“Psst. Vehicle approaching.”
The island was little more than a few miles of dredged-up sand, along with a big runway and several missile launching platforms positioned on jutted-out peninsulas. Surrounding the island was a man-made sandbar that protected the inner islands from waves and weather. A four-wheel-drive security vehicle was making its way along the outer sandbar, a spotlight from the passenger side scanning the sparse vegetation opposite the water.
Through his night vision goggles, Chase watched as one of the SEALs waited for the security vehicle to drive by his position. The SEAL then crept upward, jogging low behind the vehicle and firing two suppressed rounds through the driver’s open window.
In one athletic motion, the SEAL opened the driver’s side door, flung out the driver, and jumped in. Two flashes in the window as the SEAL killed the shocked passenger. As the vehicle came to a halt, Chase and the rest of the SEALs hurried over. They picked up the dead driver and passenger and stuffed them into the rear.
The SEALs headed toward the main island, careful not to drive too fast or too close to any observers. They parked in a dark alleyway next to the airfield hangar.
The SEALs got out and scattered. Some took up sniper positions hidden in various locations throughout the base. Chase and the team leader climbed onto the hangar’s roof via a fire escape ladder. Chase held an observation scope, monitoring the runway and periodically checking his watch.
“Any minute now.”
A giant Boeing 747 appeared out of the low cloud layer, touching down with a skid on the runway. Dozens of security personnel surrounded the aircraft. A mobile stair ladder was rolled up to the passenger door, and Chase watched as two security guards and a PLA general began walking down the stairs.
“Is that him?” Chase heard one of the SEALs say in his earpiece.
“I don’t think so.”
“He’s getting in the car; do I take the shot?”
“Negative.”
The SEAL team leader, lying in the prone position on the hangar roof next to him, asked, “Chase? That him?”
Chase’s observation scope had a facial recognition computer inside it. The bar at the top of his view ran from left to right and then went red.
“Negative,” said Chase. “Not our man.” He removed a round watertight case from his backpack, opened it, and removed two quadcopter drones that fit into his palm. He tapped on his wrist pad and the drones whizzed upward into the night air.
He looked through his observation scope again, and this time two small squares of streaming video feed appeared. Toggling between the different infrared camera views, he began to update his team.
“I count a total of twenty-one personnel on board the aircraft. It looks like most are gathered in a conference room on the second level near the nose. Standby… okay. Yup, I think that’s our target. He’s getting up now and…”
Distant gunfire erupted from Chase’s left. On his observation scope, Chase saw the infrared silhouettes inside the Chinese presidential aircraft stand in alarm.
One of the SEAL’s voices came on Chase’s earpiece. He sounded like he was running. “Contact in position bravo. I’m going to draw them out to one of the missile launch pads.”
The team leader next to Chase responded calmly, “Roger.” He repositioned himself, continuing to look through his sniper scope.
Chase said, “It looks like they’re staying put. Some of them are coming out, but not our target…”
Several more PLA officers appeared at the jumbo jet’s doorway, running down the stairway and into the waiting cars. Chase heard more cracks of gunfire now. Closer.
“Foxtrot is taking fire.”
The team leader said, “Fuck this. Open fire on all targets.”
Chase heard the simultaneous eruption of gunfire from several sniper positions nearby and watched through the observation scope as the Chinese military men making their way down the stairs were hit with lethal fire.
The vehicles at the bottom of the stairs became riddled with bullet holes, and the tires of the 747 burst as multiple sniper rounds tore through them.
Lena saw the unbridled fear on her father’s face as gunfire erupted outside the aircraft.
As soon as they landed, base security had informed them that the base had been attacked yesterday and that they would need to take extra precautions. Now Lena understood how the Americans had gained such an advantage in the Atlantic. They must have used China’s own datalink and communications networks against them.
After sending her CovCom message to Tetsuo, she expected them to try something like this. A decapitation strike, assassinating her father. She had assumed the Americans would use one of their advanced weapons, like a cruise missile, but if the US had a team of special forces operatives already here… it made sense to use them instead. They would be more accurate, despite the personal risk.
General Chen paced the room. “Why are we still in here?”
“Sir, there is gunfire outside. You are safe here. Allow us to neutralize the threat. We don’t want to risk you getting hit.”
“Get me to a vehicle. We must launch the weapon.”
Lena said, “What if we use one of the emergency escapes? Move one of your vehicles to the rear of the plane. We could ferry out a handful of security personnel with my father and slide him down there?”
The PLA security officer waivered.
General Chen said, “Do as she says.”
The man nodded and relayed the command into his radio. “All units concentrate fire on the attacking positions.” More security vehicles took up positions around the jumbo jet, firing automatic weapons in the direction of the aircraft hangars.
Moments later, Lena, her father, the PLA strategic missile commander, and three security personnel were sliding down an inflatable yellow emergency escape on the far side of the aircraft. Several vehicles had been positioned around the tail as a protective barrier.
Chase could hear the clicks and pops of suppressed rifle fire next to him as the SEAL team leader fired at the shadows escaping from the aircraft’s rear. Through his observation scope, Chase watched the group of Chinese men rush into the security vehicles and speed away.
One of the shadows rushing into the lead vehicle was a woman with long black hair.
The SEAL team leader spoke into his headset, transmitting to the team. “They’re on the move. Heading east. Alpha is in pursuit.”
Chase and the SEAL team leader rose from their prone positions, running toward the roof ladder and sliding down. Two Chinese soldiers now stood in the alleyway beside their hijacked vehicle. Chase raised his pistol and placed two rounds in each of them. Their bodies dropped to the dirt. Then he sprinted into the driver’s seat, the SEAL team leader taking shotgun, and hit the gas, racing to follow the Chinese presidential convoy. Yellow muzzle flashes and the rattle of automatic weapons erupted all around them.
Chase flipped his clear HUD glasses down. The two small drones he released a few minutes ago were now approximately two hundred feet above, their multi-spectrum cameras quietly observing the action. He used his right hand to tap on his wrist pad while driving with his left.
“You need me to take the wheel?” the SEAL team leader asked.
“Yeah.”
He took the wheel while Chase kept his feet on the gas, glancing down to finish typing on his wrist pad. They were now gaining on the convoy ahead of them.
A few more taps on his wrist pad. Now Chase saw a green rectangle appear around the moving vehicles displayed on his visor’s video feed. He toggled which target the rectangle surrounded until it locked on the lead vehicle.
Chase made a radio call into his headset to the command and control team aboard the USS Jimmy Carter. “MATCHSTICK, this is Alpha, do you copy my video feed, over?”