planes all her life. “Good job, Lieutenant,” Jason told her after he picked himself up off the ground. “Done this before, I see.”
“Army Airborne School, class zero-four dash eleven, and Marine Corps Mobile Airborne Training Team certified same year, sir,” she replied. Even in the CID unit, Jason could see the look of confusion in her “body” language. “Are you telling me you’ve never attended jump school, sir? You’ve jumped out of planes twice now and never learned how to land? I’m surprised you haven’t broken every bone in your body, sir.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, Lieutenant,” Jason said as he checked his systems. “Let’s go.” He and McCracken had jumped on the very outside of the easternmost spoke of the outer buildings surrounding the central Internal Affairs building. Tesch and Dodd had been dropped off on the other side of the complex. As soon as Tesch and Dodd reported they were on the ground and ready, they headed in.
Automatic gunfire from above erupted almost immediately as machine gunners opened fire from atop the administrative buildings. The GUOS drones picked up activity on the far side of the buildings, and the CID units were able to accurately target their backpack grenade launchers and machine guns on those positions—they had no choice but to run away from the gunfire.
As Harry Dodd reached the end of the southwestern admin building, a Humvee with a large missile launcher unit suddenly appeared. “SAM unit!” Dodd shouted. Just as he set his aiming reticle on the vehicle, it launched a missile skyward. “Poppa Bear,
But as he watched, several dozen streaks of light and blobs of white-hot energy fanned out across the sky less than a mile away, bright enough to light up the Bosque de Chapultepec for miles around—the CV-22 Osprey ejecting decoy flares. Dodd knew that all of the CV-22’s other countermeasures were active as well—an active missile-tracking laser that blinded an enemy missile’s seeker head, decoy chaff, and electronic radar and laser jammers as well. The RBS-70 missile stayed dead on course, but just for an instant. Moments later Dodd could see the motor exhaust flame wobble, slightly at first and then greater and greater. Seconds later it exploded—and there was no secondary explosion.
“Thanks for the heads-up, Talon,” the assistant flight engineer radioed. “I saw that missile coming up at us and thought it was heading right for the blank spot between my eyes. Good hunting down there.”
The CID units spread out once they reached the central headquarters building, with each CID unit taking a cardinal position. On Jason’s order, Mike Tesch sent two grenade bursts into the front entranceway from forty yards away, blowing the doors open. Seconds later came a murderous burst of heavy machine gun fire, followed by several grenade detonations.
That was the signal to begin the real assault. The other three CID units on the other sides of the building began climbing the outside of the Internal Affairs Ministry. Each CID unit would simply leap up to the windowsill above, pull itself up to the window, jump up to the next window, and continue. When it reached its preplanned floor, it climbed inside. Jennifer McCracken continued up to the roof of the building, where she planted explosives around the base of the antenna tower and blew it apart moments later.
“We lost the microwave datalink and all radio contact, sir,” Deputy Minister Elvarez said. “They probably destroyed the antenna tower on the roof. The secure hardwire lines and circuits are still operational.” He leaned toward Felix Diaz. “The roof of this building is the most vulnerable spot, sir. If they have troops on the roof, it is only a matter of time before they get inside.”
“What is the status of the document destruction?”
“Just started, sir. Magnetic records can be erased in minutes, but the paper documents and any records stored on other than the mainframes and servers will take much longer.” The lights flickered and went out, and this time only the battery-powered standby lights stayed on. “Sir, you will have to evacuate to a secure location, and do it quickly,” Elvarez said urgently. “We may have only moments before this building is overrun.”
Diaz nodded. “All right. The information officers will have to ensure that the data destruction is completed.”
“Yes, sir.” Elvarez picked up a phone and punched in an extension number. “Report…very well, we are on our way.” He hung up the receiver. “We will have to take the stairs because the elevators are out,” he said, “but the tunnel to the Metro system is open and guarded. We have already closed down the number seven and nine lines, and a train is available immediately to take us to the airport. A plane is waiting to get us out of…”
At that moment they heard a loud
Elvarez studied the readouts on his computer screen, but he didn’t need a computer to tell him that the outer doors to the command center had been blown in. “This way, sir—there’s no time!” he said. “The emergency chute.” He unlocked a cabinet in a corner of the room, moved a hidden lever, then swung the cabinet aside, revealing a hidden doorway. There was a dark hole in the floor, surrounded by what appeared to be a thin, gauzy white material. “This is the emergency fire escape tunnel, sir,” Elvarez said. “The material is fireproof and is designed to slow your body as you slide down. Simply extend your arms slightly to slow yourself down if you feel it necessary, but allow yourself to go all the way down without delay.”
“Where does it lead?”
“It leads to a fire valve inspection room in the underground parking area in the first subfloor,” Elvarez said. “I will go first and secure it.” Elvarez drew a sidearm, removed his shoes, and stuffed them into his pockets, then stepped into the fabric tube and disappeared. “It is safe, sir,” he called from several feet below. “Take off your shoes and follow me.”
The tube was snug but not constricting. All Diaz had to do was to think about making his body narrower and he slid faster, and when he thought he was going too fast, his elbows would unconsciously protrude and slow him down. He heard Elvarez say something, but he was at least a couple floors below him now and it was hard to hear inside the tube.
“I’m down, sir,” Elvarez said a few moments later. “It’s clear. I can see you now. Keep moving.” Diaz slid faster. “The way is clear to the tunnel to the Metro station, and the train is waiting to take us. Slow down a little, sir, just a few feet more…”
He felt like a turd passing through the colon when he popped free of the fabric fire tube and landed on the gray painted concrete floor. The plain concrete block room was lit by a single lightbulb overhead and was filled with pipes of all sizes. Diaz took a few moments to put his shoes back on, then followed Elvarez outside. “How far is it to the Metro station, Jose?” he asked. “Are we going to walk, or…?”
He stopped…because his path was blocked by four soldiers in black fatigues, Kevlar helmets, and automatic rifles—American rifles! “Freeze, asshole!” one of the soldiers shouted in English, then in Spanish.
Diaz complied immediately, lowering himself to the concrete floor and locking the fingers of both hands atop his head. “I am Minister of Internal Affairs Diaz!” he shouted. “Who are you and what are you doing in my building?”
“Task force TALON, United States of America,” the soldier said. He covered Diaz and Elvarez while two others searched them and took their weapons, radios, telephones, and identification. “You are under arrest.”
“Under whose authority?”
“I have a warrant for your arrest, Felix Diaz,” the soldier said.
“A warrant? An
“A federal judge in San Diego,” the commando replied. “We’ll take you to see him shortly.”
“On what charge?”
“Murder of federal officers, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, and destruction of…”
“Thank God you showed up!” Diaz exclaimed happily, rising to his feet.
“No, I’m fine,” Diaz said. He pointed to the TALON commandos. “I want these four men bound and gagged and taken away—and
