by Mike McNeff
“My name is Robin. First of all I want you to know that until three years ago I was a police officer for fifteen years. I tell you this in hopes you'll consider me a brother officer and know I'm not lying to you.”
“Go on.”
“A few hours ago, my partner and I recovered a Russian tactical nuclear device stolen from your country.”
The officer's eyes grew wide. “How did you know this?”
“That's not important right now. What is important is I have the device in a boat just below us…don't panic, it's not armed to detonate. I want to give the device back to your country in exchange for medical treatment for my partner, who is also in the boat, badly wounded.”
“I'm sorry, I cannot help you. This is far too large a problem for me to handle.”
“No it isn't. I can give you a contact in the GRU who can help us solve this problem, but we can only give the device to him. If we do this, you'll probably become a Hero of the Soviet Union.”
“Ha, the Soviet Union is finished. The country is bankrupt.”
“Look we have to do something. My partner needs immediate medical attention and the device needs to be in your custody. Are you going to help me or not?”
The officer thought for a moment. “I will help you.”
The two men looked each other in the eye for a few seconds, then Robin unslung his MP5 and handed it to the officer. “Who am I surrendering to?”
“Sergeant Lev Rogov of the Militsia, at your service.”
“Good to meet you, Lev.” Robin handed over his Colt .45. “Let's go get my partner and the device.”
The two men walked down to the boat. Robin lifted the tarp.
“Mark, I have help. We have to get you up.”
Mark looked at Rob with a vacant stare and in a shaky, hoarse whisper said, “I'm s-s-oo c-c-cold.”
“We'll use the tarp as a stretcher. Careful with his left leg, it's a mess.”
The two men lifted the tarp as gently as they could, but Mark grunted with pain. They struggled up the hill trying to be gentle as Mark growled and grunted, but Robin could tell Mark tried not to show how badly he was hurt. They finally got to the car and they could see Mark wouldn't be able to lie down in the small back seat.
“Lev, we need to put him in a sitting position with his legs facing out. Then you go to the other side and pull him over while I hold his leg. That way he'll have the left leg on the seat.”
Mark spoke up. “I-I-I can h-help, Rob. J-just give me a m-m-minute to get r-ready.” Robin watched as Mark closed his eyes and focused on absorbing the pain about to come. His heart went out to Mark.
“Okay, I'm r-ready.”
They got Mark to a standing position and then gently lowered him onto the seat. Robin steadied the left leg in the tarp. Lev went to the other door, reached in and started pulling Mark in as Mark pushed with his right leg. Robin could see the pain on Mark's face, but he didn't utter a sound. After a short time of careful effort they had Mark settled in the car.
“God, the heat feels good,” Mark said in response to the heater blowing warm air at him.
“Lev, I'll go down and get the device.” Robin could see hesitation on Lev's face. “If I do something wrong, you can shoot me. You have my guns.”
Lev nodded and Robin went down and retrieved the nuke pack. When he got back to the car, Lev put the device in his trunk. They got in the car and started driving.
“I'm going to take you to City Hospital #2. It is the medical school hospital and my wife is the head nurse at night. The doctors and nurses there are less Communist Party oriented than Hospital #1.” They drove for about fifteen minutes and then arrived at a large building. Robin told Lev about meeting the GRU agent in Mindanao. He noticed they had turned on a street called Russkaya and the number on the building was 57.
“Wait here.” Lev got out of the car and hurried up the steps. Five minutes went by and Robin started to get nervous. He contemplated stealing the police car and getting away, but one look at Mark nixed the idea. Then Lev came out of the hospital with an attractive, but clearly concerned nurse and two orderlies with a gurney.
“This is my wife, Rada. She is going to help us, but we must do exactly as she says.”
“We will.” Robin turned to Rada. “Thank you for helping us.”
She shot him an icy look and then said in English. “My husband is doing a stupid thing. It's a good thing I love him.”
“You sound like my wife.”
