23 Jun 2000, 0106LT (22 Jun, 1806Z)
The first missile climbed steeply as it crossed the beach at Nusa Funata. A camera in its belly took a digital picture and compared what it saw to what it expected from the SEAL’s pictures. The comparison was close, but not quite exact. The missile made a minor course correction to arrive precisely on target. It made one pass over the weapons facility on top of Mount Guishu, dispensing 2.2 pound bomblets in a path across the radomes. After a wide sweeping turn, it made another pass to sow a path of destruction across the command center. Another wide turn and it crashed into the missile launchers. The remaining jet fuel started explosions that instantly spread to the missiles in the ready launchers. The resulting conflagration spread to the standby missiles. Within seconds the entire mountain top was a blazing inferno.
The troops stationed on the mountain had no idea what had happened. One second they were enjoying the quiet tropical night. The next second they found themselves in the middle of an exploding hell and they couldn't find what the cause was. Those that survived the attack panicked and ran pell-mell down the steep mountain road.
At the same instant, the second missile verified its position and plunged through a window into the warehouse at the head of the pier. The 700 pounds of HBX detonated, obliterating the building and its contents. The APC was shoved out the door and into the water. The canisters containing the pox ruptured in the intense overpressure. The virus inside was destroyed in the heat of the explosion and fire.
Unfortunately for the small team of guards and workers still on the pier, not all the virus was instantly destroyed. Just enough was released in an aerosol from one canister to infect them. None of the aerosol spread beyond the little pier, but their fate was sealed. They would be highly contagious in about twenty-four hours and dead in thirty-six. They had no indication of this. They only knew that Allah had spared them from the sudden death that those inside the warehouse had met.
The third missile plunged into the command center; completely devastating the building and spreading fire to the adjacent buildings. The command center and all communications to the outside were gone.
The last missile flew down the center of the flight line of the small airfield. The bomblets buried themselves in the runway and then detonated, cratering the field down its entire length. No conventional aircraft would be using that field in the near future. At the end of its pass, the missile turned and plunged into the only building near the field. The building exploded into flames as the jet fuel stored inside ignited.
23 Jun 2000, 0107LT (22 Jun, 1807Z)
Wood and Tagamond retraced their torturous snakelike approach and were once again just outside the cave mouth. They lay in the underbrush for several hours, their positions so close that they could easily overhear the guards’ conversations. Arrayed beside each of them were two flash-bang grenades and two extra clips for their H&K MP-5 9mm machine pistols.
At the sound of the first missile exploding, they each lobbed a flash-bang grenade into the cave entrance. The excruciatingly loud noise and brilliant light momentarily stunned the guards. This fleeting second was all the two SEALs needed. All ten guards fell to carefully aimed three shot bursts from the H&K’s.
As the two SEALs rushed into the cave, they heard the unmistakable bark of the 50-caliber sniper rifle from somewhere behind them. It was repeated almost instantly.
Stuart and Heigle had set up their hide holes about 500 yards above the trail where it crossed the knife-edge of the ridge between the two valleys. This gave them a clear field of fire for anyone attempting to use the trail from either direction. They could hear the short firefight at the cave, but the screening over-growth prevented them from lending their teammates any support.
As the sounds of the firefight died down, a squad of defenders came down the trail from the compound at a dead run, determined to help their friends in the cave. Stuart placed the cross hairs of his night vision scope on the head of the squad leader and while Heigle targeted the last man. Raising the aim point about six inches to allow for drop in the 500 yards to the target, they gently squeezed the triggers of the giant rifles. At two pounds of trigger pull, the hammer snapped forward, activating the 360-grain powder charge. The 265-grain match grade bullets began their journeys at 2600 feet per second. Each bullet found its mark in 0.6 seconds. The heads of the targets literally exploded and disappeared in a red mist.
The rest of the squad stopped where they were, bewildered by what had transpired. Their comrades lay dead at their feet, their heads exploded from no apparent cause. An additional 3.5 seconds elapsed before the sound of the shots reached the squad. They began to react, diving for what cover they could find. By this time the two snipers had each slammed another round into their rifles, selected targets, aimed and sent two more rounds down the mountain. Two more heads disappeared from the bodies. The survivors tried to return fire, but had no idea where the attack was coming from. They were pinned down, with no escape route in any direction.
The two snipers waited patiently. The desultory return fire wasn’t coming anywhere near their holes. The squad survivors were uncovering themselves for only a split second to fire a random burst before diving back for cover. There
