The Guild, Secretive U.S. Intel Operatives
Chapter 8 - Hound and Fox
Castle and Beckett hit the water in full Scuba gear and start to descend to fifty feet.
"Kate, testing 1,2,3, how do you hear me?"
"Loud and clear, Rick."
"Ryan, Espo. How goes?"
"Coming in strong Boss", Ryan's voice responds.
"All right then Beckett and I are heading to the facility."
"The underwater probe indicated no human personnel present. Base appears to be in robotic mode. Security sensors are working. "
The two keep their distance while taking pictures. They see the security camera's and note locations. Knowing that their adversary knew of the discovery of their other base, it was wise to assume security for this alternate base had been upgraded, so Kate and Rick are cautious doing the survey.
Minutes pass as the two complete their recon survey.
Then over their comm they hear, "Boss I have sonar contact, sub coming in your direction."
"Likewise, search radar indicates a second surface ship also headed to your location."
"Roger to that, I confirm second contact, I now have sonar contact also on surface ship",
"Looks like this may be a two ship convoy, one surface ship and one sub", says Kate.
"What's the plan Boss?", asks Espo.
"If we have contact they most likely have also and know we are in the area."
"Boss, I am willing to bet that our radar and sonar has a greater range and we have not yet shown up on their instruments", Ryan suggests.
"Ok, let's make a run for it then. Beckett and I will catch up so get the engines started".
Fortunately, the two were using sea scooters for propulsion so they kicked the scooters into high gear and made it back just as the boat was starting to make it's escape from the area. Ryan had guessed right, the Guild Search Team had not yet been detected by their adversaries' instruments. They motored their watercraft until it was way out of range, even for their own instruments.
Beckett then released several arial drones that monitored the two other watercraft from a safe distance so as not to be detected. The surface ship was anchored and stationary, and it was directly above the underwater base. The drones were providing a live stream of the activity and this in turn was fed to an onboard laptop where it was capturing the date to memory for later showing. Rick had decided they would remain at their current location and continue the drone monitoring at the safe distance. He had not yet formulated a plan of action but was waiting for the aerial observation to point to a plan.
Then on one of the surveys it shows Carter on the deck of the surface ship.
"Yo boss", Espo says loud, "got a confirmed siting via facial recognition software that it is definitely Carter we spotted on the deck of that ship."
"Great, let's get the SOB and lock his ass up as payback for what he did to Turner", Ryan says with much emotion evident in his voice.
"Down boys, I want that as much as you. Let's remember though our mission is to retrieve those missing nukes first. Now if in doing so we nail Carter, all the better. But let us keep in mind our mission."
"That's why you're boss. Always got the mission in mind and not prone to distractions. So what do you think about the nukes."
"Let's hope they're being stored on either that sub or the surface ship."
"Well the sub did give off a nuclear signature but hard to tell if it was from it's reactors or a nuke missile."
"Well the surface ship is conventionally powered so if it has a signature, it's got to be the missing nukes."
"We'll have to be close enough to scan, and that will pop us up on their instruments."
"Beckett, have you analyzed the all aerial vids from the laptop?"
"About half-way thru them, nothing coming up yet."
"Well keep on it Kate, let's hope something shows up."
"I'll let you know if something does."
"Good girl, have you gotten any rest? You had midnight watch then put in a full day and now doing the analysis."
"I'm good."
"Take a quick nap Kate, if you are tired, you might miss something, I'll have Ryan continue where you left off."
"Thanks boss."
"That's my job making sure you guys are at your best."
"Ryan take over for Beckett."
"On it boss."
Kate grabs a quick rest and then returns back to the analysis.
"Anything come up with the surveillance vids?", she asks of Ryan.
"Nothing, I've got probably 10% left to look at."
"Get some rest Ryan I got it from here."
"Thanks Kate."
"You're welcome, now get some sleep."
Before she starts on the remaining surveillance vids, she grabs a cup of coffee. It will keep her alert as she works off the fog of sleep from just having woken up. Ten minutes into the video, she sees it. A work crew is carrying containers below decks and they are marked with nuclear radiation warning signs. That's it, that's their smoking gun. They must have removed the nuclear material from the missiles, essentially disarming them. It was a safety measure when transporting the two hi-jacked missiles. Now it looks like they were re-arming them. She gets on the ship wide intercom and hails Castle.
"Why is it when you go looking for something important, you always find it after a long search. How is it that the find is not at the very front?"
"Just lucky I guess Castle", she says after a significant hour spent on looking at surveillance vids."
Just then, Espo comes in carrying a message.
"From LtCol. Kwan", Espo says handing the message to Castle.
Castle reads the message and it takes him a while. Just as he finishes reading it, Ryan appears.
"Good, the whole teams here."
"Castle, the message!", Beckett and Espo ask in unison.
"Kwan and her team were able to capture and interrogate one of Beng's operatives."
"And….?" This time Ryan joins in.
"He gave up Beng's plan, or maybe it's Carter plan also."
"Castle!", says the team.
