Echo Six: Black Ops 7 - Tibetan Fury (28 page)

Talley shook his head. "Not a chance, you're coming home with us. Too many people have suffered and died to bring you out of a Tibetan prison. You're staying alive until we get you to the States. It's the least you can do. After that, it's up to you." He looked at Buchmann. "You're sure the other guy is dead?"

"As sure as the coffin lid closing."

"In that case, we'll get back down the mountain and join the others." He climbed painfully to his feet. "Campbell, put your arms over our shoulders. We'll help you."

It was easier going downhill, although the lack of oxygen in his muscles was a constant, painful reminder of the altitude. Several times he almost blacked out, and he suspected Buchmann was virtually carrying both of them. Without the German, he knew he would have fallen in the snow and died.

They came at last to the Nepalese military vehicles. They'd waited for them, and soldiers came to help them the last few hundred meters to the trucks where there was warmth and shelter. As soon as they were aboard, engines cranked into life, and they turned around and headed back down the mountain. Soon they were driving through the outskirts of Kathmandu.

* * *

He woke up in a hospital bed. Every muscle and every bone in his body ached with an intensity that almost made him want to cry out. In the distance, he could hear shouted orders, the noise of engines, and even the sound of single shots being fired. He relaxed as he recognized the familiar sounds of a shooting range. He knew he was in a Nepalese barracks. Then he looked up as Admiral Brooks entered the hospital room.

"Commander Talley, how are you feeling?" he grinned.

He had to think about his reply. "Better I think. Did they all make it back okay?"

Brooks nodded. "Yeah, all of them."

"And Campbell?"

"Him too. His father just arrived, about an hour ago. He brought a whole heap of people, CIA, NSA, the White House, you name it."

"How did they get here so quickly?"

"They didn't. You've been out for two days; the medics reckoned you were suffering from severe oxygen deprivation. At one time, it was touch and go whether you were going to make it. Another half-hour on that mountain, and you'd have been dead. You have Buchmann to thank. He almost carried both of you back down that mountain."

"I'll go see him, as soon as I can get out of his bed."

"That'll be a good idea. By the way, the CIA guy, Ed Garrick, turned up yesterday. Buchmann has been threatening to pull off his arms and beat him over the head with the bleeding stumps. Garrick didn't seem to get the joke."

"He obviously doesn't know Heinrich Buchmann. I doubt it's a joke."

Brooks grimaced. "Christ, we'd better keep them apart. Relations between NATO and CIA are sometimes strained as it is. I don't want them to be any worse. By the way, Nelson Moore, David Campbell's stepfather, wants to talk with you. Are you up to it?"

"Now?"

Brooks nodded. "He's outside. I believe he has Ed Garrick with him."

"Garrick? Does Moore know about Garrick trying to prevent Campbell to come home?"

Brooks shook his head. "Not yet. Right now, only the members of Echo Six know, as well as Grace Ferraro, of course. And she hasn't said anything, even though she’s Agency. But she's pretty pissed, and I know she wants someone to deal with him for what he tried to do. I get the impression there's a long queue waiting to tackle him."

He reflected that Ed Garrick had a unique talent for creating enemies.

Maybe it's part of working for CIA. No, that's not fair. I've known plenty of Agency people, and there are good and bad, just like any other organization.

"Before I invite them in, someone wants to see you."

The Admiral left the hospital room, and Grace Ferraro walked in. Her face showed little of the stress of the past days, except for her eyes that were large and dark with pain and sorrow.

"How are you feeling?" she smiled.

"I've been worse. What about you?"

"I've...better. I was wondering…"

"Wondering what?"

"I believe there's some unfinished business between us. Maybe when you're out of here, we can get together, make up for lost time."

"It's a date. As long as it's not on top of any mountains, or anywhere cold."

She chuckled. "Agreed, although one day I'd like to show you the real Tibet. I could even take you to meet my uncle."

"Your uncle? You mean he still lives in Tibet? I thought your family were all in the States?"

"I still have relations in Tibet and a distant uncle, Tenzin Gyatso, who lives in India. He sometimes slips home again to see his friends and family."

"Jesus Christ, not Tibet again."

She grinned. "Tibet. I take it you're not too keen."

"No. Anywhere but Tibet."

Before he could say anymore, there was a knock on the door, and a group of men pushed into the room. He recognized Nelson Moore at once, and hanging on his elbow, Ed Garrick. There were several other men present, and Garrick decided to introduce them, playing up to his bosses. He smiled broadly and managed to look something like a crocodile and a Mafia hitman.

"Talley, this is the Chief of Staff, Nelson Moore, and my boss, CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence, James Elliott. This is CIA NSA liaison, and the others are their aides. They want to know what went on over there. If it's okay with you, I'll give them an overview of what went down."

He stared at the Kabul Chief of Station for a few moments. "Garrick, before you say anything, there's someone I want to be present. Grace, would you call in Heinrich Buchmann."

She left the room, and Moore glanced at his watch, looking irritated. "Is it really necessary to have this man present?"

"It is, yes."
                                                                                             

A couple of minutes later she returned with the German. The room was already crowded, but now it looked much more so, as Buchmann took up enough space for three ordinary men. He stood glowering at the newcomers and then looked at Talley.

“Boss?”

“Heinrich, the man standing on your left is Ed Garrick. He's the guy who caused the death of our comrade in Tibet. I want you to arrest him. The charge will be treason.”

The move took them all by surprise. Without a word, Buchmann bundled the CIA man out of the room, and they heard his shouts and screams echoing back through the hospital corridors. Moore looked angry.

“You’d better have an explanation, Mister. That man is a senior CIA operative. If you...”

