Chapter Five
Crisis
CIA Headquarters
Fort Eustis, CD
February 18, 2028
1120 hours
Avery turned the corner toward David Bartholomew's office. The pair had worked together on several occasions, but David found himself owing Avery more than the other way around.
Pushing the door open, Avery made a fairly dramatic, not to mention blustery, entrance. David swiveled around in his chair. "Uh, well, hello to you too, Avery—"
Avery had no patience. "I've just gotten wind of this," he said, slamming the memos on the desk. "And I don't really feel like playing games with formalities. When you have a wife, and she's in imminent danger from her own goddamned country, you let me know."
All David could do was shake his head. Even though Avery was an airman, he was always more of a firebrand than the former SEAL operator. "Alright, what's got your goat, Avery?" David replied as he picked up the papers off the desk.
Skimming them quickly, it wasn't hard to figure out the situation. "So, Donilon's going to try to take out Vedia, eh? Well, I wish I could sympathize or something, man. I don't get how this puts your girl in harm's way, aside from the normal risks associated with a full-blown military conflict." Avery didn't look amused.
"I don't know how deep this goes, David, but I'm going to Vedia. And you're going with me." At this, David sat up straight in his chair. "Nuh-uh, buddy. This is your fight, not mine." Avery's eyes seemingly changed plates of frozen steel. "No, David. This is everyone's fight. You're going to help me. The flight's Verusan Ten-Fourteen. It leaves Oured International at twenty-hundred tonight. Be there, or I'll find you and make you be there."
Avery dropped a final sheet of paper on the table. An e-ticket, David thought to himself. He's already planned this out…and I do owe him for his ass-saving in the San Martin gig.
David walked over to his vault. He needed to go down to the armory.
Hancock AFB
Hancock, Atticus
February 18, 2028
1100 hours
Major Rebecca Chu was preparing her squadron for another combat air patrol. "Still can't fuckin' believe they're keeping us in these Sand Falcons for this shit! We've got a National Guard detachment with Sea Eagles on offer, but nooo, send up the Falcon whores to do all the dirty work!" Captain Michael Barth didn't feel like putting up any resistance today.
"Ah, come on Major, it's just a CAP. We fly around for a few minutes and then we get to pack it in and go home. But I'm with you, life without an ongoing operation is fuckin' boring." Barth knew what Rebecca really meant at any given time. He always said that was a wingman's job. Knowing what your lead wants before they even tell you what it is.
Line crews were loading XMAAs onto the F-16Es arrayed on the flight line. The pilots were already doing their pre-flights when Colonel Daniel Schermer strolled out to the flight line. "Major Chu," he called out, as she was inspecting her hardpoint mountings. "What is it, Colonel?" Rebecca asked, snapping a quick salute to greet him. "We've got new orders, Chu. We're to begin practicing for this tomorrow. We don't have a lot of time, but you can do it." He handed over the memo.
Rebecca scanned the memo. She didn't like what she saw. Maybe it was that Whittier education getting to her. Keeping a straight face, she handed the re-folded memo back to the adjutant. "So what's the planned regimen?" Rebecca asked. Schermer shrugged. "Dunno yet. Hoping we can plot it out after you get back from this CAP, if that's okay with you." Rebecca looked at him suspiciously. "Okay, I'll bring Barth along and we can talk some shop in the OC tonight. I could go for a post-flight rum anyway."
The patrol was predictably uneventful. The most exciting part of the trip was watching a Yuktobanian Tu-144 fly by on an easterly course. But Rebecca was distracted for the whole flight, thinking about the operation they were going to undertake. Bombing a "potential enemy" embassy? That just sounds ridiculous. In fact, it sounds wrong, she thought as she made a final turn for landing to conclude the CAP.
Too distracted by her own thoughts, Rebecca had failed to notice that turning in to the hangars was gaggle of Aurelian-designed Rafales. There were just four of them, slowly being herded into the hangar area. Barth noted the aircraft after the landing.
"Major, did you see those Rafales parking when we landed?" Rebecca shook her head. "I was thinking about the operation we're being called up for. Why?" Barth pointed in the direction of the hangars. "They were movin' some Rafales in here. Whadaya think those are for?" Rebecca shrugged. "We see evaluation planes all the time. Maybe that's it."
She couldn't help but wonder if they were for something more sinister.
Amirabad International Airport
Amirabad, Vedia
February 19, 2028
0630 hours
Mercifully, the flight from Panyu to Amirabad was on an Airtaxi A33. At least I was able to catch some sleep on that flight, Avery thought, as the plane touched down.
