The Ties That Bind r5-4

by Cliff Ryder

  "No," Giles admitted, "but there are the bodies."

  "Didn't you say you haven't even seen them yet?" she asked.

  "Troy here thought he saw…"

  Tina turned her attention to the other man. "I'm curious to know, Troy. What did you see?"

  They all gave Troy their full attention. "Well, I'm not really sure. I was just out riding my new quad, getting a little fresh air, and I thought I heard gunshots and I saw people down on the beach."

  "How scary for you," Tina said. Jason could detect the mocking tone in her voice, but he wasn't sure that the other men did. "And how very brave of you to drive straight into the middle of a gun battle. You must have seen the whole thing, then."

  "No, no…" he stuttered.

  Jason had to stifle a smile. She was good. She had him trapped and everyone in the room knew it.

  "Sheriff," Tina suggested quietly, "maybe you should investigate a little more and then come back if you have any questions for us. Jason and I have…a lot yet to do."

  She stood up and walked to the door, opening it as the men followed behind her without another word. "Sheriff Giles, I know that you have so much to do, but please let me know if there is anything I can do for the families," she said.

  The men walked out and Tina shut the door. She leaned against it, doing her best to hold back her laughter, while Jason watched the men retreat through the window.

  "That was close," she said. "We…"

  Tina turned to see Jason pulling the gun from the waistband of his jeans and sitting back on the arm of the chair with the pistol in his hand.

  "You're not starting to suspect me again, are you?" she asked.

  "No," he said. "But I don't think that I can leave you here and expect to come back and find you alive. The fashionable route didn't work for Chris. Something tells me that he's not going to give up on this as simple as that." He thought for a moment, then added, "He and Giles and that other guy…what was his name?"

  "Troy Keelut," she said. "He's a local."

  "Those three seemed pretty tight. We already know Chris is involved in the smuggling operation."

  "You think Giles and Troy are working for the smugglers, too?" she asked.

  "Well, let me ask you this. What did you do with that crate of weapons we brought in?"

  The light dawned in her eyes, and she gritted her teeth. "I took them…"

  "To Giles," he finished for her. "And he said he'd look into it or take care of it. Am I right?"

  She nodded in defeat. "You were right. We should have tossed them all in the ocean. So what are you suggesting we do?" she asked.

  "To use the bad cliche, I think it's time for us to get the hell out of Dodge." He gestured vaguely. "More specifically, I mean you."

  "What about the sub and all of the guns? You're not just going to let them get away with what they're doing, are you?"

  He shook his head. "Look, Tina, this mission is turning into a disaster, and if things keep going like they are, you're going to wind up dead!"

  "You're telling me you never had a civilian die when you were working before?" she asked.

  "Sure, I have," he said. "Casualties happen, but only a fool continues an operation when there has been so much exposure."

  "Let me ask you this, then," she said. "If you leave now, what are the odds that you'll get the information you need about either the sub or the weapons?"

  Jason stood staring at his feet for a moment, then he looked at her and said, "Slim, but that has nothing to do with it."

  "I'd say it has everything to do with it. You're the one who keeps talking about the mission. Plus, I think you're forgetting something. Sure, I could leave and go with you now, but I'd never be able to come back. This is my home and I would always be in danger here. Unlike you, I happen to give a damn about whether or not I see my family and friends again."

  Tina clenched her hands at her side. Jason wasn't sure if he should hit her or kiss her.

  "What are you suggesting?" he asked.

  "I'm suggesting that I stick with you until this is…"

  "Impossible," he said flatly.

  "Why?"

  "You could get hurt."

  "That's different because…" Her voice trailed off.

  "It's different because then I'm putting you in harm's way."

  "You've threatened to kill me yourself," she said, chuckling. "Besides, I have great faith in your ability to keep me safe."

  "You're not getting it, Tina," he said, once more finding himself caught between exasperation and fondness for her stubborn streak. "I can keep me alive just fine. That's what I've been doing my whole life. But when bullets start flying, I can't make you do what you need to do in order to stay alive."

  "Well, I don't see a whole hell of a lot of other options. You leave and I'm in danger. You stay and I'm in danger. I leave with you and I can't come back. At least if we stick together we have a shot at making it out of all of this alive and getting the information that you need."

  Tina stuck her hand out. Jason raised an eyebrow.

  "Let's meet again," she said, smiling. "Supersecret spy Tina, at your service."

  Jason shook his head, laughing ruefully, then reached out and shook her hand.

  "Apparently not so super or secret spy Jason, at yours," he said. "You know, you may not live to regret this."

  "You won't get rid of me that easily. I'm tougher than I look," she said.

  * * *

  Tina ran around her cabin gathering a few items. Jason watched her, feeling more uncertain about a mission than he ever had in his life. It was just before dawn, but she didn't seem tired. He knew she hadn't really slept, but it was something that he was used to. Most people wouldn't have been at their best this early in the morning, especially on little to no sleep.

  Jason watched her struggle with pulling open a drawer. His curiosity got the better of him and he stepped forward and pulled it open for her. She reached in and stunned him silent as she removed a Russian GSh-18 model handgun and a box of 9x19 mm armor-piercing rounds.

