Credible Threat (Episode Eight)
Burned
The lowest of the paratroopers slapped at his chest, releasing the harness that held him to the chute, and dropped ten feet to the ground.
Marie watched closely from just inside the front door of the house, T91 at the ready. “Go with the kids. You’re the one they want.” She saw Aaron’s face drop. “We don’t have time to argue. Go! I’ll look after these idiots.”
She saw the reluctant resolve in his face before he turned and rushed toward the basement. She hated to face the paratroopers alone, but she had no choice. They couldn’t chance Aaron being captured and probably tortured for information he didn’t even know he had.
She burst through the front door just as the first paratrooper rose from his crouch and prepared to unsling his weapon. She dropped to one knee and trained the assault rifle on the center of his face.
He froze, eyes wide, then raised his hands and his eyes to the sky.
She followed his gaze and saw the other three on the verge of releasing their harnesses.
That makes five, including Bozo on the roof.
She was still beneath the veranda roof so neither of them could see the other but each knew the other was there. A flurry of motion attracted her attention as the first paratrooper whirled, unslinging his weapon, another T91 by the looks of it.
She resighted the assault rifle and squeezed the trigger. The headshot dropped the first paratrooper before he could bring his rifle up.
The other three, still in the air, immediately slapped their releases and dropped, rolling to their feet.
She drew a bead on the closest one and popped off another shot. It took him in the shoulder and spun him sideways, but at least he was down for a moment, but not out, thanks to the vests each paratrooper wore.
She didn’t think the guy on the roof would risk shooting. He couldn’t be sure who was down there and he wouldn’t risk killing Aaron.
The two paratroopers remaining on the ground, spread as far apart as they could get. She couldn’t face both of them. If she shot one, the other would shoot her. She wouldn’t be able to turn fast enough.
Smart move. They’re obviously well-trained. Maybe I can take them out hand-to-hand.
After sighting back and forth on the two men, she straightened and dropped the T91. Both the paratroopers on the ground visibly relaxed. Marie put her hands up to put them even more at ease.
“Step out from under there to the ground,” the one on her right instructed her, in Mandarin.
She didn’t move a muscle.
“Get down here!” he roared, still in Mandarin, and gestured with the barrel of his assault rifle.
Tactical advantage. Don’t let them know you understand them.
She stayed where she was. “I don’t know what you’re saying.”
From her left, there was a ferocious scream. As she snapped her head in the direction of the scream, she heard a thok, and then saw the head of the paratrooper on the left hit the ground and roll toward her.
His now-headless body dropped where it stood, revealing Gloria, bloody axe at the ready. She had a wild, almost savage look in her eyes and blood was splattered across her face.
Marie’s jaw dropped and she stared at the head as it came to rest near her feet. Then she was grabbed from behind. She could feel the gun pressed against her temple and heard the paratrooper that had tried to order her down off the verandah say, “Stay where you are! I will kill her!”
Gloria did not advance. She stayed in place, axe at the ready, but there was too much distance between her and the paratrooper. She wouldn’t be able to cover it before he shot one of them.
As the paratrooper guided Marie off the verandah and farther out into the yard, Gloria followed, not allowing the distance between them to get any bigger. That is, until Gloria got far enough away from the house that the paratrooper on the roof could see her.
Her face grew immediately slack when she heard him rack the bolt on his T91. Marie figured Gloria could probably feel the spot between her shoulder blades tense up—the spot where he’d most likely shoot her. It was a good bet, too, that the hair on the back of her neck was standing straight up.
Gloria’s eyes fluttered closed, and she let the axe slither from her grasp.
“Step away from the weapon,” the man on the roof spat in guttural Mandarin.
Marie mentally crossed her fingers that Gloria would stay right where she was.
Then, the man holding his gun at Marie’s head motioned to Gloria to come towards them with the hand of the arm that was around her throat.
Marie had been watching for something like that, hoping to take advantage of his focus being on Gloria, but his movement was too small. It hadn’t given her the opening she’d been hoping for.
Yep, very well trained. That can’t be good.
When Gloria got far enough from the house, the man on the roof vaulted down, slung his assault rifle over his shoulder and strode forward, clutching zip ties in his hand. “Which one of you is Marie Pratchett?”
Marie’s heart skipped a beat and she hoped it didn’t show outwardly. They’re after me?
His pronunciation of her name was severely garbled. She and Gloria both stared at each other. Marie understood that the paratroopers not knowing she spoke Mandarin gave her an advantage that she didn’t want to surrender at the moment. She hoped Gloria was on that same page. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
The paratrooper holding the zip ties said her name again, one syllable at a time, but it was still barely recognizable.
Marie looked from the paratrooper to Gloria and back again. Then she pasted a look of total lack of comprehension on her face and shrugged.
