by Jack Murphy
Nice try, he thought as the helicopter closed in on final approach.
Once he reached minimum safe distance, he'd radio in a massive air strike on the super-liner, nuking it into oblivion right along with the rest of civilization after his pandemic got a minor jump start. Really, Samruk had done him a favor getting rid of Kammler and Jarogniew, saving him the trouble.
Hieronymus was just getting started.
Every muscle in his body felt like it was on fire.
Sprinting forward he vaulted over another dead body, as the sniper rifle snapped another round down range.
The bullet smacked into the nearest enemy, picking him up off his feet and throwing him on his back as if struck by some invisible force. Deckard didn't know which of his snipers was still alive, he was glad to have someone providing cover fire.
Landing on one foot, Deckard held his pistol steady, triggering a shot into another one of Hieronymus' patsies.
Running straight up the middle, he leaped over another piece of pool furniture, heading directly to his target.
Another gunman appeared to his side, brandishing a sub machine gun, pointing it in his direction. The WinMag cracked, dropping the man in his tracks.
The matte black Little Bird Helicopter swept in, its skids hovering just above the deck.
Hieronymus hurried forward, his tie flapping wildly in the rotor wash. A square-jawed mercenary with blonde hair sticking from under his Kevlar helmet reached out to grab his hand and help strap him in. They would both ride on one of the exterior platforms that were bolted to each side of the helicopter to accommodate passengers, usually Special Operations troops inserting onto the rooftops of terrorist strongholds.
Without warning, the crewman was thrown backwards against the fuselage of the helicopter, his hand ripped violently from Hieronymus'.
Suddenly the interior Plexiglas bubble that encased the front of the cockpit was sprayed with crimson, multiple gunshots sounding from behind him. The old man was hurled backwards as the helicopter veered out of control.
Brushing up against one of the ship's metal railings, the entire tail boom of the Little Bird sheared off. The rear rotor blades turned into deadly shrapnel as they spun through the air. Now the helicopter pinwheeled wildly. The torque created by the main rotors was no longer countered by the opposite force provided by the rear rotor blades.
With the skids bouncing off the deck, the entire body of the helicopter spun like a top, destroying everything in its path.
When the helicopter finally came to a halt, the pilot began recovering from a temporary blackout. The surviving pilot reached for the Beretta holstered in his survival vest but didn't quite make it.
Deckard executed the pilot with a single shot before putting a similar insurance bullet into the co-pilot who hung limply in his five-point restraining belt.
What was left of the Little Bird steamed as exposed metal parts were subjected to the cold rain.
Hieronymus blinked several times while attempting to concentrate on something in front of him.
Tongues of flame flickered amid dark smoke from the side of the ship while wind howled across the deck. A soldier walked towards him, a pistol held in one hand that laid flat against his side.
Looking back and forth he saw the helicopter in pieces. The two pilots were slumped over in their seats. The man who had reached out to help him on board was nowhere to be seen. His mind catching up after the fact, he realized that the mercenary had probably been thrown overboard.
The blurry figure stopped a few feet in front of him, boots squared up with his own supine form.
Finally the man in front of him came into focus. He looked nothing like that mercenary he had met months ago. He looked like a demon, like hell itself had come for him.
The demon's ambassador came ambling up to stand alongside him. The Kazakh cradled a large scoped rifle in his arms. A bloody cloth was wrapped around his hand as a hasty bandage.
Pushing himself up on his elbows he looked down at where his legs should have been. Streams of blood gushed from his ragged stumps. The out of control helicopter had amputated both his legs.
Going white in the face, he looked back up at the demon.
“Why?” the old man asked.
Deckard leveled his .45, pointing it at Hieronymus' face.
“Because perception isn't reality.” His voice sounded like sandpaper. “Because truth can't be created.”
Nikita craned his head, looking at Deckard expectantly.
“The truth?” the old oligarch croaked. “Which one? O'Brien? Deckard?” Looking up at the dark sky, the old man laughed. “Do you even know who you are?”
Deckard stared into his eyes, seeing how far down the rabbit hole they led. How far gone they really were.
“Justice.”
Deckard pulled the trigger.
Epilogue
T O P S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 05 BEIJING 003765
TS-SCI/NOFORN
FM: AMBASSADOR BROOKS
TO: SECSTATE/WASHDC PRIORITY 00949
SUBJECT: QUICK LOOK RE: US-CHINA INTELLIGENCE EXCHANGE WITH NON-OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVES
CLASSIFIED ISIS-FOUR AND GHOST-SIX
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SUMMARY
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1.(TS) Meeting took place the morning of 17AUG with OGA officer Jeremy White and Chinese economics professor Lin Zhang at Beijing University. Since the Myanmar event Chinese intelligence has been especially hostile to Western overtures of accommodation, however, Professor Zhang has been fairly amicable. Our analysts state that Zhang is a long time asset of the Ministry of State Security. Zhang is believed to be cooperating with official sanction as the MSS hedges their bets, wanting to keep an open line of communication while expressing official displeasure. This is atypical of operations in this region.
