Man with a Mission

by McKenna, Lindsay

  The clanging of the bell stopped. Jake turned to her. He’d met her earlier when he’d landed at the base complex. She had been down at the helo pad when the civilian helicopter had dropped him off.

  “Sorry you couldn’t have some quality time with Ana,” she told him as she walked up, her hands on her hips.

  “Does this happen often?”

  Maya laughed sharply. “All the time. Come on, follow me. You want to see what we do around here?”

  Jake did. He followed her along the hall and down two flights of metal stairs, his worry for Ana gnawing at him. As they stepped out of the building onto the black lava floor of the huge cave complex, he saw two Apache helicopters out on the lip, outside the cave, their rotors whirling in preparation for takeoff.

  As Jake and Maya walked toward them, the wind kicked up by the rotors started to pummel them. Jake kept his hand over his eyes. Crews were scurrying around, then backing off as the first Apache lifted into a hover.

  “Ana is piloting that one,” Maya said, pointing to it. “She’s commander of the flight.” Halting just inside the cave, Maya glanced over at Jake. “From the look on your face, Mr. Travers, I’d guess you really didn’t understand what Ana does here.”

  “I had an idea…. Ana didn’t speak much about it to me….” Jake watched with dread and fascination as Ana approached a huge opening in the lava wall. The hole was just large enough to allow one helicopter at a time to fly through it—very carefully. One wrong move, and he knew those rotor blades would nick either side of it and the chopper would crash.

  After the second Apache moved through the hole in the wall, the antique black Cobra from the Vietnam era followed. Once the choppers were outside the thick, protective wall, Jake couldn’t hear the whapping of the blades as well. Very soon, the sounds faded completely. He looked over at Maya, who, at six feet tall, was nearly eye level with him. Her black hair was loose about her shoulders, almost covering her breasts. The look on her face was one of concern.

  “How often does this happen? The bell going off?”

  Maya moved toward the lip, which was now clear of aircraft. The crews for the three birds were clearing away the chalk blocks and already preparing the landing pads for the helos’ return.

  “A number of times every day.” She walked out on the lip, where the early evening sunlight was hazy because of the ever-present fog. “Ana will intercept Faro Valentino’s pilots probably twenty miles inside the Peruvian border. Valentino is a big-time drug lord who’s got a fleet of helicopters—Russian military as well as civilian ones from other countries—that he uses to try and ferry cocaine across the border to Bolivia.”

  “And Ana is going to stop Valentino now?” Jake’s heart beat hard in his chest.

  “Yes, Mr. Travers, she will. That’s her job here—to stop the coke shipments.” Maya pointed toward the east. “You see, Bolivia won’t stop the shipments. They don’t have the money, the trained personnel, so they just let the coke come in from Peru without putting up any resistance. It’s flown out of Bolivia on private airlines owned by the drug lords, to be sent all over the world.” Her voice lowered. “Our job is to stop it at the Peruvian border, turn it around and cause havoc with Valentino’s distribution plans.”

  “But,” Jake said, “you mentioned Russian military helicopters? Those Kamov Black Shark’s, right?”

  She gave him an amused look. “Yeah, the one that nearly killed all of you several months ago. That’s the one.”

  And Ana was going to face that lethal helicopter. Jake reminded himself that she was a trained gunship pilot; she knew what she was doing. But his mouth went a little dry and he croaked, “Has Ana ever been shot down?”

  Maya shook her head. “No. But she crash-landed once, and she’s been shot at plenty, just as all of us here have. It’s part of our business.” Maya studied Jake. “Ana said you were an officer in the army. A ranger. Is that right?”

  “I was, yes. I recently resigned my commission.”

  “And your sister—Talia, I think her name was, if my memory serves me—how is she doing? Ana said she was the most severely wounded when the Kamov attacked all of you.”

  Grimacing, Jake turned to her. He found Maya easy to speak to. Ana had made her C.O. out to be a legend, someone who almost walked on water. Yet he found Maya beautiful, pragmatic and caring. Around them, the women crews were working constantly; the base was a beehive of activity. “My sister,” he said in a strained tone, “is back down here after only three months recuperation.”

