Operation Orion - Kevin Dockery [24]
For a few minutes he scrutinized the base and its environs. The installation itself consisted of a large dome with two smaller domes attached at right angles, as if in an east and north orientation to the base. He saw an air lock on the face of the large dome; no other points of access were visible from their current position. The pirate ship, resting on its stern in the low-G environment, stood just beyond the north dome. For a long time those were the only features Jackson discerned. He turned the magnification feature of his faceplate on, creating an effect similar to 15© binoculars, and patiently swept the surroundings.
Finally he saw the external turret. Camouflaged with the natural rock surface of the asteroid, it was distinguished by a pair of slender dark barrels barely emerging from narrow slits in the surface. It was some two hundred meters from the main dome of the base. He saw the G-Man looking at him and indicated the gun; LaRue nodded, signaling that he had spotted it, too. He laid Baby on the rocks before him, the two-meter-long barrel perched on its folding ground mount, a round ready in the chamber of the powerful gun, and drew a bead while he waited for the order to fire.
Next Jackson found Sanders and, again using signs, ordered the junior lieutenant to take the second squad around to the rear of the east dome. They were to break in through an air lock if they found one or else use a breaching charge to go directly through the side of the dome. Sanders organized his seven men into fire teams and shooter pairs and, with the confirmation of an attack in fifteen minutes, moved out below the crest of the ridge, beyond the line of sight—theoretically, at least—of the objective.
Finally, Jackson arrayed the first squad to make a frontal attack against the air lock. Deployed into the two fire teams, with Jackson, Dobson, Robinson, and Keast to the left and Chief Harris, Teal, Falco, and the G-Man on the right, they gathered themselves, checking weapons and still studying the objective, as the LT kept his eye on the clock. He allowed eleven minutes to pass, then gave the thumbs-up to LaRue, who had been watching his CO carefully.
The G-Man sighted the long barrel of his rail gun onto the external turret and fired. A blast of fire and smoke billowed from the back of the big weapon, an effect that canceled about 80 percent of the gun’s powerful recoil as the copper-jacketed slug with its core of depleted uranium accelerated down the four rails of the track. In milliseconds the round was traveling faster than a World War II–era antitank shell. LaRue’s aim was dead-on, and the missile penetrated the rocky shell of the gun turret with a greenish surge of flame, the color being caused by the incineration of the copper. The explosion continued out the other side of the lumpy gun emplacement as the superheated metal fiercely ripped through the works.
At the same instant, Jackson waved his men forward, and the eight SEALS of the first squad sprang over the crest of the ridge and started toward the domed installation in long, loping strides. They had a kilometer to cover, and the blast of the rail gun presumably had provided the enemy with a warning that they were under attack. It was the LT’s intent to close on the base so quickly that the warning could not be translated into defensive action. Each man ran in a series of long jumps, covering ten or fifteen meters with each stride, concentrating, as they had been trained to do, on pushing forward rather than up with each springing step.
In less than a minute they passed the camouflaged turret, from which sparks and puffs of smoke were emerging. The twin barrels were askew, and there was no sign of movement within the shattered shell. Approaching the air lock on the large dome and mindful of the effects of the mass of their heavy loads, the SEALS began to slow down, shortening their steps, digging in their feet, taking care not to let their heavy packs push them down.