We all look at each other in shock.
The Old Man, dead?
Why hadn’t Alpha Team contacted us? Or Brett? Or Kim or Megan?
“Are you certain that…” Stephan begins to say.
“Mr. Jaeger, Captain, and whomever else you may have on deck listening, this is a serious matter. We will be sending a Coast Guard escort to meet you in four hours, and you will follow it to Guam,” says the SecNav.
“Do you understand? Failure to comply will mean that we will assume you are parties to this crime, or accessories after the fact,” he says.
“We will be expecting your vessel, and cooperate fully Mr. Secretary,” says Karl.
“They will be meeting you at latitude 13.4443° N, longitude144.7937° E. Do you understand?” asks the SecNav.
“Affirmative, ‘Miss T’ out,” says Karl.
He viciously flips the radio off, disconnecting the signal.
“Dean!” he shouts.
“Sir!” responds Dean.
“Set a course for Guam, use the GPS to get us four miles off the western coast, near the Fort. You know where I mean?” says Karl.
“Our Lady of Solitude, yes, sir!” Dean says.
“Good man, and don’t spare the horses, we’ve got to get there in four hours,” says Karl.
Turning to me, he’s obviously upset.
Olga has gone to find Julie and Tanya, and Bone comes onto the bridge.
He’s wearing full scuba gear, and two tanks, and an octopus regulator in addition to his normal one.
He’s carrying his flippers and a satellite telephone.
He looks at all of us, in turn.
His face is speaking volumes of dread.
“I’ve just gotten a satphone call from Derek, and it’s as bad as it gets,” says Bone.
“What did he say, Bone?” asks Stephan.
“Ted Ghent is dead,” Bone replies.
I cry out and gasp.
“No! How? When?” I cry.
“It happened yesterday, near the airport,” he says.
“They were attacked, again, by Mandarin forces, according to Derek,” he looks at Karl.
“Brett, Kady, and Sarah are all under arrest for the murder of the Old Man,” he tells him, looking then to Stephan.
Then, Bone looks at me.
“The Admiral was found dead in the parking lot at Pecker. He was shot once in the left temple with a .22 caliber,” he says.
My eyes are suddenly blinded by my tears, and I sob, my breath catching as the pain comes.
“Two of Black Dogs’ armored sedans and Brett’s Maybach came under rocket fire as they were heading to the airport. They were getting ready to fly out to Singapore, to meet up with Om,” he finished.
“What’s going on, Stephan, Karl?” he asks.
“Shit just got real,” Karl replies.
Stephan looks at Bone.
“We’re being escorted to Guam, under orders of the Secretary of the US Navy,” he says.
“In four hours we’re meeting a Coast Guard cutter, and then…” he trails off.
Stephan, Karl, and Bone stand there for a moment.
I finally really become aware that Bone is rigged for a dive.
“What’s going on, Bone?” I ask.
“Bone was supposed to meet up with the USS Betsy Ross in about forty-five minutes, but we’ve not heard from Captain Rodgers. That’s not according to schedule,” says Stephan.
“We’d been given orders by The Old Man, and…” he’s saying.
Then, I go off on them!
“Again! And you couldn’t tell me?” I yell at them.
Assholes!
When are they going to learn?
“Rachel, this is different!” Bone says, trying to calm me down.
“Bullshit!” I spit.
“No, he’s right, Rachel,” Stephan says.
“This was supposed to be a routine mission. We’ve got Moms ring, and were just going to give it to Captain Rodgers to copy and transmit to the Old Man,” he says.
“What? Didn’t Moms give it to him after we’d left the compound? I thought that was the most important thing, after Om and her, of course?” I asked, stifling my tears.
I wiped my face.
“The Old Man told Om and Moms that he thought the situation was still too volatile, and to retain it until he could contact Captain Rodgers,” Karl says.
“So, our ‘getting away’ cruise was just an excuse, too?” I say.
I am just so pissed off about all of this!
These men are still treating me like I’m this little girl, even after Melding!
Even after all we’ve shared!
“You know something, guys?” I say, my anger fully aroused by now.
“Fuck all of you!” I yell.
“The Old Man is dead, all because of these fucking mind games you all are wrapped up in! Fuck you, fuck the Mandarin fuckers!” I scream.
Karl walks away, I suppose to help Dean and Tanya, and I hate him.
