"Understood, I'll be ready when you surface."
"Are you ready, Alice?"
"Yes, Boss," she comes back to me, "I'll follow your lead."
"Not you as well. You shouldn't listen to everything this idiot tells you," I say rolling my eyes, then smiling.
Reaching out my right hand, Dan and I clasp hands, "Okay, mate, take us in!"
"Watch your backs and listen to what the Boss says, Alice."
Dan starts his approach, aiming the Lynx at the same position on the Tower that we picked Alice up from.
Chapter 18
As we approach the Tower, I swivel the Minigun back to its holding position out of the way of the door. We may need to get back on board quickly and don't want any obstacles hindering our entry. Dan is taking his approach nice and steadily. His flying skills aren’t quite as rusty as mine but they aren’t far off.
Looking at Alice, it is easy to see how nervous she is and I know exactly how she's feeling. There is also a look of determination underlying that nervousness, however; after all, it is her comrades that may still be trapped inside the Tower.
I have the utmost respect for women who choose the life of a soldier and make the grade, as it can't be an easy choice. Before they even join up, they know they are going to be in the minority and be thrown together with a bunch of young men who will usually show little respect for them as soldiers. They, more than these young men, will have the spotlight on them to prove they are capable and to earn the respect of their fellow squaddies. There will be no hiding in the main group for them.
I go over to Alice and put my hand onto her shoulder. "Stay close and watch your six Alice, pick your targets and hit head shots if you can. If not, go for legs to slow them down. We are going in nice and slowly to see if it's viable, and if not, we will fall back. We will have each other’s backs, okay?"
"I'm ready, Andy, I'm just psyching myself up."
"I know, you and me both, so let’s do this!" I say to her and slap her on the back.
Moving to the hold door, I start to help guide Dan. He does a good job of getting the Lynx into position and we are soon within reach of the battlements. I turn to Alice and ask her if she is ready. She gives me a thumbs-up.
Stepping across the void between the Lynx and the Tower, my foot hits the top of the wall and each of my hands grips the top of the battlements either side of me. In a swift motion, I jump down onto the Tower’s roof; there is no walkway on this side.
Taking a step forward and lifting my M4 up from my chest, I immediately cover our position whilst Alice disembarks. My first line of sight is the rooftop doorway that Alice emerged from, but I scan all around the rooftop paying particular attention to the mouths of each of the doorways, built into the turrets that reach up from the four corners of the Tower.
In no time, I feel a couple of taps on my right shoulder, then Alice is next to me looking down the length of her rifle. Dan lifts the Lynx away. We don’t turn to watch him go, but we wait a moment, covering the roof with our rifles until the noise and buffeting from the helicopter has dissipated.
I move off to the right without saying a word, following the wall, my rifle pointed out in front of me, my head tucked in behind it and my legs slightly bent ready to move quickly should any threats appear, a stance that’s second nature to me. Alice moves in formation behind using the same stance. I am pleased but not surprised that she is moving sideways with her back to the wall, enabling her to cover our rear as she follows. My first impression of her is that she a very capable soldier.
Reaching the first, North East turret, Alice takes a covering position whilst I slowly move around the turret towards the doorway set into it, fully prepared to take action. Seeing the door is closed, I step onto the beginning of the walkway which runs right down the North side of the wall and check the door; it is locked. I signal to Alice and we continue along the walkway, the open door that Alice appeared from looming ever nearer directly in front of us.
Somewhere above, a helicopter buzzes, and I assume it’s Dan cooling the engines of the Lynx. As the buzzing fades, Alice and I are nearly at the North West turret; this door is closed too, but there is a hole where the lock used to be.
“Did you pull the door closed?” I whisper to Alice.
“Yes,” she whispers back.
Cautiously, I take up a position against the turret’s round wall to the right, beside the door. Alice stops short and goes down on one knee slightly to the side of the door at the edge of the walkway and aims her rifle at the door. She covers me while I put my ear to the edge of the door and listen for any noise from inside, anything that gives me a clue to the situation in there, but nothing can be heard.
I push the door gently with my hand and it swings slowly inwards, and as it does, Alice visibly tenses behind her rifle as if expecting Rabids to spring out on the attack. I’m ready too, but no Rabids appear and Alice gives me the all-clear signal. The doorway and the steps
