Deathbites

19

July 14, 1600 hours, Smyrna, Georgia

This time Jishin did not risk tipping anyone off to the raid by hijacking transportation from the airport. She hired two buses to move both the experienced foreign terrorists and the American terrorists-in-training from the airport to Elwood Electronic Industries Inc.

The buses pulled up to the plant. Two of the least certain of the trainees were left with the drivers. Their orders were to keep the drivers on the spot and out of the way. The other sixty-one terrorists divided into three groups to enter by the plant's three doors.

Jishin went with the group that used the front entrance. There was no one in the reception area. Two lights glowed on the switchboard, showing lines in use. The receptionist's typewriter was on and humming.

Beyond the reception area was the main office bull pen. The coffee was hot. Typewriters and copiers were on. A cigarette burned itself out in an ashtray.

"Creepy," said one of the recruits.

The others looked around and under desks, trying to ignore the remark.

"You three start on those files," Jishin ordered. "You four go back and cover the entry. You two see that the other teams have left their entries guarded as well. The rest of you find out where everyone's gone."

The terrorists scattered to obey orders.

Each of the three detailed to sort through files pulled open the top drawer of one of the upright cabinets. Each began scanning for anything pertaining to original research. The one in the middle found nothing but invoices in the top drawer. She slammed it shut and yanked open the second drawer. The three filing cabinets blew up, filling the room with sharp pieces of flying metal. Three terrorists died, four others experienced the pain of being severely wounded.

Jishin was not hit. She was already on her way to the computer room to see how things were going there. She heard the explosion and the screams but kept going. Someone would catch up with the details all too soon.

She found the terrorists wandering around the computer room. They looked lost.

"What's going on here?" Jishin demanded.

"Jobs are running. The computers are being worked but no one's here," someone reported in a puzzled voice.

"So what!" Jishin screamed. "Just get on with it."

They hastily moved in on the computer keyboards and started deciphering entry codes and working at a way to acquire the classified data.

Jishin stomped out in disgust, through the security and noise barriers, to the back of the building to discover what happened to the third part of the invading force. There was a sharp cracksomewhere in a remote part of the building.

Jishin found the final third of her army frantically trying to dig their fellow workers out from under a heavy load of transformer cores and shelving.

"What do you think you're doing?" she barked.

The terrorists stopped and looked up.

"Tanna and Brian hit a trip wire and the shelves fell in on them."

Jishin stopped and picked up a discarded M-16. She jacked a shell into the chamber and fired two short bursts, killing the two imprisoned terrorists.

"That's what happens to careless types. Now, move it, before I lose patience. Find out what happened to the people who were working here."

Two messengers finally caught up with their leader.

"What do you two want?" she snapped at them.

"The file cabinets in the general office exploded," the first reported. "We have three dead and four wounded."

"The tape drive in the computer room also blew up," the other reported. "We have two more seriously wounded."

Before Jishin could react, someone yelled. "Gas!"

Jishin recognized the harsh, burning sensation of strong ammonia in her nostrils.

"Clear the area," she barked.

In their haste to make it to the front of the building, the terrorists began to push and shove. That was when the lights went out.

There was still plenty of light streaming in the windows, but the power failure was the last straw for the already terrified killers. Their anger turned on each other. Soon fists were flying, the terrorists urgently wanting to quit the ammonia-filled stockrooms.

Jishin was still holding the M-16. She fired it into the air.

When she had sufficient attention, she spoke. "The next person I see shoving, gets shot."

The evacuation was immediately more orderly, but Jishin was forced to tie up her time standing in the ammonia-filled room, eyes streaming water, fighting not to cough, while her troops scrambled out the single door into the other parts of the building.

The terrorists in the general office area quickly patched up their wounded, leaving the dead where they lay. There was a brief argument about which eight would carry the wounded to a bus and which four would stay behind. It was settled that all would head for the buses, three carrying each wounded.

The buses were not there.

The two terrorists left to keep an eye on the bus drivers had remained behind. Each was carefully stretched out on the parking lot, his neck broken and his weapon missing.

It was too much for three of the terrorists-in-training. They dropped their wounded comrade and sprinted away from the menacing, silent building that seemed to be functioning, but in which no one could be found. They did not make it. One of the confiscated M-16s opened up, cutting them down with three short bursts.

None of the terrorists tried to return fire. They were tasting terror instead of dispensing it. They dropped their wounded and retreated back inside the building. The last one in slammed the door and then looked in horror at the string tied to the door handle. On the end of the string was a grenade pin. In the hush, all nine survivors heard the spoon fall with a clatter. Three were killed by the blast, two more were severely injured.

When Jishin found her first contingent of terrorists, the ones she had entered the building with, they were grouped in the reception area, ignoring the wounded at their feet. They were all crouched and waving weapons around, terrified, unable to find anything to shoot at.

After much bullying and commanding, Aya Jishin got the nine quaking terrorists to move and join the group in the computer room. They arrived at the double glass windows and looked into the soundproofed area just in time to see two grenades go off. The defensive grenades threw wire throughout the room, killing six and injuring several more, but the blast did not destroy the tempered glass of the viewing windows.

