The Jim Hollister Trilogy by Dennis Foley

The Jim Hollister Trilogy by Dennis Foley

Author:Dennis Foley [Foley Dennis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781504048606
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2017-07-27T00:00:00+00:00


Chapter 13

THE COBRAS BRACKETED THE landing zone as they flew down the flanking tree lines, barely feet above the treetops. At the far end of the LZ, they turned, crossed over each other, and started back on the side opposite their first pass.

The insert chopper reached the last clump of vegetation before it would make its descent onto the paddy field. As it did, the pilot raised the nose of the aircraft, which slowed it measurably.

Above and behind the insert ship, Hollister watched the chopper’s progress, checked the location of the chase ship, and looked around for a last check of the others. The Cobras, still searching the trees and hedges for VC, were targets for ground fire. The FAC was more than a mile to the west, making lazy figure eights in the sky.

Looking back at the insert ship, Hollister could see Nessen and his men moving closer to the open cargo doors, some stepping onto the right skid as they readied themselves to leap off.

The insert chopper reached a point just short of the desired touchdown point, and the pilot pulled back on the cyclic to stop forward momentum. The chopper halted, settled onto the ground with a rocking motion, and Nessen’s team bolted from the right side of the chopper.

No sooner had the last man’s feet hit the ground running than the pilot pulled pitch. As he did, he announced his intentions to advise the other choppers: “Comin’ up and right.”

The chopper completely cleared the LZ, and the chase ship followed the same path the insert ship had taken, though it failed to touch down. It, too, passed beyond the far end of the LZ and broke right and up.

As the two slicks gained altitude to fall into formation with the orbiting C&C, Hollister watched Nessen’s team move from the touchdown point to the cluster of trees that would conceal them—for the time being.

The team members moved quickly, but were too close together, and no one was looking to their rear. All were watching the other three directions while moving to their rally point.

They disappeared into the trees, and Hollister checked his watch to give him a better idea of how long each insert and each extraction would take. He ran his fingers down the helmet cord and found the mike button. He moved the mike closer to his lips and pressed the button. “Houston Six, Three. Over.”

“Six, go.”

“You can launch now. Over.”

“Any problems?” Sangean asked from Cu Chi.

“Negative. But One-five still hasn’t reported the LZ condition yet.”

“Roger,” Sangean said as his C&C lifted off the Old Warrior Pad with a pickup flight ready to take Nessen’s men out of the LZ.

“Roger. We’ll be returning for the next lift as soon as I get an up from One-five.”

“Roger. Out,” Sangean said.

Dropping the mike cord, Hollister looked down at his watch, worried that Nessen hadn’t reported in yet. He grabbed the mike button again. “Anybody see anything?” he asked the chopper crew.

“They’re in trees all right. I haven’t seen anything that looks hinky, though,” Captain Keith said.



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