The Remote Traveler (The Remote Series Book 1)

by Finian Blake

  “What’s next?”

  “We call Scott over at MI and then get your CIA man Harry.” Sarah had Scott’s private number since she had done him a great many favors in the past.

  “Scott how would you like to screw with the Yanks?”

  “After the last few days I would love to, if it wouldn’t get me in too much trouble.”

  “The Yanks are looking for a small jet that went down off of the coast of Maryland. I have a location for them. I can’t say where I got the information from. I want you to present it as a satellite photo from one of ours.”

  Scott laughed, “FAX me a copy and I will send it on if it looks good.”

  Sarah teased his sense of humor. “We were going to get Harry to present it to his CIA.”

  “Do you know where he is at?”

  “Of course I do. He is banging Simone in the Honeymoon cottage.”

  Scott could not believe his ears. “You’ve setup CIA Harry with DGSE Simone! You are twisted.”

  Sarah went on, “Yes, we can’t get in his face until she gets off. You men only have enough blood to supply one head. Lynn made peace with Harry by having Simone make piece with Harry”

  Scott laughed at the play on words. “I am glad that she did. MI wants to continue our relationship.”

  Sarah sounded confident, “Lynn has every intention of continuing. She was worried about you.” Scott pulled the FAX off of the machine. “Your picture looks valid. If the Yanks, ask we will say that we have nothing near that good followed with if you don’t have anything that good how could we? A solid denial can be better than bragging.”

  Alex could no longer wait for Harry to emerge from the Honeymoon cottage. He phoned over to the cottage.

  Simone answered the phone with a purr. “This is Harry’s sex slave. How can I help you?”

  “Has he told you who killed Kennedy yet?”

  “Not yet give me thirty more minutes.” Alex laughed at the comment. Simone hung up the phone.

  Harry was curious. “Who was that Simone?”

  “That was Alex he wanted to know if I pumped you dry yet. He will knock on the door in thirty minutes how about having our last screw in the shower.”

  Alex knocked on the door of the Honeymoon Suite in exactly thirty minutes. He handed Harry a large manila envelope.

  “Scott sent you a peace offering. He heard that your people were looking for a downed jet. The wife of Senator George Mudson was on board.” Harry pulled the picture out of the envelope. It was a picture of a twisted metal cylinder sitting on a ledge of a plateau. He read the note that was part of the picture.

  “Where did you get this?”

  “Scott gave it to me with a verbal message. This is from a beyond secret source. It’s his ass if anyone finds out that it came from him. She is a senator’s wife and he is sympathetic.”

  Harry looked at Alex, “You are screwing with me

  “The Senator sits on your intelligence committee.” Alex kept a straight face. “If this is bullshit you can blame it on the Brits. If it’s true and you don’t deliver it…” Harry developed a sudden urgency. “I need to get back to London ASAP. What can you do for me?”

  “Considering the nature of your request I can have our helicopter fly you back and you can come back to pick-up your car later.” Simone walked out of the cottage past Harry.

  “If you are sending a helicopter to London with Harry, can I catch a ride?”

  “I am sure that Harry will drop you off at the US Embassy. He can have a car drop you at your place.”

  “No need, surface traffic in London is horrible I always take the tube.” Harry went in to take a shower. Simone stroked Alex’s cheek.

  “Did you tell him that I was with the DGSE?”

  Alex laughed, “No his specialty is intelligence gathering. How much did you find out?”

  Simone caressed Alex’s cheek and bit his ear. “He should do things with his tongue other than talk. If he isn’t talking, he is snoring. What was so important?”

  “If you can’t find out from him I will lose faith in you.”

  Simone stroked Alex’s cheek, “If it wasn’t for Anna, I would screw your brains out in a minute.”

  Alex swatted her ass solidly, “What would you do with the other fifty seconds?”

  “Something tells me that you are better than that,” Simone said with an impish grin. “You have five children by three women, so I think you must have some talent.”

  “No, I have six children by four women,” Noah corrected.

  “Then my information is incomplete,” Simone pouted. “You are more of a mystery man than I thought.” Simone was disturbed to find out that her information was incorrect because normally she never missed.

  “Life must have its little mysteries, or it will not have any flavor,” Alex laughed, “and I know how you French enjoy flavor.”

  Captain Cain assigned his executive officer to give the reporters a tour of his ship the USS Grappler. She was a 300-foot research ship with all of the latest equipment. The Grappler was in no way a war ship but she was still a plum assignment because seventy percent of her missions were top-secret. There was no way that he could ever tell anybody about the things that he had recovered from the bottom of the ocean. Captain Cain had one of the highest security clearances in the military and thoroughly enjoyed the respect that went with it. Having reporters on a secure ship was a risk but it was well within reason. He was in the electronics bay when the Exec, Commander Simmons came in with the reporters. Reg was the usual ‘all American face’ for the camera, good looking, reasonably intelligent, but nothing outstanding. Gwen was the stand out. She was five six with thick fire red hair that came down to her shoulders. She had an hour glass figure and huge breasts. With her perfect alabaster complexion and ready smile, she was just the person that the viewers wanted to see when they woke up for their morning news. What really made her stand out were her questions. Gwen was not the dumb bimbo screwing the boss for a raise. She ran her crew and did her research with attention to detail.

