Authors: W. J. Lundy

Tales of the Forgotten (15 page)

BOOK: Tales of the Forgotten

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“Landing?
Where are we? We haven’t been in the air long enough,” Brooks asked.

“This
flight is only getting us to a refuel point; we don’t have fuel for much else.
We made it to you fellas on fumes as it is,” Douglas answered.

“We
will be coming around once to check for screamers, then I’m going to set her
down by those rocks near the fuel bladders,” Bradley said.

“Understood,
Bradley,” Douglas answered.

The
Black Hawk banked hard and circled out over the open sand, then came back and
set down in a cloud of dust. Bradley and Douglas reached around the cockpit and
started flipping switches as the helicopter started to wind down.

“Chief?
Would you and your boys mind stepping outside and setting up security?” Douglas
asked.

Sean
reached down and pulled the large bay door open. The three of them stepped into
the cool night air. The blades of the helicopter were slowing but still making
a good deal of noise. Brad had his night vision back on and was scanning the
desert.

“Looks
clear, Mr. Douglas,” Sean said. “Where are we?”

“We
are just south of Kandahar, and we need to hurry. Mr. Aziz’s ride will be here
soon,” Douglas said.

Douglas
and Bradley grabbed a large canvas bag from a cargo compartment in the
helicopter and ran a distance from the bird. Douglas dumped the contents of the
bag onto the ground.

“Chief,
could your team handle this? Headquarters said your men would be familiar with
this gear,” Douglas said. “I would offer to help, but the captain and I really
have to get the refueling done before the screamers show up.”

Sean
ran to the spot and examined the gear. “You gotta be shitting me,” he said.

“What
is it, Chief?” Brooks asked.

“It’s
a damn Fulton! We don’t use this shit anymore,” Sean said.

Douglas
looked back over his shoulder and yelled, “We do now, Chief. Could you get it
set up please? The pickup will be here in under twenty minutes.”

“I’m
not following. Sean, is there another helicopter coming?” Brad asked.

“No,
the Fulton is a big ass balloon. We’re going to strap it to Aziz. An aircraft
will fly overhead and catch the balloon, then reel his sorry ass on board. We
trained on these but they stopped using this gear years ago,” Sean answered.

“Well,
nothing is too good for our boy Aziz,” Brooks said, gesturing back towards the
helicopter. “Let’s get it done, Chief.”

Set
up was fairly straightforward. The kit bag contained a balloon, a gas bottle, a
harness and about five hundred feet of heavy line. First, they tightly strapped
Aziz into an orange jumpsuit that was connected to a large, heavy-duty harness.
Brad stuffed a bundle of letters into the jumpsuit and tightly zipped it shut.
Brooks saw him and gave Brad a knowing nod, as he forced Aziz into the harness
and tightly strapped him in. Next, they attached the coiled line to the
balloon. Finally, the other end of the line was secured to the harness and they
waited for the signal from Douglas that it was safe to inflate.

“Has
anyone bothered to explain to Aziz what is about to happen?” Brad asked.

“Nah,
we figured a surprise would be better,” Sean said.

Douglas
called out that the aircraft was near the approach and to inflate the balloon.
Sean connected the gas bottle to the balloon and turned on three IR strobes
connected to a section of the line. Then he turned the valve and the balloon
began to quickly fill with helium. As the balloon filled, Aziz figured out what
was going on and he began to panic.

“Don’t
worry pal, you’re going to love this,” Brooks laughed while slapping a heavy
pair of goggles over Aziz’s eyes.

The
balloon filled quickly and pulled off the ground, trailing the line behind it.
There was no breeze, so it went almost straight up and barely drifted. The line
was now taut and all the slack was gone. It was very quiet now; all they could
hear was the sobbing of Aziz and the fuel pumps purring away, filling the large
tanks on the Black Hawk.

Douglas
called back to them again from the fuel bladders. “The C130 says they are on
approach and they have visual. You might want to step away from our guest.”

“C130?
So why didn’t they just land and pick all of us up?” Brad asked.

“Not
so easy, son. All of the airfields near here are overrun; this is the best we
got,” Douglas answered.

They
heard the buzzing of the C130 coming in from the east. The moon was now covered
in clouds and they could hardly see anything. Aziz increased his panic when he
picked up on the sounds of the approaching aircraft. The men stepped away from
Aziz and gathered near the helicopter to resume their security watch of looking
for primals.

The
aircraft got louder as it got closer and lower to the ground. Soon Sean pointed
and they could just barely make it out flying low and slow toward them. A
large, V-shaped hook extended from its nose and it was on a direct path for the
balloon. The C130 flew directly over them. At first nothing seemed to happen,
then they saw the line stretch and Aziz snapped into the air and was gone.

