They were expecting no trouble, for all the fighting was taking place two hundred miles to the north.
The Apaches separated, diving on the building from opposite sides at over two hundred miles an hour, their Chain Guns chattering thousands of rounds a minute into the hapless, unsuspecting defenders of the palace.
In the first pa.s.s, over half the guards were killed or wounded before they knew they were under attack, their bodies shredded and torn apart by the terrible impact of the bullets the Apaches were spitting with such ferocity.
By the time the Apaches banked, turned, and began another pa.s.s, most of the remaining guards were running for their lives down the palisade in front of the building. Only a few were brave enough, and dumb enough, to try to return fire.
The helicopters hovered and flitted around the building like angry bees protecting their nest, firing into the guards until there were none left to return fire.
Once they radioed it was safe, the Chinook carrying Ben and his team landed on the tarmac in front of the palace.
Harley and Hammer exited first, cradling their SPAS shot- 305.
guns in their arms, followed by Coop, Jersey, Anna, Beth, and finally Ben.
They ducked under the blades and ran to take up positions on the front porch, which had been chewed up and splintered by the fire of the Apaches, still hovering overhead, keeping a close lookout for any other threats.
Harley leaned back and kicked the big double doors in the front of the palace open with his foot. Then he and Hammer rushed into the building side by side.
Two shots rang out from guards on the second floor. Harley jumped to the side, leveled his shotgun, and blew them off the balcony, to fall twenty feet to the marble floor, landing with a wet-sounding splat.
Hammer knelt, sweeping the rest of the balcony with his SPAS in case anyone else tried to make a fight of it.
Coop and Jersey were next through the door, running crouched over to ascend the stairs and secure the second floor. Coop carried a SPAS, while Jersey had her Uzi tucked in her arms, her trigger finger itching to find a target.
As Beth and Corrie and Ben entered the building, a door at the end of the corridor burst open and three men charged out, firing M-16"s as theyran.
Coop fired three quick rounds with the SPAS, the razor-sharp flechette needles in his sh.e.l.ls shredding two of the men where they stood, blowing them back into the room they"d come out of.
The third man managed to get off two shots, one of which hit Coop in the left arm and spun him around, before Jersey unloaded on him with her Uzi on full automatic.
The guard danced and spun and tumbled to the floor under the impact of fifty 9mm rounds that tore him in half before dumping him on the floor in a pool of blood.
The rest of Ben"s team went room by room, finding and killing three more guards before Harley declared the second floor secure and empty.
306.
Ben looked up the staircase. "That must mean our men are on the third floor."
Harley nodded. "There"s bound to be more guards with "em."
Ben looked over at Jersey, who was kneeling by Coop"s side applying a field dressing to the wound in his arm.
"Jerse, you stay here and take care of Coop," he said.
"Wait a minute," Coop protested, trying to get to his feet. "I"m okay. .
Jersey jerked him back down. "Sit down and shut up, for once in your life, Coop," she said, smiling, "and let me take care of you."
He grinned back. "Now, that"s an offer I can"t refuse," he said.
She glared at him fiercely. "Not if you want to live!" she said, taking his hand.
Anna stepped next to Harley, covering his back as he and Hammer went up the steps, followed closely by Ben and Corrie and Beth, all holding their weapons at the ready.
Harley peeked around a turn in the corridor and saw the barrels of several weapons sticking out of doors along the corridor.
He pulled a flash-bang grenade from the belt on his chest, pulled the ring, and pitched it down the hall. The phosphorus-filled grenade exploded with a tremendous blast of light and heat and sound.
Several men screamed and ran from their hiding places, their hands over their eyes and ears.
Harley and Hammer"s shotguns boomed, knocking the men to the floor and stopping their screaming.
Anna whirled and let go with her Uzi, killing two more men who had come out of a closet behind Harley and Hammer.Harley glanced around, then down at Anna. "That"s one I owe you," he said.
"I"ll make sure to collect when we have more time," she said, keeping an eye out for more guards.
307.
Ben eased around Harley and Hammer and made his way down the hall while they covered him. He checked each and every office and room along the way, making sure they were all empty.
Sudden shots rang out and he dived to the side, a furrow of blood appearing along his shoulder and neck from two near misses. "
Corrie and Beth stepped into the doorway the shots came from and sprayed the room with their Uzis, not bothering to aim, just waving the machine guns back and forth as if they were watering the gra.s.s with a hose.
