by Holden, Abby
"The phone call?"
Megan nodded. She turned and pulled open a drawer on the cabinet behind her. After grabbing several sheets of folded paper, she turned to the desk and quickly cleared off the papers that Jake brought in. She laid the new ones on the desk. "Reconnaissance. Usually we do this with either the military or a customer." She looked up at Jake.
He nodded back, getting the implied message that usually it was a CIA agent. She spread out maps of the mountainous area near the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. Megan pointed to one particular area.
"This is the target area. The customer wants us to look into both of these areas." She pointed at a small ridge that separated the biggest parts of the valley. "He wants us to visually check out the entire area. If we see anything suspicious, we're to get GPS coordinates and a count of how many people we see."
"Is this another camp of bin Laden's?" Jake asked scooting to the edge of the chair so as to get a better look at the maps.
Megan shrugged. "He didn't say. He just said to see if anyone is staying in the area." She frowned. "The big problem comes in the fact that with the main satellite uplinks down, I can't get good information about approaching storms and the weather is weird this year."
Jake was still studying the maps. When he looked up, Megan was staring at him. "Our job?"
"You'll be in command on the ground on this one. So be thinking about who and where you want to deploy. Take the maps with you tonight if you want to study them. But this is a covert mission, so…"
"Silence."
Megan laid her finger on her nose. "I'll call another White Pine office to see if I can get at least a verbal report on the long range weather systems. Meet me back here at oh-six-thirty tomorrow, and we'll discuss times to do this mission and everything else."
Jake nodded gathering the maps.
"Now you're in the hot seat, Cupcake."
Jake shook his head. "I'm trained for this. I've done these kinds of things before. Remember?"
Megan chuckled. "Yeah, but eyes on are you. More eyes than you can possibly know." She picked up her phone and dialed Fahim's extension.
***
Three days later, Megan stood in the hanger watching approaching storm clouds. A grimace broke on her face as her mood became just as cloudy.
"This ain't good, Darlin'," Cowboy spoke next to her. He stuck his hands in pockets as he watched the rolling, dark clouds.
"They'll be high and dry, so to speak."
"Not much we can do about the weather, Meg."
"Yeah, but if we had accurate weather forecasting, I wouldn't have sent them out on this mission. It could have waited a day or two longer. And who would have imagined this kind of weather system during… It never rains this much this time of the year." Megan cursed softly. She absentmindedly rubbed her still sore arm.
"I've been meaning to ask. How did ya'all get Dr. Himbert to certify you so soon?"
"I sucked up the pain when he examined me." Megan smiled. "He was going to wait another three days, but since I had full rotation and regained strength…"
Cowboy shook his head. He knew she wasn't to full strength. "What else?"
"A case of ten year old brandy."
"How in the hell did you get that here?"
"Contacts." Megan smiled even bigger.
"The big question is, are you ready?" Cowboy asked seriously. She had flown this morning to deliver the rest of the crew to the drop off point for the mission, and he had been judging her. She seemed back to par.
"It's a little sore but I've flown with worse."
"Yeah, but you had no choice then, Darlin'. You were the only pilot on that little shindig and extremely lucky that the bullet to your stomach hit nuthin' vital."
"Lucky. That's me."
"Just take it slow. I can fly the majority of the time until ya'll are one hundred percent."
Megan nodded, glancing once again at the clouds. "Think they'll pass over or hang on?"
"Before the satellite image glitched again, it showed a huge mass behind it by 'bout an hour. If we get lucky…" He made a face at Megan. "We can scoot in and pick'em up between the two. Either way, it's gonna to be a hell of a ride."
"That's why we get the big bucks, pardner." She adopted a twang to her voice.
CHAPTER 9
Jake squatted down behind a huge boulder, taking a breather. As the others joined him in close proximity, he glanced at the sky. This is not good. The cloud bank is stuck to the side of this valley like a pancake to the wall in a food fight. Damn it. Why hadn't weather reports predicted this?
