Kharon

by Wayne Marinovich

  In the bright torchlight, two thin wires were just visible, spanning the rectangular tunnel that was cut into the brick wall and concrete foundations of the building. Multiple torchlights pierced through the dusty darkness of the tunnel, all converging onto a small package, with a red LCD timer. The numbers were descending.

  35. 34. 33…

  'Bomb! Everyone out,' Andrei shouted. 'Evacuate, and grab Butch's body as you go.'

  The team moved out of the small room through the janitor's office, dragging the young man's body out through the basement landing into the bright, warm sunshine. Andrei squinted as his reached for his radio.

  'There is a bomb in the building. Take cover, everyone. Fifteen seconds.'

  The explosion thudded through the building, sending shockwaves through the walls, shattering all the lower windows with the vibrations. A large dust cloud billowed through the open the metal doors, sending some of the slower men diving for cover.

  Andrei clicked the receiver on the radio again. 'Butler has escaped through a tunnel below the building. Everyone on the perimeter cordon pull back two blocks. Priority is laying eyes on the target. They’re trying to make a break for it.’

  Andrei stood looking at the group of men who were standing near him.

  'Someone find me a map of the subway system below us,' he shouted.

  • • •

  Lord Butler walked back and forth in the large tunnel, rubbing his aching arm. A long deep breath would ease the tension, and he closed his eyes for a few seconds to do his breathing exercises. Woolf had sent them on ahead while he set the bomb, and now they were alone, waiting for him.

  'Arrrrgh…' he screamed out loud, causing Roger to jump with fright near him. The scream echoed down the subway tunnel in both directions.

  'Is everything all right, Francis?' Roger asked, shifting Stuart’s position from one shoulder to the other.

  'No they are not okay, you silly boy. Do you have any idea what we do if Woolf doesn't make it back?' he said and walked closer to the large standing gas lamp Woolf had stored for them in the tunnel.

  'No, Francis. I knew about the tunnel but have no idea where he intends for us to go from here.'

  Looking down at his shivering hand, Lord Butler felt the dark anger fog his mind. The darkness mocked him for being scared of losing everything. He should have killed Kirilenko with his own hands.

  The sound of scraping boots echoed from the small tunnel and out into the vast subway tunnel. Lord Butler lifted the shotgun from under his jacket and waited. A dusty, blond head appeared out of the small tunnel and came into the lamplight.

  'Jesus, Woolf, where have you been? I had no idea where to go next.'

  'I had to engage them a little longer to keep them occupied in the janitor's room, or else they would have found the bomb and had time to deactivate it.’

  'I heard the explosion and thought it had been you that died when you didn’t appear.'

  Woolf smiled. 'I would never leave your side, sir. I am not sure if any of them died, but the tunnel is now sealed, so they don't have a clue in what direction we are heading.'

  'If Kirilenko survived, then he will figure it out sooner or later. He's a crafty old bastard.'

  'I realise that sir. He will send men to all the old major subway station entrances. That will stretch his resources to the limit. We, however, are not going to any of the stations.'

  'Then where the hell are we going, Woolf? In the future, I’d like to be more informed of your plans because we would have been stranded if you’d died in the tunnel.'

  'Yes, sir,' Woolf said and walked over to where Roger was sitting. He picked up a large duffel bag and a gas lamp, and walked off down the tunnel.

  Foul-smelling water dripped from short stalactites that hung from the old red brickwork that lined the inside of the tunnel. Large patches of brickwork and rendering had fallen from the ceiling and lay strewn on the floor and tracks, making the journey more treacherous.

  'Woolf!' screamed Lord Butler. 'How much longer are we going to keep trudging along in this cesspool of a tunnel? We've been trekking for twenty minutes already.'

  'A hundred yards more, sir. Then it will all be over.'

  They caught up to where Woolf had stopped beside a metal double door. He raised his fingers to his lips as he opened the metal handle with a screech. As he pushed the door with his shoulder, a blast of fresh air washed over them like a fresh shower of icy water. Woolf raised his Beretta and walked into the large square room that had a metal ladder bolted to the furthest wall. With them all inside, he locked the door behind him with a large sliding bolt.

