Chapter 9: Mission-go
Everyone was ready to go by 2:30 am. Kate wore a pair of olive green cargo jeans, a light gray long sleeved t-shirt, and a set of brown steel toed boots she had been issued when she boarded the carrier. She pulled her hair back into a messy bun, and shoved an extra pencil behind her ear. She had also been issued a set of navy blue coveralls so she would be able to operate on the flight deck and check the probes prior to takeoff. At 3 am, she reported to the operations command, she was given her own station with three computers (two of which were her own laptops). Commander Whitlowe greeted her,
"Dr. Norris! It's an early morning, but a good one! The cloud cover is holding, we have perfect wind conditions, I think today will be a fabulous day for this mission."
"Good to hear it." Kate said while forcing a smile. She was terrified for Jake.
"I'm going to have you start out on the flight deck, we'll give you a white helmet and vest—you have your coveralls?"
"Yes." She patted her backpack to indicate she had brought the navy blue coveralls with.
"Good...good. I'll have you head up to the flight deck with Captain Mitchell in just a moment. First, though, I'm going to be meeting with the pilots, and that is where everyone else is. So, why don't you and I head over to their briefing room." She nodded and she and Whitlowe hurried down the hall to the briefing room.
As soon as Kate walked in, her eyes met Jake's. He sat in the front row beside Rooster (whose eyes were also on Kate). All the pilots sat quietly in their flight suits and gear, helmets resting on their desks. Whitlowe directed her to a seat along the side of the room. Maverick slid in next to her,
"How are you doing?" he whispered.
"I'm a mess—but holding on." she replied. Whitlowe took to the front of the room,
"Well, good morning aviators!" he smiled, "The weather is a balmy 61 degrees, with a layer of low lying cloud cover to keep you sufficiently hidden from radar if you fly low enough. We don't anticipate the temperature exceeding 70 degrees today. Wind is light 9 miles per hour out of the West, so you won't have to worry about a head wind or tail wind. The surveillance plane—callsign Excalibur—is already up and has been running reconnaissance since 1 am. We have a clear picture from satellites, and everything at this time, is a go. You will launch from the carrier at approximately 4 am, at 600 knots, you will arrive over land within 8 minutes. Seargent Grenburough will pass out your maps, these are a 75-mile diameter around the site and include the coastline. If you are downed, get to the coast. That is the only extraction location. We do have Seals on standby for extraction, but if you are captured," he sighed, "There are not many options aside from diplomatic ones…" He lifted a packet into the air,
"This—is everything you could possibly need to know about the mission. The flight paths have not changed from your months of training at Topgun. Dr. Norris will accompany you to the flight deck and personally certify your plane mounted probe prior to launch." Jake looked over at her and smiled. He had every confidence in the equipment because she was not just good at her job, she was a brilliant mind.
"Once you are over land, you will drop down to 600 feet above sea level and follow this river system North." He gestured to a map on the screen behind him, "About 7 miles inland that river will split and one branch will continue north—this is leading toward the suspected nuclear research facility. Lieutenants Seresin, Fitch, and Garcia will follow the northern route and deploy the probes at these coordinates." He pointed to a small spot on the map just ahead of the nuclear facility that was situated on the bank of the river for access to the cool water.
"Lieutenants Bradshaw, Lewis, and Drake, will bank westward and trek an additional 3 miles north-northwest, deploying their probes here." again he gestured to a spot on the map just before the planes would be over the facility.
"From there you will fly for 1 minute and 30 seconds in the pattern from 600 feet up to 1000 feet and back down to 600 feet before turning tail and heading home. I don't think I need to stress that speed is your friend at this point in the mission. Mind your fuel—we don't want any Bingo situations. Keep an eye on your joker levels." To Kate the phrases that Whitlowe was speaking were almost a foreign language. Maverick leaned over and explained,
"Bingo refers to fuel being too low, Joker is the safest low level of fuel to make it back." Kate nodded,
"Thank you." she smiled.
"It is like learning a different language." he mused quietly. Whitlowe continued,
"It will be a miracle if you are in and out and face no air defenses. These could be anti-aircraft guns, SAMs, other aircraft—we know their capabilities, they have stealth fighters akin to our F-22 raptors, and the last thing you want is to find yourself in a dogfight with one of those. So…" he paused and everyone in the room held their breath it seemed, "use your head, fly on instinct when you have to, and get home safely. Carrier will coordinate landings based on need—if you have mechanical issues—radio ahead so we can get you queued to land first, and if needed, we will deploy standbys and reserves. Dr. Norris will physically pull hard drives out of the probe once you are parked, chocked, and chained." He looked around the room for a moment,
"Any questions?" No one spoke. Everything was clear cut. The danger was enormous, the data was needed, and the mission had to succeed.
