Pushed to the Edge (SEAL Team 14) (23 page)

Joshua fielded Jesse’s question.  “Well for
starters, even though our CIA brothers are extremely skilled at what they do,
they are not psychics, and it will be next to impossible for us to know if what
we grab are actually the smallpox samples rather than some decoy.  So, after we
take what we believe to be the virus out of the transport container we have to
have one of our virologists confirm that what is in the tubes is actually the
smallpox virus.  Once we obtain a positive confirmation then we can proceed
with destroying the samples.  Second, our FSB buddies for the day will most
likely need the tons of heroin that are no doubt in the facility for their
investigation and future criminal prosecution of the King’s Triad.”

“Joshua’s absolutely right,” their Commander Mark
Dewitt replied, entering the room.  He had arrived just in time to catch the
tail end of the conversation and Joshua’s comment.  Everyone in the room turned
to give their full attention to him.  “Remember even though you have all
already been vaccinated against the smallpox virus, we still don’t know how the
target samples have been weaponized so you need to handle the vials with extreme
care once you grab them.”

“Also, you need to remember to keep on the lookout
for the two men who we believe that Adib Malook is using to convert the virus: 
Dr. Haseem Adil and Dr. Saverin Tarasov,” Dewitt continued.  “Don’t let the
fact that these two have medical degrees fool you.  Both of these men are
extremely dangerous and both have been connected to terrorist organizations for
at least a decade.”  Mark reached into his folder, and then handed out
additional photos of the Team’s main targets.  He passed the photographs around
the room, so that the men would have a chance to memorize the faces. 

“You’ve all had a chance to look at the
surveillance photos that were taken of the outside of the building by an
unmanned drone,” Dewitt said.  “Now that we know how many guards are currently
patrolling the building, you’ll be using the same entry-technique that you’ve
been practicing for the past two days in our practice runs.”

“How much time do we have sir?” Joshua asked, “To
get in and out, I mean.”

“Our pickup plane is scheduled to be landing in
one hour from the time that we send the signal that we’ve penetrated the
building,” Mark stated matter-of-factly.

 “What if the smallpox samples aren’t in the safe,
sir?” Will asked.  That was the question on everyone’s mind.  The tangos could
have moved it at any point in time since Khalid was last inside of the
building—if the samples had even been there to begin with. 

“If the samples aren’t in the safe, then we’ll go
to our backup plan,” their CO answered.  “The plan being that we will hold on
to Malook and Adil and lean on them to get the information on where the samples
have been moved.  If they don’t cooperate, then we will have to assume the
worst-case scenario and proceed as if it’s already in transport and has left
Russia.  If that’s the case, then we’ll have to give the CDC the go ahead to
proceed with the mass vaccinations of U.S. citizens against the virus.  We have
a very limited window of opportunity to ensure that a critical mass of individuals
within the U.S. has been vaccinated.”

“What would be the most likely points of egress to
move the virus from the country?” Malcolm asked.

One of the FSB agents who was lurking in a corner
of the room—Marcos Ivanov—finally piped up.  “Probably via shipping carrier or
transfer via airplanes.  We have agents covering both the major airports in the
region along with the two ports that we believe that have been affiliated with
and would likely use for shipping the virus out of the country.”

 “Given the short window of opportunity that we
have to take down the facility and secure the virus we have to work as
efficiently as possible,” Khalid stated.  “During the evening, there are
usually only half as many workers present in the building.  All of the workers
appear to be women.  However, there are still about thirty guards watching the
building.  Half of the guards will be patrolling the inside of the facility
while the other half will be guarding the outside,” Khalid then moved from the
table and checking the weapons that he would be using.

“All right, get prepared.  We’re commencing the
operation in two hours.  We will be hitting them hard and fast.  Remember to be
smart out there.  The only easy day was yesterday,” Mark warned grimly as the
Team finished suiting up.

****

“I hope you that you two found your way to the
facilities without too much trouble.”

