Separation of Power

The lead car hit its right turn signal and began to move over. Their exit for the hospital was coming up. As they reached the top of the ramp, and prepared to turn onto Shari'Arba'at, Rapp saw a flash off in the distance. For a split second he thought it was lightning, but it was quickly followed by three more. The strikes were not coming from the sky, they were erupting from the ground. Suddenly fiery streaks appeared in the night sky, and Rapp realized they were cruise missiles. It was an amazing sight, like a low-level meteor storm. Bright flashes began popping to the south of them, each one moving closer until they could hear the explosions. The drivers kept moving toward the hospital. When they reached Shari'Al Mansur they took a left and sped down the road. Several blocks later they passed the Russian embassy and had to race around cars that were stopped in the middle of the road.

At that exact moment, a block in front of them, a blur of fire breathing cruise missiles screamed overhead less than a hundred feet off the ground. The cars shook from the noise, but continued on even faster. The hospital was only blocks away. Over the com net Rapp said, "Major, did you see the crowd gathering in front of the Russian embassy?"

"Affirmative."

"The locals know it's safe to go there during an air raid. The street might be blocked by the time we get out of here."

"Roger, we'll go with the secondary route. Did everybody get that? On the way out we're switching to the secondary route."

The drivers all confirmed that they'd received the order and the group pressed on. The explosions started occurring closer by the second and Rapp briefly wondered if they'd all lost their minds to volunteer for this operation. He'd specifically asked that the bombing start minutes after they'd arrived at the hospital, not before. His greatest fear was that the underground facility would go through a standard lockdown procedure when the bombing started.

They made one last turn, all three vehicles skidding around the corner. The side entrance to the hospital was up ahead on the left and the street was empty. Rapp didn't know if this was a good sign or a bad one. The cars skidded to a halt and twelve doors instantly flew open. Each man had a job. In the backseat of the first and third vehicles Delta operators popped up through the sunroofs and set up their Heckler & Koch 7.62-mm machine guns on tripods. The heavy weapons would eviscerate anything short of an armored perso

The remaining seven Delta operators and Rapp moved quickly toward the door. Each man with the exception of Rapp carried a Heckler & Koch MP10 suppressed submachine gun. The weapons were silent 9-mm close-quarter killing machines. They were the best weapon available for the job, and if not for Rapp, they would have been left behind. The original plan had been to use AK-74's and AKSU's, the standard weapons of the Special Republican Guard, but Rapp had intervened, explaining that Uday was a gun nut and the men on his personal detail carried the best weapons money could buy.

The Delta operators and Rapp moved toward the nondescript metal door enmasse. None of them knew what to expect on the other side. The lead man shoved open the door just as an earthshaking explosion occurred from a bomb strike nearby.

The Iraqi soldier standing in the small room had a wall phone to his ear and a machine gun slung over his shoulder. His eyes were wide open with fear from either the explosion or the sudden arrival of the Special Republican Guard unit.

Whichever the case, Rapp did not wait around to find out. Remembering his words to the Delta operators, Rapp pushed his way through the men, limping like Uday Hussein would, and in Arabic yelled, "Hang up the phone!"

The man mumbled something quickly into the phone and nervously placed it in its cradle. Snapping to attention, he saluted Rapp and said, "General Hussein, we are under attack by the Americans. We must get you down to the shelter."

"I know we are under attack, you idiot! That is why I'm here. Take me to the bombs." Without hesitation the guard turned and inserted a key into a riveted steel door. He yanked it open and gestured for the man he thought to be Uday Hussein to enter. Rapp did so and stepped into a slightly larger room. The guard nervously inserted another key into a box on the wall. Two heavy doors slid back to reveal a large freight elevator. Everyone piled in and the guard pressed one of two buttons.

Rapp asked, "Is Dr. Lee here?"

The guard would not look Rapp in the eyes. "I'm sorry, General Hussein?"

"The Korean," he yelled.

"Yes, I think so," the man answered nervously.

"Who were you on the phone with when I arrived?"

"Headquarters, General."

"Why?"

"They are sending more men over just in case."

The Delta operators on the street could not hear what the Iraqi soldier was saying, so Rapp said, "Headquarters is sending men! Those idiots! All they'll do is attract attention to this place."

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Two guards were waiting for them. Both were at attention with their rifles at port, standing one on each side of a huge blast door. The guard who had ridden down with them asked, "I can call headquarters, General, and tell them not to send the men."

"Yes, do that!" Rapp yelled. He continued forward, marching with his fake limp through the blast door into a cavernous room, at least 100 feet by 300 feet, with twenty-foot ceilings.

Major Berg appeared at Rapp's side and in Arabic whispered, "Cameras."

Rapp looked up and in one sweep found four of them. He pulled the major close and said, "Deploy your men. Leave two of them here to take care of the guards." Rapp heard a loud humming noise and turned to see the large blast door moving.

"Stop!" screamed Rapp. "I gave no order to close that door!"

The guard at the wall smacked a red button with the palm of his hand and snapped to attention. Rapp barked at him, "Call headquarters and tell them I'm going to cut the balls off of the idiot who decided to draw attention to this place!"

The guard ran for the nearest phone and snatched the handset from its cradle. Rapp looked the length of the chamber and spotted a clean room against the far wall. Inside the glass-walled, environmentally controlled room he could see several people in white lab coats and hair nets. Rapp set out for the room with Major Berg and four of the operators. Rapp burst into the room and looked at the five Korean men covered from head to toe in surgical garb. "Dr. Lee!"

One of the men came toward them waving his arms. Rapp assumed it was Dr. Lee. In heavily accented English he said, "No ... no ... you can't come in here dressed like that."

Rapp drew one of the nickel-plated .45's, cocked the hammer, pointed it at the doctor's head and screamed, "No one tells me what to do!"

The scientist stopped in his tracks and lowered his head. "I'm sorry."

"Where are the weapons?" he yelled. Rapp had no idea if Dr. Lee had ever met Uday, but the disguise appeared to be working so far.

"The weapons?" asked the Korean.

"The bombs, you idiot! The Americans know about them. An air attack is under way and one of our spies tells us they are preparing to drop one of their special bombs on this place."

"But they aren't ready."

"I don't care if they aren't ready!" Rapp pointed to a cart on the other side of the room. "Put the crucial parts on that cart immediately! We have to get out of here fast!"