“The Jakker is waiting for us,” Alex said. “Sirs, we must go now.”
They ran out of the control room and through the hall.
“Everyone armed?” Alex asked.
As they ran, her men took out their handguns, checked for ammunition and cocked them. Colonel Gordon took out a handgun and checked the ammunition. Alex raised her eyebrows at him.
“I was coming to see you,” Colonel Gordon smiled.
“Joseph, MJ: take the Colonel,” Alex said. “Raz, Matthew with the Admiral. Follow me.”
Joseph and MJ moved to the Colonel’s side. Alex put her hand on the Admiral’s arm. Raz set a handgun in the Admiral’s hand. The Admiral nodded his thanks. Only stopping at the security doors, they ran through Cheyenne Mountain toward the helipad.
“Where are you?” Zack asked. “Fort Carson says some computer program is running through the system. They are scrambling backup. With the frost, they are going to take at least seven more minutes.”
“We’re almost to you,” Alex punched in the code to the door keypad. “Admiral?”
She moved over and the Admiral punched in his lock down code. They scooted through the door just seconds before the base alarm rang and Cheyenne Mountain was sealed off from the world. They jogged across the helipad together before Raz and Matthew veered off to escort the Admiral to his helicopter. MJ and Joseph helped Colonel Gordon into their helicopter while Alex stood on guard on the helipad. Raz caught Alex from behind. Lifting her into his arms, he stepped into the helicopter.
“You know I can get in myself now,” Alex said.
“Old habits die hard,” Raz smiled. “It’s Christmas.”
He set her down. They strapped into their seats and put on their headsets.
“Set,” Alex said when everyone was strapped into their seats. “We need to take the Colonel to his son’s home.”
The Pave Hawk rose off the helipad.
“Fort Carson command wants to speak with the Colonel,” Zack said.
“Can you open a line for Joseph and Matthew?” Alex asked. “We need to gather the team.”
“Done,” Zack said. “Patching through Fort Carson command.”
While Joseph and Matthew herded the Fey Team back to Denver, Colonel Gordon went over the basic details of the situation at Cheyenne Mountain with Fort Carson Command.
“Alex, I’m thinking about going to that reunion after all,” Zack said.
“Really? I thought that was impossible,” Alex said.
Setting down her headset, Alex went up to the Pave Hawk’s cockpit. Zack gave the control over to Cliff. He took off his helmet and stood so that they were inches apart. She kissed his cheek and he smiled.
“Merry Christmas, Zack,” Alex said. “I’m glad you’re here.”
He smiled at her. Gathering his thoughts, he looked out the window. She touched his arm. He smiled at her again and leaned in to speak in her ear.
“The Minuteman sites at Grand Forks AFB were deactivated in 1998,” Zack said. “The chatter on the line is that they are reconfiguring the base.”
“For what?”
“Unmanned Aerial Vehicles,” Zack said.
“Drones,” Alex whispered. “Oh God. This connects back to the micro-drones?”
“I don’t know,” Zack said. “The experimental lab is in Ohio at Wright Patterson AFB.”
“Know anyone at Wright Patterson?” Alex asked.
Zack gave a slight nod.
“See what you can find out,” Alex said. “I’d hate to walk into some machine vs. human scenario.”
“Did Troy find anything on his brother’s laptop?” Zack asked.
“Lots of things, lots of gibberish,” Alex said. “Maybe ramblings of a mad man or…?”
Zack nodded.
“We’re close,” Cliff said. “I don’t think you want me to drop the bird on the street.”
Zack moved back to the pilot’s seat.
“Zack?” Alex touched his shoulder as he was putting on his helmet. He took off his helmet. “Thanks. You know I’d go to the reunion with you.”
He put on his helmet. Alex turned to leave.
“You’re not my lover, Alex,” Zack said. “I keep telling you. We can’t go together. Too much gossip.”
Walking back to her seat, her mind shifted through the information. Only Alex, her team, and her father’s team stood in the way of Eniac reaching his goals.