"Alright then, wheels up in 30." Whitlowe glanced at the clock which read 3:30 am. The pilots grabbed their gear and started for the flight deck to perform their flight checks and queue up for launch. Hangman would launch first, followed by Rooster, then Payback and Fanboy, and finally Sandman and Martian. Maverick guided Kate to the flight deck crew equipment room where they both put on white vests and helmets. Each colored vest and helmet had a different job on the flight deck. Red: ordinance, purple: fuel, green: catapult crew or the "cat" crew, brown: plane captains, white: accessory, yellow: plane crew and launch, blue: assistants and trainees. The vest was a bit big on Kate, but she didn't care, she pulled on a pair of gloves and she and Maverick stepped out onto the flight deck. It was organized chaos. The wind whipped past them, and Maverick took her elbow to help her navigate through the sea of flight deck crew and over to the planes. She started with Sandman and Martian's plane. Moving with rapid precision in the darkness, illuminated only by a handful of spotlights, she turned the probes on and certified that it was functional for remote or manual deployment. She and Maverick hurried over to Payback and Fanboy's plane and did the same thing. Rooster was checking the missiles on his plane and walking back toward the cockpit when she arrived. She quickly opened the small mechanical cap on the probe and flipped a switch. The probes lit up and everything checked out. She punched in the ready code as she had with the others and it confirmed both deployment methods were functional. The wind stirred up and the ship dipped into a deep wave trough. Kate tumbled over onto her knees, and Rooster quickly scooped her up.
"YOU OKAY?" he shouted over the noise.
"YEAH—I DON'T HAVE ANY SEA LEGS…" she laughed lightly. He smiled, but inside his heart ached for her. They looked at each other for a moment, and she finally shouted,
"BE CAREFUL—COME HOME SAFELY, ALRIGHT?" He nodded and grasped her hand, squeezing hard,
"I WILL." Maverick patted his shoulder,
"YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO." Rooster nodded as Kate and Maverick hurried off to Hangman's plane. He closed his eyes for a second and remembered her looking up at him from that night they spent together in his camper. He couldn't get her out of his mind, no matter how hard he tried. Touching her just now brought it all rushing back. Her breath on his neck, the way they moved together, her long legs wrapped around him. He opened his eyes and she had disappeared behind Hangman's plane. Sighing, he climbed up into the cockpit and let the darkness of the pre-dawn hour surround him.
Kate quickly got to work on the last probe. She popped open the mechanical cap as Jake walked up to her. She felt his hand on her back, steadying her in the relatively gentle seas. With the flip of a switch, and few other steps, the probes were certified operational for launch. Maverick radioed to operations command for her, to let them know everything was a green for go with the probes. Without thinking, she threw her arms around Jake's neck and held him for a second,
"COME BACK TO ME." she shouted over the deck and ocean noise.
"YES, MA'AM!" he smiled, and in one suave move, he twisted her around and dipped her as if they were dancing. He pressed his lips against hers and a few hearty cheers and whistles rose up from the deck crew who witnessed the moment. He brought her back upright and turned to Maverick,
"SIR, CAN I HAVE A WORD WITH YOU IN PRIVATE?" Maverick guided Kate over to a door,
"I'LL BE RIGHT OVER, KATE." and she stepped inside quickly, glad to be away from the roar of the ocean and flight deck. Hangman turned to Maverick and handed him a small black box,
"I PLAN TO PROPOSE TO KATE AFTER I LAND, CAN YOU KEEP THE RING SAFE FOR ME?" Maverick smiled,
"IT'LL BE MY PLEASURE, LIEUTENANT. CONGRATULATIONS!" Shaking Hangman's hand, he took the ring box and carefully stowed it in his zippered pocket before hurrying off after Kate. Hangman felt a weight off his shoulders as he climbed into the cockpit and began flipping switches to bring the plane up to ready.
Kate and Maverick, having shed their white vests and helmets, returned to the operations room and they both sat at her station. Maverick put on his radio headset and helped Kate with hers. This would keep them in constant communication with the pilots or operations staff in different rooms. She pulled up the probe interfaces on her screens—one for Hans's nuclear probes and one for her biological probes. Everything looked good.
"Kate, Maverick!" Cyclone called across the room, "I'd like you to join me on the bridge for launch."
"Come on." Maverick smiled, "This will be a treat. It has been a long time since I've just watched a launch." They hurried after Cyclone to an elevator that brought them straight up to the bridge level, and they stepped through into a room with large glass windows on three sides. Cyclone welcomed them over to a spot along the glass where they could look down on the flight deck. Jake was taxing toward the left runway, and Rooster was following him.
