Necessary Retribution

by Mike McNeff

“Do you trust me?”

  “Alex says you are brothers and he would give his life for you. There is no higher recommendation of your character. Yes, I trust you.”

  “Okay, you're hired.”

  “What will you have me do?”

  “Well, besides covert ops, what do you want to do?”

  “You mean I can still do soldier work?”

  “Nikky, in our organization, there is no such thing as a used up soldier.”

  Setchinko broke out in a grin.

  “But we don't do ops all of the time, what do you want to do during our down times?”

  “Well, I like your new boat. The boys and I can take care of it.”

  “What boat? You mean this one?”

  “Yes, it is a gift from the Russian government to you.”

  “We'd better talk to Bill and Alex.”

  The men went back into the salon. “Okay, what's up with the boat?” Robin asked.

  Alex stood up and put his hands on Robin's shoulders. “It's yours, if you want it, Robin. A gift to you from our country for saving so many Russian lives.”

  “I don't need any gift, Alex. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if we hadn't stopped the idiot from detonating that bomb.” Robin looked over at Nikky who had an expectant look on this face. “I will accept it as a symbol of what our two countries can do when we work together.”

  Alex grinned broadly. “That is a fitting sentiment, my brother.”

  Robin turned to Nikky. “Captain, you may take control of your ship and assign your crew as you see fit.”

  Nikky took Robin in a bear hug. “Thank you, Robin.”

  “My pleasure. Now, I smell meat and potato pie.”

  Alex laughed. “Our cook has prepared your favorite Russian food. I thought it would remind us of our first dinner.”

  “Ah, yes. That was an interesting dinner.”

  Alex laughed again. “A favorite memory of mine!”

  “What are we drinking?”

  Alex walked to the bar and produced a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey. “I thought we would drink American this time.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Dinner was served and enjoyed by all except Robin detected some reservation on the part of Bacla. He wondered if the young man still believed in jihad. After the dinner, Robin walked out onto the rear deck. Bacla followed him out.

  “May I speak to you, sir?” Bacla asked in broken English.

  Robin replied in Arabic. “Call me Robin or Rob, Bacla. You don't need to be so formal. What's on your mind?”

  “Thank you for rescuing my brother.”

  “You don't have to thank me. Ahmed is a good boy, I'm glad we got him away from all the violence. What about you? Do you still believe in jihad?”

  Bacla seemed taken aback by Robin's blunt question. He looked down. “I am ashamed I considered those men my friends and mentors. They had no reason to murder my mother; sheonly tried to protect us, like any mother.”

  “It seemed to me you wanted to know the code to arm the bomb in the warehouse.”

  “I did. I wanted to arm the bomb there and kill everyone for what they did to my family. I was so angry, it was the only thing I could think of doing.”

  Robin considered the boy for a moment. “Bacla, you're going to be living in the United States now. You'll find out that there's more opportunity to do whatever you want than in any other country. It's not a perfect place by any means, but you can make your life whatever you want it to be. You're also lucky to have Nikolaj as a father now. He has much he can teach you about the world.”

  “He is already our Poppa. We love him.”

  “And I'm sure he loves you. I can also introduce you to young people like my son and daughter. They can help you get acclimated to American ways.”

  “Ahmed and I need to learn to speak better English.”

  “We'll get you into classes right away, although I can tell your Poppa has already started teaching you.”

  “Yes, I can read it well, but I can't speak it very well.”

  “It'll come to you, don't worry.”

  “Well, thank you for everything…Robin.”

  “You're welcome, Bacla.”

  Bacla left and Alex came out. Robin noticed Bill talking to Nikky and some of the boat crew Alex brought with him.

  “Thank you for the wonderful dinner, brother. I also need to pay you back for the dinner in Vladivostok.”

  Alex grinned. “I believe Picushkin's twenty-five million dollars is more than adequate repayment.”

  “Before you leave, I want to give you money for the doctor who treated Mark. Can you get it to him?”

  “I'll take care of it.”

  “What did you do with Picushkin?”

  “After interrogation, he was to be executed by a firing squad for treason, but the Chairman intervened and Picushkin is in a Siberian prison.”

  “Did you get any good intelligence from him?”

  “Yes, for us and for your country.”

  “Why did the Chairman intervene?”

  Alex shrugged.

  “You need to watch him, Alex.”

  “That problem is very much above my level.”

  “Nevermind. I have a question for you. Why did Yosef call Bill and not me?”

  Alex gave Robin a whimsical look. “Why Robin, we did not know you were American.”

  “Ahh, touché, Alex.”

  “Now, I have a question for you.”

  “Yes, I took pictures of the battle plans.”

  “Ah, you knew Ahmed would tell us.”

  “Of course he would, he's a good boy.” Robin's eyes met Alex's. “I didn't give anyone the photos. I still have them and they are safe and I won't give them to anyone, unless Russia initiates a nuclear conflict.”

  “We would never initiate a nuclear war.”

  “It doesn't matter, Alex, you know and I know you've already changed the plans.”

  “I can't say.”

  “I didn't expect you to and quite frankly, I don't want to know.”

  “So, as you say, the balance of power is intact.”

  “As far as that goes. Your greatest national security threat is your economy.”

  “Do you think the U.S. will do something?”

  “Of course, the U.S. will offer help.”

  “They will not attack?”

