Cut Out

by Bob Mayer

  The tank kept going and Thorpe reached up, grabbing a loop of the tow cable overhanging off the back deck and was dragged through the sand as the tank turned around to the right. The driver briefly searched for Thorpe's body. When he couldn't find it, he decided to go after the other man.

  McKenzie was running like a halfback through the defensive backfield, cutting back and forth, hoping to be able to turn quicker than the tank. But the driver was very good, matching McKenzie's moves and closing the distance. At the last second, McKenzie did what Thorpe had done, throwing himself down in a shallow ditch between the treads.

  The tank rolled over the trench and McKenzie was safe, directly between the treads, but this time the driver was prepared. He slammed on the brakes, then pivot-steered back and forth, digging the treads down into the sand and moving the tank left and right in two-foot arcs.

  McKenzie realized that if he didn't move soon the treads would settle down in the sand and the bottom of the tank would crush him. He scrambled through the sand trying to get from under the tank to the rear. At that moment, the driver unexpectedly made a ninety-degree turn to the left.

  McKenzie couldn't move fast enough. The tread racing by caught his left forearm and sucked it into the gnashing metal. If there had been a hard surface underneath, there would have been nothing left of the limb, but the sand gave slightly.

  From his position still hanging on to the rear of the tank, Thorpe heard McKenzie's scream over the roar of the engine. Thorpe let go and rolled away, then got to his feet. The tank was still churning sand, back and forth. Thorpe ran forward timing his jump to coincide with the tank's movements. He slammed onto the rear deck and grasped for a handhold.

  His left hand closed around a ridge of metal and Thorpe hauled himself up. He quickly climbed onto the turret. The tank commander's hatch was slightly open, enough for the commander to look forward. Thorpe pulled his 9-mm pistol out of its holster and stuck it in the hatch and fired, hitting the commander in the side of the head, blowing brains and blood all over the inside of the turret.

  Thorpe ripped open the hatch and dove in headfirst, sliding past the dead body. He was firing as he fell and he kept firing as he hit the metal grating on the floor of the turret. When the magazine was finally empty, the entire three-man crew was dead, riddled with bullets. Thorpe got to his feet as he slammed another magazine into the pistol.

  The driver's dead foot slipped off the pedal and the tank came to a halt, engine still rumbling. Thorpe was just climbing out the top hatch when he spotted the second tank, a quarter mile away and closing fast.

  Thorpe dropped back down into the turret. He grabbed the tank commander's override control lever and turned the turret, looking out the top of the hatch until he had the barrel lined up. The tank was heading directly for him.

  Now he could only hope there was a round in the breach. Thorpe pulled back the trigger on the front of the override. There was a blossom of flame from the end of the muzzle and the blast blew back over Thorpe, a sudden surge of warm wind.

  The kinetic sabot round crossed the distance between the two tanks in less than one-tenth of a second. It hit at the turret-body junction of the second tank, punching through the front and out the other side, leaving only two small, four-inch-circumference holes in its wake.

  But the metal that had been in those holes killed the crew as the shrapnel ricocheted around the inside of the tank, the armor protection turning deadly as it kept the metal shards trapped inside like a swarm of angry bees. The crew was torn to shreds.

  One piece of shrapnel hit the stowed rounds at the rear of the turret and ignited one of them. The round blew, taking with it those packed next to it, and the turret popped off in the tremendous secondary explosion.

  Thorpe climbed out and jumped over the side to the sand. He momentarily froze as he spotted McKenzie, crawling with one arm toward the water, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. Thorpe ran over and knelt next to him.

  "Oh, shit," Thorpe exclaimed when he saw the man's crushed limb in the glow of the burning tank. McKenzie's left forearm was a mess of mangled flesh and bone, hanging from his elbow by half-ripped tendons.

  "Go!" McKenzie hissed. "Get out of here."

  Thorpe pulled a length of parachute cord and a small Maglite out of his combat vest. He wrapped the cord around McKenzie's upper left arm. Thorpe tied a square knot in the thin rope as tight as he could, leaving the Maglite inside the knot. Thorpe then twisted the Maglite around several times, cinching down the cord and cutting most of the blood flow with the makeshift tourniquet.

