A/N: Thank you for the reviews. Continuing the action in this one. There are a couple of parts in this that I'm thinking might be a bit out of character for a few of our friends, let me know what you think. Dlwells51, this is going to be all new material for you, I really hope you enjoy. As always, please point out any mistakes and let me know if I need to make any changes.
Warnings: None really, a bit of foul language every now and then.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything having to do with the show.
Chapter 10
0-0-0
Jack could see the building. He stopped, studying every detail, listening for any sound that didn't belong.
It was a long metal building that looked like it belonged on a farm, not in the middle of a forest. If this belongs to the cartel, probably used to store drugs... or make 'em. He thought.
Decision time dude. Check it out or go around. He said to himself. His mind made up, he stealthily made his way to the side of the building.
Shadowing the wall of the building, Jack stopped just before reaching the front corner. Crouching low, he slowly looked around the corner. There were two large sliding doors. Big enough to fit a truck through. He thought.
Staying crouched at the corner, Jack listened for any signs of life inside the building. After a few minutes convinced he was alone he made his way to the door. There were no locks that he could see. Guess a cartel doesn't have to worry about thieves.
Letting the M4 hang from the shoulder strap and un holstering his pistol, he reached up and grabbed the sliding door.
Pistol at the ready, Jack opened the door just enough to slip through, crouching he entered the building hugging the wall, instantly scanning the interior for any threats.
There were large canvas bales stacked to the ceiling on one side and wooden crates stacked on the other.
Jack recognized the crates. Somebody's got quite the collection going on here. He thought, slowly making his way to the familiar wooden boxes.
Jack looked around the building. No windows.
Flipping the night vision up and clicking on his helmet light, he inspected the writing on the crates. These are U.S. Weapons crates. M16 SCAR rifles, grenades, 60mm mortars. What the hell? Holstering his sidearm, Jack pulled a small notepad out of his vest and started writing down the lot numbers on the crates.
It would take too much time to write down every lot number, so Jack opted to write down a single lot number for each of the different weapons. Once he finished with that, he moved to the canvas covered bales.
Picking a random bale, Jack lifted the cover. Under the canvas there were stacks of smaller burlap wrapped bales. Jack suspected he knew what it was, but for confirmation, he pulled his knife out and stuck a bale. Pulling the blade out confirmed his suspicions.
Jack wiped the knife off on his pants and sheathed it. He looked at the number of bales lining the wall and taking up half of the building. There must be ten tons of coke here. Winning the war on drugs, my ass.
Jack put the tarp back as he had found it. Making his way back to the door, he turned off the light and flipped down the night vision. Slowly opening the door he scanned the area. Deciding it was clear, Jack headed back to the trees.
Finding a depression in the ground on the downhill side away from the building, Jack covered his head and checked the satellite photo Riley had sent. He compared the printed satelite photo to his map.
There was an identical shaped shed two hundred yards away. Jack marked the position of the first building, and headed for the second.
The second was full of more of the same, with the addition of a crates full of body armor, tactical vests, RPG's and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition. Some of which didn't fit the weapons systems he had seen so far.
Looking around the building his eyes found what he was hoping wasn't there.
There was a stack of crates toward the back of the building, a shape which Jack had only seen a few times in his career. There is no way in the world these guys could get their hands on these without somebody either in the military or... Jack didn't want to think it, but, some of his missions with the CIA had involved arming indigenous people. But that was with basic weapons, not... He pried open the top crate. Sons of bitches have freaking XM25's! He went back to the ammunition crates looking for a specific type Of round.
Behind a pallet full of 5.56 ammunition, he found it. Cases of 25mm air burst and armor piercing rounds. Drug cartel my ass! He thought. These guys have enough gear here to outfit a damn Army. Jack had seen enough.
He needed to get this intel back to Phoenix. He was way over his head on this one and the fact that these guys had XM25's, affectionately known as 'The Punisher.' Jack wasn't sure if he could trust the CIA. Somebody supplied this stuff and whoever it was had to be somebody with some clout. Delta couldn't even get their hands on these things without waiting six months for the paperwork runaround. He put everything back as he had found it and left the second building heading back to the trees.
