Report #3270, Transcript Section #14
(Operation SANDMAN)
©1998 Shane Ivey

Lundquist:
All right. What time is it now? How much time has elapsed since I left my suspect at the hospital?

Keeper:
Good question. I'll need to double-check the last log, but I think it is late afternoon now.

Rogers:
Think that McCannon and myself were meeting for pizza and it was early evening around 5-6ish

Keeper:
That sounds right.

Lundquist:
Okay, I guess I'll be heading back to the safehouse then...

Rogers:
I was in the safehouse so I'll wait there.

Lundquist:
Well, aren't you going for pizza though?

Lundquist:
(I don't want to meet McCannon's buddy from Breckenridge just yet...)

Keeper:
Let's say Lundquist and Rogers hook up at the Safe house before JT leaves for pizza.

Rogers:
That was a mistake on my part I thought McC was proposing a clandestine entry into TBC for tonight not a meeting with a contact.

Keeper:
He didn't mention meeting with the contact, did he?

Rogers:
No the contact was in work when he spoke to him

Keeper:
McCannon just finished talking to his friend from TBC. He was then going to meet JTR to explain what he discussed with him.

Keeper:
Do Lundquist and Rogers both go to get the scoop from MC?

Rogers:
May as well, anything on the bugs in Lemonde's appartment?

Keeper:
They've been silent all day today. He went to work and he hasn't been home yet.

Lundquist:
I thought McC was buying his contact a pizza?

Keeper:
No, he told his contact that he would need a couple of days to work it out.

Keeper:
He contacted Rogers in order to explain his plan.

Lundquist:
Okay, I guess I'll tag along then.

Lundquist:
(after putting on some clean clothes)

Keeper:
You look much more ordinary without all the blood.

Keeper:
You hook up with McC in a Little Italy restaurant, a pretty typical low-lit place.

Keeper:
He's not here, so we'll skim over it: He has a contact in the NYC office of The Breckenridge Corp., and he thinks he can arrange to get the group undercover jobs doing security for the company.

Keeper:
Thus providing a way into the office, presumably to get information covertly.

Rogers:
This is going to take time I assume?

Keeper:
His contact will probably want some favors in return--namely, doctoring of his NYPD files to clean up his record.

Keeper:
It will take a day or two for his contact to talk to the hiring manager at TBC-NY, that's all.

Rogers:
So we should work another angle at the moment.

Keeper:
It's early evening, around 7 pm, Wednesday the 3rd of June, 1998.

Keeper:
You finish discussing that prospect with McCannon. Then Rogers, your phone buzzes.

Lundquist:
"Yeah, we should look towards other angles."

Rogers:
"Mr. L, shall we implement the plan we originally got the back up for? Or do you think we've caused enough trouble for a while?"

Rogers:
"Hello."

Lundquist:
"We could get a night's sleep and see what shakes up with our suspect in the morning. As soon as he's well enough to talk, I'm going to lean on him and see what gives."

Keeper:
"Is--is this Doctor Membry?"

Keeper:
It sounds like Maddy Smith's voice.

Rogers:
"Yes, is that you Maddy?"

Keeper:
"Yes. I, I don't know what to do, doctor. I need some advice. Nobody wants to talk about it. I--I shouldn't even be calling. Oh, God. . . ."

Rogers:
"Do you want to meet and talk?"

Keeper:
Rogers, her voice does sound distressed. Not panicked or in physical trouble, but afraid.

Keeper:
"Yes. I could do that--I think there's time. Where?"

Rogers:
"Whatever is best for you Maddy I'm having a pizza at the moment"

Keeper:
"Pizza? Umm. . . " She doesn't seem to know how to respond to that.

Keeper:
"Maybe--you could come to the church?"

Rogers:
"When should I come over?"

Keeper:
"I just--I just don't know what to do, I don't know who else to talk to. Nobody around here will talk--"

Keeper:
Lundquist, you're hearing Rogers' end of the conversation.

