Firestorm sts-5

by Keith Douglass

  "We'll need some. The gas missiles aren't here. Hide the rig somewhere and dump the bodies in the bay. We'll be out soon." Murdock watched Bishop working the TNAZ. "Know what we used to do for sport on the Fourth of July back in Tennessee?" Bishop asked.

  Murdock shook his head.

  "We'd take sticks of twenty percent dynamite and blow up outhouses. Mostly outside of town a ways. Lots of folks in the country still used outhouses. Damn, you could just see the shit flying all over the place."

  Bishop taped the last of the TNAZ onto the nose of a missile and set a timer.

  "Should do it, L-T. Primed four of them. The explosions inside here will trigger sympathetic detonations of all the missiles in the place. Be a damn nice bang."

  Murdock led his men out of the building. They paused at the small door and checked. Murdock couldn't see the men of Second Squad. Then he found them. Three were behind the jeep rip-off. Two more were by some wooden boxes on the dock. The others scattered in defensive positions and behind cover.

  He started to go out when he heard the whine of a motor and an Army truck that looked like a six-by-six ground around the corner and troops spilled from it.

  "Save the truck, take out the men," Murdock whispered into his lip mike.

  Murdock let four men from First Squad slip out the door and hide just behind the fence. All had their weapons aimed at the eight men who had dropped off the truck.

  "Magic, take out the driver," Murdock whispered into his mike. Five seconds later Magic's silenced weapon fired. Then all the SEALS cut loose with their silenced weapons.

  Four of the Chinese soldiers died in the first volley of shots. The others dove to the ground, not sure where the deadly rounds came from. Lieutenant Dewitt's men smashed the life from the last four Chinese in seconds. The driver of the truck had fallen half out of the cab, and the rig had stopped.

  "Save the truck," Murdock radioed. "Drive it behind the far end of the building. We'll get it later."

  Ross Lincoln was their truck, jeep, motor, and transport expert. He ran to the truck, pulled the driver out, and climbed aboard. It took him a few moments to find the switches and accelerator. Then he started the truck and drove it out of sight behind the end of the missile building.

  The SEALS dropped the dead Chinese into the bay and then grouped on Murdock, who led them back down the ladders to their rebreathers, fins, and gear bags.

  "Time to swim," Murdock said. "The two Luda-class destroyers that launch their missiles are down the dock about four hundred yards. Let's suit up and get down that way. Pick up those drag packs with the limpets. If we can't find the poison-gas missiles, at least we can take out their delivery system."

  Jaybird frowned in the Chinese darkness. "Skipper, these little poison-gas missiles still have over a hundred miles of range. Taiwan is only ninety miles away. Why don't they just fire them from here? They don't need the ships to launch them."

  Bishop snorted. "Jaybird, it's a safety factor. They launch them poison-gas hangers from land, and one of them misfires or blows up on the pad and that one sets off a few others, they could wipe out half a million of their own people. If they launch at sea and there's an accident, they lose only one destroyer and a few hundred men."

  The SEALS swam just below the surface, staying in close contact with each other. By the time they were halfway there, they knew that the destroyers had lots of security around them.

  At two hundred yards the SEALS surfaced and checked out the targets. Floodlights blazed from several points lighting up both the destroyers and the water thirty meters out on the water side. There were six walking sentries on the dock guarding each ship. The whole area was fenced off with a chain-link eight feet high. The SEALS saw two dogs on leash walking the area next to the fence.

  They stowed their Motorola radios in their watertight compartments, and had to rely on whispers and hand signals.

  "Wonder how good their security is in the water?" Murdock said to Jaybird, who treaded water beside him.

  "I'd bet there's little to none," Jaybird said. "The same attack plan we worked out?"

  Murdock nodded. "Get them moving."

  Jaybird signaled to four men with the limpet mines. They swam away. Two men would place two of the big magnetic mines on the hull of the destroyers three feet under water.

