Taking Shuteye, Corporal Cornelius Hill and Private First Class Hector Carrasquillo with him, they left the other four Rangers to go through the boxes and take a shopping list of things back up to the well deck. As the RAWS gunners were low on ammunition, he instructed them to bring back at least a couple of the RPG-69s, as well as plenty of ammunition for them. Grenades would also be handy, he told them, as well as bullets to fit the three remaining light machine guns that were still in the rack. With The Wall leading them, he knew they would make good choices in what they requisitioned from the armory. He also knew they’d be able to carry a lot of it, too. Top knew that he could carry a lot if needed, but The Wall was, well, The Wall.
Top led his group back to the ladder well. Looking at the schematic of the ship there, he didn’t see any other large, open areas on the 5th deck that would be indicative of a jail. On a hunch, he didn’t think they would be further down in the bowels of the ship. If anything, they were more likely to be higher up, closer to the Chinese leadership. With that decided, he went up one of the flights of stairs.
Reaching the next landing, he looked at the schematic for the 4th Deck. The only spaces that he saw that looked big enough to hold all of the people that the Chinese had captured were labeled as barracks spaces (as closely as Shuteye could translate, anyway). He didn’t see anything that was identified as a jail, brig or anything similar. Failing that, he went up another ladder to the 3rd Deck. Avoiding the puddle of blood at the bottom of the ladder well, he looked at the map, but didn’t see anything that looked like it would be a holding cell, either.
With most of the 3rd Deck and 2nd Deck devoted to the well deck and vehicle storage, the hostages would have to be on either the 1st Deck or on one of the levels. The 1st Deck was also probably used as hangar space for aircraft maintenance, so that was out, and the levels would all be for operations and administration if they were anything like U.S. ships. He was missing something, but he didn’t know what it was. Where could they be?
The only big spaces on the ship were the berthing areas, the well deck and the hangar deck. The flight deck had a lot of space, but it wasn’t a confined space, so they would need more guards, and it was exposed to the elements. That was out. Other than sitting in chairs for long periods of time, the conference rooms didn’t work very well. There wasn’t enough room for sleeping, and toilet facilities would be problematic. There was enough room on the hanger deck for mattresses, but once again, it wasn’t enclosed, so the Chinese would need a lot of guards, and toilet facilities would again be problematic. That only left the berthing areas, where the soldiers and sailors slept, but the Chinese would have been using them…he smacked his head. “I’m so stupid!” he said.
“Why’s that?” asked Shuteye.
“Where can you put a group of people that has beds as well as bathroom facilities?” asked Top in return. “Into the berthing spaces,” he explained. He could see Shuteye start to ask a question and went ahead with the explanation, “If the marines have disembarked, all of the marine berthing is available!”
All of the Rangers nodded their heads, agreeing that was probably true. Top looked at Shuteye. “What is the closest berthing area to the well deck?”
“There was one set of enlisted berthing on the 4th Deck,” he remembered.
“Let’s go!” exclaimed Top, leading them back down the ladder. As they reached the 4th Deck, a noise began to sound loudly in the passageway. It sounded a lot like the General Quarters alarm of a U.S. ship. Just like its American counterpart, it was followed by a man’s voice talking over the ship’s intercom.
“We’re blown,” said Top, “We’ve got to hurry!” He looked at the ship schematic again and urged Shuteye toward one of the doors. “It’s down this hall.” Shuteye slid through the door and went running down the hallway. People running through the halls with the General Quarters alarm sounding wasn’t out of the ordinary; in fact, it was expected. He came upon two men with rifles that looked alert as they stood outside one of the doors in the hallway. Shuteye looked down past them and yelled, “Look out!” as he pointed with his left hand. As the guards looked to see what he was shouting at, his right hand came around from behind his back with his pistol. It coughed four times, and the two guards slumped to the floor.
“Top!” Shuteye called, and the other three men came down the passageway from the ladder well.
“Hurry!’ shouted Top. “There are people coming!” They had heard footsteps coming down the stairwell as they exited the ladder well.
