Chapter 41
Big Cheese Day
A/N- in this AU World, Fascist Spain never fell, and it is still under a brutal dictatorship, run by King Juan Carlos I.
2001 had come and gone, and now it was 2002.
For the DiNozzo Family, it had been a wonderful holiday. While EJ, Three and Liat were still getting used to their new siblings, Rex and Molly had officially moved into Bridget's home at Fort Bragg. Rex however, was currently in Salt Lake City, as he had been selected to play on the US Olympic Hockey Team.
In Afghanistan, there was a lull, as CDS and ANA Forces conducted mop up operations in the south, in preparation for the upcoming, yet still undetermined Spring Offensive. In Early January, one of Tony's oldest friends, Thomas "Todd" Manning, commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment, was promoted to full Colonel.
Also, Sonny Corinthos assumed the position of White House Chief of Staff on a now permanent basis, and as such, was promoted retroactively to Brigadier General. There had also been several more changes. Congressman Peter King (R-NY) had been name Secretary of Defense, replacing the deceased Donald Rumsfeld.
0900 hours, 15 February 2002, White House Situation Room, White House, Washington D.C.
In order to nail down the framework and direction of the CDS Spring Offensive, President McCain had assembled all his key personnel:
- Chairman of The Joint-Chiefs of Staff: General of The Army Wesley Clark
- Commanding General of CDS Coalition Forces in Afghanistan: Lieutenant General Irving Morrell
- Commanding General of USCENTCOM (United States Central Command): General William Buchanan
- Executive Officer of The 1st SFOD-D (Delta Force): Lieutenant Colonel Anthony "Tony" Dominick DiNozzo Jr.
- White House Chief of Staff: Brigadier General Michael "Sonny" Corinthos Jr.
- Secretary of Defense Peter King
- Secretary of State David Palmer
"Ten-hut!" Tony yelled when the doors to the sit room opened and President McCain stepped in. Everyone in the room quickly snapped to attention.
"Be seated" President McCain said as he took a seat at the head of the table. Everyone nodded and sat back down. "Before he start, let's do the daily briefing" he said. "Wes" he said as he turned to General Clark.
"Yes Sir" Wes said. "Yesterday at 0500 hours, AROQ Special Forces moved into New Brunswick. Langley believes that they will move into Price Edward Island and Nova Scotia in the next few days"
"What's Yellowknife's response?" The President asked, referring to the new CNP capital.
"Outrage, Mr. President" said Secretary Palmer.
"Satellite images show activity at CNP Airbases in Nunavut. We have reason to believe that they will be airlifting reinforcements into Newfoundland" Wes added.
"Mr. President, there are large Catholic populations in the aforementioned provinces. The CNP Government has already proven that they will slaughter Catholics indiscriminately. Sir, I know the excuse has been used before, but we trained the AROQ Special Forces. They know what they are doing" Tony spoke up.
"Place our forces at Camp Lafayette on alert, just in case Clarke loses his fucking mind and decides he wants to go another 12 rounds with us" President McCain ordered.
"Yes Sir" said General Buchanan.
"Next" said Sonny.
0910 hours, 15 February 2002, Office of Naval Intelligence, Pentagon, Virginia.
It was just after 0900 as Clayton Webb poured his second cup of coffee that morning. Clay had spent the past 2 years as the C.I.A Liaison officer to the Delta Force. He was now being sent T.A.D to the Office of Naval Intelligence. As a Company Man, there was very little for Webb to do; so Webb would bounce around from desk to desk, seeing if there was anything important (or interesting) that he could read. There wasn't.
The only thing he had noted was, that ONI, still used a teletype; which Webb could have sworn went out of style by the early 90s.
Just as he was thinking that, the teletype machine behind him, began clicking away. One of the secretaries in the room quickly grabbed the print sheet. "Mr. Webb" the secretary said, with urgency in her voice. Clay set down his coffee cup and walked over. He quickly scanned the document.
