By Dawn's Early Light by David Hagberg

now he and Amatozio were seriously handicapping their retreat back up into the mountains. Of course it was a moot point, because once they got to where they’d stashed their equipment and supplies it would be the end of the line for them anyway.
    Hanson reached the top of the hill, took out his binoculars, and again studied the way behind them for any signs of pursuit. But the floor of the desert was clear, and he still couldn’t hear anything in the air. Even now, of course, his hearing was affected by the bomb blast. In fact, for the first day and night afterwards none of them could hear a thing. It was only in the past couple of hours that their hearing had started to come back to normal.
    Hauglar and Amatozio passed Hanson and started down a narrow defile that descended about twenty meters before the path opened up toward the crest of the next hill.
    Harvey came up beside Hanson. “Anything?”
    â€œNo, we’re still in the clear,” Hanson said, pocketing the binoculars. They started after Hauglar and Amatozio.
    â€œWhat happens when we get there, Scott?” Harvey asked. He kept his voice low.
    â€œWell, for one we should be able to talk to red warren. And we’ll have food and water and some heavier firepower.”
    â€œRight, and then what?”
    â€œThat’ll be up to Kuwait City—”
    â€œNo, it’ll be up to Washington, and you know it. We’re too goddamned far inland for any kind of a rescue mission to work. But they’ll try it anyway because of who you are. No offense meant, Scott, but a lot of good people could get killed.”
    â€œNo offense taken,” Hanson said. “And you’d never make it with your leg.”
    â€œMy leg isn’t the problem and you know that too. But Don is. We have enough fuel left to at least get us over the pass. From there we could conceivably catch thermals all the way back down to the front range hills. Maybe even as far as Panjgur.” He glanced at Hauglar and Amatozio. “But you have to be able to see to fly.”
    â€œI was thinking about that too. Maybe we could rig some kind of a tandem harness to connect two of the paragliders together.”
    â€œIt might work.”
    â€œWhat’s your point, Mike?”
    â€œMaybe Don’s suggestion wasn’t so far off the mark after all. If we can reach the equipment drop, one of us could stay with him while the other two went on to the coast. They’d have twice as much fuel.”
    â€œOkay, so two of us make it to the coast, and even to our rendezvous point. Then what?”
    â€œWe come back the same way we did before, only this time we bring help and the proper equipment to get Don and whoever draws the lot to stay with him out of here.”
    â€œHow long would it take?”
    Harvey shrugged. “Two days to get out, two or three days to get a rescue mission cobbled together, and two or three to get back in.”
    â€œAt least a week.”
    Harvey nodded. “There are lots of places for them to hide up—”
    Amatozio heard the helicopters first. He said something to Hauglar, who looked over his shoulder then urgently motioned for Hanson and Harvey to take immediate cover.
    At that moment Hanson finally heard the choppers too. He and Harvey scrambled to a pile of boulders that formed a narrow overhang. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. Along with their camos and the sun at such a low angle they had a reasonable chance of escaping detection.
    â€œThere’s more than one,” Harvey said.
    â€œThree, maybe four,” Hanson replied.
    The first camouflaged Alouette III chopper flashed over the ridge about a hundred meters to the east. A second and third topped the hill even farther east, but a fourth thundered directly overhead less than fifty meters up.

7
    2100 LOCAL
CHARDAR AIR FORCE BASE TEST FACILITY NORTHERN PAKISTAN
    The British-built Sea King Mk 45 helicopter, its rotors