Page 48 of The Team

“Milvus is compromised,” Harrigan said. “Someone in your council wanted you in Iran to get you out of their way, and now the United States and the fucking Kremlin are inbound. And believe me when I tell you, they’re not coming to help. The bidding war for the bioweapon has begun.”

King felt the blood drain from his face, his heart sank, and his stomach roiled. “What do you want me to do?”

“I’m going to put you back through to the man with the answers. And while you’re talking to him, you’re gonna go find the Iranian commanding officer and evacuate that military base.”

“Evacuate . . . ?”

“An Iranian military base being bombed won’t even make the six o’clock news, but it’s a sure good way to get rid of witnesses,” Harrigan said. “Along with two teams of kite operatives and one director of an organisation, none of which officially exist. You need to get everyone out.”

King swallowed loudly. “Jesus Christ.”

“Well, he does have a bit of a god complex,” Harrigan said. “But you can call him Yunho. And if you want to live, you’ll do everything he says.”

TEN

The laboratory wasfifteen kilometres into the mountains northwest of Tehran. One road in, one road out. A stark white compound glinting in the afternoon sun, surrounded by nothing but rocky outcrops and electrified razor wire, the chopper covering easy miles.

Azrael’s cool, calm, and collected voice sounded in Rhett’s earpiece. “In position and eyes on target.”

“Roger that,” Rhett replied. “What do you see?”

“Three vans parked to the east; two green, one black. Three guards on foot at the south entrance: one at the gate, two at the main door. MPT9 submachine guns, door looks solid steel.”

Green BMW vans...

“Roger that.” Rhett looked at Sid, and Sid gave a nod.

Rhett could see on his screen what they were walking into. Exactly what Yunho told him. This was the type of intel he was used to. This level of real-time information.

“Reinforced concrete buildings, minimal windows,” Yunho explained through the speaker. “Surveillancecameras and motion sensors cover every inch of the perimeter. You can see on the blueprints, the basement level has a second security system, airlocks, decontamination chambers with a negative pressure system, and a biometric access point control entry. This is the high-contamination risk zone. Heat signatures show three people on the ground level. Basement has six people: three upright and moving, and a quarantined room with two men, both supine. I would bet those are your two missing agents.”

Rhett had seen the satellite images of his men being dragged into this compound, so he knew they were in there. And he agreed with Yunho. “Affirmative,” Rhett replied.

“Okay, rooftop insertion in twenty seconds,” Yunho said. “They are about to lose power in three, two, one... They will have backup secondary power, and when that kicks in, we will have eyes inside the building.” Yunho paused. “Aaaand we’re in.”

Just like that.

Rhett kept his eyes on the satellite images. Everything flickered for a second and then he could see the CCTV footage of inside the laboratory. Rhett could see the three people on the ground level, all looking concerned about the loss of lights and power. He could see the elevator, the halls, inside the secure rooms downstairs.

He could see Gordian in a lab coat, Askarov in full PPE, and two other men, one in a lab coat, one in overalls, and they were checking monitors, looking up at the lights. But Rhett wasn’t concerned with them. Because in an isolation room, on two gurneys, were Kowalski and Myles. Hooked up to machines and god only knows what.

Jesus fucking Christ.

“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Rhett asked.

“I am,” Yunho replied. “Do not breach that quarantine room until I can confirm the readings. Do you hear me?”

Rhett grunted a response that was somewhat affirmative. And as the chopper approached the roof, Rhett put his hand to his earpiece. “Azrael, you’re up.”

The three armed guards at the front ran out into the open, looking up and confused by the Iranian military helicopter but yelling into their mics.

Tink,tink,tink.

All three guards fell to the ground, their brain matter now swirls of mist and sand in the downwash.

The chopper’s skids touched down, and Rhett signalled for his teams to go. Giardello’s team would take the back, Rhett’s team the front. They took the service stairs, Rhett shooting the padlock and kicking the wire gate open at the ground level.

“I cannot open the main door for you,” Yunho said.

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