Author's Note: Meant to upload this earlier but after waiting for so damn long I finally catch a break as far as career and day job goes. So uploads will be a little more spread out and I'll post if there will be a hiatus or not.
Chapter 55: The Long Road Home
May 1st 2011 0940 Hours
Cape Town, South Africa
"Is al die werkers van die werf af?"
(Are all of the workers off of the site?)
"Omtrek beveilig, meneer. Hy is nog steeds daar."
(Perimeter secured, sir. He's still in there.)
Colonel Vorstedt would not just recklessly storm a construction site full of civilians likely to be caught in the cross fire. With Gordon and Rothrine having the high ground with their thermal imaging system as well as their own eyes they made sure that there was only one man that they were concerned about that would stay behind. They would have to take him the hard way, a way that wouldn't be merciful since Damien had killed three of his men. But Vorstedt had promised Koko Hekmatyar that he would be brought back to her alive, he was working himself into a stupor in order to control his men.
Including himself. He switched to a private channel that only the HCLI pilots would hear.
"Mr. Gordon. Mr. Rothrine. You listening?"
"Just go get him Colonel. Don't waste any more time." Gordon said right off the bat reading only half of what he was really going to say.
"I will honor Miss Hekmatyar's request. But if I am left with absolutely no choice. I will not be held accountable if I have to put him down." He then signaled his team to breach. "We're moving in now."
The Nightstalker's didn't respond as the first team went in. The second one ten seconds later after they let them know that they were clear in the first room. With the exception of the Little Bird hovering around the outside of the building under construction it had quieted down considerably without the workers activities with their tools and equipment. Much of which along with their personal effects were sporadically scattered about the site in the haste for them to vacate or risk being shot with a stray bullet.
The first three floors were more put together than the rest. The SASF saw that he would be there because there were more places to hide than the other floors. The roof was just the growing skeleton of the building and the two elevators were completely exposed on the exterior. The first team consisting of five men started clearing the first floor with the traditional MOUT tactics practiced by special operations teams all over the world. Gestures to move, stack up, signal clear, check corners, all while under the pressure that the next corner or what was beyond the next door could be the enemy.
But a hostile contact wasn't always what you had to look out for.
As they went through the next corridor it only had two doors on the opposing sides of the hallway. After seeing the first one was locked they moved to the next. Taking cover at the end of the hall to the next corridor, he waited until they got exactly where he needed them.
"This might burn a little." He then flipped the hall light switch.
BLAM!
What followed was the agonizing screams of men dowsed in the flammable liquid of ruptured acetylene tanks taped together with nails and wood screws hidden inside the lights in the ceiling. The ones who received the brunt of the shrapnel received the merciful end.
Only one was left behind as he screamed back to the other team for back up. Damien then proceeded to seal off that section to give himself more time. Plugging an extension cord into the wall, the other end's wires were exposed and connected to the hose of another acetylene tank packed with several cans of turpentine. With the electricity acting as the detonator it blew out the only remaining light fixture with a blast of flame covering the last poor member of the first team in it. Cutting off the method of approach to where the SASF were searching for Damien. Who had already fallen back up to the second floor leaving behind a man dying in an improvised fire trap.
"Wat de hel aan die gang is!?" Vorstedt shouted as he heard the blast and saw smoke coming from the building.
(What the hell's going on!?)
"Die eerste span is af!" One of the backup team said on his radio. "Hy het die saal aan die brand gesteek! Hy het homself van ons afgesny!"
(The first team is down! He set fire to the hall! He cut himself off from us!)
"Soek 'n draai! Slaan die mure uit as u moet."
(Find a way around! Blast out the walls if you need to.)
"Vorstedt I'm looking at a lot of smoke! Is this your idea of having things under control!?" Rothrine said from up high.
The South African Colonel didn't want to argue over the comm lines about who was in charge of taking the former Green Beret. He fought against and even faced some truly vile people in his life. Africa was rife with that, including with the skirmishes that happened along South Africa's border all the time. He wouldn't blink at a man who wandered into his nation's capital who started shooting his men and started raising hell.
"I need a scan on the upper floors. He's trying to throw us off and distract us. Omtrek! Laat hom nie deur nie!" He shouted over the radio doing his best to maintain control of the situation.
(Perimeter! Do not let him through!)
As he heard Rothrine curse over the net, he started to pick random troops for another breach team. This time he opened up one of the SUV's and started to hand out heavier body armor and ballistic shields. He wasn't dealing with someone that wanted to be taken alive. He had also lost nine of his men, he could care less for why Koko Hekmatyar wanted him alive anymore. He would give him to her, but it'd be him as a corpse.
"Meneer? Wat maak jy?" One of his Sergeant's asked as he started to tighten up the straps on the armor.
(Sir? What are you doing?)
"My werk." He said as he loaded a magazine into his own rifle.
(My job.)
Observing the battle from the air, Gordon looked down to the street as Rothrine continued to use the chopper's FLIR camera to scan for any human heat sources. So far the fire had only obscured the first floor but the metaphorical one was about to get even hotter from what Gordon was seeing on the ground with Vorstedt's men.
"I don't think this idiot is listening to us anymore. He and his men are gearing up for search and destroy."
