Death Blow sts-14

by Keith Douglass

  Midnight was the call-out time. His watch showed 2200, two hours yet. He’d go early, get there about eleven, drive out partway, the last two miles with no lights and park on the shoulder. He knew a place. Then walk in circling around to come at the restrooms from the back. Yeah.

  It worked out just that way. He came into the state beach on the bay side and went to ground studying the area. One car in the far end of the parking spaces, a quarter mile away. No threat. He couldn’t see anyone behind the restrooms, but that wall was in deep moon shadows.

  In those shadows, Sanchez thought he heard something behind him. He turned and scanned the darkness there illuminated somewhat by the bright moon. Now his Army training came full circle. He had been with the Mexican Army Rangers, line crossers, the elite of the Army’s attack and covert forces. He could smell an enemy soldier at fifty yards.

  Now he came fully alert. There was someone or something out there. A coyote, a rabbit, or a man, maybe Anderson. He slid around the corner of the restroom still in the shadows, lay on his stomach and peered out from ground level at the area he suspected. Nothing, not yet, just that vague hypersense that alerted him.

  Howie Anderson was not the quietest man in the platoon, but he had learned to move over ground with a minimum of sound. Now he used that technique, walking crouched over to cast a smaller shadow, testing each footstep to be sure it would not break a stick or kick a rock. Soon he was fifty yards from the restroom. He could see nothing in back of the restroom in the shadows.

  He wished now that he had a pair of night vision goggles. He’d have cut the little Mexican cop into pieces by now. He had to be there. He said he would, and he’d come early. But where, damn it, where was he?

  Howie moved again, slower now, easing his feet into the sandy black top of the parking lot. The bastard was here close, somewhere. But where? Had he moved around the edge of the building? Had he somehow figured that being a SEAL, his target would come in the unexpected way?

  Sanchez rubbed his eyes and stared into the darkness again. Had he seen a moon shadow down there thirty yards moving slowly toward him? Or had it been a cloud? No, not a cloud. He lifted the M16 assault rifle fitted with a laser aiming light and brought it around to where he figured the shadow had been. A damn SEAL would come in the back way. He’d park out of hearing and walk in, then attack soundlessly. He probably had a submachine gun.

  Yes! The shadow moved. It came another step toward his position, then went prone watching forward. Sanchez clicked on the laser sighting light. It would project a red dot on the target wherever the barrel was pointed. Get the dot on target and the bullet would follow with incredible accuracy. The rifle had been charged with a round while he was still in the car and the safety put on. Now he snicked off the safety and swung the barrel around at the target.

  Howie Anderson thought he heard something, a safety on a weapon sliding to the off position? He wasn’t sure. He rested a minute. His heart was hammering in his chest. He hadn’t had such a high since he’d taken out that drug supplier in TJ. He moved a foot forward, then saw something on his hand.

  Christ! A laser dot. He dove to the left away from it just as the M16 opened fire on full automatic.

  Howie felt the first bullet hit him in the arm. It was a long trail of fire up his arm into his shoulder. Then another slug ripped into his upper chest and a third and he stopped rolling. He had slued sideways so his body was open to the rounds. Three more thundered into his unprotected chest. Howie felt them hit, he tried to scream, but nothing came out. The pain boiled through him then, searing, scorching like a blowtorch on his bare skin. The agony zoomed a million times, churning, tearing at him, smashing his whole nervous system into a mass of wreckage. He felt more rounds hitting his legs and then working back up to his chest. The faint moonlight faded, and a moment later Howie Anderson gave a shrill scream that ended when two rounds drilled through his head, slamming him backward into the sandy blacktop paving and straight into hell.

  Sanchez stopped firing. He ran to the crumpled man who lay on the parking lot dressed in his desert cammies. A submachine gun lay at his side. Sanchez was tempted to take it. No let the weapon stay there. It would be a puzzle for the police and the Navy to solve.

  Detective Sergeant Sanchez lifted his M16 rifle and trotted toward the rented car in the far end of the lot. He drove into Coronado on the Strand, then through the quiet streets and over the Coronado Bay bridge into San Diego. He was halfway to the border on U.S. 5 when he took out a cell phone. He dialed 911 and spoke quickly and clearly.

  “There has been a shooting on the Silver Strand State Beach just down from Coronado. It’s serious. Someone has been shot several times.”

  “Yes, I understand,” the operator said. “Who is this and where are you?”

