"Which is?" Malichai prompted.
"You would tell the knowledge compiler what kind of program you wanted, what it would have to do, and the knowledge compiler would automatically write the program for you. She had four of her PhD students working on different pieces of the overall program. It was in such a way that each student had an important and exciting research problem they had to solve as they were constructing their piece of the overall program."
Wyatt nodded. "It was a win-win situation for both her and her students. They got their PhD dissertations and she got her program."
"Now that knowledge compiler program she built with her students back then is a piece of her current VALUE system," Trap added.
"She's the real deal, Joe," Wyatt continued. "Smart as hell. I had no idea she was a GhostWalker. Never met her. Did you, Trap?"
Trap shook his head. "We traveled in different circles, but I started at the university when I was in my teens, obviously before her. When I heard of her, I kept up with her progress, just to see how she was doing. She's younger than me, but after I read about her, I wanted to see how well she did for herself."
"I would think Whitney would make sure none of us ever met her," Ezekiel said. "Just my wife. Bellisia. Her best friend. My wife. The woman Joe talked to without talking to me first. I thought we had multiple discussions about that, Joe."
"If we did, I don't remember, Zeke," Joe said, finally turning to face him. "Bellisia had no problem telling me the things I needed to know without you holding her hand. I didn't bite her. We just talked."
"Like anyone's going to bite that woman," Malichai whispered in a too-loud voice. "If she bites you back it's over, as in you drop dead."
"Don't think he's worried about you biting her, Joe," Mordichai announced. "Zeke's got himself in trouble and he's worried she's going to be looking for love in all the wrong places."
Ezekiel wadded up the sheet of paper in front of him and threw it at his brother. "Shut the hell up."
Gino relaxed, allowing the coiling snake inside him to unwind. He should have known Ezekiel's brothers would take care of the tension that hadn't quite worked itself out between Joe and Zeke.
"So, getting back to the problem Major General sent us," Joe said. "We know for sure that Zara Hightower is one of us, and right now she's sitting in Cheng's fortress. If we don't go get her, the chances that she will survive are zero."
"Did Whitney admit to planting the same virus in her that he planted in Bellisia?" Ezekiel asked. "Does she need the antidote?"
"No. Funny that he managed to leave that out when he talked to Major General," Joe said. "Bellisia stated Zara was never allowed to leave without the virus capsule in her."
"How do we know that's true?" Diego asked. "Whitney might have told Bellisia and the other girls that. This Zara could be working for him and leading us into a trap. For all we know, Whitney could have sold us to Cheng. He sold out Ezekiel."
"No," Joe denied. "He didn't. That was all Violet." He touched his abdomen, unconsciously smoothing his fingers over the wound the senator had inflicted when she'd betrayed them all. "She sold out Zeke and the rest of us when she gave Cheng the GhostWalker program. Whitney's insane and he's willing to do just about anything to experiment, but he is a patriot and he wouldn't give us up. That much I believe, and so does Major General."
Wyatt groaned. "That means we're going to China to rescue this chick. Do you know how much trouble I'm going to get into from Pepper if I leave right now?"
"Major General didn't give us any choice on this one, although, of course, it's all volunteer."
A little snicker went up around the room.
"Whitney said he'd allow us to keep the woman without his trying to get her back if we rescued her. One more GhostWalker, a brilliant one at that, a female--of course Major General is going to make the bargain. Neither Whitney nor Major General wants Cheng to recognize that she's a GhostWalker. He'll take her apart if he finds out," Joe said.
"No wonder Whitney didn't tell the general about the virus. He figures we'll rescue the woman and then she'll haul ass back to Whitney as fast as she can go so she doesn't die. If she doesn't make it back and dies before she can get there, at least Cheng doesn't have her. Whitney wins all the way around," Mordichai said.
"Aside from what Bellisia thinks, Joe," Gino said, "do you think we can trust that this woman isn't working with Whitney and that's why he wants us to go in after her? He could just let the virus kill her. There has to be more here than any of us are seeing."
Joe sighed. "Nothing with Whitney is straightforward. Nevertheless, we can't leave her in Cheng's hands. This is a suicide mission as far as I can tell, so in spite of what Major General says about mandatory, this is volunteer basis only. If you do agree to go, you would have to leave in three days at 21:00 that evening."
Gino knew if there weren't enough volunteers, Joe would go. That meant he was going either way. He couldn't let Joe go, still healing from the wound that nearly ended his life.
"Three days doesn't give us very long to train," Ezekiel pointed out.
"Right now, construction is huge in China, particularly in Shanghai. Apartments are going up for the elderly. Several American contractors are working with crews there and have been for a while. New workers move through there all the time. You're going in as workers scattered among several different crews. Our equipment is being transported with the equipment needed for the construction project. You'll have to leave when the next crews are changing out so there is no suspicion. This company is already established and they bring in new workers and equipment all the time," Joe stated.
"How big a team do we need?" Ezekiel asked.
"It has to be small. Five-man team. If it goes to hell, less men to get out."
