Hunter Killer Part 7

To fight Communism was one thing, but when he had actually made the decision to join the NATO army he had not given much thought to just what that might, that would, that was about to, involve. He had friends, some of whom had been drafted at the same time, others he had made during training or in his unit, and now he was about to help in the destruction of fellow Russians, men he might have got to know and like in other circ.u.mstances. The Soviet navy got the pick of the best electronics experts; perhaps some of his friends were aboard those s.h.i.+ps, it was possible, likely even. The only difference between him and them was that he'd had his chance to escape, and had taken it. But then he'd been free to, with no close family ties ...free; free to turn round and kill his own people. Some of whom he could hear talking at that very moment.

It sounded like s.h.i.+p-to-sh.o.r.e transmissions again, nothing important, just a junior sergeant complaining about a mistake over rations that had come ash.o.r.e; he was telling the s.h.i.+p that they had no tea or vodka and that his officers expected him to remedy the situation. From the other end, and a bored supply clerk on the Rogov Rogov was verbally shrugging aside the complaint; he was safe and had no wish to bring the mistake to the notice of his own superiors. was verbally shrugging aside the complaint; he was safe and had no wish to bring the mistake to the notice of his own superiors.

Perhaps the clerk had done it deliberately, to pocket the profit he would make from selling the precious supplies elsewhere. Everyone did it, or tried to. It was necessary if a man were to survive in the Russian forces. A case of vodka supplied to an officer at a special low price would build up a fund of, if not goodwill, at least understanding, that might come in very useful later on. Boris caught the start of another exchange between Cline and the officer, and closed his ears to it. There was no way he could entirely disa.s.sociate himself from what was about to happen, but he was determined to have as little to do with it as possible. That would not salve his conscience, but if he did not know everything that happened, at least he would carry a smaller burden.

'You still want to hit those cruisers, Major?' As the radar screen showed the vanguard moving away from the island still heading due north, the second and much larger group was moving into range of their TV cameras. Abandoning close-ups, Cline had gone for a panoramic view. To the limit of the depth of the field, the floe-sprinkled sea was filled with wave throwing, rime-coated wars.h.i.+ps from das.h.i.+ng frigates of three thousand tons, to a towering Archangel cla.s.s cruiser of sixteen thousand tons. Missiles and high-angle guns pointed skyward on every one, while their a.s.sorted radars rotated in endless search of the sky and sea.

'I can't get them all on to the screen at once, I've got a swarm of traces on the radar, how do I choose targets?'

'Pick the biggest. Leningrad can churn out frigates and destroyers like mincemeat, cruisers take longer, cost a lot more. Don't try skimping, better to send ten rockets at one target so that a couple get through, than send two at each of five targets and have them all hacked down before they get within lethal range.'

'You hear that?' Libby snorted. 'Lethal my f.u.c.king foot. It'll be like trying to total a wasp's nest by punching it.'

'I found you need a good sense of the f.u.c.king ridiculous in this outfit. Look at us.' Despite his words, Dooley did not stand up and offer himself for inspection. 'There's Cline and the major getting ready to have a go at better than a hundred thousand tons of armoured s.h.i.+pping with maybe a ton or two of fragmentation warheads, and us, sitting here with s.h.i.+tty rifles and machine guns, waiting to take on a battalion of Soviet marines. Now if that ain't f.u.c.king silly, what is? After I got in a couple of fights with guys who called me a liar when I tried telling them about some of the missions we've been on, I gave up. It gets you down, don't it?'

'It do, it sure do.' Ripper nodded sagely, until Dooley rapped him hard on the head and rammed his helmet down over his eyes.

Revell tapped Cline on the shoulder when the last of the target co-ordinates were punched in. The ringing clang made by Dooley's fist on the shaped steel dome died away as Revell leant forward and spoke quietly to the bombardier. 'Open fire.'

TWELVE.

