The Ashes of Pompeii (Purge of Babylon, Book 5) (35 page)

“Promise?” Gaby said.

“That hurts. That really, really hurts.”

“Hey, if you can’t take the heat,” Gaby started to say, when she stopped and said instead, “Danny.”

“I see it,” Danny said. “Karaoke, your ten o’clock.”

Keo had no trouble making them out against the green phosphor of the night-vision goggles he had put on an hour ago. Lara had given him a first-generation device, which was not nearly as bright or clear as the third-generation he was used to working with back in his old job. It was good enough, though, to let him spot the bright circles of light—at least a dozen of them—moving in their direction.

They were spotlights at the front of a fleet of boats.

He clicked his radio’s Push-To-Talk switch. “I see them.”

“You have the better angle,” Danny said. “What’s the count?”

“Ten.”

“That’s more than last time. Looks like they’re going to love us to death with sheer numbers.”

“You guys must be really special.”

“It’s the special sauce. Everyone wants the special sauce.”

“Ten boats?” Lara said through the radio. “Or ten spotlights, Keo?”

“Boats,” Keo said. “Ten boats. Confirmed.”

“Can you see what kind of boats?”

“Not a chance. Give them ten more minutes.”

“Benny, Carly?” Lara said.

“Keo’s right,” Carly said through the radio. Carly was in the Tower with Benny, using night-vision binoculars to keep an eye on the surrounding lake. “I see ten separate lights moving from the southeast shoreline. They’re launching from the old marina.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Lara said. “They have the entire lake to launch from. Why the marina?”

“Crazy kids be doing crazy things,” Danny said.

“You think it’s a trick?” Gaby asked.

Lara didn’t answer right away. After awhile, she said, “It doesn’t matter. What matters is where they’re headed. Nate, Carrie, and Jo, report in.”

“I don’t see anything back here,” Carrie said.

“Nothing here, either,” Jo said. “I can’t hear a single engine or see anything moving out there.”

“Confirming the big fat nothing,” Nate said. “It looks like they’re going to hit the beach straight on, just like you said.” Then, sounding slightly anxious, “I’m heading over there now.”

“No, stay where you are,” Lara said.

“I’ll be more useful down there.”

“Nate, I need everyone exactly where I put them. That’s an order.”

“There’s nothing back here,” Nate said. “You were right. They’re going to assault the beach. That’s where I should be.”

“Stay where you are.”

“I’m coming—”

“Nate,” Gaby said, “do what Lara says. We’ll be fine over here.”

“I can be more useful down there,” Nate said.

“Please, hold your position. Lara knows what she’s doing.”

“Gaby…”

“Nate,”
the girl said. There was a surprising hardness to her voice. “Please, stay where you are. We’ll be fine down here.”

There was a brief pause, then Nate said, “Roger that.”

Keo had to admit, he was impressed with the girl. He didn’t know a lot of nineteen-year-olds who had that kind of control over not just her emotions, but others as well. Nate might as well be putty in her hands.

“Blaine, Bonnie,” Lara said through the comm. “What do you see?”

“Confirming that everything’s clear back here,” Blaine said.

“Night vision?”

“Yeah, and still nothing.”

“Ditto for me,” Bonnie added. “You were right, Lara. They’re going to attack the beach with everything they have.”

“Weekend warriors,” Danny snorted. “These yahoos wouldn’t know a sound tactical plan if it bit them on their keisters.”

“Everyone maintain your positions,” Lara said. “Everyone has a job to do, so
do your part.
”

She sounded firm and in control. To listen to her, Keo could almost believe she wasn’t scared shitless at this very moment. Of course, he knew better, but she was doing exactly what she needed to—giving off the aura of confidence that the others needed to hear. Not bad for a third-year medical student.

“Lock and load, boys and girls,” Danny said. “Shoot first, shoot straight, and shoot often. And if all else fails, shoot some more.”

“You practiced that one, too, Danny?” Gaby asked.

“Yeah. How’d I do?”

“I’ll give it an eight.”

“Sweet, just two short of perfection,” Danny said.

*

The Heckler & Koch
MP5SD had been a lifesaver, but right now it wasn’t going to do him a lot of good until the bad guys actually stepped foot on the sand.

Oh, look who’s calling other people ‘bad guys’ now. My, my, how times have changed.

He slung the submachine gun and slid it behind his back and picked up the M4 leaning against the tree next to him. He patted the ammo pouch along his left hip to make sure it was still there—six mags in all, loaded with silver bullets. Not that he was going to need anything that special on the people coming in the boats now.

Better safe than sorry, I guess. Seems to be the island’s other motto, right after ‘just in case.’

He slipped the night-vision goggles back on and moved closer toward the tree line until he was less than a yard away. In his dark clothes, he would be completely invisible (or pretty damn close) even if the men on the approaching boats had their own night-vision gear. Which, of course, they did. He remembered seeing them when they were prepping a few days ago back at the staging area. Even so, the tree line would provide him plenty of cover. That was his one and only advantage when the soldiers stormed the beach.

Should have left when you had the chance, pal. Live and learn.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the sound of the first boat motor reached him. It had taken them a while because they weren’t moving very fast. He guessed the fact that the island was pitch dark was the reason for their cautious approach. That, or they were dragging it out, dreading what awaited them. So maybe they were smarter than he gave them credit for.

