Danger Point

by Douglas J Bourg

  He turns back to DJ, “We’re going to have to make some modifications to your boat.”

  DJ nods, “Don’t touch any of the woodwork below, okay? Bobby and I worked our asses off getting that restored.”

  Delany smiles, puts his hand on DJ’s shoulder and turns to us again, “For the next few days all of you will be trained to help us with our plan to capture Sandoval and shut down his operation. We have divers sweeping the hull of the boat for tracking devices. Once they’re done, they’ll sweep topside, too.”

  He barely has the words out when one of the diver’s heads pops out of the water. “Commander, you need to see this,” she calls.

  She hands something to one of the Marines in the boat and he in turn reaches up to pass it to Delany. Delany gets down on one knee and leans over to take what the diver has found. He stands up and studies it for a moment. It doesn’t take him long to figure out what it is.

  “Let’s get that team over here to sweep this cabin, now!” he orders.

  Two men climb aboard our boat with hand-held equipment and quickly head below; Delany follows them. After about ten minutes, Delany comes topside, looking grim.

  “We have a major problem, people,” he says. “DJ, please start the engine and follow us into the harbor.”

  With that, Delany steps over the rail line and in to the swift boat. We cast off the lines and as the swift turns around. No one says anything as we follow them toward the Marine base.

  Chapter 46

  We follow the boats into the harbor the Marines had created for their Swift Boat Assault Unit. I let out a low whistle.

  DJ says, “Holy shit. I’ve sailed past this and have seen it from the freeway, but had no idea all this was behind the walls.”

  The facility has a harbor set up with docks for the hovercrafts the Marines and SEAL teams use in there. There’s a pier and a boat yard and off in the distance I can see what looks to be three of four small submarines tied up to the docks at the far end of the enclosed harbor. I look toward the shore and can see the grey outlines of three large buildings and some smaller ones.

  “Bobby,” DJ says as a Marine directs us to pull into a boat slip, “Tie us down, please.”

  I pull myself together and ask Murph to give me a hand. We drop the fenders, step off the boat and grab the lines Alexis and John G. throw to us. I tie mine off and go over to check Murphy’s. Not bad for a land lubber. I tighten it up and give him a pat on the shoulder. Delany walks down the dock and over to us. “Alexis, will you come with me, please,” obviously not a question but an order. She hops down off the boat. “The rest of you sit tight until I get back. Do not leave the boat, do you understand? This facility is classified top secret.”

  Murph and I climb back onto the sailboat.

  Delany looks up at the four of us, “This is very serious, gentlemen. The motto at this facility is, ‘what you see here, what you hear here, stays here or never leave here.’ Look around you.”

  We turn and look at all the Marines on patrol, heavily armed. DJ goes a little whiter than he was before. Murph and John G. maintain their stony expressions. I hope what I’m thinking – did I bring enough changes of underwear – doesn’t show on my face.

  “Don’t think for one second that any one of these men or women will tolerate any sort of shenanigans. This is very serious business and they will shoot you if they have to. Understood?”

  We all reply, “Yes, sir,” at various volumes.

  With that, he turns on his heel and heads down the dock with Alexis marching close behind. Even in beaded sandals, her presence is as military as everyone else we see. Delany stops and speaks with an MP, who looks over at us nods, steps back and salutes. Delany and Alexis get into a jeep and drive away as the MP positions himself at the foot of our dock.

  “Well, boys,” I say, “Since we can’t leave the boat and we have no idea when they’ll be back, I say we open a couple of beers until our host returns.”

  Murph looks around and says, “This place is amazing.”

  John G. nods, adding, “The Marines and Navy must have spent a couple of billion dollars on this place. A natural cove surrounded by high cliffs on one of the most secure military bases in the world.”

  I hand up four cans of beer from below, “Whatever Delany and his crew found can’t be good. Did you get a look at his face when those divers came up from under the boat?”

