Allan Folsom - The Machiavelli Covenant

Hap looked up, raised his hands, and then pointed toward the church door where the president and the others were. As quickly he lowered his hands and walked calmly to it. As he did he saw a half dozen police SUVs racing tailpipe to tailpipe up the hill toward the church.

In the control room Beck's manually set timer continued its countdown:

4:08

4:07

Hap entered the church quickly, expecting the president, Marten, José, and Demi, no matter her psychological state, to be ready to go right then. They weren't. José was on the floor, semiconscious, his shirt torn open, and Marten was over him, working on his chest; blood was everywhere. The president held a still-sobbing, near hysterical Demi several feet away, giving Marten room to work.

"What the hell?" Hap blurted.

"José was shot. Nobody realized it until he collapsed. Somewhere in the upper chest," the president said quickly.

"Mr. President, there is no time. The Spanish police are here. Their Secret Service people are around the corner. If Woody's coming he's going to be here at any second. We have to go out now!"

"We can't leave them."

"We have to!"

"Marten," the president snapped. "Can we get José on his feet?"

"I think so."

The president looked at Hap, then Demi. "Take Demi. Demi, go with Hap!" Immediately he bent to Marten, and they both helped José up then he looked to Hap.

"Go. Go out now!"

Inside the church the control room timer continued its cold countdown .

3:12

3:11

The rear door to the church flew open. Hap came out first and fast, his gold U.S. Secret Service badge pinned to his shirt collar, his right hand on the machine pistol under his shirt, his left arm around Demi half dragging, half cradling her. The president and Marten came next, José between them, his good arm thrown over Marten's shoulder, the president on his other side holding him up by his belt.

"Freeze where you are! Now!" a disembodied voice commanded in Spanish over a loudspeaker. "Halt immediately!" the same voice said in English.

The Spanish police SUVs were parked directly in front of them, blocking off the parked church vans, the electric cart, and the road out itself. Twenty heavily armed uniformed police stood in front of them. The CNP chopper had now pulled up to five hundred feet and hovered there. Immediately it was joined by Captain Diaz's helo. The second CNP helo following pulled up and held position.

"I see them," Diaz said with a wave to the other chopper pilot. A half beat and her helo dropped down to two hundred feet and held.

To his left Hap could see at least twenty Spanish Secret Service agents coming over the hill from the front of the church.

"United States Secret Service!" Hap yelled. Then repeated it.

No one moved.

"What now?" the president said quietly.

"Tell them we are the U.S. Secret Service and have a wounded man here who needs immediate medical attention," Hap said quietly.

The president took a half step forward. "We are the United States Secret Service. This man is badly hurt. He needs a doctor right away!" he barked in Spanish. "Medical help immediately!"

Beck's timer continued its inexorable march toward zero.

2:17

2:16

2:15

Captain Diaz looked over her shoulder to the U.S. Secret Service agent looking out the window directly behind her. "They say they are your people. Do you recognize anyone?"

"Looks like our SAIC, but from here and in that uniform he's wearing I'm not sure. The woman is a surprise. Don't recognize anyone else."

Diaz turned back and spoke into her headset. "CNP ground units to take charge."

In the next moment four of the armed CNP police started slowly forward, the leader motioning the Spanish Secret Service to hold their positions as he did.

"Damn it, Woody!" Hap breathed. "Where the hell are you, playing golf?"

As if in divine response a monstrous shadow suddenly blocked out the sun. Then with a thundering roar, its prop wash sending dust and debris flying and the Spanish police and the Spanish Secret Service ducking for cover, the huge twin-rotored U.S. Army Chinook helicopter came in just over the treetops, slipping in under Captain Diaz's chopper and obscuring it from sight.

"Woody!" the president cried out.

"Four minutes ago that chopper was on the ground. What the hell's going on?" Captain Diaz's pilot looked to her, his eyes wide under his helmet visor. "What do I do?"

"Captain Diaz. This is Special Agent Strait," Bill Strait's voice came over her headset. "The Chinook is cleared to land. Please stand down."

For a moment Diaz said nothing, finally she did. "Hold position," she said to her pilot, then spoke into her headset. "The Chinook is cleared to land. All units hold position."

Hap stared wide-eyed as the Chinook came in, "He's never going to set that monster down here. There's no damn room!"

Counting its churning rotor blades the Chinook was one hundred feet long nose to tail. The parking area surrounded by trees might be that give or take ten feet in either direction. If Woody was going to land without incident he was going to need skill, luck, grease, and a shoehorn to do it.

Inside the church, Beck's timer continued to click down.

1:51

1:50

1:49

The Chinook dropped lower. Now they could see Woody at the controls, looking fore and aft and to the sides, judging the trees as if he were trying to park a semitrailer in a space made for a car. Suddenly there was a loud gnashing to the rear as the tail rotor sheared branches off of a large conifer and sent them flying. Then with a heavy bump the Chinook touched down.

"Go!" Hap yelled. "Go!"

Marten and the president rushed José forward. Hap followed with Demi.

The Chinook's crew door suddenly slid open and Bill Strait and two medics stood there. Five seconds, ten. And they were at the helo and being helped inside. Another ten and the crew door slid closed. Immediately there was a deafening roar as Woody pulled back on the throttle. A split second later they were off the ground and airborne. In eight seconds they had cleared the trees. Eight more and the machine turned 180 degrees and flew off to the east.

This is Captain Diaz," her voice crackled through every headset. "All units stand down and return to base. Repeat, stand down and return to base."

Inside the church, the timer continued to click down.

0:31

0:30

0:29

"You can look at me later," the president said to the two doctors and the medics over the roar of the Chinook's rotors. "It's him." He turned to José. "He's been shot and badly burned. Someone look at Ms. Picard too and right away. She's burned and severely traumatized. Mr. Marten also needs to be treated for burns."

"Thank God you're safe."

The president whirled at an all-too-familiar voice.

National Security Adviser Dr. James Marshall was coming toward him from the Chinook's flight deck. "I tried to stay out of the way here," he said with utmost sincerity. "You've been through some ordeal."

0:05

0:04

0:03

"Why are you here?" the president asked Marshall point blank, his eyes little more than angry slits, his voice cold as death. "Why the hell aren't you with the others?"

From somewhere below and behind them came a dull heavy boom that sounded like a massive explosion.

"What was that?" Marten turned to look out the Chinook's window. In the next instant the shock wave hit. The Chinook was thrown sideways then dropped like a stone. Woody touched the controls. The rotor speed increased and the aircraft shook in response, then rose up quickly as he regained control.