Right off the bat, fate conspired against Ruffin and his mission. Weather reports indicated a severe thunderstorm was due to lash the Venezuelan coast during the evening, making diving conditions too dangerous. That meant they'd have to wait until the next night to infiltrate Puerto Caballo.
Unfortunately, they couldn't stay on Trinidad and risk the US armed forces interfering with them. So Skrag flew them out on Duck Soup, a Canadair CL-215 flying boat. They landed on the shore of a small, deserted island in the Los Roques Archipelago, roughly 150 miles from their target. There they waited.
And waited.
And waited.
They passed the time going over their mission, so many times Ruffin began to dream about it when he napped. During those breaks when they didn't plan or sleep, they ate, read paperbacks, played video games, and in Gomez's case, listened to that weird new age music that he claimed relaxed him.
Ruffin also worried, as any good commander did. He worried about a passing boat or aircraft discovering them. Los Roques was Venezuelan real estate, after all. He also worried what sort of security they might find at Puerto Caballo, worried about being discovered before they could learn what the Venezuelans were up to there.
Worried about everyone making it out alive.
Day turned into night. Still they waited, until just after 2200 hours. That's when Skrag cranked the engines of Duck Soup.The plane sliced through the water before lifting off. Skrag flew close to the waves, below enemy radar. Ruffin and his team used the time to go over the plan again and check all their equipment.
Twenty miles from Puerto Cabolla, Skrag set down the CL-215. The plane's crew chief opened a side door and helped Ruffin and his men slip the Zodiac raft into the water and load their gear.
"Remember," Skrag said just as Ruffin settled into the raft. "You've got a six a.m. curfew. You ain't back by then, I'll tan all your hides." He shot them a toothy grin.
"If we're not back by oh-six hundred, then we're probably in deep shit," Ruffin replied.
"Ah, you'll find a way to get out of it. You special ops types are all superheroes, after all."
"Wish you told me that before I sent my blue tights and red cape to the dry cleaners," said Gomez. "Now I'm screwed."
Skrag chuckled. "Good luck, guys."
The commandoes either nodded or threw the old pilot a salute. Cheo started the engine and piloted the raft south. Already they could see tiny pinpricks of light coming from the distant naval base. Ruffin tensed as those lights grew brighter and larger. He constantly scanned around him, with both the naked eye and his small night vision scope. So did Gomez, Fetisov and Akua. All clear, so far. He prayed it stayed that way.
Five miles from Puerto Cabolla. Four miles. Three. Ruffin drew steady breaths, calming his heart rate, expunging all worry and extraneous thoughts from his head. All his focus had to be on their objective.
Two miles from the base. Ruffin pressed his nightscope to his right eye and swept the area.
That's when he spotted the stubby little boat approaching from the port side.
"Patrol boat," he warned the others. "Kill the engine. Get low."
Cheo shut off the engine. The five commandoes ducked out of sight. Nervousness twisted Ruffin's insides as they bobbed quietly in the water. The growl of the patrol boat's engine grew steadily louder.
Don't see us. Don't see us.
The noise of the boat's engine filled the air. Ruffin held his breath. He wanted to peek over the side of the Zodiac and see how close the enemy patrol boat was, but didn't dare risk any movement that might draw their attention.
The engine noise started to fade. Ruffin let out a long breath as the patrol boat moved further away.
Slowly, he pushed himself up and peered over the side. The boat – it looked like a Point-class cutter – plowed through the waves, a good quarter-mile away. It showed no sign of turning around.
Once the cutter vanished into the night, Ruffin and the others scanned the shoreline with their nightscopes, looking for a good infiltration point.
Major." Fetisov tapped him on the shoulder, then pointed to the right.
Ruffin aimed his nightscope in that direction. He held his breath for a moment when he saw it.
A huge opening stood out in the cliffs along the shore near the base. He noted its perfect, arched shape. Much too perfect to be natural.
He lowered the nightscope and turned to his men. "Well, looks like it's pretty obvious where we're gonna start our recon."
Fetisov, Gomez and Akua all nodded.
"Cheo," Ruffin said to the ex-Singapore Special Operations Forces soldier. "Pull back a mile from here. That patrol boat could be a circuit. It missed us once, but I don't feel like pushing our luck."
"Neither do I, Sir. I will do it."
Ruffin nodded, then pulled his diving goggles over his eyes and inserted his mouthpiece. After one last check of their gear, the commandoes gave each other a thumbs-up. Cheo wished them luck before they slipped over the side of the Zodiac and into the water, barely making a splash.
