Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Buck the System (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Sealed With A Kiss Book 2)

by Margaret Madigan

  Buck collected his guns and knives and he and Ice, Wolf, and Dozer herded the rest of their teams back down the stairs at gunpoint. It seemed backwards, while at the same time correct. He shook his head, trying to clear the confusion. He had a job to do. Mikhail had said so, and before he could do it, these guys had to go back into their cells.

  They filed into the rooms. As he locked the door, Coyote turned to him. “Stay safe, man. Dr. Emerson will fix this.”

  Buck had forgotten all about Mindy. He’d been given a job to do, and it didn’t involve her so he’d put her out of mind. His brain had compartmentalized to the point where he micro-focused on the task at hand and put aside anything not required for it.

  Once they’d finished locking everyone up, they followed Mikhail’s men back upstairs where they met him in the lobby.

  Mikhail addressed them all. “My men will stay here and keep the situation under control. Dmitri, you’re in charge while I’m gone. Keep a close eye on Dr. Emerson. I’ll have my phone with me if you need me. Buck, you and your men will come with me to Moscow. I have a special job for you.”

  Buck smiled. Mikhail trusted him and his men more than he trusted his own, because he knew they were better.

  They filed outside and hiked to the security building. There, Mikhail unlocked the armory so they could stock up on ammunition and weapons.

  After they’d armed themselves, they continued to a nearby clearing where a private plane sat at the end of an airstrip.

  Inside the plane they strapped in and Mikhail said, “You may as well sleep, gentlemen. The flight’s about eight hours.”

  Sleep sounded great. Buck’s eyelids could have weighed ten pounds each, they were so heavy. How could he have not recognized his exhaustion until now? He slouched in his seat and rested his head on the window, the necessity to sleep pressing down on him.

  When his eyes popped open again, his body was refreshed and his brain felt sharp, like he’d studied hard for an important test and knew every single answer. He checked his watch—exactly eight hours had passed. For some reason twelve hours stuck in his head. It opened an urgent, important window of time. With just a bit of focus the information popped into his head—the drug Mikhail had injected into him was fatal. He had a minimum of twelve hours to live, and a maximum of forty-eight.

  That should concern him. He should be panicked about it. But somehow it didn’t matter. Tranquility filled his mind. Worrying about death was pointless. Every living thing died eventually. The important part of life was living it.

  Glancing around the cabin, he noticed Ice, Wolf, and Dozer coming awake as well.

  “Good morning, men,” Mikhail said. “Or I suppose it’s afternoon now. We’ll be landing shortly and then heading directly to our mission. We’ll meet with an associate of mine at a local bar to deal with some people who have disrupted his business. They’ve pestered him and become an inconvenience that needs to be eliminated. That’s our job.”

  “Yes, sir,” Buck said. The rest of the men echoed his sentiment. It felt good to be useful.

  On the ground they piled into an SUV once the plane had taxied to the small terminal at the airport.

  “How do you feel?” Ice asked him.

  “Better than I have in a long time,” Buck said.

  “Yeah,” Dozer chimed in. “Like I could do anything.”

  “And nothing will ever get in the way,” Wolf said.

  “I don’t know why everybody’s all freaked out about this drug,” Buck said. “It’s pretty fantastic”

  “It is, isn’t it?” Mikhail said from the front passenger seat. “Imagine how great it will be after Dr. Emerson fixes the side effects? After that, the benefits will last indefinitely. You could live a long, healthy life while enjoying the way you feel now.”

  “That would be great,” Dozer said.

  Buck turned to watch Moscow whiz by outside his window. Colorful minarets juxtaposed against wide boulevards, ornate bridges, block-sized old buildings, and modern skyscrapers. It was a beautiful, complex city.

  As it passed by, he wondered if he’d want to feel the way he did now for longer than forty-eight hours. While he believed he could take on the world and win, the numbness chafed like an unhealed abrasion. He felt like a superhero, except he didn’t care about anything. At first after Mindy had injected him, his brain had been fogged and he’d been confused. Now the world and everything in it ached with sharpness and certainty, but there was no softness. No emotion. His head throbbed with fullness, but his heart cramped with emptiness. Yet, he couldn’t summon any reason it should bother him.

