Quicker (an Ell Donsaii story) (20 page)

“What?!” I don’t believe you! Let me see her!”

Oops.
Jamal thought desperately, then, “I have stashed her for the moment. I will show her to you when I pick her up to bring her down.”

“You come to the secret entrance, with or without her. If the Americans follow you I will personally kill you before they harm any of us.”

Back in the command post one of the techs at the front of the truck spun and shouted, “Chief Bowers! We’ve extracted communication to and from ‘Hamid’ off the net. It’s that ‘Jamal’ saying that he’s captured Donsaii and is bringing her in to their hideout!” The tech tapped his HUD meaningfully.

The Chief cursed and looked up at his own screens as the feed came in but it was just audio. When he’d heard the conversation he swore some more. “Who let that Jamal guy go! Jeffers! Track that down for me! Jones, I thought you said there wasn’t any way into the bottom of that deck without ‘blowing a hole?!’”

“Jeez Chief, the plans sure as hell don’t show any ingress! Maybe they dug a tunnel when they were setting this up? Sure as hell they’ve been planning this a while to have strung that antenna they’re accessing the net through.”

The Chief fixed Jones with a fierce glare, “Figure it out.” He ground out, “We need that back door for ourselves and we sure as Hades have got to keep them from getting Donsaii in through it. There’ll be Hell to pay if they kill that girl! And get me better audio of what’s happening inside the terrorist hideout!”

“Sorry Chief. They’ve caulked under the door so we can’t slip in a mike or camera. We’re having to use a laser mike on the door and the door’s too big and heavy to transmit audio very well.”

Chief Bowers turned again, “White, what’s SWAT up to? They figured out a way to get in yet?”

White looked up from his station, “No sir. Sorry. Those steel doors have been welded shut. We’ve got shaped charges set to blow in the small door or to cut a hole in one of the concrete walls but without knowing where our people are located in that room it’s extremely likely that the explosion would hurt or kill one of our own people. We can use a cutter to get through the door but it would take forever.”

“Can’t you drive your assault truck through that big door?”

“No sir. Analysis of the video they broadcast shows they’ve parked the bus behind that door.”

“Don’t you have some kind of ram you can mount on the front of the truck to push in the smaller door?”

“It’s a very solid door and opens outward, we might only bend it in and then the truck might get stuck. We have a lance for the truck that would punch a hole through the door, then it has a hook so that we can back up and pull the door out of its frame but it’d take time and those Kalashnikovs they’re carrying could kill a whole
lot
of hostages before we got anyone in the door.”

The chief put his hands to his head and looked up at the ceiling. “Jesus Christ!” he muttered, then louder to the room in general, “Anybody gets any great ideas, let me know pronto.” He turned to his second in command, “Do you really think he’ll kill one of them?” His second turned palms up and shrugged.

Ell stepped around the corner of the dumpster with a new pair of wire cutters from an Ace Hardware on the next block. As she cut Jamal’s wrists loose she also asked, “Will he really kill one of them?”

Jamal shrugged, “Without a doubt. If I am to take you to them, you will have to act like you are my captive. Take off the hat and jacket and I will send Hamid video showing you as my captive so that they will let us in.”

Ell looked at him warily a moment, then shrugged out of the jacket, hung it and the cap on the dumpster and turned her back to the wall. Jamal bent and handed her the plastic strap handcuffs she’d just cut off of him. “Put these on and kneel so that it looks like I have you in control.” Ell put them around her wrists with the breaks on the back side where they wouldn’t be visible. Jamal framed her in his HUD so that just her upper body in the light blue police shirt was visible. By itself the shirt didn’t look much like a uniform. “Look intimidated.” he said and Ell turned her eyes down at the ground. He contacted Hamid. “Here she is.”

“Hah! You really have her! Ok bring her in, but remember what I said about being followed.”

The Chief’s eyes widened as the tech directed Hamid’s feed to him. He bellowed, “Get that image out on the net to all personnel in the area. Reddish blond hair, light blue shirt, with an Arabic man. They
must
be nearby. They’d better not get down into that deck or we’ll all be deep in a load of crap! All eyes on deck!”

To Ell’s surprise, Jamal stepped out from behind the dumpster, walked about fifty feet further down the alley and then bent over a manhole cover. He stuck a finger into the hole on one side and tried to lift it. It didn’t budge. Jamal swore. “It’s stuck!”