Both launchers were fired at the same instant, but it was the rockets sent against the anch.o.r.ed amphibious warfare s.h.i.+p that found their mark first.

Caught off-guard by an attack from a totally unexpected direction, the s.h.i.+p's radar-directed gatlings didn't even open fire, and every warhead got through.

Two exploded over the bridge, sending a storm of white-hot fragments into the unarmoured upper-works and totally destroying the vessel's fit of radar masts and dishes. As the remains of the tall lattice structure toppled on to the rear landing pad, the third warhead blasted the forward hanger and smashed a helicopter standing in front of it. Fire broke out immediately as aviation fuel spread in a blazing tide through the open doors and down into the bowels of the s.h.i.+p. The points of detonation of the last three rockets were lost amid the smoke and flying debris from the first, but the fact that they too had found their target could not be doubted when a huge bubble of flame rose from the s.h.i.+p's bow, as ready-use ammunition for the forward twin 76mm gun was ignited.

The rockets chasing the cruisers had further to travel, and two of those aimed at the lead s.h.i.+p did not reach it. Intercepted by streams of fire from the s.h.i.+p's gatlings, they were broken apart by the torrent of 23mm sh.e.l.ls.

Against the wars.h.i.+p's armour, the rockets' effects were not so spectacular, but as the smoke drifted clear one of the cruisers could be seen making a hard turn away to port, its antenna badly mauled and its helicopter pad, hanger and rear superstructure heavily scarred, with the barely recognisable wreckage of the chopper hanging over the s.h.i.+p's stern.

As the launchers rippled their heavy projectiles towards the s.h.i.+ps, York activated the decoys. Small mortars hurled chaff high into the air over the island and a silver rain began to fall that would hopefully confuse enemy radars attempting to track the rockets' path back to their launch sites. Other sh.e.l.ls landed well away from the house and began to transmit powerful signals that, for a short while, would dwarf the real emissions, and draw-off enemy warheads homing in on such sources.

While others might be able to watch the effects of the strike on metal, Boris could hear its effects on men. The weary supply clerk aboard the Rogov Rogov was drowned out for a moment as the salvo struck, then he could be heard shouting, then screaming. Boris could make out the words 'fire' and 'door', and finally after more frantic screaming, over and over again the one word 'mother'. It cut altogether as he reached for the tuner to shut off the sounds. was drowned out for a moment as the salvo struck, then he could be heard shouting, then screaming. Boris could make out the words 'fire' and 'door', and finally after more frantic screaming, over and over again the one word 'mother'. It cut altogether as he reached for the tuner to shut off the sounds.

They'd done it, they'd got in the first blow. Plugging in a spare headset, Revell waited impatiently for the message that the launchers had been realigned on their fresh targets. Come on, come on. On his watch the seconds flickered by insanely fast. Site one was first, and two signalled ready an instant later. A glance at the screen told him there was no need for him to alter the targets chosen. As he gave the order, he imagined the launchers out there in the snow - only much of it would have melted around them by now. What was left would be blasted away by the back-wash as the remaining twenty-six rockets at one site, and thirty-four at the other, took off and rode their flame- tails towards the second group of s.h.i.+ps.

This time the Russian vessels were ready. Cones of concentrated small-calibre fire reached out to the warheads aiming mindlessly for them, but some were getting through. The big anti-aircraft cruiser was surrounded by metal-lashed water as slivers of steel swept it and the sea about it.

The proximity fuse failed on one rocket and it impacted just forward of the bridge on another large wars.h.i.+p. Tearing apart a pair of ready-to-fire surface-to-air missiles, it added the fuel of their spilled propellant and broken explosive content to the blaze that engulfed that section of the deck.

And of the many rockets that failed to get through, not every one was wasted. Two that failed to reach their target erupted in b.a.l.l.s of flame above a das.h.i.+ng Grisha cla.s.s corvette. It came out of the far side of the man-made storm with every plate pierced, heeling hard over in a tight uncontrolled turn that took it right under the bows of a destroyer, missing a collision by inches.

