New Beginnings, page 17
“Everyone put your ghillie on. It’ll help keep you warm, but also keep us hidden for the night. We’ll rotate in three-hour shifts. Tucker and I will go first. Then, Fowler and Perry, followed by Nigel and Hoffman.”
“Roger that,” they all said as they pulled their ghillie suits from their rucks and put them on over the uniforms and tactical vests they were already wearing, making everyone look like foliage on the ground. Then, they put their rucks together and put a ghillie cape over them, making them look almost like a bush.
*
Tristan and Tucker sat on the ground, opposite each other with their backs against trees, each scanning the woods through night vision googles and a thermal imaging monocular while holding a rifle in their lap. The rest of the team was fast asleep on the ground. In the last two and a half hours, she’d seen a few stray animals sniffing around, but nothing with a heat signature larger than a small dog. As she fought to keep her eyes open, she let her mind slip briefly to Courtney. She hated the way things had turned sour between them. That hadn’t been her intention at all. As she tried not to think too long about it, she wondered how Loki was doing. Surely, Janice had received the email with the paperwork and had started the process.
“I could use one of those energy drinks right about now,” Tucker said.
“They’re disgusting and remind me of sugary camel piss, but I’d drink one with you,” she radioed back as the thoughts running through her head faded away.
He laughed. “These off the grid missions make me miss the tiniest of creature comforts back home. You know what I mean?”
“Like a toothbrush?” she asked.
“Exactly.”
She chuckled. “Come on. You get Fowler, I’ll wake Perry. I’m ready to go to sleep.”
Chapter 24
Courtney wanted to chug a cold beer with the guys and forget all about ever laying eyes on Tristan Malloy. Instead, she lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering what was happening two hours away on the other side of the border, and hoping she didn’t get an emergency callout to go extract the Bravo Team because that meant Tristan was in trouble. “Where did it all go wrong?” she whispered to herself. “What the hell happened when she went home?”
*
Maguire found Courtney sitting on top of the helo, watching the sun rise when he walked out of the hangar. “Couldn’t resist this beautiful sight?” he asked, climbing up beside her.
“More like couldn’t sleep,” she sighed. “What are you doing up this early?”
“I promised to call my sister. She’s getting induced this morning.” He looked at his watch. “I should be an uncle at some point.”
“Awesome. Girl or boy?”
“A surprise, actually.”
She nodded. “I could never do that. I’d have to know as soon as possible, or it would drive me crazy.”
He laughed.
“So, what about you and Miranda? Any kids on the horizon?”
“Kids?” he squeaked. “We’ve barely been married two years.”
“And?”
He shrugged. “She wants to start trying.”
“I hear that’s the fun part.”
“My luck, she’ll be fertile Myrtle and get pregnant right away.”
She laughed.
“I don’t want to wait too long and be too old to do things with my kids, but I also don’t want to miss their lives because we’re literally never home.”
“Yeah.” She nodded.
“What about you? Have you thought of having kids?”
She pulled her Rayban’s from her pocket and slipped them on to cover her eyes from the brightness of the sun as the orange ball grew brighter, casting everything in an orange glow.
“I’m about as far removed from that scenario as possible, right now,” she chuckled. “But I don’t know. If it’s in the cards, then yeah. I think I’d be a kickass mom.”
“Somehow, I don’t doubt it,” he replied.
“Attention!” Howie yelled, scaring both Courtney and Maguire. They slid off the helo, barely landing on their feet as they popped to attention and saluted.
Capt. Warren was standing a few feet away with his arms crossed. “Is this how we await orders, now?” he asked.
“No, sir,” they replied together.
“We were having a conversation about the extraction while the sun rose, Sir,” Courtney lied.
He shook his head and returned their salute. “At ease.”
They moved to parade rest with their hands behind their backs.
“We have more important matters than the two of you lounging on the helo,” he sighed. “Alpha Team has been positioned in a mock distraction point. We’re going to run the scenario during the day, so that if it happens at night, you’ll have an idea of the terrain.”
“Roger that,” they both said.
“Wheels up in one hour,” he added.
She watched him walk away before turning around.
Howie stared at her like a deer in headlights.
“Care to explain?” she grumbled.
“I was walking through the hangar towards the helo when I saw him off to the side. I yelled attention when I realized he was looking at the two of you up on top of the bird.”
She shook her head and rolled her eyes.
“I’m sorry, Chief.”
“It’s not your fault, Howie. We weren’t even supposed to report for another half hour. He just has his panties in a wad,” she said. “Come on. We need to gear up. You heard him. We’re playing with Alpha Team today.”
“This ought to be fun,” he said.
“Yep. Can’t wait,” she replied sarcastically.
*
An hour before the sun rose in the sky, Bravo Team was in position, twenty yards from the edge of the woods across from the abandoned-looking warehouse building and hiding under the cover of the thick brush in the woods. “Okay, boys and girl. You know the drill. STANO procedures,” Tristan said, indicating the mission: Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Night Observation. “We have fifteen minutes to get our equipment up and running.”
“Roger that,” the team replied as they each went to work on a separate task.
