Battlefield 4: Countdown to War Page 24

  As they rode the elevator down to the parking garage, Hannah choked back tears of rage and shame. She felt weak and helpless. She had given in. She had compromised her only asset. They told her that her job might require appalling decisions, that people she cared for might have to be sacrificed; it was part of her training. She had been instructed that in such situations, loyalty to the Ministry, and ultimately to her country, came first. Where was her loyalty now? A true professional should not have buckled at the sight of a parent in distress as she had. She hoped that Kovic had at least recognised her text for what it was – both a plea and a warning. He had looked so pleased to see her. Had she overestimated him? Just at that moment he gave her hand a small squeeze as if to say, it’s okay: I know.

  But that made it all the harder. He had come, knowing something was wrong, knowing that her text was out of character, and therefore that he would be walking into some kind of trap.

  The doors opened onto the underground car park. They were moving toward a large highly polished black Cadillac Escalade SUV. A metre from the vehicle, she stopped.

  ‘I want to see him.’

  None of them spoke.

  ‘I got you the American. Give me my father.’ The leader had taken off the tinted glasses. He appeared to have one drooping eyelid.

  ‘You want to see him? Here.’ He pulled out his phone.

  He dialled and waited, then said something none of them could hear. He held up the phone and they all turned to watch her as she looked. The screen suddenly lit up and there he was, her father, still sitting in the chair, but blindfolded now.

  ‘Shuyi? Is that you? Are you there?’

  ‘Father!’

  She tried to grab the phone, but they held it away from her. The old man appeared to be able to hear her. Someone ripped off his blindfold.

  ‘Shuyi! I love you—’

  Then something wafted through from the left-hand edge of the screen and the old man jerked back as a spurt of blood shot from his right temple – everything else was drowned out by the volcanic roar of sound coming from Hannah.

  Kovic hoped that she would have prepared for this, though looking at the long tight dress he couldn’t see how. She didn’t even have a bag in which to conceal a weapon.

  The dress must have been specially made because the thin blade, about twenty centimetres long, appeared to come out of nowhere. It must have been hidden in a secret pocket sewn into the seam that ran down her thigh. It was very narrow, less than a centimetre, the grip just slightly thicker. He watched with a mixture of dismay and admiration as she wielded it with such speed and precision, it was as if she had trained with it all her life for this moment. She didn’t go for the chest; she went for the face and neck. So quickly did it drive into the team leader’s droopy eye and out again that for a second he looked as if nothing had happened, until it came, a thin jet of blood. But already she had slashed it across the neck of the next man, down the face of the face of the third, and finally into the open mouth of the fourth. And all the time the sound, chilling and inhuman, came from her.

  The fourth man was still clutching his weapon but Kovic’s foot smashed into his balls and the gun fell from his grip as he doubled up in pain. A shot zinged over them from a fifth man in the vehicle but Kovic grabbed the fallen gun and took him out with a burst of fire.

  The dress, the blade, the rage, all in the enclosed space – it was as if Hannah had morphed into some mythical beast. Now almost methodically, but suffused with anger, she revisited each one with the blade to ensure that none had any chance of survival. He hung back. This was her show, her grief. He knew all about that and what this would mean to her. He remembered Louise, what there was left of her and his own grim satisfaction at watching Tsu’s body twirling helplessly as it plummeted from the mountaintop.

  When she was done, she stood there and looked at him, blood dripping from the blade that was still in her hand, her fish-scale dress spattered and sprayed like a Jackson Pollock painting.

  ‘Okay,’ she said in a quiet voice. ‘What now?’

  64

  Garrison’s call came in before Kovic could think of a reply.

  ‘I’ve got something for you.’

  ‘Go ahead, sir.’

  ‘Chang’s location – he’s in Shanghai in a downtown hotel. The Pudong Royale. His private chopper’s on the roof. The place is pretty much in lockdown. We don’t know why he’s there or who he’s seeing. But I thought you might like to know.’

