The C-130 transport banked over the Pacific Ocean as the Five-O team settled in for a roughly seventeen hour flight to Brazil. While they talked, cleaned and prepped their weapons and tried to sleep, Steve walked over to the cockpit to radio the commanding officer of the Rio de Janeiro Naval Air Station.
Captain Warner, came on the radio.
"Captain. This is Commander Steve McGarrett," Steve introduced himself. "I am currently with the Five-O, a law enforcement unit out of Hawaii. I thought it best to give you a heads up, that my team and I are on the way. We will be landing at the base in about," Steve checked his watch, "sixteen and a half hours."
"What is this regarding, Commander?"
"Sir," Steve braced himself, "We are going in an unofficial capacity."
"Meaning that you are sneaking in. Why?"
Steve took a deep breath. "My little sister, Sir. The Encinas Cartel has kidnapped her. I believe she is in imminent danger." Steve did not notice the two marine pilots exchange quick looks. Steve continued, "Unfortunately, there is no time to go through official channels. My team and I need to handle it quickly"
"And what do you need from me, Commander?" Captain Warned asked.
"Permission to land, any information on the cartel would be greatly appreciated, Captain. The team and I can take care of everything else."
Steve heard the captain take a deep breath, "All right. We will talk more when you land. Now, I am going to go back to bed. Good night, Commander"
When the C-130 landed seventeen hours later, the Captain was on hand to meet the team. Steve saluted the captain who returned it snappily.
"Commander, welcome to NAS Rio de Janeiro."
"Thank you, Sir," Steve said. "My team. Detectives, Danny Williams, Chin Ho Kelly, and KonoKalakaua."
The Captain nodded. "Shall we continue in my office? I think you all could use some coffee."
"The Encinas compound is about ninety minutes from here. Luckily we have Blackhawks helicopter that fly interdiction flights 24/7 and one can drop you about one Click from their front door."
"Sir," Steve said. "We believe that Encinas may be in need of some type of organ transplants. Where would he be most likely to have that done?"
The Captain nodded. "Right inside the compound. There are full medical facilities, in the North West corner. Full operating room and everything else that money could buy."
"Thank you, Sir. How soon can we be on our way?" Steve asked.
"Have the coffee and the sandwich while the Blackhawk is being fueled, and you can be on your way."
Alyssa slowly came to and looked around. She was in a hospital room, but not her hospital room. She felt hot and tried to reach for the covers, but found that she could not move her arms. She tried to lift her head and saw that her arms were restrained. She felt alternatively hot and cold and her stiches hurt like crazy. She felt something wet and sticky in the vicinity of her wound, but could not see what it was.
"Don't bother. The restraints are stronger than you," a heavily accented voice.
"What is going on," Alyssa was actually proud that her voice sounded angry and not scared. "Where am I?"
"Brazil." the voice was smug.
"Why? What do you want from me?"
"You are going to be donating your organs."
"What?" Alyssa was sure she misheard.
"Senor Encinas, my boss, is sick. You are healthy. He needs your heart and your lungs and that is what you are going to donate."
"And if I refuse," Alyssa so no reason to be diplomatic.
"You have no choice." The man came into view. He was big and beefy with a cruel slant to his mouth. "You are a match. The surgery will take place shortly."
Alyssa started to struggle. The man came closer and placed his hand on her stomach, right where the stiches were and pressed hard. Alyssa screamed in pain as she felt something go "pop".
"I would recommend you stay still - it will be easier that way, but it really does not matter. to me."
Alyssa gasped in pain and fought to hold back the tears of pain, fear and frustration. At that moment a nurse came in, she said something to the man in a language that Alyssa did not understand, he spat something back, but turned on his heel and left. The nurse took out a syringe, injected something into the IV port and Alyssa's world went black.
The Blackhawk hovered right above the ground. The pilot handed Steve a device. "We will be flying back over this area within the hour. Activate this and we will land and pick you up. Good luck, Commander." Steve nodded his thanks as the side doors of the helicopter slid open and Steve jumped out followed by Danny, Kono and Chin. All were armed with their side arms as well as with their standard AK assault rifles and plenty of ammunition.