Tucker went deeper into the woods and returned with a pile of limbs, which he used to fashion a blind to hide the camera equipment Fowler was setting up to monitor the doors and parking lot. Then, he worked on getting the microdrone into the air and operating it, while Tristan guided him using the binoculars and live picture from the drone camera.
Perry helped Hoffman set up a perimeter around the area they were in, using razor thin trip wire and more brush to cover their location. Then, she went back to help operate the camera equipment. He stayed behind to be the eyes and ears for the team, prepared to snipe shoot anyone trying to sneak up behind them.
Nigel worked on establishing communication with the base, ensuring they could contact each other on the radio and send and receive live feed imaging.
“Eagle, Bravo One. Do you copy?” Tristan radioed.
“Lima Charlie, Bravo One.”
She gave Nigel a thumbs up. “Commencing with live-feed. Over.”
“Copy.”
The drone, known to the team as Killer Bee, was perched on the edge of the top of the building, in perfect position to video the vehicles and everyone who got out of them. It was small enough to completely fit in the palm of your hand and could be controlled from up to five miles away. The cameras had long-range, hi-def lenses. They were trained on the doors, taking pictures of everyone who entered and exited. So far, only one vehicle had appeared with a single male occupant. He’d gone directly into the building with his head tucked down. There was about a two-minute delay on the live feed, but the massive tree coverage made the signal go in and out every few minutes.
“Bravo One, standby.”
“Copy,” she radioed. “This is where the fun starts,” she said, shaking her head.
Nigel laughed. “No kidding. All of this fancy equipment, now watch it not work.”
“Don’t jinx us. I’ll offer you up to the major for latrine duty.”
“Copy that,” he whispered.
“Bravo, Eagle One. We are receiving transmission.”
“Copy,” she replied.
“Alright folks, we are live with command,” she radioed to her team. “Let’s get what we came for without another snafu.”
“Roger that,” everyone replied.
*
Courtney lifted the helo off the ground and flew into position a mile past the edge of the base where Alpha Team was simulating Bravo Team in distress and awaiting extraction. It was broad daylight, so she used both visual aids and her instrument screens as she moved into position. Maguire was next to her in the co-pilot seat, but she did everything unassisted.
“Holding position,” she radioed.
Alpha Team clipped the carabiners to their harnesses and were lifted into the helo. Then, they were lowered back down to do it again in a more difficult area for her to get into and keep a hover.
Every time the radio crackled to life, she expected to hear Tristan’s voice, but it was Judd Dewey instead. Nothing felt right during the entire session. Dewey was nothing like Tristan and Alpha Team failed in comparison to Bravo. They were all highly trained and very good at what they did, but there was an unmistakable difference between the two groups of soldiers. Courtney wondered if she was simply being biased because of Tristan.
“Chief Hewitt, do you copy?”
She cleared her throat. “Lima Charlie,” she replied, kicking herself for having lost focus, even if only for a second.
“You’re cleared for landing on Pad 2,” Command said.
“Roger that,” she replied.
“Are you good?” Maguire asked on their private channel.
“Squared away,” she answered.
*
Several hours went by before the sun had finally set. Tristan had ordered her team to nap in shifts during the day so they would be able to stay awake for the night observation. No other occupants had arrived at the building during the day, and she was sure the night would be quite a bit different.
“Make sure the drone camera is in night mode,” she radioed to Tucker.
“Copy,” he replied.
“Same goes for you two with the long-range cameras and video,” she said, looking at Perry and Fowler.
“Already done,” he replied.
She gave a quick thumbs up and radioed Hoffman. “Bravo Five, do you copy?”
“Lima Charlie.”
“You have our six.”
“Roger that.”
She had no idea exactly where he was, as it was his job to keep moving every few minutes, searching around for anyone coming remotely close to where they were located. At times, he could be behind them, or even directly in front of them. She was in the dark until he radioed his hourly updates.
“Bravo One, three vehicles approaching,” Hoffman radioed.
“Copy,” she replied. “Here we go.”
The team watched as first a truck, then a car, followed by an SUV, pulled into the small parking lot. Six men got out of the truck and SUV, then four more from the car.
“Eagle-, we have 10 new hostiles on site.”
“Copy, Bravo One. Standby.”
“Of course,” she muttered to herself, then radioed, “WILCO,” meaning she would comply.
“How long is their delay?” Nigel asked.
“I have no idea. I guess we’re about to find out.” She watched the live video feed coming from the drone, as well as the long-range cameras. The men from the SUV were well-dressed, but the rest of them looked more like local laborers. They stood outside no more than half a minute, before filing inside. “Tucker, we need to see inside that building,” she said.
“Roger that,” he replied as he began repositioning the drone.
Suddenly, the door swung open and one of the guys stepped outside with an automatic rifle slung over his shoulder. Killer Bee flew right over his head and landed on top of the building. Tristan held her breath as the man glanced around, obviously hearing the buzzing noise, before shrugging and lighting a cigarette.
“Damnit, that was too close!” she grumbled softly as her heart pounded in her chest. “Tucker, take a second to get squared away. We need to find an open window, or at least one with clean glass.”
