Pirate - Duncan Falconer [120]
Downs pulled back on the stick and turned it to one side to try and climb as well as get into position for another bomb run.
Stratton thought he saw some vehicles directly below as Downs made the turn and released two more bombs. The wood exploded behind them.
Downs continued to roar with joy. ‘Come on you bastards!’
Another explosion came from elsewhere in the wood, followed by several more until there seemed to be one going off every few seconds.
As Downs yelled like a madman, Stratton released a couple more bombs and had to smile at his crazed friend. The glider appeared to be benefiting from the reduced weight as Downs turned and gained height at the same time.
‘Truck!’ Downs cried out.
Stratton looked ahead to see several vehicles parked nose to tail on a track that entered the wood.
‘Let’s go for it!’ Stratton shouted as he removed the pins from several more mortars.
Downs lined up the glider so that it flew directly over the top of them.
Stratton dropped one bomb with a short delay before releasing the next. They slammed into the beds of two trucks, one after the other, and the vehicles exploded.
Downs was clearly loving it. ‘I’d do this bloody job for nothing!’ he shouted.
Stratton’s smile faded into concentration as he saw men running through the wood below him, illuminated by the fires that were cropping up all over the place despite the rain. They had caused total and utter panic. The Somalis had no idea what was going on. Those with any battle experience would know it was a mortar attack and not artillery but the sight of the gliders had frightened and confused them.
Downs took the glider in a gentle curve, his eyes everywhere, conscious that gliders could easily collide right then. The orders had been to keep all turns over the wood to the right only. It wouldn’t prevent a crash but it did reduce the chances of one.
Stratton was hoping to see Sabarak. He knew it would be impossible to recognise the Saudi from the air but he couldn’t help himself. He saw several men running along a track, illuminated by the flames. Stratton reached for the last of his mortars and held one either side of the seat as Downs took them above the men. Stratton staggered his release and the double boom filled the area where it struck with smoke and debris.
Another line of men ran out of the wood and into the black open ground. Stratton pulled up his Colt, shoved the butt into his shoulder and fired a couple of shots. The rear pair went down and the others scattered.
Downs turned in order to close in on another group of running men and lost a bit of height. As he flew alongside them, Stratton let rip with several short bursts. Three of the men went down and the rest scattered.
Downs pulled hard on the stick to gain height and headed away from the wood. Stratton looked back to see several explosions. A dozen or so fires blazed and a line of smoke drifted on the wind towards the coast.
Downs quickly checked his GPS and turned hard up and over a treeless slope. Several other gliders did the same and moved in behind him, all of the craft much more manoeuvrable since ditching their payloads.
‘All stations, this is Downs, check!’ Downs shouted into his radio.
The crews began to answer right away. There was a long pause after the last report. Two gliders were missing. It was an acceptable loss for that stage of the mission but only as a statistic. Downs could only pray that just the gliders were gone and not the men. The trackers would let the ops room know if the missing men were moving or not. But the tracker couldn’t tell them if the men were still alive or that their bodies were being looted.
Downs would have to worry about them later. The teams still had work to do.
As the gliders crested