Harsh guttural screams rang out from two guards that were blown back against the wall, their blood splattering the adobe walls as 9mm bullets pocked the walls and raised a cloud of dust and cordite in the room.
Finally, the third floor was cleared of defenders, each room checked and found to be empty-all except the presidential quarters at the end of the hall. There were large, wooden double doors with a bronze sign on them reading EL PRESIDENTE.
"Looks like the rats are finally trapped in their hole," Harley said to Ben as they surveyed the corridor leading to the last room on the floor.
"Take cover," Ben said as he pulled a fragmentation grenade from his pack. "Time to call the dance."
After everyone was hidden in doorways along the corridor, he pulled the pin, rolled the grenade up against the double doors, and ducked into a room.
The grenade exploded, tearing the doors off their hinges and shattering them into ruin. Jim Strunk and Paco Valdez, who"d evidently been hiding behind the doors, stumbled into the hallway, their skin flayed and bleeding and full of splinters as they sprayed the hallway with machine-guns they held in their hands.
Harley and Hammer leaned out of their doorways and fired their shotguns at point-blank range. The two men"s bodies were lifted off their feet and blown ten feet back into the presidential 308.
quarters. They landed and rolled into a crumpled heap, dead before they hit the highly polished marble floor.
Through the doorway, several desks could be seen pushed up near the wall to form a barricade. Four men could be seen hiding behind the desks, their heads barely visible in the darkened room.
"You might as well come out," Ben said. "Your armies have been defeated and there is nowhere else for you to run."
"Chinga tu madrel" Perro Loco screamed as he leapt over the desk, a sawed-off pump shotgun in his arms. He fired and pumped and fired,screaming curses in Spanish as he bolted for the door.
Ben stepped out into the corridor, unmindful of the roaring shotgun, and extended his arm. He fired one shot with his Beretta 9mm automatic.
The bullet struck Perro Loco dead center in his forehead, snapping his head back and flinging him to the floor, where he lay with open eyes staring into eternity, his smoking shotgun next to his body.
Jersey stepped to Ben"s side. "Nice shot, Boss," she said, holding her Uzi at waist level in case any more madmen appeared.
"Hold your fire! I give up!" a man yelled through the smoke that billowed in the room.
Sergei Bergman walked around the desk and toward the doorway, his hands in the air.
Just before he reached the door, a figure stood up behind him and aimed a pistol at his back. "You coward!" Rudolf Hessner screamed, and fired, hitting Bergman between the shoulder blades and catapulting him onto his face.
Jersey didn"t hesitate. Without aiming, she pulled the trigger on her Uzi and spun Hessner around twice before he too was dead, his body draped over the desk.
When the firing stopped, another voice called, "I am coming out. Do not shoot!"
Ben"s team gathered in the doorway as Bruno Bottger 309.
stepped around from behind the desk, his hands in the air, his holster at his side empty.
When he was in the center of the room, Ben stood before him. "Bruno Bottger, I"m going to enjoy watching you swing at the end of a rope for the war crimes you"ve committed."
Ben turned his back and began to walk away.
"Ben, look out!" Jersey screamed, unable to get a clear shot as Bottger reached behind his back, pulled a Luger pistol out of his belt, and aimed it at Ben"s back.
"Die, Ben Raines!" Bottger screamed as he began to pull the trigger.
In one fluid motion, Ben jerked his K-Bar a.s.sault knife from the scabbard on his belt, whirled, and threw it backhand at Bottger.
The knife buried itself to the hilt in Bottger"s neck, severing his spinal cord and killing him instantly. As his body crumpled to the ground, Ben stood over him.
"Never talk when you should be shooting, a.s.shole," he muttered to the dead man.
310A month later, General Jose Guerra, now known as El Presi-dente Guerra, paid a visit to Ben"s office in Louisiana.
He entered the office accompanied by Dr. Larry Buck. He stepped directly to Ben"s desk and held out his hand. "I am here to thank you on behalf of my people for all you have done, General Raines."
Ben stood up and took his hand. "It was my pleasure, Mr. President."
"The plague is at last under control in Mexico, Ben," Dr. Buck said.
"There"ve been no new cases reported for the past week or so."
"How many did you lose, President Guerra?" Ben asked, sadness in his voice.
The president shrugged. "The total is not known as of yet, but it is a surety that the numbers would have been much greater without the a.s.sistance of the medical teams your country sent to aid us."
"We were all lucky," Ben said. "Were it not for the bravery of two of my soldiers, we would all have been caught unawares by the plague."
