[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"You got it, Claire."
128
Several thousand miles away, Perro Loco leaned forward and pushed the
disconnect button on his phone. He took a deep drag on his Cuban cigar,
blew dark smoke toward the ceiling, then looked at his companions across
his desk.
"Paco, what do you think?"
Paco Valdez shrugged. "I think the lady may have some trouble doing all
that she says she can. My information is that she is barely hanging on
to her present position. She may sometime be able to take her government
back, but not for a while yet."
"Mr. Strunk?"
"I agree," Jim Strunk said. "Even if she does manage to create some
tensions between the SUSA and the USA, and Raines is forced to keep his
troops on the border, that still leaves him with several battalions in
Texas he can send against us. I think we'd better figure on having to
fight both Mexico and Ben Raines."
"What do we know about him and his tactics?" Perro asked.
Strunk leaned over and pulled a thick sheaf of papers from a briefcase
Page 82
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
on the floor. "That American you killed, the one sent by Osterman, had
these in his knapsack. They're copies of some journals kept by Raines
during his African campaign, along with some article written by a
newspaper correspondent who accompanied him during his fight down there.
They
129
seem to give some good insight into how he thinks and the strategy he
employs in certain situations."
Loco held out his hand and took the papers from Strunk. "Good. I will
study Mr. Ben Raines. I have learned, the more one knows of one's
enemies, the easier to defeat them."
"Comandante," Valdez said, "do you want to begin the attack on Mexico?"
Loco nodded. "Yes. It is time to unleash our troops against our
neighbors to the north. Send some air strikes to disable their radar and
begin to move our men forward on all fronts. Meanwhile, I will read
about Ben Raines to learn how he thinks and to see how he can be beaten."
The Apache helicopter gunship hugged the desert terrain of southern
Mexico, flying at less than a thousand feet across the Guatemalan border
near San Felipe where a Mexican radar installation swept the skies.
Captain Raul Rosales kept both hands on the controls, the yoke and the
collectives, his feet applying just the right amount of pressure on the
rotor pedals to keep the ship stable at low altitudes.
Captain Roque Vela sat in the gunner's position in front of the pilot.
"I have the radar signal on my HUT," Vela said, reporting what he could
see on his Heads Up Targeting, a projection of a target signal that
appeared to be displayed on the windshield of the gunship.
"Wait a moment longer," Rosales replied. "Comandante Perro Loco insists
that this radar site must be taken out before the campaign to move
northward across Mexico begins. San Felipe is the only radar
installation the Mexicans have in this sector of the Yucatan."
"If they have missiles, we can't wait much longer," Vela said into his
headset. "If we are to be sure of our safety, I should fire a missile soon."
130
"We have no missiles to waste, Roque. Wait until you are certain of your
target."
"They may be tracking us on radar at his very moment," Vela replied. "It
could be dangerous to wait much longer. They may be able to shoot us
down from here. I say we should fire one missile and let it track the
radar beam."
"This gunship is more important than the missiles we carry," Rosales
said, dropping lower, to eight hundred feet, when his altimeter sounded
an alarm. "This is a dangerous mission, Roque. We cannot fail . . . We
must not fail. The radar installation at San Felipe has to be taken out."
"I understand, Captain."
Page 83
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"What do you see on your HUT?"
"Only the radar beams."
"We have to get closer. We must be sure."
The rhythmic chum of the rotor blades filled a moment of silence.
"What do you see now?" Rosales asked again.
"Only the signal, and it is weak."
"Do nothing," Rosales said. "We are below their targeting . . . even if
the stupid Mexicans are awake so early in the morning to see that we are
coming."
The altimeter read 750 feet as they flew across the southern fork of the
Rio Candelaria, a dry riverbed this time of year. Below, there was
nothing but rolling desert hills and flats. The Mexican military outpost
at San Felipe was only a few miles away.
"I see something," Vela said.
"What is it?"
"I do not know. A spot on the display. It is moving toward us."
"A SAM," Rosales whispered into the microphone. "Find the target and
fire a rocket. I'll drop down to five hundred feet and we'll see what
happens. It won't be able to track us at low altitude." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl rafalstec.xlx.pl
"You got it, Claire."
