The War Planners Series

by Andrew Watts

A howling wind blew in from the open window. The palm trees were starting to bend the way you saw on the Weather Channel when they did their storm coverage from down on the Gulf Coast of Florida. It wasn’t raining heavily yet, but the clouds looked vicious. There were large, violent black clouds and fast-moving, low-hanging grey ones. It reminded David of the way it looked before a bad summer thunderstorm.

  Outside the shut door, David heard muffled voices in the hallway. Several of the consultants were on their way to lunch.

  Natesh said, “Are you sure about all of this? I mean, I know this is highly questionable, but perhaps we should just ask Lena?”

  Henry said, “Are you crazy? Didn’t you hear him? There were Asians on that boat. First of all, I make it a rule never to trust an Asian with a machine gun. And sometimes I just don’t trust Asians.”

  Natesh cleared his throat and said, “Um, I am from India. India is in Asia.”

  Henry said, “Yeah, but I mean like real Asia. Sorry. That’s probably insulting. I don’t mean anything negative…I love naan bread.”

  Natesh rolled his eyes.

  David shook his head and glared at Henry. He said, “Natesh, seriously, it is extremely suspicious that both of those men were Asian, and Lena is Asian. And they are holding Bill prisoner. And the guy that kidnapped me and sent me here is on that side of the island with no explanation from Lena.”

  Natesh said, “Lena’s English is perfect. And last time I checked, there were plenty of Asian-Americans in the US military and government.”

  David said, “I know, but come on. Do you want to bet your life that Lena and the Major are legitimate? More than that, what happens if this is really China, like I now think it is? What happens when they execute these plans without any warning? We sat here and we told them what the most effective way to attack America was. Now we have a responsibility to neutralize those plans by getting word out. And Natesh—we can’t do it without you.”

  Henry said, “Natesh, we need your help on this. You’re the only one that can access those computers in the Comms room that we trust. No one else has the codes and the capability. And the Major would probably take that gun out and shoot us if we ask him. You need to be with us one hundred percent on this. You are the one part of our plan that we have no substitute for.”

  David said, “Natesh, he’s right. Trust me, this isn’t a Red Cell being driven by the CIA. Let’s be real. This is some sort of foreign intelligence op. They’re trying to tease out important and classified information, and create or improve plans to attack the United States. We need to stop this. We can’t stay quiet and watch anymore. It’s gone too far. With the storm moving in, we might have a window to act. They said it themselves. We’re going to be at minimal shore support. That’s what they said. I think that means that Lena and Major Combs and whoever is on the other side of this island are out on a limb for the next twenty-four hours.”

  Henry paced the room and looked up at the ceiling, deep in thought. “What do you say, Natesh?”

  Natesh sighed. He looked like he was struggling with the right decision. His eyes looked out the window, toward the clouds and the crashing sea. He said, “Alright. You’ve sold me.”

  David looked tense. He looked at his watch and said, “Alright, time to let people know what’s really going on. Let’s go round up the troops.”

  David watched from Brooke’s window. He could see Henry and Norman shielding themselves from the heavy rains as they ran to the Comms building and knocked on the door.

  “Lena, open up! We need help. Brooke’s sick!” Henry said.

  The door beeped and then swung open. The Major was there, hand on his sidearm. He looked wary. Lena stood behind him, hands on her hips.

  She said, “What is the problem?”

  Norman said, “It’s Brooke, come quick! She’s having some sort of seizure or something. We need to get her help. Come on!”

  The Major looked back at Lena as if unsure of what to do.

  Lena said, “Of course. I’ll be right there, let me get a medical kit. I think Dr. Creighton has some medical training. Major, please go help them out. I’ll be right along.”

  The Major nodded and followed the two men. They jogged back towards the barracks and up the staircase to the second floor. Combs was out of breath by the time they got into Brooke’s room. He was huffing and puffing and completely unprepared when he saw five of the larger male members of the Red Cell waiting for him as he entered.

