CARRIER 2: VIPER STRIKE By Keith Douglass

tower steps. “Lieutenant!” a shaky voice screamed in That. “Lieutenant!

It’s an attack!”

The soldier stumbled through the door and into the tower chamber. He

saw the bodies on the floor and gaped. Lin’s burst of fire caught him

an instant later, slamming him backward into a wall in a splatter of

blood.

More explosions thumped in the night, these from the direction of the

barracks. Already, the volume of fire was dwindling. The attack had

been so sudden, so unexpected, that only the handful of soldiers

actually on guard had been able to respond, and those few had been

quickly overwhelmed.

The alert phone continued to buzz.

“Victory!” a new voice called from the door. “Victory!”

“Arrow!” Lin replied, giving his code name as countersign. He stood up

as a trio of soldiers cautiously entered the control tower room. The

leader wore the green uniform and collar device of a Burmese army

lieutenant. The two soldiers were more raggedly clad in a mix of

uniforms. Drug army conscripts, Lin decided. One held an AK-47, the

other an American M-16.

The officer smiled. “Major Lin?”

“I am Lin.” He lowered his Uzi. “Welcome!”

The lieutenant turned away. “Do it.”

Both soldiers opened fire at the same time, the bullets punching through

Lin’s body, sending him sprawling back across the tower radar console.

Lieutenant Bhan Sun had carried out his orders. There’d been a grave

risk that the Thais might learn just how thoroughly their military was

penetrated by Hsiao’s people.

That could not be allowed to happen. He made certain that Lin was dead

before leaving the tower. Outside, the last of the That soldiers and

airmen were being rounded up and shot.

There would be no enemy witnesses to what had happened at U Feng.

CHAPTER 12

0705 hours, 18 January

The Nam Mae Taeng Valley

The night had been miserable. A heavy rain during the hours before dawn

had soaked Batman to the skin. Swarms of mosquitos had descended on him

from the nearby river, bringing with them glowing memories of countless

films and lectures on the dangers of malaria in the tropics. He’d

swallowed a couple of Dapsone pills as preventative and smeared insect

repellent from his survival kit on his face and hands … not that the

stuff seemed to have much effect.

Between the rain and the insects, he’d gotten little sleep during the

night.

Throughout those hours, Batman’s SAR radio had remained silent, though

he checked it periodically and broadcast his Mayday message as

frequently as he dared. He was still afraid of being tracked down by

whoever had launched on him, but the need to contact the That Air Force

or his own people far outweighed the need for radio silence. That

faceless enemy out there in the jungle might home on his transmission

and run him down, sure, if they had the equipment, if they had the

trained personnel, and if they had the desire; on the other hand,

friendly forces would never find him if he remained silent.

So he kept calling … but he was more certain than ever that the valley

walls were blocking his signals. He would have to climb higher to have

an unrestricted line of sight. The problem with that idea was that he

would be leaving Malibu. He was sure his RIO must be in the same valley

somewhere.

They’d ejected at almost the same instant. The fact that Batman had not

seen his partner’s chute meant little. He’d had other things on his

mind at the time.

Batman didn’t let himself think about the possibility that Malibu’s

chute had failed to open at all.

He’d spent most of the previous afternoon and evening quartering as much

of the valley as he could reach, which, he was forced to admit, hadn’t

been much. Visibility in the jungle was less than thirty feet, It was

possible he’d passed within ten yards of his RIO and never known he was

there.

He’d felt more hopeful as he searched along the riverbank and found

tracks … dozens of them, like bulldozer tread marks in the mud, but

narrower. It looked as though someone had been driving construction

vehicles back and forth along the river. They seemed relatively fresh,

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