What were his goals? Alex refused to complete the next thought. As Colonel Gordon left the helicopter, she leaned back to think through what was next.
“I don’t get it,” Jesse appeared next to her. “What is all this drone stuff about?”
Alex shook her head. She didn’t know.
“Why use them against us?” Jesse asked. “We’re a military team. Everything we do is documented somewhere.”
Alex looked at him for a moment. Very subtly, she shook her head and pointed to herself.
“It’s not about us?” Jesse asked. “Then who? What?”
Alex shrugged. Knowing she needed time to think, he stayed close to give her time. She didn’t move until the helicopter began its descent into Buckley.
“You okay?” Raz asked as the helicopter landed at Buckley.
“Just not sure of what’s going on,” Alex said.
“Know the feeling,” Raz said.
Alex nodded in agreement. MJ threw open the helicopter door. The cold drove them from the helicopter into the building.
“The team is waiting for us in our offices,” Joseph said once they were out of the wind. “When the Admiral left this morning, Dusty told them to prepare for duty.”
“They are all accounted for and on their way to base,” Matthew said.
“Margaret?” Alex asked as they moved down the hall.
“Her family came to Denver to spend the holiday with her,” Matthew said.
“Trece and White Boy?” Alex asked. “They were going to California.”
“It seems that the Bachelor Pad was… uh…” Matthew blushed.
“Luz wants another baby,” Trece met them in the hallway. “Can’t have just one. Oh no! Have to have at least two. At least two.”
Rather than remind him of his obvious choices, Alex raised an eyebrow and smiled. Scowling, he pointed at her head.
“Get your mind off my jewels,” Trece said.
Alex laughed.
“Our families are spending Christmas in Denver,” White Boy said. “Yvonne wanted a chance to get to know Leena and her daughter.”
“And another baby,” Trece said. “Why don’t you talk to him about his jewels?”
“My what?” White Boy asked.
“Their women are crazy,” Royce said. “Who could possibly want more diapers? 2 a.m. feedings? No thank you.”
Alex smirked at him.
“What?” Royce asked. “No disrespect, sir, but I hate that look.”
“She didn’t tell you?” Alex asked.
“Tell me what?” Royce asked.
Raz patted his shoulder and moved into their big work room.
“How do you know something I don’t know?” Royce asked.
“She signs the insurance forms,” Sergeant Dusty said.
“You sign the insurance forms,” Royce said.
“He talks,” Alex said.
Muttering to himself, Royce followed them into the team room.
“Merry Christmas everyone,” Joseph said.
A general grumble passed through the team.
“It’s tough to miss Halloween and Christmas,” Alex said. “So I appreciate you coming this morning.”
She smiled when Raz gave her a cup of coffee. She looked up to see Zack and Cliff walk in and settle in the back of the room. When Bill’s collar rattled as he lay down at Pete’s feet, she figured she may as well start. She had just opened her mouth when Colin slid in the doorway. She raised a disapproving eyebrow at him and Leena shut the door. Alex nodded to Joseph.
“We’ve received credible
information on the location of Sergeant Lawrence Flagg,” Joseph said. “Sir?”
“Over command and Major Walter’s objections, we implanted a GPS tracking device into Sergeant Flagg,” Alex said.
“I held him down and made him cry,” Troy said as he walked into the room. Every face asked him the question, he smiled, “The boys are with Cian. They know what it’s like to not be at home on Christmas. They want me to bring Larry home.”
“Welcome,” Alex nodded.
“That sums it up.” Joseph nodded to Troy. “Larry’s GPS signal went dark when he was captured. It lit up about two hours ago. We’re going to get him.”
“While we were in the air here, the signal was narrowed to a Grand Forks Minuteman site. North Dakota,” Alex said.
“H flight out of GFAFB field,” Joseph said. “H-29.”
“Yes!” Vince said. “That’s one of mine.”
