“No. He has an electromagnetic field around the house. Our mikes can’t penetrate it.
Delta Six,” asked Stansfield, “see if you can get us a body count on the inside of the house.”
“Roger that.
Give me another thirty seconds to get into position.” The Black Hawk slipped behind another hill and lined itself up with a patch of trees that was about five hundred yards from Nance’s house. The chopper moved forward at about thirty miles an hour. The wind was coming out of the east and would help carry their noise away from the house. When they reached the clump of trees, the pilot brought the chopper up just enough so the nose of the helicopter had a straight shot at the full length of Nance’s house. The copilot of the
Black Hawk manipulated a small joystick on the dashboard and moved the camera in the nose pod of the helicopter. A small, ten-inch screen relayed a thermal image of the house.
The copilot started at the southern end and worked his way to the north. The camera read
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the variations in temperature as it went. Halfway down the house, the copilot called out his first body.
A bright red orb appeared near the front door. When he made it to the northern wing, he called out four more bodies. Stansfield asked, “How are the four bodies arranged?”
The director had been in the house before and knew which room they were talking about.
“One appears to be sitting, two others are standing close by, and the fourth is sitting down about fifteen feet away from the other three.” The tactical team leader in the back tapped
Stansfield on the shoulder. “We’re going to have to take out those dogs before we hit the house.” Stansfield nodded his approval and the team leader told the pilot, “Bring us in behind that hill three hundred yards up on the left and I’ll deploy my sniper.” The nose of the blue-and-silver chopper dipped slightly, passed over the treetops, and then dropped down to a mere fifty feet from the ground as it worked its way up the small valley. The pilot slipped the helicopter in sideways behind the hill and brought the chopper to within three feet of the ground. In the back of the helicopter, the team leader pointed at one of the men wearing jeans and a leather jacket and said, “Tony, take up position on top of this hill and get ready to take out the rovers.” The man nodded and rose to get out. One of the other team members opened the sliding door, and the man jumped to the ground and disappeared into the darkness. Stansfield adjusted his mouth mike and asked, “Delta Six, how do things look in your area?”
“Everything is clear with the exception of the dogs,” crackled the pilot’s voice. “All right, we’re coming over to join you.” The pilot of the medevac turned the chopper 180
degrees on a dime and worked his way back to their original position. From there they continued south toward Delta Six’s position. As they neared, Stansfield pointed at a patch of trees that were fifty yards to the north and another two hundred yards away from the house. The pilot brought the chopper in behind the trees and announced, “Delta Six, we’re about six hundred feet back at seven o’clock. Do you copy, over?” The pilot of the Black
Hawk craned his neck around and spotted the heat signature of the medevac’s engines. “I
copy.
I’ve got your position marked, over.”
Stansfield looked through a pair of night-vision binoculars. He concentrated on the large wing to the north. Lights were on, but the shades were drawn. “Delta Six, did you say you marked four signatures in the room at the far north end of the house?”
“That’s affirmative, sir.”
“All right,” announced Stansfield. “Everybody pay attention. I am going to make one phone call to the occupants of the house. I am not going to announce our presence. I
repeat, I am not going to announce our presence. Depending on how the call goes, I will either give you the green light, or we will stand down. If I give the green light, this is how it’s going to go. When I tell Delta Six to move, I want the dogs taken out. Delta Six will then move into a hover position just above the north end of the house. Team One will then fast-rope to the ground and enter the house. The estate has pressure pads and motion
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and tremor sensors. The second you hit the ground, you are going to have to move fast.
The best point for entry will be the French doors at the southern end of the north wing. I
repeat, the southern end of the north wing. I have used the doors before, and they are operational. “We have a potential hostage situation, so your rules of engagement are as follows.
If you are fired on, you may return fire. If any of the men in the room attempts to kill one of the other men in the room, you are to prevent that from happening. Are there any questions?” No one had any. The two teams were well versed in what they were about to do.
“Team Two will back up Team One. Team One, are you ready to move?”
The leader of Team One replied, “Give us thirty seconds, sir.” The team commander banged his fists together ant then pointed his thumbs at the doors. The long, dark doors of the Black Hawk were yanked open and into the locked position. Each man secured his rappelling rope to special hooks located above the door and kneeled at the ready position.
The two men who carried the shotguns were the first men on each side.
They were the entry men, and their job was to get the doors open. The entry man on the left tapped his partner on the shoulder and then stabbed himself in the chest with a finger. He then pointed up and then straight ahead, signaling that he would blow the top and middle locks on the French doors. His partner nodded and signaled that he would take out the bottom lock. The next three men in line were in charge of clearing the room.
They entered the room, literally on top of’ each other, with each man taking a third of the room and sweeping it for hostiles. The sixth and seventh men covered the left and right flank of the landing area, and the eighth man covered their “six,” or their “ass” as the men referred to it. The team leader looked at each of his men, and one by one they flashed him a thumbs-up. The leader radioed back to Stansfield that they were ready.
