"Hey, where's our presents" Brock asked seeing Sonny and Trent walking back into the team room carrying bags with the same airline logo that was on Jess's pyjamas and a hotel chain
"Don't remember me saying I was bringing you back anything now did I" Sonny said sitting his bags on the table and unlocked his cage
"Come on, brothers are supposed to share, exactly how much of this stuff did you pay for Sonny" Clay said walking over to where Sonny had sat his bags and started going through them, Trent had brought just 3 bags with him full of stuff, Sonny had brought 7
"Nada and not this time Bam Bam, suck up to Bookworm and then maybe she'll get you a present" Sonny said taking the unopened pack of pyjamas and slippers out of Clay's hand and stashed them in his cage
"Take it they're home safe and sound" Jason asked looking at Trent
"Yep, kid was no trouble on the flight, she's actually quite sweet, her emotions are still haywire and she's latched on to Jess, but Jay and Alie have flown over as well, help Zalie adjust while Jess gets back to duty" Trent said updating Jason as they both looked over to where Clay, Brock and Sonny were standing, Clay and Brock were tormenting Sonny trying to slip the pyjamas out of his cage. Ray had to finally intervene with his dad voice to settle the 3 down
"Those pyjamas really that good" Jason asked Trent curiously
"Yep, they're really that good" Trent said laughing
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"Is this our house mummy, its huge" Zalie asked as they pulled up
"Yep, its all ours, and you my little Super Zah even have your very own room to set up your gaming consoles and play in" Jess said, most parents wouldn't allow their children to have their very own gaming room at the age of 8, but Jess wasn't like most parents and Zalie wasn't like most kids, gaming was part of Zalie's identity
"Really" Zalie asked her eyes wide with excitement
"Yep, nice big TV, comfy couch for you and Cerbs to sprawl on, even going to put a snack station out there for you" Jess said explaining what she had planned, her and Luca wanted a space in the main living area of the house that she could use if she wasn't well and still be around people, so the gaming room had been the perfect solution wasn't huge compared to some of the other spaces as it was originally a sun room and you had to go through there to get to Jess's study and where Luca would set up his home office, it came of the main kitchen and living area and it could open up directly into the outdoor entertainment area where Jess spent a lot of her time when she was home
"You are" Zalie asked getting even more excited
"Yep, will be your own private gaming retreat, I'm guessing that's the first thing you want to check out" Jess asked as they got out of the car
"Ah yeah" Zalie said, not wanting to waste her time seeing anything else first, she had wanted her own gaming room for a couple of years now, to her it was no different than kids having their own play room, she could play what she wanted when she wanted
"Heyya buddy, you missed me while I was away" Jess said being immediately greeted when she opened the door by a very excited Belgian malinois
"Is this Cerbs" Zalie asked immediately moving in to pat the dog
"Yep, sure is, what do you reckon Cerbs, this is Zah, she's going to be living here with us" Jess said to the dog
"What do you think, game together, swim in the pool, car rides, be the best of friends" Zalie said giving him a real good rub around the shoulders and scratch behind the ears, Cerbs just melted into the new arrival and licked her face constantly
"Think someone likes the sound of that" Jay said laughing, Cerbs had accepted Zalie straight away into his pack
"Can he sleep on my bed to" Zalie asked hopefully, the tone caused Cerbs to trigger his puppy dog eyes like he was saying please let me, I love this person
"Yep, we'll just have to show him where its safe for him to sleep while you're hooked up" Alie said knowing that Jess and Luca were already fine with it
"Is this going to be my games room" Zalie asked excitedly as soon as Jess opened the door, there was already a big TV up on the wall with a cabinet underneath that had lots individual storage spaces and the couch was a fold out chaise complete with cup holders and all
"Yep, this is your gaming room, and you can access it from the main house, or from outside, so we have your gaming room, your play equipment, the pool and our outdoor entertaining area all linked together, fully undercover, heated so its all nice and warm so it won't hurt your chest, fully lit, speaker system throughout, what do you think" Jess asked her daughter showing her everything
"What are you crying for Zah" Jay asked noticing the tears starting
"Are they happy tears or sad tears" Jess asked going down on one knee so she was the same height
"Happy, don't leave me behind again mummy" Zalie said wrapping her arms around her mums neck and squeezing tight, this caused Jess to start crying as well, she knew the pain Zalie had obviously felt, she'd felt it herself, particularly after her mum got sick and passed away, she'd feel like a pinball being bounced around different places, go to sleep with her parents being the only adults in the house, wake up and find they were both gone and her aunty or grandmother was there instead, it hadn't been till Alie came on the scene she started to feel like she was a normal child, not having adults asking what her favourite foods were, where her uniform was, what she had on that day straight up in the morning, it was a hard thing for a 4 year old to deal with
