throttle wider, closing the gap.
The lead MiG was firing again. Tombstone saw bits of metal flaking away
from the twin stabilizers of Taggart’s F-14. The smoke from his engine
was heavier now. Taggart was still climbing, but his plane was reacting
sluggishly. Tombstone dropped down on the two MiGs less than a quarter
of a mile behind them.
“Got the one on the right,” Batman yelled. “Lock! Fox two!”
“I’ve got the left!” Tombstone decided to stay with the Sparrow
missiles. He had two of them left, and only one heat-seeker. “Fox
one!”
The hunted Tomcat seemed to stagger. Tombstone could tell that Taggart
was fighting to keep the wounded turkey under control.
“Eagle Four, Eagle Leader,” he called. “Punch out, Price!”
“I can hold it, Stoney!” His Tomcat was dropping again, skimming the
trees as the MiGs weaved back and forth on his tail.
Taggart’s aircraft exploded with stunning suddenness, bursting into
flame, then tumbling over and over and over again until the wreckage
sheared through the uppermost branches of the forest canopy.
“Tomcat down, Tomcat down!” Batman called. Tombstone could hear pain in
his wingman’s voice. “Eagle Four down three miles east of Taeng River,
five miles south of the green line …”
The MiGs were climbing on full burners. Tombstone’s second Sparrow
followed, zeroing in on the lead MiG. He could see the number 612 on
the MiG’s nose. Tombstone found himself willing the missile to
detonate.
A miss! Damn! The Sparrow had passed fifty feet behind the jinking
MiG, decoyed this time, Tombstone was certain, by a timely burst of
chaff.
His attitude and position were wrong to pursue. “Two-oh-one breaking,
Batman! Going high!” He pulled the F-14 clear of the trees.
“I’m with you, Stoney,” Batman replied. He sounded shaken.
Behind them, black smoke curled into the sky, grave marker for
Lieutenant Ronald Taggart and his RIO, Lieutenant Charles Ziegler.
0752 hours, 21 January
U Feng
Their flight was an all-out run away from the shed, past the neatly
aligned fuel tanks, and into the open space beyond. The camp was in
complete chaos. Pamela could hear the rising whine of the planes she’d
seen being started earlier. Once she chanced a look back over her
shoulder and saw two heavy-bodied aircraft lifting from the runway with
a thundering roar. Other planes seemed to be milling about at one end
of the runway, readying for takeoff.
Where were the Navy planes? She could hear a distant rumble of jet
aircraft, but outside of wisps and streaks of white high in the sky, she
could not see them, couldn’t tell if they were engaged in battle or not.
She could see soldiers in the camp, but none were close by, and none
appeared to notice the two fugitives. “Run!” Bayerly yelled, and she
ran, her legs pumping away. Memories of Hsiao and the warehouse drove
her on.
The clearing around U Feng was a hundred yards across, but the ground
was soft and broken, making each step treacherous. She quickly found
herself slowing. She’d eaten little more than a bowlful of rice in two
days, had slept no more than a few hours. In minutes, her lungs were
burning with the effort, her breath coming in gasps. She clutched at
her side as a stitch hobbled her. She couldn’t run much farther.
They were halfway across the clearing when someone saw them. Pamela
heard a burst of gunfire behind her, much closer than the rattlings off
in the jungle, and something went snap-snap-snap just above her head,
making her duck involuntarily. She started to recover … and then her
foot turned and she went sprawling to the ground.
“C’mon! C’mon!” Bayerly yelled. He stood above her, breathing hard,
the AK-47 raised to his shoulder and pointed back toward the base.
“Run!”
But Pamela was on her hands and knees, unable to get up. Her knees, her
legs were trembling with the effort which had brought her this far. “I
can’t …”
“Move, damn you!”
Bayerly’s scream was like a physical blow. She found her balance and
got her feet under her. Still shaking, she lurched forward.
“Yoot!” a shrill voice yelled behind them. “Yawm pa!”
Bayerly’s AK fired, a short burst that assaulted Pamela’s ears. She