by Ali Vali
He ignored Robyn and stopped in front of Levine, who seemed to be staring into a deep abyss as if he weren’t there. Gil had already put his fists on Umeko, but she hadn’t made a sound. That wouldn’t do when it came to Levine. “Do you know who I am?” he asked her, but she stayed quiet. “I asked you a question. Do you know who I am?” She finally made eye contact, and her expression left him thinking she found him lacking. That earned her a slap across the face hard enough to make her head snap to the left.
“Who is this?” Gil asked, leaving Umeko alone.
“If I’m right, she led the team who destroyed your facilities last year.” He had to hold Gil back when he lunged at Berkley.
“You must ready the helicopter, so I can take this prisoner back. Supreme Leader Kim will want to deal with her himself.”
“Not yet. If she lives after what I need to do, then you can have her, but not before,” he said, not liking the set of Gil’s mouth. “You can take her if it makes you happy,” he said about Jin.
“I’ll be taking her and Umeko as soon as your pilot is ready,” Gil said as he turned and pushed Umeko back into the cage. “Before you speak, remember where you are, and who I am.”
“Dad.” Robyn tried to interrupt again, but Dick wasn’t about to back down like some powerless punk. “It’s really important.”
“Lapry,” he said to Tyler. “Get in touch with Waspit and tell him to get the helicopter ready again, but no one leaves here until I give the order. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.” Tyler Lapry stood at attention and saluted.
“What?” he asked Robyn, curling his hands into fists and straining not to hit his son. If his stupid wife had been worth anything, his children would’ve been so much better than this.
“The military tribunal found Jeffery guilty, and they decided the death penalty was warranted.” Robyn spoke quickly and took a step away from him. “I thought we could trade him and Rachel for her.”
“Rachel?” he asked, grabbing Robyn by the shirt and pulling him forward. “I thought Rachel was recovering and staying low?”
“She never contacted me, and I thought she was pouting because she screwed up Jeffery’s recovery. Now it seems she was shot and has been charged with trying to kill the president.”
“The president’s already dead,” he said like Robyn was simpleminded, which he really believed most of the time.
“She tried to kill President Michaels,” Robyn said in the same condescending tone. “She’s being charged as an enemy combatant. That’ll give the government an easier time killing her after a short hearing.”
“They have Rachel too?” he asked, glancing back toward Gil, who was pointing at Tyler and then the cage. For once Robyn was right. The only bargaining chips he had were locked inside, and Berkley Levine might be the exception to the government’s rule of not dealing with terrorists, especially now that the weak-willed Michaels was in charge. “Get them something to eat, and tell everyone they’re dead if they think of touching them.”
“What about General Gil?” Robyn asked, and he seemed to know like he did that Gil was going to be a problem. “If he leaves without what he wants, he’ll come back with an army.”
“He doesn’t understand what my sons mean to me.” Robyn smiled at that, but in the months after starting this quest he’d realized the next leader would have to be Jeffery, with Rachel at his back. The men would never follow Robyn because they didn’t respect him, and for that he couldn’t blame them. “If he can’t grasp that important fact, then we’ll handle it.”
“You and me?”
He nodded and placed his hand on the pistol on his hip. The shiny, nickel-chrome guns were status symbols he’d ordered by the thousands after one of the generals in Desert Storm told him Patton had worn one in World War II. Patton had been one of his heroes from the time he was a small boy because he was a man’s man who didn’t take shit from anyone, and he’d fought for the America he wanted to bring back.
“Come on,” he said, and walked back to Gil, who’d started screaming at Tyler, but Tyler seemed unfazed. “Stop,” he said in a loud voice.
“Tell your man to bring the prisoners,” Gil said, and poked him in the chest with two fingers. “If you disagree, your welcome in our country will be sacrificed.” Gil poked him again, so angry his spittle was hitting Dick in the face.
He wiped his cheek and shook his head. “They’re not going anywhere, and you’re going to just accept it.”
