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"Same number of degrees as enemy soldiers," said Drew. "Coincidence? You decide."
They all laughed softly.
"About two hundred yards out. Mingo and Babe, you're too far out front, pull back. You'll get cut off by the group coming from your right." Cole knew they were seeing the same drone display he was, now, and knew what he was talking about.
"Got 'em," said Mingo, and in a moment the locate display showed Mingo and Babe moving back, getting ready to spring a little surprise on one squad of five.
Meanwhile, the bad guys started shooting. For a moment Cole was disoriented, trying to figure out which of his men was the target. Then he realized there was no target. These clowns were just shooting. The modern equivalent of the rebel yell, apparently. Bullets as emotional display. No discipline. They were no damn good, these Sudanese goons, except against helpless civilians and desperately ill soldiers.
He realized that he had made an ID without reporting it. "Sudanese army, right?" he asked the drone pilot.
"Computer just matched them up," the pilot reported.
So I still have some mental function, thought Cole. That's encouraging.
Then Mingo and Babe sprang their little ambush. Five shots, five-man squad wiped out. "Good shooting for sick men," said Cole.
"Got their cousins next," said Mingo.
Now the enemy knew they were under fire and they got a tiny bit more cautious. As in: frozen in place. But Mingo and Babe couldn't wait to pick them off one by one. There were other squads still moving forward—eighteen of them—and Cole heard Mingo tell Babe to fall back.
Now it was Drew's and Load's turn. It took them eight shots, but the bad guys were ready, so it was just a little harder.
They'd killed ten enemy soldiers so far. There were still ninety-five of them, moving toward the university. The ones close to where Cole's men had taken out their targets were moving more slowly—but the ones that had fanned out farther were still going at a quick pace. One squad was already closer to the university than any of the jeesh except himself.
"All of you, shoot and fall back," said Cole. "We aren't the objective, the base is. We got no victory if we kill half of them and the other half get inside the base while we're busy."
It was the classic problem of an undermanned defense. You could beat the enemy at any point where you concentrated your forces, but they could always get around you. So you had to keep falling back, falling back, so they couldn't surround you, and finally you had fallen back as far as you could go and now they had you pinned, they could bring their force to bear, and numbers would win.
Well, so be it, thought Cole. We have to make them all slow down. Slow down, buy time.
He was saying it out loud, like the song a few minutes before. "Slow them down, buy some time."
"Got it, Cole," said Drew. "Now shut up please."
Cole shut up. And started moving. Hallucinations or not, he was the rear echelon, and his men were coming back toward his position. He needed to stay ahead of them, heading back toward the university. He also had to keep his eye on the enemy, make sure where they were.
Ordinarily Cole would have gotten into place and taken out an enemy squad by himself. But he couldn't trust himself to shoot that well, or move that fast, or stay concealed. He'd do more good for his men closer to the university, keeping track of all the enemy squads, calling their attention to the most urgent problems.
More shooting. Now the enemy's bursts of gunfire were meant to kill. "Stay out of sight, guys," said Cole.
"Hard to shoot through concrete," said Mingo.
"Most of this stuff isn't concrete, it's just plaster on wood," said Cole. "Shoot through it."
"Ouch," said Mingo. "That means they can, too."
"Can they pulse through it?" asked Drew.
The answer came almost before he asked. "Babe's down," said Mingo. "Pulse, he's not hit, but I've got to stay and cover him."
"Three squads heading right for Babe's position," Cole said as he showed Mingo the relevant view.
"Maybe I should lose the Bones," said Mingo. "I'm in better shape than anybody."
"You're weak as a puppy," said Cole. "Don't get delusions of grandeur because the Bones make you feel like you can move. Keep the exoskeleton, make them take it away from you. I can't get there, can you, Load?"
"Already on my way."