"Final checks clear." came a voice over the radio, "Set to launch Talon 1." The yellow vested Shooter stood and Kate could see Jake salute him, then give him the "hang loose" hand sign. The Shooter knelt down beside Jake's plane and waited for the go from mission command. Whitlowe's voice came over the radio,
"Launch." Kate's eyes watched as the Shooter stood, confirmed the launch, and then lunged forward extending his arm toward the end of the short runway. Jake grabbed the handle on the cockpit side and braced himself, then released the brake and the catapult propelled him and his plane forward with break-neck speed. The glow of the engines on his plane were the only indication that the plane was even there, as he rose up into the sky, off the end of the runway. The Shooter followed the same motions as he prepared Rooster for launch.
"Set to launch Talon 2." This time Whitlowe's confirmation was not needed. Rooster glanced up at the bridge as if he knew Kate was watching. He saluted and gave a thumbs up. The Shooter lunged forward and just as it had with Jake, the catapult propelled Rooster off the runway and into the air.
"Set to launch Talon 3." Payback saluted, gave his thumbs up, the Shooter indicated launch and the catapult sent them off the end of the runway and upwards after the others.
"Set to launch Talon 4." Sandman saluted, gave the "rock on" hand signal, the Shooter sent them on their way. Kate watched as the glow of all the engines disappeared into the darkness.
"There they go." Cyclone muttered, "God be with them." Kate felt her heart begin to race. Jake was leading that team into a hostile nation to get her data. She silently prayed for their safety.
"We'd better get you back to your station." Maverick said as he touched Kate's shoulder, snapping her out of her worry.
"Yeah." she followed him back into the operations command and to her station. They put on their headsets and could hear only static and the occasional distance and time markers,
"Approaching land." came Jake's voice. Kate watched the screens in front of her and noticed that, while her biological probes were not transmitting data yet, Hans's nuclear probes were. She raised a brow as she watched the scrolling screen. The probe was transmitting location data. She quickly typed away on the laptop and Maverick watched her with interest,
"What's going on?" he whispered.
"Hans's probes are transmitting and I don't think they should be yet…"
"Is something wrong?"
"That's what I want to figure out." She typed quickly across the keyboard and got her answer,
"What frequency is 401.2 mHz?" she asked suddenly. One of the communications assistants hurried over,
"UHF—It's not one we regularly use." He signaled another sailor to look it up and within seconds they had their answer,
"Chinese military uses that frequency." Kate's heart nearly beat out of her chest,
"SHIT." Everything suddenly fell into place, all the hackings of Hans's server, finding the wifi dongle, but never seeing who put it there. It was him—Hans—this whole time. And he just accepted a pay off in the form of a $12 million grant from the CSA for doing it.
"You have to call them back!" she grabbed Maverick's arm, "It's Hans...I didn't see it...I...I..I'm such an idiot! All the server hackings—I think it was HIM." Maverick's eyes went wide, he leapt to his feet,
"Abort!" he shouted, "They're flying into a trap!" Whitlowe ran over,
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kate pointed to the screen,
"Talon 1 and 3, their positions are being broadcast on UHF 401.2 mHz every 2 seconds. That frequency is Chinese military use…"
"Why would Dr. Mueller use that frequency-"
"-if he wasn't handing our pilots over to them?" Kate snapped. She threw up her hands, furious with herself for not catching it sooner. Jake was flying right into the jaws of a dragon.
"Probes are deployed." Came Jake's voice over the radio, "Splitting off to nuclear and biological facilities." Kate felt herself almost on the verge of hyperventilating.
"Nothing is coming up on radar yet…" Whitlowe acknowledged that it seemed they might have a chance here at going undetected.
"This is madness—we know that Hans-" Maverick began before he was cut off.
"We don't know anything just yet. We have a hypothesis, but we don't know for sure if the message has been received by our adversaries." Whitlowe shot back. Kate shook her head and pointed to the radar screens,
"They're receiving it…" Sure enough a few radar contacts appeared aiming toward Talon 1 and 3 at a high rate of speed.
"Shit!" Whitlowe bolted for the radar screens. The surveillance plane radioed to the pilots,
"Talon 1, Talon 3, five bogies closing on your position from a northern course at approximately 900 knots, intercept in 1 minute. Recommend return course."
"They're coming in hot!" Fanboy radioed to Hangman.
"Let's finish up here—we have 10 seconds left on the probes." he replied, "We can turn and burn before they get close."
Kate heard this and shook her head,
"Get out of there." she whispered. She glanced back at her screens and saw that the nuclear probes were still transmitting gps data. I have to stop the probe from transmitting their locations—otherwise the enemy will have missile coordinates good enough to shoot them out of the sky… she thought. And then it hit her—reboot the probes—that was the only command she could force through—a full shutdown was not possible remotely. They'll be offline for 5 minutes and that should get the planes in range of the carrier. She dropped down into her chair and quickly started typing on the computer for the nuclear probes.
"What's going on?" Maverick asked.
"I'm rebooting the nuclear probes. We have enough data, and who knows if we can trust the data from Hans or not…that will at least stop them from transmitting locations."
