by Bobby Akart
Kwon sighed. “Two reasons. First, I don’t feel good about shooting up a building full of scientists and environmentalists to get Doggo.”
“Who says we have to shoot up the place? Let’s go in with our weapons drawn. Round them all up and lock them in the cooler while we fetch Doggo. Somebody will find them later.”
“This isn’t some primetime TV show. Things always go wrong when you’re dealing with that many hostages. Trust me. It won’t work. I’d rather wait until the building is vacated.”
“And what if it’s guarded by the police or those MSS thugs we’ve dealt with?” asked Harper.
“That’s different. They knew the risks of their jobs when they signed up. In my mind, they’re enemy combatants, not civilians. Everything is fair game at that point.”
Harper shrugged and nodded. “That makes sense. Should we get started? Once you’ve stolen the biohazard bags, we can go back to TPE and find a place to stake out the building.”
“Now you’re thinking. Preparation. Very important.”
“Yeah, yeah. By the way, assuming the place is empty after closing time, the windows all had bars on them, and the only doors we went through were solid steel with no windows around them. How do you plan on getting in?”
Kwon managed a devious smile. “The agency gave us some tools that might help. We’ll set up surveillance and I’ll tell you what—”
A shrill ambulance siren could be heard in the distance. Kwon didn’t say another word as he immediately exited the truck and dashed in front of light traffic across the street. A minute later, he was standing in the shadows of a roof overhang, nonchalantly looking around as the sound of the siren grew louder.
Harper slid across the front seats of the Roxor to get behind the wheel just in case she needed to move in to pick up Kwon. With a nervous grip on the wheel, she watched and waited as the ambulance raced toward the ER entrance.
Kwon followed the ambulance personnel into the building as they wheeled a heart attack victim on a gurney. Two family members, a grieving wife and a wailing daughter, were close behind. Kwon blended in with the family members as he feigned concern over the overweight man who lay unconscious on the gurney.
During the chaotic scene, he gradually eased away and was soon inside the heart of the small emergency room section of the hospital. The surgeons and nurses were all dressed in light blue scrubs. They were identified by clip-on administration badges. Several hospital visitors wandered the hallways. Some milled about outside surgery suites while others stood around loved ones waiting to be treated. Each of the loved ones had a clip-on badge clearly identifying them as visitors.
To avoid undue scrutiny, Kwon set himself up to accidentally bump into a distraught young woman who was walking briskly alongside her children in the hallway. Kwon stood to the side, monitoring her progress in a convex mirror mounted above the confluence of two hallways installed to prevent two hastily moved gurneys from crashing into one another.
As soon as she was close, he abruptly turned and met her head-on. She bounced into his chest and he quickly grabbed her shoulders to prevent her from falling. He apologized profusely and even patted the children on their heads with a smile. He also, with sleight of hand, stole the visitor’s badge from the young boy’s shirt.
Equipped with the proverbial hall pass, Kwon then worked his way up and down the corridor outside the surgical suites. As a former emergency room physician, he knew body bags were in the highest demand where patients were most likely to die.
It only took him ten minutes of playing cat-and-mouse with hospital personnel to find the right supply closet. He located exactly what he needed, in addition to a large white laundry bag. He shoved the biohazard bags together with some medical scrubs and skullcaps into the laundry bag.
A minute later, he pushed through a utility door at the rear of the emergency room and found himself in the midst of a secured area full of dumpsters and surrounded by chain-link fencing. After determining the area was not being monitored and that no hospital personnel were present, he climbed atop one of the dumpsters, jumped to the top of the fence and over until his feet hit solid ground. If anyone had observed his maneuver, they might have described him as a Korean Santa Claus with a white cotton bag full of toys.
Kwon did not walk directly back to the Happy Tea House in case he was followed. He casually strolled across the gravel parking lot until he reached a series of office buildings. He snuck between them to avoid being seen by several physicians leaving the rear of one of the office buildings.
By the time he’d made his meandering return trip to the truck, Harper was sitting alone and exposed in the parking lot, as the end of the workday was approaching. It was time to get into position.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Third Pole Environment Research Facility
Gar County, Ngari Prefecture
Tibet, China
Harper and Kwon parked on a hilltop overlooking the TPE research facility. They waited for hours, studying the civilians who left periodically as their workday came to an end. Kwon focused on the MV3 tactical truck parked half a mile away at a small hotel. The six-by-six utility truck had arrived with a driver and two passengers an hour prior. It appeared to be unrelated to the TPE facility, but it’s close proximity and the soldiers’ ability to react to a call for assistance had troubled Kwon.
The Roxor was capable of traveling off-road at a speed that couldn’t be matched by the MV3. However, the key to their success was remaining undetected. There was simply too large a PLA presence in the area to risk a firefight.
As they waited for the last few stragglers to leave the building, Harper asked a logical question. “We have this Garmin to guide us. And the terrain to the west appears to be a whole lot flatter than the Himalayas. Wouldn’t it be easier to dash fifty miles into one of these neighboring countries?”
