The Hostaged Island Read Online Free PDF Page B

knees locked straight with metallic snaps.
    "Andrzej Konzaki," he introduced himself, extending his hand, his right crutch hanging by the forearm clamp.
    "Pleased to meet you." Blancanales shook hands with him.
    Lyons didn't. "Who are you?"
    "You mean, why am I here?" Konzaki smiled. "Is that not correct, Mr. Lyons?"
    "Andrzej has clearance," Brognola called. He was struggling up the aisle with one of Gadgets' cases. Gadgets followed with a second case.
    Engines shrieked. The jet taxied to take-off position on the runway. Lyons and Gadgets shook hands with Konzaki. They all took seats around the conference table, and strapped themselves in.
    "Though we haven't met before," Konzaki told them, "we have worked together. You, Mr. Lyons, spoke with me only a few weeks ago, concerning some very unusual ammunition for a very difficult situation. I am Special Weapons Development, CIA. I viewed the video tapes, and I attended the autopsies of those Puerto Rican terrorists. Did you not think the results remarkable?"
    "Yeah. Remarkable."
    "And not one of the hostages," Konzaki continued, "suffered wounds from bullets or bullet fragments."
    Konzaki eased back into his chair. He opened his attache case. "Before I present the tools for your present mission, let me continue with the briefing, courtesy of some data put together by your Mr. Brognola.
    "Here are maps of Santa Catalina Island. Satellite photos. Los Angeles Police Department files on the Outlaws motorcycle gang for the last fifteen years."
    The last folder Konzaki distributed to each of the members of Able Team contained a three-inch thick stack of photocopied forms and typewritten pages. Gadgets flipped through the stack he received:
    "With this much attention, you'd think the LAPD would have known about the attack on Catalina."
    "Don't knock the LAPD," Lyons spoke up, sensitive about his former job. "Five thousand cops for a city of almost four million people. You figure it out."
    Brognola flipped through the folder, found a particular section. "Actually, the police were onto it. They have details on the theft of military weapons, the warehousing of civilian weapons and ammunition, and the assembly of all the California Outlaws in the Los Angeles area. They knew something was about to happen."
    Konzaki swiveled his chair at that point and opened one of the several cases stacked behind him. He placed a scoped, bolt-action rifle on the conference table.
    "This is a Mannlicher SSG in .308 NATO," he announced. "You're familiar with the Starlite scope. You'll notice I have fabricated a mount for the Starlite which will allow the use of the iron sights during the day.
    "Here are a hundred 'Accelerator' rounds. With a velocity of over 4000 feet per second, the 'Accelerators' will make long-distance snap shots possible.
    "Here are ten rounds like those you used in the New York tower hijacking. They will kill without creating a through-and-through wound. And, as you remember, a head shot is utterly devastating.
    "Here are ten rounds with Teflon-coated steel slugs. They will punch through any vehicle. Almost any wall.
    "Here are ten tracers. You might use them as incendiary rounds. I have a hundred rounds of hollow points, if you want them. However, this is not a fire fight weapon. Also, the police file reveals that these criminals have stolen considerable numbers of assault rifles chambered in .308 NATO. Rather than carry additional and perhaps unnecessary ammunition, I say capture the stuff."
    He opened another case and brought out an odd-looking pistol with a short suppressor mounted on the barrel. "This is a Beretta Model 93R modified for silence. I have attached the suppressor and changed the springs to cycle sub-sonic 9mm cartridges. It fires single shots or three round bursts..."
    "What's the cyclic rate?" Gadgets asked, intrigued.
    "Practical rate of fire, approximately 110 rounds per minute. This lever folds down for the left hand and the left thumb slips through the extra large