Chapter 5
Three miles north-west of Zhangzhou, China
01:40 hundred hours 20th July
The blip stopped off an old road a couple of miles north-west of Zhangzhou; I coasted up the road occasionally attempting to make contact, none. A dirt track merged off the road and into the forest, I followed it for a few hundred meters before just ahead was an overgrown log hut lying cozily in the middle of nowhere. Parking the Laser on the side of the road, I got out and walked the rest of the way; the windows where covered in blackout boards, though the slight crack of light peered through the logs. No cars were in sight, though shadows would occasionally pass through the hut. I crawled up to the hut and put my ear to the window, muffled voices I could hear, though not enough for me to make out.
Two quick knocks was all it took; the door crept open, I waited a second then walked in. Lambert stood at a desk with another agent examining a map of the area, Grimsdottir was sitting on a couch with her head between her knees and William Redding was staring blankly into his laptop with deep concentration.
Michael Thompson, another Splinter Cell agent that I once worked along side with on numerous occasions was guarding the door with his MP5,
"Stand down," I said,
"Sam!" he lowered the gun and closed the door.
"Michael." As soon as he motioned my name Irving spun round
"Sir,"
"Sam," he said jumping forward shaking my hand. "I heard about James…"
I looked at Grim "Yeah. What's going on?"
Irving ran his fingers through the hair that remained on his head "Not good, as of one hour ago the U.S and the Chinese took the first step to the brink of war."
"Damn!"
"You're telling me? We got word that the Chinese are massing troops all over the place, ten warships and three aircraft carriers just left Shanghai and are on route for Taiwan. The President has just ordered that the 56th, 69th and 87th mountain division to be on route to Northern Burma; also five air divisions are on red alert standby. Several carriers and warships are lining up just out of the Chinese territorial waters, ready for their orders. We're letting the Chinese make the first move, for now, its not war, but damn close to it! The attack on the Embassy left thirteen American citizens dead; we got out just in time."
"What of Long Dan?"
"Don't know, don't think he made it. It was hell in there."
"Are you guys alright?" I asked stepping forward toward Grim.
"Shaken but fine, you?" Lambert asked.
I remembered I'd been shot and the pain burst back "Could be better, it was hell in there, half the Chinese military rocked up!" Grim jumped up and grabbed the medical-kit.
"And I know where the other half was," Grim sat me down and I stripped the tac-suite's top off. "What of the footage?" Grim started prodding at the wound with a medical cloth, cleaning the wound from infection.
"A substance, not sure of its purpose. On the footage was a large amount of ballistic missiles, we presume that the substance twines for their use." Grim slapped my arm signaling me to lift them; she started rapping a bandage around my stomach.
"You want me to find out what it does?"
"Precisely, but we don't know where to start."
"Northern Pakistan, that's the Origin of the footage isn't it?"
"Yes, but we've already looked there, it was abandoned, empty, nothing left behind." Jennifer pinned the end up and checked my other wounds,
"I'm fine, thanks." I said slipping a shirt over me. "I might have some leads," I pulled out the files and pointed at the words "Trojan Horse and Lanzhou, saw these words twice already, looked important, sound familiar?"
Grim got up and looked at the files "I got nothing," Lambert shook his head. "No… beats me," he said before William got up and answered "Trojan Horse, no idea, Lanzhou… a city, here in China. I'll do some looking up on the Trojan Horse, see what I can find." I gave William a look to get to it.
"I'll stay here in China, do some scouting."
"Suit yourself," Lambert said. "First let's get some sleep."
Michael went outside on first guard, William and Lambert took some shut eye, while Grim and I sat up and talked. She was still pale, and shaken; Brunton's death revealed a part of Grim I didn't know.
"Want a drink?" I offered. She shook her head and softly denied.
"How did he die?" she asked.
I took a seat beside her and took a breath "The van he was in exploded, in my face," I gained my sanity "I took him with me, and held him as he died. Most likely it was painless, he basically died straight away." I lied, but telling her his death was long and painful wouldn't go down well. "You alright?" I asked. She wiped the tears from under her eyes "Yeah, it's just… it all happened so quickly." You're telling me!
"Get some rest," I said.
I got up and walked to the table where my 5-7 laid. I picked it up and noticed the clip was empty. Grim burst into tears.
"Brunton's not the only thing bothering you, is it?" she shook her head and I sat back down. "What happened?"
She breathed in and sighed "When we got to the rally point, we thought all was going to be alright, then two trucks came; they opened fire, and… it was so loud!" she cried some more,
"Go on," I said.
"When my guard was hit, I was afraid, I got in the car and closed my eyes, then a soldier came to my car and saw me, I… I… fired and killed him!"
