Battlefield 4: Countdown to War (28 page)

72

USS
Valkyrie
, South China Sea

Garrison stared at the message.

No exit S’hai. Exfil RV roof of Zhi You Towers. Have JJ intact so no excuses.

He smiled to himself. Kovic had figured correctly that they wouldn’t okay his exfil, but having Jin Jié put a whole new spin on it. He hadn’t any of this information yet, but he was already scoping out options for bringing Kovic out. He was damned if he was going to bend over for the Pentagon. Like the Secretary had said, tough calls were what they paid him for – well, this was one right here, and he was going to do the right thing.

‘Duncan, show me the Zhi You Towers.’

Lieutenant Duncan tapped at her keyboard and the screen on the wall, which had been playing mute CNN images from the city, switched to an aerial of the Towers. The three Marines who were round the table examining the map looked up.

Recker whistled.

‘Those are big motherfucking skyscrapers.’

Garrison coughed and glanced at Duncan, who was oblivious.

Recker looked at the floor.

‘Er . . . excuse me, sir.’

‘Apology accepted. It is an accurate description.’

The three soldiers stared at the screen. None of them was even half his age. Was he about to send more able young men to their deaths? How much longer could he keep this up? This game needed someone younger, with less imagination.

Pac shrugged. ‘Too bad we can’t go in airborne.’

Garrison leaned over the map and drew a circle with his finger round the city.

‘We enter Shanghai airspace, we’re dead. My recommendation, gentlemen, is you focus on the positives. There’s enough chaos on the ground to afford you some useful cover. The Zhi You complex is less than a mile from the shore. You’ll be in civvies and since it’s the mustering point for all foreign nationals, you won’t stick out like Christmas trees if you have to enter the building.’

Irish was thinking ahead; thank God somebody was.

‘Sir, will they be able to RV with us at ground level?’

‘If we can still communicate with them, but don’t assume anything. Also he’s got a couple of VIPs with him, so chances are they’ll be having to hide out somewhere in the building.’

There was silence while they all absorbed the enormity of what they were taking on. Irish raised a tentative finger.

‘Sir, Kovic was with Olsen – on the North Korea mission?’

They all looked up, waiting to see how he would respond. So they all knew. Well what did he expect? Stuff got around – even on a ship this big. He looked at each of them in turn.

‘I’m not gonna mess with you: this mission is off the grid. It’s not authorised by anyone above me. I want Kovic out of there because he’s put his life on the line to get to the truth about what happened to Olsen and the others. That’s worth a lot to me, to all of us.’

None of them spoke.

Pac raised a hand.

‘Shoot.’

‘Sir, how come Kovic was the only survivor on that mission?’

Garrison’s gaze drifted off to the picture on the desk of his son Tommy.

‘Some people travel with more than the standard complement of luck. And my guess is that right now, he’s wondering just exactly when it’s going to run out.’

73

Zhi You Towers, Shanghai

The Zhi You Towers, a hundred and forty storeys each, were Shanghai’s tallest buildings. Above the fifth floor all the lights had been extinguished, so they loomed like a pair of giant tombstones.

‘How are we going to do this?’

Hannah surveyed the scene on the forecourt in front of the main doors. A long queue of foreigners had formed, some trailing luggage, several with children. Half a dozen soldiers were keeping them in line.

‘Wu, lose the truck and make your own way in. Steal a uniform and get us a couple of weapons. Meet us by the elevators.’

He turned to Hannah.

‘We’re going in the front door.’

‘How are they not going to notice us?’

‘Because we’re going to hide smack in plain view. I’ll do the talking. Just play along. You’re my wife, and he’s your brother. We’re Canadians. Put your weapon in his pocket. They’re less likely to search him.’

Hannah looked at him. Was he brilliant? Or insane?

He squeezed her hand.

‘Trust me . . .’

Jin Jié did not look good. His eyes were half closed and his head tilted awkwardly as if he didn’t have the strength to hold it upright.

Kovic raised his chin.

‘Okay – no greeting your flock. Just pretend you’re not a celebrity for a while. See if you can get the hang of it.’

Jin Jié nodded feebly, evidently without the strength to argue. But Hannah looked desolate.

‘I don’t see how we’re going to do this.’

He gave her his winning smile.

‘I promise you, just go with it.’

Kovic was already getting into character, remonstrating as he struggled towards the front of the queue, an arm round the heavily bandaged Jin Jié, and Hannah on the other side. Righteous indignation flared from his every pore.

