Her little heart was beating like a trip-hammer and her limbs were convulsing, and Slater knew that any further delay would seal the girls fate forever. Someone this size and weight, injected with a full dose of a pit vipers poison and he had seen enough of these snakes to know that this one had been fully mature could not last long before her blood cells began to disintegrate.
Keep her as still as you can, he said to Groves and Diaz, then ran back to the jeep, grabbed the radio mike, and called it in to the main base.
Marine down! Slater said, viper bite. Immediate I say, immediate evac needed!
He saw Groves and the private exchange a glance.
Your coordinates? a voice on the radio crackled.
The coordinates? Slater, the blood pounding in his head from his own fever, fumbled to muster them. Were about two klicks from the Khan Neshin outpost, he said, focusing as hard as he could, just southwest of the rice paddies.
Groves suddenly appeared at his side and grabbed the mike out of his hands, but instead of countermanding the majors order, he gave the exact coordinates.
Tell em they can finish the rations dump later, Groves barked. We need that chopper over here now! And tell the med center to get as much of the antivenin ready as theyve got!
Slater, his legs unsteady, crouched down in the shade of the jeep.
You didnt need to get mixed up in this, Slater said after Groves signed off. Ill take the heat.
Dont worry, Groves said. Therell be plenty to go around.
For the next half hour, Slater kept the girl as tranquilized as he could the more she thrashed, the faster the poison circulated in her system while the sergeant and the private kept a close watch on the neighboring fields. Taliban fighters were drawn to trouble like sharks to blood, and if they suspected a chopper was going to be flying in, theyd be scrambling through their stockpiles for one last Stinger missile. Nor did Slater want to go back to the outpost and ask for backup; somebody might see what was really going on and cancel the mission.
I hear it! Groves said, turning toward a low rise of scrubby hills.
So could Slater. The thrumming of its rotors preceded by only seconds the sight of the Black Hawk itself, soaring over the ridgeline. After doing a quick reconnaissance loop, the pilot put the chopper down a dozen yards from the jeep, its blades still spinning, its engine churning. The side hatch slid open, and two grunts with a stretcher leapt out into the cloud of dust.
Where? one shouted, wiping the whirling dirt from his goggles.
Diaz pointed to the girl lying low on the embankment between Slater and the sergeant.
The two soldiers stopped in their tracks, and
over the loud rumble of the idling helicopter, one shouted, A civilian?
The other said, Combat casualties only! Strict orders.
Thats right, Slater said, tapping the majors oak leaf cluster on his shirt, and Im giving them here! This girl is going to the med center, and shes going now!
The first soldier hesitated, still unsure, but the second one laid his end of the stretcher on the ground at her feet. Ive got a daughter back home, he mumbled, as he wrapped the girl in a poncho liner, then helped Groves to lift her onto the canvas.
Im taking full responsibility, Slater said. Lets move!
But when the girls father tried to climb into the chopper, the pilot shook his head violently and waved his hand. No can do! he shouted. Were carrying too much weight already.
Slater had to push the man away; there wasnt time to explain. Tell him whats going on! he shouted to the sergeant.
The father was screaming and crying Diaz was trying to restrain him as Slater slid the hatch shut and banged on the back of the pilots seat. Okay, go, go, go!
To evade possible fire, the chopper banked steeply to one side on takeoff, then zigzagged away from the rice paddies; these irrigated areas, called the green zone, were some of the deadliest terrain in Afghanistan, havens for snipers and insurgents. Slater heard a quick clattering on the bottom of the Black Hawk, a sound like typewriter keys clicking, and knew that at least one Taliban fighter had managed to get off a few rounds. The helicopter flew higher, soaring up and over the barren red hills, where the rusted carcasses of Soviet troop carriers could be seen half-buried in the dirt and sand. Now it would just be a race against time. The girls face was swollen up like she had the mumps, and Slater slipped the oxygen mask onto her as gently as he could. Her ears were like perfect little shells, he thought, as he looped the straps around the back of her head. She took no notice of what was being done, or where she was. She was delirious with the pain and the shock and the natural adrenaline that her body was instinctively pumping through her veins nonstop.
The soldiers stayed clear, strapped into their seats beside the ration pallets theyd been delivering and watching silently as Major Slater treated her. The one with the daughter looked like he was saying a prayer under his breath. But this little Afghan girl was Slaters problem now, and they all knew it.