by Robert Cuma
Miller came on the line, “Mike, I’m going to launch a chopper in case you need backup.”
“Roger that General. Hey, wait a minute they are turning down a side road! Everyone heads up, on the right, rockets coming at us, everybody out of the vehicles, quick!” We heard the explosions. And again, more rockets. Mike got back on line shouting, “We’re hit real bad, taking on many casualties! All vehicles destroyed! The bus has exploded but I can see the men have already transferred on to trucks! They’re going in different directions!”
Miller came back on line, “Hold your position, Mike, choppers and troops are on the way.”
I interrupted, “Frank, don’t weaken your defense, they may be coming toward the base.”
“Okay, Steven, good thinking. Look around your area also, see if there’s any movement.”
We got back to our car and one of the soldiers opened the trunk. It was loaded with weapons and some dry uniforms for us. We quickly changed into the new clothing. After loading up with our weapons, we got in the car and started driving in a sweep pattern of the area from the docks to Chi-lung. I told Gina to drive while Hannah sat in the back with the two soldiers. Street after street and no sign of anything. I had Gina stop on the outskirts of Chi-lung alongside the main road to Taipei. Gina asked, “Steven, why do you want to stop here?”
“If there is going to be an attack on the base, some of the enemy will come out of this area.” We sat there for a while with no sign of anything. When I called Miller, he said, “All is quiet around here. The choppers picked up Mike and the casualties. They are headed back to the base.”
We were waiting for something to happen but still all was quiet. All of a sudden, three small trucks passed us speeding down the road headed for Taipei. I yelled, “Go, Gina!” She immediately sped off in hot pursuit. In a matter of minutes, Gina caught up to the last truck in the convoy. She pulled up alongside of them and I yelled out the window for them to pull over. They slammed into the side of our car while the passenger pulled out a pistol and fired a shot at us. Gina swerved to avoid the bullet. Someone from the back of the truck began to fire at us. Hannah with her M-16 began to return fire at the truck. She hit the driver and after a few seconds, the truck flipped over a couple of times and exploded. I told Gina to catch up with the other two. They had a good lead on us now but I knew Gina would catch them soon enough.
I yelled in the back, “Hannah, good shooting!”
“Roger that, Boss.” I knew she was playing with the two soldiers by showing off a little. Hannah was truly a beautiful but tough woman. She spent many years as a young soldier fighting side by side with the men in the Israeli army. She has always enjoyed competing with them.
I radioed back to the base. Miller responded, “Steven, what’s going on?”
“There are two trucks full of men headed your way. My guess is this is part of a plan to take out the base.”
“Can you get to them?”
“We’ll try to take out one more. If we get it, we’ll try for another.”
As we entered the city limits of Taipei, we gained on the next truck. Again, Hannah opened fire. The men in the truck returned fire. There were twenty guns firing at us. The hood of our car was hit, then it flew off, soon our tires were hit and off the road, we went. After some serious twists and turns, Gina brought the car to a safe landing. The two soldiers along with Hannah jumped out of the back seat and commenced firing at the fleeing trucks. It was hopeless as the two trucks soon were out of range. One of the soldiers said, “Great shooting, Hannah, Gina, that was some excellent driving. You girls are something else.”
I said, “We are about four miles from the base and no cars in sight. Grab anything you can from our car and let’s start moving toward the base. All five of us were heavily armed and moving quickly. Our radio connection to Miller was down so we couldn’t reach him. Overhead a rather large military aircraft was making a landing at the base. Behind it were four private helicopters with armed men hanging out the side. The base would soon be under siege. At that moment, I saw a car coming up the street. I said, “Stop that car.” The girls went out into the street to try to stop it while the soldiers stood on the side with guns ready in case the car was hostile. The car came to a stop and we took the passengers out immediately. They were a couple of young locals. Gina told them this was a military emergency. The female passenger offered us her cell phone when she found out we were in the middle of a conflict. I quickly called Miller at the center. “Who is this?” he snarled.
“Frank, it’s me, Steven, the plane that’s landing now, I don’t think it’s friendly and it’s being followed by enemy choppers.”
“I think you’re right! We will withdraw for now and I’ll have to blow the comm. center!”
Just then, to my amazement, coming up the street were Taiwanese military forces. There were trucks full of soldiers, choppers in flight and fighter planes at a higher altitude. They were all converging on the base.
I still had Frank on the line. After relaying what I just saw coming to his aid, he decided to hold the fort. We hitched a ride on one of the military trucks and went in for the rescue. The battle raged inside and outside of the base. The enemy was easy to identify since they didn’t wear uniforms. Almost immediately military troops blocked off all streets leading to the base to protect civilians from entering the combat area. Leading the rescue was General Chin of the Taiwanese military. He had a mean reputation as a ‘no nonsense guy’ and was one tough soldier. He and Miller were cut from the same granite stone when it came to military leadership. That was for sure. It didn’t take them long to gain control of the situation. Miller, commanding his troops and with Chin’s small army, victory in our favor was assured. Soon after the smoke cleared, Chin, Miller and Tao Li met to discuss the situation. Our combined forces sustained light casualties while the invading enemy caught in a cross fire, lost about ninety percent of their troops. The enemy prisoners were lined up and shackled. Some were in Arab dress while others were Chinese civilians. The interrogation process began immediately. Miller offered up the services of Gina and Hannah since they both spoke Arabic. Gina was really getting an education on life outside of Italy. If a prisoner didn’t answer the girls’ questions, he was shot on the spot right in the back of the head. After witnessing what was in store if they did not cooperate, they all started to give up information.
