Jackson sadly shook his head.
Below, the cavern began to flood. If they had a slim chance before, now they had none. Help would never arrive in time.
“We have to do something,” said Cardinal desperately. “We can get some rope and climb down.”
Jackson placed a hand on Cardinal’s shoulder. “If I thought it would do any good, I’d be the first one down there. You know that.”
Cardinal stared down into the cavern. His heart felt as if it had just been ripped from his chest. He couldn’t believe that she was gone. She was too tough to simply roll over and die. Staring down into the abyss, Cardinal watched as the water rose higher and higher, flooding the cavern. After about ten minutes, he stopped, unable to watch anymore. He turned around and sat on the ground, devastated.
The sound of helicopter rotor blades filled the air.
Jackson watched as three army helicopters filled with soldiers landed in the open ground beside Farragut’s home. As soon as their skids hit the ground, the soldiers jumped from their helicopters and rushed over, forming a cordon around Hwan’s men. A couple of medics quickly got to work, trying to save as many of the men as they could.
“Is one of you Captain Mitchell?” called out a young-looking army major.
“No, he’s still trapped below,” replied Jackson, his voice bitter and angry.
“I’m sorry,” replied the major. “Who are you?”
“I’m Nathaniel Jackson, and this is Gordon Cardinal,” he said, introducing his shattered friend.
“Mister Jackson, I’m not one hundred percent sure what is going on. I was dispatched here with orders to prevent a bomb from going off. I take it that I’ve arrived too late.”
“Yeah, you’re too late.”
“Is there anything we can do?”
“No,” said Jackson, shaking his head.
“Oh, I don’t know, I could sure use a steak, some fries, and an ice-cold beer right about now,” said Mitchell as he walked through the cordon of soldiers.
Jackson’s mouth dropped open. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Standing there, looking like a drowned rat was Ryan Mitchell.
“I second the beer,” said Sam, looking as wet and filthy as Mitchell.
Cardinal dashed over and swept Sam up in his arms. Holding her close to his chest, he hugged her for all he was worth.
“Gordon, you’re smothering me,” said Sam, trying to wriggle her way free from his crushing embrace.
“Sorry,” said Cardinal, letting go of her.
“What happened? I thought you were both dead,” stammered Jackson.
“It’s a bit of a long story. Suffice to say the bomb must have shattered the rock deep below the surface, allowing an underground river to rise up into the cavern. Since the stairs were longer an option, Sam decided to take me on a tour of the tunnels leading away from the cavern. Thankfully there’s one that comes out over by that clump of trees,” explained Mitchell, pointing back over his shoulder.
“Miss Atsuko?”
Mitchell’s jaw tightened. He shook his head.
Jackson patted his friend on the back, knowing that the conversation was over.
“Are you Ryan Mitchell?” asked the major.
“Yes, I am, and I would like my steak done medium rare.”
The major didn’t know what to say. He was about to give orders to his sergeant when an old man looking like he had just woken up from an all-night bender sat up, rubbed the goose egg on the side of his head, and then slowly stood up. Looking about, he shook his head and walked over to the major, looking him straight in the eye.
“Yes?” said the major.
“I bet you’re from the government. I hope you’ve got a pretty big checkbook to pay for all this mess.”
Hours later, after being questioned by the police and agents from Homeland Security, Mitchell and his people were allowed to go on their way, knowing that it wasn’t over by a long shot. They all knew that they would be interviewed for days when they got back home. After helping ferry Sheriff “Red” Thomas and the wounded police to the nearest hospital, Yuri, seeing that he was no longer needed, faded out of sight and then disappeared completely. Mitchell told Cardinal and Sam to take a couple of days off before reporting in at work. Mitchell then asked Red for a lift to the airport.
Accompanied by Jackson, Mitchell sat in the passenger seat of the police cruiser, quietly lost in thought. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say. He decided to leave out her decision to stay and die with Cypher. Mitchell prepared himself to pass on the awful news.
At the airport, Taro Satomi took the news of Atsuko’s death with considerable poise. With a granite-like expression on his face, his only question was how she died. Mitchell looked into his sad eyes and told him that she died saving the lives of thousands of innocent people. Satisfied with the answer, Taro Satomi simply bowed his head slightly, thanked Mitchell, turned about, and then boarded his airplane for the long, sad flight home without his only child.
Mitchell walked outside of the hangar and took a deep breath of cool night air. He closed his eyes for a moment and thought back over the events of the past couple of weeks, wondering why so many people had to die, and for what. Nothing had been gained. Lives had been shattered, and the world would never know the truth of what had happened. He felt tired and old.
With a pat on Mitchell’s back, Jackson said, “Don’t beat yourself up. Miss Satomi was as guilty as Cypher. If she had survived, she probably would have spent the rest of her life in jail. She knew what she was doing when she chose to stay with Cypher.”
“I know,” replied Mitchell wearily. “It just seems so pointless.”
“You can’t save everyone.”
Mitchell nodded; Jackson was right.
With a loud gurgle from his stomach, Jackson grinned. “Still want that steak?”
“I sure do. You buying?”
“Hell, no,” said Jackson, producing a gold-colored credit card. “Tonight’s on the general.”
“Well, if he’s buying, I believe more than one beer is in order.”
Jackson asked Red where the best steakhouse was in town. As they pulled away from the airport, neither man saw Taro Satomi’s plane take off into the night sky.
51
Jen leaned over and gave Mitchell a quick kiss on the lips. Lingering for a moment, Jen slowly pulled back and smiled “I’ll be to be back in a couple of hours to pick you up. Don’t go volunteering for anything new without my permission. Got it?”
Mitchell nodded and reluctantly climbed out of the jeep and made his way inside. Jen waited until she couldn’t see Mitchell anymore before driving away.
After clearing security, Mitchell headed straight for the conference room. When he arrived, he found Jackson, Cardinal, and Sam already seated around the table. With a wink, Jackson handed Mitchell a cup of coffee from the cafeteria.
Thanking Jackson, he took his seat. A few seconds later, Mike Donaldson and Fahimah walked into the room. With a wide smile upon his face, Mitchell stood up and shook Fahimah’s hand. “How are you doing?”
“Fine, as long as I don’t overdo it,” replied Fahimah as she took a chair near the front of the room.
“Well, it’s sure good to see you up on your feet,” added Jackson.
“It’s good to be back at work. My parents were driving me crazy.”
“At least someone knows when to turn up to work,” said O’Reilly as he walked into the room, his gaze fixed on Mitchell.
Raising his hands in mock surrender, Mitchell said, “Don’t blame me. Jen drives the speed limit. We’d have been here a lot sooner if I had driven.”