The Gravity of Anti-Gravity

by Tim Blagge

  By the time the plane landed, everyone knew what they had to do.

  Team members crowded around the windows of the plane as it taxied up to an area away from the terminal in Nagasaki. Two black vans were parked and waiting. As soon as the plane stopped and the rolling ladder moved into place, everyone grabbed their gear, hustled down the stairs and got in the vans.

  “Get settled quickly people and hang on. The ship leaves in twenty minutes and it’s a half hour drive.” Rolf said.

  When the two vans pulled up to the ship there were three Japanese men waving wildly for everyone to get on board. These men picked up some of our gear and carried it to the ship. Just as everyone got to the top of the gangplank it started to retract. Within fifteen minutes, the efficient Japanese crew had the ship turned and heading out to sea.

  “Wow, that was a close one,” Jerry commented to Rolf. “Let’s hope the rescue runs that smoothly.”

  “I agree,” Rolf answered. “Let’s get Vaughn and Alvarez and check our equipment.”

  The four men sat in a small storage room making sure everything had made it to this point. “We’ve got four inflatable rafts, a life vest for everyone, fifteen handguns with silencers, and a make-up kit with material to make the Caucasians look more like Chinese. As I go down this check list everything else is here too,” Jerry said, “So far so good!”

  The 400 mile trip toward Shanghai was rough. Being the start of summer, it was a warm humid night but fortunately clear. The ship was returning mostly empty containers to China. The light load caused the ship to ride higher in the water magnifying the effect of the constant up and down rolling of the sea. Everyone tried to rest but few did. The anticipation of the mission and the cramped quarters made for an uneasy journey.

  About eight hours into the transfer, Rolf came and announced that everyone should meet in the mess hall. The men whose stomachs could handle it and Brenda ate a light breakfast. Rolf got up to speak.

  “We are scheduled to meet the fishing boat in two hours. On that vessel will be a selection of native clothing. Find something that fits, and put it on. Two of Felix’s men, who will join our team there, will assist you. In our remaining time here, two of our team members, Robert Chan and Joe Kim, who took a crash course back home on how to make Caucasians look Asian, will go to work. Those of us who need it will wear a latex prosthesis around our upper face. It is designed to elongate our eyes. Make up will finish the facial look. Anyone with light hair will also have it dyed black with a chemical that will wash out the next time you shower. Chan and Kim, do your magic.”

  Within an hour the entire group was either Chinese or resembled one.

  “OK people,” Rolf announced, “we just made contact with the fishing boat and it’s about a half hour out. Get your gear and put it into the net sling outside attached to the metal swing arm. After the boat ties up, the arm will drop the gear on the deck. We will each climb down the rope ladder and board. If you haven’t navigated a rope ladder before,” as he looked directly at Brenda, “be careful. We can’t afford any casualties this early in our mission.”

  When the fishing boat arrived and was secured to the side of the container ship, Brenda was the first in line to descend the ladder. As she scampered down the ladder in what appeared to be record time, the rest of the crew clapped and Brenda bowed. She had quickly become the favorite of the rescue team.

  When everybody was on board the fishing boat it was untied from the container ship and started to drift away. Rolf looked at his watch. It was midnight. Right on schedule, he thought.

  Alvarez introduced his operatives to Rolf and Jerry. “Nice job Felix,” the man named George commented. “It looks like you’ve got a bunch of native Chinese here; except for these two basketball players and the black guy over there.”

  “The tall guys will head up our teams on the east and west flank of our operation so they will have less contact with the native population,” said Felix. “The black guy is FBI agent Marvin Vaughn and he will stay with the boat at the dock and help coordinate operations. The one I want you to pay particular attention to is Brenda Harris over there. She’s the only female on our team. She will be playing a lady of the evening, so help her with the correct attire for the part. And for the men, who look the least Chinese, get them some hats, or scarves or anything else that will hide some of their face.”

  “OK Felix,” George said and went to help the team get dressed.

  The motor in the fishing boat started signifying the start of the operation. A sense of excitement and dread crept over Brenda making her a little sick to her stomach. It’s too late to back out now she thought, so it’s ‘do or die’ time. She wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

  It took about thirty minutes to get to the first drop zone on the east flank closest to the ocean. Jerry and his team inflated the raft, carefully loaded their weapons and gear, stepped in and paddled toward shore.

  The fishing boat made its way to the middle of the river. It navigated past the main part of the city and on to the second drop zone to the west. Rolf and his men also loaded their raft, stepped in and paddled off.

  The man captaining the boat made his way toward the central city. As the city got closer and the lights brighter the stench got increasingly intense. As the boat was docking, Brenda spoke quietly to Felix in Chinese. “This place smells like a cross between rotting fish and elephant crap.”

  “Well it is a dock where tons of fish arrive daily, but I don’t think that crap you smell is from an elephant.” Felix answered in Chinese.

  Then Felix whispered to the rest of the team. “From now on we only speak Chinese. You three start walking up the road two streets to the left,” as he pointed in that direction “and we will go over two blocks to the right. Remember, it’s a three mile walk to the flat we’ve rented so try to catch a taxi. At this time of night it could be difficult.”

