Chapter 13
Changing Course
0915 hours, 2 February 2001, US Highway One, 5 miles east of Key West, Florida.
"Look at The Brightside Webb, you're getting married" Tony joked as the limo drove down US Highway One. Webb leaned over and punched him in the arm. "Watch it Webb, me and Harm are the only friends you have, you lose me and you're out a groomsman" Tony said with a smile. It was C.I.A Agent Clayton Webb's Wedding Day. He had asked Commander Harmon Rabb Jr. to be his Best Man and for Tony to be a Groomsman. Webb was, as Tony put it, "filthy rich" and was paying for the whole thing himself. He had rented a large white Rolls-Royce limousine to take them to the chapel, which was in Key West. Webb was dressed in a Grey Tuxedo, while both Tony and Harm were in their dress uniforms.
"Harm are you sure you have the rings?" Webb asked for the millionth time.
"Yes Webb, for the one millionth time, yes I have the rings" replied harm as he rolled his eyes.
"Just calm down Webb, everything will be fine" said Tony as he slapped Webb on shoulder. "Oh Boy, I've never been to a spook wedding before, I hope my shoe phone doesn't ring" joked Tony.
"Take it easy Tony, I think you're gonna give Clay a heart attack" joked Harm. Tony and harm continued cracking jokes until a US Coast Guard Helicopter flew up alongside them as they crossed one of the dozens of bridges along Highway One.
"Who the hell is that?" Harm asked.
"My Counterparts at The DEA" Clay yelled over the roar of the rotors. The Chopper set down in front of the limo, as the driver pulled to a stop. As Tony and Webb exited the limo, 2 DEA Agents dressed in blue fatigues and combat boots, as well as black kevlar vests and ball caps that read "DEA" came running towards them.
"Paloma Reynosa has been spotted in The Bahamas" one of the Agents yelled.
"Have we got clearance from Nassau?" Webb asked, referring to the Capital of The Bahamas.
"We've got the clearance" The Agent replied.
"Then let's go!" Webb yelled over the roar of the rotors.
"I'm coming with you!" Tony yelled as he put his hand on Webb's shoulder.
"No you're not" Webb replied.
"Are you kidding? If I don't get you to this Wedding in one piece Catherine will kill me" Tony said with his trademark 1000-watt smile.
"Fine, but only as an observer" Clay said. Tony quickly removed his cover and jacket and threw them into the back seat of the limo.
"Hey what about me?" Harm yelled as Webb and Tony joined the 2 DEA Agents in the chopper.
"Sorry Harm" Tony yelled back.
"Hey come on Guys, this isn't funny" Harm yelled as the helicopter took off. "What am I gonna tell Catherine!"
0955 hours, 2 February 2001, Freeport City, West Grand Bahama, Bahamas
"There's Reynosa's Learjet" pointed out Tony as the Helo flew over the small airstrip.
"Pilot, bring her down" Webb ordered.
"Yes Sir" replied the pilot. The Coast Guard Helicopter, a Eurocopter HH-65 Dolphin, set down less than 100 yards from where Reynosa's Learjet was parked. Standing by the ramp to the door of the plane were 2 of Reynosa's men, both harmed with AK-47 Assault Rifles.
"Here" said Webb to Tony as he held out an Walther PPK. "Play James Bond" said Webb with a smile.
"That's your job Webb, you use a spy's gun, I use a Soldier's" said Tony as he Colt 45. from his shoulder holster and pulled back on the action. Webb and The 2 DEA Agents, the Agents armed with M4 Assault Rifles, Webb with his Glock 17. While Tony stayed with the chopper, Webb and the Agents approached the plane.
"Levantan los manos!" Webb yelled in Spanish, telling them to raise their hands. When the 2 men refused, Webb fired 2 shots at both of their heads, dropping both men. The 2 DEA Agents quickly checked the Lear, and found it empty. "Damn it, where the hell is she?" Webb yelled. As he did, a smaller plane, a Cessna 317, single engine, started taxing down the runway.
"There she is" yelled Tony as he fired two shots from his Colt at the plane, both shots dinged off the metal fuselage. Webb and the Agents came running back to the chopper.
"Damn it, she'll be inside of Cuban Airspace inside of 40 minutes" Webb observed.
"Come on" Tony yelled as he pulled Webb into the helicopter. "I have an idea"
1025 hours, 2 February 2001, 10 minutes East of Key West, 10 minutes North of Cuban Territorial Waters/Air Space.
"This is fuckin crazy Tony" yelled Webb as Tony slide open the door of the helicopter. The Helicopter was flying parallel and above to Reynosa's plane, about 30 feet above it, to be exact.
