"Yeah well," said one of the Marines, "all that fancy talk about these things being the size of a suitcase is still a decade away."
Cooper stared at the man. He wore combat fatigues like the rest of the Marines, but he carried neither rifle nor pack. Cooper kept his hands on his rifle.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Ari Levinson—I'm with R&D, Fort Meade. This is my baby."
"Marines! I need some muscle. Get this fucking door open so we can shove this thing down their throats," said Charlie as he stood. He snapped the leads and control wires from the biometric pad and stuffed his gear back into his rucksack.
Charlie supervised the Marines as they grunted and strained to force the elevator door open using nothing but muscle and stubbornness. He turned his attention to Levinson.
"Here, help me with this–get those latches at the far end," Levinson said pointing at the device.
Cooper nodded and moved to unlatch the large metal straps. In unison, the two men lifted the heavy metal container off the device. They put it aside and Levinson set to work powering up the machine.
"This thing really gonna work?" asked Cooper. He blinked at Levinson's withering glare. "Hey, no offense–it's just I've never seen one of these things smaller than a battleship."
Levinson looked back at his work and sighed as he connected wires and threw switches. "Electromagnetic pulse devices are shrinking all the time. This one here is one of the smallest ones I've been working on." The scientist grew muttered to himself as he turned knobs and dials.
Cooper heard a low warbling hum emanate from the guts of the machine and lights flashed on the outside. He reflexively took a step back.
Levinson gently laid a hand on top of the machine and gave it an affectionate pat. "Okay, so she probably won't take down the entire security grid, but if we get her down that elevator shaft, I guarantee you'll get through the door at the bottom."
Cooper looked past Levinson and watched the Marines force the elevator door halfway open. Charlie urged them on with curses and insults. Cooper glanced down at the machine. "No offense, but my first suggestion was to drop a bunch of C4 down the shaft and hit the trigger."
"None taken. Every four-star out there wanted to do the same thing–find an obstacle and blow it the hell up. Fine for most things, I guess. But this is the White House. We can't just go in here and destroy the place—I mean, more so…" He shrugged. "The President may want to come back and live here, right?"
"Won't this thing destroy all the circuitry or…?"
"Oh sure, the circuits on the elevator shaft and the door, the car itself, and probably everything within about 50 feet down the hallway will all be fried to hell. But it's a lot easier to replace circuits and wires than it is to replace half the Bunker when you're 10 stories underground…" replied Levinson as he threw one final switch.
The floor trembled and Cooper's teeth rattled. "Is it…supposed to do that?" asked Cooper is he pointed at the machine.
The noise increased, and the scientist had to shout. "Oh yeah! She's almost ready now!" He turned to face Charlie and the Marines. "Hurry up!"
Charlie threw his weight into one final effort so the Marines could clear the elevator door. It slammed back into the housing with a loud bang and one of the Marines nearly tumbled into the empty shaft.
"We're in business," he said. Charlie leaned out into the elevator shaft and pointed his flashlight down. "Looks clear all the way to the bottom," he called over his shoulder.
Cooper turned to Levinson. "We need to rig up a pulley system or something to lower it down?"
Levinson shook his head. "No need! I know exactly how deep the shaft is—I programmed it for an altitude drop. I set the altimeter and it'll cook off as soon as it reaches bottom."
Cooper approached the open elevator shaft and leaned over the side. "We're only gonna get one shot at this—you sure you don't want to use a timer?"
"Don't worry about it! This thing is instantaneous. Once it's triggered, the pulse goes out at the speed of light. It doesn't matter how fast the case is going, as long as the pulse escapes before the entire weight of the device hits the ground, she'll be fine."
Cooper shook his head. "Hey, man, you're the expert. What do you need us to do?"
The scientists pulled out a tape measure and checked the width of the elevator door against the width of the machine, then measured the distance from the device to the opening. He nodded to himself, reached down and flipped a switch on his side of the device. It shook and rattled to the sound of whining hydraulics. Cooper watched as the entire thing lifted off the floor by about a half-inch.
"Built-in wheels!" shouted the scientist over the racket coming from the device. "I'll need your help to push—this girl's heavy!"
