Don't own Chuck
Frank was at his desk looking out the window wondering after this project was over where he'd be sent next and if he could somehow ask for his next assignment. Up until now he'd been sent but maybe now the council was starting to appreciate his abilities and skills. Just maybe he could start asking instead of always being told. The idea made him feel good as he leaned back in his chair and put his feet up daydreaming about where he'd like to go when the door to his office flew open. A very angry Doctor came storming in.
"What the heck is going on," yelled Dr. Martin as she stampeded in. The door made a loud bang as it hit the wall knocking some of the paint off then slowly closed.
"Good afternoon to you too," said Frank as he put his feet down. "I know you're upset but we've got our orders."
"Upset? I'm not upset I'm livid with rage. I've got everything planned and scheduled out to meet your deadlines like you wanted. Then when I show I can make them what do you do, you move them up. Who do you think you are?"
"I know who I am; I'm the man in charge. Turrini screwed everything up but our little test run was such a success our people have given us a green light to go again. This time it will be a high value target and if you can pull this off there will be glory to go around for everyone."
"But it's one thing to bring a couple satellites on line but it's another to bring the whole constellation on line and at the same time. I can't guarantee we'll have enough energy to power the mainframe to work them all. I don't think you realize the power drain. I just need more time."
"Which is something I can't give you, I wish I could but I can't. Doctor, you're preaching to the choir. I've got my orders and you've got yours. We've got this window to operate in and we're going to take it. I'm sorry we just have to. If you fail I won't be happy and I'll probably yell at you. You'll think I'm a jerk but it will end there."
"I already think that," said Dr. Martin and for the first time he smiled at her. "I just thought I'd be honest."
"I appreciate it and I already knew that. However, with that said if we fail my boss will put a bullet in my head and that's just if he's feeling kind that day. Do you want to know what happened to Mr. Johannsson?"
"I figured he was put out to pasture or something like that," said Dr. Martin as Frank gave her a look. "No, I know he was eliminated."
"You mean killed just to be clear. Yes but you don't know how. He was garroted in front of me then his body was shoved in a foundry furnace. All while I watched so I'd know the price of failure. Now I was put in this job to see if I'd swim or sink. But while I wouldn't hold it against you if you fail I can't guarantee the next person they send in here will see it the same way."
"I still can't guarantee anything without further testing. The only thing I can guarantee is I'll do my best."
"Well I think that's all anyone can ask for. So are we calmer now? Maybe you'd like to share a drink with me," said Frank. They went over to the bar in his office together there he poured them both a Scotch passing her a glass.
"Here's to the 'initiative' and its success," said the Doctor as she raised her glass.
"I can drink to that," said Frank as he clink glasses. They stood close together and maybe it was the alcohol or the stress but she kissed him. "Dr. Martin, aren't you worried what your boyfriend will say."
"Who says he's my boyfriend?" said Dr. Martin but Frank moved away from her creating distance. "Oh I'm sorry."
"No problem but I think we should both get back to work," said Frank as he went back to his desk. "Oh on the way out can you please be care to the door. I'd hate to have to get maintenance up here to fix it." There was a knock on his door and Marcus came in.
"I'm sorry am I interrupting something?" said Marcus feeling the tension in the air as he looked back and forth at the two of them.
"No go ahead Dr. Martin was just about to leave. I think you understand my position quite well now Doctor. I only expect what you can do and nothing more."
"Well some of this is for you too Silvia. This is the info on the target tomorrow. It seems the U.S. has a new experimental aircraft we're interested in taking a closer look at. In addition the
Director, there's one of their top agents who's gotten a little too close to some of the board members. Our mission is to take all three.
"That would be General Diane Beckman. Do we know who this agent is? It wouldn't be Chuck or Sarah Carmichael," asked Frank. They both looked at him. "I've had run ins with them before."
"I don't know I wasn't told. But they did say 'she' so the person is supposed to be female which would leave this Chuck guy out. I could ask if it's important?" said Marcus wondering who these people were that left such an impression on Frank.