Jack headed down the hill farther away from the buildings. He needed better cover for what was sure to be a long conversation.
He was making his way down the hill when Mother Nature decided to make her presence known. Well that's just great, just one more thing to add to an already screwed up mission. Jack thought.
While the heavy downpour provided cover and could mask sound, it made maneuvering around the countryside a very wet, very slippery, slimy affair. One that Jack was definitely not enjoying. I freaking hate the rain man.
Jack spotted a cluster of boulders a little farther down the steep hill. As he got closer inspecting the formation for a hiding spot the hill got steeper.
Turning sideways, using roots and boulders for footholds, Jack was almost to the main body of the rock formation. He planted his left foot on a small boulder. Before he knew it the rock slid out from under his foot and he was going down. Instinctively he bent his right leg and put his right arm out to catch himself as if sliding into a base. His shoulder and ribs flaring.
Jack tried to dig his left heel into the slippery soil to stop his descent reaching out, trying to grab anything he could. The hill was becoming steeper and Jack was starting to panic. He had no idea what was at the bottom. His left foot caught on a root. As soon as he felt the resistance he dug his right knee and elbow into the ground shifting his upper body to vertical, feeling the familiar 'pop' in his shoulder. Now upright, taking a few precarious stumbling steps while trying to keep his balance, Jack finally came to a stop.
Breaths coming in gasps, Jack held his shoulder and looked back up the hill. His downhill slide had cleared the leaves and twigs leaving a clear trail to where he had finally stopped.
Jack slowly inched his way over to a stand of trees ten yards away.
Reaching the trees, he sat on the uphill side planting his feet against the base of a large tree. He lay back taking a minute to compose himself. He raised his head he looked down at his thigh. Miraculously his sidearm was still in the holster.
Alright Dalton you've stalled long enough. Gritting his teeth and taking short breaths through his nose, he sat up with a groan.
Jack bent his knee and repeated the process of putting his shoulder back into the socket. He sat back and lay on the ground, wanting to scream.
What the hell am I doing here, God damned CIA... that's what you're doing here you idiot. He chastised himself. He lay there for a few minutes contemplating his situation.
He was tired, wet, and in pain. Taking a minute for himself, he started thinking of all the other things he'd rather be doing and places he'd rather be at the moment.
As he was ticking off his list of places he'd rather be, he thought about his dad and what he would say. Jack closed his eyes, taking calming breaths. He'd say get up off your ass and do your damn job, that's what he'd say. All those other places you'd rather be, and all those other things you'd rather be doing, are for civilians. And civilians can only do those things because soldiers keep doing their job no matter what. Now get up out of the damn mud and get back to work.
Jack sat up, turned and looked up the hill. Grunting he gingerly got to his feet. "Alright, time to suck it up buttercup." He mumbled.
Jack still needed to find cover to send the intel but his tree sanctuary was too close to the path he had left while sliding down the hill. Jesus Jack, a blind man could follow that trail. Better get your A game back dude or you're gonna get your butt killed out here.
His personal pep talk over, Jack started to slowly make his way back up the hill. This time taking the terrain at a diagonal. It's gonna take longer but it's better than sliding all the way down to the river on your ass. Un freaking believable, he shook his head. Good thing Mac wasn't here, I'd never hear the end of it.
Gonna be light soon, get your butt movin boy.
0-0-0
"I've got the satellites coming up. I don't know how much good they'll do because of the clouds but..." Riley shrugged.
"Let's see it." Mac stared at the big screen.
The image that appeared on the screen was... nothing but clouds.
"What's the weather supposed to do?" Matty asked without turning from the screen. The screen was filled with an overlapping layer of a radar image. A large swath of red, yellow and orange was moving straight across the entire area.
The image zoomed out and the tail end of the storm could be seen.
Bozer stepped up to the screen. "Can you put the storm track up and run a loop my rainy day girl?" He smiled.
Riley glared and started typing.
The image changed. A cone shaped symbol appeared and the storm moved across the screen repeating every ten seconds.
Bozer pointed at various spots on the image. "It looks like this cell is going to move over the area heading toward the south. It's going to bring some very heavy precipitation, so there is probably going to be small stream flooding with the chance of flash floods. It's moving at about fifteen miles an hour and should be clear of the area within the next thirty minutes."
