The Wuhan Mission

by Irving Waters

  An officer on the Mako looked suddenly concerned: “I’m seeing a vessel on the radar, to the South. Probably a patrol boat. It’s moving slowly, not directly at us. I don’t think they have seen us. They are at seven miles sir.”

  “Sit tight. We are good for now. We’re lucky that this boat is hard to spot on radar. I’m counting on it. Still, have someone check that gatling gun. Fire only if fired upon with deadly intent. Mind the warning shots. They are only Coast Guard.”

  As Xue Lin began to cross the second field, she could see the water in the distance. She pointed and said: “Look Doctor, not far to go. Let’s pause and rest for a while.” Dr. Wu relaxed for a second. “Ok let’s go!” said Xue Lin, laughing at him. Jimmy shook his head at her, as he took the lead, feeling sorry for the Doctor.

  The inflatable quietly motored in, forty meters from the beach. The skipper scanned the beach with night vision, seeing no-one. He radioed back to the Mako: “The castaways are not at Szechuan yet. We are dropping divers.”

  “Pool’s open fellas. Have a nice swim.” The two frogman rolled backwards out of the inflatable and submerged as the boat reversed away from them and moved away from shore. Sam sat in the bow of the inflatable, looking calm. They were still quite early.

  Under the surface of the water the visibility was very clear due to the calm seas. The moonlight provided ample visibility for the divers to follow the contour of the sandy bottom into the shallows where they would wait silently, partially submerged for their guests to arrive.

  Xue Lin stepped foot on the grassy edge of the beach still a good distance from the water. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and turned it on, putting it on airplane mode. She briefly flashed the illuminated phone in the direction of the water. The divers saw it and radioed in. “We see somebody. Standby for confirmation.” The other diver waded ashore and walked up the beach until he could clearly make out the three figures walking towards him. “I have three coming our way. Looks like Mary-Anne in the lead with a machine gun, then the Professor possibly unarmed, and Gilligan in the rear with a long gun.”

  “That’s them!” radioed Sam. “Coming in now for extraction.”

  The inflatable made a white wake as it motored in the direction of the diver in the water. Jimmy let Xue Lin take the lead. They were her people, after all.

  Xue Lin casually put her hand on her pistol as she approached the frogman: “Are you the man giving free speedboat boat rides?” she smiled at him. He radioed back to Sam: “It’s them.”

  “Roger that. Standby. We’ll be there in two minutes.” Sam was relieved, but he knew better than to relax before a mission was complete and everyone was out of harm’s way.

  The divers both stood at the edge of the water, scanning the distance with their rifle scopes as the boat arrived at shore. The three were helped aboard and the divers climbed on after them as the motor revved taking them backwards off the beach.

  The officer on the Mako straightened up in his seat looking at the radar: “Sir, that patrol boat has changed course and has picked up speed. They have definitely spotted us sir. They probably don’t know how big we are yet. We will look like a small boat on their radar. They are at two miles and closing sir.”

  The Captain radioed: “Sam get back here pronto. They have a patrol boat in the area, she’s seen us. We’re coming to you, meet you half way!”

  “Full speed!” Sam ordered. “Everyone hang on!” The bow lifted out of the water and the boat reached maximum speed.

  The Captain revved the engine and pointed the Mako in the general direction of where the inflatable probably was coming from and brought the boat up to top speed. “Tell me when you see us Sam! We are coming at you fast.”

  “Roger that Captain. When we are close, you turn ninety to starboard and we’ll come in behind. We’ll do a fast rolling pickup, and get the fuck out of here. Wait, I see you Captain. One hundred meters dead ahead, seventy meters…turn to starboard in five, four, three, two, turn!”

  The Mako turned sharply.

  Sam yelled: “Everybody hold on tight and lean back!” as the skipper steered hard to port bringing the inflatable up to the stern of the Mako. The Mako reduced speed and the inflatable’s engine revved, and they came to a jerking stop on the deck of the big boat as everyone lurched forward where they sat.

  “They are still in pursuit, sir. One mile to the south.”

