by Jack July
Edie said, “Danny, are you seeing that?”
“Yeah.” He keyed his mike and said, “Cody, there is a heat signature of what looks like a van about three blocks away. I’m not sure but it may be heading your way.”
“Roger that.”
“Edie, did you dispatch—”
She interrupted him and said, “Yes.”
“You are smooth.”
She smiled at him and said, “Yes.”
T took Kristy’s hand, and Elle reached down and pulled Cai to his feet. “Let’s go,” said T.
They made their way down the stairs and where walking across the studio when Elle spotted activity on the two of the formerly blank computer screens. “Hey, look,” said Elle as she pointed to the screens.
T got close to them and whispered under her breath, “Oh shit, the hard drives are being erased remotely. He’s not working alone. We need to leave now.”
Cody watched the black van speed down the road from the other direction and screech to a halt behind the big doors. “Danny, are you seeing this?”
“Yeah.”
The doors burst open and in the twilight Cody saw eight heavily-armed Chinese spec ops troops. “Oh shit, it’s a cleaning crew.”
Cody got out of the car, and suited up.
T, Elle, Kristy and Cai walked out of the studio into the large factory space as a small block of C-4 blew the small door off the hinges. The Chinese stormed the building when Elle looked at T and asked “Ours?”
The volley of automatic rifle fire answered her question.
They took cover behind the first machine base immediately outside the door. The cast iron base for the large lathe was about thirty feet long, four feet wide and four feet tall. It sat at a forty-five degree angle. They had a decent defensive position. On their side of the base were three 30-inch square access holes to the hollow inside where steel chips and cutting oil gathered. The caps for the holes had been left unbolted and leaning against the machine after the final cleaning. Elle took Kristy and said, “In there, go.” Kristy reluctantly climbed through the hole and sat. Elle pulled the fifty pound cap in front of the hole and leaned it against the machine, covering most of the opening. Satisfied she’d be safe, Elle looked at T and said, “Let’s let ’em know we’re not going down easy.”
T smiled. They put their M-4’s on auto fire, stood up and sprayed any dark figures they saw. Cai took that opportunity to flee. He dashed around the machine while the troops were shouting directions to each other. Cai ran down the side between the wall and the machines screaming, “I AM LONG CAI, I AM LONG CAI!” A lone volley of automatic weapons fire silenced him.
Cody tried to suit up in the full body armor quickly but it was cumbersome. He thought of going in without it, but he was sure he would be cut down immediately. The first sounds of gunfire sped him up.
Return fire sparked and ricocheted off the machine and concrete walls. T gave Elle an urgent look and said, “We have to keep them off of us until help arrives.”
“What about leaving through the back?”
“It’s all welded shut. We need to stay put.”
“I’m goin’ after ’em.”
“NO, YOU’RE NOT!” admonished T. “Your ass stays right here. These are not Taliban; these are some of the best in the world.”
“I need to keep them away from Kristy.”
“Can’t do that if you’re dead.” T looked around thinking about what direction the enemy could come from and where they could get off a decent shot. There were only two places, the catwalks above them that ran along the walls, and the machine across the factory floor a little behind them to their left. “THOOMP!” the noise from the grenade tube attached to a rifle was unmistakable. “GRENADE!” screamed Elle. They got low as they heard it bounce off the side of the wall and land in front of the machine. The explosion was an ear-ringing roar. Shrapnel took a few concrete chunks out of the wall above them. T shook her head and said, “Lucky again. They can’t arc it in on us because of the crane.”
The Mercedes was twenty feet in front of the machine and ten feet to their left. Elle heard the hollow sound of someone falling against the side of a car door. “Oh no!” said Elle under her breath as she made a quick, low run to the front of the car, switched the rifle to her left side, and raised the rifle looking for a target along the left side of the car. The soldier had a grenade in his hand ready to pull the pin when she put a three round burst in his face. A plethora of muzzle flashes in the distance made her dive back to the front of the car. Bullets whizzed by her feet as they fired rounds under the car. She tried to fire back but discovered her left arm wouldn’t rise to move her weapon. She took a quick two steps, dove and half rolled back behind the machine with bullets whizzing all around her.
“WHAT THE FUCK, ELLE! I told you to stay put.”
“He was on the other side of the car with a grenade. He’s dead. My left arm won’t work.”
T craned her head to look and said, “You’ve been shot.”
“What?”
“You’ll feel it in a minute. Give me your mags, take your .44, and aim it between those two machines,” T said pointing to her left. “You let them get across, we’re dead.”
Elle leaned into the machine, raised her knee and steadied her right arm on it aiming between the machines. Suddenly T raised her rifle toward the catwalk and fired two three-round bursts forcing the man on the catwalk to retreat.
“Dammit Cody, come on,” said T under her breath.
Cody made the corner from between the two buildings. He prayed to himself, God, help me remember how this damn thing works. The Vulcan minigun spewed 30 rounds a second from its four rotating barrels. Even though it was constructed from titanium and other lightweight metals, the backpack, ammo and attachments weighed almost a hundred and twenty pounds. It took a big man to wield such a weapon.