When he stopped talking, Matty, Riley and Mac were all staring at him. Matty squinted staring at the screen then back to Bozer. "And you know that how?" She asked disbelieving.
Bozer smiled "I worked at a news station once."
Mac coughed and cleared his throat. "Bozer, you delivered their lunches."
Bozer looked embarrassed."Yeah, but it was always during the noon news when they did the weather, I picked up a few things." He shrugged and smiled.
Matty looked perturbed. "Well either way, Bozer isn't wrong about one thing. The storm is going to move through."
Finally, Mac thought. We might be able to see what's going on. The track that Jack's taking isn't making any sense. He went up the hill then down the hill now he's going back up the hill?
Unless he's not alone and had to hide, maybe trip wires or IED's? But if that was the case he wouldn't be moving the direction he's taking. Going diagonal along the hillside isn't the most efficient way.
0-0-0
Jack could see the ridge. The best he figured was he was past the location of the second building he had checked.
If he kept going he should come up on a smaller building he'd seen in the photo's. It looked to be half the size of the other two buildings.
There was no real good place to stop and make a call that he could see yet. Head up and take a look, or keep going onto the main buildings? Got no cover here... Screw it, go take a look.
The way this night's been going there's probably a freaking M1 tank in there. He grinned to himself. That'd make my job easy. Just Hotwire the damn thing and blow this whole place and the bad guys off the face of the earth.
Five minutes later Jack was laying on his belly scouting the area around the building. Power pole, chain link fence, razor wire. This was the first sign of any security measures and utilities he'd come across. Got a road maybe?
The antenna he had disabled had its own solar and the other two buildings didn't have any sign of power going to them, or a road. Must be flying the stuff into those other buildings. He thought.
Well this is a whole new animal, can't see shit for detail till this rain lets up. Pulling the velcro cover off of his watch he cupped the lens. Should be getting light here in a bit.
Lightning flashed in the sky. Jack flinched, quickly glancing up at the sky, he just shook his head. "What else you got?" He said to the air defiantly.
Thunder rolled and the rain started coming down in sheets obscuring the building. "Sorry I asked." He said apologetically.
He lay there getting soaked. He could risk using the rain as cover, but if there were any alarms or motion detectors, as slim as that may be, he'd rather not risk it. Sit, wait and... don't drown. He thought.
0-0-0
Jack hadn't moved. Riley was alternating between the Doppler map, the satellites, and his location.
"Riley, how about we just stick to one screen, it's making Bozer nauseous." Matty said.
Bozer looked up wide eyed at Matty then towards Riley. Shaking his head, he raised his hands. "I didn't say anything, I've been enjoying the uh, change of scenery."
Riley rolled her eyes and hit a key. The radar turned off on the big screen.
Bozer watched the screen waiting for something to happen. "How come he's not moving?"
Riley added Jack's previous tracks leading up to his location. "Because it's pouring," Mac answered. "Riley can you pull up the regular map and zoom in on the area."
She did as requested. Mac studied the image. Pointing to an area near the building "Can you zoom in here?" He scrutinized every detail. "If that's what I think it is, Jack should stay put."
"Why? What do you see Blondie?" Matty asked as she studied the image.
"It looks like the fence may be energized. I can't quite tell but..." He pointed a section of fence on the opposite side of the building from Jack. "You see this box here? If that's what I think it is, anything that touches that fence would be electrocuted."
Jack had been lying in the mud for what seemed like an eternity. The rain was still coming down in sheets. His decision made, he moved back down the hill, being careful where he was going not wanting a repeat of his earlier descent.
He pulled the now soaked scarf up over his helmeted head and dug the sat phone out of his vest.
0-0-0
"Where's he going now?" Bozer asked. He'd been watching Jacks tracks all night. "It seems like he's just been going back and forth covering the same ground all night long."
Mac looked at his friend, "It's not like he's just taking a walk Boze, there could be patrols, mines, cameras, trip wires, any number of things in the area."
"Damn," Bozer commented.
"The intel on this was terrible." Mac shot a look towards Matty.
Matty sighed. "I didn't order him to go, oversight did. This is a CIA op remember." She pursed her lips.