"No, no it doesn't matter. Did they give us a location where to detour the aircraft to and if they want the aircraft they'd better make sure the runway is long enough. That is if they want to take the aircraft whole because if they don't then they'll be shoveling it up in buckets. I'd better remind them of that. Leave me the file after I make this call I'll bring you a duplicate copy doctor." They stood there for a moment looking at Frank. "That would be your cue to leave."
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Sarah had the pregnancy test in her hand when Casey was about to walk in. He looked at it then stopped a moment before stepping in. Then he started to do an about face when he noticed the box was still unopened which meant she hadn't used it which as he thought they were still arguing it.
"My God woman, can't you just find a bathroom and get it done already. I mean you two argue and talk things into the ground especially you Bartowski. Whining on about your feelings all the time why don't you give it a rest. And you either you are or you aren't, I've never heard of anyone being almost or quasi pregnant. It's black or white this gray thing you've got going is just unnatural."
"John, how'd your conversation go with Kat? You did call her I hope, didn't you?" asked Sarah as she put the test away.
"Can we get to work so we can finish? I might even be able to grab a little shut eye before the General gets here?" Both Chuck and Sarah tried to figure out what was going on with him.
"You certainly seem in a foul mood. John you know if you want to talk about it..." Chuck started to say but Casey shut him down.
"Remember what I said before just turn around there and tell me what we've got. I called Morgan and sent him the photos. He's supposed to run them through the mainframe to come up with their nomenclature and position on the satellite so we can get a better idea of what we have and what's missing."
"You spent all that time on the phone with Morgan," said Chuck and he raise an eyebrow. "What time was it back their anyway?"
"Okay Alex might have come on the line and we talked. She's going to tell Kat for me that I'm fine," said Casey as Chuck and Sarah stared at him. "What? I couldn't hold up a government line for personal business and Alex was there so it's the same."
"No it's not John," said Sarah, "and you know it's not. Don't go sabotaging something you have because later on you'll regret it."
"Can we be professional here for once and go back to work. I got a call from the Embassy now that comms are coming back up and they want us to move inside the compound."
"Makes sense but I need to show you this. I was looking over your photos," said Chuck as Sarah got up and he turned around to the monitor. "And I found something odd. I pieced together your perimeter photos then changed the vantage point to above using an overlay from our eyes in the sky and this is what I got. What do you see?"
"I see the crash site with an impact crater in the middle so what's so unusual about that," said Casey. "I mean when I was walking it I thought something was odd but looking back now it could've been the dengue fever setting in."
"Sarah, what do you see? Do feel like flashing?" This was a test Chuck wanted to try on Sarah and it seemed he was right when she shook her head no.
"Guys, the blast site is round. For the satellite to make that it would have to drop straight down in the middle and the odds of that happening are about a million to one and then there would be nothing left. Impact sites are oblong or oval shaped because the object skids to a stop making more a trench then a round hole. So once I noticed that I went to work scrapping some of the dirt off the side of the pieces you brought back. I won't know anything definitive before this sample goes to Langley and comes back but I did a mini field test. You know what I found?"
"Chuck, I swear one of these days I'm going to slap you silly," said Casey. "If I knew what you found I wouldn't have to ask."
"Sweetie, it can be annoying at time. Field test for what, explosives? Dynamite, there are some mining camps up in that direction.
"That was what I thought at first," said Chuck as he opened up the image of the area. "But the residue tested position for RDX. Like I said I won't have anything positive until Langley looks at the sample."
"But it begs the question how did military grade explosives end up in the middle of nowhere and then what? Someone salted the site with the remains of the satellite? Why?"
"I'm afraid I've got more questions than answers right now. Maybe when the mainframe gets done processing those photos we'll know more but for now that's where we stand with that."
"Why did you say 'with that'? Chuck, do you have something else going on?" asked Sarah. "You've been tracking Turrini, haven't you?"
"I'd like to hand out a little payback there. Good job Chuck, tell me you found him. I've got a score I'd like to even up."
"Chuck, you realize this is how rouge operations start. This wasn't sanction so... well I'm telling you to be careful."
