Bloodstorm

22

Tran Khai leaned against a building and tried to slow his racing heart. Yeah, he was lost. So grab hold and get out of it. He was on a street with lots of businesses and some cars. Maybe someone spoke English.

Fat chance. Which direction had he run, south? Yes. So he had to move back north to find something familiar. He had no hope of finding Jabal again. Not in this crush and with his half-mile run. Yes, it felt like a half mile, no more. That gave him an initial point. So he would move that far back north and see if he recognized any streets.

Yes, now that he had a plan, he felt better. He had money, that was no problem. He could point and buy if he had to. Buy what? Food? He wouldn’t be gone that long.

The first few blocks were disappointing. Nothing looked familiar. He saw another police car, and he dodged into a small store until it passed. He went back to the street and continued on. He hadn’t felt so confused and alien since the first day he’d landed in the United States after coming from Vietnam. He would get through this, just as he had before.

At the next street corner he recognized a small stand where a woman sold live chickens. She would chop off their heads and pick off the feathers on any bird she sold. Yes, he’d seen it before, but which way had they come on the street?

He moved in one direction and his mind whirled. Had he seen the man lying in the street before or after the chickens? Yes, before. So he was heading the right way. He walked three more blocks, remembering things along the way. Then he came to the place where the buildings almost crowded out the sidewalk.

Jabal stood there waiting for him. He grinned, shook his hand, and said something that Khai didn’t understand. Then he laughed. He bought two ice creams in paper wrappers with plastic spoons, and they strolled back the way they had come.

“Policemen?” Khai asked.

“They were just checking. No reason to hold me. Angry they lost you. Glad I found you. Longer walk?”

“Yes, if no more police.”

They turned, and soon came to a river. On one side were luxury houses and apartment houses. On the near side it was a low-cost housing area, a slum, and Khai frowned at the contrast.

The two continued the walk for another hour, didn’t encounter any more police, and came back to Jeru’s apartment.

By that time, Franklin had the weapons all checked again, and had worked on a map of the cave area. He’d drawn what he remembered, and asked Khai for some input. Together they estimated distances and times require both walking and by car. They worked out two attack plans. One was with the use of two vehicles, either cars supplied by Jeru or captured transport on-site.

By three that afternoon they had the plans complete. Now all they had to do was show them to Murdock and get his okay.

Franklin found Jeru alone, and asked her if the Secret Policeman would come back tonight.

“He may. He is insistent. He hates me.”

“We’ll have to see if we can change his mind when he comes tonight. If you have decided to come out of country when we go.”

“Yes, I must go. My usefulness here is at an end. I have a sister in Washington, D.C., I can stay with.”

“Good. I’ll have a small party planned for your Secret Police buddy.”

The waiting began to drag at them. They received one more letter from the potato growers. The time of arrival of the potato seeds had been changed to 6 P.M., and there would be nine boxes of goods.

Khai frowned at the letter. “Nine? They bringing the J.G. too?”

“Doubt it,” Franklin said. “My guess would be that Kat will be coming along with the others to be sure this warhead is nuked out of here right.”

“Can she do the job?” Khai asked.

Franklin grinned. “Oh, yeah. I was with her in Iran when we had a long choggie out of that place. She did well. Saved the commander’s life in a tough firefight. She’s durable, smart, and pretty as well.”

They had just finished dinner when a knock sounded on the door.

“It must be him,” Jeru said. “Both of you, shoo out of here. I’ll get rid of him. If I can’t, I’ll want some help.”

“We’ll be watching. Remember, you can stand up to him. You’re leaving in two days.”

They hurried out and Jeru went to the door.

“Well, you’re slow,” the Secret Policeman said. He walked in, pushed the door shut, and took off his jacket.

“Don’t do that. You can’t stay. I have nothing to say to you. Get out of my apartment. Now.” Jeru drew a knife from her skirt. Jeru slashed, and brought blood where the blade cut through his shirt and the top of his forearm.

He gasped and reached for his weapon.

Franklin bolted from the near door, clamped his big hand on the cop’s wrist, and forced it away from the holster.

“What? Who are you?” the cop asked.

“A friend.” Franklin picked the weapon out of leather and threw it on the couch. The cop swung a fist at Franklin, who ducked it, let go of the wrist, and powered a right hand hard into the cop’s cheek. He bellowed in pain and staggered to the side.

“You broke bones in my face,” he cried.

“Good, next I’ll break your neck. Is that clear? Or do I convince you some more?”

The cop shrank back. “I need to sit down.” He flopped in a chair and bent over. The second he straightened, Franklin was there and kicked the hideout revolver out of his hand. Franklin heard a bone in the cop’s wrist snap. The man sprawled in the chair, holding his right wrist with his other hand, keening in pain and rage.

Jeru looked up, amazed and pleased. “Yes, you did what I only dreamed I could do. Now I’ll have to leave, no doubt about that.”

“Unless this poor soul dies in a car crash, or maybe goes into the river.”

Jeru stared at him. “That might be the best. He knows too much about me.”