"Sky Fire! Are you listening? Can you find the target or not?"
"Damn it." He then switched to the SASF frequency. "Vorstedt you do remember that we need him alive?"
"I also remember that telling you two that if I had no other choice I'd take him down. If it's any consideration I didn't want it to be this soon. But a lot of my men are dead! I don't need a civilian giving me instructions on how to subdue a threat!"
"Son of a…"
"He's ducking in an out of cover on the second floor." Rothrine said cutting off Gordon. "The thermal scan can't get a solid read on his location but he's there. North East section."
"Thank you. If he gets any further up, cut off any method of escape he can use." The Colonel said more relaxed.
Gordon then gripped his mic and looked to his co-pilot in the same gritting anger after Vorstedt insulted him.
"Nate! What the hell man!?"
He did the same but just looked at him normally. "We'll need to create an opening for him to get away. Once he's exhausted we'll swoop in and take him out of here before Vorstedt's men even know what happened."
"You think he's gonna last that long?" He said skeptically.
"His luck has been consistently good so far. And think about it. He's holed himself up in a construction site."
It dawned on the other Warrant Officer like the sun itself.
"Shit. He led them right into a trap." He said as he looked down to Vorstedt and his much more heavily outfitted team heading in for round two.
After blasting through two sections of plywood and dry wall, and getting the fire on the first floor under control, two men up front led the group up the stairs to the next floor with ballistic shields. Strong enough to withstand shrapnel and high velocity rifle rounds. They took point over the original group for their safety.
Vorstedt was in the rear as backup while his lieutenant was in the lead directing the shields where to go next. There was less put up on this floor than the previous one with a lot of open doorways. Some simple that you could just peek inside and move on. Others more spacious with spots where Damien could be hiding.
SLAM!
The next team was more aware of their surroundings thanks to Damien's fire trap. But not everything was a trip wire. One of the shields stepped on a loose board that triggered a pendulum spring trap. At the delivery end of the fulcrum was an assortment of screwdrivers meant for a nasty impalement of the victim. But fortunately for the one holding the shield, it saved his life and only knocked him on his back.
The man was cursing as he got up. The lieutenant knew he wasn't in that particular room. But he had an idea.
"Kolonel?" He said on his radio to him who was back in the stairwell.
"Alles reg?"
(Everything ok?)
"Nog 'n lokval, maar niemand is beseer nie. Dit neem te lank meneer. Ek beveel aan dat ons elke kamer flits."
(Another trap sir, but no one got hurt. This is taking too long sir. I recommend we flashbang every room."
He waited while the Colonel pondered the request.
"Toegestaan. Hou u ses dop. Ek stuur vir jou 'n paar ekstra granate."
(Granted. Keep watch on your six. I'll send you some extra grenades.)
As the runner then delivered the tools that would clear rooms faster, the SASF continued on with their hunt for Damien. Only the random noise of bangs and footsteps continued after that. The traps though were starting to thin out and become a bit more noticeable to them thanks to their heightened alert. Some of them were hastily put together but a majority of the ones meant to kill seemed to be all used up.
Some were meant to crush like cinder blocks hung from up high.
Some were meant to create a hinder with the noxious fumes from bleach and ammonia.
Some were meant to maim like hatchets attached to fulcrums at shin level.
One though was to get in close for the kill. A way for Damien to save his ammunition until he had no choice.
"Damn it they've moved around everything else." He then took cover behind an air compressor. "Time to get up close and personal."
After getting up to the third floor it was far more open. Only the aluminum dividers made out what would be walls in the future. Along with pallets of lumber, dry wall, cable, generators, and bags of cement. The two with the shields held fast as the rest spread out around the floor. Damien was starting to run out of places to hide.
But all he had to do was just come out for a brief moment.
"Alright." He then put on some looted safety goggles and wrapped a rag around his nose and mouth. "Try and see through this one."
He then released the pressure on the air compressors valve. The hoses were strung around the floor leading to buckets that were full of dry cement mix blasting it out into the air, obscuring visibility and making it hard to breath for the SASF. He then quickly grabbed his ambush weapons.
Saw blades for distance. A sledgehammer for hit and run.
Moving fast, he drew down on his first target and threw the blade like a frisbee. His targets were wearing body armor so he had to go for the exposed parts like the legs, arms, and neck. The first one hit its mark fatally. The man dropping to his knees with choking gurgles of blood.
Damien's aim was off on the second one though, fatigue was starting to kick in. It hit the next one in the leg, the man roaring in pain. But one of his team mates was close to him and started firing in a direction where he hoped Damien was. Except he had run around him and threw his final blade into the back of his head. He collapsed immediately. But as the second one got up and started shooting, Damien had already sprinted to his flank. Going full speed with a fifteen pound hammer and a mighty swing, the man's skull caved in with a sickening crunch.
Vorstedt's lieutenant did his best to keep calm under the pressure of being caught in a makeshift smoke trap but the situation was took chaotic for him to control.
"Hou jou verdoemende vuur! Almal! Hergr.." THWACK!
(Hold your damn fire! Everyone! Regro…)
He didn't even get the chance to finish as steel connected with his temple with enough force to send gray matter residue flying in all directions. Damien picked up more speed as the cement was starting to thin out.