2.(TS) Intelligence liaison proceeded with mutual compromise of several fronts. Issues raised by Professor Zhang included recent cyber-attacks, US-South Korea war games, and QE2. Zhang remained noncommittal regarding North Korea, signaling a possible shift in Beijing's rhetoric while also expressing grave displeasure of currency devaluation. Officer White brought up issues regarding the recent activities of Samruk International and related events.
Myanmar Incident:
1.(TS) Professor Zhang surprisingly admitted to official embarrassment over the shooting down of the two J-10 Fighter Jets during the cross border incident. We were given assurances that it was merely a case of two pilots who had recently graduated from the flight academy having a navigation error due to a technical malfunction. The Defense Ministry is conducting an investigation into the matter according to Zhang's sources.
2.(TS) Zhang was quick to bring up the persistent rumor that Americans were present on the ground during the incident on the Myanmar side of the border. Shockingly well informed, he told us that [REDACTED] was the ground force commander. Unwilling to announce that our analysis concurs with MSS on this issue, Officer White gave promises that no Americans were present in that region in any official or unofficial capacity.
3.(TS) At this juncture the meeting suddenly changed tone. One of the unidentified men sitting in on the meeting, more than likely Zhang's minder, insisted that before being shot down the PRC pilots had fired on and destroyed an American made UAV. To support his argument he produced pictures of what he claimed was the latest generation Global Hawk UAV. Officer White countered with evidence that both J-10's were shot down with Chinese clones of SA-7 surface-to-air missiles. The unidentified man took his seat in the back of the room without another word.
Afghanistan Event:
1.(TS) Zhang opened by saying that he wasn't going to give us an opportunity to lie and queued up a radio intercept on his computer. Officer White states that the recording began with an American voice, “-soldier but it turns out the old guy is MIK's number two, his brother actually. What do you want me to do with these clowns?” After a slight pause another American accent replied, “Do 'em
.” This transmission was almost certainly intercepted by the Chinese telemetry station, designated SV-11 in the Xinjiang region along the Afghanistan border.
2.(TS) Zhang insisted that they had intercepted other transmissions at the time of the Myanmar incident and had performed voice spectrum analysis on them for comparison. Chinese experts concluded that many of the voices were identical matches.
3.(TS) Officer White denied any and all knowledge of Operation Dark Star.
Samruk International:
1.(TS) Zhang demanded that we share any and all intelligence we had on the Private Military Corporation known as Samruk International. Zhang was assured that at no time was Samruk Int. in the employ of this Agency or any other US based entity.
2.(TS) Officer White saw no harm in offering Zhang and his handlers a few facts from recent observation in order to gain future bargaining capital with the MSS. Zhang was told of recent investigations carried out by unnamed US Agencies into Samruk International. It appears to continue as a small firm specializing in executive protection for Kazakh oligarchs and governmental officials.
3.(TS) Professor Zhang told us that his people had uncovered evidence of a massive training camp and headquarters out in the steppes outside Kazakhstan's capital, Astana. Zhang was shown photographs taken by our regional assets showing the abandoned compound. Newly built barracks were stripped clean, including plumbing and electrical wiring. Several ranges were identified and a variety of shell casings were present. At this time we confirmed to him that our Agency is still looking into the matter. As of now we believe it to be a training area for Kazakh Special Forces teams.
4.(TS) It appears that neither Agency knows the current whereabouts of any surviving Samruk International employees from the previously mentioned incidents, rumors notwithstanding.
Israel:
1.(TS) Professor Zhang asked if we knew anything about the imprisonment of IDF Corporal Liora Shoshan at Confinement Base 396 near Atlit. Officer White said that he would look into it. A Request for Information has been submitted with the Mid-East Department.
“Crown of the Pacific” Incident:
1.(TS) Inevitably, the sinking of the Crown of the Pacific was brought up by Zhang. He came right out and asked to hear the whole truth. As suspected, MSS is too savvy to believe media reports and probably has sources close to the incident. Officer White maintained the official story given to the press and restated that a steering committee originating from NATO nations was meeting to discuss foreign relations issues in a roundtable type format while underway. Why the cruise liner caught fire and sank so abruptly is still under investigation.
2.(TS) Zhang fidgeted with his shirt sleeve at this point. He told us that Beijing questions nearly every aspect of the official story and that they know that we know more than we are prepared to reveal. He told us that they are aware of the USNS Safeguard and the USNS Grapple conducting salvage operations on site. Zhang wanted to know what we had discovered about the cruise ship but did not seem to know the true purpose of the salvage operation.
3.(TS) One of the two unidentified men in the room spoke up and asked us what happened on Johnston Atoll. Officer White insisted that Johnston Atoll had been decommissioned in 2003 and converted into a nature preserve. Reports of the island on fire must have been due to confusion, the only recorded fire in the area was on the adjacent cruise liner.
Chinese Intelligence conspiracy theories:
1.(TS) The two unidentified men became frustrated with Officer White's explanations and were increasingly upset with us. They told us that they have information about the so-called assassinations of Admiral Thomas Banks, Colonel (ret.) Lynn Chapman, and Former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs General (ret.) Walter Huffman. Officer White tried to convince them that the initial media reports had been correct. Banks and Huffman had been involved in a boating accident while on a fishing trip. Chapman was killed in a similar accidental drowning the same day by coincidence only.