Khai came into the room. He pulled the cop upright and bound his hands behind him with plastic cuffs. “As soon as it gets dark we’ll find a good place for his accident.”

“Now, Miss Jeru, it’s time you began closing up shop here and winding up anything you don’t want to leave open-ended. Within seventy-two hours you’ll be in NATO headquarters with us in Greece.”

She was shocked for a moment, her eyes going wide, and then her mouth coming open in a surprise “Oh.” Then she nodded. “So quickly. Yes, you’re right. I need to do several things. Friends mostly, so they won’t think I’m dead in a sand dune somewhere. I’ll tell my clients at the travel agency I have a long trip.”

It was completely dark an hour later. The Secret Policeman had said only a few words.

Khai and Franklin had talked it over three times, and at last decided not to kill the secret cop. Rather, they would wait until the next day just before they headed for the airport and crash his car with him in it. He wouldn’t have time to do anything about them before they were off and moving toward the caves.

The next day went slowly. They had watched the prisoner, unstrapped him enough so he could eat, then used the plastic cuffs again. At four that afternoon they drove his car to a sharp hillside with a barricade at the bottom. Franklin did the final bit.

He had the cop in the front seat with his cuffs off. Franklin clobbered him on the head with a tire iron and knocked him out. The car was parked at the top of the block-long hill. He opened the hand throttle, steered the car down the slope, then jumped free. The sedan rolled down, headed for the side of the street once, then veered back and crashed into the barricade with a glass-smashing, metal-tearing roar. Franklin walked away from the hill without anyone stopping him, and was a half mile away in the other car before they heard the police sirens.

The pickup at the airport went smoothly. They met the pairs of SEALs on different flights and ushered them out to the three cars. Murdock and Kat arrived last, and when they came to the cars, they all moved away from the airport down to a quiet industrial area, where they stopped and had a conference.

Murdock had the plans as soon as he stepped into the first car. He worked them over and digested them, and at the talk he told the troops about the hit.

“You men have heard the plans. We move in these cars down southwest about three hours and get in position, then work the plan. Weapons will be distributed when we come to the first objective. I agree that we should take down the roadblock and keep our vehicles as long as possible. If there still are only fifty men there defending, they will be no serious problem. Any questions?”

Kat had one. “Once we get in the caves and find the warhead, how much time will I have with it before we have to leave?”

“How much time will you need?” Murdock asked.

“Depends on what kind of a job you want. I can make certain changes that will lessen the radiation, or I can simply set in the charges where they will prevent the bomb from ever working.”

“We’ll go with the longer one if we have time.”

“The caves themselves,” Jaybird said. “When we set the charges on the bomb, why not also set some to bring down the front of the cave and seal the whole thing inside? That would negate any radiation. At least until somebody tried to open up the cave and see what was left of the warhead.”

Murdock nodded. “Fine idea. If the configuration of the cave is right, we’ll do that. Now, let’s mount up and move out toward that funny-sounding town and then to the caves.”

As they rode, Kat looked over at Murdock. “This is a lot easier than the last time we dropped in to work. Iran, as I remember.” She spoke softly so those in the front seat wouldn’t hear.

“Iran it was. You did good work there.”

“I was baptized under fire.”

“You did some firing of your own, as I will forever be thankful for.”

“You never did properly thank me for that.” She grinned.

He looked at her in the dim light of the car. “Well, now, that’s a statement open to a lot of interpretation. And if I’m thinking about the right one at this moment, the chances of that kind of thanks are not too good.”

“Never hurts to ask.”

He flashed her a smile. “And what a beautiful option to have in my hip pocket… that is, in our hip pockets.” He smiled and touched her arm. “Thank you for saving my life. Now, back to work. When we hit a firefight, I want you to keep your head down. That weapon you have is for defensive purposes only.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, and a big SEAL hooorah to you, Commander. When I can help, I’ll help. End of topic. We going to use the Bull Pup? Looks like it came through all the customs without a hitch.”

“It did. The ammo was tougher, but we got it in, mostly in pockets. Nobody did a body search.”

They were quiet a moment. Franklin had decided they should take three cars so they wouldn’t be crowded. Kat and Murdock held down the back seat of a vintage Ziv.

They found little traffic, and with full darkness even less. It took then just two and a half hours to get to the town of Khowst. They did not stop at the safe house, instead pressed on toward the target. Fifteen miles down the gravel road, they could see lights ahead.

“Roadblock coming up,” Murdock said into his Motorola mike. “Windows down and sub gun up. We’ll take out whoever is there, but don’t kill the trucks or sedans. We might need them later. I’d say we get into action in about five minutes.”

The three cars set up a dust cloud that the second and third cars fought through. It wouldn’t last long. They came within fifty yards of the roadblock, and could see two small trucks barricading the road, with a sedan to the side. Three soldiers stood in the glare of the headlights, and held up both hands in a stop gesture. Murdock had a submachine gun out his side window.

Fifty feet from the block the first car stopped, and the other two rolled up on each side of it. As soon as the three SEAL cars were abreast across the roadway, the men in them opened fire.