Chapter 13 - Disarmament
[send email feedback to Book 'em Again about this story]
Danny was back in Huntsville, sitting in a class a dozen other people being trained in the skills of bomb disposal. The class had just finished their first lab where they had disarmed their first "bomb." Sensing that the trainees were in high spirits, the instructor started drilling them, asking questions on material they hadn't learned yet. After the weight of what they didn't know sunk in the instructor gave a lecture where the students hung on to every word. He warned them that to succeed in this line of work they could never let confidence turn into cockiness and when they were the most sure of the next move to take that was when they needed to slow down because it was in those moments that everything could blow up in your face.
The office was quiet too quiet. It was so quiet that Jenny Sherman feared that the "detectives" with whom she shared the office would hear her knees shaking due to the fear and nervousness that were her constant companions. Yesterday, she had meet with John Manicote as he had taken her testimony against Zar and his men. Once she finished, John had requested that she return to work and act like nothing had happened to give him the time he needed to continue the investigation. Jenny had agreed even though it didn't change the fact that coming into work with a smile on her face was the hardest thing she had ever done. Because every time she heard Zar, Miler or Clausen speak she couldn't forget how those same voices plotted Chin's death; a plot that would have worked if Duke Lukela hadn't reached Chin in time.
Jenny was scared of her employers and she would be a fool to deny it. She was feared that about would happen if she couldn't maintain the illusion that everything was normal. She knew that there was a plan and she had to trust that the plan would work and find the courage to play her part in it.
However, the illusion of normalcy shattered the instant the unmistakable voice of Chin Ho Kelly rang out loud and clear from the police radio. "Attention all units. We have a bomb threat at pier thirty-one. Request that the bomb squad be sent immediately and that all available units assist in evacuating the Kuloliaarea."
Scott Miller immediately raced out of his cubicle and flung upon the door to Zar's domain. "Alexander! There's a bomb threat at the harbor. Our 'injured' co-worker just announced it over the radio."
"What!" Zar yelled before suddenly becoming quiet. When he spoke again it was with more control. "Scott, Parker, let's go."
Jenny watched silently as the three men swiftly left the Five-O offices. As soon as she knew they were gone, Jenny dialed HPD. "Central, this is Jenny Sherman. I'd like to report that Five-O is responding to the bomb threat."
Still nervous and a little fearful about what Zar would do once he arrived at the scene, Jenny found a small measure of comfort in knowing that things were finally coming to a head and believing that by the end of the day that it would all end, one way or another.
Knowing that trying to keep working would be a fruitless endeavor, Jenny instead turned to prayer as she hoped beyond hope that all those she cared about would come home safe and sound. Five-O had already lost too much to come to this point; they couldn't afford to lose any more.
Even though everything was falling apart around him, Steve did his best to remain still as he assessed the situation. Captain Largo looked as defeated as Xu looked confident. The expressions on the crew ranged from shocked and angry to steady and determined, giving Steve a good idea as to who was on Largo's and Da Shu's payrolls respectively. Looking onto the dock, Steve spotted Chin barking orders in a police radio and Duke having an animated conversation with Danno right before they both disappeared from sight.
So Danno wasn't completely out of the picture after all. In spite of the fact that Steve was literally standing on top of ticking bomb, that information brought a ray of hope into his thoughts. Steve still didn't understand why Jenny told him Danny had left Five-O when Danno was clearly still involved but Jenny wouldn't have lied…
Steve mentally chastised himself; he didn't have time for this. He needed to be prepared to act or he would lose more than just his life.
A tense couple of minutes passed before Steve watched Duke return to the barricade, however, Steve couldn't follow what the HPD sergeant was doing, as Xu choose that moment to order most of the crew to move away from the starboard rail.
Steve moved with the others toward the port side but was careful to stay at the edge of the group. As the crewmembers stopped, Steve moved to position himself so that he was still part of the cluster but only a few steps away from Xu was standing with a trigger in his hand, guarded by two goons.
The five minute deadline passed and Steve could tell that Xu was not happy that there was no sign of any movement from HPD. "Lukela!" the man yelled. "Your time is up and my path is still blocked. I will press this button if you do not do what I say."
