With his right arm still hanging from his neck, Chief Womack glared back, unyielding.
Earlier in the hotel, Mason had, while showering, unhooked the plastic cord holding the shower curtain and hidden it beneath his clothes.
He then called room service, ordering a feast, drawing the attention of the Chief's slacker agents. He excused himself to getting some fresh air and, after the barber arrived, suggested going to the balcony to get his hair cut in the sun.
The uneasy Chief personally supervised the process, but after a few words, believing he had a deal, he offered Mason a handshake.
Mason seized the opportunity to slip a pre-tied sailor's knot around Chief Womack's arm and throw him off the balcony.
Then came the scene Jack witnessed when he and Mason's daughter arrived at the hotel.
The Chief's two agents, whose personal protection was with him, rushed to his aid, while Mason fled before the agents enjoying their meal could escape. He was stopped at the hotel entrance.
Frankly, Jack felt his chief's being thrown off the balcony wasn't unfair at all.
Unlike Rossi, this guy genuinely treated Mason like a fool, intent on using him and then throwing him back into prison—at least that's how it was in the original storyline.
As for Jack's protection of Mason's daughter, it was genuine, a point Mason clearly understood after he explained the destructive power of the VX missile.
Receiving the pipeline blueprint from Jason Hayes, Jack frowned, peering at it for a long time, unable to make sense. Confused, he asked, "The pipe should end in a reservoir connected to the sewage system, but how far is it?"
The blueprint didn't even have a length marked on it; it was simply a squiggly dotted line.
"Uh," Mason thought for a moment, frowning, before answering, "57 steps."
Jack and Jason Hayes exchanged glances, and Jack nodded slightly. This answer perfectly aligns with Mason's previous statement.
If he truly escaped Alcatraz through this pipe, he'd have to travel at low tide, and in pitch darkness, he could only count his steps.
"So how do we get there?" Jason pressed.
The sewage system was located next to the abandoned factory, nearly 300 meters from the central, elevated prison tower. The FBI only had a handful of far-from-accurate pipeline maps.
These sewage pipes were built on the backs of even older, ancient gold mine tunnels. Forget the maps, no one except Mason, who had walked through them, knew the details.
Mason flipped through the pipeline drawings, frowning like Jack. "That's a good question! I have no idea."
"Don't try to be so snarky, you old bastard." Chief Womack suddenly had a bad feeling.
Mason gave him a fake smile. "Seriously, I have to get in there to find out."
"Don't even think about it. Draw the route on the map." Chief Womack shook his head like a rattle.
"I can't do it. It's been almost 30 years. Think about it with your idiot brain. I groped in the pitch-black underground for three days before escaping through the drain at low tide.
Now you want me to draw a route on this pile of waste paper? How can I do that? I have to go back there to remember how to get there."
Although the old man's expression was very sincere, Chief Womack was not in the mood to buy it. "You're not going anywhere. I know you're up to something again, old bastard."
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Rossi, who had been listening silently, finally spoke up. "Jim, we have no choice. He's our only hope."
"No, he can only lead the way, not follow," Chief Womack said, raising his voice.
Jason Hayes glanced at Jack, saw him nod slightly, and echoed, "If he's the only one who knows the real situation down there, it's best if he leads the way himself."
"That Englishman will kill you, and then he'll take the opportunity to escape." Chief Womack's forehead bulged, and even the veins in his neck bulged.
"He won't, sir." Jack barely finished his words, earning a furious glare from the chief, but he continued his explanation in a steady, unhurried tone.
"If the operation fails, the incendiary bombs dropped by the military will cover the entire island and continue to burn for a long time. Even if you hide underground to avoid being roasted, you'll suffocate due to the massive oxygen depletion."
Seeing the others agree, Chief Womack was at a loss for words.
"Looks like you have no choice, Womack." Mason grinned, revealing a set of perfectly white teeth. "Oh, by the way, I forgot to check on you. Is your arm okay?"
Seeing his director trembling with anger, Jack quickly changed the subject and called out to Dr. Stanley Goosby, who was poring over the live drone imagery.
"Dr. Goosby, have you found the location of those missiles?"
"Huh? What?" True to his profession, Goosby was completely absorbed in his own world, oblivious to the thick smoke behind him.
"I'm asking about the location of those VX missiles. If we can resolve this biggest concern, we'll have the upper hand," Jason Hayes explained.
"Yes, of course." Goosby finally came to his senses and circled a satellite map.
"You said General Hammer's men are all professional special operations soldiers, so they must know that VX is best preserved by refrigeration.
Thermal imaging shows the generator in the prison morgue has been reactivated, so I believe the missiles are stored there. As for the launcher, I only found one on the lighthouse; the other must be hidden."
He taped two diagrams to the whiteboard, picked up a laser pointer, and prepared to explain.
"This is the schematic for the VX missile. I've studied it. Please gather your team. I'll teach you how to defuse the missile and prevent poisoning."
"No need," Jason Hayes shook his head. "You will be with us."
It was Jack's suggestion to bring this chemical weapons expert along. Although Jason and his SEALs had received professional chemical defense training and were experts in bomb disposal,
the VX missile was, after all, a secret weapon that existed only in legends, and he was the only one present who had ever handled one in person.
Jack also had some selfish motives. While his presence would certainly have prevented certain tragedies, he felt more at ease if the two main male characters from the original series were still there.
After all, while his marksmanship was poor and he hadn't received any professional espionage training, at the film's climax, he was a cockroach that even VX and incendiary bombs couldn't kill.
(End of this chapter)