Shuteye opened the door and saw 24 pairs of scared eyes looking back at him from the bunks in the berthing room. He had found the hostages.
Well Deck, PLAN Long, Naval Base Kitsap, WA, 1650 PDT
“Shit!” shouted Calvin as the ship’s intercom system started to sound. “Bong! Bong! Bong! Bong!” This was followed by a man’s voice saying something, but he had no idea what it was. He looked at Wu and saw he looked terrified. “This can’t be good,” he thought. “OK, think…what happens at General Quarters…hmmm.” As an aviator, Calvin didn’t have a station that he had to man during General Quarters; it was expected that during any battle he would be off flying his F-18, trying to stop whoever or whatever was inbound to the ship. When General Quarters sounded and he wasn’t airborne, that was normally a good time for a nap while all of the sailors did their ‘sailor stuff.’
He knew that at General Quarters, people would be going throughout the ship, closing all of the watertight doors and hatches to prevent flooding, that all of the damage control stations would be manned and that everyone would be at their highest condition of readiness. Not good, especially since people would be manning up stations at a run. He wasn’t worried about holding the well deck unless a tank drove in from outside. He had nine heavily armed Rangers covering all of the doors into the well deck and was in control of the monitoring station. He expected someone to come to try to close the stern gate, but they would need to get into the control room to do so, which meant getting past the Rangers first.
Wu Tao came running up to him, jabbering excitedly while pointing at the LCAC and gesturing frantically out the back of the boat. Apparently he thought it was a good time to leave. Calvin agreed, but they couldn’t leave without the rest of his men and the hostages. He had three groups still outside the well deck, so he shook his head, pointing at the deck of the ship; they were staying.
He looked around in time to see Ryan’s group come struggling in through one of the doors. They had what looked like a U.S. Navy captain and a large Chinese man with a lot of gold braid on his uniform with them, but Calvin didn’t have time to find out who they were. “Get in the LCAC and start manning up the guns!” he yelled to Ryan, trusting him to do what needed to be done. Ryan continued shepherding his group into the LCAC and then came back to stand by Calvin once they had loaded.
“Anything I can do to help?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah, Master Chief,” Calvin replied. “Have Jet take Wu into the boat, and let’s get it fired up. As soon as everyone gets back, we’re leaving!” Ryan left to take Wu to the boat. The interior of the well deck had quieted after the General Quarters alarm was given, but the stillness was soon broken by the roar of the LCAC’s jet engines starting up.
“Hey, sir, I hate to tell you this,” said Sergeant Jose ‘Boom Boom’ Morales to Calvin as he ran up to him, “but I think I heard the helos returning before the motors started.”
“Yes, I…” Calvin paused as gunfire sounded. Two Chinese soldiers tried to make it into the well deck. Neither made it all the way in, and one collapsed in the doorway, jamming it open. “I heard the helos, too,” he finished. “I hope the team gets back with the hostages soon, or we’re gonna be screwed.”
As he finished, one of the back doors opened, and the team transporting ordnance came through. This was their second trip, but it would have to be their last. Three of the Rangers staggered through with big loads of ammunition, followed a couple of seconds later by Sergeant Jacob
‘Paris’ Hylton. Calvin watched as Ryan went to help the Rangers with the supplies. Paris continued to fire as he backed his way through the door. While he was trying to close it, he was suddenly tugged to the side as he was hit high on his left arm. He fired back through the door one-handed and yelled, “And stay down!” He threw the rifle over his right shoulder by its sling and slammed the door. He tightened the latching mechanism with one hand and jogged over to Calvin with blood dripping down his left side.
Saluting, he said, “We’re back, sir, and have some good stuff.”
“Welcome back,” said Calvin. “Get in the boat and get that arm looked at.”
Paris looked down at it. “Bah, that’s just a scratch,” he said.
Calvin sighed. Rangers, he thought, as more gunfire sounded from across the well deck. There was a team using one of the three remaining tanks for cover. Calvin couldn’t see what they were shooting at, but they must have gotten it because they stopped shooting. From his shoulder, Ryan yelled over the roar of the LCAC, “They’re just probing us so far, but they know we’re here. It looks like most of the marines were on the beach, but they’ll be calling them back as fast as they can. You should get under cover, sir; you’re too valuable to lose.” He pointed to the control room with one hand, a big chunk of plastic explosive in the other.
