Monday
Chapter 11
On a hill off in the distance from the trading camp, Ziva and two other people hide in the shadows of the darkness. They use night vision goggles to watch the camp. Two people approach after returning from examining the camp.
"What's the threat assessment?" Ziva asked in the Hebrew language.
"There are fifty-five known targets…" Seff begins to say in Hebrew.
"…Which need to be neutralized." Seth finished the sentence, also in Hebrew. "Of the fifty-five targets…"
"…Twenty of them guard the perimeter of the camp." Seff finished the sentence. "The perimeter guards check-in with central control…"
"…Every ten minutes." Seth finished the sentence.
"You guys really need to stop doing that." Jael stated in Hebrew.
"It's freaky how you two always finish each other's sentences." Yair said in Hebrew.
"I actually missed it." Ziva chuckled.
"We've recorded audio samples during several check-ins…" Seff begins to say.
"…Which we can use to playback for central control." Seth finished. "With the software on this laptop and the audio devices which we'll attach to each of the guards walkie talkies after they've been neutralized…"
"…We'll be able to use the recordings to check-in with central control." Seff finished. "Every ten minutes, central control contacts the guards in a specific order…"
"And since…" Seth begins to say but Yair places his hand over his mouth.
"We'll attach the audio devices which will allow Seff to control the check-in order from up here." Ziva stated to move things along. "You need to also provide sniper cover."
Seff grabs the bag with the semi-automatic sniper rifle. He opens the bag and starts putting the rifle together. The sniper rifle he'll use includes: a silencer, special support legs and a high powered night vision scope.
"Jael, you enter the camp from the west. Yair, you take the east. Seth, you take the south. And I'll enter from the north." Ziva stated. "We infiltrate the camp. Neutralize every threat. Eliminate central control. Do everything quietly and maintain radio silence unless absolutely necessary." She added. "Our goal is package number one, the kid, package number two, my two coworkers and package number three, the nine captives. We leave no one behind."
"In working with NCIS, you've grown compassionate." Yair stated. "Not that it's a bad thing."
"People change, Yair. I've changed." Ziva said. She extends her hand forward. Her hand is in the middle of the human circle. "Let's do what we do best boys."
One by one, the four guys place their hand over Ziva's hand.
They break the hand contact. Seff immediately works on the laptop to get the audio samples set and ready. Each of the others places an earwig into one of their ears and puts a black mask over their head to complete their black outfits. They each grab their weapons; each having the same. The weapons consist of: a submachine with silencer, a handgun with silencer and a couple knives.
Ziva and her crew move down the hill while Seff remains behind with the laptop and sniper rifle, watching from his vantage point.
Almost forty-five minutes later, everybody is in position and studying their area. After studying the enemy for a couple minutes, they await for the check-ins to begin. Once the check-in period is over, they'll have ten minutes before Seff needs to use the audio samples.
The check-ins starts. As the check-in period is underway, they wait for Ziva to give the word for them to begin their infiltration of the trading camp.
"Move in." Ziva ordered as she hears over the radio the very last check-in.
They all move in.
Ziva, who is entering into the trading camp from the north, moves behind a tree. The submachine gun with silencer is on a strap around her body. With no weapon in hand, Ziva creeps around the tree; toward the first building where the guard is lighting up a cigarette. As the man blows smoke into the air, hands quickly grab his head. Before he can make a sound, his neck is snapped. Ziva gently places the man on the ground.
Ziva leans against the corner of the building. She slowly glides two knives out from her belt; one knife in each hand. A guard rounds corner halfway. One knife is thrust into the man's chest as the other one if thrust into his neck. Being unable to speak, Ziva twists the knives inside the man's body. Bloody gushes out as Ziva looks into the man's eyes as he dies. The man is dragged behind the building and placed next to the other dead man.
Ziva wipes her bloody hands on one of the guard's. Afterwards, she grabs the walkie talkie from the belt of both guards. The audio device is attached to both walkie talkies. Ziva continues moving.
From behind cover, Ziva watches a guard who is standing near a door to a small hut. The light in the hut is on. She notices motion inside of the hut. As the guard near the door faces the opposite direction, Ziva makes a move. She quietly approaches the guard from behind. A knife is thrust into the man's neck. Ziva immediately pulls the man toward her as she kicks in the door to the hut. Just inside the hut, she triple taps the two men in their hearts with her silencer handgun. Both men inside the hut fall to the ground and bleed out as they're dead. Ziva turns her head to the left where she still has the knife in a man's neck. The silencer handgun is holstered. She leans in closer to the man; from behind.
"By the way…" Ziva begins to say as she places her free hand on the man's head for support of what she's about to do. "You're dead." She pushes the knife away from the man. The man's neck rips to the point of almost completely decapitating his head from his body. The guard is dragged into the hut. After attaching the audio device to the walkie talkie, Ziva leaves the hut and closes the door.
Ziva approaches an area where three guards are relatively standing around the same spot. One guard walks away into the woods, in order to relieve himself. Ziva follows. The man stands next to a tree and handles business. After relieving himself, takes a deep breathe and leans against the tree.