Lundquist:
(I'm calling Danforth, and telling him to get ready to roll with a portable wire that Rogers can wear.)

Keeper:
(Danforth does so.)

Rogers:
"Perhaps you need to get a break from the stress there how about meeting for coffee?"

Rogers:
"Excuse me on second Maddy"

Rogers covers the phone with his hand

Rogers:
"Mr. L where should I meet her?"

Lundquist:
"Pick any little coffee shop near the church."

Rogers:
"Maddy, I'll meet you in the Coffee Cup 2 blocks down from the church" "Ok?"

Rogers:
"Just pop in on your way home from the church"

Rogers:
"I'll be there."

Keeper:
"The Coffee Cup, sure. I'll go there. Thank you."

Rogers:
"Right Mr. L we need to move fast."

Lundquist:
"Yes, we do. I'll get the car."

Rogers:
"I'll pay."

Lundquist:
(Assuming you fill me in on what Maddy said...)

Keeper:
Do you swing by the safe-house?

Rogers:
"I'm meeting Maddy at the Coffee Cup after she's finished work, she wants to talk about something."

Lundquist:
No, we'll have Danforth and the muscle meet us somewhere a few blocks from the church and wire up Rogers.

Keeper:
Okay. You drive back across the bridge as the last of sundown turns to darkness behind you. A short while and many traffic-lights later you are back in Harfleur.

Keeper:
Danforth and Kelley arrive a few minutes later. You meet on one of the hundreds of shady streets in the area, on the curb between an alley and the corner. Nobody seems to be around.

Keeper:
Danforth gets in the car with Rogers and brings out a flat box attached to some wires, and some surgical tape.

Keeper:
"You know the drill," he says. "Don't stand next to any open microwaves and don't jump in a pool."

Keeper:
He tapes the gadget in place. After a couple of sound checks he says you're ready.

Rogers:
"Right, If I see any pools I'll make an effort not to fall in."

Rogers:
"Any one got any words of advice?"

Lundquist:
"Okay, Rogers, you should go by yourself in one car. We'll wait around the corner in the other one and listen in. If anything goes wrong, just use my name--Mark Green. We'll come in with guns blazing."

Keeper:
Kelley smiles. "And if she asks about your friend, use another name for him."

Rogers:
"Which friend, I just have people I trust more than others."

Lundquist:
"Yeah, that's right, we did meet... Instead, why don't you use the word 'Montana', like the state."

Rogers:
"Why don't I just say 'opera',"

Rogers:
"then come get me fast"

Rogers:
"I'm going to take my bag with me, and keep my gun in it."

Keeper:
Kelley shrugs. "I'll wait for Mark's cue."

Lundquist:
"Okay, whatever. Opera it is. We hear that, we'll be right in."

Lundquist:
"Good enough. Let's go."

Rogers:
"She knows you as Mark green right Mr. L? I want to get our cover right."

Lundquist:
"Yes."

Lundquist:
'But don't mention me unless she brings me up first."

Rogers:
"wasn't intending to, and I'm Dr. Membry"

Rogers:
"Let's do it."

Keeper:
Kelley checks his newest submachine gun (the one used earlier today found its way in various parts of the Hudson).

Keeper:
Rogers, the Coffee Cup is empty but for Maddy and a vacant-eyed man at the counter.

Rogers:
I'm walking over to Maddy and saying "Hello."

Keeper:
She looks up nervously. "Hi. Thanks for coming. Look, I -- I don't know if I should have called even you. But you seemed all right. And I couldn't talk to the cops--He's gone, he said he'd, he'd go to those crazies! I'm afraid, doctor."

Rogers:
"Who's gone Maddy?"

Keeper:
"Leroy. He's been so angry, so frustrated. He thinks everything's being swept under the rug."

Rogers:
"He's a policeman Maddy maybe he's got a lot on at work."

Rogers:
"What is he so upset about?"