  'How am I going to carry all my kit up that ladder with one bloody arm, Woolf?' Lord Butler snapped.

  'All taken care of sir,' Woolf said and grabbed a radio from his pocket. 'Echo one, Echo one, we are in position, copy, over.'

  'Copy, Echo one,' came the short message. A few seconds later, two climbing ropes were lowered, one with attached bungee wraps, and a second with a large canvas strap net. Woolf took all their bags and coupled them together along with all their machine guns. Roger placed Stuart in the large netting.

  'Take them up, Echo one,' he said. 'Do it slowly, over.'

  'Copy that,' came the reply. The ropes drew tight and took the strain, then lifted the cargo from the ground.

  Lord Butler climbed out of the concrete shaft, into the bright light of an atrium. He smiled as he looked around at the abandoned office building that surrounded them. Walking across to Woolf, he placed his arm around the man's shoulders.

  'Well done, Woolf. Once again you have shown your worth to me, even as I doubted you. I will never forget that.'

  'Thank you, sir. May I direct your eyes over towards those men over there? They are the warlord's special guard and will get us out of here in those Humvees.'

  'What Humvees? There are no vehicles here.'

  Woolf waved his hand, and a loud whirring noise started on the side of the atrium as two shutter doors opened to reveal the two metal beasts.

  Lord Butler laughed out loud as the stress dissipated from his body. 'My dear Woolf, may I say that you have developed a fine flair for the dramatic. Now let's get the hell out of here.'

  Chapter 35

  Manhattan Avenue, New York, NY, USA- 2033

  Andrei snatched the old Subway map from the young NAG soldier’s grasp and tried to unfold it in the slight breeze. The wind flicked the bottom corners of the flimsy paper up into his body and he adjusted his large frame to act as a windbreak. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw three NAG soldiers running from the entrance of the Butler building and then disappear around the corner.

  Miguel ran over to him.

  'Boss, we have a sighting of two Humvees, driving at high speed, in a southerly direction along Fifth Avenue. One of the spotter teams you deployed yesterday saw them coming out of a building garage three blocks from here. I have placed all men south of our position on alert, and hopefully, we can track them that way. The men are readying the trucks for when we have to start pursuing them.'

  'Yes! Great work. Let's go,' Andrei said, feeling the relief that his gamble had paid off. Depleting his forces to set up observation teams around Manhattan might yet prove to be a great move.

  A grey truck pulled up next to them, and he jumped into the cab. Miguel sat between Andrei and a large African American driver, a large smile on his face.

  'All call-signs. Can you confirm if the target is in one of the Humvees, over,' he said into the small black radio handset.

  'Alpha one. This is Delta Echo team. That is a negative. I have the two vehicles in my scope. Heading south, towards our current position at speed. They are driven and manned by men with M16s and M27s. Copy over.'

  Miguel looked up at Andrei, awaiting instructions.

  'It must be them,' Andrei said. 'We have to take a gamble. Tell them to keep open radio contact and to track the Humvees' positions. Other than the NAG, only the warlord could afford to keep those types of
vehicles.'

  Miguel relayed the information in his short, clipped manner. One by one the confirmations from the observations posts filtered in.

  'Miguel, leave two teams to watch the front, and side doors just in case the Humvees are a diversion. Pull the rest out and tell them to stay on the radio then hone in on our position broadcasts.'

  'Yes, sir,' Miguel said.

  A few seconds later the truck turned left onto 97th Street and into the green setting of Central Park. They wound their way through a tree-lined park road. Red and golden leaves had started to fall and covered the road like a Persian carpet. The seasons were changing, and soon the snow would come. Cruising up to one of the collapsed stone tunnels, the driver slammed on the brakes as he pulled out to miss some large blocks of smooth stone and concrete. Halfway through the short tunnel, five young teens jumped out to stand in front of their homemade roadblock.

  'What now, sir?' he said.

  'Carry on driving,' Andrei said. 'They will move.'

  Leaning out of the open window, he lifted his Glock into the air and fired two rounds into the stone walls in line with the teenagers, who jumped out of the way of the accelerating truck.

