Rogue Operator (35 page)

“Please
tell me—”

“Yes, I
stopped it.”

Jason
fell back on his butt, grasping his forehead, as Carl spun around, stomping his
feet.

“Why the
hell did you do that?” exclaimed Jason. “Now the research won’t be destroyed!”

“I don’t
want it destroyed. If you come back now, nobody will know you were gone!”

Kane
grabbed Phil by the throat, turning his head toward his.

“Listen
very carefully. Things are
not
what they seem. You think you were
recruited by a company in order to complete research, then to receive a pay out
when that research is completed, correct?”

Phil
nodded.

“Here’s
what’s really going on. A company called BlackTide—heard of them?” Phil nodded.
“They orchestrated this entire thing, with the help of some collaborators in
the private and public sector, including the Secretary of Defense, to start a
war. You will
never
be allowed to complete your research. If I don’t get
you people out today, and destroy that research lab, the United States will be
launching a strike against North Korea to regain its kidnapped citizens, all in
the hopes, by this cabal led by BlackTide, of starting a war with China,
designed to cripple their economy, and write off a significant portion of our
foreign held debt, and ultimately, revitalize our manufacturing sector. This
was never about million dollar payouts and deterrents. This was always about
triggering a war, a war the United States might not win.”

The look
of horror on Phil’s face at the words Kane had just spoken led Kane to believe
he might just have gotten through. He released his grip on Phil’s throat.
Slightly.

“Are you
sure?” whispered Phil. “I mean, are you really sure?”

Kane
nodded. “Absolutely. I received a briefing just before I entered North Korea.
There are raids going on right now, trying to clean this conspiracy up back
home, and I’m here to clean it up at this end. But now with the EMP disabled,
I’m going to have to go back.”

And I
might have to kill the three of you.

Phil
pushed himself up on his elbows.

“Then
let me go back.”

“What?”

“Let me
go back. I’ll reactivate the EMP.”

“You’ll
never get in,” said Jason. “It’s too well guarded.”

Phil
shook his head. “No, I’ll go tell them you escaped, that I chased you but you
got away, and I want to check on the lab to make sure you didn’t take
anything.”

Kane
stood up, pulling Phil to his feet. “Can you activate the EMP?”

“Yes.
Once I’m in the lab, I’ll just hit the emergency button. They won’t know how to
disable it within the two minute charge time.”

“But
they’ll kill you,” said Jason, his voice cracking.

“I think
we both know I deserve it.”

Jason
grabbed his friend, hugging him, and Carl joined in. Tears were flowing freely,
and Kane would have loved to let the goodbye continue, but he couldn’t.

“Okay,
there’s no more time,” he said, slapping them on the backs. The huddle broke,
and Kane took Phil by the arm.

“If they
ask, I don’t exist. It’s just the families trying to escape. If they ask where,
tell them you heard them say they were going to try and reach the South Korean
border, then they beat you and left you.”

“Beat
me?”

Kane
shrugged his shoulders. “It has to be believable.”

Phil
nodded, bracing himself. “Go ahead.”

Kane
swung, catching the scientist on the jaw, dropping him with probably the
hardest punch the academic had ever encountered. He dropped to his knees and
landed several more blows, avoiding the eyes, his force measured to leave
welts.

He
stood, pulling Phil up, and steadied him on his feet.

“Are you
okay?”

Phil
nodded. “I-I think so.”

“Good,
now get the hell out of here, and do your job. It’s all in your hands now.”

Phil
nodded, looked at his friends one last time, then stumbled back toward the
compound.

Kane
looked at his watch, then turned to the scientists.

“We need
to hustle, or we’re going to miss our rendezvous.”

At the fence, International Cooperation Center, North Korea

Phil followed the tracks in the snow back to the hole in the fence,
and climbed through. Racing between two houses onto the street, he began to
yell for help, and lights began to appear in some of the houses, others staying
dark, but curtains moving, the occupants inside not wanting to get involved.

