Depth Charge

by Andrew Warren

  "And what is that, Mr. Caine?" Chen asked, once again smoothing out the part in his hair.

  "If you or your people touch Rebecca and Jack again… Zhao won't be the only one who dies."

  Chen smiled, but his eye twitched, and his face looked a bit paler than normal. "Of course Mr. Caine. There is no need for any further unpleasantness."

  Caine nodded. "Alright. So what's the plan?"

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Within an hour Caine found himself disguised in the grease stained overalls of a flight technician. He carried a fake Russian passport, complete with a recent photograph. The document listed his birthplace as Kazan. Caine couldn’t fault the forgery. The work was as good as anything he had seen the CIA produce.

  Chen Fa Li and two of his men wore similar outfits. Together they passed through immigration and customs without incident. Then the four men marched to the cargo terminal. Their flight out of Hawaii was on a Shaanxi Y-8 four prop cargo plane. The medium sized aircraft was the Chinese version of the Soviet Antonov An-12. As he walked through the cargo bay, Caine noted the plane was nearly empty. Chen's men led him to the passenger deck, and within minutes they were taxiing down the runway.

  He found a seat in the passenger deck and buckled in. No attempts were made to threaten Caine or restrain him. As long as Chen held Rebecca and Jack, the MSS operative knew Caine wasn’t going anywhere.

  When they were airborne and the seat belt lights were extinguished, Caine got up and stretched. Chen watched with a bemused expression, as Caine paced up and down the aisle of the plane.

  “You should rest Caine. It’s ten thousand kilometers to Bali, with a stopover in Micronesia to refuel.”

  Caine turned and stared Chen down. His raging eyes felt like dark knives aimed at Chen’s heart. “How about you use the time to finish briefing me on your plan. How is this going to work?”

  “Of course. As I told you before, our flight is logged for Jakarta via Pohnpei. Once you are in Bali you will—"

  "If we're landing in Jakarta, how exactly am I supposed to get into Bali?" Caine asked, cutting him off.

  Chen smiled. "Simple, Mr. Caine. As we pass over Bali you will perform a high altitude low opening jump—”

  “A HALO jump?” Caine gave the man an incredulous stare. “You’re insane.”

  Chen removed a bottle of whiskey from under his seat. He poured himself a glass. “I don’t know through which special forces outfit you received your training. That is a highly guarded secret. But I do know you have logged over a hundred HALO jumps.”

  Caine wished Chen’s intelligence was wrong, but it wasn’t.

  Chen took a sip of the amber scotch, then licked his lips. “You will freefall most of the way to avoid radar detection. No one will know you have entered the country. We don’t have to deviate from our flight path, so my people and I will have sufficient deniability.” He finished his whiskey and poured another glass. He held it out to Caine.

  Caine shook his head. If Chen meant what he said about a HALO jump, Caine knew he would have to keep his head clear, his reflexes sharp.

  Chen shrugged, and sipped from the glass himself. “Power is always shifting within the Chinese Communist Party. Politics is simply another game. And like any other game, there are winners and there are losers.”

  “And you want to be one of the winners?”

  “I do.” Chen grinned again. “Exposing what Zhao did will be beneficial to my standing in the Party, but I can’t be seen as the one dealing out justice. I will be perceived as, how do I say, spiteful? It is better if he disappears, before I present my case.”

  “So he won’t be around to contradict you?”

  Chen gave another of his smug grins. Caine resisted the urge to punch him in the face. “Yes, Mr. Caine. You are better at this game than I thought. Which reminds me, there is another matter we must discuss. I am speaking of Su Liao, of course.

  Caine kept his face cold and devoid of emotion. “There's nothing to discuss. She's dead, Chen. The Colombians got to her, right after they took out your operatives in La Paz.”

  This time Chen laughed sincerely. “Perhaps I praised your skill too soon. I do enjoy watching people when they lie. I know Su Liao is very much alive and well. She is living in America, helping you hack into the PLA Navy’s submarine tracking system.”

  Without consciously being aware of his actions, Caine tensed and curled his hands into fists.