"You were defending yourself; don't be so hard on yourself,"
"I'm trying; it's just that I hate the person who killed Brunton so much, it hurts me to feel, someone feels the same way about me." I hugged her in comfort, "I know…" We sat there for a few minutes as she settled down, before she fell asleep. I put my head back and closed my eyes, before I slowly dropped off.
* * *
04:10 hundred hours
Outside was still dark, and our best opportunity of moving undetected; William was busy packing the rest of the gear, whilst Thompson and the other agent packed it into sedan parked out front. Jennifer still laid asleep spread out on the lounge holding the blanket tight to her neck. I helped packed the rest of the gear, and then grabbed my duffle bag from the pile.
The distant hum of jets and helicopters pierced the early morning frost, along with the constant chirp of tree frogs in the near by marsh. The fresh cold air hit my face as I walked out side. I walked around the hut to Lambert over looking a marsh holding his own OPSAT in his hands.
I walked closer and stood beside him "Morning," I murmured. He briefly looked back and nodded a reply toward me.
"You guy's gonna be alright?" I asked.
He pocketed the OPSAT "Yeah, Bird just replied to a pick up call; the CIA has arranged a secret ex-filtration point to get any Government personnel out of the country safely. Bird's picking us up. What are you gonna do?"
"Do some scouting, see what I can find on the substance."
"Oh and William found out about the Trojan Horse, it's come up recently and quite often, it has something to do with a small weapon smuggling operation out of China, wasn't our top priority until now. They have a small warehouse in Lanzhou we want you to check out. Get some leads on their intentions of the substance and those missiles. Sam, millions of lives and the future peace between the U.S and Chinese is relying on what you dig up."
"Sure,"
"To think it would come to this; we need to figure all this out before either Government loses their patience." We stood there soaking up the atmosphere; I often thought about Brunton, then William, and hoped he wouldn't be necessary.
"What do you think about William?" he thought for a moment than answered
"I think he'll be a good asset to the team, you?"
"I was thinking more of a pain, and I would have dropped the 'et'."
"I'm sorry but…" William yelled out and told us to come quickly. We ran over to William sitting on the seat with the laptop on his lap. "What?!" I yelled.
He spun the screen around and said "We knew the Chinese president had no real intentions on going to war, but he still presumably gave the order. What if he didn't?" he clicked a key and an image popped up with numerous attention headings, the image was of the president walking down into his Limo. "What does it say?" Lambert asked.
"The president has stepped down from ruler ship," I said amazed of the situation.
"Only one person could have known of the whole operation, and one person had full input on the proceedings, AKA – Brunton's death." I looked at Lambert as we held our breath. Redding tapped another key and a different image appeared, this time… Vice President Long Dan.
"My god! To think we were conned from the very start." Lambert said snapping upright.
"Permission to leave for Lanzhou sir?" I asked.
"Granted, lets move!" Lambert ordered. They packed up the car without passing a word. Grim was about to enter the car before I stopped her "Are you going to be alright?" she nodded lightly and replied "Yes, thank you Sam, for understanding." I patted her once on the back and walked to Thompson "Hey, when this is over, we'll have to catch up," he replied nervously and looked at the car "What's wrong?" I said curious.
"Nothing, nothings wrong. Yeah that sounds great." I nodded and jogged towards my bag before he
spoke up once more "Sam, stay safe…"
"You to."
* * *
I made sure nothing was left in the hut, then got dressed and took the old 1986 Chevrolet utility truck they left for me and drove north-east to Changde, a small city where I was able to camp for the day then move on the next night. I traveled towards Lanzhou passing numerous military checkpoints and towns for the next two days until I reached Hanzhong, a small city with a population under fifty-thousand.
20:45 hours
22nd July
With Long Dan now as immediate President, I was walking thin ice; any capture of any form would most likely result fatal. The OPSAT showed the rapid decline of peace to defcon-1 meaning the U.S and China are basically a hairs breadth away from war. My finding of this secretive substance might shed some light on hopeful support from neighboring nations if any form of national threat arose. Our worst fear was that if any form of lethal action was taking China would have the full support of the North Korean government due to the recent trades between the two nations and the 4th Peace Alliance treaty signed.
I camped in the Chevy a couple of kilometers out of town and messaged Lambert through the OPSAT-
'Still en route, time estimated till destination arrival: 6-8 hours depending on military presence. Next contact at 24:00 hundred hours (01:00 hundred hours U.S time)'
I packed up then continued to drive along the main road a couple of 'k's out of Hanzhong and waited for Lamberts reply. The road was dead silent as I just cruised along at sixty-five m/ph swerving to dodge the rather large pot holes on the rugged road. The Chevy kept up it revs and chewed up the fuel, driving it felt as heavy as the military truck a Xiamen as I growled along the road; not exactly the best car to avoid attention yet, it was a car… well truck.
