Operation Orion - Kevin Dockery [75]
“I think I can figure out how to manipulate the oxygen controls, sir. In whatever manner you want.”
“Shut off the air,” Jackson ordered without hesitation. “Kill the sons of bitches.”
Baxter immediately set to work, punching keys and bringing up control screens, while Jackson paced around the control room. Mirowski’s body was carried reverently down the stairs toward the central room, and the officer had to forcefully repress the urge to punch something. If one of the apparently slain Eluoi on the floor had stirred, the lieutenant willingly would have strangled him with his bare hands. As it was, there was no one to attack, no reasonable way to strike out.
Chief Harris climbed the stairs to the command room. “We got more hostiles behind that big door, skipper, in the motor pool. Robinson got it open a crack, and we spotted a big tractor in there, like a tank equipped for snow. It’s colder than hell in there, like it’s open to the outside. They got a couple guys working on the tank, and at least a dozen more are waiting around for a ride. Probably going out after LaRue and Falco, eh?”
“Or else they’re trying to make a getaway,” Jackson noted, and seized the chance for action. “Let’s blow the door and see if we can’t get our hands on the AFV,” he declared. He wasn’t sure what they would use an armored fighting vehicle for, but it seemed a wise precaution to keep it from the enemy’s hands. Also, it was a chance for a little more revenge against the Eluoi, whom he was starting to hate with a deep and abiding passion.
This time it was Harry Teal who set the charges: two packets of C-6, one at each side of the garage-door-size hatch. The attack would be made by eight SEALS as Sanchez and Marannis stayed back to watch the hatch leading into the large compartment and Baxter continued to work on the Eluoi installation controls. Grafton and his swabbies remained in their holding position below, blocking the trio of trapped hostiles in the lower level. Jackson hadn’t forgotten about them but decided they would keep for the time being.
Taking up positions just around the corner from the breaching charges, the men waited for the charges to blow. Teal watched for the lieutenant to give him the go sign. When Jackson pointed, the corpsman pressed the button on his clicker, and a crump of sound and pressure shot down the corridor, filling the compartment with smoke.
The SEALS moved out immediately to find that once again the reliable C-6 had worked perfectly. With Dobson and Rodale leading the way, the attacking Team charged into the large garage area as the hatch still was bouncing on the floor. A couple of hapless Eluoi were trapped under the ton or two of metal, and several others had been thrown to the floor by the force of the blast.
Still, there were others there, armed and ready for battle, and they recovered quickly. Some dived for cover behind the big snow tank, and others shot bursts at the SEALS as they charged into the large compartment. Rounds zinged from the deck, and Dobson went down hard, punched by a shot in the chest that was absorbed by the armor of his pressure suit. Jackson, coming from behind, killed the shooter, who was standing behind the turret, with a well-placed shot right through the middle of his face.
The Eluoi were wearing heavy parkas and winter gear but did not have pressure suits. The SEALS exploited that advantage, charging full tilt across the floor, trusting the armor of their Mark IV suits to protect them from the few haphazard shots that found targets. Dobson and Rodale scrambled up onto the tank’s deck, shooting down the Eluoi who had sought shelter behind the turret and then using that armored dome as they sprayed rounds into the far side of the hangar.
Ruiz and Teal took out the two Eluoi on the far right and moved through what looked to be an empty bay, possibly a parking space for another of the big tractors like the one that loomed before them. Jackson saw that the whole space was open to the frigid outdoors via a large doorway