Upon their arrival, Raquel presented them with the information they needed to finalize their findings. After a few more hours of tracking satellite feed, she was able to confirm that the speed boat David was taken on had stopped at a small abandoned airport in Oranienburg. From there, a corporate-owned personal jet landed in Rome. All traces of the flight plan, the owner, and the jet’s tracking had been deleted and made impossible to recover. Raquel couldn’t figure out who had the resources to pull such a task off. They reported their findings to Captain Walsh and Captain Stanley.
“Good work, guys,” Captain Stanley encouraged. “Get your gear. We’re off to Rome in fifteen minutes.”
It was nearing twenty-hundred hours when the team took off for Rome. As the team loaded up, Raquel sent them a satellite feed that possessed the physical layout, photos, and heat signatures that updated every five minutes in order to properly plan their mission. They were shown an abandoned island in the middle of Rome that was converted to a shipyard after the war. It was called Tiber Island.
The island had eight buildings. It was shaped like a ship with two war-damaged bridges that were the only ways on or off the island by land. Gatehouses were at the end of both bridges on the north and south sides of the island, and the only way to get onto the island was to pass through one of the gatehouses. To the eastern most corner of the island, there was a guard tower that had a spotlight that was always searching through the ship yard. In the center of the island, there was a large statue that had generators built into its base in order to power the entire island. To the northeast of the southern gatehouse, just south of the statue, was a communications room that contained all servers and satellite feed on and around the island. West of the communications room was the cafeteria and break room, and north of the cafeteria were the barracks and living quarters. The westernmost corner of the island housed the office and control room which possessed a helipad and an anti-aircraft weapon that fired electric charges to disable any aircraft that came near it without prior approval on the roof. The squad was confident that David was going to be in that building. There had been waves of power increases and decreases all throughout the day.
There were hundreds of storage units scattered all across the island. The entire facility was surrounded by a twenty foot stone wall with thick barbed wire that stood nearly two feet above the top of the wall. There was a single sewer way that dumped out hundreds of gallons of water an hour. Commander Fernandez was analyzing the constantly updating feed.
“It looks like there are between forty and fifty heat signatures on the island. It seems like it is more than just a ship yard.”
Captain Stanley smiled. “This should be loads of fun then.”
As they entered the airspace, Captain Stanley went over their mission.
“This is a ten phase mission. In a few moments, we will dive from this plane and move into the facility at three points. Cecilia, you and Xavier will enter through the sewers. Violet, you and Kira will enter through the south gatehouse, and Laurence and I will enter through the north gatehouse. We must take out all the guards they have in those gatehouses. Upon entering the facility, Cecilia and Xavier will disable the backup generators, but only after Violet has taken the communications room. Once the guard tower has been taken, Violet, you will move in on the communications room and disable all of their feed to prevent them from talking to each other. At the same time Violet moves in on the communications room, Kira you will move in on the cafeteria, but do not enter until the generators have been shut down.
“While Kira and Violet are moving in on the communications building and the cafeteria, I will be headed to the barracks to eliminate any reinforcements. The cafeteria and the barracks should be cleared at the same time. Once I have checked in, we are to converge at the main office, eliminating any hostiles along the way. Laurence, make sure we have a clear path. Together we will infiltrate the main office. Whoever gets to David first must inject him with this adrenaline shot. You will each be given one. Once David has been located and procured, we will meet on the roof for extraction. We launch in five, get yourselves ready.”
Chapter 25
December 14th 2062 8:00 a.m. Tiber Island, Rome
Icy cold water roused David out of his unconsciousness. He was unable to see anything, and his face was itchy from the black cloth that covered his face. The atmosphere felt cold and dusty like a warehouse. David heard the hum of electricity ring through the cloth just as a large man ripped it off of his head.
As his eyes adjusted to the new light, he saw that he was surrounded by five monstrous men with an average-sized man leaning back in a chair in the middle of them. He had a sword strapped to his left side and wore a skull mask covering his mouth and nose. His hair was buzzed with a Japanese symbol etched into the side of his head. He was the leader of the pack. On his right arm, he had a tattoo sleeve with fire and skulls. The men, all having accents from a different country, called him Lieutenant Sanchez.
Lieutenant Sanchez leaned in. The look in his eyes was one of confidence and hate. He may have been smaller, but he was more intimidating than the rest of the men in the room. He spoke English with a heavy Spanish accent, and his voice had a hiss about it that added to the aura of intimidation. David did his best to maintain his composure, but his eyes couldn’t contain his fear.
“Good morning, Lieutenant David Friedman. I have been waiting a long time to talk to you.” He intertwined his fingers and covered his mouth, leaning closer towards David. “You are a fighter, and a much harder mark than expected. Those times you were called in for your intelligence were of good use.”
