lifted off the ground, rotated, and settled to earth again, this time
with the open rear ramp pointed at the hotel entrance.
Smoke gushed from canisters hurled by the Marines as they’d charged.
Howard could see through the fog to the gap-toothed ruin of the front
windows, could see movement inside the hotel’s front lobby, but the
smoke obscured his view. Four Marines crouched on the sidewalk outside,
mounting guard.
He could hear more shooting over the rotor noise, even distinguish the
sharp yells of the Marines, though he couldn’t make out the words.
A shape moved through the smoke to one side of the entrance, a shadow in
fog … followed by another … then a third.
Howard was about to shout a warning when one of the shadows opened fire
on the Marines by the front door. There was a wild, confused exchange
of gunfire. Two of the Marines crumpled to the ground as one of the
shadows was sent spinning back against one of the pillars supporting the
awning over the sidewalk. Rifle shots cracked from another direction as
snipers out beyond the parking lot saw this new threat and opened fire.
A ricochet struck the sidewalk, screaming.
A second shadow went down.
The third shadow never stopped, never hesitated. It materialized into a
man, a That wearing a rumpled officer’s uniform and carrying an M16. His
boots clattered up the Sea Stallion’s ramp as he stormed the
helicopter’s cargo bay by himself.
Howard leaped to one side. The M-16 in the intruder’s hands spat
full-auto noise and flame, and a white hot hammer struck Howard high in
the left shoulder, slamming him back against the bulkhead. The crew
chief collapsed in a heap. The invader hurried past, ignoring them
both.
David Howard did not think of himself as a brave man, but after the
first shock his arm didn’t hurt. And the That officer was heading for
the cockpit.
A red-painted CO, fire extinguisher hung from its mounting bracket on
the bulkhead above Howard’s head. He grabbed the cylinder and wrenched
it free.
At the sound, the invader turned suddenly, the M-16 coming up.
Howard had thought he might spray the intruder’s face with cold,
high-pressure gas, but there was no more time for thinking, no time to
pull the arming pin, no time to do anything but act. Continuing the
motion begun when he pulled the fire extinguisher from its rack, he
swung the eighteen-inch bottle with all his might. It struck the muzzle
of the M-16, knocking the weapon aside just as it fired, sending rounds
chewing into the helicopter’s bulkhead. Howard swung again, this time
catching the invader full in the face.
He struck again … and again …
The next thing he was aware of was a Marine standing beside him. “It’s
okay, son,” the man said. “You got him.”
CHAPTER 25
0735 hours, 21 January
Near U Feng
The That UH-1 Hueys touched down in a clearing less than fifteen
kilometers from U Feng, as troops of the 1st Special Forces (Airborne)
leaped from the landing skids and dispersed across the landing zone.
Smoke plumes drifted with the wind, defining the LZ, a scar in the
forest left by a recent logging operation. Super Stallions and
twin-rotored Sea Knights bearing the squadron numerals and markings of
the U.S. Marines and the 6th Marine Expeditionary Unit were also
present, settling to the ground as soldiers unloaded heavy equipment,
weapons, and vehicles from their holds. From one grounded Sea Stallion,
a line of men with paint-blackened faces and camo fatigues quietly filed
down the rear ramp and fell into formation. They wore floppy boonie
hats like their That counterparts, and carried a variety of weapons,
ranging from M-16s to Israeli Uzis to Soviet-made AKMs.
They were Marine Recon, members of the Force Recon company assigned to
MEU-6. Their specialty was landing in advance of the main body of
Marines during an amphibious operation in order to gain pre-landing
intelligence. If Marines considered themselves the best, Marine Recon
considered its people the best of the best, an elite commando unit as
capable as–they themselves would have said more capable than–SEALS,
the SAS, or Delta Force. All had been through two years of special