  Kovic reached out to Hannah and drew her in, held her close, while he continued the conversation.

  ‘That’s unless you want out. That exfil offer still stands.’

  He held Hannah against him, as her body shook with grief.

  ‘I’m not done here. What’s the overview? What’s the Pentagon saying?’

  ‘The overview is that China’s southern fleet is pulling in around us, and the Pentagon’s telling me to do zip lest it inflame things further. Which for them is somewhat out of character.’

  ‘Are they hearing what you’re telling them about Chang?’

  ‘I’m telling, but I can’t guarantee they’re listening.’

  ‘And Langley?’

  ‘Not a peep.’

  ‘And you’re certain about Chang’s whereabouts?’

  ‘I only have eyes from above but I’m looking at a live image of his machine on that hotel roof.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  Kovic slipped the phone back into his pocket.

  Hannah straightened up, moved away from him, and wiped a hand across her face.

  ‘I look like shit, right?’

  ‘Under the circumstances I’d say you look pretty tremendous.’

  ‘I’m sorry I had to involve you.’

  ‘I think we’re way past that.’

  ‘I tricked you.’

  ‘It was clear from your text that you were – not yourself.’

  She managed a faint smile.

  ‘You couldn’t believe I’m – I was attracted to you?’

  ‘Let’s say I try to be realistic.’

  She looked at him for several seconds, some indecipherable signal arcing between them. Eventually she spoke.

  ‘My father’s dead, my job’s gone, I’ve just killed a bunch of men – I don’t even know who they were. It’s just you and me now.’

  Kovic started to form a sentence in his head: I can get us out of this right now – we could be on a US aircraft carrier in forty minutes . . . But the words stayed unsaid.

  She took a big breath and slowly let it out. She looked small and vulnerable, but after what he had just seen, he knew that was highly misleading.

  ‘Jin Jié’s having a rally – the theme is “unity”. I should be there with him.’

  ‘Jeez, he doesn’t give up, does he?’

  ‘He feels it’s his last chance to bring together the progressive forces in a show of numbers that will convince any doubters that there really is a future in China for freedom and democracy.’

  ‘He has no idea—’

  She cut him off.

  ‘Ideas are what he’s all about. Ideas and being able to express them. If he doesn’t, who else will? The others—’ she shook her head in disgust, ‘—are too afraid to step out of line and take a stand; too scared, and too corrupt.’

  She stepped over one of the corpses.

  ‘I’m going to go to him. The least I can do is show him some support – and watch his back.’

  She started towards her car then looked down at the state of her dress.

  ‘Perhaps I’ll go upstairs and freshen up first.’ Then she paused again. ‘You could come too?’

  Kovic smiled. ‘Thanks, but I think you’ve got better things to do.’

  65

  Kovic made no comment on Wu’s latest wheels, a sure sign that his mind was elsewhere. He didn’t even ask him if he was rested after their ordeal up the mountain. All he wanted to know was that he had brought his spare ID. There was no point going in armed,
they would never get past security. Wu drove at speed through the deserted streets.

  He glanced at Kovic, who was deep in his own thoughts.

  ‘What’s the plan, boss?’

  ‘You know me, I don’t like plans. I’ll figure something out when we get there.’

  Kovic got as far as the main desk of the Pudong Royale Hotel, waving one of his South African passports.

  ‘Where’s my bags, hey? I left my luggage here only last week and now you’re telling me it’s gone? What kind of a show are you running here? You get the police on to it now. RIGHT NOW, do you hear?’

  The women on the desk looked embarrassed. This kind of behaviour could get them into trouble with their bosses. Wu, standing beside him, pleaded to be allowed to look through the left luggage closet.

  ‘Only for a moment, just to be sure – we’re not going to touch anyone else’s stuff. It’s just, he’s a bit upset, you know.

  ‘Upset!’ roared Kovic. ‘Of course I’m freakin’ upset! D’you know what’s in those bags? My wife’s anniversary present, that’s what!’

