Read Online Savage Bay by Christopher Forrest - Free Book Online Page A

Shooter in the tree line at one end of the beach, and the rest of the team clustered in a small knot at the shoreline.
    Six hostiles targets, depicted by glowing red avatars, were moving down a path toward the beach at Savage Bay.
    TITAN SIX, SAVAGE BAY
     
    Hawkeye’s BioMEMS system finished it’s clean-up and repair of his bloodstream. After a few seconds, Hawkeye opened his eyes and took several deep breaths. He took a quick mental survey of his body. Nothing seemed to be broken or badly injured.
    “I’m going to be sore tomorrow,” he said.
    “Welcome to Savage Bay,” said Tank. “Now get your ass up. We’ve got company.”
    Hawkeye pulled himself into a low crouch, a headache throbbing behind his temples as Tank briefed him on their current situation.
    “Let’s try to do this quietly, people,” said Hawkeye over the COM system. “Shooter, you’re on deck. Let them get as far onto the beach as you can. Everyone else, back in the water. Ops Center, stand by.”
    “Acknowledged, Titan Six,” said Touchdown. “Hawkeye has the ball.”
    “Shooter, can you identify weapons?” asked Hawkeye.
    “Negative,” said Shooter. “Not from this distance.”
    “Ops -- a little help?” asked Hawkeye.
    OPS CENTER, ABOARD THE ALAMIRANTA
     
    “Hold on,” said Touchdown. He typed a string of commands on his keyboard and the satellite view began to zoom in on the beach at Savage Bay.
    “The hostiles are not advancing in formation,” said Touchdown.
    If the approaching men had been aware that Titan Six was on the beach, they would have implemented a tactical approach, moving from behind cover and leapfrogging toward the beach to engage the enemy. Instead, they were walking in pairs down a path toward Savage Bay.
    The image zoomed in tighter. Touchdown couldn’t see any faces; their heads were covered by helmets. But the image was magnified enough to identify the weapons they carried.
    “HK416 assault rifles,” said Touchdown.
    Everyone was silent.
    “What?” asked Cruz. “What is it?”
    Touchdown cleared his throat. “HK416’s are used primarily by special forces units. About sixteen different countries use HK416’s. Mostly European. Also Japan. And they’re popular on the arms market. That doesn’t tell us who they are, but it does tell us they’re well-armed.”
    “That answers one question,” said Caine. “This was no accident. It was an attack.”
    TITAN SIX, SAVAGE BAY
     
    Shooter squinted at the approaching hostiles through the night scope on her AWS sniper rifle. As they approached the beach, the group slowed and carefully surveyed the area for anything unusual.
    Submerged in the waves, Hawkeye and the others remained hidden from view.
    “Here they come,” said Shooter.
    Twenty seconds later, three pairs of well-armed commandos in full battle gear walked onto the west end of the beach.
    “They’re in the open,” said Gator.
    “Hold your fire,” said Hawkeye.
    “Waiting for your signal,” replied Shooter.
    “Let them advance another ten meters,” said Hawkeye.  
    OPS CENTER, ABOARD THE ALAMIRANTA
     
    “Why aren’t they shooting?” asked Dr. Ambergris. “They’re right on top of them!”
    On the holographic display, the six hostiles moved across the rocky beach about five meters from the waterline. Soon they would be within a stone’s throw of Hawkeye and the others hiding in the surf.
    “Ops, is anyone else lurking around out there?” asked Hawkeye in a whisper.
    Touchdown’s fingers were a blur on his keyboard, and the satellite image receded to show the area around Savage Bay. He toggled the view to an infrared display. Other than the Titan Six team and the six hostiles on the beach, no other human-sized infrared signatures appeared on the screen.
    “Negative,” said Touchdown. “No other heat signatures.”
    “Shooter?”
    “Ready.”

Chapter 9
     
    TITAN SIX, SAVAGE BAY
     
    The six commandos were now within meters of Hawkeye, Tank, and the others. They scanned