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Four hours later, nearly the stroke of midnight, both Hawks arrived at the exact coordinates where they’d dropped Evans’ truck.
One of the big twin-rotor Chinooks waited for them. Beale and Henderson set down their DAP Hawks to either side. Before they were off the birds, two crews poured out of the Chinook. In moments they’d set up grounding cables and refueling lines to both Hawks. Then they started checking all the weapons despite the fact that not a single shot had been fired.
The Chinook would pull back and wait to see if they needed fuel on the way back out. They shouldn’t. They’d be okay with a midair refueling at that point. Assuming everything went as planned.
The two crews wandered about to stretch their legs, an unusual luxury while on a long mission.
On the rough earth
