Shattered Bone by Chris Stewart

Author:Chris Stewart
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781590772836
Publisher: M. Evans & Company

TWENTY-TWO

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KIRGHIZIAKN, UKRAINE

THE LARGEST MILITARY SUPPLY CENTER IN THE UKRAINE WAS VERY BUSY. Thousands of tons of war-fighting equipment was being prepared for shipment to the Ukrainian border, now simply referred to as the “Front.” Seven thousand men worked under the blanket of darkness, packing the pallets of the food, ammunition, medicine, clothing, tents, paper, and weapons that were desperately needed to assist the Ukrainian army in their efforts to repel the Russian invasion.

Because these supplies were so critical, Kirghiziakn was the most highly defended target in the Ukraine. No less than thirty-seven anti-aircraft guns surrounded the massive complex. Nine different surface-to-air missile batteries formed a protective ring around the center. This protective bubble extended outward from the heart of the complex for eighty-six kilometers and reached skyward to 70,000 feet. The SA-10 and SA-12 surface-to-air missiles were capable of shooting down everything from fighters to cruise missiles.

Six SU-27 Flankers circled over Kirghiziakn in combat formation, ready to repel any Russian attack. Tucked inside their tiny cockpits, the Flanker pilots were nervous. Their eyes were constantly moving, darting from their cockpit to the sky, to the ground. But it wasn’t the fear of Russian fighters that had them scared. So far, the Russians had chosen to leave Kirghiziakn alone. It was the fear of their own missiles and anti-aircraft guns that made them jumpy. Over the past twelve hours, two Ukrainian fighters had been shot down by friendly fire, one by a Ukrainian surface-to-air missile, another by a barrage of 57mm anti-aircraft shells.

Two combat kills upon their own forces were far too many. But that didn’t mean it couldn’t happen again. So the Flanker pilots were very alert. None of them wanted to be kill number three.

The night was very dark. The little light that did reflect from the quarter moon was completely absorbed by a thick overcast of snow clouds well before it could begin to illuminate the frozen ground. The city of Kiev, thirty kilometers to the east of Kirghiziakn, was completely black. Every exterior light, from street lamps to front porch light bulbs, had been turned off in an effort to make it more difficult for the Russian bombers to find their targets.

Winding through the darkness was a four-lane highway. It extended west from the center of Kiev to Kirghiziakn, then turned northeast and made its way through the flat grasslands of northern Ukraine toward the Russian border.

A long stream of supply trucks drove along the highway in the darkness. They, too, had turned off their lights in an effort to be less of a target. Nothing would tempt the Russian fighter-bombers like a convoy of supply trucks on their way to the Front. So the trucks drove in complete darkness, their drivers peering through their night vision goggles, watching the tail of the truck up ahead, hoping that no one came to a sudden or unexpected stop.

Kirghiziakn was a huge complex of mile-long warehouses, narrow alleys, and squat administrative offices. High razor-wire fences and guard towers surrounded the complex to protect its cache of food, medicine, and military supplies from the outside world.

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