Russian Winter: CATU Book 2 Ch. 16

American Falls Hydro Plant

Jimmy Chan ran down the corridor the where Adam Chou sat placing another bomb and setting the timer. By the time he reaches the spot he is nearly out of breath.

"What's going on?" Chou asked absently.

"We're surrounded. The police just showed up," Chan replies.

"What?" He stands, annoyance displayed on his face. "Do we have an escape route?"

"The whole place is surrounded," Chan replies.

"Tell the rest of the men to continue with the explosives," Chou says starting to walk away to set another explosive.

"What are we going to do? We've got to try to get out of here," Chan cries.

Chou spins around, grabs and lifts Chan, then slams him into the wall. Chou's muscles ripple through his shirt as he holds the other man against the wall. "We will finish our job, for the glory of China. We'll use these creatures to help aid our escape."

"And if that doesn't help?" Chan dares to ask.

"Then we will die for our cause. Our sacrifice will aid in China's conquest."

Chou drops the man and lets him fall to the ground. As he walks away he says, "Tell the men to finish."

——

Doug is impressed with the display of police when they pull into the operation that is set up outside the power plant. SWAT was deployed awaiting orders, as a SWAT helicopter hovered overhead with its search light gleaming over the area.

Doug gets out of the truck and walks over to the sheriff.

"Mr. Wiltkins, thank you for coming," Croay says, shaking Doug's hand.

"Glad to be here, thank you for notifying us. Call me Doug."

"Alright Doug. You can call me Jonah. My men and the SWAT team are at your disposal," he says, sweeping his hand over the area.

After spending several minutes of greeting various people, Doug had the heads of each group and his men huddled around the strategy table in the semi.

"Here's how we are going to handle this situation," he says looking at each person in turn. "Jonah, your men will cover the front, handling crowd control and ensuring none of the terrorists escape that way. Robert," he says to the sergeant and leader of the SWAT team, "on my signal, your team will enter through the back, flush them toward my team. We'll take one floor at a time until we have all of them captured."

"Are we aiming to take them alive or shoot first ask questions later," Robert asks.

Doug laughs. "As much as I'd prefer the shoot first, we need to attempt to take a few alive. There's at least one more terrorist cell out there and we will need information to find them. Any more questions?" No one had any. Their assignments were simple. "Alright then, let's do this and try to come out alive."

The explosives were all set up and the men were ready. Chan found Chou on the top floor of the plant, two of those hideous creatures were with him and a smile was spread across his face. "Everything is done. We await your orders," Chan informs him.

"We have quite an operation against us. I have a task for you though. There is an emergency set of stairs that lead to the front of the plant. Once the police have entered, you'll take four soldiers and the four creatures and attack the police there."

Chan is surprised and a bit scared to have this task placed on him. The mixed emotions must have shown on his face. Chou notices his expression before Chan had a chance to hide it.

"This is important. I will hold them here until you give me a signal it is clear. Once you do so we'll follow you out and blow the place. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Good now go."

Chan bows and then takes his leave.

——

Doug led his men in through the front. They didn't meet too much opposition. Doug figures they planned to dig themselves in, so the leader would be closer to the top. As they enter the second floor, Doug sets his signal over the radio alerting Robert to bring his SWAT team in.

Their job would be to comb through each floor, flushing out any terrorists Doug and his team missed. The power plant is big with five floors in the building. The trouble they face is the power plant spread out over a five thousand square foot area per floor.

As they enter the second floor, they never see Chan's team with the creatures enter the first floor and head out the entrance.

——

The police covering the front of the building aren't surprised when a group of soldiers come running out, guns blazing. What surprises them are the four creatures that accompany them. The creatures leap, attacking the closest to them.

The officers hold their ground quickly taking out two of the men Chan leads. Chan and the remaining soldiers take cover behind a car. They decide to wait until the creatures take out most of the force.

——

Doug's team sweep through each floor, easily dispatching any resistance. With the SWAT team sweeping behind them, he has no worries about any of them escaping. So far, however, they hadn't had the opportunity to take any captives.

They enter the final floor to find Chou standing in the center of the room, without a weapon, and only with what appeared to be a detonator.

