Operation Hell Gate - Marc Cerasini [83]
Jack fired as he moved. Another man's head exploded, and a third pitched backward, clutching the fountain of blood that gushed from the wound in his throat.
Another young Afghani appeared out of nowhere, to let fly with a volley from an assault rifle. Jack rolled behind a steel storage bin as the chattering AK-47 tore up the floorboards where he'd stood only a split second before. With a shooter pinning him down, two of the old men stumbled toward the Long Tooth missile launchers, rolled them off the rack and onto the dolly. Jack managed to shoot one of the men, who had a stump for a right hand. But even though the Afghani was wounded, he stubbornly helped his colleague wheel the dolly into the freight elevator.
Jack knew he had to stop these missiles from arriving at their destination, but whenever he tried to move out of cover, the young Afghani with the assault rifle would open up on him. Suddenly the fire door opened again. Jack whirled, figuring he'd been flanked. When he saw a blue uniform, Jack tried to warn the newcomer of the danger. But the AK-47 barked first, and the New York City policeman who'd been sitting in the squad car was ripped in half in a hail of bullets.
Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Jack squeezed off four shots. They slammed the shooter backward, into a wall.
Jack was on his feet in time to see the metal grate close and the freight elevator begin its descent. Crossing the floor, he scooped up the AK-47. The banana magazine was nearly full — the shooter must have reloaded just before he shot the cop. Jack reached the elevator, thrust the muzzle through the grate, and opened fire.
But instead of firing down, into the cage, Jack shot the cables. Sparks flew, a pulley wheel broke and tumbled down the shaft. Then he heard a ripping sound as the cable snapped.
Howls echoed up the shaft as the freight elevator plunged to the basement. The screams ended abruptly when the elevator car was dashed to pieces. Smoke billowed out of the shaft, rolled over Jack until he had to shield his eyes. When the smoke cleared, Jack peeked down the shaft, saw two corpses and a pair of shattered missile launchers among the twisted debris.
Smoke began to rise up the elevator shaft from the fire raging on the ground floor. Jack decided it was time to go. He ran back to the fire door. But when he opened it, smoke and heat struck him. A bonfire roared at the bottom of the stairs. The roof was his only hope. Jack grabbed the first rung of the ladder and climbed up to the hatch in the ceiling, praying it wasn't locked.
* * *
1:21:13 P.M. EDT
Freight Terminal C
Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International Airport
The hazardous material vehicles pulled away from the Boeing 727 and the ramp closed.
Dr. Colin Fife stood on the tarmac beside CDC Director Henry Johnston Garnett. They watched in silence as the jet taxied down the runway, then leaped into the sky.
Dr. Garnett sighed. "I only hope we've done enough to protect the public."
"Only an act of God, a totally unforeseen catastrophe like a plane crash could unleash the virus," said Dr. Fife with confidence. "And even then the explosion and fire would most likely destroy the cultures. Oh, perhaps if the aircraft broke apart, or it crashed without a fuel explosion there might be a danger, but the chances of such an event are simply astronomical."
* * *
1:46:44 P.M. EDT
Green Dragon Computers
Queens Boulevard, Forest Hills
Inside the Green Dragon store, Taj confronted Griffin Lynch.
"My brother is dead, the safe house in Brooklyn destroyed, and I still do not have the memory stick I require to shoot down the CDC aircraft," Taj complained.
"Don't panic," Griffin replied. "We sent Liam to deliver the stick. He's done it a dozen times. We don't know what went wrong this time."
"Do you think he went