PRIMAL Reckoning (Book 1 in the Redemption Trilogy, the PRIMAL Series Book 5) (29 page)

“Roger. Once
that final bird hits we’re moving in to get Roberto.” He was waiting a short
distance from the mine with Emilio and Gerardo in the Dodge.

“I’m
poised to provide surgical fire support,” reported Mirza as the buzz of the
third drone filled the air. “Mitch, your bomb is early.” He watched as the
little grey aircraft swooped over the top of the hills. The PRIMAL technician
had removed the parachute system so when the drone reached its destination it
simply dove into the mining infrastructure. Thirty pounds of PowerGel exploded
in an angry ball of flame.

“Direct
hit on the processing plant. Bishop, you are good to go.” He swiveled the rifle
to cover the security checkpoint. Smoke now obscured most of the camp and he
wished he had a thermal scope.

CHAPTER
34

Bishop jumped in the back of the pickup,
followed by Gerardo. He thumped the top of the cab with his fist. “Let’s roll.”

The Dodge
roared and took off up the winding dirt road toward the mine. Bishop stood in
the bed of the truck with a MK48 machine gun poised on the roof. The rubber
caps on the bipod legs held it firm as they raced up the road toward the
security checkpoint.

When they
were three hundred yards short Emilio slowed, giving Bishop a stable firing
platform. The MK48 snarled as he blasted the guardhouse with 7.62mm rounds.
With the Black Jackets dead or cowering, Emilio accelerated and Bishop ducked
behind the cab.

The big
truck hit the gate, buckling it with a clang. It clung to the front of the bullbar
as they smashed through. At a T-junction, Emilio turned right and the gate
dislodged, dropping beneath the wheels. The track was a service route that
followed the fence line. It snaked in behind the accommodation block where
Emilio’s contact had reported that Roberto was being held.

Bishop
braced himself against the cab, racked the action, unclipped the top cover, and
switched out the box of ammunition for a new one. As they pulled up alongside
the accommodation buildings he handed the machine gun to Gerardo and unslung
his Tavor assault rifle. “Cover me.”

Emilio
stayed with the truck as Bishop jumped out followed by Gerardo. Adrenalin surged
through his veins but he forced himself to remain calm, moving cautiously
through the rows of transportable accommodation.

He knew
Roberto was supposed to be at the guard’s accommodation but all the buildings
looked the same. They moved through the rows of prefabricated buildings,
looking for armed guards. Nothing.

His
earpiece crackled and Mirza reported. “Bish, two black SUVs have arrived at the
front gate. They’re blocking your exfil.”

“Damn!”
The plan had been to recover Roberto and get out by now. “Black Jackets?” After
the drone strikes he expected the Chaquetas Negras to come after Pershing, but
not this quickly.

“Negative,
they look like contractors.” The iPRIMAL strapped to his arm vibrated and he
glanced down at the image received from Mirza’s digital scope. Two black
armored Chevy Suburbans and a handful of heavily armed gunmen had taken up
defensive positions at the entrance to the mine.

“Roger,
I’m still trying to find Roberto. Keep me posted.” He moved over to where
Gerardo was kneeling with the machine gun. “We’re going to start searching
these buildings. I’ll lead.”

***

Pershing
drove in alongside two identical-looking black Chevys. Team 2 were waiting; the
six operators had secured the demolished gates to the mine. As he stepped out
of his truck a hulking brute with a shaved head and a goatee greeted him. The
GES team leader was wearing a heavily-laden chest rig. Tattooed muscular arms
burst from his tight T-shirt as he gripped his folding stock
FAL battle rifle
.

“Shrek,
damn good to see you.” Pershing shook his hand.

“What the
hell is going on here?”

“We’ve
been hit by mercenaries.”

Shrek
gave a whistle. “Looks like you got fucked hard.”

“You
could say that. They hit us with indirect fire first then shot their way in.”
He pointed to the bodies strewn around the bullet-ridden guard box.

“What’s
the plan?

“I need
you to hold here. It’s the only way out.”

“Will
do.” Shrek issued orders to his men and they started pulling black Pelican
cases from their trucks and unloading heavy weaponry.

