Don't own Chuck
Chuck went and talked to the pilot as they approached Guangzhou Baiyun International then he went back and got Casey ready. This wasn't his first HALO launch but this had the added pleasure of it he got caught he'd be rotting in a Chinese prison for duration. Chuck looked over Casey's chute and equipment. He especially wanted to check Casey's oxygen apparatus, jumping at 25,000 feet he was going to need it to stay conscious and not go splat.
"Okay Mom, I ready to go. This isn't my first rodeo," said Casey as he finished suiting up. In addition to oxygen he needed an insulated pressurized suit to stave off hypothermia and keep from getting the bends when he landed.
"I know John but safety first and it doesn't hurt to have a second set of eyes making sure everything is okay. You remember what you're supposed to do? Retrieve the three cases then make it to the rendezvous point."
"You know you're going to piss a lot of Chinese agents off with this plan of yours. I hope you know what you're doing."
"I do too but like this we'll find out where Ettore is at and hopefully get the jump on Anna and Morgan wherever they're at."
"You don't worry about them now. Just think about getting us in then we'll worry about dealing with the little traitor."
"I thought you were cool with Morgan going in to rescue Alex," said Chuck as he helped him put his oxygen tank on.
"I'm okay with him going to try to rescue Alex but what I'm not happy with is the company he's chosen to keep. Chuck, you're not like me or Sarah. We see other people playing this game and we see people who will sooner or later turn on us so we give them as little as possible to use against us…"
"You're saying Anna's using Morgan? I don't think so… I mean they were really like moving in together close," said Chuck. "Okay you're ready to go."
"Like I said you're like a little puppy all bright eyed and think life is grand. That is until your master takes you to your first dog fight then you have to learn in a hurry. Anna is one of us now and you said it right they used to be close… the key word there is 'used to be'. Remember what I said about a tiger trap?"
"What? That you need a goat for bait," said Chuck as he pushed the intercom button telling the pilot in Russian they were ready for the maneuver.
"Yeah and who do we know that looks and eats like a goat. She's probably got her under her charms already."
"I just told the pilot we were ready," said Chuck as he got out his own bottle of oxygen. "You're forgetting my Mom is on the plane with them. She'll keep an eye out for Morgan."
"You don't really believe that? She's probably hunting the tiger too. Morgan's only real hope is if we can pull this off. I hope we can trust Red Ivan in the cockpit and his brother Boris Badenov."
"I wish you wouldn't call them that. They're doing us a favor and yes, we can trust them. Igor handpicked them himself."
"Now you see that right there would've set off an alarm for me. You don't give up your best and brightest on some cockamamie plan that could get them killed."
"What can I say John? Igor trusts me and so do you seeing as you're climbing down in the landing gear well."
"Don't remind me," said Casey. Chuck closed the hatch after him then radioed the pilot they were a go and put on his oxygen mask. As soon as the wheel well opened the cabin lost pressure along with its oxygen. Casey jumped in the dark into a free fall plummeting towards earth. Soon he reached terminal velocity and he felt his arms pinned to his side as he continued downward. On the inside of his helmet he saw a computer readout that told him his velocity and distance to the target area.
"I'll never tell Chuck this but this computer screen inside the helmet makes this jump a lot easier." But John didn't have much time to think about anything before he knew it warning alarms were going off inside his helmet telling his it was time to pull the cord.
"Not yet," said John as he watched the altimeter in his helmet scroll past numbers. But John wanted to make sure he came in under the radar. The last thing he needed was someone looking up and then phoning into the police. Just at around the 1000-foot mark he pulled the cord. His chute deployed but he knew he was going to have a rough landing.
However, that had been figured in, he dropped in a marshy area on the banks of the Pearl river delta making a loud splash. Luckily there was no one around to hear him as he waded around trying to recover his chute as quickly as possible along with the three cases. But once that was done we took everything to the bank where he buried everything including his jump suit. Once everything was buried he pulled out his G-man outfit as Chuck called it and put it on.
