The War Planners Series

by Andrew Watts

  Natesh said, “My company has an encrypted email system. If I can send several of my employees a message, they will immediately act on it. I know them. They’ll figure out what to do and move quickly. I don’t know who I would go to if I was to try and go through some sort of government channel. This way, they’ll make sure the problem gets solved and word gets out.”

  David nodded. “That sounds like a good plan. Do you trust them?”

  Natesh nodded. “Yes. Very much.”

  David said, “Okay. Lena’s tied up. Old Norm over there looks like he could bench press a Mack truck if we asked him to. You think you two can handle Lena by yourselves if we send you all over to the Comms room?”

  “I think so, yes.”

  David looked at Norm, who was still rubbing his head from the beating Lena had given him earlier.

  Norman said, “I’ll be fine this time. I’ve got Harold’s nine mil. And Lena’s tied up. Hopefully she’ll get forgetful on these passwords and I will have the pleasure of making her remember.”

  David said, “Alright. Everyone else, let’s stay in the classroom and keep an eye outside. We know they’ve got a few small boats and a helicopter. Be watchful and yell if you see anyone coming.” About half the class walked up to the top level of the classroom and began looking out the glass window.

  A few of the military guys took the role of prison guards.

  Natesh walked out the door of the classroom with Norman in tow. Norman carried Lena on his shoulder the entire way to the Comms building. Her legs and arms remained tied together.

  David walked over to Brooke and the group of military guys. They were standing just off the stage, quietly deciding what to ask the Major.

  David said, “Okay. Listen, I need you to help question Major Combs. Try and find out what was really going on here and what they are planning to do with us. Figure out how many people are on the other side of the island and how well armed they are. And see if you can figure out how far away we are from a populated area. I saw a few motorboats tied up to the dock on the other side of the island. If we’re five hundred miles from land, those things are useless. They might have been just using them to go back and forth to ships in the area. But if we’re less than twenty miles from another island with people on it…or from a mainland…even if it’s China, that gives us a chance.”

  Brooke said, “Okay, I’ll do my best. What are you gonna do?”

  Henry ran up to them, huffing and puffing and holding a large black box that looked like a cell phone from 1989.

  David said, “What’s that?”

  Henry said, “It’s beautiful is what it is. It was the first thing I saw in the supply room downstairs. They have rows and rows of stuff down there. Dozens of these babies.”

  David looked at the writing on the black metal box. Chinese. He had no idea what it said.

  Henry said, “It’s an HF radio. We might be able to reach a boat or a plane. But what I really want to do is call MARS.”

  David looked at him like he was crazy. He said, “You’re going to call who?”

  “MARS. The Military Auxiliary Radio System.”

  “Never heard of it.”

  “How were you in the Navy and you’ve never heard of it?”

  “I wasn’t in the Navy for long. Henry, we need to hurry up here. Are you going to get to the point?”

  Henry said, “It’s only the coolest club on the planet. They’re regular guys—like you and me—who listen to a HAM radio and relay information for the military. If I can reach one of them, I can probably make a phone call. The frequency is thirty-three megahertz if I remember correctly. A lot of Vietnam troops used to use them to make phone calls back home when they were deployed. The MARS radio operator would hook up the radio to a phone and make the call for them. Some guys still even do it today. This HF radio can broadcast at a pretty far range if the conditions are right. I am going to need to set up the antenna. It looks like it rolls out ten or twenty feet. I think I’m going to go up to the barracks and put it out a window.”

  David questioned Henry’s characterization of a regular guy, but was excited at the prospect of a new means of communicating off the island. “That’s great Henry. Nice work.”

  Brooke said, “HF radio ranges are pretty far. If we get lucky, we can reach someone as far as six hundred miles away. And if we hit a relay…”

  Henry was smiling ear to ear. “Exactly. The MARS guys have relays set up all over the place. If I can get someone on the line, I might be able to make a phone call or just tell the MARS operator what is going on and what to do.”

  David nodded. “That’s great news. Okay, you go to the barracks and try and set it up.”

  Henry said, “I’ll need some help. Can you come give me a hand?”

  David looked at Brooke. “Are you going to be alright questioning the Major?”

  Brooke looked over at the military Red Cell team members standing next to her. She said, “I’ve got a lot of support. I’m sure I’ll be okay.”

  David looked at Henry, “I’m gonna see if Henry can get that radio working. If Natesh can’t get word out on the Internet, maybe there is a boat or plane nearby that we can call for help on. Oh, that reminds me. See if the Major knows our GPS coordinates…our latitude and longitude. If Henry can get the radio working and we can send out a distress call, that will be crucial.” David turned to leave and then said, “And watch your back. I don’t know how long we have until Lena’s friends arrive.”

  Brooke looked nervous. She said, “Okay.”

  David and Henry walked out of the classroom and went down the hall. On the way, they saw Tess and the stewards, running around with the set of jingling keys. The stewards were opening up all of the previously locked compartments—most of them supply rooms, David realized. Tess had told them that there were apparently rooms all over the building that were filled with batteries, parts, tools, and emergency materials that looked like they were meant for a lot more people than just the consultants.