“I’ve thought about this as well,” replied Kwon. “India, Pakistan, and even Tajikistan to the north would be an option. It’s the unknown that troubles me. If we’re on the run, we run the risk of being captured if we make a wrong turn or the GPS leads us into a dead end. Plus, Americans aren’t exactly loved by the Pakistanis lately.”
Harper leaned forward and squinted her eyes. It was getting late in the evening and the setting sun began to take away their ability to see from a quarter mile away where their vehicle was parked.
“Is that a guard?” she asked, pointing down the hill toward the back of the building.
“It is. There’s another one milling about the front. Not military. Maybe private security or even their own personnel in uniform. They account for those last two cars we’ve been waiting on to leave.”
“Do they have guns?” asked Harper.
“Can’t tell from here. One good thing, though.”
“What’s that?”
“No perimeter lighting. It’s not dark enough to use night vision, but it’s too dark to see details. Let’s get started.”
Kwon exited the truck first and moved to the back, where he gathered what he needed to pull off the kidnapping of Doggo’s remains. He shoved the biohazard bags into a backpack together with a variety of tools to assist in the break-in if necessary.
Harper’s role was to watch his back as he worked. She would follow his lead and keep her silenced weapon ready to shoot anyone who threatened them. She’d become hardened over the course of the trip. Her life had been dedicated to saving lives instead of taking them. It was her experience escaping the DR Congo that made her realize her life was in danger when she went into these foreign lands. It was time to adopt the same survival mindset that came natural to Kwon—kill or be killed.
They moved carefully down the rocky slope toward the TPE compound. Kwon led the way, taking advantage of the night vision to find a path with favorable footing. They reached an area of thick scrub bushes that surrounded a waist-high block retaining wall. Kwon and Harper crouched behind it as one of the guards walked casually past them toward the opposite
side of the building. They’d been timing his rounds—eleven minutes to circumnavigate the building. The second guard remained stationary at the front entrance.
With the guard out of sight, everything began to move quickly. Kwon leapt over the wall, followed by Harper. They sped toward the back side of the building, where a corrugated steel roll-up door separated them from the room where the ice samples were unloaded.
Seconds later, Kwon dropped to one knee and retrieved four large glass vials from the side pockets of his backpack. He motioned for Harper to stand at the corner of the building and be ready for a reaction from the guards.
He took a final look down the side of the building facing the road and then he removed his night-vision goggles. He readied the makeshift thermite grenades. He pulled back and threw one into the center of the steel door. The vials broke open and the pyrotechnic weapon did its work.
Thermite combines metal powders that act as a fuel and metal oxide. The two vials contained measured amounts of each. When then they were combined, the result was a chemical reaction creating an enormous burst of heat and high temperature. Enough to melt the steel door.
Kwon glanced toward Harper. The silhouette of her body was illuminated by the violent effect of the thermite. She remained calm as she peered around the corner of the building. Kwon checked his side again, and it too was clear. The chemical reaction of the thermite did not produce an explosion. It simply began to melt the steel.
He assessed the damage to the door. They needed a little wider opening as well as a path to step through. He pinpointed his next target and hit the mark with the second thermite vials. In a very short span of time, Kwon was able to melt an opening in the steel corrugated door, and the thermite reaction quickly consumed its meal before burning itself out.
The entire process took a minute and, other than the brief burst of light during the thermite’s chemical reaction, it was relatively quiet. He waved Harper over and the two moved inside the building’s garage area. The odor of the melted steel filled the enclosed space, invading their nostrils with a charred smell.
“This way,” Kwon whispered as he once again donned the night-vision goggles. As they’d rehearsed while surveilling the facility, Harper rested her hand on his shoulder and allowed him to lead her through the darkness. They were able to move quickly into a vestibule not unlike the one they’d gone through earlier when they put on their oversized parkas. This go-around, they needed their arms free and simply relied on speed to minimize their exposure to the below-freezing temperatures.
Once inside the cooler where the core samples were held, Kwon got his bearings. During their earlier visit into the TPE building, he’d focused on observing the interior while Harper engaged the professor in conversation. This proved invaluable, as it reduced the time spent inside. Kwon immediately identified the walk-in cooler where Doggo was kept, and led Harper toward it.
Twenty seconds later, they were inside and he was able to turn on the lights for them. He rummaged through his backpack and retrieved a couple of towels he’d taken from the hospital supply closet.
“Here, use this to lift the ice. It’ll prevent flash freeze to your hands.”
Kwon opened the red biohazard bag first, spreading it apart so they could slide Doggo into it. He looked up at Harper, who’d carefully placed the bath-sized towel under Doggo’s shoulders.
“I’m ready.”
Kwon used his hands under the towel to lift Doggo’s rear legs and back. “Lift.”
Harper was unprepared for the weight of the frozen corpse. A frozen animal weighed more than after it had thawed due to the condensed water that had frozen around the body.
“Jeez,” she complained as she hoisted Doggo off the shelf and steadied the frozen remains while Kwon guided it into the biohazard bag. Once it was tied off, they lifted it into the unzipped body bag. A moment later, Doggo was secured and they were ready to leave.
“Wait here,” said Kwon. “This has taken too long.”
“But we were so fast,” Harper countered.