"Is this for real?" Clay asked.
"Yes Sir" the women said.
"Jesus Christ" Clay said. "Get a copy of this to the Admiral, I need to get to the White House" Clay said as he grabbed his coat and sprinted out of the office. Message in hand, Clay sprinted out to the parking lot, jumped in his black 57' Chevy, fired up the ignition, and sped away.
- White House Situation Room-
"Now onto new business" Sonny said after the daily briefing had been completed. "The Spring Offensive"
"What's the Delta Force's recommendation Tony?" President McCain asked.
"Randy" Tony said to one of the techs. The technician nodded and pressed a few buttons, bringing up a map of Afghanistan onto the large screen. "The Shah-i-Kot Valley" Tony said as he stood up, and began passing around folders. "Gentlemen, what you see before you is 'Operation Anaconda'" Tony said. "For the past month and a half, myself and Colonel Colleton have been putting this plan together" he explained. "What we know is, is that following Tora Bora, Bin Laden managed to slip over the border into Pakistan. What we now believe, is that he and his key commanders have moved back in Afghanistan, and have moved in the Amur Mountains and the Takur Ghar. This plan would sweep all of the above areas and if he's there, kill or capture Osama Bin Laden" Tony spoke up. d
"What's the Operation time table?" President McCain asked.
"2-3 Weeks"
"Beginning when?"
"1 March" Tony confirmed.
"Order of Battle" asked Secretary King.
"If you open the briefing packet in front of you, you'll see I've laid out all the necessary elements" he began. "The Delta Force, supported by the 75th Ranger Regiment, and 10th Mountain Division"
"I'm familiar with this territory" General Clark spoke up. "It's very rocky, and the parts that aren't are extremely sandy and unsuitable for vehicles"
"I'm aware of that. We'll need to use horses, but we all have a lot of experience in this area" Tony explained.
"What about CAS?" President McCain asked.
"It will be difficult. AQ is heavily entrenched in a cave network in the Mountains" General Buchanan
"I'll have Admiral Carsten arm his air wing with bunker busters" said General Clark.
- Outside the White House-
Tires screeched as Webb pulled up in front of the White House. He jumped out of his car and flashed his badge, and credentials to the guards at the front gate. He quickly ran inside, trying his best not to knock people over in the process. He sprinted down several flights of stairs until he reached the situation room. That's where he was met with the door. He quickly once again showed his ID and placed his hand on the palm scanner. Once he was through he entered the outer room and approached the door to the inner room, which was guarded by 2 uniformed Marines. He nodded to them, and one of them opened the door for him. He entered just as Tony was finishing his briefing. "That's it, Mr. President" Tony said when he saw Clay enter the room.
"Thank you" President McCain said. "Mr. Webb, what can I do for you?"
"I have a flash message from ONI" he said. "I think I would be best if The President left the room for this one" Clay said.
"I get the idea" John said as he stood up and left the room. "I'll be in the Oval" he said.
Once the President, General Buchanan, Secretaries King and Palmer were out of the room, Clay finally began, "We have a flash message from a CDS early warning post in Portugal. A Spanish Submarine suffered an engine malfunction and is disabled off the Icelandic Coast" Clay said.
"Which Sub?" General Clark asked.
"The G-7, it's a type VIIC" Clay said.
"Type VIIC?" Sonny asked. "The Spanish use single letters for their classes" he said. Despite not having formally served in the Military since 1980, after the failed Operation Eagle Claw, Sonny was still well informed and had received intelligence reports every few months or so from friends and sources in the Military and intelligence communities.
"That's because it's not a Spanish Submarine" Tony broke in.
"What do you mean?" General Clark asked.
"It had a different name, prior to being sold to Spain" Tony said. "U-573" he said.
"U?"
"As in Unterseeboot" Tony said in his perfect German. "It was a Nazi Submarine prior to the end of World War II".
"How the hell do you know all of this?" Clay asked.