"Okay now comes the fun part. I need to get back to civilization," said Casey as he pulled out his phone then looked up where he was on google earth then the quickest route into Guangzhou.
John made quite a stir at the bus stop when he walked out of the reeds then stood at the stop waiting for the bus. A little boy looked up at him standing there with his mouth opened. The boy's mother said something to him but he continued staring. Next time she whacked the kid in the back of the head and said something in Chinese.
"Ouch! But Ma look it's Tommy Lee Jones… Agent K," said the boy in English as he pointed at Casey. "Men in Black!"
"Shush," said Casey then he pulled out his penlight and held it up. The boy's eyes got big then he closed them tight. When the boy opened his eyes, Casey was gone.
"We've had our memories erased. Do you remember seeing the man in black? Ma do you remember see that man?"
"What man are you talking about? The one you were staring at? His bus came and he left. Now behave ours will be here soon."
"That's what he wants you to think happened but I kept my eyes closed and I know better," said the boy as he looked around at the other people. "I wonder if there are any unregistered aliens around here? Maybe we need another wall... a great wall... a greater wall."
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In the meantime, Chuck's Sukhoi-Gulfstream S-21 was given permission to land. Once it was down on the tarmac it was quickly whisked away to an isolated hanger. A few minutes later a caravan of black SUVs with darkened windows pulled in and a squad of men in black boarded the plane. When they got onboard they found Chuck sitting in the passenger cabin with a glass of scotch in his hand waiting for them.
"Mr. Carmichael, my name in Mr. Tien. If you don't mind please follow me. We need to take you to our headquarters to talk business," he said in English with a slight British accent.
"Mr. Tien, please call me Chuck and certainly let's go to your headquarters," said Chuck as he got up. "You're not the first MSS agents I've met by the way."
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Tien as he looked at the men with him. They all obviously spoke English. "You realize I could send you back where you came from?"
"Oh, I don't know. Even if you wanted to I don't think your superiors will let you. Your people are dying to have a look at this plane. I should tell you that Director Trotski sends his best regards and after your people are done looking the plane over he'd like to open negotiations for a joint venture. He thinks there's a market for supersonic business aircraft like this one but the production costs are high so he'd like to look to you as a partner."
"I see but that's above my paygrade but I'll pass it on. Who knows this could be the one good thing you've brought us."
"Making a buck not very Marxist is it but these are practical times for practical people. I hope I'm bringing you more than this. Now please show me the way."
"This way Chuck," said Tien. If he was softening up to Chuck he wasn't showing it. Tien had a good poker face. Chuck got up from his seat put tripped as they walked out of the cabin causing him to stumble into Tien.
"I'm so sorry. One of the side effects of supersonic flight I'm afraid. I should have my land legs under me soon. Are you all right? You really have to excuse me."
"Yes, I'm fine. Come on we need to go," said Tien as he led the way down the ladder to the waiting vehicles. But he wasn't going to risk any more collisions so he put one of his men behind himself and Chuck. When Tien got down the ladder he held the door open for Chuck.
"Thank you," said Chuck as he patted him. "I'm really embarrassed about before." Tien looked at Chuck's hand on his shoulder and his look was enough to tell Chuck he was uncomfortable with all this touching.
"Don't worry about it," said Tien as he motioned for Chuck to get inside. Then he and two other men of his got in with him.
"Call ahead and tell them we picked up our target and are returning to HQ," said Tien in Mandarin to the men in the front. "Do you understand Mandarin Chinese or Cantonese?"
"It's something I've always meant to do but never got around to doing. My best friend and I used to sneak out of school to go watch all the Shaw Brother films. The 36 Chambers of Shaolin or Master Killer with Gordon Liu was one of my favorites along with the Drunken Master with Jackie Chan before he became famous."
"We really don't watch those films," said Tien. "Because we have better things to do with our lives. You should really get a life," he said in Mandarin. Chuck just smiled at him.
"I'm sorry were you speaking to me? Like I said I really don't speak your language," said Chuck as they drove into the heart of Guangzhou. It was a very modern city all that remained before the revolution was torn down to make way with this new modern city. "Is there anything left of the old city?"