  ‘I’m sure they will let us look,’ said Wu. ‘Just calm yourself.’

  ‘Don’t tell me to calm myself!’

  So far so good. A young male receptionist took the initiative and led them to the inner lobby, where Kovic started to breathe strangely and stagger about.

  ‘Oh Jesus, oh God! It’s my heart!’

  They were beside the main lifts.

  ‘Get help!’ yelled Wu. ‘Get a doctor! Now!’

  As soon as the guy’s back was turned, they slipped into the express lift that took them to the top floor.

  ‘If only everything in life was that easy.’

  ‘I thought I was the one who gave the Oscar winning performances.’

  ‘You are, but heart attacks require someone more—’

  ‘Worn out looking?’

  The top floor, the seventy-ninth, had been shut off. Kovic exited on the seventy-eighth and Wu pressed Down, then just as it started, flipped the Emergency Stop. Kovic forced the doors open and stepped on to the roof of the car. Wu then released the button and pressed Up. The car ascended as far as it would go, just far enough for Kovic to reach the doors of the seventy-ninth and force them open. As soon as they began to part, two guards peered at him from behind the muzzles of their QSZs.

  ‘Guys, there’s been a hijacking. I don’t know what’s going on but they’re trying to . . . could you give me a—’

  Kovic seized the barrel of the nearest guard’s weapon and rammed it against the other guard’s outstretched hand. The first guard’s trigger finger instinctively squeezed and a bullet went at almost point blank range into his comrade’s forearm. Kovic then grabbed the second gun, fired, and both men were down. He climbed on to their floor and shoved the guards through the gap in the doors on to the roof of the car, before letting them close.

  Now he was armed and alone.

  He set off down the hall and turned a corner into more guards who immediately closed round him.

  ‘Hey! The fuck you think you’re doing?’

  They weren’t buying the indignant guest act. Any unannounced individual, no matter what their nationality, was bound to be a source of suspicion. Their comrade’s gun would be a dead giveaway and it was too late to get rid of it. He had to think of something else.

  ‘I’ve brought a message from Jin Jié. It’s an urgent request for talks. I need to speak to a member of the Admiral’s staff—’

  ‘From Jin Jié? Where’s your proof?’

  ‘He realises it’s all over. He wants to do a deal.’

  When you improvise, be plausible. That was what he had been taught and it had stood him in good stead. He had the nagging feeling he sounded ridiculous, but then he could almost believe Jin Jié actually was potentially naive enough to try and negotiate with Chang. A more senior official appeared wanting to know what was going on.

  ‘He claims he’s been sent by Jin Jié.’

  ‘Trust the jumped-up little prick to send a foreigner. He’s too late anyway. Cuff him.’

  Suddenly the doors opened behind them and an official in navy uniform shouted at them to stand to attention. Shit, I’ve really fucked this up, thought Kovic. Over the shoulders of the guards he could see a huddle of naval uniforms sailing toward them. Chang will be with them and he’ll see me, and I can’t do a fucking thing. He couldn’t move forward or back. He was surrounded, so he bent his knees in the hope that he would make himself less visible and bowed his head. As the entourage approached, he heard the engines of a chopper powering up on the helipad overhead. He felt the bodies around him straighten as the entourage came past. He kept his head down, and heard a muffled exchange of pleasantries. The bodies around him relaxed and parted, just enough to reveal who had just bid the Admiral farewell.

  It was Senator Hiram Metzger.

  66

  The guards holding him hesitated. Surely they couldn’t be taking orders from Metzger? It was impossible, yet he seemed to hold some sway with them.

  ‘Hey, cut that guy loose – he’s with me,’ he barked.

  Kovic shook them off and, and stepped towards the Senator.

  ‘Thank you, sir.’

  ‘They’re a little jumpy right now, with what’s going down out there. Come and have a drink.’

  Metzger strode down the corridor as if he owned the place. Fighting to hide his incredulity, Kovic followed.

  ‘Too bad you missed the Admiral.’