21.

The
flight crew was finishing up the refueling procedures. They turned heavy wheels
and pulled switches to cut off the power to the large pumps. Brad watched them
as they disconnected and stored the heavy fuel lines in plywood lockers.
Captain Bradley and Mr. Douglas walked back to the Black Hawk, diligently
inspecting every detail.

“We
are almost ready to go, Chief. If your boys could continue to pull security
until she is warmed up I would appreciate it,” Douglas called.

“We
got it sir, just tell us when to mount up,” Sean called back.

“You’re
going to need to make it quick, sir, I got movement,” Brooks said.

“What
do you see Brooks?” Sean called out.

“Large
mass at your three o’clock and moving fast.”

“The
birds bring them in, for some reason the screamers love helicopters,” Bradley
called over his shoulder.

Brad
raised his scope and saw them, a small party out front and another larger group
trailing them. Sean snatched up his long rifle and took a prone firing
position; Brooks fell to the ground near him with his own scoped rifle.

“You
work the center, I’ll pick up stragglers,” Sean calmly said to Brooks. “Brad,
keep an eye on our flanks, I don’t want anything sneaking up on us.”

Brooks
began firing his rifle and methodically knocked down the leaders. Sean followed
his lead and started firing in a smooth motion to cut down the runners, but it
was doing very little to slow the pack’s progress. Brad ran to the edge of the
clearing in a high spot where he could see all the approaches to the landing
site. He could see the mass closing on them from Sean’s direction. Brad
continued to scan wider, checked the rest of the area, and found it clear.

The
Black Hawk started to wake up; the rotors slowly went into motion, whooping as
they sped.

“Chief,
I have the mini-gun up if you and your men would like to retreat to the bird,”
Douglas screamed over the increasing whine of the turbines.

“You
heard the man, bound back,” Sean ordered.

Brad
turned around and ran back to the Black Hawk, Just as he arrived from the
flank, he could see Sean and Brooks board the bird. The engines were screaming
now as Bradley increased the throttle. Sean took up a position behind the large
M134 mini gun, flipped the switches powering it up, and readied himself to
fire.

“You’re
clear to engage, Chief,” Douglas called back.

Sean
pulled the trigger and a stream of rounds cut through the night; a blinding
laser light show ensued. Brad could no longer see the primal mob with his night
vision off, but he followed the trail of gunfire and watched the shadows dance
as rounds exploded and skipped off of the ground. Sean was decimating the
crowded path as he cut left and right, sweeping through the charging primals.

The
Black Hawk slowly lifted with its nose down and began to pick up speed. It
turned slightly and headed into the mob that was now far below. They reached
out their arms and grappled at the beam of gunfire Sean was pouring down on
them. The Black Hawk opened the distance and Sean continued to fire even though
the threat was now gone. He cut a wide path through the charging mob, releasing
weeks of frustration.

“Cease
fire, Chief, we may need some rounds for later,” Douglas called back.

Sean
shook his head and powered the gun down. Leaning back into the crew chief’s
seat, he looked exhausted. He intentionally set down the headset before he
closed his eyes.

The
Black Hawk flew smoothly through the night sky speeding south. Brad looked out
of the small window but could see nothing but blackness. The desert was dark;
there were no lights, no signs of life. He didn’t see a single fire, no
headlights on the roads. It was desolate and dead below him. He pressed back
against the hard seat and tightened the restraint belt.

“Where
are we going, Mr. Douglas?” Brad asked.

“South
to the Arabian Sea; with all of the tanks full, and if we fly conservatively,
we should make it. If not, we will have some walking or possibly swimming to
do,” Douglas answered.

“Well
that’s reassuring. We catching a ride on a Navy vessel then? That how we’re
getting home?” Brad asked.

“Wish
I could answer your questions for you, son, and as good as a Navy meal sounds
right now, unfortunately that’s not where we are headed,” Douglas said.

“Enough
with the riddles! Where the hell are we going?” Brooks asked impatiently.

“We
are scheduled to land on a secured oil platform off the coast; the Navy and
Marines have secured a number of them in this area. Land-based facilities are
all closed this side of Iran,” Bradley said. “I know it’s not ideal boys. I’m
not excited about it myself. But it sure beats the hell out of nesting with
screamers.”

“Then
what?” Brooks asked.

“Then
we wait. We were promised a ride home when we took this job. I don’t have the
details. I just have to get this crate to the platform,” Bradley said. “I have
been told it has power, food, and hot showers, so let’s just take it one day at
a time.”

Brad
sat back in his seat, shaking his head, his body finally giving in to the
exhaustion.
It’s going to be a long ride home
, he thought to himself.