Beyond Top Secret: A Zach Taylor Adventure

by Brian Anderson

  Chunks of building flew through the air near the group of twenty soldiers. The soldiers didn’t know how many, but they knew men with high powered weapons had them in their sights. Unable to get a bead on Zach’s team, because of their own soldiers’ presence, the soldiers responded by blindly shooting in different directions. As Rafael’s helicopter lifted into the air, Ray aimed at the fuel tank. The bullet sliced through the air as Rafael looked down upon the destruction of his compound. A massive fireball erupted filling the sky as pieces of helicopter flew in every direction.

  Despite the suppressors, Jose heard the muffled gunshots coming from the trees above him. He peered into the foliage and quickly picked up a man’s form standing on a small platform twenty feet above the ground. Taking careful aim, Jose squeezed the trigger on his Russian made GSh-18 pistol. Barry slapped his bicep thinking a giant jungle bug had bit his right arm. He knew it couldn’t be anything else Not a single rifle was pointed in his direction. The burning sensation told him the bug must have injected a poison. Barry looked down and saw a dark pool forming on his platform. He felt the area where his arm was burning. His hand felt moist, he examined his hand and realized it was covered in blood. In a matter of fact tone, Barry keyed his radio, and said, “I think I’ve been shot.”

  Ray spun around and looked down to identify the source of the gunfire. The muzzle flash gave Ray an exact location. Luckily for Barry, he slumped down right as the shot was fired and passed within inches of where his head had been a millisecond earlier. In a daze Barry thought, so this is what it feels like to get shot. Pieces of jungle growth flew upwards as a hail of gunfire pummeled the ground. Ray hit his mark, fragments of Jose and his companion littered the jungle floor.

  When the soldiers saw the helicopter vanish in a ball of flame, they realized there was nothing left to defend and dropped their weapons. With the situation under control, Zach radioed Barry, and said, “Barry, how bad?”

  “Burns like hell, but I’ll be okay.”

  “Ray, get over there yesterday and check on Barry.”

  “Already on my way,” Ray replied.

  Barry said, “Zach, I’m in good hands, go find the laser weapon.”

  “Okay, Barry. Ray, keep me posted.”

  Ray climbed the tree and found Barry sitting, his back pressed against the tree, pushing his left hand against his right arm. To Ray, Barry appeared covered in blood. Ray did not want to seem overly concerned, so in a jovial voice, he said, “How’s it going, bud? Ready to get out of this tree.”

  “I may need a little help getting down.”

  “Don’t you worry, no problem.”

  “Thanks, Ray.”

  In a blur, Ray pulled off his shirt and ripped his belt out of his pants. When he tore off Barry’s right shirt sleeve, Ray saw the blood oozing from the hole in Barry’s arm. Wadded up his shirt and pressed it against the bullet hole and wrapped his belt around the makeshift bandage. Ray cinched the belt as tight as he could, then dug through his pack for the safety harness. Ray managed to get Barry fitted trying to cause as little pain as possible. He threw the quick descent rope over the tree branch above his head, gave it a sharp tug confident it would hold. After securing Barry to the line, Ray slid him off the edge of the platform and lowered him to the ground. Ray followed in a quick descent.

  “Zach, I’m taking one of the vehicles and getting Barry back to the house.”

  “Do it. I’m sending Shawn out to help.”

  “Okay, but tell him to hurry, I’m not sure, but I think Barry’s lost a lot of blood and …”

  “Hey, Ray. How you doing Barry?” Shawn asked, lightheartedly. Shawn was next to Ray and held Barry around the waist helping him towards the SUV.

  “I’m fine, just a little dizzy,” Barry responded.

  Ray threw the back seats forward creating a flat surface where Barry could lie down. Once Barry was situated, Shawn joined him in the back of the vehicle. Ray tried to avoid bouncing Barry around excessively, a difficult task on a jungle path, in his attempt to get to the house as fast as possible. Shawn radioed Linda, and said, “Grab the medical supplies and meet us out front.”

  “I’ll be waiting for you.”

  When they pulled up in front of the house, Linda ran to meet the vehicle, medical bag in hand. In a frantic voice, she said, “Barry, are you okay?”