Keeper:
"I know. But, he said he's going after those crazies, those voodoo crazies. He's going alone, doctor Membry! I don't think he's told anyone else."

Rogers:
"Sorry Maddy you've lost me here, what Vodoo crazies, is this a local gang that have been bothering the church?"

Keeper:
"They--they love that drug that everyone is talking about. Leroy says they use more of it than anyone. He says they'll lead him to the people who are bringing it in, the CIA people. What should I do? I don't want to talk to the police. He doesn't trust anyone anymore."

Rogers:
"Your talking abot Dreaming Man aren't you." "We've been seeing quite a few cases of it recently. Nasty stuff."

Keeper:
"Yes--what should I do, Doctor? I'm afraid for him. I don't know what they'll do to him."

Rogers:
"Where do you think Leroy's gone do you believe he's in danger?"

Rogers:
"Did he mention any names you can remember of people he thought were involved or that he might be paying a visit to?"

Keeper:
"Yes. I've heard what they do, there. It's Pere Daniel's church--nobody talks about it much anymore, but I've heard things, horrible things. And he said he's gone to spy on them."

Rogers:
"Who's Pere Daniel? and what do 'they' do there?"

Keeper:
"He's the priest there. Whatever they call it. And they--I mean, I know voodoo's not really all about all that stuff, but they hurt people there."

Rogers:
"Where is the church Maddy?"

Keeper:
"Twenty-fourth Street. By 16th Avenue, I think. Please, doctor, what should I do? I don't think there's much time."

Rogers:
"Maddy, you need to keep calm, I'll head over there now and see if I can see Leroy, I know I'm not your Doctor but I'd advice getting a good nights rest."

Rogers:
"How have you been recently?"

Keeper:
"But--but they'll just get you, too!"

Rogers:
"They won't get me Maddy, I'll just get my colleague from the police department to come with me, I was informally helping him with the Dreaming Man drug anyway he owes me one."

Keeper:
"Damn--I knew this was no good. They're going to kill him tonight, first Reverend Ezekiel, now Leroy, and they'll kill you if you go out there!"

Rogers:
"Maddy, they got the shooter of the reverand are you saying he was a member of this group?"

Keeper:
"I don't know--I don't know. Leroy thinks they're all in it together. Can you find him? Can you find him before THEY do?"

Rogers:
"I'll do my best Maddy, trust me. If you are worried do you want to spend the night in a hotel just in case?"

Keeper:
"No. No, I need to go home, so he can find me. Make him come see me, doctor. Maybe I can talk some sense into him."

Rogers:
"I'll do my utmost Maddy, can I get you a cab?"

Keeper:
"No, it's okay. Just find him."

Rogers:
"Right I'd better be going then, what's your home number I'll call you when I have some news?"

Keeper:
She gives you a phone number.

Rogers whispers:
Can I check out the guy at the bar? Does he look suspiscious in any way?

Rogers:
"Thanks, hopefully I'll speak to you soon with some good news."

Keeper whispers to Rogers:
He's not even paying any attention to you. He's been watching a little counter-top TV.

Keeper:
"Thank you. " She presses your hand, then she stands and walks out hurriedly, clutching her bag.

Rogers:
"No problem."

Lundquist:
Well, let's go try to find Lemonde. I'd like to question him about what he knows about this Pere Whoozits and the 3rd Court Warriors, and any connections there.

Rogers:
I think we need to get McCannon to try and find him via the police

Lundquist:
We need to have a plan ready to implement to go wipe out the church if it becomes necessary. But before we do, I'd kind of like to nose around Breckenridge a little... Work things from that angle.

Rogers:
And to get a drive by of the Church to see if he is out in the open

Lundquist:
Yeah, we should go there now and collect Officer L.

Rogers:
I agree, I think I'd better try and find Leroy first though

Lundquist:
That's where we'll go now.

Rogers:
Let head on over then.