  He still hadn’t processed what was going on when they jumped him. Norman removed the M9 while the others wrapped a series of tied-together socks over his mouth. They used a belt to bind his arms and legs. He was on the bed and out of commission in a matter of seconds.

  David served as the lookout. He was at the window, trying to get a look yet stay out of sight in case anyone glanced up from the outside. He was waiting for Lena to show up.

  One down, one to go. From Brooke’s window David had a clear line of sight to the path that Lena would take from the Comms building to the barracks. Large drops of rain pelted the dark ground.

  Norman said, “Is she coming?” Tense eyes.

  “Not yet.” David looked at his watch. “What did she say when you guys talked to her?”

  “She said she’d be right here. She was going to get a medical kit.”

  “Seems like it’s taking too long. You think she’s on to us?”

  Two agonizing minutes went by before there was any sign of Lena.

  David said, “Hold on. Here she comes. She’s got Dr. Creighton in tow. Alright, get ready.”

  Everyone was quiet. A drip of sweat rolled down David’s forehead. His palms were wet. He could feel his heartbeat. It seemed like it took forever for Lena to get to the door. There were seven men waiting for her. Seven on one. Let’s see how good you are, Lena.

  Footsteps in the hallway. Norman was at the half-open door. He stuck his head out in the hallway so Lena would see him. In his hand on the inside of the door he held the M9 that he’d commandeered from Major Combs. The hallway was empty. It was never empty. She knew something was up. David was sure of it.

  Norman said, “Brooke’s in here. She’s not breathing.”

  Brooke was across the hall, with several other team members who had been briefed on the situation. They’d only told ten people. The ten they thought they could trust the most. There was the chance that someone they hadn’t explained everything to would come by and screw it up. But Henry and Natesh had decided that telling everyone posed too many problems. Right now there were still a half-dozen of the consultants eating their lunch, unaware that Lena was about to get jumped.

  David heard Dr. Creighton’s voice say, “What happened?”

  Norman said, “Come in, we just found her like this…”

  Major Combs had been silent until then. But as Lena entered he let out a muffled noise from behind the makeshift gag. Right when Lena crossed the threshold to the door. The timing couldn’t have been worse.

  The voices all yelled at the same time and David could barely tell what was happening. He heard Norman yell, “Get her!” and then bodies literally began flying. David had seen martial arts movies. He had even taken a few judo classes when he was a junior at the Naval Academy. But movies and amateurs were nothing compared to witnessing the real thing.

  Lena was an artist.

  Her movements were quick yet deliberate, powerful yet graceful. There were seven men in the room. Eight if you counted Dr. Creighton, who stood dumbfounded in the flurry of fists and limbs moving around him. Of the seven men who tried to apprehend Lena, three were on the floor almost instantly. One was grabbing his neck, another his groin. The third man, Norman, was knocked unconscious when he cracked skulls with someone else—David couldn’t see who. As he fell to the ground, his gun tumbled across the room, letting loose a round from its chamber. The deafening sound froze everyone in place. That gunshot was followed by a shriek that turned to pain-filled moaning.

  Lena’s eyes lo
cked onto the gun that lay on the floor. She darted for it two seconds too late.

  That was her one moment of error. Her one mistake in what could have been a devastating defeat to the seven men in the room. The four men who remained standing saw her objective and dove on towards her. By an act of divine grace, the gun had fallen two feet from David, who reached down and scooped it up just before Lena could do the same.

  He grabbed it in his hands and, shaking, raised it up and pointed it at Lena’s beautiful face. She was on all fours. Before the three other men collapsed on top of her and tied her up, David swore that he saw a faint smile form on her lips.

  Tom stood in the back of the Control Center. That’s what he called the room where all of the Chinese military intelligence men—or whatever organization they were from—observed the Americans on the other side of the island.

