Edge of War - [Red Dragon Rising 02]

by Larry Bond

  Mara leaned over. “It’s going to be okay,” she told Mạ in Vietnamese.

  “Yes,” said the girl in a voice so soft Mara could barely hear it.

  The two elevator shafts were separated by a set of girders that were easy to pass through. The next car was several stories below, though Mara couldn’t tell exactly how far. Maintenance ladders were mounted in raceways on the far side of the opposite shaft, as well as the near side here. The easiest thing to do was to climb down the ladder in this shaft and look for a maintenance door, hopefully in the basement. From there, they could get out.

  But first they needed to collect the rest of the SEALs, who now found themselves trapped on floor 5 between the Chinese and three Vietnamese policemen who’d responded to the call of gunfire. Kerfer told them to go to the elevator and try to open it. But with nothing to use as a lever, even Squeaky couldn’t pry the doors apart. Worse, more black-clad gunmen appeared as he tried. The SEALs managed to get to the stairway, but they were taking gunfire from both above and below.

  “The best we can do is come up behind them,” said Mara. “We climb down, get over to the other elevator car, get out there, and then ambush them in the stairs. How many are there below them?”

  Kerfer asked his men. They weren’t sure. Two or three.

  “Are they sure they’re Vietnamese?” Mara asked.

  “They didn’t ask for IDs.”

  Kerfer went to the side ladder and began climbing down.

  ~ * ~

  The rungs of the ladder were covered with a greasy grime, and there was considerable dust in the air. Mạ, her arms around Josh’s neck, clung to him as he descended. The submachine gun hung off his back, occasionally swinging out with his momentum and then smacking him in the kidneys as he climbed back.

  Josh felt a sneeze coming on. He tried holding his breath to snuff it out, but finally it exploded. His whole body shook.

  “God bless you,” said Stevens above him.

  Josh sneezed again. He moved his foot down to the next rung, but started to slip. He caught his balance and buried his face in his shoulder as he sneezed again.

  “Hope that ain’t catchin’,” said Stevens.

  “Allergies. Dust.”

  “You okay, Josh?” asked Mara below him. “Let me take her.”

  “No, I’m okay,” he said, sneezing again.

  ~ * ~

  The space from the side of the elevator shaft to the cables at the center was too wide to get across easily, so Kerfer kept going all the way to the basement. He waited until Mara reached him before trying the small hatchway door.

  It was locked.

  “Little Joe, how are you guys doing?” Kerfer asked over the radio.

  “We have them pinned down near the stairs.”

  “Make some noise when I count three, all right?”

  “Bullets?”

  “Unless you got a foghorn.” Kerfer looked at Mara. “On three, we kick this thing out.”

  “All right,” she told him, moving over.

  “They may be waiting,” he said. “You have right, I have left. Be ready.”

  Mara positioned the submachine gun. She had about half the magazine left.

  Josh was still sneezing above them. Mara heard Mạ starting to whimper.

  “One,” said Kerfer, counting over the radio.

  As soon as he hit three, the SEALs on floor 5 began shooting. Mara kicked at the door with her heel. It gave way easily, flying open. She uncurled herself and dove into the basement, rolling in a thicket of spiderwebs.

  Kerfer jumped in after her. Her side of the basement was clear; the only things on the wide floor were support pillars.

  “Stevens will stay with you,” said Kerfer. “Get across the river as quickly as you can.”

  “We can back you up.”

  “No, get the hell out of here. We’ll keep them busy.”

  “Listen—”

  “Do your job, spook. You got a baby and the mad scientist to worry about.”

  Mara frowned at him. But he was right. Her job was to take Josh out alive.

  And Mạ. Though now she regretted not finding her an orphanage.

  “You stop sneezing?” she asked.

  “For now,” said Josh, sniffling into his arm.

  “You’re allergic to dust?”

  “And about a million other things.”

  “Come with me,” she said, taking hold of his arm. “How are you doing?”

  “My bladder feels like it’s on fire,” confessed Josh.

  “Stay close to me.”

  “There’s no light.”

  “Hold my shirt.”

  She tugged him along as she explored the basement, looking for a way out. A large freight elevator sat at the north side of the complex, apparently connecting to the backstage area of the ballroom above. There was a large steel door on the wall diagonally across from it, but it was chained shut.

  “We can shoot off the lock,” said Stevens, raising his gun.

  “They may hear it upstairs and realize someone’s down here,” said Mara. “They’ll catch your captain from the back.”

  “You’re right. Okay.”