Both Megan and he went over the reports three times before calling the meeting the night before. This weather system was not supposed to have moved in this fast. He rubbed his chin. Will Megan try it? He almost smiled. She's an adrenalin junkie. Of course, she'll do it. Probably gets off on doing things like this.
The other two with him were alert. They were deep in the mountains on a scouting mission. The group they were looking for was supposed to be in this valley but so far there was no sign of them. Jake had split the team up. Tiny was leading the other two guys.
Jake glanced at his watch again. They should be at the rendezvous anytime. The buildings they investigated were long abandoned, and the only wooded area was deserted, which would be the most likely place for a training camp.
Gunner clucked softly, getting Jake's attention. He pointed to the left.
Jake's attention centered on three approaching men. He swung his commando M-16 from the folds of his clothes and took up a ready position. Prepared.
The group was dressed in traditional herder's clothes, long outer coats, turbans and baggie pants. From a distance they would pass as natives, but up close anyone would recognize them as foreigners.
Jake tensed as the three drew close―his finger on the trigger. Every step that the newcomers took tightened the spring inside his gut. Finally, they were close enough that he recognized Tiny's black hands on his gun, since their faces were down concentrating on walking.
Jake gave a hand signal to his two men and they relaxed as the approaching men hurried to join the group. "Well?"
Tiny smiled. "Jackpot. Over the ridge." He pointed in the general direction. "There's a camp. Four tents. Lots of training. We got pictures and GPS readings."
Jake smiled back.
"But the weather." Tiny shook his head. "There's this group of clouds, then a break, then a massive front moving in behind it." Tiny frowned as he caught his breath. "No way Ghost is making it in."
Jake frowned and looked toward the mountainside and clouds. "How far out is the second weather formation?"
Tiny shrugged. "It's moving slower than this one, but it's huge. The choppers won't make it until tomorrow earliest. And then there are flash floods with that kind of rain."
Jake understood. The rains helped local farmers and herders in the spring, but for his squad, it was the kiss of death. The pick up was in the next valley, over the ridge behind them. They had two hours to make it.
Tiny glanced at the others who were watching them. "Down this valley is a road. The military sends patrols on that road. I say we head there."
Jake didn't answer. He looked up at the clouds again. Megan will try. I know she will. I just know. Otherwise they could be stranded for at least a day. Or they might be stranded for a lot longer if they had to walk out of the valley. That would require maneuvering to miss locals that might be associated with the al Qaeda training camp nearby.
Tiny turned to the others. "We head down to the road."
"No," Jake spoke softly and motioned for the men to gather. She's not only the most dependable pilot I've seen, but I know she's dedicated to her crew. She'll be here and on schedule.
Tiny scowled. "You may be in charge, but I've got more time under my belt in Afghanistan, Cupcake. This is my second rotation."
"Ghost will be at the rendezvous. She'll be there even with the storm approaching. We have time to hit the pick up early. If we hoof
it now…" Jake said noticing that Gunner was agreeing with him. "We're going to stay on schedule."
"There is no way the helicopters are making it in. The time between the two storms is going to be minutes, especially the way storms stall in the mountains." Tiny's face darkened. "That means we'll be deserted for days. There's no food or water here that isn't controlled by the al Qaeda or a hostile warlord. We'd have to walk seventy miles out of our way to hit that road again, assuming we can bypass all that." He shook his head in anger. "We need to head down. Now."
Jake shifted his weight on his feet, still in a squat. "We head to the rendezvous."
"Not me. I'm going down," Tiny said. "Who's with me?" He looked each man in the eye.
Gunner spoke first. "I wait for Ghost. She not let us down. I go with Cupcake."
The other Chilean pointed at Jake. Both Tiny and Jake's eyes swung to the South Africans. Fisher pointed at Jake. Bosser kept meeting Tiny's eyes then looking at the ground.
"Bosser?" Tiny asked.
"Ghost has never failed before. In Iraq, she saved us when you said there was no way she would risk the chopper. She brought us back alive, sacrificing the chopper. Ghost. I go with Cupcake," Bosser said, his eyes apologizing to Tiny.
