by Alex Siegel
Liam was looking out the windows, and it wasn't clear where the campgrounds actually were. There were clearings, but they could've been natural. He wasn't even certain Ipo was still on the road. Occasionally, the headlights would pick out a picnic table or a fire pit hiding between the trees.
Liam was supposed to be "watching for trouble," and the poorly defined orders were making him a little anxious. He didn't want to screw up his first real mission. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure what trouble looked like, and doing the job at night didn't make it easier. He remained attentive though. Incompetence was no excuse for not trying hard.
"I can't believe God actually talked to Hanley," Liam said. "How many times has He talked to you?"
"A few," Ipo replied in his deep voice. "It's one of the perks of being a legionnaire."
"How can you be so calm? If God talked to me, I would never stop bragging about it. You couldn't make me shut up."
"It felt normal. It's like a voice you've heard your entire life, but suddenly, you can understand the words."
"I guess so," Liam said, "but there's one thing I don't understand. God sees everything, right?"
"Sure."
"Then why doesn't He just tell us what's going on? Why do we have to search for the enemy? Why do we need to investigate anything at all?"
Ipo was silent as he drove slowly through the woods. Liam saw a campfire, and a tent was erected next to it. A man and a woman were kissing by the fire.
"My old boss explained it like this," Ipo said. "Free will is very important. Anything that diminishes it strengthens the hand of God's enemies. If He told us exactly what to do, He would be taking away our free will. We'd become robots instead of men, and I think we'd be less effective. Our ability to think for ourselves makes us especially dangerous."
"That's a very philosophical answer," Liam said, "and philosophy isn't much use in a fight."
"This fight is all about philosophy. The universe was created to demonstrate a philosophy. Good and evil are philosophies." Ipo paused. "We don't kill because it's fun. This war is not for sport. We're fighting to prove God is right and His enemies are wrong, and if we fail, everything will cease to exist."
"But God does help us sometimes. He talks to us and gives out gifts."
"Rarely," Ipo said, "and only when absolutely necessary. Sometimes, he lets us fail. Half my team got wiped out last winter. Where was God then? Now be quiet."
Ipo found the shore of the reservoir and parked in the grass. He and Liam stepped out of the car.
Liam took a deep breath of night air. It was just cool enough to be refreshing, and he could smell the pine trees all around. The shore was made of moist dirt and gravel instead of sand. He walked to the edge of the water and stuck his finger in it.
"Brrr. That's freezing!"
"Some of it is from melting snow," Ipo said. "Look around. We're here for a reason."
Liam walked along the shore. A full moon provided enough light for him to see but not very well. He searched for footprints or tire tracks in the soft ground. He found a spot where kids had tried to build a sandcastle but the result looked more like a pile of mud.
"See anything?" Ipo yelled. He had walked in the other direction along the shore.
"Not really," Liam said.
"Then let's get back to the car. We have a lot of ground to cover tonight."
* * *
Hanley's hands were numb from holding them in the frigid water, but he wasn't about to defy a direct commandment from the Almighty. He would keep them in the water until they froze solid if necessary.
The cold wasn't affecting his gift though. He was learning the habits of fish by observing their underwater movements. He could even distinguish species by the shapes of their fins. The clarity and resolution was unbelievable. His palms had become high-precision, scientific instruments.
He detected something large coming from the north. It was producing a mechanical hum and a turbulent hiss.
"Take the wheel," Hanley told Katie. "Drive north slowly and quietly."
She started the engine, and the sudden, loud noise caused him pain.
"Quietly!" he said.
She turned the speedboat and drove away from the dam at a gentle speed. The reservoir extended northward to form a complex network of channels and bays which had once been valleys. There were plenty of nooks for an enemy to hide in.
Hanley kept his hands in the water. Despite the vibrations from the speedboat, he was able to keep a fix on the target. As he approached it, he could tell it was displacing a lot of water, and it was completely submerged.
"It's a submarine!" he said. "They actually built a fucking submarine!"
Katie looked around. "Where is it? I can't see a thing."
"About a hundred yards ahead and fifty feet down, and it's big enough to hold several tons of explosives. It sounds like it's using an electric motor to drive a propeller."
"Thank God you have your gift. That thing would've driven right underneath us. The Lord knows His stuff."
Hanley began to strip off his weapons and equipment.
"What are you doing?" Katie said.
"I'm going down there. I have to stop it."
"The water is pitch black and freezing cold!"
"I'll be able to see just fine." He showed her his palms. "When I was a Navy Seal, I swam in cold water all the time."
He kept his body armor. It wasn't a wet suit, but every bit of insulation helped. The flexible material wouldn't interfere with his swimming.
The last thing he did was assemble a sticky demolitions package. The detonator was waterproof, and plastic explosives didn't care if they got wet. The idea was to set off the big bomb prematurely with a small one.
"How long?" Hanley said.
"Ten minutes seems safe," Katie said. "We need time to get away."
"Not too much time. We can't let that thing reach the dam."
He set the timer, took a deep breath, and dived in before he could have second thoughts. The frigid water went straight through his porous body armor and right to his skin. His muscles clenched automatically, but he had expected it. He fought through the tightness and began to swim.