‘Who’s in charge here? I
demand
to know
right now
. You see what your people have done? Look at her brother, for God’s sake. That’s one of
your
drivers did this. Goddamn maniac. Don’t they teach you people how to drive? I’ve got pictures on my phone to prove it. I demand to speak to someone in authority. Well?’

A young militia guard stepped forward and frowned at the blood on Jin Jié’s front.

‘Passports?’

Kovic waved his free hand and turned as if to engage his audience.

‘Passports?
Passports?
Oh ha ha, yeah, that’s great. Sure we
had
all our documents, we
had
luggage, we
had
my wife’s jewellery. You wanna see what’s left of our hire car?’ He gestured at Hannah and Jin Jié with his free hand. ‘This is all there is. The rest went up in flames under one of your freakin’
trucks
.’

The guard was looking embarrassed: a good start. Kovic waved at the entrance.

‘So – if it’s not too much
trouble
, we’d like to get in there and get my brother-in-law here some help. Unless, that is, you want to deal with a
stiff
.’

Kovic knew that the young soldier probably didn’t understand a word of this but he was getting the point. He stepped forward.

‘I – help?’

‘Yes, you do that. You help.’

The soldier took one of Jin’s arms. Kovic glimpsed Hannah’s face, then turned to a sullen looking family at the front of the line.

‘Excuse us for butting in like this, folks, but we’re all the family he’s got.’ He turned to Hannah. ‘You see, honey? A uniform is a uniform, wherever you are. And you got to make them see reason.’

Another soldier held the door while they struggled through with the bandaged Jin Jié as the whole queue looked on.

They were in.

The smart formality of the lobby had been submerged under the flotsam of refugees. People of all nationalities – Arabs, Africans, Indians, Europeans, families and servants – sat or lay alongside piles of luggage, waiting for they knew not what. The helpful soldier, not wanting to involve himself any more than he already had with the difficult foreigners, swiftly unhooked himself from Jin Jié and disappeared back the way he’d come.

There were no staff at the desks. Soldiers wandered through the crowds clutching their rifles. A couple of officials with clipboards were gathering details and checking documents. A nurse was handing out bottles of water. At the opposite end of the foyer by the elevators was Wu, transformed, in military gear. He had also acquired a sub-machine gun.

Some wealthy-looking Arabs had commandeered a porter’s luggage trolley. Kovic pointed at it and gestured at Jin Jié.

‘Could we?’

The Arabs looked unmoved. Then the youngest, no more than about ten, jumped up and started unloading a mountain of cases, evidently castigating his parents for being so selfish.

‘I’m much obliged to you, my friend: I truly am.’

Hannah lowered Jin Jié on to the trolley and they started pushing him toward the elevator.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, Hannah saw a hand waving in their direction. Kovic pressed on, pulling her firmly with him. A pretty blonde woman in a smart trench coat detached herself from her partner and jumped to her feet.

‘Hey, Hannah! Over here! It’s Katie.’

‘Oh no—’

Kovic whispered. ‘It’s okay, play along. Be friendly, keep moving.’

Hannah waved back. ‘This is bad.’

The woman called Katie bounced up to Hannah and kissed her. What did she think this was, a class reunion?

‘Gaad – of all the places! If I’d known you were back here.’

Katie’s face moved from joy to dismay as she glanced at Kovic and Jin Jié.

Hannah smiled back and nodded.
What would Kovic say?
She was determined not to let him down. Besides, their lives depended on it. ‘Yeah, a – a lot’s happened.’ She gestured at Kovic and let out an uncharacteristically girlish giggle.

‘My husband. From Canada.’

‘Oh my
Gaad
! And not a word on Facebook. You dark horse, you!’

She grinned fixedly at Kovic who grinned back. ‘Yeah, just married. Ain’t that somethin’? Well, nice meetin’ you.’

Hannah pressed on. ‘So, yeah. And this is my brother – we got into a – er, a bit of a problem out there.’

But Katie had stopped listening. She waved at the man she was with.

‘Hey, Chip! Over here!’

Katie looked back at Hannah and then to Kovic.

Chip strode toward them, frowning. His trench coat was streaked with mud. He glared at Hannah, oozing Sinophobia.

‘Hey, how come she’s in here?’

Katie looked embarrassed. ‘She’s married to a Canadian citizen, that all right with you?’

‘Yeah, but what about him?’

Chip was pointing at Jin Jié, inert on the trolley. Kovic had the measure of him; patrician WASP hard-ons were the bane of his life.
You know you want to kick him in the balls – but just stay cool
, a voice inside him urged.

Other people were now starting to stare. Katie was now looking down at Jin Jié, inert on the trolley. The bandage over his face had slipped. She put her hand to her mouth.

‘Oh my God.’

