Without remorse - Tom Clancy [269]
Pleasant thought.
I've been in tighter spots than this, Defiance proclaimed.
When? Pessimism inquired delicately.
The only thing that made sense at the moment was to put as much distance as possible between himself and the NVA. Next came the necessity of finding something approximating an LZ so that he could get the hell out of this place. It wasn't a time to panic, but he couldn't dally either. Come daylight there would be more troops here, and if their commander was competent one, he'd want to know if there might be an enemy reconnaissance element on his turf. Failure to get out before dawn would materially degrade Kelly's chances of ever escaping this country. Move. Find a good spot. Call the help. Get the hell out of here. He had four hours until dawn. The helo was about thirty minutes away. Make it two or three hours to find a spot and make the call. That didn't seem overly difficult. He knew the area around sender green from the recon photos. Kelly took a few minutes to look around, orienting himself. The quickest way to a clear spot was that way, across a twist in the road. It was a gamble but a good one. He rearranged his load, moving his spare magazines within easier reach. More than anything else, Kelly feared capture, to be at the mercy of men like plastic flower, to he unable to fight back, to lose control of his life. A quiet little voice in the back of his mind told him that death was preferred to that. Fighting back, even against impossible odds, wasn't suicide. Okay. That was decided. He started moving.
* * *
'Call him?' Maxwell asked.
'No, not now.' Captain Albie shook his head. 'He'll call us. Mr Clark is busy right now. We leave him be.' Irvin came into the Combat Information Center.
'Clark?' the master gunnery sergeant asked.
'On the run,' Albie told him.
'Want me and some people on Rescue One, riding shotgun?' That they would try to get Clark out was not a question. Marines have an institutional loathing of leaving people behind.
'My job, Irvin,' Albie said.
'Better you run the rescue, sir,' Irvin said reasonably. 'Anybody can shoot a rifle.'
Maxwell, Podulski, and Greer stayed out of the conversation, watching and listening to two professionals who knew what they were about. The Marine commander bent to the wisdom of his most senior NCO.
'Take what you need.' Albie turned to Maxwell. 'Sir, I want Rescue One up now.'
The Assistant Chief of Naval Operations (Air) handed over the headset to a Marine officer only twenty-eight years old; with it came tactical command of the busted mission. With it went the end of Dutch Maxwell's career.
It was less fearful to be moving. Movement gave Kelly the feeling that he had control of his life. It was an illusion, and intellectually he knew it, but his body took the message that way, which made things better. He got to the bottom of the hill, into thicker growth. There. Right across the road was an open space, a meadow or something, maybe a floodplain area from the river. That would do just fine. Nothing fancy. He grabbed his radio.
'snake to cricket, over.'
'This is cricket. We read you, and we are standing by.'
The message came in gasps, spoken one short breath at a time: 'West of my hill, past the road, about two miles west of objective, open field. I'm close. Send the helo. I can mark with strobe.'
Albie looked at the map, then the aerial photos. Okay, that looked easy enough. He stabbed a finger on the map, and the air-control petty officer relayed the information at once. Albie waited for the confirmation before transmitting back to Clark.
'Roger, copy. Rescue One is moving in now, two-zero minutes away.'
'Copy that.' Albie could hear the relief in Clark's voice through the static. 'I'll be ready. Out.'
Thank you. God.
Kelly took his time now, moving slowly and quietly towards the road. His second sojourn into North Vietnam wouldn't end up being as long as the first. He didn't have to swim out this time, and with all the shots he'd gotten before coming in, maybe this time he wouldn't be getting sick from the water in that goddamned