'All b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l has let loose.' As York sent the second set of decoys soaring high over the house, he turned to help Boris find the Russian wavelengths. 'Every d.a.m.ned position on the dial is in use, they don't know what the heck is going on.'

'The commander of the marines on the island is broadcasting to anyone who will listen that he is not leading a mutiny, he is telling the s.h.i.+ps he has not opened fire. I think he is crying.'

'Let's hope the s.h.i.+ps. .h.i.t him instead of us. How's that re-loading going?'

'Give them time, Major. Forty tubes is a lot of metal to lift. Best possible is ten minutes, and that's pus.h.i.+ng it.' Despite the spectacular things to be seen on the TV, it was the surface radar that presented Cline with the most interesting picture at the moment.

The first group of s.h.i.+ps were still moving north, but at reduced speed. Now it was down from their previous thirty knots to less than twenty. But it was the traces showing the positions of the s.h.i.+ps in the second group that were the most fascinating.

'They're all over the place. Look at them.' Revell put his finger on the screen to underline the two blips that were fast converging on a collision course. Disappoint- ingly, they noticed their danger, but must still have suffered damage in the heavy side-swipe that seemed inevitable, judging by the temporary joining of the blobs of telltale light.

From somewhere out to sea came a series of dull explosions. A heavy movement of air shook the house and threw snow into the room through every gap and crack about the windows and doors.

'That's the Rogov. Rogov. Those s.h.i.+ts out there have got problems.' Unable to resist the temptation any longer, Dooley had come over to the radar desk and was trying to look between Revell and the operator to see what was happening on the screen. Those s.h.i.+ts out there have got problems.' Unable to resist the temptation any longer, Dooley had come over to the radar desk and was trying to look between Revell and the operator to see what was happening on the screen.

Internal explosions were racking the s.h.i.+p, sending chunks of debris into the sea. Members of the crew lined the rail surrounding the aft helicopter pad, and at each fresh blast another would jump. Flames licked from every port and opening and sent a pillar of jet-black smoke straight up into the milky white of the sky. From its stern came a slab-fronted landing craft. The fact that it was already packed *with men did not stop those at the rail from hurling themselves over the side to land in it. Several missed, and spun for a moment in the LCT's wake before going under the breath-stopping freezing water of the Kattegat.

Three s.h.i.+ps among the second group appeared dead in the water. They were being left behind by the remainder as they moved on, with no vestige of formation remaining. Now, like a herd of cattle that had been frightened into a stampede, they were only interested in leaving the area as quickly as possible.

'Looks like we're going to get away with it.' Cline was filling pages of the log with cryptic notes in a hand that grew more extravagant in its flourishes with each entry. 'We beat a whole fleet to a pulp and we're being let off scot-free.'

'It's rather early to start counting chickens. There's still too many d.a.m.ned foxes around, others are finding that as well.' Using the radar, Revell had been following the progress of the LCT that had left the Rogov. Rogov. As though its helmsman was undecided on the best course of action and the safest place of refuge, it had first circled out to sea, and now it turned back towards the island and crossed the path of the second group. Its charmed life came to an end as it crossed close in front of a large trace and abruptly disappeared. As though its helmsman was undecided on the best course of action and the safest place of refuge, it had first circled out to sea, and now it turned back towards the island and crossed the path of the second group. Its charmed life came to an end as it crossed close in front of a large trace and abruptly disappeared.

'That must be the last of them coming now.' With the tip of his pencil Cline indicated the fresh traces springing to life at the base of the screen. A red light flashed urgently among an unlit row. 'Intruder, Major. Northern perimeter.'

'Any idea who or what or how many?'

'Can't be sure, Major. The equipment I brought was chosen more for lightness and compactness than multi-sensor capability, so I can't say if it was metal, or what, but it did last several seconds, so it could either be a slow-moving vehicle or a file of men.'