Kovic bent down and pushed the bandage back into place.

‘Yeah, he’s pretty bad. Car crash on the way here. We got to get him upstairs – to the doctor.’

Kovic started to move the trolley again, but Chip was in the way, frowning at his wife who was staring wide-eyed at Jin Jié.

‘Honey, what is it?’

Kovic glanced at Wu, over by the elevators. Wu gestured at one of the clipboard officials who was now moving towards them.

Kovic’s voice was low but emphatic. ‘Look, guys: just let us get to where we’re going, okay? We all keep our cool, we all get outta this in one piece.’

Katie whispered something to Chip, whose face puffed up with indignation. He looked down at Jin Jié and up again. They knew who he was.

Kovic gripped him by the arm, hard, and hissed into his ear.

‘Listen,
Chip
. It’s like this. You take care of Katie here and I’ll look after my friend on the trolley, or there’s gonna be bullets flying. Got it?’

He hadn’t. His face turned red and his eyes bulged with indignation.

‘How dare you threaten me? You’re jeopardising the safety of innocent people.’

The clipboard man was now a few feet from them with a soldier in tow, frowning at the trolley. Kovic looked over at Wu, who had raised his weapon. Clipboard man wheeled round and barked something at the soldier.

Kovic nodded at Wu. The bullet passed through a five-inch gap between Chip and Katie and hit the clipboard man smack in the middle of his forehead. Katie screamed and Chip pulled her down. The whole foyer erupted in screams as the crowd cowered.

‘Yeah, you stay down, Chip, or you’re next.’

Kovic dived for the soldier’s machine gun as he barged Chip out of the path of the trolley, forcing his way toward the elevators. Several soldiers returned Wu’s fire but he had retreated into the express elevator and with his foot keeping the doors a few inches apart, picked them off one by one. A bullet ricocheted off the trolley and grazed Kovic on the side of the head. He stumbled and lost his balance. Hannah caught him and grabbed the trolley, and forced it into the mouth of the elevator.

‘Okay, beam us up.’

Wu closed the doors and they shot skywards.

74

Kovic was slumped on the floor beside the trolley. The only light came from the glow of the control panel.

‘Nice of them to leave the elevators working.’

‘They were off. I switched this one back on.’ Wu handed him one of the sub-machine guns he had lifted. ‘I got this too.’ He showed Kovic a grenade, and grinned.

Hannah was trying to catch her breath. ‘You know for sure they’re gonna take us off the roof – right?’

He shrugged. ‘No other way.’

That didn’t look like the answer she was expecting.

‘I hope you know what you’re doing. That was pretty close down there.’

‘Sure, but we’re here now, aren’t we?’

Kovic’s calm was infuriating, but she needed one of them to be.

He felt his phone buzz. His signal had come back. He looked at the screen. It was from Garrison, sent over an hour before.

Negative on airborne. Ground exfil
.

Kovic stared at the text, his heart sinking as fast as the lift rose. He had gambled on being lifted off the building. The entire ground floor was now enemy territory. Jin Jié had been recognised; it would be only a matter of time before Chang got to hear and then – they’d be toast.

He called Garrison back.

‘
This line’s not secure
.’

‘Fuck secure. Where are your people?’

‘
Approaching ground level, thirty minutes
.’

‘I’m already headed to the roof. Ground level is hostile. Our package is damaged.’

‘
Jin Jié?
’

‘That’s right, so fuck clearance, come in airborne. Put some Super Hornets up.’

‘
Negative. This mission is already way off the grid. Sit tight. We’ll come and find you
.’

Kovic was almost hissing now. ‘For fuck’s sake, Jin Jié needs medical attention like yesterday.’

There was silence for a few seconds.

‘
I’ll get back to you
.’

Kovic threw the phone down and avoided Hannah’s gaze.

‘There’s a problem?’

‘No, no – just a logistical thing.’

He’d spent his whole career lying, and now suddenly his heart was no longer in it. But he knew he had no choice.

The lift slowed to a halt. They were at the top.

‘Okay, get ready. We don’t know what’s out there.’

He turned to Hannah. ‘Wu and I’ll go first. Jam the doors with the trolley. Make sure that elevator stays where it is. Do not let it go. You wait with Jin Jié till I say we’re clear.’

Hannah gripped Kovic’s arm, her faith in him ebbing. She had let him take the lead and look where it had got them.

‘What did he say, your guy on the phone?’

He grinned inanely, Garrison’s pay-off echoing in his head. Right now he couldn’t think of anything to make her feel better.

‘We’re good. Now let’s get this done.’

