Necessary Retribution

by Mike McNeff

  “Okay, everyone, stash the tactical gear and change clothes. Cover those RIBs. It's time to become fishermen.”

  TWENTY-NINE

  RICK OPENED HIS EYES because he heard Emmett and Doug talking about him.

  “Are you assholes talking about me?” He croaked.

  Emmett's face came into view. “Hey, Buddy, it's good to hear your voice.”

  “How close did I come to dying?”

  “Too damn close. Maria's here. She needs to talk to you.”

  “Hello, Rick. Do you remember me?”

  “I never forget a beautiful woman. You going to tell me the score?”

  “Yes, I am. You've had a rough time. You almost bled to death. The doctors who worked on you when you came here saved your life, along with Emmett.”

  Rick smiled at Emmett. “Thanks, brother.”

  Emmett nodded.

  “What's the bad news, Maria?”

  “Your leg is badly damaged and no work has been done on it except to stop the bleeding and prevent infection because you're very weak. But the longer we wait, the chances of you having a full recovery are reduced.”

  Rick looked back and forth between Maria and Emmett. “If it's all the same to you, let's get on with it. I can handle it.”

  “I'll start making arrangements. You rest now.”

  “Good idea.” Rick faded back to sleep.

  Robin stood back in the corner of the room as the doctor and nurses examined and worked on Mark's leg. The doctor had a pleased look on his face.

  “Everything looks good. There's very little bleeding and I don't see any sign of infection. Your youth and your excellent physical condition are working to your advantage.”

  “Thank you for a great job, doctor.”

  “I'm glad I was here when you came in.”

  Rada walked into the room and looked at Mark's leg. “Excellent work, doctor.”

  “Thank you, Rada.”

  Rada turned and looked at Robin. “And I hope you're feeling as bad as my husband.”

  “Your wish has come true.”

  “Come with me.”

  Robin followed Rada to another treatment room.

  “Take off your shirt.”

  Robin did as ordered and turned his back to Rada. She carefully took off the bandages across his back. He felt her putting on a cream.

  “Oh, that feels better.”

  “I'm sorry, I should have told one of the nurses to do this sooner.”

  “It's okay. How does it look?”

  “It is healing.” She finished putting the cream on and redid the bandages. “You can put on your shirt.”

  Robin got his shirt back on and turned to face Rada.

  “Open your mouth. Your throat is looking better, also.”

  “It feels better.”

  “The GRU man says we are leaving tomorrow morning for Moscow.” Rada started to shake and tears rolled down her cheeks. “I am terribly frightened.”

  Robin took her hand. “Rada, all you have to do is remain calm and tell them the truth. Neither you or Lev have done anything wrong.”

  “They do not care about such things as right or wrong. They do not tolerate anything that threatens their authority, such as people like us knowing they allowed a nuclear weapon to be stolen from them.”

  “You're going to have to put some trust in me. If you do as I ask, I know I can get us all out of here.”

  “I hope so, I truly hope so.” She squeezed his hand. “I'll take you back to the other room.”

  When they got back to the room, Alex was there.

  “Ah, I see you haven't escaped.”

  “I gave you my word.”

  “Yes, you did. I came by to tell you we will be leaving in the morning. I will pick up you and your friends here at nine o'clock.”

  “We'll be ready.”

  Burke laughed. “Those three Russian boys think they've died and gone to heaven.”

  Rocky smiled. “Well, it's not every day young guys get invited to a villa on the Riviera by beautiful women. I'd like to know how Jamie found out these guys were in Paris.”

  “I wonder how Chucky knew these broads…and the owners of this villa.”

  “I'm not asking about any of it. By the way, you do make an excellent butler.”

  “And you're a great gardener. Just wondering how Gary talked us into letting him be the bartender.”

  “Yeah, we definitely got suckered on that one.”

  “Oh well, payback's going to be a bitch. Do you think Jamie has sent the message yet?”

  “Yeah, Ernie authorized it. The Russians are probably scrambling to verify their little darlings aren't where they're supposed to be.”

  “Considering they're sons of members of the Council of Ministers, I'd say scrambling doesn't come close to describing what they're doing.”

  Both men laughed. “Well, I better get back to butlering.”

  “Okay, brother. Catch you later.”

  It took awhile for Lucy Santos to stop sobbing. “Emmett, I want to come over there to be with Rick.”

  “I figured that. I've talked to Wanda and she will take care of the kids. Have Ann book you on a flight to Honolulu. We'll pick you up there.”

  “Thank you so much, Emmett. You and Wanda are wonderful friends.”

  “We're all in this together, Lucy. I'll see you when you get here.”

  Ernie waved as the North Korean patrol plane circled overhead. The other men waved also. The plane made one more pass, waggled its wings and turned back to North Korea.

  “What do ya think, boss,” Marv asked.

  “I think we'd better get into South Korean waters ASAP. What's our position, Kwan?”

  “We're about forty-five minutes away from the border.”

  “Open her up. Let's get out of here.”

  Ernie picked up his satellite phone and dialed Jamie.

  “Hi Ernie.”

  “What's the status of everyone?”

