Lieutenant Commander Foster Nolan didn’t have much time to consider his future before he hit the warm water below. His best guess was he would be floating on his tiny raft for a few hours in the Sea of Japan until first light when either the Chinese or the North Koreans would locate him. It didn’t even cross his mind there would be a rescue mission. As far as his country was concerned, he wasn’t there.
Sea of Japan—Aboard the Hail Nucleus
H
ail Nucleus’ crew watched the dot—the railgun projectile—reach the other three dots in less than fifteen seconds. Then they all watched the dot with the notation F-35 disappear from the screen.
Renner commented, “That doesn’t look good.”
Kara looked at Hail, and Hail looked stunned, like the worst-case scenario had taken place. He had killed the American pilot.
She started to say something soothing like, “It’s OK, you did the best you could.”
Renner interrupted, “Look, one of the J-20s just vanished.”
Hail took in a deep calming breath and let it out slowly.
“What do you think happened?” he asked Dallas over the speakers in the ship’s security center.
Stone’s voice came back over the speakers, “My best guess would be an almost simultaneous exchange. One of the J-20s killed the F-35, and a second later our railgun projectile took out one of the J-20s.”
Hail watched the only dot left on the screen make a slow turn and change its course back toward the east coast of North Korea.
Dallas said, “Prince is picking up a saltwater emergency beacon. Looks like the American pilot ejected and is now floating in the water about fifty miles off our starboard.”
Hail turned toward Kara and asked, “Do you think there’s any chance that your guys are going to pick this guy up?”
Kara shook her head. “Not in a million years.”
“I thought not,” Hail agreed. He swiveled his chair toward his group of young pilots that were standing close to him on his left still watching the show.
He said to two of his junior pilots, “Oliver and Paige. I need you to jump into a chopper and go get this guy. Make it fast. Just drop him a line, pull him in and get back on board before the sky is crawling with hostiles. By the time the sun comes up, I want us to look like nothing more than an innocent cargo ship. Get going.”
The pilots confirmed Hail’s request and ran quickly out of the mission center toward the ship’s hangar deck.
Kara asked, “Is it common for the Hail Nucleus to be in these waters?”
Hail nodded his head and then leaned forward to stretch his back. “Sure, China is one of our best customers. They have all the coal in the world, but they won’t be able to breathe their own air in another ten years unless they find another form of power. And we are it.”
Kara watched the last dot on the screen fly over Wonsan and then blink off the screen. She assumed it had landed somewhere near the city.
“You know, that was pretty amazing,” she said.
Hail made a painful face as he arched his back the other direction.
“Which part?” he asked.
“All of it,” Kara said.
Hail stood up and continued to work out his back muscles. “So, what are you going to do now?” he asked Kara.
“I’m not sure,” Kara said truthfully. “Are you hungry?”
“I’m always hungry,” Hail smiled. He grabbed some belly fat through his shirt and said, “Can’t you tell?”
Kara laughed and said, “Let’s get something to eat, and we can discuss the future.”
“I think we also need to discuss the past,” Hail said.
“Nah, the past is the past.”
But to Marshall Hail, the past was more important than the present or the future. All of his best memories and life experiences were in his past. Kara’s deceit had been in the recent past. They would discuss that matter in the present, but the future would still be an unknown because there were still so many factors out of their control.
The White House Situation Room—Washington, D.C.
“P
lease explain to me what’s happening,” the president asked her advisors. Everyone in the Situation Room was staring at a large screen that at one time had three dots on it. Superimposed under the dots was the east coastline of North Korea. In a matter of seconds, two of the dots had disappeared, and General Ford looked very concerned.
The general looked away from the screen and toward the president, avoiding looking her square in the eyes.
“What you are watching is—well, it was the location of our F-35. Two North Korean J-20 jets were in hot pursuit of the F-35. The radar we’re watching is being sent by our Sea-Based X-Band Radar station that is sitting on a semisubmersible oil platform located ten miles off the coast of South Korea in the Sea of Japan.”
“And?” the president prompted, her patience running thin.
“And, my best guess is that our F-35 was shot down, and our pilot was able to take out at least one of the enemy jets.”
“I didn’t know the F-35 could shoot at a jet behind it?” the president said, daring the general to lie to her.
“Sure, it can. The F-35 Gen III Helmet Mounted Display System provides the pilot the ability to—”
“Enough!” the president yelled.
Everyone in the room stopped talking and turned to look at the pair.
A red light on a phone sitting on the big conference table began blinking. The general excused himself and picked up the receiver.
He listened for a moment and then announced to the group, “We have a saltwater emergency beacon that was just activated.”
The general listened for more information. He then turned to the president and asked, “What would you like for us to do?”
“What are you talking about?” President Weston responded.