"Because I'm me" Tony said. "And unless I've missed my guess, The G-7 is still carrying an upgraded version of Enigma" he added.
"Yep" Clay smiled. "The G-7 radioed back to base that it was disabled, and ONI believes that they will be sending a resupply sub within the next 12-18 hours"
"So what do you have in mind?" Sonny asked.
"2-3-4?" Tony said to Clay.
"It could work, she's interned, at Kings Bay" Clay said.
"You'll handle it?" Tony asked.
"I just need an unattached crew" Clay replied.
"SSN-792" Tony smiled. "She's still in dry dock, her crew is free" he smiled.
"I'll handle it" Clay said.
"Good" Sonny concluded. "Now, Tony, the President needs to see you in the Roosevelt Room" he said.
"Ok…" said a skeptical Tony as he exited the room.
"President isn't in the Roosevelt Room is he?" Wes smiled.
"Nope" Sonny said.
0930 hours, 15 February 2002, Roosevelt Room, White House, Washington D.C.
After exiting the Situation Room, Tony quickly made his way upstairs to the Roosevelt Room, named after President Theodore Roosevelt. As he stepped inside, he immediately knew something was off. What he was expecting, was the President, but what he found was his brother, Rick, Sonny's Attorney (and The Family's Consigliore), and 2 of his Children, Erica Jane and Three. "What the hell?" Tony said… and then, he saw it. Sitting atop the conference table was a large wheel of cheddar cheese. "NOOO!" Tony yelled as he quickly scrambled for the door, only to find Sonny blocking his path. "You…." He said enraged.
"Sit!" Sonny ordered as he pointed Tony to a seat.
"No!" Tony yelled back.
"Do it DiNozzo" The President yelled as he walked past in the hallway, off to no doubt another meeting, far away from Sonny's block of cheese.
"Seat. Now" Sonny barked. Tony mumbled something under his breath as he be grudgingly took a seat. As he did, Will McAvoy, the White House Communications Director also came in and took a seat.
"Good, I'm glad you're all here" Sonny said. "Andrew Jackson, in the main foyer of the White House, had a big block of cheese. The block of cheese was huge... The block of cheese was two-tons,
"And a wheat thin the size of Lake Tahoe" Rick joked.
"And it was there for any and all who might be hungry. It was there for the voiceless, the faceless, anyone who wanted a say in the government. So in the spirit of that, we have Big Block of Cheese Day" Sonny smiled.
"I hate you" Will said. "So much" he added.
"He's had this idea in his head since me and Ricky were in High School, and now his evil, demented, old man mind gets to put it into action" Tony added.
"Are ya done?" Sonny said as Margaret, his secretary, walked into the room. "Each of you has been assigned a topic for the day. Now I'm sure Margaret spent a lot of time making sure each assignment went to the proper person". As Sonny spoke, Margaret, who was standing behind him, was shaking her head no. When Sonny turned his head towards her, she changed her shake to a nod. "Each of you will act as a temporary White House Staffer. Each of you reports to me, Will and Meg, who as of this morning, is the New White House Council" he said, which brought a silence over the room. Taking Meg out of the game in New York wasn't good. With both her and Sonny now in DC, and Tony still in the Unit, that left the New York Operation totally and squarely on Rick's shoulders.
"From Mobsters to the White House, the public'll never notice the difference" Three said under his breath.
"Tony, you will be acting Deputy White House Chief of Staff for Strategic Planning, and you'll be meeting with 'WAPT'" Sonny said as he handed Tony a file.
"Wolves are people too?" Tony read. "What the fuck is this?"
"Moving on" Sonny said. "Erica Jane, you will be acting as Deputy Press Secretary, along with Rick, who will be acting Press Secretary" he said as he passed them a folder.
"Cartographers for Social Equality?" Rick read.
"Will, you get the anti-WTO people"
"Wonderful" Will replied sarcastically.
