by JK Franks
“Where were they taken?” Maratelli asked, the words rushing together, knowing the timer was under two minutes.
“New Zealand, supposedly,” Samuel answered. “My guys with VXE-6 said that plane never made it to Christchurch, though, and none of those scientists have ever surfaced again. Can’t say what happened after, but someone wanted it to go very quiet.”
“But you were with them. You saw what they saw. Why didn’t they take you?”
Samuel looked at Marty and winked. “I wasn’t on the list. I wasn’t part of the scientific team. My cover was good, and the agency I was with would have raised hell had I been ‘disappeared.’ They made me sign a few dozen more NDAs, all of which, by the way, I am currently violating. Then the brass transferred me out.”
“So, what did you and the scientists see?” Maratelli demanded.
“Well, let’s just say their mission was not studying the ozone levels. Once we were dropped off, they made a beeline to the middle of the Roundtop no-fly zone. The hole in the ice. Had to cross a section of mountain range to get there. It was a bastard. These guys were not normal scientists, they were tough, precise, ready for battle. They made it clear I was an outsider—I was not allowed to hear any of their conversations.” The timer on the phone showed less than a minute.
“Took us three days to reach the place. It was big, I mean holes show up on the ice down there all the time, mostly on the ice shelves out over water. Upwelling of warmer waters melt away at it, but this was over land, up in the hills even, and literally was huge. You could see the entire valley below was interspersed with thermal vents. Fog shrouded the area constantly due to the contrasting temperatures. Not sure anything above could ever see through that, but way down on the floor of the opening was land, not just land, but warmth. Grassy meadows, lakes, rivers, and something else. They forced me to remain up on the ice while the scientific team descended…”
Each of them looked at the phone as the counter hit zero, and the alarm began to softly buzz. Samuel stopped mid-sentence, collected his phone and rose to leave.
“Come on, dude,” Cade said. “Give us the rest.”
The man they called Guardian just smiled and walked toward the front door. He opened it and turned. “It was a base.” With that, he left, shutting the door behind him. Cade raced out the side door and told McTee and Cochise to follow.
“He’s gone,” McTee called back seconds later.
“What the fuck do you mean, gone?” Cade demanded.
“No one is here. Cochise can’t even get a scent. You sure he walked out the door?”
“Yes, godammit, I’m sure. Check the drone feed.”
“Already did that,” Dee said. “No one ever exited the door of the cabin.”
Jesus Christ, Cade thought. This dude was a ghost. “Fuck!” He said the word like it tasted bad. They had come to find answers but now had even more questions. What in the hell does this have to do with anything? he wondered.
18
“What’s our next move, Boss?”
Cade really didn’t want to say the words. Really, effing didn’t want to. “We need to go see that hole.”
“In Antarctica?” McTee said in disbelief. The other two looked even less enthused.
“I’m afraid so.” He tapped his cheek. “Dee, do we have cold weather gear that will work for this op?”
Her slightly British sounding response was downright cheery. “Of course, Cade, and you are in luck, it is nearly summer in Antarctica. That means twenty-four hours of daylight. Our arctic gear will work easily.”
Cade looked at the others who had also heard her response. “I hate to ask, but what’s the weather like in the summer?” He made air quotes on the word summer.
“In the area Guardian indicated, the highest recorded temperature is about ten degrees, or negative twelve Celsius. The average, though, is not quite that warm. Figure on an average of zero to ten below. With the strong winds there, though, it will feel much worse.”
Somehow, she still sounded upbeat even after delivering that hammer blow of good news. “Um, gee…thanks, Dee. Please send the interview to Doris and the director. Have Riley kit us out a flight and let us know where to meet it. I think we need the rest of Charlie team on this as well.” This meant Deuce would be taking Bravo team to check out the other areas. He didn’t like it, but that was why they had multiple teams.
“Damn, Cap, from the mosquito-laden swamps of South Florida directly to the South Pole. You should open up a travel agency for sadomasochists,” McTee said.