  Of course, he thought. Chen had access to Rebecca and Jack for days… he must have pumped them for intel when he had them beaten and tortured. No one can hold out forever…

  If Chen noticed Caine's simmering rage, he said nothing. He took another sip of whiskey. “That vulnerability will be eliminated soon enough. Su Liao will be useless to you in a matter of days. But what she did reveal could potentially be embarrassing for China if it got out. And I was the agent responsible for monitoring her at the time.”

  “Another reason to get rid of Zhao. He links you to Su Liao."

  “Yes, indeed. Therefore, I am willing to make one more deal with you, to ensure this operation proceeds smoothly.”

  “Which is?” Caine asked, his interest piqued.

  “Not only will I return Freeling and Tyler, but I'll give you Liao’s parents as well.”

  Caine narrowed his eyes. “They're alive?”

  “Of course. Ms. Freeling and Mr. Tyler entered my country with the foolish intent of rescuing them. Their plan was idiotic, but it made them the perfect bait."

  “I don’t get it, Chen. Assuming Su Liao is alive, holding her parents gives you leverage over her."

  “Yes, but as I said, she will be useless to both of us soon. China does not wish to be embarrassed by this defection. And we have no easy means by which to find and assassinate her. Pacifying her is the next best option.”

  Caine’s mind ran through all the possible deceptions Chen was scheming here. He didn't trust the man in the slightest. But the chance to secure Liao’s parents was too good an opportunity to pass up.

  Chen took another sip of whiskey and sighed. “It's not that complicated. I'm not a monster, Mr. Caine. I simply wish to raise my position in the Party. If Su has her parents returned to her, she can focus on a positive future in the United States. I would prefer that, rather than have her use her talents to expose and embarrass me in the future."

  Caine rubbed his eyes. He realized he did need some sleep before his jump. He needed to be at the peak of his abilities. A HALO jump came with many risks.

  “You see, we can all win here,” Chen continued. "You get your friends back. Liao is reunited with her family. And I increase my power and status back home. Plus, you and I have established a working relationship now. That will work for you as much as it will work for me in the future. I will be someone you can reach out to when you want to negotiate with the MSS.”

  Caine didn’t like Chen’s proposal. Something was off about it. But it was a better offer than he had expected. And in the end, what choice did he have? He decided he would see the assassination through, even though he was expecting a trap.

  “Okay, Chen. You have a deal. But I have one more condition. And it’s non-negotiable.”

  “Oh? And what would that be?” Chen asked, amused.

  Caine sat down across from the man, and leaned back as far as his chair would allow. He closed his eyes. “If we ever cross paths again, I will kill you on sight.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  BALI, INDONESIA

  As dawn painted the sky in streaks of purple and orange, Caine balanced on the edge of the cargo ramp. The rushing wind buffeted his body, and drowned out the roar of the plane's four engines. He stood motionless for a moment, peering through the clouds at the dark oblivion below. At thirty-five thousand feet, the ocean was a distant, flat gray slate, dotted with tiny curls of white. It looked still and motionless, as if frozen in time. The sight of it was calming somehow. Peaceful.

  Caine checked his altimeter and oxygen gaug
e one last time, making sure everything was working properly. Then he took a deep breath, and stepped off the ramp, plunging into the wind and clouds.

  He fell fast. Within seconds he hit terminal velocity. Air resistance slowed the acceleration of his fall to a constant rate. He tumbled around once, watching the Shaanxi Y-8 cargo plane grow small in in the sky as it powered west. He spun again, facing back towards the distant water. He spread his limbs, creating a cross with his body to control his descent. The wind noise was deafening, as he plummeted at one hundred and thirty miles per hour. He checked his altimeter.

  Twenty-nine thousand feet… The height of Mount Everest.

  The high-altitude air was bitter cold, at a chilling minus forty degrees Fahrenheit. Goggles and gloves protected his extremities from frostbite. His oxygen mask ensured he didn’t pass out from hypoxia. He pulled his arms and legs in close, dropping like an arrow towards the warmer air closer to the earth.