'That's nice.' Dooley and the rest of Hyde's group were getting ready to move. 'He don't know what it is, but it's either a tank or a war party.'

'What's the difference, we've got to stop it anyway.' Five grenades were already hanging from Libby's webbing, he added another two.

Hyde opened the door, and the temperature in the room dropped several degrees as soft milky light flooded in. 'So let's go and do it.'

The squad of Russian marines was moving cautiously, their AK74 a.s.sault rifles held at the ready. They kept in single file, each man stepping carefully in the tracks of the one ahead. A young officer led them, he walked stooped over, like a man sensing danger.

As they came to the fringe of a clump of firs he signalled a halt, and took out his binoculars to examine the ground ahead. Twice he swept it, then came back to focus on the network of tracks around the small collection of houses in the distance. He beckoned to his radio-man, and took the handset.

His mouth opened to speak as he pressed the transmit switch, and stayed open as a figure rose up from out of the ground and plunged a knife through the layers of clothing swaddling his neck to cut his windpipe.

The fight was short and vicious, with Hyde's men having the supreme advantage of surprise. Dooley threw himself on three marines, finis.h.i.+ng one with the first swing of a length of timber before pain seared his wounded shoulder as he went for a second blow and a Russian ducked in beneath his guard. There was just time for Dooley to divert the wildly wielded club to parry the knife thrust, and then the pair were upon him and he was having to roll and kick to avoid the stabs and blows aimed at his face and chest.

Sweeping aside a rifle b.u.t.t jabbing at his face, Dooley brought up his studded left boot. Thick clothing prevented the crus.h.i.+ng impact doing the intended damage to the Russian's crotch, but it still had sufficient force to hurl him back, and for the moment left Dooley free to concentrate on the marine with the knife.

There was no sound. The fight was going on in complete silence. Even the dead made no noise as they fell, the snow cus.h.i.+oning their fall. Hyde grabbed a Russian who had a stranglehold on Andrea. Her knife could make no impression on the man's thickly quilted jacket front and sleeves, and with her shorter arms she could not reach his face. Going for the eyes, Hyde missed and felt his fingers slide into the marine's nostrils. Knowing the excruciating pain it would cause he pulled back hard, and the hands locked about the girl's throat were suddenly released.

Blood smothered the sergeant's hand and wrist and showered on Andrea as the flesh split. Reeling at the agony and interested only in escaping the fingers clawing his face, the Russian never saw, and made no move to ward off, the underarm stab that Andrea delivered to his groin.

Bulging eyes stared down at Dooley as he tightened his iron grip on the Russian's face. Foam and spittle bubbled in the back of the man's throat and his struggles grew weaker. Another face appeared over him, looking at him from behind a Makarov pistol. Face and pistol were whirled from sight in a shower of brains and blood at the impact of a close-range burst of automatic fire.

Pus.h.i.+ng the dead marine aside, Dooley clambered to his feet. Littering the snow were eight Russian corpses and as many rifles. Between them spots and daubs of blood coloured the white ground, linking them and charting the brief course of the battle.

'I said no b.l.o.o.d.y noise, no shooting.' Hyde jabbed Ripper in the chest with the tip of the rifle he had wrenched from him. 'What's the b.l.o.o.d.y use of tackling them with knives and fists if you're going to bang away with this ruddy thing just as we're finis.h.i.+ng? Here, take it.' He slung the weapon back at the American. 'Someone will have heard that, we'd better get ready for more visitors.'

'Are we setting up here?' Ripper looked around as the others started to hack at the frozen ground. 'Ain't we going to move a ways from these here cadavers?'

'Don't be sodding stupid.' Libby drove the tip of his entrenching tool into the ground, levering up a saucer-shaped scab of turf and ice-bound soil. 'In a bit these stiffs are going to be just that. They'll make nice ramparts for slit-trenches. They won't stop bullets, but fragments' will be slowed down, and a few less feet per second can make all the difference between a flesh wound and losing your head, literally. Now dig.'

