An Unlikely Hero (1) (17 page)

The captain came to a halt and reached back for Tessa. Catching her by the hand he tugged forcibly forward. “Which way?” His voice was a bit muffled but Tessa understood. She pointed to the right. “How far?”

Tessa held up ten fingers for minutes. The captain nodded. Using her index finger, Tessa pointed down then used four fingers. Down four stories. Got it, the captain gave the okay sign and looked at his men who also made eye contact that they understood. Slowly the team began to fan out and room by room to look for intruders.

Eyeing the elevators at the first level, Captain Hunter had one of his men disable them. Visible blood splatter on the door leading to the stairs caught Tessa off guard. When she gasped, the captain followed her wide eyed stare. Motioning to one of his men, the soldier slipped through the door.

Zoric pushed up beside Captain Hunter and removed his mask. “Checked the gas sensors. None detected on this and the three levels below. Fourth level has been breached.”

Everyone pushed their masks down around their neck. Several men entered the stairwell. Tessa learned later they were checking other floors for causalities.

Captain Hunter touched his ear. “What you got for me, Vernon?”

Vernon sounded worried. “All hell broke loose here. Carter and Sam have a prisoner. Interrogating now. Doesn’t look good.”

The captain frowned. “My men have secured the first and second sub levels. Where is everyone?” he demanded looking around for ORNL employees.

“Someone on the inside activated the emergency protocol drill. If everyone followed procedure, most will be tucked away in a safe hidey hole on each floor. Our Intel says they look like steel cabinets about the size of a meat locker. See anything like that?”

Captain Hunter scanned the sterile environment where he now stood. Spotting a path of overturned chairs and scattered papers, he located a door that appeared to be the entrance to a cabinet. “There!” he murmured to Zoric. The two moved forward cautiously reaching the white, ceramic-like door in seconds. Each stood to the side with guns leveled with deadly aim.

Chapter 11

Tessa silently inched closer and lowered herself behind a work station. She rose up just enough to see Zoric fling the door open and the captain swing in with gun lowered. Several screams punctured the silence as Tessa watched Zoric turn into the locker, blocking Tessa’s sight. Next she heard the captain’s low words of encouragement and motioned to exit with his weapon. Hurriedly ten people filed out, pale and wide eyed.

“Take the nearest exit.” Captain Hunter sounded matter of fact without any kind of urgency. “He,” nodding to Zoric, “will show you where to go for cover. You did well today.” The captain then spoke a language to Zoric that Tessa did not recognize. Tessa wondered again about the relationship between the two, but not enough to erase the picture of the murdered man near the exit they’d passed moments earlier.

Tessa stood up suddenly and took Zoric’s arm as he passed. Startled and more than a little pleased he stopped, eyeing her with interest. “There’s another exit, on the other side of those doors.” She motioned behind him. “It’s not another corridor. The only access is from inside.” Zoric let a little confusion slip into his eyes. “The way we came in will be…” Zoric nodded in understanding. Scientists were not accustomed to their world being turned upside down. If Enigma planned to cover this up, like Tessa knew they would, exposure to the grim reality had to be kept to a minimum.

The scientists looked at her with fearful eyes. One woman clutched a man’s arm while he patted her hand with nervous reassurance. Several others seem to be looking side to side while others appeared to want to rescue some work at their stations. “You must go now,” Tessa spoke softly, offering a weak encouraging smile. “This will be over soon. I promise. Nothing will be disturbed. We are not here for your work.”

“Why are you here,” an overweight man with a pug face demanded? “I’m not going until I know why those mask men came barging in here an hour ago and told us to take cover or else.”

Captain Hunter stood to his full height and rested his rifle on his other arm. “How many men?”

“Ten. Maybe twelve.”

“Which is it? Ten? Twelve?”

“Twelve. Now what is this about? A drill? Or are we under attack?” The pug face man put his hands on his hips and his voice showed more irritation than fear. “I’m not going anywhere until I get some answers. I’ll not be pushed around by some storm troopers.”

Tessa gasped at the ungrateful man who blocked everyone’s exit. Zoric smiled wickedly as his bloodshot eyes focused on the obstinate scientist. He pointed his weapon at the man’s chest as he spoke through gritted teeth. “I knew I didn’t like you the second I laid eyes on you.”