Jake swung his gun under the outer cloak. "Let's move. No rest stops." He stood and led the way up the hill.
A glance back revealed that everyone was following, Tiny bringing up the rear. If he wasn't pushing himself and the team, he might have smiled, but there wasn't time or energy for that.
Two hours later the six men were waiting in a grove of small trees watching clouds that seemed to be piling on top of each other. The front had stalled right over top of them. They were also listening for the familiar, welcome sounds of Death. The first bank of clouds hung on tight to the mountainside while they watched the second bank rapidly approaching. Lightening flashed in the second bank and thunderclaps rang out in the valley.
Jake clutched his gun tighter anticipating rain. Once it hit, they were goners. The lightening dashed his last hope that Ghost would make it into the mountain valley. Tiny squirmed under a nearby tree, giving Jake an 'I told you so' look. Jake merely looked away, not giving him the satisfaction. He glanced at his watch as the last sunlight dipped under the first cloud bank. He sighed. Time to prepare for night.
The only thing he was worried about was the threat of lightening or flash floods. The area they were currently in looked like it might be susceptible to both as in the first valley. He needed to get his men to higher ground and away from the trees. His eyes panned up the hill. A good place to settle down looked to be among the rocky area on the upper side of the valley and wait out the storm. His training prepared him for this, but he doubted that Tiny, Fisher, Chips and Bosser enjoyed this sort of adventure. Gunner, on the other hand, looked to be an old hat at it. With a motion, he gathered the men.
"Okay. It's fairly obvious that Ghost can't make the pick up. We'll try again tomorrow. For now, we need to take shelter on the topside of that rock formation―on the topside, in case of a landslide. The rain will be hitting soon and we need to be down and ready."
A loud thunderclap sounded, drowning out his last words.
Jake paused as the sound echoed and then continued, "Stay low to the ground. Do not stand up for any reason. That would make you the highest object and most susceptible to lightning strike. Do you understand?"
Another thunderclap rang out to punctuate his words.
"Good. Now…"
"Cupcake," Gunner interrupted. His head was cocked, listening.
Jake looked at him then also cocked his head. Was that the sound of a helicopter? Surely not. He listened hard as thunder continued to echo in the valley. It was difficult to make out anything.
Gunner suddenly pointed at the ridge line. "Death."
Jake smiled at the quickly approaching helicopter. It was mere inches off the ground as it topped the ridge. "Get out of the woods so she sees that we're still here. Not too far, in case anyone else is in the valley."
"Who would be out in this kind of storm but us nutcases," Tiny said with a wry grin.
Jake grinned back. "We aren't out of here yet."
Tiny nodded even as they moved to the opening, waving their arms.
The helicopter seemed to hesitate after it cleared the ridge. Suddenly it zoomed toward them. It came to an almost screeching halt as men ran for the aircraft like the grim reaper was after them.
***
"Meg?" Cowboy intoned, watching the crew scramble on board.
"We're in a shit load of trouble, Kelly. The lighting's hitting hard on this side, wind on the other," Megan said as she fought to hold the helicopter still.
"Flip a coin, Darlin'," Cowboy said, his head still bent toward the back. "Go."
Megan swallowed. "May God help the foolish."
"Amen," Cowboy agreed, his knuckles tightening on the seat.
Megan put the helicopter in motion―forward motion. She needed to gain air speed in order to get lift. A grunt escaped her as she fought for control. They were slowly rising, but not fast enough to get out of the valley. Lightening struck nearby causing their hair to rise.
"Meg?"
But Megan was concentrating on bushes near the top of the ridge. She was watching them blow back and forth as she approached. Her eyes narrowed as she continued to fly forward. With a gut wrenching jerk, the helicopter rose as the bushes bent outward in the harsh wind, as though straining to get out of the valley too. Death rode a cushion of air up the side of the ridge. "Come on," Megan whispered.
