“He has to be dead or he would be here. Where’s Max?”
“He asked me to give this to you,” Vince said. “I’m going to put some ear buds in.”
“But Vince, where’s Max?” Alex’s face was a mask of deep sorrow.
“He had to leave,” Vince said. “Remember, we went through this a few times at Walter Reed.”
“Walter Reed?” her big brown eyes blinked at him. “I was at Walter Reed. You were at Walter Reed. But Max couldn’t be there all the time and be a partner at his law firm. I made him go home. John too. But I didn’t make Max go anywhere this time. Tell me, Vince. You have to tell me. Is Max dead?”
“No,” Vince leaned down so his face was close to hers. “I’d never lie to you.”
Her hand touched his face. He nodded his sincerity.
“Listen to your heart, Alex,” Vince whispered. His voice was kind but firm. “If something was wrong with Max, you’d know.”
“I don’t want to live without Max,” Alex said.
“Let’s hope to God you never have to,” Vince’s hand caressed her head. “Listen to your heart. Close your eyes and listen.”
Alex closed her eyes and focused on the place Max lived inside her. Her hand went to her heart.
“He’s sad too. Misses me too,” Alex said. “He’s at our apartment in Washington.”
“Alive?”
“Alive.” Her face still wet with tears, Alex smiled. “I’ll listen.”
Vince stuck the ear buds in her ears and turned on the iPod.
“Alex.” Alex sighed at the sound of Max’s voice. She closed her eyes and rested against the litter. “A sailor broke into Leena and White Boy’s room last night. White Boy told the sailor to give one reason why he should let the sailor live. The sailor said he knew where a SEAL team was when they were captured. That’s why he was trying to talk to them yesterday. Leena thought he wanted to get to her. She’s still a little paranoid. He wanted to tell someone but wasn’t sure who. He told his command and they said to hold onto the information until he could find someone trustworthy to tell.”
“Trustworthy?” Alex whispered.
“Right. The trust is worse than we thought,” Max’s voice continued on the recording. “He has a friend on the team. They went to basic together. After the flight crew dropped the team, the SEAL checked in every day by phone. I guess they’re in the same fantasy football league. The SEAL told his friend that they would be out of pocket for two days. The sailor was to watch his fantasy football team. Because they talked on the phone, the sailor was able to track the signals. He has a good idea of where the team was when he talked to his friend. The sailor is a navigator so he was able to project a two-day journey.
“The sailor thinks they’re on a Somalian pirate ship.”
“Oh fuck,” Alex jerked to full alert. She sat up in her litter and gasped in pain. She fell back to the bed.
“Joseph said you had some agreement with the pirates or at least the ship he thinks the men are on. Trece and Vince packed you up for travel,” Max said. “They picked up a SEAL team at Norfolk; some of the guys you met when you went to the island. You’re on a plane to Bahrain.
“MJ was at Fort Bragg. He was able to get to you before you left. He has instructions from the doctor. You’re not supposed to walk for at least a day,” Max said. “The doc was able to do a lot and believes that in a week or so, you’ll be pain-free; at least for a while; years maybe. But today and tomorrow are going to be rough.
“I know you want to plan on the plane, look at the men who are lost, and get ready. But you need to sleep. When you’re done listening to this, MJ will put you out again. You’ll be in better shape when you get to Bahrain.”
She heard Max take a breath and knew his sorrow in leaving her.
“I’ll be in Washington,” Max said. “Stay safe. Call John when you can. He’s beside himself that you had to stay the night in Norfolk. He won’t be happy with this either. And…”
Max let out a sorrowful sigh.
“Yeah, you know,” Max said. “Love you.”
Alex closed her eyes. When she opened them, MJ was standing behind Vince.
“Is the dog here?” Alex asked. “I smell dog food.”
“Beetle and Bill are here,” Vince said. “Since the Admiral is on leave, and they were assigned by the Admiral, he was sent to Norfolk last night. He’s ready, maybe a little too ready, but wants to be an active member of the team.”
