“I’m going to the lunch room,” said Henderson. “I need to rest for a few with a hot cup of tea.”
Jim jerked his head toward Reanna, then back at Henderson with a dazed look. “Whatever you say. At least we’ll know where to get you. You’ll be safe with us.”
Reanna trotted down the hall step for step with Jim. She playfully slapped her forehead and grinned. “He’s in his own little world back there.” They dodged men scurrying with boxes.
Jim chuckled but didn’t respond as they bolted into Rich Palmer’s office. Jim stopped and his mouth dropped, “I never thought I would ever see this.” Several men were yanking files out of drawers and tossing them into cardboard boxes.
Palmer was bent over a box sorting through some papers. Jim and Reanna sidestepped a few boxes scattered on the floor and approached Palmer.
“Hey Rich,” blurted Jim.
Rich looked upthen rose to his feet. “Come on in guys.” He continued throwing documents into the box.
“Hey, stop for a minute,” said Jim.
“Hi Jim,” said Rich then frowned as he looked at Reanna.
“Rich, this is my wife, Reanna. She’s also CIA.” As Palmer extended his hand to her, Jim continued, “Reanna, Rich Palmer.”
Reanna nodded, “Yes indeed. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you during your school days.”
Rich smiled, then turned and focused on Jim.
Jim said, “What’s going on here?”
“Everybody’s getting out. Most of the staff, dependents and civilians have already been evacuated…or are in process of being evacuated on the busses outside.”
“Where are they going?”
“Most of them are going to Inchon Harbor. There are several boats there to receive the evacuees. Plus there’s the SS Reinholt. It’s a Norwegian fertilizer hauler, and she is filling up fast with people.”
“But why are they being evacuated?”
Rich scowled at Jim and he raised his eyebrow. “The North has crossed the parallel.”
“Well, that’s not the first time.”
Rich struggled to find the right words, then blurted out, “Well, it is when you cross with a full Army including tanks, cannons, and jet fighters. This is the real thing.”
Reanna shot back, “What’s the situation and what can we do to help?”
In a hurried voice, Rich said, “We’re going through classified documents and they’re being burned in the basement. But soon they’ll be taking documents to the parking lot to burn--it’s faster. They’re also going through Motor Pool and making the vehicles that need repair unrepairable. The Marines on the roof were guarding the surrounding area but have been removed since several planes swooped down and strafed the rooftop. The best thing you two can do is get Secretary Henderson out of here and keep him safe.”
“Sounds good,” responded Jim. “Okay, we’ll be on our way. We also need some weapons, said Jim. “Can we get some here?”
“Sure, two doors down the hall on the left. Help yourself, take what you need.”
“Thanks.” Jim and Reanna rushed down the hall to the armory. They took several semi-automatic pistols and two boxes of bullets.
“You’ll be more comfortable if you take that silly cape off,” said Jim.
“Nope, I’m keeping it. Not only is it nice and warm, it may come in handy.”
Jim and Reanna rushed back to the lunch room and found Henderson sitting at a table sipping at a cup as if he was on a picnic on a Sunday afternoon. Henderson looked up, smiled and in a calm voice said, “Hi…is everything okay?”
Jim stared while Reanna gasped at his naivete. Jim said, “Sure, everything is working out exactly as planned.”
In a calm voice, Henderson said, “Oh, that’s good.” He then picked up his cup for another sip.
Jim turned to Reanna. “Find some containers and fill them with water. I’ll be back shortly.”
Jim left the room and hurried once again to Palmer’s office where the file gathering was still in progress.
Jim walked to Palmer and tapped him on the shoulder. “Rich, stop for a minute.”
Rich sighed heavily, then with a glassy stare, “Okay, but hurry. There’s much to do here.”
With an intense focus on Palmer, Jim said, “What would happen if you weren’t here? What would happen with all of these files?”
“Oh, they would still get destroyed.”
“I’m glad you said that. It’s more important for you to get out of here and survive this mess than stay behind burning files, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Well, I guess.”