Stephan tries to get closer to me, but I just spin away from his outstretched hand.
“Get away from me, Stephan!” I hiss.
I storm off to the stern, seething at all the lies and subterfuge these men still are pushing onto me.
They think I’m just a silly, horny girl.
A kid sister.
Julie comes walking up, along with Bone.
Bone looks funny, and I struggle not to giggle as he waddles down the deck to where I am leaning against the rail.
“Rachel, can we talk?” asks Bone.
“About what? About how you didn’t tell me you’re going deep sea diving again? About how you and your brothers don’t trust me? What’s it going to take, Bone?” I shout.
“And you, Julie, I thought you were my friend but you, Tanya, Dean, and even that cunt Sylvia, you’re all in on this!” I fume.
“Everyone knows the score except me, is that it? Poor, dumb, stupid Rachel!”
I am so angry that I can’t even see straight.
My head hurts, and I look out into the ocean, and suddenly there is a sharp pain, and a bright light and my tattoo is glowing so bright, it seems like I am on fire.
I feel like I am going to throw up.
I scream my anger from the back of the boat, my frustration of these people, how they are taking advantage of me, how they take me for granted, and then off the stern, suddenly the water behind the ‘Miss T’ erupts into a huge geyser of foam and bubbles, almost four hundred feet high.
“Rachel! Stop it!” yells Bone.
He’s glowing, too.
Julie is staring at both of us, terrified.
Bone grabs my arms, and suddenly we’re Melding.
There is another explosive wave of water, twice as big as the first one, and close enough to rock the ‘Miss T’.
“What the hell?” shouts Stephan, as he runs up to us from the starboard deck.
Karl comes running around the port side, sliding on the wet deck, and almost falls.
He catches himself on the railing and watches the waters roiling.
“What is that?” he shouts.
“Look!” Stephan points off the starboard side.
There are three jets approaching, firing rockets!
“Stephan! Karl! Now!” shouts Bone.
The three men circle me as rockets slam into the bow of the ‘Miss T’.
—————
We float in the water, a small group of humans, in the midst of the great Pacific ocean.
Somehow, a life raft survived the destruction of the ‘Miss T’.
We are crowded into it, shivering, bleeding and all alone.
—————
I am crying, the men are trying to tend to their wounds.
The blast threw us off the stern, and we managed to remain undetected as the jets came by and strafed the wreckage, taking turns using Bone’s octopus to stay underwater until they’d left.
There was no sign of the others.
—————
Stephan and Bone are looking after Karl, who was hit by shrapnel in his leg.
The nanos are working their magic on all of us, but even after a Melding, there was only so much that could be repaired.
Karl’s leg looks like it was stabbed with a pitchfork.
Stephan and Bone have dressed it as well as they could, using fabric from Stephan’s shirt, and some of the hoses from Bone’s dive gear.
It looks really bad.
—————
Olga.
Dean.
Tanya.
Julie.
They’re all gone.
—————
We’re floating in the ocean, and a Navy Destroyer finally finds us.
It’s been fourteen hours since the ‘Miss T’ was sent to the bottom.
I’m exhausted.
Karl is in severe pain, and shock.
Bone, Stephan and I tried to Meld with him, but it didn’t help.
He needs to be taken to the Facility.
He needs OCTAVIUS treatments.
—————
We’re being brought aboard the ship, and Karl has passed out, thankfully.
“Stephan Jaeger, Captain Karl Jaeger, Drake Jaeger and Rachel Bloomberg, you are all under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder, and the homicide of Admiral Reginald Decker,” says the Captain of the destroyer.
“My brother, Karl, is unconscious, as you can see, Captain,” Stephan says.
“Take him to sickbay, and keep him under armed guard, and cuff him,” says the Captain.
We watch as Karl is put on a cot and carried off.
“We’re taking no chances, Mr. Jaeger, sir,” he tells Stephan.
“We’re citizens of the United States, Captain, and as such, we have certain rights,” says Stephan.
“With all due respect, you are all guests on my boat, and since my orders are to treat you as dangerous fugitives until otherwise instructed, you will be quartered in the brig,” he tells us, sternly.
“Hose them down, give them some duds, grub, and then put them in the brig, under armed guard. Chains, and shackles,” he says.
“S.O.P., sailors!” he shouts to his men.