128
Several thousand miles away, Perro Loco leaned forward and pushed the
disconnect button on his phone. He took a deep drag on his Cuban cigar,
blew dark smoke toward the ceiling, then looked at his companions across
his desk.
"Paco, what do you think?"
Paco Valdez shrugged. "I think the lady may have some trouble doing all
that she says she can. My information is that she is barely hanging on
to her present position. She may sometime be able to take her government
back, but not for a while yet."
"Mr. Strunk?"
"I agree," Jim Strunk said. "Even if she does manage to create some
tensions between the SUSA and the USA, and Raines is forced to keep his
troops on the border, that still leaves him with several battalions in
Texas he can send against us. I think we'd better figure on having to
fight both Mexico and Ben Raines."
"What do we know about him and his tactics?" Perro asked.
Strunk leaned over and pulled a thick sheaf of papers from a briefcase
Page 82
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
on the floor. "That American you killed, the one sent by Osterman, had
these in his knapsack. They're copies of some journals kept by Raines
during his African campaign, along with some article written by a
newspaper correspondent who accompanied him during his fight down there.
They
129
seem to give some good insight into how he thinks and the strategy he
employs in certain situations."
Loco held out his hand and took the papers from Strunk. "Good. I will
study Mr. Ben Raines. I have learned, the more one knows of one's
enemies, the easier to defeat them."
"Comandante," Valdez said, "do you want to begin the attack on Mexico?"
Loco nodded. "Yes. It is time to unleash our troops against our
neighbors to the north. Send some air strikes to disable their radar and
begin to move our men forward on all fronts. Meanwhile, I will read
about Ben Raines to learn how he thinks and to see how he can be beaten."
The Apache helicopter gunship hugged the desert terrain of southern
Mexico, flying at less than a thousand feet across the Guatemalan border
near San Felipe where a Mexican radar installation swept the skies.
Captain Raul Rosales kept both hands on the controls, the yoke and the
collectives, his feet applying just the right amount of pressure on the
rotor pedals to keep the ship stable at low altitudes.
Captain Roque Vela sat in the gunner's position in front of the pilot.
"I have the radar signal on my HUT," Vela said, reporting what he could
see on his Heads Up Targeting, a projection of a target signal that
appeared to be displayed on the windshield of the gunship.
"Wait a moment longer," Rosales replied. "Comandante Perro Loco insists
that this radar site must be taken out before the campaign to move
northward across Mexico begins. San Felipe is the only radar
installation the Mexicans have in this sector of the Yucatan."
"If they have missiles, we can't wait much longer," Vela said into his
headset. "If we are to be sure of our safety, I should fire a missile soon."
130
"We have no missiles to waste, Roque. Wait until you are certain of your
target."
"They may be tracking us on radar at his very moment," Vela replied. "It
could be dangerous to wait much longer. They may be able to shoot us
down from here. I say we should fire one missile and let it track the
radar beam."
"This gunship is more important than the missiles we carry," Rosales
said, dropping lower, to eight hundred feet, when his altimeter sounded
an alarm. "This is a dangerous mission, Roque. We cannot fail . . . We
must not fail. The radar installation at San Felipe has to be taken out."
"I understand, Captain."
Page 83
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"What do you see on your HUT?"
"Only the radar beams."
"We have to get closer. We must be sure."
The rhythmic chum of the rotor blades filled a moment of silence.
"What do you see now?" Rosales asked again.
"Only the signal, and it is weak."
"Do nothing," Rosales said. "We are below their targeting . . . even if
the stupid Mexicans are awake so early in the morning to see that we are
coming."
The altimeter read 750 feet as they flew across the southern fork of the
Rio Candelaria, a dry riverbed this time of year. Below, there was
nothing but rolling desert hills and flats. The Mexican military outpost
at San Felipe was only a few miles away.
"I see something," Vela said.
"What is it?"
"I do not know. A spot on the display. It is moving toward us."
"A SAM," Rosales whispered into the microphone. "Find the target and
fire a rocket. I'll drop down to five hundred feet and we'll see what
happens. It won't be able to track us at low altitude." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]