“Look, the Marine Detachment is well organized and they are performing their job well. You’re too valuable to stay here. I’m not leaving you behind--simple as that. Come with us.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right but it’s tough to leave. I think the ambassador is still here and I would feel guilty if I left and something happened to him.”
“Rich, he has a full detail with him and he has his own contingency plans.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Give me a few minutes and I’ll meet you in the lunch room.”
“Good, but hurry. We don’t have much time.”
Rich turned to discuss a matter with a man dumping papers from a file drawer into another cardboard box. Jim dashed back to the lunchroom and joined Reanna and Henderson. Two bottles of water sat on the table.
“Come on, it’s time to go,” said Jim in a raised voice as Henderson began humming a popular song.
“Okay, I’m ready,” said Henderson. “But I need to pick up a few personal things before we go.”
Jim said, “If we are indeed being attacked at the border which is only twenty miles away, we won’t have time.”
“Come on, Mr. Henderson,” said Reanna. “It’s time to go.” She grabbed the two quart sized bottles of water from the table and tucked them under her arm and held Henderson’s arm with the other.
Jim and Rich led the way as they hurried down the hallway to the elevator. Marines left the floor on one elevator while others scrambled up and down the stairs. Finally, an elevator arrived and the door opened. Jim, Reanna, Rich and Henderson entered the elevator and turned around as two Marines entered. A Marine pushed the button for the first floor and the door slowly closed. The jerky elevator began to descend.
Jim and Reanna gazed at each other. Then Reanna, with a sparkle in her eye, said, “Finally we’re on our way.”
Just as suddenly, the lights went out and the elevator jerked and bounced to a stop. Everyone now stood in total darkness. Jim heard a switch being flipped back and forth in the elevator but nothing happened.
“I’m just going to sit down and wait for somebody to come,” said Henderson as he let out a few grunts and groans before sprawling on the floor.
Jim said softly, “You know, this is just another one of Mac’s ‘Simple, Simple’ missions.
He shook his head. They had to get out of there somehow or they may not see another day,
Chapter Twenty-Two
One Marine flicked his cigarette lighter open, then another click brought the flame to life, providing an eerie glow in the elevator. Jim noticed the small access door in the ceiling. A Marine locked his hands together with his fingers and Jim stepped up on his hand. Standing under the access door, he popped off the door and pushed it up and aside. He grabbed the sides of the opening and with a boost from below, lifted himself up and soon stood on top of the elevator in the shaft.
Jim leaned down to the opening and said, “We’re just below the fifth floor. Marine, hand me yourrifle.” He grabbed the rifle by the barrel as it came up through the opening and poked the rifle barrel into the bottom part of the fifth floor doors. Using it as a crowbar, he began to pull and spread the doors apart.
A husky Marine came up through the opening next. “Sir, let me boost you up to the fifth floor. You may be able to spread the doors farther apart.”
Jim pulled himself up to the nar
row ledge next to the doors. He pried the doors open, then placed the rifle horizontally between the doors to prevent them from closing again.
“Okay, bring ‘em up,” shouted Jim. Reanna was the first to emerge from the elevator followed by Rich and Henderson. The Marines passed up their boxes of documents then followed behind. After exiting the elevator shaft, they all headed to the staircase and scrambled down the five flights of stairs. Henderson, now with tousled hair, his face soaked with perspiration, stood with a blank look as he labored to breathe. The Marines ran out to the bonfire with their boxes.
Jim, Rich, Henderson and Reanna headed to their car in the lot. While Jim and Reanna climbed in the front seat, they viewed a bus jammed with people pulling out of the parking lot. Rich and Henderson got in the back seat. As soon as the rear doors closed, the tires squealed as Jim sped out of the lot. Henderson slithered down in his seat and said, “I forgot my tea. Look, all of the people are off the streets. The streets are empty…they’re all gone.”
“Where are we going?” asked Rich.
“Gimpo Air Base and, hopefully, we’ll be able to catch a flight there.”
