Ron Schwartz - The Griffins Heart.txt

by The Griffin's Heart(Lit)

  He heard a series of clicks and then silence. He wasn’t sure if he had been disconnected or placed on hold again as the long minutes passed. After what seemed to be an eternity, he heard a familiar voice.

  “Rob? Is it really you?”

  He instantly recognized Mary’s voice. She was Agent Miller‘s assistant. “Yes, it’s me! Is Dick there?”

  “No, he’s... Well, he’s there with you.”

  “What?”

  “He left a few days ago for the Persian Gulf. We were going to try and get you out. You were supposed to be at some old French military compound.”

  “We haven’t been there for days. We’re... We’re mobile now.” He knew this was not a trick. He was talking with someone whose voice he recognized and trusted.

  “Mary, can you connect me to Dick?”

  “No. He’s on some ship, and communications are difficult.”

  “Can you get a message to him?”

  “Yes, eventually.”

  He tried to think it through quickly. Miller was near, and if he was going to make a rescue attempt, he must have a sizable military unit at his disposal. He hoped no one else was listening. “Tell Dick that I’m at the Iraqi airbase where the Concorde is being held. Tell him that we stole a number of nuclear warheads from an Iraqi compound and are in need of evacuation. I’ll wait here until daylight, then leave to take some supplies to the rest of the passengers, but I’ll try to come back if I’m able. Do you have that?”

  “Yes, I do. Rob, do you know what has become of the Marine Tactical Unit that was sent in to rescue you?”

  “Yes, they are with us.”

  “Is there any other way to contact you?”

  “None that I would trust. I guess I can always try to set up this link again, if necessary. Is there anything else?”

  “No, but I will try to contact Dick ASAP, and I will turn over this information about the warheads to the head of the NSA.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll talk with you later, Mary. ...I hope.”

  Rob felt better and returned to the Concorde. He was about to enter it but had second thoughts. The attack helicopter was a better place to be if there were any trouble.

  Rob looked in on the rabbi. He had been able to find a fresh change of clothes and was now sleeping peacefully on the pillow-covered floor. Probably the first peaceful sleep he’s had in a while, Rob thought. He didn’t have the heart to wake him, so he gently shut the door and crept down the stairs.

  He boarded the helicopter and strapped himself into the seat. It was already too dark to try flying it, so he waited for daylight.

  Salah Ad-Din Territory

  Iraq

  Marie couldn’t sleep at all. Not knowing what had happened to Rob was causing her unrest. Around midnight, she rose and walked to the edge of the camp. As rules required, she first went to the guards on duty and let them know she was up and where she would be. She sat on top one of the small hills surrounding the camp and stared in the direction she believed Rob to be.

  She knew that everyone believed him to be dead. She wanted to believe he was alive but found it harder and harder as time went on. Tears flooded her eyes as she thought of the husband she may never see again and wondered if she, too, would die. What would become of her children? She dropped her face into her hands and wept silently as she knelt on the ground. She was about to get up and walk back when a sound behind her caught her attention: a quiet thud, followed by a soft moan.

  She stood and looked behind her. The sound came from where Logan had gone! She started walking down the hill when the movement of a shadowy figure to her left caught her attention. She stopped and listened. Again she heard moans that were ever so quiet. Then a voice she recognized spoke almost in a whisper. “You Jewish pig! Do you really think I have any feelings for you?”

  Terry’s voice! She approached quietly, and soon things started to become clearer. She could see Terry’s back as she bent over Logan, who was moving slightly on the ground. “You are all pigs!” Terry continued, spitting out her venomous words. “Your people killed my father, my mother, and both of my brothers. You have spilled the blood of my family, and for this you must die.”

  She stood rooted to the ground, listening. This was not the kind sweet frail young woman she knew. This was someone else.

  “I’ve have killed dozens of you to avenge the deaths of my family and people. You are just another dog in the street to me.”

  She watched as Terry spit on Logan, and only then did she notice the large stone in her hand. Terry lifted the stone above her head as though she would strike Logan with it. Shocked by what she was seeing, she could no longer remain silent. “Terry, what are you doing?”

  Terry jumped and turned around. She was obviously surprised to see Marie behind her and at first tried to return to her pleasant demeanor. “Oh Marie, I didn’t know you were there.”

  “Terry, what are you going to do with that rock?”

  Terry looked at the rock in her hand, and her expression changed as she took a step toward Marie. “Oh, the rock. Yes! Well, you see, Logan attacked me, and I was defending myself.”

  “I don’t believe that, Terry. Logan’s a lot of things, but he’s not like that.”

  “Why? Because he never attacked you?” Terry took another step closer and realized that she must not alert Marie to what was really happening. She must not scare her. But Marie was becoming more frightened as Terry continued her slow approach.

  “Keep away from me, Terry.”

