The instructor began, “This is a quick and dirty education as to why you are here. Years ago, Osama bin Laden declared that the Muslim society as a whole should take it upon themselves to attack Americans whether military personnel, government workers, or civilians and kill them.
“Although, Osama bin Laden was executed, his son carries on the al-Qa’ida goal to send all Americans back to the United States in ‘wooden boxes and coffins.’ This is called a ‘fatwa’ or an edict of a religious nature that states that even allies of America should be killed whether they were from England, Israel, Afghanistan, India, Japan, China, Russia. Basically, any country that aligns itself with the United States to stop terrorism.
“Now, ISIS or ISIL has expressed the same threat and is actively spreading throughout Syria, Iraq, Iran and the Middle East and parts of Europe by using any and all means to recruit followers. They are making a billion dollars a day from illegal oil sales, selling abducted females to be used as soldiers and member’s wives, stealing crops, land, and livestock. They have unlimited resources to continue their assault on the free world.
“Additionally, ISIS is becoming increasingly successful in recruiting individuals from democratic countries like the United Kingdom and the United States.
“You would be foolish if you did not take the threat of terrorism seriously. All U.S. embassies, company buildings, offices, and overseas locations are classified as a high risk. All U.S. government employees and allies must practice heightened security measures at all times, never allowing their guard to be down.
“Terrorist incidents are on the rise and will continue as terrorists increase in numbers as a result of their recruiting methods. There are now groups of U.S. citizens that we are aware of who are plotting destructive attempts against key targets within our borders.
“You must be aware of any and all terrorist threats. These include: assassination, armed raids or attacks, arson, bombing, hijacking, hostage-taking, kidnapping, sabotage, and numerous other plans to interrupt normalcy in the world. The methods of attacks are becoming more sophisticated.
“We are all potential victims including our families and friends. We already know that the U.S. is not exempt from these attacks. The destruction of the World Trade Center, damage to the Pentagon, Atlantic City, Oklahoma City, the Boston Marathon, the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, I could go on.”
As Karen listened, she became more resolute than ever to do all she could to stop the spread of terrorism. And if she found the murderer of her father, that would be an added bonus.
The educator continued: “The purpose of this training is to heighten your awareness and hopefully prevent you from being the target of a terrorist attack. And if by chance you find yourself to be in a terrorist’s sights, it will give you a better chance of surviving, hopefully unscathed.”
Karen hung onto the instructor’s every word. However, one thing he said made her uneasy. Each individual was to make sure they bonded with at least one other member of the group. The emotional plan at the training site was to cause solidified attachment among trainees so that in the field, they would go to any extreme to protect each other.
Karen cringed at the thought that she would have to become close to anyone. She put her head down and suddenly smelled a vanilla fragrance. She decided to casually look around the room. She had almost finished visually circumnavigating the area when she spotted Cheyenne in the far corner.
What is she doing here?
Karen felt uneasy thinking that she was being followed.
Why? Who’s Cheyenne working for? Is it the CIA? FBI? What agency? Homeland Security? National Intelligence?
When the initial indoctrination is complete and there is an opportunity, Karen resolved to confront Cheyenne and find out why she was there.
CHAPTER 19
When the session ended, Karen made a beeline directly for Cheyenne and walked out the door behind her.
“Why are you following me?” Karen asked.
Cheyenne turned around and stepped aside so that the others could pass. “I’m not,” she said.
“Then how is it that first you approach me in the Homeland Security gym and then you appear here?”
Cheyenne folded her arms across her chest. “We both work for Etheridge.”
“What branch of National Intelligence are you?”
Cheyenne whispered, “CIA. What about you?”
Karen took the cap off her water bottle, took a drink, and said, “I have no idea.”
“Let’s go somewhere more private.”
They walked out to the courtyard.
Karen said, “At first I thought I was working for Homeland Security.”
“Then Etheridge got promoted.”
“Right.”
“It really doesn’t matter. Since 9/11 it’s all become convoluted. How long are you here?”
“Three months.”
“Then what?”
“I have no idea. I hate that the trainers expect us to bond with some of the others who are here.”
“I’ve heard that if you partner up with just one other trainee, they’re satisfied.”
Karen knew what Cheyenne was insinuating.
Cheyenne said, “Hell, we’ve already seen each other naked. How much more bonding can they expect?”
Karen forced a smile and said, “I guess you’re right.”
They walked across the courtyard and into the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. Cheyenne didn’t divulge that she had already been through the twelve-week training course.
***
The first full day was taken up with lectures. On the second day, Karen’s alarm went off at 4:30 am. She was to be in the mess hall by 5:30.
A separate bag for Karen’s time at the Antiterrorism Training Center had been packed by National Intelligence. She opened the cloth sack. Inside, she found appropriate, seasonal-weather clothing, a weapons cleaning kit, hiking boots, pants with cargo pockets, a hat, knee and elbow pads, tinted glasses, shooting gloves, a combination Swiss Army knife, a brimmed cap and a knit one, shooting glasses, a notebook, sunscreen, a pen and pencil, ear-sound protection, and a hydration system.