“Are you insane?” Gil asked, laughing as if Dick were telling jokes. “I informed General Lee he was a fool for telling the supreme leader to allow you to come here. He paid for that mistake with his life and cried like a woman when the dogs started with his feet.” He went to the spot where Jin Umeko was standing in the cage listening. “Kim wanted to shoot him, but I convinced him to use the dogs because he put you in charge of protecting the nuclear facilities, even though he knew it was a mistake before you even began.”
“You thought my father was a fool?” Jin asked him and laughed.
“He had his boot on my neck for years, and he fooled leader Kim just as long. Now he is dead, and when you’re gone, any trace of him will disappear as well.”
“Your victory will be short-lived, which makes me realize why General Lee kept you down for so long. A man who is staring at death but is blind to it is truly an idiot,” Jin said, then turned her back on him.
“Look at me,” Gil said, rattling the door. “Open this door.”
“Lapry, you heard him,” Dick said.
Tyler opened the cage and pushed Gil in. “I hope that’s what you had in mind,” Tyler said.
“Yes, it was,” he said, and Tyler opened the door again. “Take her out,” he said of Berkley, and she walked out before Tyler could touch her. “What’s your name?”
She stared at him out of the one unswollen eye this time but kept her mouth closed. The disrespect infuriated him, and he slapped her. He put some heat into it, but her head hadn’t moved, and she hadn’t made a sound. When she smiled slightly, he lost control.
“Remember, when you tell me what your name is, I’ll stop,” he said as his fist connected with her side where her kidney was. He hit her ten more times, but she stayed quiet. “You’re not going to outlast me.” When she went back into the cell Gil tried to lunge out, but the young guard hit him with the butt of his rifle and kept at it until Gil fell to his knees and covered his head.
“You’ll break eventually,” he said, shaking the bars, but Berkley only gave him a hard stare that showed her defiance.
“You will pay for this,” Gil said, his bravado and bravery back now that there were bars between them. “Your actions here will mean not only your death, but the death of all these fools. That I promise you.”
“If you call death, General Gil, then it should be your own.” Dick removed his pistol, aimed, and fired before he gave it too much thought. Overthinking every step was why he hadn’t gotten farther along than this.
Gil’s head exploded at the close range and splattered across Berkley and the man with her, but neither of them flinched or made a move to wipe the gore from their face. “You’ll break eventually,” he repeated.
“Do you say this to convince her, or you?” Umeko asked, and he raised the pistol again, but Berkley stepped in front of her and finally showed some emotion when she laughed.
“You will.” He tightened his finger on the trigger, but she only laughed harder. He walked away before his temper stole his last chance to get Jeffery back. “You will, because I want Michaels to have to piece you back together whenever I decide to let you go.”
* * *
The sun setting brought an end to the drills the men in black did with the fervor of new gung-ho recruits, and most of them went to what appeared to be their mess hall. Wiley watched all the movements, her own finger tightening on the trigger when Chandler aimed his weapon at Berkley.
It took three more hours before the compound’s watch was set a
nd the unnatural quiet settled over the area. “The good thing about an underdeveloped country is the lack of good lighting,” Baylor said, and she hummed her agreement. “Everyone in position?”
Every man with them scattered around the perimeter checked in, and the backup team that had arrived from South Korea was positioned a quarter mile away in case any other troops were arriving to join the party. Their orders for tonight were simple. All they had to do was paint their targets for precision bombing and, if they could, release and retrieve their people.
Aidan had given the order, and Wiley had admired how steady her voice was when she added the last part. If this had been Aubrey, she would’ve fucked the rest and done everything to get her back, and that’s exactly what she planned to do. “Everyone get ready for when these guys start their circuit again,” she said. “I’ll eliminate any problems that get past you from up here.”
“Remember, don’t destroy the house at the west side of the square. We need the information that’s inside it,” Baylor added. “Tito, you know what to do.”
