Chapter 174: You Came For My Wife
Commander Zhao Mingyuan stepped out of the vehicle and immediately understood why Captain Du had requested relief.
Heat rose through the soles of his boots until it was almost painful on his feet. The archive building stood beneath a white sky, its windows reflecting sunlight across a yard where soldiers crowded into whatever shade the vehicles provided.
Several men straightened when they recognized him.
"Stay where you are," Commander Zhao instructed, raising a hand before anyone attempted to assemble them.
Captain Du approached from beside the medical transport. Dust had settled into the creases around his eyes, and his collar was soaked through.
"The entrances remain under observation," Du reported. "Nobody has approached the inner barrier since your order."
Commander Zhao nodded, but his attention moved past the captain to the transport’s closed rear doors.
"Show me," Zhao instructed quietly.
Du hesitated before turning toward the vehicle.
Inside, the cooling unit struggled against the air entering through the open doors. A medic moved aside, revealing the covered stretcher secured along one wall.
Zhao climbed into the transport.
The soldier looked older than he had expected. Gray showed at his temples, and someone had wiped most of the dust from his face. Zhao studied him while the medic stood waiting with the sheet folded back.
He had sent this man here.
But the guilt that should have followed that thought had long since vanished. Being in command had always meant understanding that people lived or died on your decisions. All you could do was calculate the acceptable number of deaths per mission and move on.
But knowing that had never made looking at the sacrificed any easier.
"Make sure his family is notified through the proper channel," the commander instructed after a moment. "They shouldn’t hear about this from someone passing through headquarters."
Captain Du acknowledged the order with a nod of his head as Zhao waited until the medic covered the soldier again before stepping outside.
Near the front of the vehicle, another man sat with his eyes closed while a medic held a cooling pack against his neck.
"How many?" Zhao asked, indicating the seated soldier.
"Two withdrawn from duty because of the heat," Du reported. "Several affected by the chemical at the western entrance. They’re recovering."
Commander Zhao looked toward the broken gate.
From headquarters, he had imagined a frightened husband hiding an injured woman behind locked doors.
But standing here, he could see the discarded cutting equipment, the dragged chain, and the ruined metal they had pulled from its frame.
Hanchuan would have watched all of it from inside.
"Send the men who need treatment back," he ordered. "We’re not keeping them here to fill seats."
Captain Du called the medic over while Zhao walked toward the archive.
The captain caught up before he reached the gate, holding out a hand. "Sir, let me establish contact first," Du urged.
Zhao stopped. Irritation came readily, but he recognized the concern beneath the interruption. "Tell him I’m approaching to speak," Zhao agreed.
Captain Du made the call while Commander Zhao examined the damaged entrance. Fresh scrapes marked the concrete where the gate had been dragged aside. Beyond it, the passage remained brightly lit.
Hanchuan’s reply reached them through a speaker overhead. "You can speak from there," the other man told them. "I’m able to hear you just fine."
The commander looked toward the camera inside the passage. "I’d prefer to see the man I’m speaking to," he replied.
"You sent someone to destroy the camera we were using," Hanchuan reminded him.
Captain Du’s jaw tightened beside him.
Commander Zhao continued only after Hanchuan agreed they could approach the building as long as they weren’t carrying any equipment.
The passage offered shade, but there was little relief from the heat. The air smelled of dust and something metallic.
He saw the blood before he reached the inner barrier.
It had darkened against the concrete beside the abandoned tool. Farther along the wall, pale damage marked the observation window.
Commander Zhao stopped short of the stain.
"Pei Hanchuan," he called out, looking toward the glass. "I’m here."
A light came on inside the security room. Through the damaged window, he could make out two men. Hanchuan stood nearest the intercom, his rifle still against his chest.
Commander Zhao had seen him at formal meetings before the disaster. The younger man had always possessed an unpleasant ability to make everyone feel like they were nothing compared to him. Like he was always the most powerful man in any room he entered.
Mind you, he looked like hell now.
Hanchuan’s exhaustion should have reassured the commander that he was fighting a loosing battle. Instead, it made him wonder when Hanchuan had last slept and whether anyone inside could persuade him to rest.
"Where is your wife?" Zhao asked, raising an eyebrow.
"In the medical room," Hanchuan replied.
"Is she conscious?" Zhao pressed. This was too valuable of an asset to just leave in an unknown medical room.
Hanchuan’s expression closed shut and Zhao had his answer, even before the younger man spoke.
"She is receiving care," Hanchuan replied.
"Then let my medical officer speak to hers," Zhao requested. "Surely we can establish what she needs without another argument."
Hanchuan looked briefly toward the second man. A phone changed hands, and after a short delay, another voice emerged through the speaker.
"This is Doctor Wen Qinghe," the new man introduced himself. "What treatment are you proposing that requires moving my patient?"
Commander Zhao glanced at Captain Du. The captain remained beside the wall, his attention fixed on Hanchuan’s weapon.
"That depends on her condition," Zhao answered.
"Then you dispatched transport before knowing whether she could tolerate the journey," Qinghe observed.
The doctor’s voice remained quiet and controlled, and Zhao found that harder to dismiss than Hanchuan’s hostility.
"We brought medical personnel to assess her," Zhao explained.
"And when entry was refused, your men attempted to force their way inside," Qinghe continued. "She needs uninterrupted care. I can provide that here."
Zhao looked past Hanchuan, although there was nothing to see beyond the small security room.
He had no way of even knowing if she was alive or not, and it was that uncertainty that had brought him here.
And it was the reason why they couldn’t leave without more information.
"Doctor Wen, people with her abilities are desperately needed," Zhao reminded him.
"My patient is unconscious," Qinghe replied. "She isn’t available for work."
Beside the commander, Du lowered his eyes.
For several seconds, Zhao heard only the shelter’s ventilation through the open intercom. He had begun this operation because he feared the girl was dying.
But somewhere between the first time they refused him and the broken gate, confirming the asset’s safety had become a good excuse to take her. Willing or not.
He didn’t like what Hanchuan was making him admit to himself
"We could establish a protected medical and research facility here," Zhao proposed after a moment. "You know, bring the specialists to her. This property clearly has resources our current facilities lack."
Hanchuan looked at him for a long moment through the window, and unknown expression on his face.
Then the younger man stepped closer to the microphone.
"You came for my wife," Hanchuan replied. "Now you want her home as well."