  The Captain pushed the throttles up to full speed. “Let’s outrun them. Intelligence says their patrol boats can only do 50 knots, but we are in range if they want to shoot at us. Technically they shouldn’t, as they don’t even know what we are.”

  “We are doing 67 knots sir. They are falling behind now.

  The Captain looked darkly at the instruments: “But we will be in Chinese waters for another two hours.”

  Everybody was now seated and strapped in. Sam unbuckled and moved up to sit with the Captain. He put the headphones on so he could be heard above the twin engines. “Air support?” he asked simply.

  The Captain cooly replied: “If the Chinese put two and two together, we are definitely going to need it.”

  Twenty minutes went by with no sign of anything in the air.

  “Chopper sir!” the officer yelled, pointing at the radar screen.

  The Captain picked up the radio “This is Mako-2, requesting F-16 air support on standby. Our position is 33.289686, 122.571247.

  Sam yelled: “We need to take that chopper out and try to stop them getting a visual on us. We don’t need them bringing in their airforce.”

  “Jesus! Who are you guys?” he screamed at Sam, half smiling.

  “I could tell you but…” The Captain laughed and ordered the SEALs to get on the big guns. “Take him out as soon as he’s in range!”

  “Yes sir!”

  Jimmy picked up his Barret in the darkness, and unfolded the feet of the bipod under the barrel and lay down on the deck, feet spread, pointing the rifle behind the boat. One of the SEALs smirked in approval: “OK then!” nodding his head in Jimmy’s direction.

  The two SEALs watched the dot of light in the distance slowly grow in size to become the Chinese Coast Guard Chopper. They both opened fire with the 7mm gatling gun and the 50cal machine gun. Tracer bullets lit up the air. The chopper took a few rounds, but evaded. The boat sped along on the smooth moonlit surface of the water. Jimmy angled for a shot with his powerful rifle. The Barret was capable of hitting targets at two thousand yards, and used a large round capable of piercing an engine block.

  Jimmy lay on the deck and balanced the bipod on the inflatable waiting for the chopper to cross the stern.

  ‘Boom!’ The rifle recoiled and the bullet tore through the front of the chopper and through the pilot’s chest.

  The chopper pulled back as the copilot took the controls. The navy SEAL on the gatling gun sprayed the prone chopper with bullets, ripping through the copilot. The chopper seemed to just sit there in the air for a few seconds before nose diving into the sea.

  “God Damn!” yelled Xue Lin, watching as the two SEALs left their gunnery positions and hopped down onto the deck, already smiling and patting Jimmy on the back. “You’re a useful fellow!” said one of them.

  Jimmy winked at Xue Lin as Dr. Wu looked on, aghast.

  “We’re not supposed to be here, let alone taking out their Coast Guard choppers.” said the Captain. Sam looked at him: “They might have called it in. They definitely identified us, maybe not as American, but definitely as a hostile. We don’t look like a fishing boat unfortunately.”

  “I’ll make the call.”

  Jimmy was picking up his 50 calibre shell as Sam came over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder: “Well that was impressive.”

  Sam looked over at Xue Lin and smirked. “Quite the crew you guys are.”

  Xue Lin laughed, clutching her backpack, now strapped to her front, as her hair blew wildly in the wind.

  She looked at Sam and asked: “How long before we are out of Chinese
waters?”

  “Two hours.” he answered, looking back at her with his steely blue eyes. “It might get dramatic. F-16s are on their way from Kunsan air base.”

  He looked her in the face a bit more tenderly than usual. “Are you OK Snowflake?”

  She looked up at him and used her baby voice: “Snowfwake had a big day. Killed a wot of people.” She batted her eyelashes at him the way he loved as it really made him laugh. He gave her a long hug. It made them both feel good despite being blocked by the backpack with the deadly virus in it.

  Jimmy looked at Dr. Wu, indicating with widespread open arms that they should perhaps hug too. Wu laughed, though somewhat nervously.

  “Mako 2, this is Kunsan Air Base. Two vipers inbound to you. Eight hundred knots. They will be at your location in ten minutes, over.”