“Bah! We’ll take them both and let the commander sort it out,” the man behind her said.
He grabbed her wrists, forced them down behind her back and zip tied them together. The paratrooper from the roof did the same with Gloria.
Once they had the two of them restrained by the wrists, they also zip tied their ankles and thighs, just above the knees.
They really don’t want us getting away.
The man from the roof pressed his hand to his throat mic. “We have her. Pick up requested.”
Marie’s breath caught in her throat and she reminded herself not to let it show. Her gaze locked on Gloria.
Pick up requested? Just how well organized are these guys? Especially this far from home!
The paratrooper from the roof monitored them, T91 at the ready, while the other man gathered the bodies of his two fallen comrades. He showed little emotion about the task, even when he had to pick up the severed head, although the menacing scowl he fixed on Gloria made Marie shiver.
Then he helped the paratrooper Marie had shot in the shoulder get to his feet. The man’s arm hung at an odd angle. The vest would have stopped the round penetrating but, as close as they had been, Marie was sure the round probably dislocated his shoulder.
From the west, a helicopter crested the canopy of the forest, coming in fast and low. The Harbin Z-20 flashed toward them and Marie’s blood ran cold, her jaw dropping.
How the fuck did they get one of those in-country?
She could see by the look on Gloria’s face she was thinking exactly the same thing.
If they’ve got a bunch of vehicles and more over here, we’re in bigger trouble than we thought.
Marie’s training took over. She presumed Gloria would do the same. Observe. Listen. Gather as much intel as possible while she could see and hear. It seemed as though they would need the intel if the Harbin hovering over them was an indication of the degree of Chinese presence in the US.
Ropes and harnesses dropped to the ground from the helicopter and the two paratroopers wasted little time binding them up to be winched into the waiting Z20.
Marie was suddenly frightened. She’d heard how brutal the Chinese could be and she wasn’t looking forward to experiencing it first-hand.
Gloria struggled against the binding but really had very little leverage against the zip ties and two Chinese paratroopers.
Once they were both harnessed up, ropes were clipped to the back of each of their harnesses and the two paratroopers signaled the men in the chopper. The ropes tightened and pulled at the back of their harnesses, and they were lifted into the air. As they began to rise, the two paratroopers, grinning from ear to ear, tugged hoods down over their faces.
Marie and Gloria rose toward the Chinese helicopter, bound so tightly neither could move, virtually deaf because of the downwash from the rotors, and now blind.
This isn’t exactly working out like we planned.
•••••
Aaron was surprised to find that the quarter-mile long tunnel was far better constructed than he’d initially thought. Pa had confirmed that the reinforced concrete walls, floor, and ceiling were a foot thick and would stand up to anything but a severe earthquake. Even a direct hit from the majority of the artillery in use today would not faze it. They were deep enough underground that probably nothing short of a nuclear strike would affect it.
They strode in near silence. He wasn’t worried about paratroopers coming up behind them. The entrance to the tunnel in the basement was so well concealed, you’d have to know it was there to find it.
Aside from the echoing of their footsteps, the only sound was the occasional sniffle from Alexis and the accompanying comforting words from Ma. Aaron felt bad for both kids. This was all new to them and despite the fact that Tyler was not reacting overtly to what was going on, Aaron had spotted the clenched jaw and could see the worry in his eyes.
Alexis had no problem showing she was frightened. Frightened of being shot at, frightened of Chinese soldiers dropping in out of nowhere, and especially frightened that her mom, who wasn’t quite acting like the mom Alexis had grown up with, was up there facing them—alone. Aside from the small comfort of telling Alexis everything was going to be okay and not to worry, that Mom could handle it, Aaron didn’t know what else to say.
He tried to put himself in her shoes. One day she’d woken to find out the geeky, weird parents she’d known since she was born were actually agents of the government, sworn to follow orders and protect the United States at all costs. Gun play, hand-to-hand combat, and taking one life to save another were all suddenly realities her parents had to deal with. It must have been very disorienting, to say the least. And nothing he could say would make it otherwise.
At the same time, Doctor Richards looked just as frightened, if not more so, than either Tyler or Alexis. So, there was that. Aaron supposed that’s why the man was being hidden at the safehouse. Didn’t have the stones to play with the big boys.
The dim LED lighting mounted in the ceiling guided them on the trek to the far end. The one problem Aaron had with being in a tunnel so deep underground was that no sound filtered to them. He had no idea what was going on, above ground. For all he knew, the paratroopers were just the tip of the iceberg. The safehouse property could be swarming with Chinese soldiers with only one assignment; to capture him.
On the other hand, a troop movement of that size would attract a lot of attention. It’d be impossible to hide. That many soldiers, all deploying their chutes…somebody would notice them, surely? He doubted the Chinese would expose themselves this early in the process. It would destroy the biggest tactical advantage they thought they had at the moment; the element of surprise.