Rada smiled briefly. They put Mark on the gurney and wheeled him into the hospital. Lev didn't come with them.
“Where's Lev?” Robin asked.
“He will return.”
Based on the signs, Robin saw they were bypassing the emergency room. They got into an elevator and went to the fourth floor and into a private room. The orderlies left, but Robin noticed one of them seemed a little pissed off.
A doctor came in and talked to Rada in a concerned tone. Robin picked up that he was worried the two men would try to escape and harm hospital personnel.
“Excuse me, doctor, we're waiting to turn ourselves in to the GRU. We're here because my partner needs medical attention. We won't try to escape.”
“You speak our language! Why are you waiting for the GRU? They are not known to be kind and gentle.”
“I've met some of them and I think we can work with them towards a solution of this situation. You have my word we won't try to escape.”
The doctor looked at Robin for a moment and then walked over to Mark and asked in English, “Are you in much pain?”
“It hurts like hell, doc.”
“Rada, get his clothes off.”
The doctor went over to a sink, washed his hands and went back to Mark. Robin helped Rada take off Mark's clothes and while doing so he palmed Mark's folding knife and slipped it under his pillow. Mark noticed Robin do this.
“Where is this blood from?” The doctor rolled Mark over on his right side. “You've been shot!”
“Yes, sir. Helluva place to get shot.”
“No actually, if you have to get shot somewhere, the buttocks are not necessarily a bad place. The worse result is you won't be able to sit comfortably for awhile.” The doctor then started examining Mark's leg, which took about fifteen minutes of him touching and asking Mark questions. “We are going to have to take x-rays of this leg. I am sure surgery will be required. Excuse me, while I make some arrangements.”
Thirty minutes had gone by since the doctor left. Robin heard a commotion outside the room and then three men burst in, their faces mean with the desire to cause trouble.
“You must leave this room…now!” Rada ordered.
One of the men pushed her aside, calling her a whore. This didn't set well with Robin. She ran out the door. The larger of the men gave an order to the other two.
“Take him outside,” referring to Robin.
Robin saw Mark reaching underneath his pillow. As the two men approached him, he could smell a strong odor of booze coming from them. He saw the larger man reaching to grab Mark's broken leg. One of the men tried to grab Robin. He caught the man's arm and pulled him close, kicking the man in the groin and hitting his Adam's apple with his closed fist. The man crashed to the ground holding both his groin and throat. The other man leaned in mid swing with his right hand. Robin used a circular motion to trap the on-coming arm in a hold. Grabbing the man's hand, Robin dropped to his knee taking the man's inverted hand with him. This act dislocated the man's shoulder, causing him to scream. Robin jumped back to his feet and in rapid succession punched the man in the throat and kicked him in the groin. That man also fell to the ground incapacitated.
Robin whirled around to look at Mark and with great satisfaction saw Mark had pulled the larger man close to him and put the folding knife to the man's throat. Knowing Mark did not understand Russian, but for the larger man's benefit, Robin growled, “Kill him.”
“Please don't kill me, please! I'm sorry!” The man cried.
At that point the man urinated in his pants.
The door flew open and Lev, Rada and the doctor rushed into the room.”
“Stop! Put the knife down!” Lev ordered.
Mark lowered the knife, but didn't drop it.
“Boris, you idiot. You don't come to work for a month and then you show up here drunk?! What kind of fool are you!”
“Up yours, Lev. You're protecting American spies.”
“No, Boris. I'm holding them for the GRU, who will be here from Moscow in four hours, which is just about how long you have to live, I think.”
SergBoris turned white and began to shake uncontrollably. “Lev, y-y-you must tell them we made a mistake. W-we didn't know!”
“Get out of here and take these miserable excuses of human beings with you! To think you are police officers! Go home and keep your mouths shut or I will tell the GRU what idiots you are.”
SergBoris gathered his two cohorts and staggered out of the room. Lev stared at Robin with anger in his eyes.