Instantly, Duke countered, "I see no reason to agree to your request. You're hiding something but it's no loss to me if you blow yourself up."
Largo approached Xu. "I told you this wouldn't work. That cop doesn't care if we commit suicide. I'd rather be alive in prison than dead for no good reason."
"That cop," Xu sneered, "will think otherwise when he learns of our true cargo."
At those words, Largo's mouth shut and a glimmer of hope entered his eyes.
Xu showed the cops his trigger as he shouted, "You will reconsider your position. There are children aboard this vessel."
Duke didn't miss a beat. "Are you confirming that you are an employee of Da Shu and your organization is engaged in human trafficking?"
"I did not say that. I am simply bringing over girls so they can work in the states and send home money to their families."
"You are a slaver and we both know it."
"I have over a dozen girls. Do you want their blood on your hands?"
Duke paused before saying, "Give me a couple minutes."
"You have two."
It was beyond clear to Steve at this point that Duke was stalling for time. That meant that sergeant had some sort of plan, but what? If Steve could figure out what Duke needed, he could do more than just stand around uselessly on deck. The bomb was the problem, but he had no training in disarmament; that was part of the reasoning behind getting Danno trained. No, if he was going to help it was going to have to be some other way.
Duke used every second of those two minutes and then some before Xu yelled out, "Is your watch broken, Lukela? Do not try my patience."
Duke's voice remained steady as he said, "Here's my counter offer. You release your cargo to us, including every single girl you have imprisoned in your hold, agree to never set foot in American waters again and I'll clear you that path to international waters."
As soon as Duke finished, Largo shouted, "Take it!"
Xu gestured and instantly two goons grabbed Largo by the shoulders. Xu leaned close to the trembling captain and stated, "Say another word and I will have my men cut your throat. This operation is bigger than you and your ship. These cops will never let us leave and I will not be the means by which an entire operation is destroyed. Do you understand?"
Largo nodded, his lips pressed tightly together.
"Get this worm out of my sight." The goons dragged Largo away leaving Steve with a clear path to Xu…
"This is your final warning," Xu declared, looking down at the cops gathered below. "Your men are too close. If this bomb goes off you will die."
There was no hesitation from Duke. "My men aren't moving. We will die to save the lives of those children. Release the girls and I will let you leave."
"Very well." Xu raised the trigger in his hand…
Steve moved and a heartbeat latter he closed the space separating him and Xu. Steve came up behind the man and quickly pinched a handful of skin under Xu's right arm and twisted, causing the man to gasp out in pain and letting Steve grab the trigger out of his hand.
Knowing that he wouldn't be able to fight off a whole ship, Steve brought the trigger close to his chest and curled up in a ball on the deck, trying to delay long enough for HPD to storm the deck.
Punches and kicks made Steve grit his teeth in pain, but he ignored the beating his body was receiving as he focused solely on one task: protecting that trigger. Finally rough hands grabbed him behind, lifting him into the air as another goon grabbed his arm and pried his fingers loose.
A triumphant Xu pushed down on the trigger and Steve knew that he had failed.
Kono stared out at the Morning's Light. He could hear the negations between the ship and Duke and he could tell that the ship was not going to back down. The USCG Olson was safely out of range of a bomb, but Danny, Ben and many of his friends in HPD were not.
A fight broke out on the deck while Duke and a team of men raced toward the ship's ramp. This was the moment that would decide everything and all Kono could do was watch and hope and trust that man that Kono had the honor of calling hoaloha could pull off a miracle.
Danny knew that he was cutting things close by the hurried whispers Ben was speaking into the small radio he was holding. So it was with a great sense of relief that Danny was able to announce, "It's defused."
Ben leaned over Danny's shoulder and looked at the mess of cut wires and tangled wires and spoke into the small handheld radio. "This is Kokua. The bomb is defused. Repeat, the bomb is defused." Then lowering the device, Ben exclaimed, "You did it!"
Danny never knew how to respond to praise when it involved something so serious. It seemed wrong to take pride in something he had only done in response to another's horrific act. So Danny changed the subject as he worked to move the explosives away from the door they were barring in preparation for transportation off the ship. "Keep watch, once Duke moves in they'll realize the bomb isn't working and someone might come down here to find out why."