“Yes, sir. As soon as BD opens the door, I’ll guide them out.”
“We’re a go,” Wiley said as the guards started their walk again to cover their area. This had probably become rote by now because there wasn’t, up until now, any danger in the dark.
She lined up her first shot, and the head of the guy who stood guard next to the cage snapped back as the rest of his body followed. Berkley and her group had stood together at the back opposite the door to stay away from the dead guy they left in there with them, but Wiley needed them to one side or the other, so her next shot was to the ground to the right.
Thankfully they understood and moved to the left to give her a clean shot to the lock. She peered through the scope and exhaled before pulling back gently on the trigger, hoping Tito was ready. A bullet through metal in this unnatural quiet would be like firing without the silencer, and when it hit, she knew she was right, since she heard it even from this distance.
The noise faded, but more than one light went on, and men started to open doors and look outside. Thankfully, the rescuees didn’t waste time and had followed Tito to cover before the spotlights came on. Hopefully now all that was left was to disappear into the dark and wait for their ride.
“Find them,” Chandler yelled when the spotlight stopped on the cage that now held only one victim. “Radio the unit and tell them to close in.”
That last command stopped Wiley from climbing down as she continued to watch. The chaos this should’ve caused wasn’t materializing, and the only explanation was mind-boggling. “Baylor,” she said.
“Go ahead.”
“Everyone, stop where you are and go to evasive maneuvers.” Before they left the ship they’d had one last meeting with Berkley, Aidan, Baylor, and herself. The term “evasive maneuvers” indicated that the people who should’ve been on their side were compromised. If the group of elite soldiers they’d sent from South Korea was compromised, they were sandwiched. To get out meant either going through Chandler’s men or through a team as well trained as Baylor’s.
“What evasive maneuvers?” the backup team’s leader asked.
“We need to go to the east and loop back around,” Baylor said. “It’s more distance, but it’s a bigger opening, and we need to get out as cleanly as possible since we’ve got baggage.”
“Roger that. We’ll be ready for you.”
Wiley watched as the young guy who’d beaten the Korean soldier with his rifle stood in front of the porch in the yard and talked to someone inside. A few minutes later a group joined him, and they headed east. Obviously, they’d been sabotaged from the moment Command called in their saviors, but where along the line had Chandler started giving the orders?
She switched radio channels before hitting the ground and meeting Baylor at the spot where they’d decided. “What the fuck?” Baylor asked when he lowered his weapon after he saw it was her.
“The team at our backs is working for the other side,” she said, radioing the others. “Shoot anyone who points a gun at you,” she said after explaining what was happening. “We need to get moving and make it to the other side of the line we brought with us, or find cover until the guys redecorate this place.”
“I’d rather not be here when the wrecking crew comes through, so we’ll use the dark to slip by,” Baylor said. A few of the men made it back to them, but they stayed put until she saw Berkley, Harvey, and Jin. “When I get my hands on that marine unit, I’m going to make a lei out of their ears.”
“I’ll be happy to help you with that,” Berkley said softly as she put her hands on their shoulders and squeezed. “You’re both getting a bottle of something good for Christmas this year.”
“What about me?” Tito asked indignantly.
“I won’t forget any of you, believe me.” Berkley winced as she spoke, and Wiley knew it had to be from the beating Chandler had delivered, but she seemed to be able to move on her own, which was a huge bonus. “What’s the plan?”
“Command sent a local team, but they found out Chandler offered dental, so they changed employers.”
“If we give these fuckers the night and all day, they’re going to find us,” Tito said, and Goose nodded, along with some of the others.
“We’re moving, and Wiley’s order stands. I don’t care whose uniform they’re wearing. They point anything at you, and you don’t hesitate,” Baylor said.
“Come on, since the east diversion is only going to last so long,” Wiley said, making Tito move ahead as if to clear their path.