Keeper:
Do you take the two separate cars?

Rogers dials McCannon on my mobile

Lundquist:
Yeah, we'll bring them both.

Rogers:
Yeah?

Rogers:
I'll remove the wire though.

Keeper:
You drive out to 24th street, a few blocks away.

Keeper:
Rogers, you dial McCannon's pager number.

Rogers:
Ok

Keeper:
24th Street around 16th Avenue is lined with grimy aparment buildings and boarded-up buildings.

Keeper:
Some of the buildings show lights from inside, but the street is mostly dark.

Rogers:
Are we standing out? How much traffic is there?

Keeper:
There's no traffic, foot or otherwise, except between 16th and 17th Avenues. There you see a couple of people straggling into one decrepit old building.

Rogers:
so we are as obvious as hell.

Keeper:
You see no lights in the building in question. It is a small structure, a townhouse with small empty gravel-strewn lots to either side, with a long high fence running to either side.

Lundquist:
I start figuring ways to get a Ryder truck up against the building.

Keeper:
To the left and right of the empty lots taller apartment buildings rise, towering over the smaller townhouse even though they are only a couple of floors taller.

Keeper:
Are you driving with windows up or down?

Keeper:
And how close are you getting to the place?

Rogers:
I usually drive with the drivers window down.

Lundquist:
Down partway, it's a warm evening. We'll drive right past and turn the corner.

Rogers:
Just drive past as if we are on our way elsewhere

Keeper:
You hear a strangled scream from behind the fences.

Rogers:
Stop the car

Keeper:
Danforth pulls to a stop behind you.

Lundquist:
Accerate the car, through the fence.

Keeper:
The scream chokes to silence.

Keeper:
Who's driving your car, btw? Lundquist or Rogers?

Rogers:
Me

Lundquist:
Rogers. "Rogers, crash through that fence NOW!"

Keeper:
OK, Danforth is driving with Kelley, Rogers is driving with Lundquist.

Keeper:
Lundquist, your phone buzzes.

Keeper:
Rogers, what are you doing?

Lundquist:
"Lundquist."

Keeper:
It's Kelley: "You hear the drums?"

Rogers:
I'm driving through the fence but just fast enough don't want to run into anyone behind it accidentally.

Lundquist:
"No, but we need to find Lemonde, and I'm afraid that the scream was him."

Lundquist:
"You got any grenades?"

Lundquist:
"Or flash-bangs?"

Keeper:
Then Rogers guns it for the fence. Kelley hangs up.

Lundquist:
My weapon is ready.

Keeper:
The car crashes into the fence with a terrific impact, and a deafening scraping noise as it tears through the chain links that the wooden slats are affixed to.

Rogers:
Mine's ready to but not out driving with both hands.

Keeper:
Rogers, the impact lurches your head forward to slam into the steering wheel. You take 1 HP.

Keeper:
The car skids around on a dirt yard beyond the fence. It is lit dimly by a moderate bonfire set behind the townhouse.

Keeper:
A small structure has been built in the yard, on the other side of the fire from the townhouse; it looks like a small open shed, not much more than a roof on poles.

Lundquist:
I jump out and start shooting people.

Rogers:
I'll get out and cover Lundquist

Keeper:
The yard is flanked by another fence on the far side, and the walls and doorways of adjacent apartment buildings, with dark windows overhead.

Keeper:
Sturdy poles have been erected in the yard, surrounding the bonfire and the shed. You can see a small stone bench or altar on the other side of the fire.

Keeper:
The whole place is choked with brackish dark smoke, smoke rising from braziers and pipes and cigarettes and the bonfire; and it is likewise choked with people, wild figures, some of them naked and very prominently aroused, male and female, shouting and howling.

Keeper:
An indistinct shape hangs from one of the poles, just beyond the firelight.

Lundquist:
Those would be the people I'm shooting.

Rogers:
"Let's try and get him down."

Rogers:
"Head that way."