"Right."
While Ben kept a careful guard, Danny carefully moved the explosives to one side. Once the doorway was clear, he glanced at Ben to make sure the scene was still clear. Ben nodded and Danny slowly pulled open the door.
At the sight before him, the few words of Chinese that Chin had taught Danny over the years ran out of his mind as he just stared in horror at scene in front of him.
A group of eighteen dirty, malnourished, and battered girls lay chained to the wall, all looking at Danny with fear in their eyes.
There were no words.
It bugged Chin that he was standing on the perimeter while Duke was risking his life to secure the ship. However, he agreed to this position because, while the announcement from Ben that Danny had disarmed the bomb removed one threat from the field, Jenny had called and reported that another threat was on the way twenty minutes ago and Chin expected them to show up any second now.
This was not a threat that Chin could afford to take lightly, which was why he had four HPD officers guarding his back. He ordered his backup to be ready as Alexander Zar pulled up in what Chin still thought of as Steve's car and marched over to the police barricade with his two goons, Miller and Clausen, at his heels.
"Halt," Chin yelled as his backup blocked the Zar's access to the dock.
"Kelly." Zar spoke Chin's name like it was a dirty word. "Care to explain why you are not on medical leave and why Five-O was not informed of this operation?"
"I'm serving as the Five-O presence on this operation since you made it abundantly clear to everyone in Hawaii that you wanted nothing to do with the investigation into human trafficking."
"I stopped a pointless investigation over a whore's death. I should have been informed immediately if there was evidence of trafficking.
"Considering that's what Danny was trying to do when you fired him, you can forgive me for thinking otherwise," Chin spat.
Zar growled. "I do not have to take lip from you, Kelly. I order you to stand down and let me and my men through."
Meeting Zar's glare with one of his own, Chin's voice turned cold, "You tried to have me killed so you could Honolulu turned into a slave port."
"That's preposterous! I pro…" Suddenly, Zar froze and his eyes widened in shock as he stuttered, "It…it can't be…"
Adjusting his stance so that he could keep one eye on Zar, Chin glanced in the direction that the man was looking and saw what had stopped the usually brazen criminal in his tracks. Standing on deck of the Morning's Light was the living, breathing and most defiantly alive Steve McGarrett.
The office was quiet too quiet. It was so quiet that Jenny Sherman feared that the "detectives" with whom she shared the office would hear her knees shaking due to the fear and nervousness that were her constant companions. Yesterday, she had meet with John Manicote as he had taken her testimony against Zar and his men. Once she finished, John had requested that she return to work and act like nothing had happened to give him the time he needed to continue the investigation. Jenny had agreed even though it didn't change the fact that coming into work with a smile on her face was the hardest thing she had ever done. Because every time she heard Zar, Miler or Clausen speak she couldn't forget how those same voices plotted Chin's death; a plot that would have worked if Duke Lukela hadn't reached Chin in time.
Jenny was scared of her employers and she would be a fool to deny it. She was feared that about would happen if she couldn't maintain the illusion that everything was normal. She knew that there was a plan and she had to trust that the plan would work and find the courage to play her part in it.
However, the illusion of normalcy shattered the instant the unmistakable voice of Chin Ho Kelly rang out loud and clear from the police radio. "Attention all units. We have a bomb threat at pier thirty-one. Request that the bomb squad be sent immediately and that all available units assist in evacuating the Kuloliaarea."
Scott Miller immediately raced out of his cubicle and flung upon the door to Zar's domain. "Alexander! There's a bomb threat at the harbor. Our 'injured' co-worker just announced it over the radio."
"What!" Zar yelled before suddenly becoming quiet. When he spoke again it was with more control. "Scott, Parker, let's go."
Jenny watched silently as the three men swiftly left the Five-O offices. As soon as she knew they were gone, Jenny dialed HPD. "Central, this is Jenny Sherman. I'd like to report that Five-O is responding to the bomb threat."