  Maya’s brows moved upward. “Down here? After what happened to her?”

  “Yes, and back at the same village where she was kidnapped. She’s determined to get those wells sunk so the people have a safe water supply.”

  Maya shook her head. “You’ve got one tough, stubborn sister then. I honor her courage. You know Rojas is still on the loose over in Rainbow Valley?”

  “Yes…I do know that. The people who helped me rescue her, Perseus, have good intel on him and his whereabouts.”

  Lips tightening, Maya muttered, “That little bastard is still causing trouble in the valley. He’s in cahoots with Faro now, and is under his protection. Faro’s using civilian helos to fly into that hill villa of Rojas’s to pick up cocaine.” Shaking her head, Maya added grimly, “I hope your sister has some protection. Is that why you’re here?”

  “Yes and no,” Jake admitted. “Morgan Trayhern, who owns Perseus, sent an ex-Navy SEAL down to be her bodyguard. His name is Sloan Griffin.”

  “That’s good,” Maya said, relief in her voice. “Because when Rojas finds out she’s back, his mano a mano pride will kick in and I’m sure he’ll try to seek revenge against her.”

  Alarmed, Jake stood there in the slanting sunlight, the humid equatorial heat still intense after the long day. Maya, in comparison, looked cool, without a bead of sweat on her. Wiping his perspiring brow, he said, “I’ll let them know right away. Thanks for telling me.”

  Nodding, Maya gestured for him to follow her back into the cave. “Ana is going to be gone a number of hours. What are your plans, Mr. Travers?”

  “Call me Jake if you want, Captain Stevenson.”

  “Okay…Jake.” She headed back toward the building in the center of the cave complex. “Have you eaten?”

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “You look like hell warmed over. Musta taken the red-eye to get down here, eh? Come with me. We’ll feed you at the mess and then find you a place to sleep it off.”

  “Captain…I didn’t mean for you to go to all this trouble. I can see how busy you are….”

  Maya looked over at him, a slight grin playing at the corners of her mouth. “Ana says you’re special to her. Frankly speaking, she’s been in a deep depression since Roberto died. When you showed up in her life she began to live again, Jake. I’m sure it’s because of you…and whatever is going on between the two of you.” Maya headed off to the left toward a Quonset hut with a large red sign that said Mess. Her emerald eyes sparkled as she held his gaze. “I don’t have any spare pilots, Jake. I need every woman pilot I have in good health physically, mentally and emotionally. Ana was doing a helluva lot better when she came back from that little hike with you than I’ve seen her in a long time.” Gripping his arm, she opened the door to the mess and ushered him into it. “By taking care of you, I’m taking care of Ana.” And she smiled.

  Jake found himself in a long hall with several rows of wooden picnic tables. About fifteen crew women were sitting at various tables. It was just past suppertime. On the left was the mess line. Maya handed him an aluminum tray and they went through the line, where the cook served them whatever they wanted from various cooking pans.

  Sitting down at an empty table near the corrugated aluminum wall of the Quonset hut, Jake began to eat hungrily. The fare was fresh and tasty, and there was a lot of it. Maya, who sat opposite him, ate very little. She seemed preoccupied and picked at her food. A number of times, office clerks would spot her
from the door and hurry over with papers in hand. They would whisper in her ear and she’d rapidly scribble her signature on the papers, or give them orders to carry out. Jake knew the responsibilities on Maya’s shoulders were many. Although very young—she was probably around twenty-five or twenty-six years old—she seemed very mature for her age.

  “Looks like peace and quiet are hard to come by,” Jake noted, drinking his coffee.

  With a chuckle, Maya nodded. “We’re on wartime footing around here. There’s no rest for the wicked, as they say.” Her eyes glinted as she looked up at him. “And I guess we’re a pretty wicked lot because we’re up to our butts in alligators around here all the time.”

  Shaking his head, Jake said, “Ana said that your vision for this base and what you’re all doing here is making a big difference. I’d say you’re stopping the wicked.” He grinned a little at her dry humor. He liked Maya Stevenson a lot. She was a good leader, in Jake’s eyes. The warmth her people had for her was obvious. Maya had earned that respect from them the hard way: by being an excellent manager of people. Not all C.O.s were good leaders or managers, and she seemed to be both.