  Murdock had thought of shooting out the floodlights, but decided that would only alert the Chinese. The men with the mines would plant them, then set timers for twenty minutes, and the SEALS would swim like crazy to get out of the area before the blasts sent shock waves through the water that could seriously injure anyone close enough to them.

  Murdock looked at his watch. He allowed them ten minutes to swim in and place the limpets, and then five minutes to swim back. They came back right on time, and the platoon turned and swam back toward the missile warehouse.

  They swam silently on top of the bay while waiting for the explosions to go off. The explosions were late. Murdock looked at the men who had set the timers. They hand-signaled that they were set for twenty minutes.

  Then a deep rumbling explosion shattered the night. It sent shock waves through the water that the SEALS could feel. Then the blast blew out of the water into the air, and they heard a shattering roar. The same thing happened three times more, and the SEALS gave a silent cheer and swam faster toward their dock.

  This time they kept on their rebreathers and all of their gear and carried their fins and equipment bags. They hoped to be back in the water as soon as they blew up the missile-assembly building.

  "Where the fuck was that warehouse, Jaybird?" Murdock asked as they climbed the ladders up to the dock, then ran across the open area to where the big six-by-six Chinese Army truck sat.

  "Half a klick right up this main drag out in front of the warehouse," Jaybird said.

  The men crawled into the truck, found bench seats along each side, and dropped their gear on to the floor and primed their weapons for a fight.

  "The place is a large warehouse with a fence all the way around it," Jaybird said. "Leastwise, that's the way it looked in the satellite photos."

  They could hear sirens now. A car with a flashing red light on it tore past the warehouse heading down the dock toward the damaged destroyers.

  "Let's go," Murdock called to Lincoln in the cab. Horse Ronson had set up his HK machine gun so it aimed out the back of the truck just over a low tailgate. The other men had their weapons free of water and with a round in the chamber, locked and loaded.

  Murdock sat beside the tailgate. They were still in an industrial section. The street was narrow, and here and there trucks were parked along it next to buildings.

  A small truck with siren wailing and red light flashing came racing down the street toward them. Lincoln pulled to the side and let the rig go by.

  "Seems to be an emergency down at the docks," Jaybird said. The men laughed.

  "Coming up on what looks to be a checkpoint of some kind," Lincoln yelled through a sliding panel into the cab. "What the hell do I do?"

  "Turn right at the next street," Murdock said. He leaned around the side of the truck and saw the floodlights and two Army rigs pulled up across the street a block ahead. He felt the big truck turn and careen down a side street barely wide enough to let it scrape through between buildings. Just as they turned, Murdock saw one of the small rigs at the roadblock jolt forward. Was it going to chase them? he wondered.

  "Go up two blocks and then to the left for two more blocks and then left again," Murdock yelled. "Maybe we can get around the roadblock that way."

  Before they turned the second time, the Army rig from the roadblock raced up behind them. Its headlights blinked and then a siren gave a short angry snarl.

  "Do it," Murdock said to Ronson. He triggered his 21AI and sent a stream of 7.62mm NATO smashing into the Army rig's windshield and engine. Four five-round bursts sent the small truck slewing sideways into a thin wall and out of sight crashing through the front of a business building.r />
  The SEALS' truck rumbled on, made the next two corners, and surged back onto the main avenue they had left before when they saw the roadblock.

  Murdock looked down the street behind them and saw where the roadblock was. Now there was only one rig there, and no one seemed to be looking their way.

  "How much farther?" Murdock called to Ross Lincoln.

  "Just ahead, Skipper. Maybe fifty yards. What the hell do you want me to do with this rig? I can't just drive up in front."

  "Turn down the first cross street next to it and get us away from any street lights. We work best in the dark."

  Murdock looked around the side of the truck. He saw the warehouse ahead. It was lit by floodlights. The one fence they had seen in the photos turned into two fences. The place looked like Fort Knox. There seemed to be one layer of security after another. The only thing he didn't see were tanks and a regiment of Chinese infantry ready to defend the place.