'You not searching these then?' Burke shoved a corpse past Dooley with his feet, kicking it into place on the edge of his excavation.

'I got the insignia off the officer, that's the only thing any of this lot will have that's worth taking. Who ever heard of a well-off Ruskie grunt. These stupid s.h.i.+ts only got two-hundred-fifty bucks a year. If they'd been the sort who could make a profit, they wouldn't have been here, they'd have been enjoying some cushy number back in Moscow.'

Clarence wasn't happy with an order from Sergeant Hyde. 'It's a waste.' 'It is not a b.l.o.o.d.y waste. Those special slugs of yours are the only things we've got that will go through armour.'

'They're for tackling body armour, not main battle tanks. Was it a pair of T72s you said the Ruskies had brought ash.o.r.e? There is no way my bullets can punch through that much plate. It's inches thick in the front, and at the sides they've those side-skirts. The best I shall be able to do is drill holes in that. It's hopeless, absolutely hopeless.'

'And I'm telling you it isn't. Those tanks have been prepared for winter service, and you know how much practice the Ruskies have had at that. Well, they've removed the side-skirts, I suppose to stop snow packing between them and the tracks. If you can stay hidden until they're within fifty feet, you should be able to put a round into them. Now get out to that position on the flank.'

From where they were digging in Hyde could see the sea. It was a good position. They had a field of fire that covered every approach to the house, and the nearest of the launcher sites, a few hundred yards behind them among a dense thicket of evergreens. Again his gaze went to the sea. The ice was increasingly reaching further and further from the sh.o.r.e, growing rapidly by welding on any floes that brushed against it. He couldn't see the Rogov Rogov itself, but towards the north of the island a tall thick pillar of black smoke rose to be lost from sight in the unnatural- coloured sky. It drove straight into it, without tainting the glowing pallor, as though a hole had opened to receive it. Occasionally he heard a distant rumble as further explosions rocked the s.h.i.+p. It probably wouldn't stay afloat for much longer; there had to be a limit to what the much-repaired hull could take. itself, but towards the north of the island a tall thick pillar of black smoke rose to be lost from sight in the unnatural- coloured sky. It drove straight into it, without tainting the glowing pallor, as though a hole had opened to receive it. Occasionally he heard a distant rumble as further explosions rocked the s.h.i.+p. It probably wouldn't stay afloat for much longer; there had to be a limit to what the much-repaired hull could take.

'Think we did much damage to those wars.h.i.+ps, Sarge?' Burke had failed to find an excuse for stopping work for a moment, and now struck up a conversation with his NCO in the hope of inventing one.

'Enough to have scared the s.h.i.+t out of their admiral, I should imagine. The poor sod must have thought he had a safe run until he left Swedish waters. By now he won't know what to b.l.o.o.d.y do. He can't turn back, he hasn't got the room to manoeuvre without taking his s.h.i.+ps into open water, and our subs and mines will be waiting for him there. And the b.a.s.t.a.r.d doesn't even know if he can take a swipe at us or not. If he does and the Swedes kick up a stink, then muck will fall on him from a great height. As I will on you if you don't get digging.'

Regretting that the ruse had not worked for longer, Burke resumed his excavations. Frost had bound the root-woven earth together to give it a granite-like consistency. His entrenching tool had to be lifted high and driven in repeatedly before a decent size lump could be hefted on to the parapet. He noticed Dooley taking rests at frequent intervals, trying to conceal a grimace at every effort.

'What's the matter? Has the big hard man got cramp?'

'Shut it. If that hole of yours were ever likely to be deep enough, I'd bury you in it. As it is, you open your trap again and I'll likely turn you inside out and bury you in your own mouth. It's big enough.' With pile-driver force, Dooley sent the blade of his shovel into the soil, until it was hidden by the ice-bound earth. He paid dearly for the gesture, feeling the blood ooze again from his punctured shoulder.

