by Mark Lemke
CHAPTER 47
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SATURDAY MORNING
THE INCURSION
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Out in the hills behind the power plant, the fog was moving inland now and with it came the cold.? Nick's team was trying to stay warm and in a ready condition.? They were about to be asked to do something that gave them pause.? When they'd done this kind of thing before, they were in the military and the bad guys were of a different nationality.? Now, they were all civilians and working for a company that provided industrial security assessments.?
Their boss was inside and in harm's way, and they'd do their best to protect him.? They were all indebted to Nick for their lives through a bond with him that was forged in far-away places, on missions that didn't officially exist.? They were thinking men but were fiercely loyal to Nick and to each other.?None of them had a problem with this job, but it had crossed a few minds that they were likely as not going to kill some people.? It was possible that they may have even trained with some of these guys at some point in their careers.?
It was this thoughtfulness that made the people on his team valuable to Nick. But thoughtfulness didn't equate to hesitation.? The time for discussion was in the briefing, not in the field.? The team knew that and was fully prepared to do what they came to do, and do it quickly and efficiently.? The men weren't mercenaries, like the members of Jansen's team.? They were patriots, and they would do what they had to do to preserve the peace.? Even though they weren't wearing the uniforms anymore, if you cut them they'd all bleed olive drab green-the color of all things Army.?
It was 0200; the time Red One gave them to begin.? The Red Two team leader looked at his watch and then gave two quick squawks on his comm as a signal to his team that they were go for take-back.? He and five others were already positioned in the brush well behind Jansen's team, but close enough to be in position to breach the fence should that be necessary.?
Meanwhile, the two-man sniper/observer team was in a hide site one hundred meters uphill and behind them.? Their scopes had special optics for use at night, allowing them to see Jansen's team while remaining hidden themselves, keeping a low profile and ready to move.? The sniper/observer team had to move into position quickly when they got the go order earlier in the day and didn't have time to set up the hide site a day in advance as they normally would have done.? They moved into a position Nick had described as a likely spot to view Jansen's team.? When they'd arrived an hour ago, they found the bad guys right where they were supposed to be.?
They checked the weather one last time.? The air was heavy with moisture, but this was mostly irrelevant at this relatively short distance.? The spotter got his final wind speed based on the swaying of the plants halfway to their targets as well as close up to the targets, using their Leopold spotting scope.? Wind direction was based on a variety of factors, including the direction of the waves and surface ripples on the nearby ocean.? They determined distance information with a laser finder.?? They assumed the men they were going against today were well trained and armed, and so they would not take this lightly.? One slip could give them away, and they didn't intend to let that happen.
The observer whispered the information to the sniper, who took aim with his suppressed .300 Win Mag long gun.? After taking a few deep breaths, then one last controlled breath, he let it out and slowly squeezed his 2.5 lb. custom-milled trigger.? The first man on Jansen's team dropped before the crack of the round could have been heard if the rifle hadn't been suppressed.? With calm winds and a direct line of sight, there was no need for trajectory corrections, so the other five men were down within seconds of the first.?
The sniper team now trained their view on the remote parking lot.? It was the best vantage point for anyone wanting to establish a mobile command post.? It was remote, provided a good view, was patrolled infrequently, and had a good means of egress.? Just the kind of spot Jansen would likely use for his lookout.? They were told to look for Jansen and find him if they could.?
The rest of Red Two's team got the report that Jansen's team was down, confirmed dead by the spotter.? They got ready to move.? They had suppressed carbines that shot 5.56 mm hollow-tip rounds so as not to over-penetrate the body and risk hitting someone inside the plant. ?The rounds traveled at 3,200 feet per second supersonic speed.?
The men wore gloves to protect their hands from the thickets and brush, but with the fingertips cut off their trigger fingers and thumbs so they could shoot more effectively.? They humped in all the gear they would need to breach the fence, including a quickie saw, with a twenty-inch, diamond-studded, tungsten blade that could make quick work of a chain-link fence.? Blowing a hole in the fence with explosives took longer and would definitely create more noise and attract attention.? Minimizing attention and moving as quickly as possible would enhance their chance of success.?
Each man had an earbud/push-to-talk comm link with the team leader.? The team leader opened a comm channel with Nick and informed him of their success.?
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