  “Don’t you worry about me, I’m fine, just a little hole in my arm.”

  Shawn realized Barry had somehow managed to get every drop of blood he lost smeared all over him, meaning the wound might not be as severe as first thought. The real challenge for Shawn wasn’t treating Barry it was trying to keep Ray and Linda from freaking out. Shawn took the medical bag from Linda and pulled out an assortment of bandages along with a bottle of isopropyl alcohol. He removed the belt and blood-soaked wad, that was once a shirt, from Barry’s arm, and was relieved to see minimal bleeding. As calm as he could, Shawn said, “This may sting a little,” and poured alcohol on Barry’s wound.

  “Ah, frick, frack, man that hurts,” shouted Barry.

  Linda screamed, “Stop it, Shawn, you’re hurting him.”

  “We don’t want Barry to get some kind of jungle infection,” Shawn replied, matter-of-factly, trying to calm Linda down. He looked at her, and said, “Be a dear, get me a glass of juice and a bottle of water.”

  Linda had enough of that form of address, and said, “Listen, mister, that’s the second time in two days I’ve been addressed that way. I am not ‘a dear,’ and everyone is going to hear that loud and clear once this whole thing is over.”

  “Sorry, no offense meant,” Shawn said.

  “Offense taken,” she said and stormed towards the house to retrieve the drinks.

  Shawn shrugged it off thinking Linda was just upset about Barry’s wound. He cleaned the area around the bullet hole, applied a compression bandage followed by several wrappings of cloth tape. Smiling at Barry, Shawn said, “There you go, you’ll be good as new in no time.”

  “Thanks, doc,” Barry said, with a wink and a smile.

  Chapter 22

  Venezuela

  Confident Barry would be well taken care of and seeing the soldiers’ were now quiescent, Zach began to walk along the wall looking at the laser weapon boxes. Phil and the rest of the team motioned the eight soldiers to join the larger group. While Chris, Justin, and Phil kept their guns trained on the soldiers, Clay moved among the soldiers gathering weapons and tossing them into a pile that grew quite large. With the guns collected, Clay headed inside the barracks. After a thorough inspection he stood at the door and motioned the others to herd their captives inside. As the soldiers sat on their bunk’s, Clay said, “There are a lot of guns pointed at this door, don’t be stupid and try to go out.”

  Convinced no one would be coming out of the barracks, the team went in search of Zach. By the wall directly under one of the boxes, Zach said, “Let’s take this one, it looks undamaged.”

  Clay helped Zach detach the laser weapon from the wall, while the other three headed outside the compound to retrieve the equipment used to spy on the complex. While Clay held the laser in his arms, Zach placed a call to Jake.

  “Jake, Rafael has been neutralized, and Clay is standing here next to me holding the weapon you wanted us to pick up.”

  “That’s great news, Zach, have any problems.”

  “One major one, as far as I’m concerned.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Barry took a bullet, still waiting to hear on his condition. Oh wait, hang on a sec, Shawn’s calling me on the radio.”

  “Shawn, how is Barry doing?” Zach asked.

  “He’ll be fine. Just a damn flesh wound and the bullet passed clean through.”

  “Great news. Start pulling our stuff together so we can get out of here. I have got Jake on the phone, I’ll finish with him and will see you in a few.”

  “We’ll get started right away,” Shawn replied.

  “Jake, Shawn said Barry would be oka
y. So once we get everything packed up, we’ll head for the airport.”

  “Don’t bother, I mean with packing, not going to the airport. I want you guys out of there immediately. I will send in a cleanup crew to get our equipment and make the place look like you were never there. Just grab whatever personal belongings you can’t live without for a few days.”

  “Sounds like a plan, I’ll call you, once we’re in international airspace.”

  “Zach, be sure and let your team know how much I appreciate their efforts on this one.”

  “Will do, talk to you soon.”

  Back at the SUV, Clay and Zach waited for the other three to finish retrieving the equipment. Zach radioed Linda, and said, “Hey, don’t worry about packing up, take what's essential for each of you and get going. We'll meet you at the airport."