Still nervous and a little fearful about what Zar would do once he arrived at the scene, Jenny found a small measure of comfort in knowing that things were finally coming to a head and believing that by the end of the day that it would all end, one way or another.
Knowing that trying to keep working would be a fruitless endeavor, Jenny instead turned to prayer as she hoped beyond hope that all those she cared about would come home safe and sound. Five-O had already lost too much to come to this point; they couldn't afford to lose any more.
Even though everything was falling apart around him, Steve did his best to remain still as he assessed the situation. Captain Largo looked as defeated as Xu looked confident. The expressions on the crew ranged from shocked and angry to steady and determined, giving Steve a good idea as to who was on Largo's and Da Shu's payrolls respectively. Looking onto the dock, Steve spotted Chin barking orders in a police radio and Duke having an animated conversation with Danno right before they both disappeared from sight.
So Danno wasn't completely out of the picture after all. In spite of the fact that Steve was literally standing on top of ticking bomb, that information brought a ray of hope into his thoughts. Steve still didn't understand why Jenny told him Danny had left Five-O when Danno was clearly still involved but Jenny wouldn't have lied…
Steve mentally chastised himself; he didn't have time for this. He needed to be prepared to act or he would lose more than just his life.
A tense couple of minutes passed before Steve watched Duke return to the barricade, however, Steve couldn't follow what the HPD sergeant was doing, as Xu choose that moment to order most of the crew to move away from the starboard rail.
Steve moved with the others toward the port side but was careful to stay at the edge of the group. As the crewmembers stopped, Steve moved to position himself so that he was still part of the cluster but only a few steps away from Xu was standing with a trigger in his hand, guarded by two goons.
The five minute deadline passed and Steve could tell that Xu was not happy that there was no sign of any movement from HPD. "Lukela!" the man yelled. "Your time is up and my path is still blocked. I will press this button if you do not do what I say."
Instantly, Duke countered, "I see no reason to agree to your request. You're hiding something but it's no loss to me if you blow yourself up."
Largo approached Xu. "I told you this wouldn't work. That cop doesn't care if we commit suicide. I'd rather be alive in prison than dead for no good reason."
"That cop," Xu sneered, "will think otherwise when he learns of our true cargo."
At those words, Largo's mouth shut and a glimmer of hope entered his eyes.
Xu showed the cops his trigger as he shouted, "You will reconsider your position. There are children aboard this vessel."
Duke didn't miss a beat. "Are you confirming that you are an employee of Da Shu and your organization is engaged in human trafficking?"
"I did not say that. I am simply bringing over girls so they can work in the states and send home money to their families."
"You are a slaver and we both know it."
"I have over a dozen girls. Do you want their blood on your hands?"
Duke paused before saying, "Give me a couple minutes."
"You have two."
It was beyond clear to Steve at this point that Duke was stalling for time. That meant that sergeant had some sort of plan, but what? If Steve could figure out what Duke needed, he could do more than just stand around uselessly on deck. The bomb was the problem, but he had no training in disarmament; that was part of the reasoning behind getting Danno trained. No, if he was going to help it was going to have to be some other way.
Duke used every second of those two minutes and then some before Xu yelled out, "Is your watch broken, Lukela? Do not try my patience."
Duke's voice remained steady as he said, "Here's my counter offer. You release your cargo to us, including every single girl you have imprisoned in your hold, agree to never set foot in American waters again and I'll clear you that path to international waters."
As soon as Duke finished, Largo shouted, "Take it!"
Xu gestured and instantly two goons grabbed Largo by the shoulders. Xu leaned close to the trembling captain and stated, "Say another word and I will have my men cut your throat. This operation is bigger than you and your ship. These cops will never let us leave and I will not be the means by which an entire operation is destroyed. Do you understand?"
Largo nodded, his lips pressed tightly together.
"Get this worm out of my sight." The goons dragged Largo away leaving Steve with a clear path to Xu…
"This is your final warning," Xu declared, looking down at the cops gathered below. "Your men are too close. If this bomb goes off you will die."
There was no hesitation from Duke. "My men aren't moving. We will die to save the lives of those children. Release the girls and I will let you leave."