Captain Hunter lowered his weapon suddenly and swiftly grabbed the man by his white lab coat and yanked him aside. “Okay folks, out those doors like she said.” He nodded toward Tessa signaling that she now had that responsibility. “There’ll be someone to lead you to cover once on the outside. Keep your heads down and not a word to anyone! Understood?” They all nodded eagerly and began moving toward the door that Tessa had quickly opened and motioned for them. Although the scientists knew of the exit, their adrenaline had impeded their reasoning to the point of needing someone to point the way.

As the door swooshed shut Tessa joined the men with trepidation. The two Enigma agents eyed the man left behind with contempt.

“I’ve changed my mind. I’ll join the others.” Pug face took a step toward the exit doors but was cut off by Zoric who raised his weapon a little higher toward the man’s head.

“Sorry. We don’t have time for that.”

“But!” he started to protest but stopped when the captain held up his hand, looking angrily down at the floor. Beads of perspiration began to trickle down pug face’s sideburns. “You can’t…” he started again and decided to gulp a swallow when the captain leveled his narrowed eyes at him.

“We’ll ask the lady.” Captain cradled his weapon in his arms as a laser like stare bore into his captive. “She’s in training. What should we do?”

Tessa knew he meant only for the scientist to be more respectful. However, she couldn’t swallow how ungrateful he’d been at having been rescued. “I say tie him, gag him, and then throw his ungrateful butt back in the locker.” All three men turned to look at her in astonishment. Tessa shrugged. “That’s what the handbook says!” she said lifting her hands in mock exasperation. “Now get with the program boys! We’ve got work to do!” With that she marched boldly to the locker and pointed inside. “Let’s go hotshot!”

“Please,” he begged as Zoric ripped off a piece of duct tape from his pack. “I’ll not make a sound. Just don’t gag or tie me up.”

The men looked to Tessa. “Don’t even think about coming out. Our men have orders to shoot to kill anyone wandering the hall. Got that, sweet cheeks?” Tessa said as the scientist began bobbing his head in agreement. “We’ll be back within the hour. Can you handle that?’

“Yes. Thank you, mam!”

“One more thing,” Tessa said stopping Zoric from slamming the door shut. Pug face waited in anticipation. “You owe these men an apology for insulting their brave attempt to rescue you.”

“Of course! I apologize with my whole heart. If there is anything I can ever do for you, please call on me.” He wiped the sweat from his face and slouched onto a stool.

Tessa pushed the door shut with her foot and turned precariously to face the men who stared at her in surprise. With a shrug, Tessa adjusted her Kevlar vest, and then retied her ponytail with a sly smile. As she wrinkled her nose Tessa softly said, “I always wanted to do something like that.”

“I think I’m in love,” Zoric said calmly in his thick East European accent.

“Oh,” Tessa said nervously.

“Fall in, G.I. Jane,” Captain Hunter said as they moved out of the room into yet another lab. Two more safe lockers were discovered with some thirty people. Two of the captain’s men joined them, escorting them out with Tessa’s assistance.

Slipping into the stairwell five of the captain’s men rejoined them. A cautious downward spiral began, their backs pressed close to the concrete walls painted a sterile white. The slightest step seemed to echo a deafening explosion to Tessa who feared the terrorists might locate them with a shower of bullets or deadly gas. More of the captain’s men waited at sub level three. Body language shouted readiness to engage the enemy, but their steely eyed demeanor left Tessa somehow comforted that these men knew what they were doing. They had no intention of sacrificing one of their own for the sake of terror. Whatever it took to secure lives here at Oak Ridge would be accomplished one way or the other. It was the “other” that gave Tessa pause.

A young soldier held up three fingers then used his thumb to point inside sub level three. A series of sign language signals ensued between the men. From what Tessa could understand there were three armed men with hostages. One of the men held a wallet size computer and with a few typed instructions, suddenly the lights were extinguished.

Captain Hunter felt Tessa Scott grab his arm when the stairwell went black. Everyone but her had flipped their night vision apparatus to disperse the darkness. He reached across his weapon with his free hand and gently touched her shoulder. Leaning in, Chase could smell her hair as it touched his unshaven face. “Stay here,” he whispered. “Will secure.”

