Ever Hayes - Redemption

When the standing American soldier turned around, I heard Hayley gasp and Flynn curse. Captain Baker. What the hell is he doing?

“Go figure. My dad is helping them.”

That was obvious. But why? And helping them with what?

Baker and Boli moved enough then to let us see the man in the chair. It was General Niles.

“Niles,” I whispered.

“Who’s Niles?” Hayley asked.

“He’s the general who was begging Baker to come quickly. The guy who essentially put everyone at risk. But he’s also our highest-ranking military officer left, far as we know.” I saw Baker strike Niles across the face. He was clearly yelling at the general. How long has the Cheyenne Mountain bunker been compromised? Before Baker even got here? Or did Baker let them in?

“They had to have promised Baker something,” Blake whispered in my ear.

Sure, but what? I watched Baker turn and leave the room, and I followed him onto another screen, where he was speaking to a group of Qi Jia soldiers and two of his SEALs. I glanced back at the other screen and could see that General Niles was severely beaten. His face was a bloody mess. He must not yet have given up whatever it was they thought he had. Commander Boli shook his fist in the general’s face, and then the two guards in the room came over, unfastened the general, and led him to the cell with the other seven Americans. They threw him on the floor, and a young woman rushed over to tend to him immediately. A young man in the cell pointed his finger at the guards and clearly said something to them. One of the guards pointed his gun at the man and pulled the trigger. We watched the man’s head explode as the shot echoed down the tunnel. He fell immediately to the ground.

The gunshot told me two things. One: we weren’t entirely soundproof where we were. We had to be careful not to make noise. And two: the cell was close by. The gunshot was clear before the echo—like the initial discharge was right next to us. I looked carefully at the screen and considered the angle of the view into the cell with the prisoners. No other screen showed the cell, but I was almost certain the cell was on the other side of the solid steel wall next to us, which made perfect sense. It was the only visible place in the entire bunker to keep prisoners, and only a president or vice president would have the codes to escape from it. There were two steel doors on the sides of the screen that appeared to slide into the bunker walls—essentially pocket doors. I was willing to bet one of them opened directly into the cell holding General Niles and the other seven—six now—prisoners. I huddled with the others and shared my thoughts in a whisper. Then we returned to watch the screens.

Shortly after 4:00 a.m., Commander Boli left the bunker. Captain Baker stood at a map-covered table with several Qi Jia soldiers and his two men. We could see the maps from directly overhead. He was running his finger in circles around the Knights Peak area. Occasionally he would point at the other soldiers and they would nod, but he kept going back to the maps.

“He’s helping them hunt us,” Blake said.

“No,” Hayley replied. “He’s helping them hunt me… and Flynn. He doesn’t know the rest of you are here.”

“He can’t think you blew up that building though,” I whispered.

“You’re right.” Eddie pointed at me. “He must think you are here too.”

That son of a bitch is actually helping Qi Jia hunt us with two of his men—with two other American soldiers! These are SEALs. Where is their honor? Man, if Trigger and Twix were here… Baker had let Qi Jia into the bunker and handed over our highest-ranked military officer. He’d shot and killed his own son. What can he possibly think he is going to get out of this?

At 5:00 a.m., I knew we had to make our move. Baker and his two SEALs had walked outside. Six Qi Jia soldiers were sleeping on cots in the room with the maps. Four other soldiers were on patrol, two at the front entrance of the bunker and two more beside the prisoners’ cell. This was the lowest number of soldiers that had been there yet.

The problem was the doors. We didn’t know where the other one opened into—the book didn’t say—and we also didn’t know how loud they’d be when they opened. Ideally, we’d know which door went into the cell and open the other, sneak out, and take out as many of the soldiers as we could. We needed to unlock the cell door and at least give the illusion they’d escaped another way than through the back wall of their cell. But that could easily backfire.

I turned back to everyone else. “Okay, here’s the plan. Stop me if there’s anything you don’t understand.” I glanced around at the circle of nodding heads. “Flynn, you’re staying here with Cera.”

“Danny, she’s actually good with a gun.”

I rolled my eyes. One sentence in and Hayley had already interrupted me. “Hayley, it’s not her shooting I’m worried about.”

“Sorry.”

“Anyway, Flynn you stay here with Cera. Eddie you too. I can’t afford to have anyone know you’re here.” I put my hand on the giant African’s shoulder. “Eddie, that’s important.”

“Understood.”

“Silas, you’re the only one in Qi Jia uniform. We’re going to open both doors simultaneously, and I want you to go out the one that doesn’t go into the cell. Keena, I want you with him. Silas, you protect her and try to keep her hidden as long as you can.

“Keena, I need you to try to get to the computers and kill the feed. Erase all evidence we were here if you can. Then I need you to close the main bunker door. We need to jam it to where it can’t be opened from the outside—ever again if necessary.

“Hayley, I need you behind those two. I’m giving you Blake’s headset and will tell you where the trouble is. You take out who you have to. Your bow is our best weapon because it’s our quietest. There are two alarms in the bunker. If Keena can cut them off, she will. Otherwise, we have to try to keep people away from them.” So far everyone seemed in tune with the plan.

“Listen, guys, I am certain someone somewhere is watching the same feed we can see from here. They will see Silas, Keena, and probably even Hayley.” I handed Hayley my hat. “Keep your heads down. Do not look up. If Keena erases all the recordings, they’re not going to have any still frames to identify us with. That said, once they see you, they’ll be coming fast. Get in and get out as quickly as you can. Blake and I will get the prisoners into the tunnel and reclose our door. Any questions?”

Eddie raised his hand. “Danny, if we don’t leave out the front, they’re going to surround this mountain.”

I nodded. “I know.”

“So how will we get out of here?”

“Honestly, Eddie, I don’t know.” That was clearly a sobering response, judging by the silence that followed my words. “We do have another option. We can sit back and watch, wait for our chance to leave, and then leave. Those prisoners will certainly be dead. The general will probably give up whatever he’s thus far refused to. The bunker will remain open, and Qi Jia will be able to launch whatever missiles remain here whenever and wherever they want. That’s the only other alternative.”

There was a lengthy pause. Blake finally broke it. “Not much of an alternative.”

“I know.” I waited for any other objections. None came. “Okay then, shall we?”

A chorus of agreement followed. Here goes nothing .

The doors barely made a sound when they opened. They slowly slid into the tunnel wall leaving gaps in the walls where they had been. Given their silence, I elected to close the one leading into the cell, since no one had noticed it open—not even the prisoners. The cell was dark, but I didn’t want to chance the cell guards noticing anything.