  “We haven't heard from Robin or Mark or the Russians. I'm sure it won't be long though.”

  “How are our hostages?”

  “Gary says the real problem may be getting them willing to go back!”

  Ernie laughed. “How's Rick?”

  “Maria has him back under the knife. I don't know how that's going. Emmett arranged for Lucy to get to Taiwan.”

  “Good. We should be getting back to Sokcho soon. We'll get to Osan as soon as we can and wait for you guys to pick us up. Let me know when there's any word from the Russians.”

  “I'll keep you posted.”

  “Thanks, Jamie.” Ernie ended the phone call and looked out over the sea. He felt a great weight on him. The uncertainty of how the Russians would react to the demand worried him. If they didn't play ball and negotiate for the release of those young men, the team would be forced to play like the Russians did in Lebanon, when two of their diplomats were kidnapped by Muslim extremists. The Russians kidnapped family members of the extremists and started sending body parts of their relatives to them. If the Russians balked, the team…Burke and Rocky…would have to do the same thing or Robin and Mark would be dead. It sickened Ernie to think about it, but he knew they were in a different world now. He didn't know what he'd do if the team lost Robin and Mark. He did know, in spite of his fears, he had to project confidence and determination to the men. He put his game face on and turned to the men on the boat. “With Colonel Sinchu calling and saying all is well, we're making progress on all fronts gentlemen. We'll get back and finish this mission and go home.”

  Marv, Mike and Willy grinned and gave a thumbs up.

  THIRTY

  EARLY IN THE AFTERNOON the next day, Robin and the rest were escorted into a two story grey building in Moscow. The flight from Vladivostok was uneventful except one thing. The crew called Alex forward to the cockpit and when he returned his face turned to stone and he gave Robin a hard look…a hard look laced with the kind of fear that comes with the unknown.

  Robi
n figured the demand had been made. His thoughts rested on Ernie. If Robin was right, Ernie faced tough and ugly decisions and Robin thought how being captured might just be easier than making those decisions. The rest of the flight was very quiet.

  As they entered the building, three serious looking men and Alex immediately grabbed Robin and took him away from the group. They went down a drab hall, shoved Robin into a room and jammed him down in a chair at a long table. Two officious looking men sat across from him. The men who brought him in spread out around the room. Alex stood to Robin's left and slightly behind him. Robin clearly understood he would leave this room in only one of two ways…dead or alive.

  The shorter of the men across the table started to speak, but Robin saw he read from something. The man mouthed words about the Soviet Union as Robin scanned the room looking for weapons and avenues of escape, then his eyes met the eyes of the other larger man sitting across from him. Robin saw intelligence, interest and a hint of mirth. The short man said words that caught Robin's attention.

  “Your organization has committed a monstrous criminal act by kidnapping Russian citizens. They have demanded your release and have threatened to start sending body parts to us if we do not comply. We have never experienced such vile, insane behavior!” The man's voice rose at the end of the sentence.

  “Are we going to sit here and play games or are we going to take care of business? You people did the same thing in Lebanon. We learned from you. Only you never gave a warning, you just started sending body parts. At least we warned you, but if you don't comply the body parts will start coming, I assure you.”

  Nobody replied and two pairs of eyes simply stared at Robin. He kept his face still and fervently hoped his eyes were not revealing the rising fear inside him. He could hear the clock ticking. The shorter man nodded to Alex and suddenly, Robin's head was jarred by a hard blow and he flew out of the chair onto the floor. Instinct and reflex took over and Robin rolled to his feet and sprang over the table. He grabbed the larger, quiet man by the neck and dragged him into a corner of the room holding the derringer against the man's throat.

  He now faced four armed men surely bent on killing him. The one who had spoken appeared to be shaken. Strangely enough, the man he held at gunpoint appeared calm.

  “Put the gun down, Robin!” Alex ordered.

  “Sorry, Alex. I want everyone out of this room…NOW!”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I'm going to have a little chat with this gentleman, who I think is the boss here.” Robin couldn't be sure, but he thought the man he held actually chuckled.

  “We can simply walk out of here and execute everyone you want to be safe.”

  “No you won't…”

  Suddenly the man Robin held spoke in Russian. “All of you leave this room now. Do nothing until you hear further from me. Do not interrupt us.”

  The others looked at each other for a confused moment and then Alex ushered them out of the room and with a parting glance, closed the door. Robin patted the man down and then let him go. The man went back to his chair and motioned for Robin to sit. “Do you speak Russian?”

  “I understand it better than I speak it.”

  “Ah, let's speak English, but you will have to forgive my grammar.”

  “I'll bet you're being modest.”

  “You are a direct young man and also astute. I am General Yosef Yamurov, Commander of Soviet Military Intelligence. You are correct. We have used your tactic in past, but your organization has crossed the line. We are concerned for these hostages. They are the sons of very important people in our government.”

  “I assure you they will not be harmed if we negotiate a timely exchange.”

  “What guarantee do I have for their safety?”

  “If you negotiate in good faith and any hostage is harmed, I will not be part of the exchange.”

