The next morning, at 0755 hours, Steve is already at Captain Hamilton's door, eager to start the day. Well, if he's being really honest with himself, he's eager to get this briefing done so he can go in search of Catherine, but that is beside the point. He's out of luck, though – his Superior Officer is running late, this morning. By the time Steve exits the Navy building, it's almost 0930 hours, and he's now annoyed at all this waste of time. A thought fleetingly crosses his mind, but he dismisses it almost instantly – the CIA would not proceed without him, would they? As he enters the CIA building, engrossed in his thoughts, he immediately spots Officer Morrison in deep conversation with Catherine, both apparently waiting for him.
- "Lieutenant Commander, good morning. We were waiting for you, to get started," the man says, pleasantly.
- "Yes, sorry, my briefing with Captain Hamilton took longer than expected, I couldn't get out any sooner," he replies, stealing a sideways glance at Catherine. She looks annoyed, still.
- "Well, you should get going, if you want to get there in time. Good luck to you all." And with that, he looks at Catherine, nods and leaves.
Catherine starts walking, at a pace that says she's still annoyed, but trying not to be rude.
- "Good morning, Catherine." Her full name comes out of his lips without thought, but Steve immediately feels that he's trying for a level of intimacy that is, somehow, wrong, right now. He doesn't correct himself, though. That would be bringing attention to the matter.
Nevertheless, Catherine is quick to point out his mistake to him. "Good morning, 'Sir'."
- "Lieutenant, can we please…" he tries, with his best conciliatory tone.
But she's already interrupting him, as they near their vehicle and opens a map on the hood. "According to the informant's data, we should start our search here," and she points to a spot on the map, marked by blue concentric lines. The army squad that is accompanying them also gathers round, to hear her indications. "And keep our attention on the entrance to the Pass the man spoke of. Where the insurgents are supposed to come out of. If his intel is to be trusted. We'll see, I guess." She looks around, everyone seems to be clear on the information. "Are we ready to go?"
They get going, and by the end of the second hour, Steve is starting to regret having decided to ride in the same vehicle as Catherine. She seems disturbed by his presence, and even their normal 'we don't know each other, other than through this mission' isn't working anymore. She refuses to look at him or exchange any words with him, and it's leaving everyone else uncomfortable.
After about four hours, the convoy makes a stop and the soldiers leave the confines of the vehicle, leaving both of them alone, inside. Steve sighs, looking at her sideways, but when Catherine still does not utter a word, he makes a decision, defeated.
- "I think it's best we ride the rest of the way in separate vehicles. We're making everybody else here uncomfortable."
Catherine huffs, annoyed. "I don't give a damn about the others. My main concern here is me. But you're right. We do need to spend some time apart. We're on a mission where people may lose their lives, it's no time to be dealing with anything else."
- "I had hoped you'd be willing to talk about what happened last night." At that, she pins him with a glare.
- "No, I have no intention of going back to that subject. Ever. And I'll thank you not to knock on my door again," she throws at him, looking away.
The rest of the convoy's journey is quite uneventful and as the group reaches the foot of the hill, they spot armed lookouts, local tribesmen, guarding the entrance to the Pass. So, for a few hours and until it gets dark, they wait, patiently. Both Catherine and Steve assume their "mission" mode, all thoughts of personal differences now aside. They're professional enough to know that everybody's lives depend on each other. Here, there is no room for grievances or resentment.
At around 2230 hours, the lookouts start to congregate to the opening of the Pass, clearly waiting for the insurgents to arrive. After about 20 minutes, the first few emerge from the belly of the mountain and are taken to vehicles waiting nearby. Catherine and Steve look at each other, in a silent conversation: "Shall we attack now, or wait until Al-Nazri shows up?" The men continue to pour and time runs out, they're out of options. Steve moves to the area where the vehicles are, taking a few of the soldiers with him, while Catherine stays in her lookout point, as backup, should there be any problem with Steve or the soldiers.
Despite their guns, the armed lookouts are quickly overpowered, and the soldiers manage to also capture the five men who came out of the Pass and were getting ready to drive away. However, this means that they alert the other lookouts, who quickly move to the inside of the Pass and disappear. By the time the soldiers reach the entrance, there's no one there. After debating their options, a decision is made: they will all return to the Base, as not knowing how many paths exist inside the belly of the mountain would most certainly get them all killed. They attach a charge of explosives to the entrance, blow it up and get back on their military convoy, with their prisoners. A message is sent back to the Base, warning them that the insurgents may very well double back and exit from where they entered.