Vince leaned down to Alex.
“You can refuse his service,” he whispered. “But he’s very sincere. I think it would break his heart.”
“I like them,” Alex said. “Handy. But Somalians have vicious dogs. Wouldn’t take Bill on board.”
“Sergeant Beetle was briefed by Joseph on the Somalian pirates, their dogs, and your interactions with them,” Vince said. “He’s ready to share that with us when you’re able.”
“At least he knows.”
“The hostages appear to be the team my old Commander was referring to,” Vince said.
“The ones he felt were asking for his help?” Alex asked.
Vince nodded.
“Are you all right to continue?” Alex asked.
“More motivated, sir,” Vince said.
“Sir, you need to rest until Bahrain,” MJ said. “We have twelve more hours. I’ll get you up and moving around in eight or ten hours. That gives you a few hours to plan and make phone calls.”
Vince nodded to MJ and turned back to Alex.
“I need to pee,” Alex said.
“Trece?” Vince asked.
Trece appeared in front of her. Alex grunted with pain as she flew through the air.
“Slow,” Alex said.
“I’m going slow. You’re just coming off the anesthesia.” Trece leaned his head toward her. “Do you have to pee or vomit?”
“Both,” Alex clamped her mouth closed.
“Vomit,” Trece jogged her to the toilet. She made it just in time before she threw up. Trece turned to the men in the compartment and held his hand out. “Five bucks, right here.”
She slammed the door to his antics. When she was done, she flushed the toilet and unlocked the door. Trece was counting his money.
“It’s not good to steal from children,” Alex said.
“A guy’s got to make a living,” Trece said. “Luz’s talking about another baby and I…”
Alex held her arms out. He put her over his shoulder.
“MJ thought this might be less painful,” Trece said. “Is it?”
“Except for the view,” Alex said.
The men laughed. He carried her back to the litter and laid her down again. MJ reattached her IVs.
“Everyone say ‘good-bye’ to Alex,” Trece said.
“Bye,” the men said.
“Count back for me, sir,” MJ said.
“Five, four, three, two…”
F
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Thirteen hours later
Wednesday morning
November 4 – 7:47 p.m. EST (3:47 a.m. AST)
NAS Bahrain
“We have ships in the area monitoring all activity on the intended target,” the Vice-Admiral in charge of the Fifth Fleet said. “We have a little more than an hour before dawn. The…”
He looked at Alex. Sitting on the edge of a table, Alex smiled at him.
“You don’t know anything about ships,” he said.
“Army born and bred, sir,” Alex said. “We made every effort to include men and women from each service to help us understand the workings of those services. Captain Vince Hutchins is here to interpret, if need be.”
Vince stepped forward to stand by the table she was sitting on.
“So noted,” the Vice-Admiral gave her a patronizing smile. “We can get you onto an aircraft carrier in the region. No one will notice another aircraft coming or going. From there, you will need to take a… boat to an area near the ship in question. We planned for you t
o swim on board but it looks like that’s not a possibility.”
“I was in surgery when we determined the location of these men, sir,” Alex said. “I will do anything within my physical power to obtain their return. That is my military assignment and my moral duty as a Green Beret.”
“Green Beret?” the Vice-Admiral’s eyebrows went up. He glanced at his second in command who nodded. “I’d heard a rumor that some woman survived Special Forces training. That’s why you’re the Fey?”
“Yes sir.”
“You’re a big secret?”
“I’m an intelligence asset, sir,” Alex said.
“Is that why the men call you sir?”
“Yes sir,” Alex said.
“So noted,” the Vice-Admiral said. “You can rest assured that you will have our utmost cooperation. No one is more interested in the return of these men. That’s why I’m handing this matter myself. I assume your team will be lead by Captain Hutchins.”
“Yes sir.”
“Once you get there, you’re on your own,” the Vice-Admiral said. “But we will do everything within our power to ensure your safe passage there and back. Do we know which soldiers are on board?”
