Don't own Chuck
Casey drove Sarah down to San Diego then down to North Island where they made their way to the flight line. There they were met by some aviation types that Casey knew from previous missions. He told her to stay in the car and that he'd take care of things so she watched from inside as they huddled. At one point they seemed to be arguing quite vehemently so she rolled down her window so see what she could hear and see if she needed to intervene. She thought she heard one of the say 'I could get fired for this'. But Casey seemed to be able placate all the parties involved and then came back to the car smiling.
"Is everything a go?" asked Sarah as Casey got back in the car.
"We'll see shortly but the deed is done," he said as he turned on the ignition and they drove over to a hangar. "Come on we need to suit up." As they got out of the car one of the aviation maintenance chiefs walked over and escorted them into a changing room.
"Your flight suits are in the lockers I'll have one of my men stow your gear onboard. Colonel you better come back alive because I'll need you to testify at my court martial."
"Don't worry Boats. Have I ever let you down before? Who was it that dragged your sorry butt out of that stinking commie hell hole in Honduras after your plane got shot down? Don't worry I've got you covered."
"I still think you shot me down just so I'd owe you a favor," said the Chief as they both laughed. Sarah was missing something but decided to play along.
"The Chief here was on a C-2 making a run from the carrier when his plane got shot down by friendly fire."
"Yeah and a group of rebels took us prisoner. We were locked up 'in a stinking commie hell hole'," said the Chief. "The next thing we know is we're hearing shots outside then calm. That's when your Colonel comes walking in asking who ordered pizza." They both laughed again. Sarah could only shake her head because it sounded like something Casey would do.
"Here take this and think of me when you smoke it," said Casey as she handed the Chief one of his best. The man looked like a kid on Christmas day.
"Costa Gravan pre-revolutionary double coronas! Come to papa. Okay get changed and the bird will be waiting for you outside. You know what you're supposed to be doing right?"
"Yeah we got it," said John. "Stop worrying, you're making me nervous. Go scream at some of you men we'll be out in a minute."
The Chief left as Casey and Sarah changed into flight suits then came out to find their ride waiting for them, an F-18F. After walking through the pre-flight checklist they walked around the plane then they boarded and rolled out of the hangar onto the flight line where they were given clearance to take off. After setting course and speed Sarah radioed up front for Casey to explain to her once more how he got the plane on loan.
"It's easy. The Carrier Air Wing station in NAF Atsugi sent in a request for a replacement bird for one of theirs that crapped out on them so we're delivering them this one. When I was working black ops this was one of the ways we got people in and out of country. That second seat can come in handy sometimes."
"Chuck's right you should write some of these things down. If nothing else the General should add a course for you to teach at the farm."
"No way, I've got my hands full looking after you two let alone having a class full of newbie recruits to worry about too."
"I know you care and somewhere in that big chest of your is a heart you try to bury away but every now and then it breaks out."
"I don't know what you're talking about. This bird is rated at Mach 1.8 at high altitude let's see what it can do. I'm thinking we can get her to Mach 2."
"That's fine Casey just remember we need to get to Japan for Chuck not burn out halfway there. Let's stay at rated speeds for a bit then we'll try to pick up some extra time."
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General Beckman was flown into a detention facility, a dark site located in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia located far enough from Langley and DC to remain hidden but not far enough that it was inconvenient to get to. Right now Beckman wasn't concerned about convenience especially the convenience of the man she was about to have a conversation with.
"Did you have trouble bringing him here?" asked the General to one of her men who was escorting her into the facility.
"Nothing we couldn't handle, ma'am. We did as you instructed no one saw us and as far as his people are concerned he's at home in bed with his wife asleep and she thinks he got called in to work by an informant. But we actually took him outside his mistress' house."
"You'd think a man who works for an intelligence agency would be a little more discreet with his proclivities. Let me know as soon as the other two arrive. Well let me get this over with," said the General as she walked into the interrogation room. The room temperature continually changed vacillating from cold to hot intended to undermine the detainee's resistance.
"Good evening Mr. Asaki I don't think introductions are necessary you know who I am?" said the General as she sat across from an oriental man who was handcuffed to a chair opposite her.
"The woman I'm going to have fired. You should do something about the heating in here or is this a kinder, gentler form of waterboarding?"