"Return course!" Jake shouted, "I see five bogies on our tails!"
"Talon 2 and Talon 4 return course!" Rooster radioed.
"SMOKE IN THE AIR!" Fanboy yelled.
"Bank left!" Hangman shouted.
"Talon 2 coming for intercept!" Rooster hollered. It was chaos in the room, but Kate's fingers flew across the keyboard, instructing the probe to shut down and then restart—a long five minute process. Within a second the screen stopped scrolling with data and an ominous reboot screen materialized. It was a skull with the accompanying eerie message: Fast thinking. Kate waved Whitlowe over,
"Still think it was just a hypothesis?" He looked at the screen and his face turned red with rage,
"That son of a bitch…" he hissed.
"SMOKE IN THE AIR!" A second warning from Martian this time.
"FLARES!" Rooster screamed.
"Break right, break right!" Hangman screamed back, "I'm in the pocket—locked—firing…" there was a long pause as Hangman took a shot at one of the bogies. Cheers erupted from the other pilots,
"Got 'em!"
"Bogie down!" Now it was an even fight four on four. Maverick looked at Whitlowe,
"We should notify Phoenix and B.O.B. that they will need to launch for support when the others are inbound."
"Get it done." Whitlowe barked. He was furious with Hans's attempt to sabotage the mission. Cyclone radioed to the deck to prepare Phoenix and B.O.B.-who were no doubt listening to the chaotic communications coming through.
"SHIT—HE'S LOCKED ON ME!" Sandman screamed.
"SMOKE IN THE AIR!" Fanboy called.
"Break right!" Hangman screamed. There was silence, then,
"Missed!" Payback sighed.
"FLARES!" Rooster shouted again. Kate couldn't listen, but she also couldn't remove her headset because she had to listen.
"SHIT! I'm taking gunfire!" Payback yelled.
"I've got you!" Hangman shouted, "I'm coming right at your nose, bank right!" Kate could hear the snare drum roll-like sound as the gun fired.
"Contact!" Rooster shouted, "You got his left engine! He's turning back north."
"'Bout damn time!" Jake hissed, "We have to get back to the carrier—we don't have fuel for a long fight!"
Out there, in the thick of the dogfight, they had downed one plane, and damaged another enough that it had to retreat. The surveillance plane radioed,
"Three bogies inbound on your location."
"Shit." Hangman cursed, "We have to get out of here…" All he could think about was Kate, but he knew he was team leader. He was responsible for the other five members of his team.
"Let's get out of here! If they pursue, we'll deal with them en route!" he commanded. The other three planes turned South for the carrier, and pushed their engines hard. Hangman knew he had to buy them a few more seconds, so he lagged back for a moment and continued the dogfight.
"Hangman! What the hell are you doing?" Rooster snapped.
"Just go! I'll catch up!" He pulled his plane up and skimmed the bottom of the clouds, the three remaining bogies followed him. He twisted around and came back down right at them, locking onto one, he fired his last missile and it contacted with the plane in a flash of flames. He banked away from the flames only to find himself taking gunfire on his right wing.
"SHIT!" Luckily, it was only surface damage. There were two planes pursuing. He dove down low and flew right above the tree line, barely 80 feet above the ground. The planes tried to lock onto him, but their targeting systems couldn't differentiate between his plane and the swaying treetops. His right wing took a few more bullets,
"Dammit!" he shouted as he pulled back up and headed for the coastline. He rolled his plane to avoid more gunfire, but a few rounds punctured the wing and now alarms were sounding in the cockpit.
"Heavy damage to my right wing!" he radioed.
Kate's heart began to race, hearing the distress in his voice. Cyclone and Maverick looked at each other then back to Kate. Her normally rosy cheeks were pale and her eyes were wide, listening to Jake's strained voice.
"I see coastline!" he said. Then his voice became choked up,
"Multi-system failure! And I'm bleeding fuel! I won't make it back!" Kate closed her eyes and just listened.
"I'm going to have to eject!" he shouted.
"Notify search and rescue, and put the Seals on standby." Whitlocke shouted over the commotion. Jake's voice came over the radio again,
"Tell Kate I love her!" Kate shot up from her seat and hit her radio button,
"I love you too—just get back home!"
"Kate?! Kate! I love you! I promise-" static. He must have been hit or ejected. Either way, the radio was unable to transmit his words. Kate tore off her headset and stepped back from the station. Everyone was shocked that she was as composed as she looked, but inside she was screaming, her mind was racing, her chest was tightening around her heart. Had she just listened to Jake's last words ever?