Dimitriv Arshavin looked across the spacious
office on the first floor of the drug manufacturing building and at the two men
who had just entered the room: Adib Malook and Haseem Adil.  Dimitriv noticed
that Malook was carrying a briefcase while Adil had a duffle bag slung across
his shoulder.  They took a few seconds to take off their wool coats, which were
damp from falling snow, and hung them on the wall coat hanger.

“Of course,” Adil said.  The two men sat down in
the white leather chairs in front of Dimitriv’s desk.

“Can I offer the two of you anything to drink?”
Dimitriv asked while pointing at the alcohol bar that was located in the front
left corner of the room.

“No, thank you,” Adil was saying, while Malook
shook his head in the negative.

“What is the status of the heroin shipment?”
Malook asked abruptly.

“Ah, I see that you like to cut right to the
chase.  I’m not a fan of small talk either.  As of this afternoon, our factory
workers have been able to package a quarter ton of heroin for shipment.  We are
ahead of schedule.  Right now, we have men who are loading the packages into
our transport trucks,” Dimitriv explained. 

“Great, that’s excellent,” Malook replied.

“Yeah, there’s just one thing.  I’ve been informed
by a few of my security personnel that there’s a room in this facility your men
won’t let them enter because the room is ‘off limits.’”

Dimitriv carefully watched the two men as they
glanced at one another, but otherwise neither man made a move to respond to
Dimitriv’s comment.

“You both know that I’m a very busy man, gentlemen. 
I don’t have time for a bunch of bullshit.  I have multiple businesses that I’m
responsible for.  I pride myself on knowing all of those business
operations—inside and out.  This type of thorough understanding of all of the
activities that I’m involved in, and that I involve my men, in has been the
cornerstone of my organization’s success and longevity.  Therefore, I cannot
and
will
not allow things to go on in this facility that I have not been
fully apprised of.”

“With all due respect Dimitriv, the room is none
of your concern,” Malook said with a deep frown etched across his forehead.  He
was sitting with his back ramrod straight against the chair.  The man looked as
if he’d never managed to crack a smile in his entire life. 

Malook’s jaw clenched tightly as he continued, “We
appreciate the valuable business association that we have, but please do not
mistake us for people that you can push around.  We hired your group for a very
specific and limited purpose.  The agreement that we have in place with you is
currently extremely generous to your organization.  Tell me.  Where else are
you going to find a direct heroin supply source for the reduced cost that we
are charging you?”

Dimitriv glared across the desk.  This
motherfucker was really testing his patience.  “So, what’s in the room?”

“Look, Dimitriv.”  This time Adil spoke up,
holding out his hands as if he were attempting to be the peace broker between
the other two men.  “We too have other business ventures in which we are involved. 
Our additional project does not in any way concern you or the King’s Triad. 
Nor will our project affect our current financial arrangements.”

Dimitriv wasn’t a fool who was born yesterday. 
Whatever Adil and Malook were up to it was probably some shit that could cause
trouble for his organization if it wasn’t kept under wraps.

Before Dimitriv could respond, there was a loud
banging on the closed office doors.

“Dimitriv! Dimitriv!” one of his men was shouting
through the closed door.  It sounded like it was Andrei.

Jumping up from behind the desk Dimitriv ran to
open the door.  He got the shock his life.  Andrei was slumped over beside the
door, with two bullet wounds to his chest and one wound to his left leg.  His
MP-446 Viking handgun was hanging limply from his left hand.  His friend’s eyes
were closed; he didn’t appear to be breathing.  Andrei’s life was clearly
draining from him. 

Just as Dimitriv crossed the threshold, kneeling
beside his friend to check his pulse, the electricity to the building went off.
 

What the hell was going on?
  Two bright
beams of light illuminated the darkened night sky and shone through the front
plate glass window of the pharmaceutical facility.  The beams were accompanied
by a deafening, distinctive, and repetitive
whop-whop-whop
sound. 

Der’mo
.  He glanced behind him to see that
both Adil and Malook were scrambling from their chairs, upending them in the
process.  No doubt, these two assholes knew what was up.  And look, surprise
surprise:
 
Malook had a weapon on him.  He wasn’t a completely worthless
sack of shit after all. 

