“Look,” Erin said with a reasonable tone. “We have to get back to San Diego, and we still have something like fifteen of them out there somewhere. We really can’t be sitting ducks, and staying here guarantees another fight, and it won’t be an ambush by us the next time around. We are going to lose a lot of people if we have to duke it out when they know where we are.”
“They don’t know we’re here.”
“If they approach during the day, they will notice two of their now dead Humvees are less than a mile off the highway on open ground.” Stryker turned away and shook his head with an expression of frustration.
“They might assume we just left and went back to San Diego.”
“Or, they might think about it, realize that we could have gone to San Diego without a fight but didn’t, and conclude that we decided to finish them.”
“Let’s have a word.” Erin motioned to Stryker. The discussion was growing heated to the point where any solution at all was becoming impossible.
They got up from the table outside the beachfront building and moved to another table on the other side of the patio.
“What do you want to do?” Stryker said.
“I don’t know. On the one hand, we have seen this through so far, but on the other, we lost a man and will probably lose more if we get into another fight.”
“This guy really confuses me,” Stryker confessed. “He was crapping his pants the whole time we did a mission that he insisted on doing and now, all of a sudden, he’s all gung ho about finishing off these guys. I don’t get it at all.”
“Maybe we should just let him stay, and whatever happens, happens.”
“Believe me, there is nothing I would like better at this point.” Stryker looked away for a moment. “But we both know it’s not that simple.”
“Well, there’s a tough part,” Erin replied.
“The building next to the motor pool seems to be an armory. Why don’t we see what’s in it.”
“Works for me.”
“Let’s go.”
They rose and walked by the table where Tom still sat. He looked at Stryker with an expression of curiosity.
Stryker made a zipper gesture in front of his lips and walked by with Erin at his side.
Tom said nothing.
They walked by the two sentries Tom assigned to watch the gate to the base, crossed a large open expanse of land, and walked through a large garage door and into the dimness of the building.
Large heaps of rifles, ammo boxes, cases of food and water, and assorted other stuff lay in heaps in the corners of the structure. There did not seem to be any attempt to organize the items in the building.
“Christ, we can’t sort through all this.”
“Sure we can,” Erin replied. “What are we looking for?”
“I don’t really know; I was just tired of arguing with Tom and thought this might make a nice way to get a break from that and maybe find something useful.”
Stryker walked over to a large cabinet in one corner of the building, opened the door, and looked inside. “Bingo!”
“What is it?” Erin came up to his side and peered into the cabinet.
“Well, that’s a game changer,” Stryker whispered.
Their AT-4s, all four of them, were propped up against the back of the cabinet.
“Yes, it is. And, there’s the Barrett.” She reached in and pulled the long gun out of the cabinet with an expression of pure joy. “I love this weapon.” She sighed.
Stryker scratched his chin with a look of mock contemplation.
“I’m not sure we want to haul these all the way back to San Diego,” Erin said.
“Me either. Damn things are heavy.”
Stryker hoisted all four of them, looped the straps through one arm, and hoisted them onto his shoulder.
“What should we do with them?” Erin asked in a mischievous tone.
“Dunno, but I expect we’ll find a use for them.”
They walked out of the building and back toward the barracks. When Stryker had cleared the building earlier, he noticed a radio base station in one corner of the room that occasionally emitted static.
It was still filthy, the floors covered with dirty clothing, discarded beer bottles, and ground-out cigarette butts that smeared the floor with brown stains.
Stryker cleared off a bunk and set the ATs on the bed.
“I’m going to stay here and monitor the radio. Can you ask Tom to meet me here?”
“Sure.”
“And, ask Jose to get some food together.”
“Got it.”
A few minutes later, Tom appeared. Stryker motioned to the ATs on the bunk.
“Remember those?”
“Yes, I trained on them and used them in the sandbox while I was there.”
“I would call them a game changer.”
“Why?”
“We know around fifteen of the gang are still alive, and they think they might have to pick up two more, so they have four Humvees, and we happen to have four ATs.”
“So, you’re staying?”
“Erin and I don't want to have to haul them all the way back to San Diego.”
Tom examined him carefully to determine if was kidding or not.
He got his answer when Stryker’s face cracked into his signature lop-sided grin.
“I don't blame you. It’s a long way. What are we going to do now?”
“I’m going to monitor this radio because they must have some kind of call-in schedule.”
“You think they might actually say where they are?”
“Maybe, or when they plan to come back.”
“Then?”
“We take them out with the ATs as they come through the gate, mop up, and get the hell home.”
“Why are you really doing this?”
“For one thing, Erin wants to help.”
“What’s the other thing?”
“I don't think your odds are very good without us.”
“That might be true, but there’s got to be more.”
