Don't own Chuck
John and Banai stood on the pier looking at each other wondering what the heck when a Blackhawk swooped in strafing the bad guys with .50 fire. While the chopper kept them at bay a seal team repelled down on ropes from the underside of the bird. The bad guys fought in retreat as they scurried away realizing the tide had turned against them. They disappeared into the woodwork where they could regroup.
"Colonel Casey," yelled a man in tac gear walking over to them. "Lieutenant Marsh, did one of you call Uber for a ride? Come on we need to get you two out of here."
"No, I should stay I've got my own men coming," said Banai. "I ought to really wait for them. They should be here any moment"
"Are you crazy?" said Casey as he holstered his Sig. "Our people are holding the perimeter for now but once we're gone those people are going to come back. No, you're coming with us. If you want, you can contact your people when we land but for now make the smart play and come along or so help me I'll lay you out here then drag you back."
"The Colonel's right sir and something else you should know. I got word that your people didn't make it through airport security. They were turned around and sent back home so we're all you've got."
"In that case lead the way. But that doesn't make sense I trained my men better than that. Something must've happened. Colonel you almost sound like you care," said Banai as he climbed onboard the chopper.
"Just sit down and pipe down I can still drop you in the bay. I probably would but Chuck wouldn't like it. So for now you're riding on his dime." The Lieutenant recovered his team then they took off heading back out to sea before the locals realized what had happened.
"Where are you taking us Lieutenant?" asked Casey as he looked over Banai and made sure he was buckled in. "I wouldn't want you to fall out… unintentionally that is."
"Thanks I think," said Banai. "But yes Lieutenant where are you taking us and can you locate a cargo ship that just left port? The name of the vessel is the Contessa and she couldn't have gotten very far."
"We shouldn't have any trouble finding her," said the Lieutenant. "I'll radio ahead and have them start searching. That's home over there on the horizon for now. The USS Mason we embarked on board a few hours ago when we stopped refueled then came for you guys. We were playing wargames with the Bulgarians and Ukrainians when we got your SOS."
"Sorry to interrupt your training exercise..." said Casey. He was started feel a chill and had totally forgotten he was wet. He looked over at Banai whose teeth where starting to chatter but he refused to complain.
"No problem Colonel, the best training exercise is with live fire anyway. Here are a couple thermal blankets," said the Lieutenant. "We'll get you some dry clothes as soon as we're on board."
"Thanks," said Casey as he handed one of the blankets to Banai then wrapped himself. "So what kind of training where you doing? From the looks of things counter insurgency."
"Something like that... one second Colonel," said the Lieutenant as he received word in his comms. "Roger that keep me informed. We'll be on deck in twenty mikes," said the Lieutenant then turned back to Casey and Banai. "We've found your vessel and are tracking her. She's steaming west across the Black Sea heading for Bulgarian waters. On her current course and speed, they say she'll reach Snake Island by day break."
"John, I know you've got your man on board but we need to think about all the destruction that missile can do. This is about more than one life and you know I'm right we need to sink that ship. My government doesn't want to recover the missile anymore but they don't want it to fall in the wrong hands. And the wrong hands are the people onboard that ship."
"The call is yours Colonel give the word and the Mason can launch a tomahawk. If we act fast, we can still sink it in international waters but once it's in the contested area between the Ukraine and Russia then things become difficult."
"No we wait stand down Lieutenant there's more at stake than you guys know. Banai besides Morgan being on that ship Chuck could be there too."
"You don't know that and what are you talking about John when you said 'more at stake then we know'? What aren't you telling me? You've lost something too. That's it isn't it. What is it? ... Oh no that's why Abu needs our missile. Please tell me I'm wrong."
"I can't tell you you're wrong because I can't tell you diddlysquat. The same way I can't tell the Lieutenant here and he's on my side…"
"And I'm… we technically not but we can put aside ideological differences and try to work together. We were doing good on the pier and I gave you a ride when you parachuted off course."
"I remember saving your turkey bacon from an ambush so I think we're even," said Casey but their argument was cut short when the Lieutenant pointed to the flight deck below them.