"Hey listen, we spoke about this okay, mummy's going to have to still deploy, and I might not get any notice when I do have to go away, but this place here, this is our home now Zah, yours, mine, Cerbs and daddy's, nothing will ever change that okay, this is where I will always be coming back to" Jess said reassuring her, this was her space now, she was staying put no matter what happened in the future, where Jess got sent, it was why she was so keen to stay with DEVGRU, they had their one designated base they operated out of, which meant stability
"Love you" Zalie said sobbing into her mums chest
"Love you to my little Super Zah" Jess responded
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"Hey, you cleared to be back on base" Jason asked suprised too find Jess in her cage, as he walked into the team room with the others, they'd done a early morning gym session, something Doctor Masterson still hadn't been to keen about Jess doing yet, as he'd said constantly, focus on your weight and maintaining your strength and stamina just enough to remain deployable, the other stuff would return in time. She had taken the mandatory 24 hours she'd been ordered to by Doctor Masterson, but Trent hadn't said anything about him actually okaying her
"Ask the boss" Jess said indicating to Trent
"I okayed it last night, she can crash in her new hammock if she needs to" Trent said as Jason looked at him to make sure he had in fact okayed it. Jess had picked up a new hammock design from her dad while they were in Sydney, it was more similar to a swag, had a tent frame set-up to keep it a little sturdier and give it more shape and support, built in sleeping bag that had a sleeve to insert a pillow, safety straps and possessed a inner and outer shell made of block out fabric so she could sleep in absolute darkness
"Wait you got new gear, lets see" Ray said as she took bag that contained she'd clipped to the inside of her cage down and handed it over, Trent pulled it out to demonstrate how it worked before folding it back up and handing it back to Jess
"Nice, though I do need to ask, whats the point of the zippers" Clay asked noticing that there was a couple that had been placed in both the inner and outer shells
"Modesty" Jess quickly responded not really wanting to go into details, but the changes to Jess's management plan had included some bladder and bowel management techniques for Trent to use in case of emergencies, which unfortunately included catheters for monitoring of dehydration and fluid loss and added protection from accidentally soiling herself on the plane if she was sick, the zips would allow for the collection bags to hide in between the 2 shells and not be in plain sight for everyone on the plane to see, their was an extra set-up on its way for use when they were sleeping in bunks or on fold out stretchers
"Briefing room in 10" Eric said glancing briefly into the room as he walked past
"Yes sir" they said in unison and immediately got ready to attend
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"Sir is there a problem" Jason asked Lindell the moment their unit CO entered the briefing room
"The Al-Tabari package, we've had a change of plans" Lindell said
"What do you mean" Metal asked annoyed
"Thanks to Petty Officer Turner's computer program we've been able to proceed with the translations despite her being unable to commit her full attention due to family commitments, it turns out that Al-Tabari is a puppet, nothing more" Lindell said, Jess was a little caught of guard with the reference to her family commitments and not being able to commit her full attention, but she pushed it aside
"Naila" Ray asked curiously
"Her brother Abdullah Al-Asiri, new organisation on the scene nazam al-haqqiqi leh" Davis said bringing the photo up on the screen
"True order of Allah, what's brought this out" Jess said immediately translating the group name, she had remained out of touch on world events for the last 2 weeks and had already planned to catch up over the next few days
"A hospital was bombed" Lindell said as Davis changed the photos on the screen to take Bravo and Alpha through what had happened
"Suicide bombers, killed the American ambassador and his son, mother was left critically injured, target was a children's ward, the bombers responsible were Al-Tabari's 10 year old son, 8 year old nephew and 3 year old niece, who had been receiving treatment for cancer at the time, Naila brought the boys with her to the hospital, sent her sister-in-law home, bathed and dressed the little one, then told the kids to go to the playground area as the ambassador was visiting, she then walked out of the hospital" Davis said
"Well that's certainly going to help her win mother of the year" Derek interupted
"When Al-Tabari found out that it was his own son, he called his wife demanding a explanation, Naila starts sprouting the true believer lines, says he's not a true Muslim, should be celebrating the sacrifice, that she doesn't answer to him, she answers to Abdullah and so does he and all the rest, then we also have identified conversations indicating that Abdullah Al-Asiri wants him out of the way completely. Our job is to keep him alive" Davis said
"Ah why" Jason asked curiously
"Politics mostly, if Naila and Abdullah Al-Asiri want him out of the way for whatever reason then we should at least know why, he's obviously a threat to their plans or he's blocking something" Davis said, looking at Jess quickly for hope she'd back her up, understanding how these minds work was Jess's area off expertise not hers, she was relieved as Jess silently nodded in agreement, she'd reached the same conclusion
"Any idea how we get to him as quickly as possible" Eric asked trying to get a group discussion started, they would need to move fast
"We could get partner forces to pick him up" Clay suggested
