Red Dragons

by K W Frost

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Mitsu’s knife plunged down towards Child’s back only to glance off his Kevlar body armour. Mitsu’s body then landed on top of Child’s side before falling to the floor. Immediately, Mitsu struck again, this time aiming for the throat. Throwing his left hand upwards, Child blocked the stroke with his forearm and then grabbed Mitsu’s right wrist. For a moment the struggle concentrated on the knife.

  Mitsu slowly pushed the blade closer and closer to Child’s face. Child’s left hand resisted as strongly as it could, but he was losing the battle. Mitsu could exert more leverage and more power from above. Child was only seconds away from dying.

  In a final desperate effort Child arched his body up and freed his right hand, which he then jabbed into Mitsu’s exposed throat.

  It was powerful blow.

  Even with the lack of force Child could generate from below, Mitsu gagged and yelled out. Arching forward again, Child head-butted Mitsu in the face and smashed his nose. Fresh blood gushed and splattered over both men.

  Pushing hard with his left-hand Child then rolled over on top of Mitsu. Mitsu reacted by arching high with his hips, throwing Child over his head. Child landed on the floor, skidding across the mixture of blood and tomato sauce that now covered the floor.

  Scrambling to his feet Child drew his own knife from its sheath. Crouching down low, he held it out in front of him and faced the blood-streaked caricature from hell that was Mitsu.

  No one spoke.

  On survival mattered now.

  Child moved first.

  Grabbing the movable trolley again, Child swung it between Mitsu and himself. Mitsu laughed maniacally and stopped its movement easily with his left hand. Child lunged forward, slamming both hands onto the edge of the trolley, ramming it back against Mitsu with all his weight. With his left leg shattered, Mitsu couldn’t get out of the way in time. He screamed as the trolley smashed onto his already useless foot, separating the bones with a mixture of flesh and tissue.

  Keeping pressure on his body with his left hand, Child swept the knife upwards and to the right. Child thrust the blade up under Mitsu’s ribcage, tearing through a lung and the heart. Blood flowed freely over Child’s hand as the life bled out of Mitsu.

  Mitsu died on the kitchen floor, spitting blood from his open mouth as he exhaled his final breath.

  Taking a last look down at the defeated killer, Child turned and retrieved his gun. The adrenaline that had kept him going through the last few minutes began to ebb and he staggered out of the kitchen door.

  Amazingly, the waiter Hu Seng was still alive.

  Propped up against the far wall of the kitchen, he was only dimly aware of what was happening around him. He coughed up blood. He knew he was dying, but still a fog lifted from his mind: he was here to kill Chairman Ming. The honour of his family demanded that. He had to complete the task.

  With remarkable clarity of thought, Seng lifted up the lid of a nearby pot and removed the gun hidden in there. He saw the kitchen door open and Child walking out through the smoke.

  Seng knew what he had to do now.

  Unsteadily, he followed Child out through the smoke.

  ‘Bloody hell!’ exclaimed Walker as he saw Child staggering out of the kitchen.

  Suddenly, Walker saw a figure appear behind Child through the smoke.

  Realising he was too late to warn Child as the shadowy figure started to raise his gun and point it at Child’s back.

  Seng had followed Child out of the kitchen door and into the restaurant area, his .22 gun rising for the shot. Seeing the dreaded Child in front of him now, Seng knew he could not miss.

  Seng shot Child in the back.

  The Chinese Minister for Trade, Ming Dong Yam, realised that his dream was finished. His involvement in this massacre must come to light. His life was over. However, he must try to retain his honour. He must complete the task given to him, or else he knew his family would suffer.

  Watching a blood-soaked Child emerge from the smoky kitchen, Yam knew then that Mitsu had lost the fight.

  Now it was up to Yam to complete the job.

  Ignoring the threatening presence of the helicopters outside, Yam loomed above a seated President Chu. Yam raised his knife and prepared to plunge it down into Chu’s exposed neck.