Rogers:
I'm going to shoot anyone who tries to get in the way or tries to attack us.

Keeper:
Lundquist, your gun is not silenced or suppressed: the gunfire is instantly deafening. You pop off half a dozen rounds, and two figures fall screaming.

Lundquist:
(Hopefully, that will bring Kelly & Danforth...)

Keeper:
Danforth drives through the gap in the fence behind you, scraping the passenger side of the car against the chain links. The car fishtails to a halt. The passenger door flies open and Kelley comes out in a crouch, laying automatic fire into the crowd.

Keeper:
Three wild figures fall to the withering fire . . . and then Kelley's gun jams.

Keeper:
Lundquist, Rogers, the crowd slowly comes to realize what's happening. They turn toward you; somewhere nearby a lone drummer pounds obliviously on a bongo. Lundquist fires another half a dozen rounds, BLAM BLAM BLAM . . . and another two men fall, wounded.

Rogers:
I'm going to try and shoot the drummer.

Keeper:
Rogers, you put a few rounds toward the drummer, barely-seen, but he continues. You've gotten a dozen yards closer to the firelight and the poles. Then the rest of the crowd erupts and surges howling toward you.

Rogers:
Back to the car and try to run them over

Rogers:
firing while retreating of course

Keeper:
BOOM! Danforth fires his shotgun into the crowd and two wild figures thrash and stumble. Kelley throws his useless machine gun into the car and brings out his pistol.

Lundquist:
I never left the car. I drop into a crouch and lay into them, covering Rogers.

Rogers:
I'll start the car up and acccelerate towards the crowd.

Lundquist:
I follow on foot and shoot anybody that the bumper misses.

Keeper:
Rogers, Lundquist, out of a dozen insane figures rushing at your car, five fall to Lundquist's fire, then Rogers turns the car in toward them. It slams three aside. Two leap onto the car and reach in, grasping frantically at you.

Rogers:
How many around the car?

Rogers:
I'll slam the brakes on to try and throw them off if I'm fairly clear.

Keeper:
Lundquist, you shoot one of the other two in the head, then you fire your last round of the clip at the next and miss him. He charges you, howling.

Lundquist:
Reload another (pre-ban, high-cap) clip and drill him.

Keeper:
Rogers, one of them lurches off the car as you slam the brakes. The other one gets a clawlike hand on your throat.

Rogers:
Get my gun and blow his arm off.

Rogers:
Then Drive off fast

Keeper:
Lundquist, you stay cool: you pop the clip in and bring it up just as he's about to jump you, and you put a slug through his sternum. He collapses at your feet.

Keeper:
Rogers, blood erupts over you and the windshield as the GSS takes a chunk out of his arm at the elbow. He slips and falls, and the remnants of his arm tear loose across the door. His forearm falls in your lap.

Lundquist:
Kick him for good measure and shoot some other people.

Rogers:
Right drive at the next bunch, I don't want to get too far from Mr. L and the others though.

Lundquist:
I'm still following close behind the car on foot.

Rogers:
How far are we from the figure on the pole?

Keeper:
The next bunch is around Kelley and Danforth's car: a trail of eight bodies lies on the ground where the crowd began their charge. Three crazy figures have made it far enough to leap at Kelley. He ducks backward into the car through his open door to evade them.

Keeper:
Danforth drops his empty shotgun and shakily draws a pistol.

Keeper:
Rogers, you drive up to the pole. It looks like the rest of the crowd has fled: there are open windows and doorways in the nearest building, a few yards away.

Rogers:
Right what on the pole?

Keeper:
Hanging from the pole you see the remnants of Officer Leroy Lemonde. Most of his trunk is there, with his right leg suspended from it intact. His right arm is missing entirely. His left arm is intact to the elbow, but flesh hangs from it as if his hand and forearm have been drawn whole from the skin and devoured.