“Seems like Captain Hutchins won the decommissioned ICBM field lotto,” Alex nodded to Matthew. He took out a hundred dollar bill and gave it to Vince.
“We’ll need every bit of intel on those silos,” Matthew said to Vince. He nodded.
“The Admiral has been on the phone with the commanders of the wings who monitor these fields. He will update us when we are in the air,” Alex said. “We can expect air and ground support from Minot and Grand Forks. The Fey Team will lead.”
“We’ll know more in the air,” Joseph said.
“The moment we hit the air, we are working,” Matthew said.
“We need intel. We need imaging – radar, heat, photographic – everything you can come up with,” Alex said.
“Make sure your laptops are charged,” Joseph said.
“Any questions?” Matthew asked.
They looked from face to face. No one had a question.
“My hope is that we’ll retrieve this team and return home before lunch. But there’s no way to know. I’m sorry.”
“Would the Fey Team come and get me if I was lost on Christmas?” Leena asked.
“Of course,” Alex said. “It’s what we do.”
“That’s what we do,” the team called.
“Damn straight,” Trece said.
There was a knock on the door. Troy opened the door to a US Air Force flight team.
“Someone order a few pilot reindeer?” Troy asked.
The flight team stood at attention when greeting Zack. Cliff made the introductions and Zack released them.
“We’re taking a Chinook,” Sergeant Dusty said.
“Our hope is to get the men and get them home,” Alex said. “Captain Jakkman will command the pilots. You’re dismissed to get the Chinook ready for takeoff.”
Zack nodded. The pilots left the room.
“Medics, we need supplies. We expect injuries including frostbite and malnutrition,” Matthew said.
“Get your supplies and get on the bird,” Joseph said. “The longer we take, the longer we leave the team in the cold.”
“There’s a heavy snow storm due at dawn,” Alex said. “We need to get the men before the serious snow starts.”
When her team left to get their supplies, Alex sat in a chair near the front of the room to think and come up with a plan. She looked up when Joseph set a yellow pad and a pencil in front of her. As a silent guard, Raz sat on the edge of the table while she wrote furiously on the pad. The team moved around her packing supplies, making certain they had the correct gear and clothing. At one point, Alex stood so Royce could make sure that her jacket fit.
“Ready?” Joseph asked.
Alex looked up at him.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Alex said.
“Bad feeling? Or really bad?”
“Really bad,” Alex said.
“Me too.” Joseph set an additional Glock 9mm on the table for her. “Do you want to call the mission?”
“No,” Alex said. “This is what we do.”
“This is what we do,” Joseph repeated.
Alex gave him a soft smile and took the handgun. Raz laid out their winter gear. They dressed quickly, checked each other, and made their way to the tarmac.
F
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Friday morning
December 25 – 4:07 a.m. MST
Over South Dakota
Alex looked around the helicopter. The semi-dark interior of the Chinook was lit by the blue cast from the team’s laptop screens. Trece and White Boy were working from person to person to make sure the team was armed and had weather protection. For the first time in a long time, no one joked, teased, or laughed. They were professional soldiers and this morning, they were all business.
Alex expected a report from each of them in about fifteen minutes. In the meantime, it was up to her to make sure they had a safe and effective strategy. Planning a hostage rescue so near a hundred and fifty Minuteman III missile silos was like trying to shoot a bullet into a nuclear minefield. She had to be certain they didn’t set off a worldwide nuclear war.
Joseph was coordinating efforts with Minot Missile support teams. Possibly because it was Christmas, the entire 91st Missile Wing was involved in their extraction. The team from 91st Maintenance Group, the group that maintains the Minuteman Missiles and silos, was en route to assess the H-29 site. A team from the 741st Missile Squadron, which handles the launch control facility, was en route to assess the deactivated H-0 launch control facility just south of Whitman. The entire 91st Security Forces Group was scrambling to protect the Minot AFB active missile fields. A team would meet them at Grand Forks AFB to assist. A friend of hers from 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, Delta Force, in Fort Bragg, NC, confirmed that there was a US Army Special Forces team headed in her direction. This meant that every elite team in the continental United States had a team on the move to join this action in North Dakota.