  Hikinui had landed on the outside observation deck. Hitting the release buckle on his belt, he was moving almost as soon as he had hit the ground.

  As he ran down the dark stairwell Hikinui stumbled over a body. Fearing the worst he quickly stopped to check the body, finding it dead. Flashing a light into its face, he saw the Asian features. Two more members of his squad quickly joined him in the stairwell.

  ‘One down, three or four to go,’ Hikinui reported. ‘Let’s go in, take back control and make no mistakes.’

  Child landed face down on the floor after the impact of the bullet.

  He felt like he had been hit from behind with a baseball bat.

  Both hands had instinctively retained a grip on his gun. Looking up Child saw Walker’s gun pointed towards him.

  Almost directly behind Walker, Child saw a Chinese official approach a seated President Chu, his arm raised high. Something flashed in the man’s hand.

  Ritson’s last words echoed in his brain.

  One of the Chinese officials…

  Child knew he was going to take a bullet either from Walker or Seng, but his priority was to save President Chu.

  With his gun already extended outwards towards the orbiting restaurant, Child aimed and fired to two shots.

  Two bullets entered and exited Yam’s head, splattering his brain tissue over the window, where it slowly dripped down to the floor.

  Yam died without knowing what had hit him.

  Walker shot at the exact same time.

  He fired three times.

  He had watched Child emerge from the kitchen, and then saw Seng follow him.

  Walker couldn’t prevent Seng from firing the first shot into Child, but he could stop any more from coming.

  Each of the three bullets hit Seng squarely in the chest, forcing him back against the wall. He slowly slumped onto the floor, leaving a bloody trail down the white wall.

  Harrison and his squad ran full pace into the restaurant area. They skidded to a halt just in time to see Walker and Child shoot their guns.

  Harrison raised his own gun as he sensed movement to his right.

  He swiftly swung around ready to face the new threat.

  Hikinui ran into the restaurant area, gun posed and ready.

  The first thing he saw was a Chinese official raise a knife over President Chu’s head before the assassin’s head jerked backwards with the impact of two bullets.

  ‘Everyone down!’ Hikinui yelled. ‘Get down, lie flat on the ground!’

  Sensing movement to his left, Hikinui swung his gun around.

  Harrison and Hikinui looked at each other over their raised guns.

  ‘About bloody time you got here,’ muttered Child to the two men.

  The two men peered down at a bloodied figure sprawled at their feet.

  ‘Child?’ asked Harrison,

  ‘Well, I’m certainly not Santa Claus,’ Child muttered as he pulled himself up into a sitting position.

  Harrison and Hikinui were flooded with relief. Their laughter broke the tension.

  Then they turned to face a room full of terrified politicians, all clamouring for an explanation and demanding to have their questions answered.

  Five minutes later, Harrison and his squad stood on red alert, strategically spread around the room. Hikinui and the rest of his team were doing the clean up.

  Placing the body of the Chinese Minister of Trade under a blanket, he was then moved out of the room and placed next to an unconscious waiter Yang in the stairwell leading to the observation level. The other waiter, Hu Seng, joined the dead.

  Hikinui took one glance at the kitchen, observed the dead body of Mitsu slumped over the serv
ing trolley, and then promptly closed the door. The kitchen was still filled with smoke, the walls were blood splattered and a sea of red liquid was coagulating on the floor. It looked like a macabre slaughterhouse and the image would stay in his mind forever. He officially closed off the whole area and stationed one of his officers to guard the kitchen doors.

  Child walked over to inspect the body of the Chinese Minister of Trade. He knelt down and checked the man’s hands. There were no red markings on them. Child rolled up both sleeves and found the red dragon tattoo on the dead man’s right forearm.

  Nodding to himself, Child suddenly felt very tired as his adrenaline ebbed. He found himself an empty seat in the chaotic restaurant area and sat down. Largely ignored by the frantic people around him, Child signaled to the barman who remained frozen behind the bar. Child ordered a large Bourbon and Paeroa with ice, which he then downed in one gulp. The barman quickly brought over a second drink.