  As the team stepped off the boat, three taxis pulled up.

  “They must have seen our boat come in. Great, they saved us a walk.” Felix said.

  Three people got in one cab and three in another. Each driver was given an address about two blocks from the flat, near the compound where Bill and Stella were being held. In just ten minutes, all six team members were inside the one room flat waiting for the other two teams to get in position. Felix looked at his watch. It was one thirty. His team was thirty minutes ahead of plan.

  Jerry’s team was the second to get near the compound. Their walk was through a sparsely populated hilly area so even though it was dark, the small amount of moonlight on this clear night, made it easy to navigate the route without using their flashlights. When Jerry arrived he was amazed at how detailed and accurate his information was. He recognized every hill, valley and oversized rock on the entire hike.

  Rolf’s team landed about a half hour after Jerry’s. Even though the distance to the compound was about the same, the route weaved in and out of neighborhoods and unpopulated areas. They had to be more careful so their team of five split into one team of two and one of three. Through the neighborhoods the two teams walked up different streets. Everyone was connected by inner ear communication devices.

  As Rolf and another team member walked past a house, they were startled by an old woman who looked out and saw them. She raised the window and yelled, “Who are you?”

  “We’ve just left a party in the city and we are going home.” Rolf answered in a slurred Chinese trying to sound drunk.

  The old lady looked unconvinced and slammed down her window. In the dim light of her house, we could see that that she picked up a phone and made a call.

  “OK men we’ve got to hustle,” Rolf announced. “Let’s get up that hill ahead of us.”

  When the five men reassembled at the top of the hill Rolf explained the situation. “We’ve been spotted and I believe that old lady called it in. There is only open space left between us and the compound but now but we can’t afford to have anybody follow us there. If the police come,
we will have to neutralize them. I estimate it should be about a half an hour before anybody looks for them. That will give us enough time to get to the compound and complete our mission.”

  Within five minutes two cars with six policemen arrived at the old lady’s house. She came out talked to them briefly and pointed up the hill in the general direction of Rolf and his men. The policemen spread out, pulled their guns out and started up the first hill.

  “OK men,” Rolf whispered, “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to use this yet and I’m not even sure it will work. It’s an experimental device designed to render people unconscious for two to three hours. It’s a combination of sound and other waves that temporarily shuts down the brain. I am telling you this so if I get hit, you must get the device. There are three settings. Number 1 is for short range; one to five meters. Number 2 is for intermediate range up to about thirty meters and Number 3 is for long distance and will knock out everything within 100 meters. The button on the side, under the cover triggers the self destruct function. Do not, under any circumstances, let this unit fall into enemy hands. The device is directional so you must remain behind me at all times or risk being hit. Let’s get up to the top of the next hill and when these police get in the valley we will see if this works. If it doesn’t, we’ll have to rely on our knives or guns with silencers. Let’s move and get in position.”

  The Chinese police slowly moved through the darkness up to the top of the first hill and down the other side. They were pointing and shining flashlights at broken bushes and depressed grass as evidence that someone had gone by recently. When they were part way up the second hill, Rolf stood up and fired the new weapon. With only the sound of a click and small whoosh, all six policemen collapsed into a clump on the ground.

  “The damn thing works!” Rolf said quietly sounding pleasantly surprised. He turned to his men. “We’re going to have to make double time from here if we are to get to the compound on schedule.” Everybody grabbed their gear and took off jogging.

  The plan was to have both Jerry and Rolf’s team scale the compound walls using ropes with rubber coated hooks on the end. Jerry’s team would go over the east wall and Rolf’s the west. Two teams were sent in case one of them was captured in-route.

  The entrance to the compound faced the south toward the city center. The front wall was about 300 yards wide with two guards posted in a guard shack near each corner and two at the main entrance in the middle.

  Several team members were given small chemical filled syringes. Each syringe was designed to fit in the palm of the hand with the needle sticking out the side of a closed fist. When used, they were a non-lethal way to almost instantly immobilize anyone who received a dose. Brenda was given several doses.

  When Rolf got in position, he told Alvarez through his communication device to start with the guards on the west corner.

  “Felix, we were only expecting one guard at the corners so Brenda will have to be quick and stick both. Be prepared to help if she needs it.” Rolf said.

  Brenda and Felix quickly walked the three blocks, through city streets, to the compound approaching it from the western side. The rest of the Felix’s team made their way separately to the same area and took positions nearby.

  Brenda was dressed in a bustier top exposing as much cleavage as possible, a skirt with a slit up the side showing her leg well past mid thigh and a veil to reduce the view of her face.

  As soon as they were within ear shot of the guards, Brenda and Felix began arguing about the cost of her services. Felix grabbed Brenda and as choreographed she pulled away from him and ran toward the guards. She ran up to one guard, grabbed his arm, and insisted they arrest Felix for being too cheap.

  “Are you in the mood for some fun?” Brenda asked slurring her Chinese words a little. “I don’t charge much but more than that jerk wants to pay,” as she pointed at Felix. With that the second guard moved out toward Felix. When the second guard moved past, Brenda stuck a syringe into the side of the first guard’s leg. Before the second guard could react she stepped up and stuck the second guard in his hip. Both men wobbled and fell down.