He stopped as David Campbell walked through the open doorway.

“He does have a good explanation, Dad. That bastard sold me out, sold us all out.”

He then went on to explain how Garrick had taken his intel. He’d then pocketed the money and credited the data to a low-level source. How Garrick had done everything possible to prevent his return from Tibet, including the attempted destruction of a NATO Special Ops unit. He spoke for ten minutes, laying it all out, and there was silence as they digested the enormity of his crimes. Finally, Moore nodded.

“I guess Garrick no longer works for CIA, so I'll leave it up to you men. I just fired him.” He looked at Talley. “Commander, I owe you a debt of gratitude. You got my son back to his family, unharmed. In spite of that bastard, Garrick.”

He waved it away. “If anyone needs to be thanked, it’s the men of Echo Six. They made it possible. And remember, not all of them made it back.”

“I'll personally thank each and every one of them.” He shook Talley’s hand, “Again, my thanks, Commander Talley. What’s next when you get out of here? A well earned vacation, I imagine?”

“I hope so, Sir.” He looked at Grace. “We were planning to go look up a relative of Miss Ferraro.”

“That sounds peaceful enough. You two are together?”

“Maybe.”

He looked at Grace. “In that case, I wish you luck.” He glanced at Elliott. “Any problems with that, Deputy Director?”

“None whatsoever, as long as they’re going somewhere safe. Miss Ferraro, where is this relative?”

“India, Sir.”

"Sounds safe enough." He looked thoughtful, as something came to mind, "Grace, this relative in India, I seem to remember something in your file. Is it...?"

"Yes."

Admiral Brooks looked at her.

What’s this? What does he know?

Moore nodded. "In that case, give him our regards."

"I'll do that, Sir."

"That settles it," Moore nodded, "Time to go. Good job, all of you."

He left the hospital room, along with Admiral Brooks, James Elliott, and their aides. All of a sudden, there was only Grace and David Campbell. Talley looked at him, eyebrows raised.

"Was there something else?"

Campbell glanced at Grace. "You want to spell it out to him, or me?"

She took a breath. "I will, David. Abe, this whole operation, there was more to it than they told you. Than we told you."

He stared at her, a cold feeling in his guts. "Go on."

She didn't speak for a few seconds as she marshaled her thoughts. Finally, the familiar, calm expression came over her face.

"You know it all started when David was arrested, and the Chinese put him in that terrible prison in Lhasa. What you don't know is that the arrest was all arranged. We tipped off the Chinese."

His mind whirled with the implications of what she'd said. "When you say ‘we’, I assume you mean the Tibetan Buddhists, not any US agency?" She nodded. "You must have known that when the son, or stepson rather, of the White House Chief of Staff was tossed into a stinking Chinese prison, the Americans would do everything in their power to get him back."

She looked sad. "We knew. In fact we counted on it. You see, the Chinese have steamrollered the Tibetans for decades, and it was long past time to rally them to resist the terrible oppression they suffered. The only way to do that was for their spiritual leader to appear amongst them in the capital, Lhasa, to give them hope."

"You mean the Dalai Lama?"

"Yes, of course, but the difficulty is the Chinese keep tabs on him. We needed a breakdown of security, an emergency to take place. The only way we could think to do it was to make the Chinese look the other way."

He glared at her. "You mean at my unit, Echo Six."

She inclined her head. "I'm afraid so. We checked into which NATO unit they'd send, and your men had the reputation of being the best there is. We were always confident you'd get out."

"Not all of us."

Her calm demeanor fell away, and she looked even sadder. "I'm so sorry. We will pray for him."

"Yeah, that should do it," he murmured.

She blanched at his retort. "The Chinese were busy chasing escaped prisoners and hunting for the SpecOps team sent in to bring him out. It meant the Dalai Lama was able to enter the country and visit our monasteries and religious centers almost unimpeded. And that's the way it worked out. I'm sorry." She lowered her voice, and he believed her, "Especially for the man who was killed, but believe me, he will be reborn to a better life. The people of Tibet have been given hope. I assure you even now there is a new optimism and joy amongst our people."

He tried to think of something to say, but he was totally stunned. All the time they'd been racing around Tibet, they'd been manipulated like puppets. Their strings pulled not by CIA, not by the ruthless Ministry of State Security, but by a bunch of Buddhist monks and nuns. Campbell broke the silence.

"It was me that freed General Chang. It was essential there be someone senior to take responsibility for the debacle, and he was the man we chose. Unfortunate for him, but there was no else."

"Chang? He didn't escape?"

"No."

He shook his head. He could feel the anger burn through him. "Jesus Christ, you people nearly got us all killed."

"I'm so sorry, Abe," Grace said. Her face had lost its composure, and tears were rolling down her cheeks, "If there was any other way, we'd have taken it. Please, you must see that."

"I don't."

A pause. "He wants to see you."

"Who wants to see me?"

"My uncle, Tenzin Gyatso. He would like to explain it all to you, why it was necessary. And to thank you, and apologize."

"Your uncle? What the hell does he have to do with anything?"

This time Campbell replied, "Abe, Tenzin Gyatso is the fourteenth Dalai Lama. I'm sure he'll be able to give you the answers you're looking for. Perhaps one day you will understand why it was so necessary."

He stared at Campbell and then at Grace.

"Your uncle, the Dalai Lama? You're not serious? No way!"

He recalled Elliot's glance when she'd mentioned the man.

So that's what was in her file! If I'd known, would it have made a difference? I’m not certain.

She smiled encouragingly. "I'm afraid he is. Please, will you meet him when you are recovered?"