  Miguel's radio handset crackled into life again. 'Delta Echo team here. Targets have turned left into East 59th Street.'

  Andrei grabbed the map out of his combat pants pockets and quickly opened it. Tracing his finger across the streets. 'Shit, I knew it' he shouted and grabbed the radio from Miguel.

  'All teams. Converge on Roosevelt Island from your current position. Target is heading to the Warlord's residence. Delta Echo and Delta Foxtrot teams, use sniper fire to engage. I repeat, engage the vehicle and prevent it from reaching the Ed Koch Bridge. Copy, over.'

  • • •

  The inside of the Humvee was crammed with bags of equipment and the mercenaries who were manning the vehicle. Two were seated in the front seats, with a wide metal console passing in between them. A third man was standing up in the middle, his upper body sticking out of the circular open turret in the roof. Lord Butler sat behind the driver and looked around the standing man's legs, to Roger who had Stuart on his lap on the seat at the other side of the vehicle. Heaving breathing could be heard from behind him as Woolf crouched in the back, sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, loading spare magazines for his Beretta.

  Lord Butler folded his arm over his stump and thought back to the apartment he had just left. There were personal and sentimental items from his mother, along with other valuables, which had had to be left behind. They could be collected at a later date. First, he had to engage all those from the NEG and NAG who dared to try and stop him.

  'How much longer, driver?' he snapped.

  'We are on the onramp to the bridge now, sir. Our orders are to approach that thick white line that is painted across the road and then make contact with the barricaded tower.’

  ‘Yes, yes, I know about the stupid daily password thing. Let's just get a move on.'

  A muffled yelp came from outside the Humvee, and the standing soldier slumped onto his knees and rolled over onto Lord Butler. Blood from a massive hole in the man's chest oozed through his khaki chest webbing.

  'Snipers!' the shout came over the driver's radio. 'Firing from the buildings behind us.'

  Loud cracking noises resonated within the hollow interior as the sniper bullets hit the thick bulletproof glass and hull. Lord Butler curled up as Woolf dragged the mercenary's body off him.

  The driver screeched to a halt. 'Penguin!' he shouted into the radio. 'Penguin! VIP under attack. Coming in hot.'

  The monstrous Humvee engine roared into life again as the driver pulled off, the vehicle behind them ignoring the set protocol to follow them. They approached the large concrete construction dividers that had been staggered across the width of the upper deck of the bridge. Three vertical machine-gun posts had been constructed, with sandbags piled all the way up the sides, leaving small openings from which the barrels of the M240s could be pushed through. As they swerved through the narrow channel, Lord Butler caught sight of small pockets of men who were set up behind the large concrete blocks, dragged into position to slow down any approaching vehicle.

  'Hurry up, driver!' Lord Butler shouted.

  Once they were through the barricade, the multiple lanes of the bridge were empty, and the Humvee's driver floored the accelerator again. Racing along the tarmac, they crossed the East River and could see all six apartment blocks on Roosevelt Island on the left. At the midpoint of the large bridge was another concrete structure that had hundreds of sandbags packed up against it.

  Woolf leaned forward. 'Are you going to be okay, sir?'

  'I will bloody well have to be,' he snarled as the Humvee screeched to a halt next to a large doorway. The group exited the vehicle and walked into the large sandbag-covered structure.

  A rush of adrenalin started to spread through Lord Butler as the darkness took control, mocking his weaker self. I will take care of you again, Francis. Don’t let them see the fear in your eyes. Inside the building was a large cage and he looked out at the massive drop in front of the large construction. Thick cables passed through pulley systems about their heads, falling away steeply towards the ground. The cables spanned the gap between the bridge and the warlord's residence in the first apartment building, a hundred meters away.

  'Right, sir, you said you’ve been in the cage slide before,' the soldier said. 'Please, can everyone step inside and take a seat on one of the benches. Tie the straps across your laps as tightly as possible. The jolt at the other end will be rather violent, and we don't want you falling all out.'

  'Clear!' shouted one of the men from behind the cage.