"Let's go, everybody push!" said Cooper, circling his hand over his head. Once the Marines were arrayed around the device, Cooper coordinated with Levinson and they slowly pushed the device forward, inch by inch on its eight squeaky steel wheels.
Cooper heard a sloshing sound from inside. "What the hell's in this thing?"
"Heavy water! Deuterium! Use it to keep the circuits cool enough until it's triggered—wait at the edge, so I can set it."
They got to the edge of the elevator shaft and the scientist called everyone to halt. "Time to set it!" He reached down into the open panel on top and the pitch of the humming increased a few octaves. One of the Marines turned away and put his hands over his ears.
"This may get a little uncomfortable!" warned the scientist. "You and your men can move back—I only need one person to get her over the edge from here," he yelled.
Cooper turned, signaling the Marines to move into the Oval Office. "You too," he yelled, pointing at Charlie. Charlie grabbed his gear and hustled after the Marines.
"Okay, I'm all set!" shouted Levinson. "Push with me."
Cooper nodded.
"Now!"
Both men put their shoulders into the device and for a second nothing happened. Then Cooper felt a subtle shift inside the device and it moved an inch. Then another squeaky inch. As the first wheels crossed the edge of the elevator shaft, the entire machine dropped to the floor with an earth-shaking tremble. At the same time the scientist grabbed Cooper's arm and pulled him back.
"Back up!"
Cooper couldn't see how something with that much mass could slip over the edge with just 6 inches sticking out over the empty shaft.
"The water! It'll pull it forward!" The scientist pointed at the device. "Watch!"
Cooper watched it jostle forward and slide so that half of it hung over the edge. In the blink of an eye and with a heinous screech of metal on metal, it flipped up and disappeared down the shaft.
The scientist grinned, like a child opening presents on Christmas morning. "Hold on to your butts!" he called out. He turned away from the shaft, squatted and wrapped his arms around his head.
Cooper heard the device impact the bottom of the elevator shaft with a muted roar. From the amount of noise it made, he assumed it must've smashed right through the President's armored elevator car. The room shook with the impact and a few books tumbled to the floor.
The scientist checked his watch and stood. "Okay, you're good to go."
"Just like that?" asked Cooper.
"Just like that," grinned Levinson. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. "My work here is done. When did they say our ride out of this hell hole is coming?"
"Pardon me for asking," Cooper said, eying the elevator shaft, "but how do you know? I didn't see any smoke or hear an explosion or anything…"
"Trust me," said Levinson. "That baby just fried every electronic circuit below us. I guarantee it. Might even see some disruption all the way up here."
"Striker 2-1, Overwatch! Be advised, a large group of noncoms are pushing past the barricades south of the Ellipse. Looks like at least a couple hundred people. I don't see any weapons, so I don't know what the Marines will do about it, but we're gonna have to get out of here qu
ick."
"Roger that, Overwatch," Cooper replied. He turned toward the Oval Office. "Gunny!"
Morrin appeared in the doorway. "Yeah?"
"Get these Marines set up with your men—they're yours now."
"Let's go," Morrin said to Levinson's EMP mules.
"Charlie," Cooper called, "let's get the rappelling lines set up."
"On it!" Charlie pushed past several of the Marines as they dispersed back into the Oval Office. He dropped his bag on the floor and pulled out bundles of rope. He put his flashlight in his teeth and reached inside the elevator shaft above the door. Cooper turned back to the Marines.
"You wouldn't by chance have a couple sets of green googles we can borrow, would you?" Cooper asked Gunny Morrin.
"Hell yes." The Marine tucked his chin to his shoulder and activated his radio. "Parker, Jones—get in here and gimme your night vision gear."
"Thanks," Cooper said, taking the night vision goggles from the Parker and Jones, two PVCs with wide eyes who'd come running when Morrin called.
"Well don't just stand there with your mouths open, get your asses back on the line," Morrin growled. Parker and Jones retreated back into the Oval Office as fast as they could navigate the debris field.
"All right, Guns, here's the plan," Cooper began. "We'll drop and breach, then hold the landing. You follow down behind us and clear the Bunker. We got some HVTs to extract."