  The Captain replied: “Roger that. Gracias.”

  The squad of SEALs stayed in their seats, resting. Their job was done. It was up to the airforce now.

  The two pilots of the F-16s flew in the direction of the Navy vessel, out of Korean airspace and into Chinese. Their commander had ordered them ‘not to get shot down in Chinese airspace.’

  “I see the boat on radar, but no bogeys”

  “Roger that.”

  “Let’s fly a wide circle around the boat and hold that pattern.”

  “What the hell are they doing way out here?”

  “No idea. Don’t wanna know.”

  “Saving whales maybe?”

  “This is China, not Japan!”

  “Oh yeah. What do the Chinese do?”

  “Dogs, man, they eat Dogs!”

  “One bogey! Fifty miles out. Coming from the south.”

  “Stay low. Let’s just lock him up and see what he wants to do.”

  Sam and Xue Lin stood next to the Captain as he continued to steer the speeding boat through the night, towards Korean waters while overhead, the roar of supersonic jet engines tore by. It was hard to tell what was going on in the night sky. All they knew was that if a Chinese fighter plane let loose at the boat, they would all be toast.

  “I’m coming round behind him. It looks like a Nanchang Q-5. Just like a Mig. This Man is a shitty pilot. He’s all over the place.”

  ‘beeeep’

  “I’m locked on. I’m just gonna stay on his tail until he shits his pants.”

  “Watch your language. I’m feeling very sensitive today.”

  “Still on him. He’s banking right. Still on him. Oh come ON, just go home dude!”

  “Stay with him.”

  “He’s … banking again, looks like he’s bugging out this time. He’s going home. Finally dude! Nice playing with ya, Alpha Mike Foxtrot!”

  “Nice. We staying for a while?”

  “Affirmative. Resume circle pattern. I’m in the lead.”

  The Captain gave Sam and Xue Lin a look: “I think we are good! How are our passengers feeling?”

  “We haven’t eaten in a while.” said Xue Lin.

  “We’ll be back at base before breakfast, but if any of you castaways want some chow, check the cupboard. Should be noodles in there. Someone boil the kettle!”

  The Frogmen got out of their drysuits and packed their gear away. Doctor Wu was asleep in his seat, head bobbing from side to side with the motion of the speeding boat. Sam started to debrief Xue Lin who was wearing one of the navy SEAL’s wool hats as she had gotten cold.

  She had to talk straight into Sam’s ear, which he didn’t mind at all. She gave him the rundown on the vials that she was carrying in her bag. She gave him the short version of the heist at the lab, the road block. She told him how she thought that there was a piece missing from the puzzle. Why had they not just picked them up and tortured the three of them? Thrown them in jail, never to be seen again.

  At least now she understood how they knew she had come to Wuhan and why they had immediately put her under surveillance. It was all because of the chip in her shoulder.

  Eventually she fell asleep on Sam’s shoulder, and remained asleep until the Captain slowed the boat as it approached the channel back into port.

  “Coffee anyone?” One of the SEALs had a tray of mugs of coffee. Xue Lin and Sam both took one.

  “Sam, what do you know about my parents?”

  “Well, their file is highly classified, but from what their old case officer told me, they were company folk, just like you and me. I believe they knew your birth parents. They were working that whole SARS thing until 2003 when their cover was all but blown and they got sent home with you in tow. As you know, they are very nice people. Why don’t you ask them?”

  “I don’t know Sam. I love them, but they don’t share work stuff. It’s just simpler that way.”

  “OK. Well, you can ask Roet. See what he has to say. Try using that baby voice with him. It works on me.”

  *

  Chapter 42

  Korea

  The Mako pulled up to the dock and the SEALs helped tie up. Dr. Wu and Jimmy were escorted to their quarters which were locked and guarded. Breakfast was brought to them while Xue Lin ate with Sam in the mess hall.

  Sam’s phone rang, it was Marcus Roet.

  “Hello Marcus. We’re all back safe and sound. It must be knocking off time there in Langley.”

  “Good to hear. Did it all go smoothly, any problems along the way?”

