Confirmed Kill by Michael Z. Williamson

Author:Michael Z. Williamson [Williamson, Michael Z.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Baen Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

Half an hour later, Kyle reconsidered. Maybe I’m getting too cynical in my old age, he thought. Wiesinger directed him where to go and let him take the lead.

“You’ve got more time in the field, so I’ll tell you what I want and you get it done,” Wiesinger had said. Which was one part of doctrine that had been wise advice for thousands of years. Tell the NCO what you want and he’ll do it for you.

So Kyle led in a crawl, fast enough to be worthwhile, slow enough for silence, around a substantial arc of the village. It had block and tin buildings, a road that dead-ended into it and electricity from what Kyle reasoned was a propane generator. On second thought, it had to be liquefied natural gas. There was enough of it here.

And the place was silent.

Khayalan had been quiet. This was dead. A few cautious looks through night vision confirmed it. There was evidence of a fight, including bullet spalling on walls. Add in scavengers trotting through, and the smell. . .

“This is supposed to be an operations center, and I see nothing. But it’s not been down for long.”

“I’d say a day, tops, or we’d see more scavengers,” Kyle agreed.

“So who took them out, and why?”

“Unknown. Government, other rebels are all that comes to mind.”

“Okay, let’s call the others,” Wiesinger said. He looked scared, badly. Kyle didn’t blame him, though. His own fear was more internalized, but just as real. The pending morning twilight didn’t help.

The rest of the ersatz unit moved in quickly. The evident lack of a perimeter, the darkness, and thick air let them approach upright at a skulk instead of down at a crawl. Within an hour, they were all present.

“Talk to me,” Stephens said as he came up.

“Let’s wait for Bakri,” Kyle suggested.

“Righto.” They huddled under broad leaves and inhaled the dank air, redolent with rot and chlorophyll.

When Bakri arrived, Kyle said, “Mel and I have covered the perimeter from here to there.” He pointed. “No signs of action or habitation. Spalling and other light-arms damage, including fractures suggestive of grenades, are present. It appears no one is home. Obviously, we’d like to test that theory carefully.”

Wiesinger nodded. “Suggestions?”

“If you want mine,” Stephens said with faint sarcasm, “I’d pull us into thirds, split around the perimeter and then have one element approach with crossed lanes of fire in case they need support. Assuming we all trust our marksmanship.”

“The cover is good, the men are all adequately trained from what I can see,” Kyle said. “Sounds good. Bakri?”

“I will be happy to cover fire,” he said. “I would not want to tell my men to stand in the middle of the fire.”

“Right,” Wiesinger agreed. “We’ll go in with three volunteers. You each take your teams around one hundred to one hundred twenty degrees, then we’ll call for the advance.”

Syarief, Rizal, Iverson, and an Aussie named Fuller, their demolitions expert, joined them. The locals were armed with AKs and were excellent in the jungle.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.