President Guerra nodded. "I will say a prayer for them at Ma.s.s tomorrow." He gave a quick bow of his head and left the room.
Ben glanced at Buck. "Speaking of heroes, how is Coop doing with his wound?" he asked.
Buck laughed. "Quite well, actually. He"s got Jersey con- 311.
vinced he has to be hand-fed his meals and requires a back rub at least twice a day."
Ben grinned. "The way I hear it, she won"t leave his side because she"s afraid he"ll make a pa.s.s at one of the nurses."
"G.o.d help Coop, and the nurse, if that happens," Buck said, shaking his head.
312 AUTHOR"S NOTE.
For those readers interested in facts, the following are the specifications of the weapons and aircraft used in Warriors from the Ashes: Ben carries a CAR (Carbine, a.s.sault Rifle), 5.56 caliber. It is a shortened version of the M-16. Because of the shortened barrel, a Bloop Tube (which fits under the barrel of an M-16 and fires a 40mm rifle grenade) cannot be used on a CAR. His side arm is a Beretta 9mm. Ben will occasionally use an M-14, which he calls his Thunder Lizard. It"s a shoulder-pounding b.i.t.c.h on full auto, and is 7.62 mm, which is the equivalent of .308 caliber in civilian ammo. The CAR, just like the M-16 and M-14, uses a 20- or 30-round magazine.
Uzi: aka: Mini-Uzi, Micro Uzi: Origin: Israel 1952 Caliber: 9x19 mm Feed device: 20-, 32-, and 40-round detachable box magazine Action: Recoil, selective fire Sights: Open Length: 64 cm (46 cm withstock folded) 313.
Muzzle velocity: 403 M7S Rate of fire: 650 rounds per minute Fairchild A-10 Warthog: Weapons: 30mm cannon in nose, also fires laser- or TV-guided missiles Length overall: 16.26 m (53 ft 4 in) Wing span: 17.53 m (57 ft 6 in) Max. speed at sea level: 381 knots Combat radius: 463 km (290 miles) Maximum weapons load: 7257 kg (7 tons, 320 lbs) Takeoff distance: 1219 m (4000 ft) Boeing/Bell V-22 Osprey: Crew: 3 (pilot, copilot, crew chief) Length: 57 ft 3 in (17.5 m) Rotor diameter: 38 ft (11.58 m) Max. speed: 185 knots (helicopter mode), 275 knots (airplane mode) Range: 2100 nautical miles Load: 20,000 pounds Wing span: 45 ft 10 in (13.75 m) General Dynamics F-lll Aardvark: Length: 22.4 m (73 ft 6 in) Wing span: 19.2 m (63 ft) Max. speed at sea level: 793 knots Combat radius: 1480 km (920 miles) Max. weapons load: 11,340 kg (11 tons, 360 lbs) Takeoff distance: 914 m (3000 ft) 314.
McDonnel Douglas AH-64 Apache: Length: 17.76 m (56 ft 3 in) Rotor diameter: 14.63 m (48 ft) Max. speed: 155 knots Range: 482 km (300 miles) Standard weapon load: M230 30mm Chain Gun; 6 h.e.l.lfire ant.i.tank missiles Bell OH-58 Kiowa: Length: 12.49 m (41 ft) Rotor diameter: 10.77 m (35 ft 4 in) Max. speed: 120 knots Range: 491 km (305 miles) Standard weapon load: 7.62 or 20mm Minigun plus ant.i.tank missiles Boeing Helicopters Ch-47 Chinook: Length: 30.18 m (98 ft 11 in) Rotor diameter: 18.29 m (60 ft) Max. speed: 138 knots Range: 370 km (230 miles) Load: 44+ troops or 12,700 kg (12 tons, 1120 lbs) Bell AH-1 HueyCobra: Length: 16.18 m (53 ft) Rotor diameter: 13.41 m (44 ft) Max. speed: 123 knots Range: 507 km (315 miles) Standard weapon load: 8 TOW ant.i.tank missiles; 1 3-barreled 20mm cannon; 2 unguided rocket or cannon pods 315.
McDonnel Douglas OH-6 Defender: Length: 9.4 m (30 ft 10 in) Rotor diameter: 8.03 m (26 ft 4 in) Max. speed: 119 knots Range: 428 km (265 miles) Standard weapon load: 20mm Minigun315 Bill Johnstone likes to hear from his readers. You can e-mail him at 316.
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