Hammer looked at the other soldier and shook his head. “You just learn that big word?”
“Nah, brother, your mom taught it to me last time we hooked up. Sweet woman…I hated working around her prosthetic leg, though.”
The linebacker-sized, ex-Navy SEAL looked ready to rip McTee’s head off, but then doubled up laughing. “My mom was so mean she probably did know what that meant!”
“Cade, do you believe what that guy was saying? Nothing about him rang true,” Maratelli said doubtfully. “Now we’re going to chase this line of BS all the way to the South Pole?”
“The director said to squeeze him, this is what we got. I don’t like it, but hey, at least we aren’t battling against a rogue computer program this time. Even if it is a base of some kind, at least that’s tangible, something we can see.”
“Charlie,” he said, tapping his comm and selecting the name for a private call on his SmartCom. Instantly, the other man answered.
“Hey, Rearden, how is Florida? Enjoying the beaches? You sipping on one of them fruity drinks with the tiny umbrella?”
“Not so much,” he said, all business. “Hey, looks like we aren’t heading back your way after all. We’re going to take our vacation party a little farther south. That means you and Nance will be leading the Look-See op around the Caribbean. You good with that?”
“Hell, yeah! I’m the best one for the job anyway, we all know that,” his friend said.
“Do we?” Cade asked, grinning to himself.
“Yeah, man. I’m just like you, only prettier and more talented and, oh yeah, only one voice in my head.”
Cade came back with, “Right, right…well you may need to be checked out for delusions, but see if you have anyone on Bravo Team that has winter warfare training. Also, feel free to borrow from WarHawk or Raptor squad anyone that has combat engineering experience. You need the SEALS, and I need the Penguins this go round.” They quickly reviewed the rosters and agreed on several swaps, including Hammer going back with Bravo. Luckily, they had a diverse group in which almost every discipline and experience was included. “One other thing, friend. I think you should include Greg, or maybe even Micah. I need Alan to be with me.” All three were the invaluable genius kids that along with Riley and Jimmy discovered Doris and The Cove back in there early teens.
The boys from The Cove had earned their place on the teams over the last several months. Micah and Greg for drone ops, brains, and fighting abilities. Cade was a bit closer to Alan and respected his range of knowledge and ability to dissect a problem quickly. The truth was, Alan seemed to help keep Cade’s own personalities more focused, especially his analyst persona, Ace. The two of them could hold high-level discussions that baffled Cade. The fact that Ace was a part of him seemed absurd. No way he knew what those two were saying half the time.
“Cade, I have that data packet ready for you,” Dee said a short time later.
“Okay. Ready when you are.” He held the SmartCom so that the sensors made contact with his palm. She continued to talk while the ReLoad process was underway. The real magic of the system was that he didn’t have to focus on it at all. When he went to access the data, it would simply be there. The downside had been an increasing issue with him forgetting big chunks of what he’d just learned. Doris thought it was nothing, but it could be a big problem.
“Much of this is rumor, conjecture, and theory, but Doris did uncover several pieces of official inte
l also related to the no-fly zone, missing scientists, and possible UFO base,” Dee said.
Cade was looking out at the small airfield. They had gotten rooms at a mid-level hotel in a town nearby called Kissimmee. As usual, Cade was not in his room, but outside. The airfield was just across the road, and they’d know when their ride landed. Riley had let him know the Nighthawk engines were not suitable for that level of cold, so they would be taking the modified Gulfstream to Chile and a charter flight from there.
When the phone signaled the upload was over, he began the now familiar task of mentally examining it all. To be very honest, he let his brain’s built-in analyst do that. Ace, let me know if you find anything interesting. All he got in return was a mental nudge. He took that as a sign to stop bothering him….self. Jesus, this just keeps getting weirder.
Cade shook the new man’s rough hand as they boarded the Talon unit’s private jet. “Alias. That is your call sign? No shitting me?”