One saw it coming at the last moment.
One met his end after he though the direction he scanned was clear.
One though, managed to catch the Green Beret coming towards him. He fired, but Damien ducked as he raised his rifle, slamming the hammer into his sternum. As he bent forward in pain from shattered ribs, Damien swung the hammer in a fluid motion brining it down on the head.
As he connected the finishing blow, the two shields spotted him and opened fire. By then the dust from the cement had already settled, leaving Damien with no concealment and little cover. Dropping the hammer, he switched to his ACR. All he could do was keep them suppressed as he made his way to the next floor, but he was running out of places to run.
Vorstedt knew this. While Damien was in the middle of his hit and run trap, he took several men and climbed around the outside of the building's gantry's to cut him off. As Damien got up to the next floor he was immediately hit with rifle fire. Taking cover next to a pile of cinder blocks he returned fire. He was now cut off and surrounded. He couldn't double back or he would have run into the two shields again. There was only one way he could go now, and it was down. Which included being exposed on the platforms surrounding the building. He decided it was now or never as he saw a flashbang slide his direction. Sprinting away from it, he closed his eyes for a brief moment but the ear splitting noise left him deafened. He couldn't tell that he was still being shot at.
He was almost ready to clear the building with a very risky way down. But in his deafened state, he couldn't hear the blades of the hovering Little Bird. Dropping down as he slid to a stop at the exposed edge of the buildings floor. The weight of his gear almost throwing him over the side. His hearing came back only to be hit with rotor noise and a group of very angry SASF behind him with assault rifles aimed at his head.
He was trapped.
Even knowing they wouldn't risk friendly fire, Damien had no clue on how he would get away now. Even with his father's Delta Force unit nearby the SASF would be on the highest alert. Any move he'd make now, he'd be dead.
"I'm surprised you lasted as long as you did. Miss Hekmatyar does choose the absolute best to work for her."
Damien then turned to face the shouts of an older point man that seemed to be the one in charge, breathing heavy from combat, and greeting it with a shared look of anger. Still holding his ACR with his finger on the trigger, pistols under his coat, and a shotgun stuffed in his backpack.
"But since you've decided to go berserk, I could care less why she wants you back now. I'll deal with your old friends later." He said pointing at the chopper.
Damien then turned around to get a better look at the pilots. He realized that it was Gordon and Rothrine, neutral looks on their faces. It made clear to Damien why he wasn't killed immediately. That and he was wondering why the SASF were somewhat passive in their fighting. Koko wanted him back. For what he could conclude that whatever her reasons were just as insane as her plan.
"Any last words?" Colonel Vorstedt said as his men took careful aim at the former Green Beret.
"Only that you don't have the slightest clue on what she's really plotting." He said without looking back at him.
He wasn't looking back because Rothrine was trying to be subtle with his hand gestures.
"Vuur op my punt!"
(Fire on my mark!)
But then after he was a little more forceful Damien figured out what they were about to do. Why again, he didn't know. He had to make a quick decision or he'd get a bullet in the back. That didn't mean that what happened next wasn't going to suck.
"Oh…SHIT!"
He dropped to the dusty floor as Gordon's M134 revved up and started chewing up Vorstedt and what was left of his men.
The heavy volume of fire from the several hundred 7.62.x51 NATO rounds ripped through the SASF, shredding through their armor and them along with it. The deafening noise of bullets impacting flesh, metal, concrete, glass, and wood lasted for nine seconds. The lack of return fire meant that Vorstedt didn't expect the Nightstalker's to do what they did.
After hugging the floor for dear life, Damien realized it was over. The scent of gunpowder, dust, and blood filled the air.
"Like I said kid. It's over. You're coming back with us one way or another." The bullhorn said on the chopper as Damien looked to them.
For a brief moment the Green Beret just stared at the Nightstalker's. Regardless of the fact that they cleared the way for him. He knew what was going to happen if he just gave up to Koko.
"I'd rather die than be her slave." He said knowing they wouldn't hear him.
THWUMP! THWUMP! THWUMP!
They also didn't hear that their chopper was being shot at until the last second.
Down the street from the construction site, Temishenko's Delta's had quietly subdued a portion of the SASF perimeter. He was leading the assault with three of his SUV's mounted with M240B LMGs. The three of them had interlocking fire on the Little Bird gunship.
"Diamond and Club teams! Give that chopper more targets than it can handle! Spade team keep the SASF occupied while Heart gets the 'Jackpot!"
"Copy that!"
"On it!"
The SUV's broke off to carry out their tasks. Gordon's chopper returned a brief burst from his minigun but he was taking too much incoming fire. He maneuvered the chopper out of their line of fire. The ground perimeter trading shots with the Delta's on the ground.
Ecstatic that his father's Delta team had come in at the right time, he knew the fight wasn't over yet. That bird had to be grounded or else no one was leaving. He couldn't shoot it out of the sky and he didn't really have time to make some kind of makeshift catapult or oversized slingshot. After looking around trying to think he saw that a sizable stack of cinder blocks were sitting on a pallet jack still wrapped up in its wood and plastic wrap. He also remembered that there was a lengthy chain on the floor below him.