"Sounds good," said Morrin. He turned to his men. "Perkins, Gonzalez, Walker! Get your asses up here—it's tunnel rat time."
"Ready for the housewarming gifts!" called Charlie from the elevator shaft.
Cooper dropped his pack and pulled out two large satchel charges. He tossed one Charlie. "Five second fuse," he said as he programmed the timer. "If we haven't made a hole down there yet, this should do it."
"All set," replied Charlie. "Everybody hold on to your butts."
"Close your eyes, cover your ears, and open your mouths," barked Gunny Morrin to his assembled strike team. "Danger close!"
Cooper stepped up to the elevator shaft. "On three, one…two…three!" Both men lobbed their charges then turned and dove for cover.
Cooper gripped his rifle as the explosion shook the floor and blew hot smoke and fumes up the shaft to flood the study. Gravel, plaster, and bits of debris rained down on them. When the ground stopped shaking, Cooper got to his feet and stayed low under the smoke.
"Toss the lines! Jax, on me!" he called.
"Moving!" replied Jax.
Cooper stepped up behind Charlie and tapped him on the shoulder. Without a word Charlie clipped the rope hanging from the shaft to his rappelling rig and disappeared into the darkness. Cooper grabbed the second rope and clipped it onto his own harness, then stepped over the edge and dropped after Charlie.
Cooper slowed his descent until he landed somewhat gracefully on top of the smoking wreckage of the EMP device at the base of the elevator shaft. Charlie was already unhooking his rope and brought his rifle to bear through the smoke-filled opening when Cooper landed and unhooked.
"Clear left," Charlie whispered. "Lights are out."
Cooper moved to the other side of the hole where the exit doors had been and scanned the right side of the hallway. He stepped through and took a knee just inside the door, gritting his teeth against the pain in his leg. "Clear right."
"Which way?" asked Jax as he stepped out into the corridor between Cooper and Charlie.
"Communications room is this way," said Cooper, gesturing down the hallway in front of him. "Last known position of Barron. We need the body," he said.
"Striker, Alpha is descending on your six," reported Gunny Morrin.
Cooper waited until the Marines arrived at the base of the shaft and spilled out into the hallway, taking up defensive positions before he led the SEALs toward the comms room.
"Sweep and reap, Gunny," Cooper whispered into his throat mic.
"Oorah."
Cooper crouch-walked painfully down the corridor, checking every door they passed to see if it was locked. Most were. He threw open the ones left unlocked, but they'd all been deserted. "Where is everybody?" he whispered.
"Probably scared shitless. This place is scary in the dark…" replied Jax down the hallway.
Cooper stopped and raised a fist. "I got eyes on the Comms Room. Charlie left side, Jax right." He waited for his men to get into position. Jax gripped the doorknob and looked back. Cooper nodded and Jax threw the door open.
Cooper stepped inside and examined the room through his night vision as he moved with his rifle at high-ready. Before him stood the tangled blue curtains from the video. They were smeared with Vice President Barron's blood. He stepped forward and checked the podium.
"This is it—I got blood on the curtains and floor. No body."
"Over here!" called Charlie. Cooper turned and moved to Charlie's position on the far side of the room. Slumped over behind some overturned chairs and a small table lay the body of the late Vice President of the United States. Cooper gently turned it over. "Positive ID." He stepped back so Jax could take pictures with a small camera.
"Cutter Actual, Striker 2-1, Actual. We have positive ID of HVT One. Repeat: we have located HVT One, positive ID."
"Dead or alive, Striker?"
Cooper looked at the body. "Dead. Very dead."
"Roger that Striker, I'll have Alpha extract the body. Proceed for HVT Two."
"Copy that, Cutter. Striker is Oscar Mike."
Cooper knelt next to the Vice President. He pulled out his folding knife, flicked his wrist to snap the blade open, and cut away a section of bloodstained shirt from the President's chest. He slipped the fabric into one of his plate carrier's external pouches, closed the knife, and stood. "You got the pictures?"
