I, Spy
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Castle! Do I? Rating: M, in spots. Time: The future. After season eight, but before children.
Author's note: This is a sequel to Alexis's in Wonderland and Four of a Kind. Once again our intrepid heroes find themselves going into alternate universes.
Chapter Two. The Theory of Darwin.
"Darwin?" Kate asked. Rick and Kate had been berthed in the Captain's cabin, which had a bed which was just barely big enough for two people, as long as those two people liked to be very closer together. Rick and Kate most certainly liked being close together.
"The biggest city in Australia's top end. The northern part. You now know as much as I know about Darwin."
"And we're going there because?"
"The task force is going there. According to Ray, we'll join up with them tomorrow and be transferred to the flagship. We'll be briefed further there. This is apparently all on a need to know basis, which usually means the people who need to know, don't know anything."
"That's not a comforting thought."
Rick slid his hand under his tee shirt which Kate had borrowed to wear as sleepwear. "I have a comforting thought."
To his surprise, she pushed his hand away. "Castle! What are you doing?"
"This is worse than I thought. You don't know what you obviously need to know. I'm getting ready to make love to you."
"No! You've seen how closely packed everyone on the sub is. Someone will hear us."
"Kate, this is a submarine. We're in a steel watertight compartment with a heavy steel door, or hatch thingy, between us and everyone else. No one is going to hear us."
"Suppose they do?"
"They won't. Kate, I just…."
She kissed him. "Good night, Rick. Sleep tight."
Rick decided that any further efforts on his part would be futile and went to sleep.
Much earlier than they were used to, the hatch opened an inch or so and a female voice called out. "Time to get up, sir and ma'am. If you start now you'll have time for breakfast before they transfer you to the flagship."
An hour later, Rick, Kate, Simone, Ray and Namura climbed to the top of the sub's sail and got a look at the task force. Rick could see an aircraft carrier and five or six other, smaller ships through the early morning fog.
"The fog should burn off in a couple of hours and you'll get a better look at the task force." Captain Winton said. "Meanwhile, the Admiral wants to see you, so they're sending over an Osprey to pick you up." He pointed to the carrier and as he did, an odd looking aircraft took off. It had wings that tilted through ninety degrees allowing it to take off and land like a helicopter, and fly like an airplane once aloft. The aircraft head straight for the Indiana, then slowed down and hovered over the deck behind the sail. The five passengers had already gone to the deck and quickly boarded the aircraft through a rear ramp. Then they were in the air, headed for the carrier.
Landing, they were met by another Navy officer. "Welcome to USS Saratoga, CVN 84. If you'll follow me, the Admiral wants to see all of you." They were led across a busy flight deck and into the carrier's island. From there, they ascended by elevator to what they were told was 'flag country."
After passing a Marine sentry they were ushered into a small office. There to greet them was a tall African-American man dressed in khakis. He held out his hand. "I'm Rear Admiral Jim Barnes, and I run the Saratoga carrier strike group. I wanted to get a look at you. We don't often have to send a special ops sub into a recently discovered Earth and pick up people.
Both Montgomery and Namura hastened to assure the admiral that the mission had been necessary. This seemed to satisfy him as he smiled and nodded. "One thing was accurate. I was told that the two ladies were very beautiful, and I can see that they are. Why, they're almost as beautiful as my own wife."
Kate noted a family photo of the admiral and what she assumed was his wife and children on the wall. "You're too kind, sir. We're nowhere near as beautiful as your wife."
Barnes laughed. "And you're diplomatic, too." He noticed Simone was looking out at the carrier deck with interest. "Interested, Ms. Renoir?"
She nodded. "Yes. I've never seen a ship this large."