Ell said, “Let’s find another one.”

“No! This is the one that leads to the ‘retreat.’”

“What do you mean? They’ve got to interconnect!”

“Maybe. But
this
is the one I know how to find the retreat from.”

She knelt, pulled out her wire cutter, pulled opened the handles and stuck one in the hole at the side of the manhole cover. Then she grabbed the handle that stuck up and said, “Help me pull.” They heaved together and the cover came up. They quickly climbed the rungs down into the cooler interior. Jamal reached up to try to pull the cover back over the hole.

Just then Allan called Ell’s attention to her HUD where she saw Hamid angrily denouncing America while two of his compatriots dragged one of the Olympians up to a wall. Hamid said, “You have failed to deliver on our first demand. Donsaii has not been brought to us. We will now demonstrate that we are serious!” With that, he wheeled away from the camera and his Berretta came into view pointing at the athlete. It was one of the girls! The girl struggled, violently jerking from side to side so Ell couldn’t be sure, but she thought it was her nemesis Anna Kernova, the vaulter!

Ell shouted at Jamal, “Leave it, let’s go!” As she climbed down the rungs Ell fought to stay out of the zone though the scene on her HUD horrified her. She saw the two men pull the girl’s arms apart as she shrieked and struggled fiercely between them. Hamid’s Berretta fired as the girl twisted in their grip.

The girl shrieked even louder and Hamid turned back to the camera.  Excitement gleamed in his eyes. “So,” he said, “she moved and the bullet did not kill her outright.”

The camera moved closer and Ell could see that it was definitely Anna, holding her left side and sobbing on the floor.

Hamid said, “You see now what happens when you defy me! In my mercy I will not shoot her again yet, but will leave her fate in
your
hands and the hands of Allah! Do as I say and we will let her go if she still lives! You have one hour to meet our next demand or we will shoot another athlete. The next one, I will shoot until dead. To comply you must close down the Olympics. Empty the arenas and announce to the world that you have abandoned these crass commercial endeavors! Don’t forget I’m also still waiting for you to deliver Donsaii.”

Chief Bowers barked, “Start that sixty minute timer over. White! Analyze that video feed to figure out where to blow your way in with the lowest friendly casualties possible, SWAT goes in before the hour’s up! Jones, have you figured out their back door yet?”

Jones looked up, “No sir! We searched on foot but haven’t found any evidence of recent digging around the deck. Maybe they dug their way in through the storm drainage system, we’re going to send folks down in there.”

“GO, GO, GO!”

White said, “There is no way we can blow a hole in a foot and a half thick concrete wall without producing shrapnel that hurts people inside Chief! Permission to start cutting into the wall to weaken it?”

“Yes, yes! But I’ll bet they hear you and threaten to kill someone if you don’t stop, so figure you’re going to have to blow in anyway.”

“Smitty! Try to find video of everyone leaving the stadium yesterday and see if you can dress it up and revise the timestamp so it looks like everyone’s leaving today. Cut the terrorists’ antenna and insert yourself so we can approve any contact he gets from the outside. Do it so you can insert that video of folks leaving and try to make it look like it’s a news-feed. Get the mayor to provide a video statement for us to feed them saying that he’s ‘canceling’ the Olympics.”

Jamal led Ell through the storm drains only a few feet before it became too dark to see. Neither of them had a flashlight and he thought they’d have to go back. To his surprise she stepped in front, took his hand and began leading confidently down the tunnel. “I have a military AI with infrared light and receivers. I can lead but how will we know that we’ve arrived at their hideout?”

Jamal said, There are two manholes then the next one is the entrance. It is a grate just overhead rather than a manhole tube going up like the one we came down.

She continued to lead him silently. He could tell when they passed each of the two manhole tubes by the sound of traffic overhead and one of the manhole covers leaked a little light. Then Ell whispered, “I see a big grate just ahead, I want to go see what I can see. Stay here a moment.”

Jamal could see light spilling down through the drain grate from the hideout. The grate was propped up on one edge. Hamid had ordered it left in this position, propped open with a two by four so that they could exit quickly if needed. Ell walked closer to the opening then turned to the side of the tunnel where rungs were welded and stepped up until her head was just below the entrance. Jamal saw her detach and unwind something from the front of her HUD headband and slowly raise it with one hand. He remembered that someone was supposed to be guarding the opening! He moved closer so that when the guard saw her he could claim to have brought her.