The new check-in period starts. It all runs smoothly with the devices attached to the walkie talkies of dead guards. The playback of audio samples worked. After almost three minutes, the check-in period ends.
The guard leaning against the tree closes his eyes. His eyes quickly open as a knife penetrates into his neck; pinning him to the tree. Blood gusts out as he watches a dark figure, Ziva, runs in his direction. As Ziva runs passed, she grabs the knife out of the man's neck. The guard falls to the ground and finally dies.
Ziva runs into the area where the other two guards are standing. The knife used to kill the man who relieved himself launches into the chest of one of the guards. The man falls to the ground as Ziva triple taps the second guard in the chest and two in the head. The man also falls. Ziva attaches the audio device to the walkie talkies. She continues moving.
A minute later, Ziva is quietly approaching an unsuspecting Korean guard who is sleeping in a chair. She clinches her knife; ready to stab the man. Suddenly, the man falls backward and lands on the ground. Ziva looks at the dead man with a bullet hole in his head. The force of a bullet going through his head caused him to fall backward.
"Seff, you bastard… He was mine." Ziva said softly over the radio in Hebrew.
"I couldn't resist." Seff replied in Hebrew from behind the sniper rifle at his vantage point on the hill in the distance.
Ziva continues moving through the camp. She quietly enters into a small building with a couple beds. Three men are sleeping in the separate beds. Ziva approaches the first bed. Her knife slashes the man's throat from ear to ear. The man dies instantly as he bleeds out. Ziva approaches the second bed.
"Ziva… You have company." Seff said over the radio to her. "Front door."
Ziva crouches next to the second bed and stabs the man in the chest. The door opens and a man enters. He's immediately triple tapped in the chest and two in the head. The man falls to the floor; knocking over a chair. Due to the slight noise of the falling man and the chair, the man in the third bed jolts up. A knife quickly penetrates into his chest and two bullets to the head. He falls onto his bed. All of the men in the small building are dead at Ziva's hands. She exits.
Ziva approaches the cage where Tony and Gibbs are held. She shoots the lock. It falls off. She enters inside. Tony and Gibbs wake up to a dark figure nudging them. Upon waking up, the submachine gun with silencer is handed to Gibbs. He accepts it, but it unsure as to who stands before him.
"Package number two acquired." Ziva stated in Hebrew. Both Tony and Gibbs immediately recognize the voice.
"Package number one and three acquired." Yair said in Hebrew. Seth grabs Chioke and takes him out since he's one of two very important packages to acquire. Chioke, who doesn't know what's going on, struggles and hits the man. Yair, the only other member in the group who can speak more than just Hebrew, speaks to the captives in whatever language he thinks they know due to their ethnicity. He then escorts them out of the slave pen.
Ziva walks to the door of the cage.
"Ziva?" Tony wondered. Even though he only heard the figure speaks Hebrew, he still recognized the voice. He's sure it's Ziva, but unsure at the same time.
Ziva says nothing because she's worried about there being a couple more Koreans around, but mostly worried about how Gibbs will react to seeing the people helping her with this rescue. She motions for them to follow. They all leave the cage.
"I have to find Chioke." Tony stated in worry for his adopted son.
"Chioke is safe." Ziva said. "We have him."
"We can't leave without getting a key from the camp translator." Gibbs stated.
"Where is he?" Ziva asked.
"He should be in that building." Gibbs points to it.
The three of them run toward the building. Tony is a bit slower in running due to his feet pain from the cigar burns and paddle smacking from the other day.
They approach the building. The light is on and there's movement inside. Only the translator is inside.
"Wait here." Ziva said. Tony and Gibbs wait near the side door as Ziva moves to the other side of the building. Ziva enters through a window. Upon approaching the translator inside the building, Ziva quickly shoots both of his arm; rendering them useless to defend himself. Before he can even open his mouth in order to scream, she shoves a knife into his abdomen. Ziva places her hand over his mouth and pins him against the wall. The knife is twisted inside the man's abdomen. She sees the pain in the translator's face.
"I hear you have a key. And I want it. If you give it to me… I'll make it worth your while." Ziva said in a soft, sexy voice. A couple second pass as she watches his eyes move to the side. "Thank you for telling me." She said as he's eyes told her where to find the key. Tony and Gibbs finally enter into the building.
"Let me take him." Tony said as he grabs a knife from off the table. Ziva moves to the side a bit as she's allowing Tony to take over; they switch hand placement over the man's mouth. Ziva takes her knife out of the translator's abdomen. Tony looks into the translator's fearful eyes. "I'm not one to kill a man in cold blood… But in your case I'll make an exception." Tony angrily thrusts the knife into the man's chest. Blood pours out. Tony continues to look in the man's fearful eyes. "You hurt my son. Nobody hurts my son and gets away with it." He twists the knife in the man's chest.
The translator finally dies from loss of blood. Ziva takes the key out of a desk. Gibbs nods as it's the correct key. The three of them leave the building.
After Jael eliminating central control, they continue to neutralize the remaining Korean threat. Every threat in the trading camp is dealt with in a quiet manner. No broadcast of any trouble ever gets out.