Splinter Cell sc-1 Page 2

  By now Lo has stood and drawn a gun of his own. It’s some kind of semiautomatic — I can’t tell for sure what it is because things are moving way too fast. He points it at me and I reach for Wong’s shirt collar. I pull him toward me, swinging his body around so he’s between the desk and me. Lo’s gun fires and Wong jerks as the bullet penetrates his spine and bursts out through his sternum. I feel its heat as the round whizzes past my ear and embeds itself in the wall behind me. The blood follows a split second later, splashing me in the face and chest.

  I’m still holding on to Wong, so I shove him backward toward the desk. His body crashes over it and knocks the computer monitor into Lo, who by now realizes he killed the wrong guy. He panics and makes a run for the door. I anticipate this and beat him to it. Lo isn’t a fighter — he’s more of a brains guy, so he isn’t equipped to handle the chokehold I lock around his head. My arm muffles his cries as I pop his head forward, snapping the surprisingly brittle bones in his neck. He collapses to the floor just as the sound of running boots outside grows louder. There’s no time to get into the ventilation shaft, so I press myself flat against the wall next to the door.

  It bursts open and three armed security guards rush inside to find Lo and Wong dead on the floor. Their shock and dismay give me the opportunity to slip out behind them through the open door. There’s no way I can do it without detection, though. One of them shouts something like “There he is!” and the guards are after me.

  I run down the corridor to the staircase I know is straight ahead. It’s the only way out at this point. Instead of taking the steps, I leap over the rail and land in a crouching position in the middle of the lower flight. I take the remaining steps three at a time and I’m on the ground floor. By now, of course, a few more guards have been alerted to my presence. In fact, one guy is running at me from the direction of the big gaming room. He shouts and I dart toward him. He pulls a Smith & Wesson out of his holster, but I leap at the corridor wall, bounce off of it by kicking with the soles of my boots, and propel myself into him. He tumbles back as I gracefully land on my fingertips, do a split-second handstand, and then jackknife in the air to alight on my feet.

  The nearest exit is the front door of the building. To get there I have to traverse the gaming room. Unlike many Macau casinos, the Tropical has one big gaming room — much like the casinos in Las Vegas — whereas others in Macau might have separate rooms for different games. Here you have blackjack, roulette, poker, baccarat, slot machines, and a couple of weird Chinese gambling games I’ve never heard of, all in one big space. At this hour there aren’t many patrons, so I decide to give them something to talk about when they go to work the next day. I run into the room and dart through an aisle of blackjack tables.

  The place is deadly silent. The fifteen or so gamblers look up from their various games and stare, open-mouthed. The dealers are too shocked to move. Who’s this gweilo in the funny military costume running through the casino? The two guards at the front of the room, though, react differently. They draw their pistols and aim at me, not bothering to shout to the patrons to drop to the floor. As one guard takes a bead, I leap onto a blackjack table and dodge a bullet. I jump to the next table, spraying a pile of chips in all directions, and then bounce to another one as the second guard’s gun erupts. I feel like a frog on lily pads.

  Part of my extensive training with Third Echelon involved learning to utilize my surroundings to propel myself quickly. I can use walls, furniture, and human beings as push-off points in order to get across an obstacle course. When I saw other guys doing it, I immediately thought of pinballs doing their thing inside arcade machines — and that’s precisely the concept behind the technique. It’s especially effective when someone’s shooting at you. A moving target that haphazardly changes direction is truly difficult to hit.

  Now that the bullets are flying, the casino guests naturally shout in fear and cower. Some are smart enough to fall to the ground as I spring past them. The two guards, now blocking my exit, are firing their weapons indiscriminately, hoping to land a lucky shot. I have no choice but to act offensively. I duck behind a table, draw my Five-seveN and release the safety. It’s the Fabrique Nationale Herstal tactical model with a single-action trigger and a twenty-round magazine that holds 5.7×28mm ss190 ammunition. The rounds offer good penetration against modern body armor while keeping the weapon’s weight, dimensions, and recoil at reasonable levels. The damage the rounds do to unarmored bodies is something to behold. It’s a weapon I don’t like to use in full-scale fire-fights, though. It has a fairly limited range, so I mostly use it in situations where I know I’ll have the advantage. Like this one.