Pershing nodded
approvingly as a
M240L machine gun
and a
Milkor grenade launcher
appeared. One of the men handed him an AR carbine and a ballistic
vest.

“It’s
amazing what you can bring across the border when you work for the right
people,” said Shrek. He signaled to two of his men and they set up defensive
positions on the high ground overlooking the road. Another of his men blocked
the exit with one of the armored SUVs.

“So,
where are they?” the Team 2 commander asked as he surveyed the mine’s camp with
a pair of binoculars.

“They’ll
be in the accommodation block. We’ve captured one of their men and they want
him back.”

“And where
are your indigenous guys?”

Pershing reached
inside the SUV and grabbed the radio mike from the console. “Burro, report your
location.”

“I’ve got
my men at the accommodation, Mr. Pershing.”

“Hang
tight, I’ll send two of my guys in to back you up. I want you to work with them
to hunt down any intruders.”

“OK, Mr.
Pershing.”

Shrek
nodded. “Mikey, Chris, clear through the accommodation area. The Mexicans wearing
the Black Jackets are ours. You’re looking for some guy called Burro.”

“Copy
that.” The two operators jumped into one of the Chevys and sped off.

Pershing pressed
the radio handset. “Burro, my boys are moving to you now. They’re in a black
SUV. Tell your men not to shoot at ‘em.”

“OK, Mr.
Pershing. I tried to call the others at the drone farm again but they aren’t
answering.”

He took a
deep breath. “Forget about them. I want you to kill anyone in the mine who
isn’t supposed to be here. We’ll block the exit, no one gets out.”

***

Bishop
kicked open the flimsy door to one of the accommodation buildings. Moving swiftly
he checked the rooms. They were empty. There were over a dozen more buildings
to clear.

As he rounded
a corner he almost collided with two miners dressed in florescent safety vests
and hard hats. They threw their arms in the air.

“Don’t
shoot, eh.” The miner had a Canadian accent.

 
“Where’s the prisoner?”

“Over in
the guard’s accommodation.”

“Where’s
that?”

The man
pointed across the road. “Behind the gym.”

“Thanks.
I’d get out of here if I was you. Tell your buddies.”

The miner
nodded and ran in the opposite direction.

Bishop’s
eyes were stinging from the thick black smoke that hung in the air. He coughed
as he dashed across the road with Gerardo in tow. Behind the building marked
GYM he saw an armed gunman standing next to an open door. A Black Jacket. A second
man appeared dragging Roberto out of the building by his cuffed hands.

The first
guard went to raise his weapon and Bishop gave him a third eye. The man leading
Roberto dropped his AK and threw his hands up.

“Turn
around!” He shoved the guard back through the open door, kicking his legs out
from under him. With Gerardo covering he searched his pockets and found the
keys to the cuffs.

“Roberto,
you OK, mate?” Bishop said as he unlocked the cuffs and placed them on the
Black Jacket.

“Yes. But
I can’t walk far.” The rancher’s voice was hoarse.

“We’re
going to get you out of here.” He thumbed the transmit button on a UHF radio
attached to his chest rig.

“Emilio,
we need a pickup at the other end of the accommodation.”

“OK,
coming now.”

Bishop
pressed his iPRIMAL and transmitted to Mirza, “I’ve got Roberto. We’re heading
to the truck now.”

“Acknowledged.
Be aware, you’ve got one vehicle inbound.”

“Can you
cover us?”

“Negative,
I’ve still got limited visibility.”

“What’s
the exfil looking like? The gate open?”

“It’s
blocked, at least four guys, heavily armed. You’ve got a chance if I suppress
them. There’s no other way out.”

“Let’s do
it,” Bishop transmitted as left the building with Roberto. The blue Dodge
pickup barreled around a corner and screeched to a halt with Emilio at the
wheel.

Gunfire
sounded and bullets lashed the gravel and whistled through the air. Bishop
sprinted behind the pickup and fired a volley of rounds in the direction of
their attackers.

