“Daughter, dear misguided daughter of mine,” mumbled Liu while taking a tentative step toward her.
Kristin shifted the aim of the pistol to her father, and Liu pleaded his case with total calm. “Do you really think you could shoot your own flesh and blood? Hand over the gun, and we’ll discuss this misunderstanding. Like adults.”
“It’s too late for talk,” Kristin countered, trying with both hands to keep the heavy pistol steady.
Liu took another step and reached out for the gun, now barely an arm’s length away. “I admire the strength of your convictions, dear daughter, distorted though they might be. In so many ways, you remind me of your grandmother. So brave; to leave the beloved country of her birth, only to take up the motherland’s cause on a distant shore, a world away from all that she cherished. How headstrong and stubborn she was!”
From the other side of the room, Thomas saw how Kristin reacted to this emotional plea. She was obviously being affected by her father’s words, and it was only a matter of time before her will would weaken.
Knowing full well that Liu intended to kill them once this crisis was resolved, Thomas listened as Kristin shouted:
“Father, I’m warning you. Stop!”
Liu smiled, and when he dared to take another step forward, the blast of another gunshot resounded through the Radio Room. Shocked disbelief filled Liu’s face as he staggered back and blood began pouring from a wound in his left shoulder.
Before Monica could get possession of the Sterling, Thomas glanced at Tuff and together they charged across the room. Tuff moved in to subdue Monica, while Thomas jarred the submachine gun out of Liu’s grasp with a well placed kick, and faced the bleeding terrorist.
“It’s over, Liu!” Thomas shouted.
“Like hell it is,” retorted Liu, all but ignoring his blood-soaked wound.
Monica stood at his side. Together they took up martial arts stances.
Tuff moved in to challenge her. She answered with a flurry of sharp, expertly delivered jabs. Thomas concentrated his attack on his opponent’s shoulder, yet in each instance his blows were countered.
Tuff was equally frustrated. He held back his initial blows deliberately because of his opponent’s gender. A Queen’s man, he was ever the gentleman. But when Monica succeeded in landing a pair of painful punches to his jaw and ribcage, any noble sentiments on his part were soon forgotten.
After deflecting a roundhouse kick, Tuff landed a solid right jab into the side of her skull. Though he presumed that the force of this blow was sufficient to stun her, Monica was able to grab his fist in an excruciating wristlock.
At the same time, Thomas found himself fighting off a furious flurry of kicks and punches. As he jumped aside to escape a jab, Liu grabbed his left forearm with enough force to yank Thomas off his feet. Tuffs attention remained focused on escaping the wristlock, and he failed to duck as Liu spun Thomas around by the arm.
They collided head-on, their foreheads smashing together with a distinctive crack. The force of this concussion was enough to knock Thomas out, and he fell to the deck headfirst, sprawled out on his stomach. Tuff folded to his knees at Thomas’s side, dazed and near unconsciousness himself.
Liu’s upper torso was completely soaked in blood, and in no mood for fear, he walked up to his daughter and yanked the pistol from her shaking grasp. “Why don’t you go and join your boyfriend,” he instructed with disgust.
As she crossed the compartment to Ricky, gunfire sounded in the distance. Seconds later, Monica’s two-way activated. There could be no mistaking the fear that colored the caller’s voice.
“We’re exchanging gunfire with a large group of wellarmed commandos near the Hospital. They appear to be from an outside assault force!”
The resonant boom of an exploding concussion grenade emphasized this warning, and the radio went dead.
“Call Sunny this instant,” Liu instructed Monica. “Have him round up the nine heads of state, and escort them down to the Engine Room. We’ll make our stand there, beside the fail-safe device.”
Monica used her two-way to carry out this order and Liu did his best to plug his shoulder wound with a folded handkerchief. Another background explosion sounded, and Liu snapped a fresh round into the Sterling to finish off Thomas and Tuff.
“Please, Father,” pleaded Kristin, tears cascading down her cheeks.
“Can’t you just leave them be?”
“Shut up!” Liu exclaimed.
As he raised the barrel to first execute Thomas, Vince Kellogg came bursting into the Radio Room. The Secret Service agent instantly sized up the situation and made a beeline for Liu. He reached him in time to divert his aim, and a trio of bullets tore into the deck, only a precious few inches from his brother’s exposed back. Vince then knocked the weapon free and began grappling with Liu.
Monica scurried over to grab the Sterling. Ricky finally summoned enough nerve to act. He darted forward and kicked the submachine gun beneath the telex console. Monica, infuriated, turned her wrath on Ricky, but before she could do him serious harm, Kristin joined the melee. Monica now found herself facing an opponent also trained by Dennis Liu.
Behind them, Vince broke out of Liu’s bloody grasp and crouched down in a square stance, his legs and arms open. A former collegiate wrestler, Vince displayed not a hint of fear.
“So the special agent is trained in Greco-Roman style,” observed Liu while assuming a similar stance.
Vince didn’t tarry, and he charged forward. To respond to this enthusiastic attack, Liu turned swiftly, using Vince’s own momentum to get him into a headlock. Before Vince could counter, Liu grabbed his left elbow, and with the headlock still in place, used the resulting leverage to take his opponent down.
Vince fell to the deck hard on his back, with enough force to knock the wind out of his lungs. For a terrifying second, he was unable to breathe. He gasped for air, and watched as Liu towered above him, gloating.
“So much for Greco-Roman,” quipped Liu.
Yet more gunfire sounded in the distance. Liu watched Kristin selflessly get in the way of a blow by Monica meant for Ricky. As Monica moved in to finish her off, Liu interceded.
“Forget her. Let her die with the rest. We must join Sunny.”
Though Monica desired nothing better than to kill Kristin, she reluctantly backed away. Liu grabbed the Sterling, and led her out of the Radio Room, passing his daughter as if she weren’t even there.
Ricky meanwhile fought the pitching deck to attend to Vince.
“I’m fine, Ricky,” managed Vince between heaving breaths. “Why don’t you see if you can help out Tuff and his fallen shipmate.”
As Ricky was in the process of crossing the room to help, Tuffs voice echoed forth with concern. “Special Agent Kellogg, are you okay?
Special Agent Kellogg?”
“I’ll be fine, Tuff,” returned Vince, while struggling to sit up. “Just had the damned wind knocked out of me.”
Seemingly ignoring this update on Vince’s part, Tuff persisted. “Come on, Special Agent Kellogg, snap out of it!”
Vince failed to understand what Tuff was referring to. As he turned around, he found the security officer huddled over the prone body of a fellow officer. Ricky arrived at Tuffs side. Together they turned the man over on his back and began slapping his cheeks. Something about this fellow’s appearance was disturbingly familiar to Vince, and he waited for Kristin’s assistance before attempting to stand.
He stood upright, fighting off a brief wave of dizziness, then got his first good look at the fallen officer’s face.
“It can’t be,” muttered Vince, who looked on in shocked amazement as the man’s eyes snapped open, met his glance and spoke.