“I’ve been wondering that myself,” said Clark. “The most logical answer is that they want to interrogate him—find out who’s hunting them and learn what we know. Aside from that, as a United States naval officer JC would have intelligence value.”
The fact that no one cracked a joke to that setup reflected the tense mood.
“I hate to say it,” Hyori said, “but he is also now acting as a shield.”
“That he is,” Clark agreed. “Which means we’ve got some decisions to make. We are presently operating illegally in a country that is, in the big strategic scheme of things, marginally hostile toward the United States. Our objective is to rescue a hostage being held in a heavy moving vehicle, and if we can manage it, recover hardware that has significant intelligence value. It goes without saying, time on the ground has to be kept to a minimum.” He checked his watch. “We’ve got eight minutes to come up with a way to pull this off. Ideas?”
Wu, whose calf wound had been cleaned and bandaged by Hyori, said, “We’re out of limpet mines, so that’s not an option.”
Ding said, “That wasn’t exactly a smashing success the first time around. The obvious method would be a replay—land ahead of the GAZ and set up a better ambush.”
“I see one problem with that,” Charlie argued. “Our best chance of stopping it would be to shoot from the front quadrant, aimingfor the driver. If I were to guess, they’ve got Conza in the back of the truck. There’s a significant chance he could catch a stray round or a ricochet.”
“I concur,” said Clark. “It would also take a fair amount of time to set up. We’d have to get way out ahead, land the plane, and scout out a good position.”
Ding said, “I have a better idea.” This got everyone’s attention. “If a sniper could take out the driver from the side, say ninety degrees off, it would minimize the risk to Conza. A truck like this GAZ is as basic as they get—I know because I’ve driven one. They’re big and unstable. As soon as the driver’s foot comes off the accelerator and he stops steering, the thing will slow down and be in the nearest ditch before anybody else can react.”
“I’ve driven a GAZ as well,” said Bauer. “You’re right, it’s a battle—the steering is always pulling either left or right.”
Clark said, “I see two problems with that idea. First of all, while I would never be one to cast aspersions on your superior marksmanship, hitting a target from a square ninety that’s moving at sixty-something miles an hour would be a challenge for anybody. On top of that, I don’t see how it saves any time. We’d still have to land and set up in multiple positions.”
Ding grinned broadly. “Who said anything about landing?”
—
“You want to do what?” Wheeler bellowed.
The aircraft commander had so far not balked at any of Clark’s requests. He had landed on public roads, flown near known SAM threats, and crossed a border without authorization. At the outset, on the long flight from Bodrum, Clark had chatted Wheeler up, learning that he’d been flying clandestine missions for the best part of six years. Africa, the Middle East, the Philippines. He wasthe real deal, and Ross, his copilot, was also seasoned, her own upgrade to aircraft commander imminent. When Ding outlined his idea for stopping the GAZ, however, they both looked at him as if he was asking them to dogfight a pterodactyl.
“It’s not as crazy as it sounds,” Ding said. “You can lower the aft ramp during flight, right?”
“Sure,” Wheeler said, “we do it all the time for jumps and airdrops.”
“Then it’s simple. Lower the ramp, I set up to shoot, and you fly past the GAZ as low and slow as possible. Our relative speeds won’t be much different, so I’ll have an easy sight picture.”
“What’s the slowest you can fly?” Clark asked.
“With the flaps all the way out, a little over eighty knots.”
“That would cut the overtake to twenty-something miles an hour.”
“How low do want to be?” Ross inquired. She, too, had been on board with the mission so far, but the hesitancy in her voice was clear.
“The lower, the better,” Ding replied. “I need to get a good look at the driver through the side window.” He explained the benefits of shooting across the cab as opposed to firing from the front. “I might be able to get two shots off, but if you get me close enough one should do it.”
“And what then?” Ross asked.
Clark said, “If we take out the driver, we’re pretty sure this truck will go off the road before anybody can react. You could have us configured for landing as we make the approach, right?”
“Yeah, the flaps and gear would already be out to fly that slow.”
“Then you land immediately and we run over and finish the job.”
Clark could see wheels turning in the skipper’s head. Whichwas good. He wanted to challenge the plan from every conceivable angle.
“Vicki would have to fly,” Wheeler said. “The driver will be on the truck’s left, so we have to pass on that side. She’ll have a better look out her side window.”
It was a good point, Clark thought, and one he hadn’t considered.
