Amazon Burning (A James Acton Thriller, #10) (30 page)

Or
maybe they are here because of you?

He had
noticed when taken out of the communal lodge, much like those of his village,
that the Spirit People here seemed to be either staying on their strange boat,
or in their own strange buildings made of some type of super-thin skin, each
shaped oddly like half a head lying on the ground. They had an appearance of
being temporary, which made him think his theory of them being here because of
him might actually be valid.

“What is
going on?” he finally asked Kinti, she not having explained the frenetic
activity around him. If he didn’t know better, it looked to him like everyone
was preparing to leave. Why anyone would want to do that in the middle of the
night, when the jungle was at its most dangerous, was beyond him.

Then he
felt himself pale, a wave of nausea sweeping over him as he realized what must
be going on.

“Is it
the Panther People? Are they coming?”

Kinti’s
head bobbed quickly and Tuk dropped to a knee, almost passing out. He felt a
massive hand on his shoulder, the Spirit Man he had heard Kinti call Read-ing,
and who also appeared to be her mate, was kneeling beside him, saying something
in his strange tongue that seemed to be expressing concern.

“I’m
okay, sorry,” he replied, Kinti translating. The man smiled and helped him up,
then gave Kinti a kiss as he left them, rushing over to help another Spirit Man
who was on some sort of bed being carried by two other Spirit People who had
darker skin than the pale faces like Lau-ra-pal-mer.

Kinti
grabbed him by the arm and led him into the forest with the others, and before
he knew it, the village and its large central fire were lost in the trees, even
the glow disappearing within minutes. As he looked about, he couldn’t believe
the turn events had taken.

And it
terrified him.

For not
only were the villagers like him fleeing, but so were the Spirit People.

Which
meant the Panther People must be far more powerful than he had feared.

And
there was no hope for his family and friends.

Acton lay prone behind a large log with a clear view of the inlet,
the village evacuated only minutes before. The assumption was that any attack would
come from the water, and as he laid here, Laura at his side, both armed with
Glocks and a healthy supply of magazines, he began to wonder if the assumption
was correct. While he agreed that they most likely would travel here by boat,
if he were attacking the village, he’d disembark and come through the woods.

The very
woods he and his wife were hiding in.

He
looked into the darkness but could see nothing. The large fire was still
burning, it intentionally fed a little extra just before the natives left to
hopefully give the illusion that all was well and the residents had simply
retired for the night.

Leather’s
men were stationed at the other line of trees with a clear line of fire not
only on the inlet, but the trees in which Acton was hiding. If they stood a
chance, the element of surprise would be necessary. The boat was still docked,
the lights dimmed as if for the night. The tents were zipped shut, a couple
with lights on and fake bodies in their sleeping bags to give the illusion the
visitors were all asleep or soon falling asleep.

The
reality was the small encampment on the shore was a kill zone. Leather was to
fire first, then all hell would break loose. If they were lucky, they just
might be able to pull off their ambush.

But from
Acton’s experience, nothing ever went to plan.

The
radio crackled. “This is Recon One. I’ve got a boat, dark, on the river, at
least twelve, repeat twelve, hostiles onboard. At current speed, ETA five,
repeat five, minutes, over.”

“Roger
that. Return to base when safe to do so, approach from east. Command, out.”

Acton
looked at Laura who was staring at the water, her weapon at the ready. He
wanted to hold her, to protect her, to grab her and race into the forest with
the others, but he knew they were needed. Leather’s men were outnumbered, and
they were only here because of them. Anyone trained was needed. Which was why
Reading had put up a good fuss when Acton told him he wanted him to go with
Milton.

Initially
Acton wanted Milton evacuated on the boat, but when Leather explained that the
boat provided no method of retreat or escape except for jumping in the water,
at which point you would most likely be gunned down, Fabricio had bravely
suggested that he and his men would go with the villagers to protect them.

That
left Milton without a ride.

Reading
had reluctantly agreed to go with the villagers. Acton knew it went against the
man’s natural instincts as a former soldier and current law enforcement officer
to leave the fight, but he also realized there was a need to coordinate the
evacuation and protect Milton and those like Kinti should they fail here at the
frontline.

Acton
looked at his watch, the hands glowing slightly in the firelight.

Surely
it’s been five minutes?

He
stared out at the inlet, looking for anything, even a ripple, but there was
nothing. He began to wonder if his previous fears of them coming through the
forest behind them might be a more likely scenario. He listened carefully,
hoping to catch any sound, even just the snapping of a twig, but heard nothing.

His
heart was pounding hard now, his chest getting tight as the uncertainty of the
situation began to control
him
, rather than
he
controlling the
situation. He took a deep, slow breath and held it for a five count, then
slowly exhaled, repeating the process several times, his heart slowly returning
to a closer to normal state.

“Are you
okay?” whispered Laura as she looked at him.

He
nodded. “Just getting it together.”

“Oh
shit!” she murmured and Acton looked back at the water.

And
gasped.

Laura froze up, fear taking over as a scene from a horror movie
played out in front of her. Ripples approached the shoreline, too many to
count, too many intersecting with others, confusing the numbers.

All she
knew was it was too many.

The
first broke the water, a glint off a face mask the first thing she noticed as
they noiselessly walked out of the water. A second appeared, then a third and
fourth. Before she knew it the count was up to twelve, exactly as Leather had
predicted, and within seconds they were out of the water, a semi-circle created
around the tents by half the men as the others spread out to establish a
perimeter.

