"Come on moron. We've got to get out before the next jet lands on top of us. Move it!"
Morgan tried to get his body to move but it was a quivering mass of jello. Casey was already up and moving out the door so he had to try to move too. Gradually he realized he was standing and someone was helping him out the door. Staggering he also realized the floor was heaving up and down. Breakfast was well on the way up and out of his stomach when a sailor threw him over his shoulder and hauled him to a door in the conning tower. "Welcome to the USS Ronald Reagan, sir."
"Come on Grimes, suck it up." Which was just not the right thing to say at the moment with his stomach fighting this alien environment. "Don't you dare mess up the flight deck of America's greatest President!" Grimes could hear the sailors laughing and knew he would be the subject of many stories tonight.
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"Ladies and Gentlemen." It was O'Broghlan on the speaker now. They had landed moments earlier and were still taxiing to the tarmac. "Welcome to the Cook Islands. We apologize for this inconvenience but you are now the property of an organization know as International Peace Of Destiny. We will be remaining here for a brief time to refuel and negotiate your safe return. You will not be mistreated unless you attempt to resist. We are armed and will not hesitate to kill you. You will be taken off the plane soon so please be patient."
"I - P - O - D ... really ... IPOD? Hey, who thinks up these names anyway? Apple's going to sue your ass off! Could you be any stupider..."
"Easy Chuck. Do you ever remember flashing on the ... uh, IPOD? I thought I knew all the fanatic organizations out there but have never heard of this one. What is O'Broghlan up to and who is he working for?"
"No, Sarah. That's a new one to me as well. They probably don't want their name out in public because of the ridicule they are going to get over it. Guess we just have to sit back and wait for them, like all bad guys, to come brag to us what this is about."
"Okay everyone. You may take your carry on luggage with you. Stay together as a group and don't try anything dumb." O'Broghlan had returned from the flight deck and began giving instructions on removing the passengers. Apparently they were being taken to a hanger where they would be housed until the plane was serviced. Chuck began to stand and Sarah sat up as he came over to them. "Oh, no. You two aren't going anywhere. I want to know where you are at all times and that you aren't getting into any mischief."
"Come on, dude. We need to be able to stretch out, get a change of clothes, clean up. You can't keep us here."
"Yes, I can … and will. Sit down and shut up before your bride gets a few more bruises."
As O'Broghlan walked away Chuck shouted: "This is not going to end well for you … you … bugger. So you better..."
"Shhhh ... Chuck ... sit down and stop freaking out." Chuck sat and stared at his wife as she whispered to him. "Look, I want to get out so we have some room to maneuver, too, but let's keep our heads and not totally antagonize him."
"Okay, okay. Listen, maybe one of us could fake getting sick and he will let us off?"
"Good idea Chuck. Here's what we need to do..."
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Morgan was finally getting used to the constant nausea when he and Casey met with Seal Team 5.
"Gentlemen, we know the plane has landed on the Cook Islands. I think it is safe to say this is not their final destination but we just don't know as yet. Through a secure channel from onboard we heard the name O'Broghlan. If this is the Irishman, Aiden O'Broghlan, we know he is an explosives expert and willing to work for anyone. Through the boarding list we think we have identified about 20 mercenaries that have worked with him in the past. We also don't know how much manpower they have on the island. We will be landing five klicks east of the airport and moving quickly so we can assess the situation. Any questions?" As there were none they all proceeded to grab their gear and head out to the helicopter.
"Casey, Casey ... hey, I'm no Seal. What am I suppose to do?"
"Grimes, I need you to stay here and monitor communications. Beckman will be sending you the intel from Chuck's or Sarah's phone as well as satellite photos. You will be my eyes and ears. I'm counting on you Grimes. Chuck and Sarah are counting on you. Got it?"
"Okay, man. Listen, you just be careful. Alex will never forgive me if you don't come home safely and Ellie will kill me if Chuck and Sarah get hurt. Either way I die!"
"Ungh." Casey's grunt was all Morgan needed to hear.
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O'Broghlan was not a happy camper. Sarah watched him as he talked on a satellite phone. Even though she couldn't hear anything it was clear he was not a happy camper. So, someone else is pulling his strings. Who could be behind this and what do they want?
"Chuck, you ready?"
"Let's go for it, my love."
With that Sarah suddenly screamed and bent over double. Chuck was at her side immediately. "Sarah, baby, what's the matter? Somebody, come help us!"
Sarah was whimpering now and still doubled over. O'Broghlan came sauntering over, in no real hurry. "What are you two up to now?"
"Come on, dude. She's been complaining of abdominal pain since you kicked her and now she is really hurting. She needs medical attention." Chuck was really selling the worried husband bit but was it convincing O'Broghlan? Not to mention that he really was worried!
O'Broghlan grabbed Sarah by the hair and pulled her head up eliciting a shrill scream. "Now let's take a look at you. Now doesn't that look nice?" Sarah's bruises were really starting to show and she now had blood running from her nose again.
Chuck was not prepared for that, "Sarah, oh baby, what's happening to you. Sweetheart what can I do?" To O'Broghlan he hissed, "You've really hurt her you bastard. Now let go of her and let me help her."
"Alright. You can take her out to the hanger. But she stays tied up. There are a couple of doctors among the passengers. They can look at her. But, dearie, if you're pulling something on me I'll have your head, you hear me?"
Sarah nodded and Chuck pushed him away as soon as he let go of her hair. "I need my hands free to pick her up," Chuck said holding out his hands.