A
click
in his right ear, followed by Danny’s voice. “Hey, Keo.”

“Yeah,” Keo said. He didn’t bother whispering. There was no point. The enemy was still too far away and the closest person to him was Danny, further down the beach.

“Carly tells me you’re on your way to see a girl in Texas.”

“Uh huh.”

“How’s that going?”

“About as well as you and this island.”

Danny chuckled. “That good, huh?”

“Yup.”

The boats had begun to spread out, which signaled they intended to hit the entire length of the beach at the same time instead of concentrating their forces into one spot. Too bad, because he would have loved to see what ten boats landing a few yards apart would have looked like, especially while he, Danny, and Gaby were pouring as much lead as they could manage at them.

“You’re all right, for a merc,” Danny was saying.

“You’re not bad, for a soldier.”

“You don’t like soldiers?”

“Never had much use for them.”

“Oh, I don’t believe that. I bet it goes deeper. Parental involvement, perhaps?”

Keo grinned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, grunt.”

“Heh heh, I knew it. What’s the matter, the old man rode you too hard?”

“Something like that.”

“You should have rode him back. Old people hate it when you ride ’em like a horsey.”

“Yeah, I should have thought of that.”

Watching the boats moving against the phosphorous green of his night vision was a surreal experience. The way the spotlights were bouncing up and down as the vessels picked up speed (and the rumble of motors gaining in intensity as a result) made him think of a legion of BMX bikers doing stunts as they charged.

“You wanna hear a joke?” Danny was asking.

“No,” Keo said.

“So this couple are out on a date and the guy realizes he’s out of condoms. He decides to make a pit stop at a grocery store and runs inside…”

“Hey, Danny,” Gaby said.

“What’s up, kid?”

“I’ll give you a buck if you shut up.”

“Tough beach,” Danny said.

*

Party boats,
Keo
thought when the first vessel emerged out of the black canvas like some demon from the pits of hell.

It was white and long, with red-hot rod flames along the sides, and flat. The driver sat in the middle, guiding the steering wheel while two men crouched at the stern and two more manned the bow. They were wearing battle gear, complete with ballistic Kevlar helmets and knee and elbow pads. Keo could almost see their faces constricted into tight grimaces as they held onto the speeding boat as it burst out of the water. Like him, they were all wearing night-vision goggles, the long lens bobbing up and down like extra appendages.

Hot rod was the first boat to hit the beach fifty meters in front of him, its sharp front hull digging a trench as it was driven forward by a roaring motor. The driver was battling with the steering wheel, looking almost spastic, while the passengers hung on to keep from being thrown off by the erratic vessel. When they were closer, he saw that the two up front were actually attached to the boat by coiled cables clipped to their belts. Flurries of sand arced through the air as the propellers came into contact with the beach.

Still on one knee, Keo lifted the M4 and switched on the laser pointer underneath the barrel. A red beam pierced the darkness, clearly visible through the green of his NVG. Keo stood up and focused on the boat that had made landfall first; it just happened to be directly in front of him. He watched the two on the bow struggling furiously to free themselves from the cables. One of them finally got himself unattached and was standing up when Keo settled the half-inch red dot on the man’s chest and put two rounds into him. Despite being unsuppressed, unlike his MP5SD, both shots were barely audible against the raging storm of ten boat motors roaring in his ears at the same time.

The dead man slumped off the boat and his partner, seeing his comrade go down, decided to give up trying to manually detach himself and began ramming the butt of his rifle into the hook that held him hostage.

Losing your cool during the heat of battle is a good way to die, pal.

Keo shot him in the right thigh, then squeezed off two more rounds even as the man was going down. He was pretty sure he hit the guy at least one more time. Fifty meters should have been a difficult shot for him, even with the long-range ability of a rifle, but the red laser dot made it a cheat. Not that he spent more than a nanosecond giving a damn.

The two on the stern had already decoupled themselves and were hopping off the boat, even as more vessels shot out of the water and made landfall to the left and right of them. More sand arced into the air, and the roar of the motors became deafening.

Meanwhile, the driver of the hot rod had ducked his head behind the steering wheel, and the only thing Keo could make out from him was the twin protruding lens of his NVG over the console. Keo ignored the hidden man and turned his attention to the two running up the beach, one of them struggling to maintain control of his rifle while the other had lost his night vision along the way.

They weren’t the only two trudging their way forward, their heavy boots and equipment causing them to sink into the soft beach, further slowing them down. They should have considered that when they were gearing up for the attack. He thought of something the British used to say called the 7 Ps: Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

More boats were landing one by one now, hitting the long stretch of sand many meters apart. He wondered if that was part of the plan or a byproduct of the drivers trying not to crash into each other in the darkness.

As soon as he fired his first shot, Danny and Gaby immediately joined in, pouring bullets into the surging mass of black-clad bodies trying to jump off their vessels up and down the beach. The
pop-pop-pop
of automatic gunfire clashed with the continuous whirl of machinery, creating an odd melody that was painfully out of tune.

They had plenty of targets to choose from. Too many, in fact. The surging men looked like ants trudging and falling and stumbling as they attempted to flee from the open. They might not have any combat experience, but he couldn’t fault their tactical awareness. They knew just enough to understand that standing on the beach right now was a death sentence. Most of them hadn’t even returned fire, probably because they had no idea where he or Danny and Gaby were.