"Never let the bad guy get away," said Chuck as he pulled Sarah down and kissed her. She put her arm around him and kissed him back.
"Yuck, I'm going to be sick. Can we get back to payback time? Heir Sig and I have something to say to Señor Turrini."
"Well I don't know where he went but I used the same bird to get facial recognition on him taking a car from the square to the airport. Shortly afterwards the same bird got him boarding the Yak-40 that brought us here with this Colonel, Colonel Toledano. They took off without filing a flight plan heading east flying towards Africa that's when the bird lost him."
"We know that. The General has everyone on alert in Africa so if he pops his head up anywhere. Heir Sig and I have our bags packed. Heir Sig will be taking his nine little friends."
"And they sent me to therapy; I never talked to inanimate object and definitely not to my dart pistol."
"Shush you don't want to hurt Heir Sigs feelings in his case his bite is worse than his bark. But Chuck we know all this. So what you've got a visual confirmation now and we've got that Colonel friend of his that ran off with him so what?""
"A fishing boat off the coast of Argentina found a body floating in the Southern Atlantic and posted it on the internet as a John Doe. He was wearing a Costa Gravas Colonel's uniform and a parachute that didn't deploy."
"So Turrini got rid of dead weight. That doesn't surprise me; you know what they say about honor among thieves."
"But if they found the body here," said Chuck as he brought up a map pointing to it. "Well Sarah how much fuel would the Yak have and could it reach Africa from there?"
"I don't know. I don't think so but I could be wrong," said Sarah wondering why Chuck asked her. "Should I know?"
"I'm sorry I guess I'm just a little tired I thought as a pilot you might know but the answer is no. He couldn't make it. The only place he could make it to is anything below the Tierra del Fuego."
"Chuck, that's the South Pole."
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Outside of Brussels at Chièvres air base the General and Mary boarded a Lear and departed in the early hours for destination Mildenhall, England. The European green party fought to kill the Concord and probably would do the same with the hypersonic project. For that reason it was limited for use over the Atlantic and for special circumstances until all the impact studies were completed.
"I'm getting tired of these early morning wake up calls," said Mary as she boarded the Lear. "I hope the flight crew's put a pot of coffee on I could use a cup right about now."
"Our connecting flight will be waiting for us in the hangar so in less than three hours' time we should be with Chuck and the team."
"Any word yet on the submarine? Have the Russian even acknowledged that they lost one yet?" asked Mary as the plane began to roll.
The plane taxied out on to the flight line where it was queued for take off and shortly afterwards it was up in the air flying across the channel. Mary was up out of her seat as soon as the 'fasten seat belt' sign went off looking for caffeine.
"While you're making yourself a cup can you bring me one too. You asked about them admitting well not yet but they're saying now they've lost communications with one doing routine maneuvers in the North Sea, which I guess is the first step in admitting it. Our fleets are still looking but it hasn't been easy."
"Here you go," said Mary as she took her seat with her cup. "Well that's a beginning of sorts I guess. You know my theory on the matter."
"Well you can share them with Chuck soon so you two can hash them out but if there's a connection I can't see it."
"That would be kind of the point if you didn't want to be caught and don't tell me I'm paranoid because I'm not, it's just everyone's after me," she said as she smiled over her cup.
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A few days before….
Somewhere in the middle of the North Sea a new Russian Boeri II class submarine was doing maneuvers and conducting sea trials. Night and day were the same under the water there was only on duty and off. Off duty meant a trip to the head then the rack before being woken up for watch and starting another twelve hour shift.
"Watch officer I'm retiring to my quarters I'll be there if you need me." Space was a premium on board subs so the only person who had private quarters was the boat's Captain."
"Captain off the bridge," he heard as he retired to his cabin off the bridge which was more a broom closet but he called it home. The Captain took his boots off setting them next to his rack then he grabbed a bottle of water and took a drink. The recycled air on board could become stale and dry which made his throat dry. He took a swallow from the bottle then sat it next to his rack as he laid down to clear his head. Lying there he was about to doze off went he started feeling a little light headed then he noticed the bottle start to slide.