After collecting their diplomatic bags, Avery and David were in a cab on the way to the Osean embassy. They were able to make their appointment with the new Embassy Director, a Hans Grimm. Avery frowned back when he had first seen the name. Archer had always been the weakest pilot.
Grimm's office, to put it lightly, was opulent. Sinking into the two leather chairs, the CIA operatives were told that Director Grimm was out on a sudden call-up, but he would be back before too long. Almost half an hour later, Grimm entered the office.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting. The Indian Foreign Minister showed up and I had to get a meeting in. What can I—"
Realizing Avery was in the room, Grimm stopped. "Sir…?" he very nearly whispered.
"Yeah, Grimm, it's me, and I'm working for the government still. Get your jaw off the floor, kid. Look, I need to see Taylor." Grimm finally pieced it together. "So you got married too? Wow. Uh, she's working on something, she said. Office is three-oh-seven…Charlie, I guess I should say, huh?" Grimm's trying hard to not lose his shit, I guess, Avery thought to himself, waving in thanks as he walked out.
Taylor was hunched over her computer, apparently trying to hide something, when Avery walked in.
"Hey."
Taylor popped her head up. She looked tired.
"I know you're busy trying to get to the bottom of this. That's why I'm here," Avery said, sitting on her side of the desk. "You've done well. But for now, I want you to focus on being safe. Do you know where the bunker here is?" Taylor seemed surprised. "There's a bunker?" Avery nodded. "It's just down the hall. Go in the janitor's closet, flip on the light. There's a utility box there, but it's a false door. Open up the box and you'll find a door handle. Go through there and you're in."
Avery sighed. "It seems like there's a possibility that this place will be threatened. I'm going to call you daily, around fifteen-hundred. You know what that means?"
Taylor nodded. "Good," Avery continued, "I'll be calling you at that time, give or take half an hour. I will say 'things are normal,' and hang up. If I do not call, get in the bunker immediately. There's a FLASH-Access computer in there. Boot it up on the hour on every even-numbered hour if you have to use the bunker. I'll send you any updates that I can. I have override codes for that system."
Avery stood up to leave. "Get some sleep, too. You're going to be a lot better at all of this with more of it."
Seeing Taylor again killed him. But as much as he wanted to go back to being together, it wasn't meant to be for now. Gripping the doorframe on the way out, he turned to look at her one last time.
"I love you," he said softly as he walked out the door.
Hancock AFB
Hancock, Atticus
February 20, 2028
0500 hours
Colonel Schermer made his way over to Major Chu, as she sat at the breakfast table.
"Major, have you considered the short training session since our chat the other night?"
Rebecca just glared at him. "Yeah, I thought about dicking around with another shitty Vulcan. I'm not a big fan of gettin' tossed into another twenty-millimeter-equipped plane, you know. 'Least we could do is get changed over to Tornados or something, a plane with a real gun in it."
The colonel shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you. Will you be okay with the Tigersharks, though?" Rebecca waved dismissively. "Yeah yeah, we'll just fly the fuckin' Tigersharks. Leave me alone for now, sir, alright?" Schermer took the hint, fully cognizant that in spite of his higher rank, this CO was practically untouchable. For now, he thought to himself.
Rebecca remained hunched over her scrambled eggs. They taste like shit, she thought. But that was normal. OADF meals were always pretty shitty.
To take her mind off the shitty food, Rebecca thought about the night before. I didn't see the Rafales getting parked last night, but I guess Barth did. I probably can't look at them now…but it might be worth a shot. Maybe Colonel Danielson knows what's going on.
She resolved to head down to Hangar Eight with Barth after the day's training.
Traveler Inn
Amirabad, Vedia
February 20, 2028
1700 hours
David and Avery quickly set to unpacking their bags. They had to set up an operations base, and quickly. It didn't take long for Avery's phone to ring.
"Hello, Mister Danielson," the thickly-accented voice on the other end of the line said. "I'm coming into Amirabad tomorrow afternoon. Will someone be available to pick me up? Connections said you are in town."
What do I have to lose? He's on our side.
"Sure, I can pick you up. What's the arrival time?" Avery asked. "Fourteen-twenty," came the reply. "I'll be there. Bringing friends?" Diego laughed. "Two," he said. Sometimes, Diego working alongside the Agency was a little creepy. This was one of them. "Well, I'll bring along a courtesy car to pick you all up," Avery replied. "See you then." The pair hung up.
Avery turned to David, who was working on something on a laptop. "Well, David, our friends are coming tomorrow. Better get a courtesy car for them."
