Temple

'Owing to your lack of special forces training, I kinda figured you wouldn't want to go storming any boats.'

'Good thinking.'

'So I thought that, instead, you could run decoy for us.'

'Decoy?'

'I want you to scoot around in front of those Nazi gunboats as fast as you can and draw their fire while we take the command boat and a Pibber. Once we've got those two boats we'll bring you aboard the main cruiser.'

Race swallowed. 'Okay…'

As he said it, he glanced left and got Renee's eye. She must have seen the apprehension on his fate and nodded reassuringly

“You'll be all right,' she said softly over his earpiece. 'Thanks' he said.

Then he looked forward and saw that their tree-lined sanctuary ended about a hundred yards ahead of them at a band of half-submerged trees.

Beyond the stand of trees, he could see grey daylight and the river proper.

In the river, would be the Nazis.

'All right everybody,' Van Lewen said 'Speed up and stay sharp; You know what you have to do;'

Race felt his blood rush: He couldn't begin to imagine what lay beyond those trees;

But he didn't have long to dwell on it because a second later, the six of them hit the edge of the tree at full throttle and burst out into daylight.

The Nazis were waiting for them.

No sooner had Race and the others blasted out of the treeline than a wave of supermachine-gun fire erupted all around them,

Look out!'. Doogie yelled, ducking, but Molke was too slow. A thunderous barrage of bullets whizzed over Doogie's head and slammed into the young German soldier's body, ripping his chest open, causing Molke to convulse violently before he was thrown off the back of the speeding boat.

Race's eyes went wide as saucers as he saw Molke get shot to bits right alongside him. They went wider still when he beheld th@ gight before him.

Two of the three Mosquito choppers that had previously been resting on the helipad barges now hovered in the air above the water right in front of him and his team, while the rest of the Nazi fleet powered up the river behind them!

Damn it!

A spray of deadly 20mm machine-gun fire spewed out from the helicopters' side-mounted cannons, raking the tree trunks behind Race, strafing the water all around him.

'Split up! Split up!' Van Lewen yelled.

The four American-German Jet Raiders split up instantly— two going left, two going right—and suddenly Race found himself facing across the water alongside Doogie Kennedy who was now sitting alone on his riverbike, his wounded left shoulder caked in blood..

Van Lewen and Renee and Schroeder shot off in the other direction, whipping out of sight behind the flotilla of river boats.

Race and Doogie sliced in between the Nazi boats, ducking and weaving. One of the Mosquitos wheeled around in the air above them, came roaring in toward them with its cannons blazing.

In the face of the onslaught, Race banked away to the left and sped in between two of the helipad barges. The line of gunfire behind him pummelled the side of the nearer barge, kicking up sparks along its length.

Race shot along the alleyway of water between the two barges, then abruptly he burst out into open space in front of them and cut right, taking air as he leapt across the bow- wave of the right-hand barge.

He was met with the sight of Doogie's Jet Raider racing alongside him at exactly the same speed—but underneath the hovering MosqUito helicopter and alongside one of the speeding Nazi Pibbers.

'Professor! Quickly! Doogie yelled as he drew his SIG- Sauer pistol with his blood-smeared left hand. “Give me cover! I'm going to board that Pibber!”

'What about the command boat!' Race yelled into his throat mike. 'What about the plan!'

“The plan went to hell as soon as we came outta the trees! Come on!”

'All right!'

With that, Race quickly drew his own SIG and opened fire on the two Nazi crew members standing on the stem platform of the Pibber.

As he fired, they ducked for cover, and as they did so Doogie quickly pulled his Jet Raider alongside the speeding Pib and leapt up onto its elevated foredeck.

Race watched in amazement as Doogie found his footing on the Pibber's roofed forward section and took two bounding steps aft, dancing up onto the roof of the gunboat's wheelhouse and then leaping down onto its open stem plat form and blasting the two Nazi crew members to kingdom come with his SIG.

'Professor! Get over here! I need you to man this gun!' Doogie jabbed a finger at the Pibber's turret-mounted 20 cannon.

Race skimmed across the river's surface, heading for the Pibber.

On board the Pibber, Doogie scooped up a G-11 from one of the fallen Nazis and took the wheel, firing up at the Mosquito helicopter above him while still maintaining his furious speed.

Race came alongside the speeding Pibber.

He brought his Jet Raider in close to the fast-moving patrol boat, trying desperately to keep control as the river-bike bounced wildly on the Pib's side wash.

Race rode grimly, trying to keep up with the Pibber, his eyes locked onto the speeding gunboat's side handrail, three feet away.