Mortal Threat by A.J. Tata

Author:A.J. Tata [A.J. Tata]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: A.J. Tata
Published: 2015-02-16T00:00:00+00:00

27

Iraq-Syria Border

Somewhere over the Iraq-Syria border, Amanda’s husband, Jake Devereaux, shoved his static line at the left door safety and stepped into the 140-knot slipstream of the C-17 aircraft. They had taken off from Pope Air Force Base, conducted two in-flight refueling missions over the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, and were now dropping at five hundred feet above ground level.

He felt the testicle-crushing snap of his parachute opening above him, a sensation no paratrooper ever complained about but all hated. Better dealing with some bruised testicles than having no canopy overhead and burning a smoking hole into the ground in some godforsaken place.

He watched the darkened shapes of his fellow paratroopers floating to the ground. He tugged on his risers and checked his canopy; all good. His rucksack was heavy but comfortably situated in front of said testicles to protect them against small arms fire. Good, he thought, before realizing he was giving way too much thought to his testicles. Perhaps he was focused on his family jewels because he hadn’t talked or texted with Amanda in a few days and they were both eager to start a family together.

The ground was rushing toward him more quickly, and he was about one hundred feet from landing. His mind drifted for a moment to wonder in which direction Al-Qaim might be and how close the Air Force had actually put them to the Syrian border. He would find out soon enough, though, and he came back to the task at hand.

He pulled the quick release on his lowering line and held it for a few more seconds, a technique he had found useful in managing his landing. About fifty feet from the ground, he picked out his landing spot, released his rucksack, and immediately felt the tug of his gear to his left as the rucksack drew the line taut. He pulled on his right set of risers to counteract the pull of the equipment and the slight wind drift.

Keeping his feet and knees pressed firmly together, he maintained a focus on the horizon to avoid ground rush, the temptation to reach out with his feet as the ground approached, which usually resulted in injury. Conducting a proper parachute-landing fall required no thought or skill other than to avoid thinking or doing. Keep your body in a tight ball and roll with it , Jake told himself.

The soft sand greeted him with a welcoming embrace. He rolled slightly and thought, as always, that wasn’t so bad . He quickly released his parachute to keep it from inflating on the ground and dragging him. He stayed in the prone position and pulled on his lowering line, dragging his rucksack to his location. Opening his weapons case, he removed his M4 carbine and slapped a magazine into the well. He chambered a round and made certain the safety selector switch was set to safe. He removed his knife from his ankle sheath and cut the lowering line near the ruck, placed the knife back in the sheath, and put his radio into operation.

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