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Chapter 25

"Captain Harte"

Elvis was sat around the table in the classified briefing room amidst the attendance of the Brig and his top military advisors. "Captain Harte. You are absolutely certain of this?" Baxter said as he splayed his hands down on the table. "Affirmative sir! One hundred percently." Elvis said with such fucking self confidence that one the advisors, Major Oliver Knots, squinted his eyes at him. Elvis remained like stone. That advisor could question his expertise, but most assuredly he could never fill his shoes and Elvis was confident of that as well.

"I think we need a bit more assurance, and might I add, evidence Captain Harte that you are correct and our advanced linguist is not," Knots said with a smug tone. Baxter looked towards him at the same time Elvis felt a bubble of "who the fuck do ya think you're talkin to?" start to surface but he swallowed it back down. He simply slid his eyes towards Knots. "Sir, I 'ave spent years as a Special Forces operative in the hearts and bellies of the countries these languages derive from. I have worked undercover, passing myself off as one of them. I had to speak their language. Not mine. And, convincingly I might add, 'else I would not 'ave done my duty properly, sir." With that said Elvis never waivered his direct eye contact. Baxter cleared his throat whilst Knots attempted to gracefully suppress a blossoming red face.

"Right then," Baxter said then glanced down at the brief. "So Captain Harte, you believe the x-ray stated, "we will kill you with sickness" "Affirmative sir. I suspect he was attempting to lead us into 'arm's way with the information about the warehouse," Elvis said tapping his pen on the table. "There may be a weapons cache someplace but I doubt it's in that buildin. They likely 'ave biologicals or chemicals there and are hopin we breach the snare and create our own destruction." The group of men exchanged glances and were somewhat unnerved by Elvis' comments. "Go on," Baxter encouraged. "For all of the surveillance on that warehouse. In all due respect, there is absolutely no footage of anyone going in or out. If it were an active cell safe house or launching arena there would be some sort of movement." His pen tapping became more intense.

"Then we are wasting our time focusing on this." Knots offered seemingly not wanting to hear anything else Elvis had to say. Elvis directed his next statement to Baxter. "Sir, on the contrary, there is one matter that deserves further mention." "Proceed." Baxter nodded obviously annoyed with Knots' behavior. "There are two warehouses actually sir. Next to each other. They are both receiving electrical power as evidenced by utility records but from what I observed, at no time during night hours were any form of lighting utilized. The electricity is being used as some sort of power source." "For fuck sake," General Reardon muttered. "'Ave we found out anything on Martel sir ?" Elvis asked. Baxter eyeballed Colonel Wirth. "We have not made contact. Negative." Wirth said. "Who owns the other warehouse sir?" Elvis persisted. "Not a related concern," came the response. "Is there a name, sir?" Elvis pressed. "Steady on Captain," Baxter said. "Sir, in all due respect, it is a concern. There are two vacant buildins receivin a power source and a threat from a known terrorist that was all but missed." With that Knots wanted to throttle him. "It's not uncommon for these types of buildins to 'ave a network of tunnels beneath the surface. We all know how Gaani escaped being neutralized in Kenya. We cannot ignore what could potentially be the annihilation of the entire city!" Elvis was bordering on livid right about now. "What do you propose since you have obviously been chewing on this for a while," Baxter said.

Elvis suppressed a smirk but let out a short sigh of relief. "We get eyes inside those buildins."

"And how do you propose that be accomplished captain?" Knots said somewhat mockingly.

Elvis paused and looked around the room. He knew Knots was hoping he would say he would go and perhaps fuck up so the major could position himself back in the good graces of the Brig. Knots had chosen the linguist after all. Elvis clicked his pen a couple of times and said, "Drones."

Following the briefing Elvis was packing his case and was unabashedly elated that he received the go ahead from the Brig to crack on with the tactical drones. It was no surprise that Major Knots approached him. "Impressive captain," He said. Elvis did allow a small smirk to surface and said, "Off the record, comin from you sir, is quite the compliment." Knot's eyes flared and Elvis saw it. "Off the record, I think you are a fucking maverick, who likes to do things his own way." Knots threw at him. Elvis' brows shot up. "On or off the record Ollie. You are a smart shit who couldn't stomach selection. You may 'ave advanced Major, but at the end of the day, I get the job done!" Now it was Elvis' turn to squint at him. "I could move to have you stripped of your rank," Knots seethed. Elvis let out a snarky laugh. "Could. But ya won't. Nobody can do wha' I do. And ya know it!" Elvis stared at him hard. Although Knots had bulk, Elvis was all lean muscle and agile as a cat. It would only take one well placed strike to bring the major down."

"You are dismissed Harte," came Baxter's voice from behind the two of them. Elvis picked up his brief case and directed his salute to his Brig. To the major, well his eyes just threw mischief at him. He turned in military fashion and walked away. Knots leaned into Baxter and said, "He's a fucking loose cannon." "And he's the best. Who would replace him Ollie? You?" Baxter said without looking at him. Knots stood there like a statue. "I thought not." Then the Brig walked away.