  Two members of Alvarez’s team, Chan and Thomas moved in and dragged the two guards around the corner and into the bushes. They stripped the guards and put on their uniforms. Thomas assumed a position at the guard shack at the west corner.

  The team, now with five members, circled the long way around, through city streets closest to the compound, to the guard position at the opposite corner of the compound.

  The entire act was repeated. This time the operation went smoother than before and the Chinese guards were hidden and stripped. Team members George and Chan, put on the guard’s uniforms and George remained at the shack to stand guard.

  While Alvarez’s team was securing the outer guard positions, both Jerry and Rolf’s teams scaled the walls and were hiding behind bushes inside the compound walls.

  Next Alvarez was to go after the two guards at the main entrance. Kim and Chan, acting like compound guards, aimed their rifles at the backs of Alvarez and Brenda and marched them up to the shack at the main entrance. When the presumed prisoners arrived, Kim told the other two guards to call for reinforcements so they could interrogate these spies.

  Felix and his team waited while one of the guards made the call. Both Brenda and Felix had two syringes each. No one knew who would get close enough to the guards at the main entrance to administer a dose.

  As planned, Kim shoved Felix and Brenda into the two guards and both were injected and fell. The two guards were dragged into the shack and laid down out of sight on the floor.

  With Brenda and Felix hiding out of sight, Kim and Chan assumed the disabled guard’s duties securing the main front entrance. Jerry’s team was positioned on the other side of the wall behind the main guard shack where Brenda and Felix were hiding. Rolf’s team was concealed behind some decorative bushes near the front entrance to the building.

  Four armed guards came out of the door of the building and ran over toward the walled entrance responding to the call for assistance. After the guards ran by, Jerry’s men came out of the dark and used the same chemical filled syringes to neutralize the reinforcements. The unconscious guards were immediately concealed behind bushes nearby. After the area was secure, Jerry left two of his men inside the walls at the backside of the entrance while he and his remaining two men went back to the entrance of the building.

  While Jerry’s team was helping secure the front of the compound, Rolf’s team had gone quietly through the front door into the reception area and with his wave gun, neutralized two guards and one secretary.

  Almost immediately two men in suits came around the corner on their way outside to take a break. Click and whoosh and the two men fell to the ground. All the disabled people were quickly dragged behind the counter and out of sight.

  Rolf’s team went through the doorway and started down the long main hall. The team knew that Bill and Stella were being held in two adjoining rooms at the end of this hall to the left and that there were two men guarding them. Rolf motioned to his men to wait while he disabled the two guards. Franco, had instructions to take the keys off the guard and open both rooms.

  Rolf stepped around the corner to see just one guard. A click and whoosh, and he went down.

  Franco went through the guard’s pocket, found the keys and opened the first door. Stella ran out. When the second door was opened, Bill was not there.

  “Bill must be in the restroom with the second guard.” Stella whispered.

  Rolf motioned for his men to go back and hide around the corner and he would stand behind the door when the two returned. Rolf knew he couldn’t use the wave gun because it would affect Bill too. Stella pulled Rolf aside and whispered in his ear.

  “The guard with Bill is the one who groped me every time I came out of my room. Let me have a little pay back!” Stella requested.

  Rolf stepped back and let Stella take over.

  When the door op
ened, Stella grabbed the guard around his throat with the crook of her elbow and squeezed so he could neither breathe nor scream. Rolf grabbed the gun out of the guard’s hand. Stella got around the front, punched him in the stomach twice and kicked him hard in the groin. Then she stepped back and Rolf shot him with the wave gun.

  I stood there stunned watching the surreal scenario play out.

  Rolf motioned to his team to drag the guards into Stella’s room and quietly shut the door. Then everyone started back up the hall.

  On the way out, Rolf took the lead in case he had to use the wave gun. Everything was quiet. When Rolf got to the building’s reception area, Jerry and two of his men were there securing the space. Quick ‘thank you’ hugs were exchanged between Stella, me and Jerry. The group carefully crossed the open area to the walled entrance two at a time. First it was Stella and Jerry, followed by Rolf and me.

  When I arrived at the entrance and walked out, I noticed a Chinese woman wearing seductive clothing. I thought it was unusual because she looked like she was a part of the rescue crew but that didn’t make sense. When the woman saw me, she started to walk toward me.

  “Hey big boy, how would you like to have some fun tonight?” the woman said in English but with a heavy Chinese accent.

  I’m sure my eyes got huge and tears began rolling down my face when I realized it was Brenda. I grabbed her and gave her a crushing hug.

  “Brenda what are you doing here?” I whispered fighting back the tears and trying to overcome the emotion I was feeling.

  “Brenda Harris, super spy and life saver at your disposal,” She said softly.

  An old van pulled up near the front entrance to the compound with the third member of Felix’s operatives at the wheel. He got out and two of Felix’s team who were dressed as guards, jumped in the front seat to drive. Rolf suddenly interrupted my reunion with Brenda and instructed us and everyone else to get in the van as quickly as possible.