  At twenty-thousand feet he hit a thick layer of clouds. Everything turned white and the sensation of falling vanished. Caine swallowed hard. He’d always found clouds disconcerting whenever he parachuted. Once inside their hazy white void, he lost all sense of distance or direction. He checked his altimeter again.

  Eighteen-thousand feet.

  He broke through the clouds. The islands of Bali and Lombok loomed in the brilliant azure sea. Their twin jungle-clad volcanic peaks were cast in long shadows from the morning sun. Caine fell towards the churning sea between them. Known as the Badung Strait, the large body of water lay between Bali and the smaller island of Nusa Penida.

  At ten-thousand feet he was as high as the volcanic peaks. The air was warmer now. He could make out roads and clustered urban areas on the islands. It would be about now that nitrogen would bubble out of his blood stream. The sudden change in altitude could cause decompression sickness, like a diver afflicted by the bends. Luckily he had been breathing pure oxygen for the last forty-five minutes. The process had already purged the excess nitrogen from his blood.

  At three-thousand feet his parachute snapped open. The process was automatic, although he kept his hand on the ripcord just in case. He felt his body jolt upwards, and his descent slowed. The chute had caught.

  He gazed towards the smaller island of Nusa Penida, Zhao’s holiday destination. The Chinese submarine captain would be diving at a reef on the western side of the island. Caine had the GPS coordinates. The spot was a five mile swim west from his landing zone. Chen could have dropped Caine closer, but that increased the chances of him being spotted.

  A night insertion had also been out of the question. That would have required altering the cargo plane’s flight path, drawing unwanted attention from others. Complicating matters, Royal Australian Air Force P-3 Orion spy planes frequented the area. Caine didn’t want to attract their interest with his insertion any more than Chen did. The Shaanxi cargo plane pilots had pushed their flight schedule as it was to get here by dawn.

  As the ocean waves raced towards him Caine disconnected his parachute. He dropped fifteen feet and hit the waves with a quiet splash. He sank deep into the warm tropical waters. Visibility was good; he could see at least eighty feet through the clear blue seawater.

  Caine switched from his oxygen tanks to a snorkel. He wore scuba tanks, but he would need them later, after he reached Zhao’s yacht. Caine forced himself to breathe slow and steady through the tube, as he paddled just beneath the surface of the water.

  He estimated the five mile swim would take between three to five hours, depending on the current. He’d gone similar distances during his special forces training. But those grueling swims had been in cold water without fins or masks, endured after weeks of intense mental and physical training. This would be a day at the beach in comparison.

  Caine tugged off his helmet, and replaced it with a diving mask. He removed his gloves and boots, and slipped on a pair of black flippers. Everything he no longer needed was weighed down and sunk. The rest of his equipment was stored in his pack, and attached to his buoyant tactical floatation system.

  As he glided through the water, he felt a stinging sensation on his left hand. His skin began to itch and burn. The pain wasn't intense, more of a distraction really. But it slowly began to build.

  Within seconds he felt another sting on his right foot. Then one on the back of his neck.

  Caine stopped, and hung floating in the water. He swung his head left and right, peering through the depths to identify the source of the irritation.

  Then he saw it. A translucent blob, undulating past him in the water. Long, colorful tendrils drifted in the creature's wake. As the strange organism moved past, he saw another ahead of him. Then a dozen. Then hundreds…

  A swarm of jellyfish pulsated through the water around him.

  A stream of bubbles erupted from Caine's snorkel.

  Calm down! His instincts clamped down on his fear and revulsion. If they were poisonous, you'd already be dead.

  He knew a sting from the lethal box jellyfish species could cause a man to go into cardiac arrest. But the pain from these specimens was manageable, nothing that would slow him down. But there was no clear path through the swarm. They were everywhere. Wherever he looked, hundreds turned into thousands. Thousands became tens of thousands. He was surrounded, trapped in a migrating swarm of the strange, umbrella-shaped marine animals.