Riley looked at the screen. She suddenly felt a wave of guilt. The monotony of punching keys all night, doing things that she could do in her sleep, had desensitized her to the seriousness of the situation.
Suddenly remembering she wasn't just watching a red dot on the screen, She dropped her head said a silent prayer for Jack's safe return.
Matty's phone buzzed. She looked at the number, answering immediately. "Jack?" She put the phone on speaker.
"Hey boss." He said quietly. "I've got some intel to pass on but I don't want to run it by Langley. It might be nothin, but I don't know what to think or who to trust over there right now."
Mac stepped forward. "Jack, that building you're next to has an electrified fence, don't touch it ok?"
Jack coughed, followed by a strained, "dammit."
"Jack? Did you hear me" Mac asked concerned.
Jack cleared his throat. "Thanks Mac, yeah, I'll check it out after this monsoon ends. You guys got any idea when that's supposed to happen?"
"It should let up in twenty minutes or so Jack." Riley piped in.
"Glad to hear it, I was thinking of building an ark." He joked.
"Listen, Matty, I need you to check on a few things for me." All seriousness returning to his voice.
"Alright Jack go ahead, what do you need?" Matty asked wondering what it could be.
"I checked out two of the buildings just to the north of my position. These guys have an entire stockpile of current U.S. weapons. I've got lot numbers I need you to look up, see where they came from."
"Sure thing Jack, I can place a few phone calls and have Riley see what she can dig up." Matty picked up her phone and walked to the couch sitting beside Riley. She nodded at her and Riley confirmed she was ready for the information.
"Yeah, sounds good but hey, this isn't your regular infantry stuff we're talkin here. They've got freakin sixty millimeter mortars and would you believe it, XM25's?"
Mac didn't think he heard right. "Did you say XM25's Jack?"
"Affirm Mac, freaking Punisher's." They heard Jack cough again followed by what could be best described as growling.
"Jack, You ok?" Mac asked.
Jack didn't answer right away. When he finally came back on the line, his words sounded strained. "Yeah, just been laying down too long. I gotta get movin pretty soon. Ready to copy numbers?" He said, eyes closed, ribs aching.
"Go ahead Jack." Matty said.
Jack read off the weapon type and lot numbers.
When he finished, he told Matty he wanted to get a little more intel on the building above his position and that she should push his exfil back an additional twenty four hours.
It wasn't something Mac wanted to hear. "Jack, I don't think that's a good idea. You're hurt, I can tell, and with those kinds of weapons it seems there may be something going on there that has more to do with something other than drug trafficking."
"That's exactly why I'm gonna stay and find out what I can. And I'm fine. A little wet and tired I admit... but fine." Jack said reassuringly.
"I don't believe that for one minute Jack and you know it." Mac accused.
"Well, you're right Mac, If I'm being completely honest... I'm freaking starving too." Jack tried to put his friend at ease. Knowing it wouldn't work, but it made him feel better. There was no way he was going to call it quits and he needed to get that through to Mac.
"Mac If these weapons make it outa here, there's no telling where they may end up. Hell, they could be supplying Isis for all we know." Jack paused letting his words sink in. "I haven't even checked half the buildings yet. You'd do the same, if you were here Dude." Jack said trying to make his point.
Matty seeing that this back and forth would just keep going stepped in. "Alright Jack, we'll get as much info as we can. In the mean time, you be careful and check in when you can ok?"
"If it's all the same to you, I'm gonna leave the comms open for a bit." Jack said. "I'm not sure what I'm dealing with here and might need some help figuring out this electrical system."
Mac became more alert. "That sounds good Jack. We'll be listening. Just tell me what you see and I can come up with something to..."
"Whoa! Slow down there partner. I haven't even got my butt up to the building yet dude." Lemme get there first before you tell me how to hotwire the flux capacitor."
"Right, sorry Jack." Mac apologized, mentally preparing himself for whatever Jack would need. Take a breath, settle down, give him a chance to work.
They could hear Jack breathing and an occasional grunt. Mac watched the screen. The terrain Jack was moving along was fairly steep.
"Oh, hey, I disabled some kind of tower. Thinkin' it's probably a radio antenna or repeater site." Jack spoke softly voice strained.
