The trip to get to the park was uneventful. They had all changed in the Center's locker room so Kayra Lynn had leapt out of the vehicle and made a beeline for the playground equipment. This brought a quick admonishment from KC.

The former Air Force Commando had worked for Hawke Aviation since a couple months after Nick had joined. The two Commandos had worked on the same team together until Nick had left to join the war on terror. This had put KC in command of the team. When the Officer in charge of the overall project had been promoted and reassigned, the young Lieutenant had requested a transfer to a teaching post.

When Nick had asked him about it, KC had said they were now fighting a new enemy and he found himself sympathizing with their doctrinal dogma a little too much for his liking. KC had told Nick that he'd wanted to expand the training program that then-Colonel O'Neill had initiated, but instead he found himself covering the non-combat flight essentials. This was likely due to the fact that his last combat action had been when he'd been the wingman for Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell, who had been shot down during that engagement.

Knowing that the young Lieutenant was as ambitious as he was qualified, Nick had offered him a job as a Shop Manager at Hawke Aviation. He was to essentially act as Dominic Santini's Aide/Bodyguard and to keep things running smoothly in the non-clerical areas of the business. Due to the relationship he had with the elder Santini, Dominic was one of the few people who even knew Kenni Chaz was his birth name. There were also times when Nick had a need for extra pilots for a project that KC was called in.

KC was actually a bit tired on this day because he'd spent 3 18 hour days in a row working on a movie project. It was the latest in a series called Command & Control 5: Terminal Operations. The first had been called C&C: Hard Corps and so the entire series had been nicknamed either C&C or Hard Corps for PR purposes. It was a series co-starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis and intended as a continuation of the Tears Of The Sun saga. In fact, the first one had had the original title TOTS2: Crying Bullets but the 'Crying' part did not appeal to a studio suit and he'd had it officially changed to Sweating Bullets which had run afoul of the studio which had produced the TV series of the same name demanding royalties.

When Nick and KC had pointed out some glaring continuity issues, the Executive Producer had stormed off the set. This had created production issues since his contract stated that he was still to be paid full salary since he owned part of the property rights of the TOTS distribution interests.

Instead of Willis being the idealistic officer doing his best to get the job done while keeping a handle on Schwarzenegger hard-charging sergeant, the roles were almost reversed in the C&C/Hard Corps series.

Nick had actually gotten his old CO to get the Air Force brass to endorse the project. This had led to some set changes as well since the project had originally had them as Army Rangers with some in-jokes meant to poke fun at the TV series The Unit which Nick and KC made no secret they thought the show was ludicrous and inaccurate as the CSI franchise. Now that they were USAF Commandos with the support of that particular branch of the Armed Forces, the series had a new life infusion of credibility and public support.

It also meant longer working hours for Hawke Aviation and KC had to hire 2 new assistants in the past 5 years. One had been his cousin who used to work for NASA and the other had been a trainee of Caitlin's partner when she'd been a "flying meter maid". Even though it was common knowledge that Dom had recommended he hire the two females, Nick had seen to it that he was teased mercilessly about it.

There was little activity around the park as it was sparsely populated this time of day. Dom was throwing a frisbee with Kayra Lynn while KC relaxed on a bench and drank a bottled water. The wind must have caught the toy as it arced away from the little girl and landed almost at KC's feet. He picked it up and was about to toss it to her, at her insistence, when Dom stopped him,

"Hey KayLy, how about we take some pictures instead?" As his boss approached him, he noticed the man unfasten the strap on his sidearm. KC took off his jacket with the Hawke Aviation logo on the chest and did likewise. Through his sunglasses, his eyes followed the older man's micro-nod toward the vehicle on the hill overlooking the park.

When Dom had first spotted the SUV, it hadn't really caught his attention. It just seemed to be a couple of guys barbecuing on a weekday afternoon. But then he noted their movements seemed a bit too purposeful as if they were trying too hard to seem as if they were just relaxing.

He and KC took turns taking pictures from different angles. Most were actual family photos, only roughly 1/4 to 1/3 were reverse-surveillance shots.


"Yes Ma'am, we have a clear field of fire. Confirm target. No I don't believe they suspect a thing. They were tossing a frisbee around but now they are taking family pictures. Quite a contrived little scene. I can confirm that the one is armed as he adjusted the position of his sidearm when he removed his jacket. Due to the excessive movements, we no longer have a clear shot. No ma'am, they are taking pictures of each other. A couple times they have pointed the camera in our general direction but they are only interested in each other. They are packing up now, do you wish us to break cover to take the shot? Confirmed. Onto plan 'B' it is then."