  “On the Silver Strand State Beach, a man is seriously wounded. Send an ambulance at once.”

  “Yes. I have that, a unit is on the way. Are you close by? Stay on the phone, please so I can get some more…”

  Detective Sergeant Mad Dog Sanchez of the Tijuana city police broke the phone connection, and nodded. Sometimes the law wasn’t enough. Killers had to be dealt with in the only way they understood.

  Ensenada, Mexico

  It was two days before they located Lieutenant Commander Blake Murdock. That happened only because he called in when Ardith was napping to see what was going on.

  “Commander, some bad news,” Master Chief MacKenzie said. “One of your boys has been killed, shot eighteen times, the coroner tells us. It’s Howard Anderson. He was on the state beach out on the Strand. The strange part is he was in his cammies and had three weapons with him including that MP-five we lost six months ago on a training exercise. Coronado homicide got a warrant to search his apartment. They found four automatic weapons, two more that we show as missing from Third Platoon inventory, as well as boxes of ammo and grenades and even two Claymore mines. Something wasn’t right about that boy.”

  “Anything I can do?”

  “Police have it in hand. They say they had a nine-one-one call about midnight, but the man caller wouldn’t identify himself or remain on the phone. The operator said she was sure it was a Spanish accent that she heard in the voice. That’s all they have. Oh, the rounds that riddled Anderson were NATO five fifty-sixes; the police think they were fired from an M-sixteen.”

  “Any good rifling on the rounds?”

  “Plenty, Commander.”

  “Have every weapon in our Platoon armory that uses the five fifty-six for the M-sixteen uses test fired and the rifling checked against that of the death slugs.”

  “Will do, Commander.”

  “Any of our men across the Quarterdeck that day?”

  “No sir, not a one.”

  “I’ll be back in twenty-four.”

  “Commander, sir. Nothing we can do. Finish your mini-vacation. Relax. There will be enough to do when you report back in three or four days.”

  Murdock shook his head and took a deep breath. “Yeah, Master Chief, I think you’re right.” He looked over at Ardith who had just come awake, long blond hair trailing down over her shoulders and half hiding her bare breasts. She smiled at him and he almost dropped the phone.

  “Anything important?” Ardith asked.

  Murdock grinned and shook his head. She sat up on the hotel bed and her hair fell away from her chest.

  “Nothing important,” he said. He lifted the phone. “Master Chief, I’ll see you on the Quarterdeck in three or four days.”

  SEAL TALK

  MILITARY GLOSSARY

  Aalvin: Small U.S. two-man submarine.

  Admin: Short for administration.

  Aegis: Advanced Naval air defense radar system. AH-1W Super Cobra: Has M179 undernose turret with 20mm Gatling gun.

  AK-47: 7.63-round Russian Kalashnikov automatic rifle. Most widely used assault rifle in the world.

  AK-74: New, improved version of the Kalashnikov. Fires the 5 .45mm round. Has 30-round magazine. Rate of
fire: 600 rounds per minute. Many slight variations made for many different nations.

  AN/PRC-117D: Radio, also called SATCOM. Works with Milstar satellite in 22,300-mile equatorial orbit for instant worldwide radio, voice, or video communications. Size: 15 inches high, 3 inches wide, 3 inches deep. Weighs 15 pounds. Microphone and voice output. Has encrypter, capable of burst transmissions of less than a second.

  AN/PUS-7: Night-Vision Goggles. Weighs 1.5 pounds.

  ANVIS-6: Night-Vision Goggles on air crewmen’s helmets.

  APC: Armored Personnel Carrier.

  ASROC: Nuclear-tipped antisubmarine rocket torpedoes launched by Navy ships.

  Assault Vest: Combat vest with full loadouts of ammo, gear.

  ASW: Anti-Submarine Warfare.

  Attack Board: Molded plastic with two handgrips with bubble compass on it. Also depth gauge and Cyalume chemical lights with twist knob to regulate amount of light. Used for underwater guidance on long swim.

  Aurora: Air Force recon plane. Can circle at 90,000 feet. Can’t be seen or heard from ground. Used for thermal imaging.

  AWACS: Airborne Warning And Control System. Radar units in high-flying aircraft to scan for planes at any altitude out 200 miles. Controls air-to-air engagements with enemy forces. Planes have a mass of communication and electronic equipment.

  Balaclavas: Headgear worn by some SEALs.

  Bent Spear: Less serious nuclear violation of safety.

  BKA, Bundeskriminant: Germany’s federal investigation unit.