  Linda said, “Okay, but I need to call the envoy. We were supposed to do a farewell interview in Caracas. I’ll see what I can work out,”

  “Try to get us out of it, if you can.”

  Linda phoned the Envoy, apologized for the short notice and explained something had come up and they would be leaving the country later that day. Linda was relieved when the Envoy responded by saying something had come up for him as well and would not be able to meet them. He asked Linda to make sure she sent a copy of the footage from the climb and cautioned her to be careful as they departed the area. Linda thanked the envoy, hung up the phone, and thought, if only everything could be that easy.

  She let Barry, Ray, and Shawn know what Zach had said. They had a clean set of clothes on the plane, so the men had nothing they needed to get. Linda knew there were things she needed and said, “Sorry guy’s, I need five minutes to grab a few things, then we can get going.” When she was ready, the group piled into the SUV and said goodbye to their Venezuelan home.

  Back in the jungle, the men had finished gathering the electronics. After all the equipment was stowed in the back of the SUV, they headed away from the compound towards highway ten. Once on Highway ten, they saw several military vehicles heading south towards Las Claritas. They weren’t sure but had a good idea it probably had something to do with the explosions but wondered how the military would get to the compound.

  Zach’s SUV arrived at the airport greeted by Linda, Ray, and Shawn. The dull-gray plane didn’t look dull to Zach, it was beautiful, and he was ready to leave Venezuela behind. They threw all the gear from the SUVs in the cargo hold and then parked the vehicles off to the side. They would be picked up in the next day or so. When they boarded the plane, Zach was met by ‘Chefy,’ who wanted to know what Zach wanted him to prepare. To which, Zach said, “Whatever you make will be wonderful, surprise us. Give me an hour or so to take care of a couple of things.”

  Zach hadn’t seen Barry yet and was told he was resting in his room. Zach knocked on Barry’s door.

  “Come in.”

  Zach entered, and said, “So how are you feeling Barry?”

  “My arm’s sore, but other than that I’m doing good.”

  “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

  “Hey, it’s not your fault, we all knew there were risks.”

  “Still.”

  “Knock it off. I’m fine.”

  “Okay, we’re going to have lunch in an hour, are you up to eating?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it.”

  Zach excused himself and headed to his room. Once in the solitude of his compartment, Zach broke down and collapsed on the bed. He blamed himself. It didn’t matter what Barry said. What happened was his fault. Zach felt he overlooked a possible threat coming from the tunnel. If he planned correctly, one of his men would have been guarding the area. Zach questioned his decisions. Should he even attempt to lead another mission? To Zach this mission was a failure, too many deaths, a team member hurt, he ignored vital facts. Zach had lost all confidence in himself. He expected more from himself.

  Zach was berating himself when his thoughts were interrupted by an announcement over the speaker. Lunch was ready in the lounge. Pulling himself together, Zach headed to lunch. The whole team was already there, including Barry, who seemed in good spirits. When ‘Chefy’ saw Zach, he apologized for the light lunch but insisted dinner would be more to Zach’s liking. Zach reassured him it was fine and greeted the team, which had already finished off their first of many celebratory drinks. Considering what they had been through, he expected to find a somber group. With all the laughter and joking, Zach’s self-inflicted stupor vanished. Throwing aside the mission’s mishaps, Zach joined in, reveling in what they accomplished. After a couple of hours, the drinks were having an effect on several of them, and individuals started excusing themselves and headed to their rooms to take a nap.

  By dinner time everyone was ready for round two of their celebration. ‘Chefy’ wasn’t exaggerating when he had said earlier that Zach would like the dinner. When Zach sat down, his mouth began to water as he read what ‘Chefy’ had planned. A full-blown five-course meal was on tap. It started with French Onion Soup, followed by Lobster Thermador. After that was Filet Mignon with Bernaise Sauce, that came with a loaded baked potato, and a roasted vegetable medley. Then a course of assorted cheeses, and finishing with a Chocolate Lava Cake. As if that wasn’t enough, each course was paired with an appropriate wine.

