Sand and Fire (9780698137844) by Young Tom

Author:Young, Tom
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin USA
Published: 2014-06-03T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

Gold looked out over the Sahara from the CH-53. The setting sun lent a rose-colored glow to the sands. She hoped enough daylight remained to get a good look at the crash site and find some clues. Since leaving the Army, she had struggled with finding the best way to make a dent, to ease the misery that plagued the world around her. The U.S. drawdown from Afghanistan had forced her to reevaluate how to use her talents. But now those talents had been misapplied because of a terrorist ploy, and Gold wanted to find those scumbags and stop them. Anger seldom motivated her, but it motivated her now. The burn of it felt strange down in her chest.

In the back of the helicopter, she sat on a troop seat near the two Marine officers, Captain Privett and Lieutenant Colonel Loudon. The officers carried rifles, but Gold had only a digital camera, a canteen, a booklet of M8 paper, and a supply of M291 decontamination pads. All wore headsets connected to the aircraft’s interphone system.

A lot of questions rattled around in Gold’s mind, but one remained foremost: Where are you, Gunny? He had to be somewhere out in that vast desert, dead or alive—and if alive, captured or trying to evade capture. Would all of Gunny’s strength and compassion, his love of kids, his devotion to his Marines, his competence as a warrior decay down to dust somewhere in those trackless dunes? The thought of losing him turned up the heat simmering inside Gold. She cautioned herself to focus that rage, keep it under control. Wrath ranked among the seven deadly sins—for a reason.

“That’s a whole lot of nothing out there,” Privett said on interphone as he gazed outside.

“You got that right,” Loudon said. “Colonel Parson has the Mirages and the HH-60s going up again, and there’s a drone up there most of the time. But they got a shitload of territory to cover.”

It would help, Gold knew, if one of the missing Marines or Legionnaires would make a radio call or at least turn on a beacon. But so far, nothing. No electronic signature of any kind. She looked out the windows, too, and let several minutes pass without saying anything. When she finally spoke, she tried to offer a sliver of hope.

“You know,” she said, “Gunny Blount’s pretty resourceful.”

At least she’d thought of something truthful to say. Not “He’ll be all right.” He probably wouldn’t. Not “We’ll find him.” In the unlikely event Blount was ever seen again—except in a slaughter video—he’d probably be found dead.

Privett and Loudon both looked over at Gold, and Loudon nodded. Yes, Gunny Blount was resourceful. They seemed to like the truth of that statement. No point in offering false encouragement to Marines.

“Ten minutes,” came an announcement from the cockpit. “Better finish suiting up.”

They had delayed putting on gas masks for as long as possible. The darn things were pretty uncomfortable. During chem exercises, Gold had seen people go into claustrophobic panics and rip the masks off their heads.

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.