“Why don’t you use that as your command post until we go?” Ryan advised. “It will give you some cover, at least.”
Gunfire erupted from two places in the well deck as the probing continued.
“On second thought,” Ryan said, “we can’t hold this much longer. You better get in the LCAC. I’m going to leave the Chinese a little present, and then we’ll start falling back to the boat.” He went around to the other side of one of the tanks with Tiny in tow. He could see they were busy doing something there.
Sustained gunfire began to come from one of the port-side passages. The Chinese appeared to be putting together a sustained assault into the well deck. If they got through, the Americans would be wiped out. Calvin could see one of the Rangers get hit in the leg; it looked like Sergeant Logan ‘Lawyer’ Hale, one of his squad leaders. He crawled back to cover, and one of the Rangers ran up from the boat to help him get down the ladder. “Screw this!” yelled Boom Boom. Pulling out two grenades, he pulled their pins and threw them as hard as he could. The grenades vanished through the open doorway, and Sergeant Morales heard a short scream before they both detonated. Firing from the passageway ceased abruptly.
One of the doors on the starboard side of the ship that hadn’t been used previously suddenly popped open, and two Chinese soldiers charged out behind most of the platoon. Before they could orient themselves and shoot, Corporal Berron ‘Reggie’ Wayne triggered a long burst from the starboard 14.5mm machine gun on the LCAC, killing them both. A third person followed them out the door, but fell forward, dead. Corporal Wayne kept the gun pointed at the doorway, ready to repel the next Chinese attack. Before he could fire, a white hand waved in the doorway, followed by Corporal Hill and Sergeant Chang, and then all of the American hostages. Top brought up the rear of the group.
“RUN!” yelled Calvin, waving and indicating the boat. The hostages started running to the LCAC while Shuteye and Corporal ‘Boot’ Hill took up covering positions. As the civilians and military hostages loaded the boat, soldiers led them to cover. Calvin looked up to the coxswain shack and saw that Wu was gesturing feverishly at the bow door. With a massive ‘clank’ the stern gate shifted. Wu indicated that it was about to shut, trapping them in the ship. “LET’S GO RANGERS!” Calvin yelled.
All of the soldiers that were in covering positions pulled out grenades, jerked out the pins and threw them at the same time into the passageways. Once the grenades were airborne, they turned and began running for the LCACs, with Ryan and Tiny joining them, coming from around the other side of the tank. Almost everyone was in the boat when the stern gate started going up. Although it was three feet underwater at its furthest end, the water immediately began bubbling and frothing as the gate started to rise and began displacing it. Two soldiers remained on the LHD as Wu Tao advanced the throttles of the LCAC and the boat started moving.
Shuteye, who was coming down the ladder, jumped the remaining four feet when he saw the boat start moving, landing and rolling to cushion his fall. Before Boot could join him, he was hit in the back of his left knee by one of the soldiers coming through the door. He fell to the catwalk and began crawling toward the ladder. Ryan knew he wouldn’t make it in time.
“Tell him to stop!” Ryan yelled, pointing at the coxswain’s compartment, but no one was close enough to do so. Wu had seen that the stern gate was level with the surface of the water and was starting to pick up speed as it no longer had to contend with the additional weight of the water. If he didn’t gun the engines, he wasn’t going to get the LCAC out before the gate closed. His million dollars, and probably his life, depended on it. He wasn’t stopping.
Standing at the rail of the LCAC, Ryan saw that he was the only one with a chance to save Corporal Hill. If he didn’t do something, Boot would be left behind. 99.9% of Americans would not have chosen to get out of the boat and go back to get the downed Ranger at the risk of their own lives, but Ryan wasn’t 99.9% of Americans. He was a SEAL, and SEALs did not leave men behind. Like a flash, he was up the ladder and back onto the catwalk where Corporal Hill lay struggling to reach the LCAC as it was pulling away from underneath him.