“We lost a man already, plus the two they killed at the hotel, and I wasn’t anxious who lose more men. Killing the gang is not the mission here. When we found the ATs, I realized that you and I can conduct the battle without risking the others as much, and the risk/reward calculus shifted in favor of finishing the job.”
“Whatever you say.” Tom’s face expressed doubt. “It doesn’t really matter, so long as we put the mad dogs down. That’s all I really care about.”
“Can you tell the men what's going on?”
“Yes. I am going to scout out firing positions, and talk to the sentries about what do when they spot the Humvees.”
“Good, I’m going to see if we can find anything else useful here.”
“We could head south and set up an ambush,” Tom said.
“We could, but we know they are coming here, we have good cover, and now we have fire superiority, so I think it’s best we take them here.”
“Fine. I’ll spread the word.”
Stryker stood in the courtyard in front of the barracks and examined each building carefully. The garage was tempting. If they could hide until all the Humvees were in the garage, they could take down the entire building.
His mind worked calculations in the background, his parallel processor whirling through cover options, trajectories, and where the gang members would likely park the vehicles.
He discarded the garage option almost immediately. If he were Carlos coming into the base, he would have each Humvee shear off after the entrance and park in all four corners of the courtyard.
Sooner or later, he was going to call in and, when nobody answered, he would be suspicious. By then, they will have discovered the bodies, seen the wreckage in the room, and know his men had been shot and, whoever did it, was still around.
The choke point was the gate in front of the base. They would have to come through one at a time, which would give Tom and him time to fire two
ATs each and take them all down at once.
Stryker returned to examining the buildings and firing angles from each.
The garage had potential. A shooter ten feet into the building would be invisible to the gang as they passed through the gate. Stryker walked inside, found a large metal rolling tool box, and moved it to the center of the building into the shade. He walked out and stopped at the gate, standing next to the sentries.
“Gentlemen.” He nodded, and then looked back into the garage. The tool box was invisible.
The taller of the men simply nodded his acknowledgement and turned back to watch to the south. The other man didn’t turn around at all.
Stryker moved until he stood in front of them.
“When you spot them, get out of sight. Tom is going to position everyone and he’ll brief you later. For now, just get out of sight after you let Tom and I know they are approaching. You got a clear line of sight to the south, so you should be able to see them when they are five klicks away. That is plenty of time for us to arrange a welcome for them.
“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.
Stryker walked back to the courtyard and again looked at the buildings. The second floor of the barracks seemed promising. A man could cover the entire area with ease; there were clear firing lanes with no obstacles.
He walked back to the barracks, grabbed two ATs off the bed and carried them to the second floor, where he propped them against the wall next to the center window. Then he opened the window and stared out.
It was close to perfect. Stryker looked around and noticed a large dining room table in the middle of the room. He set it on its side, unscrewed the legs, and opened the latch in the center. This created two separate pieces of thick hardwood which he dragged back to the window. After propping them up against the wall below, he stood back and examined it.
“Not perfect,” he said to himself, “but good enough to provide small arms cover.”
Stryker then placed the other two ATs in the garage next to the tool box and walked back to the barracks.
He sat next to the base station reading magazines and settled in for a long wait.
A few minutes later, Tom walked in with two plates of steaming fish and fried bananas.
Erin showed up a few minutes later with her food.
Stryker reviewed the plan as they ate, explaining where he had put the ATs. He asked Tom to take the barracks and he would take the garage.
“What about me?” Erin asked.
“Roof of the warehouse,” Stryker mumbled between bites. “You need to make sure they can’t fire on us effectively.”
“What about the other men?” Tom asked.
“Put a pair of them in the garage, a pair with you in the barracks, and have the sentries fall back to the side of the warehouse. That will put them almost parallel to the column. Their fire will be away from our two positions, and they will be out of our firing lines as well.”
“Makes sense.”
They all continued eating in silence, when the radio crackled and an angry voice began berating the men who were no longer striding the earth.
After a long diatribe, filled with threats and swear words, the voice grew less angry for a few sentences, and then the transmission ceased.
“What did he say?” Erin asked.
“Well, he ended by saying they would be here tomorrow. The rest of it was pretty… colorful.
“Like what?”
“He told his men that their mothers didn’t give birth to them; they shit the men out.”
“That is pretty colorful.” Tom grinned.
“It's about the worst insult you can pay anyone in Spanish,” Stryker replied.
Erin frowned/grimaced. “It's the worst insult I ever heard in any language.”
“Did he say what time they would get here?”
“No, but I’m not sure he wasn’t lying, and if he was, it means they will be here today.” Stryker’s expression was grim.
“Why?”
“Because he would want to arrive before we get ready, not after. Remember, he knows we’re around, and he is getting no answer from his men when he calls.”
“Unless he is retarded, he knows there is a possibility that we are here and waiting for him,” Erin pointed out.