  "Not involved?" he said.

  She laughed. "I told you I'm not involved in the smuggling, but I also told you we are kind of on our own up here. I bought this back before I went to New York, and I didn't ask a lot of questions."

  "Mind if I take a look?" he asked.

  She handed him the weapon and he checked it over. "It's a little dated," he said, "but a perfectly functional weapon." He loaded the clip, checked the action, then handed it back to her.

  "Dated?" she asked.

  He nodded. "This model came out in the late nineties," he said. "It received mixed reviews, but overall, it's a solid piece. Have you fired it much?"

  "Just a couple of times, back when I bought it," she admitted.

  "Well, the trigger pull is a little stiff, but it's consistent. The sights are okay. If you have to use it, just take your time when you fire. The feel will come back to you quickly."

  "Got it," she said.

  "Oh," he added, "and one other thing." He pointed to the box of shells. "Those are armor-piercing rounds, but don't count on them being able to do the job against the body armor in use today. They might, they might not, depending on the distance and the armor. Make sure before you get too close to someone you think is dead, okay?"

  She nodded.

  "Good," he said. "Now, let's go over this one more time."

  "I do exactly as you say, when you say, and I never go anywhere you haven't told me to go, and if the shooting starts I keep my head down until it's over," she recited by rote. "And — I'm guessing here — I'm not to use this weapon unless I have no other choice."

  "Right on all counts," he said. "And if something should happen to me?"

  "I take any information that we've got and call this number…" she held up a slip of paper, then slipped it into her jewelry box "…and tell them you sent me and wait for instructions."

  "Good. Let's go."

  Jason looked out the window, and
then headed for the door. The coast was clear as they headed for where the quads were parked. Jason climbed onto his quad, and Tina got on behind him. They drove out to a different waiting spot for the Scorpion, on the other side of the cove. The ride on the ATV was becoming commonplace, and the terrain familiar, but he was still careful to watch for spotters as they moved along the shore.

  He climbed off his quad and pulled out his handheld, then quickly typed in a code, summoning the Scorpion to their location.

  "How does it know where to find you?" Tina asked.

  "I've mapped this entire area with grid coordinates," he said. "My handheld sends out a homing beacon of sorts — a signal, with the grid coordinates encoded. It will automatically follow the signal that it receives, so long as the coding is correct."

  A small ripple of water was the only indicator that there was anything beneath the shimmering black. Jason smiled as she peered into the depths trying to discern when it had arrived. Tina jumped back as the machine made its way up the shore. Jason typed in the code on the door and waited for it to open. Tina looked inside and then at him.

  "There isn't room for both of us," she said.

  "Not yet."

  Jason typed a new command onto his PDA and he could see the astonishment on her face when the interior adjusted to hold another person, shifting the cargo it was carrying.

  "That's amazing," she whispered.

  Jason was a little impressed himself. "Yeah, us superspies get all the cool toys," he said, helping Tina climb in, and then following.

  "It's a little rocky until we get in the water," he warned.

  Jason closed the hatch, cycled the air exchanger, then took the controls. The Scorpion propelled into motion, throwing Tina into his lap.

  "Did I forget to mention that you should always wear your seat belt?" he asked, grinning.

  "If that's the worst of it I should be…"

  Just then Jason plunged the stick forward and commanded the Scorpion into the water.

  "Fine!" Tina shrieked.

  They sank into the water and the awkward motions that plagued them on land turned into graceful movements. The Scorpion moved like a dancer, pushing off any obstacles to give it extra momentum as they moved through the water. Jason decided to show it off a little as they sped along the ocean floor. The infrared radar showed their path. They slipped through the water like a fish, and the resistance seemed to disappear as they crept ever closer to the cave.

  "How is it that I couldn't see something this big moving through the water?" Tina asked.

  "The same reason they won't pick us up on radar," he replied. "It has a protective shield that bends light around it, making it practically invisible. It's a little like the stealth system used by Air Force planes, but better."

  "Like a cloaking device," she said. "Like on Star Trek?"

  "Never figured you for a Trekkie, but something similar, yes."

  They continued to travel until they reached the mouth of the underwater cave. The luminous glow from the lights on the Scorpion dissipated as they got closer, leaving only instrument navigation. Jason watched the small blips on his screen.

  "So now what?" Tina's voice was tight with anticipation.

  "This is where we wait."

  "Wait," she said.

  Tina sat back a little stunned. The tour of the underwater wonderland had her jazzed to find out the rest. Jason knew the thrill of anticipation that knotted up in your stomach as the trap was laid, ready to move into action.

  "Yes, we wait. We need to find out who these guys are reporting to or how the trade is structured. If it's just a local matter, then I'll leave it to the locals. I'm not here to divert that plan unless it coincides with mine."

  "I know that you're right, but I'd rather not get involved unless we have to. I still think that I'm right. I can't believe anyone in the village would willingly do some of this stuff. I know that there are already a few that are guilty of the guns, but the other stuff…I don't want to believe that," Tina said.