“Name is Joe Smith. My DI at Fort Hood thought it sounded made up or that I was in WitSec or something. Said it would only be funnier if my name was John Doe.”
Cade smiled, “Well, welcome to Charlie Team, Alias.” He nodded to Alan who was in the back looking a bit nervous. “Did we get everything?”
“Riley sent everything she could think of,” Alan said. “Outfitting multiple crews for radically different missions was a challenge, but our girl has it covered.”
Cade nodded. He knew the boy was right, but also knew he was totally infatuated with his longtime friend who was quickly growing into a brilliant and attractive scientist. He then turned to the others on board. This small group was his private team of apex predators, and the mission they faced was going to test each and every one of them.
Hammer, who had considerable SEAL training, was heading back north along with Cochise. Cade hadn’t wanted to subject the dog to the frozen wasteland anyway, but he was still surprised when Dee informed him that dogs were banned from the continent. Apparently had been since 1993, due to fear that they might transmit canine distemper to the Antarctic seals or would escape and disturb the local wildlife.
Cade hated to see Hammer and the dog go on the other flight.
The warrior part of him relied on trusting his team. They had been so busy the last few months, he’d rarely made it to the Talon unit’s training facility, what they referred to as The Nest. After Janus and The Troubles, none of those original team members had quit. New ones were vetted and a few eventually added. Money was no object, and with an official sanction, they could now even draw from active military when needed.
The truth was, they were realizing they needed a special breed of soldier. Smart, adaptable, less confined by rules than most soldiers. Even the makeup of the teams themselves were governed more by the individual mission than by fixed assignments. Cade’s counterpart and longtime friend, Charlie ‘Deuce’ Taylor, was truly the man responsible for the ongoing success of the teams, and even he was now thinking of retirement. Cade wanted the best for his friend. Damn, the man had earned it, but he just couldn’t afford to lose him right now.
“Listen up, I know most of you are wondering what in the hell we’re doing up here. No warning, no briefing, hell, no training. I promise you there is a reason. This one may be the weirdest one so far, and that’s saying something. I also hope you packed your flannel undies, because we’re going to freeze our collective nuts off. Sorry, ladies.” He grinned as he winked at the three females making up the team.
Alexandra (Alex) Osborne laughed and said, “It’s fine, Cap. Maybe if that happens, you will all be forced to learn to think with some other part of your body.”
McTee shook his head. “Touché.”
19
Caribbean
Ivan Thrall walked forward confidently, arm outstretched, until Richard gently placed a hand on his arm and gave a tiny shake of his head. The people he was meeting weren’t concerned with social niceties. Thrall understood at once. These were Richard’s replacements for Aksell. The four individuals looked anything but imposing. In fact, they were so ordinary as to be completely forgettable. “You know who I am?” They nodded, nearly in unison.
“They work in pairs,” Richard said, apparently now speaking for the still-silent ensemble. “They were the ones that handled our operations in the Gulf of Oman.”
Thrall realized how similar they all looked, pale-skinned, thin, somewhat Slavic, close cropped hairstyles. Two, he suddenly realized, were women.
“Best not to ask too much about their history, but suffice it to say they have made a mark and are now persona non grata in their homeland. That is a shame, but plenty of other nations would like to have them, if they only knew who they were.”
Thrall nodded, not wanting to know too much more. He handed one of them a memory card. “We have a security issue. Someone is hunting us and our assets. You are familiar with the Sanctuary at Delphi?”
They nodded. “That is to be protected at all cost. Second team will remain aboard the Kalypso in case we need you elsewhere.”
One of the females smiled; the others nodded. “ROE?” the one who’d taken the SD card asked in clipped but precise English.
“Do what you have to do, nothing leads back here. You are free to hunt any target that is hunting us. If you are successful, you will have a permanent role here onboard our ship ̶ ̶ if you want, of course.”
