Necessary Retribution (14 page)

Ching Lan extended a well-manicured hand toward an intricately carved side board laid out with an eye popping array of dim sum. “After you have refreshments, I'll show you to your rooms.”

“Ma'am, I believe Cái has a hotel set up for us,” Emmet said as he was handed a glass of something that smelled like an exquisite combination of honey and mint.

“He did, but we told him to cancel those reservations. You men are here to protect our country and we will make sure you are well taken care of. It is not a point for discussion.” Ching Lan smiled graciously, but her eyes held a determined look.

Having been married for almost twenty years, Emmett replied with the only acceptable answer of, “Yes, ma'am.”

A pleasant hour of discussion passed before the men got down to business.

“Whatever you need, please let me know and it will be taken care of,” David said after Ching Lan left the room.

“We're going to need cars,” Emmett began, “and we'd like to rent them from a company that will rotate them daily for us.”

“You will have cars,” David said without a second's hesitation. “They will be delivered here early each morning.”

Emmett nodded and sat back in his chair.

“Before you leave to check out the situation, I will supply you with appropriate weapons.”

“Thank you, sir,” Emmett said as he set his drink down. “Quite frankly, we'd like to get started. Our intel is still pretty sketchy on this whole situation. The sooner we get an eye on these guys the better I'll feel.”

“Do you know where they are?”

“We've been told they are staying in a two story house across the road from the northeast corner of the air base.”

“Hmm, I hadn't heard that.”

“Our main goal right now is to bug their location and hopefully find out more about their plan.”

“Yes, I agree you should get started immediately. I'll arrange everything while you get settled.”

Emmett didn't spot a signal, but Ching Lan reappeared and showed the team to their rooms. Emmett took the middle room of the three to have easy access to both his team members. Huge sliding glass doors opened onto a veranda with an expansive view out over the Pacific Ocean.

“This beats the heck out of even a five star hotel,” Rick said as he gazed out over the water.

“Yeah, sure does,” Emmett said. “But we're not on a vacation here. Get changed and let's get moving.”

They met David back in the living room and he took them into a basement. Walking over to a steel door, David punched a code on a key pad. The door clicked and then the sound of metal moving within the door signaled it was unlocked. David turned the handle and opened the door.

“Take any weapons you need,” he said as he ushered them into a large room lined with weapons.

“Ammunition is in that steel chest against the far wall,” he said before disappearing back up the stairs.

All three Guardians chose silenced HK MP5 submachine guns. Rick also chose a MacMillan sniper rifle in NATO 7.62 with a GEN III night weapons scope, a set up on which he trained extensively. They loaded magazines, packed cases and walked back up the stairs to find cars waiting for them.

Cái walked up to Emmett. “If you want, I can drive for you and we have two marines from our intelligence division who can drive for Rick and Doug. They know the area well and will not interfere with your operations.”

“Okay, bring them over here.” When the men assembled, Emmett laid out a quick plan. “You and I will go to the area where we think the house is. We'll try to verify they are there. The other cars hang around the area. If it is the house, we'll set up surveillance and wait for an opportunity to plant some bugs. Cái before we go, can you do a quick frequency check and make sure we won't be on a frequency that'll interfere with a station here?”

Emmett handed Cái a frequency list and he went in the house. By the time the men loaded their gear into the cars Cái returned.

“Four of your frequencies are clear.”

Emmett looked at the sheet. “We'll use Tac 3. I'll be Echo unit, Rick you'll be Romeo unit and Doug you'll be Delta unit. The men nodded. “Okay, let's rock and roll.”

S
EVENTEEN

RELIEF FLOODED THROUGH ERNIE
to see the sun edging lower and lower in the blue Pacific sky. Even though they were well outside the twelve nautical mile limit the North Koreans considered their territory, they also claimed a two hundred nautical mile “exclusive economic zone.” The zone primarily protected their fishing industry, but the North Koreans weren't known for being predictable when it came to stopping any kind of boat.

From the cabin of Kwan's boat, Ernie searched the horizon towards North Korea through binoculars. They were two hours into the eight hour trip and had crossed the DMZ an hour ago. The possibility of a patrol boat or aircraft spotting them increased with every revolution of the props.

The boat cruised effortlessly at thirty knots and it handled well, even in the developing swell. Nodding to Kwan, Ernie walked out on the back deck and found Rocky and Burke doing final checks on weapons and explosives.

“Nothing like a little evening cruise to relax a person.”

Burke rolled his eyes, chuckled and shook his head. “Take a deep breath and chill out a little, boss. You have to realize the worst thing that can happen to us is we get killed.”

“Now those are comforting words. You really know how to ease someone's nerves.”

“If you think about it, Ernie, Burke's right,” Rocky said as he jacked a round into the chamber of his silenced MP5. We all are gonna die someday. It's just a matter of when and where. So relax, there's really nothing to lose.”

“Thanks, I feel better already. Everything okay with the things that go bang?”

“Yeah, we're good,” Rocky replied. “I just hope we get to blow something up.”

“Amen,” Burke said as he slapped Rocky's raised hand.”

Right,” and then silently added
and we all get back in one piece.

Robin and Mark were going over maps and satellite imagery for North Korea and Taiwan. The satellite pictures showed a lot of ship traffic in the East Sea, the Sea of Japan and the Eastern China Sea. There were several ships in both harbors at Chongjin, but comparison of photos on different days showed ships replaced with others. Finding the target ship, if it even existed, seemed about as easy as picking out a particular wave in a choppy sea.

Jamie put down his headset and walked over to the map table. “I just got an intel update.”

“What's the score?” Robin said as he put aside the satellite picture of the western harbor at Chongjin and picked up the one from the eastern side.