'That'll have to do. Everyone under cover.' Between attempts with cold hands to pile the fruits of his labours on the edge of his slit-trench, Hyde caught a glimpse of movement among distant trees. Waiting a moment to see that the others had gone to ground, he got down himself. It was probably a delusion, but huddled into the all too shallow hole, he felt warmer. After carefully cutting a vee-shaped cleft in the ragged parapet he looked again. There could be no doubt about it, there was the main body of the Russian patrol, perhaps another forty men. It wasn't their loping progress that had first caught his attention. Trees were falling, being toppled and crushed by the advancing bulk of a crudely whitewashed T72.

Even before he could see the details of its raked frontal armour and turret, Hyde had calculated its course. As the tank cleared the tree line, the Soviet marines fanned out behind it, facing him across the half mile of bleak open ground, and started purposefully forward.

THIRTEEN.

'Well it had to turn up sooner or later. The rumours have been doing the rounds long enough.' The third battle group showed bright and clear on Cline's screen. Several of the traces were as large as the biggest they had already seen, but one in particular stood out, dwarfing them and shaming the other blips that swarmed about it.

'Seventy thousand tons. The pride of the Russian fleet.' Revell couldn't take his eyes off the image. 'It's just got to be the Admiral Sergei Gorshkov, Admiral Sergei Gorshkov, that carrier's the biggest hull ever launched from the Leningrad yards. h.e.l.l, it's even bigger than anything the Commies have ever laid down at Nikolayev on the Black Sea. York, I want to know if it's operating aircraft, rotary or fixed-wing.' that carrier's the biggest hull ever launched from the Leningrad yards. h.e.l.l, it's even bigger than anything the Commies have ever laid down at Nikolayev on the Black Sea. York, I want to know if it's operating aircraft, rotary or fixed-wing.'

'I'm already monitoring it, Major, and it's not, but someone is. I've got what sounds like a Swedish fighter controller, seems our neutrals have heard the fireworks going off in their back yard. I can't tell what they're yacking about, sounds like the Swedish chef out of the Muppets, but I'm betting the sky gets rather full in the next couple of minutes.'

'It is already.' Manually activating the automatic IFF interrogator, Cline double- checked the Identification-Friend-or-Foe system. 'And the pair of birds coming our way aren't ours, and they aren't Russian. He could be right.'

'Of course I'm f.u.c.king right. Only a genius like me would have checked that channel.' Unable to resist, despite his confidence, York leant over to see his interpretation of the radio-intercept confirmed by two fast-moving traces on the air-watch radar.

'Our fellow islanders have seen them too, they are getting excited.' Over his headphones, Boris could hear the commander of the Russian anti-aircraft missile batteries on the island desperately trying to establish whether or not he could, or should, engage the fast approaching targets. 'In the Red Army it is always the same. Without a specific order to follow, a Soviet officer is terrified of doing the wrong thing, afraid to use initiative.'

'I hear small-arms.' Fraser paused and listened, as he attended to the Swedish woman. His words received immediate attention, and the room was suddenly quiet.

It was unmistakable. The cold, still, air brought the sound of fighting into the room. Revell could discern the brurring chatter of machine guns, the occasional crack of single shots and, more worrying, the sharp smart crash of cannon fire.

'Warn the gunners at the launch sites that the Ruskies are inside the perimeter. And I want the Lance ready to go on a ten-second countdown.'

This was it. Now he felt the sensations that tied Dooley in knots before a fight. Total surprise and confusion among the Russian land and naval forces had kept them safe so far, but now that slight edge was gone. Having shown their hand, they could expect the pressure to build up fast. They would have to do as much damage as they could before the Soviets. .h.i.t back hard. The marine infantry attack was just the start, the Russian elite troops were, to the barrage that was inevitably coming, what the first loose flake of ice was to an avalanche.

'Major.' York found frequency after frequency jammed with traffic, much of it in code, but a lot of it in clear, as he tapped into the third battle group's s.h.i.+p-to- s.h.i.+p and fire-control communications. 'They're getting ready to chuck hardware, I'm sure of it.'