Ruffin gripped one of the handles of the bullet-shaped diver propulsion device, then looked to the right. Fetisov, his dive buddy, took hold of the right handle and gave him a thumbs-up. He turned around and saw Gomez and Akua holding onto the other DPD. Once they signaled they were ready, Ruffin activated the motor. The small DPD pulled him and Fetisov through the darkened water. He constantly checked the diver navigation board mounted to his wrist, making sure they were on course. He also glanced back regularly to make sure Gomez and Akua remained with them. In these dark waters it would be easy to lose sight of the other diving pair, even if they were just a few feet away.
They made it to the edge of the opening without incident. Ruffin shut off the motor to his DPD. Gomez did the same with his. The four swam the rest of the way. When they passed through the large archway, Ruffin pointed up. They poked their heads out of the water and looked around. The place was pitch black.
Ruffin pulled out his mouthpiece. "NVGs. Akua, get your camera out and start recording."
He pulled down his goggles, went into his waterproof bag and got out his monocular night vision goggles. Fetisov and Gomez did the same, while Akua retrieved a small waterproof video camera, which had night vision capability.
Ruffin switched on his NVGs, waited a few seconds to let his eyes adjust to the phosphorescent green world around him, and looked around. He stifled the urge to whistle in awe. The cavern they'd entered was enormous.
It was also empty.
"Damn," Gomez said. "You could fit a Nimitz-class carrier in here. Maybe two of 'em."
"Yet they have nothing in here." Akua's tone held a trace of bafflement.
"They must keep something in here," Fetisov noted. "No one digs a hole this big without a reason."
"Maybe whatever the Venezuelans keep in here is out there." Ruffin jerked his head toward the open ocean behind them. "Maybe it's looking for more targets, if it's responsible for sinking that cruise ship."
"Or perhaps they are still awaiting delivery on whatever is supposed to be here," Fetisov suggested.
Ruffin considered that. The Venezuelans were due to acquire some Russian-built Kilo-class submarines. Well armed, very quiet, and very deadly. Such boats would tip the balance of power in the region heavily in Venezuela's favor. It would make sense to build a shelter like this for valuable assets like Kilo-class subs. It made him wonder if the sinking of the Emerald Wind had been a test of their capabilities.
Something niggled the back of Ruffin's mind. He scanned the immense cavern again. A catwalk ran down each side, installed roughly two feet above the water. Other than that, there was nothing. No docks or cranes or fuel tanks. No facilities of any kind needed to support a small fleet of submarines.
He tread water, wondering what to do next. Wait here for whatever called this place home to return? How long would that be?
They could explore this facility. The big worry with that was the security. He completely agreed with Fets. You don't carve out a cavern this big unless you plan on putting something important in it. Like vital to national security important. Ruffin had to assume the Venezuelans had cameras set up in here. If they climbed onto the catwalk they'd be spotted in an instant, then they were screwed. Not only them, but Shield International as well. Four members of a private military contractor caught spying on a sovereign nation would bring down the kind of legal trouble that could destroy the company.
He hated going home empty handed, but to proceed without better intelligence was too risky. They at least learned the Venezuelans must be storing something of importance here. Maybe they could come back a second time and set up some sort of surveillance to see what exactly –
A bright white line appeared up high on the cavern wall to Ruffin's right. His head snapped toward it. The line grew larger, taking the shape of a window.
"Crap." He turned to the catwalk opposite from the window and ordered the others to swim there. They gathered underneath it, bobbing in the water as Ruffin stared at the fully revealed window. Three figures stood in front of it.
Floodlights snapped on throughout the cavern. Ruffin shut his eyes as his NVGs flared like a brilliant white sun. He pulled the device up to the top of his head and blinked, trying to readjust his vision.
"Maybe now we can find out what the hell they have in here," said Gomez. "Make this trip worthwhile."
Ruffin grunted in acknowledgment, blinking rapidly, trying to rid the multi-colored dots swirling in his eyes. He'd just about succeeded when Akua muttered, "Oh my God."
"What is it?" he turned to the ex-Legionnaire, who aimed his camera at the window.
"You're not going to believe this. General Moscoso is up there."
"What?" Ruffin blurted.
"Are you shittin' me?" added Gomez.
"See for yourself." Akua handed Ruffin the camera. He held it up and pointed it at the window. Surprise flared inside him when he spotted General Moscoso. A tingle of excitement and dread raced up his spine. If the el Presidente of Venezuela was here, something big had to be going on.
Two other men flanked Moscoso. Ruffin assumed them to be bodyguards until he noticed their features. They looked more Asian than South American. Brow furrowed, he zoomed in more. The two didn't wear suits or fatigues as he'd expect of a bodyguard. Instead they dressed in a gleaming, all-silver bodysuit.
Something churned in his brain. Stories he'd read, documentaries he'd watched, on one of the most unbelievable battles in human history. He called up the description of the enemy.
More specifically, how that enemy appeared in disguise.
"It can't be."
"What's that, Sir?" Akua asked.
"You notice the two jagoffs with Moscoso?"
"Yes. They're probably bodyguards."