“Still no positive location on the target, but the chatter NSA is picking up still indicates a threat against an American base.”

“That's not very helpful.”

Jamie kept twisting a pen in his hands until Robin looked up.

“Spit it out, Jamie.”

“I requested the suspect transmissions and reviewed them myself.”

“Go ahead.”

“I know those guys are the experts, but I see something there NSA isn't looking at. It seems to me the chatter is talking about two targets and one of them is a big one.”

“That would be the base in Taiwan.”

“No, Rob. Bigger than that. One that requires a large attack.”

Robin leaned forward in his chair giving Jamie a serious look. “Is there any info about a large contingent of men anywhere?”

“No, but what if it doesn't mean a troop movement, but a large scale weapon?”

Jamie now had Robin's full attention. “Who has that kind of weapon?”

“Saddam Hussein, according to some reports.”

“Are we talking about a chemical weapon? Because I thought the intel indicated he didn't have any nukes?”

“That could be it.”

Robin rubbed his chin as he mulled over Jamie's news. “Okay, I'm going to call Grassley and tell him to pipe all raw intel on this mission to you.”

“They won't do that, Rob. We're not cleared.”

Robin gave Jamie a hard look. “Get ready to receive the info.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Mark, help Jamie. We need to sort this out.”

“Roger.”

Robin walked over to the secure phone and dialed.

“Bill Grassley.”

“It's Robin.”

“What do you need?”

Robin related Jamie's information to Grassley.

“You know, Rob, those NSA guys know what they're doing.”

“So does Jamie. What I'd like you to do is relay Jamie's info to them. If they look at the intel and agree, then I want all raw intel on this mission sent to Jamie, real time.”

Grassley remained silent for a while. “Okay, Rob I'll get back to you.”

E
IGHTEEN

CÁI AND EMMETT PARKED A BLOCK AWAY
from a white house two tenths of a mile from the northern Nineteen end of the Hualien Air Force Base runway.

“Do you think we have the right house? It's been two hours.” Cái noted.

“It's the closest thing around here matching the intel,” Emmett replied as he scanned the area. “We're going to have to go with it for awhile.”

“Echo, this is Romeo,” Rick's voice crackled through Emmett's radio.

“Go ahead, Romeo.”

“Got a green Subaru station wagon carrying two Middle Eastern subjects heading your direction.”

“Roger, watch out for counter-surveillance.”

“Will do.”

A few seconds later the vehicle came down the street from the north and turned into the driveway. Two men entered the house.

“Okay, the suspect vehicle just pulled into the target house,” Emmett advised.

“All units hold your positions. We have a possible counter-surveillance car in the area and headed towards you, Echo…a blue sedan.”

“Roger, Romeo.”

Emmett watched as the second vehicle turned into the driveway. The driver looked around and then entered the house.

“It's definitely a suspect vehicle, also. Everyone sit tight for a few.”

Five minutes went by and then two men came out of the house, exchanged some words and then started walking in opposite directions on the street.

“Damn,” Emmett whispered.

“Shall we move?” Cái asked.

“Too late now. Just sit tight and hope he doesn't come this far. Echo to all units, they now have counter-surveillance on foot. If you're not in line of sight with the house, pull back.”

Emmett flattened his seat back and ducked down as far as he could. If the suspect saw him, it would probably blow the surveillance, as a large black man was not a common sight in this area.

Cái watched as the man kept coming in their direction. “He is still coming and he is looking all around, even the bushes. He is definitely counter-surveillance. Still coming…still coming…still coming. Emmett, we may be in trouble. He's getting close!” Cái's voice seemed an octave higher.

“Just stay calm, Cái.” Emmett's statement belied his pounding heart.

“But he's getting…hold it!” Cái's voice dropped to a whisper. “He stopped and pulled a small radio out of his pocket. He's turning around and starting back…fast.”

Emmett slowly raised his head and peeked over the dash just as the other suspect came back.

“Echo to all units. Move closer to the house, but get a new position.”

“Roger,” Rick answered.

“Roger also.” Doug confirmed.

Emmett watched the suspects go into the house. “Okay, Cái, let's move back a ways.”

Cái pulled the car onto the road and made a u-turn and moved to a dirt road a tenth of a mile from their previous location. Darkness began to brush the day away as Emmett surveyed the orchards around him and the target house.

“I'm going to check out the house on foot.”

“Be careful, Emmett.”

Emmett grinned. “I was born careful. Just listen to the radio.”

Cái nodded in the gathering gloom. Emmett quietly got out of the car and retrieved a backpack from the rear seat. He put in on and hurried across the road into the orchard. Reaching the edge of the trees nearest the house, he stopped. Pulling a night scope from his pack, he checked out the area for cameras or wires, but didn't see any. The blinds were closed around the house, so he approached the nearest window. He looked past old blinds fraying at the edges, but couldn't see or hear anything. He moved to the next window and as he got to it, he could hear voices.

Through the edge of the blind he saw the man from the sedan. He'd changed from street clothes to black fatigues and his face was smeared with camouflage paint. A pistol sat on the table he leaned against as he pointed to various spots on a paper he'd spread on the table. Unfortunately, Emmett didn't recognize the dialogue being spoken, but he knew the signs of a briefing when he saw one. They were preparing for an operation.

Going back to the orchard, Emmett moved to a position from where he could see the front of the house. He found a place with concealment and a good view. Ten minutes later, two men came out of the house and got into the Subaru. One had a backpack. Both were dressed in black and wore camo paint. Both were armed.

“Echo to all units, two suspects are about to leave the house in the Subaru, dressed in black and cammied up. Both are carrying AK's. Standby for direction of travel.”