Avery pulled out some more tourist-looking clothes out from the dresser. "I'm going to head down to Home Plate and do some scouting. You going to have that car picked up by the time I get back?" David waved dismissively and grunted a "yeah." Avery knew it would get done. With David, it always got done.
Inter-Services Intelligence Headquarters
Amirabad, Vedia
February 20, 2028
1800 hours
It wasn't a long drive, but it was a long time before Avery arrived. As sketchy as it would appear, some white guy walking around Amirabad's governmental district, he had to get some intel on entry points for his infiltration agent. Walking around to an alley, Avery found one of the many alley bars that populated the city. The alley bars were particularly popular hangouts with Westerners. If nothing else, he'd look a little less conspicuous.
As with many such bars, this one was unnamed. There were plenty of light-skinned faces, but there were a good number of Vedians in the bar too. The sun was starting to set, at any rate, and the alley's lighting might provide some good entry points.
It was weird, having to think like this again. Avery hadn't felt like thinking like this in a long time. No, they'd relegated him to commanding operations a long time ago, not carrying them out.
Scanning the wall was tricky at this kind of range. The ISI headquarters were now a courtyard away from him. He could see the solid wall, but only a small part of the building was visible. There was a segment of wall that was latticed, making the situation a bit less complicated, but not by much.
Then he saw it. Glancing down at the gutter, trying to figure out all of the paths in and out of the building, there it was. An outlet that had to come from the intelligence building.
After paying for his drink, Avery stood outside, taking a look at the pipe. It wasn't big—maybe three feet wide, if that—but if Slice crawled in…
It was risky. But on closer inspection, Avery noticed it was unused. Maybe it just got incinerated every day. If that was the case, you wait until after the daily gutter clearance, and then…
With this knowledge in mind, Avery walked back to the main road to call a cab. This operation was about to be a real go.
Amirabad International Airport
Amirabad, Vedia
February 21, 2028
1510 hours
Finally, a trio Avery recognized emerged from the terminal. "There they are," Avery said to David. "Pop the trunk."
Keeping in time with the tenable statements of his three new colleagues, Avery welcomed them to Vedia. "The most beautiful shithole on the Verusan continent!" he said.
This elicited a chuckle from everyone but Slice. She had a weird sense of humor anyway.
The car was now full of bags and intelligence operatives. As David began pulling away from the terminal, Avery began introducing the new guests. "We have Diego Acosta, chief handler for Green Dawn, Diana Yang, who's Special Activities, and Balthazar Scheinberg, chief agent in Operations. I think their roles should make enough sense."
David nodded. He was focused on the manic driving from the other vehicles on the now-crowded highway. "We'll be going over details back at the hotel," Avery said, turning back to the cramped backseat. "Meanwhile, I figure you should get acquainted with some areas we'll be working in."
After a short tour of the city, the contingent was back at the hotel. There was a need for rest before the next day's activity.
Inter-Services Intelligence Headquarters
Amirabad, Vedia
February 22, 2028
0430 hours
Three people, two cars. That was the modus operandi for the day.
Two cars pulled up to each other in a downtown parking garage. Windows were rolled down. "Okay, Diego, hold here. I'm going to drop off Slice down by the alleyway. Here's a phone number," he said, handing over a slip of paper. "When you get a call from that number, it's your signal to move."
Operative Diana Yang was still in the passenger seat, methodically cleaning a pair of kukri knives. As Avery drove out of the garage, he turned to the other seat. "You're real fucked up, you know that?"
Yang just smiled in response and continued wiping the knives with some kind of oil.
A few minutes later, the car pulled up in front of an alleyway. "Here's your stop," Avery said. "You know the entry point."
The alley bars would be closed at this hour. Nobody to observe the entry of a tall woman in a dark ninja suit. "If you're going to be an ELINT ninja, you better get this done right the first time," Avery said. "Remember what I told you. This could be a career maker for you."
With that, Yang closed the door. Avery drove back to the hotel.
Diana stepped up to the piping. Something smelled odd. It smelled…like gas. This was probably a burn bag exhaust. Fucking amateurs, she thought, as she crawled in. The smell faded away. The burns were conducted at night, almost certainly, but it was early morning now.
After several minutes of crawling and referring back to a tablet, Diana finally made it to the grate over the main database room. Pulling out a laser cutter, she carefully cut into the frame of the grate, checked for anyone else inside, and then punched through.
As soon as she did so, her earpiece came alive. "You're inside. Good work. Keep it up."