  “Yeah,” says Murph, “He looked concerned and pissed off. Thanks.” He opens his Heineken and sits down on the cabin top.

  DJ waves the beer away, “Not for me. I might be driving. And, I hate to sound like an old lady, but I don’t think we should get hammered. Just one beer guys. Who knows how quickly they’ll be back and what other shit we’ll be asked to do.” He stands up and looks toward the buildings.

  “This is bullshit, you guys,” Murph says, agitated. “I hate waiting.”

  He stands up, nearly spilling beer on me. I look over at the MP, who has not taken his eyes off us since getting his orders from Delany.

  “Murph,” I grab his arm to get him to sit back down, “Calm down. We all agreed to help Delaney do this, so let’s just sit and wait until we find out what the man has to say, okay? Have another beer.”

  “No more beer,” says DJ, still looking at the buildings and the activity on the shore.

  ◆◆◆

  “Captain, you are needed on the bridge,” the First Officer says, standing just inside the door of the cabin. “We have successfully slipped away from the American Submarine. However, we have lost a considerable amount of time and our passenger is making threats about being delayed. Some of the men are concerned about this man, sir. There are rumors aboard he may be crazy.”

  “Yes, I know,” replies the Captain, lowering his voice, “I will first deal with Aziz and then I will plot out a new course and speed to get us back on schedule. Would you be so kind as to escort our guest to my cabin, then take your post on the bridge until I return?”

  “Yes sir.”

  Once the First Officer has left the cabin, the Captain stands up and looks at his reflection in the mirror over his sink. He quickly washes his face and combs his hair.

  At the knock on his door, he calls out, “Enter.”

  Aziz lets himself into the cabin, with the First Officer remaining outside.

  “You wanted to see me, Captain?” says Aziz, sitting in the chair beside the Captain’s desk, “Obviously to address my concerns, since your men have done nothing.”

  “My men have done nothing because I have given them no instructions. They answer only to me,” replies the Captain, leaning against the hatchway. “Your pressure and endless questions threaten to undermine our entire mission. So, if you do not wish to spend the rest of this voyage confined to your quarters, you will stay off my bridge, not speak to any of my men and keep your threats to yourself.”

  Aziz rises from the chair, an expression of indignation on his face. Before he can open his mouth to speak, the Captain moves with so much speed that the terrorist does not see the gun until it’s cocked and pressed against his head.

  “The next time you disobey my orders, you oily little shit,” says the Captain through clenched teeth, “I will pull the trigger and feed you to the sharks. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Captain. I understand. I was merely …”

  The Captain opens the door. “Escort our guest back to his cabin. Ensure he is locked inside and post a guard at the door.”

  “Yes, sir,” replies the First Officer with a smile, “It will be my pleasure, sir.”

  Once they are gone, the Captain replaces this pistol in its holster and heads to the bridge so he can figure out how he can get submarine back on schedule without being detected. He would have shot that bastard if he hadn’t been afraid the sound of the gunshot would have given away their location.

  ◆◆◆

  Delaney and Alexis arrive back at the boat after we sneak in one more beer. DJ can be such an old lady.

&n
bsp; “I apologize for my abruptness earlier,” Delany says once they are both aboard, “We have a major problem. The tracking and listening devices we found on your boat, DJ, are brand new, state of the art and made for the United States government in Irvine. Right here at home, boys and girls. We are tearing their offices apart right now to find out how these devices ended up on your boat. Now, let’s get you guys settled in to your new quarters so we can re-rig your boat. The changes will be very subtle but very necessary if we want to capture Sandoval.”

  “What changes?” asks DJ.

  “We’ll go over all of that in the morning, DJ. We need to keep all of you isolated from the rest of the base, so you’ll be bunking in the barracks by the large repair hanger at the south end of the Swift base. Alexis will show you the way. Get a good night’s sleep. You have a busy schedule for the next three days,” Delany says and jumps down off the boat and walks over to speak with the MP.

  I have the feeling this MP will be our BFF for the next three days.