  Captain Cain was looking forward to a few dinners with this young lady in the officer’s mess. A message came in as the reporters were entering sonar. Captain Cain read it crumpled it in a ball throwing it up against the bulk head.

  “You have to be shitting me.” Gwen picked the paper off the floor instantly spotting the ‘EYES ONLY’ banner across the top. It was a picture of a small pale tube against a black back ground. She also read the note across the bottom giving the depth and GPS coordinates. Captain Cain thinking better of his actions walked across the sonar room holding out his hand.

  “Gwen may I have that back?” She passed it back to the Captain without hesitation. “It looks like you will be able to see us launch our ROVs. We were given a target. I suggest that you get your people ready. We will be on site in an hour.” Reg sided up to Gwen.

  “What was on that paper?” Reg watched Gwen carefully.

  “Nothing it was just a white dot on a black back ground.”

  Reg pressed, “What was he so upset about?”

  “I don’t know maybe he was upset with me when everybody took their eyes off their sonar screen as I walked in.” The captain was impressed by her ability to lie and her powers of observation. Everybody had in fact taken their eyes off their sonar screens as she entered the room. Her tight sweater and ski pants clung to every curve as if they had been sprayed on her body.

  “We have been given a target, but I doubt that we will find anything. The ship has been over that area several times. You can at least get some file footage of the ROVs launching.” Captain Cain eyed her up and down once again, noting that her clothes were extremely fitting but not suitable for the windblown deck. “Miss Bright I will have the quartermaster issue you dungarees and a pea coat. It may not be as fashionable as you would like but the wind across the deck has quite a chill to it.”

  The Grappler was on station within the hour. Gwen’s crew was at the well which was a twenty by
twenty hole straight through the center section of the ship. Gwen was dressed in her ‘P’ coat and dungarees wearing a watch cap over her luxurious red hair thankful for the captain’s suggestions. The crane was just hoisting an ROV over the center of the well when Gwen’s crew started shooting. Reg’s crew was late and only managed to get the ROVs submerging. The machines took the better part of two hours to make it to the prescribed depth. Captain Cain allowed the camera crews to setup in the operator’s room to record the ROV’s search. When they reached 24950 feet, the operators moved the ROV across the face of the plateau watching the numbers count down. Within ten minutes something that resembled a bent up trash can appeared on the screen. The depth was fifty feet off but close enough to make the find. Captain Cain looked at the picture clearly seeing that it was a perfect match with the ‘EYES ONLY’ picture that he took from Gwen’s hands moments ago. It was at the exact reference points and almost at the exact depth as the note on the picture which totally unnerved him. He thought for a second. Gwen had seen the picture and amazingly it was at a better resolution than the ROV produced from 100 feet away. He suddenly realized exactly how sensitive that picture was, and Gwen had read the eyes only label on it along with the notes. She was sharp as they came and his mind’s eye saw his security clearance being reduced with her report.

  “We have to prepare for a recovery. Commander Simmons, log our position and deploy the salvage equipment.” He swallowed hard and motioned Gwen to him speaking as quietly as possible. “Would you join me in my cabin for a few moments while we prepare?”

  Captain Cain had a real problem. His ‘EYES ONLY’ communication was balled tightly in his hand as she followed him into the cabin with Captain Cain making sure the door to the room was secure before he said one word.

  “Young lady I have a serious problem.” Gwen interrupted the Captain with a bright smile.

  “Dad retired as a chief in the Navy. I only picked up a piece of trash from the deck. I don’t remember seeing what was on it.” Gwen paused and looked innocently at Captain Cain. “I am sorry that I interrupted you. What were you saying?” Captain Cain had a long look into her innocent deep sea green eyes, being grateful that he did not have to ask her not to include anything in her report.

  “I was going to say that the Exec will personally help you position your equipment. We would not want anyone from your crew being hurt when we bring the salvage on deck. Please be careful out there.” Gwen snapped him a crisp salute and he returned it before remembering that she was a civilian.

  “I will follow your instructions to the letter, Sir.” Gwen said crisply. “Is there any chance that I can get clearance for any future operations?”

  “Absolutely, you are dismissed.” Captain Cain answered in crisp military fashion. Gwen left the cabin smiling knowing that she just left Reg in the dust.

  The grappling equipment took five hours to coax the remains of the jet’s fuselage to the surface without tearing it apart. When the fuselage cleared the surface, it did not look much like a Lear jet, with the wings and tail missing it had the appearance of an abused trash can. Gwen’s crew was in just the right position to get the most dramatic footage as the salvage came to rest on the deck only feet in front of the camera. When the fuselage came to rest on the deck they probed the passenger cabin long enough to determine that all of the passengers were dead and that one of the passengers was in fact a woman. The rest of the investigation was too sensitive for general consumption, so Captain Cain offered the reporters a ride back to DC in the Sea Stallion helicopter. Reg readily accepted and Gwen elected to ride back into port on the Grappler. Knowing it would make best possible speed returning to port. Reg laughed as the chopper cleared the deck. He would be back in DC days before Gwen. With all of her maneuvering she would not get the drop on him. He was wondering if she blew Captain Cain, but realized that she was only in the cabin for a short period of time and the captain did not even have time to flash her.