Keeper:
His face is half-gone. It looks as if a cavity has been DISSOLVED into his head, so that his skull and brainpan gape emptily where his left eye would be.

Keeper:
Rogers, lose 1 SAN. Lundquist, lose 2 SAN.

Lundquist:
Yikes!

Keeper:
Both of you feel a strange sensation wash over you, akin to vertigo, but FOUL.

Lundquist:
Okay, let's get out of here. Fast. I make for the hole in the fence as fast as I can.

Rogers:
Get the car moving and get out of there collecting Mr. L on the way.

Keeper:
Lundquist, it is NOT like what you experienced on that stairwell in sense, but you do hear something strange, a strange voice of sorts, but not a voice at all. You both "hear" strange sensations; words are the closest approximation.

Rogers:
"Get out of here!"

Keeper:
They are a droning sensation; there is definite meaning there, but you have no idea what it would be, and you feel overwhelming raw fear at the prospect of understanding it.

Keeper:
Both of you lose 1 more SAN.

Keeper:
Lundquist, things get strange: angles and distances get very wrong. A few yards away was a doorway into an apartment building: now it seems directly before you. Then it looms at you, the dark emptiness of it lurching toward you.

Lundquist:
Yeah, I'm going to try to ignore that door and head for the hole we made in the fence.

Keeper:
Lundquist, you stumble as you turn. The gaping hole of the doorway looms over you, coating you with a horrid wet stench. Somehow, despite every direction seeming to lead into it, you find yourself moving away.

Keeper:
Lose 1 more SAN before you make it into Rogers' car.

Keeper:
Lundquist, lose 1 more, not Rogers.

Lundquist:
They're starting to add up...

Keeper:
Lundquist, in your swimming vision you see Danforth shoving a corpse off the driver's door of his car. He climbs in and grinds the gears, then he pulls forward, rolling over corpses. Kelley sits up and slams his door shut. They drive away from a pile of the dead.

Keeper:
That droning "voice" fades slowly as Rogers drives through the fence again and away.

Lundquist:
We dont go far.

Keeper:
Not back to the safe-house?

Lundquist:
Not yet. I speed-dial Osborne.

Keeper:
It rings twice. "Yes?"

Lundquist:
"This is MARK. We just had a shootout in a cult stronghold in Harfleur. We killed a bunch of them but they killed Officer Lemonde. I'm tempted to bring in the whole NYPD right now and squash these guys, but I didn't want

Lundquist:
to do that without clearing it with somebody first... Would you rather we just diappeared instead?"

Keeper:
He talks intensely. "What kind of firepower did you use on them? Can it look like a gang hit?"

Lundquist:
"There was some bad voodoo-stuff going on in there... Distances and such seemed... Distorted, or something."

Lundquist:
"We might not want to expose a SWAT team to it..."

Keeper:
"You said there's a lot dead. No way to keep the cops away from it. The question is whether to tip them off now, or let them find it later."

Lundquist:
"Definitely. But this is our best chance to grab them with the evidence intact, bring a real prosecution against them...

Keeper:
"Prosecution? Who the fuck are you going to prosecute, agent Mark? It sounds like you got worse to worry about than getting a strong case in court."

Lundquist:
"Yeah, okay, then we just let these guys slide for now? They could disappear on us and we might never find them again."

Keeper:
"First things first. Is your team gonna get pinned for these killings?"

Lundquist:
"Pinned? They killed a police officer! We only used our weapons in an attempt to save him! I can get right out of any charges stemming from this. Or we can just disappear right now and keep it quiet, but we lose this opportunity to nail this cult--and we might never get it back."

Keeper:
"Then it's your call, Mark. Can you handle the heat that it'll bring? And the publicity? You'll get reporters there as quick as you'll get ESU. Will all that shit keep you from doing your mission?"

Lundquist:
"Let me put it this way... The surviving cultists, inlcuding most probably their leadership, are here right now. We can wipe them out... But not by ourselves. So unless you have a Friendly ranger company waiting on 5-minute call, the fastest source of the most firepower is the NYPD. But that's going to mean a lot of exposure."

