Nearest Night

by David VanDyke

  “The anti-Edens.”

  “Yes. They don’t seem to understand that focusing public opprobrium on these people is a means, not an end in itself, and it’s led to all sorts of mistakes, such as inviting Russians onto American soil.”

  Sturgeon’s brow furrowed. “What are you suggesting, sir?”

  “’Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?’”

  “Layfield’s no Thomas Becket.”

  “But she’s a fanatic just the same, and has a similar potential to rally the hardliners against me. We can’t have that happen.” Brenner sighed. “I need her out of my hair, but I don’t want a public scandal or trial. Neither our country nor the Unionist Party needs that right now. Do you understand that?”

  “I’m not sure, sir.” Sturgeon felt trapped, not sure of which way to jump in this new arena of cutthroat politics. This wasn’t simply about turf wars, budgets, hiring and firing. Did the President want him to employ tradecraft within the sacred bounds of the White House? An assassination?

  “Then let me make it plain for you. You and Layfield are linked in my mind. She’s going down, one way or another. If you want to go down with her, fine. If not, you can prove your loyalty to me personally by taking care of my problem.”

  “I see,” said Sturgeon, his body tense. He started to rise, “Will that be all, sir?”

  “No, it will not. Sit your ass back down in that chair until we’re done.”

  Sturgeon obeyed.

  Brenner smiled. “I’ll need another Vice President. I haven’t settled on a name yet.”

  “Vice President?”

  “Play your cards right and you can write your own ticket. If you don’t like the sound of Vice President, then how about National Security Advisor? I heard you were interested.”

  “Just for…taking care of this problem?”

  “That’s the first thing. But I’ll need a man I can totally depend on, who can be a problem-solver. A man not afraid to do what needs to be done, even if it’s distasteful. A good right hand, not a loose cannon, if you get my meaning.”

  Sturgeon’s mind whirled. He considered himself a hardened player in the spy game, but the hazardous playing field had always been over there, outside, not within the ivory towers and the halls of power right here in Washington.

  Before, the price of failure was getting sidelined, a career fizzling out, embarrassment among one’s peers.

  Suddenly, now, the cost of a misstep might be much higher. Sturgeon had a strong feeling that if he turned this assignment down, the President would find someone else to wield his knife…and that knife might soon be turned his way.

  He had to admit to himself that the idea of becoming Vice President of the United States was so appealing, so fabulous, as to seem a fantasy. Jeremy Sturgeon, the actual VP of the most powerful nation on Earth. This was within his grasp.

  The President watched him closely.

  Sturgeon cleared his throat and spoke. “Yes, Mister President. You have my complete and personal loyalty. I will do whatever you require me to do.”

  “Splendid,” said Brenner, rising. “Do it tonight.”

  Chapter 31

  Back in the cave base, Reaper kept her team separated from the rest, and together. If Spooky tried to twist her arm, she wanted everyone ready to back her up, or even to move out at a moment’s notice.

  She, Derrick and Spooky sat down at a table in a spot shielded by hanging blankets. “I’m still waiting for the magic bullet,” she said, eyeing the two.

  “We do have some new information,” Spooky replied.

  “Information. Great.”

  “Knowledge is power.”

  “Power is power, in this case. Convince me.”

  “Cassandra says Larry is in there.”

  Reaper rubbed her neck, tired. “Larry? You mean your buddy Nightingale? Sorry, but that doesn’t change anything.”

  “I’ve confirmed members of my clan are there too,” said Spooky. “Your team took excellent pictures.”

  “Still waiting for good news.”

  Derrick said, “We have guard rosters, shift changes, etc. We can maximize surprise and limit their ability to react.”

  “Right. You guys got shit. I’m going to rack out,” Reaper said, rising.

  The other two rose as well. “Dammit, we have to figure out how to make this happen!” said Derrick.

  Reaper looked closely at Derrick. “You don’t sound so sure. You’re squirming. Did Spooky invoke some Greenie Beanie brotherhood crap to get you on board?”