"There are a few things some temples and the Chen Clan ancestral hall. What did you expect something like in one of your films? That would be like me visiting your Midwest expecting to find Indians living in Teepees."
"They prefer to be called 'Native Americans' but I see what you mean and you've got a good point," said Chuck as they made a turn then entered a subterranean parking garage.
"We're here," said Tien as they came to a stop. "Now if you will follow me to the elevator I'll take you up to our conference room."
"No problem, I'm following you," said Chuck. Although he had an idea that he was being take to an interrogation room not a conference room. They got on the elevator and Tien reached for his wallet but it wasn't where he thought he'd left it. "Something wrong," asked Chuck.
"No, no, it's right here," he said. He found his wallet in his jacket pocket. He pulled out his security badge and swiped it. The red light above the floor numbers in the elevator turned green then he pushed the button for their floor. The doors closed then they started up.
"You know you should get some music and have it play as people ride the elevator. It's relaxing and it will make them more productive. We've had it for a long time. Have you ever heard of Jeffster they are well liked in Germany by both men and women? You might want to check them out for your elevator... I mean their music."
"I'll keep that in mind," said Tien as the bell sounded and the elevator stopped then the doors opened. "Just keep following me."
"It's just an idea," said Chuck as he stepped off the elevator. Tien looked back at him. "I was talking about the music for your elevator not following you. Please lead the way."
They walked down a long white corridor with bare walls. You couldn't get any more impersonal thought Chuck. They walked to the end then Tien opened a door.
"Please come inside," he said in Chinese. Chuck was ready for the test. He stood there and looked at Tien like he hadn't understood him. "I'm sorry I keep forgetting you don't understand Chinese. Please after you."
"Thank you," said Chuck as he walked into a windowless room with a white conference table and white chairs in a white office. "It seems like your interior decorator lacked imagination. You know what this room needs a nice ficus in one of the corners to give the room some color other than white."
"I'll pass that on. If you could have a seat someone will be with your momentarily," said Tien. He closed the door and Chuck was left in the room by himself. He glanced down at his watch then pulled a chair out. The room was very bright with all the white and lighting. Chuck had an idea he knew why.
He walked around the room pecking on the walls until he got a hallow ping. The bright light was so people on the other side of the one-way glass could look in but he couldn't see them. He pulled out a black marker from his jacket then held it up.
"If I do this I could get into trouble… I do it anyway," said Chuck as he popped the cap and started drawing a mural on the wall. He got the result he wanted in a few minutes the door opened and Tien along with two men came in.
"What do you think you're doing? That's defacing government property. We could have you thrown in jail for that."
"That… that you are talking about is a work of art. I call it galloping horses like my time you're wasting. So you said this was a government building. Then is this a MSS facility?"
"I never said that. Give me your marker and have a seat. Please be patient," said Tien. "Someone will be with you soon."
But as they were speaking the lights went out and emergency lighting came on. Chuck could see a group of men on the other side of the one-way glass as they scurried out. Suddenly all the doors in the building opened and the elevators stopped running.
"Tien, your building is under cyber-attack. This is what you get when you deal with known criminals like Ettore LaBarba."
"But he hasn't been here and our building is on a closed net. How could he have done this? How do you know about LaBarba anyway?"
"Because I'm hunting him. He took something very close to me and I want her back… I want them back and I won't stop until I'm done. I don't care if I have to burn down your whole country I will have him."
"This is you?" said Tien as it sunk in to him what Chuck was saying. "You realize you'll never get out of here."
"There's more to come if I don't get my sister and Alex back from Ettore. You people decided to dance with the devil and this is what you get," said Chuck. The pen in Tien's hand began to smoke. He dropped it on the ground afraid it would explode but it just made a thick heavy smoke.
"Get him! Everyone inside now go get him," yelled Tien as he coughed and hacked but as quickly as it appeared it was gone. The smoke vanished and so did Chuck, they were alone in the room.
"Where did he go," said Tien as they looked around the room. A large circular piece of the mural Chuck had drawn fell out revealing a gaping hole.
