David Golemon - Legend

"Who are you people?" he screamed.

Below them, Carl finally pulled Danielle to her feet, took the Beretta from her firm grasp, and then tried to step free of the debris that covered the cave floor. As two men took aim at him, he knew he couldn't get the pistol up in time, but even before he could try to shoot, a line of tracers struck the men and they went down. That was when Carl noticed someone dressed in black Nomex and wearing a nylon hood and gas mask step out from a rock out-cropping. He was about to shout when he heard other, louder screams of outrage coming from behind them. The man in black ran forward; Carl and Danielle quickly followed.

"I want out of here! You will allow me to pass or this woman's death will be on you, not I," Yashita shouted again. His pistol was pointed right at Sarah's temple. She had a scowl on her face as if she were far more angry than scared.

The man in black acted as though he hadn't heard; he slowly inched forward, his Ingram submachine gun not wavering a millimeter. Carl reached out and tried to stop the black-garbed commandos but the man easily shrugged his hand away. From behind the black goggles and a night-vision scope placed over the gas mask, the man's eyes were trained directly at Yashita. Carl knew that if the commando fired, Yashita could have a knee-jerk reaction and kill Sarah anyway.

Suddenly there was a loud shout in Japanese and a figure jumped out of the darkness. The bright and shiny edge of a blade made a streak in the darkness, and Yashita's pistol hand fell away from Sarah's head. Sarah was sprayed with blood as she pulled free of her captor's other arm. Then all movement stopped as all eyes fixed upon Seito. He held the samurai sword high. Blood was coursing down his chest, staining the yellow plastic of his chemical suit. With a scream of outrage, he brought the sword down and into Yashita, severing him from the neck to the center of his chest. The old man watched his enemy collapse. He continued to stand there quietly, sword unmoving, his brown eyes focused on the dead man before him. Then he slowly allowed the sword to fall from his arthritic grasp as he crumpled onto his right side.

The man in black ran forward with his weapon still trained on Yashita's head. When he saw no movement, he quickly went to Sarah and, with one powerful arm, lifted her to her feet. Carl and Danielle ran toward the fallen Seito. Carl immediately saw the bullethole in the old man's chest and exhaled in exasperation. He then lowered himself and raised Seito's head. Danielle sadly took the old man's hand into her own.

There were seven commandos all together. Six of them had herded the students and Fallon into a protective bunch at the cave's opening; all were in good shape, from what Carl could see.

"Had to go and play soldier again, huh?" he asked the dying Seito.

"The… man… had no… honor."

Carl nodded.

Seito smiled as he looked at the man in black Nomex. The old man started to say something in English but failed. Instead he croaked out a few sentences quickly in Japanese, the words slurring as he finished, and then his eyes closed and he was gone.

"I wonder what he said," Carl asked, brushing some gray hair out of the old man's eyes.

"He said he had heard what Yashita said about there being no heroes left," Danielle translated.

The man in black removed his night-vision gear, gas mask, and hood in one movement. Jack Collins, the director of security for the highly secretive Event Group and Carl's boss, looked down at Seito.

Danielle frowned. "He said that Yashita was wrong; where there are good men, there will always be heroes."

Altogether there were sixteen Japanese Red Army faction members dead, including their cell leader, Tagugi Yashita, the most wanted man in Japan. The embarrassment of the Japanese government of having a known and wanted terrorist so deeply ensconced in the Okinawa civil authority would be something debated for many years to come. But Yashita had indeed used his family influence to place himself as deeply undercover as he could, biding his time while directing the assaults on Japan's officialdom from the safety of his governmental position, even receiving notices of gains against the JRA movement. His activities would scar the government for many years.

The Japanese Army Special Forces unit that had planned and carried out the assault on the cave complex had allowed Major Jack Collins access to the operation only because Jack had had a hand in training their officers in the fine art of covert assault years before. The information Jack had given them was also a deciding factor in allowing him to come along, with the Japanese military believing fully that he was still a part of the Fifth Special Forces out of Fort Bragg. But little did they know he had been on detached service to Department 5656 for the past year and a half.

The Japanese assault element was now working closely with the home island's chemical warfare department for the safe handling and removal of the powdered agent. Altogether, 865 pounds of the unknown powder was present in the hold of the old junk.

Sarah McIntire walked up to Jack and didn't say anything; she simply grabbed his wrist for a brief moment and squeezed. Collins winked at her.

"How in the hell did you know what was happening here?" Carl asked, walking up to Jack as soon as he had made sure Fallon and his graduate students were safe and secure outside.

Collins safed his Ingram and eased it onto his shoulder; the whole time he never took his eyes off Sarah. Then he finally looked around and found the person he wanted to speak to, Danielle Serrate.

"Since it had been a woman who called Director Compton on his private line at Group two days ago, and we know it hadn't been Sarah, because we couldn't get through to you or Mr. Everett on your radios — if you check to see, I suspect they have been tampered with — and since we can eliminate Dr. Fallon's students because they don't even know we exist, may we assume it was you, Miss…"

Carl shook his head. "Jack, this is Danielle Serrate, the head of the Commission des Antiquites of the government of France."

Danielle stepped forward, her chemical suit was unzipped and the upper half tied at her waist. Carl saw that she had a few large scratches on her arms, but other than that she had come through the hostilities with little damage.

"The United States government is indebted to you. But if I may ask, why call us? French commandos would have been more than happy to jump into the fray," Jack asked.

She clicked the safety back on her Beretta and then placed the pistol in her satchel. "My government does not know about this operation. I was on a personal leave of absence."

"Okay, now can we have your real name?"

"Jack, her married name is Farbeaux," Carl said in a low tone.

"I no longer associate myself with my ex-husband, Mr. Everett. I believe I informed you of that earlier."

"Well, the plot thickens," Jack said, turning from Danielle to Carl. "That would explain how she came by Director Compton's private phone line." Jack turned back to the Frenchwoman. "Ms. Serrate, may I offer you our hospitality and a chance to explain yourself?"

"I am afraid I cannot allow you to take me to the Japanese authorities, as that would leave too much explaining to do to my government."

"No problem; we have a ride coming that'll take us to a secure location. I think we can leave the Japanese government out of this one."

"This is not the sort of hospitality I would expect after aiding you in saving all of these lives."

"That's what I'm curious about, ma'am — just why would the ex-wife of an antagonist contact us instead of using her own national resources? Commander Everett, assist our savior outside. I believe our ride is here," Jack said, as the sound of a helicopter could be heard outside of the cave.