“Hey, we got choppers inbound. We need a landing zone now!” Mercer barked. They had almost forgotten to find a clearing for the helo, having been so busy trying to stabilize their urgent critical that they’d almost forgotten. “Over there — find us a thirty-meter radius. Move!”
The soldiers scattered, some expanding the security perimeter while others worked to clear branches and debris in a nearby clearing. In the distance, they started to hear the distinctive thumping of rotor blades. The sound of the helicopter closing in on them.
Chen appeared at Mercer’s shoulder, her scanner still in hand. “Sir, that device… it’s still transmitting. Low-power beacon. And there’s something else.” She showed him the display. “It’s emitting a GPS signal. Military-grade, encrypted.”
“Whoa, what are you saying?”
“Sir, I’m saying whatever that device was it’s still active and transmitting,” she explained.
“Good grief.” Mercer cursed and looked at the blood-soaked ground where Eliasson had fallen. “That thing is likely transmitting our coordinates to whoever is on the other end. We need to move out of this area until we can get EOD to neutralize this thing and figure out who it belongs to.”
Seconds later, a helicopter thundered overhead, a Swedish HKP 16 with medical crew aboard. It settled into the hastily cleared LZ, rotor wash whipping branches and dust into a frenzy.
“Come on! Let’s go! Let’s go!” the flight medic was shouting as he jumped out with a stretcher team.
They loaded Eliasson onto the stretcher first. The kid, barely twenty, had slipped unconscious. The medics worked with practiced efficiency, getting IV lines started as they moved.
Holm went next, still conscious but fading. Then Rodriguez, who tried to wave off help until Mercer ordered him onto the bird.
As the helicopter lifted off, Bertil stood beside Mercer, both men watching it disappear into the darkening sky.
“That was my fault, Captain,” Bertil said quietly. “I should have maintained better control of my men.”
“No, Bertil.” Mercer’s voice was hard. “This isn’t on you. It’s on them. The bastards who planted it.” He turned to face Chen. “Is your bag of tricks able to tell how many more of these things are out there?”
She shook her head. “No, sir, it can’t. But if they’re placing them along every major route…” She didn’t need to finish. He knew the implications.
“Damn. We need to alert all units. Nobody approaches suspicious markers without notifying your team and EOD.” Mercer pulled out his radio, then paused. “And, Bertil? Your man Eliasson, I think he’s going to make it. He may have lost the leg, but he’ll live.”
Bertil nodded slowly, but his eyes remained fixed on the bloodstained forest floor. In the distance, they could still hear the helicopter beating its way toward Visby Hospital.
As the sound of the helicopter continued to fade, the forest settled back into uneasy quiet. They roped off the area, marking it for EOD, and then loaded up into the vehicles and headed back to the Grönt Centrum to debrief on what had just happened.
The conference room smelled of strong coffee and a sleepless night. Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Brenner sat across from Colonel Anders Lindqvist, both men looking like they’d aged years in the past twenty-four hours. Captain Mercer stood near the wall map, favoring his left side where debris from yesterday’s blast had left bruises despite his body armor. Bertil sat carefully in a chair, his arm in a sling. He’d returned from the hospital against doctor’s orders.
“Three locations checked since dawn,” Major Stenqvist, Lindqvist’s S2, reported. “All negative. Whatever network they were building, yesterday’s incident seems to have spooked them into going to ground.”
“Or they finished whatever their mission was,” Captain Bradley, Brenner’s S2, added grimly. “Seven groups over two weeks. Even if each only placed a dozen devices…”
“That’s over eighty potential sensors or mines,” Brenner finished. “Ah, this could get ugly.”
Lindqvist rubbed his temples. “Stockholm’s sending their best EOD-Forensics team. Should arrive by 1400. The National Police Commissioner held a press conference this morning. They’re promising to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
“Justice.” Bertil’s voice carried bitter amusement. “This isn’t a crime. It’s war preparation.”
“True, but the public doesn’t know that yet,” Lindqvist replied. “And perhaps it’s better they don’t. We’re already seeing panic buying in Visby’s stores. If people knew the true scope…”
“Yeah, they’d begin to flee the island,” Bertil finished.
Mercer pulled up imagery on his tablet. “Sir, we checked the two locations Bertil identified. First was nothing, just some geology students taking samples. But they were nervous, kept asking why American soldiers were questioning them.”
“The whole island’s on edge,” Brenner observed. “Can’t blame them after yesterday. How’s Private Eliasson?”