“Looks like our pilot may have ejected and is floating around in the Sea of Japan. Would you like us to rescue him?”
The president stood up from the table, flipped her bangs out of her eyes, walked to the door and said, “I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
A minute later, she was gone. And with that, the situation taking place in the Situation Room had concluded.
Sea of Japan—Aboard the Hail Nucleus
Instead of food, Hail escorted Kara to the Officers’ Club. Since there were no officers on the ship, the bar was occupied by the exact number of people that Hail wanted. Zero. He needed to clear the air with Ms. Ramey, and he didn’t need anyone gawking at them, especially if things got ugly.
Kara looked around. She had never seen the bar or for that matter even knew it existed.
“I thought you were hungry?” she asked.
“I’m a little too wound up to eat right now.”
Kara sat at the bar on a stool that had a thick red cushion and a tall wooden back.
Hail went around to the other side of the bar and began mixing up a concoction of some type.
“What are you making?” she asked.
Without looking up, Hail said, “Something strong. Hopefully strong enough so that you and I will catch a buzz and be able to level with one another.”
“That sounds dangerous,” Kara said.
“If you haven’t noticed, living is dangerous.”
Hail squeezed a lemon into two glasses.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the back-up plan?” he asked.
“Why are you secretly monitoring and recording all my phone calls?” Kara responded.
Hail looked up at her and still holding a lemon, he shook his fist at her in frustration.
“See, that’s what I mean. I try to have an honest talk, and we can’t get past the first two sentences.”
Lemon juice leaked from his grip on the bar.
“Wow, did we somehow get married when I wasn’t looking?” Kara laughed.
Hail made an exasperated face, dropped the lemon in the sink, and went back to pouring different co
lors of liquor into the two martini glasses.
Kara said, “Marshall, you know I work for the CIA. You also know that much of what we do is done on the down low. It’s not like I’m trying to be secretive. I simply can’t talk to you about work stuff.”
“Well, what about non-work stuff?”
“Why do you want to hear about my poor old childhood and my family and all that mess?”
Hail handed her a blue drink.
She took it.
Hail clinked his drink up against hers and said, “Because it’s a start.”
Kara smiled, but she didn’t start the conversation. Hail did.
By the second drink, Hail had begun to tell her about his family and the pain he had felt when they had all died in The Five. But he found it too difficult to linger on that subject. Hail shed some tears, and Kara had been ready with the bar napkins. She listened and understood and felt his pain.
And then it was Kara’s turn. She talked about her parents, about their deaths, about how she had been left alone and how lonely she felt. She explained that her job was really all she had and how sad was that. It was a solemn and awkward talk, but the more they drank, the easier the words came out.
The third drink was green and a little stronger. Hail asked Kara if she wanted to take it up to the top deck and watch the sun come up.
She said yes.
They stood at the railing on the port side of the ship. The sun sneaked up over the edge of Japan. It was bright and the day was clear and the wind was fresh, yet the conversation was sullen and made the sea appear old and insensitive.
Hail talked about the early days, when he was in high school and his Dad was moving up the military ladder. He told her how difficult it had always been to please him. He told her that when his Dad had died, his father had gone to his grave disappointed in him and his accomplishments.
They sipped strong green liquid, and they realized they were much more similar than they had been a few hours ago.
Kara told Hail about being an only child; an only child who was pampered and then left in this world with no practical living skills. She explained that she felt guilty complaining about being too rich and being given everything, knowing how much poverty there was in the world. And as a CIA agent, she had been on assignments in small countries and had seen firsthand how poor some people really were. It could have been the booze, but for some reason she thought it was important that Marshall understood that rich girls could be sad too.
At some point, Marshall began talking about his wife again, about his kids and his love for them, the heart shattering hurt he felt, the stabs of depression that still hit him like physical blows any time he thought of them. Kara put her arm around his waist and told him that she understood.
Hail’s eyes were wet.
Kara’s heart hurt for him. Hurt for herself. Hurt for all of those that had suffered way out there, past the glittering coast of Japan and on and on. There was so much hurt and sadness in the world. It was amazing that anyone was truly happy.
The sun was up and they could feel the heat starting to build.
Hail walked Kara to her stateroom. They stopped at her door. Kara looked up at Marshall and gave him a hug. It felt good. It felt good for both of them. It had been a long time since Kara had felt a man that close that had not been part of an operation.
And Hail hadn’t felt anyone that close since he had hugged his wife and his girls’ goodbye on that last dreadful day.
“Are you hungry?” Kara asked, her hands still resting on Marshall’s hips.
“Yeah,” Hail said.
“I think I have some popcorn in my room. If you want to come in, we could watch a movie or something.”
“Let me check and see if I’m needed elsewhere,” Hail said, taking out his phone and checking his messages.