“You retained weapons. You told me I could trust you.”
“I did tell you that and you can still trust me. We didn't use the knife on you and we wouldn't. I just didn't know who else I could trust here.”
“What other weapons do you have?”
Robin hesitated for a moment and then unbuckled his pants and reached to his inner thigh to a waterproof pocket on the wetsuit. He pulled out a .22 Magnum Derringer and handed it to Lev. He looked at it for a minute, turning it over and around. Then, to Robin's surprise, he gave it back.
“Please keep it hidden.”
“I will.”
The doctor walked over to Mark and held out his hand. Mark gave him the knife and the doctor handed it to Robin.
“Your friend is going in for surgery. He won't need this.”
Rada and another nurse wheeled Mark out of the room and Robin and Lev followed.
“You know, the GRU almost hung up on me until I mentioned Mindanao. Whatever you did, must have impressed them.”
“It was an interesting situation. I wish I could tell you more, Lev, but you'll have to ask them.”
“I understand.”
They arrived at the surgery area and Rada motioned for Robin and Lev to stop. She came back in two minutes carrying a bag. “You are filthy and you smell. Come with me.”
“But my part…”
“You promised to do exactly as I told you. Please do so. Lev will watch over your friend.”
Robin followed Rada to a room down the hall from the surgery area. She put the bag on a bed and turned to Robin and started inspecting the left side of his neck.
“You have been injured on your neck. What happened?”
“A guy hit me with a piece of metal.”
She walked behind him. “You have blood across your back. Please take your clothes off.”
Robin took off his vest and shirt and unzipped his wetsuit, but just peeled it down to his waist.
“Take everything off.”
“I don't have anything on underneath my wetsuit.”
“I am a nurse. You have nothing I have not seen before. You have obviously been in a fight and we need to inventory your injuries.”
Robin took a deep breath and pulled off his wetsuit. Rada began inspecting his body with warm and gentle hands. She seemed to know just how far to go in touching his wounds. She also touched his old wounds. She came around and faced Robin.
“Open your mouth.” Robin opened his mouth and Rada shined a light into his throat. “You have been bleeding in your throat. It has stopped, but I do not know how much blood you swallowed.”
“I don't think I bled too much. I could feel it.”
“Come.”
Robin followed her to the bathroom.
“You must take a shower. I will clean the wounds on your back. You can clean everything else.”
Robin turned on the shower, got the water at the right temperature and stepped in. He got his back wet and turned it to Rada who stood just outside the door. She began gently cleaning his back. As gentle as she tried to be, it still hurt, but it also felt good…good enough for Robin to start to get an erection. He put his hands over himself.
“My husband has put our family at risk of imprisonment or execution because of you and your friend.”
“Why? He recovered a stolen nuclear weapon!”
“The GRU will only see he knows about a stolen nuclear weapon. The Soviet Union does not like its failings known to the proletariat. They will send us to the Gulag or execute us.”
Robin turned to face Rada. “I won't let them take you anywhere.”
“You are insane! You have no control over them!”
“They owe me. My team saved one of their agents and I have other bargaining chips. I won't let them harm you or your family.”
Rada looked into Robin's eyes. “I hope so.” She then looked at his genitals and a smirk formed on her lips. “Perhaps you should turn around.”
Robin looked down feeling himself blush and quickly turned around.
Rada finished cleaning his back.
“There, you can finish your shower. There is a robe just outside the door to the left.” She closed the door.
Robin lost himself in the warm water and exhaustion began to set in. He shook himself out of it and turned off the shower. Toweling off, he put the robe on and walked out of the bathroom.
Rada waited with a cart full of bandages and dressing. “Lay face down on the bed, please.”
Robin did as asked and Rada began putting an ointment on his back and then bandages. She finished and told Robin to sit up. “You have other minor injuries, but they do not require bandages. Here, put on these clothes. They are probably too small around your chest and shoulders as well as too large around your waist, but it is the best we can do.”