  I reach around the bottom leg of the table and fire—one, two—hitting both guards in the chest. Now the way is clear for me to rush the exit. I stand and move forward, leaping over one of the bodies as I do so.

  I hear a shouted command behind me, followed by more gunfire. I glance back and see three more security guards running into the room. Damn, where did all these guys come from at this time of night? You’d think that at four in the morning they’d keep just one or two on duty to save money. I suppose bad guys all over the world retain guards in reserve for that one instance when an American operative barges through HQ in the middle of the night.

  I reach for the pocket on my right outer thigh and remove a smoke grenade, one of the more harmless ones. I carry a couple of different types of smoke grenades — one that only produces dark smoke to cover my tracks, and another one filled with CS, or what tongue-twister lovers call O-chlorobenzalmalononitrile gas. That stuff is nasty. Exposure to CS gas causes violent respiratory seizure, and prolonged contact produces unconsciousness. I pull the ring and toss the grenade behind me and wait for the loud pop. The thing works surprisingly fast. Black smoke fills the gaming room in less than five seconds. It’s almost as if someone simply turned off the lights. With my goggles on I’m spared the eye irritation and can also see the archway out of the room.

  I run into the casino’s main lobby and past a couple of frightened patrons. The entrance guards must have left their posts to chase me in the gaming room, because I’m home free. I push the glass doors open and bolt down the steps to the street. It’s still dark, of course, but lighting from the street lamps illuminates the area quite well. The few casinos on the street are still open. It will be a matter of minutes, maybe seconds, before more trouble appears on the scene.

  I make my way around the building to the small parking lot and go to the first SUV I see. It’s a Honda, one of their luxury utility vehicles. I drop to the cement and roll underneath the car. Taking hold of the chassis, I pull myself up and lodge my body into the crevice so I can’t be seen from ground level. I spring a hook that’s embedded in my belt buckle and latch it on to the chassis to help hold me in place.

  Sure enough, I hear running footsteps and shouts. The guards make it outside and begin to search the parking lot thoroughly. I imagine the looks of bewilderment on their faces. Where the hell did he go? He couldn’t have disappeared so quickly!

  I see feet run past the SUV. More shouts. More confusion. The guards’ boss is yelling at them, cursing in Chinese. It’s going to be his head for this! Find that gweilo now! More feet patter by as the men search up and down the aisles of cars.

  It takes them ten minutes before they give up. They figure the intruder must have gone in another direction. I wait another five minutes to make sure it’s completely quiet, and then I lower myself to the cement. I look around for signs of people’s feet. Nothing. I roll out from under the Honda, look both ways, and then rise to a crouching position. I slowly lift my head over the hood and survey the parking lot. I’m alone.

  I leave the property the way I came, using the shadows to mask my presence. I move like a tomcat, quiet and unobtrusive, sticking to walls and street objects. Stealth is the name of the game and I’m damned good at it.

  As missions go, this one went relatively smoothly. No mission is “easy,” per se
. They all have their challenges. I can’t take anything for granted and I must be certain that I do my job invisibly. That’s what being a Splinter Cell is all about. Leave no footprints. Get in. Get out. You’re done.

  A Splinter Cell works alone. A remote team monitors and supports me — professionals that are damned good at their jobs, too — but it’s my ass that’s out there in the line of fire. Every move must be thought out as if the field were a gigantic chessboard. A single mistake can be fatal.

  I like to think I don’t make mistakes. I’m Sam Fisher. I am a Splinter Cell.

  2

  Lieutenant Colonel Dirk Verbaken looked at his watch and decided to get going. He had forty minutes before the rendezvous — more than enough time — but he had to allow for unforeseen surprises.

