The tall man gazed at the large wall of monitors. He turned around and walked to the other side of the dark room; the emissions of the numerous screens and projections providing the only elimination. He picked up a black phone headset and pressed a button.
"Get me Fisher." He said in his commanding baritone voice. "Yes sir." A frail voice acknowledged his request and the line rang only twice.
Sam threw a few cold cuts onto some somewhat stale wonder bread. It wasn't his fault-he wasn't exactly a stay at home father. Besides after years of C-rations, anything that wasn't embalmed tasted pretty damn good. The secure line's ring interrupted his feast.
"Hello, Lambert." There was no need to ask who the caller was. Only Lambert called him. "Do you always call during dinner?" Lambert was serious. "It's 11:30, Sam; normal people are sleeping now." Sam almost grinned. "And I'm not normal?"
"I'll cut to the chase, Fisher; The joint chiefs are worried about Red China. The buildup near Taiwan has escalated rapidly." "I've been watching CNN, Lambert." "That's great Sam, but I doubt that CNN told you that this really has the President pissing his pants. So now its up to you to go and see what they're up too in the China Sea."
"And what in the hell will I do there?" Sam was no foot soldier. His job required him to think and not blindly accept what was thrown at him. "Relax, Sam, your not going for a swim; not the whole time at least. There is a Taiwanese destroyer we have some concern over. Recon photos showed it docked along a Chinese cruiser 3 hours ago. WE think they have taken over the ship and plan to return it to port with a Chinese crew." "Let me guess," Sam said somewhat smugly. "You want me to go see what they're up to."
"Pretty much, Sam. Board the ship and see if the Reds have taken it over, and I'll tell you what to do from there." "Sounds simple enough Lambert." "Yes, if you think mutually assured destruction is laughable. Avoid detection onboard. If the Chinese find American involvement, the shit will really hit the fan. I'll see you at the tarmac in 45 minutes."
Sam hung up the phone. Quietly creeping up the stairs, he stopped at the first door on his left. He opened it, and shed a narrow beam of light on Sarah. "She looks so much like her mother," he thought. He walked over and kissed her on the cheek. There was no need to wake her; he did this sort of thing all the time.
He loaded a black duffel containing his ninja suit and Sc-20 into the trunk of his Black Mercedes S-class. A damn fine car. "A shame that I never drive it," He muttered. He slowly got in and drove into the cool Virginia night.