Ryan scooped up the injured soldier into a fireman’s carry as the soldiers on the boat provided additional covering fire with their rifles and the LCAC’s machine guns. Top saw that Corporal Taylor had been very aptly named. Every time ‘Deadeye’ fired, someone died. Bullets from the machine guns ricocheted throughout the well deck, turning it into a buzz saw. Very few Chinese soldiers attempted to enter the well deck with the bullets whistling around; the ones that entered, died.
There were only about 10 feet of LCAC left alongside the catwalk. Looking down, Ryan saw The Wall and Tiny waiting, ready to receive Corporal Hill. Judging the movement of the LCAC as it continued to pick up speed in its race to beat the stern gate, Ryan tossed the soldier as far as he could. The two men reached out and just…just got a hold on him, drawing him onboard. Ryan looked up to see that the LCAC was now even with the end of the catwalk, and he was going to, quite literally, miss the boat. Summoning all of his quickness and agility, Ryan took a couple of steps to build up speed, jumped onto the railing at a run, and dove out over the water toward the LCAC. Although close, he hadn’t quite timed it perfectly; he got his left hand on the guard rail of the boat, but his right hand missed. Unable to keep his one-handed grip on the rail in the gale of the LCAC’s giant fans, he tried to get his right hand back up, but as time slowed down in his mind, he could tell that his left grip was going to fail before he could get a hold with the right one. His right hand missed a grip on the side of the boat, and his left hand slid off. He was falling.
Out of nowhere, two strong hands grabbed his wrist as the LCAC leaped over the edge of the stern gate. They were out and into the open water with a crash and splash of water like Niagara Falls. “I’ve got you, son,” said Governor George Shelby. Several other hands grabbed hold of his other wrist and, with Tiny and The Wall joining in, they were able to pull him into the LCAC. “Can’t have a registered voter getting left behind now, can we?” asked the governor.
Ryan lay on his back on the deck of the boat breathing heavily. Getting. Too. Old. For. This. Shit. As what he heard sank in, he swiveled his head to look at the Governor. “Thanks,” he said, “but I don’t think I voted for you, sir.”
The governor just smiled. “That’s OK, my boy,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “Maybe next time, you will.”
Top stood over his friend shaking his head. “Thanks for grabbing Hill,” he said, then chuckled as he helped Ryan up. “About that jump, though, you’re looking kind of old…” His voice trailed off, and then he exclaimed, “Shit!”
“What?” asked Ryan, getting up with more urgency.
Top looked back at the amphibious assault ship. “The helicopters are back, and it looks like the Chinese are getting them ready to come after us.”
Master Chief stood up, flexing bruised muscles and battered tendons. He could feel his side leaking again, too. “You’re really going to like this,” he said looking back.
The assembled group looked back. Nothing happened, except that the first helicopter lifted from the deck of the ship and started in pursuit of the fleeing LCAC.
“What am I going to like?” asked Top.
Everyone looked at the Master Chief. He looked back at the ship. Nothing happened.
“Wait for it,” he encouraged them.
The second helicopter began to lift.
Nothing happened.
And then the ship exploded.
It didn’t just detonate with a ‘bang,’ but with an earth-shattering ka-BOOM that not only could be heard above the roar of the LCAC’s jet engines, but could be felt, as well. The ship seemed to bulge outward at the middle and then started settling into the water. The force of the blast caused the ship to heel over slightly, and one of its radio antennas went into the rotor blades of the second helicopter as it lifted off. The rotor immediately disintegrated, with shrapnel and cart-wheeling pieces of rotor blade running the length of the flight deck and splashing into the bay. Without the rotor, the helicopter crashed back down to the deck thirty feet below, and additional shrapnel went flying as its rear rotor hit the deck and fragmented. Black smoke began to billow out of it as the helicopter’s fuel caught fire. A second geyser of water erupted as the force of the explosion caused the retaining mechanism on the stern gate to fail, and the entire back of the ship unhinged to splash into the bay. Water poured into the ship, and it began to sink to the bottom of the bay.
Occupied Seattle (Occupied Seattle Book 2) Page 11