“Did you paint the area?” Berkley asked, and Baylor nodded. “We need a mile, then call it in.”
“How’s a half a mile?” Baylor asked as they heard the sound of helicopters in the air. They’d be easy to spot when they turned their searchlights on. “Hold your fire and take cover,” he ordered, not wanting to give away their position.
Tito raised his fingers to his ears, so Baylor and Wiley switched back to the previous secure channel. “I say, Tiger One, report.”
“Sorry. We’re stuck behind a building on the east side of the square and can’t move without blowing our way out. Any way you could draw these motherfucking scumbags off?” Baylor asked, sounding like he enjoyed saying every word.
“We’re on it,” the guy said almost excitedly. “Don’t move.”
One helicopter peeled off, and their group moved forward and away from the light in a tight circle. Their marine buddies obviously wanted to cover their asses, and Goose held up a fist when Wiley saw the two men on the slight ridge thirty yards away. She held her fist up as well, and everyone dropped.
She crawled slowly to the left as Baylor went to the right. They had to move far enough to stand and make the shot. Her target was sweeping the area with binoculars while his buddy held his rifle to his shoulder as if ready to fire. That’s who had to go first, and Baylor obviously agreed when the man suddenly slumped over to his side. Before the other guy could figure out what had happened, he was dead.
They moved forward cautiously, and Baylor’s men took possession of the dead men’s radios and pointed forward. A few minutes later one of the guys said, “All clear, sir.”
“Tito, climb and tell me what you see,” Baylor said when they reached a tree with low branches.
They stood still behind something as they waited, and Goose checked the GPS. “It appears clear, but it’s as black as the inside of my ass, so we go slow,” Tito reported.
“We got another half mile, sir,” Goose said.
“Cletus, you’re okay to go?” Baylor asked.
“You saw me on the deck every morning,” Berkley said and laughed. “I don’t like to do it for fun, but to train in case I have to run for my life. I think this qualifies.”
“Let’s hit it,” Wiley said, and they made their way quietly into the unknown. “No matter what, you three are with me,” she told Berkley.
They stopped at Baylor’s order as his team cleared the
next section, and Berkley put her arm around Wiley’s shoulders. “Thank God you got there before they ripped all my fingernails out.”
“Chandler could have done a lot worse than that, buddy,” Wiley said, confused.
“True, but the fingernail thing would’ve ruined my love life.”
* * *
“Captain,” the Jefferson’s lead radar man said. “The targets are visible, so we’re a go on your mark.”
“Thank you,” Aidan said, knowing Command was listening in. She picked up the receiver and took a breath. “Tiger One, this is Zookeeper.” It was like throwing a penny into a wishing well, waiting for Baylor to respond since the team had gone silent.
“This is Badger One, ma’am,” the marine leader responded. “We’re trying to find them but have been unsuccessful.”
“You lost them?” she asked, suspicious of that response.
“Black Dragon ordered evasive maneuvers, and they’re pinned somewhere in the target area. Hold your fire until we’re clear.”
“Confirmed, and we’ll hold until otherwise noted.”
“Ma’am, bogeys coming from the north,” another radar operator said.
“Vader, you’re clear for takeoff.” The flight crew had been on standby, since she was confident Baylor and Wiley wouldn’t waste time getting clear of the area. “If the bogies are black and they don’t respond, you’re clear to fire.”
“Yes, Captain”
“Killer,” she radioed next.
“Ma’am.”
“Evasive maneuvers,” she said, changing the channel, and Devin intercepted the crewman who moved closer to see what she’d done. “Devin, have him cuffed and gagged for now. I don’t have time for a trip to the brig. Call the CIA guys, and they’ll deal with him.”
“Wait a minute.” The crewman put his hands out in front of him.
“Either place your hands behind your head,” she said with her service weapon in her hand, “or I’ll shoot you where you stand. Treasonous behavior during wartime gives me that right. I’m also tired of you assholes, so option two would be preferable.”