We found out the large plane came from the Philippines. It was from a U.S. base near Manila. The two pilots were locked up in Miller’s little jail cell in the back of the base. We would interrogate them later. Miller and General Chin had been friends for quite some time. They both had a mutual respect for each other. General Chin took the prisoners with him when he departed with most of his troops. He left us a contingent of his soldiers to help with the clean up. Miller’s people suffered light casualties. The wounded were taken to the base hospital, which was not damaged by the firefight.
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Frank said to my team and me, “All of my men are accounted for so let’s go to my place for awhile. The apartment building wasn’t even touched.”
I responded, “That sounds good to me, Frank.”
John wanted to go to our safe house and check things out. Mike, of course, preferred to go see his girl, Mia. I told both of them it was okay. When we got to Miller’s apartment, Hannah and Gina ran for the showers. Frank and I were content with a stiff drink. Miller said, “Steven, what is this all about?”
“I think it’s because Hightower still wants to take us down. Also, Bono is seeking revenge for us kidnapping his wife.”
“Well, I don’t think that’s going to change. Can’t you get this guy? If you need help, let me know. I can put a small army together in no time.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary, Frank. I should be able to get him once I return to Italy. I was hoping he would come out here then it would be easier. But I think he’s smart enough to stay in the States and Italy where the laws protect him more. We s
hould take out his processing plant here in Taiwan and the one in the Philippines.”
“That might flush him out or force him to make more mistakes.”
“The plant in Taiwan has not been identified yet.”
“Do you have a plan for that task, Steven?”
“Actually, I do but it involves the young girls, Tina and Zia. We’ll also use Gina and Hannah to protect them. They look like teenagers anyway. If you agree, then we’ll bring the girls back here and I’ll talk to them.”
“Okay, I’ll tell my guys at the Cheng Liu estate to return with Bianca along with Tina and Zia.”
When Hannah and Gina came out of their showers, they grabbed some coffee and sat with us. Hannah said, “We should interrogate those two phony pilots from Manila today.”
I asked, “Do you think we can get them to give us the location of the plant near Manila?”
Hannah replied, “I want to give it a try.”
“What about you, Gina? Can you handle a little torture session?”
“After what I saw earlier, with peoples’ heads’ being blown apart, I might be able to deal with some torture.”
I continued, “Gina, you do realize this kind of combatant behavior is really not allowed in Taiwan but we do take liberties. We have more latitude here than in most other countries. The torture we impose on our prisoners can be brutal if there is resistance.”
“I get the picture, Steven. I’ll give it a try.”
Hannah said, “I think we should get started as soon as possible.”
Miller suggested they pick a couple of soldiers to assist them and keep it quiet. Hannah responded in the affirmative. The two girls left on their mission.
Frank said, “Why don’t we keep an eye on things from the observation room?”
The jail is a small building with several cells and an interrogation room. From an observation room, the activities can be watched through a two-way mirror. The people in that room could not see the observers through the mirror. Hannah found her two favorite soldiers, the ones who were with us on our last mission. They were more than happy to assist the girls. Hannah had the soldiers bring the prisoners to the interrogation room. They tied them to chairs with hoods over their heads while Hannah began to speak.
She said, “Okay, so you guys are traitors and you have some information I want. Are you going to give it to me or am I going to have to take it from both of you. The choice is yours.”
The pilots said nothing. “Hannah continued, “I am a reasonable person but you have to give me the information I need.”
Finally, one pilot said, “We don’t know what you want.”
Then Gina said, “Where is the Hightower drug operation in the Philippines?”
The response from the pilot was, “I don’t know what you are talking about,” as he laughed and told the other one to be quiet. This little gesture on the part of that particular pilot indicated to Hannah that they had successfully separated the stronger of the two subjects. She turned to our two soldiers and said, “Hang this one by his wrists from the rafter and strip him down,” as she pointed to the stronger of the two. They reluctantly complied and lifted his body about two feet from the ground as Hannah ordered. The soldiers left the pilot’s shorts on. Hannah told the soldiers to leave but don’t go far. The two came into the observation room.
One of them remarked, “General, do you think she has a handle on this situation?”
Miller responded, “Observe and learn soldier.”
Hannah removed the hoods from both pilots’ heads. Hannah was holding a rather large knife. She said, “Tell us what we want to know. You are running out of time.”
He responded, “Let’s not get crazy, sweetie. I have nothing to tell you.”
With that, Hannah cut away the pilot’s shorts and while they dropped to the ground, she placed the point of the knife on his groin area. She asked, “Do you know what I’m about to do to you?”
“That’s just a scare tactic. I’m not telling you anything.”