"Sir that's the Skipper down there and he's here to escort you straight to Combat center so dry clothes for you are going to have to wait. Agent Banai you're to come with me. We'll get you changed and feed but I'm going to have to ask you to give me your firearm before we step off the bird."
"You can let keep it," said Casey. "He's out of ammo and not a very good shot at that. He's more of a danger to himself than anyone else and I'm going to need some for mine."
"Those are the old man's orders and it's his ship," said the Lieutenant. "But as long as you stay with us you're my responsibility so if the Colonel says you can keep it, keep it."
"No go ahead and take it. The last think I want to do is make anyone uncomfortable but I need to report in. My people will be looking for me and if they can't find me then they will send someone else."
"We don't want that," said Casey. "Not many of your people are as… well let's say accommodating and easy to work with."
"John be careful that almost sounded like a compliment." Casey grunted as the chopper touched down.
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Chuck and Morgan were left alone when Abu got called out of the room. This left them some time to talk but they had to be careful because the two men that Abu left could speak English. How much Chuck wasn't sure about but enough that if they heard the wrong thing they could present a problem. Chuck quickly sized them up for what they were Fida'i. They were different from the rest of the ship's company and that was easy to see but there were grades and levels even among these. The faithful were the bottom rungs of the Hashashin and there were others higher up the food chain with the 'Old Man of the Mountain' sitting on top the perch.
"So I take it that you two are hashish eaters," said Chuck exploring their comprehension. They both growled at him which was the reaction he was looking for. "Sorry, that's right you don't like being called that. Then I take it you two are lasiqs, adherents?"
"No, if you have to know we're Fida'I the faithful," snapped the one man as the other guard gave him a look. "What? It's nothing he didn't already know. I heard him talking with Abu"
"So you two are 'Assassiyun' 'those faithful to the foundation'," said Chuck but neither answer. "Then I guess that makes Abu is the Old Man of the Mountain?"
"Not hardly even if he might think so but I don't know where you got that from. He works for the foundation the same as we do he's just in a higher circle."
"Will you shut up? We work in a secret organization and the key word there to remember is secret. It's not very secret if you tell everyone."
"I'm not telling everyone just this guy and for the most part from what I've heard him say he already knows all this. I'm just correcting him about Abu..."
"Because Abu is acting a little heavy handed and doing things he's not authorized to do as a 'Rafiqs' or 'Companions'. Isn't that right?"
"See I told you he knew," said the same guard but as they were talking there was a knock on the door and the same crew member as before came in.
"Mr. Abu sent me to tell you to take his guest back to his room. He's going to be longer than he thought and didn't want to keep him waiting. He also said that you should get him a plate from the galley."
"And what about me," asked Morgan. "I'm hungry too and what am I supposed to do? Does he want me to wait here?"
"You've got your own cabin to go to and if you're hungry you can go down to the mess deck to grab something to eat like everyone else," said the one guard looking strange at him. Chuck could tell there was no love lost between Ettore and the Fida'I.
"It must be the tranquilizer they gave him," said Chuck. "It's messed with his brain. Someone is going to have to go with him and take him to his cabin. He'll be better once he's had time to rest."
"That sounds like a good job for you swabby," said the one guard as he motioned Morgan to follow him. "Ettore, you can go with the nice man."
"Next thing you know you're going to have me go catching butterflies or something. I don't need any help I can find my way on my own," said Morgan. Chuck gave him a looked.
"You might reconsider that with you bum leg and everything," said Chuck as he got close to Morgan and whispered. "You need to remember to limp or you're going to give yourself away. Second deck aft should be where your cabin's at."
"What's the matter with you dude I'm not you type," said Morgan as he pushed Chuck away. "No, I know where my cabin's at. I was just testing you and you failed. I don't need any help getting there," said Morgan as he walked out.
"I think there's something wrong with him… really wrong," said Chuck. "Like there's some serious crazy running around in his head. So you two are supposed to take me back to my cabin? Well lead the way I'm right behind you."
"How about you staying in between us," said the guard as he started out the hatch while the other one waved for him to follow as he brought up the end.