Way to scare me shitless, buddy, Diana thought to herself, as she carefully stepped around, not wanting to trip any possible laser alarms. Walking up to a centrally-located computer, she gave the signal for login details.
Back at the hotel, Balt was already at work. "I'm not gonna give you details. I have a thought about their security feed network. Something tells me they've linked it to the data archives—call it an old Security Agency hunch."
Diana groaned at having to wait. Nevertheless, she had a job to do. Taking a breath, she thrust the device into the waiting port. Security wasn't going to know any better for a few minutes anyway, right? They were in too much of a stupor.
"Alright, Slice, you're in. So am I. I'll keep security off your back—or at least tell you when and where they're coming. My hunch was right. These guys didn't learn anything from the Verusans," Balt said. "Right now, everything's pretty clear. You don't have much to worry about, just let the script do its job, and check the work against the list on the tablet."
Diana nodded inaudibly, but the acknowledgement was felt by everyone back at the hotel anyway. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for the script to work. "Slice, you got security on your ass."
•••
Sergeant Ganesh Patel's team was the first to receive the call. "Team One, we've got a security breach in the archive facility. Please investigate, over." Sergeant Padma Darzi's team was alerted not long after by Central Security.
Team One deployed to the north door, and Team Two to the other door, the east door out of the central data archive. The intruder had no way out.
•••
Diana Yang was completely comfortable with the notion of being boxed in. This is what years of Compartmented Elements and ECHELON training had prepared her for, and now it was time to show what she could do. Scheinberg kicked in his own help. The computerized lights were no match for an ex-NSA computer whiz.
Diana flicked her night-vision goggles down and turned them on. The green shapes she saw probably beat whatever the Vedians had. But she didn't have much time to think about it.
•••
Patel's point man burst through the door. "We know the layout, men," Patel shouted, encouraging his troops as they entered. "Let's find the intruder! We know he is here!" But before Private Sanjeev Nagarkar could start focusing, he heard the snap of a bullet. It was the last thing he'd hear.
•••
Diana retrieved a kukri knife slung across her back. Like the marksman she was with a firearm, she launched the knife across the room at the point man. The blade chopped into his chest, upper left side. He went down instantly, almost certainly dead. Slinking up to retrieve the knife, Diana got behind the trailer as he entered the room. Taking out her combat knife, she grabbed the trailer from behind and silently slit his throat.
Too easy, she thought to herself. Two quick shots to the back of the others' heads later, the first four men in were dead. Just as that happened, four flashlights burst through another side of the room. Team Two had entered.
•••
Private Gautam Gadhavi was the first man in. He barely made it past the door before a kukri knife rocketed into his upper torso. In confusion, the private behind him began wildly firing his rifle. Before he could even finish the magazine, a subsonic .45 round ripped through his neck. Vishal Joshi collapsed to the floor, unable to speak or breathe.
The snaps of a heavily suppressed pistol were the last sounds heard by Team Two's most senior troopers. They joined their comrades in the last march—to the entrance of Valhalla.
Diana surveyed the room through the green world created by her night-vision goggles. "Jesus Christ, Slice, this is going to be a lot harder to deny," Avery blurted over the radio. "We're trying to keep this quiet."
Diana hissed back. "It's going to be hard to complete this mission without your data."
That was a reminder. The clearance request had to be ready by now. Diana dashed over to the main computer terminal and confirmed her guess. Pulling out the tablet, she quickly confirmed the appropriate files and initiated the copying and transfer. She wasn't paying much attention to the filenames, which would have quickly clued her into the activities of the ISI. It wasn't her job.
What was her job was retrieving the files. The retrieval was successful, and Diana slipped out just before Team Three arrived on-site.
Traveler Inn
Amirabad, Vedia
February 22, 2028
2230 hours
The rest of the group had gone to bed, planning their next step. But Avery was thinking of another operation. Operation Heartbreak One is in just a couple of days. Then, they'll really be opening the war. A world war. But worse still, Taylor will get wiped out. I can't let that happen.
His sleepless thoughts were interrupted.
OFS Jack Weeker
Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean
February 22, 2028
0030 hours
Chu waited before getting the voicemail. "Hi, you've reached the voicemail box of Doctor Avery Danielson. I'm currently out of the country on an important assignment. If this call is personal, please call the following number." A long, Vedian phone number was given. "If this call is for business, please leave a message after the tone."
Chu hung up and dialed the number from the voicemail message.
Vedia
Avery was snapped out of his sleepless thoughts by the ringing of his phone. The number was Osean, but that was all he could figure. What the hell, it's not like I have anything to lose, he thought, swiping for the phone. "Danielson," he replied, accepting the call.
