SAM’S LAUGHTER FUGUE PASSED AS quickly as it came, and he started to put together the next plan of action. He first needed to address his promise and radioed back to Zhongnanhai, where, as Commander Kung, he ordered that Peng’s wife and child be brought out to the main entrance in one hour where they would be picked up by an unmarked car.
Next he transferred to Peng, and taking control, put Li to sleep with the butt of Peng’s rifle. While he was using Peng’s handcuffs to lock Li to the steering wheel of the van, he internally gave him instructions.
“Peng, I want you to get in a taxi and go to the U.S. embassy where you will ask for Julia Cacerek. Just tell her Sam sent you.”
“What about my family? I am going to help you and then we are going to save my family?”
“I will take care of that; they will meet you at the embassy. Julia will take care of you all. You will all be safe there, I will tell her everything you have done. I can’t ask you to do any more than you have, and I will be less visible on my own.”
Seeing Peng searching for words he finalized the deal. “It’s okay, really, none of this was your concern, and I threw you into this and made a mess of your life. So getting you and your family to safety is just as much a selfish act for me to right my wrong as it is the right thing to do for a good person and his wife and child.”
Sam felt Peng’s gratitude and understanding.
“Okay, now we have to find a cab,” Sam said as he stood up to admire his handiwork. Commander Kung was handcuffed to the steering wheel as naked as the day he was born without any communication devices within reach.
74
PENG AND SAM REACHED A busy road after a brief jog from their immobilized van at the university campus. Flagging a taxi, Sam transferred to the driver with an awkward neck touch as he climbed in, then waited until Peng stopped another cab and was safely off.
The taxi driver was a 30-something-year-old man who smoked a lot and had a grumpy disposition. Sam accessed the driver’s mind to find a nearby convenience store where he bought a disposable pre-paid phone which he put on the passenger seat for later.
Using the driver's phone again, Sam looked up the Zhangjiakou facility. Mapping the route, he pulled out into the street to get underway and quickly put some distance between him and Li. There shouldn’t be any way Li could track him in this new host, but he had somehow tracked him to the van at the university; couldn’t be too careful.
It was the middle of the night, and he had about a three hour-drive per the phone map. Thankfully this driver had started his shift only a couple of hours ago and was well rested. Sam wondered if the need for sleep was a purely physical requirement or if it would affect him eventually even if he kept transferring to rested hosts? Some aspects of slipping had become easy, almost second-nature, yet there were unknowns that could still pose a problem.
The rain had let up a little but was still coming down at a steady pace, certainly enough to slow traffic.
An hour into the drive Sam used the driver’s smart phone to find the number of the U.S. embassy. The topography had become hilly with mountains to come, the taxi driver’s mind informed him this was where people came to ski. The rain and winding roads demanded his attention, and he had to be careful as he typed the number into the flip phone he had purchased.
The call went through, and he was put on hold while the operator transferred him. Just a few seconds later Sam heard the familiar sound of Julia’s voice. He was unexpectedly overcome with emotion, rendering him mute as he fought to suppress the quiver in his throat.
“Hello, hello?” Julia answered. It had been almost four hours since she last spoke to Sam at ZG and her nerves were frazzled. Julia was used to being the tip of the spear in operations and wasn’t dealing well being sidelined; too much time to think.
Sam swallowed the choking ball of emotion and found his voice, “Julia, it’s me. I have the confirmation.”
Julia could only recognize Sam’s voice when he occupied her body. Their mission had been compromised before; she wasn’t about to let it happen again.
“When was the last time you flipped me the bird?” Julia asked to confirm it was him.
“When some jerkface pushed me out of a helicopter,” Sam said smiling as they slid back into their rhythm.
“You have confirmation? That our assumption was correct?” Julia purposely did not use specific language, Sam’s host was listening and who knew who else.
“Yes, at the highest possible level.”
“The highest possible level?” Julia said somewhat surprised.
“There is no one higher.” Also aware of the risk of eavesdroppers Sam kept his language vague.
“Holy shit, you’ll have to tell me more about that later. Are you able to do anything about it?”
“So far, yes. There are, or were, two locations of significance. One of them has been dealt with which is the reason it took me this long to contact you. I am on my way to the other.”
“How much time do you need?”
“I have another two hours until I get to Zhangjiakou. After that who knows.”
“Is that your final destination?”
“Yes.”
“I will pass on this information after our call. Sam, after that, you know a countdown will begin. It won’t stop unless the people running the clock witness the end to current activities on their side.”
“And if the countdown continues?” Sam asked.
“It would be the ultimate sacrifice.”
My final destination, Sam thought. This was the first time Sam had been confronted with the idea of his own death. The attack that would be levied at the end of the countdown would ensure destruction of the target facility and leave no survivors. There would be no slipping to safety in that situation.
These thoughts fell away as quickly as they came. His resolve hardened. Justice was needed and everything else was secondary. Sam was surprised how easily his mind came to this conclusion and returned to immediate action.