  He looked at his watch. Three p.m. He looked around the room. Everyone was busy typing away or watching their monitors. Some of them were translating the reams of script that had been transferred over to them by Natesh and Major Combs earlier that day. Some were communicating with the two Chinese Navy ships one hundred miles to the north.

  There were fewer men than earlier. Most of them normally were tasked with watching the daily meetings. Since it was lunch break, there was little attention being paid to the screens. But the afternoon sessions were due to begin any moment now, and Tom decided he wanted to watch. He wanted to see how twenty Americans were really planning China’s invasion of the United States.

  One of the screens showed the main classroom. It was an auditorium of sorts, with four rows of tiered seating and a large Plexiglas window that wrapped around the upper level in the back of the class. People were starting to file into the room, Tom noticed.

  He looked around the Observation Deck, and didn’t see anyone watching the screen—or watching him. He removed the flask from his breast pocket, took his third swig in as many minutes, and put it back. Lena could say whatever she wanted. It was nothing Mr. Johnnie Walker couldn’t drown out.

  The short watch supervisor entered the room, talking in Mandarin to his subordinates. He looked up at the same monitor that Tom had been watching and let out something in Mandarin that Tom didn’t need translated. Every language had that word. As soon as he said it, several of the other men in the room began yelling and typing furiously. Two were pointing at the screen and yelling at each other.

  Tom couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. He squinted and looked up at the screen. It was low resolution. The men that were monitoring it all had headsets on, so Tom couldn’t hear what was being said in the classroom.

  Then he saw exactly what all the fuss was about. Lena and some guy in a military uniform were both being carried into the classroom. They were tied up. Bound with something around their arms and legs. Holy shit. Somebody better do something about this.

  The next thing Tom knew, the one man in the room was on a satellite phone, screaming bloody murder in Mandarin. Tom had no idea what he was saying, but it sounded like he was repeating the same thing over and over. Then the supervisor picked up a handset bolted to the wall and started talking, and his voice was transmitted over the loud speaker. A minute later, several dozen men, including the supervisor, were running by Tom, heading down the stairs. They were all armed, and they looked scared.

  The room was almost empty after they left. There was one young soldier at his monitor. He typed away. It looked like he was typing in some sort of chat room. Must be updating the Chinese high command on what was going on. Something like that. Maybe he was telling Jinshan himself? Nah. Guys like that had minions do the work for them. Tom had met Jinshan. That guy was probably in a hot tub with a cigar in his mouth. That’s where Tom would be soon. Screw Lena.

  He looked around, didn’t see anyone watching, and took another swig from the flask. He squinted up at the screen and saw that Lena and the military officer—it looked like an Air Force uniform—were tied up in the middle of the center stage of the auditorium. Everyone was in the classroom now. There were several animated conversations going on, by the looks of it. Tom sure as hell couldn’t hear anything. He could ask sonny boy on the computer to put the sound on. Kind of like turning the volume up for the football game.

  Shit. Football. Probably not gonna have much football for a while. That was a definite downside to all of this. He let out a deep sigh. Tom was already sick of all these Chinese assholes here. It was going to be a long few months until he could live like a king in the new version of America. He decided to go talk to the prisoner. Bill. Maybe that would cheer him up.

  A few minutes later, David stood looking at Lena and the Major tied up in chairs on the stage in the middle of the classroom. This was the best place to gather everyone, Henry and he had agreed.

  The Major wouldn’t stop screaming bloody murder behind his gag, so they left it on. Lena didn’t say a word. She just watched everyone behind those cold eyes. Everyone in the room was soaked from walking through the rain outside. The storm was in full swing.

  David and Henry were surprised how easy selling the others had been. It had only taken a few minutes. They had taken a few at a time into Henry’s room and let them know what David had seen. Some were skeptical, at first. But after this many days on the island, people knew and trusted each other. They believed David’s story. Henry outlined their plan and explained why they needed to act fast. The initial group of consultants that they told were all military and law enforcement. They went for the bigger guys who they thought would know how to handle themselves in a fight. If David had known how close the contest would be to take Lena, he might have tried to wait until they could recruit everyone.