  “I –”

  “How many of your people have to die before you admit this is a bad idea?”

  Derrick’s spine seemed to stiffen. “We’re all volunteers. This is the first chance we’ve had to strike a heavy blow against the fascists. We’re willing to trade a few of us for a few hundred prisoners.”

  “There you have it,” said Spooky. “We’re going forward, with or without you, Jill. But mark my words: if you back out and we succeed, you’ll have made an enemy of me…and you know what happens to my enemies.”

  Reaper stepped up to Spooky, grabbing his tunic front with one hand and lifting the shorter man off his feet. “Your threats don’t scare me.”

  With a deft motion, Spooky placed his hand on hers and twisted, fingers digging deep into the flesh around her thumb. Reaper found herself briefly in an armlock, and then shoved away. “Don’t ever touch my person again, or I’ll…” He stopped himself with a visible effort.

  “Look,” said Reaper in a voice of ice, “I understand your desire to save your family, but we’re simply not built for this sort of mission. This isn’t a surgical extraction anymore. This is three complicated missions in one. First, a mass assault on a fixed position where we’ll have to kill or incapacitate every guard down there. Second, a rescue of several hundred prisoners, some of whom might not be able to walk. And third, a mass evasion in enemy territory even if those first two parts are successful. We don’t have enough people. Not without an edge of some sort. Like I said, if you come up with that edge, I’ll consider it. If not, you’re on your own.”

  “Excuse me, sir,” said one of Derrick’s men, lifting back a flap covering their little cave alcove.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “I think there’s someone out here you need to talk to. A non-Eden. He penetrated our perimeter and says he knows Spooky. Says he needs to talk to him.”

  Reaper exchanged glances with Spooky, who shrugged.

  “What’s his name?” asked Derrick.

  “He wouldn’t say.”

  “Got any ID on him?” asked Reaper.

  “Yeah,” the man answered. “Several, with different names.”

  “Take us to him,” ordered Spooky.

  They followed the man through the caves and outside into the late-afternoon sun. They saw a thin man sitting on a tactical pack.

  “Hey, I know you,” said Derrick. “You came through here a few years ago.”

  Skull stood. “I did, in fact. You still got my dogs?”

  Derrick reached out and shook Skull’s proffered hand. “Your dogs? They took a liking to my girls pretty quick. They’re with them down on the other side of the mountain.”

  “Chinga tu madre,” said Reaper, staring at Skull. “What in the hell are you doing here?”

  “Cassandra invited me to your party,” Skull answered.

  “That was not her call to make,” Spooky said.

  “Actually, it kinda was, since she’s filling in for you back at HQ,” said Reaper, still staring at Skull speculatively.

  “I was already heading this way, tracking Larry. She convinced me to break with my usual M.O. and coordinate. You’d rather I leave and rattle around like a loose cannon? Because I can do that.”

  “Absolutely not,” said Spooky.

  “You know this man?” Derrick asked.

  “Yes,” said Spooky. “We’re…old friends.”

  “Indeed,” said Skull, walking forwa
rd with his hand stuck out toward Spooky. “We go way back.” When he grasped Spooky’s hand, Skull’s smile vanished. He pulled the smaller man forward, at the same time punching him savagely in the gut.

  Spooky tried to twist, but held fast and surprised, he fell to the ground, the breath knocked out of him.

  “You had that coming for the shit you pulled in Africa. In fact, I owe you a few more, but I’m willing to put things on hold until the job here is done.”

  Spooky rolled to his feet, dusting himself off. “Very well. Truce, until this op is over with.”

  “Looks like your day to be manhandled,” said Derrick with a hint of amusement.

  “And woman-handled,” Reaper said.

  “Oh? What did I miss?” Skull asked.

  “Moving on to operational matters…” interrupted Spooky.

  Skull winked at Spooky. “Now you’re talking.”