"Shit." He said wondering if this was a good idea. "Not the worst plan I could come up with."
Outside, Gordon did his best to avoid getting hit any further as the alarms were going off in the cockpit. He had no idea who decided to open fire on him but they weren't part of Vorstedt's group. As they were shooting at each other on the ground. He'd call them hostiles for now.
"Damnit! Where'd he go!?" Rothrine said as his partner was now doing a majority of the work of keeping them both alive.
Flash then saw that Damien was nowhere in sight. And that Red was prepping his own ACR.
"What are you doing!?" He demanded while trying to maintain the sluggish damaged controls.
"Put me on the roof. I'll put a round in his leg and we get the hell out of here."
"Hell no man! You're not going in there by yourself!"
"We're out of options Keith! This has exploded into more than what we can handle. He's an even greater risk if he gets away."
Cursing his oldest friend under his breath, he made a point. The secrets that Damien knew about Koko, no matter how crazy they might appear to be to the average person, were too dangerous of a risk to be left out in the open. If they had any chance, they'd have to take it. Gordon then started to ascend the Little Bird around the buildings corner but he didn't notice the figure on the gantry whirling a chain around.
Throwing all his might into the swing, Damien aimed for the landing skids. The chain wrapped around it three times but that was only the first part. Seeing that he hooked the bird in the sky he sprinted for the pallet of cinder blocks wrapped with the other end of the chain. Like a battering ram he slammed into the pallet on the jack towards the edge of the building just as the slack from the chain ran out.
"Down you go!"
Force took over and the Nightstalker's Little Bird started veering violently toward the building. The near ton of concrete blocks and the poor distribution of weight wrangled the control of the chopper away from both pilots. Damien dived for whatever cover was available as the rotors started hacking away at whatever was in its way as it crashed into the open floor and was dragged across it with metal digging into concrete with a screeching pierce of noise. But as it reached where the pallet had fallen out, the chain tore off the skid and it teetered on the edge from what debris the chopper entangled itself with.
Making sure he had all of his things, Damien then stood up and walked towards what was left of the Little Bird with purpose. The gunfire outside had died down and groans of metal came from the chopper about to topple off the edge of the unfinished floor. All he had to do was finish the job. After getting closer he saw through the smashed out window that Gordon and Rothrine were dazed and bleeding. They froze as they saw Damien next to their chopper, rifle at his side with his finger on the trigger. His iconic blue eyes staring at them like a predator.
"Don't look so surprised. This is more or less what she's planning on doing to a lot of innocent people. It doesn't feel so goddamn necessary or even just when it happens to y'all now don't it?"
Gordon bared his teeth and was about to start calling Damien every word in the book. At the same time, Rothrine tried to get to his sidearm but the cockpit had caved in from the crash pinning it against his leg. But then the weight started to shift again and the heavily damaged chopper started to fall over the edge of the building.
Damien gave it a little more force by slamming his boot into its side.
The look of horror on the Nightstalker's was the last thing he saw as they both fell six stories down screaming. It stopped instantly when the chopper crashed into the ground as the canopy collapsed in like an egg.
Damien then peered over the side to observe the wreckage. He almost expected a fireball but the most fatal crashes don't normally involve burning to death. If he wanted to let Koko know that he was serious, then he had achieved that goal. Still having a heightened sense about him, he did a one eighty turn with his rifle raised.
"Whoa! Don't shoot! We're not any of them!" Said an American accent from behind cover with his M4 raised over his head.
Damien lowered his weapon, he knew it was his father's team. He was already in a bad enough mood, so he skipped the introductions and cut to the chase.
"One of you gimme your radio." He said as he approached the four men not caring he was still covered in dust, grime, and blood.
"Hold up a minute." One said with his hand out. "What's the…"
Damien just rolled his eyes and groaned. He damned the challenge and password he was told about.
"I don't got time for this shit! I think my dad would like to know I'm alright."
Heart Team just stared back if they heard him right.
0409 Hours
Bull Run Estates, Virginia
"Dad? You read? I'm here. Banged up, but I'm here."
The General took a deep sigh of relief. "Thank God. I thought they wouldn't be able to get near you."
Throughout the night, Marcus Andrushko's makeshift team were taking shifts monitoring the comms and performing control duties. Except for the occasional nap he had been awake for the majority of it. Now that he knew his son was safe he began directing Blackjack to get him out of South Africa and back to DC. His latest addition to his group of need to know had the same baffling expression that had already been shared by everyone in the room so far.
"You believe him now?" Raiser said after being stirred awake from the commotion earlier.
"I'm actually more curious to know how he downed that chopper."
Carlyle was of course more than curious to how Andrushko was able to get away with cutting out of his duties, collect enough tech to make his own command center, and perform this very off the books mission for the last two days. But when he told him that his son had come back from the dead and was connected with a lot of recent events, naturally he had a hard time trying to swallow it as a fact. He had an even harder time trying realize that a twenty something year old girl was making a fool out of the US intelligence agencies. Andrushko though provided the evidence to back up the facts though when he told Carlyle that the CIA's Chief of European Operations now had a mutual agreement to stop a real life monster together. Or risk the whole world being engulfed in war.