The team quickly made their way to the compound. Steve noticed the two guards at the back gate. He motioned Kono and Danny to stay back as he and Chin made their way around to approach the men from the back. On a pre-determined signal, they grabbed the guards, put their hands, on their mouths to prevent them crying out and with quick jerks, broke their necks, releasing them to fall into lifeless heaps.
Kono and Danny joined them as they opened the door, looked around and quickly entered with their guns drawn. The team made their way along the inner wall of the compound until they reached the medical facility. This door was not guarded and they entered quickly closing the door behind them.
Alyssa opened her eyes once more. She was no longer in the hospital room. She was in a larger room. She saw no windows, but there were some very bright over head lights. She was lying on something cold and hard and she was shaking so hard her teeth were chattering. With a sinking heart, she realized that she was in the operating room. She was going to die here.
"What are you...Who are you..." a guard turned his gun on the team. Steve reacted immediately putting two rounds into the man. The sound of the blast was even louder in the small hallways as it echoed in every direction.
"Let's go," yelled Steve pointing toward an arrow on the wall indicating the direction of the OR. "The operating room is down this way." Just then, a bullet ripped through his left forearm. Steve bellowed in pain and anger and turned on the shooter, but Danny had already taken the man down with two well placed bullets. He looked at Steve who nodded his thanks.
Alyssa saw the nurse, the same one she had seen earlier come in. She fussed around setting out what Alyssa assumed were surgicalinstruments and then she saw her again take a syringe. Alyssa assumed it was the anesthetic. She sighed as she was, at this point, past being afraid and was only said. Then something caught her attention. Her brain was moving very slowly, but she was certain that she heard gun fire.
She jerked and yelped in pain as the nurse jabbed the syringe into her arm. Alyssa felt a heaviness start moving from her arm and through her body. She was fighting it, trying to say awake. She thought that she heard the nurse scream and then, right before her eyes closed, she could have sworn that she saw Steve's face hovering over her.
There were two more guards at the doors to the operating room. Since there was no need now for discretion, Steve and Danny opened fire killing both guards before they could even turn their weapons. Steve burst into the operating room first. He saw a nurse leaning over somebody on the operating table. "Move away from her," Steve yelled motioning with his gun. The nurse did not speak English, but she understood the tone. She screamed and ran away.
Steve ran toward the operating table and breathed a sign of relief when he saw Alyssa. He reached out to feel for a pulse and was gratified to find that it was rapid, but strong. He gently stroked her face with the back of his hand willing her to wake up. "Aly," he called. "Aly, please wake up."Alyssa opened her eyes. She was fighting to focus and to move, but Steve quickly realized that the anesthetic was in full effect. He handed his rifle to Danny and gently picked Alyssa up. Even with his wounded arm, he did not feel her weight. He felt the heat of her fever through the thin fabric of the hospital gown and he noted with concern the blood seeping from the torn stiches He had to get her out quickly. "Lets go," he said.
Chin led the way, Danny ran by Steve who still held Alyssa and Kono brought up the rear. In this formation, the team worked their way through the hospital. They eventually came to double doors. They were not guarded as everybody had reacted to the shooting and had run toward the sounds of the heaviest fighting. The team entered the room and saw an old man in a bed surrounded by machines. They also saw glass doors leading to the outside and an ambulance parked right by the exit. Chin raised his gun to shoot out the glass, but Steve yelled, "No!"
Chin looked perplexed.
"There is oxygen being used in this room, Steve explained. "A spark and everything explodes." Chin nodded in understanding. He walked over and used the butt of the rifle to break the glass and clear a pathway. He then took point to ensure that Steve could safely get Alyssa to the ambulance. They heard battering on the door and just as they had cleared the window, they heard gunfire.
"Run'" yelled Steve. They were just able to get behind the ambulance when there was a loud explosion and the wall of the hospital building blew outward.
Miraculously, the ambulance survived. Steve and Danny got into the front and Kono and Chin took Alyssa and got into the back.
"Steve, they're coming," Danny yelled. The keys were in the ignition and Steve gunned the engine to run through the guards gathering at the gate. By this time, several cars full of well-armed, very angry cartel henchmen were also following them.
