Seal Team Seven #19: Field of Fire (24 page)

Five minutes later the nurse looked at the list. “Really? You must be figuring on doing an operation in the field.”

He told her about the appendectomy and Lieutenant Tamar paled.

“I don’t know if I could have done that.” She nodded. “All right, yes, you do need a small bottle of chloroform. It’s easy to use. Directions on the label. And some morphine, you should use tens. What else is on your list? Yes, two scalpels and two sizes of sutures, and this thing you’ll call a needle.”

Mahanani got back to the quarters five minutes before chow call with a grin an acre wide on his tanned face. “I’m loaded, man, am I loaded. I dare one of you fuckups to get shot bad so I can play doctor.”

The SEALs were on the tarmac waiting five minutes before the pilots finished their walk-around ground check on the forty-six chopper. They boarded and the bird took off just after 1835. It was already starting to get dusk. Murdock had showed Ronen Kugel’s picture to all of the men. They memorized his face, and his description: forty-nine years old, five-feet-eight, slight build, former boxer, 150 pounds with clothes on. Lots of dark hair he let grow a little long, dark eyes. Usually wore a thick mustache but no beard. They would find him.

Murdock went up beside the pilot and looked outside. Nothing but darkness, a few lights, and more black Israeli countryside.

“You know where that spot is that they’re going to start a firefight on the MLR up there somewhere?” Murdock asked the pilot, shouting so he could be heard.

The pilot nodded. “Yeah. We’re all zeroed in on a definite spot in the line where the Israelis will make their attack. They’ll use tank artillery, machine guns, and infantry fire. When I give them the word on the radio that we’re within a mile of their position, they open up. We get across in the confusion and noise and tank rounds going off in bunkers. I come back out five miles south,
where we do the same thing. Should work.”

“You tried it before?”

“Not in this war. It’s a damn good idea. Covers up the sound of our chopper, and the Syrians don’t know we’re loose inside their lines. Hard to sneak a chopper like this across an MLR without some covering noise.”

Murdock worried about the radio frequencies matching, but they must have worked that out and tested it before they moved out of Haifa.

“We’re coming up on Zefat,” the pilot said. “From there we turn a hard left and head for the MLR, which runs along there about five miles out. We’ll be a little north of Karmi’el on purpose. That’s where the shelling takes place.” He tuned the radio frequency and nodded at Murdock. “This is Highboy looking for some Action,” he said.

The pilot waited a moment, then repeated the call. His speakers were in his earphones, so Murdock didn’t hear. The pilot nodded. “That’s a roger, Action. In thirty seconds. We’re moving your way.”

The pilot waved at Murdock. “Get them at the doors. I’ll touch down and then lift off in about twenty seconds. Get your men out and gone as fast as possible.”

Murdock waved. “We’ve done it before under fire thirty or forty times.” Murdock stepped back into the ship and motioned the men to the doors. One squad lined up at each side. Murdock would be the first one out. Gardner would make sure everyone was out and be tail-end Charlie. Murdock felt the craft speed up, and at almost the same time he could hear heavy tank rounds exploding somewhere ahead. Then the craft slanted lower and charged forward. Murdock could see the ground. They were no more than thirty feet in the air. A good-sized tree would knock them out of the sky. But there were no trees, and the SH-46 jolted through the night, just over the chattering machine guns and blasting rifles as the tank rounds continued to slam into enemy positions across the MLR.

Moments later they were past the firefight and bending to the south just a bit, then Murdock heard the sound of the motor change and the craft pitched slightly forward
and hovered, then settled to the ground. When the landing gear touched down, Murdock yelled. “Go, Go, Go,” he bellowed over the pounding noise of the chopper engine and blades.

Murdock jumped the two feet to the ground, ran forward forty feet, and went prone, his weapon pointing outward. Within ten seconds all the Alpha Squad had hit the dirt near him. The chopper’s engines had revved up and it lifted straight up, then pivoted and raced back the way it had come, only to the south more, where there would be another short, sharp firefight.

Murdock touched his Motorola mike. “Check in by squads-everyone here?” He listened as his squad members all reported in, then Gardner’s group. “Anybody see any lights? There should be a town around here some-where.”

