Kill Chain (30 page)

Nothing out of place.

Where the hell are
they?

All they knew was that
they had been shipped, and nothing more. Korean authorities were raiding the
private security firm now, but justice wasn’t his team’s goal.

Rescue was.

And he had little doubt
the hostages were inside the building toward which they were racing.

The only question now was
what would be there to greet them.

Something moved.

His head spun to the left
and he cursed as the top of one of the dull gray utility boxes popped open, a
Samsung SGR-A1 robot sentry suddenly appearing. “Evasive maneuvers, now!”

The pilot banked hard to starboard
as the weapon opened up on them, tearing through the tail, sending them into a
flat spin. Dawson caught a glimpse of the second chopper with additional South
Korean forces breaking off, thankfully avoiding the fire, banking behind a
nearby warehouse.

His team, however, wasn’t
going to be so lucky, the pilot struggling to maintain control. He spun toward
his passengers. “Bail!”

You don’t have to ask
me twice!

The doors were already
open in preparation for a rapid assault. Dawson stepped out onto the skid, reaching
in and grabbing Atlas, helping the big man out of his seat as the buffeting
chopper knocked him backward. He yanked Atlas through the door and the skilled
operator hit the ground, rolling to absorb the shock as Dawson continued to
pull the others out before bailing himself.

He rolled, quickly
regaining his feet then sprinted toward the chopper as it slammed into the
ground, the copilot jumping clear only moments before. The twisting, screeching
mass of metal spun, the cockpit suddenly facing him as he rushed forward, the
pilot struggling to free himself when he heard a steady stream of gunfire from
his left.

It was the automated
system, its target reacquired.

Bullets tore through the cockpit,
the brave pilot shaking from the impacts of the penetrating rounds before a
massive fireball erupted in all directions, knocking Dawson off his feet. Powerful
hands lifted him up then dragged him out of the line of fire, the weapon system
choosing soft targets now that it had eliminated the chopper. The copilot was
quickly shredded, the poor bastard having survived the crash of his helicopter only
to be mowed down by a faceless enemy.

Dawson and Atlas dove the
last few feet, slamming into the side of a nearby warehouse across from their
target as lead chewed up the asphalt behind them. Dawson leaped to his feet,
pressing his back against the metal wall as the other side of the corner took a
momentary beating before the weapon fell silent.

Spock hauled Atlas to his
feet. “Christ, how many of those are there?”

Dawson brushed himself
off. “I counted at least half a dozen of those boxes surrounding the facility,
which matches the intel on the second shipment. If they’re all A1s, we’re going
to have a hell of a time getting inside. Those puppies are designed to defend
the DMZ.”

Weapons fire was suddenly
heard, single shots, followed by screams.

From women.

Dawson peered across the
pavement at their target.

“At least we know we’re
in the right location.”

But if those are
drones firing, we might be too late.

Seocho District
Seoul,
Republic of Korea

Starling’s
phone rang in his pocket, it disturbingly distinct in the war zone surrounding
them. He fumbled for it as Red spun toward him.

“Sir, put that on
vibrate!”

Starling quickly took the
call, ending the position-betraying racket. “Hello?”

“Mr. President, I thought
you’d like to hear your daughter die.”

The sounds of gunfire and
screaming women filled his ear and he felt his legs give out, he slamming to
the ground, the excruciating pain in his knee unnoticed as he fell on a jagged
piece of concrete. “Please, I’ll do anything!”

“You’ll finish the
transfers?”

“Yes.”

“Immediately?”

“I’m in the middle of a war
zone. I-I can’t do anything—”

“Allow me.”

There was a clicking
sound then a ring.

“Who is this?”

Starling immediately recognized
his Vice President’s voice. “Jack, it’s me.

“Jesus, Jacob, are you
okay?”

“Yes. No time to talk.
Begin transferring the money into the accounts, now!”

“Are you sure you want to
do this? It sets a dangerous prec—”

“Do it or they’re going
to kill them all!”

“Very well, Mr.
President. I’m authorizing the transfers now.”

There was a beep then the
call cut off.

“Hello?”

“Very good, Mr.
President. You might just have saved your daughter’s life.”

Operations
Center 1
CIA
Headquarters, Langley, Virginia

“Okay,
here we go.”