“We had a lot of our staff go to Gimpo earlier,” said Rich, “but I was told the planes had already departed.”
“We’ve got to try,” said Jim as he pressed the accelerator pedal down to the floor. The car was now zooming through the empty streets of Seoul. They would occasionally see packed Army jeeps traveling at a high rate of speed but going in different directions.
Rich leaned forward with his hand on top of the front seat back and asked, “Do you know how to get there?”
“Yep, I studied the local maps before I arrived. In fact, there was—”
The rear car window shattered and glass sprayed inside the car and Jim heard a bullet whiz by his ear. He watched the windshield crack in front of him.
“Somebody doesn’t like us,” said Reanna as she turned around, searching for the shooter.
“Maybe we should drive south,” said Rich. “Driving away from the border rather than toward it sounds like the way to go.”
“It sounds good, but where would we go?” responded Henderson. “The only place to go would be Busan and that’s over two hundred miles away. It’d be just a matter of time before the North Koreans would catch up with us. I think the better alternative is to head to Gimpo.”
Jim glanced in his rearview mirror and saw Rich roll his eyes and shake his head before he continued, “Gimpo was ordered to put old heavy equipment on the runway to prevent the North from using the airport. But then a big push was made to clear the runway so some planes could land and pick up evacuees. I don’t know what condition the airport is in or who’s running it.”
“It’s okay,” responded Jim as he remained focused on the roadway. People now gathered in the streets were all moving to the south. “No, I think we’ll keep heading north, it’s our best chance.”
“Oh boy,” whimpered Rich as he sat back and slouched down in his seat.
Jim abruptly turned with the shrill screech of tires and they careened on two wheels as they ducked into a narrow street just as bullets ripped up the ground in front of the car. Jim got out of the way just in time.
“What the hell is going on?” yelled Rich.
“I know it’s tough, Rich,” said Reanna. “But you need to remain calm. Our best chances are with Jim behind the wheel.”
Jim glanced in the rear view mirror and grinned as he eyeballed Rich whose eyes appeared as large as saucers.
“Why is the airplane always aiming for our car? Could this car be marked?” said Reanna as she unconsciously fingered a long string sticking out from the bottom of her cape. She began to wrap it around her finger to break the thread, but stopped. It wasn’t thread at all but a thin piece of wire. She frantically began pulling apart the bottom seam and more wire became exposed until she finally pulled out some type of lightweight electronic box.
“Quick, stop the car. Jim, now…stop the car.”
Jim jammed on the brakes and the car screeched to a stop. Reanna opened the door, pulled out the pistol from inside her cape and stuck it into her waist band. She ran to a horseless cart at the side of the street and tossed the cape inside. She ran back to the car, jumped in, slammed the door shut and yelled, “Go, Jim, go.”
“What’s going on?” said Jim as the tires screeched and laid a strip of rubber.
“It was some kind of homing device built into the cape. That’s why we got strafed here and also when we drove back to the embassy.”
Citizens, along with some South Korean troops, crowded the streets heading south. Another plane appeared in a dive and screamed past them, firing its guns at the cart behind them. Then it delivered a missile which blew up the cart and half of the adjacent building.
“See, I was right,” said Reanna as she caught sight of the explosion through the rear window opening.
Jim grinned. “Yeah, and it damaged your beautiful cape too.”
Jim now drove much slower because of the crowded streets. Nearly a half hour later, they arrived at a bridge and began to cross the Han River. The bridge was jammed with thousands of people in disarray all heading south in a panic, seeking to escape the onslaught from the north. Men and women of all ages carried large bundles of goods on their backs.
Jim kept honking the horn, pleading with people to move aside. After they crossed the bridge, there was heavy smoke rising from the Gimpo Air Base.
“See, we need to turn around, Jim,” pleaded Rich as he pointed his arm over the front seat toward the smoke. “We’re too late.”