"Blackjack I've given this little shocker out a hundred times already. I need you trust me, that's all. Get back to the airport and make sure the pod is loaded up for Reagan." He shook his head frustrated Damien dropped something on Blackjack that he didn't need to know yet. "Put him back on for a moment."
"What's up dad?"
"Did you have to tell them who you were?" The General said annoyed.
"I've had a horrible last few days dad. Nothing can make me feel any worse than after she…" There was silence followed by agitated groans. "Decided to use me in her mad quest for power. Shit, I can't say that without sounding crazy."
"Damien!" The father said to calm the son once again. "We will talk when you get home. Until then, don't tell them anything that they don't need to know just yet. I'm taking a lot of risks myself and pulling all the favors I can for all of this. We need to play this as close to the chest as possible. We can't fight both her and my superiors at the same time. One wrong move and both of us will be six feet under. Do you want her to win?"
"Not a chance." He said without hesitation.
"Then use the plane ride home to try and forget what happened and focus on how we're gonna stop her. I want to help you but I don't want to lose you a second time. Understood?"
He sighed before answering. "Yes, sir."
"I'll see you soon son."
"Over and out."
The radio clicked, and then the General turned around to address the room. Everything that had been done so far was more or less bending or breaking every law in the book of both civilian and Uniform Code of Military Justice. But the risk of what was at stake was far greater if something wasn't done about Koko Hekmatyar. Marcus Andrushko had his son returned to him, he'd believe anything at this point.
"I'm gonna be honest, all of this so far was just so I can get Damien back home safely. While selfish, it's having to do with something far more dangerous. I've dealt with a lot of dangerous and rather sick people in my life. Each one of them was a significant threat, but they were all just fanatics who think they can change the world with hateful language, a few pounds of C4, or a couple of bullets. This woman however, is a true to life bona fide supervillain."
Andrushko then brought up Koko's picture on one of the monitors.
"And in some bizarre twist of fate my son got wrapped up in the middle of it. What's more is that according to him, she has every intention of starting a world-wide conflict. Just so that she can make her 'new world'. And if that's not the definition of a power tripping psycho then I don't know what is. But what I'm asking all of you is this; will you all help me help my son? Cause I think he's the only one that can stop her. And if we lose, then so does everyone else."
Around the General's study, there was a big mix of age differences. As well as experiences of events that ranged from insignificant to spectacular. But none had the literal weight of the fate of the entire world on their shoulders. The veterans, Raiser and Carlyle, remained stone faced while the younger members, Shumaker and Burns, wondered what they got themselves involved with. But all of them had agreed on one thing.
None of them wanted to sit by and watch the world come to an end.
"We'll have to make a little insurance policy so if we DO lose, she loses with us."
Carlyle was the first to respond. It was apparent that Koko Hekmatyar had played the NSA and him as a fool for accusing an innocent man of treason. The Plame family wasn't going to forgive him overnight but he had to look at the bigger picture for now. He wouldn't need General Alexander's permission on this.
"We can't have any friends or friends of friends in on this Carlyle. We have to play along to make her think that we still don't really know what she's plotting. And once again; optimism?"
"I'm only preparing for the worst case scenario Marcus. I know you are too."
"If Hekmatyar gets what she wants then it won't matter how many contingency plans we have. She's not focusing all her efforts on the United States. It's the whole world. This is gonna be all or nothing and we don't have the luxury of options."
The Marine stared at the Green Beret to be sure he was really thinking this through. Andrushko was never afraid to take risks but he always emphasized on having back up plans. He was worried that the sudden return of his son was clouding his judgement.
"Is this computer of hers really that bad?"
The General paused before answering.
"When I heard Damien's voice for the first time in years, my heart sank. I felt like God just gave me another chance. But then I felt the fear and desperation in his words. He wasn't lying, he meant everything he said but he also knew that no one would believe him. Well I do, and he wouldn't have come to me if he didn't know what was at risk. That's all the proof I need."
Carlyle knew that no matter what, Marcus wasn't going to change his mind. And if he had a CIA section chief under his thumb that easily, then there wasn't any need for motivation for him to do his job. He knew that Global Grid was sketchy from the start anyway.
"You think I'm crazy don't you?" Andrushko said reading what he was thinking.
"Ahh what the hell. We're all nuts or we wouldn't be here."
2125 Hours
London, United Kingdom
During her long flight back to London, Koko had formulated a schedule that her first stop in Europe would be to Poland to outfit several infantry battalions with better equipment. Burying herself in work seemed to be the only thing she could do now to take her mind off of Damien. But her sister though, seemed to be stuck in a state of limbo with what he did. When they had finally arrived at their hotel, she would speak to her in private.
"Miss Hekmatyar!" The desk clerk got her attention as she and her crew entered the lobby.
"Yes?" She asked him behind the desk.
"You'll be pleased to know that your suite has been paid for. Your guest took care of the arrangements and he's waiting upstairs."
She simply smiled in acknowledgment. But was groveling in her head on why he was here. Praying he wasn't going to ask about what she thought he would. While wondering how he found out so fast.
When they got to their floor, Poe was standing outside the room keeping guard. He opened the door for them. The other heir to HCLI was sitting on the couch enjoying his late supper of what appeared to be a Rueben sandwich. Allan, Edger, and Chiquita lounging about.
