Retribution

“I’ve had three night jumps, all with more gear than I’m carrying now,” added Je

“And I’ve done thirty jumps, including three HALO. OK? So I don’t need a keeper.”

“Hey, I jumped with her, Nurse,” said Sergeant Geraldo

“Blow” Hernandez. Blow was also the team jumpmaster.

“She’s got the goods.”

“Thank you, Sergeant.”

“It’s go

“Not if I hit the ground first.”

Southeastern Pakistan

2010

“GLOBAL HAWK SHOWS A CAR COMING, CAPTAIN. DRIVING

from the east.”

Da

“How fast?”

“Hard to tell,” said Gu

178

DALE BROWN’S DREAMLAND

Da

“Let’s see if he goes fast enough to miss them,” Da

“Your call,” said the Marine, his tone leaving no doubt that he disagreed with Da

Da

But he felt that was too much to ask of Je

She really shouldn’t have been on the mission at all.

“Guy’s a slowpoke,” said Gu

Da

“We may make it,” said Da

“Your call.”

“Yes, it is.”

THE SHOCK OF WIND AS SHE HIT THE SLIPSTREAM BELOW

the jet sent a chill through Je

“Damn,” she told herself.

That was as close as she would come to admitting that she’d bit off a little more than she could comfortably chew.

She pulled her arms and legs back closer to her torso, shaping herself into a frog position as she plummeted downward.

The altimeter in the smart helmet was somewhat distracting—the default display flashed large numerals in blue as the jumper descended—but she did like the infrared night view, which bathed the world in a warm green glow.

It didn’t feel like she was falling. The sensation was more of flying, sailing through the air at a tremendous clip. For all her intellectual skills, Je

179

which meant she had to plan quite a bit with her schedule.

But it was definitely a rush.

The smart helmet showed her where she was compared to her designated landing zone. She tilted her arm and left leg, leaning back to the right spot.

A tone sounded. Je

Je

There were small huts in the distance, a car on a road, the Osprey and work team.

The digital altimeter counted down her altitude: 200 feet …

150 … 100 …

The helmet blacked out.

Her legs locked. She tried to relax them, tried to relax everything, taking a deep, long breath.

The ground grabbed her before she could exhale. Je

DANNY FREAH SAW THE FLASH OF THE BRAKE LIGHTS JUST

as the f irst Whiplash trooper sailed across the landing zone toward his touchdown. The auto was a mile away, and slightly ahead of the parachutist as he landed, but Da

“Nab him,” he told Gu

“Will do,” said the Marine cheerfully.

Da

DALE BROWN’S DREAMLAND

hard twenty yards away from him. Da

“Hey, Jen, you keep that up, the kids are going to learn a whole bunch of new words,” he said.

“Stinking fucking helmet.”

Da

A fresh string of expletives exploded from her mouth. “It’s not fu

“Did you have it in default mode? If so, it reverted to standard view five seconds before you landed. You should have set it to a custom mode if you wanted it to continue counting.”

Je

“Where is the stinking bomb at?” she said finally.

“This way,” said Da

She seemed to be limping as she followed.

“You want an ice pack on that knee?”

“Just show me where the son of a bitch is.”

Da

“Good to see you, Cap,” said Blow. “How’s Boston doing?” he asked, referring to Sergeant Ben Rockland. Boston had been hurt, though not seriously, apprehending the Iranian commandos who instigated the Indian-Pakistani nuclear exchange.

“He’s going to be OK,” said Da

“We saw it coming in,” said Liu.

“Run up there and see if you can help the Marines with the language,” said Da

“On it,” said Liu.

RETRIBUTION

181

A few minutes later Sergeant Liu, Gu

“You gotta hear his story, Cap,” said Liu. “Claims his wife is pregnant and he’s going to fetch her mother.”

“They don’t have doctors in Karachi?”

“Doesn’t live in Karachi,” said Liu. “Lives about five miles up the road. She sounds like she’s in serious labor, Captain. Kind of like that breeched birth we had on the Iranian mission?”

“You guys deliver babies?” asked Gu

“We do all sorts of things, Sergeant,” said Da

Aboard Dreamland Be

over Pakistan

2100

DOG TURNED THE STICK OVER TO HIS COPILOT AND GOT UP

to stretch his legs. The crew’s resentment had diminished a bit, but he knew he still wouldn’t win any popularity con-tests.

Not that it mattered. He walked to the galley and started a fresh pot of coffee in the Zero Gravity Mr. Coffee. The sealed coffeemaker, which worked as advertised, was still rated by most of the technical people as their biggest contribution to mankind.

“Hey, Colonel, you got Ray Rubeo looking for you,” said Sullivan.

“Thanks, Kevin.”

Dog poured himself a half cup of the steaming java, then made his way back to his seat. Rubeo’s familiar frown was frozen on the screen.

“One of these days, Ray, you’re going to smile,” said Dog.