"Right, seems they want to take the two nukes and provoke a confrontation with a western military vessel making it appear as the NPA did it. The western ship will be fired upon as well as the NPA ship. It will be made to appear that the two ship were engaged in a strike against one another. This will incite anger from the Chinese populous that will demand a response for the incident. But CCP leadership will know they did not order the hit so will hesitate for a counter measure. As the CCP leadership tries to determine who from the NPA ordered the attack on the western ship, there will be a prolonged delay. This delay will appear as procrastination by CCP leadership and incite the Chinese population to push further for a response. That allows The Front to remove these hesitant CCP members for cause to be replaced with more favorable Front leadership. It will initiate a Regime Change cloaked as a legitimate move to impeach wavering CCP leaders."
"This will bring the world to the bring of war", says Ryan.
"Yes and the new Front leadership will broker a resolution defusing the situation there by cementing their popularity with the Chinese people. The World will see the new leadership as better for the region, and global community at large, and will back the new regime The intent is to keep the remaining CCP leadership at bay once The Front gains the people's support and has to the backing from other nations."
"What's Carter's involvement?"
"Aside from providing the assets to implement the coup, he gets sole broadcast rights for mainland China with a population of billions of viewers. These rights to continue as long as The Front leadership remains in power. Of course, Carter Media will broadcast globally all of the conflict thus ensuring increased view shares by the coverage."
"So what's the plan Castle?"
"Stop the attack at all costs. Kwan's on her way to join us. So we can formulate a plan."
"When is this supposed 'coup' to start.
"Kwan's report indicates in two weeks."
"When's Kwan supposed to be here."
"Day and a half, two days top. She is bringing not only her vessel, but support. Till then let's all get some needed rest."
An Evening Talk
Kate had grab a last cup of coffee shortly after dinner. Ryan had the helm watch and Espo had turned in early as he had the midnight watch later and would relieve Ryan. As Kate sips her after dinner coffee, Rick Castle also comes to the galley for his last cup of the day.
"Anything left of the coffee, Kate?"
"You got about half a pot, but save some for Espo, he's got midnight watch later and probably will have one to start his duty".
"That's plenty, I need just half a cup, anything more and I won't get to sleep."
Rick presents his cup and Kate fills it halfway. Then he grabs a chair next to Kate.
"So Kate, had you not gone Naval Intelligence after your mother's death on 9/11, where would you be today."
"Probably a lawyer like her, and my father."
"Do you get over such a loss?"
"Are you asking because of Turner? I know you two were intimate."
"I made a mistake. Letting her in, I should have kept it professional."
"Then you would not have gotten to know her like you did. The pain from her loss will never go away. But it does become tolerable."
"How did you get to that with your mother?"
"By remembering all the good things about her and trying to live my life to honor her."
"How long did it take?"
"For me personally, it took years."
"Oh, so I have that in my future? You know they always say don't get too familiar with your crew because when you lose a crew member, it's worst."
"But that's what makes you a good leader, your concern and care for your people. Leadership comes with such a price."
"You've been there?"
"Not like you. On my Recon team I had a senior non-com almost killed. Bothered me for so long until I realize that is what happens when you get to know your people, even if it is just professional in nature. We all try to distance ourselves, but you can't and it comes in degrees. The more you work with your people and get to know them, the higher the sense of loss."
"I never have lost a team mate before. I came close like you, and it bothered me too."
"Was that before you and Turner?"
"Yes, that is why I tried to keep it professional. But after being with her that one time, I guess I became more guarded and overprotective of her. I keep thinking maybe I made the wrong move with her and it helped bring about her demise."
"Rick, no matter how you try, things just happen, things you can't control. Her number came up. Not your fault."
"Thanks for the info on coping, Kate."
"Rick, you are a good man, a good leader, and we of your team all know that and appreciate it."
"Ok, this has been a good discussion. It allowed me to vent and thank you for being a good listener. I think I'll turn in."
"Me also. And Rick, it does get better."
They both go to their quarters to get a good sleep".
As Kate turns in, she thinks of Castle. She is attracted to him but saw where it could go if she gave into it. That thought thanks to what happened with Turner. Sophia had told her about her hookup with Rick. They both tried to ignore their mutual attraction, until they could not. Was Kate falling into the same situation as Turner? She felt attracted to Castle and was ignoring it. Now with Turner gone, Kate did not have to be so cautious. She had kept her distance. Kate had not wanted to create a situation where she got between the two. This despite the fact she knew Castle was over the relationship with Turner. But it is now a whole new circumstance with Sophia gone and Kate could feel the pull. She wondered if Castle had a similar situation.
Kate goes to bed uneasy and then has a dream about Rick. In her dream, the two turn intimate. She wakes up in the middle of night in a cold sweat and with a deep arousal because of her dream. God, what to make of the dream? Was her hidden desires for Castle now coming out. She had ignored this growing attraction for Rick, but apparently her heart and subconscious mind were not having it.
Castle too is having a dream. In his dreams he sleeps with Kate and he loses her shortly after on a mission. It is deja vu for him! He too awakens in the middle of the night in a similar condition as had Kate that same night. What's to make of his dream? What did it mean for the present? For the future? Still, Castle was determined not to repeat his prior mistake with Turner. He did feel attracted to Kate, but he would keep it professional.