"Meg, you get women who want to ban all marriages"
"Yippie" She replied, using her best sarcasm.
"Oh, wait" Sonny said. "The Governor of Alaska is here. Tony, you meet with her and explain to her in very tiny words why she can't call for the Genocide of Muslims" Sonny said.
"Right" Tony said as he stood up.
"Erica Jane, you take the wolf people" Sonny instructed.
"Super" she replied, just as enthusiastically as the rest of them.
"And, that just leaves Three" Sonny said with an evil smile as he slide a folder over to his Grandson. Three picked it up and read it.
"NO!" Three yelled. "These people are lunatics"
"And yet… I don't care" Sonny said as he adjured the meeting. "Go" he added.
To say that Tony disliked the Governor of Alaska was would be an understatement. The Lady Governor had a habit of speaking whatever popped into her mind, no matter how ridiculous, racist or stupid it was. "Governor Palin" Tony said as he stepped into the Mural Room. "Tony DiNozzo, acting Deputy Chief of Staff" he said. "Now, before you stick your foot in your mouth for the millionth time, allow me to cut directly to the chase. If you give one more speech, in which you call for any harm to come, to any member of the Arab-American community, I will order the Commander of the Alaska National Guard to place you under arrest. His name is Brigadier General Jack Reese, we went to Ohio State together, trust me, he'll do it.
"Colonel, on 9/11, we were attacked by Mooslams" she said.
"No, we were attack by Psychopaths, otherwise known as the criminally insane. Keep your mouth shut Governor"
"We're Republicans" she spat out.
"No, I'm a Republican, The President is a Republican, you, are an idiot. Good day Governor" he said as he walked out. "Shut Bitch" Tony complained as he walked down the hall.
"Fun meeting?" Erica Jane asked as she exited her meeting.
"Come on, let's check in with your Grandfather" Tony said as they made their way to the Chief of Staff's Office.
"What's up?" Sonny asked as he was reading through a briefing book.
"I told Governor Palin I'd have her arrested if she opens her mouth again" Tony said.
"The Wolf People want 6 Trillion for a highway for, and I quote 'wolves only'" Erica Jane said.
"We should dig a moat, maybe it'll keep out more loonies next time" Tony said.
"Can we leave now?" EJ asked.
"No" Sonny said.
Meanwhile, Rick and Will had finished their respective meetings. "Did you know the Cartographers for social equality have over 43,000 members, all of whom pay dues" Rick said.
"Did you know that I don't care" Will said as the 2 made their way to Sonny's office.
"Problems solved Dad" Rick said as they joined the fray in Sonny's office.
"Ok" Sonny said.
"He isn't letting us leave" Tony, who was lying on Sonny's couch, complained.
"Why!? We came here to help you with this stupid 'Big block of cheese day', why can't we leave?" Rick asked.
"Because, I said so" Sonny said.
1200 hours, 15 February 2002, Harry Truman Naval Annex, Key West, Florida.
It was just after 12-noon when Lieutenant Samantha Clark sat down at the officer's mess for noon chow. Being the younger of Wesley and Alexis Clark's 2 children, and a graduate of Annapolis, Sam had mixed feelings about being assigned to the soon to be launched USS Port Charles (SSN-780), a Virginia Class Nuclear Submarine. Ever since she was a child, she had wanted to serve in the Navy, aboard a submarine. However, being the 1st women to ever serve aboard a submarine, she faced constant resentment from not only the crew, but also from other officers on the base. But Sam didn't care. She was bound, and determined to be the best Weapons Officer in the Navy. She had just taken the 1st bite of her lunch, when the Shore Patrol stormed into the mess.
The next few hours went by in a flash, as Sam, along with the rest of the crew of the Port Charles were crammed into a fleet of Deuce and a halves.
1300 hours, 15 February 2002, West Wing, White House, Washington D.C.
Big Block of Cheese Day was almost over, except for Three, who had been in the same meeting, for the past 5 hours. "AHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed. "I can't take it anymore" he yelled.
