Tropical Terror

27

Lieutenant (j.g.) DeWitt went over everything he knew about the Bishop Museum. It was almost a shrine. It was the Pacific Basin’s foremost museum of anthropology and natural history. It consisted of more than a dozen buildings, one of the latest the new Planetarium near the entrance.

“That’s where the parley has been taking place, at the new entrance building,” DeWitt said. “From what the negotiators gather, most of the Chinese are in that first building and the Planetarium. We might not have to go too far into the museum buildings to dig them out.”

“But we don’t go in the front door?” Dobler asked.

“The people who know the place say there is a little-used gate at the rear parking lot in back of Pauahi Hall. If we can’t bust open the gate, we can climb the chain-link fence there and get on the grounds. The buildings are not connected. It’s more like a campus with grass and flowers and a series of buildings. Some of them were made before 1900.

“We have printouts from the museum’s Web site showing us the buildings and the layout of the grounds. I’ll pass them around. Memorize which buildings are where. Especially the top rank, Pauahi, Paki, and Hawaiian Halls. What looks like grass is around most of them, and some concrete sidewalks.

“We’ll try coming over or through the fence, past the three halls, and get to the Hall of Discovery, which is part of or right next to the new Planetarium.”

“Won’t they have guards out?” someone asked.

“They might,” Dobler said. “But we are told there are no more than a dozen Chinese inside. That’s a guess, and they might be off by five or ten. The Chinese slipped in with the regular folks, then took off civilian clothes to show their Army uniforms and closed down the place. Turned off the lights and ordered everyone out, including the staff and workers.

“There could be some of the staff still inside, so we have to be doubly careful.” He looked around at the group. “How many of you have been to the Bishop before?”

Four men raised their hands.

“I’ve been there three or four times,” DeWitt said. “It’s always different. We won’t know what it’s like this time until we get inside. They were still building the new Planetarium the last time I was there. Remember, we keep it as non-lethal and non-destructive as possible.”

Dobler chimed in. “On this one we fire our deadly weapons only to save our own or someone else’s life. That’s our orders until we go weapons-free. Any questions?”

“We get those bolt cutters?” Holt asked.

“We did,” Ching said. “Twenty-four-inchers and heavy little bastards. But it’s guaranteed.”

“We get off the bus at the north end of the rear parking lot and work down toward the gate near Pauahi Hall,” said DeWitt. “First, we’re watching for Chinese guards or lookouts. If we don’t see any, we go in the easiest way. Just another mission. Let’s get this one done without anybody getting hurt. Keep your damn heads down if they start to shoot. Relax. We should be there in about twenty minutes.”

For twenty minutes Ed DeWitt thought about Milly back in Coronado. She was a saint. She had to be to put up with him and this crazy SEAL Team life. When he made it back home this time, he was going to carve out more time for her. A drive up the coast or maybe down into Baja California. Milly loved Mexico.

Slowly DeWitt realized he was homesick for his lady. It hadn’t been that long. They had been on the carrier for a month on a wait-and-see that had never happened. Then the training on Oahu and the damned Chinese invasion. Yes, home was sounding better and better.

Milly. He could see her dark eyes, her mischievous smile, the quick sure way she worked out a computer problem for him on his laptop. He wondered if he’d have time to do some shopping for her before they left the islands. He hoped so. He had in mind buying for her some…

“JG, we’re here. Parking lot back side.”

DeWitt came out of the reverie in a flash. “Dobler, you have what’s left of the first squad. Take them off and find some cover along the bushes. Be right behind you. We’ll do a commo check as soon as we’re all off. Go.”

DeWitt surveyed the buildings and the fence as he stepped down from the bus. About as he remembered it. Lots of plants, the imposing stone buildings mixed in with the newer, more modern kinds. Twelve, maybe thirteen structures in the complex. Everyone checked in on the net. He had a dozen men. Thirteen counting him. They were minus some important cogs in their machinery.

“Move it down the fence line,” he said on the Motorola. “Work slowly. Watch inside for any sign of Chinese.”

Five minutes later they were at the gate in the chain-link fence. A short chain and two padlocks secured it. Ching worked the bolt cutters and left them beside the gate as he swung it open. The squad went through the gate and to the rear wall of Pauahi Hall without making any contact with the Chinese.

DeWitt and Lam took the point as they worked north around the hall, and then past Paki Hall and toward Hawaiian Hall, which was just across from the Planetarium.

Bill Bradford carried one of the EAR guns and walked just in back of DeWitt. Ostercamp had the other EAR weapon back in the Bravo Squad. All of the SEALs carried the police-type thin plastic riot cuffs that they could use to tie up a prisoner securely and quickly.

Ahead, Lam went flat against the wall and slowly slid down to the ground.