The doors parted and Kovic stepped out into the pitch darkness. Even the emergency guide lights were out. And with the air conditioning off the atmosphere was warm and sticky. There was no sound other than the wind in the elevator shaft. Wu produced a torch from his newly acquired uniform.

‘Glad someone’s come prepared.’

Kovic examined the nearest door and listened. He turned the handle; it was locked. He kicked it open.

One side of the room was all glass, part of a VIP suite with white leather sofas arranged round a huge black glass coffee table. Below lay the city, several sections of which had been plunged
into darkness. Plumes of fiery smoke rose from several places. The devastation outside made a surreal contrast with the luxury in the foreground. Two different realities – both fragile. Kovic beckoned Hannah forward.

‘Leave the trolley jamming the doors. Get in here with Jin Jié and put your feet up while I recce the roof. Wu will stand guard in the corridor.’

He pointed at Jin Jié, ‘Keep him conscious, check his dressings.’

Her face was explosive. ‘What is this? I don’t take orders from you.’

‘Okay, swap with Wu if it makes you feel any better.’

He passed her one of the guns. But she wasn’t finished. ‘Kovic, if you think this isn’t going to work, the sooner you share this with me the better. Do you have a plan B?’

He gazed at her. Why was he being such a prick? Louise used to say it always happened when he was in the shit and wouldn’t admit it. What a long way away their life was now. But there was no time to reflect, even to think. He picked up one of the weapons Wu had got from the conscripts and checked the magazine; it was full. He racked the slide to chamber the first round and slowly opened the door. The corridor was quiet.

Behind the elevator shaft, a flight of stairs led to the roof. Kovic felt his way up, listening all the time for any activity above. He could hear the wind whistling outside. The door had a big wheel attachment like an air lock. He turned it slowly anti-clockwise and inched it open.

Now he was alone, he was suddenly conscious of his own exhaustion, and worse, the rising tide of doubt about the outcome of his mission. Yet again, he had allowed himself to become intoxicated with hope, relying on some deluded inner belief that he could will things to somehow come right, that if he just kept his eyes open and his wits about him, a solution would ultimately present itself.

But it was a losing battle. He had not been straight with Hannah about their chances and now the extent of his failure to deliver was out in the open. Stabilising Jin Jié had bought them a bit of time, but not much. He had committed himself to getting him out – but
he knew full well whose survival he cared about most.

He stepped out on to the roof. The night sky was dull and smoky: no moon or stars. The cloud cover pressed close, a dirty purple. The top of the building was far bigger than he’d expected: a large, flat expanse with a chest-high perimeter wall – a perfect LZ for a helicopter or even an Osprey. In the south-east corner was a forest of air vents. West of that, a single storey concrete box housed the elevator winding gear, on top of which were several antennae and three huge satellite dishes. He walked up to the nearest part of the parapet that ran round the perimeter, hauled himself up and looked down at the streets below. Even from this height convoys of tanks and other military vehicles were visible, along with the red and blue flashing lights of emergency vehicles.

He couldn’t kid himself any longer. He had made a mistake. They would be trapped up here. How would Garrison’s guys get into the building and all the way up to them? He looked around for something that would give him a last burst of inspiration. Parked next to the air vents was a pair of small cranes from which was suspended a window-cleaner’s gondola. It was far too slow and too conspicuous, but maybe by adapting the cables he could create some kind of fast-rope system, like with Tsu’s cable car. He looked over the parapet at the concrete a hundred and forty storeys down. But even if he could, how would Jin Jié manage it?

He knew he was clutching at straws.

He examined the cranes. They moved on a rail round the perimeter of the building so the gondola could be deployed on any side. He tore off the tarpaulin that covered it, reached in and found the wireless console that controlled it. He pressed a red button; it lit up. He felt an almost childish burst of joy. He reached in and tested each control in turn until he had worked out which ones operated the cranes’ travel and rotation, and which of them moved the cables that raised and lowered the gondola. He did a mental calculation of the location of the suite they had taken over and trucked the cranes round to roughly above where he thought it was. Then he lowered the gondola over the side until it was level with the suite window.

Through his feet he felt a dull thud from somewhere inside the
building. He pocketed the handset and started back for the stairwell. Wu was coming up it towards him.

‘Someone’s in the other elevator. It’s back on! They’re coming up!’

But before Kovic could reply, he was distracted by another sound, a deep, shattering pulse coming from the north of the building. He felt a twinge of hope: had Garrison come through for him after all? Rearing up from behind the parapet came first the rotors and then the fuselage of a large military helicopter. For a second he hoped irrationally it was from Garrison.

It was a Z–9 one of Chang’s.