Turk put his hand on the throttle, nudging his power up slightly to maintain his optimal cruise speed as the tailwind shifted.
It was a bit of unnecessary fussiness — the computerized flight controls could have easily maintained the proper speed, even in a hurricane. In fact, the computer could easily fly him all the way to Prague without his intervention, even landing itself: not only could it check in with flight controllers along the way in commanded air space, but it could properly interpret commands from the tower when coming in for a landing.
But where was the fun in that? What good would airplanes be, he thought, if you couldn’t fly them?
They’d be the Sabres, still seen by the brass as the real cutting-edge answer to aviation warfare.
Wallace didn’t think so. But he’d probably retire in a year. Then no one would be talking about “manned flight.”
The hell with the future, Turk thought, marveling at the stars in his viewer. I’m flying in the here and now.
48
Danny ran over to Flash and had him lock out Tiny’s receiver channel so their communications wouldn’t be compromised. But the mike stayed on, and MY-PID could hear the man who’d delivered the ultimatum about Tiny talking to his companion in his native tongue.
The computer identified the language as Kazakh — the language spoken in Kazakhstan, the former Soviet republic that still had close ties with Russia.
“Open his line up again,” Danny told Flash. As soon as it was open, Danny had the MY-PID issue the command to surrender in Kazakh. The words worked as well in Kazakh as they did in English, which was not at all.
“Out,” said Danny, motioning with his finger across his throat. Flash killed the audio. “Flick him in and out. We may be able to use the radio to misdirect him.”
“Gotcha.”
“Circuit is secure,” Danny said over the radio. “From now on, when I say ‘Talking to Wolves,’ assume they can hear whatever you say, until I broadcast a clear.”
He took stock of the situation. They had one man in the large training building, two in the house. If necessary, they could bring the Moldovans in to help.
It shouldn’t come to that. He had them outnumbered more than four to one.
He was used to kicking ass, even when he was the underdog. Now he saw what it felt like to be on the receiving end.
“If we can get them down to the third floor, we can go at them from top and bottom,” said Boston. “We can get more guys up on the roof.”
“We don’t know if they have weapons down there,” said Danny.
“If they had more weapons, they’d have them out by now.”
“We can afford to wait,” said Danny.
“What about their reinforcements? Those guys Nuri spotted in the village.”
Danny had forgotten about them. He glanced at his watch. It was past seven.
“Nuri, you on?”
“I’m here.”
“Those Russians you saw in town—”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Secure the road.”
“Already working on it.”
“Tell the police no radios. The Wolves may have something inside to pick them up.”
“Right.”
Danny turned his attention back to the men in the house. He would have just ordered the Rattlesnakes to blow the damn thing up and be done with it if not for the fact that Tiny would die in the process.
He might already be as good as dead.
“Boston, who are our best shooters?” he asked.
“Everybody’s pretty good, Cap.”
“The best guys for head shots if you were the hostage.”
Boston thought for a moment. No one on the team was a poor shot, but not everyone had been trained as a sniper. That meant literally hundreds and even thousands of rounds over and over, under all sorts of circumstances.
They had six men and one woman, if Danny remembered correctly. Who were the best two?
“I guess I’m going with Squeeze and Hooch,” said Boston. “Squeeze ’cause she’s fast, and Hooch because, you know, he’s ice.”
“Tell them to put sniper kits on and get ready. They’re going wherever the bad guys go. Tell them if it looks to them like it’s going to crap, to take their shots. Head shots — these guys don’t go down easy. Tell them they’re not going to be second-guessed. Under no circumstances do the people in that building leave alive.”
“Under no circumstances,” repeated Boston.
“ ‘Whiplash’ is the safety word,” said Boston.
“Nothing else I say counts.”
“Got it, boss.”
Danny looked over at Flash.
“Still in the attic,” Flash told him. “Moving around. Getting something — I think they’re going for the roof.”
“What’s going on in the training building?” Danny asked.
“He’s moving around in one of the office areas.”
“Have the Rattlesnakes destroy the cottage with the aircraft,” said Danny. “Kill the helicopters. Then take out the garage.”
Rockets began firing from the helicopters within seconds. The cottage with the skeleton chopper erupted in a burst of flame. The garage merely crumbled, the sides collapsing on the vehicles.
“What are you doing, American?” demanded one of the Wolves over the radio. “You are to cease fire.”
“Open the circuit,” Danny told Flash.
Flash gave him a thumbs-up.
“We’re not going to let you out,” said Danny.
“We will kill your man, then kill you!”
Boston waved at him, signaling that Squeeze and Hooch were ready.
“Wait!” said Danny. “Don’t kill him.”
The man laughed.
“They’re coming up through the roof,” said Flash.
“Bean, get down,” said Danny over the radio.
Bean looked down from the roof. Danny waved, signaling that he wanted Bean to comply. The trooper tossed his pack down, then grabbed the line and rappelled to the ground.
While Bean was coming down, the Wolves kicked at the hole in the roof, making it bigger. One pulled himself through. Then the other handed Tiny up and came out himself.
By now the sky had lightened considerably. The men on the house were dark shadows, but it was easy to