“DeWitt, two Chinese just came around the side of the hall here,” Lam whispered into his lip mike. “Both have rifles and are in green fatigues. You should be able to see them in about five seconds.”

“Take them out, Bradford,” DeWitt said.

Bradford stepped away from the wall, lifted the heavy EAR weapon, and aimed it at the end of the wall and waited. Two green-clad men came around the corner. He fired.

The now-familiar sound of the whooshing jet of concentrated sound jolted from the EAR and unleashed its enhanced sound power on the two Chinese soldiers, who fell in mid-stride not knowing what had hit them and struck them down quietly. Canzoneri and Fernandez ran up and carried the inert bodies into the tropical plantings along the north fence across from Paki Hall. Both Chinese were disarmed and bound with the riot cuffs on wrists and ankles.

Lam and DeWitt looked around the corner of Hawaiian Hall and saw ahead the Hall of Discovery. It evidently was attached to the new Planetarium. The Chinese might have come from a door that was marked Employees Only.

“Lam, Ostercamp with the EAR, check out the door,” DeWitt said on his radio. “If it’s open wait for two-man backup, then try inside.”

Lam darted across the open space to the door. Ostercamp came from the rear of the squad and joined him at the door. Lam turned the knob and pulled it out an inch. He nodded.

DeWitt and Train Khai surged across the space to Discovery and waited against the wall. Lam saw them arrive, edged the door open a foot, and slid inside. Ostercamp went in right behind him, with Khai catching the door for himself and DeWitt.

At first Lam could see nothing. He flipped down his NVGs and looked again. The soft green glow in the darkness showed it was a stockroom. He moved forward to a door across the way. The others came closely behind him.

“I’ll try the next door,” Lam said.

DeWitt picked it up on his Motorola. Suddenly it all felt wrong. “Hold it on the door,” DeWitt snapped. He rushed across the room and glared at the door. There was no indication what was on the other side. He had his NVGs on as well. He took the knob and turned it slowly until it stopped, then eased the door back a half inch, then more, until a sliver of bright yellow light slanted through the crack. He pushed up the NVGs and shut his eyes for a few seconds. Then he opened them and looked at the light before he edged the panel back another two inches.

DeWitt stood on the latch side of the door against the wall. He leaned over to look through the slot. Six angry, hot lead slugs slammed into the panel door and splintered through into the room. They missed the SEALs.

“Ostercamp, one round,” he whispered into the radio. Ostercamp moved forward, knelt next to the wall, and pushed the muzzle of the EAR through the door opening, angled it upward, and fired.

The whooshing sound came louder here, and the sound of the enhanced audio in the next room seemed more like a grenade going off than they had heard before.

As soon as the round echoed around the next room, DeWitt jerked the door open and rushed inside, followed by his three SEALs. It was a display room. He saw one large sign that said this was an exhibit of the Royal Treasures of the Hawaiian Royal Monarchy. In the middle of the room was a richly decorated carriage. He saw two men on the floor, one holding his ears. Both were unconscious. The four SEALs searched the room quickly. Only the two men were there.

Ed took a special look at the displays. The rig in the center was the Queen’s Royal Carriage recently restored. There were dozens of other early Hawaiian artifacts and paintings, three busts of kings and queens, and items of everyday life that had belonged to the monarchs. He examined them carefully. None had been damaged. Good. They could use the EAR again.

Two doors led out of the display area. He was about to open one of them when he saw the knob turn. He leaped aside. Two Chinese soldiers backed into the room. They carried a long cardboard box that two more soldiers held at the other end.

“Hooooo-ha!” DeWitt bellowed. The four soldiers saw the SEALs for the first time, all four pointing automatic weapons at them. They dropped the box. One, who had officer insignia on his shoulders, went for his belted pistol. DeWitt shot him with his sub gun on single-shot. The round hit the Chinese officer in the chest and he stumbled backward, hit the wall, and slumped to the floor.

The three soldiers lifted their hands. The SEALs cuffed them and put them against the far wall behind part of the display. DeWitt checked the officer. Dead. He dragged him behind the display.

Lam pointed to the second door. DeWitt nodded. Lam opened it cautiously. When he could see out, he waved over DeWitt, who looked.

It was a lobby with entrance, ticket booth, and doors on the far side about forty feet across the open area. High on a wall over the entrance were the words: THE NEW PLANETARIUM. So they were almost there. They had eliminated eight Chinese so far. What the hell did the SEALs do next? Charge across the open space and go into the Planetarium? Not smart.

Watch and wait? Maybe.

“Skipper, we’ve got trouble back here.”

It was Dobler on the net. “What?”

“Four Chinks with weapons. Some kind of extended-stock automatic carbines. Moving along Hawaiian Hall directly at us. We’re just around the corner.”