By the time the convoy returns to Shindand, it's almost 0700 hours. Steve only has time to take a shower and change, before there's a knock on his door. It's the petty officer from the first day, again, with a note from Captain Hamilton, asking him to come see him at once. Sighing, he thanks the messenger and finishes getting ready. His debrief with Captain Hamilton and a few other Navy personnel takes up a good part of the morning, as the men try to study the best option to move forward. Surveillance of the Pass's exit, on their end, has yielded no results and Steve is feeling frustrated. Suddenly, Captain Hamilton receives a note and breaks out a smile, looking at Steve:
- "Commander, all is not lost. It seems that a CIA team got word that one of the insurgents never made it to the Pass, last night. He was caught in the village, hiding out in one of the homes."
- "CIA team, Sir?" Steve says, suspicious. "Why wasn't I called in?"
- "You were in here, with us, and apparently the information was very time sensitive," Hamilton says, understanding Steve. "Commander, just be happy that the man was found, as it is, with minimal inconvenience to you."
Setting his annoyance aside, he's now curious. "Who is the prisoner, Sir? Do they know?"
Captain Hamilton reads the note once more, to make sure he's giving out the right information. "Name's Ahmed Zahed, from what our informants tell us."
Steve smiles, once again. "He was Al-Nazri's second in command in the bombings! He must know where Al-Nazri is." And then, turning serious, he straightens his body and says: "Sir, permission to interrogate the prisoner?"
Captain Hamilton smiles again, already half expecting it. "Of course, Lieutenant Commander. As soon as we're done."
An hour later, Steve goes in search of Officer Morrison in the CIA building. As soon as he enters, there's a whirlwind of people hurrying past, and a sense of urgency hangs in the air. Something has definitely happened, but no one even notices he's there, so he walks to the elevator and presses his floor. Exiting the cab, he moves in the direction of the office he's looking for, but immediately spots Officer Morrison a few feet away, belting out orders to a few subordinates. The mocking countenance of the man is gone; whatever this is, it was serious enough that everyone looks scared, or sad, Steve's not sure. Finally locking eyes with the man, Steve signals to him and Morrison starts to move in his direction. As he reaches Steve, he says, matter of factly:
- "Lieutenant Commander, Captain Hamilton tells me you want to interrogate the prisoner."
- "As we had agreed, yes, I do. But… what happened?"
- "Nothing that concerns non-CIA personnel. Come on, I'll take you to the prisoner."
Still suspicious, but aware that he can't argue with the CIA, Steve lets himself be guided to the cells, in the basement, where he is led to a room where Zahed is already waiting.
- "We haven't interrogated him, yet, Commander. We were waiting, in case you wanted to have first crack at him, as agreed," and he almost sounds human, civil, amenable. He tries to crack a smile at Steve, but fails miserably. Steve wonders if it's because he hardly ever does it.
- "Thank you. Will Lieutenant Rollins be joining us?" and as he says it, a flicker of alarm burns in the man's eyes. However, as quickly as it has surfaced, it's gone.
- "No, unfortunately Lieutenant Rollins is unavailable."
He lingers there, looking almost apologetic and Steve starts to get an eerie feeling about the whole exchange. Suddenly, Morrison's mobile phone rings and, looking relieved, he excuses himself, leaving Steve outside the prisoner's door, all alone.
Zahed has little to add to what Steve already knows; he was hired by Al-Nazri to purchase the explosives and fly them to the island, under the radar, using a connection and his underground network of criminals. He was paid fifty thousand dollars for the job and, a day before the bombs were set to go off, he returned to Afghanistan. He knows Al-Nazri also returned, via Pakistan, and the last he heard, his employer was supposed to have crossed into Pakistan again, the night before. If he managed to or not, Zahed has no idea. He hasn't heard of him, of from him, since. But he warns Steve that Al-Nazri is very well connected, in the region. He also discloses that there had been more than three targets, making Steve cringe, but Al-Nazri had become impatient about the authorities snooping around their safe house, and had decided to go ahead with just the three. Steve informs the man that he will be subject to a CIA interrogation, as soon as he is done with him, and that after that, he will be taken to Hawai'i to stand trial for the murder of 13 people. When he comes out of the room, Morrison is waiting.
- "Well?"
- "Have you been listening in?"
- "No, sorry, I had to sort out another emergency," and he seems genuine." What did you get out of him?"
- "Not much more than what we already knew. He was hired to do the job by Al-Nazri, who paid him $50,000. He flew back the day before the bombings, never saw him. Told me Al-Nazri entered Afghanistan through Pakistan and that he suspects he fled that way again. But he hasn't seen or heard from him since before he left for Hawai'i."
- "We sent some men to the entrance of the Pass. No one has come back out through it, so we can assume there are alternate escape routes through the mountain. How do you want to proceed?"