  The second group of people they told were the civilians of the Red Cell. Some of them were just now getting the full explanation as to what was going on.. Dr. Creighton and Tess McDonald had first argued vehemently that David should immediately untie Lena. But after David had explained what he had seen, and they’d witnessed Lena’s cold, silent stare, they’d quieted down.

  Henry looked at David and said, “People are all the same. We’re scared of our shadows. Every one of us here is frightened. We just need to know what to do. David, this is your show now. You gotta take charge. Let everyone know the plan.”

  David nodded and walked to the center of the crowd. Everyone was talking at the same time. Some of the consultants were hysterical. Dr. Creighton and one of the military guys were helping to mend the gunshot wound of the guy who had been hit when the M9 hit the floor and fired off.

  David said, “Everyone quiet down!” He motioned for people to come closer. Natesh and Henry were by his side.

  Even the stewards were here now. Communication with them had been against the rules. But the rules had been thrown out the window. Tess, who apparently was fluent in Mandarin, discovered that they were all hotel employees at some Macau resort. They had been sent here two weeks ago. None of them spoke English. As David spoke, Tess translated for the stewards.

  David felt the crowd’s eyes on him, looking for answers. He had become their situational leader. Even Natesh seemed to be looking to David to figure out what his plan was.

  David said, “As all of you now know, this place isn’t what we thought it was. Bill wasn’t sent home. I saw him dragged unconscious by Lena onto the helicopter a few days ago—”

  Someone said, “Why the hell didn’t you say anything then?”

  Norman yelled, “Don’t freaking worry about that now! Let him speak.”

  David said, “…and this morning I saw Bill again, a prisoner on the other side of this island. There is some sort of base camp there as well. And the occupants look like members of a foreign military. My guess is Chinese. I think that we have all been taken here by the Chinese as some part of…I don’t know…an intelligence-gathering operation. As a way to extract information from us.”

  The voices in the room went silent. Angry faces looked back at him. A loud wall of wind and rain hit the
classroom’s window. It startled several in the audience. The cyclone was picking up strength outside.

  David said, “So let’s assume it is the Chinese. We don’t know how long we have until they come get us. But we want to start ransacking this place and figuring out what tools we have to work with. Priority number one is communication. Norm—you and Natesh go to the Communications building. Our best bet is to let Natesh try and hack through the computers they have over there and get word off the island so that we can get rescued.”

  “Got it,” Norm said. Both he and Natesh stayed put, waiting until David was finished speaking.

  David said, “Brooke, you start questioning Lena and Major Combs.” He nodded over to them. They both were watching David speak as they were tied up in their chairs on the middle of the stage. Lena betrayed no emotion. Major Combs, with his mouth still covered, was wide-eyed and crimson. He looked like he had a lot to say, although David suspected that it wouldn’t be pleasant.

  Tess said, “David. I’ve just been talking to some of the cooks and caretakers here. They say that there is a basement behind the kitchen that is filled with supplies. We might be able to use some of them. They say it is very large, but the door is locked and they don’t have a key.”

  Norm said, “I got a key.” He stood over Major Combs and ripped off his keychain from his belt. There were several keys on it. “I bet you one of these suckers will work.”

  David said, “Okay, Henry, can you go with Tess and a few others to go check it out? See if there are any pieces of communications equipment or weapons that we could use to defend ourselves.”

  Lena laughed.

  A few of the consultants looked at her with disdain.

  Henry said, “Will do.” They grabbed the keys and scooted after the head steward.

  Natesh said, “David, I think that Norman and I should take Lena with us. I am confident that I can hack into their computer systems. But she will likely know some of the names and passwords that I will need.”

  Brooke said, “Who are you going to talk to if you can get word out?”