  He felt their tendrils brush against him, stinging him again and again. His wetsuit protected his torso, along with his arms and legs. But the rest of him was exposed.

  He swung his backpack in front of his body, and used it to push jellyfish out of the way. His legs powered him forward with long, slow kicks. He swam east, towards the distant reef and Zhao’s yacht. The pack blocked his head and hands from the jellyfish, but the stings on his ankles increased. They felt like a series of electric shocks, each one more powerful than the last.

  Caine ignored the pain as best he could and pushed on. Soon the waters were thick with the gelatinous creatures… All he could see were semi-translucent blobs and glistening tentacles. They filled his vision, hovering everywhere in the water.

  He swam for what felt like half an hour before the jellyfish swarm dissipated. A few minutes later, they disappeared altogether. Caine was once again alone in the clear blue sea.

  He surfaced, using his pack as a flotation device. Catching his breath, he rested for a minute. Then he pulled away the torn tentacles that still adhered to his skin. Treading water, he removed a first aid kit from his pack, and took out the antihistamine tablets. He popped two, and sipped some water from a bottle. Rubbing vinegar into the wounds would relieve the pain, but that was impossible while submerged. He’d just have to live with it.

  After resting for fifteen minutes, the pain began to dull. It didn’t go away, but he did feel more capable of achieving his mission. Rebecca and Tyler were depending on him. If he did not survive to complete his objective, they would die also. That was a greater motivation than anything else to keep going.

  Caine checked his location on his GPS device. He had covered a mile already. When he looked east, he could just make out the peaks of Nusa Penida island.

  Gritting his teeth, Caine replaced his goggles and snorkel. He resumed crawling through the shimmering water.

  Only four more miles to go.

  Chapter Thirty

  It was late morning by the time Caine reached Zhao’s luxury forty-foot cruising yacht. The vessel lay anchored above a reef about five-hundred feet off the shores of Nusa Penida. In the distance, tropical forests rose up behind the white cliffs and jagged rocks of the island's coast. The water was pristine, and Caine could see the hull of the boat clearly, bobbing with the gentle motion of the sea.

  Caine switched to his scuba tanks, deflated his floating tactical bag until it had neutral buoyancy. Then he dove deep, and made his way towards the boat.

  As he skimmed the sea floor, the underwater world exploded with color. Thousands of tropical fish and sponges cluste
red around a vast coral reef. A gigantic mola mola sunfish swam lazily in the water. Its pale, flat body was several feet taller than Caine. He was impressed with the creature's size, estimating the white scaled fish was about four times his body weight.

  But as large as it was, mola mola were harmless. He swam past until he found a sandy section of seabed, not far from the hull of Zhao’s yacht. He kept his distance from the boat, making sure the bubbles from his scuba equipment would not alert anyone on the surface. He wished Chen had provided him with a rebreather system. That would have eliminated any telltale sign of his presence underwater.

  Kneeling in the seabed, Caine collected several watertight pouches from his pack. They contained his SIG Sauer P226 9mm pistol, a speargun and three charged explosives with remote detonation switches. A fighting knife was already strapped to his right leg.

  His gear ready, Caine swam to decompression depth and waited. He hovered in the water for several minutes, allowing time for nitrogen bubbles to safely escape his blood. Then he surfaced, making as little noise as possible.

  The yacht was only a couple of hundred feet away. A man was working up on the deck. Caine used his optic lens to zoom in, confirming the figure was Zhao. The muscular Chinese sailor wore only shorts. His skin was tan, and his face looked a bit sunburned. He was busy gutting a fish with a long knife.

  His target confirmed, Caine dove again. He swam beneath the yacht, coming up next to the bow, where Zhao would be less likely to see him. Working quickly, Caine had placed the three magnetic charges along the length of the hull. When they detonated they would consume the boat, and Zhao along with it.

  Satisfied, Caine armed the charges and swam towards the shore.

  Several hundred feet from the yacht, Caine surfaced again. He peered through his optic lens, watching to make sure Zhao had not been alerted.

  As he focused the lens on the boat, Caine froze in the water.