'How long before the Gorshkov Gorshkov is in range?' is in range?'

'Ten minutes at present course and speed, but some of the escorts are really piling it on. We can have a go at some of them inside five.'

'Hold your fire, Bombardier. Forget the secondary targets, we're waiting for a chance at the jackpot.'

'Think we'll still be around to collect, Major?' Revell didn't answer York's question. None of the men would have been likely to believe an instant and positive 'yes', and nothing else would have done any good. Already they had done more, much more, than 01' Foul Mouth or any of the bra.s.s had probably expected them to. But even if they'd wanted to, there was no way they could cut and run. They had nowhere to go to, the best they could hope for was to survive whatever the Russians, and perhaps the Swedes, threw at them, and hang grimly on to await a pick-up that might never materialise. This, more than any other mission he'd led the unit into, was taking on all the appearances of a one-way trip.

There was a series of smacks against an outside wall. Fraser fumbled with the sacking he was drawing over the woman's face. Doing so uncovered her blackened legs.

'Just spent rounds from Hyde's fight.'

'That's OK, sir.' Fraser tried to control his shaking hands. 'Just as long as we don't get an 'over' from that Ruskie tank.' He moved away from the fresh corpse. 'I'll go back to our casualties now.' Had that one not been available, he would have had to fabricate another excuse to leave the control room. His stomach churned, and for a brief instant his bowels had been about to empty. The sweat that broke from his body instantly seemed to turn to pellets of ice. Though he walked carefully and deliberately, his feet tripped on the stairs and he almost fell, as another group of bullets. .h.i.t the roof and brought down a tile.

'The kid's s.h.i.+t scared.' York didn't bother to check if he was out of hearing before offering the remark.

'Only a head-case wouldn't be.' It was only partly for the youngster's benefit that Revell said it. There were times when the truth needed to be spoken aloud. None of them were there to throw their lives away. Each of them had pa.s.sed up a hundred opportunities to do just that in the last few months.

No two members of the unit had the same reason for going on, but the reasons they had were strong, and drove them to fight to stay alive just one more day. In the Zone that was the best you could ever hope for, to see the next day, and there were never any guarantees.

Only ten of the Russian marines were still coming on. They moved in a huddled ma.s.s, close behind the slowly advancing bulk of the T72. Their fallen comrades dotted the ground they had already covered, almost impossible to discern in their winter clothing against the backdrop of snow, no more than untidy hummocks marring the pristine white coating over the landscape.

Clarence had held his fire, forcing himself to sublimate the nearly overwhelming urge to take aim, and stayed hidden. But even if he was not as yet involved in the fighting, there was still another battle for him to fight. The. air he filtered to his lungs through several layers of scarves struck bitterly cold, but he had the measure of it now. He wasn't about to be caught a second time. Willpower was the only weapon he possessed to aid him in the struggle, and it took all he had to help prevent him closing his eyes and giving in.

'A long burst from the tank's co-axial machine gun smacked into the ground beside him, two of the rounds ploughing into the enemy corpse that const.i.tuted much of his protection. Made brittle by the cold, the body broke under the impacts, falling apart like a china doll. Unchecked by clothing that snapped as easily as sugar- gla.s.s, chunks of face and torso were scattered. An eye and a section of cheek and nose came to rest of the back of the sniper's hand. The contact made him feel sick, had his flesh not been separated from the human debris by the thickness of his gloves he would have vomited. As it was, he flicked his wrist, not watching to see what new resting place the flesh found.

He cradled his head, flattening himself into his excavation as the tank fired its main armament. Flame and noise and red-hot fragments lashed the trees behind him, and as that died away it was followed by a burst of automatic fire.

Another of the Russian infantry fell, picked off by a single shot as the jostling of his companions forced him fractionally beyond the s.h.i.+elding steel.