"Can we really trust that they haven't been infiltrated" Ray said, it was always a question that was needed to be asked when dealing with local forces in foreign countries
"Hey Bookworm, you must have some contacts we can call, pull some strings" Sonny asked looking at Jess, she seemed able to get access to other information, hell she'd tracked Al-Tabari to begin with when everyone else came up short
"Depends what you need" Jess said
"Transport and a cover story" Davis asked looking at her hopefully
"Yeah I have a few contacts I can call" Jess said trying to think how best to do it
"Trustworthy" Lindell asked cautiously, going private had some advantages, but it could be less secure and more serious consequences is something went wrong
"Immediate family mostly, some of dads old colleagues that have gone into the private sector that he remains in contact with, some friends of my own I've either grown up or served with. Most are either business, military, intelligence or consulate. Its how I get a lot of my extra information, particularly when it came to tracking Al-Tabari's many businesses" Jess said giving the brief run down of her network
"So you don't go official channels" Lindell asked
"Often takes to long going through the red tape" Jess said, they all agreed with that, there was a big difference between bureaucrats and soldiers, and it wasn't always smooth sailing navigating between the 2 areas
"Any know your DEVGRU" Eric asked concerned, Jess was easily more recognisable with her position in DEVGRU compared to her male counterparts
"Some of the immediate family, all from my mums family and no one outside the first generation, are aware of my involvement with the US military, we're talking 5 people know I'm with this command, the rest all assume my role is with the State Department as a translator and cultural advisor and that I still volunteer with NATO, they needed to know something. My military, intelligence and consulate contacts are all don't ask, don't tell or need to know" Jess said
"Good cover" Eric said, it would be enough to easily explain her presence with them in the field without directly linking her to being a permanent member of DEVGRU
"It helps to have one, do we know if Al-Tabari would be willing to defect so to speak, turn over absolutely everything he knows about this organisation, I mean if he's been bankrolling it and his wife is the leaders sister, he would have dirt and it would explain why Naila and Abdullah want him out of the way, handle it right we may not even get it linked as the US military being involved, he'll just disappear, have him live out his life in our top maximum security federal prisons, I mean he must know he's going to be serving jail time if we get him" Jess said
"You mean cut him a deal" Lindell asked wanting to make sure they were on the same page
"Most enemy combatants we pick up end up at Guantanamo, not the most secure location, their word could be gotten out where he is and if he's talking, will put his life at risk, and he could be picked up in a prisoner exchange or riot, he'd be a lot safer, only a small handful of people would know where he is, and no one should be in a position to get word to Abdullah" Jess said explaining her reasons behind the suggestion
"What about his other family" Trent asked
"Vet them as much as we can and encourage them to relocate to another country and start over, we wouldn't be able to risk bringing them straight to the US the same time we get Al-Tabari here, thats if he wants safety for them as well. Naila if we can potentially get her to, we've got evidence connecting her to being directly involved with the attack that killed the Ambassador and his son, she's been heavily involved with a company that has directly funded terrorism acts against the United States that has killed its citizens and that's just what we know at the moment. Legally it is enough to call for the death penalty to be handed down, and I'm sure the government would be able to classify the affair, at least for 20 years or so considering the crimes she committed are actually against the US military, there would be grounds" Jess said looking to Lindell for confirmation, this ability to think was what he was after with his want to drag the program into the 21st century. Jess was just as much a pipe hitter as the others, but she was smart and calculating about how she went about it, could cover her tracks and talk her way out of any situation if she got questioned, if their was a way to get around something, she would find it
"Definitely, sounds like you're thinking a low vis operation" Lindell asked her, he could easily get this made confidential
"Mums older brother is the CEO of NOVA airlines" Jess said
"Isn't that who you lot flew with just recently" Ray asked
"Yeah, the directors my cousin, he's very thorough with vetting his staff, anyone who is suspected of being involved politically or radicalised is stood down for investigation as those behaviours mean they won't be able to comply with airline policy of putting your passengers first and their personal beliefs, they must be willing to serve alcohol to passengers, men must be willing to serve passengers of the opposite gender, little things like that, you soon weed out the radicals who are unwilling to put their beliefs aside for a job, especially when they're not actually being asked to drink the alcohol or do anything inappropriate like touching" Jess said
"So what's your plan" Lindell asked, he would need to sell it to command