His eyes tore into David, reading his every move. David’s face began to bead with sweat. He had no idea how this man could know so much about him.
“Do not fear, Lieutenant. Just give us what we need and you can go.”
David remained silent, his eyes narrowing into a hateful glare. Lieutenant Sanchez patted his head while laughing. “I will only ask one more time.”
“Where am I?” David demanded. He tried to wrestle his arms free from his restraints, but he only succeeded in cutting deeper into his arms.
“How do I build a bomb?” Sanchez asked.
David tried kicking his legs free which dug the restraints deeper into his skin. “Why do you need to do that?”
“What do I need to build a big bomb?”
“Who are you?”
Sanchez laughed terrifyingly. “I am rude. My name is Santiago Sanchez. I am part of a group that exists to eliminate the control and tyranny of the United Nations and their assassins…you. The United Nations is a cancer that grows by eating those who support it. I am the cure. We are the cure…Now if you will answer my questions, you will be set free and this will not get ugly.”
David glared again and spit in Santiago’s face. Santiago’s eyes narrowed, and he nodded to one of the big men next to David as he wiped his face. The big man fired a strong right cross that nearly knocked the chair over.
“How do I build a bomb?”
David remained silent. With another nod, the man on the other side of David shot a left hook that sent David reeling the other way. Santiago repeated the question, but David still remained silent. Another punch rocked him.
This continued for a while. Every time Santiago asked, David wouldn’t say a word and one of the big men would punch him. After several more minutes, three of the henchman picked up the chair David was in and slammed it down, shattering the chair to pieces. Another henchman pounced on David when he landed and hogtied him.
David buried his face in the ground, but Santiago picked him up by his hair and forced David to look into his eyes. He asked him a series of questions regarding the building of a bomb, but David still remained silent. The henchman repeatedly kicked David while he was hogtied. After several more minutes, David was bloodied and bruised, and Lieutenant Sanchez raised his hand to stop the beat down.
“The hard way it is, Lieutenant.”
Three
of the henchman ran to David and untied him. David kicked one guy and punched another trying to get free, but the numbers were too much for him. Three of them picked him up and carried him into another room, and David continued trying to wiggle free. Once they got into the room, they slammed him onto a metal bed and strapped him with metal wrist and ankle bands as well as a metal waist band. Every piece of equipment touching him was made of metal. Wires stretched from the back of the bed to a computer that Lieutenant Sanchez controlled. After pressing a couple of keys, a throat band stretched across David’s neck. There was no way to get free from the contraption. Santiago leaned in and spoke in a sadistic voice.
“In this new world we are in, soldiers have been made so weak. The old ways have been erased from memory. Many years before the war began, there was a punishment called the electric chair. This chair sent electric power through people’s bodies until they died. What you are attached to is an electric bed. We developed this system using the same kind of voltage that powers the new stun weapons everyone is using. However, the voltage is not meant to stun, paralyze or kill, it is designed to sting…a lot. We shall play a game here. I will ask you a question, and you will give me an answer. If your answers prove to be correct, you may go free. Hell, we may even offer you a job. If you do not answer, or give a false answer, I will be forced to flip this switch and hurt you. Should you pass out, we will wake you with cold water and start all over again. I do not want to do this. You are very intelligent and I want to give you a job. We need a guy like you around here. Please answer quickly and correctly. So, what pieces do I need in order to build a bomb?”
David squirmed and looked around for a way out, but he was unable to move. David continued to fight and Santiago flipped the switch. David let out a harrowing cry.
“Where can I find the pieces I need to build a bomb?”
David remained silent. Santiago turned the machine on again, and David’s body pulsated with agony.
“How do I build a bomb?”
David glared at him. Another shriek echoed through the facility. This pattern continued for several hours, and David had to be roused from unconsciousness on numerous occasions. After ten hours, the men grew anxious and bored and began to urge Santiago to kill David and find his answers another way. The Lieutenant fired a quick kick that sent the nearest man to him on the ground. He pounced on him and drove his knee into his throat, choking him.
“There is no other way! All the records have been destroyed, and he is the only one with the answers we need!” In a flash, he drew his sword and cut the soldier’s throat. He stood up and looked around, pointing his sword at all of his men. “Do not tell me what to do!”
Lieutenant Sanchez looked at David and smiled.
“I am impressed, Lieutenant. The last man we put in this machine broke after a couple of hours. Do not worry,” Santiago snapped as he cleaned his blade and sheathed it. “But I fear if we continue this way, the damage will be irreparable. I do not want that. What happens next is on you.”
Santiago drew really close to David’s face and poked his chest. His patience seemed to be fading. His low hissing voice began to grow into a roar.
“How do I build a bomb?”
David closed his eyes. He resolved that he was going to die attached to this bed, but it would be better than giving up weapons that could demolish entire cities to this cruel man.