"I'll go," Ezekiel said immediately. "This is Bellisia's best friend. She talks about her all the time."
"I'm in," Gino said immediately.
"Count me in," Draden Freeman volunteered.
"Not doin' much in this next week," Rubin said with a small shrug.
"Likewise," Diego added, which wasn't a shock to anyone. Rubin and Diego watched Ezekiel's back whether he liked it or not. It probably had something to do with him looking after them when they were all on the streets.
"I had a hankerin' to see China," Mordichai objected.
"Me too," Malichai added.
"Too late," Ezekiel said. "We've got our five-man team."
"Well shit," Mordichai said. "That woman of Trap's is still tryin' to learn to cook and on her night, I swear the woman's tryin' to poison us all. I might pay one of you to stay home this trip and give me a break."
"My woman's going to hear what you have to say, Mordichai, and she'll tie you up to the ceiling," Trap threatened.
The others hooted because it was a very real possibility.
Joe waited for the laughter to fade. "Major General has given his permission to incorporate the women if you need them as backup or in any other capacity. Cayenne and Bellisia, obviously not Pepper, Wyatt, so don't give me that glare, although she did try to pay me to ship you out."
That brought smiles. Pepper was in her first trimester and already Wyatt was a wreck. Even with being a doctor, he was nervous, standing over her, ordering her around, walking with her three times a day, watching every bite of food that went into her mouth, making certain she was taking her prenatal vitamins and generally hovering. It wouldn't have surprised Gino if Pepper had tried to bribe Joe to send Wyatt out on a mission.
"Was that Whitney's idea--to send the women--or Major General's?" Ezekiel asked.
Joe frowned. "Good question. If Whitney planted that seed, it would be best not to let them anywhere near Shanghai. If it is an ambush, they'd be right back in Whitney's hands--or worse--Cheng's."
There was a small silence. No one was willing to risk their women, but on the other hand, Bellisia and Cayenne were both lethal and would be a huge asset if needed.
Ezekiel shook his head. "I don't l
ike it. Too convenient. Whitney wants them back. He's not getting them. I know Bellisia would want to go to help Zara out, but until I know Zara isn't working with Whitney to make that happen, I want Bellisia right here where she's safe. Cayenne as well. Mordichai will just have to put up with their cooking."
This time it was Ezekiel who waited for the laughter to fade. "We need intel on where she's being held. Do we have any?"
"Whitney turned over all his intel on Cheng to Major General and he's sent it to us. You should consult Bellisia as well to double-check it. She might remember more than she already gave me. She was actually there and might have a better understanding of where they might be holding Zara. She said the top floor, nearest the roof, was where they took prisoners they interrogated, so her best guess was that they would hold her there," Joe said.
Ezekiel was all business. He nodded. He took having four of his colleagues, brothers really, entrusted to him very seriously. "What did she tell you about Zara?"
"She goes in without a weapon. She's an industrial spy, not a government spy. She can't take pain at all. Bellisia said if Zara hadn't been so brainy, Whitney would have gotten rid of her a long time ago. He wants them all to be stoic. No matter how much he tried to condition her to pain, she couldn't take it."
Gino knew exactly what that shit meant. The woman was subjected to pain in order to gain a higher tolerance for it. That was Whitney's fucked-up way of thinking. He'd like to put a cap in the bastard's head. Torturing girls. Children. Experimenting on them because he found them in orphanages and considered them throwaways. Yeah, he wanted to go to Shanghai.
"What do we know about Cheng?" Ezekiel asked.
"Bernard Lee Cheng was born of an American mother, an actress, and a very ruthless businessman there in Shanghai. His mother was beautiful and his father powerful. Between the two, he had contacts in both countries and grew up to be very, very powerful, more so even than his father," Joe said. "He inherited the business from his father and has built it beyond anyone's imagining. There isn't a secret anyone has in any government that he doesn't eventually find out about."
"And Bolan Zhu? What do we know about him?" Ezekiel persisted.
"Cheng's right-hand man," Joe said. "He's a little murkier. Served in the military and acquired a certain reputation. He's the enforcer for Cheng and scares the shit out of just about anyone he comes in contact with. His expertise is taking apart people, and he does it efficiently. There's very little about his personal life. Like Cheng, he doesn't have a permanent woman, but there have been many. None last more than a few weeks for either of them. Nothing is known about his parents. Nothing at all. His life started there in the military as Bolan Zhu, but his earlier childhood was wiped out."
Joe looked around the room. "There's nothing about this that's good. Not one damn thing. I don't like that Whitney called Major General personally. I don't like that Major General suggested the women go along. I don't like that we can't get to you if things go to shit, and the number-one thing you can count on is things always go to shit."
Ezekiel shrugged. "You keep everyone safe here and we'll get the job done and bring her home."
"Be prepared for a virus. Gino, you're on the woman. You can find the capsule and hopefully get it out before it breaks open. If not, you'll only have a couple of days to figure out the antidote. Whitney wasn't generous enough to give us one," Joe said. "If she's working with Whitney and is any kind of a threat to us, Bellisia, Cayenne, Pepper or the children, kill her."