  Then Lincoln called out again. "Trouble, L-T. Looks like some kind of a half-track weapons carrier coming around the far corner of the warehouse. What the shit am I supposed to do now?"

  24

  Sunday, May 17

  0154 hours

  Missile assembly building

  Amoy, China

  "Stop the truck," Murdock shouted to the driver in the front of the Chinese six-by-six. He waved to the two closest SEALS in the back of the rig who had CAR-15s with grenade launchers.

  "Both of you, two HE rounds each at that weapons carrier. Wherever he goes, shoot him up. Do it now." Scotty Frazier jerked the pouch open that held his grenades and loaded one. He had one round off before the other man had his grenades out. Al Adams got his weapon up to use just as the first grenade hit in front of the slowly moving weapons carrier. Adams's first round hit the rig in the middle and exploded with a roar. Two men went flying out of the troop compartment.

  Frazier adjusted his aim and put his second round into the carrier as well, stalling it. Adams's second shot hit just behind the rig where half-a-dozen Chinese soldiers had just evacuated the burning weapons carrier. Four of them went down screaming.

  "Take it down," Murdock shouted, and the SEALS jumped from the truck and found firing positions. With their silenced weapons at a range of only forty yards, they chopped up the remaining Chinese soldiers. Then a round generated a spark that hit vaporizing gasoline, and the whole rig blew up in one shuddering explosion as the weapons on board went off in the fireball.

  They were taking fire now from guards around the target. Murdock put his men in a long line of attackers wherever they could find cover.

  Magic Brown, with his sniper rifle and scope, began picking off the outside security.

  Murdock and Jaybird checked out the protection around the building. Concrete barriers in front of the place prevented a truck from crashing through the fences. There were barriers inside the fences as well. The fences were chain-link with razor wire on top. As they watched the freigh, they saw two machine guns blasting from the second-floor windows. Magic Brown and Miguel Fernandez, with the other M-89 sniper rifle, concentrated their fire on the chatter guns and soon silenced them.

  Murdock didn't know if they'd wiped out the weapons or gunners, or if the fire had been too hot for them and they'd simply pulled back from the window. He'd remember the potential up there. But first came the fences.

  "Frazier, put two forty rounds on that chain-link fence gate to the right, the man-sized one. Blow it the hell open."

  Frazier heard the orders in his earpiece and loaded a grenade. He had to move to get a shot at the target. He rushed from a stalled truck to an old car of uncertain vintage and bellied down behind it. The shot was easy but would it blast open the door? He aimed, and triggered the launcher. The round hit short and exploded with a roar. His second round hit the gate in the middle and detonated. It blew a foot-wide hole in the chain link but didn't make the gate open. He fired again to the left. This round hit the frame of the gate and blew it off its locks and hinges.

  The Platoon Leader grinned and used hand signals as he and three of his First Squad stormed through the gate to the next chain-link fence. Jaybird wrapped primer cord around the gate lock and set a detonator for ten seconds. He jolted away from the spot and the primer cord exploded with a roar. It blew the gate open and Murdock and his First Squad stormed through it to the side of the warehouse.

  Ed Dewitt and the Second Squad quickly positioned themselves outside in a defensive formation to provide security for the men inside. They would be needed. Murdock could hear sirens wailing away, and some sounded like they were on rigs moving his way.

  Two side doors to the big building were steel, but a small man-sized door in the side of one looked like a possible entry place. Another look changed Murdock's mind. It had sliding steel security bars on this side, and probably inside as well.

  To the left was the main entrance, with standard doors. They looked to be wooden with door handles.

  Magic Brown shook his head. "Not a chance in hell to go in there," he said. "Fucking doors will be booby-trapped and covered by at least two machine guns inside. They know we're out here now."

  Murdock agreed. "Let's try around the corner, a side or back door."

  The squad moved with Red out front and the L-T coming next and then the usual combat formation. They took no fire as they went around the corner. There were no doors or windows on this side. The squad sprinted to the back of the building. Two truck doors stood open beside a truck-high loading dock.

