“There’s also one more thing we need to discuss. Me, Mike, and Robert have done this sort of thing before. We know what it entails, and we understand risks. You have to be ready to pull out even if we don’t all make it back to the chopper. The boy is innocent in this thing; he’s put his life on the line to help us. I need you to be ready to get him out of here even if we don’t make it. If one or all of us goes down or doesn’t make it back to the bird, you put that bitch in the air and get the kid over the border. Promise me that, Seven.”
“I promise,” he said softly.
The men slung their firearms, donned the night vision, and Seven fired up the helicopter. He returned the screw to the base of his prosthetic leg and felt the signaling pain it produced as he brought the rotor up to speed. He fixed the night vision in place, glanced over at the empty copilot’s seat and then at the handwritten note still taped to the dash. He closed his eyes and repeated the words “Patty will always get you home.”
The helicopter lifted off the ground and cleared the tree line. She was blacked out and invisible. Just a loud vibrating motor and a whole lot of wind displacement to indicate her presence. Seven pointed her towards the target and flew her just above the treetops through the humid, tropical air. The Colonel would have been proud.
Seven’s voice cracked the silence of the radio coms. “We’re about two minutes out.”
Mike laid himself flat on the floor of the cargo hold. The sliding door was open. He assumed a good prone shooting position and Robert handed him the automatic rifle.
“Just give him one good pass over the gate,” Colt instructed Seven.
Seven came in low and fast above the dirt road that led to the farmhouse. He began to see flickers of neon light through the night vision goggles. The image became clearer and clearer as he