Disclaimer: "Rainbow Six" and all related characters are the sole property of Rubicon, Inc. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. All original characters and situations are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without express permission.
Rainbow Six:
SPECWAR
by Darrin Colbourne
The call that woke Domingo Chavez up at One A.M. surprised him more because of its content than its timing. As the leader of Rainbow, Team Two, which was currently the alert team at Hereford, he'd come into the job knowing he might be summoned to Rainbow's Headquarters at all hours of the day night. The odd thing was that such a call hadn't come in months. The world's terrorist community had seemed to have gotten the hint so well after the "First War of the Twenty-First Century" that his "two weeks on-alert, two weeks off" rotation had turned into one long training session. He hadn't minded that a bit. The training while "on-alert" was light to avoid injuring personnel that might be called to action, so it gave him more time and energy to spend with Patsy, his wife, and John Conor, his son, who'd taken his first tentative steps just a few days before (Exactly three, after which he promptly introduced his face to the living room carpet).
Chavez knew it had been too good to last. Once again, someone out in the world had decided that fanaticism and death threats were the keys to getting what they wanted from their enemies. It was his job to show them the error of their ways, but he couldn't help wishing that they'd let him get his full eight hours before they'd made their latest bid for power.
He entered Unit Headquarters wearing his day uniform of green fatigues. John Clark, Rainbow's founder and Commanding Officer, was in his office with his Executive Officer, Alistair Stanley. Both men were dressed in casual civilian clothes, but Stanley looked more rested, having been on Night Watch when the call came in. Clark did his best to hide it, but Chavez had worked with him long enough to recognize when the man was fighting sleep.
"Morning, Ding." Clark said when his son-in-law came in. "How'd you sleep?"
"Best two hours I ever had, Mr. C." Chavez said. That earned him a couple of chuckles from the older men in the office. Clark went to make Chavez a cup of coffee to help him wake up.
"How's Young John, Domingo?" Stanley asked. "Has he done any more marching lately?"
"Not yet," Chavez said as he took the mug from Clark, "but eventually he'll be outrunning the rest of us on the training ground." He smiled at that before he took a sip of the coffee. "Pretty Good. So…what's happening in the world?"
Clark nodded to Stanley and sat on the edge of his desk as his "Second" briefed Chavez. "About an hour ago our watchstanders in the Communications Room caught a news story that was being picked up by the major international news agencies. A British-flagged cargo ship and a harbor tug were hijacked this morning as they were pulling out of port in Singapore. The hijackers are apparently smugglers who were intercepted running drugs to various parts of South Asia. They took the tug to avoid capture, and then used gear they found aboard to board the cargo ship. The local Coast Guard tried to mount a rescue, but they had a bad time of it."
"How many bad guys?" Chavez said.
"Six at last count. A seventh was downed in the firefight with the Singaporeans."
"Hostages?"
"Twenty-nine total, four on the tug. Two of the tug's sailors managed to get off and get picked up by the authorities." The intercom buzzed as Stanley finished.
"Clark." Rainbow Six said as he pressed the button.
"Communications on the line for you, Sir." His secretary's voice said. Clark picked up the phone.
"Go ahead." He said. Stanley went on as Clark listened.
"The Singaporean and British governments have been in constant contact for the past hour. It's likely that we'll be getting an official go-ahead soon."
"That means I'd better shake my people loose, then." Chavez said as Clark hung up.
"Okay, new development." Clark said. "The bad guys from the tug managed to transfer over to the container ship, and they took two hostages with them. The tug has veered off and is headed for safe waters."
"So, good news, two less hostages to worry about," Chavez said, "bad news, the opposition is consolidating it's forces. I'm gonna need info on the container ship and any information we can get on who hijacked her."
"We've got David working on it now." Stanley said. David Peled was Rainbow's intelligence expert.
Just then the buzzer sounded again. "Yes?" Clark said when he hit the button.
"Whitehall on the line, Sir." The secretary said.
The three men looked at each other, then Clark said "Thank you." and picked up the phone. "Clark…Yes, Sir…Yes we have, Sir…we'll get everything moving as soon as possible. Yes? I understand." With that Clark hung up. "You have a 'go'." He said to Chavez. "The Singaporean Foreign Minister made a formal request for the services of Rainbow, and the British Foreign Minister is putting himself on record as making a similar one."
Stanley checked his watch. "We can have you on a flight out of Heathrow leaving in forty minutes." He said. "The next one is an hour and ten minutes later."
"When you get to Singapore," Clark said, "your liaison with the local authorities will be Colonel Sam-Ho Rok of the Republic of Singapore Navy."
Chavez's eyebrow cocked at that. "Two questions: One, I always thought squids were partial to Captains." He gave Clark a lopsided grin.
Clark smiled back as he explained. "American squids are. The Singaporean Navy uses groundpounder ranks."
Chavez nodded. "Okay, then Two: Why the Navy at all? I figured we'd be talking to their Coasties."
Stanley took this one. "You would be, if the battle area were still inside Singaporean territory. As of now, the Merchant Vessel Majestic is in international waters, steaming into the South China Sea at twelve knots."
Chavez's face changed at that, grew more serious. "Something new and horrible every time." He said. "That's why I love my job. I've got to get my people moving."