"Very well." Xu raised the trigger in his hand…
Steve moved and a heartbeat latter he closed the space separating him and Xu. Steve came up behind the man and quickly pinched a handful of skin under Xu's right arm and twisted, causing the man to gasp out in pain and letting Steve grab the trigger out of his hand.
Knowing that he wouldn't be able to fight off a whole ship, Steve brought the trigger close to his chest and curled up in a ball on the deck, trying to delay long enough for HPD to storm the deck.
Punches and kicks made Steve grit his teeth in pain, but he ignored the beating his body was receiving as he focused solely on one task: protecting that trigger. Finally rough hands grabbed him behind, lifting him into the air as another goon grabbed his arm and pried his fingers loose.
A triumphant Xu pushed down on the trigger and Steve knew that he had failed.
Kono stared out at the Morning's Light. He could hear the negations between the ship and Duke and he could tell that the ship was not going to back down. The USCG Olson was safely out of range of a bomb, but Danny, Ben and many of his friends in HPD were not.
A fight broke out on the deck while Duke and a team of men raced toward the ship's ramp. This was the moment that would decide everything and all Kono could do was watch and hope and trust that man that Kono had the honor of calling hoaloha could pull off a miracle.
Danny knew that he was cutting things close by the hurried whispers Ben was speaking into the small radio he was holding. So it was with a great sense of relief that Danny was able to announce, "It's defused."
Ben leaned over Danny's shoulder and looked at the mess of cut wires and tangled wires and spoke into the small handheld radio. "This is Kokua. The bomb is defused. Repeat, the bomb is defused." Then lowering the device, Ben exclaimed, "You did it!"
Danny never knew how to respond to praise when it involved something so serious. It seemed wrong to take pride in something he had only done in response to another's horrific act. So Danny changed the subject as he worked to move the explosives away from the door they were barring in preparation for transportation off the ship. "Keep watch, once Duke moves in they'll realize the bomb isn't working and someone might come down here to find out why."
"Right."
While Ben kept a careful guard, Danny carefully moved the explosives to one side. Once the doorway was clear, he glanced at Ben to make sure the scene was still clear. Ben nodded and Danny slowly pulled open the door.
At the sight before him, the few words of Chinese that Chin had taught Danny over the years ran out of his mind as he just stared in horror at scene in front of him.
A group of eighteen dirty, malnourished, and battered girls lay chained to the wall, all looking at Danny with fear in their eyes.
There were no words.
It bugged Chin that he was standing on the perimeter while Duke was risking his life to secure the ship. However, he agreed to this position because, while the announcement from Ben that Danny had disarmed the bomb removed one threat from the field, Jenny had called and reported that another threat was on the way twenty minutes ago and Chin expected them to show up any second now.
This was not a threat that Chin could afford to take lightly, which was why he had four HPD officers guarding his back. He ordered his backup to be ready as Alexander Zar pulled up in what Chin still thought of as Steve's car and marched over to the police barricade with his two goons, Miller and Clausen, at his heels.
"Halt," Chin yelled as his backup blocked the Zar's access to the dock.
"Kelly." Zar spoke Chin's name like it was a dirty word. "Care to explain why you are not on medical leave and why Five-O was not informed of this operation?"
"I'm serving as the Five-O presence on this operation since you made it abundantly clear to everyone in Hawaii that you wanted nothing to do with the investigation into human trafficking."
"I stopped a pointless investigation over a whore's death. I should have been informed immediately if there was evidence of trafficking.
"Considering that's what Danny was trying to do when you fired him, you can forgive me for thinking otherwise," Chin spat.
Zar growled. "I do not have to take lip from you, Kelly. I order you to stand down and let me and my men through."
Meeting Zar's glare with one of his own, Chin's voice turned cold, "You tried to have me killed so you could Honolulu turned into a slave port."
"That's preposterous! I pro…" Suddenly, Zar froze and his eyes widened in shock as he stuttered, "It…it can't be…"
Adjusting his stance so that he could keep one eye on Zar, Chin glanced in the direction that the man was looking and saw what had stopped the usually brazen criminal in his tracks. Standing on deck of the Morning's Light was the living, breathing and most defiantly alive Steve McGarrett.