His eyes were closed, but his gift guided him perfectly well. He could hear the submarine directly ahead. Echoes from the bottom of the reservoir and the surface also kept him oriented. As he went down, pressure squeezed his chest.
He reached the submarine and allowed its nose to push against him. The slow-moving vessel was obviously built for stealth instead of speed. He pressed the sticky demolitions package against the metal surface. As soon as it was secure, he began to ascend. His air was beginning to run out.
He broke the surface and yelled, "Come get me!"
Katie drove the speedboat over. Hanley grabbed the side and pulled himself in with one quick move.
"Go! Go! Go!" he yelled.
She opened the throttle all the way and continued north. The engine noise was painful to Hanley, but he found he could reduce the sensation by clenching his fists. He realized his gift would cause practical issues in his life. For example, firing a gun was going to be a problem.
The speedboat was a few hundred yards away when the submarine detonated. Even though the explosion was underwater, a fireball managed to rise up into the sky, and it was bright enough to illuminate some low-lying clouds. There was a double shockwave: the first one through the water and the second one through the air. Even with his fists clenched, the sudden pressure against Hanley's palms made him grimace with pain. He had never seen such a powerful blast in his life. After a few seconds, he felt mist rain down on his head.
"Wow," Katie said as she eased back on the throttle.
"That's exactly what I was thinking. Score one for the good guys." Hanley patted her on the back. "But I feel bad for the fish."
Chapter Nineteen
A bright orange light made Liam look out the car window. A monstrous fireball was rising to the sky. Then he heard a boom loud enough to rat
tle the car. Leaves were blown off the trees.
"Whoa!" he said.
"Call Hanley and Katie," Ipo said. "Find out what the hell just happened."
Ipo was driving, so Liam had to make the call. He took out his phone, pressed the speaker button, and dialed Hanley.
"It was a submarine," Hanley said immediately, "and we blew it up before it reached the dam. We're safe. No casualties as far as I know, unless somebody was in the submarine."
"A real submarine?" Ipo furrowed his brow. "How big?"
"About the size of a large yacht. Battery powered and obviously packed with explosives."
"That's surprisingly sophisticated. How did you spot it?"
"My gift," Hanley said. "I'll explain when we meet up. The submarine was coming from the north-east, so check out that part of the reservoir. Try to find the guys who sent it."
"We're already headed that way," Ipo said.
"Katie and I will catch up with you. Out."
Liam put away his phone.
They were driving on Marysville Road which ran along the east side of the reservoir. The two-lane road cut through dense forest, and only the car's headlights and the moon provided any light.
"A submarine," Liam said in a wistful tone. "Hard to believe."
"Indeed." Ipo frowned.
"Is something wrong?"
"Somebody went to an enormous amount of trouble and expense to blast a hole in a little-known dam in a remote part of Northern California. It doesn't make sense. The result doesn't justify the effort. We're missing a big piece of the puzzle."
Flashing red and blue lights made Liam look back. Police cars were coming up the road fast. Ipo pulled over and stopped on the narrow shoulder. Four police cars flew by at top speed, and Liam caught glimpses of California Highway Patrol markings.
"Where are they going in such a hurry?" Ipo said. "We'd better investigate."
He was just starting to drive away when more police cars approached from behind. He pulled over again. This batch of cars bore the green shield of the United States Forest Service.
Ipo was finally able to drive again. He matched speeds with the police and stayed just close enough to see the lights in the distance. Driving so fast at night made Liam nervous, and he gripped the arm rest with both hands, but Ipo seemed completely confident.
They followed the lights onto a side road. It was made of dirt, and deep ruts forced Ipo to slow down. Freshly trimmed branches on both sides indicated some road maintenance had been done recently.
After making several turns, Liam saw a large number of flashing police lights up ahead.
"I'd better pull over," Ipo said.
He drove into the dense forest. Liam was worried the car might get stuck on a rock or a tree root, but Ipo managed to evade the obstacles.
Finally, Ipo stopped the car and got out. "We need FBI outfits," he said.
Liam also got out. The night air was pleasantly cool.
They went around to the back of the car and opened the trunk. Ipo rooted around until he found a flashlight and turned it on, but he kept the light down. The trunk was packed with gray duffle bags. It took several minutes to find the bag containing the costumes, get the right costumes out, and change into them.
Liam kept glancing at the distant red and blue lights. The trees were casting long, dark shadows.
"Calm down," Ipo said. "If you're nervous, you'll blow our cover."
"But the police will know we're not real FBI agents."
"Only if you act like an idiot. Let me do the talking. Your job is to appear tough. I know you can do that much at least."
They were finally ready to go, and they began to walk through the woods towards the lights. Both legionnaires carried appropriate identification for special agents.
More police cars were arriving, creating a traffic jam between the trees. Some were from the Yuba County Sheriff's Department.
"This is crazy," Ipo muttered.
Liam saw a mobile home up ahead. It was parked in the woods on a slight slope, and a rope tied around a tree kept it from rolling away. Further down the hill, a giant steel shed stood on the shore of the reservoir. The water was lapping against the galvanized steel.
