The Guild, Secretive U.S. Intel Operatives
Chapter 7 - Shocking Events
Carter had arrived by a small two man sub, piloted by Pierce, and joined by none other than Lei Beng himself. Beng, upon being notified of the detection by outsiders in the vicinity of his secret base, arranged to meet Carter there. Beng arrived in a fully operational sub, one that they had obtained from the Russians.
"There doesn't appear to have been a break in, but our monitors did detect surfaces boats in the area apparently probing", says Beng to Carter.
"And what of the two British nukes?"
"They are still safe and secure in the missile bay of my sub."
"Well then have your crew scan the Base perimeter for anything that should or should not be there."
"Does this compromise the facility?"
"For now, do what needs to be done for your sub. Remain deployed for the meantime. Let's not use the base for now till we evaluate if it is safe to return to normal operations here."
"So do you think they found the base?"
"We have to assume they did, but the more troubling question is, why now? What has alerted them to searching for this base. We have kept off the radar until now. What has prompted this?"
"Let's also assume that the missing nukes have triggered a search and recovery op for them and this intrusion is part of this larger mission", responds Beng to Carter.
"That's logical."
"Let's also assume they probed the base for a nuclear signature indicating the possible presence of the nukes. They would have found nothing except that the facility is powered by a nuclear reactor and so the signature would come off of that and not a missile. So they have no indication that the missing nukes are at this base."
Carter see's Beng's reason and nods in agreement.
"So they would continue to monitor this base for activity, they may even know we are here now", continues Beng.
"Hence the need for you to remain hidden and not use this facility for awhile. Go to our alternate facility off the coast of Thailand in the meantime."
"We'll do what needs to be done now and not return here till we get an all clear from you."
"Good, the components for our plan are not yet all in place, so take the time to further prepare for it Lei Beng."
"It shall be done Comrade."
Abduction
The Book Tour was off to a good start in Singapore, crowd size at the gatherings were encouraging. What the Entourage did not know was that the recent finding by Carter of the detection of Beng's base had initiated greater scrutiny of the book tour. There had been suspicions by Carter to the true nature of the book tour.
"These are the people on the Castle Book tour", says Grant Pierce, briefing his boss.
"I see MS. Beckett is there as the American Press Rep."
"Yes, as shown in this photo", Pierce was projecting his brief on to a flat screen.
"She is an incredible woman."
"That she is, I am sorry I had to ruin your evening with her."
"One thing you must learn Grant is that sometimes you must hold for a more favorable time that meets your goal. One step back, two steps forward. I shall meet Kate Beckett again and it will be a different story."
Pierce acknowledges his boss with a head nod, then continues his brief.
"This is Sophia Turner head of the Castle Security."
"Another stunning woman, I see that Castle lives up to his image of the ladies man."
"No more than you sir", responds Grant to his boss.
"Well he does tend to have gorgeous women in his company, a man after my own predilections. You think he has…", Carter does not finish his sentence but gives a raise eyebrow look to Grant.
"Given yourself in his place, what would you have done?"
"Well stated Grant, you know me so well."
"Years of association boss!"
"So this book tour is but a feign for a mission to recover the nukes?"
"There is evidence, mostly circumstantial, that Castle is more than a wealthy playboy author."
"I see. Are the two ladies also in on this with Castle?"
"That would be a good assumption, although this is Beckett's first time covering a Castle book tour. She is a new comer to his entourage."
"Or maybe just a lucky participant in all this, but Turner as head of Castle security may have better knowledge of Castle's real purpose here, more so than Beckett. Beckett might just be ancillary to all this."
"So what is your take on this boss?"
"Let's snatch up this Turner lady and see what we can learn from her."
"And what of the other, Beckett?"
"Leave her alone for now, I have other plans for her. "
"Ok boss, I shall have it done."
"Oh and Grant…"
"Yes boss."
"I will personally interrogate Turner."
"Yes sir."
Missing
The Book Tour in Singapore was scheduled for five days. On the third day of the tour, Turner goes missing. It prompts an emergency meeting that includes Kwan.
"I underestimated Carter's bravado here. He must be the one behind Turner's disappearance", states Kwan.
"Well Turner is a seasoned agent, so to abduct her required an even more seasoned crew. I should have planned for it", Castle responds.
"The question is, what now boss?" , asks Ryan.
"Let me take care of that. This is my home ground so let me send out inquiries", Kwan responds.
In Captivity
Sophia Turner comes too. While rushing to another book opening event, she had been abducted. Pulled into a waiting van and then injected with a knockout drug. She does not know how long she had been out of it, but here she is cuffed to the ceiling and having to tip toe to relieve the strain of her weight on her wrists. She had lost most of her clothing, now only dressed in a camisole sans her bra, and in her panties, the only other piece of clothing on her.
When she comes to, she sees one Lei Ang Beng eyeing her lasciviously.
"So glad to see you come to and back to reality, we need to begin our interrogation", says Beng, "tell us what your goal is here?"
"Go to hell", replies Turner.
"I was hoping we could do this the easy way and not have to force the info out of you", she hears another voice, and then sees it comes from Jonathan Carter.
"My team's probably looking for me as we speak and they will make you pay for what you are doing!"
"I think not, they have yet to realize you are missing", says Carter coming up to her and probing her body with the tip of a knife he was wielding. He lewdly feels her up with the knife, touching her skin, and then intimate parts of her, in an intimidating manner,
"Screw you Carter!"
"I may just do that with you after I have broken you and got the info I need. Then you will give me another item I want from you", he runs the knife down her throat and to her cleavage, and then stares at her in a manner that sends shivers down Sophia Turner's spine.