It was Christmas and this action was the only game in town.
She had no idea what Eniac’s end objective was for this particular hostage dump. Was he attempting to light a nearby armed Minuteman III field as the commander of the 91st Missile Wing thought? Was he able to arm the H-29 missile silo as Joseph worried? Would he, in some grand display of might, launch the nuclear missile? He’d been able to keep Larry’s GPS signal quiet for all this time. Why did he let it go live now?
Alex couldn’t shake the feeling that he staged this Christmas action as a way of keeping them from noticing something. But, as Raz reminded her, she was trained by Ben. He thought every action was a diversion from something important.
Their mission was a national security threat with potential international security risks combined with a bunch of young, holiday-bored soldiers wrapped in the blanket of missing and quite possibly dead soldiers. That’s not to mention all the excitement about the Jakker and Fey working in North Dakota.
Everyone who was anyone was watching North Dakota this early Christmas morning. The President, the Secretary of State and all the military heads were waiting and watching from the Situation Room. The heads of government for every US ally were awake, watching, and waiting on the completion of this action. The Joint Chiefs of Staff called to say that they were watching and countless other military brass checked in.
Alex closed her eyes for a moment. She hoped it wouldn’t turn into some kind of John Wayne ego-fest.
“Counting?” Raz lifted her ear phones to ask in her ear.
“All the possible meanings of this action,” Alex said.
“How many teams do you think we’ll find at Grand Forks?” Raz asked.
“I’m thinking every on-duty team capable of getting the GFAFB will be there,” Alex said.
“Only game in town,” Raz said.
“Something like that,” Alex said. “I’m hoping they will be more than happy to do our clean up and our paperwork.”
“What about…?” Raz nodded his chin toward Pete.
“It’s not his strength,” Alex said.
“Ben called,” Raz said. “He and
Helene are in the air to New York. They’ll wait for your instruction.”
“Speaking of the Ben,” Alex held up her buzzing phone.
“He’s probably calling you to tell you this is a diversion,” Raz smiled.
Smiling at his attempted joke, she answered her phone.
“Hargreaves.” After almost a decade working for him, she knew he only risked a telephone for emergencies.
“I just got off the line with Interpol,” Ben said. “Three members of the Irish Republican Army entered the country last night at a variety of ports on Student Visas. Two others entered under Tourist Visas. Interpol believes more have entered the US through the usual channels.”
“And?”
“They share one identifying characteristic – their last name is Kelly.”
“They’re coming for John and Cian,” Alex said.
“Possibly,” Ben said. “I haven’t been able to get a hold of Jimmy and no one answers at your house.”
“Crap,” Alex said.
“I’ll keep you apprised,” Ben clicked off the phone.
“Now you’re only holding up one finger,” Raz said.
“The IRA is coming for John,” Alex said. “And there’s nothing I can do about it.”
FFFFFF
Friday morning
December 25 – 4:07 a.m. MST
Denver, CO
“Santa doesn’t have massive feet,” Cian said in Irish Gaelic. “They’d get stuck in the chimney. You can’t do it.”
They’d decided to decorate the sitting room on Max’s side of the house because the boys rarely went there. For the last week, everyone who lived in the house had worked on making the small room a Christmas wonderland. Of course, most of the people who lived there weren’t there this morning. Cian, John, Max, and Wyatt were putting the final Santa touches on the room before waking up the boys. Cian pushed John out of the way of Max’s hearth to demonstrate how his feet would work better.
“Jealous of my feet?” John replied in Irish Gaelic.
“Your feet, your…” Max said in Irish Gaelic.
“Stop!” Wyatt said. “Just stop.”
The three men turned to look at him.
“You’ve been speaking gibberish for hours,” Wyatt said.
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