"Yeah, we marked three of them. We've got your track so we know which one it is." Mac confirmed.
"You're following my track?" Jack asked, wondering if they could figure out he slid down the hill.
Mac knew that tone in Jack's voice. "Yeah Jack, we've been tracking you... Why?" He asked suspiciously.
"No reason, can't talk now, gotta keep it down." Jack said hurriedly
He's hiding something, Mac thought. Not wanting to give away Jack's position, Mac honored the request for silence, under protest of course.
After that, there wasn't anything to talk about.
The room was quiet, the only noise coming from Riley's computer and Jack's comm.
Bozer had moved to sit next to Riley. He leaned toward her and whispered. "What's a punisher?"
Riley pointed to her screen. There were several pages open all of which were weapons of some sort. She leaned towards Bozer and whispered. "According to this, it's a nasty piece of work. It's basically a rifle that can shoot air burst ammunition up to seven hundred meters. Apparently it doesn't take a lot of training to be accurate, and it shoots other ammunition too. Armor piercing for one."
Bozer let out a small whistle. "That's what's in those buildings?"
Riley raised her eyebrows and nodded yes. "Among other things."
The noise coming from Jack's comm was getting louder. They could still hear him, but it sounded like someone was rattling a bag of aluminum cans in the background. The dot stopped. Jack was still in the trees just outside of the fence.
"Alright kids," Jack whispered. "Comin up on the building. Mac, I got a big line comin off the power pole going to the building. I can see the control box to the fence. Or at least I think that's what it is. Not gonna be able to get at it, it's inside the wire."
They heard a grunt and Jack's dot moved. "I'm gonna get a better look around this place. Hang on."
"Jack, what kind of gate's there?" Mac asked.
"Got about a ten foot sliding gate. Looks automatic, I can see the control box, chain driven looks like. Cant see any kind of lock."
"Can you reach the chain Jack? Without, touching the fence?" Mac asked forming a plan in his mind.
"Yeah, I think so but It's metal, man. I like getting a buzz from beer dude, not electricity."
Mac smiled. "You shouldn't get shocked, as long as you don't touch the wires in the fence. The metal fence posts actually act as a ground, so the entire fence isn't hot, but there should be wires running through it. Those are hot. Just reach in and grab the chain Jack. Just watch for wires, don't touch those."
"Ok, if you say so dude. So what am I supposed to do once I grab the chain, and don't get electrocuted?" Jack asked keeping his voice low.
"See if you can pull the chain to open the gate." Mac said making it sound easy.
"Alright, just give me a minute or two, still gotta check the other side of the building. Don't see any motion detectors or cameras yet, but I wanna make sure. Be right back." Jack said as if Mac was right there with him.
They listened to Jack moving. The sound of the rain hitting the metal roof of the building fading in and out.
A few minutes later, Jack's dot was back at the gate. "Ok, I'm back, didn't see any other security measures. You sure about this chain thing Mac? I mean I trust you and all, but getting electrocuted twice in one year is not on my bucket list."
"Yeah, Jack. I'm sure just, don't touch the fence, or the gate." Mac said, Jacks previous attempt at humor lost on him at the moment.
A minute passed. Jack hadn't said anything and all they could hear was an occasional grunt and exhalation of air.
"Jack?" Mac asked waiting for a response. In his mind he knew that if Jack had been electrocuted they would have heard it. But the silence was still unsettling.
A strained, "yeah, just... give me a..." Came through the speakers. "Huh, I'll be damned. Hey Mac, it worked." The strain was gone from Jack's voice.
Mac smiled.
Matty didn't share their enthusiasm. "Alright Jack, go check it out and then get out of there. We're still trying to track those weapons. So far, no luck."
"You got it boss. I got a door. Don't see any locks. Hard to tell if there's any footprints around here, I've seen less mud in a pig wallow." Jack continued to narrate what he was looking at, trying to paint a clear picture.
"Doesn't look abandoned, the vegetation hasn't grown over." He said quietly. "I'm goin' in."
"Be careful Jack." Mac said worried.
"Don't worry Mac, you know me... Safety third." Jack said light heartedly.
