Battlefield 4: Countdown to War (30 page)

77

USS
Valkyrie
, South China Sea

Kovic jolted awake and sat up. For a few seconds he had no recollection of where he was. He felt a strange swaying sensation as if there was something wrong with his balance. Then he looked over to where the light was coming from. A porthole – he was on board the
Valkyrie
. He had made it.

They should have crashed. Once he had levelled out they headed due south for the sea and none of the other craft in the sky noticed them, just an old Z-9 chuntering along looking for all the world like it was on a milk run to the Chinese fleet. His navigation skills were zero and Hannah had made the most of that. She also claimed it was her idea to take the helicopter. In a way she was right. She had shamed him into it, though they both knew there was no other way, not with Jin Jié in the state he was. But they hadn’t bargained for the fuel level. Either the engines drank like a dying man in the desert, or one of the tanks had been grazed in the firefight. The warning light was blinking at them before they had even cleared land. And then there was the sea mist, lying like a deceptively soft fluffy mattress, so successfully concealing the
Valkyrie
that they had to be talked down by the Command Tower. Somewhere on this descent, he had gone blank for a second so they came in hard, smashing up the landing gear, which left the Z-9 leaning on the remains of two of its rotor blades.

He remembered turning to Hannah whose face was a mask of disdain.

‘Did I pass?’

And she had leaned over and kissed him.

‘I’ll get back to you about that.’

There was a soft knocking at the door.

‘Come in.’

A young steward stood at the door with a tray.

‘Good morning, sir. Commander Garrison would like to know if you would care to join him for breakfast.’

‘What time is it?’

‘Seven a.m., sir.’

Kovic frowned. It had been almost dawn when they landed. He waved the crewman in.

‘How long have I been in here?’

‘About twenty-six hours, sir.’

No wonder he felt so rested. The steward put the mug of tea on the bedside table and indicated a set of clothing folded over a chair.

‘There’s some fresh kit for you, sir.’

It was an officer’s khaki shirt and pants. He looked at them doubtfully. He had never worn a uniform in his life. The idea of putting one on now made him feel like an impostor. But wasn’t that what he had always been?

‘Give me ten minutes.’

Showered, shaved and dressed, Kovic followed the steward to Garrison’s quarters. The vessel was alive with activity as he travelled up near vertical stairs and squeezed along narrow corridors. Overhead came the throb of helicopters and Ospreys; on deck, hooters blasted. There were shouts from crew and coded announcements blared over the PA.

‘So it’s started?’

‘Looks like it, sir.’

He took a deep breath and knocked.

Garrison was standing with his back to the door. The first thing Kovic noticed was the photograph of his son, Tommy. Garrison slowly turned and followed his gaze. He looked older than his age, his eyes tired from seeing too many men go to their deaths.

‘It’s a good portrait, isn’t it? Taken just a few weeks before—’

Kovic reached to shake Garrison’s hand and the two men’s eyes met for the first time.

Kovic struggled to work out what was going on in that head. Maybe he would find out.

Two stewards appeared with trays: eggs, bacon, toast and hash browns. Suddenly Kovic realised how long it was since he had eaten an actual meal.

‘I figured you’d be hungry.’

Garrison gestured for him to sit. They both wired into the food.

‘Did the Marines make it out okay?’

Garrison tried to answer promptly, but without chewing at the same time.

‘They brought out a whole boatload of Chinese nationals with them.’ He shot Kovic a glance. ‘One of the advantages of seaborne evac.’

‘They could have come out on the chopper. They had the option. But we might not have made it off the roof if they hadn’t covered our exit.’

Garrison chuckled. ‘Well after the mess you made of landing it I guess they made the right decision.’

‘They said they couldn’t figure out why there was no airborne exfil.’

Garrison nodded, his mouth full. He made no attempt to explain or justify it.

‘How are the others? Is Jin Jié—?’

Garrison swallowed and took a swig of coffee.

‘Alive? Sure. He’s doing okay. They cleaned up his wounds, gave him some blood. His – er – wife’s keeping an eye on him.’

Kovic flashed him a look.

‘Well that’s who she’s claiming she is but she’s being pretty tight lipped with us. MSS, I assume. I wouldn’t want to cross swords with her. You – er, think she’s got some other agenda going there?’

Kovic shrugged.

‘Well, I wouldn’t fancy Jin Jié’s chances without her watching his back. He’s going to need some good people around him if he’s ever going to be a credible alternative to Chang.’

Garrison pushed his plate away and put his knife and fork neatly together, fixing Kovic with his tired grey eyes.

‘After my son – after Tommy was killed, I’ll be honest, Kovic, I wanted you dead. I wanted someone to pay; a life for a life.’ He shook his head.

‘Sir, I—’

Garrison raised a hand.

‘Now you’re sitting right here in front of me – boy, am I glad you made it out.’

‘Thank you, sir. Thank you for changing your mind. I don’t need to tell you that Tommy was a fine Marine.’

‘You know he’d been thinking about going over to the dark side.’

‘Sir?’

‘The CIA. You made quite an impression.’

Kovic held his gaze until Garrison glanced at the portrait once more and let out a long sigh.

‘Do you ever ask yourself what the fuck we’re doing – what all this is for?’

It felt like a relief to hear his own doubts echoed.

‘The past few days – more than ever.’

Garrison got up from the table and took a step towards the porthole.

‘It’s happening. They’re gonna get their war.’

‘Shouldn’t you be on the bridge, sir? I mean, it’s good of you to give me breakfast, but—’

‘Kovic, I’ve been here a hundred times before. You can sit up there in the big chair, being important, barking orders and generally making a noise – but there’s a whole mess of guys out there who know just what to do.’

‘What happens next?’

‘Chang seems to have come to some agreement with the Russians. We expect an engagement anytime in the next twenty-four hours.’