Dropping
to the ground, he looked under the car and caught a glimpse of a gunman’s
boots. Tilting the Tavor sideways he snapped off a shot, dropping the man.
Another series of shots finished him off. He changed the mag and out the corner
of his eye glimpsed two gunmen wearing tan chest-rigs off to his flank. As he
hit the bolt release time seemed to slow. The lead man had a bead on him. The
ground between them exploded into dust and they skidded to a halt, backpedaling
away. They dove out of sight and Bishop glanced over his shoulder.

Gerardo
gave him a grin and fired another burst from the MK48. “Covering!” he screamed.
Behind him Roberto was limping to the truck. Bishop ran up and threw him over
his shoulder. He lumbered back to the vehicle, threw Roberto into the back, and
leaped in after him.

Gerardo
fired another burst as he ran. More gunmen appeared from the buildings. He
reached the truck and tossed the machine gun in the back. As he clambered over
the side one of the operators with a tan chest-rig snapped off a shot.
Gerardo’s head exploded, spraying Bishop in gore. The corpse seemed to cling to
the vehicle for a moment before dropping into the dust.

“Fuck!
GO, GO, GO!” Bishop screamed to Emilio as he slewed onto the shooter and
emptied his magazine.

The truck
lurched forward. He slid into the bed, grabbed the MK48 machine gun, and rested
it on the tailgate. They sped through the mine’s camp and swung onto a service
road, turning toward the mining operations area and gaping open-cut pit. As
they left the camp, Emilio slowed and yelled out the window. “Where to now,
Aden?”

“Go, just
go.”

He
pressed the transmit button. “Mirza, Gerardo is down. Roberto is injured. Can
we still exfil?”

“Negative,
Bish. More vehicles have joined the party. There’s no way you’d get past.”

An image
appeared on his iPRIMAL. Five vehicles had pulled up a hundred yards short of
the front gate and two-dozen Black Jackets had dismounted.

“Shit.”

Emilio
brought the truck to a halt at the edge of the mine’s pit. Bishop stood up in
the tray and surveyed the terrain. The road turned off to a ramp that wound
down into the expansive hole. There was no way out. All sides were dominated by
sheer cliffs.

“Bish,
there’s some sort of standoff. The Black Jackets don’t look friendly,” Mirza
transmitted.

“You
reckon you can get them shooting, like we did in Japan?”

“I’ll see
what I can do. You need to find a place to hide.”

 
Bishop had other ideas. His eyes fell on
one of the huge yellow front-end loaders parked at the bottom of the pit and he
banged on the roof of the truck. “Take us down there!” he yelled to Emilio.

***

Mikey and
Chris had returned as the five-vehicle convoy stopped a hundred yards short of
the gate. Despite being shot in the chest-plate, Chris was combat effective and
took up a firing position.

Shrek
passed his binoculars to Pershing.

“Cardenas,”
Pershing said as he focused on the distinctive
Conquest Knight armored SUV
. The Chaquetas boss’s vehicle was
surrounded by four smaller trucks. Assault-rifle wielding gunmen were aiming
their weapons at the mine’s security checkpoint.

At first
he had thought the Black Jackets had sent reinforcements to help, but now he
wasn’t so sure. Especially when Burro wasn’t answering his radio. The handset
in his vehicle crackled and he walked over to it. Finally.

“Burro,
where you at?”

“This is
Raphael Cardenas,” came the reply.

“Raph,
it’s good to see you here. I’m having a little issue with the local farmers.”

“I don’t
give a fuck about your issues. You know what your fucking issue is? You tried
to kill me and you failed. That’s your fucking issue.”

Pershing
glanced at Shrek who wore a bemused expression. “Listen, I don’t know what the
hell you’re talking about. Take a look at the smoke coming from the mine and
you’ll see I’ve been attacked as well. You come up here and I’ll show you who
tried to kill you.”

“No, I
will not. I want you to give me access to the gold storage. I will take gold as
compensation, then–” Cardenas’s demands were interrupted by a series of
shots cracking through the air. The radio went dead.

“What the
fuck?”

A second
later the Mexican gunmen opened fire and all hell broke loose.
Bullets crashed into the SUV blocking the
gate, ricocheting off the ballistic glass and the armored plate.