"The Sara is over eleven hundred feet long and displaces about a hundred and fifteen thousand tons. She's nuclear powered and carries four fighter attack squadrons with a mix of F 35 strike fighters and F 51 drones , a squadron of EF 35 electronic warfare aircraft and EF 51 drones, a squadron of KF 51 aerial tanker drones, a squadron of E 5 early warning aircraft, a helicopter squadron, and the Osprey that brought you here. Altogether just over a hundred aircraft."
"And there are more ships out there as well." Simone said.
Barnes took a step towards her. "Dead ahead is a guided missile cruiser, USS Chicago. She handles all of the anti-air, anti-surface and anti-sub defenses so the carrier can do its job. There are also four destroyers and two frigates for escorts. You can't see it, but there's a nuclear attack sub out there and, of course, Indiana. And if you look off to the port, "Barnes gestured to the left, "you'll see a helicopter carrier, USS Okinawa. We normally wouldn't have one of those assigned to us, but our mission is unusual and requires it."
"I thought your mission was to get us." Kate said.
"I'm afraid we're here to rob the dead." Barnes said sadly.
"Pardon?" Castle said.
"This Earth had a nuclear war about three years ago. They used mostly airburst neutron bombs. The explosions are too high to damage any infrastructure or ships, but the radiation is deadly. We sent in a ballistic missile sub with reconnaissance satellites instead of warheads to take a look. We estimate well over ninety five percent of this Earth's population is dead. We found what appears to be an intact US Navy task force at Darwin, Australia. We're at war with Demming's America and can use all the help we can get. We're here to recover those ships. The Okinawa is carrying a skeleton crew for the ships." Barnes went to his desk and returned with a sheaf of photos. "We sent a recon drone over yesterday. There's what looks very much like a Hornet class carrier, like the Sara, two smaller carriers, possibly ASW, um, anti-submarine ships and three Halsey class destroyers, like our escorts and a replenishment ship. There are also what may be Royal Australian Navy ships there."
"That many dead?" Simone whispered.
Admiral Barnes just nodded. He faced Rick. "Oh, we let it be known that you're Derrick Storm, but your cover identity is Mr. and Mrs. Castle. That way you won't have to try to remember another name. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do. Ensign Wentzel has been assigned to escort you around."
They shook hands with the admiral and left. Outside was a tall, stocky young lady who introduced herself as Ensign Susan Wentzel, from the ship's public information office. "Anything I can do for you?" She asked enthusiastically.
"Clothing!" Kate said. "I don't want to wear the same clothes all the time."
"I have just the thing for you three." Wentzel replied and in an hour, the three were fitted out with camouflaged fatigues. "Since you three are CIA, the admiral has ordered you to be treated as officers. If you'll follow me to the wardroom, it's about lunch time. Have you ever had sliders?"
Life on an aircraft carrier is very busy, but not if you're an author pretending to be a spy, a police captain or the owner of a restaurant in New Orleans. But while Rick and Kate watched this Earth's versions of the Star Wars saga interspersed with romcoms, Simone busied herself with learning all she could about this Earth and especially it's military. The time passed.
"They got to the carrier." Wentzel told them. "Not too many dead bodies. They figure the crew mostly went ashore for a huge, last party before they died of radiation poisoning. They haven't checked the other two smaller carriers or other ships. Would you three like to go see the carrier? I thought you might have a professional interest, Mr…..Castle." Wentzel added his last name slyly, letting him know that she knew who he really was. And of course, he wasn't who she thought he was.
Castle shrugged. "Sure. We've been cooped up watching movies. I'd like some fresh air. As long as we don't run into any dead bodies."
There was a continuous shuttle of helicopters and Ospreys form the task force to Darwin and back, so when the famous spy Derrick Storm, er, that is, Rick Castle and wife and friend wanted to go to Darwin, seats were quickly found.
As befitted his reputation, bogus as it was, Rick was met by Captain Bolzano who would be in charge of getting the abandoned ships ready for sea and then sailing them back to their new home.
From the worried look on Bolzano's face when they arrived, Rick guessed that he was not one of the ones let in on the secret of his identity. "Mr., um, Castle? How may I be of service?'
