Zero Point (12 page)

“Josh Turner,” the voice replied. “Is this Captain Saune?”

“Affirmative…being watched…must keep my talk brief.”

“What is the situation, Captain?” Turner asked, afraid to ask about the condition of his father and Maria.

After what seemed an eternity, Saune replied. “Four of us…your father injured, but okay…three targets that are well-armed, placing C-4 to blow up cave, and us along with it.”

“Roger that, Captain,” Turner said, his anger growing at the news of his father being injured. “Samuel and I are just outside the entrance and armed. We’ll signal you before we take action.”

“Roger,” Saune whispered as one of the assailants came past him. He glanced at his remaining guard and saw the glint of hope in the young private’s eyes as he heard the same message on his receiver.

“Did you get that, Samuel?” Turner whispered to his friend on the other side of the entrance after switching off his microphone.

“Yeah, Josh, I got it, but what action are you talking about? If we go busting in there like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, a lot of people are gonna get hurt,” Samuel said.

Turner managed a smile. He knew, with the trust built over their years of friendship, that Samuel would follow him into any situation without hesitation.

“I’m making this up as I go, Samuel. Don’t rush me.”

“Oh swell, I feel much better now,” Samuel said as he chambered a round into the Army 45. “Whatever your plan is, we better move soon before the bad guys get antsy.”

“Okay, here’s Plan A….” Turner then began to inform Samuel of his idea.

During the five minutes of silence since the initial communication with the younger Turner, Captain Saune meticulously made a mental note of all the locations of the C-4 packs on the basalt walls as far as the light in the cave allowed him to see.

They were spaced about thirty feet apart; with the closest just a stone’s throw from him. He had watched as the killers pushed small detonator plugs into the C-4 packs, which told him that there must be a wireless detonator switch that was probably in the hands of their leader.

If I could only get myself free and yank those plugs out
, he thought as the voice of Josh Turner once again sounded in his ear.

“Captain, what’s the situation with the explosives?” Turner asked.

“The C-4 packs are mounted at eye level on the cave walls about thirty feet apart. Each is armed with remote detonator plug that is activated by a hand-held detonator. You must pull the detonator plugs to render them inert,” he said as the Yakuza leader barked an order to one of the mercenaries who then proceeded to walk toward the cave exit. “Stand by…one target is heading your way, Josh.”

“Got that, Captain,” Turner replied. “It looks like we go to Plan B, Samuel.”

“Plan B?” Samuel whispered incredulously. “I wasn’t that hot about Plan A.”

Turner was hoping for an opportunity to gain access to the cave without notice, and now that opportunity was walking right out toward them as the two men heard the footsteps getting closer.

The pair stood and pressed their backs to the basalt walls as the mercenary approached. The young assailant had been ordered by his leader to stand guard outside the entrance, while the remaining two finished their work inside. Pulling the black ski mask over his face, he forgot one basic rule of his trade; always be aware of your surroundings.

The young mercenary exited the cave carrying his flashlight and never noticed the two men, nor did he see the arc of the pistol butt of the 45-caliber as it hit him in the head from behind. The Yakuza soldier was unconscious before he even hit the ground.

“Nice work, amigo,” Samuel said as he dragged the man off to the side. “One down, two to go.”

“I hope this guy is a close fit,” Turner said, as he started to remove the black outfit from the unconscious man.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Josh.” Samuel said wide-eyed. “You’re just gonna go waltzing in there like one of the boys?”

“I told you I was making this up as I go,” Turner replied. He quickly took off the transmitter and proceeded to put on the unconscious assailant’s black jump suit. “Hey, this should give us a few more precious seconds, which is more than what we had two minutes ago.” He pulled on the ski mask, and then tucked the mercenary’s knife and the 45-automatic into his waist band.

“Alright, I’m going in. Tell Captain Saune to cause a distraction when he sees me come into view. When the fun starts, have him head for the nearest detonator plug and start yanking them out. Give me a minute’s head start, and then you follow me in and pull the detonator plugs on this end of the cave. We’ll wing it from there.”

“Gee, that puts me much more at ease. Can we go back to Plan A?” Samuel quipped, knowing that this was their only option.

Turner picked up the mercenary’s flashlight and quickly started into the cave, knowing his friend would not fail him or those inside.

Samuel transmitted the message to Captain Saune, who quietly whispered to Maria to get ready to hit the floor. He saw the puzzled look in her eyes, but there was no time to explain as he spotted Turner in the black outfit coming into view in the dimness of the cavern.

As Turner made his way through the tunnel towards the light of the lanterns, he thought of all that had transpired in the last day. He wondered if he would even live to be reunited with his father in their new found relationship. He thought of Maria and now longed to tell her how he felt about her, but he pushed those thoughts from his mind as the light of the cave revealed the situation.

His reflexes and senses tuned and ready, he had only seconds to survey the situation and to act. His eyes took in the field of action. When he saw his father lying on the floor of the cave with dried blood on his head, anger welled deep within him. He knew that he was not by any means a violent man. However, the sight of his fallen father and Maria with dried tears on her face unleashed his desire to stop these men at any cost, even if it meant risking his own life.

As Turner entered the perimeter of the group, Captain Saune recognized his cue. Surprising everyone in the chamber, he started yelling wildly as he fell prone to the floor and began rolling towards the first C-4 pack on the wall nearest him. Those precious few seconds were enough for Josh to spring into action as he quickly launched himself upon Saune and proceeded to grab him around the neck with his back to the mercenaries.

In one fluid motion, he pulled his knife from his waistband and deftly cut the tie wraps binding Captain Saune, who in a flash was on his feet sprinting towards the first detonator.