  Mara inspected the freight elevator. It was large and simple, open on both sides and the top. A set of rungs extended up the right side. The first opening was two floors up and protected by a metal cage that looked as if it would swing out when the elevator arrived.

  Or maybe it was locked. There was some sort of mechanism near the shaft.

  There was only one way to find out. Mara began climbing.

  She could hear Kerfer’s heavy breathing on the radio.

  “You out yet?” he whispered.

  “We’re working on it,” said Mara.

  “Well get it going.”

  The cage was made of mesh. Mara could barely get her fingertips in. There was a small lip on the floor where it met the shaft, but this was only three inches wide. She eased out toward a cross-member, pushing gently, then a little harder. It didn’t budge.

  The screen extended only halfway up the opening, and Mara thought she could squeeze over it and get down on the other side. The problem was, she didn’t think Josh could. And Stevens would never fit.

  “The gate is a mesh fence,” she told Stevens. “It’s locked. I’m going to try climbing over it and then find the lock. Hold on. It’s very hard to climb.”

  “I can do it,” said the SEAL.

  “Your fingers are fatter than mine,” she told him. “Just relax.”

  Mara managed to get a few feet up, then quickly slid down. Her fingers were just too big for the holes.

  She looked at the locking mechanism. It was a simple lever, but there didn’t seem to be a way to reach it from this side.

  “What about the kid?” asked Stevens.

  “You mean have her climb over?” asked Josh.

  Mara looked at Mạ. Was she strong enough to climb over?

  The girl was tired, and just a few minutes ago had been crying.

  “I don’t think so,” said Mara.

  ~ * ~

  Josh looked at Mạ. The girl sensed that they were talking about her, though since she didn’t speak English, she had no idea what they were saying.

  Could she climb up over the fence?

  He’d seen her dash through the jungle, swinging like Tarzan on some of the vines. But this was different.

  They could catch her if she fell on this side, but on the other side, she’d be hurt.

  No worse than if the Chinese caught them. If the Chinese caught them, she’d be dead.

  “We gotta do something,” said Stevens.

  “Josh—do you think she could?” asked Mara.

  “I don’t know.”

  “You said she was tough in the jungle.”

  “Ask her,” he said, dropping to his knee and putting her feet on the ground. “Ask her.”

  ~ * ~

  Mara repeated her question twice. Mạ didn’t answer.

  “Like
this,” said Mara, putting her fingers against the grid.

  Mạ leaned away from Josh, her left hand still on his shoulder. It was almost as if she were protecting him, not the other way around.

  She put her right hand on the fence. Then her left. Josh gave her a boost.

  In seconds, she was at the top.

  Mara held her breath as the child flipped over. Her feet couldn’t find a grip.

  “Against the fence,” Mara told her in Vietnamese. “Like you went up.”

  Mạ finally started down. It was harder—tears came to her eyes from the pain, but the little girl made it.

  “Push the latch,” said Mara, motioning.

  The door unlatched. Mara slid it to the side and pushed the gate upward. They were in.

  Josh scooped Mạ into his arms. They all hugged the girl. Mara kissed her.

  “Way to go, little SEAL!” Stevens told her.

  “Now all we have to do is figure out where the hell we are,” said Mara. “Stay here.”

  Rows of boxes sat on steel shelves directly in front of them. About fifty feet long, the room was some sort of storage area. Mara walked to her right slowly, her eyes still adjusting to the goggles. The shelves ended in an aisle that led to more shelves. The boxes gave way to a large row of white plates; the storeroom, she concluded, was for the restaurant. Sure enough, she found a pair of swinging doors leading into the kitchen, visible through windows in the top panels. The doors were key-locked from both sides, but Mara had little difficulty picking the lock. She eased the doors open into the dark room, then crawled in, moving past a large walk-in freezer and a row of smaller refrigerators and dishwashers.

  Mara heard a low murmur of voices in the distance. She crawled steadily through the kitchen, down a row of stoves and prep tables. As she turned the corner, she saw two red marbles staring at her from the corner.

  A rat.

  Mara shuddered. She continued to one of the doors, still on her hands and knees. There was no window on the door, and while Mara suspected it led directly to the dining room, she couldn’t tell. She rose to a sitting position and listened. The voices were indistinct, and it was impossible to tell if they were in the next room, and if they were, where in the room they might be.

  Mara crawled to the next door, hoping that this one would have a window, but it did not.

  She got up and put her hand on the door, easing it open ever so gently and slowly. A faint glow came through the crack—candlelight, she thought.

  Mara eased the door open a tiny bit more. Her view was blocked by a screen separating the kitchen from the actual dining area. She pushed the door open a little farther, and saw that the screen covered a long wait station, where extra silverware, trays, and plates were kept.