The
first group opened fire, shredding apart the tents, the others taking knees,
their weapons watching for activity from the surrounding area. She ducked as
one stopped not five feet from their position and lowered a pair of night
vision goggles.

Oh
no!

She
heard a round fire from James’ gun.

Leather opened fire, someone else having beaten him to the punch
from the Professors’ position. He didn’t blame them, he would have too if he
had someone five feet from the muzzle of his gun with night vision goggles
about to reveal his position.

They
opened fire with their MP5’s on full-auto, cutting down the unsuspecting team
firing on the tents before they had a chance to respond. He wasn’t worried
about them, they were simply the easy targets, it was the other half
dozen—scratch that five since one of the professors had dropped one—that were
more his concern. Which was why two of his team of six were already picking the
others off.

If it
took twenty seconds he’d be surprised, but he called out the ceasefire before
his second clip was empty. The two professors jumped up and waved, smiles on
their faces as he activated his comm. “Stay down for Christ’s sake!”

They
dropped just as the second shoe did.

Chester raced as fast as he could toward the gunfire, tripping
several times over roots and other obstacles. The forest was nearly completely
dark, starlight and moonlight blocked by the thick canopy of leaves and
branches overhead. As he neared, the gunfire dwindled and he smiled, breathing
a sigh of relief as his trained ear detected the final shots were fired from an
MP5, the return fire from a distinctly different weapon, a Type 79 would be his
guess if they were indeed dealing with Chinese Special Forces.

He
slowed up and activated his comm when he heard something behind him. He spun
but it was too late, a knife plunged into his belly, the blade twisting.
“Second…group…” he gasped, as the blade was withdrawn and slid across his
throat.

Reading huddled with the rest of them, his Glock at the ready. As
the gunfire dwindled, he prayed for his friends, frustrated at being left to
wonder what was happening. The comm provided to him by Leather squawked in his
ear.

“Second…group…”
then a burst of static.

“Oh
shit!” he muttered as a second burst of gunfire erupted from the village. “It’s
a bloody trap!” He turned to Kinti then looked at Fabricio. “I have to go help,
they’re being ambushed.” He gave Kinti a peck on the forehead as she translated
for Tuk. Reading sprinted back toward the village, veering to the right, making
the assumption the new attack would be coming from the north. It didn’t take
long before he could see the glow of the village’s fire pit to the left then
muzzle flashes from both sides of the clearing.

Far too
many muzzle flashes for him to take on alone.

He heard
something behind him and felt his chest swell with pride as several dozen
warriors, spears and blow darts at the ready, appeared from the forest, Tuk at
their lead.

Maybe
there was hope after all.

When Acton saw the first shot erupt from the forest they were hiding
in he had immediately grabbed Laura and retreated east, out of the line of
fire. Several shots had chased them but the trees were thick and they had
survived the initial counter attack. It made him wonder how Leather had known,
his shouted warning the only thing that had saved them.

As he
and Laura crawled deeper into the trees, trying to find a position to be able
to fire from, the distinct sound of a Glock firing from behind the new
arrival’s position had him jumping to his feet, realizing there were only two
possibilities. Either Chester was attacking alone from behind, or Reading was.

Either
way they needed help. Shouts erupted, then cries, Reading’s voice bellowing
orders to what sounded like dozens of native warriors. He activated his comm to
warn Leather of the new arrivals.

“Friendlies
attacking from the rear of the new position, over!”

“Roger
that, out.”

He
noticed the weapons fire from Leather’s position immediately switched from
full-auto to single shot.

But it
didn’t matter.

The
enemy fire had stopped.

“Hugh,
are you okay?” shouted Acton, praying to God for the umpteenth time on this
trip.

“Yeah,
over here!”

Acton
followed the voice and the sounds of the excited natives, holding Laura’s hand
as he led her through the trees. After weaving in and around for several
minutes, they suddenly came upon the victorious group, the bodies of their
enemy already being piled in front of them, and too many of the honored dead
beside them.

Reading
stepped toward them, dirty but unharmed as Kinti rushed past them and into his
arms, saying something over and over that Acton echoed the sentiments of.

“Thank
God you’re okay!”

Rio Negro, Northern Amazon, Brazil

Command Sergeant Major Burt “Big Dog” Dawson pointed ahead, holding
a finger up to his mouth. The motor of a high speed boat could be heard
approaching. At the helm, his second-in-command, Master Sergeant Mike “Red”
Belme, cut their speed and guided them toward the shore, out of the line of
sight of the boat that should come around the bend in the river any moment.

“Prepare
to engage if hostile,” ordered Dawson, his men taking up position from stem to
stern as he raised his night vision binoculars. An impressive high speed boat
banked around the corner, empty lest its pilot.

Its
pilot dressed head to toe in combat gear.

“Niner,
take the shot!”

A round
was immediately fired from Niner’s M24A2 SWS Sniper Weapon System, the unit’s
best shot lying prone on the prow of the boat. The pilot of the oncoming craft
immediately dropped, the dead man’s switch dropping the boat into idle almost
immediately. Red gunned the motor, taking them back into the flow of the river,
spinning the wheel to bring them alongside. Sergeants Will “Spock” Lightman and
Trip “Mickey” McDonald jumped aboard, Spock securing the controls, Mickey
making certain the target was dead. He gave a thumbs up.