After their initial hesitation, the Yakuza leader and his remaining subordinate realized what was happening, but by then, it was too late. The leader of the trio knew their plan to murder the archeology team was now in dire jeopardy, so he instantly sprang for the satchel containing the remote detonator.

I will not fail my Oyabun
, he thought as he fumbled through the satchel retrieving the remote detonator switch in his hand,
even if it means my own death
.

The remaining Yakuza mercenary, who had frozen in the first few moments that transpired from Turner’s appearance, raised his AK-47 and aimed it at Saune, who was now running for the first C-4 pack. At that same instant, Turner whirled around and fell on his back to face his adversary. He drew his weapon and quickly fired off three rounds in succession before the hapless mercenary had a chance to
pull the trigger. The first bullet missed and ricocheted off the cavern wall; the second found its mark, shattering his right shoulder and rendering his gun hand useless. Before he could react to the pain in his shoulder, the third bullet entered his forehead, killing him instantly.

During the melee, Captain Saune focused single-mindedly on getting to the detonator plug and removing it from the C-4 pack before it could kill them all. He had just pulled the plug successfully when he heard the sound of gunfire. He spun around to see the one Yakuza soldier fall to the ground. He then eyed the leader of the group scrambling for the satchel containing the C-4 and, most likely, the remote detonator switch.

Being too far from the man to be of any use, he yelled, “Stop him, he's going for the detonator switch!”

“Put the gun down or I’ll blow us all into oblivion,” the Yakuza leader hissed, now holding the detonator in his hand and backing away from the group towards the narrow entrance of the cave. “You,” he said, pointing to Saune, “get back over there with the rest of them.”

Turner could see Saune giving him a look that said
take the shot
as he slowly made his way over beside Maria, Eli and the private, who were all still bound hand and foot.

Saune glared helplessly at the Japanese man holding the remote switch in his right hand. He desperately looked for a way to reach him, but knew he would never get to him in time.

Turner, still wearing the ski mask, stood there with his 45 raised and leveled at the antagonist, hoping to stall him long enough to allow Samuel the needed time to make it through.

“What do you expect to accomplish by this?” Turner asked the mercenary, hoping for a few precious moments.

“I’ll give you five seconds to drop the gun,” the man snarled, obviously rattled by the recent turn of events.

“Are you looking for these?” a voice asked from the shadows behind him as a shower of detonator plugs came raining down around the startled assailant.

Samuel walked into the light of the cave with his hunting knife in hand just as Turner ripped off his ski mask, grinning like the Cheshire cat while giving his friend a thumbs-up sign.

“Josh, thank God you and Samuel are here,” Maria said as tears of relief rolled down her cheeks.

“Hello, Son,” Eli said weakly. “I was hoping for a nicer reception for you.”

The reunion was short-lived, however. The Yakuza soldier pressed the detonator switch in his hand, causing the small plugs scattered about to pop like a string of fire crackers. Luckily, there was no explosion.

“You know, pal, you shouldn’t play with fireworks. You could get hurt,” Samuel said, scoring a verbal direct hit on the mercenary, who was now infuriated by his ill fortune.

“I think you owe us an explanation as to who you are, and why you want to kill us,” Turner said, lowering his gun as
Samuel walked past him to cut the ties off the three remaining captives.

“I will tell you nothing,” he said, throwing down the detonator switch and knowing he had only one option left to him. “You might as well kill me.”

The mercenary realized now that he might still complete his assignment. He raised his hands in mock surrender with the satchel still in his left hand. He then slowly bent over and lowered the satchel to the ground.

What Turner couldn't see was the military M-67 fragmentation grenade in the satchel. Though not as powerful as the C-4, it was effective up to forty-five feet. The mercenary's moment to act came in a split-second when he saw Turner looking toward his father and Samuel preoccupied with cutting the rest of the captives loose. With quick reflexes, he deftly reached into the satchel and pulled out the grenade. Pulling the pin, he launched himself towards the narrow chamber leading out.

Captain Saune, being the only one to see the action, raised the alarm. “Josh, he has a grenade!”

“Everyone get down!” Turner yelled as he swiftly swung around and wildly fired off three rounds at the shadowy figure. With all three missing their mark, he watched as the figure disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel. Seeing the grenade pin lying on the cave floor, he instinctively threw himself over his father as Maria, Samuel, and the rest hit the ground covering their heads.

The ear-splitting explosion that ripped through the cavern was followed by another deafening sound as tons of rock and basalt came crashing down into the tunnel. A cloud of dust and debris was thrown up, effectively sealing them inside the ancient tomb.

A strange, muted silence pervaded the ancient lava tube as dust and debris began settling to the floor of the cave. Only the dancing shadow of a lantern light that flickered in the gloom gave hint to any sign of life.

***

After leaving Turner and Samuel to trek to the site, Paulo managed to turn the Land Rover about and was heading back down the gravel access road towards the main highway to obtain help. He never noticed the black SUV that pulled out behind him with its lights out when he passed the access road leading to the summit where the Bishamon facility was located.

I’ll go to the police outpost in Guimar
, he thought as the ominous SUV moved closer and closer behind his vehicle. He sped around the many treacherous curves leading down from the summit with no clue as to the unexpected visitors that were approaching him from behind. Paulo cursed himself for leaving the satellite phone at the camp when he set off earlier to retrieve Turner and Samuel at the ferry landing.

As he rounded one of the sharp curves, he felt a sudden jarring thud in the back of the rover as the lights of the SUV suddenly illuminated. With his vehicle immediately
accelerating out of control, he found himself careening helplessly toward an embankment overlooking a four hundred foot drop to its rock-strewn bottom.