“Julia, there is something I need you to do.”
“Name it.”
“Our friend will arrive at your location soon and ask for you. I promised him you would take care of him and also his family.”
“It’s already done. He’s here and a car is on the way to pick up his family.”
Sam hadn’t realized how long it had been since he had left Peng.
“And Sam—”
“Thank you, it’s important to me. I will see you soon,” Sam interrupted. He was going to succeed and any thoughts of a goodbye and what that meant were a distraction he couldn’t afford at the moment.
“I’ll be waiting,” Julia said and ended the call.
75
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN her career Julia had become emotionally involved with the mission. Where before she would have acted without thinking, she now found herself hesitating to call Director Greenfield, knowing she would be starting a deadly countdown that would likely be the end of Sam. She reminded herself of the big picture, and, heeding the same advice she had given Sam in the interrogation room, punched in the number to Paul’s direct line.
The call was answered immediately, and she was all business again. “Director, it’s Julia.”
“Do you have news?”
“We have confirmation that China is behind the attacks. There are two facilities associated with the strikes. One of them has been dealt with, and Sam is en route to the second.”
“The attacks continue, Julia. Reports of new deaths are coming in every hour. What’s the location of the second facility?”
Julia found herself hesitating again.
“Julia! What’s the location?” Paul repeated wearily.
The mission always came first, Julia numbed herself to all other thoughts. “It’s in Zhangjiakou. I don’t have an exact location.”
“There is a major military base there. That must be the location…” Greenfield said trailing off in thought.
“Julia, I need to info
rm the President of this immediately. You and Sam have done an excellent job.”
Sensing he was about to indicate her mission was over, Julia spoke quickly. “We are not done yet, Paul. Sam is on the way to the second location and should be able to take it offline.”
“The decision will not be mine, Julia. With hundreds dying every hour it will be difficult for the President not to take the most decisive path. The military is at DEFCON 3 and offensive plans have been developed. Now with a target, it will just be a matter of time until they are implemented.”
“Surely a full-scale war will result in a greater number of casualties. We just need a couple of days,” Julia pleaded.
“The decision is above both our pay grades, Julia. I have to report to the President now. I’ll let you know what I can, but I’m pretty sure we are talking about hours not days. Prepare yourself for the worst. I will contact you as soon as I can.”
The line went dead.
C’mon Sam, one more magic trick, Julia thought as she removed the phone from her ear.
76
SAM HAD BEEN STEADILY CLIMBING higher and higher into the jagged mountain peaks as he neared Zhangjiakou. The roadway flowed from valleys to high elevations with panoramic views that were currently hampered by the dark and gloomy night.
It was noticeably colder at this altitude, and Sam turned on the car heater. He had to deal with some minor ice buildup on the windshield as the rain had turned to a light sleet which he really hoped did not accumulate on the steep roads. Presumably it would be well above freezing once the sun came out in a few hours, but he would hopefully be where he needed to be before then.
Up ahead Sam could see what looked like a check point. According to the route on the driver’s phone they were just over five miles from the Zhangjiakou facility. Sam hadn’t guessed there would be any kind of defenses this far from the facility; maybe it was unrelated.
Close enough to have to slow down, Sam confirmed that it did look like a military check point including two trucks blocking most of the road, with heavy guns mounted in their rear beds. There were six men in military uniforms, one of whom was waving for him to stop in front of the gap between the two trucks.
Sam rolled down his window per the motioning request of another of the men who then asked where he was going.
“Just going for a drive on my day off,” Sam said.
“This road is closed, turn around and go back,” the officer directed nonchalantly waving him off.
Sam wanted to get the officer near enough that he could transfer and tried to strike up more conversation to find an opening. “Was there an accident? The roads look like they could be icing up in places.”
“You must turn around. The road is closed,” the officer said more aggressively, moving a step closer to the car but still a good fifteen feet away. Apparently they had orders not to provide any information; this did not feel like a typical checkpoint or road closure. Of course this was China so who knew, but Sam was guessing this was in place to stop him from getting to the second and final operations center.
Sam opened his door in order to try to find a way to get close to the soldier. As soon as his door was cracked the soldier yelled, “STAY IN YOUR CAR! STAY IN YOUR CAR!” He brought his rifle up sighted on the driver’s side window and the other soldiers Sam could see also brought their rifles up and started to move towards strategic positions.
Yup, this is definitely a welcoming party meant for him. Although they didn’t know what he looked like, it seemed the strategy was to treat everyone as a suspect.
“Okay okay,” Sam said putting his hands in front of him and widening his eyes, as he sat back down and started closing the door again.
The soldiers did not relax even as his door closed, and Sam seemed to hear a strange noise that was getting louder. Moving slowly to not spook the soldiers further, he put the taxi in reverse using the steering column gear lever and turned his head to look where he was going while he backed up. When he turned back around, Sam was blinded by a searchlight rotating across his car. The light stopped on the checkpoint and Sam was shocked to see it was attached to a helicopter rising from the dark behind the army trucks and the valley below the road. Holy shit, they really brought the welcoming wagon this time. Sam quickly finished turning the car around and put it into drive moving back down the road as fast as he safely could. An incredible shrieking sound erupted behind him and looking in his rear view mirror, he saw the helicopter had opened fire on the military vehicles and men with it’s rotary cannon. Without thinking Sam floored the gas pedal and watched as a missile was launched into each of the trucks.