The ambulance broke through the front gate. Steve checked his watch. The Blackhawk should be overhead in the next few minutes. He hit the button on the beacon even as he pulled the ambulance off the road and onto the scrubby grass. He gunned the ambulance further away from the road until he heard the unmistakable chopping sound of the rotors. He turned to Danny. "They are too close. We will never make it onto the chopper without a distraction. Get Aly, Kono and Chin into the chopper. I will draw their fire.
Danny looked at his friend. He was about to protest, but he saw no alternative either and nodded resignedly. Steve reached for his gun just as the Blackhawk turned toward the pursuing cars and fired off its twin 60 mm cannons. The lead car flipped over and exploded. The Blackhawk then turned and the doors opened to reveal five fully armed marines who jumped out and made a cordon around the ambulance. Seeing the Marines armed for Bear discouraged the pursuers and the they stopped their cars about 150 yards back from the weapons pointed at them.
Steve and Danny exchanged surprised looks, but wasted no time getting out. Alyssa had started to wake up and Kono and Chin were able to help her out of the ambulance and into Steve's arms. He then lifted her to Danny who wasalready in the helicopter. He made sure Kono and Chin were in before jumping in. The Marines followed them in, the doors slid shut and the helicopter took off.
Steve looked at the Marines who had now taken off their helmets. "Thank you," he said.
"Sir," said the young man with the insignia of the Master Sergeant. "It's small base. We all heard why you and your team were here. Every man here has a younger brother or sister and every single one of us would move heaven and earth to help them if they were in trouble." He smiled, suddenly looking younger yet, "We volunteered because we thought you could use a little extra fire power." Steve just nodded, grateful beyond words. "Now, Sir,"the Master Sergeant continued, "Corporal Jenkins, over there is a medic. With your permission, he can see to your arm and see what he can do to make your sister more comfortable."
Alyssa opened her eyes again and looked around. She was not in the operating room which was all to the good, but she was not sure where she was and her brain felt like it was full of cotton and she could not think straight. She remembered snippets. Being in the hospital room, the operating room, seeing Steve (surely just her wishful thinking). Then being moved from place to place. Her head ached and she was still shivering. "Okay," she said to herself. "One step at a time." She looked around. She seemed to be in a metal tube that vibrated. An airplane!
She felt the hard floor underneath her and she was covered with a blanket. She thought about it for a moment and realized that she was not laying down, but was partially sitting up. She was leaning on something (on somebody?). She looked down and realized that there was an arm wrapped protectively around her. She looked at it more carefully. It was strong and clearly a man's arm. There were tatoos. Who did she know that had tattoos? Steve! Steve was holding her. She turned slightly and looked up right into Steve's eyes. For the first time, she realized that they were exactly the same shade as hers although now they were clouded by concern.
"You came to get me?" Alyssa whispered unbelievingly. "Why?"
Steve looked at her, eyes full of emotion, "Because you are my sister," he said. "Because I care about you, very much and," his voice hardened, "because I will be damned if I ever allow anyone to hurt you ever again."
Alyssa looked at Steve and her eyes strayed to his bandaged forearm. "Oh, Steve. No," she said. "This is my fault."
"No." Steve said. "This is not your fault. It's the fault of those bastards who took you and who were going to kill you." Alyssa actually cringed at the anger in his voice. Steve took a deep breath and spoke more gently, "Its OK. I'm fine. I promise."
Alyssa looked around and saw Kono and Danny and Chin. Steve read the look on her face. "They are all fine too."
"But why?" this all made no sense to Alyssa.
"Because," there was actually a smile in Steve's voice, "you are important to them. Because you are part of the family now, and because as a family we have each others backs."
Alyssa did not realize that she was crying, until Steve gently wiped her tears with his thumb. "We are a couple of hours from Hawaii," he said. "Rest now. I promise that everything will be OK. You are safe now." He gently kissed the top of her head as he pulled her blanket up and adjusted his arm a bit to make Alyssa more comfortable. Alyssa closed her eyes feeling truly safe for the first time in her life.
Thank you for reading. Your comments and reviews are appreciated