[In the meantime]
It didn't take Morgan long before his nose picked up the scent of food and he began to zero in on it. He went down a couple of decks until he came to the mess deck. They were serving so he hopped in line then went through getting enough food to make two sandwiches then started to leave but as he was leaving he saw a sign that said 'no food allowed off the mess deck'.
"Hum, I'm not going to let any sign stand in my way of a late dinner and a snack later on," said Morgan as he shoved the sandwiches in his pockets them left. He hadn't gone very far when he heard someone yelling behind him. He wasn't sure if they were yelling at him or someone else but he wasn't going to hang around to see.
"Come on Morgan why are you running? Your Ettore La Barba fearless gun runner and all-around bad guy. But what if they found out I wasn't him then what… it's best not to take any chances," he said to himself as he ran through the passageways.
"Excuse me… pardon me… coming through… make a hole," he yelled as he shoved and pushed people out of his way which got him covered with insults and worse if they'd gotten a hold of him.
"Hey you don't even know my mother… yeah and the same to your sister buddy… I bet you wouldn't say that if it were your horse," yelled Morgan as he continued running down the passageway.
"You need some place to hole up for a while," said Morgan as he tried to catch his breath. Then as he was running along he saw the perfect place. He turned and ran back a passageway to a closed door.
"Come on please let it be the same password Chuck told me," he said then the doors opened and he ran inside. "Oh momma is it dark in here," he said but he heard an angry mob coming for him so he closed the doors.
"One noise and your dead," said a familiar voice as he felt a sharp blade to his throat. "If you move a muscle or even flinch, I'll give you a smile that will run from ear to ear."
"Hey wait a minute you can't count the loss of body fluids…. Ouch! That's entirely involuntary so I'm complying but my bladder isn't. If it's money you want I'm sorry I'm fresh out. I've just got two meatloaf sandwiches in my pockets but you're welcome to them…"
"Morgan is that you? What are you doing here," said Sarah. But she wasn't sure especially in the dark but there was one way to make sure. "Sorry if you are," she said then she spun him around and kick him in the shin. He almost doubled over in pain.
"Ouch! What the heck Sarah. Of course it's me who were you expecting your Fairy Godmother. That really hurt," he said as he rubbed it. "I don't know if I can walk on it anymore."
"I had to be sure it was you and don't complain this will help you limp like you're supposed to with a prosthetic leg. "What's this?" said Sarah as she grabbed one of the sandwiches out of his pocket.
"I made a couple of meatloaf sandwiches for…" but by then she was chowing down on it. "Just go ahead and eat it. After all I've got another."
"Gee thanks, I haven't really eaten all day except for some bread and I'm famished. So why are you here and does you being here mean Casey's here too?" She asked as she wolfed down the one sandwich then grabbed the second one and started eating.
"Yes, just go right ahead there help yourself I got them for you. Casey and Banai were with me but we got separated after Casey drove our truck into the bay. It's a long story anyway Abu the boss man of assassins thinks I'm Ettore and pulled me out of the drink… Oh I was just with Chuck in Abu's cabin."
"Good I need you to tell him I'm here the next time you see him. But it's important Morgan, you need to keep them thinking your Ettore because like this you can move freely about the ship and take messages back and forth between us."
"And I'll stay alive longer… I got that. Do you know Abu has an Iranian missile onboard this ship and a nuclear warhead somewhere? How did he get his hands on a nuke? You just don't find them in the supermarket or at least the last time I was in Trader Joe's I didn't see any in the fresh produce section."
"Calm down Morgan," said Sarah. "Yes I did. When you talked with Chuck did he say if he knew where the nuke was being stored?"
"No but he went on about some island we're supposed to be heading for off the coast of the Ukraine or Bulgaria. Let me see if I can remember what he said. He went on about them, the people on the island, being depended on their electricity from the mainland and that this Abu needed this ship to provide the electricity he needed for whatever nefarious plan he was hatching. Does that make sense to you?"
