Desert Fallout

“Just a shade,” Bolan said. “But we can brace it if we move quickly. We’ll also lash two of the planks together for one wheel.”

“Good idea,” Kamau replied. “How long do you think we have before the helicopters return?”

Bolan frowned. “Judging by the rigor of the victims, the commandos struck about three hours before the other craft showed up, but we could simply be dealing with perhaps a two-hour lead time so that they could do their job.”

“They may have been dropped off by the same helicopters. Call it twenty minutes to a staging area?” Kamau asked.

“Most likely,” Bolan said. He tipped over a drum, then placed one plank atop it. Kamau immediately set to work wrapping cable around it and a second plank sandwiched to it. Bolan walked up the ramp, feeling how solid it was beneath his feet. “Looks solid enough.”

“A forty-minute round trip, and we’ve burned about twelve minutes so far,” Kamau replied. “Give us another eight to work up the next ramp?”

“Add in refueling time,” Bolan said. “No way the escort birds are going out on a sortie to gun us down without enough fuel for a wide-ranging patrol. We may have more than a half hour to get moving.”

“And out of range, but this isn’t a paved road,” Kamau mentioned.

Bolan and Kamau planted a second drum, taking two minutes to brace it in place with dirt before they struggled their other ramp into position. “Whatever the case, we’ll have wheels. I’ll drive.”

“You’ll drive, but what could I shoot at a helicopter on our tail?” Kamau asked.

“If it gets to shooting, we’re as good as dead, but I’ve got the captured Steyr and you have your AK,” Bolan offered. “It’ll be nothing compared to the range of the helicopters’ guns, so we need to get far away.”

“So you drive like a madman,” Kamau returned.

Bolan frowned. The Somali didn’t seem convinced. He didn’t want to risk Metit’s life, even if he were callous enough to be cavalier with Kamau’s safety. “Think these will last for three SUVs over them?”

“What are you thinking?” Kamau asked.

“The aircraft will be flying the same route back to this camp, so they’ll be coming from the north,” Bolan explained. “You get a head start, and I’ll lag behind, playing lame duck.”

“You’ll be bait,” Kamau stated.

“You need to get Rashida to safety. I’ll meet with you in Alexandria.”

“You’re not coming with us?” Metit asked, walking up on their conversation.

“You’ll be in good hands,” Bolan told her.

“I don’t like it either, but I’m not going to change his mind,” Kamau told the woman. “We don’t have time to debate this.”

Metit looked to Bolan, then threw her arms around his neck, hugging him. “Be careful.”

“You too, kiddo,” Bolan answered. “Godspeed, Kamau.”

He turned to prepare his SUV for the coming trial.

CHAPTER SIX

Isu Nahyan flew his helicopter nap of the earth as he raced back toward the archaeological camp. The Hughes 500 zipped over the darkening terrain at over 120 mph, but he felt as if he were racing behind the curve. His initial run on the perimeter of the camp had found the vehicle of the lone opponent who had harried his allies. It was amazing that a single man had been able to match the skills of over a dozen trained commandos and take down five of them without sustaining an injury.

Nahyan had taken some pleasure in turning the Mercedes SUV into a pile of bullet-riddled trash in the desert at the behest of his ground-pounding allies. The team leader, Brahim Khaldun, rode in the chopper with him now, and it had been a rare instance when Nahyan had seen the man disconcerted. Khaldun had boarded Nahyan’s chopper for the return to the camp, and the soldier’s face was a grim mask.

It had been at Khaldun’s suggestion that there be four gunships sent after the lone enemy. Nahyan thought it might be overkill, but the man had disappeared, evading the choppers easily.

“Is he really that good?” Nahyan asked.

Khaldun turned to look at the pilot, as if roused from a trance. “You know the caliber of my men. He killed several of them. On his own, outnumbered and surrounded.”

“So this isn’t overkill,” Nahyan said.

“There is no such thing as overkill. There is only reloading when your weapon is empty,” Khaldun returned grimly. “We will rain hell upon him.”

Nahyan chewed his lower lip, then glanced to the commando. “He couldn’t come up with something that could take on our gunships, could he?”