"Maybe you're not taking me seriously" the man said.
"Yeah, maybe I'm not" Three replied sarcastically.
"I have a letter from 2 congressman that will allow me to enter Area 51" the man said.
"And I'm gonna get a letter from 80 Senators that will let me kill you!" Three yelled. "I can't stand you alien freaks. You annoy the crap out of me!" Three yelled. "For 5 hours, I have sat here quietly and listened to you babble on about aliens this and aliens that, and I've had it! I don't care, how many congressmen you get to sign that stupid letter, and I don't care!"
"My father dedicated his life to this work" the man said.
"Good for him, I still don't care!" Three said. "It's over, the White House is not going to help you get into Area 51. Good day Sir" he said as he stormed out of the room. When he did, he was greeted with a thunderous applause, and everyone stood and clapped for him. Three only half-heartedly smiled and walked away.
After about another hour or so, everyone was dismissed, and was sent of their merry way. All except Tony, who had decided to remain behind.
In the Oval Office President McCain was looking over some economic reports, when his new executive secretary, Deborah Fiderer, knocked on the door, and entered. "Mr. President" she said.
"What is it Deb?" The President asked.
"Lieutenant Colonel DiNozzo is here, as you requested" she said.
"Send him in" he replied.
"Yes Mr. President" she said as she disappeared into the outer office. A few seconds later, Tony, still dressed in his Class-A's, stepped into the room.
"Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Dominick DiNozzo Jr., as requested Mr. President" Tony said as he stood at attention.
"Have a seat Colonel" The President said, as he motioned to the chair next to his desk. Tony did as instructed, taking the seat. His posture was up right, one that would reflect his 14 years in the Army. "Do you know why I asked you to stick around?" he asked. Tony only shrugged. "I need to talk to you about Liz" he said. Tony only shook his head.
"What about her?" Tony finally replied.
"Why doesn't she return my calls? My Emails?" he asked.
"You know how to use Email?" Tony said.
"Zoey types for me" he replied, referring to the youngest of his 3 daughters. "Why doesn't she reply?" he asked.
"Here Husband has been overseas the past 6 months, with 6 more to go. He'll probably get redeployed soon after. She has a lot to worry about"
"I didn't realize that you were a fan of the Captain"
"It's Major now, actually" Tony said. "And I'm not a fan of his family, but I respect him" he said. "His Father bought and bribed his way out of Vietnam. I filled him with rage, which is why he so desperately wanted to serve. He hasn't been home since he left for West Point. And to be fair, his madly in love with his wife" Tony smiled.
"Major AJ Quartermaine" President McCain said.
"He's a good guy, ya know" Tony said.
"You would know, you we're the one she asked to give her away at her wedding"
"Lizzie is one of my oldest Friends, I couldn't say no"
"I know. But you really wanna know what bugs me, she's 4 months pregnant with her 3rd child, and I had to learn about it from a 3rd party" he complained. As he did, there was a knock on the door, and the President's Physician, Navy Captain Larry Wolek, walked in.
"Mr. President, it's time for your flu shot" the Captain said.
"Dammit, not that thing again" The President.
"Cap, gimme' the syringe, I'll do it" Tony said.
"Alright" the doctor said as he handed Tony the needle and left the room.
"Come on Mr. President, jacket off, sleeves up" Tony said with a smile.
"How do I know that's a flu vaccine and not poison in there" the President said as he stood up, took off his coat, and rolled up his left sleeve as he leaned up against the desk.
"I guess you're just gonna have to trust me" Tony said.
"Hold on, how do I know this isn't the start of some Military Coup. I want the Secret Service in here"
"What makes you think that in the advent of a Military Coup, the Secret Service would be on your side?" Tony joked.
"Well that's a thought that's gonna fester" The President responded as Tony gave him the shot.
"Will that be all sir?" Tony asked.
"Just one more thing" The President said.
"Yes Sir?" Tony asked.