  “What’s wrong, Marie? You know me! I would never hurt you.”

  But Marie knew that Terry was trying to manipulate her. She looked from Terry to Logan, then back to Terry. The whole situation just didn’t make sense.

  Terry continued to smile as she moved. “I don’t understand what is wrong. I thought we were friends.”

  Marie took a step backwards and tried to reason things out. Terry had no reason to lie to her or, for that matter, to hurt Logan. Maybe she was telling the truth. Instinctively, she did not believe what Terry said but had no alternative but to believe her, so she quickly moved forward to check on Logan. As she started past Terry, Terry took hold of her shoulder and tripped her, throwing her to the ground. The impact knocked the air out of her, and she found herself unable to call for help.

  Terry sat on Marie’s chest. “Terry? Do you really believe that my name is Terry? Do you want to know what his people call me?” She motioned toward Logan. “They call me Cheetah. Do you know why?” Her hand covered Marie’s mouth. For some reason, she seemed to want to tell her these things.

  “The first Jew I killed, I cut his throat while music was playing in the background. The words to the song were “crying time again,” so I took his blood and put the initials CTA on his forehead. Now, each one of these pigs I kill, I put the initials CTA on or by them.”

  Marie was horrified, finding it harder and harder to breath and impossible to scream.

  “Yes, I have killed many of his kind. All of them political leaders or military officers. Important people. And you know, I have enjoyed killing them all.”

  Marie struggled vainly to free herself, but Terry was in control. She raised the stone in her hand and slammed it down toward Marie’s head. Quickly, Marie managed to move aside, and the stone slammed into the ground, nicking her left ear. She grabbed Terry’s hand and pushed it away from her head, but Terry proved to be very strong and apparently well-trained in fighting.

  Terry grabbed Marie’s throat with her left hand and lifted the stone in her right hand to strike her. Marie was gasping and trying to scream as she pulled at Terry’s hand on her throat.

  Terry seemed to enjoy watching Marie struggle for her life and smiled broadly. “After I kill you, I will finish killing Logan, and if Rob were here, I would kill him, too. Then I will take care of your children. I have killed many of Logan’s kind and will kill many more. They are all responsible for the deaths of my family!”

  Marie gripped Terry’s rig
ht hand in an effort to keep her from striking with the rock. Terry had effortless control over the situation. She was playing with Marie much like a cat plays with a mouse before killing it.

  Marie twisted and pulled but could not free herself from Terry’s grip. She was panicked and out of breath, believing that she was about to die. Then a memory flashed through her mind. She thought of Rob and his struggle against the giant. And that huge armored door he kicked in. The memories filled her mind for just an instant, but that was enough. She made a fist with her right hand and struck Terry on the side of her face as hard as she could.

  Terry tumbled off, giving Marie time to gasp for air as she rolled over onto all fours. But her success was short-lived. Terry lunged for her, hitting her with her fists and kicking her with her feet.

  She tried to block the assault, but it was obvious that she was not trained to fight. She could feel the warm wet blood all over her face and found it difficult to breath. Then, in desperation, she grabbed a handful of dirt, tossed it upward at Terry, and collapsed to the ground. For a moment, there was stillness as Terry cursed.

  She tried to look around for an escape but found it difficult even to sit up. Then, very slowly, Terry sauntered over and sat down on her stomach. “I’ve had enough fun with you, Marie. Now you are going to die.”

  She placed one hand behind Marie’s neck and the other over her forehead. Marie could offer little resistance. She pulled Marie’s neck up and pushed her head back in an effort to break her neck.

  Marie was exhausted and started seeing bright white spots. It wouldn’t be long now, she knew, as she flopped around in her last desperate struggle against death. Then miraculously, her hand fell upon the stone with which Terry had first attacked her. With renewed hope, she grasped it with her left hand and swung it upward as hard as she could. “No!”

  The stone impacted on the side of Terry’s head, and Marie heard the sickening sound of crushing bone as she fell to the ground. Her expression of complete surprise Marie would never forget.

  She lost track of time as she lay exhausted on the ground beside Terry’s dead body. She was barely aware of Logan picking her up and carrying her back into the camp. She was badly beaten and bruised. Several of her ribs were fractured, and she was in terrible pain. She drifted in and out of consciousness throughout the night, at times awakening screaming as though still fighting for her life. But just before morning, she awoke able to talk.

  “Marie? How do you feel?”

  Upon hearing Logan’s voice, Marie immediately looked over for her children.

  “They’re all right, Marie. They’re still sleeping just fine.”

  “Terry. Where’s Terry? She tried...”

  “Yes, we know. And don’t worry. Terry won’t be hurting anyone else. Marie, do you remember anything? Do you know what happened?”