He tried to take solace in that thought, with Marie up there facing off with them on her own. Although, Gloria was in the shed chopping wood. She might be able to even the odds a bit. The paratroopers dropping in would have no way of knowing Gloria was out there. If, by some miracle, she noticed the Chinese soldiers dropping in or maybe if she heard the initial chatter of the T91s, she’d come running with the axe. He was pretty sure she didn’t have any firearms with her in the shed but even Gloria with an axe would be a formidable opponent to any Chinese paratrooper, despite the arms he’d be carrying.
The LEDs led them to a ladder built into the concrete at the end of the tunnel. It looked like a hell of a climb. Fifty feet, at least.
As they all gathered around the base of the ladder, Aaron caught Pa’s gaze. “Where does this come out?”
“In the woods at the back of the property, behind a pretty good-sized pile of deadfall. We won’t be seen.”
“Okay, we’re heading for the surface,” Aaron whispered, addressing Tyler and Alexis, in particular. “No talking until we see what’s up there.”
They both nodded. Alexis sniffled one last time and wiped her nose on her sleeve.
Aaron set his jaw and started climbing. Tyler and Alexis climbed right behind him, followed by Ma with Emma. Doctor Richards and Pa brought up the rear. He wondered briefly how Ma was doing, climbing while holding Emma, but he couldn’t worry about that for right now.
When he got to the top, Aaron stopped and waited for everyone to cluster behind him. He beckoned for everyone’s attention and when they were all looking at him, he signed his way through; I’ll check things out topside. You all stay here and be quiet.
He unslung the T91 from his shoulder and braced himself to go through the hatch.
•••••
Marie felt two pairs of hands grab her and haul her into the chopper’s cabin. She was tossed unceremoniously on the floor, right up against the pilot and copilot’s seats, if she had her orientation correct.
If two men had grabbed her, that meant there were at least three in the chopper including the pilot, and three more men on the ground.
A few seconds later, another body hit the floor beside her.
“That you?” She didn’t use Gloria’s name. If the Chinese were here for Marie Pratchett, heaven only knew what they would do with anyone they captured who wasn’t Marie. SOP in this situation dictated that, unless the Chinese had a picture of her and could easily identify which one of them was Marie, they would both claim to be Marie, each trying to stay alive for as long as possible until it became clear their captors knew who was who.
There were three other thuds in quick succession as the bodies of the dead Chinese paratroopers were loaded into the chopper. Marie presumed that the third, fainter thud was the paratrooper’s head.
She heard the chopper’s motor start to surge, then it suddenly got far quieter in the cabin as the side door slid shut. It was still noisy due to the increase in the power to the rotors, but hopefully, she’d be able to pick up at least some chatter on the way to wherever they were going.
She concentrated and could feel the chopper lift as the speed of the rotors increased. It swung around as it rose, probably to head back the way they’d come. She would need to pay careful attention to how long they were in the air once they started forward, so she’d have an approximation on their location if she needed it.
She hoped to pick up some information, even inadvertently, from the soldiers in the cabin, or from the pilot speaking to the powers-that-be on the radio. So far, not only was radio silence being observed, but none of the men in the cabin had anything to say, either.
She had heard that Chinese forces were extra-disciplined in their conduct on the battlefield, that they did not play fast-and-loose with the regulations like many US forces tended to in the heat of battle. She supposed she was seeing, or rather, hearing an example of that right now.
She hoped that Tyler and especially Alexis, did not freak out too badly when they discovered their mother had been taken by the Chinese. She didn’t envy Aaron, having to deal with that.
Then it occurred to her, they’d been rising for several seconds.
Aren’t they worried about being detected? Surely, we’re no longer under the radar.
As if in answer to her thoughts, she felt the chopper’s nose drop. The increase in slant pushed Gloria against her.
Glad I’m not the one with dead bodies pressed up against me.
The motor noise surged again, and the chopper started forward and swept ahead at a much higher speed, it seemed, than when they’d initially come over the house. The pressure of Gloria and the dead bodies behind her eased off a bit.
Marie kept her ears open just in case and, despite the hood over her head, she closed her eyes and focused outward while maintaining a slow, second-by-second count. She knew that Gloria would be doing the same thing. They’d compare notes once they were alone and sure their conversations were not being monitored. Until then, they’d just have to ride out the storm.
She just hoped that the storm wouldn’t be fatal for either one of them.
•••••
Thanks for reading!
Credible Threat was originally written as a complete thirteen-episode thriller. If you’re the kind of reader who hates cliffhangers and prefers to binge the whole story, you can pick up the full season right now from Stories Rule Press and keep reading immediately, just click here.
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