  Kovic digested this. Indeed, he had come so close to Chang and yet couldn’t do a damn thing except hide. But what was Metzger the Sinophobe doing with him?

  ‘Yeah, it was too bad, sir.’

  The best he could do was play along.

  Metzger laughed as he strode ahead.

  ‘The guy’s a piece of work, I’ll tell you that. But we don’t have to like him, so long as he plays ball. Tell you something, Kovic; wouldn’t hurt us to have a few more like him in our military. The guy knows how to bust a few balls.’

  ‘Yeah, I guess,’ said Kovic, thinking, What the fuck—?

  Metzger steered him into a banqueting room with a spectacular view of the skyline. He pointed at a magnum of Pol Roger on a table. The champagne glasses strewn about suggested that he, or someone, had already been celebrating.

  ‘Warrior’s nectar – Churchill’s favourite apparently. Help yourself. No point leaving any for Cutler, the man’s teetotal.’

  ‘He’s on his way?’

  Metzger frowned. Kovic’s heart skipped a beat. He turned away, found a clean glass and poured. It was the last thing he wanted right now but he had to buy some time to work out what the hell was happening here. Improvise.

  He raised his glass to Metzger.

  ‘The Station Chief plays his cards close to his chest sometimes.’

  Metzger shrugged, looked at his watch.

  ‘Yeah, well, we’re past that point, now.’

  ‘Well here’s to—’ To what? Betrayal? For a second Kovic couldn’t finish the sentence. He came up with a suitably meaningless word. ‘—to progress.’

  Metzger nodded, approvingly. Kovic took a swig. It was warm and sickly. He put the glass down. What the fuck was going on? He had to know.

  ‘Maybe you should bring me up to speed, sir. Anything – more from Chang?’

  Metzger waved the question away.

  ‘Cutler has all the details. All I care is that I’m outta here before kick off .’

  Metzger walked over to the window and stood there, surveying the vast nightscape of light.

  ‘Tell you one thing, when Chang gets his hands on the controls it’s gonna be a whole lot darker down there.’

  He gave another of his guttural chuckles.

  ‘You know what he said? He stood right here and said, “These are going off. Night is for sleeping.” Boy, do they have it coming to them.’

  Kovic’s mind was in overdrive. Nothing made sense. He stared down at the city.

  �
��Sir, I gotta say, I never had you down as a friend of China.’

  Metzger wheeled round, frowning. I’ve blown it now, thought Kovic.

  ‘Friend? I hate the little yellow fuckers. They’ve closed down half the factories in the States, flooding the market with all their cheap shit.’

  ‘Yeah, right.’

  Still barely able to believe what he was hearing, it was all Kovic could think of to say.

  Metzger turned towards him, eyes ablaze.

  ‘What you did for us on the border. That was good work. We needed that. Too bad we had to lose a few good men but – that’s how it goes sometimes. You lit the fuse for us.’

  Kovic felt a cold, sick feeling deep in his gut. He had been played – by his own side. He summoned all his mental energy to suppress his revulsion. He needed more from Metzger.

  ‘Cutler’s a clever operator, sir.’

  Metzger snorted.

  ‘Yeah, well he can take the credit if he wants, but you and I, we both know it’s been Chang all along. He’s one evil genius.’

  Metzger was in full flow now, the truth spilling out of him. Kovic’s mouth had gone completely dry. He looked round for some water. There wasn’t any so he took another swig of champagne.

  ‘So how’s the Pentagon taking it? So far.’

  At first Metzger just glared. Had Kovic gone too far?

  But the Senator just shrugged. ‘Cutler sure does like to keep you in the dark, don’t he!’

  Kovic laughed. ‘You can say that again, sir.’

  ‘The Pentagon don’t know shit. They’re gonna look like pricks when this goes up in their faces and you know what? They’re gonna come crawling to us for hardware and I’m so gonna enjoy that.’

  ‘You’re going to be very popular back home, sir.’

  ‘On the button, Kovic. And if I play this right—’