"I know, but it's just crazy enough to work" Tony pointed out with a smile. Tony strapped on his parachute and grabbed onto the cable that was attacked to the rescue boom of the side of the helicopter. "Lower me down, Webb" Tony instructed. Webb himself had a parachute on as well. Tony wrapped himself tightly around the cable as Webb began to lower it. Within seconds, Tony was literally on Reynosa's tail. Inside the plane, Paloma felt the shift in wait and look back to see what had caused it. Seeing Tony on her tail, again, literally, she pushed down on the stick and sent the plane into a slight dive, trying Tony throw Tony off, but Tony managed to hold on for dear life. When Paloma pulled out of the dive, Tony quickly attached the steel cable around the tail section of the Cessna. He looked up and gave Webb a thumbs up.
"Bring her up" Webb yelled to the pilot. The Pilot ascended higher into the air, as Webb slightly reeled in the cable. The plane quickly departed controlled flight, and just hung their like a Christmas goose.
"Fuck yeah, it worked!" Tony yelled up to Webb.
A few minutes later, they were over Key West. "Hey, Tony, I think that's the chapel" Webb yelled down from the helicopter to Tony, who was still standing on the now up-turned tail section of The Cessna.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Tony yelled back.
"Let's go" Webb yelled as both men stepped off.
"Yippee kay-ah Mother fuckers!" Tony yelled as he and Webb descended to the earth. When they were approximately 7,000 feet from the ground, they opened their chutes, and gently floated down to earth. They actually managed to land on the front lawn of the chapel, where they were greeted by Commander Rabb, Kate and Catherine Gale, soon to be Webb. "Better late than never" said Tony with his trademark 1000-watt smile as he slipped on his Aviator sunglasses.
One Week Later- 1145 hours, 9 February 2001, Outside the Canadian Parliament Building, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
"Vive Quebec! Vive Quebec!" chanted the crowd of thousands of Quebecois who were packed into the streets surrounding the Canadian Parliament. Today was the day, the day that The Canadian Parliament would vote on the status of Quebec. Tony and Kate had made their way north to be with Lucien Galtier and his lovely wife Marie for this wonderful occasion. The group of 4 stood, all bundled up outside the parliament building listening to the chants. "A Great Day for Quebec!" Lucien exclaimed.
"A great day for a new nation" said Tony with his 1000-watt smile.
"Indeed my dear friend, it is truly a great day" he said with a smile. According to ZNN, the vote would surely go down in favor of Quebecois Nationhood. Only The CNP, Canadian National Party, opposed the vote, and they held only 40% of the parliament seats. "So, Caitlin, tell me, how long have you and Anthony been married?" Lucien asked.
"19 Years come October 1st" she said proudly as she gave Tony's hand a squeeze. Tony squeezed back and gave her a sweet smile before leaning in a giving her a kiss.
"Ah, young love" commented Lucien's wife, Marie, who did not speak English, only French.
"Merci" Tony responded, in his Quebecois, not Parisian accented French. Fortunately, both Tony and Kate spoke perfectly Quebecois accented French, so they had no trouble communicating with Marie. But most of the time, Marie was perfectly content with keeping to herself. "So Lucien, how are your children?" Tony asked.
"My eldest, Nicole, is actually living in The United States, she married an American Doctor. As for my 2 sons, well… Chris graduated from Ohio State last year, and Garrett is only 17, so he is still at home, working the farm" said Lucien. Before Tony could say anymore, the chants grew louder as The Canadian Prime Minister came out to a pre-position podium on the steps of the Parliament building.
"Good afternoon, my fellow Canadians" he began, which drew loud boos from the crowd. Before I go inside to start the vote, I have just a few remarks to make. The long" was all he got out before a rifle shot rang out. A bullet crashed into the temple of The Prime Minister and blew out the side of his head as his dead body dropped to the ground.
"Sniper!" Tony yelled as he knocked Kate to the ground and jumped on top of her. Lucien doing the same thing with his wife. Tony lifted his head up and began scanning the surrounding rooftops, when he saw a familiar face on the roof of a building about a ½ klick to the south. "Ari" Tony whispered to himself. Before he could do anything else. Canadian Soldiers appear almost as if out of thin air and began rushing the Parliament building, while at the same time the soldiers surrounded the group of protestors. "Oh My God" Tony said, as The Canadian soldiers opened fire on the crowd.
"Run" Tony yelled just before the soldiers opened fire. He grabbed Kate's hand and yanked her off the ground as they took off running, The Galtiers following close behind.