Leroux watched as the
display showing the accounts they were monitoring began to update, partial
balance transfers going into each one as funds slowly trickled in, the pace
increasing as the staff at Treasury and here at Langley coordinated their
efforts to transfer over three billion dollars in the next several minutes.

He turned to Tong. “Where
are we on the verifications?”

“They’ve all checked out
so far, sir, except one that I’m running further checks on.”

Leroux stepped over to
her station. “Which one?”

“Maritime Defense League.
They’re legit, but this account was opened in their name just recently, and has
a different address from the one listed on their website.”

Leroux’s eyes narrowed as
he stared at the display, the Maritime Defense League already showing a balance
in the millions, it still ticking up, it now over fifteen million. “How much
was requested?”

“If the others match,
then it will be almost ninety-seven million.”

Leroux’s eyes narrowed.
“Wait a minute. Our GDP is about twenty-two percent of the G20 total, right?”

“Yes.”

“How much did they
request from just us?”

“About twenty-two
million.”

Leroux shook his head.
“No, the exact number.”

Tong put the number on up
the display.

$22,105,202.90

Leroux tapped his chin.
“Why does that number look familiar?”

“Because you’re a freak?
Who the hell remembers a number like that?”

Leroux gave Child a look,
his underling grinning sheepishly. “Bring up the file on Riker. How much did he
lose when the President canceled all his contracts?”

Child’s fingers of
redemption flew as he brought up the information.

He gasped, staring at his
boss in awe. “You
are
a freak!”

“How much?”

“Based upon the number of
shares he held and the opening price of Riker Defensive Systems stock that
morning…” He motioned at the screen, the number appearing under the one Tong
had just posted.

$22,105,202.90

Leroux smiled.

Now I know who you
are.

Unknown
Location
Seoul,
Republic of Korea

Someone
cried out in pain, their agony obvious even over the near constant barrage of
gunfire and screams from those trapped under the tables. So far, their shelter
had not only protected them from the bombing outside but the bullets as well.
Though many of the rounds were finding their way through, the drones had an
obvious design flaw.

They couldn’t shoot low,
or downward.

He had watched as the
operator had tried to angle one of the drones to fire at about a forty degree
down angle and it had merely flipped over from the added weight of the weapon,
falling uselessly to the floor. They then tried to lower one close to the floor
and fire under the couches, yet it too proved unstable, the downdraft from the
propellers causing it to bob and weave, making aiming impossible.

If they kept their heads
down, they only had to worry about lucky shots and ricochets.

And unfortunately,
someone’s luck had just run out.

“Who’s hit?”

“Moi!”

Niner crawled over to the
French woman. “Where?”

“My foot!”

Niner flipped around, his
head now a juicy target, in fact his entire body one since he had given his
body armor to Nancy. He checked the woman’s feet, she lucky to be wearing a
thick-soled shoe, obviously designed for both fashion and comfort, a day of
walking originally planned. Her left heel was split, blood evident. He gently
removed the shoe, her leg jumping with either genuine pain or anticipated pain.

It was just a scratch.

Or at least a scratch to
a soldier used to combat. If this had happened in a civilian situation, she
would probably be rushed to the hospital for stitches. He pulled a field
dressing from his utility belt and wrapped it around her foot to staunch the
mild bleeding, then crawled up beside her. “Just a scratch, nothing to worry
about.” He grinned at her. “Nice shoes! They probably saved your life!”

She smiled weakly,
appearing relieved. “Merci, that’s exactly why I bought them.”

Niner laughed and patted
her on her back. “Keep your head down and you’ll be fine.” He crawled back to
his former position, replacing Kim who had been lying atop Nancy while he was
away. “Everyone still okay?”

Nancy grunted. “Feeling a
little squished.”

“Better than a bullet
wound.”

“Tell that to my
breasts.”

Kim giggled, smiling at
Niner. “You have to be a woman to understand.”

Niner squeezed one of his
boobs. “I guess so.”

Nancy laughed as the
gunfire abruptly stopped. Niner glanced behind him to see the drones still hovering
beyond the now torn apart couches.

“Everybody stay down,
they could start firing again at any moment.”

Kim rolled over onto an
elbow. “Are they out of ammo?”

“Maybe, but I doubt it,
not so soon.” He listened, the shelling of the capital continuing outside, there
no explanation for why the drones had stopped their attack. He turned to Kim.
“Something else is going on.”