“Don’t leave me!” Tessa begged as she turned to face him, not realizing how close her mouth was to his. “Please.”

The others looked around at their captain in anticipation. “Here,” he fished in his vest and removed a small key chain flashlight and a lipstick size canister. “If someone comes through that door besides us and you can’t get out of the way use this.”

Tessa slipped her hand into his, strangely aware of its warmth and strength. She shook her head in confusion.

“The flashlight and the red pepper spray I removed from your purse. I’m sure you know what to do.” Chase felt her nod. He patted her cheek. “If I had a broomstick I’d gladly give it to you,” he tried to sound reassuring as he moved his lips near her ear.

Suddenly Tessa brought her arms around his chest and gave Captain Chase Hunter a quick hug. “I’ll say a prayer for you and your men,” she breathed lightly. “Be safe!”

The sound of a heavy door being pulled open, the smell of sweat and the brush of deadly force, caused Tessa to shove herself into the wall, hoping in the worst case scenario she’d be invisible. Her unstable shaky knees longed to collapse to the floor as she found herself alone, but sheer will power forced them to lock and stand ready. She had a flashlight. Why not take this opportunity to make a run for it? Surrounded by darkness she imagined the sweet beam of light that could lead her upwards to safety, maybe even to escape. No one would know she wasn’t one of the ORNL personnel if she grabbed a lab coat. After all there were some 22,000 people working at Oak Ridge. Blending in would be unbelievably simple.

Her mind began to click details of catching a ride to the airport when the flash of gunfire erupted inside sublevel three. The hope of escape evaporated as quickly as it had materialized. The rapid sounds of automatic fire mixed with loud voices of surprise forced Tessa to fumble her way into the corner behind the door, paralyzed with the fear that she would never see her family again.

“Oh God, please, please, don’t let them die!” she whispered to herself. Silent tears began rolling down her cheek as her grip on the flashlight tightened and her thumb pushed the lip off the cap of her red pepper spray. Touching the small canister with her index finger, she managed to locate the spray nozzle. If the situation demanded it, Tessa didn’t want to make the mistake of spraying herself in the face.

Loud voices began moving down the hall. The sound of return fire exploded in her ears. She knew instantly that the invaders were nearing her. The flash of several gunshots were too explosive to be the men of Captain Hunter. It had been obvious that their assault weapons carried silencers. Men like that make war silently.

Two men slammed into the door, firing precariously into the darkness from within. The gun flash lit their faces for only a split second, but it was long enough to see one of them take a hit in the head, splattering blood over the entire window of the door. Tessa watched in horror as the second man pushed his comrade aside. The door began to open as the remaining man fired. Tessa heard the sound of anguish then the clatter of a weapon hitting the floor. The terrorist had shot one of the captain’s men. The soldier must have been close because the terrorist stepped away from the door cautiously, letting the door escape his grip. The dead terrorist’s arm fell through the opening, propping it open.

Tessa inched forward and felt the hand of the dead man beneath her foot. Her inclination was to panic, but something caught her eye as she peeked through to the hall. An emergency exit light had not been extinguished, allowing Tessa to see the terrorist bend over and take the soldier’s assault weapon. In the red glow of the exit sign, he looked like Satan as he smiled down at the wounded soldier.

Chapter
12

“You are going to die, infidel. Tell me how many others are here.”

“Go to hell!” the soldier snarled slipping his left hand cautiously down the side of his leg where he’d been shot.

“You first!” the terrorist replied angrily.

“Excuse me,” Tessa said as she tapped the invader on the shoulder.

Startled he whipped around just as Tessa let lose her pepper spray in his face. Tessa caught the falling weapon carelessly in her arms like a baby. Staggering backwards, the terrorist yelped in pain just before he fell over the downed soldier, landing haphazardly on the floor with a thud. The soldier pulled his ten inch bladed knife from his pants leg pocket and rammed it into the terrorist’s heart.

“Oh, dear Lord!” she cried looking down at the dead man then to the soldier who was trying to stand.

“Lady,” he said reaching out to her as he groaned with the pressure he put on his leg, “I don’t know who you are but I’m sure glad you’re on our side.”