  He stood, picked up his briefcase, and walked out of his office. He addressed his personal assistant with a simple “I’ll be at lunch.” She nodded and noted the time. Verbaken walked down the hall, pausing at the door to the men’s room. He nudged the door ajar but didn’t go in. Verbaken felt a twinge of trepidation as he looked around to make sure no one was watching. Then he skirted across the hall to the File Room. He knew it would be empty at this time of day.

  Rules at the Intelligence and Security Staff Department were very strict, especially when it came to removing files from the building. Anyone wishing to take something from the File Room had to perform a bureaucratic song and dance that involved way too much red tape. A paper trail was kept and the chances of questions coming up were great. It was best for him simply to take what he wanted and smuggle it out. After lunch he could reverse the procedure, replace the file in the cabinet, and no one would be the wiser. After all, he was one of the top-ranking officials in the department, having been with the Belgian Military Intelligence and Security Service for ten years.

  Verbaken went to the cabinet marked “B” and used his own key to unlock it. He pulled the drawer out and quickly thumbed through the manila folders until he found the one he wanted. He removed the folder, shut the drawer, and locked the cabinet. He moved to a worktable, and then slipped the folder inside his briefcase. After snapping the case shut, he walked swiftly to the File Room door. Verbaken opened it slightly and peered out. All clear. He moved into the hall and walked toward the elevators, pushing open the men’s room door as he passed it. His assistant was most likely paying no attention, but at least he had gone through the motions of using the washroom before going out.

  It was a beautiful day in Brussels. Verbaken left his discreetly disguised building, which was located just off the Grand-Place, the magnificent square that was considered the centerpiece of the city. Symbols of Belgium’s royal history bordered the Grand-Place on all four sides, and Verbaken, a native Belgian, was usually impressed daily by the marvelous display of ornamental gables, gilded facades, medieval banners, and gold-filigreed rooftop sculptures. Today, however, the dazzling sights of the fifteenth-century Gothic Town Hall, the seventeenth-century neo-Gothic King’s House, and the Brewers Guild House meant nothing to him. His mind was elsewhere.

  Verbaken walked briskly through the colorful, narrow, cobblestoned streets to the intersection of Rue de Chêne and Rue de L’Etuve. He paid no attention to the tourists who were snapping pictures of the famous statue of the urinating little boy known as Manneken-Pis. Verbaken glanced at his watch and noted that he was still on time. There was no need to hurry, so he decided to stop momentarily and stand with the crowd. He was pretty good at spotting a tail, and he carefully scanned the people that had been behind him. He didn’t think he had anything to worry about, so he moved on.

  Verbaken eventually arrived at the Metropole, the only nineteenth-century hotel in the famed city. Located in the heart of Brussels’ historical Place de Brouckère, the Hotel Metropole was more like a palace than a hotel. Verbaken had always wanted to have a second honeymoon there with his wife. She loved the mixture of styles that infused the interior with an air of luxury and richness of materials — paneling, polished teak, Numidian marble, gilded bronze, and forged iron. The place had a decidedly soothing ambience.

  Once he was inside the building, Verbaken felt more comfortable with what he was about to do.

  * * *

  On the sidewalk in front of the hotel, two men dressed in expensive Armani business suits sat at a small round table with cups of coffee. The Metropole Café was a popular spot for lunch on weekdays and today was no different. All the tables were full and businessmen and tourists waited impatiently in line for the next available space. The two men didn’t care. They took their time as they sipped their coffees.

  One of them, a Russian known only as “Vlad,” motioned to the waiter. In French he ordered a dish of ice cream. The waiter looked a bit perturbed, since the two men had been occupying the table for over an hour and hadn’t ordered more than coffee — and now ice cream. But the waiter smiled, said, “Merci,” and walked away to the kitchen. Vlad looked at his companion and shrugged.

  The other man, a Georgian who went by the name of “Yuri,” started to say there wasn’t enough time for dessert but decided instead to stay silent.

  Yuri checked his pocket to make sure the passkey was still there. The Metropole still used old-fashioned skeleton keys for the rooms, and it had been a simple matter to steal a master from one of the maids earlier that morning.