  They opened up one door to a supply closet, and Henry’s eyes lit up when he saw the trove. He said, “Jackpot.” His hands moved quickly over the rows of plastic bins. He snagged a roll of duct tape and a few other items. When he was done, he turned to David and said, “Come on.”

  The two raced back to the barracks and up to Henry’s room. They talked as they ran.

  Henry said, “So this should take me about ten minutes before I’m ready to transmit. I’ll need to run a wire on the outside of the building for about twenty feet. I’ll probably just drop it out the window to you and you can secure it on the ground floor.”

  David yelled over the wind, “Okay, I’ll need to grab a few things from the barracks first.”

  “What are you getting?”

  “Shower curtains…and rails.”

  “What for?”

  “Nothing. Just a backup plan.”

  “We have a backup plan? I didn’t even think our original plan was that good and this guy’s got a backup plan.”

  David said, “Lena was too calm. Something still doesn’t feel right.”

  “You wanna tell me about your backup plan?”

  “Don’t worry about it right now.”

  Henry beamed with pride. “Shower curtains. And here I thought I was the only MacGyver in the group.”

  Brooke’s experience with interrogations was limited to watching Jack Bauer in episodes of 24 and trying to use what she had learned when interviewing her sister’s constant flow of unworthy boyfriends. She didn’t know exactly what to do here, but she figured that she would learn quickly. Brooke had one of the military guys tear the gag off Major Combs. As soon as he did, Combs let out a river of profanity that normally would have made her blush. Today, however, she wasn’t having any of it.

  She simply said, “Are you done?”

  David had asked her to do this. She didn’t have time to worry about her inexperience or dwell in self-doubt. The team needed her. She would just be straightforwar
d with him and ask him exactly what she needed to know. If Major Combs wasn’t cooperative, she might ask one of these large military helpers by her side to physically encourage him to be more forthcoming. That tactic may have been picked up from the TV shows. But she was confident that it was probably effective.

  The Major’s chest was heaving. His eyes were bloodshot, and he had several minor cuts and scrapes on his face…remnants from the wrestling match that he had quickly lost in the barracks.

  Brooke took a seat on the chair that Lena had been sitting in a few minutes prior and turned it to face Combs. She looked Combs directly in the eye, not saying a word. He stopped yelling.

  She said, “I need to ask you some questions. I assume that you really are an officer in the Air Force. Or maybe you were at one time. If you have any honor left, please tell me the truth and do so quickly.”

  He looked at her aghast. “Of course I am an officer in the Air Force. What the hell is this? You people are completely out of line. There are protocols to be followed. Lena is the site supervisor for Christ sakes. I don’t know who is responsible for this, but you need to get her back here right now. This is ludicrous!”

  Brooke shook her head quickly like a dog shaking off rainwater, trying to absorb what she was hearing. She hadn’t expected him to continue the charade at this point. They were past this, weren’t they? Why was he still pretending?

  She said, “What do you mean, why did we tie you up? You know why we tied you up. Look, David saw what was on the other side of the island. We know this isn’t really an American operation. We know. The game is over.”

  He had a look on his face like she was from another planet.

  She said, “Look, Harold, if that’s your name. We just want to get out of here safely. Listen, I don’t know what made you betray your country—”

  “What the HELL are you talking about?”

  He said it so loud that the two military guys standing behind him jumped. They went over and stood right next to Brooke as if to emphasize that he should behave better. Brooke liked the muscle, but she couldn’t understand the outburst.

  Brooke sat there staring at Major Combs. She was new to this interrogation thing, sure. But he sort of seemed like he was being honest. This might take longer than she was hoping for…

  Lena and Natesh sat in the only two chairs in the Communications Room. Each chair was in front of one of the two computer terminals, which were only a few feet apart. Lena was restrained with duct tape around her forearms and her calves. Norman stood behind them, watching. The wind howled outside. Every few seconds Norman could see flashes of lightning through the windows at the top of the stone walls.

  Natesh typed away. The letters were in English, but it must have been code or something, because it looked like gibberish to Norman.

  They were in there no more than two minutes when Lena started talking. She hadn’t said a word in the last hour. Now she looked right at Norman and she spoke with all the confidence of someone who knew they were going to win.

  “They’ll be here soon.” Melody in her voice. Taunting. Playful.

  Norman shifted his weight. “Who will? How do you know? That weather’s pretty bad. Do they have cameras? Do they know we’ve taken you?”

  She said, “Of course.”

  “How many?”

  Lena said, “More than enough.” Again with the tone. It was like she was an elementary school teacher.

  Natesh looked away from his screen and at the two of them for a moment. His forehead was sweating. He looked back at the screen and typed faster, if that was possible.

  Norman said, “Natesh, how’s it coming? Any progress?”

  Natesh kept typing as he said, “Just give me a few more minutes.”

  Norman looked at Lena and said, “How will they come?”

  She smirked. “Well armed.”

  Norman eyed the 9mm in his hand. The one he had taken from Major Combs. He said, “Well, I’m armed too, lady.”

  Lena let out a quick laugh, and then went quiet.