  “Okay then,” said Derrick, looking from one to the other. “Where were we?”

  “I think we were talking about how impossible the mission was and an abort was the smart thing to do.”

  “You can’t abort,” Skull said. “We have to get those people out of there.”

  “To catch you up, Skeletor, I’m not sticking my people’s necks into that meat grinder unless we have more advantages.”

  “I’m here now. That’s enough.”

  Reaper snorted. “You’re good, but you’re not that good.”

  “I assume you have Hawkeye with you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, with two superb snipers, it’s in the bag. I may need to borrow some equipment, though.”

  Reaper sighed. “This isn’t like Africa. This is a fortified position. They have night vision, infrared sensors, drones, armored vehicles, heavy weapons, and gunships on call. Surprise and skill aren’t enough. And the longer we hang around, the more likely they’ll find us and send in a battalion to crush us.”

  “Agreed,” said Skull. “That’s why we do this in four days.”

  “Why four days?”

  He looked around at them in surprise. “Haven’t you been listening to the radio?”

  “No,” answered Reaper, “nor have we been watching movies or having karaoke parties. We’ve kind of been busy with the whole ‘save the camp full of Edens’ thing.”

  “Well on the drive down I had lots of time to listen to the car radio. Nothing on it here in bumfuck, Tennessee except country music and dire weather forecasts.”

  “What weather forecasts?” asked Derrick, looking at the sky.

  “They say it could be the biggest blizzard to hit the area in two decades,” Skull answered. “Snowmageddon, they’re calling it. Worse here in the mountains.”

  “So no airborne reinforcements or gunships,” said Derrick, his eyes gleaming.

  “Exactly,” said Skull. “No need to thank me; I’m sure you all would have figured it out on your own…probably when the first flakes were falling.”

  “All right,” said Reaper. “It just got one step closer to possible, but how do you play sniper in a blizzard?”

  “The blizzard changes things.” Skull grinned, turning to Derrick. “Can you get me a large van or moving truck?”

  Derrick nodded. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “I’ll need that demo guy of yours too,” said Skull to Reaper. “What’s he called, Shortfuse?”

  “That’s him. I like your idea already,” Reaper said.

  “Breaching vehicle?” said Derrick.

  “Yup,” said Skull.

  “This will only work because of the blizzard,” said Reaper.

  “Knowledge is power,” Spooky said softly.

  Reaper pressed her lips together. “Better still. But we need more edge than that.”

  “I have an idea,” said Spooky. “But I need your team’s specialized skills.”

  “I’m listening.”

  Once Spooky finished explaining, she nodded.

  Chapter 32

  Over the next three days the cave headquarters transformed from a tranquil holding station to a mass of activity. All available personnel, even Edens waiting to move down the Railroad line, were drafted to help. The temperature had begun to drop and the sky grew heavy and gray. Foraging parties brought food and wood into the caves, preparing for the influx of rescued prisoners.

  “You sure this is going to work?” asked Flyboy, holding up a detonator and a one-kilo brick of C4 plastic explosive. “Maybe it’ll just blow up the drone.”

  “Oh, it’s going to blow up all right,” said Tarzan. “What you have in your hands is enough to kill all of us.”

  “Why isn’t Shortfuse here doing this himself?” asked Stitch.

  “He’s with Reaper and Skull,” said Hawkeye. “Had to go get something important. No worries. This is simple stuff. Blasting cap, C4, tape, wires…nothing to it.”

  Flyboy laid the items carefully on the table. “I mean, can Livewire really control these things remotely? And all at the same time?”

  “I’m programming their flight paths now,” said Livewire from a table off to the side, not looking up from his laptops. “We’ll hijack the drones and bring them here. Then we’ll load up the explosives and send them in. Piece of cake.”

  “Huh,” said Flyboy. “Electronics plus high explosives plus unmanned vehicles plus terrible weather equals what could possibly go wrong?”

  “You got a better idea?” asked Spirit.