  Several minutes went by and still neither man said a word to the other. The waiter brought the ice cream and, as a hint, laid the bill on the table. Vlad almost complained that they weren’t ready to leave yet, but Yuri gave him a look. Vlad thanked the waiter and smiled.

  As Vlad scooped the dessert into his mouth, Yuri continued to scan the pedestrians on the sidewalk. It was the usual midday crowd — businessmen, tourists, beautiful women, not-so-beautiful women… and then he spotted the mark.

  Yuri nudged Vlad with his foot. Vlad looked up and saw a man carrying a briefcase make his way through the café to the front doors of the hotel.

  Dirk Verbaken.

  Vlad quickly put money on the table, took one last spoonful of ice cream, and stood with Yuri. They both adjusted their neckties and then discreetly followed the lieutenant colonel inside.

  An objective observer might guess that the two Russians were bankers, for they appeared to be men that worked with money. Perhaps they were lawyers. Or maybe they were corporate executives from very large firms. They exuded an air of sophistication, worldliness, and wealth, and that was precisely the image they wanted to project.

  None of it, of course, was true.

  * * *

  Verbaken knocked on the door and noticed movement in the peephole. After a moment the door opened to reveal a stocky American in his thirties. He was dressed in a T-shirt and sweatpants with a wet towel hung around his neck. Beside his left leg he carried a.22 caliber Beretta Bobcat.

  “Lieutenant Colonel Verbaken,” the man said.

  “Hello.” The Belgian spoke fluent English.

  “Come in.” The man held the door open and Verbaken stepped into the room. The man shut the door and locked it, then turned to Verbaken with his hand out. “It’s good to finally meet you in person. Rick Benton.”

  Verbaken shook Benton’s hand and said, “I think I pictured you older.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” Benton said. “Please sit down. Can I get you something to drink?” He led Verbaken into the suite’s sitting room, which was equipped with a large wooden desk, a minibar, a television, a glass-top coffee table, green chairs and a sofa, a cupboard with a full-length mirror, potted plants, and a large window that opened onto a terrace.

  “Some water is fine if you have it. You know, I’ve lived in Brussels all my life, but I’ve never been in a room in the Metropole,” Verbaken said.

  “It’s a very nice place,” Benton said. He went to the minibar, fetched two bottles of springwater, and joined Verbaken. He looked at the Belgian and asked, “I assume you brought it?”

  Verbaken nodded. He se
t his briefcase on his lap, opened it, and handed the file to Benton. “I’ve got a little less than an hour,” he said.

  Benton glanced at the number of pages in the folder and said, “Shouldn’t be a problem. I can snap pictures of each page with this.” He showed Verbaken the Operational Satellite Uplink that the NSA provided to him.

  “I don’t suppose you ever met the subject in question?” Benton asked.

  Verbaken shook his head. “No, no, that was before my time. I joined the service a couple of years after the man was killed. There may be one or two of the senior staff who knew him. Very interesting guy.”

  Benton nodded and snapped a shot of the first page. “Have you heard any more about our friends in the Middle East?”

  “No more than what you already have. I’m still looking into it, though. You might say it’s a pet project of mine,” Verbaken answered. “Have you been to Belgium before?”

  “Yes, a while back. I wouldn’t mind being stationed in Europe instead of in that cesspool over in the Middle East,” Benton said. “Believe me, this is a vacation coming here.” He continued snapping pictures of the file’s pages with the OPSAT.

  Verbaken chuckled. “I can imagine.”

  “Have you ever been to the States?”

  “Three times. My wife and I—” Verbaken was interrupted by a knock at the door. The man froze and his eyes widened.

  Benton held up his hands. “Don’t worry. I ordered myself some lunch. That’s room service.” He grabbed the small Beretta and went to the door. After looking through the peephole, Benton opened the door to a small man in a white coat.

  “Room service,” the man said in English.

  “Bring it right in,” Benton said, holding the door open. The waiter rolled in a cart that held three covered dishes. “Put it over there by the window.” Benton looked at Verbaken and asked, “Would you like to order some lunch?”

  “No, no thank you,” Verbaken replied. “I’m not very hungry.”