The four turned and walked in military style lockstep back toward the docking bay.
“Chatty bunch, aren’t they?” Richard said with a smile.
“Creepy as fuck, man. What the hell do we call them?”
“They are rather cryptic, but I’ve only heard them refer to themselves collectively as Schattens.”
“Shadows,” Thrall said, translating the German to English.
20
The Cove
The numbers streamed across the screen as Jimmy’s fingers danced over the keyboard like a maestro performing a concert. Alan’s genius little brother, and the youngest member of the original team, had a job, amidst all this chaos, and that was to follow the money, the digital money. With the extensive damage to domestic financial infrastructure, the systems were ripe for theft, embezzlement, and abuse. Margaret had put The Cove’s specialized financial unit on tracking down the holes, and Jimmy personally was tasked with monitoring large foreign transactions, incoming or outgoing. Most had been routine stuff, at least so far. He and Doris had developed complex algorithms that predicted weaknesses and then set up honeytraps to watch for questionable transactions. They’d already netted huge transfers tied to both Nicaraguan and Mexican drug cartels, including the one Cade had helped take down.
Jimmy had intercepted nearly a dozen other state-sponsored financial crimes measuring into the trillions. It thrilled the director, as a percentage of all seized funds and assets became hers to control. Currently, The Cove Project took zero dollars in government funding. Money always led to control. Politics and influence did not mix well with enforcement, in her opinion. While Doris’s revolutionary inventions and related corporate licensing could easily fund the place, Margaret liked multiple revenue streams, and the less traceable, the better.
Most recently, though, Jimmy had been pulling apart the threads of a more puzzling phenomenon. The streams of data he was monitoring were the real-time movements of money around the world. From stocks and bond sales in the newly expanded Chicago exchanges, to the latest boutique retailers in Paris, to proposed property acquisitions by a consortium of partners based in Abu Dhabi, his program factored in nearly every variable that could be considered from crop harvesting dates in Chile, to the hottest new video game release. The system assigned data-points and relevancy scores based on a system Doris herself had used for years. Jimmy had added some additional overlays to help him visualize the entire system.
Now, he watched the flow of money from hand to hand, almost like a river with hundreds of millions of tributaries. At the micro-level, the data could indica
te short-term trends, companies that were under pressure, or an investment that was about to grow big. Zooming out to the macro to see how it all played together was what he was more interested in today. Here, he could see major shifts in wealth on a worldwide basis. The money for that new condo in Seattle came from somewhere. The banks didn’t just magically add it to their balance sheet. Seeing the movement on a global scale allowed a perspective that no one else in the world had. Not even the advanced trading AIs used by the gigantic brokerage houses could match this intense level of scrutiny.
Director Stansfield came up from behind and placed a hand lightly on the boy’s shoulder. Doris had made it clear that Jimmy was one of ‘hers.’ She felt he was too young and, very honestly, too talented to be part of Margaret’s counterterrorism teams. Still, the director saw the advantages Jimmy’s razor-sharp mind could offer. “Did you find it?”
He nodded absently, still staring at the screen, gibberish looking characters streaming past at blinding speed. “It’s crypto-trading, and it's happening way too fast to keep up with manually…no way they are using traditional systems.”
“Is it what you thought? Is someone stealing large sums of money without even being noticed?”
Jimmy turned and looked at her. “Director, I believe someone is planning to bankrupt the country.” He gestured to move some of his displays to the large screen overhead. “Cryptos are popular because they are so secure...like ridiculously secure. You want to steal some bitcoin? All you need to do is find your victim’s 16-character public key and calculate their private key by solving something called an ‘elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem.’ Easy peasy, right?” He smiled.
He went on, “Not so fast. You see, with a regular computer, that little operation will take you around 50 million years. That is the beauty of blockchain security. Not only is it private, it is designed to make sure that only the owner can access it, but it also requires another public key encryption system to make sure the owner has the right to spend it.”