Keeper:
"Can you handle that exposure?"

Lundquist:
"Okay, I got it then. Yeah, I can handle the press. I'm calling the cops. I don't want these guys to skate away. You'll here from me shortly." Hang up, dial cops."

Keeper:
Who are you calling exactly? 911, or the 116, or police HQ, or . . . ?

Lundquist:
I'll call 911 for starters. Tell them that a policeman has been killed, that there's an angry mob, and shooting.

Keeper:
"What is your phone number and location, sir?"

Lundquist:
Tell them location. "I'm on a portable phone. GODDAMIT, THEY JUST KILLED A COP! SEND SOMEBODY NOW!"

Keeper:
"Calm down, sir. Tell me your number and location so we can help."

Keeper:
She repeats the location back to you. "Twenty-fourth street . . . Sixteenth and Seventeenth avenues . . . Will you be there, sir?"

Lundquist:
"Oh jeez... THEY'RE COMING THIS WAY... He's got a gun! Help, help! Help!" Click...

Keeper:
(LOL!)

Keeper:
Now what?

Lundquist:
(I thought she was going to put me on hold...) :-)

Lundquist:
Circle back, hang back about a block away, keep an eye on the building, and listen for sirens.

Lundquist:
And tell Kelly to clear his jam!

Keeper:
You get Kelley on the line. "Yeah, I'm on that fucker. Listen, young Danforth wants to know what the hell just went down."

Lundquist:
"Tell him we shot some bad people, and we're getting ready to do some more."

Lundquist:
"Did you guys feel it? The wierd shit?"

Keeper:
"I don't know." He pauses. "Yeah, a little. When that last one--I don't think Danforth heard it, but I had to kill one of them hand-to-hand. I heard it then."

Lundquist:
"Listen, we got a lot of the rank-and-file, but the leaders are still in there. I'm afraid we need to finish them off now, before they can escape."

Keeper:
"If they're still there. They could be long-gone."

Lundquist:
(It's only been a couple of minutes at most, right?)

Lundquist:
(Since we left the hole in the fence.)

Keeper:
(Right.)

Lundquist:
"They can't have gotten far yet."

Lundquist:
"Why don't you guys circle around, look for people fleeing the area? We'll keep an eye on the house. You see anything that looks especially promising, let us know."

Keeper:
"Will do." He hangs up. A second later Danforth drives around the block.

Lundquist:
I call him back. "Just to be safe, let's keep a line open."

Lundquist:
Is there any activity at the townhouse? People spilling out of it? Lights?

Keeper:
Right then, Lundquist, you see movement in a dark upper window of the house.

Keeper:
It looks like a man's figure standing there, indistinct. He seems to be beckoning.

Lundquist:
(Memo to self... Get telescopic thermal x-ray specs from Q-Branch...) Any sign of police yet?

Keeper:
You do hear sirens.

Lundquist:
How far away are we from the house, exactly?

Keeper:
The man seems to beckon again, more insistently. Then he moves out of view.

Keeper:
You're about half a block, to keep an eye on it.

Lundquist:
Okay, I draw a bead on that window and wait.

Lundquist:
And I get my DoJ ID ready too.

Keeper:
Kelley says he and Danforth see nothing.

Keeper:
The sirens come closer, then three squad cars careen around the corner.

Keeper:
They haul up to the front stoop of the townhouse and the big hole you made in the fence. Cops pile out and train weapons on the door and fence, while another two get out and scope the area, especially your car.

Lundquist:
I wave to them. I show my ID and keep my weapon out of sight.

Lundquist:
Still waving.

Keeper:
"Get out of the car, then stay where you are!" The two of them jog closer, watching you very carefully. One has a shotgun out.

Lundquist:
"I'm with the Justice Department! Get over here!"