A close-up view of their companions being lacerated with thousands of pieces of wire was too much for the already cowering terrorists. They dropped their weapons and ran for the nearest door.

The group that had encountered the high concentrations of ammonia gas had cleared their eyes. It had taken much sponging and washing, but they were ready to continue their conquest of Elwood Electronics.

Then suddenly an M-16 started to chatter, spraying bullets into their ranks. The terrorists dived for whatever cover they could find and brought their own weapons up. They were all set when their fleeing companions charged through the room on their way to the door. All nine were cut down before the terrorists realized they were shooting their own people.

When the terrified goons began to stampede, Jishin went after them. She saw the M-16 that provoked the firing. It had poked out above one of the sound-suppressing ceiling tiles.

"The enemy is above you!" Jishin yelled. "Watch the ceiling."

They responded immediately, chopping the tiles over their heads with .223 tumblers. Then they leaped on anything available, ready to establish a beachhead in the new war zone.

The sound of a low-flying jet boomed overhead. Jishin's battle instincts flared. A quick count told her that eighteen able-bodied troops were after the sniper or snipers in the crawl space. That was more than enough. Aya Jishin took off to find the other terrorists and move them outside to meet a new threat.

Lao Ti and Deborah Devine had had a busy afternoon. They had kept machines running, freshened coffee in cups, lit cigarettes and left them in ashtrays, coming back later to butt them and mess the ashes, and done many other small things to make the building look as if it was in use. Ti knew their survival required a psychological edge.

They also booby-trapped files and planned their own movements and routes to pick off the stragglers without exposing themselves to counterattack.

When the terrorists finally arrived, Deborah and Ti found themselves working like a well-trained team.

Ti waited in the crawl space for some of the traps to cause confusion. Deborah slipped outside, jogged over to the buses and easily took out the two amateur guards. After that, it took very little persuading to convince the bus drivers that they should leave.

Deborah then picked up the guards' M-16s and spare clips. Able Team had left weapons as well as grenades and explosives behind, but Deborah and Ti both preferred the psychological effect of using the enemy's own weapons against them.

Deborah delivered one weapon to Ti and then returned to the parking lot and waited for the wounded to be delivered to the buses, which were no longer there.

Ti heard the file drawers blow up. She was already in position over the storerooms. When someone hit a trip wire and the shelves collapsed on top of the goons, she dropped the bottles of ammonia where they would do the most damage.

She then had managed to slip into the reception room and rig the grenade booby trap while the wounded were being carried to the parking lot.

Ti had also dropped the two grenades into the computer room, timing the blasts to occur just as the frightened terrorists arrived from the office area. She then had to scramble into position to start the shooting war between the two groups of terrorists. She had not counted on one side being so frightened that they dropped their weapons. Her psychological war was more effective than she had imagined.

When Ti heard Jishin shouting that the enemy was above, she knew she had lost more than her psychological edge.

Deborah Devine was outside the building. She witnessed the breathtaking stall of the black jet and the parachute exit of Able Team. Her rapt attention was broken by the sudden charge of terrorists out the loading doors of the building.

She quickly faded from sight. She had only one full clip of ammunition for the M-16 in her hands. The terrorists were already spreading around the perimeter of the parking lot, preparing a trap for the parachuting fighters.

Able Team was drifting on a beautifully controlled descent, headed straight for the largest open space in the parking lot.

Deborah could not wait while they dropped into the trap. She charged, determined to wipe out as large a circle of killers as she could. At the least, the gunfire would attract the attention of the jumpers.

Two terrorists were crouching in long grass. When Able Team was on the ground, the two killers would have a choice field of fire. Deborah emptied the clip from her M-16 into the pair. She stopped and snatched up the dead men's assault rifles.

Two more terrorists were crouched behind a parked car. Half a clip of tumblers taught them to dance before dying.

Deborah continued at a dead run, not daring to stop.

Three terrorists had their guns pointed at her. She dived into a ditch with tumblers crackling over her head. Jishin and three more killers were there, waiting.

Deborah reacted immediately. She swung her rifle butt into the face of the first terrorist, knocking him backward into one of his companions. Jishin was on her like a flash, plucking the rifle from her grip. Jishin then caught the wrist that was still outstretched and did a circular twist, levering the arm behind Deborah's back.

A sudden shove and Deborah Devine found herself staggering into the exposed area of the parking lot with no cover and no shelter.

Bullets riddled her body.

As soon as Jishin had shouted, Lao Ti sprinted for another area of the crawl space. She flipped a ceiling tile out of place and found herself over an empty office. She carefully lowered herself and hung by one hand while she replaced the tile. The shooting had stopped. The goons would be cautiously poking into the attic at this point.

Ti had left the empty weapon behind. She moved quickly, knowing she had to either find a weapon or stay out of sight. She could hear the shouts of the terrorists, muffled sounds through the ceiling tiles.

Suddenly a ceiling tile was thrown aside in the hall she was traveling. A head poked down six feet ahead of her. "There's our target!"