He saw a man guarding the van. He grabbed tightly to the T handle at the top of the weapon, grasped the other handle at the rear leveled the barrel and pulled the trigger. He had to lock his elbow and push down to keep the recoil from forcing the barrels to point straight up. The first sweep of the weapon cut the man and the side of the van in two.
T and Elle heard the roar from the Vulcan. T smiled and said, “Here he comes, HIDE!” Elle used her right hand to pull down the other cast iron cover while T pulled down the one in front of her. They wiggled into the machine with Kristy. T heard Elle scream in pain as she brushed her wound roughly against the edge. They got close to Kristy and covered her up.
The Chinese soldiers stopped shooting at them and looked to investigate the noise from outside. Cody walked through the door with head-to-toe body armor. He felt something like punches to his body as the armor stopped the bullets fired at him, then he let loose. Five feet of flame belched from the weapon and bullets filled the air and ricocheted through the factory like mad hornets. The muscles in his arms began to burn after a little over 30 seconds of holding the weapon down while sweeping it back and forth. Suddenly he was thrown to the floor by an explosion on his right. German special forces had blown the large rear door and began flooding the space. The remaining Chinese threw their weapons to the center of the factory and started screaming, “Diplomatic immunity!” in German. The battle was over.
CHAPTER 50
November 27th 6:30 P.M.
T helped Elle out of the machine. Elle was in a lot of pain but tried to keep it to herself. “Hurts, doesn’t it?”
Elle gave her the “no shit” look, picked up her .44 and slid it into her shoulder holster, then grabbed her M-4. Spotlights flooded the space and the Germans went about efficiently cleaning the space of all evidence. T picked up Kristy and they began walking to the open doors trying not to expose Kristy to any dead bodies. The minigun had made a mess of a couple of them.
Cody was gingerly taking off the body armor. Even w
ith the bulletproof material preventing penetration, the impacts were damaging. He knew he would be really sore tomorrow. T walked by, flashed him a quick smile and mouthed the words, “Thank you.” Then she said, “Hey, that weapon system is classified. Get it back in the trunk.” Cody gave her a nod and continued stripping off the body armor.
T, Elle and Kristy stepped outside. T lowered Kristy to her feet and said, “Kristy, I have to talk to some people, why don’t you go with Elle.”
Kristy nodded and went to grab Elle’s left hand but blood was dripping off of her fingertips. “You’re bleeding,” said Kristy looking up at her.”
“Yeah, let’s go see if we can find a band-aid.” Elle said with a little smile. They walked to an ambulance about a hundred feet away, and Elle sat down on the bumper with Kristy sitting on her right side so she couldn’t see the wound. The medic cut off Elle’s shoulder holster, then her tactical jacket. The medic wanted to take her to the hospital but he spoke in German so Elle couldn’t understand a word he said but motioned for him to bandage it. He shrugged and started treating her.
Tatiana walked back inside the building where the remaining four Chinese soldiers were lined up. “Translator?” she asked in German. A man stepped forward when she said, “Ask who sent them.”
He asked, then they answered in German nearly in unison, “We have diplomatic immunity.”
T pulled her silenced .380 and said, “Nein, Nein,” stuck the SIG to the back of the first ones head and pulled the trigger.
“Ask again,” She snarled. They immediately began to jabber like monkeys. T looked at the translator and said, “What?”
The translator looked at her and said, “The Chinese ambassador.”
T shook her head and said to no one in particular, “Well, for fucks sake, why didn’t I see that?”
The pain in Elle’s arm ebbed as the local took effect. She began to come down from the adrenalin rush, and she shook a little. The medic was finishing with the bandage when two black SUVs roared up with lights flashing. A man in an expensive suit and a curt manner walked up and asked, “Is this Kristy Wilson?”
Elle shook her head yes. He looked over his shoulder and shouted, “She’s over here. Come on Miss Wilson. You’re coming with me.”
Kristy grabbed Elle in a near death grip, and Elle said, “We’ll get her to the embassy.”
He dismissed Elle and said, “Young lady, now.”
Elle shook her head and said, “No, we’ll take care of it.”
He shook his head and reached for Kristy, forcing his way by Elle. Elle opened her hand, put it on the center of his chest and shoved him back about three feet. With narrowed eyes and a bit more force and volume, Elle said, “I said, I’ll take care of it.” The man said something to Elle in a rough grunt, and went after Kristy again when Elle snapped. She reached behind her, grabbed her .44 and fast as a cat sprang to her feet while pulling the hammer back. She shoved the gun firmly under his chin while pushing him back then shouting in his face, “WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST SAY? HUH? TELL ME, WHAT. THE FUCK. DID I. JUST SAY?”
T was walking beside the ambulance when she could have sworn she heard Elle swear, but that doesn’t happen. Then she heard a chorus of weapons being drawn and raised. As she turned the corner she saw Elle standing with the American ambassador to Germany, her gun under his chin. Oh my, thought T, she is all fucking gone.” T smiled and said, “Problem?”
“Does this belong to you?” asked the ambassador motioning toward Elle.
T nodded and said, “I, ah, guess you could put it that way. What do you want Thomas?”
“I have orders from the President to transport this girl to the embassy and prep her to travel.”