Cowboy held on to his seat. The strain of each linkage vibrated through his hands, almost as if Death was groaning.
"Come on. Hold on, one more second…" Megan pleaded.
As though riding a carnival roller coaster, the helicopter shot up and over the ridge, then plummeted toward the sheer drop on the other side.
"Shit!" Megan shouted over the thunderclap that followed them over the edge.
Cowboy blew out his breath at the maneuver, his hands welded to his seat.
Megan grimaced as she pulled back on the stick, then with another gut wrenching maneuver brought the helicopter into a more level flight. Still the Pave Hawk was buffeted by winds, swaying like a drunk, but they were now flying forward toward the other side of the valley.
"Tail wind, Darlin'," Cowboy reminded her.
"Yeah, it's making the tail rotor effect worse," Megan said as the helicopter zoomed toward the next ridge. "Come on, Baby."
Cowboy adjusted his white-knuckled grip.
Megan took a deep breath. "Up and over, Cowboy."
"Like a buckin' bronco," Cowboy said as they did another roller coaster maneuver over the small ridge top. He sucked in a sharp breath as the helicopter flew just feet over the ground.
This valley was much larger than the previous two. They couldn't see the other side of it due to rain sheeting the area. Cowboy turned his attention to the storm scope which allowed them to see where the storm was lightest in strength. He pointed at the scope. "Meg, you'd better use it."
"Yeah, I see it." She thumbed on the intercom. "If you think that was fun…" She flicked it off.
"Satan's lover. I swear that's what you are, Meg," Cowboy said.
Megan grinned. Her concentration was complete as she pushed the Pave Hawk harder, flying toward the lighter area. The clouds didn't seem so dark there. Lightening flashed close by as they flew.
"Comin' up on it," Cowboy told her.
Megan didn't acknowledge him as she steadied the chopper through the buffeting winds. The seatbelts dug into their shoulders. The feeling of having your innards mixing in a big mess was disconcerting. Then they popped into lighter air. Winds smoothed out, the oppressive feeling was all but wiped away and visibility improved.
Megan let out her breath. For a second, the pilots remained stunned into silence as she flew the area. The storm scope showed that briefly they would be out of the worst of it. She shook her head. "Cow
boy, fly a minute."
He expelled a huge guff of air and started chuckling. He flicked on the intercom and let out a 'yee-haw' that sounded louder than a thunderclap. As he turned it off, he glanced at Megan, taking control of the aircraft.
She closed her eyes and laid her head back.
"You okay, Darlin'?"
"I think I messed my pants."
Laughter tumbled out of them as they flew smoothly back to base.
***
With a moment's hesitation, Megan knocked on Jake's door. It was mid-afternoon on the crew's day off after the harrowing mission the day before. Everyone was gone from base housing when they received a medical transport call. She hurried to find someone, anyone, to fly in back as crew chief. Cowboy was already pre-flighting Famine. Death's linkages were being repaired from the valley escapade.
"Yeah? Come in," came sleepily from inside the room.
Megan swallowed as she opened the door.
The room was darkened with a blanket over the window but it wasn't completely black. There was enough light to see Jake push up on his elbow, rubbing his eyes. Due to the heat, he was sleeping without sheets and only in his boxers. His stomach muscles were six-packs―lean and tight. Tanned.
Megan's eyes automatically panned the length of his body. Damn. Yummy. The heat rose throughout her body as her eyes stopped on Jake's obvious reaction to being awakened from a deep sleep. Her lips parted ever so slightly. Her tongue tip just showing itself.
Jake chuckled slightly. "And what's the occasion of this unexpected visit, Chief?"
Megan blushed at having been caught admiring his body. "Uh, yeah." She swallowed. "We got a medical transport call. I need someone as crew chief. Everyone else is gone."
Jake swung his legs over and sat up. "What's up?"
"Two kids were playing on the outskirts of town in an area just cleared by the dogs of landmines. They missed one." Her eyes met Jake's as he grabbed his pants. "Uh, we'll be waiting in the hanger."