Jax closed the camera and hit a button on the back. "Transmitting now." When it beeped, he popped out the SD card and flicked it to Cooper. "Here's the backup."
Cooper pocketed the card and brought his rifle up. "All right, let's go find this blonde bitch."
They hadn't even made it out of the room before gunfire erupted in the distance, echoing like artillery down the closed corridors.
"Gunny! You got contact?"
"Hell yeah! Five foot mobiles in front of us." Another burst of gunfire rent the air. "Make that three…"
Cooper looked back at his Team. "Stay frosty." He turned and moved forward again, continuing the process of checking doors. He reached up and grabbed the door marked 'Office of the President's Chief of Staff'. His hand hovered over the doorknob.
"That's her office, man," whispered Charlie.
Cooper pulled his hand back from the doorknob. He nodded. It was time to be careful. If the woman could order the death of the Vice President of the United States on live TV, she was capable of anything. He took a deep breath and reached for the doorknob.
He coughed. "You smell that?"
Charlie sniffed the air. "Smells like perfume…really strong perfume…" Cooper shook his head to clear his eyes. His vision had gone blurry. "Yeah…"
"Contact, 12 o'clock!" called out Jax as he stepped out behind Charlie. "Freeze!" he called out.
Cooper cleared his eyes and saw three figures at the far end of the corridor, all carrying suitcases and backpacks. He only got a brief glimpse of them as they disappeared around the corner, but one had unmistakable golden hair.
"Move, move, move!" Cooper said as he stood and rushed past the Chief of Staff's office. His vision cleared almost immediately. Whatever he'd smelled through the door was potent, but short-lived.
The thunder of his own boots rang in his ears as he pounded down the hallway after the fugitives. He reached the corner first and snapped a look around. He pulled his head back just in time to avoid a few rounds fired in his direction that embedded themselves in the door to his left.
"Cutter, Actual, Striker has eyes on target! Repeat: HVT Two has been located!"
"Bring her in alive if possible!" snapped General Rykker's voice.
"Get a move on, son—the natives are getting restless topside."
"Overwatch, what's my time frame?"
"Striker Actual, you're looking at maybe 10 minutes…" replied Sparky. "They're pushing the Marines hard. Seeing small arms fire—things are going to get ugly up here real quick. I got eyes on birds coming in now for EVAC from the northwest."
"Striker, this is Alpha—we're clearing the Bunker. I'm sending a squad to help in your neck of the woods. They'll be on your six in a few minutes."
Cooper nodded, listening to the amount of gunfire in the background in Gunny Morrin's transmission. He focused his attention back around the corner. Reaching up to his shoulder, he unclipped a stun grenade.
"Flashbang out!" Cooper gripped the pin in his teeth and pulled it free, then tossed the stun grenade around the corner and closed his eyes. He heard a muffled pop and the inside of his eyelids went white with the flash.
Charlie leapfrogged Cooper and charged around the corner. Cooper stepped around behind him, just as his XO fired a three-round burst and dropped a Secret Service agent covering a crude hole in the far wall. Rubble, baskets filled with dirt, and electrical wires streamed out of the opening.
"Clear!" said Charlie, stepping over the still-twitching body at his feet.
"The fuck is all this?" asked Cooper.
Jax rushed forward and peered into the opening. "Not it."
"Jesus Christ, why can't these people just give up?" muttered Charlie as he adjusted his night vision.
Cooper keyed his throat mic. "Cutter Actual, Striker Actual. Be advised, HVT Two as entered an unmapped tunnel heading northwest out of the Bunker. Striker 2-1 in pursuit."
"Actual copies all, make it quick or you'll be walking home."
"Go!" said Cooper. Charlie climbed over the dead into the tunnel. Jax dropped his M60 to the floor, then pulled out his pistol before crouching into the tunnel. Cooper brought up the rear, first kneeling to make sure the agent was dead. He closed his eyes for a second to combat the dizziness that suddenly assaulted him with a fresh wave of pain.
Am I bleeding out?
He clenched his teeth and scrambled into the tunnel. "See anything up there?" he asked, hoping to keep the pain from making his voice too tight.
Firestorm: Book III of the Wildfire Saga Page 21