"Awfully mouthy for a spy who likes to cheat on his wife," said the General as she laid incriminating photos on a table in front of him.
"So I'm not the only husband who's cheated on his wife. You elected a President and so did the French and let's not start in about a former Italian Premier. I guess we could say I'm in good company."
"I'd say that's your opinion, but they didn't go to bed with a Russian spy. You should've vetted your mistress better," said the General as she laid out the mistress' credentials and photos of her going into the Russian embassy. "Oh but that would have meant that someone in your embassy would have to know you were having the affair. Difficult with your wife being the assistant Ambassador not to say a little bit awkward. You know I need to do some investigating but the only crimes for which capital punishment is statutory in Japan are murder and treason."
"I haven't betrayed my country."
"You betrayed your wife and who's to say some of those classified papers in your wife's safe don't float over to Lubyanka square. How do they do execute people in Japan? I mean do they use a firing squad, hanging, lethal injection, electric chair or do they do it the only fashion way with a Seppuku ceremony?"
"I assume there's something you want? What is it?" asked Asaki not being quite as belligerent as he had been.
"Yesterday someone in your government through your embassy contacted our Secretary of State and claimed treaty rights over a DC-7 that had flown into your airspace. Then afterwards ordered it shot down. I want to know who and why."
"I don't know. We got a message from the Jōhōhonbu in Ichigaya to lay claim and to keep you away. I thought the whole thing sounded odd but I had my orders. As far as shooting it down I have no idea where the order came from or even if it did came from us. I understand the pilot is going to be court martialed for the incident."
"A rather convenient scapegoat, if you ask me. There has to be something more, some rumor you heard."
"I don't know if this is related but in the Tokyo underworld a name started popping up… Nee-san. Then a yakuza boss ended up dead and the story went that some blonde gaijin took him out like some sort of ninja. They called her the blonde Shīmēru."
"What does this have to do with the DC-7 and it being shot down?" asked Beckman wondering if the guy wasn't giving her the run around.
"Well sometimes we use… How do you call them… I think you call them 'operators' to take down people who either because they are difficult to get at or are highly connected."
"Let's call it what it is, you mean assassinate," said the General. Not wanting to mince words and laying it out clearly.
"You know you Americans can be overly blunt at times. Yes and I know this particular yakuza boss was on a hit list. The man was a ruthless killer and if ever someone deserved to be terminated with prejudice he did and those are words your people love to use."
"Again what does that have to do with our DC-7 unless the Jōhōhonbu knew the manifest and who was on the plane? I'm going to need more if you want these photos to go away." As she was talking with the Japanese spy one of her men can in the room and whispered something into her ear.
"Good bring him in," said the General. "I've just had someone flown in who might help us understand what's going on." The door opened and two men escorted Alex and Morgan in. Grimes was carrying a tablet with him.
"You know a little manners goes a long way buddy, like for instance a please and thank you every now and then. We're all on the same team after all, Jeez. I thought the Buy More was bad Diane but your people could use a few lessons in customer relations. Who's the guy? Don't I know you? Do you work at Sizzling Shrimp? Yeah Alex, this is the guy who delivers the takeaway with Liu. How is Liu? You know on that last order you over charged me."
"Excuse me," said Asaki.
"But he did I have the receipt here somewhere," said Morgan as he handed Alex the tablet and started pulling everything out of his pockets. "I know I've got it just give me a minute."
"Morgan stop, you're spiraling, we're not in Burbank," said Alex. "You don't remember they took us because you were tranq'd.
"I had you brought here so you could share your finding with our friend," said the General. "Afterwards we'll have a discussion as to where the other two disappeared to."
"Your friend General? Do you often handcuff your friends to chairs? Chuck said he figured you for the wild type but does Roan go in for this type of stuff? Chuck told me about him too. I have to give it you Becky but shouldn't you use padded cuffs?"
"Can we please get on to it and I'm going to have to have a nice long talk with Agent Carmichael when he gets back," said the General as Alex elbowed him and shook her head whispering in his ear 'not helping'.