  Mara moved back from the door.

  “There may be someone in the dining room,” she told Stevens. “Can you move up here?”

  “Be right there,” said Stevens.

  “Get by the stoves. You’ll be able to ambush anyone if it comes to that.”

  Stevens, Josh, and Mạ moved up silently, crouching about ten feet away.

  Mara took the night glasses off and eased back into the dining room, listening from behind the screen. Two men were talking, but it wasn’t clear what they were saying. She heard the word “militia” and something about “control,” but the men were at the far end of the room and she couldn’t make out every word.

  She spread out on her belly and began crawling. As she reached the edge of the screen, gunfire erupted above.

  One of the men shouted. Mara leaned out in time to see their feet disappearing.

  “Let’s go!” she hissed. “It’s clear.”

  ~ * ~

  Josh banged against the door in the dark. He pushed into the dimly lit dining room and saw Mara standing a few feet away, gun ready, waving at them to hurry.

  “The atrium is that way,” she said, pointing in the direction of the doors. Beyond them was a balcony that overlooked the lobby and registration area. “There are people down there. I think we’ll have an easier time going through the patio this way. We’re on the third level, but there should be some way to get down.”

  “What about the others?” asked Josh. Mạ clung to his side.

  “They’re creating a diversion.”

  “Are they going to be okay?”

  Mara frowned.

  “We can’t just leave them,” said Josh.

  “Don’t worry about the skipper,” said Stevens. “He can take care of himself.”

  That wasn’t the point, thought Josh as Mara led them to a glass door.

  The outside air, warm and damp, invigorated Josh. He took a deep breath, as if he’d been breathing stale air for days.

  “Two soldiers, near the intersection,” said Stevens, checking over the wall. “Nobody directly in front of us.”

  “There’s a stairwell here,” said Mara.

  She paused, put her hand to her ear.

  “What’s going on?” Josh asked.

  “Kerfer’s got somebody behind him.”

  “We gotta bail him out,” said Josh.

  Mara didn’t say anything.

  “I’ll go,” said Stevens. “You guys get across the road with Mạ.”

  “No,” said Mara, frowning. She took off the glasses and handed them to Josh. “I’m going to have to go through the lobby. If someone sees me, I can tell them I’m an employee. You won’t be able to understand what they’re saying.”

  “How are you going to hide the gun?” asked Stevens.

  “Josh is going to give me his shirt. I’ll make it look like a bag.”

  Josh pulled off his shirt and handed it to her. Mara folded down the stock on the submachine gun, then rigged the shirt around it. It wasn’t the most fashionable bag, but it wasn’t obviously a gun, either.

  “Get across the river and wait there,” Mara said. “Worst case, meet the helicopter.”

  “All right,” said Stevens, still reluctant.

  “I think we should back her up,” said Josh as soon as she left.

  “I don’t know. We got the little girl to worry about.”

  “We can go back the way we came, get up the elevator shaft the way Kerfer did. We’ll be right behind whoever’s behind him.”

  “It’ll be too confusing. And I got to keep you two safe. You’re more important than anyone else. Come on—let’s see about getting across the road.”

  ~ * ~

  Mara caught her breath at the closed door separating the restaurant from the balcony overlooking the atrium. She pulled the radio up and asked Kerfer if he was okay.

  “Get out of the hotel,” he said, his voice a hoarse whisper.

  “I’m up here near the restaurant. The people who are shooting at you—where are they?”

  “Get the hell out of the hotel.”

  “Ric. I didn’t goddamn come back for you to blow me off. Come on.”

  “They’re two floors below me. On the sixth. The Chinese are on the fifth and seventh, in the stairwell. At least two top and bottom. They have police uniforms, but they must be Chinese.”

  “Anybody above you?”

  “Negative at the moment. There’s hotel security somewhere, but I haven’t seen them.”

  “Whose side are the Vietnamese on?”

  “No one’s. One of them got shot on floor five when the Chinks opened up on my guys.”

  “You sure they’re Chinese? Not Vietnamese police?”

  “I didn’t ask for passports. That was what they were speaking.”

  Mara took the submachine gun out of the shirt-bag and slipped it to her side. Then she took a deep breath, brushed her hair back from her forehead with her left hand, and stepped out through the doors.

  Candles had been placed in several spots below, and at each end of the hall, providing just enough light to see. She walked swiftly to the right, heading past the elevators to the staircase, which was located around a corner. She turned it quickly and found herself behind
two policemen, who had their pistols drawn. The door to the stairs was propped open beyond them.