The other pilot yelled, “Are you crazy? Tell them what they want to know!” With that, Gina wacked the non-leader pilot with a piece of bamboo and said, “Relax, you’ll get your turn.”
I said, “Frank, my guess is that Gina has studied the science of torture.”
“It looks that way. She is no rookie, that’s for sure.”
The squeamish pilot said, “Tell them, please, they’re going to kill us.”
The leader replied, “They’re not going to do anything.” Hannah began to probe deeper into the pilot’s groin area drawing some blood. The other one turned his head as the blood began to flow. On the table was a roll of transparent tape. Gina grabbed it and tapped the weakling’s eyelids open. Then she stood behind him and held his head with the bamboo stick under his chin. He had no choice but to look at his comrade hanging there.
Gina said, “Do it now.” Hannah with one twist of the sharp knife surgically removed the pilot’s genitalia. The blood spewed out about three feet from the victim’s body. Screaming madly, he twisted and jerked around in extreme agony while hanging from the rope. It took him about twenty minutes to die. The other pilot began to scream right along with the bleeder.
Hannah exclaimed, “Damn it! Now I need another shower. Gina, I’ll get the guys to hang the other one up,” as she left the room.
The remaining pilot started shouting, “No! I’ll tell you anything you want to know. Please, don’t kill me!”
Gina ordered, “Tell me where the Hightower operation is located in the Philippines! And don’t lie to me about anything!”
“I’ll tell you everything,” as he began to reveal all we needed to know.
Hannah, standing in the room with me and the rest of the observers commented, “Steven, Gina knows her stuff. She knew exactly what I was doing.”
I responded, “I’d like to think she learned it in a classroom or from a book.”
“We can only hope,” she said.
After we extracted all the information we needed from our remaining prisoner, we turned him over to the Taiwanese military. The girls along with Miller’s two soldiers disappeared for a while. I figured Hannah and Gina needed some diversion from the recent activities.
Miller and I went back to his place to discuss the newly found information.
As Miller poured us a couple of stiff drinks, he said, “We still don’t know where the drug plant is around here and that bothers me.”
“We have to use Zia and Tina. Zia can lead us to some of her dealers and we’ll take it from there.”
“Will she be a willing participant?”
“I think we’ll just tail them to the right places.”
“That may work. We must be careful for their sake.”
“I know, Frank, I know.”
“By the way, Steven, what did you make of Gina’s actions today?”
“I don’t know what to think. I’ll try to talk to her about it when they return.”
Then Miller went to check in with his troops. Shortly after he left, Hannah and Gina returned. Hannah immediately went to take a shower. Gina had a sad look on her face. She said, “Steven, this whole episode today has knocked me for a loop.”
“You looked like you knew what you were doing.”
“Steven, over the years I interrogated known terrorist suspects. Many times, I watched them tortured but today I was in charge. I wanted to see if I could do what Hannah did. I know the process but I needed to know if I could follow through.”
“Hang around here long enough, you’ll get another chance.”
“Maybe I can. Another thing, during the recent battle I shot several of the enemy. One guy I had to kill because he was coming after me.”
“Well, it’s like you said a while back ‘You never shot anyone.’ Today was a first.”
“I guess I can really do it. Now come with me to the shower.” We went into one of the bedrooms and within minutes were in the shower making beautiful love. Gina seemed to b
e overly excited during our lovemaking but she usually is a very passionate woman.
After our steamy shower, we lay on the bed and I said, “Gina, you were exceptionally excited this time.”
“Well, it certainly wasn’t the torture episode.”
“I didn’t think so. Do you want to talk about anything?”
“I think so,” she took a long pause and continued, “After we dropped the prisoner off, we returned to the barracks with the two soldiers. They were very funny and kept on flirting with us. It seemed harmless enough. Once inside the barracks, we sat on a couple of beds. Hannah sat with one of the guys and I sat with the other. After kissing each other for a while, Hannah and her guy went into a storage room for some privacy. I was a little surprised with Hannah’s actions but a certain excitement came over me at the same time. The soldier with me started to kiss me. I let him do it for a minute or two then I stopped him. He became very insistent so I kissed him for a while longer and told him we would finish at another time. He reluctantly backed off. When Hannah came out of the storeroom she was ready to leave anyway.”
“Gina, we all live on the edge and sometimes our actions cannot be explained for that moment in time.”
“I think I can understand what you are saying. I probably could have done more with the soldier but maybe I wasn’t close enough to killing the prisoner as was Hannah.”
We heard the water still running in Hannah’s shower. It seemed unusual so we both thought to check on her. When we entered Hannah’s bedroom we saw her sitting on the floor of the shower with a blank stare on her face. I took her out of the shower and carried her unclothed body over to the bed. Gina grabbed a towel and we wrapped her up in it.
I asked, “Hannah, are you okay?”
She shook her head in the negative. Then she said, “How cold can I be to castrate one man and twenty minutes later please another? I’ve been a soldier all my life. The Mossad took me out of an orphanage when I was seven years old and made me into a killing machine. This is the only life I have ever known. Sometimes, I hate it. Working with you, Steven gives me some hope in human nature. Besides, you bring in to our group people like Gina who really care. But I’ll be fine now, not to worry.”