“Yes sir,” Alex said. “My team was wondering if we might take a look your most recent heat and radar scans. We’ve been working off satellite imagery, but in my experience you have better data.”
“We’re sending men into battle. We need the best information possible,” the Vice-Admiral said. “We were told not to send anything through intelligence channels. Something about the channels being corrupted?”
“Yes sir,” Alex said. “My team has set up a secure network. In fact… Raz?”
“Yes sir,” Raz’s voice came over the loud speaker.
“Well I’ll be damned,” the Vice-Admiral said. “How did you do that?”
“I hired a team of the best hackers in the world, sir,” Alex said. “Russian, led by a security expert from Belgium.”
The Vice-Admiral raised an eyebrow at Alex. He glanced at his second in command.
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know?” the Vice-Admiral laughed.
“Yes sir. That’s our motto for this mission.”
“Sir, Major Walters here, we are particularly interested in any data on the interior of the ship,” Joseph’s voice came over the intercom.
“We have schematics, sir,” a young officer stepped forward. “We are happy to forward those to you.”
“Got ‘em,” Raz said. “Thank you.”
“We are particularly interested in a grandfather clock,” Alex said.
“A clock?” the Vice-Admiral’s voice was slow and dismissive.
“Yes sir,” Alex said.
“Sir, there is a grandfather clock in the Captain’s office,” a young sailor said. “You can see it on the scans. It gives audible chimes every hour.”
“Joseph?” Alex asked. She looked up at the speaker.
“That’s it,” Joseph said.
“Sir, what aircraft to do you believe can land on the ship deck?” Alex asked.
“What aircraft will the ship deck support? Seriously?” the Vice-Admiral’s eyebrows went up in disbelief. “Ma’am, you won’t survive a trip to that ship, let alone be able to land on top of it.”
“I understand your concerns,” Alex said.
“I don’t think you do,” the Vice-Admiral said. “I don’t know what you’re used to, but these pirates are not characters from some Disney movie. They are armed, experienced fighters who kill without warning.”
“Yes sir,” Alex said. “I’ve had the pleasure of making their acquaintance. In fact, I’ve previously rescued soldiers from this particular Captain.”
“O’Brien would never…”
“Captain Charles O’Brien didn’t make this trip, sir. I wish he had. But he was left behind a few years ago in Paris,” Alex said. “If he was here, he would tell you that you are being a damned fool to risk your command over a simple question. Now, can anyone give me the assessment I requested or shall my team create their own?”
The men and women in the room seemed to hold their breath. Every eye was on the Vice-Admiral.
“I remind you that there are twelve men in the hold of that ship. They have been there for over a month. I’ve seen the damage a month of Somalian pirate hospitality can do to a person. Have you?” Alex’s voice was deadly low. “Further, I remind your command that they were instructed to give me every resource I request. Your failure to cooperate will be noted.”
Alex looked around the room.
“Anyone know the answer to my question?” Alex asked.
“I will not allow my pilots to risk their lives on some cockamamie fairy plan!” the Vice-Admiral yelled.
“Lucky for you, you don’t have to, sir,” Zack said from the doorway. “Sorry, we were delayed, Lieutenant Colonel.”
He nodded to Cliff and a US Air Force engineer and navigator.
“The US Air Force has no problem flying the Fey wherever she wants to go,” Zack said. “We have been instructed to extend any resource necessary to accomplish this and every mission. So we brought our own bird.”
“We are at your command,” the engineer and navigator saluted Alex. She returned their salute.
“I guess that’s it,” Alex said. “Captain Hutchins?”
“Nothing to add, sir,” Vince said. “Gentlemen, I remind you that you are assigned to the Fey for this mission.”
Uncomfortable, the Norfolk SEALs looked around the room to see if someone might rescue them.
“Thank you for the briefing,” Alex said.
Alex nodded to Trece. He picked her up and carried her from the room. Unhappy, the twelve members of the SEAL team they had brought from Norfolk shuffled along behind them.