The school provided everything else. Breakfast would be eaten in the cafeteria and lunch in the field. The typical training day would last ten hours.
Cheyenne met Karen at breakfast. After they ate, they were bussed to the training facility. Once there, they were instructed to dress in full body armor, fatigues, and handed a Glock 17 pistol and an AR-15.
The instructor said to holster the Glock and carry the AR-15 by the shoulder strap. Karen watched Cheyenne. She seemed to be completely comfortable with the firearms, donning them with ease. With all the paraphernalia, Karen weighed over thirty pounds more than normal. They would spend the day lugging the extra weight.
The training was rigorous. They climbed, crawled, rolled, jumped, ran, squatted, and shot at all types of targets, distinguishing which were hostile from friendly. Instruction segments also included hand-to-hand combat. Cheyenne routinely paired up with Karen and always defeated her. She was far more experienced.
When the day was over, Karen and Cheyenne climbed into the bus and barely spoke to each other as they were driven back to the barracks. Karen stood naked next to Cheyenne in the shower and soaked herself with the hot water. The heat relaxed her muscles.
She didn’t want to eat anything, but Cheyenne insisted that they have something. Karen acquiesced. When they finished, Karen immediately went back to her room and fell into bed. The next day, it began again.
Karen didn’t like Cheyenne getting too close to her, so she set her mind to spend the minimal amount of time as possible at the training center. She began to push herself, quickly surpassing the other trainees. She soon proved to the instructors that she had the body and physical abilities of a young adult and the mental development and maturity of a seasoned combatant.
***
The Mediterranean Sea
After leaving Alexandria, the
terrorist’s boat headed toward France. On the trip, they encountered some showers and moderate winds but nothing too challenging. They passed through the strait of Messina, the area where Odysseus from Homer’s Odyssey encountered the whirlpool of Charybdis and then through the Strait of Bonifacio with its whirlpool.
No monsters were sighted, no vortexes, and there was no shipwreck.
On the tenth day, they were outside the Calanque Port Miou just west of Cassis, France. Everything was going according to plan.
The females were all feeling extremely uninhibited because of the overabundance of drugs and alcohol—they were in only their bikini bottoms.
“Tell all the girls to get on deck. Tell the men to put on their swim suits and join them,” Fadhil said.
Atwah asked, “Are we going directly to shore?”
“No, we’ll stay out here for a while.”
The captain of the boat eased the ship into the calanque and headed toward shore.
There were sunbathers, both male and female, along the cliffs. Some of the girls were topless and a few were completely naked lying face up on blankets. Surprisingly, there were no couples being affectionate toward each other. It was all extremely civilized, natural, and innocent.
Atwah told the captain to drop anchor. The ship came to a stop and gracefully turned with the stern of the boat facing the shore and the bow pointing out toward the Mediterranean.
Both the men and the girls took turns diving into the water and swimming in the clear, blue sea. Some of the coeds stripped off their suits entirely. They were becoming completely submissive. Several had her legs wrapped around the waists of the men.
After about two hours, Fadhil said, “Tell them we’re going ashore to lie on the beach. Hand them the blankets and tell them to get into the dingy.”
The girls refastened their suits and they all piled into the small boat and motored ashore. They spread their blankets on the sand and reclined in the sunlight.
Within a couple of hours the sun began to disappear beyond the cliffs. Fadhil told the girls to head back to the ship. He told them that the men would soon follow and would have a surprise for each of them. Three of Fadhil’s men returned with them.
Once the girls were on the boat, they were ushered into a room below deck and locked away.
The sun was setting, casting deep shadows across the calanque. The dingy came back for more of the men and the process of unloading the cargo began. Others of the group climbed up the steep steps to the parking lot to make sure the truck and the van were there. It had been arranged by AZF, another terrorist group based in France. Over the visors were the keys.
The terrorists packed the dingy with ten pressure cookers at a time and rowed them to shore where they were then transported to the truck that was parked in the lot above the beach. Then they hauled ashore the shoe boxes. It took well into the night to load all the cargo into the truck and the van. They were then ready for their ride to Paris.
The yacht was left anchored. It wasn’t going anywhere. The captain was dead in the cargo hold, his throat slit. While the girls were incarcerated, they were given water to drink and food to eat laced with poison in case any escaped. Fadhil would leave no loose ends, no eyes or ears that could prematurely identify him and foil the plan.
When the terrorists reached the main highway, they heard the explosion in the calanque. In the rearview mirrors, they could see the smoke rising into the sky. The boat and the captain were gone. And the coeds would never receive their college diplomas.
***
The terrorists traveled through Aix-en-Provence, east of Avignon, through Lyon, Mâcon, and Beaune and eight hours later, arrived just south of Paris and drove the trucks into the warehouse of an abandoned factory Fadhil had rented months before. The goal was to use the facility to review the final terrorist plans before entering the city.