  Thorpe was reaching for his first-aid packet attached to his vest to get a painkiller when a string of tracers split the night, flying over their heads. He could hear voices in the distance, shouting, getting closer, firing wildly into the night.

  "Go!" McKenzie insisted.

  Thorpe grabbed McKenzie and, with a surge of adrenaline, threw the bulky man over his shoulders.

  McKenzie was protesting, demanding that Thorpe leave him behind, but Thorpe staggered to his feet and headed for the surf.

  "I'm dead," McKenzie yelled in Thorpe's ear. "Leave me."

  Thorpe didn't have the breath to answer, his feet sliding in the sand as he ran for the water. Another burst of tracers went by, this time a bit closer.

  Thorpe hit the water running. As the water splashed up around his legs, he reached up and grabbed McKenzie's safety line and hooked it into his own belt. He lowered McKenzie into the water, then dove forward. The line momentarily brought him to an abrupt halt, then Thorpe began the difficult business of swimming, pulling McKenzie behind him.

  Thorpe swam as hard as he could, trying to put distance between them and the shore. Those on the shore were still firing wildly, tracers whipsawing in all directions.

  After a couple of minutes, Thorpe pulled on the line and brought McKenzie in close to check on him.

  "Leave me," McKenzie said, his face white from loss of blood. He'd popped his inflatable vest because he was too weak even to float.

  "Shut up," Thorpe said as he continued to kick with his legs. "We'll make it."

  "My blood will draw sharks," McKenzie warned. "Go while you can."

  Thorpe hit the homer on his wrist and checked the direction. The SDV was to the southwest. Thorpe grabbed McKenzie and pulled him along as he swam in that direction.

  "How far to the SDV?" McKenzie asked in a dazed voice.

  Thorpe looked at his monitor. "About a hundred yards."

  "I can't dive," McKenzie muttered, then he passed out, his head lolling back on the preserver.

  Thorpe swam farther, towing McKenzie, and checking the homer again. They were over the SDV. In the dark, Thorpe turned to look at McKenzie. The older man's face was white, the muscles slack. As best he could in the dark and swelling waters, Thorpe made sure there was no blood passing through the tourniquet, and that McKenzie's face was out of the water. After letting the wounded man go, Thorpe inserted the mouthpiece for his rebreather and dove. His own lacerations pulsed with pain in the salt water, but Thorpe ignored them.

  He was at the SDV in half a minute. Forgetting the checklist, Thorpe powered up. He retraced his route and surfaced. Kneeling in the hatch, Thorpe looked about. McKenzie was nowhere to be seen.

  Reaching down, Thorpe gave power to the screws and anxiously began driving the SDV in slowly increasing circles. The six-foot swells knocked him against the side of the hatch and made it difficult for him to see. The SDV wasn't designed to operate on the surface and was tossed about like an empty canoe.

  Thorpe spotted something to his left and turned the SDV in that direction. Relief flooded through him as he saw that it was McKenzie. Thorpe brought the submersible next to the unconscious figure. He tied off his safety line to a hitch on the top, then slid into the water. He paddled over to McKenzie and grabbed hold of the other man's safety line. McKenzie was still alive, but barely.

  Then Thorpe felt something slide underneath him. He looked down. In the moonlig
ht he could see a large gray form lazily swim by. Glancing up, Thorpe saw the dorsal fin of an eight-foot shark less than two feet in front of him, slicing through the calm water. Thorpe kept his legs moving as he watched the fin turn and head back. Thorpe pulled McKenzie to his chest.

  Putting his body between McKenzie and the shark, Thorpe pulled on his safety line, drawing them toward the SDV, expecting at any moment to feel the rip of razor-sharp teeth in his back.

  Thorpe reached the edge of the SDV and with a surge of adrenaline, shoved the older man up over the side, rolling him into his cocoon. Thorpe swiftly scrambled up the same side. Clinging to the top, he sealed McKenzie's hatch, then climbed over into his own, sealing it behind him.

  Grabbing the controls, he adjusted the radar to home in on the submarine's beacon and opened the throttle all the way.