  "I know you don't, but we're looking for facts here. If it's any consolation, what I really want are the people involved with the sub. I don't think there are a whole lot of people in the village who know about that. A sub docking off your shores wouldn't be beneficial for the village, and I think people realize that. Plus, if it was that open of a secret the information would have gotten back to my bosses by now."

  Jason punched in a few keys, and a new screen came up with 3-D images of the caves. Three submersibles looked suspended in air as the screen began to fill in.

  "How are you doing that?" Tina asked.

  "I put sensors in the water when I first arrived. They are tracking to the cave and bouncing information off each other and then feeding information back to the Scorpion. The program takes all of the information and compiles it into the images on-screen. It should give us a pretty good read of what is going on in the cave."

  "Why not use the sensors to find the submarine?"

  "If it were that easy, they wouldn't have sent me in the first place. The sub must have a pretty good hiding mechanism, or one of our satellites would have picked it up by now. If it were right in front of the sensors they might have a chance to pick it up, but it's a big ocean and so far they haven't picked up anything that large. The cave has some of the same antidetection mechanisms in place, but I know exactly where to send them so they are slipping through their sensor nets for the moment."

  The three submersibles sat at their docking stations. Infrared figures were walking back and forth from each of the vehicles, loading boxes. Jason used the trackers and locked on to the boxes. Most had weapons signatures but were relatively benign. He clicked on the boxes being loaded into the third submersible, and the weapons signatures came up as nuclear. Someone very big had to be behind this, he knew. None of the locals had the resources to get the plans for the Asp, build it, plus get their hands on nuclear weapons to sell to the Russians.

  Jason locked the sensors on to the third submersible. Whether or not it took him to the sub, he wanted to know where those nuclear materials were going. The three craft began to submerge and move closer to the Scorpion. Jason guided his craft farther back into the cave and waited for the cruisers to move past so he could follow.

  "Did that say nuclear?" Tina asked.

  "Yes," he said. "So that's the guy we're going to follow. I want to know where that's going."

  The first craft glided by so close they could have reached out and touched it, but it showed no signs of detecting them. The second glided closer to them and came to a stop hovering outside of the cave. There was still no sign that they had been detected, but the second submersible held its position. Jason stared at the monitor and watched the third, his prey gliding farther and farther from him.

  "They're getting away," Tina said.

  "Not for long."

  Jason punched up the sonar pulse.

  "What does that do?"

  "Hopefully, it will just seem like a strong ocean current that pushes them out of the way a little bit."

  Jason hit the button and watched as the submersible moved back and up just enough for him to glide the Scorpion underneath it. He used the arms of the Scorpion to hug the seafloor until he was far enough away to move undetected. Jason maneuvered the controls and started pushing off the seafloor to get them closer to the third submersible, which was quickly moving out of tracking range.

  "Damn, it's outrunning my sensors!" he said.

  "Can't this thing go any faster?" Tina asked.

  "The faster I move the more likely it is that we can be detected, but maybe we can push it just a little bit more," he said.

  Trusting that the Scorpion would be safe, he accelerated and closed in on the third submersible.

  The hum of the Scorpion's engines filled the cabin as they moved through the water. The screen began to short out, blinking out of existence as the power was drawn away from the controls and to the engine.

  "We have to slow down be
fore we lose all of our systems," Jason said.

  He throttled back and tried to reboot his computer systems. The emergency system was still operational with minimal navigation and life support, but nothing else was responsive. Jason shut down the overhead switches and tried to restart it all from scratch.

  "I'm not going to be happy if you kill me off in the middle of the ocean," Tina said.

  "I could get us back to shore with what we have operational now. I don't want to give up the pursuit when we are so close."

  Jason booted the system again, and the lights started to flicker on the screens. He turned his attention to the propulsion system to see if there was any part that was overloaded or needed some help before they took off again. He heard Tina laugh.

  "What's so funny?"

  "You computer must have put those submersibles in its memory. It's showing all three of them on-screen."

  "What!"

  He barely had the word out before the second sub crashed into the Scorpion. Tina and Jason were knocked back in their seats as the Scorpion was tossed between the three submersibles like a volleyball. Propulsion controls in hand, Jason punched in a boost command, and it rocketed them forward and out of the grasp of the underwater bullies that were pushing them around.

  Jason looked at the three lights that indicated various damage points on the Scorpion.

  "Now that pisses me off," he muttered.

  He swung it around and charged at the back of the second submersible. They were bigger than the Scorpion, but not as agile. He used one control arm to grab hold of the back and the other to slash at the oxygen system. He spotted his target and took the shot, launching the arm forward and puncturing the air tank. The pressure separated the two vehicles and sent the Scorpion spiraling backward. The damaged submersible took little time in getting away and heading toward the surface for air.

  The third craft charged forward into the Scorpion. Jason saw it coming and dodged at the last second, pushing off the side of the vehicle.

  "Hang on!" he yelled to Tina.

  Jason hit the booster again and charged toward the first submersible. He locked in and shot a harpoon into its side from the arm of the Scorpion. The submersible lurched backward and tugged at the Scorpion as it went. They plunged toward the bottom of the ocean, pulling the submersible behind them. The pressure increased around the Scorpion, but the strong shell held up against the force of the water.