The Wuhan Mission

“Bit of a long shot Snowflake, but you might be right. Let’s get on it.”

Sam and Xue Lin called Korea and arranged to have Jimmy put on the phone to discuss the idea. Jimmy wasn’t confident that he could get into the system, but they connected him to one of the CIA hackers at Langley and they all started working on it. Jimmy’s basic Government knowledge of the use of the chipping system helped the computer geek work out where to start looking for the database.

Milan

The Barbecue couple were being guarded heavily by the six Chinese agents who were spread out in strategic positions, each member knowing that this was a high priority mission and that mistakes might mean the firing squad when they got home.

The two prisoners looked like typical suburban Americans. Being in their mid-fifties they shouldn’t be much of a flight risk, but there was probably an American team in the planning stages of some kind of attack or a rescue. For the Chinese it was best if the situation did not escalate beyond a simple ‘swap.’ Two American CIA operatives for the three stolen vials, but they were prepared for a heavier scenario.

*

Sam looked out the window at the passing clouds below, feeling impatient and helpless as he waited for the geeks to find the GPS database. He opened the bag and checked and loaded all the weapons and double checked magazines. Then looking for something else to keep him occupied he remembered that he had to look over the footage of the interview with Dr. Wu so he could report back.

“Hey, Snowflake, toss me that video camera. I have to watch that interview of the Doctor.”

Xue Lin dug the camera out of her backpack and lobbed it over to him.

Sam found the start of the interview and sat quietly watching Wu’s amicable exchange with Xue Lin recounting the Communist plot to intimidate it’s own population using the virus that he had made. Wu elaborated about the vaccine and the heavy metals in it that could interact with different radio frequencies. It was all surprisingly diabolical stuff. Xue Lin had done a pretty good interview for a rookie.

Sam yelled “Nice job!” over at Xue Lin.

Sam kept watching.

Dr. Wu said: “Xue Lin, if your colleague Sam would like to come in and join us, I would be happy to speak freely with him. He seems to be a nice man, and I trust him.”

“Great! I’ll go get him. He’s right outside.” Xue Lin got up from her seat, turned and banged on the inside of the door. The guard opened and Xue Lin left the room. Sam was about to shut off the camera, having seen everything that he had missed, but then Sam saw something happen that curdled his blood:

The moment the door closed behind Xue Lin, Dr. Wu leaned forward and opened the case containing the virus. He extracted the vial opening it up. Then he sprinkled a small amount on the table and wiped it all over the surface of the table before resealing the vial and returning it to its case.

“Shit Xue Lin! You need to see this!”

Sam rewound to the moment Xue Lin left the room.

“Oh my God! Oh my God I am so stupid!” Xue Lin yelled, as she watched what Wu did with the virus. I am so stupid. I can’t believe I left him alone with the virus! Oh Jesus.

Sam! That means you are infected.”

Sam thought for a moment about his own typical behavior in an interview: hands on the table, chewing a pencil, touching his lips, licking his finger to turn a page in his notebook… definitely infected.

“What about you Xue Lin?”

“I was given the antidote by Dr. Wu in the lab when we were about to escape.”

Sam paused for a second: “We do have that antidote right here, you know?” Sam said a little too calmly.

“Right. Right! Let’s get that into you. I can eyeball the dosage from memory. Do we have syringes on the plane?”

“Probably. Go ask the co-pilot. Meanwhile I had better call this in. I have to retrace my steps and remember who I was in contact with.”

“What about Roet?” Xue Lin asked.

Sam looked at his watch. Shit, he might be there already. I’ll call him.”

Roet’s phone went straight to voicemail. Sam left a message. Hopefully Roet would listen to it sooner than later. Maybe he hadn’t landed yet.

Sam looked up the base’s main switchboard number and called. It would take an hour before the base commander had his staff track down everyone who had been into the armoury since Sam was there. Roet was reported to have just gone in to conduct his interview with Dr. Wu.

*

Marcus Roet had slept a few hours on the plane to Korea but realized how tired he still felt as he was met on the tarmac and driven to where Dr. Wu and Jimmy were being held. Roet decided to go straight in and talk to Wu without trying to find Sam or his operative, Xue Lin. He didn’t need them for this.

Dr. Wu was resting in his quarters where Sam and Xue Lin had interviewed him a few hours earlier. He heard the guard unlock the door and there stood a man he had never seen before, smirking.