  It took a moment for Marie to think back and remember everything that had happened. She swallowed hard and looked around. Logan, Wright, Taylor, Nancy, and Rock had gathered around her, concern on their faces. She tried to breath in short breaths since the fractured ribs hurt when she made the slightest movement. “Yes,” she said as she closed her eyes, “I remember everything.”

  She paused and opened her eyes to look at Logan. “It was around midnight when I got up and went to the edge of the camp to be by myself. But then I heard a noise behind me, and I thought I saw Terry. I went to see what was happening, and I... I saw Terry standing over you with a stone in her hand. She said she was going to kill you.”

  “Did she say why?”

  “Yes, she said your people were responsible for killing her family. I tried to talk to her, but she jumped on me and tried to choke me... hit me. After, I don’t know, awhile, I guess... It all seemed to happen so fast. She was trying to break my neck... She was going to kill me, so I grabbed a rock and hit her in the head as hard as I could.” Marie looked at each silent face. “That’s it.”

  Logan nodded. “Think hard, Marie. Was there anything else? Did Terry say anything else?”

  “She said she was going to kill me and my children. And she said she would kill Rob if he were around.”

  “Was there anything else?”

  “No.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course I am!”

  Nancy squeezed his arm to tell him that Marie had had enough questions. “Marie,” she said sweetly, “now don’t you worry about anything. You just get some rest, and we’ll take care of everything.”

  Marie tried to smile back, but it only made her face hurt. She looked at Logan again. He looked so concerned about something, and somehow she knew it was important. There was something else, something that she was forgetting.

  Then, as Logan stood to leave, she remembered. “No! Logan, there was more!”

  Logan swung around and knelt down beside her.

  Nancy tried to silence her. “Honey, it can wait. Just get some rest now.”

  “No! I need to speak to Logan!”

  Logan pushed Nancy aside. “I’m right here, Marie. What is it?”

  “It’s Terry. She’s not Terry. I mean she’s not really Terry. She’s someone else.”

  “Did she say who she was?”

  “Yes, chee... Uh, yes. She said your people call her Cheetah.”

  “Cheetah! So she’s the one.”

  “She said she’s killed dozens of your political and military leaders, and she enjoys it. She was very frightening.”

  “She didn’t happen to say what Cheetah means.”

  Marie smiled, even though it hurt. “Yes! Actually, it’s kind of funny now that I think about it.” She paused to watch Logan. He was dying in anticipation. “Now that I think about it, I’ll bet you’ve been trying to figure it out for a long time.”

  “We have, Marie. Both we and the United States have spent considerable computer resources in trying to crack it.”

  That made Marie laugh. She held her sides as she tried to stop.

  “What’s so funny, Marie? This is important! Does it stand for some secret PLO organization or some terrorist leader? We need to know!”

  “You’ll never get it, Logan. Never in a million years.” Marie was smiling and feeling cute. Now she had something else that Logan wanted, and he wanted it bad. “If I tell you, do you promise to help with anything we need?”

  “MARIE!”

  “Okay, I’ll tell you, but you’re going to feel really stupid when I tell you.”

  “Just tell me, please!”

  She shut her eyes, trying to make sure she remembered everything. “The first man Terry killed... music was playing in the background. The words of the song playing was ‘crying time again.’ So she took the man’s blood and put the initials CTA on his forehead. From that moment on, CTA became her calling card.”

  “That’s it?”

  “That’s it.”

  “That’s all there is to it? Nothing more?”

  Marie shook her head.

  Logan was obviously disappointed. “There’s got to be something else,” he insisted, but Marie continued to shake her head emphatically. “Well, how do you know she wasn’t lying to you?”

  Marie smiled. “I know you’re disappointed, Logan, but think about it. She was about to kill me. What would she have to gain by lying to a dead woman?”

  “I guess you have a point.” He stood to his feet, muttering as he walked away. “I can’t believe it. Thousands of man hours and dozens of deaths, and Marie not only cracks the initials but kills the terrorist. This can’t be happening.”

  Marie and Nancy watched as Logan disappeared, then dissolved in laughter. “My, my, girl. You sure have an affect on that man. Maybe someday you can show me how to do that.”

  Main Operations Center, USS Roosevelt

  Persian Gulf

  Miller glanced at his watch. Just a few hours before sunrise. Special Forces should have rescued the passengers and be on their way back with Rob by now. Because this mission was undertaken with the stri
ctest security, he had imposed a complete communications blackout, so he would know nothing of the outcome until the helicopter landed.

  He turned to the communications officer. “Is the C-130 ready?”

  “Yes, sir. Air Force reports it’s on the runway, fueled and ready, with it’s engines warmed.”

  He turned back to the windows and looked toward the east. The first hint of morning was beginning to show in the distant sky. His attention quickly returned to the mission as the communications officer called to him. “Mr. Miller, Sentinel One reports a low-flying aircraft just leaving the coastline and heading toward us. Sentinel One believes it to be a helicopter.”