Paris, and all of France, was on heightened alert from the last attack, but this assault could not be stopped and would be more successful.
***
Las Vegas, Nevada
A few weeks into her training, Karen called Sharon.
Sharon immediately asked how it was going.
“I never thought there were so many ways to shoot a weapon,” Karen said.
“What do you mean?” Sharon asked.
“I’m being taught how to shoot while kneeling, running, walking; shoot while falling backward; one-hand magazine changes; shooting side, front, diagonal; weapons change from pistol to rifle and back; using left, right, above and below cover while shooting; shooting while lying down, from around cover, while injured.
“I’m being trained to shoot up and down from elevations, and shoot from a moving vehicle.”
“Do they really think you’ll need all that?”
“If they send me into the field, probably.”
“Was Dad trained like that?”
“I hope so. If not, I’ll want to know why not,” Karen said, feeling a flutter in her chest.
“Is it all about shooting?”
“No. They had me participate in high emotional and mental-pressure-and-tension exercises, reconnaissance, bomb disposal, and dog operation along with hand-to-hand combat. Everything all right there?”
“Yeah, Shasta’s healing and I’m trying to get used to the sounds in the house. I’ve never stayed here alone.”
“I’ve been pushing myself so that I don’t have to be here the full twelve weeks. I’ve got to go. I’ll call when I can.”
***
U.S. National Intelligence Headquarters
Nathan Mallory entered Carl Etheridge’s office to drop off another report on the terrorist activities in Somalia.
When Etheridge saw him enter, he looked up from his computer screen and following across the monitor with his finger said, “Krystal’s completed the courses at the Nevada camp in record time. After tomorrow, she’ll be finished. She’s demonstrated all the skills demanded of every candidate: motivation, judgment, decisiveness, intelligence, maturity, teamwork, trustworthiness, communication, physical fitness, accountability, and stability.
“Her confidence has grown and her ability to defend herself physically or with a firearm has increased exponentially. It says here that she’s demonstrated impeccable logic and her deductive reasoning is unchallenged.”
“She’s done? She’s ready to return to Virginia?”
“She will be tomorrow. Make the arrangements.”
***
Las Vegas, Nevada
Karen woke up and looked at her cellphone. Her sister sent another text.
“When will you be coming home?”
While she was reading her sister’s message, her phone notified her of another. She scrolled down. It was from National Intelligence:
Sunday
American #478
12:55 pm–8:29 pm
Karen’s training was to be completed tomorrow afternoon, leaving Saturday to pack. The airline reservations had been made by the National Intelligence office. All Karen had to do was show up at the airport.
She lay in bed thinking of what her future would be like once she becomes an active agent.
Her education had lasted only weeks, and during that time, Karen became increasingly comfortable with her weapons and antiterrorist training. The instructors referred to her as “a natural.”
Was it her destiny to be a counterterrorist?
It was Mallory who recommended that she become one of the elite, trans-world counterterrorist-force members. She didn’t know whether to thank or curse him.
And why was Cheyenne in her life? Was she there coincidentally or did Etheridge purposely arrange it? It bothered Karen that during their hand-to-hand combat sparring, she could never defeat Cheyenne and was always close to suffocating or having her neck broken before the instructor stopped the confrontation.
Karen was relieved her training was over and that she didn’t have to see Cheyenne again except bumping into her at the agency gym.
; She sent a text to Sharon letting her know she’d be home Sunday night.
CHAPTER 20
Washington, D.C.
When Karen arrived at Reagan National Airport, a driver was waiting to take her home. She actually felt relieved that she didn’t have to take a taxi or rent a car. She sat in the backseat and closed her eyes.
The trip went quickly. There wasn’t that much traffic on the road; and most of the time, the driver exceeded the speed limit.
When they reached the gate, Karen dialed the code into her cellphone. The gates swung open, and the driver pulled the car up to the front of Karen’s old, family home. He got out and carried the bags into the house and left them just inside the door.
Karen thanked him, and he left. She watched him exit the gates, and she pressed the button to close them.
Sharon wasn’t home, and Karen was thankful for that. She didn’t want to be barraged with a battery of questions as soon as she arrived. She walked to the kitchen and inspected the newly-installed CIA equipment along with the new appliances, cupboards, countertops, island surface, floor, curtains, window, dishes and pans.
Sharon did a great job coordinating the repairs. Karen’s eyes went back to the phone. Her brow furled, and she shook her head. What was she into? Each day she seemed to be sinking deeper into a quagmire of secrecy. In reality, she was about to be thoroughly enveloped by a thickening cocoon of espionage.
She listened. She caught the scent of electricity.
More bugs. More secrets.
This wasn’t her home anymore. This was a government possession. She was a government possession. She didn’t know whether to bless or curse her situation.
The phone rang, and the new fax machine sprang into action. Karen stood alongside and read the message:
Krystal Scent (Krystal Vibration Series Book 2) Page 14