Quite literally, it takes my breath away.
It's a goddamned missile silo. Or something like that. The level I'm on is really a circular, perimeter "balcony" that looks down onto the lower level, much like a rotunda. In the middle of the bottom floor sits a gigantic cannon-like apparatus made of alloy and steel. The base appears to be about a hundred feet square and looks as if it weighs a few tons. Surrounding the base is a massive mechanism of hydraulics that raises and lowers the weapon. The cannon-barrel is about 100 meters long, several meters thick, and sits perpendicular to the ground floor, pointing straight up. The thing probably raises from a deep well in the ground so that it extends the full length into the air.
My God! I suddenly realize what it is! I recognizeit! I remember seeing pictures of the original designs, back when Gerard Bull attempted to develop one of these things for Iraq in the 1980s.
It's a Babylon supergun, complete and ready for use. The shopping mall is nothing but the enclosure for the weapon. When they want to fire it, I imagine the supergun is raised to the ground level, where it sits in that central, empty space beneath the domed ceiling. The two halves of the dome separate, like an observatory, and the barrel extends into the sky as far as it will go.
Incredible! No, it's fucking fantastic! I have to admit I'm impressed. The thing is absolutely beautiful. It's the sleekest, most awesome weapon I've ever seen in my life.
Now I realize what those blueprints were that I saw in Tarighian's office in Turkey. Albert Mertens, Gerard Bull's right-hand man, designed this thing. And it's a jaw-dropping masterpiece.
From what I remember of Bull's original Babylon supergun and what it's able to do, this version looks very similar. I'm guessing here, but I'd say that's a 1000mm gun that utilizes tons of propellant to fire a humongous projectile over a range of up to 1,000 kilometers.
I immediately snap some pictures of it with my OPSAT and then type a text message to Lambert. I tell him what I've found and that I'm going to try and sabotage the thing. At any rate, he needs to get the United Nations, or NATO, or whoever the hell he can persuade to help out, over here as soon as possible and bomb the shitout of the place before Tarighian has a chance to use it. From the looks of all the activity, it's pretty damned close.
Sheesh. Sabotage the thing. How am I going to do that? The only weapons I've got with me are the frag grenades and my SC-20K. That'll be like flicking paper clips at an armored tank.
Maybe the best thing is to set the grenades to go off in a bit, perhaps cause a diversion, and give me time to get the hell out of here. I can only hope Lambert will come through with the big guns. I reach into the Osprey and pull out a grenade, set it to go off in forty-five minutes, and place it out of sight but very near the double doors.
I begin to move slowly around the perimeter of the upper balcony. Whenever I find a good spot, I place another frag grenade and set it to go off simultaneously with the first one. I continue to do this all the way around the balcony, which thankfully is devoid of workers. They're all down below, hurrying like mad to finish whatever they're doing.
When I'm on the opposite side of the balcony from the double doors, I see the bright windows of the control room. It's a bunker built into the floor that's probably made to withstand the supergun's huge recoil. Several men are inside the control room, and I recognize one of them--Namik Basaran, aka Nasir Tarighian, looking out a window at his baby.
I make my way around, placing three more frag grenades, and now I'm ready to disappear. Sarah Burns, darling, here I come. I head for the double doors and prepare to use the keycard to open them--but I hear my OPSAT beep quietly. A message is coming through from Lambert. It reads--
U.N. FORCES ON THEIR WAY. GET OUT NOW!
You don't have to tell me twice, Colonel. I raise the keycard, ready to slip it through the slot, when suddenly the doors open. Four armed guards are standing there, and I'm caught with my thumb up my ass.
One of them sees me--and my strange alien uniform--and shouts. Before they can react, I bolt through them, shoving the two inner guys apart. They fall into the outer guys, knocking them to the floor. I run like a madman as I hear more shouting behind me. A gun fires and a bullet whistles past my head. I begin countermaneuvers of zigzagging and bouncing off the walls like a pinball to make myself less of a target.
Then the alarm sounds. As they say, all hell breaks loose.
I run into one of the wings containing nonexistent stores and head for the exit, the one I came in. When I'm about forty feet from the doors I see two guards on the other side of the glass. I pause long enough to swing the SC-20K off my shoulder, unlock the safety, and blast away, shattering the glass and killing the men. I barge forward like a bull, ready to smash through the remaining shards of glass, but a volley of gunfire behind me forces me to hit the floor. I roll to the wall and try my best to squeeze as close as I can to it, but the bullets are frighteningly near. The rifle's still in my hands, so I let loose a barrage of rounds at my pursuers while lying on my back. I hit two of them, but the others jump for cover. This gives me the seconds I need to jump up and run through the broken glass doors. A shard cuts into my uniform at the shoulder, ripping the outer layer and opening a water tube. I fall to the ground outside the complex, roll, and leap to my feet without breaking the momentum of my progress.
The parking lot is clear. I'm almost free.
I run to the electrical van, pull open the door, and find that my buddy is no longer on the floorboard. What the hell, forget him. I put the key in the ignition and start it up, ready to throw it into reverse and tear out of the parking lot.
The cold metal of a gun barrel presses against the back of my neck.
I look in the rearview mirror and see my old friend the electrician behind me. He says something in Turkish and he doesn't look too happy. I guess I must have hurt his head earlier and it's payback time. I slowly raise my hands and he relieves me of my SC-20K. He then opens the panel door and tosses my gun to the ground just as a dozen of Tarighian's armed guards surround the van.
35
" MR. Fisher," Tarighian says as they march me into the control room. "Is spying on my facility a part of your Interpol report?"
"As a matter of fact, it is," I reply. I know it sounds lame, but I can't think of anything else to say.
I scan the room to see what my opposition consists of. Besides Tarighian and the three guards holding me, I see Farid the bodyguard and Albert Mertens busy at a desk with another man. The odds would be pretty fair if I didn't have my hands tied behind my back. They've also taken my Osprey, my headset and goggles, my weapons, and emptied all my pockets.
If looks could kill, Farid's expression says it all. He's obviously put two and two together and figured out I'm the one who broke his arm. I give him a smile and a wink.
Tarighian looks at me with those cold, brown eyes. "You should have stayed in Lake Van, Mr. Fisher. That's where I thought you ended up."
"Sorry to disappoint you."