Chapter 7

The next several months dragged by for Jaime. Oscar hadn't called her for a single mission, and the principal's second year hadn't been much better than her first. She was really hoping to get an assignment outside the classroom, but wondered if Oscar's feelings for her kept him from putting her in harm's way. She had seen him only twice since Christmas – once when he flew out to L.A. to give Steve a mission, and once when she had flow into Washington for a checkup.

She had just pulled into her driveway, when Helen came running out of the house. "Oh Jaime, I'm glad you're here. I tried calling you at the school, but you'd already left. Oscar just called – sounded pretty stressed. He's on his way over – he'll be in here in a half hour. He wants you packed and ready to go."

"Where? What's this all about? Helen..."

"He said you're catching a flight out to the Philippines tonight. That's all I know. Come on honey, I'll help you pack." Jaime and Helen ran upstairs to throw together a few things for her trip. Jaime hated it when Oscar gave her no notice. The Philippines? What was she going to be doing in the Philippines? Was she going to be there a day, a month – what? It was June, so it should be hot and steamy. She packed plenty of lightweight clothing, hats and sunscreen and even threw in a swimsuit, wishfully thinking this was a surprise vacation. Just as she finished, Oscar's car pulled up. He dispensed with his usual pleasantries, whisking Jaime into the back seat of his limo, luggage and all.

Any hope she had that this trip was for pleasure and not business dissipated when she saw the look on Oscar's face. Never before had she seen such a look of terror in his eyes. He sent the driver speeding back to LAX as he quickly filled Jaime in on their mission.

"I'm sorry to do this to you babe, I know how you hate it when I give you such short notice, but this is a real emergency. One of the French government's scientific submarines went 'missing' yesterday and several members of the crew were found floating off the shores of Taiwan. The sub was last seen prowling the waters off the coast of China."

"A scientific submarine?" Not that she wasn't concerned, but this didn't seem to necessitate such top security operations.

"It wasn't exactly JUST a scientific submarine…It was secretly equipped with a small nuclear reactor and torpedo tubes." Oscar could see the look of incredulity on Jaime's face. "We suspect a group of Russian terrorists has hijacked it, and plan to use the warheads on board to fire at Vietnam." He could see he had her attention when all the color drained from her face as she began to comprehend the situation. "Jaime, do you know what could happen if the Vietnamese think the French have fired on them? I can't even begin to contemplate the repercussions – the Chinese would retaliate...maybe even the Russians."

Oscar's plane was already fueled and ready to go when they arrived on the tarmac. Jaime grabbed her bags. "Wish me luck Oscar. I'll call you when I get there." She went to kiss him good bye, but saw he had two bags in his hands and was walking towards the plane.

"You don't think I'm sending you in there alone do you?" he grinned. "You got a partner on this one babe." Oscar had never actually accompanied Jaime on a mission before. Sure, he had traveled with her back and forth, he had even aided her in capturing the suspect, but this was the first time they would be a team.

Once they had settled in and the plane had taken off, Jaime wanted to find out more about what was going on. "Oscar, I don't understand. Why doesn't the military just find the sub and blow it up before they fire the warheads?"

"Well, three reasons. First, we need to find out who is behind this one, and we can't do that if all the evidence is destroyed. Second, because we would likely detonate the warheads in the process. You can't just blow up an nuclear sub - the fallout would destroy everything around it. Third, we're not even sure where it is. That's what you and I are going to find out. I've just been on the phone with a special committee of ambassadors and admirals from the US, Britain, and France, and we all agreed this was the only way. I'd have Steve join us too, but he's up in space for the next six days, and there's no way to get him back."

Jaime was trying to digest all of this information, but a terrible feeling of dread was already in her stomach. "So, why are you coming with me? I mean, you never have before? This isn't because of…well, your feelings for me is it?"

"Babe, you know how I feel about you, but no, it's not because of that. I just happen to be quite an expert in the area of nuclear submarines. In fact, I was one of the engineers that helped design the submarine in the first place – a Franco-American venture. So, while you may be the brawn on this mission, I my dear, am the brains." Oscar couldn't resist running his hand along her cheek, stroking her hair as he pushed it away from her face. He had thought about what she had said to him at his Christmas party – he couldn't get it out of his mind.

"So if they don't know where to find the sub – how are we supposed to find it? How are we supposed to get on board? And how are we supposed to get off without getting ourselves killed in the process?" Jaime had been on many dangerous missions before, but this one seemed doomed from the start, yet the stakes had never been so high.

Oscar pulled out a pile of maps and other assorted papers, spreading them on the briefcase on his lap. The plane didn't exactly offer a lot of space to plan a mission. He laid a photo in front of Jaime. "I have a source that has well, shall we say, a questionable reputation, that says they've been spotted pulling into the Manila harbor. We suspect this man, Alexi Pushkin, is behind the operation. I've run into him before. He's ruthless, and we believe well armed. We don't think that he's on the submarine – just organizing and financing the operation. He's got some defense contracts with the Soviet government and could be a very rich man if open hostilities broke out."

He pulled out a manila folder containing the dossier of yet another man – Leonid Chekov. "This is the man we think is actually running the operation. We suspect he has a team of operatives in Manila as we speak. Our guess is that they're looking for supplies and possibly some more manpower before they leave port and cross the South China Sea. Once they get out in open water, we'll never find them in time. So, we've got to find them – soon."

Jaime hadn't realized they had been flying for so long that it was past midnight. They wouldn't arrive in Manila until noon. Oscar found her a blanket and draped it over her, kissing her on the forehead. "Get some rest babe – we're gonna need it." He turned out the lights in the cabin and leaned back in the chair next to her, closing his eyes to get the last rest he might have in days. He could feel Jaime take his hand in hers, turning on her side to face him in the darkness. Her soft, gentle touch exciting him and relaxing him all at once. He took a deep breath, steeling his resistance to her and went to sleep by her side.