  Gwen composed her story while three representatives from the NTSB supervised the removal of the corpses splitting the difference between respects for the dead and preserving the evidence. The bodies had not been in the water long enough to prohibit finger print identification. The tail had been torn off but the black box was still with the fuselage and within an hour Gwen had her story composed offering the captain a chance to review her two-minute segment before she transmitted it back to the television station. Captain Cain thoroughly impressed by the cooperative spirit of this young lady wanted to know more about her personal history.

  “Miss Bright I would like to invite you to dinner in the Officers Mess. I believe that it would be all right for you to change back into the clothes that you arrived in since we will not be working out on the deck anymore.” Captain Cain decided to throw out just one more test. “Miss Bright, I am really pleased that we didn’t need any further discussion over that paper.”

  “Captain I just picked up a scrap of paper on the deck to police the area. I really don’t know what you are making such a big deal about. It went straight into the trash. My father taught me that you can’t have loose items rolling around the cabin at sea,” Gwen smiled innocently.

  “Young lady is a pleasure to have someone on board that has the welfare of the ship firmly in mind.” Captain Cain was looking forward to the three-day cruise back to Norfolk with this intelligent beautiful young lady as a passenger.

  “Captain Cain, the station will be asking you for a review of my work. Do you think that you will be able to give me a favorable review?”

  “I am sure that they will have a glowing report.” The Captain said wondering if she would accept his invitation to a private dinner in his cabin making a mental note to have Commander Simmons assign her to the VIP quarters next to his cabin and Gwen was looking forward to covering many more sensitive assignments based on his glowing recommendation.

  The Captain had personally called Senator Mudson to inform him that his wife’s body had been found informing him of the disposition. Gwen was making her report from the electronics bay as Reg’s chopper was touching down. She made her live report from the deck of the Grappler interviewing Captain Cain on live TV detailing the recovery of the fuselage. No mention was made of the ‘EYES ONLY’ satellite picture, since it never really existed. Captain Cain wrote a glowing report remembering to mention that she was a Navy brat in a side note. He inserted a few code words that would give her future access to sensitive stories. Gwen had secured her future as a reporter that could cover questionable issues. Her name would be circulated among ‘Secured Circles’ as being ‘APPROVED’ using all capital letters and double stamped to signal special co-operation, this would filter down to other branches of the service through the NSA.

  Senator Mudson was in the communications room when the official report came in. As a member of the intelligence committee he was privileged to see the Satellite photo that the CIA obtained from the British. They matched the footage from the Grappler with the photo perfectly only the resolution on the satellite picture was better. The rock on the ledge matched the footage to a tee along with the depth and coordinates. The Senator was not worried about his wife any more.

  “How in the hell did they take a picture of an object the size of a bus 2,500 feet under water from a satellite in space! The picture from the rover didn’t come out that good from one hundred feet away. Does anyone out there even have a clue?” George was screaming. Warren could only offer a small condolence.

  “We did get the picture from the CIA station chief in London. He did not say that it was from a satellite only claiming that came from a secure facility.”

  “Get him back here now. I want a face to face interview ASAP. If they can see this from a satellite they can find our subs, nothing is out of sight. How come we don’t even have a whisper about this? Are the Brits that good? Have Evan interview him off site.” Senator Mudson was not a large man. He was a thin five foot five with soft features. His small features were not normally intim
idating, but his rage was off the scale, so there was no doubt that he meant business. Warren went right to work on getting things moving.

  Evan went back to the office, “Pauline, we have orders to interview Harry Tildon off site can we use your house?”

  Pauline sniggered, “It is probably more secure than this place. Why don’t you want to do it here?”

  Evan was quick with an answer, “Mudson wants a full cap on the situation. He wants to keep this away from our people until we get an idea of what is happening and Mudson wants to be there for the interview.”

  “Well he can use my place. I will have the place swept for bugs.”

  “We can have one of our teams do it.”

  “There are electronic devices in there and I can’t afford to have them found. How do you think Sean came up with that blackmail material?”

  “Then you will have a special team do the work?”

  “Exactly…”

  Scott called Lynn in her office. He was laughing so hard that she could barely understand him.

  “That picture that Sarah put together has the whole CIA up in arms. Harry has been on the phone to me six times. He wants to know about our spy satellite. They know that it is impossible, but her picture matches the site perfectly. How in the hell did you do it? Alex mentioned something about a picture that Edward and Sarah put together, but nothing like this.”

  “I will need to talk to Alex about this let me call you back in a few minutes.” Lynn went down the hall to security. “Where is Alex, right now?”

  “He is at the upper studio.”

  “Perfect, have him stay there I will be right over.” Lynn ran out to her cart speeding to the studio. Alex, Anna, Edward, Layla and Sarah were having tea. Lynn needed to calm down before she spoke.

  Lynn could not hide the upset in her voice, “I’m glad that I have all of you together. I just got off the phone with Scott. He told me about your picture.”