  Purchase

  More Books by Bob Mayer

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  Praise for Lost Girls: “ . . .delivers top-notch action and adventure, creating a full cast of lethal operatives armed with all the latest weaponry. Excellent writing and well-drawn, appealing characters help make this another taut, crackling read.” Publishers Weekly

  THE SHADOW WARRIOR SERIES

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  Section Eight

  THE GREEN BERET SERIES

  An 8 book series featuring Dave Rile and Horace Chase

  Eyes of the Hammer

  “Exciting and authentic. Author Mayer, a Green Beret himself, gave me a vivid look at the world of the Army’s Special Forces as they battle America’s most deadly enemy. His portrayal of Green Beret operations and techniques takes you deep into the covert world of Special Operations as a you follow an A-Team into combat. Don’t miss this one.”

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  “Incredibly believable and absolutely riveting. Quite possibly the best book every written about the Green Berets. Bob Mayer tells Green Beret stories like Joseph Wambaugh tells cop stories!

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  “A masterpiece of technology and suspense.” Library Journal

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  “Sinewy writing enhances this already potent action fix. An adrenaline cocktail from start to finish.” Kirkus Reviews

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  Mayer has written a very good novel and has established himself as one of today’s better military technothriller writers. A background in Special Operations gives him credibility and understanding from having been there and done that.”

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  Simply irresistible.” Booklist

  THE ATLANTIS SERIES

  A 6 book Science Fiction Series

  “Spell-binding! Will keep you on the edge of your seat. Call it techno-thriller, call it science fiction, call it just terrific story-telling.” Terry Brooks, #1 NY Times Bestselling author of the Shannara series and Star Wars Phantom Menace

  THE AREA 51 SERIES

  A 9 book Science Fiction Series

  When nine atmospheric crafts of unknown origin were discovered in the Antarctic in the late 1940s, the U.S. government established Area 51 to study the abandoned technology. Dr. Hans Von Seeckt, who is the only original member of the secret research committee, has observed the marvelous craft in flight and witnessed a fantastic array of bizarre, unexplained phenomena. But Dr. Van Seeckt fears that the technology of the mothership is beyond our scope and an explosive threat to the entire planet. He must race against time to unlock the secret of the ship--and to the origins of mankind itself.

  THE NIGHTSTALKERS SERIES

  Bob Mayer’s Nightstalkers grabs you by the rocket launcher and doesn’t let go. Fast-moving military SF action—just the way I like it. Highly recommended. -B.V. Larson

  For more information on Bob Mayer please visit http://bobmayer.org or http://coolgus.com

  About Bob Mayer

  NY Times Bestselling Author Bob Mayer attended West Point where he earned a degree in Psychology and later he earned a Master's degree in Education. He went on to serve in the Infantry and then Special Forces as a Green Beret and commanded an A-team, which is where many of his bestselling ideas were formulated.

  Mayer's obsession with mythology and his vast knowledge of the military and Special Forces, mixed with his strong desire to learn from history, is the foundation for his science fiction series Atlantis, Area 51 and Psychic Warrior. Mayer is a master at blending elements of truth into all of his thrillers such as The Green Beret Series, The Shadow Warrior Series, The Presidential Series as well his historical fiction, leaving the reader questioning what is real and what isn't.

  Bob has lived all over the world and beyond, but has settled down on Write on the River with his wife and 2 golden labs, Cool Gus and Sassy Becca. He spends his free time running with the dogs, biking, kayaking, and watching or reading whatever his much smarter wife tells him to. She controls the remote. He has a grandson, whom he is training to be the leader of the resistance against the machines.

  For more information about Bob Mayer, his books or his business consulting business, Who Dares Wins, please go to http://bobmayer.org or http://coolgus.com

  Follow Bob on Facebook

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  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  CUT OUT by Bob Mayer

  COPYRIGHT © 1995 by Bob Mayer, Updated 2011

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the author (Bob Mayer) except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Cool Gus Publishing

  http://coolgus.com

  Table of Contents

  Cut Out

  Author’s Note

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter 4

  Chapter Five

  Chapter 6

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter 23

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Epilogue

  More Books by Bob Mayer

  About Bob Mayer

  Copyright

 

 

 
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