in the direction that Viper had run off. I wanted to catch him, but I needed to find Holm first, so I turned around and took off toward the flaming wreckage of the helicopter.
Hills was beside me in an instant, and together, we sprinted toward the mangled remains of the small Coast Guard chopper.
I started coughing before I’d even reached it, the ashy smoke filling my lungs and scorching the back of my throat. Debris littered the ground all around the portion of the deck where the helicopter had crashed. The metal surface had dented and charred where the bird had bored holes and gouged into it as it scraped its way across the ship.
I’d nearly made it when I heard the sound of someone groaning. The voice was familiar, and I stopped dead in my tracks the moment it reached my ears. I beelined past the helicopter and around the side of the br
idge to where the voice was coming from.
I could have cried with relief when I spotted Holm sitting there on the ground, leaning his back against the wall. He was breathing heavily, and there was a trickle of blood running down his face, but he was alive.
“Holm!” I shouted as I rushed over to him.
He looked up at me as I crouched down next to him, a small smile cracking over his face.
“Hey, brother,” he rasped, his voice weak.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I did a visual check for any external injuries. His clothes were torn and burnt, and he was covered in blood, but nothing looked broken.
“Just peachy,” he chucked before looking down to his left. “Barely managed to get her out. Just needed to sit down for a minute.”
For the first time, I realized that Officer Finch was on the ground beside him. She was unconscious, but I could clearly see the rise and fall of her chest as she took long, labored breaths. She was alive, too.
“There you are!” Hills’ voice suddenly rang out as he came running up behind me. “Why’d you take off like--” He stopped short as he noticed Holm and Finch on the ground.
“Where’s Junior?” He asked, his eyes wide with fear.
“He’s still inside,” Holm coughed. “Him and the pilot. I’m sorry, I couldn’t get--”
Hills was already gone, running back toward the flaming chopper.
“Go help him,” Holm insisted.
I wanted to protest. When I’d watched that helicopter go down, my mind had gone to the worst-case scenario. I’d believed, for just a brief, terrifying moment, that my partner was dead. I didn’t want to leave now that I’d found him, especially not when he was clearly injured.
“I’m fine,” he continued before I could say anything. “Just sore and exhausted from dragging Finch out of there. If you don’t go, Hills is going to get himself killed, and then they’ll both be dead. Go.”