77
LESS THAN ONE HOUR AFTER Director Greenfield brought the President up to speed, the people necessary to command the most powerful military in the history of the world were assembled.
“Mr. President, we recommend striking the Zhangjiakou facility using F35 stealth fighter bombers from our bases in Japan. If the intel is correct…” the Defense Secretary paused briefly for a sidelong look at Director Greenfield then the Director of National Intelligence, “…this will stop the ongoing attacks on U.S. soil immediately. They will realize we discovered they were behind the attacks and will potentially not want to bring this to light by any sort of public retaliation.”
The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) reported directly to the President and was technically in charge of coordinating all the efforts of the intelligence agencies including the CIA, a role the Director of the CIA used to command. The change was made to avoid another 9/11 due to lack of information sharing between agencies. However, unlike the Secretary of Defense who had absolute command of the military, the DNI held more of a coordinator role, and the order of the Defense Secretary’s glances was telling as to where the power lay.
“How long will it take them to get there?” the President asked.
“We are at DEFCON 3, so 15 minutes to get airborne once the order is received, then two hours of flight time.”
“Is there any chance of failure?”
“We know the Zhangjiakou base is mostly inside of a mountain. We have a stockpile of the latest HVPW bunker busters in Japan. We will send 30 F35’s, each carrying two of the HVPWs.”
“I will repeat my question, Mr. Secretary. Is there any chance of failure?”
“The HVPWs can penetrate up to 150 feet of reinforced concrete and rock, sir. We do not know the exact depth of the target facility, but with 60 bombs we feel we have a high chance of destroying the facility with disruption guaranteed at a minimum.”
“What other options do we have to guarantee success?”
“Sir, we have nuclear bunker busters at our Guam air base. This is the most powerful penetration weapon at our disposal, but I’m sure I don’t need to remind you, Mr. President—”
“I’m sure you don’t, Director. How long to get them to the target?”
Everyone shifted in their seats and glances were exchanged.
“Mr. President, the only stealthy aircraft that can carry the nuclear bunker buster is the B2 bomber. We have two stationed at Guam which can reach the target four hours after takeoff,” the Director of Defense responded.
“Get the F35s en route from Japan immediately and the nuclear armed bombers from Guam. We will have two hours to assess the success of the initial attack before the nuclear bombs arrive and have to be committed. Is the 7th Fleet in the region?”
“Yes, sir, the 7th is already in the South China Sea,” the Director of Defense replied, sitting up straight.
“I want readiness of all military facilities increased to DEFCON 2. If we are forced to use the second round of bombers and they also fail…the nuclear subs from the fleet will need to be ready.” The President looked directly at Director Greenfield who had made the President aware of the unique method of their intelligence gathering on this mission. Nobody else in the room was aware of the Slip.
“Sir, with all due respect, do we have irrefutable confidence in our intelligence t
hat China is the source of these attacks? We would be starting a nuclear war, maybe the next world war. We better be damn sure before—,” the Director of Defense said before being cutoff.
“We have absolute certainty on this, Director,” the President said, still looking directly at Director Greenfield.
All eyes were now on Greenfield including the Intelligence Director’s, who was also in the dark on the Slip.
“Yes sir. I will give the orders,” the Defense Director said as he stood to make the necessary calls.
78
“FUUUUUUUCK!” SAM YELLED, SQUIRMING IN his seat, trying to think what he should do. Outrun a helicopter? No. Get close enough to transfer to one of the pilots. Hell, no. The road dropped off steeply almost immediately on the left side of the car down into the valley and rose almost immediately just as steeply on the right side. His only option: race down the road straight ahead.
A few cars passed him going the opposite direction towards the now defunct checkpoint.
A quickening volley of thunks in the taxi’s rear followed by two explosions brought Sam’s attention back to the moment. The back end of the car dropped as the tire’s shredded rubber flew off the rims. Sam fought to follow the road’s sharp left turn around the mountain face as the car swerved wildly.
The metal rims of the rear wheels shrieked against the pavement as they failed to find purchase and the taxi swung broadside into the opposite lane skidding toward an oncoming car, followed closely by another.
The surprised driver of the first car swerved almost in time, but in the wrong direction and careened over the cliff edge, clipping the corner of the taxi before disappearing. Heavy on the brakes, the second car skidded directly towards Sam’s taxi. Angry black smears scarred the pavement where the smoking tires fought unsuccessfully to stop the vehicle in time.
Sam hadn’t re-buckled at the check point and was thrown across the cab as the two cars collided. His back slammed heavily against the passenger door before he fell face forward into the foot well.
The Slip Page 18