"Tony, what the hell is going on?" Kate yelled as the group dodged their way through back alleys, trying to avoid the swarms of Canadian Troops that were now enveloping the capital square.
"Just shut up and run" Tony yelled back. Normally, that would piss Kate off, but under the circumstances, she let it slide. When they were abut 2 miles away, Tony stopped at the end of an alley, and hid the group behind an old dumpster.
"What the hell is going on?" Kate asked once again.
"It's a Coup de etat" Tony replied softly. "If I had to put my money on it, The CNP didn't want that vote to go down, so…" Tony explained. "We need to get the hell out of here. The CNP is most likely in control of The Army, and because of CNP's and The Army's vast Protestant Majority, they will probably be moving into Quebec soon" Tony warned. "Stay here" Tony said to Kate as he drew his 45. from his shoulder holster, underneath his jacket. "Lucien, come with me". He nodded in reply and drew his own weapon, a Glock 23. The 2 men walked out of the alley, looking for a vehicle. Across the street stood 2 Canadian soldiers, guarding a 1997 Jeep Cherokee, with military plates. But these soldiers were different, on their right biceps were orange bands with the letters "CNP" written across them in white letters. "Yep, it's CNP Coup, no doubt" said Tony as he ducked back behind the wall. "Cover me" Tony whispered to Lucien. Tony walked out of the alley, keeping the gun down by his side, and hidden by his body. After a few seconds, the soldiers noticed him.
"Halt!" They yelled as they timidly raised their AK-47s. Before either of the guards knew what happened, Tony raised up his gun and fired 2 shots into each of their chests, killing them.
"Lucien, get the women!" Tony yelled back to Galtier as he searched the bodies for the keys. Once he found them, he jumped into the driver's seat and moved the car to the end of the alley. Lucien jumped into the passenger's seat and the women got into the back.
1235 hours, 9 February 2001, Tactical Operation Center, Unit Compound, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
News of The Canadian Prime Minister's assassination had spread like wildfire. Every news agency from CBS to ZNN to Fox News was talking non-stop about it. The phones in the T.O.C were ringing non-stop as well as the heads of the alphabet agencies wanted to know what happened. But surprisingly, nothing was coming out of Canada. The only thing coming out was that The Military and Canadian National Party Members were blaming The Liberal Democratic Party and The Quebecois Party for the assassination, and that Field Marshall Albert Clarke had assumed the role of "Supreme Leader" of the "Protestant Republic of Canada". Martial Law had been declared across Canada, and The CNP-controlled Military was flooding into Quebec.
What all of this meant for Colonel Edward James "EJ" Barrett was one massive headache. He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out 2 aspirins and quickly dry swallowed them. He placed his head in his hands and let out a deep breath. His head shot up when there was a knock on the clear glass door to his office. He looked up and saw recently promoted Sergeant 1st Class Tali Colleton. "Come in Sergeant" EJ said as he put the bottle of aspirins back into his desk drawer. "Any word from Movie Buff?" he asked her.
"No Sir, nothing" Tali replied grimly. EJ slammed his fist down on the desk.
"Damn it, I should have never allowed him to go up there" EJ vented.
"It's not your fault Colonel, nobody could have foreseen all this" Tali countered.
"So what does Red Cap have everybody working on?" EJ asked her.
"Well, for fear that the apparent Coup-de-etat in Canada was religiously motivated, Shark Bait and Phantom have been sent to Rome to protect the Pope" she replied. "And well... that's about it, for the time being, it appears that that is all we can do" she informed her CO.
"Well, we can't just sit around her and wait" he said as he stood up from his desk. He walked over to his locker and unlocked the padlock. He pulled out his holster, which held a Desert Eagle, then he walked out into The T.O.C. "Hitman!" he yelled.
"Yes Sir" replied 1st Lieutenant Billy Hazard as he shot up from his desk.
"You have a go-bag packed?" EJ asked.
"Always Colonel" Billy replied.
"Grab it, your heading out" EJ ordered. "Take Izabella with you" he added, which drew a look from Staff Sergeant Howsham.
"Where are we going?" Billy asked.
"Quebec, Southern Bank of the St. Lawrence. Get to The Galtier Family Farm. Wait there for Movie Buff" EJ ordered as he threw on his coat.
"Where are you going Sir?" Tali asked the Colonel.
"Home to change, I have to brief The President, in person" EJ said as he walked out.
2105 hours, 9 February 2001, Galtier family Farm, 20 miles East of Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec.
