Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

SEA OF SHADOWS 285
The pilot let out a heavy sigh. “All right, okay, I’m turning already.”
He banked the helicopter into a broad turn that would take them around
behind the oil platform.
As they rounded the corner of the platform, it slid into view: a fat black
cigar shape riding low in the water, tethered to the platform by a web of
lines and hoses.
“Jackpot,” the SENSO said over the intercom. “There’s our
submarine.”
Lieutenant (jg) Chavez reached up to key his mike, when a pair of
nickel-sized holes surrounded by spider webs blossomed on the Plexiglas
windshield to the left of his head. Simultaneously the helicopter was
jarred sharply several times, as though someone with a hammer was
banging on the fuselage.
“Holy shit!” Chavez shouted. “They’re shooting at us!”
Lieutenant Brolan swung the helo into a tight turn away from the
station and put on the speed. A stream of tracers leapt up from the oil
platform and blasted through the air where the helo had been a split second
before. Brolan keyed his radio. “This is Gunslinger. I’m under fire!”
Lieutenant (jg) Chavez half turned in his seat and keyed his intercom.
“Hey, Mojo. You okay back there?”
“I think I just peed my pants, sir!”
“Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger, kid!”
Lieutenant Brolan jogged the helo to the right just in time to avoid
another burst of machine-gun fire. He shouted into the radio, “My aircraft
is hit and still receiving hostile fire!”
“Gunslinger Four-One, this is SAU Commander. Evade and return to
home plate. Help is on the way, over.”
Lieutenant Brolan jerked the stick to the left, but a series of rapid-fire
hammer blows to the airframe told him that he hadn’t been quite fast
enough. A chattering vibration started to come from the tail boom, and the
indicator needles on several instruments began to swing crazily.
“I’m hit again!” Lieutenant Brolan shouted into the radio. “Gunslinger
is hit again! We are still taking fire!”
“Gunslinger Four-One, this is SAU Commander. Can you tell me
what kind of fire are you taking, over?”
“How the fuck should I know? Some kind of machine gun!”
Chavez keyed the radio. “SAU Commander, this is Gunslinger Four-
One. We have located Gremlin Zero Four, moored to oil platform Golf.
Our aircraft has taken several hits from one or more automatic weapons.
Damage report to follow, over.”