  “Ah…we had a few bumps in the road actually. Hopefully no repercussions for international diplomacy.”

  “So you have the Doctor and Jimmy, and some vials for me?”

  “Our two Chinese fellows are having breakfast in their quarters this morning under lock and key. I’ll start debriefing them in their rooms at noon. The vials we are keeping with us. I’m not locking them up for now. I figure it’s better to keep eyes on.”

  “Roger that. Be careful with it. Hold off on that debriefing. I’ll be there in 24 hours. I need to be in the room when they are interviewed. That goes for Snow Forest’s debrief too.”

  “OK, no problem. I’ll wait for you to get here. Have a good flight.”

  Sam thought about his past conversation on the seventh floor with the Deputy Director. His gut was telling him not to trust Roet.

  Xue Lin commented: “Roet on his way?”

  “Yes, he wants to be there for the interviews. Makes sense I guess. They are his assets but I have a feeling that the good Doctor will not be very pleased to see him. Listen,” Sam hesitated for a few seconds, “I’ve been given permission to go over Roet’s head. It seems he is in the bad books with the higher-ups.”

  “Killing Wu’s daughter may have had something to do with that” commented Xue Lin. “I was thinking that we should debrief those two before he gets here. What do you think?”

  “Yep, me too” replied Sam, nodding.”I’m cleared to offer them refugee status unless any red flags pop up. Maybe they can do some work for us! Let’s see how they do now.”

  “Shall we then?” Xue Lin gestured with her hand, pointing to where their Chinese friends were being held.

  Jimmy’s interview was a friendly one in which he happily gave Sam and Xue Lin all the information they wanted. Sam promised him immunity and made reference to a kind of conditional employment at the CIA. Jimmy had demonstrated on the boat his willingness to literally attack his own country. This counted for a great deal. He had certainly become an enemy of the Chinese Communist Party. He would probably have to undergo weekly polygraph tests at Langley if indeed he passed his initial application process but Xue Lin felt that given the right supervision, he would likely prove to be a very useful asset to the company, despite some of his flaws.

  Sam left Xue Lin in the room with Jimmy and he went out to make a call.

  “Deputy Director Wood, I’m glad I caught you.”

  “You have good news for me I hope, Sam?”

  “We have Roet’s two assets in custody and my operative is here with us in Seoul, with the package. We did make a bit of a mess in Chinese waters. One of their Coastgua
rd choppers went down, the two pilots KIA, and two of our F-16’s had some fun with one of their fighters, just a bit of cat and mouse, but no damage.”

  “I did hear about all that just now. As always though, the military report was quite dry. Thank you and well done. A good result. I’m sure we’ll hear from the Chinese about that helicopter, but they have no proof that it was us I trust. Am I correct in assuming that?”

  “Just some gatling gun shells, but they were Chinese made. It was planned well. I just debriefed the first asset. ‘Jimmy’, we call him. He’s coming over to our side if he passes his poly. He’s the one who was ordered to spread the virus in Wuhan. You were right about it. Seems to be a population control thing.”

  “Good Sam. Question the Doctor before Roet gets there. I think it’s highly likely that Wu will react badly to Roet’s face. That botched rescue in Brooklyn is going to come back and bite us on the ass.”

  “Roger that. We’ll go and see him now. What are we offering him Ma’am?”

  “Well, Sam, see what he has to say about the virus. That might determine his value to us. We can’t trade him back to the Chinese for one of ours, he might just keep making viruses for them to kill us with. So either he magically becomes a good guy or he goes in a dark hole.”

  “I’ll take it under advisement Ma’am.”

  “Get it done as best you can Chilvers” she said and hung up.

  Xue Lin had pressed the stop button on the video camera and was talking ‘off the record’ to Jimmy about the ‘chipping program’ that China had started up, back in the nineties. He told her about the types of people that would get chipped: trouble makers, released prisoners, suspected or captured foreign spies, even foreign politicians if they could manage it; always under the guise of some kind of tetanus injection or vaccination, anesthetic or acupuncture.