'Attention!' an amplified voice blared in That. There was a squeal of feedback, quickly adjusted. The white flag continued to wave. 'Attention in the hotel! We wish to talk with you!'
Kriangsak wiped his face with his hand. The issue, whatever the outcome, was about to be resolved. 'Let them come, Dhani,' he said to the soldier.
'They will have things they wish to discuss with us.'
He waited as Dhani showed himself, holding his CAR-15 above his head.
The government's negotiators rose from hiding and approached, holding the white flag above their heads.
Kriangsak smiled. The Americans might have thwarted his attempt to seize the government, but in the end, they would still have to come to him, deal with him. They would have no choice.
Marine Captain Fraser approached the That army officer and saluted.
'Well, Colonel,' he said. 'What's it going to be?'
Colonel Vang Chitiburit looked past Fraser toward the low, ultra-modern sprawl of the That International. 'Do you seriously believe you have a chance, Captain?'
'We have a chance. We sure as hell can't wait this bastard out.' The That colonel considered that. 'No,' he said at last. 'You are right.'
The colonel had returned from his conversation with the rebel soldiers only minutes before. Their leader, Colonel Kriangsak of the Royal That military staff, no less, wanted ? demanded ? a helicopter to fly him, his men, and a number of American hostages out of the city. He'd not said what his destination was, but U Feng would be the obvious guess.
'Those are Americans that son of a bitch has in there,' the Marine officer added quietly, without emotion. 'The Marines are here to protect them.'
'Your plan has risk.'
'So does giving the bastard what he wants. And damn it, he claims he's going to start shooting people in thirty minutes! You want to see if he means it?' There was a long hesitation. Fraser wondered if the man was trying to decide whether or not to buck the problem up to a higher command. The problem was, the higher command was busy just now with a coup. At best, the confrontation at the That International was a minor distraction.
'Very well, Captain,' Vang said stiffly. He sounded relieved, though, rather than reluctant. Probably, Fraser thought, he was happy to have the responsibility for success or disaster riding on someone else's shoulders. 'I turn the situation over to you.'
'Thank you, sir,' he said, saluting.
Vang looked uncertain. 'Will there be anything you or your men need, Captain?'
'Yes, Colonel Vang.' He smiled. 'A small diversion.'
'A diversion?'
'When I give the word.' And he began to explain what he had in mind.
Master Sergeant Phillip Loomis lay flat on the ground, watching the hotel. Captain Fraser had snagged him almost the moment he'd returned to the embassy earlier that morning, explaining that there were Americans being held hostage at the That International and ordering Loomis to round up fifty volunteers for a rescue.
The mission, Loomis thought to himself, would have been better suited to a Recon Marine force, but the only Recondos within a thousand miles were north at U Feng, spotting for the Navy A-6s and Hornets.
Very slowly, he raised his head, studying the hotel over the slight, grass-covered rise he and twelve other Marines were hiding behind. The nearest entrance was fifty yards away. He could see one rebel soldier standing guard by the door. There might be others, but if so they were staying out of sight.
Loomis checked his watch. Zero-seven thirty. Where were they? It was time to go…!
He heard the stuttering drone of an approaching helicopter.
He looked toward the east and saw it approaching low above the buildings in the direction of the embassy.
The captain had explained it to him before they deployed. One of the Marine Sea Stallions, deploying now off the Jefferson, was to be flown in and landed directly in front of the hotel's front door. While the rebels were watching the landing ? they'd be expecting a trick ? Loomis's Marines, Assault One, would storm the side entrance. Assault Two was waiting on the far side of the building, ready to do the same thing.
And there would be still more Marines, code-named Sunday Punch, waiting inside the helicopter as backups.
The Sea Stallion drifted toward the front of the hotel, its rotor wash lashing at the palm trees lining the parking lot. Loomis could hear a singsong barking over a megaphone ? Colonel Vang speaking to the rebels in That, explaining that their demands were being met and that the helo was coming to take them and their hostages away.
Loomis kept his eye on the sentry beside the side door. The man had a Colt CAR-15 in his hands, was holding it at the ready as he took a few steps in the direction of the helo, trying to see past the corner of the building.
A second guard stepped through the door at his back. Loomis waited for a count of ten. No more guards came through the door. He reached out and slapped the helmet of the Marine next to him.
Corporal Halcek was a Marine sniper. He was already taking careful aim with the bolt-action M40A1, a militarized version of the Remington 700 hunting rifle. Halcek took a second more to center the 10-power scope on the target, then squeezed the trigger.
The rifle cracked and one of the guards staggered a step to one side, colliding with the hotel wall. The second guard spun, assault rifle coming up, but Halcek had already worked the bolt, shifted aim, and was squeezing the trigger again. Two shots rang out this time, one from Halcek and the other from a Marine with an M-16, designated as backup.
'Assault One! We're moving!' he said, the words activating the hot mike to the PRC-9 radio strapped to his helmet. The tactical radio would keep Fraser and the others at the HQ designated as Outpost aware of what was going on, but leave his hands free. He scrambled to his feet, shouting to the other Marines, 'Go! Go! Go!'
Thirteen men rose as one and ran toward the hotel, booted feet pounding across grass and pavement. With each step that he took, Loomis expected a burst of gunfire from the door which was their objective… and then they were at the door and the first men were going through. The two rebel soldiers lay sprawled where they had fallen, blood pooling around them on the sidewalk.
The roar of the helicopter was cut off as Loomis plunged in through the door. They were in a long, narrow hallway now, probably a service entrance.
According to the maps they'd studied, the lobby ought to be straight ahead, left, then right.
They left two Marines to watch their rear and kept going, more slowly now to avoid excess noise. That civilians who had been escorted out of the hotel had reported that the Americans were all together, in the lobby next to the registration desk.
Two men came around the corner dead ahead, running, AKs in their hands.
They skidded to a stop when they saw the Marines, one screaming something in That, the other simply staring, mouth open.
Loomis fired his M-16, triggering single shots which slammed into the torso of the shouting rebel. Two other Marines fired at the same moment. The second soldier pitched backward and collided with the first, the two of them sprawling in a heap on the rug. The Marines kept moving.
Rounding the last corner, Loomis almost stumbled into a mass of people sitting on the floor. They all had their hands up or on their heads, and they were staring wide-eyed at a half-dozen rebel soldiers who were covering them with guns. More armed rebels were by the windows at the other end of the lobby… lots more. Loomis estimated that there were at least twenty hostiles in that room alone.
The analysis flashed through his head in an instant. He'd already made his decision and was taking action by the time the situation had registered in his mind.
His thumb snicked his assault rifle's selector from single shot to full-auto. Normally the blindly sprayed devastation of full rock and roll wasn't worth the loss of accuracy… but this time he had little choice but to point