Gino nodded, although there was a nasty taste in his mouth. He didn't like killing women. It was a line he'd drawn, but sometimes, out of necessity, it had to be crossed. When that happened, it stayed with him. He could put away the others, but women haunted him. He remembered each of the few, the circumstances and the way they looked crumbling to the ground. He looked away from the others, but he nodded all the same.
No one could be allowed to be a threat to their family. The men in this room, their women and children and Wyatt's grandmother, were family. They had one another and fought together and pooled resources to stay alive, carving a fortress out of the swamp in order to better defend themselves against anyone trying to harm them.
"You'll go in with the contractor's crew and once in Shanghai, you won't have much time so orient yourselves immediately. For those going, you'll do a night jump, HALO from a commercial charter plane, the company working in Shanghai uses. You'll land on the roof of this building. You'll have to watch for the series of water tanks so you'll need to land north to south with the predicted winds."
A high-altitude, low-opening jump--a HALO--at night was done often, but this would be a precision landing with no room for error, and if there was a guard on the roof ... The room went silent. A jump like that might really be a suicide mission.
"What kind of security they have up there?" Gino asked.
"Cameras, no guard. That's where Rubin is going to come in. You'll have to jump first out of the plane, Rubin, and disrupt those cameras as you're coming down."
Rubin nodded, but Gino looked at Joe sharply. They had two men with the particular psychic ability to disrupt electrical equipment and Rubin was one of them. His brother Diego was the other. How had Joe known they'd volunteer? He'd known exactly who would go. Probably, he was counting on all of them volunteering. No one would leave another GhostWalker behind in enemy territory, especially one who had risked her life to save the rest of them. A woman. Damn Whitney to hell for using women.
"We know she's being held on the top floor, but we don't know the room. That floor will be heavily guarded with cameras everywhere. It will take both of you to take those cameras out while the others take down the guards. Gino, Draden, the two of you do your thing that you never explain to any of us and find where she is fast. Get her out of there." Joe sighed and looked around the table at his men. "This is a non-sanctioned op. You can't kill anyone. We take only less than lethal arms. In and out like ghosts."
Ezekiel nodded. "We understand, Joe."
"That being said, if you have no choice, if it's them or you, kill them," Joe said. "And get the hell out fast. Leave no trace if possible, so it's thought to be an enemy of Cheng's. He'll know the GhostWalkers came for her, because Violet gave us up, but the government won't."
"We'll get the job done quietly," Ezekiel assured.
"You'll need to carry a lot of gear on the jump because you'll be using the powered paragliders to leave from the rooftop. Anyone who prays, now is the time to start. You'll need favorable winds. With good winds, you should get close to thirty miles with the gliders. That should get you to this park, right here on the map. That will put you a quarter mile from the embassy. You get her there, and they have to help you, we're golden. With any luck, you're at the embassy before any authorities are notified with some bogus story Cheng comes up with."
Powered paragliders were heavy. This was getting worse and worse. A small landing target with a series of water towers on it. A high rise, which meant winds. In the city. Gino shook his head and looked around him. The others were thinking the same thing he was and it wasn't good. Their chances were looking worse every minute.
"How is her disappearance going to be explained as well as her exit from the country?" he asked.
"We've got that covered. She was very ill and went to the embassy for help. They flew her out of the country to get medical aid for her. Someone from the embassy will go to her hotel room and collect her things. Cheng will know who took her, but what's he going to say to the authorities? They aren't going to like him kidnapping an American professor who is famous in her own right. He can't very will admit to that."
Ezekiel nodded. "Everyone get some rest and be back here at 7:00 so we can get to work. We want to run this precisely. We'll need the rest of you to help us have a mock-up ready of the building, rooftop and floor. Gino, she'll be going out with you on the glider. If she's in bad shape, and we'll have to expect that with Zhu on board, you're not going to have much time to pre
pare her for the escape. She may be unconscious. And it has to be said, it's possible she's already dead. If so, we take her body out of there."
Gino shrugged. He was strong. Extremely strong, enhanced strong, and he'd started with that trait long before Whitney got creative. He could deal with the woman, unconscious, dead weight or not.
"If she's alive, she may fight you," Joe said. "Bellisia didn't trust us at first, and Zara has no reason to either. She'll have been in their hands three days by the time we can get there. In Zhu's hands, three days is likely to be a lifetime, especially for someone who can't take pain."
"She'll tell them what she knows," Diego said, rubbing his hand along the barrel of his rifle. He carried the weapon just about everywhere he went, like a security blanket. "And they'll stop working on her." His tone was hopeful.
Gino knew it wouldn't matter if the woman gave Zhu everything. He'd want to make certain there wasn't more. The torture wouldn't stop until she was dead.
"I don't think she will," Joe disagreed. "According to Bellisia, she might be terrified of pain, but she doesn't break. Her best defense is ignorance. Her cover is solid because it's the truth or as close to it as possible." He looked to Ezekiel. "Stay, let's go over this so you can look to see if there's any holes in my plan."
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