“Where are we going?” Alex asked.
“Air field,” Zack said. “We brought a truck.”
Trece carried her onto the back of the truck. Vince and MJ followed close behind. The SEALs filled the rest of the seating. The truck started and took the quick trip to the Hercules C-130 they had flown in on. They met Sergeant Beetle and Master Sergeant Bill Bailey on the plane.
“Sir,” one of the SEALs said when they were all seated. Alex was sitting on the edge of her litter.
“You may speak,” Alex said.
“Are we flying to our deaths?” the sailor asked.
“Of course not,” Alex said. “Don’t be silly. Right now, we’re flying to the aircraft carrier. Zack brought a Black Hawk with him…
“Pave Hawk,” Zack said. “US Air Force has Pave Hawks.”
“Same thing.”
“They are not the same bird,” Zack said. “They have this great electronic…”
“But other than that, they are the same helicopter,” Alex said.
“Yeah, but…”
“Anyway, he brought a Pave Hawk because he likes flying them,” Alex said. “It’s being moved to the aircraft carrier right now. We took the data we needed from the NAS. We were only there so they would feel like they were involved in some way.”
“But sir…” the sailor started.
“Not everything is as it seems,” Vince said. “Welcome to working with the Fey. You either trust or you leave.”
“And you sir? Are we flying to our deaths?”
“I’m one of the more than four thousand who owe our lives to the Fey,” Vince said. “A few years later, she talked the love of my life into giving me a fiftieth chance, which I did not deserve. I owe her my life and my family. I trust her before I trust any other human being.”
“And you Sergeant Scully?”
MJ had a stethoscope in his ears and was listening for inflammation building in Alex’s hip. Alex touched his arm and he looked up. She pointed at the young sailor. He looked at the sailor with clear disdain.
“What’s the question?” MJ asked.
“Are we flying to our deaths?”
“We’re always flying toward our deaths,” MJ s
aid. “Death is the only sure thing that awaits at the end of this mad flight we call life.”
The sailor shook his head and turned to Trece.
“Shut the fuck up,” Trece said. “If you had any idea what you were really asking, you’d be embarrassed. Now hush.”
“Cliff?” Alex asked. “Music for our short journey?”
Cliff nodded. Soon they were listening to the introduction of “Road to nowhere” by the Talking Heads. Alex lay back on her litter and sang along.
FFF
Thirty minutes later
Wednesday morning
November 4 – 4:27 a.m. AST
Over the Indian Ocean
“Are we ready?” Alex asked and lay back on her litter. The Pave Hawk was safely parked on an aircraft carrier ten miles away from the action. Alex watched the feed from two protector drone boats, one on either side of the pirate ship, and the satellite on a laptop. The small drone boats provided heat and radar information which gave her a window into the interior of the ship.
“Intelligence ready,” Raz said over the feed. “Awaiting orders.”
“Joseph?”
“Team ready,” Joseph said. “Awaiting orders.”
“Sergeant?”
“Awaiting orders,” Sergeant Dusty said.
“Captain Hutchins?” Alex asked.
“In position,” Vince said from a Zodiac one mile east of the pirate ship. He was leading four Navy SEALs to secure the pirate ship. “Men?”
“Yes sir,” the four Navy SEALs he’d selected for the mission called. The rest of the SEALs waited in a similar dinghy five miles away.
“Awaiting orders,” Vince said.
“Captain Hutchins, you are a go,” Alex said.
Vince and two SEALs slipped into the water. The other two SEALs waited in the Zodiac. Vince and the SEALs sliced through the water with quick, graceful ease.
“In range,” Raz said.
Vince rolled onto his back. One of the SEALs removed a heavy waterproof pouch from the second SEAL’s waterproof backpack. The sailor swam the pouch to Vince. With the SEAL’s help, Vince removed a metal box with an antenna from the pouch and set it on his stomach. He signaled to the protector drone boat that he was ready.
“Go,” Alex said.
Lean on Me Page 25