“What can he do about it?” Tom asked. “All the food, water and weapons are here. He doesn’t have a choice.”
“Well, I don't think they are going to come over the fence around the base,” Stryker mused. “But, they might. There is no other gate, but just in case, let’s have the sentries each take one side of the compound. If they try to dismount a few men and have them come at us from the sides, we have that covered.”
“Sounds good to me,” Tom answered.
“What about a night attack?” Erin asked.
“That’s a possibility, but it would favor us as the Humvees are large targets and hard to miss even in the dark.”
“They might do it anyway. They know the base like the back of their hands, and they may have some other way in.”
“They can also take the same detour we used to get around the base and come at us from the north. I don’t see how that changes anything. They still have to come through the gate at some point.” Stryker turned to Tom. “You want to tell the sentries to watch to the north as well? Just in case.”
“Sure. I’ll tell them. But, the land is flat in all directions so they would notice any approach from that direction.” Tom chuckled. “You could watch your dog run away for a week here.”
Erin stared at him. “Stryker says that too. Is it a marine saying?”
Stryker shook his head. “No, it’s a West Texas thing.”
“You Texan?” Tom asked.
“Little town called Eden.”
“I’m from San Angelo.”
“Used to go up there to fish,” Stryker said. “Pretty little town.”
“It was a great place to grow up. All the parks and lakes made that town very livable.” Tom smiled. “It’s good to be around another Texan.”
“Remember the Alamo,” Stryker muttered with a grin. He looked at Erin. “After we eat, why don't you check our perimeter make sure there are no hidden access points?”
“Okay.”
They finished eating, and Erin went to walk the fence line. Tom gathered his men in the courtyard to review the plan, and Stryker took a nap.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Stryker woke up a few hours later, ambled outside, and looked around. The sun was lower in the sky, and it was a cloudless day with a mild breeze coming off the ocean.
He walked over to where the sentries stood, noted they were looking both north and south, and nodded with approval.
Stryker found Tom and Erin outside the building closest to the beach.
“We going to stay up tonight?” Erin asked.
“Yes, but in shifts,” Stryker replied. “The good news is that the engine sounds can be heard from miles away with air this still. We should have at last five minutes to get ready.”
“I told the men to sleep near the shooting positions so they can be up and firing in less than a minute.
Stryker nodded. “That should do it.”
“Well, all that’s left is to wait for them to show up.” Tom sighed.
“This was always the part I hated most.” Stryker shook his head in disgust. “Jock up, jock down. Over and over again. Get ready, and then stand down”
“I hated that too.” Tom agreed.
“Well, at least we get some quality time together.” Erin smiled ironically.
“We do.” Stryker grinned back.
Stryker looked to the gate and saw one of the sentries motion him toward the entrance.
They all stood and walked over to the man.
“What is it?” Tom asked.
“Look to the south,” he whispered back.
They saw a single Humvee parked on the shoulder of the highway a few klicks away.
It was empty.
�
��Well, that’s interesting,” Stryker said.
“Why is it there?” Erin asked.
“Probably an advance element. They are watching us from somewhere and will report back to the boss. They know we are here now.”
“I don't see how it changes anything.” Tom looked at the Humvee. “They still have to come here for their stuff.”
“Maybe not,” Stryker replied. “That is parked in front of the main gate to the navy base.”
“I didn’t know there was a navy base here.”
“Just to the south of us.”
“Why would they be there?”
Stryker pointed to a four story building in the distance, directly to the south. “They probably have eyes on us now, which means they have already radioed the boss, and he knows we’re here.”
“Still don't see how it changes anything.”
“Maybe not. Or, maybe so.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Tom asked.
“That they are doing it for a reason. My guess is they are trying to figure out how to take the base back without losing their men. Something must have occurred to them, or they would just come charging in.”
Stryker fell into a trancelike state as his mind churned through the possibilities. His parallel process lurched to a halt.
“You find boats on a naval base. Lots of them.”
All three turned toward the ocean behind them.
“No, that would be insane,” Tom said. “That’s an entirely coverless approach.”
“I’ve been down this road before,” Stryker replied, remembering the attempted assault in San Diego. “It is possible. They might try to land a few guys, or have them walk down the beach from the naval base. They would get our attention focused the wrong way and then the real assault would take place. They are not going to leave their .50s out of the fight, so this gate is still the main objective. But we need to put a few guys to the rear along the beach. When we hear gunfire from that direction, we know the assault is beginning.”
“It still is insane,” Tom repeated.
“Jose already told us Carlos is nuts.”
“True. But, I’m not sure we have enough shooters to cover all the approaches.”
“Nothing changes for the three of us. We still have to take out the Humvees at the gate. But you are going to have to redeploy your guys to cover the sides and the beach.”
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