The Right Stuff. Merline Lovelace

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СКАЧАТЬ hands almost slid off the throttle. “Good grief! Is that a compliment?”

      “It is.”

      A tiny dart of pleasure made it past the butterflies beating against Cari’s ribs. After all these weeks of butting heads with the stubborn marine, she hadn’t expected any warm fuzzies just moments away from entering a potential hostile fire zone. Her brief pleasure took a back seat to business when she checked the displays and saw they’d entered Caribe’s territorial waters.

      “We’re within twelve miles of the island. We’ll hit the coral reef in a few minutes. You’d better get ready for a bumpy ride.”

      Bumpy didn’t begin to describe it.

      Waves pounded the sunken coral reef. The swells that had kept Mac’s stomach churning became monster waves. The huge walls of green curled and crashed and roared like the hounds of hell. He clamped his jaw shut and tried not to wince at the vicious battering Pegasus took.

      Cari, he noted, didn’t so much as break a sweat as she worked the throttle and wheel. Somehow she managed to dodge the worst of the monsters while keeping her craft aimed straight for the calmer waters inside the reef.

      Finally, Pegasus broke through the pounding surf. Mac mouthed a silent prayer of relief and swiped the sweat off his forehead with a forearm. Squinting through the canopy, he searched the vegetation fronting the beach for some sign of an opening.

      “We’re right on track according to the GPS coordinates,” Cari confirmed after another read of the instruments. “The river mouth should lie dead ahead.”

      “Bring us in closer.”

      Keeping a wary eye on the depth finder, she took Pegasus into the bay. “The ocean floor’s shelving fast. If we don’t find the mouth soon, I’ll have to switch to track mode and take us…”

      “There it is.”

      The narrow gap in the tangled vegetation was almost invisible. Mac would have missed it if not for the rippling water surface where the river eddied into the bay.

      Getting a lock on the ripples, Cari swung the wheel. Moments later, Pegasus was fighting his way against the powerful current. Before the green gloom of the river swallowed them, Mac needed to advise the recon team they were on their way up the Verde.

      “Second Recon, this is Pegasus One.”

      He waited for a reply. None came. Frowning, he keyed his mike again.

      “Second Recon, this is Pegasus One. Acknowledge please.”

      Long, tense seconds of silence passed. Cari pulled her gaze from the instruments. Mac saw his own mounting worry mirrored in her brown eyes. His jaw tightening, he was about to try again when the unmistakable rattle of gunfire came bursting through the radio. The patrol leader came on a second later, his voice sharp-edged but remarkably calm given the stutter of small arms fire in the background.

      “Pegasus One, this is Second Recon. Be advised we’ve run smack into a heavily armed rebel patrol.”

      “Do you have them in your sights?”

      “We do, but our orders are to avoid returning fire unless under extreme duress.”

      The sergeant broke off, cursing as another loud burst made extreme duress sound a whole lot closer than it had a few seconds ago. Mac’s fists went white at the knuckles. Those were marines taking fire. He didn’t breathe until the team leader came back on the horn.

      “We can give these bastards the slip, but we’ll have to fall back. We’ll try to lead them as far as possible away from the target. Sorry, One. Looks like you’re on your own from here on out.”

      “Roger that.”

      “Good luck, sir.”

      “You, too.”

      The transmission cut off. The sudden silence drowned out even the muted whine of Pegasus’s engines. His jaw locked tight, Mac took another GPS reading from the radio signal and noted the team’s position on his map. They were still a good four klicks away from the mission.

      “We’ve entered the river channel. I’m going to take us under, then power up to full speed.”

      The calm announcement brought Mac’s head snapping around. Cari’s profile was outlined against the dark vegetation lining the riverbank. She kept her attention divided between the instrument panel and the view outside the bubble canopy, now narrowed to a fast-flowing river crowded above and on both sides by jungle.

      She had every intention of pushing ahead, with or without fire support from the squad of marines they’d planned to rendezvous with. Evidently, it hadn’t occurred to her to abandon their mission. It hadn’t occurred to Mac, either, until this moment.

      “Listen up, Lieutenant. We need to take another look at our operations plan. I…”

      “Don’t even think it.”

      The flat comeback snapped his brows together, but she didn’t give him time to respond. Slewing around, she raked him with a wire-brush look.

      “This is a two-person operation, McIver. If you go in, I go in.”

      He bit back the reminder that he was in command of the land phase of this mission. He knew damn well she’d remind him he hadn’t yet set foot on dry land.

      Satisfied she’d made her point, Cari prepared to take Pegasus under the river’s green surface.

      Twenty-six torturous miles later, she brought her craft up from the murky depths. Cari had seen more than her fill of submerged tree stump, twisting roots, slime-covered boulders and darting water snakes.

      Once above the surface, the jungle reached out to envelop them. When the water sluiced off the canopy, Cari got the eerie feeling she and Mac were alone in a dark, still universe. Only an occasional stray sunbeam penetrated the dense overgrowth hundreds of feet above. Strangler vines drooped down like ropes from entwined branches. Giant ferns fanned out to cover the riverbanks.

      Carefully, Cari navigated the last few yards to their designated rendezvous point. No one was waiting on the riverbank. No marines. No missionaries. No rebels or government troops.

      Mac swept both banks with high-powered Night Vision goggles. The goggles could penetrate the gloom beyond the banks far better than the human eye.

      “It looks clear,” he said tersely.

      Cari nodded. “Hold tight.”

      Repeating the process she’d tested only this morning in the Gulf waters just off Corpus Christi, she switched Pegasus from sea to land mode. The outer engines shut down and tucked against the hull. The propellers folded. The belly doors opened and the wide-track wheels descended.

      Like some primeval beast crawling up out of the swamp, Pegasus clawed his way up the riverbank. The wheel tread ate up the giant ferns and spit them out. But even a high-tech, all-terrain, all-weather assault vehicle was no match for the impenetrable jungle.

      Mac would have to hoof it from here. Killing the engines, Cari СКАЧАТЬ