“I’d say better than seventy-thirty, sir!”
“Okay. Do it!”
Immediately, four shots rang out. Laura’s, Rob’s and Nat’s stomachs clenched as they sat in the back of one of the armoured vehicles waiting for permission to enter. Rob pictured the scene and the highly risky shots the marksmen had committed to. They had to take action in order that more resource could join the hunt for the two who had run off to perpetrate whatever unknown atrocity.
The hostage takers’ heads were flung back. Another four shots sounded almost instantaneously as the hostage-takers’ reflexes squeezed the triggers of their weapons.
Everyone held their breath for news.
“Medical teams required!” Lieutenant Farcas ordered. “One hostage dead, one injured. Two unharmed. Four dead hostiles,” he announced in a matter-of-fact tone.
A mixture of screaming and sobbing broke out from all the workers as the Lieutenant gave orders for half his men to guard and usher them to waiting transportation that would take them away for questioning. All other soldiers were to join the search for the remaining two hostiles. With that situation cleared, Cezar nodded and guided Laura, Rob and Nat towards the main production hall. They picked their way carefully through the rubble, grateful for the hazy grey light created by the bright lights of the production hall through the still swirling dust. The smell of rain mixing with the dust and rubble reminded Rob of building sites.
35
After an unsuccessful five minutes of tracking the final two fugitives, the Lieutenant ordered that the head of security be questioned and, given that the other two buildings had been secured, all soldiers were to join the search – once they had changed into protective chemical suits.
General Muntean and those in the command centre alternated between clenching their fists and massaging their hands or faces as the tension increased. Everyone was very concerned that there were dozens of soldiers within the perimeter of the facility and two men on the loose who, it was presumed, were plotting the destruction of the place and had potentially escaped. They had certainly disappeared!
As they waited for the head of security to be dragged into the production hall by four soldiers, Rob, Nat and Laura wandered about the facility, gazing up at the overhead gantries, the multitude of pipes and a wide range of steel tanks where the chemicals were being produced.
“Wow! This place is staggering,” Rob whispered to Laura.
“Yes. And large enough to produce huge quantities of chemicals. Given how long it appears this place has been operating, something very large is planned!”
Rob glanced at her and could see the concern etched across her face.
“We’ve got to find some clues as to what’s intended,” she continued, as Nat joined them. “I really don’t like this – not one bit!”
When the head of security arrived, he was handcuffed to a steel girder close to where the four dead hostage takers’ bodies still lay. “Okay! Start talking! We are searching for two more of your colleagues. Everyone else is either dead or captured!” Lieutenant Farcas growled, his powerful voice echoing around the otherwise still space.
The man just looked around blankly, taking in the otherwise empty space. Cezar whispered the translation for Laura, Rob and Nat.
“What plans did you have in case of a raid?” After a few moments of continued silence, “You are not leaving until we know and have captured the remaining two people! So if destruction or a chemical release is intended, you will feel it!”
Sweat had started to break out on the man’s forehead as he pondered his circumstances. “I want protection, I will need to disappear.”
“Judging by that comment something is planned, and I suggest we don’t have time to negotiate! Tell us, now, and you may live long enough to negotiate!”
The head of security hesitated a few moments longer before relenting and telling the soldiers where to look for the two missing people. “If they aren’t still working on setting everything up, they will have taken the secret escape tunnel out of here. This place will blow thirty minutes after the charges are set.”
“What are the charges? How will it work?”
“Standard plastic explosives, nothing special, just very effective. Simple to disarm if the connections can be found – that’s what the guys will be doing, pulling the cables through to link to the power sources. They need to create a full circuit for it to work, that’s what takes the time, particularly if there’s only two of them.”
“And why are you so sure about this? Why wasn’t everything connected beforehand?”
“I’m sure, because I’m head of security, dumb-ass!”
“Don’t be clever,” the Lieutenant retorted harshly, slapping the man. “Why?”
The man sighed and rolled his eyes. “Because the connections and cables would be obvious to the maintenance crews, and clearly, we didn’t want them to know.” The man paused briefly, before adding glumly, “We also thought we would have plenty of time. I thought my defences were strong enough.”
Satisfied, Lieutenant Farcas walked away. With his back to the man, he relayed what had been said to the search teams, who fanned out to find the basement tunnels where the two men would be – if they hadn’t already left!
Less than a minute later the teams had found the inconspicuous access point in a workshop. Quietly, the soldiers opened the hatch, four men peering down into the space below, ready to shoot should the need require.
A dimly lit, wide passage beneath them headed in the direction of the main hall. With a nod from one, all except two soldiers quietly slipped down the metal ladder bolted to the wall – they wanted guards at the entrance. Laura, Rob, Nat and Cezar brought up the rear. Careful not to bash into the many cables or metal pipes that lined the sides and ceiling of the passage, the soldiers lined-up ready for orders from Lieutenant Farcas.
Farcas looked around, aware of the heat and humidity in the confined area. Condensation dripped from many of the old, dirty and, in places, rusty pipes. He placed his hand on one of the dry pipes, instinctively pulling it back, wincing in pain from the scalding heat. He placed his burnt hand on one of the pipes covered with condensation and breathed out in relief at the soothing coolness.
A snake of soldiers soon made their way along the passage, assault rifles pointed out in front of them, red aiming beams flickering about. Each time they passed a side passage three soldiers peeled off, peering around corners before proceeding.
“Disturbed dirt,” one group reported.
“And?” Farcas enquired.
A couple of seconds passed as the reporting trio searched the area. “A small power cable is stuck to the side of a pipe that goes up through the ceiling,” came the reply.
“So it goes up into the production hall?”
“Hard to say, sir, but possibly. We could try to knock through, but it would be noisy.”
“Then don’t! Find out where the cable leads. Everyone, we now know what we are looking for,” Farcas ordered.
Soon many of the teams were reporting many such finds as they made their way through the maze of tunnels. “Open junction box, sir,” another team reported. “Easily a dozen cables, all… Urrgh!” The sound of multiple single shots suddenly echoed through the tunnels, followed the recognisable rapid fire of a responding assault rifle.
“Soldier, status report,” barked Farcas.