The only message was from Renner. It read in bold letters, KARA CALLED KORNEV AND WARNED HIM ABOUT THE MISSILE ATTACK.
Hail did his best not to react to the information.
He looked into Kara’s beautiful eyes and said, “Do you have anything else you want to tell me? If we want to move forward, I need to know we can trust one another.”
Kara thought for a moment. She let her hands fall away from Hail’s waist. She took some air into her cheeks and then puffed it out a few times as she wrestled with how much she should share with Marshall Hail.
“I have something to tell you, but I think it will make you mad.”
“And what would that be?” Hail responded, already looking a little mad.
“Promise you won’t be mad?”
“How can I promise that?” Hail said.
“OK, then I won’t tell you,” Kara said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Hail sighed and said, “OK.”
“No,” Kara said, “You have to promise you won’t be mad.”
“OK, I promise I won’t be mad,” Hail said with a tinge of irritation.
“Remember you promised,” Kara hesitated.
She took a moment to consider how to phrase her next sentence, but then realized there was no good way to say it.
“I called and warned Kornev about the hit on the warehouse. That’s why he ran.”
Hail had promised he wouldn’t be mad. However, Kara thought he looked mad, but she thought he would have blown his top by now.
She also added, “Remember, I told you I wanted Kornev alive. I need him. I need his information.”
Hail looked at her as if she had disappointed him.
“Is that how your dad used to look at you?” she asked him.
That comment temporarily stunned Hail, and his face went slack.
“As long as we’re being honest, then I have something to tell you,” Hail said, regaining his composure.
“Yes,” Kara said.
“You first have to do the whole promise to not be mad thing,” he told her.
Kara rolled her eyes and said, “I promise.”
“I promise not to be mad,” Hail coaxed her. “You have to say the whole thing.”
“OK, I promise not to be mad,” she said, but instead of annoyance, Kara was amused.
“Well, after you left to make your call to Kornev, I tried to kill him.”
Kara looked shocked. She was no longer smiling.
“And how did that work out for you?” she asked tentatively. “I take it when you said that you tried to kill him, that would indicate that you failed to kill him which means that Kornev is still alive?”
Hail looked dejected.
“As far as I know, he is still alive, but it wasn’t from a lack of trying on my part.”
Kara shook her head slowly from side to side. She had her lips bunched up and was giving him the old schoolmarm look.
“Shame, shame,” she told him.
“And I could say the same to you,” Hail shot back.
They both looked at one another, silent, trying to decide in that brief instant how much different their lives might be if this was their last mission together.
“So, do you think we can trust each other now?” Kara asked.
“I don’t know. We were able to talk to each other for several hours without killing one another,” Hail commented. “That’s got to be a good start.”
“Well I think you can trust me,” Kara said.
Hail brought his phone up and looked at the old message that Renner had sent after Renner had listened to the recording Kara had made.
“My phone is almost out of power,” Hail said.
Kara reached behind her back, turned the handle and pushed open the door to her stateroom.
“No problem. Come on in. You can use my phone charger.” Kara offered graciously.
The White House Rose Garden—Washington, D.C.
P
resident Joanna Weston decided that she would take all her meetings outside in the Rose Garden today including, of course, her luncheon with the newly elected president of the Maldives, Mohamed Yameen. It was a beautiful summer m
orning in the capital city.
The first order of business was an update on the Hail Storm mission. Or more to the point, the potential political fallout from the Hail Storm mission.
General Ford, Jarret Pepper, Eric Spearman and Trevor Rodgers sat around the table in the center of the Rose Garden. Coffee had been served. Tea was provided for those who thought 10 a.m. was too late to drink coffee.
Nobody looked happy, and considering how badly the mission had played out, the president expected sincere looks of contrition on the faces looking back at her.
Jarret Pepper began the conversation with the upbeat phrase, “The good news is that the North Korean decision-makers have decided not to make a big stink about our attack on their warehouse.”
The president smiled. She had already heard this information but agreed that it was a good starting point.
The general added, “That’s not surprising. If they went the other direction, they would have to tell the world why their warehouse was so important it compelled a superpower to bomb it. That would have created a very sticky situation.”
“And what was their reaction to having their hotel blown up?” the president asked.
Pepper answered, “They framed it as a natural gas explosion.”
“Interesting,” President Weston remarked.
“And do we know what became of the F-35’s pilot, Lieutenant Commander Foster Nolan?” the president inquired.
Pepper replied, “Kara called me and provided a mission summary. She indicated that the Hail Nucleus picked up Nolan off his raft in the Sea of Japan. He had bailed out of his jet. He was unhurt and is currently still on the Hail Nucleus.”
Operation Hail Storm Page 43