  Some of the men, with less refined tastes, insisted on a bucket of different microbrews rather than the wine. ‘Chefy’ being a perfectionist, when it came to his meals, went through all the beers onboard and paired each course with a beer alternative to the wine. Dinner was a huge success, but as should be expected there were those that didn’t share Zach’s diverse tastes. It seems, Clay didn’t like onions and Justin wouldn’t eat lobster, but that didn’t stop either of them from enjoying the beer paired to that course. The sounds of explosions and guns were replaced with laughter and smiles. Zach thought, what a great team this is.

  With dinner finished, Zach had a snifter of brandy and headed to his room. As he sat relaxing and reflecting there was a knock on his door and said, “Come in.”

  Linda came into the room wearing a floor-length robe, and said, “Care for some company?”

  Patting the seat next to him, Linda walked over and rather than sitting down stood in front of Zach. Bending over she kissed Zach, this time he didn’t push her away. Untying the robe, she let it fall to the ground and said, “Is this the right time and place?”

  Epilogue

  After returning from Venezuela, the team parted company and went back to whatever remained of a normal life. Unlike embedded agents, downtime and an opportunity to rejuvenate was considered essential for members of an RRT. Whenever another mission required their service, they would rejoin and tackle the assignment, hopefully, refreshed. What they didn’t know, as a new team, was the time frame between missions. Each one had a different idea on how to best take advantage of the time.

  Justin headed to the Swiss Alps. He planned to stay in a mountain chalet and find the most challenging ski runs across the Alps. Every day would consist of a singular focus, swooshing down a steep slope. Since there were places to ski year-round in the Alps, he would relentlessly pursue his plan.

  Quiet time with his wife of twenty-five years was the only thing Phil had planned. He understood there would still be work around the farm that required his attention, but hoped the farmhands hired, since joining the agency, would minimize the demands on his time. What Phil experienced in Venezuela made him recognize how fleeting life is. Therefore every minute he could spend with his wife took on a newfound significance.

  Though Zach had invited Linda to come to Asheville with him, she declined the invitation and returned to Los Angeles. Her decision didn’t mean the attraction was gone. Linda was a pragmatic woman and knew staying in a cramped studio apartment could prove problematic. Besides, she was going to work with her film editor to see if the Mount Roraima footage could be made into a documentary. When Zach then asked her to join him at his mountain retreat in the springtime, Li
nda was noncommittal and offered a somewhat vague response.

  Unfortunately, the team lost a member two weeks after the mission. After careful deliberation, Barry realized he didn’t have the fortitude required to be a FAPS’ agent. His mortality became a constant stream of consciousness, once he was away from the immediate action. He often wondered if the others would feel the way he did if they had been shot. Regardless, for him, there wasn’t a future with the agency.

  Shawn had devoted his entire life to becoming the best in his field. Never happy, just extremely good at what he did. That had all changed. The dangers associated with an agency job were acceptable to him in contrast to the hazards from work on oil rigs. For the first time in his life, he found a group of people he trusted unconditionally and finally had friends. Maybe more than anyone else, Shawn anxiously awaited another mission. To occupy his time, he bought a Harley and started touring the country.

  Building houses for low-income families was how Clay spent his time. With time and extra money at his disposal, he was able to fulfill his desire to help the community. Clay formed an organization that would ensure, even in his absence, the work would continue.

  Ray and Chris decided to team up, and do what they did best, work on computer programs. To both men, it was entertainment not work. With all the power of the agencies computers available, they pushed the boundaries of how a microprocessor could be utilized. Ray had one stipulation, to which Chris had reluctantly agreed, no illegal or malicious activities were allowed.

  Zach was at a loss when it came to Linda. He could understand her not wanting to stay in a small studio apartment, but her uncertainty about his mountain retreat was perplexing. Almost everyone, besides small children, knows that “we’ll see” is the universal way of saying no without causing a confrontation, and that was Linda’s response to his invitation. Confused over what he thought were mutual feelings he pined in solitude for Linda’s company. As a distraction, Zach occupied his time with good food and immersed himself in the local music scene. While Asheville was a beautiful city, the only place where Zach felt comfortable was in his mountain cabin. Unfortunately, access was difficult during winter months, and the Venezuela mission ended just as winter roared into the mountains.