Echo Six: Black Ops 7 - Tibetan Fury by Eric Meyer Page A
Authors: Eric Meyer
Tags: thriller, Literature & Fiction, Action & Adventure, Mystery, War & Military, Genre Fiction, Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, War, Men's Adventure
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second platoon of security troops. The noose was tightening.
At first, he thought they'd make it without too much trouble. The Chinese were fanning out to the east and west, rather than north to the shrine. It started to snow again, and the wind picked up. It was blowing from the south, sending flurries of thick snow across the open ground, hiding their tracks and making progress easier. He picked up the pace; the miniature snowstorm was like a gift from the Gods.
It also hid them from returning helicopters. They'd almost reached the shrine, maybe two hundred meters away, when the returning Harbin Z-9s came back. Jesse Whitefeather heard them first and shouted a warning.
"Helos coming in. They'll pass right over our heads. Take cover!"
They dived to the bottom of the ditch and pressed themselves flat as the streamlined, modern troop carriers flew overhead. They started to descend about six hundred meters in front of them, and as their wheels touched the ground, troops poured out to reinforce the search party. The combination of their white camos, the snow-covered landscape, and the snowstorm made them almost invisible. Talley realized the danger at once.
If they didn't get out of sight fast, the chances were they wouldn't see the Chinese coming, and they could walk right into them. Killing them would make matters worse. Much worse. And there was something else, he knew where there were troop-carrying helicopters, there'd be gunships. Always. They had to get to the shrine before the Chinese had a chance to get close. He keyed his mic.
"Run! If we don't make the shrine now, we're done for."
He broke into a sprint, racing along the uneven floor of the ditch. The snow covered and smoothed the worst of the rocks that littered the base, but even so, every couple of paces his boot landed badly and threatened to twist an ankle. Too bad, he'd fought with a twisted ankle before, and got out. A Chinese prison, on the other hand, would be the end.
All efforts to maintain stealth and silence were abandoned. If they didn't take advantage of the snowstorm, they'd be lost. He heard the men cursing behind him as they tripped on the uneven surface, but the roar of the helicopters engines, twin turboshafts as he recalled, drowned out any possibility of them being heard. Even the voices of the security troops, still shouting to each other as they beat across the countryside, were inaudible. Then the helos lifted off the ground, and the roar became even louder.
"Down!"
They threw themselves back into the bottom of the ditch, panting with the effort, as the flight of Harbins roared away. The second they were gone; they were up and running again. The shrine was only fifty meters away, yet in the distance, he could make out the first of the hunters. Ghostly green shapes, flitting across the snow, turning to each other as they shouted orders and messages.
He almost called a halt ten meters from the shrine when one of the green faces turned and seemed to be staring right at him. But then the soldier moved in a line diagonally away from them, and he knew they hadn't been spotted.
Grace darted out of the ditch and ran past him. Seconds later, she reached the snow-covered stone structure. It was impossible to see how anything so small could possess a hiding place for all of them, but she quickly pulled out a slab of stone from the base. It was no more than half a meter square. It had been fitted into the carving so that it was impossible to see it as anything other than a part of the structure. Behind, a dark opening stretched underground.
"Through the opening!" she urged them, "The passage slopes down, and it's tight, but it's wide enough to take a man."
Talley nodded and stood aside. "Guy, you first. I'll send them down one at a time and come last."
He meant to cover their withdrawal. Without a word, the Brit dived headfirst into the opening, and he heard him sliding down inside. Admiral Brooks went next, and one by one he sent the men
At first, he thought they'd make it without too much trouble. The Chinese were fanning out to the east and west, rather than north to the shrine. It started to snow again, and the wind picked up. It was blowing from the south, sending flurries of thick snow across the open ground, hiding their tracks and making progress easier. He picked up the pace; the miniature snowstorm was like a gift from the Gods.
It also hid them from returning helicopters. They'd almost reached the shrine, maybe two hundred meters away, when the returning Harbin Z-9s came back. Jesse Whitefeather heard them first and shouted a warning.
"Helos coming in. They'll pass right over our heads. Take cover!"
They dived to the bottom of the ditch and pressed themselves flat as the streamlined, modern troop carriers flew overhead. They started to descend about six hundred meters in front of them, and as their wheels touched the ground, troops poured out to reinforce the search party. The combination of their white camos, the snow-covered landscape, and the snowstorm made them almost invisible. Talley realized the danger at once.
If they didn't get out of sight fast, the chances were they wouldn't see the Chinese coming, and they could walk right into them. Killing them would make matters worse. Much worse. And there was something else, he knew where there were troop-carrying helicopters, there'd be gunships. Always. They had to get to the shrine before the Chinese had a chance to get close. He keyed his mic.
"Run! If we don't make the shrine now, we're done for."
He broke into a sprint, racing along the uneven floor of the ditch. The snow covered and smoothed the worst of the rocks that littered the base, but even so, every couple of paces his boot landed badly and threatened to twist an ankle. Too bad, he'd fought with a twisted ankle before, and got out. A Chinese prison, on the other hand, would be the end.
All efforts to maintain stealth and silence were abandoned. If they didn't take advantage of the snowstorm, they'd be lost. He heard the men cursing behind him as they tripped on the uneven surface, but the roar of the helicopters engines, twin turboshafts as he recalled, drowned out any possibility of them being heard. Even the voices of the security troops, still shouting to each other as they beat across the countryside, were inaudible. Then the helos lifted off the ground, and the roar became even louder.
"Down!"
They threw themselves back into the bottom of the ditch, panting with the effort, as the flight of Harbins roared away. The second they were gone; they were up and running again. The shrine was only fifty meters away, yet in the distance, he could make out the first of the hunters. Ghostly green shapes, flitting across the snow, turning to each other as they shouted orders and messages.
He almost called a halt ten meters from the shrine when one of the green faces turned and seemed to be staring right at him. But then the soldier moved in a line diagonally away from them, and he knew they hadn't been spotted.
Grace darted out of the ditch and ran past him. Seconds later, she reached the snow-covered stone structure. It was impossible to see how anything so small could possess a hiding place for all of them, but she quickly pulled out a slab of stone from the base. It was no more than half a meter square. It had been fitted into the carving so that it was impossible to see it as anything other than a part of the structure. Behind, a dark opening stretched underground.
"Through the opening!" she urged them, "The passage slopes down, and it's tight, but it's wide enough to take a man."
Talley nodded and stood aside. "Guy, you first. I'll send them down one at a time and come last."
He meant to cover their withdrawal. Without a word, the Brit dived headfirst into the opening, and he heard him sliding down inside. Admiral Brooks went next, and one by one he sent the men
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