2.(TS) The Chinese representatives were aware that on the same day of the accidental deaths and the sinking of The Crown of the Pacific that Continuity of Government had been stood up for several hours before being quietly stood back down. Zhang told us that Chinese nuclear submarines were positioned off the coast of California and near the Panama Canal during that time frame and were waiting for orders. He told us this was not a threat but a warning. Beijing felt that the US Government was on the verge of initiating World War III. Such paranoid delusions give some idea of the increasing irrationality of the Chinese ruling elite.
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MEETING PARTICIPANTS
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Accompanying Case Officer Jeremy White in this meeting were:
-James Kellogg (Kammler Associates executive)
Accompanying Professor Lin Zhang in this meeting were:
-Two unidentified men
Now a preview of PROMIS: Vietnam, an exciting new series that chronicles the life of Deckard’s father, professional mercenary Sean Deckard as he drifts across the dirty little wars that took place in the twilight of the Cold War.
05MAR70
Border region
Laos
Staff Sergeant Sean Deckard spun on his heel, taking a knee in the dense foliage and shouldered his CAR-15 rifle as enemy gunfire cut through the jungle to his side. Letting the rifle's front sight post nose up into the center mass of a charging North Vietnamese soldier, he stroked the trigger, dropping his target with a single shot in a spray of crimson.
Behind him, Pao threw a fragmentation grenade, its flight path riding a lazy arc in the enemy's direction before disappearing into the jungle.
Expending the rest of his magazine, Sean put suppressive fire down range, the carbine heating up in his hands as he fired on automatic. Screams sounded as Pao's grenade detonated, shrapnel cutting through NVA flesh. With the enemy advance temporarily stalled, Sean grabbed the American crouched beside him by the sleeve of his flight suit and dragged him to his feet.
Now it was Pao's turn to fire. Sean bounded back with the downed fighter pilot, their actions choreographed as they executed the well rehearsed battle drill.
Tom quickly extended a Claymore mine's metal legs before sticking it into place in the jungle underbrush. With the command detonation wire back stacked onto a wooden spool he was the next to bound back just as Sean set down near a thick tree with his package in tow.
Vang jumped over a fallen tree trunk covered in slick green moss, his AK-47 in hand, taking cover behind it just in time.
“Fire in the hole!”
Tom squeezed the claymore clacker, detonating the mine. Hundreds of explosively propelled steel ball bearings ripped through the NVA skirmish line that had threatened to over run them for the third time in less than an hour.
Even as the front line was cleared out by the anti-personnel mine, Sean knew they weren't going to make it. Loading his rifle with a fresh magazine, he shook his head. The dice had been loaded against his team from the beginning.
There were just too many of them.
Hot brass glinted as spent cartridges were ejected from his CAR-15. The sickly sweet smell of gun power wafted with the sour sulfur stench left by explosive residue, all combining with the ever present rot that existed in the jungle. Tracking from one target to the next, Sean squeezed his trigger in rapid succession, knocking the enemy down like bowling pins. As he burnt through magazine after magazine, the NVA kept coming. They were like rows of shark teeth, automatically replacing themselves by rotating into position.
Pivoting at the hips, a Chinese made bayonet ripped through the commando's OD fatigues and sliced across the surface of his skin before burying itself in the bark of the tree he had taken cover behind. The North Vietnamese soldier yanked at his AK-47 attempting to free it. The khaki uniformed soldier had come out of nowhere, emerging out of the foliage from their flank.
RPD machine guns opened up, more lead tracing figure eights a
cross Sean's Recon Team.
The pilot jumped to his feet and tackled the NVA troop to the ground. As they wrestled each other, Sean was left pinned to the tree until he tore himself free with a grunt, his bloodied uniform hanging open where the bayonet had nearly killed him.
Finally, Vang stepped forward and pressed the muzzle of his rifle against the NVA soldier's head. Sean turned to the disheveled pilot as Vang's AK barked.
This time they ran together, with Vang close behind as Pao and Tom provided cover fire. The other two Montagnard mercenaries assigned to Recon Team Key West had been killed a kilometer back where the team had dumped their rucksacks. Weighted down with heavy loads, they would have been unable to maneuver as they attempted to break contact. Dropping their rucksacks, they had each initiated a short time fuse just as the NVA hit them a second time.
The time fuse detonated soap dish charges in the bottom of each team members ruck, destroying the excess military equipment, leaving nothing for the North Vietnamese to scavenge and exploit for intelligence value. They hadn't had time to even consider recovering their dead comrades before the enemy was pouring over them.
Running light on supplies, Sean spoke into the hand mic trailing from the single radio they still carried, the long whip antenna wobbling behind him. For some damn reason command wouldn't authorize close air support, Cobra gunships or Phantoms, but didn't seem to have a problem with B-52's carpet bombing well into Laotian territory, the territory they currently occupied. After calling in a prairie fire, all he could do was hope for an extraction.