“Locked One.”
“Take the shot.”
Tavish nodded, letting out a barely held breath, and then slowly squeezed the trigger on his rifle. The weapon barked once, bucking into his shoulder, but he didn’t let that slow him for an instant as he relocated the rifle to the second target. This time, when the line flashed green, he didn’t wait for orders.
The rifle barked again, sending its six millimeter round flashing down range where it tore through a line of bushes that were planted around the circumference of the greenhouse, and burrowed deep into the chest of a stunned man who was trying to figure out why his partner had crumpled to the ground.
A hundred and twenty meters away, on the other side of a thick hedge of bushes and across an expanse of desert, the assault team broke cover and made the last sprint to the greenhouse skirt of the immense power plant.
“We’re ready to broadcast, Amir.”
Abdallah Amir nodded, setting down the portable computer he had been taking notes on, and turned to where the men were setting up the cameras. “It’s about time.”
“We’re sorry,” The lead technician said as he flipped the camera on, “The jamming signals were causing interference, even over our clear channels.”
“Is it fixed”
“Yes, Amir.”
“Good. Then let us do this.”
Amir straightened his clothing as he settled into the chair behind the heavy desk, eyes locking onto the camera as his prepared speech flowed freely through his mind. The light on the camera flickered from yellow to red as he nodded, and the tech pointed to him.
“We’re going out live,” came the hissed words.
Amir smiled slowly, taking his time. He knew that the introduction file sent along with the feed address to all the interested parties would ensure that he wasn’t preempted by any foolish news crew.
Today, there was only one story in the entire world.
“I am Abdallah Amir,” He said, smiling thinly, “And I represent the People’s Armies from all across this forsaken world. Our brothers in Iraq, our comrades in Korea, our friends in Sri Lanka, and all of those in this world who dare to strike out against the oppressive authority of the so called `Civilized Nations’. Today, we stand ready to strike against that oppressive `Civility’ in such a way as is the only recourse of dissidents in an oppressive society.”
“We are called terrorists now, though in the past we have had other names. Patriots, to the American Revolution. Soldiers to the Vietnam Conflict. Guerrilla freedom fighters to the causes supported by the `Civilized Nations’.But terrorists because we have chosen not to accept the civility you so generously offer us.”
“Today I hold Forty thousand hostages within the great symbol of Australian `Civilization’, the Tower of Power whose very name is hateful to God. I will not hesitate to execute these people if my demands are not met, or if the Civility of your nations demands that they attack my position.”
“Jesus Christ,” Carl Severson hissed, eyes wide, “Who’s all getting this!”
“CNN is running it live, Sir!”
“The BBC just picked up, and so has Skynet!”
“Every channel in Australia’s already got it running!”
Severson closed his eyes, shaking his head, even as the phone on his desk began to ring. He looked at it, not having to check who it was. That ring tone only came from one phone. He picked it up, even as phones all through the building began to sound, and schooled his voice to a steady tone.
“Yes Mr. President, I’m watching it now. No Mr. President, I don’t believe he’s bluffing. Mr. President, this is more serious than you think. Remember the incident report I sent you earlier, Sir Yes Sir, this is the one.”
The DCI winced at the blast from the phone and shook his head, “We’re already doing everything we can, Sir.Yes Sir, I’m aware that the politics have just become much more complicated. I’ll do what I can, Mr. President.”
Severson sighed as he set the phone back in its cradle, then turned to his people and began snapping orders.
A floor down from him, in another room, a second group of people were watching the announcements with similar sensations running through their minds and guts.
“Oh God.” Natalie Cyr shook her head, “It’s in the toilette now.”
“Ma’am”
She looked at the confused face of one of the younger analysts and grimaced slightly, “The politicians are in on the decision making now, Paul. This whole situation just became headline news all across the net, and that means voters. Australian, American, Everyone.They’ll all be sticking their noses into this one now.”
“I see Ma’am.”
“Do you” She asked softly, her tone ironic.
“Pardon”
“Never mind, Paul.” She said, shaking her head. “Keep tracking our boy.”
“Yes Ma’am.”
Natalie Cyr looked back to the symbols on the screens in front of her, showing the locations of the terribly tiny assault team that had penetrated the outer ring of the Power Plant facility. In the back of her mind she again wished them all the luck in the world, because she was sorely afraid that they were going to need it.
Because Abdallah Amir had just gotten exactly what he’d wanted, she was sure of that.
Chapter 10
Just inside the perimeter of the greenhouse skirt the men stopped, two of them moving to examine the bodies of the two shot my Tavish while Malcolm, Greene, and Anselm paused to confer.
“We have to split up,” Anselm said seriously, “A team has to move to contain the potential outbreak, that will keep this from becoming an international matter, to say nothing of the number of deaths in every Australian territory to the East of here.”
“Agreed.” Malcolm said, nodding. “I’ll take five of my men to the central supports of the tower, we’ll trigger the fire system and hold the area as we discussed. Sergeant!”
“Sir!” Mickey Franks said instantly, leaning in.
“You’ll lead Bravo team. Your objective is to prevent, if possible, the disposition of the biological vector.”
“And if not” Franks asked grimly.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, but if not then try to limit its spread in any way possible while eliminating any of the terrorists you can. We know we have at least four groups, so the Interpol team,” Malcolm nodded to Greene, “Will be the second half of that endeavor. Lieutenant”
Greene nodded, pointing to a diagram of the tower schematics on his portable, “We’ll take these two points. The heat sources from Agent Gunnar’s borrowed satellite feed tells us that there are several thousand people here.and here. We’ll do a soft recon along this path here, and try to evaluate the terrorist presence.”
Malcolm nodded, “Sergeant”
“Same plan, different sector.” Franks replied, quickly going over the final details of their plan both in mind and voice. He pulled up his own portable, also showing a similar schematic to the Lieutenant’s, “We’ll start with long range recon from the.hehehe. strawberry plants.”
“Sergeant,” Malcolm growled warningly.
“Sorry Sir,” Franks smothered another snicker, “As I was saying, we’ll do a recon and try to determine the terrorist assets before moving in. If they have not yet deployed the biological, we’ll move to ensure that they don’t get the chance.”
“How are we going to know about that anyway” Greene asked, frowning.
“If the bad guys are wearing radiation suits,” Anselm responded, “They’ve deployed it. The bug is contained in irradiated tubes that slow its most virulent stage. This keeps the victims alive a while longer so they can better produce the virus and breathe it out into the air. The radiation will kill them, though, even if the Virus doesn’t.and no matter what vaccine Abdallah and his people have against the bug, assuming they aren’t the suicidal kind, the radiation would kill them dead.”