"Crap, he's loose still in the building. Come on we need to find him," said Tien. They ran out of the room then down the hall back to the elevators. They were still out of order so they hit the fire escape.
"Call down to the lobby and have they them cut him off before he gets away," yelled Tien as they ran down. "We've got him boxed in." But as Tien ran down the stairs something bothered him. Surely Chuck would've known they'd call down to cut off his retreat.
"Wait one," said Tien. "You two come with me. The rest of you keep on going down. Call me when you reach the lobby and tell me if you have him. We're going back up to the roof."
Tien started back up the stairs with his two men running for the roof top. If he was right he'd find Chuck there but what could he possibly hope to achieve by this? There was no way down and he'd boxed himself in but he could ask Chuck this in person when he grabbed him.
"Not very smart," thought Tien as he ran up the steps. "And just when I was beginning to like you."
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Ettore's maneuver seemed to work, the three submarines sailed as a pack until the cleared the Philippine Trench then they each made their run for a different port. The Dewey broke off and started steaming towards Okinawa. The General wasn't happy to let Ettore get away again but she had little choice in the matter.
"I hope Chuck knows what a position he's put me in. I've got the Joint Chiefs barking down my neck asking what's going on and there's only so much I can tell them when they ask what's so special about this particular submarine convoy."
"You could tell them that Ettore is onboard one and we're tracking him," said the Major as he handed her a cup of coffee.
"Caffeine is the last thing I need right now. And how am I supposed to tell them that? One of the reasons I had the crew from that Chinese freighter shipped off to our dark site was to keep them out of the sight of people like the Joint Chief who would ask what they were up to. Now you want me to come out and tell them?"
"Well said like that I guess it would be a mistake," said the Major. He realized he'd put his foot in it but there was no way to pull in out now.
"You think? If they knew Ettore was onboard and that he had an intersect... even a faulty one they'd order the Dewey to turn around and sink all three subs regardless of the fallout."
"But how would they justify that to the rest of the world? The Chinese would be livid with rage and demand vindication. We couldn't very well go to the United Nations and tell them about the intersect program."
"With the current administration, they might not care... well maybe the one who'd have to get her clothes made elsewhere would. But there are plenty of sweat shops around the world. No, it's better if we keep this as close to our vest as possible."
"Isn't it our job to pass intel along so that those who are elected can make informed and educated decisions?"
"You said it there informed and educated and when they're elected into office I'll pass along what I know. I have no desire to be the one who starts world war III. And don't think for a moment Chuck hasn't thought the same thing. We only know about half if not even less of his plan but I'm going along with it because it gives me plausible deniability." As they were talking a phone rang in the back.
"General, I hate to bother you but this is your office. The Chinese ambassador in on the line he wants to talk to you."
"Patch it through to the watch officer's room, I'll take it there," said the General then she cleared everyone out. "Major, you stay I want you to hear this," she said as she put the call on speaker phone.
"Ambassador, how are you? I don't suppose you're calling to tell me you just found a new Irish folk band you like and you want me to come to hear them play?"
"Very funny, what the hell is Chuck doing in Guangzhou? He's managed to piss off the local MSS and caused a shutdown of one of our information hubs."
"I really don't know what you're talking about. You wouldn't be admitting to me that your government is harboring a known criminal... one of the top ten on Interpol's bad guy list now would you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I want to know what you're going to do about your agent. If you don't recall him now we can't be responsible for what happens to him."
"I can hold you responsible for the criminal who kidnapped two American citizens and is now skulking back to your country on one of your nuclear-powered submarines. They just cleared the Philippine trench and the sub pack broke up. I could've ordered the submarines sunk but I didn't so you can tell your government I expect the same courtesy."
"I don't know anything about that," said Sheng. The General had managed to throw him off and now he wasn't sure how to recover.
"I don't see why you should. You're a diplomat these types of things are handle by people like me who work in the dark. Remind your people, Chuck has helped your guys out in the past. There's a saying you should tell them too. 'When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends'."