“South and west,” Jefferson said. “I can see some lights through the trees on that little hill.”

“Lam, go,” Murdock said. “Alpha Squad in a diamond formation ten yards apart. Let’s choggie. Bravo, come behind us. Keep watching, there must be some Syrians in this area somewhere. Let’s see them before they see us.”

Murdock had his squad up the low hill almost to the top when Lam came back to them. “Little town just over the hill. Must be the place. There’s a Syrian Army bivouac on this side with a few tents, two trucks, and what looks like a kitchen. We want to stay silent on this one?”

“Right, for as long as possible. How many troops down there?”

“Not sure, doesn’t look like more than maybe fifty. Must be the kitchen to supply the front line troops with hot food. Do they do that?”

“I hope we don’t find out. Okay, SEALs. The rest of you come to the brow of this little hill and hold. Keep ten yards in a line of skirmishers along the ridge. Lam and I are going to do a recon on this place and see what we have and if they have ever heard of a man called Ronen Kugel.” By the time he said it, Lam had turned and moved silently into the darkness over the brow of the hill and down the other side. Murdock hurried to catch up with
him, then eased up and followed him by ten yards, the best combat interval between men.

It took them twenty minutes to go around the soldiers and come up to the town’s first houses. They found three with lights on and Murdock went up to the first one and knocked on a side door. Nobody answered. He knocked again, five easy raps that could not be interpreted as a military roust. He heard movement inside and then the door opened a crack.

Murdock heard three words he didn’t understand, Hebrew probably.

“Do you speak English?” he asked.

“Yes. Who are you?”

“I’m an American looking for the American man who was staying here with his brother. Do you know about him?”

The door edged open more. “Inside, quickly. Sometimes they send patrols around the street. Most of the Syrians are still on the front lines about six miles south and west.”

Murdock stepped into the dark room. He approved. No silhouette of a man in a lighted doorway.

“The American’s name is Ronen Kugel.”

The shadowy form of the man in front of him nodded. “We have heard of him. My sister may know where he is. Come.”

They went through a door into a softly lit room with no windows. Two women sat in chairs reading. They looked up, startled by his appearance.

“A friend,” the man said. “An American. The man from America visiting the Kugels. Is he still here?”

The older woman looked at him critically. “You’re an American soldier?”

“No, ma’am. I’m a United States Navy SEAL.”

“Heard about you men. No water around here.” She stopped. “But then you work sea, air, and land. I know.” She stopped and closed her book. “The American scientist, he told us what happened to our radios and TV sets. A pulse, he said. Electrons fried them. He knew all about it. He told us that somebody would invade us, and they
did. He and his brother went into the hills when the Syrians were close. His brother, Yaron, said he knew a place that would be safe. We figured the war would be over in two days. It’s been three or four now. We hope they don’t destroy our little town in the fighting.”

“A safe place, you said. Does Yaron’s family know where that is?”

“They might. Their house is just four down the street. I can go bring her here.”

“I’ll do it,” the man said. He shook Murdock’s hand. “Call me Benyamin. I’ve been admiring your weapon. Two barrels and one looks huge. Never seen anything like it. I was in the army when I was younger. You’ll have to explain it to me when I get back.”

“I will. But let me come with you. Time is vital. We need to be gone before daylight.”

Benyamin stared at him a moment, then nodded. “We must be careful, use the shadows. But I bet you know how to do that better than I do. How many of you are there?”

“Enough in case we run into trouble. We hope we can get in and get out quickly, with Kugel.”

“He must be an important man if they sent you behind the lines.” He nodded to himself. “Now, quickly, this way, out the side door. You must have a buddy out there covering for you.”

They picked up Lam but didn’t stop for introductions. They ran to the alley, then down past two houses. Benyamin stopped near the third and looked at the next residence. It had bright lights showing in every window.

“Not right,” Benyamin said. “Wasting electricity. Yaron would never do that.”

“I’ll check the front,” Lam said and faded into deeper shadows around the house and moved toward the street.

“Could there be Syrian soldiers inside?” Murdock asked.

“Might be. If they found out about Ronen and that he was a scientist. They might be looking for him.”

