Thunder God

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Scarlet Sloane was certainly back in her element as the chopper she was in dropped out of the sky and hovered just over the tree line on the far side of the island from Sheng’s palace. Immediately someone began firing on them with an assault rifle, but she fast-roped from the helicopter along with the rest of the unit in seconds and ran to some cover as the chopper flew the others across the island.

Her Heckler & Koch gripped tightly in her hands, she raced through the long grass, keeping low to avoid the tracer bullets which occasionally zipped over her head with a terrifying whistle. The sound of death, she thought. Behind her was Lexi Zhang and several of Lao’s men. She heard through her headset that Hart, Ryan, Sophie and Karlsson were landing on the other side of the island and were now moving forward toward the main complex from the southeast creating a pincer movement.

A series of bullets slammed into the tree trunk she was hiding behind and two more flew past her at head height before whistling into some palm tree leaves just behind her. “Just like my honeymoon!” she said, and wished she had a CornerShot to take out whatever bastard was pinning her down. That was her idea of accessorizing.

Without warning, Lexi spun out from behind her tree and fired three shots in rapid succession. A second later a man in black fell from one of the watchtowers and crunched into the foliage below.

“That’s fifteen love to me, Sloane.”

“If that’s the way you want to play it, then fine darling,” Scarlet said coolly. “I happen to be an ace at tennis.”

She flicked the H&K around her tree and fired a couple of rounds into the same watchtower. They struck the second man in the chest and sent him flying back into the compound behind the wall.

“Fifteen all, I think.”

They now swept forward through the jungle with the rest of the assault team, taking out the occasional target as they presented themselves. The thought of fish in a barrel flashed through her mind but then she stopped herself being so smug when she realized they weren’t even inside yet. Cockiness was a dangerous trait in wartime. She knew that from experience too.

Now, closer to the compound, Sheng’s men were fighting more fiercely in an attempt to slow down the assault and give their boss time to retreat. One of Lao’s men placed a simple charge on a service entrance but got killed running back for some cover before he could detonate it.

Lexi sprinted into the clearing and took the radio transmitter from him before being chased back into the jungle by at least two machine guns fired from somewhere high above her. Scarlet heard her screech with insane laughter for a second and then watched as she hit the button, blasting the heavy door off the front of the compound and sending a thick shower of wooden splinters and plaster out into the hot jungle air.

Scarlet sprinted forward now, with Lexi and the others right behind her. To the east she heard the sound of more machine gun fighting and two or three grenades. Clearly Hart and her unit were rattling some cages on the other side of the compound.

Scarlet’s orders were officially to neutralize Sheng and find and secure the device, but as she ran forward and kicked her way through a small door into an internal courtyard, she knew she was really searching for Hawke and Lea. The rest she could finish later. She knew what Eden would say about that, but he wasn't here.

She scanned the courtyard and saw another small door on the other side of an ornamental bridge. Lexi was running up some stairs to her left and telling her over the headset that she was going forward to the upper levels.

Scarlet decided she wanted to try that door.

Hawke and Lea could still hear the sound of machine gun fire and grenades as they made their way to far side of the complex. It was about five hundred yards from their current location and they were desperate to get in on the action.

“Good job we knocked out that gun nest,” Hawke said. “Sounds like Cairo’s having a great time.”

“Sure sounds like it,” added Lea, “But what do we do now?”

“There’s not much we can do — not while we’re here. We have to get to the others, see if Han’s still alive and somehow get after Sheng. We also have to inform Lao about the yacht and Tokyo.”

“You really think Tokyo was the target?”

Hawke nodded. “I know we didn’t hear much, but they said Tokyo several times and something tells me they weren’t talking about their favourite baseball team. They’ll be well on their way by now — and did you see the chopper on the helipad?”

Lea nodded.

“The smart money’s got to be on them using that as soon as they’re in range of Tokyo.”

They waited a few moments, and then made the final few yards of their journey to meet up with Scarlet and the others. The gunfire at the main house was heavy, and it sounded like the fighting had quickly become a ferocious, no-holds barred war for supremacy of the island and the airfield, at least until Sheng was safely airborne.

They were almost at their destination when just inside the main courtyard a man saw them approaching and raised his weapon, but the noise of a grenade explosion startled him. Hawke saw his chance and fired, hitting the man in the throat and bursting it open with savage accuracy. He fell back in a crumpled heap, and Lea snatched up some of his grenades. With the way now clear, they smashed their way into the compound’s outer section and got one step closer to the rest of their team.

Now, inside the main yard, Hawke finally saw Scarlet Sloane and Lexi Zhang fighting a rear-guard action in the face of overwhelming force, delivered courtesy of some of Sheng’s most determined fighters — what looked to Hawke like a team of heavily-trained mercs.

Hawke unleashed a burst of fire from a submachine gun in a bid to provide some cover and distract the men from closing in on Scarlet and Lexi.

Lea threw a grenade and five seconds later a terrific explosion ripped through their offensive position and blasted two of the men back through the air like dolls, killing them instantly.

Hawke and Lea leaped up and made their way across the yard to Scarlet before the enemy had a chance to regroup. A second later they crashed behind a wall beside Scarlet and her team. A round of friendly nods went around as the bullets traced over their heads, but now, at least, they were together again.