"Oh, we're just here to stretch our legs and get some fresh air. Please, just act like we're not even here."
"Would you like me to show you around the ship?" A female voice said. They turned around to see Ensign Wentzel just trotting over from a helicopter. "I managed to talk my way onto a bird headed this way."
Rick nodded. "Lead the way."
Wentzel had been paying attention to the reports coming back from the salvage crew. The carrier was in good shape considering that it had been abandoned for three years or so. "All of the aircraft are either on the hangar deck or up here on the flight deck. It looks like everyone didn't go partying ashore. Some stayed behind to put the ship in as good a shape as they could manage. The bodies have been removed and…."
Wentzel was interrupted by a commotion near the bow. Rick saw armed Marines running forward and started to follow them. Kate grabbed his arm. "We should stay here. We don't want to get into a gunfight without our guns." Rick smiled sheepishly and nodded.
In a few minutes Wentzel found out what it was all about. "They found survivors over on the replenishment ship. Marines and a bunch of Aussie civilians. One of them's coming to see the Captain now. Do you want to go see him? You're interrogation skills could come in handy."
No one seemed to object to the four of them walking over and standing by Captain Bolzano. In minutes a squad of Marines approached with a tired looking Marine in faded cammies in the middle. They stopped in front of Bolzano. "This is Gunnery Sergeant Hoff, sir."
Hoff saluted. "Gunnery Sergeant Michael Hoff reporting, sir. God, you're really Americans?" Then he began to cry.
Bolzano explained that they were Americans, just from a different US. He promised to take everyone back with the task force.
Hoff told his story. "We're from 3rd Recon battalion, sir. We were a hundred miles into the outback when the shit hit the fan. Too far away to get nuked. Everything went crazy. We had to fight our way back here. I'm the senior man. I've got sixteen Marines left, four Australian troops and a local cop and a bunch of civilians. A hundred and six all together. We holed up on the Mt. Shasta because it has food, medicine, ammo," Hoff grinned. "We even got an auxiliary generator running. And we forage in the town and stay away from the damned bikies."
"Bikies?" Bolzano asked.
"Aussie slang for bikers. Outlaw bikers, sir. If you look to the south, past the two RAN frigates, there's a Malaysian frigate. Behind that is a big white building. That's a warehouse for the Australian military. There's maybe thirty bikies." Hoff stopped. "And the women."
"Women?"
"Yes, sir. The bikies were even farther out of Darwin than we were, but they raided a couple of towns and grabbed all the young women they could get, grabbed some trucks, loaded up with whatever they could steal and ended up here. They got a 76mm gun on the frigate working. They lobbed a couple of shells into the town to let us know they could shell us. We talk on the radio. They like to make us listen when they rape the women." Hoff cursed. "Shit, sir. I only got sixteen Marines."
As if on cue, they heard a flat crack and then an explosion some hundreds of yards away in the water. At the same time someone called, "Captain Bolzano, sir? We got an incoming radio message." A Marine came over with a backpack radio and squatted by Bolzano. Bolzano took the handset. "This is Captain Michael Bolzano, US Navy. Who am I talking to?"
"Hello, seppo. I'm Snake and I figure with everyone else dead, I'm the Prime Minister of Australia now. You've come to take ships in our harbor. If you're gonna do that, you need to pay us. Understand?"
"Suppose we don't want to pay?"
"Then we'll start putting rounds in your ships. Maybe some missiles. I reckon you have a lot of sailors but damned few combat troops. So, what are you willing to pay for my ships?"
"Give me an hour to talk to my commander." Bolzano cut the connection. He looked at the officers and chief petty officers gathered around him. "I need a secure comm link to the task force ASAP."