  The SUV passed a bar called Red Eye, then pulled into the alley around back. Four men stood near the rear exit of the building.

  “Stay here. I’ll be right back,” Mikhail said.

  Fine by Buck. The leather seats and heat were comfortable in the middle of winter.

  Mikhail got out of the car, circled the front, and shook hands with the man who seemed to be in charge. They engaged in a conversation, then shook hands again and Mikhail made a “roll down the window” gesture to the driver, then walked around and climbed in the front passenger seat.

  The other man leaned in Buck’s window and spoke to him and his men.

  “My name is Sergey Pleshenko. Mikhail and I are colleagues, and he’s agreed to loan you to me for the afternoon.”

  “While you’re assisting Sergey, you’ll follow his commands,” Mikhail added.

  “Yes, sir,” Buck and the other men said.

  “There are some people inside this bar who are trying to destroy my business, and infiltrate our larger organization. Some are spies. I want them dead. You will recognize them because they are another American SEAL team, your commander, and a small woman.”

  Buck cocked his head to the side. He didn’t believe he’d heard their instructions correctly. “Sir, you want us to kill an entire SEAL team, and our commander?”

  “Yes.”

  While the command instantly registered as his duty, part of him couldn’t wrap his head around it. SEALs didn’t kill other SEALs. They were brothers. Family. They should have each other’s backs, not put bullets in each other’s heads.

  Yet, his fingers itched to draw his weapon and do the deed.

  “Do you understand your mission, men?” Mikhail asked.

  “Sir. Yes, sir,” Buck said, as did Ice, Wolf, and Dozer.

  “Then please proceed,” Mikhail said. “Remember, you follow Mr. Pleshenko’s commands until I return for you.”

  Pleshenko backed away from the door to allow Buck and his men to pile out into the cold afternoon air, after which Mikhail and his driver pulled away down the alley.

  “You two take the front door,” Pleshenko indicated Buck and Dozer. “You two come with me in the back way. All of you wait for my signal before you carry out your orders. These men,” he pointed to the three other men who’d been there with him, “Egor, Maksim, and Bahri, are not to be hurt.”

  “Copy that,” Buck said. “C’mon Dozer.”

  They headed around to the front. Inside they followed a set of stairs down into a cave-like room with old, worn wood floor and well-used leather chairs. Across the room, Pleshenko had entered through the back with his men, including Ice and Wolf.

  A survey of the rest of the room revealed that there’d already been a fight. Overturned tables and chairs and several bodies littered the floor. Noah stood in the middle of it with Mindy’s friend Jayla, Commander Hardigen, and some of the other SEALs from Noah’s team that Buck recognized but didn’t know by name yet. Since they’d be dead soon, there didn’t seem much reason to learn.

  Pleshenko pushed Egor and Maksim to the center of the room. “Hardigen, did you come to tie up your loose ends? You send your team in to try and take me out because I won't play nice with you?”

  Buck and Dozer stood at the ready with their weapons drawn. Noah saw them and grinned, probably thinking he had backup, but Buck recognized the moment confusion overtook hi
s joy because the weapons were aimed at him and his men.

  Jayla saw it too. “Buck? What are you doing here? Put that gun down before you hurt someone.”

  Hardigen’s attention had been so focused on Pleshenko. He hadn’t even noticed his own men enter the room and point weapons at him. “Stand down, men,” he commanded.

  “Can’t do that, sir,” Ice said. “We have new orders.”

  “My orders supersede anything else you may have been told,” Hardigen said.

  “That’s not the case, sir,” Ice said.

  “They’re here with me,” Pleshenko said. “An associate of mine has had his scientists experimenting on Amaranthine with some interesting results. Now, users follow commands without question, and they’ll do things their conscience wouldn’t normally allow, like killing their commander and brethren. Too bad the drug’s fatal.”

  “What?” Jayla said. Her gaze shot to Buck, full of worry. He glanced away. Her worry didn’t concern him. He had a mission to complete, if Pleshenko would ever give the order. The man liked to hear himself talk.

  Hardigen waved Pleshenko off. “I’m not concerned about my men. They’re the best trained men in the American military. They know their duty.”

  The duty foremost in Buck’s mind was killing Hardigen, Jayla, and the other SEALs.

