Tombstone's oxygen mask was slick with sweat, and he had to keep blinking his eyes to clear them. This ACM encounter had lasted longer than the usual dogfight already and showed no sign of letting up.
'Victor Four Delta, Eagle. Where's Chickenhawk, over?'
'Eagle Leader, Chickenhawk is inbound at primary target, on final approach. ETA two minutes, over. Thunderbird is five minutes behind them.'
'Tell 'em to hurry,' Tombstone replied. 'We can't hold much longer.
'We copy, Eagle. Homeplate advises that the ground attack is under way at U Feng. Hang tight a few more minutes, fellas.'
U Feng under attack? That wasn't supposed to go down until after the place was hit by the Hornets and the Intruders. Well, enough had gone wrong already. Maybe the ground assault had gone by the board as well.
'Eagle, Victor Four Delta,' Tombstone heard on his radio. 'Come in, Eagle.'
'Eagle copies, Victor Four Delta. Go ahead.'
'We have new targets,' the Hawkeye CIC officer said. 'Estimate eight to ten bogies, low altitude, originating Mongkoi. They're on a vector that will take them toward Tango LZ.'
Tango LZ… the That helicopter staging area.
'Don't see 'em, Stoney,' Dixie said. 'I think we're too low.' The Hawkeye, circling at a much higher altitude and using ECM tricks to look past Snow White's jamming, was in a better position to see what was going on over U Feng than the Tomcats, even though they were much closer.
'Victor Four Delta, Eagle Leader. No joy on your bogies. Vector us in, over.'
'Roger, Eagle Leader. Come to one-seven-three. That will put you on the bogies in approximately two minutes.'
'Copy that, Victor. Wilco.'
'Watch it, Tombstone,' his RIO warned. 'Check our fuel.'
'I see it, Dixie. We can go for a while yet.'
'Tombstone… fuel's gonna be a problem! We've got maybe fifteen minutes… assuming you don't go to burner anymore!'
'I said I see it, Dix!' Tombstone put the Tomcat into a gentle roll, searching the sky below as they inverted. The dogfight had scattered the combatants for tens of miles in every direction. Dixie's VDI showed plenty of bogies but they were no longer within close combat range of one another.
Long-range missiles like Sparrow were useless now. No one was squawking IFF; without Identification Friend or Foe, there was no way to tell who was friendly and who the enemy.
Dixie was right, though. They were down to one Sidewinder and one Sparrow left, plus the 675-round drum for his Tomcat's M61A-1 20-mm cannon.
Ten more minutes and they'd be on bingo fuel; fifteen minutes and it would be joker.
But the local sky was clear of MiGs, while large numbers of aircraft were reported taking off from U Feng. If they didn't want to fight their way all the way back to Point Lima, it would be better to catch the newcomers before they got organized.
'Eagle Leader to all Eagles,' he radioed. 'Muster over U Feng. We're going to investigate those bogies.'
'Roger, Eagle Leader,' Batman said. The other VF-95 aviators checked in one after another. Five Tomcats began closing the range toward U Feng.
Pamela watched the Huey dropping toward them, slewing sideways until she could see the RTAF markings on the tail rotor boom, until she could see into the open cargo hatch. There were men there, soldiers… and a professorial-looking man with gray hair and glasses.
Hsiao.
A soldier on the cargo deck next to Hsiao raised his AK to his shoulder.
Pamela couldn't hear the shots, drowned in the thunder of the rotors, but she saw the flicker of muzzle flash against the shadows of the Huey's interior.
Ten feet in front of her, Bayerly staggered and almost fell.
Her paralysis of mind was gone, replaced by raw fear. Hsiao was coming for them, coming for her! She ran to Bayerly, grabbing at his arm. 'Come on!' She had to scream to be heard over the helicopter's roar.
He shook her off.
'Please, Made It!' Tears streamed down her cheeks. 'Run! Please!'
He turned, almost reluctantly, and then he was running with her… but he'd only taken a dozen steps before he stopped again. She saw the red stain spreading across his shirt, just beneath his left arm.
'I'll help-'
'No, damn it!' He planted his hand on her shoulder and shoved her roughly toward the treeline. 'Get the fuck out of here! I'll hold them here!'
She felt torn between the need to run and the need to stay. She reached out again but he turned away, dropping to one knee and raising the captured AK.
The helicopter was hovering just above the earth less than seventy yards away. Soldiers were jumping out and advancing across the clearing toward them.
Bayerly's assault rifle hammered off a volley. The enemy soldiers dropped to their bellies and started firing back, but Bayerly was not firing at them, she realized.
He was aiming at the helo.
She heard the change in the pitch of the Huey's rotors. It was lifting again, nose high. Bayerly fired again, holding the trigger down and describing a small circle with the muzzle of his weapon, spraying the helo with lead. Smoke burst from the machine's engine, a small puff at first…
and then an expanding, billowing white cloud which was caught by the rotor wash and swirled about. Pamela could hear an ominous clanking mingled with the rotor noise now. The Huey turned sharply, trying to gain altitude, but the pilot seemed to be in trouble.
One spinning rotor blade caught the earth.
The helicopter seemed to leap skyward, nose high, but its tail boom slammed into the ground. There was an explosion. Orange flame engulfed the convulsing machine and the shock wave struck her like a hot slap across her face. Pamela had the impressions of an instant seared into her brain, the sight of a snapped-off rotor blade cart- wheeling across the sky, of men on the ground wreathed in flame as the ammo in their belts cooked off.
She lay face down on the ground for a long time, not remembering falling, not knowing anything but the hell of noise and the piercing stink of aviation fuel. When she looked up, the Huey, still burning, was reduced to a twisted, blackened skeleton. The soldiers who had been on it were dead.
Hsiao… She didn't see him, but he'd been aboard. He must be dead as well.
Bayerly was lying a few yards away, his sightless eyes staring up at her.
A bullet had drilled through his right cheekbone and entered his brain.
She sank to her knees, taking Bayerly's head in her lap. She cradled him for long moments, as the sounds of gunfire, the crump of explosions grew closer.
'Miss? Miss!' A hand touched her shoulder. 'He's dead, miss. And we have to go!'
She looked up. Several Marines were there. She'd not even heard their approach.
'Are you all right?'
She nodded.
'You're Miss Drake?'
'Yes…'
'Come on, please, ma'am. This place is about to get dumped on.'
She didn't want to leave Bayerly, but strong hands pulled her to her feet and guided her away. 'Lieutenant Miller, ma'am,' the Marine said. 'Marine Recon. We've got to get to cover, fast!'
Blood stained the front of her blouse. Not hers, she realized numbly.
His. 'Wha… what?'
'We've got to get under cover. We've got Hornets and Intruders coming down on this place like a ton of
