The Puma left the ground. The combination of relatively slow speeds compared to a plane, and proximity to the earth and sea offered her the familiar feeling of unparalleled intimacy with flight that only helicopter pilots knew so well.
The helicopter rose slowly, going up vertically for several meters and for a second or two Maria felt and odd sensation as if the machine was going to slip backwards into the buildings behind them. Then Utah tipped the craft forward slightly and instantly they were over the water of Jelsa bay. They began to accelerate and head out toward the waiting yacht.
Maria focused her eyes on the yacht through the darkness of the night and rain. She could make out some movement on the deck and she became acutely aware that things were not going according to plan. They had waited too long to fly out and her fears that Roman would become suspicious were being realized. From the deck of the “Kristina O” about 300 yards out, a small but intense light on the deck flared to life. “Look out!” She screamed as she suddenly recognized what she was seeing. They had just fired a rocket propelled grenade at them.
But Utah has seen it too and he was already taking evasive maneuvers.
The helicopter swung hard and rolled to the left. But they weren’t high off the surface of the water. Maria grabbed in vain for something to hold onto but the sudden turning threw her clear out the open side door and she fell backwards into space, falling and watching the helicopter attempt to dodge the incoming rocket as the water level rose up. A second before she hit she saw the rocket collide in a violent explosion into the tail of the puma.
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Utah jerked the controls hard, practically ripping the stick from the floor, trying to gain control as the Puma tried to turn itself into a spinning top, if he had a extra set of arms he could use them now, as his hands desperately flipped switches and pulled levers. The good thing about the puma's was they were hearty machines, and the hit had damaged the shell, and busted up some hydryalic lines but the machine leveled out, belching smoke from it's tail, still in one piece. He was going to have to land soon, the tail rotor controls were becoming stiffer, soon they would freeze up and then they would just stop working, making the Helicopter uncontrollable.
Some one was screaming from the back, but that would need to wait.
He could only hope that Barett and Rick had spotted what happened and could give him some cover.
Utah looked around, spotted the best piece of open land and took the Puma that direction.The Princess yanked at his shoulder as the Helicopter spun around and headed back to the town, and a stone faced pier jutting slightly out into the bay.
"You have to go back, she fell into the sea." Yelled the Princess at Utah. Trying to point out the spot in the dark water the figure had disappeared into.
"We need to Land this, or all of us are going to be swimming in the Sea!" He yelled back, never looking at the spot she was pointing to.
The Quiet pop of Barett's and Ricks guns over the snapping of the prop blades on the helicopter was never heard by the Russian crew manning the grenade launcher. The two man crew was dead before the spotter on the deck knew what was happening. They were so fixated on the Puma, that an attack from the shore didn't cross their minds. Rick started picking off targets on the deck while Barett took out the two figures standing in the wheelhouse, with his Sniper Rifle. Hoping their shooting would allow Utah to land the Puma, and get everyone to safety.
Soon gunfire lite up the dark bay, as random shots came from different spots on the ship. Barett and Rick moved in Opposite directions, dodging and shooting from different areas, some times even doubling back on where they had been. Making it difficult for the shooters on the boat to get a good shot. Barett signaled to Rick and they both stopped firing for a second. Allowing for more figures to run onto the deck.
Utah Dropped the Puma hard onto the pier, crushing what looked to be a wooden monument of some kind. The helicopter shock violently as he quickly switched off the motors and fuel pumps. The rough landing had left the girls shaken and disoriented. He did a quick count, sure enough, one was missing.
Utah grabbed his gear bag, and jumped from the Helicopter. pulling all the remaining women outand down the pier to the shore line, well out of the sight of anyone on the ship.Utah had all the extra gear bags over his shoulder and the log book. He was pulling and pushing them as far away from the helicopter as possible, knowing it was only a matter of time before it was shot up or rocketed.
meanwhile Rick and Barett had regrouped behind a small stone wall, while random shots pinged helplessly in all directions around them.
"What do you think we should do now?" Barett asked while reloading his gun.
"we can't let the ship leave, and we lost the element of surprise...I'm thinking disable the ships engines, and systematically work our way through the crew, I believe we have enough ammo for that!"
Rick poked his head above the wall briefly then popped back down next to Barett.
"Yeah, we best stop the ship before she leaves. We could use another distraction, then we could swim over and make a covert insert."
"I agree, we'll need to get Deacon on the radio, then make our move quickly." Barett added.
There was a loud pop, an electrical hiss and snap then the whole town went dark. Somewhere in the darkness the main powerline to town had just been blown.
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