Ambush by Keith Douglass

Author:Keith Douglass [Douglass, Keith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The chopper took off precisely at 1910 and turned west toward the mountains. The southern part of Mindanao had mountains just behind Davao, Murdock had learned, then a fairly wide plain in the middle and a ridge of mountains near the west coast. Those were the ones they would drop in on.

Murdock wished he could come up with some kind of a strategy or a plan, but there was nothing they could do until they were on the ground and could determine the layout of the place and where the strengths and weaknesses were. They had about forty-five minutes of flying. It was nap time for most of the SEALs. The three Filipinos sat rigid, unable to relax.

Murdock dozed once, came alert, and checked his watch. They were more than halfway there. He went up to the pilot.

“You know these ridges over here, Captain Samar. Any places where you can find a good LZ?”

“Not usually. More likely a little opening in one of the valleys between the ridges. Like the ones we’re coming up on now. See how they peak and then run down the other side? No real level spots except if the valley below is wide enough and some stream has gouged out a flat place here and there.”

They were shouting to hear each other over the noise of the helicopter. Looking down, Murdock saw some flashes.

“Gunshots from down there?” he asked.

“Yes, some wild-eyed rebel with an AK-47 trying to be a hero,” Samar said. “Those rounds could hurt us if they hit us, but not much chance of that. They routinely fire at our Air Force planes. That’s partly how we know where the areas are the rebels control.”

“We need to go up a little higher?”

“Not on my flight plan. We’re still two thousand feet over those rifles, and that’s straight up. Seven hundred yards is a long shot for a rifle against a little target like we are.”

They flew for another five minutes, and Captain Samar said it would be about ten minutes before they would start looking for an LZ.

The impact of the rifle round came like a bright star. The bullet grazed the canopy and made a long crack in the Plexiglas. At the same time three more rounds hit the chopper and the pilot scowled.

“Damn, somebody has our range,” the pilot said. He jerked the bird to the left and down to get away from the bullets. Murdock almost fell when the pilot jolted the helicopter to the left.

“Anything vital hit?” Murdock asked.

“Should know in about two minutes. Worst problem could be an oil line. Not very well protected on this model. I’m moving lower toward that ridge up there. See the one in the moonlight? It has a lot of trees, mostly pine in here, but sometimes there are landing spots. Probably should check out the bird on the ground if I can.”

They came in lower and slowed, and then Samar saw an open place. It was an area of slab rock twenty yards square where nothing would grow.

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