such as this, it was expected that he would adapt, overcome, and adjust to
any changes in circumstances.
He looked behind him, counting heads. Eight Spetsnaz were up and
moving, a few of them shaking off minor injuries. He checked their faces,
noting the look of cold resolve in each man’s eyes. He nodded. Commanding
men such as these, he could do nothing less than his best.
He gave the signal, and the Spetsnaz commandos dispersed, creeping
ever closer to the small, abandoned group. When they were ten feet away,
more or less, they arranged themselves on the ground. Rogov heard low
moans start to issue, more inviting evidence of injured allies for the
Americans. He rearranged his face in an expression of pain, found a
convenient ice spire to drape himself over, and moaned. In truth, there
was not much pain he had to simulate, since the aerial bombardment had
shaken him up badly, giving him a few additional bruises. He grimaced.
All the better for realism. Injuries, but nothing so serious as to slow
them down.
He looked down at the old Inuit lying at his feet. Better to let him
live for now, use him to support the deception. If he could keep the
helo’s crew focused on the injured old man and his obviously Inuit
features, they might miss any clues to the real identity of the rest of the
supposed natives.
But the SEAL? Where was he? Rogov scanned the landscape around him
quickly, looking for his other prisoner, then made a rapid time-distance
calculation. There wasn’t time to look for him, not and make the airlift
quickly. Furthermore, the American SEAL would surely have given them away
at the very first opportunity. A loose end, and one that he would have
eliminated quickly if the man had been in sight.
No time. Rogov shrugged. The hostile land would kill the man as
quickly as a bullet, although he would have preferred the reassurance of
the latter to the former.
If they had the chance, the Americans would kill him for this, he
knew. There would be no trial, no investigation, no complicated legal
maneuverings. A quick death sentence, one that the SEAL’s teammates would
impose the moment they knew what had happened.
But then again, they wouldn’t be given that opportunity. Rogov had
other plans immediately following his arrival on board USS Jefferson.
1102 Local
Tomcat 201
“Tomcat Two-oh-one, say state,” the operations specialist on board
Jefferson inquired anxiously.
Bird Dog glanced down at the fuel indicator and swore quietly.
Between the exhilaration of the attack and checking for icing on the wings,
he’d forgotten the most basic safety in flight protocols. His fuel was now
creeping dangerously low, his reserves sapped by the extended time at
afterburners necessary to escape the target site.
“Three point two,” he answered calmly. “Might be nice to get a drink
before we try to get back on board.”
“Roger,” the OS said, and gave the vector to the KA-6 tanker.
“Got plenty of gas for one pass,” Gator said. “But I agree–no point
in taking any chances.”
Bird Dog laughed. “That’s not what you said five minutes ago,” he
said, an injured tone in his voice.
1110 Local
USS Jefferson
“Intercept with the tanker in two mikes,” the TAO reported to TFCC.
“And the SAR helicopter is airborne now, en route to the island. Medical
is standing by.”
Tombstone settled into the elevated brown leatherette chair in TFCC
and studied the screen carefully. Injuries–it was to be expected. But
according to the SEAL team reports, there were enough uninjured men to
attempt penetration of the intruder fortress. The avalanche had decimated
the forces sufficiently to allow them to proceed, and they were on track to
evacuate the wounded immediately, absolutely imperative in this climate.
He shook his head, wondering why he had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his
stomach. Aside from the dare-devil maneuvers of the young Tomcat pilot–he
almost smiled, remembering the stunts Bird Dog had pulled on their last
cruise when Tombstone had been in command of the carrier group–things had
gone pretty much as planned. Why, then, couldn’t he relax?
“Too long out of the saddle,” he said out loud, to no one in