  Hikinui returned from securing the observation level and saw Child seated near the bar.

  ‘Child, I’ve found a European man tied up on the observation level,’ Hikinui asked without any preamble. ‘He’s unconscious too — any idea who he is?’

  ‘Yeah, I hope you treated him carefully,’ Child replied flatly. ‘He’s President Wheeler’s personal bodyguard. His name is Mike Hardgrave. Give him another five or ten minutes and he’ll come around.’

  Hikinui nodded at Child.

  ‘Our headcount came up one short — do you know if any of them got away?’ Hikinui asked. ‘Or could someone still be hiding up here…’

  A grin splashed across Child’s face.

  ‘Go back up to the observation level and look up I think you’ll find the last one hanging around somewhere up there.’

  Just then, Thomson, Ritson, Smaille and Samantha arrived in the restaurant area. The scene had calmed down a little and the politicians were talking quietly amongst themselves and their advisers. Thomson immediately sought out Harrison for an update. Smaille went to speak to President Wheeler. Ritson and Samantha walked over to where Child was sipping a third drink.

  Looking down at Child’s blood-soaked clothes and bruised face, Ritson saw a mixture of exhaustion and contentment in his expression.

  ‘Are you alright, Simon?’

  Child looked around and smiled at his friends.

  ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. Just a bit tired, that’s all… it’s been a long day.’

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  The next day the Sky City complex was a buzz of activity. Delegates from different countries were meeting and discussing various plans and treaties. Eventually the conversation got around to the leaders’ private dinner and meeting the night before.

  The official position on the night’s events was that a door had been accidentally opened in the stairwell, causing an alarm to be raised. All effective safety procedures had immediately been put in place, but it had in fact been a false alarm.

  The national leaders had issued a joint statement saying that they felt safe and secure at all times during the meeting, and they appreciated the quick response by the New Zealand authorities. If fact, the intensity of the shocking events in the restaurant had brought the leaders closer together, and they were more focused than ever on creating stronger ties with other countries.

  No one noticed the small group of people slowly gathering in a nearby conference room. Coffee and cakes were laid out on a table, and people sat around in groups of two or three discussing the dramatic events. The mood was sombre but still remained positive, almost like when a sports team manages to secure a victory that was unexpected and undeserved.

  Before long the small conference room was filling up and all the essential people were present. Chief Inspector Thomson, Sergeant Harrison, and Sergeant Hikinui represented the New Zealand police. Thomson spoke in a hushed voice to a middle-aged man dressed in a conservative suit. Neil Stimpson had joined the group from Internal Affairs, and he still couldn’t quite believe the situation that had occurred last night. He was here to make sure that any fallout from the events would not reflect badly on his government.

  Samantha chatted to Ritson and Moody, while Gray and Smaille were in a group that included Walker and a now fully recovered Hardgrave.

  Hardgrave had not been too happy when he slowly came to, up on the observation level. It had taken some convincing and coaxing to calm down before he was reassured that the situation had been controlled.

  There were other representatives present from a range of countries involved in the APEC meeting. The island nations representatives talked amongst themselves. It had been agreed by everyone that the truth of what happened up in the Sky Tower that night would only harm international relations. The representatives were gathering to hear the final wrap up. It was what everyone was waiting for?

  Child had woken early that morning and went for a quiet five kilometre run before fifteen minutes of stretching. After a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, he arrived at police headquarters. He spent the next two hours dictating exactly what had happened over the last ten days. He told the truth and didn’t hold anything back. It was an incriminating document.

  After Child had finished at the police station, he made his way to the conference centre. Ritson and Gray had also given their statements, but it had taken them much less time. The New Zealand police and the American agents were to make separate statements to their agencies.

  When Child entered the small conference room, Samantha immediately confronted him.

  ‘How are you, Simon?’ she asked pointedly.