"I will blow this place sky high. I suggest you leave the way you came and let me do the same!" he shouts.

"You know that isn't going to happen!" Doug shouts back.

"If you don't do as I say then we will all blow up! I'm not kidding!" Chou yells.

"Neither am I," Doug says loud enough for the men near him to hear. He lifts his gun and fires. Chou never has a chance to think. The bullet goes through his head, brains splattering out the back. Chou's body hits the ground, the detonator sliding safely out of his hand.

——

The battle outside rages on until the police learn that the creatures can only take so many bullets. Once the first creature falls, the rest follow suit. Chan surrenders when the soldier that is accompanying him is shot down.

Doug interrogated Chan, but he either didn't know anything or wasn't going to talk. After a few hours he gave up on the interrogation. The bombs were recovered in the mean time. Doug was certain there was another terrorist cell, but he had no idea how to find them, until Whitmire came to him with information.

"Sir!" Whitmire shout as he ran to the semi.

"Go ahead," Doug says.

"We received a call claiming the next attack will be a hydrogen plant in Silverdale, Washington."

"Who made the claim?" Doug questions.

"The caller didn't say. He hung up before we could get a name."

"It's a lead and a good drive away just to throw us off the hunt," Doug says. He isn't certain if it is a risk they could take at the moment.

"I believe it's a good lead sir," Whitmire offers. Doug's curiosity picks up. "A power plant in Mount Vernon, Oregon was hit an hour ago."

"Damn," Doug says shaking his head. "Have all the bombs been found?"

"Yes sir. We've pretty much finished up here; the locals should be able to take over the rest."

"Then get packed up and let's head out."

——

Strandon was being transported from the White House to the CATU building. The Secret Service didn't anticipate an attack to rescue him, but almost hoped there would be to flush out any more conspirators. They transported him in a black SUV that was lead by an exact replica of latter. Heavily armed the agents inside were ready for anything.

Almost anything.

Detaran stood in the middle of the road, almost casually as if he belonged there. The first vehicle slams on the brakes as the second continues taking an alternate route. The agents in the first vehicle jump out weapons ready, shouting commands to drop to the ground.

Detaran moves with lightning speed toward the SUV. The agents open fire, but to no avail. With quick movements, Detaran has the hearts of each man ripped from their chests, before the first one drops to the ground.

Without any hesitation, he takes to the air. Within a minute, Detaran spots the second SUV. He flies at it and slams into the side nearly tearing it in half upon impact. The vehicle flips several times before finally coming to a halt on all four tires.

The doors open, with one of the agents inside falling out, dead from the initial attack. The other three exit opening fire on Detaran. This time Detaran takes his time and savors each of the kills he makes. Once the remaining agents are dead, Strandon exits the vehicle.

"I almost thought you were going to abandon me," he says with a smile.

You are a loose end that needs to be severed.

Strandon is shocked. "I have served you faithfully."

You have failed and I do not tolerate failure.

Detaran grabs Strandon by the neck and slams him into the side of the SUV.

You were given a simple task. Now you shall reap the reward of failure.

Detaran shoves his hand into Strandon's back, gripping his spinal cord and rips it free from his body. He tosses both the body and spine to the ground and lets out a long laugh before disappearing into nothing.

——

Spencer and Jennifer were locked in the captain's quarters for the remainder of the trip. After the sub docked, they made a break for it. Jennifer decided to be the one to cause a distraction. After Spencer got away she'd make her escape too.

Spencer made for the water. He swam a few miles along the shore. His pursuers gave up not long after, assuming he had drowned. They didn't have a meeting place set up, but he decided it would be someplace public, so they could hide in the crowd.

Spencer headed to a market just outside the docks and waited. Several hours passed, but when Jennifer didn't show, he decided to go look for her. He snuck back into the dock hoping to see her if she was captured. When he didn't see any signs of her or any activity to suggest they had her, he went back to the market.

He gave the area one last scan before giving up. Spencer had a job to do and if the situation was reversed, he'd expect her to make the same decision. Besides, if she made it out alive and he wasn't here to meet up with her, Jennifer did know where he was headed. He got enough sleep back in the sub, now all he needed to do was find a durable and empty vehicle to steal.