  Black Talon: Lethal hollow-point ammunition made by Winchester. Outlawed some places.

  Blivet: A collapsible fuel container. SEALs sometimes use it.

  BLU-43B: Antipersonnel mine used by SEALs.

  BLU-96: A fuel-air explosive bomb. It disperses a fuel oil into the air, then explodes the cloud. Many times more powerful than conventional bombs because it doesn’t carry its own chemical oxidizers.

  BMP-1: Soviet armored fighting vehicle (AFV), low, boxy, crew of 3 and 8 combat troops. Has tracks and a 73mm cannon. Also an AT-3 Sagger antitank missile and coaxial machine gun.

  Body Armor: Far too heavy for SEAL use in the water.

  Bogey: Pilots’ word for an unidentified aircraft.

  Boghammar Boat: Long, narrow, low dagger boat; high-speed patrol craft. Swedish make. Iran had 40 of them in 1993.

  Boomer: A nuclear-powered missile submarine.

  Bought It: A man has been killed. Also “bought the farm.”

  Bow Cat: The bow catapult on a carrier to launch jets.

  Broken Arrow: Any accident with nuclear weapons, or any incident of nuclear material lost, shot down, crashed, stolen, hijacked.

  Browning 9mm High Power: A Belgium 9mm pistol, 13 rounds in magazine. First made 1935.

  Buddy Line: 6 feet long, ties 2 SEALs together in the water for control and help if needed.

  BUD/S: Coronado, California, nickname for SEAL training facility for six months’ course.

  Bull Pup. Still in testing; new soldier’s rifle. SEALs have a dozen of them for regular use. Army gets them in 2005. Has a 5.56 kinetic round, 30-shot clip. Also 20mm high-explosive round and 5-shot magazine. Twenties can be fused for proximity airbursts with use of video camera, laser range finder, and laser targeting. Fuses by number of turns the round needs to reach laser spot. Max range: 1200 yards. Twenty round can also detonate on contact, and has delay fuse. Weapon weighs 14 pounds. SEALs love it. Can in effect “shoot around corners” with the airburst feature.

  BUPERS: BUreau of PERSonnel.

  C-2A Greyhound: 2-engine turboprop cargo plane that lands on carriers. Also called COD, Carrier Onboard Delivery. Two pilots and engineer. Rear fuselage loading ramp. Cruise speed 300 mph, range 1,000 miles. Will hold 39 combat troops. Lands on CVN carriers at sea.

  C-4: Plastic explosive. A claylike explosive that can be molded and shaped. It will burn. Fairly stable.

  C-6 Plastique: Plastic explosive. Developed from C-4 and C-5. Is often used in bombs with radio detonator or digital timer.

  C-9 Nightingale: Douglas DC-9 fitted as a medical-evacuation transport plane.

  C-130 Hercules: Air Force transporter for long haul. 4 engines.

  C-141 Starlifter: Airlift transport for cargo, paratroops, evac for long distances. Top speed 566 mph. Range with payload 2,935 miles. Ceiling 41,600 feet.

  Caltrops: Small four-pointed spikes used to flatten tires. Used in the Crusades to disable horses.

  Camel Back: Used with drinking tube for 70 ounces of water attached to vest.

  Cammies: Working camouflaged wear for SEALs. Two different patterns and colors. Jungle and desert.

  Cannon Fodder: Old term for soldiers in line of fire destined to die in the grand scheme of warfare.

  Capped: Killed, shot, or otherwise snuffed.

  CAR-15: The Colt M-4Al. Sliding-stock carbine with grenade launcher under barrel. Knight sound-suppressor. Can have AN/PAQ-4 laser aiming light under the carrying handle. .223 round. 20- or 30-round magazine. Rate of fire: 700 to 1,000 rounds per minute.

  Cascade Radiation: U-235 triggers secondary radiation in other dense materials.

  Cast Off: Leave a dock, port, land. Get lost. Navy: long, then short signal of horn, whistle, or light.

  Castle Keep: The main tower in any castle.

  Caving Ladder: Roll-up ladder that can be let down to climb.

  CH-46E: Sea Knight chopper. Twin rotors, transport. Can carry 25 combat troops. Has a crew of 3. Cruise speed 154 mph. Range 420 miles.

  CH-53D Sea Stallion: Big Chopper. Not used much anymore.

  Chaff: A small cloud of thin pieces of metal, such as tinsel, that can be picked up by enemy radar and that can attract a radar-guided missile away from the plane to hit the chaff.