“Use the EAR now,” DeWitt commanded.

He could send back some help. No, Dobler had more men now than he did. Should be nine of them back there somewhere. He listened for the EAR shot, but knew he couldn’t hear it inside. His attention came back to the front and the entrance to the empty Planetarium. Ordinarily, there would be four or five hundred people milling around inside. Was the inside the Chinese HQ? How many Chinese were here?

As he thought, the door across the way opened and four civilians in museum uniforms came out, followed by two soldiers with weapons at the ready. They marched them across the lobby to a set of doors that led out toward what DeWitt remembered as the new entrance building. He let them go.

Outside at the corner of Hawaiian Hall, Dobler nodded and Bradford fired the EAR round. This time they heard the enhanced audio explosion/concussion where it went off less than twenty yards from them. Both SEALs ducked back around the corner as soon as the shot was fired.

Dobler felt his floppy hat twirled around on his head as the concussion caused a gush of air. When he looked around again, he saw all four soldiers down on the narrow sidewalk. They all looked unconscious.

Dobler looked around. No bushes there. Not enough vegetation to hide the bodies.

He waved up Jefferson and Franklin. “Go up there and grab those weapons and leave the Chinese where they lay. Then get back here pronto. Skipper, four more Chinks down and out. We can’t hide this bunch. All else under control.”

“Good, Dobler. Send me up two more men. Keep the EAR there. Going to try to clear the Planetarium.”

“Roger that. Ching, Jefferson. Go through that door up there marked Employees Only. The skipper needs you inside.”

He watched as the two men ran down the sidewalk, opened the door into the building, and vanished.

Inside, DeWitt had sent Train Khai back to the other room to bring in the new shooters. He watched the outside. No more movement. There must be more of them across the way where the two soldiers had led out the civilians. Were they just clearing out the last of the workers, or were those four hostages?

Ching and Jefferson arrived. He had six men now, including himself. It would have to do. He caught their attention. “We’re going to charge across the open lobby out there to the double doors, which I guess lead inside the Planetarium. Must be some more Chinese in there. We send Lam in first, then the EAR and we support. No live rounds unless absolutely necessary. Let’s go.”

Lam led the way and beat the others to the door. He tried the pulls and found the doors unlocked. He opened one a crack, but could see nothing inside. He pulled it open all the way and rushed inside, followed by Ostercamp and his EAR. The other four SEALs charged in behind them.

Inside, there was a hallway that opened on five or six stairways that evidently led up to the sharply canted seats. They saw no one Lam and Ostercamp hurried to the end of the hallway and looked up the stairs.

“Nada, Skipper.”

Then the SEALs heard loud voices speaking Chinese, coming from the central stairs. They faded into the other stairs to be out of sight and watched.

“No EAR,” DeWitt whispered into the mike. “One round in here would knock out friend and foe for from four to six hours. Single shot only.”

The voices increased, and soon six Chinese soldiers came out from the stairs into the hall. When all were in the open, DeWitt fired one round into the wall, and all the SEALs leaped out of their cover and trained their weapons on the Chinese.

“Ching, tell them,” DeWitt said into his mike.

Ching rattled off some Mandarin. One of the men reached for a belted pistol. Lam saw the move and fired one round from his Colt Carbine, hitting the man in the shoulder and dropping him to the ground.

“Put your hands high,” Ching ordered. The remaining men did. Lam had rushed up to kick away the wounded man’s weapon. Now he worked with the others, who closed in on the five standees, taking away weapons and cuffing them, hands and feet. The SEALs left them in the hall and fanned out to go up the steps all at once and check the elegant, impressive Planetarium with its huge ceiling screens and dozens of projectors and special lean-back seating.

“Could be fifty of them hiding in here,” Lam said into his mike.

“We might never find them,” DeWitt said.

“Let me sing out and see if I can raise anyone,” Ching said.

“Go,” DeWitt said.

Ching made three quick calls in Mandarin, then three more, but there was no response.

“Let’s call the game in here,” DeWitt said. As they started back to the front of the Planetarium the radio sounded.

“Skipper, we just missed something. We’re deployed along the front of Hawaiian Hall here. Thirty seconds ago we saw about fifteen Chinese rush away from that entrance pavilion, Jabulka, and storm into the foyer that leads into this Hawaiian Hall. I think they’re inside now.”

“Keep your powder dry, Dobler. We’re done in here and on the way out. We will have a confrontation with those kind Orientals shortly. Right now I want you to move up until you can see that door into the building and hold. We’ll be across that grassy area toward the entrance building. Don’t let any more go in or out. Use the EAR out there in the open if you need to.”

DeWitt turned to his men. “Let’s try those other doors over there and get out of here. We have friends waiting for us over in the Hawaiian Hall.”