"Koko! Good to see ya!" He said waving with his chipper self.
"What the hell do you want?" Koko said bluntly.
"Hey now I just wanted to know if you've been raking in the cash. You haven't checked in in ages now and I was starting to get a little worried." Kasper then took a look and saw that there was one short. "Where's the big guy at?"
The mood soured greatly when Kasper mentioned Damien. The only one that had an appropriate reaction of disgust was Lutz.
"Guys I'd like to talk to my brother in private."
The crew did just that and went back out the door until Koko needed them. Ugo put his hand on Lutz shoulder asking him if he wanted a beer. Only Lehm and Valmet stayed behind. She immediately went over to Chiquita and motioned to her to the opposite room. Kasper took the hint that she was serious and told Allan and Edger to take a hike.
"I said everyone Lehm. That means you too."
The stare. The acknowledgment. The silence as the door closed behind him to guard it.
Kasper continued to look at his sister with his somewhat permanent relaxed expression. But she knew where this conversation was going to lead to.
"I'm not going to say anything until you tell me why the fuck you're here."
It surprised Kasper that she reacted with such a snap. So he didn't say anything unless she wanted to say why her pseudo boyfriend wasn't with them first. But only if for a little bit. It was obvious she hadn't checked the internet recently. Although it was alight with activity in the last hour or so, he came across something that happened earlier this morning while she was still in the air.
"I thought I could catch you in Port Elizabeth. But you've been a little sporadic in your globe hopping, even for you. So I'd figure I hunker down here for a while before I head back to Asia. I know you've been keeping busy little sister, so I wanted to know. When am I gonna see this 'New World' you've been putting together?"
Koko smile had now become a type of natural reaction. It didn't seem to matter what it was anymore.
"You noticed huh?"
"We've been doing this type of business for so long that most newcomers our age wouldn't even know what a year end report means if they were hit in the face with it."
"That is not an answer Kasper." She said wanting to get on with it.
"Ok. Ok. A few weeks ago I had a visit from your old stalker Scarecrow. Seems as though his superiors at Langley sealed your file and they won't tell him anything. So he had the bright idea of trying to get some info from me. He still wanted to know why even after Chiquita pinned him to the ground and threatened to slice off his ear. But I told him the truth that I didn't know anything and threw him in a dumpster. At least his partner behaved herself, or she was scared stiff because she wasn't really moving."
His attempt to humor his sister about swatting away the annoying fly known as Jerrald Shattzberg did little to get a rise out of her. So he decided to continue before it got awkward.
"Now the old man may be taking a bit of a passive approach to this and initially I didn't really care. But if you're planning something that's making the heads of the CIA clam up, it gets me a little concerned. And before you say anything, he didn't send me. Matter of fact he doesn't even know. He still thinks I'm in Vietnam right now."
"Is that why you're really here? You're concerned? Spare me this hallmark crap Kasper and get on with it."
"You can choose to believe my words or not." He then reached into his coat pocket to get out his smartphone. "But as the saying goes, actions speak louder."
He then pressed the play button for a news video from the BBC from this morning and handed it to her. Behind his smile though were thoughts of true concern. The two siblings had always looked out for one another. He would offer help or protect her even if she didn't want it. She would do the same.
"Back to our top international story right now. In what can only be described as total urban warfare, the city of Cape Town was the scene of a brutal fire fight between South African military forces and an unknown group of gunmen turning a city block into a warzone."
Only the heiresses ice blue eyes widened in shock. Subconsciously damning herself for not calling back Gordon or Rothrine the moment they touched down in London.
"South African military officials have not yet commented on what type of operation they were doing in their own capital and why. But after Cape Town police and urban pacification teams had arrived after the fighting stopped, they could only speculate that whatever happened was a botched disaster. Eyewitness reports stated that the actual shooting started over twenty minutes earlier when an armed assailant opened fire in the street and was chased into a construction site for a new hospital. Military forces surrounded the building in SUV's on the ground and an armed helicopter kept watch from the air. They appeared to have the situation under control, until an armed convoy came in and ambushed the outer defensive perimeter with what appeared to be machine gun fire. Not long after that the overwatch helicopter had crashed into the building and the shooting stopped soon after that when several trucks were seen speeding away from the construction site. Cape Town police have so far discovered seventeen bodies inside what would be a new hospital along with the two pilots of the helicopter who died in the crash. The method's in which they died though are something we cannot show you on the air but a majority of them did not die from gunshot wounds. Some sources…"
Koko pressed the stop button. She didn't want to hear anything else. There was a much more simpler way she could have heard this.
Damien got away.
"I honestly could care less about what you said or did to the CIA. But I had a feeling that if you kept pushing these jobs, he was gonna quit. He's an outstanding soldier but he knows when to walk away or not get involved with something he's clearly not comfortable with. And you know as well as I do he's not subtle when he's angry. So if he was willing to go that far, what did you say to him that made him so upset?"
His apathetic way of speaking while having his smile still on him was a familiar expression to Koko. He used all the time with average people just to conduct business. But when he used it on her, he let her know that he was serious. She looked down at her worn hands.