"The Eli David Problem" the President said. "I want it solved" he ordered.
"Yes Sir" Tony said.
2115 hours, 15 February 2002, Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, St. Mary's, Georgia.
After over 9 hours in the back of a deuce and a half, Lieutenant Samantha Clark jumped out as the convoy pulled into the Sub base. The crew of the USS Port Charles was quickly mustered into rows. As they were mustered, the CO, Lieutenant Commander Jerome Hotchkiss, a South Carolinian of French descent, was pulled away from the group, along with Lieutenant Clark. They were taken to a nearby office, when the base commander was waiting for them. "Good evening" said Rear Admiral (Upper Half) Roger Kimball, Deputy COMSUBLANT (Commander, Submarine Force, Atlantic).
"Good Evening Admiral" replied Captain Hotchkiss. "What brings you down here?" he asked.
"He does" he said as he pointed to the man sitting on the desk next to him, who was currently speaking on the phone. "This is Clayton Webb of Central Intelligence. He's going to be ridding your boat. You're not working for SUBLANT on this run. Mr. Webb will have Operational Command. He's the boss. Anything he wants, he gets" The Admiral instructed.
"This this her?" Webb asked after he hung up the phone. "Yo Comprendo su familia viene de Barcelona. La buena gentede Cataluña. Comprendes, Señorita Clark?" Webb asked her.
"Yes Sir" Sam replied.
"Puedes hablar español pasable? Puede usted leer y escribir? O es ustedmás que otroamericano conun nombreespañol?" Webb asked her again.
"Senor Webb, yo soy un Americano. Uno que comprender, leer, escribir y hablar bastante bien. Yo estudio español en Annapolis.
"Gracias, Teniente" Webb said. "She'll do"
"That will be all" said the Admiral.
20 minutes later.
Once Lieutenant Commander Hotchkiss and Lieutenant Clark had returned to the crew, the crew in its entirety were lead to a nearby dry dock. "Gentleman… and lady" said Captain Hotchkiss. "This is U-234. She is a Type XB German U-Boat that has been in the possession of the US Navy since 1945. She's ours now" The Captain said.
In order to fit into the small boat, the crew's non-essential personnel, in this case, most of radar specialists, and the nuclear reactor personnel, were going to be left behind.
1745 hours, 15 February 2002, Quartermaine Residence, Base Housing, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
At only 4 months pregnant with 3rd kid, Elizabeth Quartermaine was just beginning to show. With her husband deployed to Afghanistan for the foreseeable future, Elizabeth was struggling in to take care of her 2 children, Alan, who was 7, and Cameron, who was 4. Since it was a Friday night, she had decided to let the boys watch a movie before bed. With the boys settled on the couch watching Toy Story, she began washing the dishes, when there was a knock on the door. The second she heard the knocking, she immediately dropped the plate she had in her hand. She began breathing heavily as she slowly made her way to the front door. The knocking continued, as she opened the door. "Jesus Christ Tony!" she yelled. You scared the hell out of me!" she yelled.
"Sorry" Tony said as he leaned against the frame of the door.
"Well don't just stand there" Liz said with a smile as she opened the screen door to let him in. "God I missed you" she said as she wrapped him up in a big hug.
"I missed you too" he said as he gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"Uncle Tony!" Alan and Cameron yelled as they ran up to him.
"Arrr!" Tony yelled as he scoped them up, one in each arm. "I missed you guys" he said as he carried them back to the couch.
"Come on guys, watch your movie" their mother said as she led Tony into the kitchen. "You mind doing the drying?" she asked as she resumed doing the dishes.
"Sure" he said as he slipped off his uniform jacket and rolled up his sleeves. "Have you heard from AJ?" Tony asked.
"I got a couple letters from him yesterday" Liz said. "He got promoted" she added proudly.
"Yeah I heard" Tony said as he placed a plate in the dish drain next to the sink. "I spoke with your dad today" Tony said.