"Crap, we're rising," he said as he jumped up. His last orders where to remain their current depth. "What the…" said to himself running threw his head why they'd be coming up. He threw on his boots then ran out on the bridge. "Can someone explain what's going on?" But he never expected the answer he got. He was greet with a pistol in the face.
"We're taking over," said his next in command. "Take the Captain forward with the rest. Lock them in the forward torpedo room." An armed man started to escort him when the same officer stopped them. "Wait one minute, Sir if you and your men behave yourselves everything will go smoothly but if you act up we'll flood the compartment. Now take him away with the rest."
"You won't get away with this," yelled the Captain. "Get your hands off me. You know the penalty for mutiny. They'll hang you like the treasonous dog you are."
"Take us up to comms depth then run the antenna up," said the Lieutenant Kaptain as he stood behind the Helmsman."
"Comms depth, sir deploying antenna," said the Helmsman smiling back at the Lieutenant Kaptain. "You can communicate now."
"Very good Mr. Aleksandr go broadcast this message," said the Lieutenant Kaptain giving him the bandwidth. "Present acquired give me location of party for delivery. Make sure you send that just like it's written."
"Roger that," said the officer then he disappeared only to come back a few minutes later. "Your message was sent and here's your reply." The man handed the Lieutenant Kaptain a piece of paper with coordinates written on it.
"Okay let's dive and lay in a new course. Looks like we're headed for the Falklands, Helmsman, let's run the Devil's hole then go around Scotland. Once we get around then let's run the MAR that should get us south far enough where they won't think to look.
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Frank sat in front of his computer for some time mustering up the courage to log on. Then when he did he really wasn't sure how what he was about to say would be greeted. But no guts no glory so he swallowed his Scotch and turned the monitor to face him.
"Frank," said the man looking at him. "Why are you calling me so soon? Don't tell me something is wrong? That won't set well for either of us after I just got done singing your praises."
"No nothing like that I was just going over the file I received for 'the initiative' and… well I was wondering has anyone really worried that this X-type aircraft may need a longer runway than what you've laid out in the project schematics. I say this because there's no room for error here or it could end up in the ocean then we'd lose everything."
"You know I just assumed the people working on that end of the project knew what they were doing. What are your suggestions considering how little time we have left?"
"Why not look at the runways we know the aircraft has already used and make sure ours is at least as long as the shortest one. This can be done by filling in the top with used construction material then throwing on top a layer of quick drying cement. It doesn't have to look pretty and there's no time to lay down asphalt. I would; however, put up a retaining net like what they use on aircraft carriers to catch planes just in case."
"Those are excellent suggestions and I'm going to do you one better, you've just gotten a place at the table for the next phase. If you're ready for it; however, this will require you to spend some time on board a submarine. How are your sea legs?"
"One of my first bosses was an ex-Admiral but that doesn't mean anything and you know that. It won't be a problem if that's your question."
"Good, there's only one more thing. Once you're done there that site is of no more use to us. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"
"But after all the money we've invested in this place you want me to shut it down. It seems like a waste but if that's your orders…."
"No, not just shut it down, it has to be eliminated. Now that the constellation is in orbit we can reposition the host satellite anywhere but if the CIA finds that facility they could learn about our initiative."
"Very well there's enough C-4 lying around here to do that. I can set it for an hour after 'the initiative' begins that should be enough time to evacuate the facility and get our people out."
"No Frank, you're still not listening to me," said the man as he got serious. "There will be a plane waiting for you and your assistant only at the same airfield you flew in. You two are the only ones to leave that facility. Dr. Martin has served her purpose well but our experts tell me that they can reproduce her work so she is now redundant. Is this going to be a problem? You handled the Admiral for us, now it's time to get your hands really dirty that is if you still want that seat?"
"Yes sir I do and no it won't be a problem. I'll organize a celebration after 'the initiative' and have everyone get together for champagne then terminate the operation here."
"I like the way you think. I can see you sitting next to me on the council now Frank. The plane will be there. Have your bags packed for the Falklands. I hope you like the cold."