Karl hesitated behind a large front-loader, his feet sunken into the pernicious mud of the compound. He waited as a soldier passed in front of him, moving with great purpose. While he hesitated, he checked his watch and realized that if the Agency was going to set off the next EMP, it would happen any second.
A few smaller buildings had minimal lights coming from a couple of windows. This could have been from battery-operated lights or from a smaller generator. He listened carefully now and thought he could hear over the pouring rain the sound of a generator.
But that sound quickly went off in a few seconds, bringing only darkness again. The second EMP had wiped out any last electrical connections in the compound. Anyone stupid enough to turn on any electronics to try to discover what they were experiencing, would now be regretting their decision.
The sound of men yelling echoed through the rainfall. Those in charge were obviously not happy. But more than the tone of the yelling, Karl picked up orders given. The leaders had come to the conclusion that they were under attack.
Move Karl, he told himself. He had no choice but to expose himself in the compound now, or he would not be able to get a decent shot of the inside of the dark hardened nuclear shelter that would someday, potentially, hold a Russian missile — or four.
He tried to walk with haste through the darkness, much like he had observed the other soldiers do. But the walking was difficult because of the muddy surface. He guessed that concrete could not come soon enough for the soldiers of this facility.
As he got toward the front of the blast doors, Karl knew that he couldn’t put the camera to his eye to get the shots. Instead, he powered back the zoom and clicked off a series of shots from the hip as he walked. Checking the back screen, he saw that he had a couple of images that might be okay. But he quickly adjusted a dial, changing from manual mode to an auto adjust. Then he clicked off five quick shots.
Crap! He had not turned off the flash. The camera lit up the night in the compound like lightning had just crackled through the sky.
He immediately turned and started walking back toward the heavy equipment.
Karl still wasn’t sure if he had gotten the shots he needed. But that didn’t matter now. The flashes from the camera had exposed him.
Someone yelled from across the muddy compound, directing soldiers to stop Karl.
But these approaching soldiers were having as much trouble as Karl walking through the muck. They slipped and slid and some fell trying to run too fast.
The soldiers were closing in on Karl. He quickly flipped the camera to his back and pulled out his Glock from the small of his back as he picked up his pace.
The first person to fire was a man with a handgun some twenty yards away from Karl. The bullets missed Karl as he ducked behind a bulldozer, the familiar sound of bullets striking hard metal audible through the pouring rain.
Moving around to the other side of the large bulldozer, Karl hesitated before running across the open area and into the jungle where Maya waited for him.
More men started to gather from other buildings.
Move, Karl.
Finally, a slow and steady salvo of shots came from Maya’s position, dropping at least one soldier in the compound.
Karl ran now, closing the distance to the jungle as quick as he could.
Shots rang out from the soldiers.
Returning fire, Karl shot four times slowly as he rushed toward Maya.
More shots came his way just as he hit the jungle and took up a position behind a large tree.
“Maya,” Karl yelled.
“Over here.” She waved from behind her own tree.
She covered him with slow fire as Karl ran toward her.
Now the soldiers opened up with automatic gunfire, with bullets ripping through the trees and small bushes all around Karl. Miraculously, he had not been hit, as he threw himself to the ground at Maya’s feet.
“We must get out of here,” Maya pled. “I don’t have many more rounds.”
He knew that they had both left a couple of extra full magazines back in their bags. So, he only had one more full magazine and a few more rounds in his first one.
“Don’t fire anymore,” he said. “It only gives them something to shoot at. Let’s go.” He got up from the soggy soil of the jungle and took her hand, leading her back through the thinned-out area toward the perimeter fence and eventually the thicker tangle of jungle.
Karl could hear men yelling, the one in charge directing his men to get some balls and find the intruders.
As they got to the perimeter fence, Karl hesitated before going into the water again to get under the fence. Turning back toward the compound, he could see flashlights swiveling back and forth as the soldiers tried to locate them.
He sent Maya under the fence first. The rain had made the water rise higher, so they were forced to go completely under water now. Maya’s jacket caught on the fence while she was under water, and she struggled to free herself. Karl was able to rip her jacket to free her. She came out on the other side choking and spitting out water. Then she pushed the water from her face as she shoved her hair out of her eyes.
“Come on, Karl,” she forced out and then coughed up more water.
He shoved his body into the water and pushed himself deep into the flow, making sure he didn’t get caught on the fence like Maya. But he came up on the other side and into the fast-flowing water runoff.
The lights were getting closer, Karl noticed.
Now Karl knew they had just one chance to escape, and that was to put some distance between them and the Venezuelan soldiers. There was no way the men could track them through the jungle with either dogs or sophisticated infrared technology. And Karl had not heard a single dog during their compound visit.
Rain pelted Karl’s face as he rushed through the jungle, stumbling over covered deadfalls and occasionally getting smacked in the face with tree limbs and vines.
Maya stayed right on his tail, her breathing heavy and gasps as she sunk into the mud or fell to the ground.
He helped her to her feet and found a small high spot for them to sit briefly to catch their breath.
“Are you all right?” Karl asked, somewhat winded.
“I think so,” she said. “This is brutal terrain.”
He had to agree with her. “I know. But we have to keep moving.”
“Even if we get to the road, how do we get out of this remote area?”
Karl had already thought of that. “Turn on your phone.”
She pulled out her phone but it failed to turn on. “The second EMP must have fried it.”
He wasn’t sure if that was possible, but that was why he had turned off his SAT phone. Just in case. He found his phone, put in the battery, and turned it on. As he waited for it to fire up, he checked the camera. There was a problem. The zoom lens had taken a bullet strike, shattering the glass and the last couple of inches of the lens. Which meant that the bullet had missed Karl’s back by just a few inches. Regardless of the damage to the camera, it still turned on. He was able to view the images he had shot. Now he removed the memory card and transferred the images to his SAT phone. Then he picked two of his best shots and sent them to Roddy at the Agency.
Finally, he felt a great relief come over his body. He had come to Venezuela and accomplished his goal. They had proved that the Venezuelan government had built a remote nuclear missile facility in their southern jungle.
Karl didn’t have to wait long for Roddy to respond. He got a ‘Holy Shit’ and four thumbs up.
‘Get us a ride out of this hellhole,’ Karl texted.