  Maya pushed her partly eaten food aside and wrapped her hands around the thick white ceramic mug that held her steaming coffee. “That’s probably more accurate.” Her eyes narrowed on him. “So, what’re your intentions toward Ana? Why are you back here if your sister has a big, bad guard dog with her? We’re a little out of your way, so I know there’s more here than meets the eye.”

  Shocked by her point-blank question, Jake stared at her a moment. Ana had said Maya shot from the hip. She was right. Setting his own mug down on the table, he decided to be just as brutally frank and honest with her. “If I can get some time with Ana, I want to see how she feels about me…about us, maybe. I’m not sure what her answer will be, though.”

  “How do you feel toward her?” Maya demanded.

  Jake’s mouth curved slightly. More point-blank questions. Well, Ana had warned him about Maya’s methods. “I love her.”

  “Does she love you?”

  “She’s told me she does.”

  Maya scowled. “So you love one another. What now?”

  Shrugging, Jake said, “I don’t really know, Captain. I know Ana wants to stay here. I wouldn’t think of asking her to leave. This is her life. She loves what she does.”

  “So,” Maya said, lifting the cup to her lips, “what are you going to do?”

  “That’s the question,” Jake answered. “I don’t think there’s much call for an ex-army ranger down in Agua Caliente, the closest town to your base, is there?”

  Grinning sourly, Maya sipped her coffee. Her eyes were speculative. “No, there isn’t….”

  “Well,” Jake said, “if Ana loves me, I’ll figure out something. I know she’s Quechua by birth, and I want to do things the right way according to the customs of her people.”

  “Good.” Maya smiled a little. A tight smile. “You’re surprising me, Jake. Most norteamericano males aren’t worth the powder to blow them up.”

  Again, Jake just stared at her in shock. He saw the wry amusement dancing in her thoughtful eyes. “I assume you’re speaking from experience, and—” he looked around the mess hall “—that’s why you have all women here at this base, and no men. Right?”

  “You could say that. Based upon my experiences with the U.S. Army up at Fort Rucker, Alabama, I decided women were a lot more team-oriented and would pull together in the same direction. We don’t have those little ego temper tantrums that men are given to from time to time.” She held his look, her mouth compressed, as if daring him to refute her words.

  Jake wouldn’t do it. “You’re right,” he admitted. “Teamwork is everything in something like this.”

  “You know teamwork from being a ranger.”

  Nodding, he smiled a little. “There’s no room for egotistical John Wayne types in our ranks. We live or die together—as a team.”

  “I like your attitude, Jake.” Maya tapped her fingers on the table for a moment. “I’ve got an idea…but a lot of things need to happen before and if it’s put into place.” She cocked her head and studied him intently. “You aren’t like most of the army guys I’ve had the sad occasion to lock horns with. I like your spirit and your sense of teamwork. If things work out between you and Ana, I might have a part-time job for you, if you’re interested.”

  His brows rose in surprise. “A job? Here?”

  “Not exactly here,” Maya said. “You landed on the other side of this ten-thousand-foot, loaf-shaped mountain and it is an old mining quarry. We get all our supplies flown in by civilian helicopters to that mine. The helos are really CIA owned and operated, but no one knows that. To outsiders and touristas, it looks like the mining company is up and running, so supplies going to it don’t raise suspicions. I also have company housing over there, where everyone lives when off duty. There are some nice little plots of land down below, near the housing. A lot of good, fertile land. I’ve been looking for someone to help do some serious farming for us. We’re always short on food supplies, especially fresh vegetables and fruit. It can grow here year-round. Ana said you were a farmer. Maybe I can hire you five days a week—three days working as supply officer and the other two overseeing our farming efforts.”

  Jake was impressed. “When I was flown in on the mining side, I was taken by a golf cart through a naturally occurring lava tube, eight feet high and ten feet wide, that extends from the mine operation back into this mountain.”

