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Court was disarmed, then pulled to his feet and walked out into the night, Zack right next to him. The CIA men kept their guns up because no one knew where the Cubans were, but now that Pace was in the open, he tapped a button on the device, then tapped the speaker button so those around could hear.
Repult and Travers sent four of their men out to procure vehicles for what they all assumed would be a very low-probability escape attempt.
An officer in the operations center in Langley answered, completed the identity check, and said, “Be advised. Satellite shows all Cuban forces have retreated to garrison. Your way clear should be unopposed, at least for a few minutes.”
“Roger,” Pace said. “Interrogative, did anyone else leave this facility in the past fifteen mikes?”
“Negative, not at that building, but a pair of Chinese Z-8 transport helos landed at the dormitory building about two minutes ago. A group of eight left the dormitory and boarded; one of the number was restrained. They are already back in the air, heading east.”
They’d taken the tunnel, Court now realized. “Going where?” he demanded.
Pace didn’t relay the question to Langley, because he answered it himself. “Probably Matanzas. It’s a PLA base. Thousands of Chinese soldiers.” Pace shook his head. “We’ll get her back, but not today.”
Court’s knees went weak, but the injured Zack stepped up and now he grabbed Court by the shoulders, steadying him. “Let’s get out of this mess, and we’ll go after her together, brother.”
Four Hinton Labs SUVs pulled up, and the men began climbing inside.
•••
Zoya Zakharova sat with her hands cuffed behind her back and then chained to an eyebolt on the floor of the big cargo helicopter. Armed men surrounded her. The helo’s two doors were open; the noise was incredible, making her head pound, but after just a few minutes in the air, she felt a new presence next to her, as Major Liu placed a headset on her ears, then sat down in front of her.
“Now we can talk.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“To our base here in Cuba. From there…I am not certain, but I have my suspicions.”
“To China, obviously.”
She shook her head. “Don’t be so sure. Days ago, when Cyrus told me you were involved in all this, I told my leadership. They spoke with our friends in Moscow, told them we knew the whereabouts of one of their most wanted, and then bringing you in became my secondary mission objective.” She smiled a little. “Since my main objective has failed, you might be the only thing that keeps me from getting a bullet in my brain when I return to Beijing.”
Zoya looked down. She understood.
The Chinese military officer confirmed her worst fears. “I think you will be sent to Russia. We will get something from them for you, I am certain, but I don’t know what.” She shrugged. “I am happy to give you up. You and your people destroyed an operation that has been in progress for more than five years. I would cut you open like a fish at the market if it was left up to me, but apparently you are valuable to someone for something.”
She leaned close, into Zoya’s face. “Be glad.”
Zoya lunged forward, but only a few inches, because something grabbed her and yanked her back hard.
The Chinese man behind her had her in a headlock, and she was pulled down to the floor of the helo.
Major Liu knelt over her, a smile on her face. “Relax, woman. Fighting will do nothing but tire you, and you and I have a very long journey ahead.”
Zoya shut her eyes, and she thought of Court, only Court, and she prayed that he had somehow survived.
•••
The sun was not yet up when five vehicles rolled into a farm a few miles west of the town of Aguada de Pasajeros. A middle-aged couple stood on the porch of a ramshackle little house, a fenced-in area full of hogs off to the right, a trio of old, beat-up cars on blocks next to a tiny barn.
The doors to the SUVs began opening, and ambulatory Americans began hurriedly carrying or otherwise assisting their wounded comrades out and towards the little home.
The couple didn’t speak English, but they bade the men forward, through the door.
Jim Pace climbed out of the rear vehicle, and then he opened a back door, took Anton Hinton by the shoulder, and pulled him out. They stood there while the worst of the wounded were rushed in, and then they began trailing the others.
There were a total of nineteen men in the entourage, eighteen Americans plus Anton Hinton, and the last two out of a vehicle were Court Gentry and Zack Hightower. The men had been disarmed but not restrained, and they’d minded their manners for the past three hours while the convoy fled the Havana area on their way to Guantanamo Bay.
The original plan was to just switch vehicles here; a group of local agents had prepared transportation, but Pace had determined that a couple of the men might not survive the drive all the way across the country, and then the clandestine boat ride to get into the U.S. base on the southeastern tip of the island, so he’d requested medical personnel.