Ti was off like a flash. Two quick steps and a leap and her small fist grabbed the open jaw. Then the weight came down, dragging the terrorist from the ceiling. The man crashed at Ti's feet, his M-16 still over his shoulder. A quick stomp of the foot into the bent neck gave the goon a lesson in permanent relaxation. Ti took his weapon and ran down the hall, bullets smacking the tile behind her feet.

Being inside the building was not safe now that the terrorists controlled the crawl space. Ti took off for the nearest exit.

Carl Lyons was the first to jump. He grasped the shroud lines and dumped air from one side until he was over the parking lot. Then as he drifted down, all hell broke out on the ground.

There was no mistaking the pale gold of Deborah's hair as she began her sweep of terrorist positions. Lyons could see that he was heading into an ambush. He pulled on the shroud lines, falling faster in a desperate attempt to gain the low flat roof of Elwood Industries. He looked up to make sure that his teammates were following his example. They were. He looked down again and saw Jishin shove Deborah into the open space. He saw bullets cut into her body. He felt his stomach twist, his heart pound. He knew she was dead. He knew the bastards would pay.

Lyons unbuckled the chute and was in motion before his toes touched the roofing tar. Every muzzle-flash that had contributed to the decimation of Deborah Devine was etched permanently on Lyons's tormented mind. He unslung the Atchisson automatic Assault shotgun and jammed home a thirty-round drum. By the time the first round was chambered, the automatic-rifle fire was beginning to zero in on the roof. If Deborah had not furnished such a demanding distraction, Able Team would have been chopped to pieces in the air.

Lyons crouchwalked to the edge of the roof. Each muzzle-flash was answered with a boom from the assault shotgun. Each boom resulted in one bloody death.

Pol and Gadgets landed safely twenty seconds after Lyons. They threw themselves on the flat roof and methodically picked off the terrorists on Lyons's flanks.

When Lyons reached the edge of the roof, he kept walking. The ten-foot drop to the hard surface of the parking lot pounded him less than the jolts he had been receiving from the low-altitude parachute jumps. He automatically flexed his knees, unaware of any shock he was absorbing.

One does not become a successful terrorist by fighting on an equal or near-equal basis. Terrorism is a matter of destroying the defenseless. Aya Jishin understood this very well. When she saw the terror returning to her troops, she ordered them to cut through the building and escape. They grouped and made a charge toward the side door nearest the computer room.

The charge took the terrorists directly under Gadgets. He put his Ingram aside and pulled two antipersonnel grenades. He was about to release them into the stampeding killers when Lao Ti emerged from the door, directly in their path.

Gadgets reacted immediately. He tossed the grenades far enough away that the flying bits of wire would not affect Ti. The double blast shredded terrorist backs but killed none. They were still shook up from the blast when Gadgets landed among them.

The Ingram was meant for close fighting. A wide sweeping burst felled several killers. Gadgets then dropped the weapon because he did not have time to reload and charged those remaining terrorists with Gerber Marks in each hand.

Lyons heard the disturbance and strode toward it. He had seen the desperate dash of the terrorists and Jishin carefully commanding from the center of the mob. She was the one responsible for Deborah's death.

He wanted her.

Politician leaped from the roof. He ran quickly to cover Lyons's back. He knew Ironman was not even thinking about his own back. Politician launched a grenade into a group of terrorists behind Lyons. Those that the grenade did not get, .223 tumblers did.

Ti took in the situation as soon as she blundered into it. She had more than a dozen terrorists at her back and she could not retreat back to the building. When the blast hit and Gadgets dropped like a gift from the gods, she doubled her effort.

Jishin slipped out of the crowd and tried to circumvent the fight in order to gain the safety of the building. Ti stepped in front of her. Jishin exploded into action, flying at the cause of her defeat, snapping punches and kicks.

Ti backed slowly, concentrating on Jishin, now oblivious to the bullets that began to fly through the open door toward her back.

Lyons reached the group. He saw Jishin and wanted her dead so badly he could feel the ache in his bones. But bullets were coming from the open door. Ti's back had to be covered. Gadgets was also open to the field of fire as he battled hand to hand with the few terrorists left standing outside the building.

Lyons leaped, placing his body between Ti and the flying bullets. The big Atchisson filled the doorway with a storm of death. Terrorists screamed and fell back.

Lyons waded through the door, aiming and shooting, aiming and shooting. No one escaped Death's cold clutch.

A rifle barrel peeked from the ceiling. Two blasts of the big Atchisson added holes to the sound tile, which slowly turned red.

Lao Ti caught Jishin's flashing fist and twisted. This move brought her to face Gadgets's back. She saw he was about to be cleaved by a terrorist knife. She wrenched Jishin's wrist upward, snapping it, then dived at the goon holding the knife. She buried her fist into the man's kidneys. He screamed and twisted, his knife arcing on a path to cross Ti's throat.

Jishin seized the opportunity and ran.

Ti bent backward and avoided the blade. Then she snapped a kick that broke the knife wielder's arm. Gadgets straightened from his final kill and dove a knife into the terrorist's back. The man collapsed like a house of cards.

Lyons emerged from the building. He saw the retreating figure of Jishin. He saw the bullet-torn body of Deborah Devine. He saw red. He fired. Boom!