Keeper:
Two of the other cops go through the fence. You hear more sirens approaching.

Lundquist:
(I still have my weapon out of sight and am still waving my ID)

Lundquist:
"Tell them to stay out of there!"

Keeper:
They come up and look at your ID and Rogers'. "Shit, you've been in shit all day long. What's going on? What's this about a cop down?"

Keeper:
The other one turns and yells back. "Get out of the fence!" He jogs back to the others.

Lundquist:
"I don't know, exactly. It looks like some kind of gang hit that went wrong. The place is full of bodies. One of them is a cop."

Keeper:
He looks at the blood all over Rogers and the car. "Looks like you made some yourself."

Lundquist:
"Listen to me: We think that house is full of gang members. They're well armed. I saw a guy in a window with a rifle a minute ago.

Lundquist:
"Are you guys from the 116?"

Keeper:
"Shit. Yeah, 116. ESU is on the way. You stay down, then. I'll get these idiots to stay in cover."

Keeper:
He jogs across the street, shouting at the other officers.

Keeper:
The sirens come closer: you recognize police and ambulance sirens.

Keeper:
You also hear a helicopter approaching.

Lundquist:
"Keep everybody down and out of sight. Get some people around the back side of the block in case they try to slip away. Get some people together to keep the press back."

Lundquist:
(Great...)

Lundquist:
(I'm sure its just a nice, innocent NYPD copter...?)

Keeper:
The cop waves acknowledgement back to you. More police cars speed into view, then two big blocky Emergency Services vans. SWAT officers in black ninja suits pile out with MP-5 submachine guns and an M-16 or two, and one has a laser-sighted sniper rifle.

Lundquist:
(ESU is NYPD-speak for SWAT? I thought it meant ambulances...)

Keeper:
There's some kind of commotion by the fence: it looks like the cops who went into the yard haven't come back.

Lundquist:
(I guess they'll do the securing, then!)

Keeper:
(In New York, the SWAT team is called the Emergency Services Unit--it's supposed to sound less scary, better for public relations.)

Lundquist:
I'll make my way over there with Rogers.

Keeper:
One cop is on his radio trying with the two that went in.

Keeper:
The ESU captain turns to you after the first cop points you out. He's wearing full paramilitary gear, with combat webbing and a facemask and helmet.

Keeper:
The ESU captain says, "You're DOJ? Give me some numbers. How many are in there?"

Lundquist:
"A lot, and well armed. The place looks like a charnel house. Bodies everywhere. We heard this cop was in trouble, and stumbled into the middle of it... We had to shoot our way out.

Keeper:
The uniformed cop on the radio scowls and shakes his handset. "Brownlie, say again!"

Lundquist:
"Assume 20 plus. There's something else, too."

Keeper:
The ESU captain looks at the cop, then looks back at you. "Yeah?"

Lundquist:
"They've got these braziers going, with something burning in them. It's a chemical, a drug. The whole place is full of the fumes. They were all getting high on the shit."

Keeper:
"Great," says the captain. "All right . . . "

Keeper:
The cop on the radio squints and listens to static crackling and squealing. A voice can be heard faintly under the noise.

Lundquist:
"It's a new susbtance, something we've been tracking. You don't have to inhale it... It can get in right through the skin. Very bad stuff. The point is you've got to take it into account... You can't just go barging in there."

Lundquist:
"And you can't let anyone else in either."

Lundquist:
"Those guys in there might have been overcome already!"

Keeper:
The signal is very weak, and it fades by the second: "ca . . . this is . . . stone an . . . --esus! Ram . . . com . . . closer!"

Keeper:
Then the signal fades entirely to static.

Keeper:
The radio officer calls into it again, uselessly. He looks up. "What the fuck is--?"

Keeper:
The ESU captain turns and waves at his men and barks orders. "Two by two, flanking squads! Move in!"

Lundquist:
"Put your masks on!"

Keeper:
To be continued . . . .