"Right you mean what we saw from the satellite feeds. You sure we can trust this guy?" said Morgan as the General gave him a look. "You know Sarah gives me that look sometimes too. Okay here we go. This is when your guy shot down the DC-7 but if we rewind the video and zoom in we can see parachutes but we have a problem. If you look through the cloud cover you see a yacht about thirty foot long waiting for them then…"
"That's a submarine," said Asaki trying to look closer.
"Give the man a cigar. Your powers of observation are amazing," said Morgan as the General cleared her voice telling him to chill with the remarks. "Yes, it's a North Korean a Project 633 or that's what Sarah identified it as."
"Yes," said the General as she crossed her arms and looked at both of Alex and him, "and we're going to have a conversation about her and the Colonel's current location afterwards.
"Right but if you keep on watching you see the yacht disappears after a cloud passes and it looks like there's debris adrift afterwards then the sub is gone."
"Do you have any idea where it went? I don't suppose it was difficult for you to track," said Asaki wondering how much of this he could share with his people. He was supposed to be meeting with a contact or that's what he told his wife. Just what kind of contact he didn't mention but now he had real intel.
"Well, if we lay a map of the pacific over the last sighting then do a thermal scan looking for changes in water temperature, we can see the initial course would have them heading towards Tokyo bay. However, after a few hours there was a course correction that has then headed towards this area of Japan, Sugura Bay…"
"No Shimoda port. That's where the story I told you the blonde ninja originated and where that yakuza boss got beheaded."
"You mean he got his head chopped off?"
"That's what beheading means," said Asaki smiling. He was giving Morgan a little payback for his comments earlier but he didn't realize how inappropriate it was to say what he said and smile at the same time.
"Right, well my guys will take you back home," said the General as she slid Asaki a burner phone across the table. "You can use that to call me when you've found out more. Remember you can run but you can't hide."
"That's right," said Morgan as he stood up.
"Agent Grimes sit right back down. Agent McHugh pull a chair and sit over here with us. It's about time we had our own little private chat. You know it reflects very poorly on me when two of my best agents go rogue."
"Thank you Diane," said Morgan as he reached over and took the General's hands. "But we really didn't go rogue we're just helping Sarah and John find Chuck is all.
"Morgan, I think the General was talking about Dad and Sarah," said Alex as the General pulled her hand away and gave Morgan the death stare.
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Kenji walked into the control room with Jill. Chuck had monitored their progress by the time he allotted Kenji and Song to pass through the various secured hatches until they arrived where Jill was being held. He added ten minutes for Kenji to neutralize her guards then start their return and since he hadn't gotten any calls for help or reinforcements he knew they were safe. However when Kenji returned he brought with him the rest of their men the commandos hadn't killed.
"I expected you to do that," said Chuck as he watched Kenji pile in with his troops. "But your men don't know how to sail a submarine and if you try to get revenge on the commandos you risk starting a firefight inside a metal balloon under the ocean. I think you guys get the picture." To make sure Chuck repeated what he said in Japanese and Korean.
"Kenji, Chuck's right for now we just relax and let the crew do their job," said Nee-san which seemed to tick Kenji off even more. It seemed more and more to him that she was acting more like that other her but he agreed.
"Listen I don't expect you to like this table turn but it's in everyone's best interest. I've given my word to the skipper that none of his men will be harmed so keep that in mind."
"I'm still going to post a guard outside the hatch with the commandos behind it," said Kenji flexing his muscles a little and not wanting to look too passive.
"I think that's a wise move. Soon they're going to figure out that they've been trapped and then they might try to bust out but I doubt it. Mercenaries like to stay alive to spend their cash. Money doesn't do a dead man much good."
"Impressive Chuck, you're not at all like that guy I once knew, the nervous guy who proposed to me on that Ferris wheel."
"To be fair I was terrified because of my fear of heights but yes I'll grant you I'm a lot more self-confident these days but that's thanks to Sarah. Now we all need to talk. Captain, can we use your cabin?"
"Why ask me? You're the captain now," said Kim as he offered Chuck his skipper's hat but Chuck refused it.
"Being the skipper is more than giving orders and knowing how a boat functions. You know your crew. They respect and trust you. No one can walk in and take that over not with money or threats."
"You are about the strangest American I've met and that's a good thing. A far cry from the hook-nosed propaganda posters we in the North grew up with."