Ell carefully studied her HUD as it showed her the intake from the tiny detachable camera she’d lifted off her headband. The bus was on the far side of the room with a large metal rolling “garage type” door behind it. Several large cardboard boxes and a welder were near the front of the bus. A portapotty stood next to it.  One of the Arabs stood by an ordinary metal door in the far corner with an assault rifle. Another leaned against the wall about ten feet from the storm drain. The rest of them seemed to be arguing amongst themselves near the bus. She counted seven of the terrorists, though she couldn’t be sure there weren’t some in the bus. The athletes still sat in their cuffs on the floor in the middle of the room except for three that clustered near one wall. Ell recognized that two of the girls from the gymnastic team were huddled over another who was lying down, presumably Anna. She looked back at the big group and saw Phil’s broad shoulders. The man who presumably was supposed to be guarding the storm drain lit a cigarette. Ell considered trying to attack him and take his assault weapon but she didn’t recognize the weapon type and might not be able to find the safety or use it well. If he carried a Berretta like she was familiar with from using Jamal’s she couldn’t see it. Her use of the weapon to shoot at the bus tires gave her confidence in a Beretta. Not only did she know the location of the safety but also had intimate knowledge of its kick because it had made her miss her first shot at a tire.  She decided that she had to get out in the midst of them in order to get one of their Berettas.

Ell descended the rungs to go get Jamal and then realized he already had come close. She whispered to him, “Ok, take me in and turn me over to them.”

Jamal whispered back. “I’m not going in there! I’ll call out that I’ve delivered you and that I’m going back out to the city. You’re
crazy
to go in there!”

She shrugged, “Ok call out.”

He looked at her a moment more, whispered, “Crazy.” Then he tipped his head back and called out, “Hamid I’ve brought Donsaii.”

A moment later the guard loomed over the drain opening and pointed his rifle down at them. “Send her up,” he barked in Arabic. Ell’s AI translated it for her just before Jamal repeated it in English as well.

Ell started back up the rungs. She had no difficulty acting fearful. She recognized this was certainly the most dangerous thing she’d ever done. She continued to suppress the zone, she didn’t want to go into the zone now and then find herself exhausted when she actually needed it. She hesitated near the top.

Hamid appeared and said, “Get up here! Jamal, don’t you move!” He pointed a Beretta, presumably at Jamal.

Ell slowly climbed two more rungs. She said, “You’ll let some of the others go right?”

Hamid laughed, “I’m not ‘trading’ for you. Jamal brought you in.” Impatiently, he knelt and grabbed for her. Ell had to restrain the impulse to avoid his grab but when he ripped upward on the cloth at her shoulder she just let the loose shirt slip up over her head. Surprised at the lack of resistance he fell back onto his buttocks. Embarrassed, he lunged forward again and grabbed the shoulder strap on her leotard. Worried that he would rip the strap, Ell came up with him when he pulled this time. The lack of resistance again overbalanced him and he fell back again, pulling Ell over on top of him. She considered trying to take his Beretta but she was a long away from the rest of the terrorists. Instead she scrambled off of him but then crouched on her knees, trying to look non-threatening. Hamid rose to his feet, stood over her a moment, then clubbed her to the ground. Ell saw the blow coming and rolled with the punch but it still hurt. She lay as if dazed and passively allowed Hamid and another guard to drag her by the feet over to the middle of the room with the other athletes. Through slitted eyes she saw the two men’s eyes fixed on her body as it bumped along behind them. Ell’s AI translated for her as they started arguing about whether to broadcast her capture on the net. Hamid wanted to broadcast it as a triumph but the other, named Arat, pointed out that it would alert the Americans to the presence of a back entrance. When they dropped her near the other athletes she looked around, trying to appear dazed. Arat knelt to cuff her wrists while Hamid went back to yell at Jamal. Arat rolled her over to her stomach, managing to fondle her breast while doing so, then pulled her wrists back and cuffed them to one another and left her on her stomach. He pulled off her AI and tossed it and the HUD headband across the room where the other athletes’ AIs lay in a messy pile.