  “Let’s go get settled,” Alexis says.

  She takes a quick look around and spies the empty beer cans. Uh oh.

  “You bastards,” she says, sternly, “Didn’t you bring me any vodka?”

  Chapter 47

  I awake to the sound of a horn. It takes me a few seconds to figure out where I am. The sound is coming over an intercom system. I can see DJ swing his legs over from the top bunk across from me as John G. sits up from the bunk below him. Murph must be in my top bunk. I see the rest of the men in the barracks get up, and walk through the door at the end of the barracks. We follow them.

  Everyone is heading into the bathroom, another huge room in typical military style, toilets on one side and showers on the other with a small partition wall between. I grab a towel and hit the shower. Who knows when we’ll see one again? I can hear Murph grumbling about this reminding him of gym class. We all quickly pull our towels around us as we hear wolf whistles and Alexis walks into the bathroom.

  “At ease, gentlemen,” she says with a shake of her head, “Children. You’re all the same.”

  She turns to look at us. Do I detect her giving me the once-over? Or is it just wishful thinking? I notice a stack of folded clothes in her arms. She’s wearing a uniform like the ones she’s holding.

  “Delany wants all of us dressed in these uniforms. I’ll drop them on your bunks. Unless you want me to wait here?” she says with a little smile.

  “No, no,” says Murph, a little too quickly, “Put them on the bunks. That’ll be fine.”

  “Okay,” she says, “If you’re sure. Once you’re dressed, meet us over in the building marked C-3, to the left of us, for breakfast. Delany wants us there in twenty minutes, so you’d better hustle.”

  She turns to walk into the bunk room amid more wolf whistles.

  I dry off, go back to my bunk and dress in the fatigues marked ‘Paladin’ inside the collar. Just like at camp. I pull the shirt on and see my name embroidered in a patch on the front. I look over at DJ to see him looking down at the ‘Frasier’ on his.

  Murph says, “What the hell is this shit? How many beers did I have last night?”

  “Just put it on. You can complain about it to Delany,” says DJ. “I’m starving.”

  I walk back to the shower area and call out, “John! We’re supposed to meet Delany and Alexis for breakfast in ten minutes. Shake a leg!”

  He comes out of the shower with his hair wet and slicked back, “I liked it better when she was working for me.”

  We look like every other Marine we see as we walk over to the building marked C-3. We stand just inside the door and look around. We see Delany and Alexis over on the far side of the room, off in a corner and Delany waves us over. There is a steam table along one side of the room and we see Marines lined up getting eggs, cereal, coffee and toast.

  Delany says, “Good morning gentlemen. I trust everyone slept alright.” He doesn’t wait for an answer. “We have a lot of work to do today. Go grab some breakfast with the other men and we can get our meeting started while we eat. I’ll be right back.”

  We follow the line to the end and grab metal trays. It looks pretty good. Maybe being in the military isn’t too bad. Back at the table, we see packets with our names on them at places on the table. I sit near mine. It’s sealed, so I eat my breakfast. I’m assuming we’d better wait for Delany to get back before we open them.

  “What’s in here?” DJ asks Alexis, holding his package up.

  “We’ll cover all that in a few minutes,” she says, biting into a piece of toast. Delany returns followed by an officer in fatigues.

  “I’d like to introduce you to your training officer, Command Master Chief Ferguson. The chief here will help you get ready for the mission which he’ll help lead. Chief,” He says and sits down at the far end of the table.

  “Thank you, sir,” says Ferguson. “Good morning. Please open the packets in front of each of you. This is our training schedule for the next few days. In that time, you will become familiar with me and the plan. The use of civilians is highly unusual, but Commander Delany is unusual himself and I’ve learned not to question his motives.”

  We all turn to look at Delany who is calmly sipping his coffee.

  The Chief continues, “After this meeting, we will proceed to the shooting range to evaluate your ability with different firearms. Next, we’ll advance to the village and see how you deal with identifying targets as civilian, or enemy. After that we’ll take a quick run through the obstacle course in order to gauge your fitness levels.”

