Act of War - Brad Thor Page 0,118
orb of infrared light through his night vision goggles, he tapped Tang on the shoulder and pointed to where they were headed. Three and a half minutes later, they were again on the move.
Arriving at Johnson and Tucker’s hide, the team members fist-bumped as Fordyce and Tang shrugged off their packs and sucked down a ton of water from their Camelbaks.
“How is he?” Fordyce whispered once he had gotten enough of his breath back.
Tucker looked at Jin-Sang and then back at the lieutenant. “He’s pretty doped up. That ride back is going to suck for him.”
Fordyce remembered how many potholes they had hit and how uneven the roads had been. It was a rough ride without a tib/fib fracture. Tucker was smart to have upped the little boy’s pain medication.
“What the fuck happened?” Johnson asked, staring at Tang’s bloodstained clothes. “Cut yourself shaving?”
With the bite valve of his water bladder between his teeth, Tang smiled and said, “Actually, cut somebody else shaving.”
“Who was she?”
Tang flipped him the finger and Johnson smiled. It was one of the first moments of camaraderie between the men.
As Fordyce filled them in on what had happened, he showed them the patch Billy Tang had taken from the dead Chinese officer.
“You are a crazy motherfucker,” Johnson said to the CIA man. “Good job.”
“What about the sister?” Tucker asked.
Tang shook his head. “You were right. TB. She was never going to make it.”
“Did you?” the corpsman asked, alluding to another reason there might have been blood on his hands.
“No. When I went back to her bed to get my SIG, she had already passed.”
“Are you going to tell him?” he asked, tilting his head toward the little boy.
“Not now,” Tang replied. “The less pain he feels, physically and emotionally, the better off this operation is going to be.”
That was the smart play for right now and Tucker nodded his head.
“What kind of intel did the sister have?” Johnson asked. “Was it worth it?”
It was, and Tang kept his explanation short. Johnson and Tucker were stunned, but not surprised. Everyone, particularly those in the military and intelligence communities, knew that an attack of the type and magnitude the Chinese had planned was only a matter of time.
Shouldering their packs, Tucker took point, followed by Fordyce and Tang, who carried the makeshift stretcher with Jin-Sang. Johnson brought up the rear.
It was much easier going and they made it to the bottom without any falls or twisted ankles. Once there, they hid themselves and waited.
Five minutes after the agreed-to rendezvous time, Fordyce looked at Tang and pointed to his watch. The CIA man had no idea why Hyun Su was late and could only shrug in response.
When five minutes turned to twenty, and then to a half hour, Fordyce pulled out his map and began refreshing himself with the details of their contingency plan.
There was a river twenty klicks away. If they followed it downstream another ten kilometers, they would come to a mining camp that had its own rail line. Anything headed east would shave off half to three-quarters of the distance they needed to travel to get to the coast.
“Fuck that,” Johnson said. “It’ll take forever with the kid.”
“I’m open to any better ideas you may have,” Fordyce replied.
Pointing down toward the road, Johnson said, “We’ll wait until somebody comes along and then jack ’em.”
Fordyce shook his head. “Nobody travels this road. We could be here for weeks.”
Just then, the growl of a diesel engine could be heard climbing uphill in their direction.
Johnson raised his eyebrows.
“Sounds like our ride,” said Tang.
“What if it isn’t?” Johnson asked.
Fordyce looked over at Tucker. “Tuck, how clean a shot do you have?”
“It depends. What do you want me to hit?”
“The driver.”
Tucker shook his head. “Lot of branches between here and there.”
“Be ready to take a shot. If that isn’t Hyun Su’s rig coming up that hill, you’re cleared hot.”
“Roger that,” said Tucker as he leaned into the butt of his rifle.
They all listened as the growling got closer. Whatever was coming, it didn’t sound like Hyun Sun’s truck.
“Coming into range,” said Tucker as he flipped off his safety and began applying pressure to his trigger. “Three seconds.”
When the truck came into view, it was obviously not Hyun Su’s.
“Send it,” said Fordyce.
“Wait!” Tang interjected. “Don’t shoot.”
“What the—” Johnson began to say.
“It’s Hyun Su,” replied Tang, handing his binoculars to Fordyce. “Look. It’s him.”
“He’s right,” said Tucker, easing off his trigger.
Fordyce looked through the binoculars. “Where’s the truck he used to get us here?”
Leaving