"Short version. You've known of my biggest wish in life since we were children; World Peace. For the last several years I've been working with Minami on the construction of a quantum computer. I call it Jormungand."
"The Midgard Serpent from Norse mythology? Mmm, not too bad of a name. What's it for?"
"A permanent means to remove war from people's lives. All it needs now is a network for it to spread. Our information control system in the Hekmatyar Global Grid will do just that. Since it can supplement the current GPS system ten times over, it will give me total control over all air traffic in the sky. Once I eliminate that, it will be the first step in making war a thing of the past, next will be the sea, and finally land. It will be an everlasting path to peace." She shut her eyes and then sighed deeply. "One that I wanted to give to him. One he deserved. I thought he'd be happy but he cast it aside like it was nothing."
Kasper's immediate thought was that it appeared that Damien did not share the same type of outlook on peace that Koko did. His viciousness was a part of who he was, but it looked like Koko's innocent charm, care free demeanor, and her strong will worked a little too well on him. It changed him for the better, but only in his perspective and he lost the sight of Koko's. He wouldn't condone his actions, but he could understand why.
"Well? Are you going to say anything?" She asked wanting to break the silence.
"Honestly. I'm willing to see what happens."
Her face was blank, but Kasper knew she was calling him out as skeptical. It was his turn to speak.
"Come on do you think this would upset me? I mean sure the company is going to take a hell of a blow in the short term. But in the long term, profits will climb back up right to where they were before. If we can't deliver our products by air then we'll just go by land and water. HCLI was of course founded on ocean trafficking for its goods and services. And yes, Floyd will bitch and moan about it but he'll get over it eventually. Naturally I'm gonna tell him any of this, that wouldn't be any fun."
He'd still be a company man after all of that huh?
Valmet once said that if he wasn't the older one, the two Hekmatyar siblings would pass for twins. It wasn't just their looks but their cold outlook on things. As well as an apathetic method of speech that masked the ruthlessness behind the words. And if push came to shove, they'd shove so hard they'd rip out the hearts of their enemies.
"Now I need to ask you this. Do you really believe that our world will be rid of weapons Koko? Come on." He said putting an emphasis on reality. "If I can't sell fighter jets, I'll sell warships. If I can't do that I'll sell tanks. I'll sell rifles. I'll sell long swords if I have to. Take away all of the metal in the world, I'd sell wooden clubs. Peace means having a bigger stick than the other guy."
Koko only took it as food for thought, until the adjacent room door opened with Chiquita standing in it.
"Sorry to interrupt you two. Kasper, I just got a text that our deal time table just narrowed. We'll have to head back to Hanoi by tomorrow if we're going to have a better chance of a sale with the Vietnamese Navy."
Despite being his best bodyguard, Chiquita more often than not acted as Kasper's cattle prod when he slacked in his work.
"Aww bummer already?" He then stood up from the couch. "I thought they would have…Everything ok?"
Koko did a look at Lehm's ex as well. Her smile that never left her was still there but her green eyes were a little red and had watery residue. She looked in the door to the other room to her sister, it was obvious. But strangely her blank look that she had for the last 48 hours turned into focus. She knew Valmet wouldn't be over it that quickly.
"I'm alright." A total lie as she rubbed her nose. "I think we've heard all we need to hear Kasper. We should give Koko some time."
He just nodded in agreement. "Catch ya later sis."
As he left first, Chiquita stayed behind until he was out the door.
"No matter how trivial, you call us if you need us." She whispered. "Now she needs to tell you something."
Koko now had to try to do the impossible, get her sister back on her feet and into her original fighting spirit. She closed the door behind her and sat on the bed next to her. Bags under her gold eyes from lack of sleep, slightly paler skin, and her darker than night hair an oily mess. Koko reached to her hand on her lap, Valmet squeezed it in response.
"Koko." Her first word in nearly two days. "I don't know what to do. Nothing…none of this can be real."
Koko was ready for the dam to break. She knew that she would have to catch an ocean of sorrow.
"Everything that we've been through together, was like it didn't even matter to him. Oh God…the look in his eyes. It was as if he was a totally different person. And he used you as a shield. That just couldn't have been him! It's like…oh Christ I can't believe I'm saying this! It's like being in a nightmare you can't wake up from!"
"Valmet…"
"He said he didn't want to lose me! And I believed him!"
"Valmet!"
"How could I let that monster take advantage of me like that?!"
"Sophia listen!"
Koko switched to her real name as their shouting started to overlap one another.
"I thought he loved me! I just feel violated by him!"
"Sophia! Listen to me!" Koko then grabbed her as she started getting more hysterical.
"He'd rather kill than be with me!"
"Listen to me! Listen to me Goddamnit!"
She calmed down after Koko grabbed her shoulders hard. The dam had broke, but she managed to control the damage.
"I don't want to believe that any of this is real as much as you do. But that man is no longer the man you, I, or anyone else knows now. He killed Faiza, shot at you and the rest of the guys, and now I just found out that he killed Gordon and Rothrine. You need to accept that! The worst thing out of all of this is that he knows what we're doing. All of us are at risk now. Because he is now the last real threat I have before I can make sure that the world can be without war. Neither of us can protect each other if you're in this state. I need my sister now more than ever. Don't leave me like he did!"
