by L.T. Ryan
* * *
Half way through Atlanta we merged onto I-20, heading east. After leaving the city, the drive felt long and pointless. Our escorts didn’t talk. We had no idea who they were. No names, ranks, or affiliations were given. Although, I had a feeling these guys were CIA.
When I tried to talk to Bear, it was met with a command to shut up. I resigned myself to staring out the window at the redundant scenery.
Darkness faded, and the gray clouds gave way to the rising sun. The sun painted the sky shades of orange and red. The sight held me captive for half an hour.
I leaned forward and stuck my head between the driver and passenger seat. “Where are we going?”
The man in the passenger seat turned his head to look at me and said nothing.
I sighed, sat back.
We reached Florence, SC around nine a.m. I asked if we could stop for breakfast. We didn’t. Instead, we merged onto I-95 northbound. I hoped that meant we were heading to Camp Lejeune. I feared it meant we were heading to Langley, which would be bad.
Our CIA command was held deep below the Air Force base. We’d be under their command down there.
Camp Lejeune was located on the coast of North Carolina. It was home to several Commands, including the Marines Special Operations Command, and was often used for amphibious assault training. Camp Lejeune also served as our unofficial command under Colonel Abbot. We weren’t stationed there, though. We weren’t stationed anywhere. However, we did have to report quarterly if we weren’t on an extended deployment.
I leaned forward again, looking at the driver and then the passenger.
“Where’re we going?”
The man in the passenger seat turned his head. “Lejeune.”
“That’s where we were heading, anyway. You guys saved us the cost of a rental.”
He turned away. Said nothing.
I sat back and took a deep breath. Only one thing bothered me.
“Lejeune,” I said to Bear.
“Yeah,” he said then paused for a moment. “Brig’s there.”
That’s what bothered me. The Marine Corps Brig was located there, and it was capable of housing up to 280 inmates.