“Enjoy your rest, Lieutenant.”
Santiago stormed away and David dozed off. His body was saturated with pain. David’s mind filled with questions. Did anyone know where he was? How did he get there? He could smell water nearby, but that didn’t tell him anything. What was the purpose of all of that training if he couldn’t use it? What would Xavier do? he wondered to himself. David only succeeded in discouraging himself. Xavier wouldn’t have let ten guys overwhelm him to begin with. He continued beating himself up and sank deeper into his self-pity. All he could think of was how weak and how much of a failure he was. Santiago’s sinister voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Wake up, Lieutenant. You have had two hours to rest. Are you ready to comply? What is the design of a bomb?”
David stared at the ceiling silently.
“I thought so…” Santiago said. “Please, turn your attention to the screens.”
Some soldiers brought in three free standing monitors. On the monitors were Ava, Lila, and Asher. David was overcome with rage. He did everything he could to break free, but it was pointless. His three siblings were strapped to the same kind of machine as David. Santiago spoke softer and more sternly.
“I do not want to do this, but I have my orders. What pieces do I need to make a bomb? How do I put them together?”
David’s face was completely red with anger, and the veins all over his body were bulging. He was raging and bellowing at the top of his lungs.
“I can’t! I won’t! Don’t do this! I’m begging you!”
“Then tell me what I need to know.”
David tried to break free to no avail. Ava let out a shrill scream full of agony. She was shaking uncontrollably. Her eyes were closed and her teeth were clamped down. Tears began to flow down her face.
“Stop!” David screamed as he continued to try to break free.
“Answer my questions!” Santiago snapped back.
He tried to break free one more time as he heard Lila scream. She struggled to catch her breath as her face began to turn red and she couldn’t contain her sobbing.
“No!” David exclaimed.
Santiago ignored the crying and sobbing. His hateful eyes bore deeply into David. He ran up to him and smacked him a couple of times.
“I am not playing with you Friedman!” Santiago roared.
Santiago forced David to look at the screens pulling his hair back.
“This is all your fault Lieutenant. You alone can free them from this pain!”
A tense pause floated into the air.
“So be it.” Santiago snarled while leaning into the final button.
Asher was about to be electrocuted. David couldn’t take it anymore. He closed his eyes beating his head against the bed trying to wake himself up from this terrible nightmare. Overwhelmed with the situation David shouted out.
“Fine. I will tell you. Just let my family go.”
Santiago smiled sadistically. He turned away from the control panel to look at David.
“Once your information has been verified we will set your family free.”
David gave them all the information they needed. He even told them where they could find everything to do it. The soldiers immediately left to check to see if the materials were where David told them they were. Once the information was confirmed, they told Lieutenant Sanchez.
“Thank you, Lieutenant. Now you must pay for being difficult and causing a headache for 10th Dawn.”
The echoes of his family’s cries reverberated through the monitors. David’s eyes widened as he watched the terror of the live feed. After a minute or so the pain overwhelmed their bodies and they were killed. David let out a tumultuous bellow. He was full of rage and anger. His eyes began to fill with hateful tears. David’s eyes honed in on Santiago. He never broke his narrowed glare.
Santiago waved off David’s stare.
“This is your fault, Lieutenant. I gave you an easy out. People die every day. Get over it.”
He began to walk off but turned around to face David.
“We will keep you around until our mission is complete. Don’t go anywhere.” He said laughing.
They left David alone with only his anger, hatred, shame, and tears to comfort him. He had given up. He did not know what to do. He lost his family in the same day that he just condemned the world. There was no hope and no chance of freedom. At this point freedom didn’t mean anything if he couldn’t share it with his family anyway. After several moments passed David passed out from the physical and mental torture he had just endured.
Chapter 26
December 14th
2062 9:30 p.m. Tiber Island, Rome
The aircraft roared as the Crimson plane flew low enough to go undetected.
“Five minutes to drop zone,” Captain Stanley announced. “Lieutenant Commander, you and Xavier will hit the water on the southeast side. Laurence and I will come down the north bridge, and Kira and Violet will make their way up the south bridge. We will meet at the stairwell. Good luck, everyone. Let’s bring our comrade home.”
Captain Stanley pulled Xavier to the side. “Lieutenant Phillip. I never did have the opportunity to tell you that I am proud of you. I knew when I recruited you that you would get this far. You exceeded my greatest expectations. I had serious doubts about David, though. I encouraged contracting him because I did not think he would make it, but you worked with him, and he has proven to be brilliant on and off the battlefield. You helped him accomplish that. You have earned the respect and trust of Violet and I. This is where you earn the respect of everyone else.”
Dawn of a New Era (Crimson Blue Book 1) Page 19