The OPSAT vibrated and blinked once, I killed the lights and merged onto the side of the road skimming over the gravel and dense grass. I waited and checked the revision mirrors for presence then opened up the message once I was sure I was alone. I typed in the pass code to access the message and the OPSAT screen flashed to life:
'Position located, change of plan; coordinates are be uploaded to PDA; ISFU and ESPEC-Ops on route, TTA-10 minutes. Briefing will be available at meet point.
Stay safe, stay sharp. Colonel I. Lambert.'
I closed the window and opened up the coordinates
'POA- two clicks, 68 degrees North-West, of your position. Call sign-Peter Vesper. Warehouse west of docks. Three nocks then call sign.'
The ESPEC-Ops are Elite Special Engagement Corp of Operations sent on high priority missions into hot areas over seas, trained as Navy Seals and almost equivalent level of training as a Splinter Cell operative; their skill is immense. They could hit a bottle cap over distances of two 'k's; there swift, precise and never fail, there ghosts and basically a pack of Splinter Cells, trained to zip in, eliminate the objective and zip out.
Whilst the ISFU is the U.S International Special Forces Unit sent on also delicate missions to use deadly force to complete operations; mostly brought as back up if things get loud, they also execute swift ex-filtrations and rescues if things get hot.
I guessed that if they sent in the ISFU and Ops things must be getting tense; I parked the car by the bushes and grabbed the duffle from the back and got dressed into a dark slick outfit that covered up to the neck; the suit was then broken up with the vest that went over top and the additional pockets across the chest; Third Echelon did research and discovered that when the outline is broken up and chunky, the figure is difficult to make out.
I holstered the SC-20 and inserted a clip of ammo into the 5-7 and holstered it also before slipping the trident goggles over my head and switched to NV before taking off into the tree line.
* * *
21:35 hundred hours
The district was quiet and calm and the night sky was crystal and fresh with the moon gleaming down onto the still lake water that brushed up against the wooden dock pylons. Specks of light bounced across the lake of the raging nightlife that struck the city.
The warehouse was located in a compound that accessed the docks and was probably used for storing the daily shipments that traveled down lake to the Yellow Sea. The warehouse was surrounded by numerous other warehouses; some of which were opened revealing small fishing vessels camping for the night and some that looked as though for a lifetime.
I exited onto a bank where the warehouse was visible some sixty meters away making my way along until I found an appropriate spot to cross. Stepping down the bank and into the water I waded into the ice cold lake strapping the duffle bag to my back then diving forward to gain momentum. I reached a dock and weaved in between the pylons to the cement wall that rose out of the water a meter or so. Pushing off the pylon I snagged the edge of the cement wall and hulled myself up into a crouch, checked the appropriate warehouse and walked over and around the side to a rear door; I knocked three times then said "Peter Vesper,"
The door cranked then swung open to an American Major chewing furiously on his gum holding his K-59 assault rifle ready. I stripped the goggles and gave a nod in recognition.
"This way sir," he said beckoning his hand into the warehouse. He led me in to a large table flooded with lights; the room was occupied with fifteen or more men, the ISFU and ESPEC examining a map spread across the table.
The room was quiet as they stood around holding there weapons at the hip, ranging from MP5's to SPAZ-12's to L-37-BRUTES. Decked out in black clothing and topped with caps and beanies and their faces covered in black charcoal. I walked over to the table where an ESPEC Colonel stood, arm extended for a greeting.
"Colonel…?" I said grasping his hand.
"Brookes, Colonel Brookes. Welcome." Replied the Colonel; his appearance was dark, tanned and tall, I guessed him for his mid-thirties, though appearances were deceiving due to his decked out costume.
"Fisher, Sam Fisher." I said. He released the grip on my hand and pointed toward another soldier, a dark African-American Lieutenant normal in height and yet buff enough to be on the front cover of a body builders magazine. "Fisher, this is Lieutenant Michaels." I shook his firm hand and gave an acknowledgment.
"Lieutenant, sorry, I haven't been briefed on the situation…?"
He walked back to the table and spun round a laptop "It's okay, Colonel Lambert is on the line now." He pressed a few keys the stepped back, giving me room to enter the view onscreen. "Lambert?" I said as Irving appeared on screen.
"Fisher," he started "Glad you made it safely,"
"Thanks."
"Sorry about the sudden change of plans, an agreement has been made that the ESPEC-Ops would join you on your mission to Lanzhou, and if necessary complete the primary objective if things got hot."
"Cool, the thought of my ex-Seal days are coming back." I said with a grin.
"Sorry Sam, I know you like to work alone…"
"Which I do… but I can make an exception."
"Good," he lent back in his chair onscreen. "Redding's cooking up some blueprints on the area and the warehouse as we speak, he'll send them to you ASAP."
I clenched my jaw and didn't respond.
"I suggest you get moving, we haven't any time to waste; Bird's got the Osprey nesting for your arrival at these coordinates," immediately my OPSAT vibrated on my wrist and flashed once.