"And you from what a friend of mine would call a commie. Shall we agree not to kill each other today?" said Chuck as he held out his hand and they shook. "Okay Kenji, Nee-san and Jill we need to all go into the Captain's cabin and talk maybe we can come up with the same agreement?"
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Casey and Sarah had just taken on the last fuel they'd need to finish their journey east. Refueling midair from a KC-10 Extender then breaking off heading back on course for Atsugi, this was in fact their third refueling after they jettisoned their Sargent Fletcher drop tanks. The drop tanks were used for extended range and or loitering which was not their case. They had someplace to be and a need to get there quickly.
"Atsugi control," radioed the control tower. They were now nearing the end of their trip and in contact with ground control.
"Atsugi control read you loud and clear. Request landing instruction," radioed Casey as Sarah monitored from behind.
"I have an incoming transmission from Langley I need to scramble for you," radioed the tower. Both knew who it was and in how much hot water they were in but Sarah didn't care.
"What in tarnation do you two think you're doing? You know if the Japanese found out you were on board that plane they'd probably shoot it down then what? We go to war again?"
"Sorry General, you shouldn't hold this against the Colonel. This was my idea," said Sarah, "I forced him to come along."
"Yeah like that's believable Sarah, I don't need for you to protect me. I made my decision and I followed through with it. If you need to hang this around someone's head hang it around mine."
"No John it's not fair that I drag you down with me. Chuck's my husband and I'm going after him no one's going to stop me."
"The blond she-male, the blonde Shīmēru," said the General remembering now where she heard that name used before. In Morgan's after action report on the Belgian mention, 'Half of Thailand is talking about the giant blonde she-male that's tearing through their town.' He was talking about Sarah.
"What did you say General we're having a hard time hearing you," said Casey. "Can you please repeat your last transmission?"
"That's the oldest trick in the book. You pretend you can't hear so I let you go, because that is what you want me to do? Right you want me to let you proceed and since you can't hear me then the agency can't be held responsible for your actions. If I could talk to you I might even mention that the submarine Chuck is riding on will be pulling into Shimoda port Japan in a few hours and that Agent Grimes is standing by to relay live sat feed. That is if I could communicate with you."
"Roger that we can't hear a word so it's useless to continue we will try to establish contact with Castle and have them contact you. Casey out."
"John you know what this means," said Sarah. "We need to hurry up."
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In a highly guarded compound at the foot of Mount Fuji not far from the Fuji-Hakonei-Izu National park black Nissan SUVs pulled into the gravel parking area inside the walls. Men in black suits wearing white gloves came out to open the doors of the vehicles of the arriving guests then ushered them into a dining area. Each sat at his appointed seat assigned by clan then when the last one was seated Larry Tokugawa made his stage entrance like a character in from a Kabuki theater. If nothing else Larry knew how to command attention. He saw himself the Generalissimo, a modern Shogun of the yakuza. His goal in life was to unify the rival families into one large family and run it like a man ran Japan who shared the same last name.
"I'm pleased my friends that you could all be here this evening to celebrate my victory with me. Shortly I'll have that blonde gaijin delivered to me and she'll meet the fate she gave to George. I'll…" Larry started to say something when one of his men with the white gloves came running in and whispered something in his ear. Larry turned beet red and clinched his fists.
"Maybe Tokugawasan would like to tell us when he plans on performing his magic act. I was informed on my way here that the woman he planned on parading in front of this council escaped along with a group of our best and a submarine that this council purchased. It would be interesting for Tokugawasan to explain how he thinks he has a right to put this council in order when he can't even put things right in his own affairs."
"Sush Hiro you're going too far," warned a man next to him. "Don't challenge Larry openly, he's still too powerful."
"I'm simply stating the obvious," said Hiro. "If I'm wrong I'll eat my words."
"Will you," said Larry as he grabbed a set of chopsticks yanked Hiro's head back as shoved them down his throat as far as he could. Blood came out of Hiro's mouth as he flailed for a bit before he died. "Anyone else hungry! If not this council meeting is adjourned," said Larry as a nervous servant brought a wet towel for him to clean his hands on.
"Boss what do you want me to do?" said one of the men with white gloves.
"I want to know what happened. Make contact with our mole in the Jōhōhonbuand find out where she is I don't want her to disappear again. Oh and clean this mess up."