“Help,
please, somebody! They’re trying to escape!” he cried as he ran down the
street, toward the hub where the school, store and community center stood. He
was quite certain that some of the blue jumpsuit staff would be on duty there,
but before he could reach it, a jeep whipped around the corner, and screeched
to a halt in front of him. Four men in jumpsuits exited the vehicle,
surrounding him.

“My name
is Phil Hopkins. You need to take me to Kwon Bae, he’s my handler. The other
scientists and their families are trying to escape. I tried to stop them, but
they beat me and left me.” Phil collapsed, but was caught by two of the men,
and helped to the vehicle. Phil took a deep breath, sitting in the back seat
with his head lying back, realizing he had to be careful not to put on too much
of a show. He needed to get to the lab, not a hospital. The four guards were
talking excitedly in front of the vehicle, one of them on a radio. Within
minutes they were joined by several more vehicles, and Phil noticed that not a
single light was turned on in any of the surrounding houses.

And he
wondered how many times in the past someone had tried to escape.

And
whether or not they had ever been successful.

He heard
a tap on the window, and Kwon Bae was there. Phil forced the best smile he
could manage, and leaned toward the man.

“Thank
God you’re here!” he cried. “It’s Jason and Carl. They’re trying to escape.”

“How do
you know?”

“I went
to talk to Jason, but he wasn’t there. I saw footprints in the snow and followed
them. They led to the other side of the fence.”

“You
left the compound?”

Best
to be honest.
Phil nodded. “Yes, I saw them running
with their families, so I chased them. There was no one around to help, so I
figured I better go after them myself. I caught up, but they beat me, and left.
That’s when I came back here to find you.”

“You
should have come to me first.”

“I know,
I know, but I thought I could stop them before they made a stupid mistake.
After all, they’re my friends. I don’t want to see them get hurt.”

Kwon
nodded, his lips pursed.

“Which
way did they go?”

“Before
they discovered me I heard them talking about trying to get to the South Korean
border. Other than that, I don’t know.”

Kwon
smiled. “Very stupid of them.”

Phil
nodded. “Of course, very stupid. Now, I need you to take me to the lab.”

“Why?”

“So I
can make sure they didn’t do anything to sabotage it.”

“We will
check that ourselves.”

Phil’s
heart sank. He could think of only one card to play.

“They
might have set the EMP to go off. Only I can determine that. You need to let me
in there to make sure everything is okay, otherwise we might lose everything,
including the entire compound!”

Kwon’s
eyes darted open, and he stood straight, shouting orders, then climbed in the
back as two of the jumpsuits filled the front seats. Within seconds they were
racing toward the bright white building on the other side of the small town.

Please
God, let me make this right.

Four miles from the coast

A siren wailed nearby, and Kane dropped to the ground, checking his
charges. Everyone save Darius was wide awake, paying attention, and cooperating.
Carl was carrying Darius now, giving Jason a break. Knocking the young boy out
had proven to be one of his better ideas. He climbed up the wall of the ditch and
peered down the road, toward the sound.

A column
of vehicles from, he assumed, the nearby military base streamed by on the road
they needed to cross to get to the coast, and their rendezvous. Kane pushed
himself back down the embankment, motioning for everyone to stay down, then
pressing himself into the ground to set an example which everyone followed
suit.

At least
half a dozen vehicles whipped by, and Kane was about to sit up when he heard
another vehicle approaching and slowing down. It stopped at the crossroads they
were hiding at, the engine turning off.

Shit!

Kane
punched the ground. If it weren’t for the delays, they would have been long
past this road. He climbed up the edge again, and looked. There were two men,
one sitting on the hood, smoking a cigarette, the other, his back to their
position, taking a leak on the other side of the road. There was an outside
chance this was just a pit stop, but he doubted it. North Korean soldiers in an
emergency situation would be too disciplined to stop like this without orders.

They
were manning a checkpoint.