  Murdock motioned the men to get to each side of the doors. They went in with a rush, weapons at assault-firing positions. They stormed through the doors and met no resistance. They flattened against the sides of the concrete room. One door showed at the end, twenty feet away. The L-T went forward and turned the knob. He eased the door open a crack and looked through.

  He saw a long lighted hallway with two doors leading off it. No windows. He swung the door open and motioned his men forward. They spread out at five-yard intervals.

  The first door down the hall was locked. Jaybird opened the second door carefully. Inside they found a kitchen with two men working over a stove. Jaybird's MP-5 dropped them with chest shots. The SEALS saw two more doors leading off the kitchen. They checked both. One led into a dormitory of some type. It was dark and they could hear men moving around in it, and one man snoring.

  Murdock motioned for them to close the door. He found a wooden chair, pushed the back of it under the door handle, and kicked the rear legs firmly on the floor. To open the door anyone would have to break the chair legs. It was a stopgap operation.

  They looked out the other door. It led into the main assembly room. Murdock studied the place from beside the door. He spotted four guards. Two were on balconies that looked as if they were made for protection. Two more roving guards worked the floor.

  He stared at the missiles. They looked like the ones they had seen at the docks. They were about the same size.

  Ken Ching pushed up where he could see the missiles. "Same damn ones we saw in the other building," he said. "Where are the smaller ones?"

  One of the guards noticed the open door and walked that way. Magic Brown cut him down with his silenced sniper rifle. Murdock gave the sign to open fire, and six weapons at the door quickly put down the two men on the second-floor guard posts.

  "Let's take a look," Murdock said in his mike. He directed the seven men. Two went on each side and three down the middle of the room. Most of the sleek rocket weapons were on work stands, upright as if ready to fire. Others lay in boxes for transport. Some looked as if they had a lot of assembly work to be done.

  Shots came from ahead. They were not silenced. Murdock ducked behind a stack of wooden crates that would soon hold the missiles and looked around the corner. One Chinese with an old rifle steadied his weapon as he aimed over a closed box halfway across the room.

  Murdock lifted his MP-5 and sent a three-round burst at the soldier. Two of the rounds caught him i
n the side and the chest and he fell backwards, his rifle still on the wooden boxes.

  "Clear right," Ron Holt said into his mike.

  "Clear Harry Ronson said.

  Murdock ran down through the center of the big room until he was sure there were no more men there.

  "Clear center," Murdock said. "Ching, check the four Chinese. See if any of them can be questioned."

  He looked around the complex. The other missiles had to be there somewhere. He remembered the dormitory. Too many men in there could ruin his whole night.

  He waved at Jaybird and Magic Brown and called for Ronson on his Motorola. They crouched behind some missile boxes.

  "That dormitory sleeping area. We've got to clear it before they surprise us. We'll use half-a-dozen fraggers and then our NVGS for the rest. It's got to be quick. Let's go." They ran back to the kitchen. The chair was still braced under the door. Horse took it out. They each held three fragger grenades, the trusty M-67's. Magic found a light switch and turned off the kitchen lights. They all pulled down their NVGS.

  "Horse and Magic, throw deep. Jaybird, middle. Then get back out the door here and I'll do the short ones. Go, go, go."

  Magic opened the door and stepped into the semidarkness. He threw his three grenades as did Horse behind him. They surged back into the kitchen as Jaybird and Murdock threw their middle and short ones.

  The 4.2-second fuses on the first grenade went off before Murdock finished his tosses. He and Jaybird bumped into each other getting out the door. They surged to the walls beside the door as the inside of the barracks room exploded with the roar of the grenades and the screams of the Chinese troops.

  When the last grenade exploded nearby, the SEALS could hear the shrapnel singing through the door. Then they stepped into the open doorway. Horse was in front of his HK 21A1 machine gun. He chattered five-round bursts wherever his green scope showed Chinese defenders. Magic went down the other side of the aisle and began chopping down soldiers wherever he saw them.