Lam came back quickly. “There’s a military jeep with a driver in it out front, and another soldier on guard at
the front door. Let me check the back door.” He vanished again without a sound.

“We have to go in,” Murdock said. “How many people live in the place?”

“Usually just three. If Yaron is gone, there would be only two, his wife and his daughter.”

“Good, Now, do these houses have fuse boxes on the outside? Where you can pull a switch and turn off all the lights?”

“Yes, like my place. On the other side.”

Lam slipped back beside them. “One soldier on the back door. He’s smoking, weapon slung over his shoulder. He’ll be easy.”

“Let’s move up,” Murdock said. “Benyamin, we’ll take out the guard at the back of the house, then you go past us and turn out all the lights. As soon as you kill the light, hit the ground and stay there. We don’t want to shoot you by mistake.”

Benyamin touched the silencer on Lam’s MP-5 and nodded.

“Yes, I can do that.”

“Let’s move,” Murdock said. “We only have until day-light to find our man.”

The three moved up step by slow step until they could see the Syrian soldier guarding the rear door. He lit one cigarette off the old butt and sounded like he hummed a song. Murdock pointed to Lam, who patted his silenced MP-5. Murdock nodded.

“Do the women speak English?” Murdock whispered to Benyamin. The answer came back with another whisper that they did. Lam went prone and lifted the little gun to steady it, moved the fire selector to single shot, and sighted in on the soldier fifty feet away. He relaxed, sighted in again, then slowly squeezed the trigger. The round hit the guard in the chest, near his heart, and he went down clawing the ground. His rifle banged on the dirt of the alley. They waited. No one came to his aid. Lam ran forward with his KA-BAR out, and when he saw the man was still alive, he slit his throat from one carotid artery to the other. Blood pumped out in twin surges every time the fading heart beat.

Murdock and Benyamin ran forward. Murdock paused beside Lam, who was at the rear door testing the knob. Unlocked. Murdock moved his fire selector to the 5.56 barrel and on single shot and gave Lam a thumbs-up then pointed his finger at him. They waited. Lights began going off in sections of the house. Yells sounded inside. Someone pounded toward the back just as the last lights faded inside.

The door jolted outward and a shadowy figure ran through. Lam was on the knob side and swung his KA-BAR out and the Syrian soldier ran into it. He bleated,
and turned his head as he was falling. Lam ripped the blade out of the man’s chest. The Syrian died as he writhed on the ground. Murdock pushed around the door where it had slammed into him. He pointed at Lam again and the scout slid inside the dark room. Murdock came right behind him. They had out their penlights and checked the room. It was a utility and storage area. No one was there. A door in the center stood open.

When one of the penlight beams darted across the opening, a shot blasted from inside. A slug whispered past Murdock and hit the rear wall. The two SEALs edged forward, one on each side of the door.

“Ladies, if you can hear me, close your eyes tightly and put your hands over your ears. Big explosion coming but it won’t hurt you. Do it now.”

Lam pulled the pin on a flashbang grenade and rolled it into the room. Murdock and Lam ducked their heads, closed their eyes, and muffled their ears with their hands. The six cracking explosions blasted through the house, followed by six piercing, blinding strobes of light so bright they stabbed at Murdock’s eyes right through his hands, even though he was in another room. Lam and Murdock powered into the room as soon as the last strobe faded, using their small lights. With only the faint beams, they stumbled over two Syrian soldiers rolling on the floor and holding their ears. Lam tied their hands behind them with riot cuffs, as Murdock looked in the next room. Two women crouched on a sofa, hands still over their ears. On the floor nearby one Syrian officer tried to open his shocked eyes.

Murdock knew the man couldn’t hear anything. He chopped the man’s chin with the butt of his Bull Pup, then bound his hands behind him. One of the women peered out from in back of her hands.

“I can’t really see you, but you must be there.”

“Yes, ma’am. We are. Let us take care of the two Syrians at the front door and we’ll be back.”

When Lam had cleared the next room, he could open the front door. There was no one there. The jeep and the sentry near the front door were gone. He told Murdock.

“Ladies, we need to get you out of here. The Syrians will come back with lots of weapons and they won’t be kind. Come with us. Benyamin is just outside. He sent us here. We can go to his house.”