It had been a long day, but finally Tony pulled the Jeep up in front of The Galtier Family farm house. While Kate led Marie inside, Tony and Lucien took a stroll around the house. When they walked into the barn, they were both flooded by a sea of Dark Blue and Khaki Uniforms. The men were armed with a mix of AK-47s and M-16s, and at the center of all of them stood 22 year old Chris Galtier, who held his PSG-1 Sniper rifle. "Chris, who are these men?" Galtier asked his eldest son. Tony recognized the men in the dark blue as members of The Quebecois National Army, who were obviously prepared to fight Canada's new protestant regime.
"We have come to fight" said one of the men in the Khaki uniforms. Tony then recognized it as that of The Canadian Light Infantry. Then, he noticed something else. All of the men in khaki had crucifixes around their necks.
"Lucien, these men, they're Catholic" Tony pointed out, a little stunned.
"General Clarke is having all Catholics purged from the Military" another man in khaki called out.
"So, if Quebec is our only hope, we shall fight for her" the man finished, drawing nods from the rest of the men in Khaki.
Obviously Clarke and his CNP stooges have been planning this for quite sometime Tony thought to himself. "Do we have any contact with the outside world?" Tony asked.
"No, The CSIS is jamming all out going transmissions" replied Chris Galtier.
"So we have no way to contact the outside world?" Tony yelled at no one in particular.
"We do" called out a voice from the barn door. Everyone in the room quickly pointed their weapons at the door. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" the voice continued. "Jesus Christ Billy!" Tony yelled as he holstered his 45. "What the hell are you doing here?" Tony asked as he waved Billy inside. "Oh, and I see you brought Izabella with you as well" Tony observed when Izabella walked in.
"Well I couldn't let him go off all by himself" said Izzy as she gave a small smile. Tony waved them both over to him and Lucien.
"Lucien, Chris may I present 1st Lieutenant William Hazard, and Staff Sergeant Izabella Freya Howsham. Izzy, Billy, may I present Commander Lucien Galtier of The Quebecois National Army and his eldest son, Chris" said Tony as he completed the introductions. "Now, what the hell are you doing here?" Tony asked.
"The Colonel sent us up here to check on you" Billy informed him.
"What does he know?" Tony inquired.
"About just as much as anybody. The CNP and General Clarke are in control of The Canadian Government. The Army is flooding into Northern Quebec"
"Ok" Tony answered. "How did you get here?" he asked.
"We flew, our Cessna is parked in a field not far from here" Izabella answered, as she was the one that flew it.
"Ok, Papillion, get Kate from the main house and take her to the plane, we'll meet you there" Tony ordered.
"Yes Sir" she replied as she hurried out.
"Lucien, gather what ever strength The QNA has, and be prepared for a fight. Do whatever you can to hold on to the Southern Bank. I will go to Washington to plead with President Bush to sent reinforcements" Tony answered as he shook hands with Chris and Lucien.
"Good luck my friend" said Lucien as he and Billy ran out of the barn.
"Anything else to report?" Billy asked.
"Yeah, the sniper that hit the Prime Minister, he wasn't Canadian". He was Mossad Officer and Kidon Operative Ari Haswari" said Tony softly.
"As in Tali's ½ Brother?" Billy asked.
"Exactly"
0500 hours, 10 February 2001, Oval Office, The White House, Washington D.C
"Mr. President, The CNP and General Clarke are massacring the Catholics of Quebec. If we don't act soon, we will be documenting mass graves, which we'll be doing anyway" Tony warned.
"I understand that Lieutenant Colonel, truly, I do, but I can't just order our forces into action without Congress' approval" replied President Bush.
"Mr. President, I was in Iraq when your father was President; when wed liberated The Kuwaiti people from Saddam. It's time for America to save the world once again" Tony pleaded. The President was silent for a few minutes as he thought about it. "Mr. President?" Tony asked.
"DiNozzo, you have 48 hours to get your ass on the ground in Quebec and gather whatever Intel you can. By that time, all the members of congress will have gathered for an emergency session. 48 hours, no more" The President warned. "Because, at such time, I will ask Congress for a Formal Declaration of War"
PLEASE REVIEW!
A/N- PLEASE NOTE, I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST PROTESTANTS, IT'S JUST PART OF THE STORYLINE. IF YOU ARE PROTESTANT PLEASE DO NOT BE OFFENDED, AND IF YOU ARE I'M SO SORRY, THAT WAS NOT MY INTENTION
ALSO, AS I SAID, THIS IS GOING TO REALLY BE AU, AND HISTORY WILL CANGE A BIT.