Without remorse - Tom Clancy [268]
'Too fast,' the XO said.
'Goddamn it, Dutch! Now what -'
'The mission's aborted, Cas,' Maxwell said, staring down at the chart table.
'But why?'
'Because Mr Clark said so,' Ritter answered. 'He's the eyes. He makes the call. You don't need anybody to tell you that, Admiral. We still have a man in there, gentlemen. Let's not forget that.'
'We have twenty men in there.'
'That's true, sir, but only one of them is coming out tonight.' And then only if we're lucky.
Maxwell looked up to Captain Franks. 'Let's move in towards the beach, fast as you can.'
'Yes, sir.'
'Hanoi? Why?'
'Because we have orders.' Vinh was looking over the dispatch the Captain had delivered. 'Well, the Americans wanted to come here, eh? I hope they do. This will be no Song Tay for them!'
The idea of an infantry action didn't exactly thrill Colonel Grishanov, and a trip to Hanoi, even an unannounced one, also meant a trip to the embassy. 'Let me pack, Major.'
'Be quick about it!' the little man snapped back, wondering if his trip to Hanoi was for some manner of transgression.
It could be worse. Grishanov now had all his notes together and slid them into a backpack. All of his work, now that Vinh had so kindly released it back to him. He'd drop it off with General Rokossovskiy, and with that in official hands, he could make his case for keeping these Americans alive. It was an ill wind, he thought, remembering the English aphorism.
He could hear them coming. Far off, moving without a great deal of skill, probably tired, but coming..
'cricket, this is snake, over.'
'We read you, snake.'
'I'm moving. There are people on my hill, coming my way. I will head west. Can you send a helo for me?'
'Affirmative. Be careful, son.' It was Maxwell's voice, still concerned.
'Moving now. Out.' Kelly pocketed the radio and headed to the crest. He took a moment to look, comparing what he saw now with what he'd seen before.
I run especially fast in the dark, he'd told the Marines. Time now to prove it. With one last listen to the approaching NVA, Kelly picked a thin spot in the foliage and headed down the hill.
CHAPTER 30
Travel Agents
It was obvious to everyone that things were wrong. The two rescue helos touched down on Ogden not an hour after they'd left. One was wheeled aside at once. The other, flown by the senior pilot, was refueled. Captain Albie was out almost the second it landed, sprinting to the superstructure, where the command team was waiting for him. He could feel that Ogden and her escorts were racing into the beach. His dejected Marines trailed out as well, silent, looking down at the flight deck as they cleared their weapons.
'What happened?' Albie asked.
'Clark waved it off. All we know is that he's moved off his hill; he said other people were there. We're going to try to get him out. Where do you think he'll go?' Maxwell asked.
'He'll look for a place the helo can get him. Let's see the map.'
Had he had the time to reflect, Kelly might have considered how quickly things could go from good to bad. But he didn't. Survival was an all-encompassing game, and at the moment it was also the only game in town. Certainly it wasn't a boring one, and with luck not overly demanding. There weren't all that many troops for the purpose of securing the camp against an assault, not enough - yet - to conduct real defensive patrols. If they were worried about another Song Tay-type mission, they'd keep their firepower in close. They'd put observation teams on hilltops, probably nothing more than that at least for the moment. The top of Snake Hill was now five hundred meters in his wake. Kelly slowed his descent, catching his breath - he was more winded from fear than effort, though the two traded off heavily against each other. He found a secondary crest and rested on the far side of it. Standing still now, he could hear talk behind him - talk, not movement. Okay, good, he'd guessed right on the tactical situation. Probably more troops would be arriving in due course, but he'd be long gone by then.
If they can get that helo