"Talon 2, green light for landing." came the radio message from the flight deck, piercing the silence of the room. They could hear the jet engines screaming as the planes began landing one after the other. The recoil of the arresting cable and the sound it made when it smacked back against the deck, rattled them to their core. Maverick hurried over to Kate,
"We need to get the hard drives out of the probes." he whispered. She nodded,
"I know." and with that they went back to collect their white vests and helmets, and step out into the organized chaos of the flight deck. Kate worked methodically, first with the two biological probes that she created, she forced open the hard drive case and slid the data storage unit out carefully, then transferred it into a metal briefcase that Maverick held. Each slot was labeled Talon 1, 2, 3, and 4. She felt her heart ache as she placed the third hard drive into its slot and there was still one empty space for Talon 1—for Jake's plane.
"I'll take these up to the intelligence officers…" Maverick said as he beckoned Rooster over, "You take her back to operations...she shouldn't be alone." Kate was numb, she didn't even register where she was or what she was supposed to do—nothing made sense. Maverick disappeared up a flight of stairs and Rooster took her hand. She looked at him, his mouth was moving, but she couldn't make out the words he was saying.
"...Kate?" she finally heard her name, "Kate? Talk to me." Rooster shook her hand slightly. Was she in shock? He led her into an elevator and she slumped back against the wall, eyes closed, teeth clenched.
"KATE." he grabbed her shoulders and shook her, "Kate—say something…" She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. He was clearly concerned. She opened her mouth to speak and her vocal chords tensed up, barely anything came out, but a couple squeaky words.
"Is he…" she felt the lump in her throat close off her larynx, and she couldn't form the words let alone make them come out.
"He ejected, he's on the ground and alive—that was the last I heard…" In an instant, every emotion she had been holding back came bursting to the surface with the relief that she felt, and the worry of what would happen to Jake. She nearly collapsed, but Rooster caught her and they landed together on the floor of the elevator. The tears streamed down her cheeks, as she sobbed into his shoulder. He held her tightly,
"Shhhh." he cooed as he let her tears land on the arm of his flight suit, "He's going to make it...for you...I know he will…" She buried her face in his shoulder and tried to calm herself. He had ejected and was alive. She repeated that to herself internally. The elevator doors opened and a few flight deck crew members stepped in. One of them looked at Rooster and gave a sad nod to Kate. Everyone hated the feeling when one less came back. It was a rarity. The elevator went down first, the flight crew stepped off, and then returned to the flight deck level. A few more minutes passed and finally Kate pulled away from him and wiped her eyes. She leaned back against the stainless steel elevator wall as he sat beside her. He looked over to her, and he saw the vulnerability, the fragility, the pain, and he wanted to take it away, to make her feel safe and assured that everything would be alright. He slowly reached his hand out, and his knuckles brushed against her fingertips.
"Hey…" he said softly, "It's going to be alright." She pursed her lips and drew in her breath slowly.
"I should get back…" her voice was finally coming back, somewhat strained though. He stood up quickly and held out his hand. She took it and he gently helped her to her feet. The boat lurched, and they both stumbled back into the wall. He looked at her with a longing he couldn't suppress, and she gently pushed him back.
"Sorry…" she said softly.
"You'll get your sea legs…It takes a couple of days." he smiled as he helped her back from the wall. He pressed the operations floor number and the elevator started upward before coming to rest a few floors above, when the doors opened, Maverick and Cyclone were waiting for her.
"Whitlowe has been asking for you…" Maverick said quickly.
"Sorry." Kate stepped out of the elevator and Rooster held his breath. Look back at me. He prayed. He knew it was selfish to want her, knowing what she was going through, but he knew he'd never be able to stop loving her. Before she walked into the operations room, she glanced back at him and mouthed the words,
Thank you. And then she disappeared into the operations room. He leaned back against the elevator wall and smiled. No matter what happened, the moments he just had with her filled his heart. He felt that their strained relationship was somewhat repaired.
The mission had taken place just as the sun was rising, by now it was late morning. Hangman had been running for a solid hour toward the coastline. He could hear helicopters and planes searching for him, so he kept well under the tree lines. Luckily, the olive green of his flight suit, kept him relatively well camouflaged. He had a small backpack with a radio, some small rations, water, and he still had his tracking beacon, but hadn't turned it on yet. Referring to his map often, he followed the contours of the land, paying special attention to the topology, and any specific landmarks. He was about 25 miles away from the coast based on his estimation. That was just less than a marathon, and he was loaded down with gear. He figured he was about 4 and a half hours away from the coast, which would put any rescue attempts close to evening, and that was probably the ideal time, to be shrouded by darkness. Nearly out of breath, he closed the next two miles as fast as he could before climbing under a low pine tree to drink some water. As he did, he pulled out the picture roll of himself and Kate from the photo booth in Napa. Before he ejected, he plucked the picture from his instrument panel and clutched it in his hands. It was a bit wrinkled from the eject, but her smile was everything he needed to see right now.