  Natesh was hitting keystroke after keystroke at a rapid clip. Then he lifted up his hands and hit one final key with a flourish. He turned around from the monitor to face Lena and Norman, and said, “I think I just sent a message out. Give me a few more minutes. I am going to see if I can get access to their servers.”

  “Whose servers?”

  “The people that we were sending emails to. I might be able to find out who they are or where our emails were going. Just give me a little more time. I might need her for a password.”

  Norman turned Lena’s chair around so that she was facing him. He stood, towering over her. He was closer than he needed to be. He holstered the 9mm and checked that her hands were taped up nice and tight. They were. She gazed up at him from her swivel chair. Silent. Thinking, perhaps. He could feel his heart pounding. He kept wondering how long they had.

  David dropped a large roll of shower curtains and rails on the floor of Henry’s room. He had taken a roll of duct tape from the supply room and used it to hold the shower curtains all together like a big Persian rug. He hoped that he wouldn’t have to use it. But the voice in his head kept whispering. He needed to be ready.

  Something still didn’t feel right. David had missed something; he just didn’t know what it was.

  Henry saw him enter and said, “Okay, buddy, I’m about ready for you to secure this line down outside. I’ll unravel it down the window. I might need you to walk around a bit until I can be sure it’s positioned right. I’ll be watching the needle from in here. Once I say it’s good, use your roll of tape to secure it to something on the ground.” Henry didn’t even look up as he spoke. He had taken his alarm clock apart and was connecting wires and circuits to other metal pieces.

  David said, “Got it. I’ll be down there. Just yell when you’re ready.”

  Brooke was exasperated. She’d been questioning the Major for the past twenty minutes and he was still playing dumb. Worst of all, she was starting to doubt how much he really knew. She thought she could read people pretty well. He was reacting just how the others had reacted when they’d found out that Bill was being held prisoner on the other side of the island. He was enraged. And he was insistent that he knew nothing about it. At first, he had also insisted that Lena wasn’t a part of it. But the more he heard about what David had seen, the less sure he seemed to be.

  Brooke said, “So you had access to the computer room every day. Who would you talk to on the other end? Did Lena ever tell you who that was?”

  “Like I said, she has always told me it was members of her CIA team. People that were piped in to this closed network. I guess I figured they were in Langley or some covert CIA Internet lab somewhere.”

  “But she let you carry a handgun. Why would she do that if you weren’t in on it?”

  “In on it? Look, let’s say you’re right. Let’s say Lena isn’t who she claimed to be. I mean, first of all I can’t explain why she would let me carry a gun—”

  Dr. Creighton was standing nearby. He said, “Because she wanted to create the illusion of reality in all of our eyes. The same reason that she made us sign nondisclosure agreements and get security badges when we checked in. Giving Major Combs a gun is a large risk to take. But it creates a compelling reason to believe that she is a trusting and trustworthy American CIA official, does it not?”

  Combs said, “That’s insane. I could have shot her if—”

  Dr. Creighton said, “But you were the last to suspect anything. And the most loyal due to the trust she gave you. She had you as one of her henchmen up until an hour ago. Other canaries would have fallen before she needed to remove the gun from your possession. My hypothesis is that it was a calculated risk on her part. One that worked well, until David’s swim this morning.”

  Major Combs looked very different than he had a few minutes ago. Where he had started off cursing and angry, he now looked defeated and sad.

  Brooke said, “So what can you tell me
about how Lena got that helicopter here? Or the airplanes every day. How did she coordinate all of the logistics? We were told that you helped with all of that.”

  Combs frowned. “No. The only thing I did was send and receive emails on those computers. I didn’t actually do any of the planning. I relayed information to and from Lena. Half the time I didn’t even understand what was being said.”

  “Natesh said otherwise. He said that you and Lena were by yourselves in some secret back room of that Communications building. He said that was where you got the gun. And that’s where he thought you kept anything that you guys didn’t want us to see.”

  Major Combs looked like he would explode. “Bullshit. That’s total bullshit. Natesh is a liar. He was the one that was always back there with her. It actually pissed me off.”

  Brooke’s eyes narrowed. “What?”

  “She made me the Administrative Officer, not him. He was just supposed to help facilitate some of these meetings with people. But then when we got here it wasn’t the way she said it would be…”

  Brooke shook her head in disgust. Even now, after being told that Lena was very likely a Chinese spy, he was still upset that she had given Natesh more attention. Still…what he was saying about Natesh was very odd.

  “…She was always having private conversations with Natesh in there in the early morning and when I got into the room they would stop talking. She would go into the back room for hours and Natesh and I would go on the computer. I didn’t know if it would be like this for the whole three weeks. She told me and Natesh when we met last year that—”

  Brooke said, “Stop.”

  He looked at her, startled. He said, “What?”

  “What do you mean she told you and Natesh last year?”

  Norman leaned forward, pressing his hands into her shoulders and holding his face just inches from her own. He said, “I want you to tell me what’s on the other side of this island, and when and how many people are going to come for us. Do you understand?”

  Lena winked a sexy, defiant wink. It infuriated Norman.