Snake got his answer in less than an hour. Nearly sixty aircraft soared over the bay and started dropping bombs in the water some hundreds of yards from the frigate. Bolzano radioed Snake. "You fire one damned round at us, and I'll blow your ship to bits and the warehouse you're living off of. What I propose is a peace treaty. You don't bother us and we don't bother you. We get what we want and leave and you continue as you were. That offer is non-negotiable. Take it or we'll blow you to bits."
There was a pause, then. "Take your fuckin' ships, Yank."
"Sir, could I talk to you?" Castle said. "Privately?"
Bolzano nodded and led Castle to an unoccupied area of the flight deck.
"Are you seriously not even going to try to rescue those women?" Castle demanded.
"I'm not going to try, I'm going to rescue those women and kill Snake and his gang."
Castle was shocked for a moment, then laughed. "You're a very good actor, Captain."
Bolzano smiled back. "Damned right I am."
The SEALs from Indiana set up three observation posts to keep an eye on the frigate. They reported that for the first couple of days, the bikies' security was tight. There were a number of alert looking sentries on the ship 24/7. But after that, security declined. Now there was one guard on duty and several SEALs said they could smell pot coming from the ship. There were five bikies at the warehouse and they appeared even less alert than those on the ship.
Bolzano decided to have the SEALs attack the ship and left the warehouse to the Marines. Kate was not at all happy when Rick got ready to go with the SEALs.
"Kate, I'm Derrick Storm, world class super hero. Everyone expects me to go. But the SEALs who picked us up know I'm not Derrick Storm, just Rick Castle, so I go with them and stay behind when they board the ship. When it's all over, they come back and tell everyone that I'm more dangerous than Samuel L. Jackson on crack. Everyone's happy."
"I'm not." Kate said. "I want a very long life with you."
"Me, too." Rick admitted. He got a kiss from Kate and a hug from Simone and headed off with the SEALs.
The frigate had been tied up to the dock when it arrived. The bikies probably didn't know enough about ships to get the engines started and move the ship without something going wrong, so there it stayed.
Castle could see only one sentry on the ship, standing by the ship's gangplank. He was smoking something and from how deeply he was inhaling Castle, and everyone else, was sure he was stoned.
Lieutenant Daly, the SEALs commander spoke briefly to the Marines at the warehouse, then to his team. Then, "Okay, snipers, let's do this."
The two snipers had bolt action sniper rifles that had been bored out to fire .45 ACP pistol cartridges. As the bullets were slower than the speed of sound, there would be no sharp crack of a sonic boom. The rifles were also equipped with what the ordnance CPO had called a "truly ginormous suppressor." The snipers nodded and took aim. Somehow they fired simultaneously. Castle could swear he only one brief thump. The sentry sprawled backwards, a bullet in his throat and in his head.
The SEALs took off running towards the ship and after a second's hesitation, Rick followed them. The point man stopped at the top of the gangplank. "Tripwire." He whispered. He bent over and pulled a knife. There was a soft ping and he ran on, followed by the rest of the SEALs.
"You shouldn't be here." A SEAL hissed to Rick.
"I just got caught up in the moment." He confessed.
"You should go…"
A door opened in front of Castle and light poured out onto the deck where he stood. There stood a man. He was big. Tattooed. Had a long scraggly beard and long hair. His eyes were very bloodshot. He carried a sawn off shotgun in his left hand. He stared at Castle for a second longer than Castle stared at him. Rick raised his carbine and fired a single shot into the man's chest. The bikie went sprawling backwards. Rick could hear firing all over the ship. There were single gunshots that he knew were the SEALs and bursts of automatic fire.
"You okay?" The SEAL next to him yelled over the sound of gunfire.
"Yeah. I should go." He turned and headed for the gangplank, but the SEAL grabbed him.
"Better you stay here with us."
For the first time Rick saw there were two other men with him. "Your first?" Asked one, gesturing to the corpse at their feet.
Rick nodded.
"You'll get over it." Someone said.
"Maybe." Said another voice.
