Debt of Honor - Tom Clancy [449]
"Sandy, look north!" his backseater said as -Two came down on the deck of the submarine.
Six Eagles fell to the first volley of missiles, with two more damaged and withdrawing, the AWAC'S controllers said. Sanchez couldn't see, as he was heading away from the advancing enemy fighters, the Tomcats making room now for the Hornets. It was working. The Japanese were pursuing, coming away from their island at high-power settings, driving the Americans away, or so they thought. His threat receiver said that there were enemy missiles in the air now, but they were American-designed missiles, and he knew what they could do.
"What's that?" Oreza wondered.
Just a shadow at first. The airfield lights were still on for some reason or other, and they saw a single white streak crossing the end of Kobler's runway. It banked sharply over the threshold and tracked down the center of the single strip. Then it changed shape, the nose blowing off, and small objects sprinkling down on the concrete. A few exploded. The rest just disappeared, too small to see unless they were moving. Then came another, and another, all doing the same thing, except for one that headed straight for the tower, and blew the top right off of it, and along with it, the fighter wing's radios. Farther south, the commercial airfield was also lit up still, four 747's sitting at the terminal or elsewhere on the ramp. Nothing seemed to approach the airport. To their east, several more missile launches lit up the Patriot battery, but they'd shot off their first load of missiles, and the crews now had to reload additional box launchers, then connect them to the command van, and that took time. They were getting kills, but not enough.
"Not going for the SAMs," Chavez noted, thinking that they really ought to be under cover for all this, but…but nobody else was, as though this were some sort of glorious Fourth of July display.
"Avoiding civilian areas, Ding," Clark replied.
"Nice nick. By the way, what's this Kelly stuff?"
"My real name," the senior officer observed.
"John, how many of the bastards did you kill?" Oreza wanted to know.
"Huh?" Chavez asked.
"Hack when we were both children, your boss here did a little private hunting, drug dealers, as I recall."
"It never happened. Portagee. Honest." John shook his head and grinned. "Well, not that anybody can prove." he added. "I really am dead, you know?"
"In that case you got the right set of initials for the new name, man." Oreza paused. "Now what'"
"Beats me, pal." Oreza wasn't cleared for his new orders, and he didn't know that they were possible anyway. A few seconds later it occurred to someone to switch off the remaining electrical power on the south end of the island.
Mutsu's helicopter had announced the presence of a submarine on the surface, but nothing more. That had caused Kongo to launch her Seahawk, now coming south. Two P-3C Orion antisub aircraft were approaching as well, but the helicopter would get in first, carrying two torpedoes. That aircraft was coming in at two hundred feet, without its look-down radar on, but with flashing strobes that looked very bright in Richter's headset.
"Sure is busy here," Richter said. He was at five hundreds feet, with a new target just on the horizon. "PIT CREW, this in INDY ONE, we have another chopper in the neighborhood."
"Splash him!"
"Copy that." Richter increased speed for his intercept. The Navy didn't have any problems making decisions. The closure speed guaranteed a rapid intercept. Richter selected STINGER and fired at five miles Whoever it was, he didn't expect hostile aircraft in the area, and the cold water under him made a fine contrast background for the heat-seeking missile The Seahawk spun in, leaving Richter to wonder if there might be survivor, but he didn't have the ability to perform a rescue, and didn't close in to see.
-Two was up now, and took the protective orbit position, allowing the leader to turn for the rendezvous. He gave the submarine a low saluting pass and headed off. He had neither the fuel