“Thank you, Rada. I appreciate it.”
“You have fought many battles. Do you get tired of being in danger?”
“I really haven't fought too many battles, just a couple of tough ones.”
Rada shrugged her shoulders. “Follow me.”
They walked back to the surgery waiting area where Lev waited and Rada went into the operating room. She came back out a minute later.
“The surgery will take a few more hours. The leg and ankle are badly damaged and the doctor is working hard to save their full function, but he's making no promises.”
“Tell him his efforts are very much appreciated.”
“You should go back to the room where I bandaged you and get some rest.”
“If you don't mind, I'll wait here.”
Rada shrugged and walked out of the surgery area. Robin sat down and put his head back. “You have one smart wife, Lev.”
Lev chuckled. “She is not one to trifle with when at work. She is much different at home.”
“You're a lucky man.” The sentence faded as Robin slipped off to sleep.
TWENTY-SEVEN
EMMETT PACED UP AND DOWN in front of the surgery suite at the Taiwan Navy Hospital, with a heavy heart. Rick was in a bad way. His wounds caused immediate massive bleeding and shock, putting him on the edge of death. Emmett couldn't figure out why Rick stayed in the doorway. He knew it was the fatal funnel.
“Emmett!” He turned to see Doug coming toward him. They hugged each other. “How is he?”
“I don't know. He's been in surgery for six hours. Hey, why the hell didn't you get in the boat?!”
“I just couldn't leave the guy we left hog tied on the bridge without cutting him loose. I just had to make sure he had a chance.”
“Well, you'll never know if he made it.”
“Yeah, I do. He followed me out to the platform. I ended up taking him on our RIB to the boat. The Marines got him now.”
Emmett looked at Doug and put his arm around his friend's shoulders. “We've come a long way from a
cop's way of thinking, haven't we?”
“I don't know. I still believe I think like a cop…still making fine distinctions in a split second.
“Yeah, you're probably right about that. Some things never change. Have you received any word about Robin and Mark?”
“The last I heard they were MIA.”
“What??!!”
“Jamie said they sunk the ship, but no one has heard from them for about six hours.”
“Can you call Jamie and get an update?”
“I'll get my sat phone and do it right away. I just wanted to let you know Maria is on her way to supervise Rick's treatment.”
“Man, that could piss off these doctors.”
“Not if Maria tells them she's his doctor. They have to respect the doctor/patient relationship.”
“I hope so. Please find out about Robin and Mark.”
“I'm on it.”
Now Emmett truly fretted with worry. One friend seriously hurt and two missing. Is any of this worth losing men who are closer to me than brothers? Why do we get the shit missions and always at the last minute with no real planning time. We've just been asking for trouble. What the hell are we going to do if we've lost Robin?!
Emmett continued to pace with these thoughts whirling through his head, twisting his gut. His name echoed in his brain until a strong hand gripped his shoulder.
“You okay, Emmett?” Doug asked.
“I'm sorry, man. I'm just worried about everything.”
“Well you can ease up about Rob and Mark. They're alive. Rob sent a message to Jamie saying Mark was wounded and they were about to be prisoners in Russia.”
“What else did he say?”
“That's it. Jamie said Robin most likely dumped the sat phone into the sea.”
“How are we going to get them out of Russia if they're prisoners?”
“Jamie said Ernie is on it.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don't know. Jamie says Ernie is acting a lot like Robin.”
“Hmmm, that can't be a bad thing at a time like this.”
“No, brother, it surely can't.”
Ernie's team loaded Kwan's boat with all the food and medicine they could safely pack into it. Kwan told Ernie they should leave earlier than the last run because the loaded boat would travel much slower. The team now consisted of Ernie, Kwan, Willy, Marv, Mike and Gunner. Ernie decided to send Gary with Burke and Rocky, since Gary's job was to extract team members out of danger areas. Gary jumped at the chance to help get Robin and Mark out of Russia.