O'Broghlan looked at him for several seconds before pulling out a large knife. "You see this knife, Chuckie? This is going to carve that pretty little face into hamburger once this is over. But I'll do it right here, right now, if either of you try anything. Now get her out of here." With that he cut the strips from Chuck's hands.
Chuck picked Sarah up and carried her to the stairs. It was awkward with her hands and feet still tied but he made it. Sarah whispered into his ear, "It's okay, Chuck, I hit my nose on my knee to make it bleed. Helps sell that I am hurt more than he thought. Just be careful on these steps so we don't both end up in a heap at the bottom."
It was all Chuck could do to not smile as he thought about how resourceful and wonderful his darling Sarah was. They made it to the lower level and to the stairs leading to the tarmac. From there it was about 100 yards to the hangar. Once there Chuck called out for a doctor. A man and woman both walked over to them. "I am Dr. Stan Sheldon and this is my wife, Diane, also a doctor. How can we help?"
"Hi. My name is Chuck and this is my wife Sarah. They beat her ... up in first class. She is suffering from acute abdominal pain. Can you help us. Please, I have to know she is going to be alright." Chuck was practically crying by this time. Sarah wasn't sure if it was part of the act or he was really that upset. What a guy!
"Let us take a look, sir. You say they beat her? What exactly did they do? Why is she tied up?"
"One of them kicked her in the stomach and side about four times and then hit her face five or six times. They tied her up because she slapped one of them last night in a bar in Hawaii."
The woman had Chuck carefully lay Sarah on her side and began pressing on her abdomen and sides. Sarah grimaced several times but Chuck did not know if it really hurt or was part of the act. The doctor also ran her hands along her ribcage. "I can't really feel anything out of the ordinary but she is definitely in pain. Unfortunately we don't have any equipment or medicine here so I'm not sure what we can do." In a whisper she asked, " ... uh, Mr. ... you said your name is Chuck? Uh, Chuck, her bra is undone. Did they sexually assault her, too?"
"Oh ... uh ... well ... you see..." Chuck was really blushing now. Sarah, knowing neither doctor was watching her, smiled at his discomfort. "No, actually we were ... well, sort of ... uh, together ... if you get my meaning ... before they hijacked us. Once they took over we didn't have a chance to ... uh ... get her all back together, as it were."
Dr. Diane just smiled and patted Chuck on the arm. "Okay, Chuck, relax. I get it. As we said, there isn't much we can do at the moment but will gladly keep an eye on her. If she gets worse we'll see if there are any medical supplies our captors will share with us."
Chuck knelt back down by Sarah and caressed her cheek. Sarah smiled and he could feel her chuckling silently. "Okay, lady, now you're just laughing at me. I know you heard all that and I'm going to get you for not helping me out there." But his smile told Sarah he was amused as well. "Now we have to find a way to get you loose."
"Doctors. Would you mind asking the guard if Sarah can have her hands and feet freed so she can rest more comfortably? It might go over better coming from you."
Dr. Stan went over to one of the men carrying a weapon and talked to him for some time. Finally they both came over to where Sarah was laying. The armed man took out a knife and cut Sarah loose. "Move her over to the wall there. I will have to tie one hand to the wall so she can not escape."
Chuck started to protest but the man held up one hand. "That is my only offer. Take it or leave it."
"Fine," Chuck spat out while picking up Sarah and moving her to the wall. The guard produced a short rope which he tied to an eyebolt in the wall and to Sarah's left hand. At least she was able to stretch a little and her feet were finally free.
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Casey and Seal Team 5 had moved to the airport perimeter. They could see the 747 sitting near one hangar with armed men on the perimeter. "Grimes, we see the plane and it is outside Hangar 37A. Do you have satellite view?"
"Yes, Casey, I've got it. Infrared shows lots of people inside the hangar. Looks like 12 to 15 men outside the hangar plus ground crew servicing the plane. There is a cargo truck coming up to the plane now."
"We see it. We're just not close enough to tell what the truck is doing. I'll get back to you."
With hand signals Casey deployed the team to cut through the fence on the back side of the hangar. They quickly and quietly moved to the designated point, cut the fence and moved inside. This was the most exposed moment in the mission. If they could get to the building unseen they could gradually eliminate the guards. But they had to be quick getting through. There was nothing to screen their movements. They crawled, with eyes alert to the guards, in case one or more should look their way or come around the side of the building.
The plan was to gradually replace the guards with their own men and find a way to get inside the building. Once inside they could set up a perimeter of their own that would protect the hostages while keeping the hijackers on the plane. That was the plan anyway. Casey wished he was in contact with Walker ... er, Bartowski. Her eyes and expertise would make all this so much easier. He was really going to miss working with her as a partner; no doubt she was the very best he had ever been paired with. Maybe there would be a way to keep Team Bartowski together.
The team got to the building without incident and began to fan out each way to try to catch the guards unaware. Luck was definitely with them as they found a door on this back side of the hangar and it wasn't even locked. How crazy is that? each man thought. Two Seals unpacked their mini-video camera and viewer that was on a flexible lead and fed it through a crack in the door. They could see people sitting and standing all around the hangar. Unfortunately there were about 20 more guards inside. There was no way they could get inside and take them all out without significant loss of innocent lives.
Casey's phone buzzed and he took it out. It was a text message from Grimes: The truck at the plane has unload a large crate into the cargo hold. No way to tell what is contains. It appears the plane is about ready for departure. Damn, thought Casey, just before the hangar door opened.
Next time on Chuck vs. The 747: Who's coming out of the hangar? Will Casey save the day? what's in the crate? Will Chuck and Sarah get back at O'Broghlan? Or will they go from the frying pan into the fire? Stay tuned!