Chapters 40, 41 and 42 of the thriller "D.C Undercover" Oscar Bartoli (Scarith Books/New Academia Publishing)

Chapter 40

Michael Bardi had a stomachache. And yet he had not eaten anything except for a few crackers Tom Genisio had given him. His unease was not caused by stress, he was used to that. Rather, he had a feeling something wasn’t right but he couldn’t pinpoint what.

His team and the FBI had worked well together – checking every corner of the building, plotting escape routes and planning for dozens of possible terrorist attacks on the President.

Michael was a perfectionist and didn’t trust anyone. So he decided to take another look at the perimeter. 

Meanwhile the President’s at times testy debate continued with extreme right activists. The moderators were having little effect. And there was no trace of any liberals. 

Michael verified that the auditorium’s doors were manned by dozens of agents. He then went out the hotel’s main entrance and walked towards the back of the hotel towards the kitchens and storage areas.

Once he got to the pool area he noticed a van with its back door open to a delivery entrance. And yet he had given instructions that all deliveries were to be suspended until the President had left.

Michael was wearing a black uniform with a bulletproof vest. He was carrying a Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun and several high-capacity magazines. He also had his Beretta caliber 9. 

He inched along the wall until he reached the young man who was finishing his delivery. He jumped on his back while covering the man’s mouth with one gloved hand and grabbed his jugular with the other. 

The young man was about to pass out. Michael showed him is CIA badge and gestured him to keep quiet and leave immediately. As soon as he recovered from the fright the deliveryman got back into his van and tore out.

Michael squatted and surveyed the pool area. At the top of the waterslide he noticed a strange light, as if a TV set had been turned on. Silently and keeping low he moved towards the pool lakeside entrance. 

He decided to climb up the stairs leading to the shed at the top of the slide – hoping they weren’t made of wood and wouldn’t squeak.  He began climbing. The stairs were of plastic covered iron so kids wouldn’t slip.

Once at the top Michael saw the man using a remote and watching a monitor. The images showed a spherical object flying from one room to another. It looked like a remote controlled helicopter.

Michael had no choice. He yelled into his radio microphone, “Emergency POTUS!” while the Arab – the very same one who had tried to kill him on top of the George Washington Masonic Memorial building – had managed to get the drone into the auditorium. The drone was flying over the heads of the astonished agents guarding the room.

The Arab meanwhile continued to guide the drone. He suddenly turned and fired a silenced shot from his gun. The shot missed and Michael threw himself on Habib Fareh who tried to defend himself while maintaining control of the remote. Then the Arab pressed a red button. 

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Chapter 41

Michael’s screams over the radio microphone landed like explosions in the ear sets of the President’s bodyguards. 

Two of the ones closest to him threw themselves on the POTUS, pushed him to the floor behind the podium and covered him with their own bodies. All hell broke loose in the auditorium.

A strange round object was flying around, hitting the ceiling and walls. Women were howling. Confused military officers were shouting. TV cameras were broadcasting live scenes of total panic.

Suddenly the black sphere launched two high-powered small missiles. 

The first one hit a large plate glass window, the second came crashing to the ground killing several people and wounding many others. 

The ceiling collapsed in a cloud of cement exposing cables and tubes. The sprinkler system activated wetting the dead, the wounded and the wandering and terrorized survivors. 

One of the agents covering the President had been killed by a block of cement fallen from the ceiling. 

His comrades quickly moved his body and loaded the Commander in Chief on a stretcher. They ran into the parking lot to the waiting armored ambulance.

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Chapter 42

Michael grabbed the legs of the Arab who was still trying to control the remote. The Arab fell to the ground. He turned and fired another shot at Michael, hitting him in his right leg.

Michel was losing blood – the shot might have hit an artery. He didn’t have much time left.

The Arab’s gun malfunctioned. Michael leaped for his neck trying to strangle him. His mind was working feverishly despite the terrible pain to his leg. 

The Arab wrestled loose and rolled on the floor. Then he got up and grabbed a P38 from an ankle holster.

Michael landed a left judo de ashi barai, and knocked the gun out of his hand. The Arab tried to get up. Michael kicked him in the balls and jumped on him.

Still on the floor, Habib Fareh tried to push him off. He pressed a leg against Michael’s stomach lifting him.

Michael landed inside the chute and started sliding downwards. All the while he felt the pulsating of blood gushing from his leg. He hurtled down the slide. The Arab followed him.

 “What happens once we land in the water?” thought Michael starting to feel faint. 

He splashed into the water and was floating on his back when the Arab hit the water head and hands first. He was holding a dagger that glinted in the moonlight.

The Arab landed on Michael who had meanwhile flipped open the switchblade Tom Genisio had given him. 

He stuck it in Habib Fareh’s stomach and thrust it sideways using the Japanese “seppuku” suicide technique.

The Arab’s corpse was crushing Michael who risked drowning. Michael shook it off, swam to the pool’s edge and somehow managed to pull out. Then he fainted.

A well-placed kick to his side made him come to. 

A metallic and guttural male voice said, “Good job. But you’re stupid and now it’s your turn. Idiots can’t live. They cause too much trouble.”