Jim remained silent, soon entering the air base. The smoke was billowing out from a gaping hole in a C-54 military transport airplane. Another C-54 gleaming in the harsh sunlight had just landed. It taxied towards the large crowd of hopeful passengers desperate to leave Seoul. A small contingent of army troops restrained the crowd from charging the plane.
Jim pulled onto the tarmac, and when the army guards recognized the embassy car, waved Jim onward to the front of the large group.
An Army lieutenant in his chocolate-brown uniform approached Jim and asked, “Who we got here?”
Jim looked back up at the lieutenant. “We have the Under Secretary of State Henderson and Embassy Liaison Officer Palmer. My wife and I are both CIA, responsible for the rescue of these two folks.”
“Okay, you’ll be the first to board. The plane will be here in a minute.”
Jim, Reanna, Henderson and Palmer exited the car and stood in the stiff breeze that reeked of diesel fuel. Everyone watched the four-engine silver plane taxi until it stopped in front of the crowd and the door opened.
Jim heard a loud screech and snapped his head up to observe two seagulls soaring overhead. Jim smiled. Looked like they were flying south too…everybody was going south.
The crowd was frantic. They yelled at the army soldiers who prevented them from charging the aircraft, and the pushing and shoving continued. The engines remained running and spun the large propellers. A wheeled passenger boarding stair was rolled to the aircraft door at the rear of the airplane and locked in place. Jim climbed the stairs as his passengers followed. When he reached the door, he stopped turned around and said with a big smile, “Welcome aboard…tickets not required.” Reanna grinned.
Jim pointed to the front of the cabin and said, “Hon, make sure Henderson and Palmer sit up there…save me a seat too.”
Jim and Reanna sat in the seats directly behind Henderson and Palmer.
People now rushed into the plane carrying at least one suitcase, along with a few other possessions--pushing the person in front of them to move faster. Even though it was early June, one woman walked aboard wearing a long fur coat. The evacuees had attempted to save as much as they could. A steady stream of people continued to push and shove to enter the plane even when all the seats were occupied. Those standing in the aisle were squeezed forward by those in the rear, filling every possible inch of space.
One
pilot was at the rear door and made an announcement over the intercom system. “Your attention please, I need to secure this door before we can leave. Someone help me.”
Jim got up and squeezed through the crowded passengers, all gripping their bags and suitcases until he arrived at the door. The stairs were crowded with people trying to board the aircraft. “I’m a pilot, captain. I’ll secure the door.”
The pilot smiled, nodded and began to push and squeeze his way to the cockpit. While standing at the door, Jim waved his arm to the ground crew to pull back the stairs which were still loaded with people. The staircase began to move away from the plane. When it was nearly four feet away, a fifty-something year old man standing on the top step leaped from the airstair toward the plane, missed the opening but caught himself, with his hands gripping the floor as his feet dangled.
Jim fell to his knees and grabbed the man’s wrists as the engines began to rev and the plane began to move.
There was no room on the plane for this guy. They were overloaded already. Did he drop him or try to pull him into the plane? Could this one guy be the person to cause the plane to crash? But could he live with himself if he dropped him to certain death?
Jim held the man’s arm with both hands but felt his arms begin to slip away. Jim was now lying on the floor staring into his eyes. The man was completely silent, but Jim recognized in his eyes that the man was begging for his life. Jim’s muscles were aching. The man looked up at Jim with an inability to blink as tears streamed down his cheeks.
“Somebody help me, hurry,” screamed Jim. Another passenger fell down on his stomach next to Jim and grabbed the man’s arm and between the two of them, they pulled him aboard. Jim stood up and the rescued man lay on the floor his arms wrapped tightly around Jim’s legs as he sobbed.
The intercom crackled. “This is the captain. We are way overloaded for this flight. We need to remove all the luggage. Anything that is not fastened down, throw it out the door. Don’t hesitate, we don’t have much time. Your choices are to throw out your luggage and possessions or end up in a flaming ball of fire at the end of the runway. Please people, do it now.” The intercom clicked off.
Dual Assassins Page 8