“Roger,” he replied, redirecting the drone to fly around to the opposite side of the building. The windows were either dirty or boarded up in the old building, so he repositioned the drone back on the roof by the front door.
“Bravo One,” Perry radioed. “One hostile Oscar Mike.” She zoomed her camera in to take perfect pictures of his face.
Tristan watched through her night vision goggles as the well-dressed man got into a car and sped away.
“Eagle-, incoming transmission. Standing by for confirmation.”
“Copy.”
While they waited, Tristan instructed Tucker to fly the drone around to the back of the building. A dilapidated dock jutted out of the river behind it, with ink colored water lapping softly against the bulkhead. The roll up back door began to open, and Tucker quickly flew the drone up to the roof, perching it with a bird’s eye view of the dock.
“Eagle, Bravo One. You copy?”
“Lima Charlie,” Command replied.
“Still standing by for confirmation,” she radioed.
“Negative incoming."
“Damnit,” she whispered. “Live-feed receiving?”
“Negative,” Command radioed once more. “Remain in position.”
“Roger,” she replied.
“This is the cartel’s full operation, isn’t it?” Fowler asked.
“Looks like it to me, but the brass is dead in the water until the pictures and video go through.”
He shook his head.
“Even if it is, our mission is STANO. We don’t have engagement orders,” she stated. “Once they know exactly who is in there and what they’re doing, we will be far removed.”
“Airstrike?”
“Maybe, but I think they’re going to let the Colombian forces end this shit.”
“We do all the work, and they take all the credit,” he muttered.
“We’re not here to start a war. Our deployment here was to work with the Colombian government and assist the local forces. We’ve done just that. We chased this son of a bitch all the way out of the country.”
“I know,” he replied.
Suddenly, the drone fell off the roof and crashed to the ground.
“Fuck,” Tristan spat. All she saw before the feed went black was boots a few feet away. “Bravo, prepare to engage,” she said to her team. “Eagle, Bravo One. Killer Bee is down in the hot zone, standby for retrieval,” she radioed.
Chapter 25
“What do you mean?” Courtney said, rushing towards the ready room. She’d been woken from a dead sleep in the middle of the night by an alarm in her room, indicating her crew had been activated.
“Bravo must be in trouble,” Maguire said, swallowing a yawn.
She tried not to think the worst as she pulled the door open to the command center.
Capt. Warren was waiting for them outside the ready room as they skidded to a stop and saluted. He quickly returned the salute and ushered them inside.
“Bravo is in trouble near the checkpoint here,” he said, marking a red X. “Which is two and a half hours on foot from the extraction point out here,” he added, marking a yellow circle. “We need you in the air and heading towards the original extraction point. We’ll be able to direct you to a more precise location for extraction—”
“Stand down,” Maj. Irving said, walking into the room.
Everyone had popped to attention when he’d entered, and quickly sat back down.
“You’ve been deactivated,” he added, turning off the projector. “False alarm. Bravo Team is clear. You’re dismissed.”
Courtney and her crew saluted before leaving the room. “What the hell was that all about?”
“No idea,” Maguire replied, finally letting the yawn take control.
“Have you not been to bed yet?” she asked, looking at him suspiciously.
“It was a girl. I found out earlier when I called my wife, and I finally got through to my sister right before the alarm went off.”
The rest of their day had gone so off kilter, she’d forgotten all about that morning. “Wow. Congratulations, Uncle! And on Halloween, too!” she said, patting him on the upper arm.
“Yeah, congrats. That’s awesome!” Howie added.
“Thanks.” He smiled. “She’s precious and so tiny. I’ve never seen anything so small. They dressed her in a little skeleton outfit with pink bones.”
“Aww. What did they name her?” Courtney asked.
“Isobel Johnnie, after myself and my father, whose name is also John. They plan to call her Belle.”
“Aww, that’s adorable. She doesn’t look like you, does she?” she teased.
Howie burst out laughing.
“I’m only kidding,” Courtney chuckled.
“Uh huh,” he muttered with a grin as they all headed into the locker room to remove their gear.
*
“Hoffman, take Perry and swing out wide. Come up behind the building to the west,” Tristan said. “You’ll be our direct cover from that side. Tucker and I are going in for the drone. We’ll come up on the east side of the building. Fowler and Nigel, you both stay here.” She pulled Fowler aside. “If this thing goes sideways, light this place up like a fucking roman candle.”
“Roger that,” he said.
Hoffman and Perry took off through the woods, moving northwest before cutting across the street and sliding up behind the buildings that lined the riverbank. Tristan and Tucker headed off towards the other side of the warehouse where a small patch of trees separated it from another row of old abandoned structures. She hadn’t seen any cameras on the building, but she couldn’t be a hundred percent sure. She and Tucker used hand signals as they reached the edge of the tree line and crossed the street. She knew they only had one shot. With the back door of the building open, anyone could come out at any time. The only thing they had going for them was it was a nearly moonless night. Together, they flattened themselves against the side of the building as they inched towards the rear and turned the corner.