  Child looked calm and relaxed. He smiled at Samantha.

  ‘I’m okay, Sam.’

  ‘You did a remarkable job last night, you know — you should be proud of yourself.’

  ‘I have killed multiple people over the last few days,’ Child replied. ‘I’ve never done that before.’

  Samantha looked at Child with concern.

  ‘Do you need some help? I’m sure you could get it if you needed it.’

  ‘I’m sure I could, but I’ve been off the deep end before and I don’t want to go there again. I learnt a few skills coming back from that point. I’ll get help if I need it, but at the moment I’m psychologically sound.’

  ‘Get help, Simon, you will need it,’ Samantha said quietly. ‘I know, I’ve been there myself.’

  Child smiled again. ‘Sam, I’m fine. I think I might take a few days off now and go diving.’

  Just then, Thomson called for quiet in the room and quickly everyone settled down. All eyes were on Thomson now. He looked round the room, meeting everyone’s eyes in return. He was a man who commanded attention.

  ‘Thank you all for coming here today. Yesterday was a traumatic day. However, it was agreed last night, that we should try to minimise the effects of such an attack, and have since released a cover story to the public. If we all agree on this, then the truth of the events should stay contained. Now, has anyone here had any second thoughts or changed their mind about how we’re handling this situation?’

  Thomson was met with silence.

  ‘Well, if you do have any concerns please do come and speak to us first, as that will allow me some time to prepare my resignation,’ Thomson continued, his smile took away the seriousness of the situation. ‘I know your security officers will want to analyse and debrief the events of last night, and we’re willing to help in any way. We will of course be doing the same thing ourselves. Please have a refreshment now, speak to others in the room, and then go back to your delegation to explain that we overreacted to a simple door malfunction. Thank you.’

  A general buzz of conversation started up around the room. Child was talking to Ritson and Gray when Thomson approached with a tall, thin Chinese man by his side.

  ‘Simon, this is Mr Wu from the Chinese delegation. He wishes to speak to you.’

  ‘Welcome, Mr Wu, I hope that your president has recovered from last night’s events?’

  Mr Wu gave a slight b
ow.

  ‘Mr Child, President Chu wishes to thank you for saving his life last night. He is especially upset that the whole incident was an attempt on his life by internal factions.’

  Mr Wu held out a small wooden box. It was beautifully crafted and inlaid with intricate designs.

  ‘Mr Child, please take this small gift as a measure of our gratitude,’ Mr Wu bowed again.

  Child was going to refuse the gift, when he saw Thomson mouth ‘take it’ at him. Realising it was a matter of honour and tradition, Mr Wu would be insulted if he didn’t accept the gift. Child took the wooden box in his hands. He opened the box to find a small jade dagger inside, its handle carved with an intricate design.

  Child bowed slightly in return to Mr Wu.

  ‘Thank you, Mr Wu but this really wasn’t necessary — I would’ve done what I did to save any of the leaders there,’ Child said earnestly.

  Mr Wu gave a small smile.

  ‘Of course, I am sure you would, but it was my leader that was saved. President Chu also wanted to extend an invitation to China if you ever wanted to visit. He would be happy to make sure that your stay was an enjoyable one.’

  ‘Once again, thank you, Mr Wu,’ Child nodded. ‘If I ever travel to China I may well take up President Chu’s offer.’

  ‘I hope we meet again, Mr Child,’ he almost smiled. ‘Although next time perhaps under more pleasant circumstances.’

  Mr Wu turned and walked swiftly out of the conference room. There was a smattering of polite applause from around the room. Unbeknownst to Child, everyone had stopped and watched the gift being presented.

  For the next five minutes Child endured the congratulations from every delegate in the conference room. Similar invites were given to him from many of the leaders. Child decided that he could easily spend the next five years visiting different countries at no personal cost.

  ‘Can I see the gift, Simon?’ Smaille asked quietly, approaching Child through the throng of people.