Whitlowe escorted Kate, Cyclone, and Maverick into a secure operations room. He shut the door behind them and stepped behind a desk. There was a single folder filled with a heap of papers, pictures, and printouts of emails.
"I'm not going to sugar coat this…" Whitlowe began, "We have a shit situation on our hands thanks to one asshole…" Kate looked down. This was her fault. She should have seen Hans's betrayal a mile away.
"Dr. Norris, look at me." he demanded, "This is not your fault." He knew every single thing she was thinking. Kate's dark eyes met his.
"Now, we're done feeling sorry for ourselves, and we are done worrying about Lieutenant Seresin. He is alive, and he is moving fast toward the coastline. He will check in when he is able, and Excalibur has been keeping eyes on him." He flipped the folder and its contents around to show them,
"This is everything on Johann "Hans" Mueller we could scrape together in 4 hours. Our surveillance in Beijing took these pictures this morning." He slapped three pictures of Hans with a coffee cup in his hands, walking into a university building, down on the desk.
"He has accepted a professor position at Beijing Technical University. We currently have no extradition with China for people like Hans. He is a German national, on a green card—that makes for a sticky situation because we have to coordinate with the German government…" Kate looked at the pictures of Hans, he looked so relaxed, so calm. It was strange to know what he had done to them, and then to see how he had no remorse, it made Kate's blood boil. She clenched her jaw and tapped her fingers against her thighs as a nervous and rage filled tick.
"We are going to bank on the fact that Hans doesn't know you are on the ship." he pointed to Kate. "I want you to bring him in so we can charge him, formally." Kate looked up with surprise,
"What?"
"Absolutely not." Cyclone cut in, "She is a civilian, not trained, and would be operating in a foreign country—a foreign country!" Whitlowe shrugged,
"I think Kate can decide."
"What would I have to do?" she asked quietly.
"We have two options. 1) you try to get him to come to Japan (the harder option) or 2) we put you into Beijing and you suggest a meet up."
"He's too smart for both of those." she shook her head, "No...you'll have to dangle me like a piece of meat in a lion's den…" Whitlowe raised a brow.
"How quickly can you put together a fake conference?" she asked.
"Give us a few hours…"
"We lure him over to Tokyo...on the premise that I'll be giving a keynote address to discuss my work on a top secret DoD project...He'll want to meet and know why he wasn't invited…" Whitlowe smiled,
"You might be cut out for an intelligence officer, Doctor…" he mused.
"Kate," Cyclone cautioned, "This is extremely dangerous. He will have handlers that will be lurking, and you are not trained to identify them…"
"Then you'll have to keep an eye on me." she shot back, "I want to—no—I have to catch him…"
"Don't make this decision quickly...take time to think about what you are considering. This is dangerous—almost as dangerous as what Lieutenant Seresin is neck deep in right now."
"Jake is in the spot he's in because I didn't catch Hans soon enough…" she was angry, firey. Cyclone and Maverick could see that her mind was made up. If she could bring Hans to justice, she was going to do it—come hell or high water. Whitlowe smiled,
"So, what do you say, Dr. Norris?"
"I'm in."
"Then we'll get to work on your faux conference and key note address." As she, Cyclone, and Maverick exited the secure room, Cyclone grabbed her elbow,
"Kate, you're making a mistake here." he said. She nodded,
"I know. But I can't just sit here and do nothing while Jake is running through a hostile nation, trying to just get home." She was persuasive.
"I'm not going to tell you not to do this." Maverick stepped in, "But please, let us come with you." She nodded,
"Okay."
"We'll teach you how to think like an intelligence officer, and you have to teach us to look like scientists." She smiled,
"Deal." Finally, at long last, she felt better about the situation. She was still worried about Jake, but hearing the news that he was alive and moving fast for the coastline, made her feel better.
As Kate sat down at her station, she listened to the radio messages come crackling through.
"Talon 1, moving south." It was reassuring to know Jake was running.
"Southbound patrols, two helos, one fighter jet, armored truck on ground." Whitlowe came tearing into the operations room,
"Where are we at with the Seals?" he bellowed.
"They are taking the last of the intelligence and satellite reports…"
"Good. Tell them to get me their extraction plan by 1500. We won't move until cover of darkness, but I want to know what their timeline is."
"Yes, sir." He walked up to Kate,
"Look, you've had quite the day. Why don't you grab a bite to eat, and relax in your quarters?" She nodded. In truth, she was exhausted. And all she needed was a moment to rest, but she also didn't want to miss any news about Jake,
"Commander?" she asked quickly, "Could you please let me know if anything changes with Lieutenant Seresin on the ground?" He nodded,
"Of course." Reluctantly, she stood up and headed for the main cafeteria. As soon as she walked in, Phoenix rushed over to her. Her friend and wingman hugged her,
"Kate—I'm so sorry—Rooster said he's okay. I know him, he won't stop until he's back to you." Kate sighed heavily, trying to hold back the tears. Phoenix helped her to a seat beside Payback and Fanboy,
"He saved everyone sitting at this table—some of us he saved twice." Phoenix nudged Rooster's side, "He's tough. He'll make it." Rooster's eyes were locked on Kate. He knew he shouldn't—or rather couldn't—love her, but he still did, and holding her in his arms in the elevator, unlocked everything he had tried to bury deep inside after their encounter in the locker room.