Mac's pulse had quickened, unconsciously holding his breath, he listened to Jack's transmission trying to hear every detail. It was still raining and the noise of the rain on the metal roof got louder.
Jack opened the door, gun at the ready. It took a split second for Jack to scan the inside of the building. "What the hell?" He entered the building quickly closing the door behind him.
Mac heard the surprise in Jack's voice. "Jack?"
There was no answer and Jack's dot disappeared from the screen.
"Dalton! Sit rep!" Matty looked to Riley. "What happened?"
Riley was typing furiously. "I don't know, we lost the signal. Maybe it has something to do with the building."
Mac looked to Riley, desperation in his voice. "We need that satellite feed!"
"What do you want me to do? I can't make the clouds go away!" Riley said defensively.
Mac started to pace rubbing the back of his neck. All manner of things that could have gone wrong running through his head. What if we get the satellite feed back up and the building is gone? He was starting to panic. He had to remind himself, Jack knows what he's doing, he would look for trip wires. He's good at his job.
0-0-0
Jack looked around, the inside of the building was completely empty. "Did not see that coming," he muttered. "Hey, this place is completely empty, doesn't make sense."
When there was no response, Jack checked the sat phone. It was still on but he hadn't heard anything. "Hey, you guys copy?" When there was no answer, Jack sighed. Dammit.
Looking around inside the building, something on the floor caught his eye. Walking to the back of the building he looked down to find a large rectangular metal door, flush with the concrete floor.
Double checking to make sure there were no windows in the building, Jack reached up and clicked the helmet light on. The beam of red light highlighting the door. Jack flipped up his night vision. He rubbed his eyes for a second before inspecting the door.
No trip wires I can see. He thought. Jack grabbed one of the handles and gave a slight tug. The door was heavy.
Holstering his pistol, he grabbed the other handle and threw the door open. His plan was to throw the door open and quickly draw his sidearm.
His shoulder had other ideas. As soon as he reached down to draw the weapon, a stabbing pain flared in his shoulder. Exposed, he immediately stepped back drawing the secondary pistol from his vest with his left hand.
Now armed, he stepped forward looking down the open hatch. There was a ladder attached to the wall that went down about fifteen feet. From his vantage point, he could see a tunnel heading south. What have we here? He thought.
Jack closed the hatch and headed toward the door.
Shoulder still throbbing, Jack carefully reached toward the door handle. He cracked it open looking outside. Pistol at the ready. Seeing it was clear, he stepped out into the rain. "Hey, you guys hear me?"
"Jack!" Mac practically yelled. "What happened, you ok, we lost comms, what'd you find?" Mac rapid fired.
"Yeah, noticed that. Must have something to do with the building." Jack confirmed. "This place is empty which doesn't make sense. What with the security, but I found a tunnel."
Matty stepped forward. "What kind of tunnel?"
"Can't tell what it's for but it's pretty good size and lined with concrete as far as I can tell." Jack paused. "I'm gonna go back and do a little recon, find out how far it goes."
"Alright Jack, watch your ass." Matty said.
"Wait! This is crazy, Jack. Just get out of there. We can pass on the information to Langley and they can send a team in." Mac glared at Matty.
"I would love to do just that Mac but I'm here now. And part of this mission was to do recon. None of this is gonna show up on satellite or infrared, I'll be damned if I'm gonna turn tail and run."
"It's not running Jack. You've found the weapons and the tunnel. That's enough!" Mac said pleadingly.
"Dammit Mac, if I take off now, the next poor schmuck they send to do my job is gonna be in the same boat. Crap for intel... Probably get killed and it would be my fault. I am not gonna let that happen. Can't and you know it." Jack said sternly.
"But..." Mac realized there was no changing Jack's mind. Deep down he knew Jack was right.
"I get it dude. Wish you were here too." Jack said. "I'm gonna go do a quick recon and I'll be back in a flash." Jack said reassuring. "Headed back in, gonna lose comms, talk to ya in a bit."
"Be careful Jack." Riley chimed in just before his transmission went silent.
To be continued...
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
The electric fence... it's sort of correct. I took a bit of creative license with that one, didn't want to write an entire paper on how they work or how to force an automatic gate realistically.
Gib