  “You are either very honorable or very stupid…or both.”

  “Actually, I have men in my command I can trust with my life and who I can trust to do the right thing.”

  “You would be the first commander I have met who could say that with such confidence.”

  “Well, now you have.”

  General Yamurov remained silent for a moment, but his face was animated as he thought through the situation. Then he reached for the telephone on the table, pulled a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket and handed it to Robin. “Is that a good number?”

  “If they told you to call it, it's good.”

  Yamurov put the phone on speaker and dialed the number.

  “Yes?”

  Robin recognized Jamie's voice.

  “This is General Yosef Yamurov, Commander of Soviet Military Intelligence, the GRU. To whom am I speaking?”

  “I'm Jamie.”

  Yamurov looked at Robin and he nodded. “Jamie, I have Robin here, would you like to talk to him?”

  “Yes, I would.”

  “Hello, Jamie.”

  “Hello, Robin. Are you well?”

  “I'm well. How quickly can you connect this call to the tactical commander?”

  “Thirty seconds.”

  “Please do so.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Robin and Yamurov briefly waited and then Ernie's voice came over the phone. “This is Ernest Jackson, Tactical Commander. I believe I'm talking to General Yamurov?”

  Robin made a gesture to Yamurov, asking him if he understood and the general nodded. “Yes, this is General Yamurov. I must immediately enquire about the well-being of the hostages. Are they safe and well?”

  “They are General and their every need is being met.”

  “May I speak to one of them?”

  “Well, General we could do that, but it would cause more harm than good.”

  “I don't understand.” Some irritation crept into the general's voice.

  “Sir, the young men don't know they're hostages. They're actually enjoying themselves immensely and as long as we move this situation along they will continue to do so. Of course, if you choose not to cooperate, their status will change for the worse.”

  The general leaned back in his chair and looked at the phone for a moment…then he burst out laughing. “Tell me Ernest, would their mothers approve of their conduct?”

  “Not in the least, General.”

  The general laughed even harder. Still smiling, he leaned toward the phone. “Ernest, I think it is the best interest for us to make an exchange. Do you have a location in mind?”

  “We would prefer the Zurich airport, Sir.”

  “Ah, excellent choice. The most neutral place in the world. Do you have a date and time?”

  “Is tomorrow evening at 2000 hours Zurich time convenient for you?”

  “Yes, that will be fine.”

  “You'll be directed to a clear holding ramp north of the terminals and east of the runway. We can park side by side and make the exchange.”

  “Excellent. We will see you then.”

  “Yes, sir. Good afternoon.” The connection ended.

  “I suppose, Robin, the call cannot be traced.”

  “Of course it can. It'll just be a dead end. I wouldn't waste time and manpower tracking it down.”

  The general smiled. “You play along a fine line, but you play it well. I can see why you are so confident of your organization. You are most definitely not CIA, although I suspect they are a client, as you say. Alex tells me you would accept us as clients under the proper circumstances.”

  “Yes, sir, we would.”

  The general looked at his watch. “I have several appointments I must attend to, but I hope you will accept my invitation to dine with me this evening. I would enjoy lively and interesting conversation.”

  “I would be delighted. May I check on my party now, General?”

  “Yes, of course. I will have Alex escort you so you will not be bothered and he will bring you to dinner.”

  Robin rubbed the side of his head. “Alex is a good man, with
a hell of a punch.”

  “Judging from the look on his face, I don't think he enjoyed hitting you.”

  “Oh, I didn't take it personally.”

  The general smiled. “I hope not. Alex is one of our best officers…and he is my nephew.”

  Robin chuckled. “I thought I recognized a similarity. I hope he's not too upset over my grabbing you at gunpoint.”

  “If he is, I'll take care of it.” The general rose and opened the door. “Alex!” He called out.

  A moment later, Alex entered the room appearing tense. He looked at his uncle and then at Robin.

  “Alex, we have resolved this situation. Your analysis of Robin was accurate. We are dealing with honorable people. Please take Robin to his party and make arrangements for them to stay at the Leningradskaya Hotel. Then take him to get some decent clothes at my tailor, after which I want you to bring him to dinner.”

  Alex did nothing for a moment and then simply said, “Yes, sir.”

  The general saluted Robin and left the room. He and Alex just looked at each other for a moment and then Robin said, “Are we going to be pissed at each other or are we going to call it even.”

  A slight smile came across Alex's lips. “I suppose we call it even.”

  Robin held out his hand. “Good.”

  Alex shook Robin's hand. “I'm not sure I would want to fight you anyway. I have never seen a man move like you did going over the table.”

  “My friend, the body can do amazing things when the mind is terrified.”

  Both laughed. “Come, let's go reassure your friends.”

  When Robin entered the room where the others were being held, the apprehension was palpable. He noticed Rada checking on Mark's bandages and felt thankful for her presence. All eyes turned to Robin.

  “Hello everyone. General Yamurov, the head of the GRU, has agreed to release us. We will be in Switzerland tomorrow evening.”

  Relief flooded the room and Lev pulled his children to his chest and held them.

  “What are we being exchanged for?” Rada asked.