Valmet leaned into Koko's chest and started to sob. She caught her as they both held each other tight. Koko seeing her like this was unbearable as she grit her teeth so hard she was more than likely going to chip one of them. The one man who was never afraid of her, who loved her, saw her as superior to him, crushed her heart and soul.
"I loved him…" She said muffled in her chest.
"I did too." Koko admitted.
…
Koko let Valmet take as much time as she needed to get it out of her system.
…
"I still feel him here, even though he isn't. Like some kind of fucking infection. I can't protect you and myself and the same time. I don't know what to do."
"That's bullshit and you know it. You've always managed to…"
She lifted her head up to face her. "No, Koko. You don't understand. It's…Oh God…It's like I haven't been punished enough!"
Koko never once believed Valmet would act this weak. She needed to stop feeling sorry for herself.
"Well what the hell's the matter!?" Koko demanded.
"I need your help so that nothing can hold me back."
Koko looked at Valmet confused but then let her elaborate.
May 2nd 2011, 0030 Hours
Ronald Reagan International Airport, Washington DC
I felt the rumble of the landing gear touching down on the tarmac. Not really the way I wanted to come back home. Cramped in a moderately lit box with a bunch of skeptical Delta Force troops after barely staying alive and covered head to toe in shit. My old leather jacket was officially ruined, but it at least gave me a few less scrapes on my body, which wasn't much. Every single part of me was sore and I still had to give my dad every detail I had on Hekmatyar so I can bring her down before that fucking computer gets any more powerful.
"I'm getting some real answers when this plane stops."
"Same here, I thought his son was dead."
"Better yet, what the hell did he get us involved with?"
"All of you! Lock it up! It's the last time I'm gonna say it."
Their Sergeant Major canned the whispers of some of the more free thinking Delta's for the third time or maybe more since I did managed to get some sleep where I didn't have to be on guard at the same time for the last two days. The guy with the greying brown hair and square jaw who was probably the one in charge didn't really take his eyes off me the whole flight. I didn't say anything to them since we got to the airport and got put in their "cargo pod" but I knew they were talking behind my back about what the hell they had just been through. I could give a shit what they thought anyway. Even if I told them the whole damn story there's no way they could ever understand what I went through just to have it all end in a monumental failure.
Your "Family" condones the mass murder of a whole generation.
"Peace" means making sure that everyone's dead so they won't fight each other.
"Saving" people means turning everyone you do like into slaves.
The woman who "Loves" you, leaves you all alone to the monsters.
Hekmatyar's never once known how it really feels to lose. Well she's gonna lose bad. Real fuckin bad.
During that time I could hear the container being unloaded and felt being moved. The sounds of jet engines got further and further away. Most likely to the part of Reagan that belongs to the Air Force in one of its isolated hangers. Once it stopped moving, I stood up. Had to do at least the best introduction in seeing my dad after so long. Voices of activity were on the other side as the clacking of locks were being undone and the door opened.
Being the leader he was, he was right outside the door as our eyes met instantly.
Except for his new uniform, he hadn't changed at all. He was in his usual "I'm in Charge" pose of crossed arms, chin down, and slanted eyes. Behind him was Raiser, he only just started working for dad when I got my orders to deploy. He just walked past him and started giving orders to the Delta's. More than likely already adapted to the situation at hand since he didn't even look at me. The rest of the Air Force maintenance crew and MP's were going about there duties and knew what was going on was above their pay grade but there was one thin old guy in plain clothes I noticed leaning against a HUMMV just looking at dad and me. I figured I ask about him later but first things first. I hadn't seen him in years, so I just walked right to him.
"Hi dad."
He looked up at me and didn't waste any time. And neither did I. No shouts of joy, no thankful weeping, no congratulations. Just a tight embrace. We were both glad to see each other again.
Regretfully though, I wish it could have been better. That's the nature of the battlefield sometimes, things happen, you can't change them, you have to move, it doesn't matter where, cause if you stay in one spot then your dead. I had come home only to march into a new and personal war on the literal scale where the end result is the future of the world.
Yeah. Pressure levels can't go that high.
"It is so good to see you again Damien."
Dad and I had enough. We'd do a proper "Welcome Home" later.
"I don't mean to jump into it right off the plane but, besides my rushed intel how are things on your end with Hekmatyar?" I said as I unzipped one of my backs and pulled out my gutted hard drive.
"Couple things actually." He said as he took the drive. "That CIA Chief you named, Black, gave me something I'm glad I got to look at. We'll discuss that later. Second thing though, was that apparently the two of you were close."
My thoughts grimaced as he paused.
"Very close."
I'd figure I'd be honest. "Different lady dad. And…"
It was the first time I thought about Velmer in a while. But any time I think about any of them, all I felt was rage and hatred. They are not my family anymore, but that doesn't mean that what happened didn't happen at all. Or else I'd be more out of my mind than Hekmatyar.
"…If the circumstances were different, I would have liked you to meet her."
"Hmm. Well…one thing I'd like to know."
Wait for it.
"What in the hell is on your head?"
There it is.
"You noticed huh?" I said with a raised eyebrow.