Ballistic Force(109)

“Sure thing, nurse,” Stevens replied, grinning despite his pain. “Now scram! That’s an order.”

Tokaido grinned back, then continued up into the foothills. Once he reached the point where the perimeter fence ended, he circled the last fence post, then paused to survey the prison grounds below.

The Rangers had gotten the upper hand on the Koreans, and Mack Bolan had abandoned the lead jeep and was following a handful of other commandos into the prison yard, which was littered with bodies, most of them camp guards. A few survivors were making a last stand near the ore train, but they were outnumbered and as Tokaido watched, they were quickly surrounded. Most of the Koreans realized they were finished and threw down their arms in surrender, but one of them—the man Tokaido had watched gun down one of his own men before signaling for the firing squad to start executing Lim Seung-Whan and the other prisoners gathered in front of the rock pile—continued to fire back at the commandos. Tokaido dropped to one knee and raised his carbine. He lined up the man in his sights and was about to fire when the Korean’s head suddenly snapped back and he slumped from view. Tokaido lowered his carbine and saw that it was Bolan who’d dispatched the major. The Executioner continued to charge the ore train, not stopping until he’d reached his victim and confirmed that the man was dead.

As the gunfire began to trail off, Tokaido shifted his gaze to the prisoners who’d taken cover behind the rock pile shortly after the onset of the firefight. They all seemed unharmed, but Tokaido felt a twinge of alarm when he realized that his cousin was nowhere to be seen. Even from a distance he was able to recognize Lim’s wife from a family photo, however, and when he saw her looking past the nearby barracks, he tracked her gaze and spotted Lim Seung-Whan. The kidnapped businessman had taken a carbine from one of the fallen guards and was making his way toward the walkway leading up to a bungalow resting on a knoll some forty yards downhill from Tokaido. When someone fired at Lim from inside the bungalow, he dropped to a crouch and returned fire, then continued his advance.

Tokaido wanted to cry out to his cousin, but he was wary of giving away his position. Instead, he stole his way downhill, darting through a patchwork cover of shrubs and small trees until he’d reached the rear of the bungalow. He quietly circled the structure, then was forced back when a spray of gunshots thumped against the bungalow’s outer walls just a few feet from his head.

Tokaido knew where the shots were coming from. He called, “Don’t shoot, Seung! Hold your fire!”

There was a moment’s silence, then Lim rasped, “Who is that?”

“Your cousin!” Tokaido shouted. He took in a breath, then lunged away from the building, letting Lim have a good look at him. While the men had never met face-to-face, they’d exchanged photos during the course of their correspondence and Tokaido hoped his cousin would be able to recognize him.

Lim was crouched behind a thick metal trash can situated halfway down the walkway leading from the bungalow to the prison yard. He stared, dumbfounded, as Tokaido zigzagged toward him, drawing fire from the bungalow. Tokaido finally dived forward and rolled the rest of the way to the trash receptacle. Lim reached out and helped drag him to cover. He was clearly dumbfounded by the sight of his cousin.

“Akira? How on earth did you—?”

“There’s no time to explain right now,” Tokaido interrupted, slapping Lim across the back, “but you have no idea how glad I am to see you.”

“This is a miracle!” Lim exclaimed.

“Something like that.” Tokaido cringed as another round of gunfire glanced off the trash can. “Let’s wait for some backup, then we can take care of these holdouts.”

“I don’t want to wait!” Lim countered. Gesturing at the bungalow, he told Tokaido, “The commandant is in there. He raped my daughter! I want to be the one who takes him down!”

Tokaido thought it over quickly, then said, “All right.”

Clawing at his ammo belt, Tokaido unclipped a stun grenade, then peered past the trash can at the bungalow. He was forced to duck when a gunman fired at him through one of the shattered front windows, but at least he’d pinpointed his target.

“Cover me, then be ready to move,” he told Lim.

Lim nodded. He raised the carbine to his shoulder. On Tokaido’s signal, he leaned to one side and began firing at the bungalow. Tokaido, meanwhile, pulled the pin on the stun grenade, then rose to a crouch and let the bomb fly. Even before the grenade had reached the bungalow, he was bolting out from behind the trash can and racing up the walkway.