"We're a blocking force." Said the first SEAL. "Some of 'em will head for the gangplank or try to jump to the dock. Stay between us and try not to get shot."
Rick was never sure afterwards how long the firefight lasted. But all of a sudden the deck was full of SEALs and naked young women. One of the women, Rick later learned she was a school teacher, kept softly repeating, "Please, no. Please, no." Over and over and over again.
Rick heard the SEAL commander, Daly, on the radio to someone. "Bikers are all dead. We have two wounded, but not badly. Two women were killed, but we got twenty three out, four wounded, one badly. Shot in the stomach. I need a dust off chopper to the dock for the wounded, then more to take the women back."
Daly listened on the radio for a minute. "Listen up. The Marines hit the warehouse. Five dead bikers, seven women all okay and no dead or wounded Marines. You did good, people. Now let's take care of these people."
Daly pulled Rick aside. "Why did you come along with us?"
Rick shrugged. "Sorry. I just got caught up in the moment. Shooting that guy ruined the element of surprise, I know. But I promise…"
Daly laughed. "There were three other SEALs standing beside you. If you hadn't shot, one of them would have. You gonna be okay?"
Castle nodded.
"Take a look at the women. Look at how those bastards treated them. He deserved what he got. All of them did. You did good, Mr. Storm." Castle decided that Daly meant he was now Derrick Storm, who really was more dangerous than Samuel L. Jackson on crack. Somehow he felt better and worse.
Kate hugged and kissed Rick for a good five minutes before she remembered she was furious at him for following the SEALs. "Are you crazy? Don't answer that! You could have been killed. You are not super spy Derrick Storm and you should not try to act like you are. What the hell was the matter with you?"
"I killed a man tonight. I never did that before." He said softly.
"Oh, god. I'm sorry Rick. Come on, Captain Bolzano found us quarters here on the carrier. We have a coffee maker. I'll make you some."
Kate held Rick and listened to him talk about what had happened and then they slipped into bed and drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Wentzel briefed them on how things were going. "The carrier is in good shape, at least for getting it back home. It'll have to go into the yard for a while, but it's a hell of a lot faster and cheaper than building a new carrier. The two ASW carriers are ships we planned, but never built. But we'll take them back. We'll find a use for them. The destroyers are okay, but the two Aussie frigates are too badly damaged to repair. The Malaysian ship that Snake and Company were on is totally non-standard. We'd have to manufacture spare parts from scratch. It'll stay here. Oh, satellites found a boomer, missile sub in port in East Africa and carrier run aground off of Egypt. But that's not for us. We're headed home."
Well, not everyone was headed home.
"Mr. Castle?" Ray Montgomery said as the carrier headed out to sea to join the task force with its escorts. "Can we have a word?"
"Do I get to meet the press now?" Rick asked hopefully as he, Kate and Simone were ushered into Ray's office.
"We got lucky."
"You found our Derrick Storm and I can go home?" He said hopefully.
"Not that lucky, I'm afraid. But we got some good news from Hong Kong on Earth B4."
"Before what?"
Ray looked confused for a second. Them he chuckled. "I'm sorry. We don't use Earth One, Two, and Three like the others. We use an alphanumeric code. A is for Earths that are friendly ones we can trade with openly. B Earths are friendly, and we trade with them, but don't let them know we're from another Earth, C Earths are worlds that are not worth bothering with, low tech or sometimes uninhabited, and D Earths are enemy Earths. Demming's Earth and the worlds he's conquered."
"So what's happening in Hong Kong?"
"We intercepted a courier from Colonel Storm. A Mr. Conrad there has something Storm badly wants. He wouldn't tell Storm what it was, so Storm told him he'd have to wait for him to finish his current assignment in a month before he could get to Hong Kong. Don't you see? This is perfect. You can go to Hong Kong as Colonel Storm and get something he wants. We can set a trap for the other Storm.
"No way!" Kate said loudly.