"Thanks,"
"I'll make contact once you all reach the Osprey, Lambert out." The screen died and the men immediately started moving.
The Colonel stepped forward and handed me back my weapons and goggles before barking out his orders "Okay lets move!" the men shouldered their guns and packed up the table lugging the gear to the nearby door. The Colonel nodded to one of his men; the soldier, without hesitation creaked the door open and passed through cautiously before signaling the rest to follow.
We swiftly passed through the docks with procedures of accuracy and stealth. We crossed the river and entered into the forest in which I had come, traveling the rugged terrain for another two clicks in the direction of the coordinates provided on the OPSAT. Three hundred meters away, through the cracks of the woodland, sat the Osprey cramped in the tight confines of the cleared landing zone. I paused the group and pressed my sub-dermal "Bird, this is Fisher, approaching your 'six'."
"Clear to move up Fisher, starting engines." He replied. We pressed forward quickly to the clearing as a low hum and a series of high pitched squeals grew strong as the propellers began rotating and moving into vertical position. The rear cargo bay door opened and each man entered with their heads low.
I entered to be met by Bird with his hand of assistance out towards me; I chucked him my duffle bag which he shoved into one of the holds and ran to the cockpit Anna sitting at the console, "Get us moving,"
The engines rumbled and the cockpit doors closed behind us, as the earth descended beneath us; they took their seats before I walked to the front cockpit. "Let's move,"
"To Lanzhou!" he growled steering the Osprey out of the clearing.
The distant glitter of lights shown through the windshield, a truly beautiful sight, purring through the air makes one lose track of time, lose consciousness and all awareness of the outside world.
* * *
The men sat and slept for a long period of the trip, Colonel Brookes stayed up and starred blankly out the window, his expressions were limited, an acknowledgement from him was known as rare, it was most likely his way of psyching himself up for upcoming missions. I was use to long deep sleeps; they are my version of psyching myself up, I can usually sleep anywhere, as comfort isn't a necessity, give me a horizontal cement slab and I'll sleep like a log, it's been like that since I was a kid.
Lieutenant Michaels sat there fiddling with the cog on his gun; his expressions were strong and serious, though calm and worried, his thoughts wondered the deck, his eyes scanning the windows. His movement showed a sign of fear and nervousness, a symptom I once knew all to well…
I stepped over and sat beside him, "Not a fan of flying huh?" I said interlocking my fingers on my knees
He seemed startled, "Huh?"
"Any one would think that flying would be a necessity in your line of work?"
"What?! I'm fine…" he said sitting up cocking his gun.
I didn't reply, I just sat there with a smile on my face starring out the window.
"Is it that noticeable?" he said breaking the silence.
I gave a chuckle, and lent back in my seat "Ah, yeah..."
"Sorry sir I…"
"Don't worry, its natural. No matter how long you've been doing something, everyone is scared. Well damn, it's your right."
"Sir?"
"Most people think that and old veteran like me, would die before getting scared. But unfortunately that's not entirely true…" I sat forward and shook my head with a chuckle,"Damn, it scares me when I realize just how long I've been at this. I've been on the frontlines for over twenty years, and usually that's a long enough time to get used to something. And in that time I've seen some damn horrible stuff that even scares me, stuff that makes you realize just how bloody twisted some people are. Every time I set foot in some war torn country, or hotspot for weapons smuggling in the middle-east, I'm terrified. It freaks me out, but that can lead to hesitation, something I don't need."
"How do you cope?"
"I hide my fear deep within me, and it's not just the danger but realizing exactly what I sometimes have to do; pulling the trigger on my first victim haunted me, I don't like killing, hell I hate it! When I killed my first victim… I, I made a quick decision, hell it wasn't even a decision, I just reacted! He screamed in pain. I wanted to shoot myself. He wasn't even alarmed, he thought I was another guy and was actually about to offer me cigarettes before I shot him. But I had to leave that behind me, I try not to look at the face of the life I just took but get on with it. I focus my attention on my objectives, get them done. When I'm back to safety then I piss my pants…" I said trying to leave that rather depressing subject.
Michaels laughed and sighed, "Thanks sir, I now know I'm not alone…"
"I said you're not alone when it comes to killing, not flying… there, you're on you own." He laughed once more and stood up and walked to the bunks.
I walked back to the cockpit and asked Bird how far off we were, then contacted Lambert before I zipped up.
"Lambert, we're getting close to our destination, anything you want to tell me?" I asked leaning over Bird's shoulder.
"No, though I'm sorry to say this but communications are going to have to be kept to a minimal, we have word that those gorillas down there have got some hot stuff, we can't risk being found out. It's most likely gonna get hot and messy, these guys are trained and will die for there country if they have too." Be careful Sam. I mean it."
"Thank you sir."
"Well, good luck, and good hunting."
"Will do."