  “Yeah, as a matter of fact I do. There’s an Army aviation base not thirty miles from here. Put me in the cockpit of a helicopter gunship and I can fly over and take out the whole camp.”

  “In a storm?”

  “Well, obviously it would have to be before the storm.”

  “Then the enemy quick reaction team could come with their gunships.”

  “Damn.”

  “It’s a good thing you look good, because you’re dumb, son.” said Bunny.

  “You finally copped to my outstanding good looks!”

  “Sorry, not quite good enough,” said Bunny.

  The group laughed.

  “Damn,” said Flyboy. “Will I ever get to fly something?”

  “You can fly a drone,” Livewire said.

  “Not the same thing at all.”

  Buzz stood up and began to walk toward the exit.

  “Where are you going?” asked Hawkeye.

  “I’m going to take a dump, if you must know,” Buzz answered. “Is that a problem?”

  “Nope. Long as you don’t forget to wipe,” answered Spirit, exchanging a high five with Bunny.

  Derrick poked his head into their alcove. “Anyone seen Spooky?”

  ***

  The mole made his way through the busy camp, nodding and smiling at people he’d deliberately befriended. When he went outside the perimeter, Derrick’s people waved at him.

  Making his way along a steep hillside, the mole stopped several times to make sure no one was following him. He circled back to double-check. Finally, he hiked a straight line toward his destination on the opposite side of the hill from the caves. He’d need to move fast so no one on his team got suspicious.

  He found the tree with the identifying mark he’d placed a few days before. Digging in the leaves and dirt at the base of the tree, he exposed a large zip-lock bag. He’d carried it deep in his pack all the way from Colombia, but at every opportunity had hidden it somewhere else...just in case.

  Reaching down inside the bag, he pulled out a secure satellite phone, and then the spring charger that served as a battery. Connecting the two, he cranked the handle until its innards had wound tight like an old-fashioned clock, and then flipped the switch that would slowly let the kinetic energy power the tiny electric generator.

  Turning on the phone, the mole lifted it toward the sky, waiting for it to gain signal. Once it had, he called a number. After two rings it picked up.

  “This is Gopher,” said the mole. “SITREP update.”

  “Go ahead,” said
the man at the other end.

  “The attack on the camp is a go. Scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, when the blizzard hits. Same number of attackers as previous report.”

  “Are they still in the caves at the GPS location you gave us?”

  “Yes, but I recommend against attacking them here. It’s a highly defensible position and there are backdoors I don’t know about. Recommend waiting until they attack, then surround and eliminate. Without most of the shooters, the cave location will be much easier to mop up.”

  “What’s their exfil plan?”

  “Unknown. Also, they believe they can hijack the camp’s drones and use them to deliver explosives.”

  “Let them try,” said the man. “We’ll change the encryption protocols shortly before the attack.”

  The mole cleared his throat. “This will be my last transmission until it’s over. I can’t risk any more contact.”

  “That is not convenient.”

  “It will have to be. They also have someone on the inside. If you warn the camp too soon, it may tip them off that you know.”

  There came a long pause from the other end, muffled voices in the background. “Understood. Our plan doesn’t require the camp personnel to know the attack is coming until the last minute. Just remember your success parameters.”

  “I know. Eliminate the key personnel.”

  “Yes. When that’s done, you can exfil to the rendezvous.”

  “It might be harder than it sounds.”

  “You won’t get your payoff if you don’t.”

  “If I succeed, I’ll have earned it. And there aren’t so many like me around, remember.”

  “You’ll be useless as a mole once you’re blown.”

  “There are other organizations to be infiltrated. Plastic surgery will change my face.”

  “Good luck, Gopher. You’re almost home.”

  When the man returned to camp, he saw the others laying out an odd assortment of materials, such as aluminum foil, bare copper wire mesh, and extra metallized thermal blankets. Rather than admit his ignorance, he sat down quietly in the shadows to watch the others.