"No not really but it must make sense to Chuck or he wouldn't have said it. Okay Morgan I need for you to go on up to your cabin. If you don't go soon they'll think you fell overboard then start searching the ship and I can't afford for them to do that."
"But what if they're already on to me? What if they're waiting for me in my cabin and as soon as I open the door they put a bullet through my head? You know what kind of headache that can give you? No amount of Excedrin is going to cure that."
"Morgan you have to play along with them because if they do find out that headache might not be the only thing you have to worry about. Here take my phone and carry it with you. Look you see there's no signal I think that's because they have some sort of signal jammer on. You know what that means don't you?"
"Someone ran up their telephone bill talking with Irene Demova on a live chat," said Morgan. "But I did do that once I don't do it anymore."
"No… no one can phone home and give away the ship's position but I'm going to check the telephone bill at the Buy More when we get back. But that also means as long as there's no line no one can call in either..."
"Which means they can't talk to Ettore," said Morgan as he heaved a sigh of relief. "Okay so I take this and the moment I see there's a signal I call for help."
"Okay Morgan but we need to find out where this warhead is being kept before we can leave. Some of the islands along the coast of Bulgaria and the Ukraine have bunkers on them that were built back during the. If the nuke is underground deep enough we can't detect it from above which means someone is going to have to go down and verify it's there."
"I hope you're not think about me because I get claustrophobia and I have a bad case of nuke-a-phobia. I don't like nukes and they don't like me. Remember what happened with the suitcase nuke. I accidentally set it off and blinded Chuck for almost eight months. I'm just saying are you sure I'm the one you want around a nuke."
"Morgan that happened because you couldn't keep your hands to yourself and had to touch everything. I'm sure this time you'll listen better and follow directions..."
"Remember it's me you're talking about. I know myself and if I say I'm not sure I can do it that means I'm not sure I can do it."
"Well were a long way away from there so for now let's continue on with what we're doing. It would look suspicious if you went to see Chuck so wait to tell him I'm down here. You can do that the next time you meet him."
"Okay I'll do that you can count on me," said Morgan as he turned hit the buttoned next to the hatch. It opened up then started to leave.
"I have no other choice. Morgan, the limp," said Sarah. "Remember to limp." He looked at her perplexed then looked down at his leg then remember.
"Oh right the limp," he said. He walked back out then he headed up two decks to the aft visitor cabins. There he found his with his name on the door, 'Ettore'. He tried the door but nothing it was locked. He stopped a man who looked like ship's company as he walked by.
"Excuse me but my door won't open and I've seem to have misplaced my key somewhere. Can you help me," said Morgan. The man looked at him like he was crazy.
"Excuse me but did you bump your head somewhere. These doors don't work with a key… You place your hand on the scanner then it opens. Try it and let me see."
"Okay I was imprecise what I meant was my hand was broke… I mean I think my hand scanner is broken because it isn't working," said Morgan. But the man just stood there and waved him on. Morgan placed his hand on the scanner and 'Error' came across the screen, 'please try again'. "See this is what I meant."
"That is strange…. Hum something must be wrong with the computer. Here let me get you in then I'll call down and have someone look at it," said the man as he placed his hand on the screen. 'Master Recognition Verified' flashed across the screen then the door opened.
"Thank you," said Morgan as he started into his room. "I appreciated you helping me out. Sleeping on the deck in some engine room didn't sound too pleasing."
"No problem, I'll put in a trouble call on that door for you and have them reboot the computer. It maybe that the data file got corrupted somehow. In the meantime, if I were you I'd try to stay indoors so you don't get locked out until the situation is taken care of. Well if there's nothing else I need to run along?"
"No, no I can take it from here," said Morgan as he went inside and closed the door. He walked over and began checking out the room. In Ettore's beside table he found a nickel plated Colt 1911 with pearl handles and underneath the pillow a razor sharp kabar.
"That's one pillow you'd better be careful fluffing," said Morgan as he flopped down on the bed. "What the heck are you doing here," he said to himself. Sitting there he wondered what to do but as he was lying there he heard a peck on the glass outside his porthole.
"I swear if this is a raven I'm out of here."