Cliff Ryder - The Ties That Bind

"And you will," he said. "But then you have to get out of here." Just knowing that she'd be far away when it all came down caused a surge of relief to wash over him. He cared about her future, which was more than he'd allowed himself to feel for anyone in a long, long time. "No more arguing."

She opened her mouth, then closed it with a snap, nodding.

"Good," he said. "What other weapons and supplies do you have stored away in here?"

"You might be surprised," Tanuk said. "What do you need?"

Jason considered it for a few moments, thinking of the terrain around the Quonset building, then said, "Aside from the C-4, here's my wish list — shrapnel grenades and smokers, Claymore mines, a sniper rifle and rounds to go with it and — in an ideal world — a rocket launcher and shells."

Tanuk smiled and nodded at Jesse, who said, "Let's get to work, brother. We've got a lot of loading to do."

"It will be better this way," Jason said to Tina. "You know we can't allow this to get any more personal than it already has. The mission first. We'll deal with the future if we survive all this."

"What do you mean we?" she asked. "Don't you mean you? I'm going to be a long way away, remember?"

"You aren't there yet," he said. "And I fully anticipate more arguments before I have to knock you unconscious and have Jesse load you into the truck to get you out of here."

"You wouldn't!" she said.

"In a New York minute," he replied. "Now, let's get to work."

"I could help, Jason," she said. "You know that."

"I do," he said. "But the best help you can give me is getting as far away from this mess as you can."

She nodded. "Want to help me carry some crates?"

"Sure," he said. "But let's not overdo it. We've got some time before the Scorpion will be back and we both took a good pounding back there."

Tanuk joined them as they headed for the larger cavern. "In life there is always heavy lifting," he said to himself. "That is why we have family."

Jason looked at the supplies that they had piled into the back of the SUV. His wish list was basically complete. All they had to do was get him back to the Scorpion, and Tina, Jesse and Tanuk on their way to Nome. He pulled out the handheld one more time, reviewing his maps and the new coordinates where the Scorpion was going to land. Then he double-checked his escape routes from the Quonset building. It wouldn't do him a lot of good to succeed in his mission, only to freeze to death before he could make it to safety. There weren't a lot of choices, but it was better to have it all firmly in mind.

"Are you ready?" Tina asked, coming up behind him.

"Yeah," he said. "We're all set. It's time to get out of here and finish this."

He looked her over and realized that she had armed herself like Rambo. While he was still a little surprised that she worked for Room 59, and he knew she could take care of herself, seeing her looking as if she was planning on taking on an army made him uncomfortable. "The plan is still the plan, right?" he asked.

She nodded. "I just want to be extracautious. Feng Li isn't a fool. He'll know you're coming for him, which means he's going to have men spread out all over this area. If we get caught, I want to be ready."

"Tina," he said, stepping closer to her and lowering his voice, "I need you to promise me something."

"Anything you need," she said.

"I need you to promise me that you'll run before you fight. That you'll get yourself and Jesse and your grandfather to safety. This kind of work — it's what I do. You weren't a field agent and you have more than just yourself to think about."

"Don't you?" she asked pointedly.

He nodded. "I think I probably do," he said. "But we have to stop Feng Li now, and I can't do that if I'm busy trying to keep you and the others safe."

"I know," she said, hugging him tightly. "I just don't want to leave you. It feels like…like if I can see you, I can keep you safe."

He steered her toward the SUV as Jesse and Tanuk climbed in. "You can keep me safe by being safe yourself, okay? Promise me?"

"I promise," she said. "Run if I can, fight if I must. You're the agent in charge. I know the drill."

He smiled down at her. Part of him wanted to take her onto the sub with him, if for no other reason than the banter she provided would help ease the tension.

"Good," he said. "Understand that this mission has taught me a lot, including how important it is to have people to care about in my life. It's given me hope that I can allow people to be close to me and still do what I do. But right now, more than anything else, I need to keep you safe. Understand?"

She played with ground at her feet with the toe of her boot. Jason could see her wrestling with her thoughts, trying to come up with a way out of her promise, but knew that he had her.

"All right, but I don't like it very much," she said.

"You don't have to like it," he said. "I don't like it all that much myself. I just need you to do it."

"Stop right there. If you go any further it will turn into an order and then I'll have to defy it just to soothe my wounded pride. I don't take orders very well," she said.

"No orders this time," he said. "Think of them as firmly worded requests."

He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. His hand paused on her hair, letting several strands rest between his fingers. He would have loved nothing more at that moment than to take the time to explore every strand of hair on her head. When he got to the end of this he was going to take some serious time to consider that part of his life. To figure out what it meant to truly care about someone for the first time in his life, to figure out if what he felt for her was love.

She climbed into the vehicle, sitting in the back with Tanuk, while Jesse took the driver's seat and Jason the front passenger's seat.

"All set?" Jesse asked.

"Set," he said. "Let's finish this."

They drove to a cove south of the village, choosing to use a new location. It was a safe bet that the others they'd used before were being watched. Jason went down to the waterline and placed his beacon, and only had to wait a few minutes before the Scorpion emerged from the depths. It had been repaired, and from a quick check, the modifications he'd requested had been made, as well.

He made a mental note to send a thank-you to the offshore team if he survived all this. They had gone above and beyond getting everything done. The others were standing near the front bumper of the SUV, and he turned and said, "Let's get this thing loaded up."

Jesse looked up and Jason could see some level of concern etched on his features, but he nodded. "You're the boss," he said. He moved around to the back of the truck where the cargo was stored, and Tina and her grandfather moved to follow him.

The briefest flare of reflecting light was the only warning they had.

"Cover!" Jason yelled, diving behind some rocks and hoping the others would do the same.

A barrage of shots rang out, the bullets ricocheting off the rocky beach and several hitting their truck with loud pinging noises. Jason peered over the rocks and saw a large group of men, led by Chris and Troy, coming down the hillside. A quick count and he tallied a dozen.

"Status?" he yelled.

"We're okay," Jesse yelled. "But this could get ugly."

Now that they were pinned down, the men coming down the hill had slowed their firing and were taking up positions to surround them. They couldn't all fit in the Scorpion, which meant that they would have to fight their way out of the ambush. He risked another glance and saw that Jesse and Tina were crouched behind a rock outcropping similar to his, while Tanuk was kneeling behind the front side of the truck.