The Colonel knew that his operatives were having a weekend party on ground level, at the beach. He had just summoned the leader of his best team electronically a minute ago. He knew that it would take at least a couple of minutes to reach the bunker from the beach.
Again, they both watched the video of the violence in the lab under surveillance which ended in a thermobaric explosion. Colonel Ryan could only hope that the soldier-turned-researcher whom he owed his life to had survived the bomb and was still in pursuit of the assassins. Former Major Nicholas Park was the noblest man the Colonel knew and he had never repaid him for saving the operation which gave birth to COBALT.
After a while, their thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock on the titanium door. He came back into the moment and answered. “Come in.”
The door swung open and a tall, tanned man in a pair of shorts, a T-shirt and a wavy hat entered eagerly. The office was slowly being filled with the stench of beer from his breath. His sculpted, thick muscles were visible. Seeing the seriousness on his superiors’ faces, his party mood changed.
Captain Damian Blood, formerly of MARSOC, took a seat in front of the Colonel. His boss’ grim expression made him remember something very similar when the Colonel had recruited Blood a year ago out of Marine Special Operations Command for a save-the-world mission. This was Blood’s favorite placement so far. He loved the kind of life one had in COBALT. It involved danger and fun in extremes.
“What’s the problem boss? You said that the Hounds were necessary on the call.” By Hounds, Damian Blood was referring to his team which involved a SEAL marksman, a Green Beret and his St. Bernard dog, and himself. It was a well-oiled team which was highly efficient in the field.
The Colonel said with a sigh, “Before I brief you in on the situation, promise me that you won’t do your psychotherapy shit again. I know that there are many mistakes here on our part, mainly for not acting sooner when we could have prevented this screwed up situation that we’re in.”
By those words, Blood knew that his boss was referring to how his education interfered with their conversations. Blood had majored in Psychology and Mechanics before joining the Marines.
During his military time, he showed deep interest in mechanical technology and tried to dismantle and assemble the minds of the people around him, just for the sake of curiosity. This resulted in numerous transfers. But now, he had found a boss and friendly colleagues who took fun in his attempts of pseudo psychotherapy.
Blood looked at a screen on his boss’ table which showed the analysis of images from Alaska and said, “Sure. I never do that crap when things are serious. Besides I’ve never disobeyed you.”
In his mind, he added a word-Yet-which came out of his slightly drunk state.
His boss continued, “This is a twofold DARPA operation. Take heed Bloodhound, because, if things go wrong, we’d all suffer big time.” The Colonel was referring to his man’s call-sign. “A few recently examined OSS documents revealed proof of existence of a mythical stone in the Balkan range in Serbia. The Haemus stone is said to cure all sorts of brutally ravaged injuries caused in combat and otherwise, according to legends. The documents say that it is in the possession of Turkish extremists in the region. But we’ll know more about that when our expert consultant wakes up. That consultant is now en route to the Balkans to investigate the deaths of a couple of civilian consultants who were sent to retrieve that stone from the crater. We believe that it’s a meteorite.”
The Captain got curious. “Who the hell sent civilian consultants to a hostile area?”
Colonel Ryan answered, “They were the son and daughter-in-law of General Campbell.” He was referring to the director of DARPA. “The General sent them because he believed that going off the books with what little resources he had in this area was necessary. There have been rumors in the shadows that a lab has been built on the Balkans. None of us want any extremists to have access to anything that can come out of the stone. The downside is that we don’t have clearance to retrieve it as its existence hasn’t been established officially.”
“What’s the second part of this fix?” asked Blood.
“A shady lab in a remote island town of Alaska has been doing some noble work secretly. Somehow, they got access to a piece of the stone and began a research to find a vaccine for cancer from a virus found inside the meteorite. As it now seems, like bacteria, even viruses can survive the frozen state inside meteors in space. The vaccine which was successfully derived yesterday works on the basis of regeneration.”
“Oh my God!” exclaimed Blood. “I personally watched cancer kill my father. But I never thought regeneration could be possible. It seems like something out of science fiction. If body parts can grow back through this vaccine, there’s a deadly way this can be misused. Anyone immunized with this is unstoppable. Even immortal. This could create an invincible soldier. We’re in hell if it gets into the wrong hands.”
The Colonel increased Blood’s worries. “You’re too late. The lab was attacked by two assassins in balaclavas. They took the test subject, a rabbit, and the vaccine along with the piece of stone. We have the feeds from a few micro surveillance cameras placed strategically in the lab a year ago.”
“How do you have the feeds? On what basis did we place those cams?”
“Well, we didn’t. DARPA is currently outsourcing that job to a European extremist organization called the Union Legion.”
“What the hell is wrong with DARPA? The Union Legion is an organization of rogue ex-paramilitary soldiers of the European countries. This organization intends to take over the power of the European Union! Even UNISU has put out a shoot-at-sight order on their members.”