"I don't think so. This may sound crazy, but I think those two are Simbaaku."
"What?" Gomez blurted. "No friggin' way."
"Simbaaku? Those aliens that built Mechagodzilla?" Akua tilted his head. "I thought Godzilla and the Japanese killed them all."
"Well, it looks like they might've missed a couple of them."
"General Moscoso working with aliens," said Fetisov. "This cannot be good."
Ruffin snorted. "Fets, this is so the opposite of good."
A grinding sound filled the air. All four turned their heads toward the end of the cavern. The huge rock wall rose.
"Akua." Ruffin handed the camera back to him. "Keep that camera trained on whatever comes out of there."
"Yes, Sir."
The rock wall rose higher. Ruffin's heart hammered in his chest. His stomach tightened. What the hell was in there? With the Simbaaku involved, he seriously doubted this cavern was designed to house submarines.
Two enormous yellow eyes glowed in the tunnel. The light that flooded into it revealed a snout with sharp teeth and an orange fin running down the back of its neck.
Ruffin shivered, his gaze locked on the monster emerging from the tunnel.
The deafening roar blasted through the cavern, drilling into his ears. He clenched his teeth.
The monster crawled forward and slid into the water. It surged forward, kicking up a huge wake.
"Oh shit. Everyone back. Brace yourselves."
Ruffin kicked under the water until he found his back pressed against the rock wall under the catwalk. Fetisov, Gomez and Akua quickly joined him. Ruffin pressed one hand against the bottom of the catwalk, and tightened his grip on the DPD with the other.
The reptilian head and long neck passed by. For a panic-filled moment, he feared the monster had spotted them. Visions of a gigantic hand crushing him filled his head. Would he feel any pain? Would it be mercifully quick? Another shiver went through him. Miranda's face appeared in his mind's eye.
But the monster continued on. Ruffin's relief, though, was short-lived as a barrage of waves rushed toward them.
"Hold on!" He took a breath, as did the others.
The water rose and swallowed him. It pushed him up toward the bottom of the catwalk. Ruffin pressed his palm against it as hard as he could to keep his head from cracking against it.
Another wave surged over him. Another, another. Each one nearly sent him tumbling.
A minute later, the waves diminished. Ruffin poked his head out of the water and took a gulp of air. He quickly scanned the cavern.
The monster had disappeared.
"Fets! Gomez! Akua!" He whipped his head left to right.
Fetisov and Gomez bobbed in the water. He was about to call out Akua's name again when the Nauruan surfaced.
"You okay?" Ruffin asked.
"Fine, Sir." He gave him a thumbs-up for good measure.
"You still got the camera?"
Akua lifted his right hand out of the water and showed him the little camera. "Right here. I had a good shot of that monster. I swear that had to be Titanosaurus."
"It sure as hell looked like him," said Gomez. "But I thought Godzilla killed him over thirty years ago."
"So did I." Ruffin glanced up at the window. Moscoso and the two Simbaaku remained in front of it. If those aliens escaped the final battle in Japan all those years ago, maybe they recovered Titanosaurus' body and regenerated it. If they had the technology to cross the galaxy and build a giant robot version of Godzilla, surely they had a way to revive a monster that was near death.
Dread filled his soul. He recalled the documentaries he'd watched on the Simbaaku attacks on Earth, thought of all the cities devastated by Titanosaurus.
Now, thirty years later, it was about to happen again.
"C'mon. We gotta tell The Chief about this."
Ruffin and Fetisov gripped the DPD and motored out of the cavern, followed by Gomez and Akua. When they got two miles away from the base, they surfaced, with Ruffin radioing Cheo that they were coming in.
"I will guide you in by IR flashlight," the Singaporean told him.
Ruffin and the others slid their NVGs over their eyes. A small white blob of light flickered in the distance. They reactivated their DPDs and headed toward the beam of the infra-red flashlight.
"You might think I'm crazy," Cheo said as the four commandoes climbed into the Zodiac. "But I swear I saw a large fin pass by here roughly fifteen minutes ago."
"Well while you saw the fin, we saw the whole damn thing," Gomez said. "Ready for this. It was Titanosaurus."
Cheo's eyes widened as he leaned forward. "Titanosaurus? Are you sure? I thought he was killed by Godzilla."
"Well, he got better." Ruffin stripped off his rebreather. "Get us back to Duck Soup ASAP."
"Yes, Sir." Cheo started the motor, turned the raft around and headed north toward the flying boat.
Ruffin dug into his equipment bag and pulled out his secure satellite phone. He dialed the number for Briggs' cell.
"Major Ruffin?" his boss answered, sounding like he'd just woken up.
"Yes, Sir. We just finished our recon of Puerto Cabolla. We found out what the Venezuelans are keeping there."
"Submarines?"
Ruffin frowned. "I wish."
TO BE CONTINUED