  “I can't see that happening. Most people in the government didn't see the collapse of your economy coming and I can't see our military contemplating a ground war in Russia. Hopefully, they learned from Germany's folly in the Second World War. No, America will offer help, not war.”

  “Russia will never take help.”

  “Why not? You took it during the Great Patriotic War.”

  “It's different now. Our countries have been enemies in the Cold War for too long.”

  “How about you? Do you want to go back? I'm sure Bill can arrange for you to stay.”

  “It's different for me. My country needs me and I'm still getting paid a little. My men count on me to take care of them. I use Picushkin's money.”

  Robin smiled. “That's what I thought you'd say…especially the last part.”

  Bill came out to the deck. “Rob, we need to go. We have some things to take care of before I head back to Washington.”

  When Robin and Bill were back at Robin's boat, Bill laid out some plans.

  “I arranged for the Bremerton Navy Yard to make alterations to your new boat. I think your team can use a seagoing platform.”

  Robin thought about this for a moment. “I don't know. I don't feel comfortable getting into a tactical situation on a boat with a top speed of twelve knots.”

  “The yard says they'll increase the speed of the boat considerably. They will also build in weapons and military grade sensors.”

  “Have them also sweep the entire boat for hidden transmitters.”

  “I thought you trusted Alex.”

  “Oh, I do, but he wasn't on the b
oat all the time the Russians had it.”

  “Good point.”

  “Am I going to have input in the refit?”

  “Yeah, I'll put you in contact with the commanding officer at the yard.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I need a ride to the airport. A chopper will be coming for me soon.”

  “Okee dokee.”

  EPILOGUE

  JAMES CHAPPLE GUIDED HIS SMALL FISHING BOAT to his favorite spot on Lake Eaton as the sun was just starting to glow behind the eastern forest. The water looked like glass and the mild chill in the air was invigorating, rather than uncomfortable. Chapple spotted the cove where he always caught good sized bass. As he nosed in to the isolated eddy, he was slightly concerned his boat seemed to drag a little bit. He made a mental note to check the bottom when he got back.

  He baited his line and flicked it into the water. He took a deep breath and let tension flow out of his body. It had been a tough nine months. Getting fired as Director of the CIA embarrassed him, but the subsequent criminal investigation terrified him because Chapple had much to hide. He pulled as many political strings as possible and the criminal investigation went nowhere. Then his political contacts went to work and got him a nice, cushy consultant job with a defense contractor. He smiled. More secrets I can sell to my Chinese friends.

  All in all, Chapple felt good about his future and now considered the trouble he went though as a minor setback in his life…well, almost. His wife left him when a nosy newspaper reporter uncovered several of his extramarital affairs. In the end, he just considered the whole mess as his freedom. Now, he could have his affairs without worrying about his marriage.

  Chapple felt a tug on his line and leaned forward in anticipation. Then a stronger tug hit his line and he leaned more forward. Suddenly, two black clad hands exploded out of the water and grabbed him by his jacket, pulling his body violently into the lake. He kicked and swung his arms at the assailant, but the hands were strong and they took him further under the water. The man pushed him through an icy cold layer that made him take an involuntary breath…of water. In panic he flailed his arms and legs, his lungs screaming for oxygen. Then he was gone.

  The man was clad in a wetsuit and used a rebreather, leaving no bubbles to rise to the surface. He pulled Chapple's body to the bottom and looped a cable around a large dead tree and wrapped the other end around the body. He put a waterproof time lock through the end loops and fastened it. Pushing a button on the lock, he started a thirty-six hour countdown.

  The diver swam back up to Chapple's boat and took the rope he had used to hitch a ride during Chapple's run to the cove. He used it to pull the boat to another area of the lake, where he pushed it into tanglewood close to the shore so it couldn't go anywhere. The diver then swam to the small backwater where he had entered the lake.

  He carefully surveyed the area before emerging and going ashore. He immediately disappeared into the woods. A short time later, he reappeared dressed in hiking clothes and carrying a large pack. Ten miles and two hours later, he stepped out onto a forest road as a Range Rover approached. The car pulled over and stopped. The man opened the back door and put in the pack and then climbed into the front seat.

  “You okay, Rob?” Burke asked.

  “Yeah, I'm good.” Robin punched Bill Grassley's number on his satellite phone.

  “Hello.”

  “Can't make it today.”

  “Thanks for letting me know.”

  Robin looked into the side mirror and saw his face bore the look of grim satisfaction.

  Bill put down his phone. “It's done, sir. The body will surface in thirty-six hours.”

  The president turned and looked out the window. “I don't relish what we've done, but there just wasn't any other way.”

  “No there wasn't, sir. What Picushkin told the Russians was unnerving. Chapple's work for the Chinese was very damaging. A trial would have put several of our operatives in extreme danger and exposed top secret programs.”

  “We're damn lucky the GRU thinks enough of Marlette to tell us about Chapple. We should've have known something was wrong from his conduct during the standoff.”

  “That's a lesson we need to take to heart.”

  The president turned back to Bill. “How do we really thank men like Robin Marlette and his team?”

  “With Robin, I don't think he wants or expects thanks. I think the best way to thank them is make sure when we ask them to go into harm's way, it's for a good reason.”

  “I hope we always know what a good reason is in this complicated world.”

  Bill looked past the president through the window and into the world. He let the silence resting on the Oval Office be his answer.

  THE END

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