McDonald Array - Divide and Conquer

Whatever the case, removing Borodin with so little time was going to prove troublesome. A suitable replacement would have to be found which might result in a delay.

As Surkov considered the options, he watched the secret courtyard that only his study had a view of. It was exercise time and two residents of Grebnevo were stretching their legs and catching some late summer sunshine. A generation in the making, it was not the time for indecision.

He picked up his phone and dialed a number that very few people on the planet had access to.

“Hello?”

“Mr President, Boris Surkov,” replied Surkov to Russia’s head of state.

“Ah Dr Surkov, you’ve come through on my private line.”

“Yes Sir, the day I briefed you on when you took office?” prompted Surkov without preamble, jogging the President’s memory.

The President did not need to be reminded; it was still the most intriguing briefing he had ever been given in the two years he had held office.

“Yes, I remember.”

“It has come Mr President. Are you free to visit us at Grebnevo?” inquired Surkov, knowing exactly how free the president’s schedule was for the next week. It was one of the quietest weeks in his diary in two years. Exactly as planned.

“We were due to meet in a few days anyway, I believe,” replied the President, referring to a presidential banquet arranged many months earlier.

“Yes, Sir. However, matters have become more pressing and this is not a matter for public consumption,’ alluded Surkov.

Surkov suppressed a laugh as the President made it sound as though he were squeezing Surkov in. Surkov even rejected the President’s first offer, two days away. The Borodin issue couldn’t wait that long.

“You couldn’t squeeze us in tomorrow, first thing, could you?” asked Surkov, adding. “It is really quite urgent!”

After a minute or so of humming and hawing. “I’ll shift a couple of things around and see you at eight?”

Surkov was hoping for later. He had a lot to organize in a very short period of time but didn’t want to push it.

“I look forward to it!” he replied sincerely.

“As do I Dr Surkov, as do I,” said the president.

Surkov very much doubted he’d feel the same when he found out what he had planned. He picked up his phone. He needed to let one very special person know that the timeframe had been changed.

Sean knew instantly. The scream was Katie’s. He bounded down the stairs and screamed for the CIA team to follow suit.

“Our packs!” one of them shouted, looking up at the loft space.

“No time!” shouted the team leader. Sean was off and running and their job was to back him up. Sean had heard the initial shout and recognized the voice. Somebody would be getting a lesson in priorities as soon as he had the chance.

Sean crashed into Luis as he rounded the staircase. Luis had himself reacted to the scream by running into the house. Sean threw him aside, shouting “He’s with me!” to ensure the CIA team didn’t shoot Luis by mistake.

Sean burst out of the house and onto the street. Katie was surrounded by another three of the Russians. She had obviously surprised them as much as they had surprised her. All looked somewhat bemused as to what they should do, until that was, that they caught sight of Sean charging towards them. They all then had only one thing on their mind. As Sean raced towards them with the silenced Gyurza pistol raised in his hand, they raised their AS VAL rifles. Sean was woefully out-gunned and out of range and a good twenty yards ahead of the CIA team who were struggling to catch up with him. Continuing headlong towards them was suicide. As soon as their weapons were up, they would start shooting. They, unlike Sean and the CIA team, had no Katie to worry about. All that lay ahead of the Russians were hostiles.

Sean dived across the grass and rolled just as the Russians dispatched their first round of bullets. With Katie frozen to the spot in abject fear, there was little return fire either Sean or the CIA team could offer. Sean took aim as he rolled and sent a bullet a foot to the right of one watcher. It was as close as he dared aim as the three Russians crowded around Katie. The watcher didn’t flinch. They were very well trained.

The second burst of bullets came even closer to hitting Sean but a roll in the opposite direction caught them off guard and Sean narrowly escaped the second burst of fire. He wouldn’t avoid a third.

The CIA team had two options: charge headlong into the fire or stop and take aim. Their H amp;K MP5’s offered significantly better accuracy than Sean’s handgun. Sean was also offering an excellent target for the Russians to concentrate on and as such, he gave the CIA team an ideal opportunity to press home their advantage.

“If you have the shot take it!” screamed the Team Leader.

Four shots rang out and the two Russians farthest away from Katie fell. Again, the Russian didn’t flinch. Two of his team had just been taken out and he remained 100 percent focused on the job in hand. He grabbed Katie and using her body as a shield, he worked back towards the main door that Katie had come out of. Whoever the Russians were, Sean seriously doubted they had anything to do with the mafia.

“We don’t have a shot!” shouted the CIA Team leader, alerting Sean he was the only one with an angle.

Sean aimed at the fraction of body the Russian exposed from behind the much smaller Katie. He fired off a few rounds which barely missed Sean as his aim was hampered by holding Katie with one arm. Sean remained rock still as he waited for his chance. As they neared the house, he had all but given up hope when Katie winked at him as she slammed her foot into the Russian’s tibia. The Russian was caught by surprise but recovered almost instantly. Just not instantly enough. Katie’s wink had Sean ready. He knew she was going to do something. Sean fired and his bullet hit the Russian in the center of the forehead and he slumped to the ground, taking Katie with him.

Sean rushed to the house and pulled Katie from the dead arm, checking she was not hurt.

“You OK?” he asked breathlessly.

“I’m fine thanks,” she smiled and wrapped her arms around him.

“Thank God,” Sean breathed a sigh of relief. It was the most nerve-racking shot he had ever taken. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been in a similar position before. In fact, he had been in worse and had taken many more difficult shots.

“Sean?” interrupted the CIA Team Leader as he walked towards them. “Does she know if we are all clear?” he asked.

Sean turned to Katie for the answer, an action that saved his life and ended the CIA Team Leader’s.

Vincent Black couldn’t sit still. They still had not been able to reach either the team or Sean. Jane had spoken to the base at Corpus Christi and they knew about the helicopter dropping them off but that had been hours ago. Vincent walked out of his office and over to Jane’s desk. “Any news?”

A short shake of the head had him walking back into his office. Another few seconds killed.

Jane followed him in. “You need to try and relax. Remember what the doctor said?” At times, she was the wife he never had. She knew everything about him, probably more than most wives. Dentists, doctors, she handled all communications and she knew the doctor had been worried about him. His blood pressure had risen dangerously, three months earlier. The death of Sean had hit Vincent Black harder than anything had ever hit him before.

He nodded and waved her away back to her desk. He was most definitely not in the mood to be nagged.

He opened the report that was scheduled to be delivered by him to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that afternoon but the words just looked back at him meaninglessly. His mind was only on one thing, what the hell was happening in Laredo?