They salute as he leaves, then go about their work, unceremoniously.
—————
We’re stripped, told to shower, and given fresh clothing, all under armed guard.
We’re fed, and given some coffee.
Then, we’re locked up.
—————
“Bone, what’s going to happen to us?” I whisper.
The brig is just six small cells, with restraints welded to the floor.
Each of us is chained to a restraint.
If we need to use the head, we’re escorted under armed guard, and when we’ve finished doing our business, returned to the cell and chained back up.
There’s no way to get away.
Nowhere to run.
Even if we managed to free ourselves, we’re surrounded by miles of ocean.
—————
The next four days are a nightmare.
It’s the same dull routine, as the ship goes on about whatever Navy destroyers do while waiting to offload prisoners.
Stephan tries to get information or allowed to use the satphone, or the radio, to call Martin, or Brett.
When he’s finally allowed to speak to someone, it’s the JAG from DSO Guam.
The three of us are taken in front of a severe-looking Lt. General, named Loretta Fisher.
She tells us that the Alpha Team has been ordered to stand down and that Black Dog security has been raided by the FBI.
Captain David Spalding is in custody, and the majority of his agents have been let go and ordered not to travel far.
Brian Cox and Kim Wilder have disappeared.
We hear that their house was burnt down, but no bodies recovered.
I pray that little R.B. and Kim’s unborn child, are unhurt.
Meghan White is also missing.
The Ghents have been allowed to go under house arrest, but their security is now under the auspices of the FBI.
I am in total despair.
There’s no word of Moms or Om.
I cry and try to sleep.
It’s no use.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Dr. Wernher Hartmann lay on his bed, staring at the dark ceiling.
Sleep eluded him.
He was puzzled because certain events had occurred for which he had no clear answers.
Oh, he was certain that the Mandarin Connection was there, that was not it.
He knew he had certainly caused the organization great harm in Miami, and later in Arizona.
The fact that the compound fiasco had been so messy, that Om Jaeger and his beautiful wife, Barbara, had managed to somehow been so terribly compromised, and the subsequent assassination of Admiral Decker was immutable.
The other outcomes, the incarceration of the Ghents, and others from their circles, and the disappearance of Cox, Wilder, and Mitchum disturbed him.
With the Alpha Team and Black Dog security neutralized, he realized that he was, once again, on his own.
Truly alone, as when he’d been exiled from his homeland, and then struggled to find a place in this dark universe of spycraft.
No matter.
He had his ways, and he would begin to unravel the threads immediately.
Getting up from the bed, he walked to his bathroom and urinated.
He grunted with satisfaction.
A good excretory function was a blessing to a man of his age, he chuckled inwardly.
—————
Wernher sat down in front of several electronic devices he’d amassed during his years as an agent.
Almost any one of them would be grounds to send him to Federal prison, were he ever caught with one.
Each device had a specific function, and code.
He frowned, knowing that one of his avenues of information had been permanently cut off with the death of the Admiral.
Still, Wernher was a pragmatic man, who had arranged for contingencies such as he now faced.
He picked up the microphone to his shortwave and dialed in a specific frequency.
He waited a moment and then spoke into the mike, in Russian.
“This is Golovny, CCCP, number Five, activating Sector Nine, Signals, four, four four, ought, zed,” he recited from memory.
He waited exactly seven seconds and repeated the message.
A Russian woman’s voice replied to him.
“Validation code one, one, one, zed, foxtrot, zed, x-ray, one, one, two,” she said.
He repeated the validation code and dialed to a new frequency on the shortwave.
“So, Nikolai,” Wernher said, in Russian, “what do you have for me on this Ghent situation?”
The head of the FSB replied to one of his top agents.
“What is it you wish to know, Begun Smerti?” he said, using Wernher’ s code name.
For the next fifteen minutes, Wernher found the answers to his questions.
When he had finally broken contact, he booked a flight for Miami Beach, Florida.
—————
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Kevin Mitchum cursed his luck.
He’d been held captive in a stinking warehouse next to a stinking fishing boat, with stinking freezers and God-only-knew how many rats and crabs and bugs in the place.
He tried, for the thousandth time, to break the plastic cable ties binding his wrists.
And, for the thousandth time, he failed to get them loose.
Boned 3 (Mandarin Connection Book 6) Page 12