  Two of the khaki-clad soldiers started to push the cage forward. The weight of the full cage picked up the strain on the cable then it dropped away. The occupants gasped for breath as their stomachs tried to climb into their chests. Lord Butler felt his grip tighten on the bench under the weight of the G-forces, his eyes squeezed shut. The few seconds of weightlessness was nauseating, then the cage swung forward as it took up the slack and started to race towards the large opening in the opposite building. It was a few floors below their departure point, and they continued to pick up speed.

  'Keep your heads down, folks!' a soldier shouted from the front of the cage. 'Their snipers might take a pot shot at us.'

  The rushing wind squealed as it passed through small holes in the metal cladding that surrounded the cage.

  'Brace for impact!' shouted the soldier as he gave a hard tug on the braking mechanisms that screeched and let off smoke as the cable screamed through metal brake callipers. A loud crash was followed by a bone-jarring jerk as the cage swung upwards through ninety degrees, reaching its zenith.

  A collective groan went out as they were forced down into their seats again. Relief followed swiftly as the cage swung back down on the large metal swivel that was suspended from the roof. Four men ran forward and slowed the swinging cage, bringing it to a stop a few seconds later.

  'Bloody hell,' Lord Butler said under his breath as the motion sickness kicked in, and he felt the vomit rising in his throat. Stepping off the contraption, he took a few deep breaths and swallowed hard.

  A soldier grabbed him by the arm. 'Sir, please step away so we can unload the cage and send it back up for all your other stuff.'

  Lord Butler nodded his head and staggered forward to where Woolf and Roger had assembled. 'Let us never have to do that again. Next time can we use bloody boats, like sane people?'

  • • •

  Andrei's eyes widened as he saw the puff of smoke come from amongst concrete and sandbag barricades. A thin trail of smoke spiralled towards them, and in the blink of an eye, it hit the first of the trucks that had raced in after the Humvees. The cab of the front truck exploded in a black and yellow ball of flame causing the back of the truck to lift off its front wheels, the mass of metal stopping in its tracks with a whine of bending steel. A flame-cloud lifte
d above them and was followed by the explosion of the fusion boiler. Water and steam bellowed out in all directions. The second truck screeched to a halt up against the back of the stricken vehicle.

  'Quick, get on the radio and get the other vehicles to reverse down the on-ramp. They must drive around to the other off-ramp so we can attack them from two angles,' Andrei shouted.

  Miguel barked the order into the radio as Andrei reached behind the narrow gap between the seats and the back of the cab. Feeling the cool metal of the M27, he pulled out one of the stacked machine guns and chambered a round.

  'Get out on my side of the cab. The truck wreckage up front will give us cover,' he shouted, and slipped out of the door and into the sun.

  Andrei heard bullets thumping into the nearby metal carcass. It drove him into action as he shimmied to the right and got down on one knee. Taking a deep breath, he squeezed the trigger and let off a volley at one of the machine gun turrets. Sand flicked up from the ripped sandbags as the bullets strafed around some of the gaps. A few seconds later the yellow muzzle fire from the narrow openings signalled the return fire, and he darted back to his left behind cover.

  'Does anyone have a sighting of the Humvees?' he barked into his radio. 'Have they crossed the bridge?'

  Silence for a few seconds.

  'Delta Kilo here. Have sighted the two targets. They stopped in the middle of the bridge, and the targets have crossed the divide in a large cage zip wire, over.'

  'Did you engage, over?'

  'Affirmative, Alpha one. Several shots were taken at the moving cage, but it made it into the first building, over.'

  'Copy that,' Andrei said. He ran to the back of their truck. Pulling the satphone from his pocket, he punched in a speed dial number.

  'Hello, Andrei,' Gibbs answered.' I have been waiting for an update. What's happening at the apartment building? I can hear firing. Do you have Butler yet?'

  'No, we don't,' Andrei said. 'The bastards had an escape tunnel in place below the hideout. They got away.’

  'Shit!'

  'One of the ops teams I stationed nearby got a sighting of them, and we managed to track them through Central Park to the residence of the New York warlord.'