He refilled their cups and leaned forward.

‘I wanted this time with you before we go our separate ways.’ His face brightened, though there was still a faraway look in his eyes. ‘So it’s game over for you. You’re all done.’

Kovic drained his coffee.

‘How do you mean, sir?’

‘There’s an Osprey due in at 1400 from Guam. Seems like they’re giving you the VIP treatment.’

There was an odd expression on Garrison’s face as he pushed the printout towards him.

‘A nice stretch of R&R, maybe a gratitude posting to some fine, civilised place like Paris or Rome, promotion maybe?’

Kovic felt a strange sensation moving through his gut as he studied the message. He put it down on the table and passed it back.

‘It says for your eyes only, sir.’

Garrison raised an eyebrow.

‘Does it now? I must have overlooked that.’

‘And it’s from the CIA’s Inspector General’s office.’

Garrison said nothing. Kovic put his fork down and pushed his chair back a little.

‘Did it surprise you, sir, that the exfil request was denied?’

They both knew the answer. Garrison’s face reddened. Kovic feared for a moment he was going to have a heart attack.

‘Cutler was a goddamn traitor. And that bastard Metzger. When they did a deal with Chang they signed my men’s death certificates.’

Kovic looked at the document again. ‘And when I blew the whistle on them, I signed my own.’

‘
Commander to bridge. Commander to bridge
.’

The message blared out from a speaker on the wall.

Garrison was on his feet.

‘Looks like this is it. Wanna tag along?’

‘Thanks, sir, but I should get round to see the others.’

Garrison nodded and was gone.

78

Jin Jié was sitting up in his bed sipping a can of root beer. Hannah was beside him staring into space. She also had been given a set of khakis to wear, which only served to enhance her air of businesslike sexiness. They both looked up as he approached.

Kovic nodded at the root beer.

‘I see you’re sampling the local delicacies.’

Jin Jié raised his can.

‘I always loved this stuff.’

He put out his hand. ‘Kovic – how do I begin to thank you?’

Kovic took it in his. It felt damp and fleshy.

‘No need. It was a great pleasure to fuck with Chang’s grand plan. Now you’ll be the thorn in his side that he can’t get his hands on. You need to get fully well so you can muster the opposition.’

‘So you think the forces of progress will prevail?’

Kovic shrugged. How the fuck did he know? And as for Jin Jié’s chances – well he never got what Hannah and all the rest saw in him. He was waiting eagerly for an answer. He glanced over at Hannah.

‘I never speculate about the future. I leave that to the fortune-tellers and the politicians. Plus I seem to have made a career out of telling people stuff they didn’t want to hear.’

Hannah turned to Jin Jié and got to her feet.

‘You must rest now.’

Jin Jié sighed.

‘I suppose so. Don’t go far, will you.’

Hannah took Kovic’s arm and propelled him out of the room.

On deck the wind swirled around them. A Super Hornet screamed overhead. It was a crisp clear day.

‘Where were you? I thought you’d disappeared.’

‘Catching up on a little sleep. Anyhow, I thought you’d be glad to see the back of me after the last few days.’

She gave him one of her thunderous looks that said otherwise. A couple of ratings jogged past and gave her the eye. Kovic stepped closer.

‘Don’t you think you should have some security around you?’

She pursed her lips and hissed at him.

‘Jin Jié seems to be on the mend.’

‘Oh, he’s going to be fine. You almost certainly saved his life digging that shrapnel out of him. The surgeon said it had grazed the subclavian artery. Any more aggravation, it would have ruptured and he’d have bled out.’

Another aircraft screamed overhead.

‘He wants me with him; he’s asked me to be his second in command.’

Her face gave nothing away.

‘Is that – solely a day job?’

She pulled him close. She smelled heavenly.

‘Is there somewhere on here we can be alone – just for a while?’

79

Kovic checked the time: 13.48. She was looking at him, her beautiful dark eyes full of sadness. In less than fifteen minutes an Osprey would arrive to take him away.

She reached up to him.

‘What will you do now?’

‘Eh – I’ll get back to you on that.’

He held her for a second, then rose and reached for his clothes.

Outside the cabin the air was thick with the sounds of the carrier moving to battle stations.

‘Let’s go on deck. See what’s happening.’

They had only gone a few metres when Recker shouted up to them from below. He was in full kit, about to deploy.

They descended the stairs. Irish and Pac joined him, also kitted up.

‘What’s happening?’

‘The
Titan
’s been hit. There’s a whole bunch of intel that we can’t let fall into Chang’s hands. We’re gonna RHIB over and claim it before the ship goes down.’

As he spoke, Kovic saw the Osprey descending, its rotors tilted in preparation to land.

He looked at Hannah, trying to smile at him through the tears. He looked at Irish and Pac, then Recker who was carrying a spare kit. Then he noticed Garrison on the balcony of the bridge, looking down at them.

Garrison caught his eye, then gave him a nod.

Recker held out the kit.

‘We should get going, sir. Commander’s orders.’

The Osprey was down, its doors opening.

Kovic grinned at the Marines.

‘Then what are we waiting for?’

Acknowledgements

For invaluable specialised advice, Brad Auerbach, Rita Auerbach and Dean Morris in America, James Thorniley in Shanghai and Karen Stirgwolt in Dulwich.

For such diligent and enthusiastic copy-editing, Julian Flanders, and proof-reading by Jane Selley.

For all round support, Sophie Doyle.

For making it happen, Jon Wood and Jo Gledhill, the team at Orion and my wonderful agent Mark Lucas.

For inventing such a fertile universe to work from and giving me the freedom to play with it, my thanks and respect to the creators of Battlefield – DICE and EA.

And lastly, thanks to my wife Stephanie who read, re-read and never held back.