  “Are you willing to test that theory?” Pleshenko asked.

  “Don’t think I won’t shoot your son to get to you, Pleshenko,” Hardigen said, redirecting the conversation. He drew his weapon and pointed it at Maksim.

  Ice and Wolf closed rank in front of Maksim, their weapons in Hardigen’s face, as Buck and Dozer moved in behind.

  “The hell you will,” Jayla said, straining against the hold Noah had on her arm.

  Hardigen spun and pressed his gun flush to Jayla’s temple. “You and your little slutty ass need to shut up. One more word out of you and I’ll put a bullet in your brain, and if it goes through Hound, so be it. He was stupid enough to get pussy-whipped by you.”

  “Shoot me, Hardigen. Leave my daughter out of it,” Egor said.

  Buck couldn’t keep track of all the relationships, nor did he care. He waited for Pleshenko’s order.

  “You … it was you who sold me out to Bahri, wasn't it, Hardigen?” Jayla said. “Your name is on that buyers list, right? The list of people wanting in on Amaranthine. You knew I'd find out when I took Bahri down, so you blew my cover on the island. You gave the order to take out Bahri and Pleshenko so no one would find a trace of it leading back to you. You bastard.”

  Buck had no idea what they were talking about. Damn they all talked a lot. It obviously had something to do with another mission he wasn’t privy to. At this rate, they’d all just talk each other into comas. He glanced at Wolf and Ice. Wolf faked a yawn. Buck smirked.

  “One more word, Fox, and I swear I will paint these walls with the inside of your skull.” Hardigen's gun hand shook. Buck had never seen that, before. Hardigen had a hot temper, but he was usually a cool customer.

  “She's right. I saw your name in the files. You wanted the drug to give to the SEALs, to make them super-soldiers,” Egor said. “But this isn't your first dealing with the Russians, is it Hardigen?”

  Hardigen was involved in some kind of drug deal? How was that possible? When Buck thought about it, though, the information made sense. Mindy’s original drug had a lot of potential for military use, and the Commander would want his men to be on the cutting edge.

  “Like anyone's going to believe a turncoat like you, McFadden,” Hardigen said, taking aim at Egor instead of Jayla.

  “Stand down, Commander,” Ice said, warning in his voice. The general ignored him.

  “Afraid of your team finding out what a dirty bastard you really are?” Egor continued. “Like when you sold me out to the Russians? You made me out to be a traitor, selling out the SEALs to make your record look better. Taking away my life, because you fucked up and couldn't face the consequences.”

  “I got the better end of that deal,” Pleshenko said with a laugh.

  “Give it up, Pleshenko, this ends now,” Hardigen said.

  “You promised I'd get to keep the girl, Hardigen.” The man Pleshenko had introduced as Bahri stepped out from behind Pleshenko.

  Noah thrust Jayla behind him and whipped his gun out to fire off two shots at Bahri, one in each of Bahri's arms and a third in his leg, taking him to the floor. “One more word and the next one goes in your face, asshole,” Noah said.

  “Now,” Pleshenko hollered, giving Buck and his men permission to enter the fray.

  Finally.

  Buck and Dozer stepped back and took aim at their targets. Buck had Noah in his sights, ready to put a bullet right between his eyes, clean and efficient. But he couldn’t. He wanted to. His orders from Pleshenko demanded he do it. His finger itched to pull the trigger, but Mindy popped into his head and he knew she’d be angry at him if he killed Noah. The conflicting urges pounded in his skull until he thought it might burst.

  Instead, he lowered his aim and shot Noah’s right wrist. Noah’s gun clattered to the ground and he cursed like the sailor he was. Buck smiled, but Noah didn’t. His scowl turned Buck’s gut sour because it accused him of betraying his brother-in-arms. Betraying his oath and commitment. Betraying his country.

  Godammit, if only he could tell Noah how the command to kill him ate at Buck’s mind even now, worming its way into his brain, whispering, needling, badgering, hounding him to kill them all.

  Buck spun away and took a breath. The room had erupted into the chaos of fighting and battle, but Buck stood in his own little bubble, his teeth gritted, struggling to resist. For Mindy he’d fought the command and not killed Noah, but he didn’t know how long he’d be able to.