"Oh thank God," the voice on the other end responded, with relief. Avery recognized the voice immediately. "Chu?"
"Yeah. Listen. I don't have much time. We got some orders last week for something that looks sketchy as hell, Colonel. Then, a coupla days ago, we got Rafales out of the blue. They ain't got Osean markings on 'em, sir. I got some pics with Barth. I'll send them to you by email—what's your email these days, anyway?" Avery gave her the same address he'd given Taylor.
"Got it," Chu replied. "I'll send these pics. You got someone who can figure them out?" Avery nodded. "I got a guy with Bloch connections. We'll sort this shit out. Be safe, Major."
Chu chuckled on the other end. "Me?" she asked, rhetorically. "Never."
Flipping open his secured laptop, Avery scanned the photos quickly. The tail roundels looked…
"Jesus Christ," he said, loud enough to wake everyone up.
"What is it, man?" Balt asked, still in bed. "These are Indian markings," Avery said, only marginally aware that everyone else was now up. "Diego," Avery said, "come take down some serial numbers. You still know that parts guy at Bloch?" Diego chuckled. "Are you kidding? He's now their lead parts man, Doctor Danielson. You will know about these parts soon enough."
•••
The next morning, the team got ready to begin copying the files Diana had acquired from the ISI. David had bought up close to a hundred hard drives. "Each of these can store the entirety we ripped from the ISI's archives," David said, to begin a briefing. "We need people copying this stuff over and over again to make sure someone gets it safely. Scheinberg, we need you to be working on integrity solutions. I don't want this to be traceable."
David felt strange taking a commanding role, but Avery said he should get used to it. Whatever exactly that meant.
"Alright, people, let's hit it," David said. The first drives were copied out and each agent was hard at work. Diego was juggling phone calls as well, trying to reach his connections at Bloch.
Avery, meanwhile, had Taylor on his mind. The operation he had read about was looming now, and he didn't even know if there was anything he could do about it. That's what troubled him the most. Each hour that ticked by gnawed at him more and more.
OFS Admiral Jack Weeker
Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean
February 23, 2028
1900 hours
The sun had set already. That was the nice thing about the tropics. You could start night operations really quickly.
OADF Major Rebecca Chu had no intention of flying out the next morning to attack Osean citizens. Before leaving Naval Station Hampton, Chu had been sure to abscond with some wire cutters. She had hoped to blow up the Rafales with C4, but the thought of ruining perfectly good 30mm cannons didn't sit well with her.
Finding the modular control systems on each of the Rafales, Chu pulled out the wire cutters. That was when she had a better idea.
Lighting a cigarette, Chu then took the lighter to the wires. The plastic melted away easily enough, and the fiber-optic cables soon followed. Destroying the MCS modules on all of the Rafales, and satisfied that the laser guidance systems would be non-functional, she returned to her cabin. She could rest easy tonight.
Before turning in at her bunk, she called Avery's number. "Crisis averted," she whispered into the phone. Avery smiled on the other end. "Good work, Chu," he said. "Thanks for the help."
Traveler Inn
Amirabad, Vedia
February 24, 2028
1100 hours
Avery was still poring over the specifics of what the team had found. "Jesus, David, look at this stuff. We've got connections to Red Dragon, connections to Islamist groups from Karabastan and Sotoa, and…"
The stationery on the scan was instantly recognizable. "…holy fuck, they're working with Neucom." David quickly chastised Avery in response. "Come on, you don't know that. It just means they're involved with the ISI on some level. They're involved with all kinds of shit these days."
Avery nodded. "I know. But it seems…well, it just doesn't look accidental, you know?"
David placed a hand on Avery's shoulder. "Yeah, but what can you do?"
Avery sighed, almost as if he were in thought. "You know, I've realized something about all of this," he said.
"You know how we've always been afraid of someone trying to destroy the world, because we're afraid of the apocalypse? You know, living off the land, crazy shit like that? I'm realizing something, David. These nuclear attacks they're planning—it's not Cold War kind of stuff. They're not trying to set the world literally on fire. It's to bring down our systems of governance. They're trying to bring down modern society—and replace it with their vision."
David wasn't really tracking. He just nodded in acknowledgment.
"That's why we have to stop them," Avery continued, "they're going to bring a fate worse than nuclear annihilation—and we all thought that was impossible."
David chuckled. "I guess you really could call this a crisis, then," he said. "But, hey," he continued, "we need to get this stuff back to Eustis as fast as we can, eh?"
Avery nodded. "Probably. But we need to get the others out first."