'Major Dutton wants this recon done ASAP,' he said as Mendenhall reached out and tried to stop him.
Leekie had briefed every team member who was to enter the dig about the intelligence of ancient people when it came to protecting their property.
The staff sergeant had taken only four steps, and then his fifth footstep depressed a patch of soil covering a pressure plate with a connection to a sealed ceramic jar. The jar broke and released salt acid that had become stronger over the centuries. It burned through an ancient spun cable of copper, which snapped with a loud
Mendenhall watched in horror as the fifteen-foot-wide wall came down, slicing cleanly through the soldier's body, the backside of which stayed upright. The wall stayed in place as the horror of half a man peeled away from the wall. Will ran forward and started to bend down, but then he felt it was a waste of time. Instead, he placed his hands against the razor-edged wall and pushed up. The wall slid into the cave's ceiling as easily as a window blind. Once Mendenhall saw the other half of the soldier, he turned away, but not before he thought about the bloodstain that he'd seen moments before the sergeant tripped the booby trap.
Mendenhall slowly pulled the 9-millimeter from the back of his pants and looked around with renewed interest, knowing that they had not been the first to enter the cave.
Leekie was staring down into the hole and was becoming anxious when there was no immediate word from Mendenhall. She stood and brushed sand from her pants and then left to find her repelling equipment. When she returned, she climbed to the edge of the tunnel after tying her rope off to the spikes.
She smiled at her American team members and was about to push off from the edge when the world exploded around her. She was thrown over the lip of the shaft by a blast she never saw coming. Her belly ring caught the rope but her momentum, plus her weight, was too much for the twist of rope to catch and she fell down the shaft.
She felt the rush of cooler air and came awake enough to reach for the rope. Her grasp slowed her momentum, cutting her speed in half, and then by a quarter, until her back struck the cool earth below.
The Special Ops team returned fire at the low-flying helicopters after the first volley of Hellfire missiles struck the low foundations of the mosque. The old AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters were legend in aviation and had earned the respect of ground soldiers the world over.
The Coalition pilots chosen for this ambush were very good. One was Israeli trained and the other British. They attacked Major Dutton's ground element with devastating effect. Twenty-millimeter explosive rounds struck positions and tore into flesh and sinew with ease. Dutton was lucky thus far, as only three of his men lay dead after the first pass of the two Cobras. The major saw that they could not stay out in the open and ordered the platoon to the protection of the crumbling mosque.
Once the major had dived behind one of the low foundations, he pulled out a small transmitter similar to the one Collins was carrying. He pushed the Transmit button and said two words: 'Feather River!'
The first of the two Cobra gunships came low over a scrub dune and loosed a barrage of rockets that struck the crumbling walls of the mosque. Several soldiers and diggers were buried alive as the explosions tore through the ancient stone.
'Are you ready for the surprise of your life, assholes?' Dutton screamed at the second Cobra as it made a low pass and started strafing positions where his men had dug in.
There was a low rumble coming from the south and Dutton smiled in anticipation.
Mendenhall and the remaining sergeant ran back the way they had come, jumping over the line of pressure devices that activated the deadly trap and separated the cave from the manmade excavation at the rear. The slope was all but forgotten when the attack started above them. Heavy thumping and explosions sounded as they came closer to the shaft. Mendenhall reached Leekie first and knelt beside her. The Special Forces sergeant looked up the shaft and saw a body fall against the opening and drape over the edge for a moment, then fall toward them.
'Look out!' he called.
The sergeant pulled Will and the unconscious Leekie clear of the hole just as one of the Ethiopian laborers hit the ground with a large hole in his chest. The young sergeant quickly ran forward and checked the man.
'He's dead,' he said and then ran for one of the dangling ropes.
'Well, the doc's alive, just had the wind knocked out of her,' Will said as he looked up. 'Hey, don't do that!'
The sergeant had reached one of the ropes and had started to pull himself up, ignoring Mendenhall's order.
'Sergeant, I order you to--'
The sergeant suddenly fell back down. He hit with a thud and Mendenhall saw the perfectly round hole in his forehead.
'Dammit,' he cursed. He then quickly gathered Leekie up and made for the darkness of the cave.
Collins was just getting ready to move down to assist the defense of the mosque but Everett forcibly stayed him with a hand.
'Jesus, Jack, we have company!' he said, looking through his binoculars.
Collins focused his field glasses to the left and saw several vehicles approaching the area between the low dunes. Then he looked skyward as the roar of jet engines screamed above them. Two F-15 Eagles were making a run on the attacking Cobras. This was Dutton's sure-fire backup plan. Jack again lowered the view of his glasses and saw that the vehicles had stopped and men were removing tarps from the backs of trucks.
'Damn! It's an ambush!' Jack said as he clenched his teeth. 'They were expecting Dutton to have air cover!'
Everett followed Jack's lead and focused on the vehicles.
'SAMs!'
'Those Eagle pilots are sitting ducks,' Collins said as he dropped his glasses and reached for the radio on his belt. He turned to the frequency that the expedition used and hit the Transmit button.
'American aircraft, this is friendly asset on the ground to the south. Abort your attack run, I repeat, abort your run, we have mobile SAMs tracking you from--'
Collins stopped talking because he knew he was too late to save the Americans as four brown-painted missiles left their launch platforms.
The two F-15s screeched in low and the lead pilot targeted the first Cobra in line. He was about to fire his 20 -millimeter cannon into the thin armor of the attack chopper when his threat receiver started going crazy. The American pilot was too late. As he started to abort his attack and two SAMs apiece tore into their airframes.
Major Dutton, in his anger, actually forgot where he was for the briefest of moments and stood as the American aircraft disintegrated right before his eyes. As he cursed the trap that had been set, his body jerked as ten 20-millimeter rounds tore through his body. The stream of death reached out toward the mosque and the remnants of the Special Forces team.
'Ryan!' Jack called as he stripped his pack away, opened it, and pulled out several extra clips of ammunition for his Beretta. 'Get over here.'
Everett anticipated Collins's order and started stripping away all his unnecessary gear. He reached into his pack and pulled out an MP-5 with a folding stock. He took out a bandolier of ammunition and slung it around his neck. Then, as Ryan approached, he tossed him his pack.
'Weapon and ammo only,' Everett said as he placed a magazine into the MP-5 and charged the handle, chambering a round.
'Damn, what in the hell did I miss?'
Jack reached into his pocket, pulled out his small transmitter, and hastily broke off the plastic cover that protected the red button inside. He pushed the button until it clicked and then tossed it away. He chambered a round into his Beretta and then looked at Ryan and Everett.
'We have a quarter mile to cover. I don't know if the doc is still alive, but I know Will must already be inside of whatever Leekie found in the tower's base. We have one goal: make sure these bastards do not get the diamond. Ready ... Go!'
The three men broke and ran toward the mosque.
Four additional mobile SAM vehicles arrived and took up station behind the same dune that had hidden the first four. A Land Rover broke free from the group of trucks. The small vehicle headed for the mosque and the
