Irving Waters - The Wuhan Mission

Dr. Wu looked at one officer and said: “There has been a problem in Biosafety Level IV. It’s very dangerous inside. You should not even touch us or breath near us. We have been contaminated.”

The officer took a few steps back as he responded: “I’ll call it in, just to make sure.”

“I would not do that if I were you” said Dr. Wu, giving him a grossly exaggerated look that would have been more suited to a Chinese soap opera actor.” The Chairman will not want this to get out. You should keep this to yourself until the site is secure. Then you can report it.” Dr. Wu gave them another look. Jimmy and Xue Lin tried their best to go with it, adding their own stern looks.

Jimmy took over: “You two stay here and stop anyone going in. The ‘BHCT’ should be here shortly.”

They looked at him, confused.

“The Bio Hazard Cleanup Team!” He yelled at them condescendingly, as Xue Lin did her best not to smirk at the bad soap opera that Jimmy was putting on.

Jimmy continued: “I will drive these two scientists to the other facility for observation. Clear? You know what to do?” he looked at them, awaiting their hesitant nods.

“Good work comrades. Keep it up!” Jimmy said, gesturing for Xue Lin and Dr. Wu to follow him. He walked stiffly, followed nervously by the two in lab coats, to the stolen black sedan. He opened the back door and they both got in, hearts racing. Dr. Wu was terrified, but Xue Lin was almost enjoying herself.

“Nice work Jimmy! You are quite the actor!” she quipped.

“It won’t hold for long.” Jimmy said as he pulled out into morning traffic.

Jimmy reached into the glove compartment and pulled out Dr. Wu’s new passport and ID card.

“Memorize your new details. All of our lives might depend on it if we hit a roadblock.” Jimmy said, passing them back.

Xue Lin pulled out one of the guard’s walkie talkies from her bag and turned it on to monitor the scene at the lab. Very little was happening still and the subterfuge laid by Jimmy was holding. No-one wanted to enter the building to investigate and no-one was yet brave enough or smart enough to call it in.

Xue Lin passed the radio to Jimmy saying: “Tell them the cleanup team is on route.”

Jimmy smiled at her in the mirror: “Ah you are just not a pretty face!” and proceeded to make the transmission in an overly authoritative voice: “This is the BHCT… ah we are on our way. No personnel are to enter the lab. Repeat, nobody goes in. There has been a bio-contamination.”

Jimmy threw the radio up on the dashboard, listening for the reply.

“Copy that,” the reply came from the nervous security officer outside the building.

Jimmy drove east crossing the Yangtze River and headed towards the edge of town where he’d parked the minivan. The violent theft of secret substances and the kidnapping of China’s top virologist would become the Chinese Government’s number one priority within the next 30 minutes or so. Jimmy drove efficiently without breaking the law too badly.

Being rush hour, most of the traffic was headed into the city, so Jimmy’s navigation took them smoothly to the stolen minivan he had stashed on the street on the southern edge of town where there were no traffic cameras. He parked down the block and got out of the car.

“Take off your lab coats. They draw attention,” said Jimmy.

Xue Lin stuffed Dr. Wu’s coat in her bag, and wrapped the submachine gun in her’s.

She and Wu got out of the car as Jimmy grabbed his duffle bag from the trunk and led the way to the minivan.

The radio in Jimmy’s hand squawked: “Change channel to next. Over.”

“Copy,” came the reply from the officer.

Jimmy looked grimly at Xue Lin. “They have a channel change protocol when a radio goes missing. They must be inside the lab already.”

“We just have to keep moving Jimmy. Let’s get on the road. We need to get to Shanghai ASAP.”

Jimmy opened the back and retrieved his heavy bag, thinking that they might need access to its contents. The three of them quickly got in the minivan, Dr. Wu in the back seat, Xue Lin in front, and Jimmy started the engine and headed for the highway.

Xue Lin, shaking her head, heaved a sigh. “Maybe I should have cleaned the scene.”

Dr. Wu looked questioningly at her: “What do you mean?”

“I could have put a bullet in each of those security guards. They can ID me as an assailant. I’m no longer an innocent bystander. They will be looking for a male and female fitting our descriptions, and a Government employee matching Jimmy’s description, though it may take them a while to work out who you are Jimmy.”

“You are an amateur. Any good spy would have taken them out.” Jimmy scolded, miming a ‘gun to the head.’

Xue Lin continued: “The Government probably knows who I am already. They bugged my apartment the day after I moved in. Perhaps killing two more guards would have accomplished nothing.”

“You’re soft. CIA makes soft soldiers,” Jimmy quipped as he sped up a ramp onto the highway heading east.

The scene back at the Virology Building was already a mess. Three ambulances had arrived on the scene, along with half a dozen unmarked police cars and a military personnel van with Wuhan’s equivalent of a ‘quick response unit.’ The security guard who was conscious was being questioned by a plain clothed Government Investigator with a hateful looking face. He asked the guard basic questions about why he had been found zip-tied at his post, and why his colleague was out cold.

“The pretty one kicked me in the head after my partner passed out at my feet. He came back from break and after ten minutes he just… fell down. She must have drugged him. That’s all I saw. Besides that, everything was normal, except… when I came-to, she had taken my weapon and ammunition… and radio.” The guard looked very sheepish and had a badly swollen black eye and probably a fractured skull.

The bloody body of the guard who had been operating the metal detector was taken to an ambulance on a stretcher. The roofied guard was taken to another ambulance and put on oxygen.

The investigator pressed the ‘transmit’ button on his radio: “I need to get into Biosafety IV, and I’ll need access to any safe or lockbox inside. Send someone now!”

He gestured at one of the policemen: “Bring me those two security officers from outside who can ID the driver.”

Jimmy looked ahead at the highway, driving aggressively through the minimal traffic but only just over the speed limit.

“Xue Lin, inventory check?”

She looked at him, thinking: ‘Jimmy can be quite professional.’

She went through her arsenal for Jimmy: “We have one submachine gun with six extra clips. Two pistols with 7 clips and One… flash-bang, I… suppose.”

“OK, not bad,” he replied. “There is a Barret .50 cal sniper rifle in the big bag if we get into a tight spot. Ever used one?”

“Yes, on occasion in training” replied Xue Lin, remembering how much she had enjoyed the big recoil on the rifle. But it really wasn’t the kind of rifle you could fire easily out the window of a moving car. It was large and heavy.

Jimmy chimed in: “We also have a few other toys I picked up from the Tool Man. Oh by the way, Dr. Wu there is a wig and sunglasses in my bag. Put them on. You’ll look like a rock ’n roller,” said Jimmy smiling.

While Dr. Wu adjusted his wig, trying to look in the mirror, Xue Lin reached into her own backpack and retrieved a long hair extension. She applied some dark gothic makeup, adding a mole to her upper lip.