Jimmy lay on the deck and balanced the bipod on the inflatable waiting for the chopper to cross the stern.
‘Boom!’ The rifle recoiled and the bullet tore through the front of the chopper and through the pilot’s chest.
The chopper pulled back as the copilot took the controls. The navy SEAL on the gatling gun sprayed the prone chopper with bullets, ripping through the copilot. The chopper seemed to just sit there in the air for a few seconds before nose diving into the sea.
“God Damn!” yelled Xue Lin, watching as the two SEALs left their gunnery positions and hopped down onto the deck, already smiling and patting Jimmy on the back. “You’re a useful fellow!” said one of them.
Jimmy winked at Xue Lin as Dr. Wu looked on, aghast.
“We’re not supposed to be here, let alone taking out their Coast Guard choppers.” said the Captain. Sam looked at him: “They might have called it in. They definitely identified us, maybe not as American, but definitely as a hostile. We don’t look like a fishing boat unfortunately.”
“I’ll make the call.”
Jimmy was picking up his 50 calibre shell as Sam came over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder: “Well that was impressive.”
Sam looked over at Xue Lin and smirked. “Quite the crew you guys are.”
Xue Lin laughed, clutching her backpack, now strapped to her front, as her hair blew wildly in the wind.
She looked at Sam and asked: “How long before we are out of Chinese waters?”
“Two hours.” he answered, looking back at her with his steely blue eyes. “It might get dramatic. F-16s are on their way from Kunsan air base.”
He looked her in the face a bit more tenderly than usual. “Are you OK Snowflake?”
She looked up at him and used her baby voice: “Snowfwake had a big day. Killed a wot of people.” She batted her eyelashes at him the way he loved as it really made him laugh. He gave her a long hug. It made them both feel good despite being blocked by the backpack with the deadly virus in it.
Jimmy looked at Dr. Wu, indicating with widespread open arms that they should perhaps hug too. Wu laughed, though somewhat nervously.
“Mako 2, this is Kunsan Air Base. Two vipers inbound to you. Eight hundred knots. They will be at your location in ten minutes, over.”
The Captain replied: “Roger that. Gracias.”
The squad of SEALs stayed in their seats, resting. Their job was done. It was up to the airforce now.
The two pilots of the F-16s flew in the direction of the Navy vessel, out of Korean airspace and into Chinese. Their commander had ordered them ‘not to get shot down in Chinese airspace.’
“I see the boat on radar, but no bogeys”
“Roger that.”
“Let’s fly a wide circle around the boat and hold that pattern.”
“What the hell are they doing way out here?”
“No idea. Don’t wanna know.”
“Saving whales maybe?”
“This is China, not Japan!”
“Oh yeah. What do the Chinese do?”
“Dogs, man, they eat Dogs!”
“One bogey! Fifty miles out. Coming from the south.”
“Stay low. Let’s just lock him up and see what he wants to do.”
Sam and Xue Lin stood next to the Captain as he continued to steer the speeding boat through the night, towards Korean waters while overhead, the roar of supersonic jet engines tore by. It was hard to tell what was going on in the night sky. All they knew was that if a Chinese fighter plane let loose at the boat, they would all be toast.
“I’m coming round behind him. It looks like a Nanchang Q-5. Just like a Mig. This Man is a shitty pilot. He’s all over the place.”
‘beeeep’
“I’m locked on. I’m just gonna stay on his tail until he shits his pants.”
“Watch your language. I’m feeling very sensitive today.”
“Still on him. He’s banking right. Still on him. Oh come ON, just go home dude!”
“Stay with him.”
“He’s… banking again, looks like he’s bugging out this time. He’s going home. Finally dude! Nice playing with ya, Alpha Mike Foxtrot!”
“Nice. We staying for a while?”
“Affirmative. Resume circle pattern. I’m in the lead.”
The Captain gave Sam and Xue Lin a look: “I think we are good! How are our passengers feeling?”
“We haven’t eaten in a while.” said Xue Lin.
“We’ll be back at base before breakfast, but if any of you castaways want some chow, check the cupboard. Should be noodles in there. Someone boil the kettle!”
The Frogmen got out of their drysuits and packed their gear away. Doctor Wu was asleep in his seat, head bobbing from side to side with the motion of the speeding boat. Sam started to debrief Xue Lin who was wearing one of the navy SEAL’s wool hats as she had gotten cold.
She had to talk straight into Sam’s ear, which he didn’t mind at all. She gave him the rundown on the vials that she was carrying in her bag. She gave him the short version of the heist at the lab, the road block. She told him how she thought that there was a piece missing from the puzzle. Why had they not just picked them up and tortured the three of them? Thrown them in jail, never to be seen again.
At least now she understood how they knew she had come to Wuhan and why they had immediately put her under surveillance. It was all because of the chip in her shoulder.