“Well you see, Thomas, we just finished a thirty minute gun battle with some uglies when we were trying to rescue her. So you can understand how we would be a little attached and hesitant to turn her over to just anyone.”
“God damn you T, call off your dog.”
T wasted no time in berating the Ambassador, “You arrogant ass, I never liked you anyway. Let me guess, you showed up barking orders to a traumatized 8 year old.”
“Yep,” said Elle
“I should let her blow your god damn head off.” Then she let the tension build a little more and said, “Have your boys lower their weapons. You have a woman with you? My friend Kristy isn’t too high on men right now.”
“The Ambassador motioned with his hand to lower weapons. He called out over his shoulder, “JESS, get over here.” A young woman walked through the crowd with a sweet smile and gentle disposition. “There, you happy?”
“Okay, I guess so. Elle?” Elle didn’t respond, “Elle! Let him go.”
Elle still wasn’t letting him go. The Ambassador locked eyes with a crazy he had never seen before and said, “Look, Elle is it? I promise we will take good care of her.”
Elle lowered the hammer with her thumb, leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “You better.” Elle lowered the gun and slid it into her pants at the small of her back. She took a step backward then turned to Kristy. Kneeling down next to Kristy, she gave her a hug and said, “You’ll be fine, go ahead.”
Kristy looked up at Elle and T then said, “Will I see you, or you, again?”
T shook her head and said, “No.”
“I won’t forget you,” said Kristy
Elle started to talk but her voice cracked. T smiled and said, “We won’t forget you either.”
The exhaustion combined with the moment caused Elle’s emotions to crash. She swallowed hard, gave Kristy a smile and a small wave then picked up her M-4 and walked the other way to their car. She didn’t want anyone to see the tears.
CHAPTER 51
November 27th 8:30 P.M. The White House
“Madam President, Director Dotson to see you.”
“Send him in.” She smiled at the quartet of congressmen in front of her and said, “I’m on your side, and I’ll sign it. However, you hang one piece of bacon on it and I will veto, period.” She stood up, shook their hands, thanked them and escorted them to the door.
“Tim?”
“Kristy Wilson is on her way to the American embassy, she’s coming home.”
The President let out a little shriek with a clap. She slapped Tim on the shoulder and gave him a half hug. “Well done Tim. STEVIE! Get Connie Wilson on the phone,” she shouted into the intercom.
Tim wasn’t smiling. “What’s wrong?” Asked a suddenly concerned President. “Is she okay?”
“Yes ma’am, amazingly good shape. Um, we are going to have big diplomatic problems. The killer wasn’t working alone.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
Moments later Sec State Danforth walked in. A few moments after that President North had an incredulous look on her face when Danforth said, “They said no. You have no evidence of any crime and they are seeking redress for the murder of the Ambassador’s son.”
“What kind of evidence are they looking for?” said the President, still not grasping what was going on.
Danforth started to speak when Director Dotson interrupted, “Ma’am, it’s not like that at all. What the Chinese ambassador to the United States is saying, is no. They will not hand Long Cho over no matter what you do, and they are upset about the death of Long Cai. They want you to apologize and pay reparations of some sort.”
The President was silent for about thirty seconds when she finally stood up, place her hands on the desk and erupted, “WHEN MONKEYS FLY OUT OF MY PRESIDENTIAL ASS!”
Danforth and Dotson shared a quick glance. Danforth said, “ma’am. This is China. This is the way they are dealt with. We must be sensitive to their culture. They should be allowed to save face. The situation is over. The child is safe and revenge has been exacted. If you let it go from this point forward, after some grumbling I’m sure they will too.”
President North sat back down, put her elbows on the desk, put her fingers in the steeple shape, looked over the top of her glasses and said, “I do not wish to let it go. I want Long Cho executed for the murder of twenty-two American children.”
Danforth shook his head no then said, “Ma’am, with all due respect, pushing this could cause economic damage, set back relations, decades of negotiating would be undone and years of relationship building destroyed. We depend on Chinese products in so many industries that any extreme action could cause at least a disruption and at worse economic disaster.”
“Okay, what I’m hearing is that we are an abused wife that must be grateful because we were slapped instead of being punched in the face? Really? Is that what you’re saying?” Danforth stayed quiet. The President stood at looked out the window, thinking. She was trying to stay calm and measured. “I want a teleconference with President Chen Ru Shen. Make sure he gets all the evidence they demand.”
“Yes ma’am, I’ll set it up,” replied Sec State.
Dotson spoke up, “Ma’am, I’m going to bring Donna back in for additional coaching. I thing she may be able to help you make your point.”
“Thanks Tim, but on this subject, I think I’m finished being coached.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
November 27, 9:00 P.M.
T, Cody and Elle pulled up in front of the medical building on base. Edie saw Elle’s blood and bandages. “Are you hurt?”
“I’ve been better,” Elle shot back.
Edie once again ushered Elle to a private suite in the rear of the building where Dr. Kennedy sat waiting. Elle walked in while he read her chart. “We meet again,” said the doctor with a smile. “I need you to disrobe.”
Elle sat down on the table, shook her head and said, “Just fix my arm.”