Officers and detectives were swarming around both structures. The legionnaires walked through the crowd without attracting much attention, and Liam sighed with relief.
Ipo was obviously interested in the shed, so Liam followed him over to it. They entered through an open door.
A generator was providing electricity to panels of overhead lights which illuminated a very large machine shop. There were lathes, mills, saws, sanders, drill presses, welders, hoists, and hand tools of every type. The center of the shed had been dug out to create a dock which connected directly to the lake. It was big enough for a large yacht.
"This is where they built the submarine," Ipo murmured.
Forensics technicians were taking pictures of everything. The legionnaires had to keep moving to stay out of the way. The technicians were most interested in a tall pile of scrap wood in the corner. The wood had clearly come from broken down crates, and some markings were visible. The words were in Persian.
Ipo used his phone to take some pictures of his own. Liam did the same so he would blend in.
"Let's check the trailer," Ipo said.
They went outside and headed up the slope to the trailer. It was green and white, and rust marked the walls in spots.
The legionnaires entered the mobile home. It was so crowded with police officers, it was hard to move around. It seemed every department wanted to independently investigate the crime scene.
Liam could tell from the mess that men had lived here for a while. Dirty, plastic plates were piled in the sink, and the smell of garbage was pervasive. Sleeping bags were laid out on tiny beds. Muddy footprints were all over the floor.
"Too many people in here," Ipo said. "Let's go."
He and Liam went back outside. Liam took a deep breath of fresh air and sighed with relief.
Ipo walked over to one of the California Highway Patrol officers. She was a woman in a light brown uniform with a bulky vest underneath. Her frizzy, brown hair was tied back in a bun. She wore the stripes of a sergeant and was giving orders to the others. Her nameplate read, "Sgt. Ploetz."
"I'm Special Agent Riley." Ipo took out his wallet and showed his FBI badge. "Could you give me a quick summary of what's going on?"
Ploetz frowned. She obviously wasn't in a cooperative mood, but she didn't complain out loud.
"We caught two suspects," she said. "They're on their way to the Northern Division Office. And we found explosives in the shed. Our theory is the bomb was built here."
Ipo raised his eyebrows. "How did you know to come here?"
"We got an anonymous tip."
He looked at the crowd around them. "I guess a lot of people got the same tip."
"Yeah," Ploetz said. "It was very detailed. We knew exactly what to expect. Why are you here?"
"The Forest Service told us to come. Obviously, you got the tip before the bomb went off. How much before?"
"A few minutes. We were just a little too late to stop the bomb, but it looks like it went off in the wrong spot anyway. Nobody got hurt. I think the dam was the target."
Ipo nodded. "We were lucky. Did you identify the suspects?"
"Not yet, but they were foreign, probably Middle Eastern. Their English was bad."
Ipo had a sour expression on his face, but Liam wasn't sure what was bothering him. It sounded like the authorities had the situation well in hand. It was a lucky break in a case which had proved very frustrating so far.
"Thanks for the info," Ipo said. "The FBI will be in touch. I expect the suspects will be transferred to federal custody shortly."
He walked off, and Liam followed. The legionnaires trotted into the woods until they were well out of earshot of anybody else. Ipo took out his phone, pressed the speaker button, and called headquarters.
"Report," Mar
ina said through the phone.
"There was a submarine, ma'am..." Ipo said.
"Yes, I know all about it. Hanley already talked to us. Did you find the enemy?"
"And then some." Ipo summarized recent events.
Marina paused. "This is unexpected," she said after a moment.
"Yes. It's interesting how the tip led the authorities straight here just a couple of minutes too late to stop the bombing, but conveniently, they could still arrest somebody and collect a ton of evidence."
"Yes. It was perfectly orchestrated. Aaron and I need to discuss this."
"Yes, ma'am," he said. "I don't think Liam and I can do much here. There are too many cops. We'll just have to read the police reports after the evidence is collected."
"OK. You and Liam can find a hotel and get some sleep. I'll give the same orders to Hanley and Katie. We'll pursue the investigation from here."
"Yes, ma'am. I'll send you some pictures I took. Good night." Ipo put away his phone.
Liam raised his eyebrows. "We're done?"
"For tonight. We'll look for the enemy in the morning."
"What about the guys the police caught?"
"Obviously, they were set up," Ipo said. "They can't be the ones we're really after."
"Oh."
They headed back towards the car.
* * *
Bill Burch was sitting in bed and watching television. The screen was on the far side of his enormous bedroom, but it was twelve feet tall, so he had no trouble seeing it. Ten speakers fill the room with rich sound.
According to the clock, the bomb should've exploded by now, but there was nothing on the news. The announcer was yammering about the aftermath of the Santa Cruz earthquake instead. Burch couldn't care less.
The phone on his nightstand rang, and he grabbed it immediately. "Yes?"
"This is Alpert, sir. I have good news and bad news."
Burch clenched his jaw. "Go on."
"The good news is the bomb exploded in the reservoir, and it was very impressive. Lots of people saw the fireball. The police showed up exactly where and when we wanted. The Iranians were arrested and taken away. We tripled-checked to make sure no evidence was left behind that could be traced back to us."