- "Captain Hamilton seems to think that there is no point in staying here. If Al-Nazri resurfaces, it'll take some time."
- "I agree. He's not a stupid man, nor is he devoid of help. The smartest thing for him to do, right now, is to lay low. Until we forget he exists."
- "I'll never forget he exists, for as long as I live. And neither will the families of the dead and injured."
- "Don't worry, Commander, neither will the CIA. We'll continue to look for him and if he is alive, we'll catch him. In the meantime, we'll arrange for the transport of your prisoner to the mainland and then to Hawai'i. You get to have the satisfaction of being at his trial and seeing him be convicted of murder."
Steve looks at Morrison, again struck by how much more human he sounds, than before. Death has a way of doing that to you, he thinks, sad.
- "Well, guess I'd better be off, then. Thank you for all your help."
- "You're welcome, Commander. Have a safe journey back home."
- "I hope so," Steve says, smiling. "Trip out here was not the easiest."
- "No, I know," Morrison says, praying he turns around and leaves.
- "By the way, do you know where I can find Lieutenant Rollins? I would like to say goodbye."
For the second time today, Steve sees alarm in the man's eyes, and he gets the feeling Morrison is not a man easily alarmed. His pulse starts to race, while he mentally pieces the evidence together: the abnormal rush, downstairs and Morrison's countenance and general change of demeanour, towards him.
- "Sorry, I'm afraid Lieutenant Rollins was recalled back to Washington. Have a safe trip, Commander." And with that, he turns around and heads for the stairs, disappearing.
Steve feels like he's just been punched in the gut. He had hoped he and Catherine could talk and sort out whatever is going on between them, but now the chance has passed. Until when, he has no idea. He takes his cell phone out of one of his pockets and nervously brings it to life, hoping to find at least one text notification, but finds none. He heads for Captain Hamilton's office, to officially inform the Navy of the results of Zahed's interrogation and, after the briefing is done and before leaving for the airport, he decides to ask, anyway.
- "Sir, I'm sorry for veering off the course of this meeting, but have you any idea why Lieutenant Rollins was sent back to Washington?"
Hamilton eyes him kindly, sighing. He sits down and motions to Steve.
- "Sit down, Commander. I was made aware that you and Lieutenant Rollins were friends only a few hours ago, by Officer Morrison."
Steve is really not liking where this is going. His suspicions, in the CIA building, are now screaming at the top of their lungs, at him.
- "Yes, Sir, we've been friends since Navy Intelligence. But I can assure you that our friendship didn't…"
Hamilton smiles and dismisses him with a flick of the hand. "Don't worry, Commander, the Navy has nothing to do with whom you're friends with. It appears that the CIA team that captured Zahed were met by some enemy fire when they got to Khayfan. One of the CIA officers was badly injured, two more suffered some injuries, of undetermined severity. Lieutenant Rollins was one of them, I'm afraid."
Steve can feel his entire reserve of blood flee to unknown domains, hands clammy, heart beating loudly in his chest, deafening his ears. His breathing becomes laboured and he's now very happy that his Superior Officer told him to sit down. While feeling his panic rise, he silently begs the higher powers not to take her away from him in such a stupid manner, and through his own actions, indirectly.
- "Thank you for informing me, Sir. I guess the CIA couldn't be bothered," he blurts out, ready to bite Morrison's head off, in his mind. His first assessment of the man had been right, after all.
- "Don't judge him too harshly, Commander. He barely knows what happened himself."
- "But he knows we are friends. He could've told me," Steve goes on, stubbornly.
- "Actually, we thought it best if I gave you the news. If you asked."
- "Of course, Sir. Was she sent to Washington?"
- "Yes, she was stable enough to be transported. She could've been treated here, but she asked to be sent home. The CIA agreed. Commander, all this is confidential information. Please act accordingly."
These news floor Steve again, but he doesn't let his Superior Officer become aware of it. Getting up, he makes a split decision and decides to act on it.
- "Of course, Sir. I'll be the soul of discretion. I have a request to make of you, Sir."
- "Ask away, Commander."
- "I have a sister who is in Washington, right now, Sir. Given that we wrapped up early, here, and that I still have 4 days, would it be possible for me to make a pit stop there?"
- "Of course, I'll have the Navy make the necessary changes to your travel papers, Commander."
- "Thank you, Sir, for everything."
- "Good luck, Commander. Tell your sister," and he looks pointedly at him, as he gets up, "that I hope she'll be on her feet in no time. Good luck."
Embarrassed, Steve lowers his eyes and salutes Captain Hamilton. Congenial, indeed. Two hours later, he's back on the Hercules C-130 headed for Washington, on edge. This will end up being the longest flight of his life.