"Have Al-Tabari announce he's taking a business trip, Nova keep excellent records of their passengers especially seeing as they highly value their frequent travellers and are well known in providing top level service for passengers requiring special assistance to travel, there is a detailed passenger manifest for each flight as soon as it goes on sale, we'd know whether they've flown with Nova before and if they have when, when they booked their tickets, their address and passport and visa numbers to cross reference. For it to be believable the tickets would need to be a first class and the actual cabin empty, fill the remaining seats of the cabin with operators in civvys under different occupations, seeing as NOVA do allow service animals, we could have Pepper on board and I could get permission from Hassan to carry minimal concealed indig weaponry, that way we could intervene if something happens to Al-Tabari or someone tries to go for the cockpit. Once we touch down then we shadow them and have CIA ready to pick them up in the airport and detained for questioning over the suicide bombing as their son was one of the children involved" Jess said explaining her thinking
"What about the threat from other passengers or staff" Eric asked looking at Lindell, civilian casualties were never a good look
"The three classes can be individually isolated from the others in case of attack, have him try to assign a crew to the plane that are experienced and worked for the company for a long time, their security standards are extremely high and we would be allowed to have Pepper sweep the plane completely twice, as Brock would be allowed to board early to get his luggage stored, then airline policy states that just before they're due to depart, service animals must be given a last chance to relieve themselves before departure in a designated area, it would mean Brock would have to bring Pepper back through the whole plane once its boarded to get back to his seat in first class. There is a hidden back-door into the NOVA passenger, crew and cargo manifests, would allow us to get up to the minute details of who is on board and where they are seated, I could get Davis into that information so we can monitor for last minute changes, its a security feature and is monitored by only 3 people in the company, only Hassan will know its me who's accessing it, its basically a carrot on the stick to check for leaks in security and see if anyone is willing to attempt to take the information or is turning a blind eye to deliberate security breaches" Jess said confidently, Eric had to admit, the plan sounded good
"It won't get reported to authorities" Lindell asked cautiously
"Nope, random test and maintenance he's arranged the software designer to perform, AKA me, designed by a freelance software designer that works for a company that is owned by Berassa Elite Holdings" Jess said, this was not the only piece of software she had designed in her time, hell they'd used her translation one, and she had a couple more, it would mean loaning Davis the use of her personal laptop, but hey if it meant they could get the job done with minimal risk, well she just had to learn to share
"Let me guess, you" Trent asked laughing
"Amongst others, don't look so surprised, Metal told you I was basically a criminal mastermind in a military uniform, we do everything above board and keep it fully legal, we just don't openly disclose anything we're not legally obligated to" Jess said
"Holding company, does that mean you have other businesses as well" Clay asked, he'd taken a interest in the business industry after he met her dad and learnt who he was. He had zero interest in ending up like Ash Spenser once everything was done and dusted, Ash hated Jay, Jay despised Ash, said he'd saved Ash's life one to many times and called his book an amazing work of pure fiction and the book was a laugh a minute
"Yep, but good luck trying to find everything and work out where and how I actually fit in to the picture" Jess said laughingly issuing the challenge
"You're wheels up in 1 hour for dubai" Lindell said confident before leaving the room to update his superiors on their plan
"Yes sir" the room said before exiting out to grab what they needed
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"Hey Zah Zah, how are you feeling this morning, getting your games room set up" Jess asked Zalie as soon as her face appeared on the screen, she'd just been to the head and was on her way back to the team room to get her gear
"Yep, Cerbs has been a big help to" Zalie said quickly adjusting the view to show Jess how he'd currently positioned himself on the couch, flat on his back, paws every which way and head turned to its side so he was looking through the glass doors, Jess couldn't help but laugh as Cerbs slowly started sliding of the couch
"Yeah he's always been good supervising things, listen I'm not going to be home tonight" Jess said as she opened the door to the team room and walked to her cage, Zalie could see the rest of Bravo were busy
"You're getting sent out" Zalie asked sounding a little disappointed
"Yeah, but you got your Nonna and Boompa there with you, you got Cerbs as well, and your aunty Naima and her 2 little ones are excited to meet you, so you've got lots to do still" Jess said trying to make it sound exciting
"Can they come and play in the pool and have pizza" Zalie asked after thinking about it for a moment
"I don't know, what do you reckon uncle Ray, think aunty Naima could take Meelah and RJ over to my place to meet Zalie and they could play in the pool and have pizza while we're out of town" Jess asked calling over to where Ray's cage was located
"I think that sounds like a wonderful idea, why don't I call her right now and see what she says" Ray said coming over to Jess's cage and standing next to her so Zalie could see him as he pulled out his phone