  Dozer stood next to him, aiming his weapon into the crowd, but instead of pulling the trigger he said, “Fuck this shit, I want to get my hands dirty.”

  Buck hesitated. He wanted to get down in the gutter and throw some punches, feel the crunch of bone and cartilage against his fists. But they’d been ordered to kill. He could do that with his bare hands, but his weapon was more efficient.

  He scanned the room, trying to sort the targets. Egor whipped around and launched a punch into Pleshenko's gut, hunching him over. Buck brought his weapon up, confused. He was supposed to protect both Egor and Pleshenko. Maksim went after Pleshenko, too, jamming an elbow into Pleshenko’s spine, dropping him to the floor. How could Buck protect them all if they were attacking each other?

  “Maksim,” Pleshenko gasped, holding his belly.

  Hardigen raised his gun to Egor’s head and thumbed back the hammer. Buck didn’t even think. He fired his weapon. Hardigen jerked when the bullet ripped through his jacket and shirt and lodged somewhere in his torso.

  Fuck. I just shot my commander. I’m so dead.

  The thought flit through his brain. Maybe Hardigen wasn’t dead. Buck clung to that hope, despite the order to finish the job pushing him to go shoot Hardigan in the head.

  Buck turned to find another target, only to run smack into Jayla. His fingers twitched to wrap around her neck and choke the life out of her. Mindy wouldn’t like that, though. He clutched at that thought, keeping Mindy in his mind.

  “You need to leave, Jayla.” He forced the words through gritted teeth.

  She hauled off and slapped him across the face. “What the hell is wrong with you? You. Shot. Noah.”

  Buck closed his eyes and knocked himself in the temple with his weapon. The conflicting urges in his brain buzzed like a hive of bees.

  “They injected us. I can’t control myself. Pleshenko gave us orders to kill you and Noah’s team,” he said.

  “What? I don’t understand. Injected you with what? Why would you do what Pleshenko says?”

  “Russians tweaked the drug. Now it makes you follow orders. I really want to kill you right now,” Buck said.

  “Why don’t you?”

  “Mindy told me to fight back. But it�
��s fucking hard.”

  Dozer ran over to Buck, pulled his knife and held it to Jayla’s throat, applying enough pressure to draw blood.

  Buck whipped his weapon up and pointed it at Dozer. “Don’t,” he said.

  “She’s on the list.”

  Jayla’s eyes bugged out in surprise, but she clawed and scratched at Dozer’s arm fighting to free herself.

  “I said, don’t,” Buck said. “She’s mine. I’ll do her.”

  Noah rushed across the room, his right hand buried in his armpit to stanch the bleeding, his gun steady as a rock in his left hand, pointed at Dozer’s head.

  He glared at Buck. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on here, but if either of you touch Jayla you’ll be dead before you hit the ground.”

  Buck ignored Noah, focusing on Dozer. “Let her go, man. I already called it.”

  Dozer looked disappointed, but he shrugged and let Jayla go.

  Noah stepped between Jayla and Dozer. “What’s going on?”

  “They’re high on a mind-altering drug and under Pleshenko’s control,” Jayla said to Noah. Then to Buck, she said, “You need to get out of here, Buckaroo. Do what Melinda said. Fight this shit. But take your guys and get out now, before more people die.”

  “Can’t. Under Pleshenko’s command. You need to go away before I can’t resist killing you.”

  Noah made a disgusted grunting sound, then swung his weapon to aim at Pleshenko. He put a bullet neatly between the man’s eyes. Pleshenko’s mouth opened in a surprised ‘O’ before he dropped like a sack of grain.

  “Still under his influence?” Noah asked.

  Buck squeezed his eyes shut and leaned over, his hands on his knees for support. Nausea roiled his gut and his head throbbed. With Pleshenko dead, he didn’t want to kill Noah or Jayla or any of the others, but he didn’t know where his loyalties lay, either. Mikhail had said to follow Pleshenko’s orders until he got back, but he didn’t explicitly say to wait for him.

  Mindy had told him to fight and to stay alive. Jayla had told him to do what Mindy said. He focused on that. He wanted to follow Mindy’s orders, not Mikhail’s.