Then there was a deafening rapid, relentless burst
of fire, which sounded like a machine gun. 

The next thing Dimitriv saw was the shattering of
the four floor-to-ceiling glass panels that made up one side of the building. 
The bullets fired from the helicopter destroyed everything in their path,
including five of the guards that were patrolling the front of the building. 

Dimitriv could hear the women workers breaking out
into a chorus of ear-splitting, hair-raising screams of terror.

With glass shards flying everywhere, Dimitriv ran
out into the open and yelled to his men who were upstairs.  Adil grabbed his duffle
bag and raced for a side exit.  Malook on the other hand, had grabbed his briefcase,
and was running for the basement, probably to cower down behind some of the
crates that were kept there. 

Suki
. 
Fucking cowards
. 

Dimitriv had his guns out.  He was shooting out of
the now vacant space where the windows once stood. 

Dimitriv was not an idiot.  He already recognized
that his odds of winning this fight weren’t good.  Hell, with a helicopter
unleashing hundreds of bullets per several seconds—like some sort of unholy
rainstorm—his odds of making it out of this situation alive were terrible.  But
he was going to take out as many of these assholes as he could before they took
him
out. 

That was the last clear thought that he had before
he felt the impact of the first bullet cut through the skin, tendon, and the
muscle of his right arm.  One of his guns dropped from his hand, he held on
tightly to the second one in his left hand as blood seeped through his blue
dress shirt.

Stumbling forward, Dimitriv continued to shoot. 
He didn’t even see the other men in the room until it was too late.  There were
four of them.  All of the men who had rushed into the room were tall and
dressed in all black.  They were wearing helmets, goggles, and face coverings. 
The men looked like new characters in a twisted version of Mortal Kombat. 

Dimitriv turned his gun hand at the men.  Three
more bullets violently punched through Dimitriv’s chest and legs. 

But not before he was able to get off two shots. 
He hit one of the bastards square in the center of his body.  Dimitriv’s
satisfaction was short-lived, however.  A split second later, he felt the
stings of additional sharp pains hitting his legs and shoulder.  Dimitriv
collapsed to the floor, his second gun slipping from his fingertips and falling
to the floor with a soft
thud
.  Then everything faded to black.

****

 “Luke you okay over there?” Joshua yelled.  Luke
had staggered back under the force of the bullets fired from Arshavin’s weapon.

“Yeah, I’m all right,” Luke yelled back after
pulling at his shirt.  He sounded slightly winded—no surprise there.  He
undoubtedly had a hell of a bruise forming underneath those layers of cotton
and nylon. 

But Luke was okay—no lasting damage—thanks to the
lightweight ceramic body armor plate vest that he was wearing.  SEAL team
members never went on a mission without wearing their “brain buckets”
(reinforced helmets) and body plates.  The plates were designed to stop at
least one round fired from an ak-47 assault rifle.

“Arshavin is down and out for the count on the
first floor.  He’ll need a medic and probably a priest,” Joshua said into his
headset, relaying the message to the other team members.  Out of the corner of
his eye, Joshua saw a flurry of movement to his left-hand side.  He swiveled
quickly, his gun trained on the new threat that had entered the room.

It was a woman.  She was unarmed.  And obviously
terrified by the way that she screamed to the top of her lungs upon her sight
of the SEAL team.

“Hold your fire!” Joshua barked out to his team
before yelling at the woman, “Get down!”  She didn’t seem to understand so
Joshua repeated the command in Russian.  The woman dropped to her knees and
Joshua said into his headset, “We have a noncombatant on the first floor, we
need a pick up,” Joshua called out to his team members as FSB agents entered
the room and took the woman into custody.

Joshua, Will, and eight other team members then thundered
up the stairs to the third floor. 

The loud, booming sounds of flash bang grenades
were still going off downstairs, as the rest of the team who had entered the
building, cleared the rooms on the lower levels.