“No. Be ready.”
Kwon’s instincts were right. He exited the walk-in freezer and donned his night vision goggles once again. The large storage cooler was still dark, and a quick scan confirmed he was alone. He moved quickly along the back wall toward the vestibule door. He could hear muffled voices on the other side of the thick insulated door. He crammed the goggles in a side pocket and readied his weapon.
Just as he was reaching for the push-bar on the back of the door, one of the guards opened it for him. It gave him an opening to surprise the guard. He kicked the door open, slamming it into the man’s body, which sent him tumbling to the floor.
The other guard stood just outside the thermite-melted roll-up door. Kwon didn’t hesitate. As the man raised his weapon to shoot, Kwon sent two perfectly placed rounds into the guard’s chest, killing him instantly.
The other guard tried to scramble to his feet, but Kwon pounced on him. He quickly clamped his hand over the guard’s mouth and hissed in his ear, telling him in Chinese to be still and quiet, or he’d be dead. The older man vigorously nodded his agreement and spread his arms wide apart to indicate his surrender.
“On your feet,” ordered Kwon in Chinese. He grabbed the man’s wrist and wrenched his arm behind his back. “In here!”
He wrestled the man through the vestibule into a small clerk’s office. He removed the man’s jacket and then tore off his shirtsleeves. He used one to gag the man. After forcing the old guard to sit in the desk chair, Kwon tied his hands and feet to the chair using the remainder of the shirt and bungee cords hanging from a hook near a locker.
“I will be leaving here in thirty minutes,” Kwon lied. “Do not move or I will kill you. Do you understand me?” Kwon shoved the silenced barrel of his weapon against the man’s chest. He readily agreed.
Kwon rushed out of the small office space and pulled the door closed behind him. He raced outside with his weapon drawn to check the perimeter for activity. The other guard was dead, his chest containing two clean bullet holes near his heart. Because of the darkness and lack of perimeter lighting, Kwon saw no reason to hide the body. Now they faced the arduous task of carrying the hundred pounds of frozen dead weight up the hill to the truck.
Harper and Kwon worked together, taking one rest break during the nearly quarter-mile trek up the rocky slope toward the truck. In just that brief period of time, they could hear water accumulating within the biohazard bag as Doggo began to melt.
After they stowed their gear in the back and settled Doggo on the cushioned rear bench seat of the Roxor, they slowly drove back onto the highway and headed south along Q219 toward the Nepal border, feeling relieved, but apprehensive about the next three and a half hours until they entered the Annapurna Conservation Area.
Chapter Thirty
China National Highway 219
Gar County, Ngari Prefecture
Tibet, China
Kwon stuck to the speed limit plus a few miles per hour. It was imperative that they make their way back to the Nepal border before sunrise. Fortunately, the traffic on the Q219 Highway was sparse and they didn’t greet any military convoys on their way south. After a brief stop to relieve their bladders and pour the last of the extra fuel into the Roxor, the conversation turned to going home.
Harper was exhausted and concerned. “Doggo’s remains will began to rapidly decompose as it thaws. I don’t think we can wait several days for this charter flight full of rock-and-rollers to escort us to Japan. We need a faster way back to Atlanta.”
“It’s gonna take a day and a half no matter how we do it,” added Kwon. “A direct flight, even if it were possible, would have to total seven thousand miles.”
Harper fiddled with the Garmin Aero device. She began to input the information and provided Kwon the specifics.
“Well, eight thousand one hundred miles, to be exact. Looking at commercial flight options, we’d have to fly into Qatar and then to Kennedy. We’
d arrive in Atlanta thirty hours or so later.”
Kwon grimaced. “Any airline is going to want approvals and waivers from the FAA and Washington to carry that thing.” He pointed his thumb toward the back seat.
“What about military options? Are there any jets capable of eight thousand miles nonstop?”
“Yeah, sure. But it requires in-flight refueling using a KC-135. Our F-22s and F-35s have boom receptacles capable of hooking up with the tanker. They could have our friend Doggo at Dobbins in Marietta in a third of the time.”
“What’s the closest U.S. air base to Kathmandu?” asked Harper.
“Probably Bagram in Afghanistan. Harper, I know what you’re thinking. You can’t just call up the Air Force and request an F-35. Besides, they have limited space. They’re not designed for passengers and a half-frozen wolf.”
“We can fly commercial,” she argued. “If they can take the extra sixty pounds or so, I’m suggesting we send Doggo straight to the CDC and let them get started.”
“Okay, but still. These things are very expensive. It would take an act of Congress to make something like this happen.”
Harper reached into her pocket and retrieved the Blackberry issued by the CIA when they arrived in Beijing. “That’s the plan. An act of Congress. I’m gonna call Joe and get the ball rolling.”
“Are you out of your mind? First, placing that call might attract the attention of the PLA cyber army who have been searching for us. Second, I don’t know if Joe has that kind of juice. They like him and all, but ordering up an F-35?”
Harper was undeterred. She pressed the space bar to illuminate the display on her phone. Just as she began to dial, Kwon stopped her.
“Did you change the SIM card like the CIA told us to do?”