"Maloney, Mack - Wingman 02 - The Circle War UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Maloney Mack)
"Hey, Hawk, knock it off," Dozer told him. "You were doing your best. There's a lot of weird shit happening these days. This is just another one of them."
Hunter downed his drink and poured another.
Dozer continued. "Ghost, spooks. Mysterious explosions. Those swabbies vanishing like that. Someone icing those frontier guardsmen. I mean, those guardsmen ain't just out there playing soldier. They're tough guys."
"I hear you," Hunter agreed. "But these Russian jets are what really bothers me. We're lucky they didn't come down here and nail us. I mean, we would have shot them up pretty bad, but still, we would have been on our ass, too."
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"Well, I know we have plenty of eyes up there now," Dozer said.
"True," Hunter said. "I've got two-plane missions flying up there around the clock. Frost told his people, of course, and the Free Canadians are patrolling up there, looking for something Чanything Ч that could give us a clue as to where those jets went."
"Well, when you find them and the weather ain't for flying," Dozer said. "Me and my boys will go in and take them out on the ground."
Hunter smiled. His "boys" were the 7th Cavalry-a battalion of Marines that fought for Dozer in the big war in Turkey. They won their name after being surrounded by an overwhelming force of Soviets only to survive and escape, thanks to Dozer's leadership. When the war ended soon after, the Marines had no way to get home. Dozer rallied them, "hijacked" two airliners and flew the battalion to Scotland, (where they first met Hunter) and where they all caught a ride back to America aboard the aircraft carrier, JFK.
"We need intelligence," Hunter said. "Not just here, but from back east too."
"Heard from Fitz or St. Louie lately?" Dozer asked, referring to two close friends and allies of Hunter, both of whom operated back east.
"No," Hunter answered. "But I think a meeting with them is long overdue. Besides, the photo lab guys tell me they are still two days away from a positive ID on those jets."
He drained his drink, then stood up to go, saying to Dozer, "Ever been to Macintosh, Idaho?"
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Chapter Three
The formation of five helicopters descended on the small, abandoned Idaho town.
The two Crazy Eight Chinooks went in first, landing beside a rusting grain elevator at the side of a railroad track. As soon as the first chopper touched down, the side doors were flung open and three squads of Dozer's best Marines jumped out. They quickly formed up on the railroad tracks and marched into the town barely an eighth of a mile away.
Meanwhile the rest of the choppers had set down, one by one, on a moist field nearby. The second Crazy Eight was carrying a portable Roland SAM air defense system and radar set. As soon as the big chopper's blades stopped turning, two more squads of 7th Cavalrymen emerged and went about setting up the small SAM launcher and radar warning system.
The third large helicopter was a converted U.S. Navy chopper called a Sea Stallion. Hunter and Dozer emerged from the machine and went over to talk to the pilots of the two helicopters known as the
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Cobra Brothers. The Brothers, flying the small but lethal, bug-like choppers, would provide air cover over the small town, just as the Marines would secure the town itself. The precautions were needed. The hills surrounding the place were undoubtedly filled with bandits, raiders, and God-knows-what kind of New Order outlaws.
"Sir!" one of the Roland operators called out. "We're picking up something."
Hunter and Dozer walked back to the Roland set and watched over the man's shoulder. Sure enough, five blips appeared on the SAM's radar screen. "Looks like four Hueys and a Blackhawk," the operator told them.
"That'll be St. Louie's guys," Hunter said. He could feel the aircraft coming long before they appeared on the radar screen. The electronics just confirmed his sixth sense.
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