  Maya finished off her coffee and set the mug aside. “When the Navy Seabees came, they blasted out a tunnel from our cave facility to it. We run electric golf carts back and forth between them, and get our supplies, our weapons and other munitions into the cave to load onto our Apaches. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say.” She smiled hugely, like a jaguar who had devoured a satisfying meal.

  “So, what job do you think I can do for you, Captain, if things work out between Ana and me?”

  Leaning forward, Maya rested her elbows on the table and gave him a frank look. “Ana is doubling her collateral duty around here because I lost my supply officer three months ago. Her original task was housing. When she busted her ribs, she agreed to learn the supply end of our trade while she couldn’t fly. So for three months the slot was filled by her. Since she came back to flight duty, I still haven’t been able to fill the billet. The army is saying the paperwork I sent to them is lost. What’s really happening is they’re choke-holding us and want to see this spec ops die. By slowing down my requests for personnel, they hurt us down here, and they know that. I’ll be damned if I’m quitting this base or our mission for them. Ana’s been juggling supply with housing demands ever since, and I’m anxious to get that off her back. It’s just too much for one person to handle, and I can’t be without a supply officer.”

  “I see.” Jake shook his head. “Supply is a demanding job. I don’t see how Ana is doing it all.” It worried him that she was probably taking sleep time to do the extra work. And sleep deprivation was a killer, especially if she had to be alert and on top of things in the air with the Kamovs threatening them constantly.

  “Yes,” Maya said heavily, “it is.” She opened her hand. “Now, I can’t pay you much, but I think you could do the job because you’re ex-military. You understand how the army operates, too, since you’re from that branch of the service. My budget is tight, but I could give you the job, and a place to live over on the mining side with Ana.”

  Jake’s heart leaped at her offer. “I’d like to stay in the military, and maybe this would be the way to continue it,” he murmured.

  “Supply isn’t exactly as exciting as being a ranger,” Maya said, probing him mercilessly with her eyes. “I don’t want to offer you a job you’re not going to be passionate about.”

  Turning the cup slowly around in his large hands, Jake said softly, “I can be happy anywhere, doing anything, Captain, if I have Ana’s love. And having a house and a
little plot of land to farm…well, that’s my dream come true.”

  After measuring him for a while in silence, Maya sighed. “Okay…let me know how things turn out.” She rose from the table and rapped her knuckles on the wood. “When Ana returns, I’m pulling her off the duty roster. I’ll have one of my standby pilots take the rest of her twenty-four-hour tour. I suggest you take the civilian helicopter on the mining side to Agua Caliente, where you two can have some uninterrupted, quality time with one another. I’ll have my assistant reserve a room for you at Gringo Bill’s Hostel where we usually put our personnel who go on R and R.” Maya smiled a little. “Okay with you?”

  Jake nodded. “Sounds good. Thanks, Captain Stevenson—for everything.”

  Her eyes glittered. “Don’t mistake my intentions, Jake. I’d like to see you two get together because I’m in desperate need of a supply officer. And someone who knows farming.”

  Laughing softly, Jake watched her stride away. Maya spoke to every person in the mess hall before she left. She was a charismatic leader, for each woman responded enthusiastically to her attention, as if she was showering them with sunlight. Maya made him feel special, too. Jake sat there a long time, nursing his coffee, thinking about what she’d said. Captain Stevenson was giving him an incredible opportunity. He would be where Ana was based. They would have a small company house to live in. He would have a job. Jake shook his head, stunned and mystified by how life could kink and unkink, and opportunities could literally materialize out of the ethers far beyond his imagination.

  Right now, though, all he wanted was for Ana to return safe and sound to him so they could talk…and he could find out how they stood with one another. She had said she loved him. He’d seen it in her wide, tearful cinnamon eyes. He clung to her words and the look she’d given him. Now, if only Ana would come back to him safely…Worried about the Kamovs, Jake reminded himself bitterly that every day Ana flew, the possibility of her being killed would be there staring at him. He compressed his mouth, knowing now as never before what the wives of men in combat went through. It was pure, raw hell. And there was no escape from it.