Separation of Power

Dr. Lee turned and started giving orders to his people in Korean. Rapp glanced over his shoulder and looked at the two Delta operators who specialized in explosives and had been briefed on what to look for. With a head jerk from Rapp the two men set out to keep an eye on the scientists. Rapp grabbed Major Berg by the arm and walked back out into the large chamber. "Have your men leave one of the charges in that clean room." Each member of the assault team was wearing a satchel around their waist that contained enough C4 plastic explosives to level a house.

The major nodded. "Good enough. I'm going to put another satchel over by those canisters of liquid nitrogen."

"Make sure you save one for the elevator."

The guard who Rapp had told to call headquarters approached nervously. "General Hussein." The man stopped just out of Rapp's reach. "I'm sorry, but headquarters reports that your brother Qusai has given the order to secure the facility with his troops. They want me to shut the blast doors."

This was big trouble. Qusai was Udays older brother and their father's successor. "You incompetent fool!" Rapp lunged forward and slapped the man across the face. The guard dropped to his knees in a sign of submission. Rapp looked to Berg and mouthed the words, Hurry up. Addressing the cowering guard Rapp yelled, "Get up! You are coming with me."

Rapp marched the man back across the room and into the waiting elevator. They rode it back upstairs in silence. When the doors opened Rapp took one of his pistols and pointed it at the man's head. "Go back down there and help my men, and don't even think about closing those blast doors. If you do I will have your eyeballs cut out!"

Rapp left the elevator and went back out onto the street. As he emerged from the building two hulking armored perso

Rapp limped off in the direction of the steel monsters. Over the group's com link he said, "Hold tight for a second, guys. Let me see what I can do." He stopped the vehicles halfway down the block by sticking out his hand and holding his ground. The vehicles stopped and one of the doors opened. An Iraqi colonel appeared wearing an SRG uniform. Rapp instantly knew he was in trouble. There was a good chance this officer had dealt with Uday on a more intimate level.

Rapp kept up the facade. "Colonel, get your men out of here immediately. My father has sent me on a special mission. If he finds out you were here he will have your head."

The officer stopped eight feet from Rapp and looked at him strangely. With a frown on his face he asked, "Uday?"

Rapp could tell by the look on the man's face that he had pushed his luck far enough. With lightning speed he drew his gun and fired a shot straight into the center of the colonel's forehead. The heavy .45 caliber round knocked the man from his feet and sent him to the street. Rapp stepped forward, screaming at the top of his lungs, "How dare you talk about my father that way!" He squeezed off three more rounds into the already dead body and spat on it. Then, looking up at the armored perso

Quickly Rapp turned and limped back toward the cars. Over the team's com net he said, "I sure hope you guys have got those rockets ready."

"Roger that," someone said.

"Then use them right now, before they have a chance to call in what I just did." Rapp watched as one of the Delta operators reached into the car and pulled out a LAW 80 rocket. He expertly extended it into firing position, stepped clear of the car and yelled, "Get down!"

Rapp dove for the pavement and before he hit the ground he heard the loud swooshing noise of the 94-mm rocket leaving the tube. A split second later there was an incredible explosion and the armored perso

Rapp covered his ears, the explosion lifting his body off the ground an inch. After a moment he scrambled to his feet. As machine-gun fire erupted he raced for the building and yelled, "Major Berg, our cover's been blown, get up here ASAP!"

Rapp ran into the building and made it to the elevator. "Give me an update, Major."

"We've got the bombs, or at least the parts that matter most."

"Wax the guards and get up here," said Rapp with urgency.

"What about the scientists?"

"Fuck!" He'd forgot about them. He looked around for a moment and said, "Bring 'em all up, and do it fast."

"Roger."

Rapp went back to the street. The shooting, at least for now, had stopped. Nervously, he looked at his watch and swore under his breath, wishing the rest of the team was already up here. The Delta operators had fa

With that he closed the door, went through the small room and out onto the street. Rapp dumped Lee's body into the trunk of the last car and put a pair of flex cuffs on his wrists.

Berg appeared at his side. "What in the hell are you doing?"

"Dr. Lee is going to spend the next several years of his life telling us everything he knows about Saddam's nuclear weapons program."

Berg gri

"Yep. Have one of your men close that door over there and set one more satchel charge with a thirty-second delay."

Berg barked the orders in Arabic, and his men went to work. One by one they retreated to the vehicles and loaded up. The gu

The cars sped away from the burning vehicles to the sound of air raid sirens and antiaircraft guns, punctuated by the heavy explosions of bombs. The night sky was ablaze with tracer fire and the streets were empty. The bombing had driven people for cover. Moments later they turned onto Shari'Al Urdun, another major thoroughfare, and punched it. Less than a mile later the road turned into Route 10, an empty six lane highway. As Major Berg radioed Colonel Gray their status, the cars flew down the road at 110 mph toward the waiting choppers, safety, and success.