Kate, however, couldn't eat anything that Phoenix brought her from the buffet. She poked at the lasagna with her fork, jiggled the jello with her spoon, rearranged the green beans about 30 times, and barely sipped from her glass of water. It was obvious she was a wreck, but no one wanted to say anything.
"So, I was thinking about going to the gym to play some three-on-three basketball..." Fanboy broke the silence.
"You know I don't play…" Martian said as he waved them off.
"You can referee…" Fanboy turned to Kate, "How about you, Kate? You want to play?" She started to shake her head no, when Rooster answered,
"We all need a distraction—what do you say?" he looked at her and smiled, his mustache turned up with the corners of his mouth. Kate sighed. She wasn't sure she wanted to be too far away from the operations room should something happen. Phoenix grabbed her elbow,
"Come on, Katie!" Kate smiled lightly,
"Alright—but it has to be short—I need to get back to operations…"
The basketball courts were flanked by pallets and storage of plane parts too. Fanboy dribbled the basketball between his legs and back and forth. The bounce of the ball echoed in the massive bay, as the group sauntered onto one of the courts. They divided up into two teams: Rooster, Phoenix, Sandman versus Payback, Fanboy, and Kate.
Payback and Rooster squared up for tip-off. Phoenix tossed the ball in the air, and Payback (who was a couple of inches taller than Rooster) easily tapped the ball over to Fanboy, who passed it to Kate. She dribbled like a professional, and made an easy layup. Two points in the bag. Her teammates hurried over and gave her high fives. Phoenix tossed the ball in to Sandman and he dribbled up to the basket. Payback blocked him, rebounded the ball, and sent it over to Fanboy.
Rooster covered Kate as Fanboy passed her the ball. She easily dribbled past Rooster, and he played his defense close to her. She dropped her shoulder and pushed him back as she swiveled around and gave a hard bounce pass to Payback. He lined up and shot, but the ball bounced off the rim. Kate and Rooster both leapt up to rebound the ball, but they collided and both tumbled down onto the floor. Kate shifted out from under his leg, and he quickly helped her to her feet.
"Sorry…" his voice was quiet, almost timid. She turned away and there was a competitive air about her. His heart began to race, not because of the physical exertion, but rather the emotional monsoon he felt for her. The ball was back in play before he realized it. Kate had it and she dribbled past him. He turned to chase her. Quickly, she passed the ball to Fanboy, who passed to Payback. The ball went back to Kate, and she lined up for a three-point shot. She stepped back and jumped, letting the ball loose from her delicate hands. Rooster leapt up and tried to block her. He couldn't take his eyes off of her focused gaze. She watched the ball fly through the air, and fall directly through the center of the hoop.
"SWOOSH!" Payback called out. He hurried over and gave her a high-five. Rooster was amazed by how good at basketball she was. He did everything he could do to just be close to her, guard her, defend her. Phoenix threw the ball hard at him, and he missed it. Kate retrieved the ball and again, passed it to Fanboy who made an easy two point shot.
"ROOSTER!" Phoenix growled, "Get your head in the game!" He was busy guarding Kate. Their bodies were close together, and to him, it was exhilarating. It made him feel like they were back in the camper. She was fast, and able to slide past him. His hands touched her back as she forged a path to the basket. He reached for the ball over her arm.
The loudspeaker roared to life, and echoed painfully against the walls,
"Kate Norris to operations." Kate's heart nearly stopped, and she dropped the ball. She felt a sense of dread. What news was she going to receive? What was she going to find out? In an instant, she started for the small door to the hallway that would take her past the cafeteria and to a flight of stairs. Rooster immediately followed,
"Kate?" he asked. She didn't reply. Her mind was spiraling with "what-ifs."
"KATE!" he shouted. Spinning quickly, she turned to him,
"I—I have to go…" He took her hand in his,
"You know where to find me if you need to talk, or cry, or vent." she nodded, and was gone up the stairs in an instant. Phoenix sauntered up to him,
"It's hard to watch you pine after her like a lovesick puppy…"
"It's hard to be in love with her when she loves someone else…" he replied softly.
Kate walked into the operations room and Whitlowe met her at the door,
"Kate. We have news. Jake just radioed." She bit her lip; she had missed him, and she wished she could kick herself for having been playing basketball when he radioed.
"And?" she urged Whitlowe to give her information.
