me.'
Strange, but he didn't expect to hear the noise or feel the heat from the blast, but he did. Would he see the round flying out and striking him as well? Or would they just use the thirty-millimeter cannon on him, save some ammo? Then there was an impossibly loud, impossibly bright flash of light and a deafening roar, and it was all over…
… except it wasn't over. Wohl realized a few moments later that the burst of light he saw wasn't the main gun going off, or even its coaxial machine gun-it was the tank itself. Then he heard the faint whine overhead, and he knew what happened: the first burst of light he saw was a sensorfuzed weapon canister dropped from a Wolverine attack missile going off, followed moments later by the T-55 tank exploding as the SFW's copper slugs blasted it apart.
A few moments later, Wohl was able to roll and crawl away from the fierce heat and flames shooting from the T-55. He tried again to get to his feet when he felt his body levitated off the ground as if he suddenly weighed as much as a handful of sand. What the hell…?
'You all right, Sarge?' Hal Briggs asked. His exoskeleton made it as easy to lift him up as a child lifting a stuffed toy.
'Jesus, sir,' Wohl retorted, 'didn't you ever hear of checking the wounded over before lifting them up like that? You ever hear of spinal injuries, concussions, broken bones?'
'You were trying to get to your feet already-I figured I couldn't do any more harm,' Briggs said. 'Sheesh- maybe I should just gently set you down again and let Zuwayy's boys give you a hand when you're feeling better.'
'Just shut up and let's get out of here, sir,' Wohl said. He extended a thin cable from his backpack and plugged it into Briggs's backpack, and immediately he could send and receive datalink information and reactivate his suit's environmental controls. The 'buddy power' also reactivated Wohl's exoskeleton, allowing him to walk on his own again. 'Let's go. This way.'
'You needed me,' Hal said.
'What?'
'You needed me. You called my name-my real name, not my rank or 'sir.' I think that's the first time you ever did that.'
'Don't let it go to your head, sir,' Wohl said. 'I thought I was dead-I was desperate. Now let's get out of here.'
As Wohl reached around Briggs's shoulder to support himself as Briggs carried him away, the big ex-Marine patted his partner's shoulder with an armored hand. Briggs knew he couldn't say 'thank you' any more sincerely.
As they were instructed and trained, the Republican Guard security forces entered Zuwayy's private apartment without knocking-but they did not dare to go more than a step inside. 'Your Highness, there is an emergency,' the officer in charge shouted.
A few moments later, Colonel Osama Mekkawi, chief of security of the Republican Guards and Zuwayy's personal bodyguard, dashed into the room, hurriedly buttoning his uniform tunic. He pushed past the security guards. 'Don't just stand here gawking! Get out of here and secure the hallways and escape tunnel for our departure!' Mekkawi shouted. He went to the door of Zuwayy's bedchamber. It was locked. With a thrill of panic, he drew his side arm, stepped back, then kicked the door open.
Jadallah Zuwayy was sitting upright in his bed, startled out of a deep sleep. Curled around him were two young girls, members of Zuwayy's equestrian staff, the younger no more than thirteen or fourteen years old. Mekkawi learned long ago not to look or act shocked at anything he saw or heard coming from Zuwayy's bedchamber. 'Highness, there's an emergency,' Mekkawi shouted. The younger girl began to whine for her mother; the older one, still half asleep, began kissing Zuwayy's face. 'You must evacuate.'
Zuwayy practically stomped the younger girl in his haste to get out of bed, and he hastily put on a pair of trousers, robe, and sandals, the two girls forgotten. Mekkawi escorted Zuwayy outside to the evacuation route; a guard stayed behind, guarding the apartment door to make it appear as if the room was still occupied.
'What is happening?' Zuwayy asked
'We are under attack, Your Majesty,' Mekkawi said breathlessly. 'Action in the minefield-several hundred square meters of minefields exploded, probably a mineclearing operation, in preparation for attack. Then cluster bomb and missile attacks against antiaircraft emplacements and armored vehicles all across the base. Could be a prelude to a large invasion force. We must evacuate.'
'Who could it be?'
'With firepower like that? Israelis or Americans, I'd guess.'
'How in hell could such a force get that close without being detected?'
'Perhaps it is a stealth bomber attack, Highness,' Mekkawi said. 'It is not important now. We must get you to safety. I will ask you to wait in the Great Mosque until your transports arrive, then we will evacuate you to a safe location immediately.'
Mekkawi escorted Zuwayy down into the basement of the palace; in a storage room filled with old furniture, he pressed a hidden switch. A secret door swung open on electrically activated pistons. The door led to an escape tunnel. They passed one security checkpoint along the twohundred-meter tunnel, then climbed a spiral staircase. They emerged in a janitor's room in the Great Mosque. Zuwayy was escorted to a rectory, and the guards were posted outside. The rectory, inside the mosque, was believed to be immune from attack from almost any nation in the world, even the Americans. This one had been specially modified to protect its occupants from chemical, biological, and even low levels of nuclear weapons, and the walls had enough armor in them to withstand a forty- millimeter rocket-propelled grenade.
Mekkawi placed a satchel with a shoulder strap on a desk and opened it. He withdrew a I agent detector from the bag and activated it. 'You remember how to don your protective mask and hood, Highness?' Mekkawi asked. Zuwayy nodded, his lips taut with fear. 'Good. If the alarm goes off, you will have about thirty seconds to do so. Take your time and do it correctly, and you'll be all right. There is the mask, a weapon, atropine injectors, a first-aid kit, and other items in this bag-don't hesitate to use any of it. The helicopter will be here within three minutes to take you into hiding. I recommend the alternate command center at Sawknah; if it's a. general attack, we can coordinate all our forces better from there.'
'If it's a general attack, I don't want to wait until I arrive in Sawknah-I want a full rocket barrage started against all Area A targets,' Zuwayy said angrily. 'Then scramble all alert bombers and commence the follow-on attacks against both A and B targets. Understood?'
'I will need to issue those orders by coded radio from my office, Highness.'
'Then go. I will wait here.'
'Very well, Majesty. I have guards posted outside both entrances if you require anything.'
'All I require are the heads of anyone who dared attack this facility!' Zuwayy shouted. 'Go!' Mekkawi dashed off.
Zuwayy sat at the desk and picked up the chemical warfare mask. He saw his fingers starting to tremble He had donned one of these many times in the past, of course-all Libyan Special Forces troops were very proficient in their use, because every unit had chemical and biological weapons in their arsenals-but he was so nervous right now that he doubted if…
'Es salaem alekum, Captain Zuwayy.'
Zuwayy nearly jumped out of his skin-he leapt to his feet, nearly stumbling backward over his chair. There, standing before the desk just a few meters away, was a strange figure in some sort of futuristic costume. He could not see a face, or eyes-the figure was wearing a full-face helmet with large bug-eyed visors. He carried no weapons. 'Bolts! Bolis! Ilha 'uni! Ilha 'uni!' he screamed, his voiced as high-pitched and trembling as those of the young girls he had just finished raping.
To their credit, both guards stationed outside the two doors to the rectory burst in immediately- unfortunately, they didn't think about calling out an alarm before they did. One had a radio in one hand and a pistol in the other; the other guard had his rifle at the ready. Both were immediately stunned off their feet by a blast of lightning from the stranger's shoulders. The stranger dragged the guards inside the rectory, secured the doors, men stepped toward Zuwayy.
Zuwayy reached into, the satchel, pulled out a Spanish Star Z84 autopistol, cocked it, and opened fire at full