  Charlie-Mike: Code words for continue the mission.

  Chief to Chief: Bad conduct by EM handled by chiefs so no record shows or is passed up the chain of command.

  Chocolate Mountains: Land training center for SEALs near these mountains in the California desert.

  Christians In Action: SEAL talk for not-always-friendly CIA.

  CIA: Central Intelligence Agency.

  CIC: Combat Information Center. The place on a ship where communications and control areas are situated to open and control combat fire.

  CINC: Commander IN Chief.

  CINCLANT: Navy Commander IN Chief, atLANTtic.

  CINCPAC: Commander-IN-Chief, PACific.

  Class of 1978: Not a single man finished BUD/S training in this class. All-time record.

  Claymore: An antipersonnel mine carried by SEALs on many of their missions.

  Cluster Bombs: A canister bomb that explodes and spreads small bomblets over a great area. Used against parked aircraft, massed troops, and unarmored vehicles.

  CNO: Chief of Naval Operations.

  CO-2 Poisoning: During deep dives. Abort dive at once and surface.

  COD: Carrier Onboard Delivery plane.

  Cold Pack Rations: Food carried by SEALs to use if needed.

  Combat Harness: American Body Armor nylon-mesh special-operations vest. 6 2-magazine pouches for drum-fed belts, other pouches for other weapons, waterproof pouch for Motorola.

  CONUS: The Continental United States.

  Corfams: Dress shoes for SEALs.

  Covert Action Staff: A CIA group that handles all covert action by the SEALs.

  CQB: Close Quarters Battle house. Training facility near Nyland in the desert training area. Also called the Kill House.

  CQB: Close Quarters Battle. A fight that’s up close, hand-to-hand, whites-of-his-eyes, blood all over you.

  CRRC Bundle: Roll it off plane, sub, boat. The assault boat for 8 SEALs. Also the IBS, Inflatable Boat Small.

  Cutting Charge: Lead-sheathed explosive. Triangular strip of high-velocity explosive sheathed in metal. Point of the triangle focuses a shaped-charge effect. Cuts a pencil-line-wide hole to slice a steel girder in half.

  CVN: A U.S. aircraft carrier with nuclear po
wer. Largest that we have in fleet.

  CYA: Cover Your Ass, protect yourself from friendlies or officers above you and JAG people.

  Damfino: Damned if I know. SEAL talk.

  DDS: Dry Dock Shelter. A clamshell unit on subs to deliver SEALs and SDVs to a mission.

  DEFCON: DEFense CONdition. How serious is the threat?

  Delta Forces: Army special forces, much like SEALs.

  Desert Cammies: Three-color, desert tan and pale green with streaks of pink. For use on land.

  DIA: Defense Intelligence Agency.

  Dilos Class Patrol Boat: Greek, 29 feet long, 75 tons displacement.

  Dirty Shirt Mess: Officers can eat there in flying suits on board a carrier.

  DNS: Doppler Navigation System.

  Draegr LAR V: Rebreather that SEALs use. No bubbles.

  DREC: Digitally Reconnoiterable Electronic Component. Top-secret computer chip from NSA that lets it decipher any U.S. military electronic code.

  E-2C Hawkeye: Navy, carrier-based, Airborne Early Warning craft for long-range early warning and threat-assessment and fighter-direction. Has a 24-foot saucer-like rotodome over the wing. Crew 5, max speed 326 knots, ceiling 30,800 feet, radius 175 nautical miles with 4 hours on station.

  E-3A Skywarrior: Old electronic intelligence craft. Replaced by the newer ES-3A.

  E-4B NEACP: Called Kneecap. National Emergency Airborne Command Post. A greatly modified Boeing 747 used as a communications base for the President of the United States and other high-ranking officials in an emergency and in wartime.

  E & E: SEAL talk for escape and evasion.

  EA-6B Prowler: Navy plane with electronic countermeasures. Crew of 4, max speed 566 knots, ceiling 41,200 feet, range with max load 955 nautical miles.

  EAR: Enhanced Acoustic Rifle. Fires not bullets, but a high-impact blast of sound that puts the target down and unconscious for up to six hours. Leaves him with almost no aftereffects. Used as a non-lethal weapon. The sound blast will bounce around inside a building, vehicle, or ship and knock out anyone who is within range. Ten shots before the weapon must be electrically charged. Range: about 200 yards.