  I look around the table and figure we should all be okay with the guns, except for DJ. He’s not used to shooting a gun and Maria would never let him have one in the house anyway. We’re not GI Jane fit, but we’re all in pretty good shape. We fill out forms in the packet, shoe size, blood type, home address, and next of kin. I’m pretty sure these guys know all this already, except maybe the shoe size.

  “The last thing in the packet is a release form,” he says, “It states that you have willingly agreed to help on this mission and you or your families will not sue the U.S. Government because of injury or death. You will not be allowed to leave this room unless you sign this document. Should you refuse to sign, you will be kept here, under guard, until the mission is completed. Understood?”

  The Chief hands me a pen and I sign. I pass the pen to John G. He and I are the only civilians without families and so have the least to lose. Murph signs; he’s a cop and knows what he’s in for, but when the pen gets to DJ, he hesitates, reading the form very carefully. He looks across the table at me.

  “You don’t have to sign it,” I say. “Just hang out here until we get back. I’ll take good care of your boat.”

  He looks down at the paper again, “Fuck it,” he says as he scribbles his name across the bottom of the page.

  “Good,” says the Chief. “Thank you. I’ll work with each of you individually, starting with you, DJ.”

  “Yeah, sure,” says DJ, pushing his eggs around his plate.

  “After you have finished your breakfast, return to the barracks where you’ll find boots and caps in your sizes. There will also be a set of dog tags. Please put these on. The rest of you can relax in the barracks until I send for you. DJ, please meet me back here in twenty minutes.”

  Delany, Alexis and Ferguson walk out of the mess, leaving the rest of us to finish our meal.

  “What do you guys think? Those release forms make me really uncomfortable,” says DJ. “I mean, if something happens to me, I don’t like the fact that the government will throw Maria and the kids under the bus.”

  “None of us wants to die, DJ, but Sandoval has to be stopped,” says John G.

  “Yes, he does,” agrees Murph, “He’s a corrupt son of a bitch.”

  “He killed Micky and Jeannie; he’s hitting too close to home. We’ve got to do what we can to stop him,” I say. “If there was another way, I’m sure these guys would have thought of it by now.”


  DJ nods, “I just can’t figure out how it all got so complicated. One minute I’m working on a job and the next minute my family, my business, my boat,” he looks at me, “and my best friend are all on the line. But, I will not say no to my country.”

  John G. says, “So, we’re agreed. Sandoval has to be stopped and we’re going to do whatever it takes to do that.”

  We all nod.

  “Fair enough,” he continues, “Let’s go finish dressing and see what they have in store for us.”

  Chapter 48

  “DJ,” the Chief says after they return to the mess hall, “I singled you out after looking at your dossier. Your background is neither military nor law enforcement, yet you’ve been involved in some interesting situations and have managed to stay alive and defended yourself admirably. Most of the others have weapons training with firearms. Have you?”

  “Not really,” replies DJ. “I’m more comfortable with a bow.”

  “A bow?” asks the Chief, “As in bow and arrow?”

  “Yeah,” says DJ. “I’ve been bow hunting for years. It just seems to be more fair. I’ve won a few archery contests and I can protect myself. That’s what all this is about, isn’t it, Chief? Protecting ourselves so we don’t get killed on the government’s dime?”

  He ignores the jab. “Well, bow hunting wasn’t in your dossier,” says Ferguson, “After we’re done at the firing range, we’ll go to the archery range and see what you can do.”

  ◆◆◆

  “Now, DJ, the object is to kill the enemies and try to not kill any civilians. Think you can handle that?” asks Ferguson.

  “Yes, sir, Master Chief,” says DJ, “I’ve got it. Shoot the bad guys, let the good guys live.”

  The village is a replica of any average small town that the Marine recon or SEAL teams might encounter in Afghanistan or Iraq.