"He's about 7 miles from the coast. Tired. Sweaty. And he wanted me to tell you he loves you. He wouldn't shut up about you." Kate smiled as tears filled her eyes.
"He's going to radio back in an hour when he makes it to higher ground after nightfall. We've got the Seals preparing to launch for the extraction." Kate was determined that she was not going to leave the room.
"I'd like to sit down with you and go over the details on how we get Hans to Tokyo." He beckoned her to a small room off the main space. Closing the door behind her, he helped her into a chair.
"We have the fake conference website, and social media up and going. Everything looks legitimate. Even if none of it exists." He held up a phone and showed her a profile they'd created just for her, showcasing a fun day at Tokyo Disney while she was in town for the conference. There were a number of pictures posted, going back years, but none of them were real—despite looking completely authentic.
"A.I. is an amazing thing, isn't it?" He asked her as she scrolled through photos of her on the beach, her at a coffee shop, her at a bookstore—none of them were places that she had ever been, or things she had done. It was eerie to see the ability for these programs to make something out of nothing, and have it look so completely real.
"And here's the kicker…" he took the phone back and scrolled to the messages, "Hans has viewed the fake profile 12 times in the last 5 hours...and he just sent this message: When did you arrive in Tokyo? We should meet up—I'm in Beijing—permanently relocating in a few weeks." Kate was surprised. Whitlowe could read her like an open book,
"Surprised?"
"Very."
"He has been searching for information about you, daily, for the last two weeks." Kate raised an eyebrow,
"You knew this before you even asked me to help bring him in, didn't you?"
"Of course." he leaned back in his chair, "He views you as his equal...there is a respect that he has for you—intellectually and romantically…" She nearly gagged. The man who was the reason Jake was running a marathon through hostile territory right now, had a romantic interest in her?
"Not the most palatable thought, huh?" She shook her head,
"Considering what he did to my boyfr—Lieutenant Seresin…"
"We have a great opportunity here...now, I won't ask you to be a honeypot, but I need you to give him something—flirt with him, see if you can't get him to come to Tokyo, leave Beijing. You might not even need to be there if he steps foot outside of the airport—we'll just grab him." She nodded,
"What do I even say to someone that I hate this much?"
"What would you say to Jake? When the two of you were first figuring out how you felt about each other?-then say some version of that…" Kate pulled up the note app on the phone and began drafting a response she could copy and paste.
It's good to hear from you. Congratulations again on your grant and professional appointment. Whitlowe leaned over and shook his head,
"Too dry." She erased what she had and tried again,
You're moving to Beijing! That's exciting!
"Nope." Whitlowe interjected. He waved his hand for the phone and she gave it to him. He typed away:
You're right, we do need to meet up. I have missed our great chats. When are you available? I'm free tomorrow. I hear the flights from Beijing to Tokyo are cheap and short. I could pick you up at the airport and we could grab a bite?
Kate cringed. It didn't sound anything like her, and Whitlowe's amazing deducing skills knew what she was thinking.
"It doesn't have to sound like you. It has to sound like what he wants to hear from you." In the other room, Jake's voice came over the radio, and Kate immediately heard it. She and Whitlowe bolted back into the operations room to listen.
"I'm at the brush line. About 1000 yards from the coast. There are enemy planes flying low, patrolling. I'm currently well hidden."
"Can you provide approximate coordinates?" one of the radio operators asked.
"Based on my map, I'm south west of the river in sector G4."
"Excalibur? What is your coordinate for Talon 1?" the radio operator switched channels to the surveillance plane.
"We have Talon 1 at G4."
"Get that info to the Seals." Whitlowe barked. He turned to Kate, "We're going to be bringing him home...it might take all night, but when we have an opening between the coastal air patrols, we're going in to get him."
"Is Kate there?" Jake asked suddenly. Whitlowe handed her his headset and she switched it on,
"I'm here." His voice instantly changed, from a strong aviator behind enemy lines, to a man who longed for his love,
"Kate! God, I'm so sorry. I love you." She felt tears sting her eyes,
"I love you too. It's okay...It's alright—just come back safely to me, okay?"
"I'm trying." he said softly, "I can hear dogs barking, maybe across the river, that's where the plane went down. It's still smoking." He had gone back to providing intelligence for the Seals. Then he paused,
"Kate?"
"Yes?"
"I have to turn off the radio for a bit, don't worry about me. Just promise me, when I get back, you'll meet me on the flight deck."
"I promise. I'll be there."
"I love you." he said right before he shut off the radio.
"I love you, Jake…" she trailed off, realizing she was speaking to static. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. Everyone felt her heartache, and how she yearned to have him back on the carrier. Whitlowe took his headset back from her and wrapped a supportive arm around her shoulders,
"Hearing your voice keeps him going." She nodded, and they walked back into the tiny room where they continued to discuss the daring mission before them: catching Hans.