Task Force Mars - Kevin Dockery [22]
Still, through the viewports the planet looked not so much lethal as barren. The sandy surface was illuminated by a setting sun that was casting long shadows from some of the taller hills, leaving crescents of shadow on the floors of steep-sided craters. Far to the east a ridge of low rounded mountains was cast into clear relief by the sun, and to the west another ridge was shrouded in shadow, backlit and murky. The flat plain below them showed a few ripples of terrain: low flat hills and scoured channels that once had been the beds of flowing streams. The color that had looked so consistently rusty from a distance now shifted through a spectrum that included black, yellow, orange, and even patches of dirty white.
“LT, I got something!”
It was Chief Harris, who was peering through one of the hull windows of the shuttle. “Vehicles—two of ’em—tracking toward the station.”
Jackson and the pilots leaned over for a look just in time to see a bright light that was unmistakably a muzzle flash.
“Shit!” Cheever cursed, banking hard. “We’re sitting ducks up here!”
“Can you put her down there, behind that ridge of hills?” Jackson asked, pointing.
The pilot made no reply but pushed the stick hard around. G-forces sent Jackson straining against the straps on his seat, and the roar of the shuttle’s rocket engines pounded through the hull. The officer saw another flash and braced for impact, but the second shot also went wide.
And then the dusty crest was there, a low, flat-topped hill that gave the little ship a solid object between it and the shooters. With a snarl of anger Cheever set the shuttle down hard.
“I don’t have to tell you, but we’re trapped back here, Lieutenant. I can’t fly us out of here without risking fire.”
“Leave that to me, sir. Those bastards have just made their last mistake.”
Exactly twelve minutes later, the shuttle’s hold hatch dropped open and the seven surviving SEALS, fully protected by their pressure suits, dashed down the ramp and back onto the surface of Mars. They had decided that Carstairs would take the Pegasus and check on MS2 and MS4 while Jackson and his Team handled this. There was no talking; Jackson used hand signals to direct Sanders, Teal, and Chief Harris to the left. LaRue and Falco went to the right, and Jackson and Rocky Rodale took the middle. The consul de campe and the two pilots would stay with the shuttle for the time being.
The hill between the SEALS and their target was barely worthy of the name. No more than six or eight meters above the surrounding plain, it was more than a kilometer wide at the summit and sloped almost imperceptibly down to the flat ground on all its other sides.
Staying low, Jackson and Rodale advanced slowly, heading straight toward the last known position of the target. Each had his G15 up and ready. Rocky had his four-round M76 70-mm assault weapon secured to his back. The big black man could drop the G15 into its sling and bring the guided missile launcher around into firing position in a second. The smart warhead on the self-guiding missile in the launcher could punch through heavy armor, rip an aircraft out of the sky, or just blast a big hole for general use. But if the fight was suddenly up close and personal, Rocky wanted his quick-handling 6.8-mm caseless in his hands.
The lieutenant kept his eyes on the other two shooter Teams, knowing that they needed to be in position before he put his plan into motion. The men were running, crouching low, but in the light gravity bouncing up off the ground with each step. Jackson knew they would avoid showing themselves over the low crest. He spent his worrying effort—there was always something to worry about—wondering about the capabilities of the unseen foe. If they were Assarn, what did they want? Why were they here?
At five or six hundred meters away, each group of shooters slowed down and started to move forward instead of laterally. Jackson and Rodale, too, crouched and moved toward the summit, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of the mysterious vehicles. One man stopped and leveled