Kane
looked about. To their right was the road they were following. They couldn’t
cross it without being seen. And to their left was the wrong direction. He
motioned for the others to be quiet, then sprung from the embankment, his knife
whipping from his side. The smoker reacted first, his eyes bulging, as Kane
swung the knife in a smooth arc over his shoulder, the blade sailing through
the air toward the urinating target, still unaware of what was going on. As the
blade embedded itself into the man’s back with a thud and a grunt, Kane closed
the final few feet between him and the smoker, then with one sudden jab,
crushed the man’s windpipe. Grabbing him around the neck and spinning him so
his back was pressed against Kane’s chest, he wrapped his left arm around the
man’s neck and squeezed.

His neck
snapped within seconds and Kane dragged his body to the other side of the road
where his comrade had fallen, and threw the corpse into the ditch. Retrieving
his knife from the other’s back, he kicked the body off the road, rolling it
into the ditch and on top of his partner. Kane rushed over to the vehicle and
checked to see if the keys were inside.

He
smiled when he saw them dangling in the ignition.

“Everybody
in the jeep, now!” he hissed, and heads popped up over the rise, then everyone climbed
inside, Jason with Darius in the passenger seat, the three other adults in the
back, the two children on their laps. He started the engine and slammed it in
gear, turning off the lights and racing down the road as fast as he dared,
knowing at any moment he might have to turn off.

He
looked at the glowing dial on his watch, then flipped the Velcro cover closed
again with a grimace.

We
just
might make the rendezvous.

International Cooperation Center, North Korea

Phil and Kwon Bae rushed onto the elevator, Phil having led the way
from the jeep and up the steps and through the lobby, his handler having to
call off the guards rushing to stop him. His hope was to get in the lab first
and simply hit the button, and the only way that plan was to succeed was if he
were to get there first. Kwon had to know the biggest risk was the EMP, and
would most likely post a guard by it as soon as he could.

Phil hit
the button for the fifth floor, then hammered on the Close Door button as
guards ran to join them. The doors inexorably closed as Kwon was receiving a
briefing over the radio.

The
doors closed, leaving the two of them alone.

Phil
didn’t look at Kwon, instead turning to face the doors, leaving them only
inches from his face. He could see fog from his breath on the polished metal,
and he tried to calm himself, but it was no use. His heart threatened to break
his ribs, his pulse raged in his pounding ears, and he was one fright away from
pissing his pants.

The
radio stopped.

“We
found countermeasures in their houses, blocking our listening devices,” said Kwon.
“That means they had help!”

Phil
wasn’t sure what to say, but he knew he had to say something.

“Oh? I
didn’t know you had listening devices in our houses.”

“And
they found a note in Dr. Shephard’s house, thanking
you
for helping them
escape!”

The
elevator chimed and the doors began to open as Phil turned to see Kwon reaching
behind him. He couldn’t remember if the man ever carried a gun, or if he had
seen one on him tonight, but he couldn’t risk it. He spun around and shoved Kwon
hard, sending him against the rear wall of the elevator, his head snapping back
and smacking against the glass. Phil hit the button for the ground floor, then
jumped out of the elevator as the doors closed. He heard Kwon yelling, pounding
on the doors as the elevator slowly returned to the lobby.

Unless
he has the presence of mind to get off sooner.

Phil
rushed to the door of their lab and tried the handle. It was locked. He looked
about and saw an old style cigar shaped ‘butt can’ ashtray standing by the
elevator doors, one of the things he had found different about working here,
but couldn’t put his finger on, finally snapping into place. He rushed over,
grabbed the waist high ashtray off the floor, and carried it back to the door.
He lifted it up and slammed it down on the door knob.

Nothing.

He
repeated this several times, and finally the knob snapped off and the door
swung open. He tossed the ashtray aside, entered the lab, then closed the door,
pushing a cabinet in front of the door with a grunt, his muscles not used to
the exertion, and the beating he had received to his face not helping, the
pressure as he pushed causing the wounds to ache in pain.