But Sophia does not divulged to them what they want to know. They take turns physically assaulting her. Carter does so until he tires, and then Beng. The two telling her they will stop if she gives up the info. Turner takes the info to her death.
Tragedy
Unfortunately, the discovery of Turner's murder strikes three days after her kidnapping. So the tour had been extended so they could find out about Turner. She was discovered in a closed off alley, tortured to death. The whole team is devastated by her murder. A thick cloud of sorrow and deep sense of loss engulfs the team.
Kwan handles the liaison with the local police. She is giving now a brief on what she had found out from the local police.
"Castle and team, I am so sorry for this. I feel responsible as if I could have done something different to prevent this."
"LtCol Kwan, that is water under the bridge. Our goal now is to bring Sophia's killers to justice as we recover the missing nukes."
"Team Castle, I dread telling you this. Seems Sophia was not only tortured, but intimately assaulted."
"No!", yells out Castle pounding the surface of the table he sat behind.
The other team members are silent, too shocked by the news to speak. They all are staring into space.
"Forensics indicate multiple attackers. They ID'ed different DNA's with the Assault Kit."
As if the initial news was not bad enough, now this. The normally calm and collected Rick Castle is visibly stunned and shaken by this news.
After what seemed like a long pause, Castle speaks, "She would not give up the info they wanted from her and she paid the price for remaining silent. She was killed for it in the most hideous manner. They are sending a message to keep away."
A long pause, after which Castle turns to Kwan, " I want copies of the DNA's found."
"Boss, you thinking what I'm thinking?', asks Espo.
"When we take down Carter and we will, when we recover the nuke, his group will be tested for the DNA taken off Turner's corpse. If it matches Carter's, and others of his henchmen, like I suspect, we will lock them away in the most horrible of prisons. Carter and his cohorts will become prison bait for all the perverts at that penitentiary. That still is not enough to make up for what they did to her, to Turner."
This is the first time any of them have seen Castle react and behave in this manner. Even LtCol Kwan is surprised, but she fully understands the reaction.
Kate, as if trying to ease Kwan's thoughts, speaks out, "They were close once."
"Even if they were not, I would have expected this reaction from Castle", Kwan is sympathetic to all of them.
"You have my full support here Team Castle. We will get Carter and recover the missing nukes. There will be no place he can run from us."
The Guild team all nod their heads in recognition of Kwan's declaration.
Turner's body is returned to Langley at CIA headquarters in short fashion. There she is given full burial rights of a fallen agent. Sophia was a solitary person, her parents passing away years back and she had no siblings. But Sophia shared a two bedroom townhouse with a fellow agent, who immediately acted in Sophia's interest. The whole Guild team could not attend the funeral, but Castle designated Ryan to go and represent Team Castle, of which Turner had been a member.
A pallor now hangs over them. It promises not to dissipate till Turner's murder can be fully avenged… ..when the team brings down Carter and company. The team now goes after their mission with more intense motivation. A team member had lost her life on this mission and team Castle wanted a resolution and justice for their deceased member. They needed to make her death count.
The team gets a break. A Indonesian patrol craft reports spotting an unknown sub transiting the waters to Thailand. The patrol, thinking something suspicious about the sub, had trailed it, only to lose track of it. They publish an All Mariners Notice of same, which Ryan, now back from Turner's funeral, reads over the local alert system.
The team had returned to their search craft which had been docked at a shipyard in Cebu, Philippines as the team took care of handling Turner's demise. The fact the Indonesian Patrol had lost track of the sub had Castle guessing it must have docked at another secret underwater facility off Thailand. They conduct a similar search as they had done for Beng's secret base while in the seas adjacent to the Philippines. This time the search in the waters off Thailand.
Kwan and her team did not join the hunt as they were working Turner's murder in Singapore. She had promised team Castle her team would work to find leads, that they were pursuing now with much effort. The Chinese were just as motivated to participate after the loss of Turner.
Off The Coast of Thailand
Castle is at the helm this time and monitoring with binoculars doing a visual search. Ryan was working sonar, Espo the search radar. Beckett was overseeing the drone search which Turner had previously done when she was alive. Kate now working in her place.
Again, it is Ryan who catches something on sonar.
"Bingo", he is heard saying, "contact bearing 165 degrees at fifty feet. Similar sonar signature as when we found Beng's secret base. He launches an underwater probe like before and gets a visual.
Castle decides to check it out with a SCUBA team.
"Get your dive log ready for a new entry Kate, you're with me on this one."
Dive logs were used to record SCUBA time and a required amount annually was needed to retain dive status. Kate had been struggling to keep up her dive hours and Castle had promised her that she would do the next dive instead of Turner. This was before Turner's untimely demise. It seems Beckett was now heir apparent to the role once done by Turner.
Many weeks prior, Castle had complete a similar dive with Turner. With her death, Kate now was the only female member of the team. She had told Castle on his last SCUBA survey that she need to do a SCUBA op to keep up her dive hours current. Never had she thought she would be doing it in replacement of a fallen colleague.
She and Castle suit up. They test their equipment and are good to go. The two will be using underwater comm, a digital ultrasonic transceiver that improved on existing technology and was a recent developed by the U.S. Naval Research Lab. It yet had to be discovered and adapted by other nations. This version gave them an edge over previous such devices. The previous versions had a 500 meter range to a depth of 70 feet. Their latest device had a 600 meter range to a depth of 85 feet and allowed them to cover a wider area. It would help on this op.