"Oh" Elizabeth said. Her father was always a touchy subject with her. But Tony was the exception to that room. Back when she was younger, back when her father was assigned to a Nike Missile Battery on Long Island, Tony had been her neighbor.
"What did he have to say?"
"He was upset that you haven't told him that you're pregnant"
"Oh, so now he takes an interest in me. Where has he been for the past 9 years?" She retorted.
"You should give him a chance" Tony urged.
"Like you gave yours?" Liz said.
"That's a huge difference" Tony said.
"I know" Liz said as she dried her hands off. She took a step towards Tony, wrapped her hands around his arm, and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I'm sorry" she whispered.
"It's ok"
"16 February 1976" she whispered.
"The night my mom died" Tony confirmed.
"You can't keep blaming yourself" Liz said.
"I couldn't stop him, I tried, but I couldn't"
"You were 8-years old"
"Doesn't change the fact that my mom died right in front of me" Liz reached over and took his hand in hers. Then she took her other arm, and wrapped it around the side of his head. She pulled herself up and placed a kiss on his right temple.
"Tony, you are my oldest friend, and I love you. You can keep doing this to yourself, you can't going on living like this. You can't go on blaming yourself" she urged him. "You need a fresh take on things"
"A Fresh Take" Tony whispered to himself. "That's it" Tony said as he cupped her face and gave her a full on kiss on the lip. "You are a Genius" Tony said as he grabbed his jacket and ran out.
"Ok then" Liz said as she placed her hand on top of her lips and smiled as sweet a smile as she smiled in a very long time.
0500 hours, 16 February 2002, 206 nautical miles off the Eastern Seaboard, Atlantic Ocean.
Once U-234 was past the 200 mile mark, they were officially in International Waters. Once they were, it was time to switch ensigns. The US Flag has taken down, and the Spanish one was run up. It had 3 horizontal stripes, the outside were red, and middle was yellow. In the middle of the yellow were 2 things. One was the Spanish Coat of Arms, the other… was a black swastika.
"And so it begins" Sam said as she watched the sun rise.
2000 hours local time, 16 February 2002, Firebase Phoenix, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.
It was just after dark when Tony landed in Bagram. After that, it was a 2-hour chopper flight, he landed at Firebase Phoenix, the forward Operating base of the 75th Ranger Regiment. Once Tony was off the chopper, he made his way to the base CO's tent. Tony threw back the flap and stepped inside. "Manning" he yelled.
"What's up?" Todd replied, looking up from his poker hand.
"I'm pulling one of your shooters" Tony said.
"Am I gonna get him back?" Manning asked.
"No" Tony said.
"Where do I sign?" he asked. Tony tossed him the papers. Todd quickly signed and initialed about a dozen times and tossed them back to Tony. "Good Luck". Tony nodded and backed out of the tent. He then made his way down the row of tents to the one he was looking for, one of the junior officer's tents.
"Get up" Tony yelled as he entered the tent.
"What's going on?" The young 2nd Lieutenant asked. Tony quickly flipped out the papers.
"2nd Lieutenant Austin Joseph Kearns, as authorized by Colonel Thomas Manning, you are hereby transferred to the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta" Tony ordered. "Pack your bags, we leave now"
"Yes Sir" Austin replied.
PLEASE REVIEW!- Would love to see a ton of reviews, maybe even a few predictions. Also, I just got fired from my job, so until I find a new one, looks like I'll have some more writing time on my hands.
A/N- (Tony's Voice)- Next time on "28 Seconds: Strength & Honor"-
- In NYC, EJ takes a huge gamble when she gets an opportunity to influence the outcome of a major sporting event. In the Atlantic, Sam and Webb face a dangerous situation 3,000 miles from home. Meanwhile, Tony begins training Austin for the most dangerous mission ever attempted. Finally, Rex faces the challenge of a lifetime, as he leads Team USA against Team Canada for the 2002 Olympic Gold Medal.