More Than Courage by Harold Coyle

Author:Harold Coyle [Coyle, Harold]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Thrillers, Suspense, Espionage
ISBN: 9780765301888
Publisher: Forge
Published: 2003-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

212

HAROLD COYLE

For a moment Quinn found himself engulfed by the strange silence that many jumpers experience about the time that their chute finishes its deployment sequence. Normally this tranquil experience lasts until a moment or two before contact is made with the ground. But not this evening. As if on cue the rattle of small-arms fire and the rip of machine guns shattered the stillness that Quinn had fallen into.

Without bothering to inspect his canopy, the young platoon leader looked down through the gap between his feet in an effort to see if he could tell where that fire was coming from. Not seeing anything even remotely threatening directly under him, Quinn lifted his chin and slowly scanned the horizon. Off to his right, in the area where plywood sheds had been thrown up to simulate aircraft revetments he caught sight of muzzle flashes twinkling between the structures. Since that portion of Kansas belonged to Bravo Company, Quinn didn't bother to make any sort of assessment of the situation. Instead, he continued to turn his head, searching the horizon for any trouble spots closer to him.

He was just about to heave a great sigh of relief that there didn't seem to be any other hostile activity on the ground when it dawned on him that he was about to--His feet were still spread apart when the balls of his combat boots kissed the unyielding sun-baked surface of the desert.

Obeying the law of gravity to the letter, Quinn flopped over into a heap with all the grace of a sack of potatoes hitting the pavement after being tossed out of a moving truck. The impact was so hard it was almost audible. At least, that's the way Quinn imag11

ined

it as he tumbled and rolled about on the ground. Rattled by this unexpected calamity and dazed by the force of impact, he wasn't quite sure what he should do, if anything. In the end he allowed the last of his momentum to dissipate without making any effort to interference. When he finally did stop rolling about, Quinn found himself faceup and spread-eagled on the ground.

With his equipment bag strapped to his front and lying upon his midsection, the breathless and very bruised second lieutenant

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