Blood was referring to United Nations Intelligence and Security Unit. It was the ultra-secret, highly advanced agency which acted as a regulating force for all Intelligence services around the world. It was the nexus of all agencies.
“I know. But everyone plays both sides. Get used to it,” ordered the Colonel. “All we know is that the lead researcher may have survived the explosion in the lab and may still be hunting the assassins. He’s a former Army Ranger who commanded the Life Support team. You need to know what that signifies.
“That team is the reason the operation that created COBALT was successful. I owe that man my life.”
Damian Blood knew what it meant and nodded. That Army Ranger was a big brother to their unit and him. He asked a question which was eating at him. “Who ran the lab?”
“It’s owned by an Alaskan oil billionaire and investor called Nate McCain. But it was controlled by former Major Nicholas Park, the Army Ranger who was also a great microbiologist. Because of his expertise, he led the Life Support team which took down the threats of many bio-weapons. Now, he has to use his long-dormant skills to survive and hunt down the men who killed his intern and stole his research.”
Blood spoke frankly, “What exactly do we do here?”
His boss looked at his second-in-command after a long time and said, “That’s your cue, Ms. Moore.”
Linda Moore was intently listening and got her chance to speak. “The Hounds will be going to an Alaskan air field near the New-Leaf island accompanied by two Deltas who are new to COBALT. A C-130 is being prepped as we speak. When that plane lands in southeast Alaska, a HH-60 Pave Hawk chopper will be loaded and prepped for you and the Hounds. The two Deltas are qualified to fly the Pave Hawk. You’ll be provided with live satellite feeds from NRO. From there the only radio contact is if something changes severely.”
The Captain saw a fault. “I don’t need two Deltas. We aren’t recruits! I can fly choppers myself. Linda, I know that you aren’t impressed by our record. But if you actually step out in the field, you’ll know that newbies in a team create some friction.”
“You’re going to need them. We believe that the two masked assassins were only the first team. We’re expecting heavy resistance. Park’s record is public. Every bad guy knows that many good guys owe him. You nee
d to expect serious heat, though it’s physically cold out there. If you know what I mean.”
The two military men weren’t even the least bit amused. Out of pity, Blood said, “Good one.” But he didn’t laugh. “The reports on the screen say that the guards were given a day off by the owner. You need to look into that Nate McCain character, while I’m gone. It looks a bit fishy, that’s all.”
The analyst got furious and shot back. “I don’t need to be told how to do my job. I was just about to do that as soon as your drunken rear was out of the bunker.”
Blood smiled and remembered his little sister’s ego. A long time ago, as he hadn’t approved of her ethical vigilante hacking life, he had accidentally driven her away. That gap in his life was recently filled by this bumbling analyst with whom he verbally sparred with from time to time.
The Colonel broke in. “Take this outside. I’ve got a few calls to make to arrange your op. I sure hope Buck is sober.”
Buck was the St. Bernard in the Hounds team. Though only three years old, he was a brilliant animal. He could recognize a vocabulary of more than 2000 words, understood science and technology and had rescued Blood from the line of fire when injured numerous times. Despite his size, Buck was a very stealthy operative and had earned a few honors in the Green Berets.
Damian Blood stood, took a long look at the people in front of him and left. He banged the door wildly as he left, for no reason.
“If he continues doing that, we’ll even have to replace this titanium door!” exclaimed the Colonel.
Moore let out a small laugh but soon grew serious. “When do we tell him who he might face?”
“What do you mean?”
“The rogue unit whom you owe.”
“All we know is that they are en route to New-Leaf. Those tricky bastards use COMMS which even we can’t hack. All we know of is the Coups they have engineered in the last four years. We still don’t know who they work for.”
“Blood and his team have the right to know of the dangers on this operation. . .”
The Colonel said flatly, “Both Park and the Hounds will face them, and find out who they work for. They surely will survive. Let’s not poison their minds with future encounters with good men turned bad. It will only confuse them. That will be all, Ms. Moore.”
With a grim expression, the chief analyst stood and left unsatisfied. The middle-aged Colonel went back to his computing screens and hoped that all his men would come back alive.
4
Chapter 4
June 2nd
00:10a.m
Near Discovery Park
Southern Seattle
The neon lights, electronic music and energy on the beach kept the night young. All the operatives were used to having the time of their lives in this unit. That was only when there wasn’t a dire situation which demanded their attention. Even some of the ex-Army Rangers turned security contractors who acted as the mansion’s security force had fun here. This was a weekly affair.
Captain Damian Blood almost stepped right onto the beach from the mansion’s front garden. Instead he took the time to savor the cheerful sight of his friends.
Buck was playing fetch with his master. Sergeant Will Lark was both playing and training his dog. The big, lion-sized St. Bernard meticulously made its way through the throng of partying people and grabbed the flavored bone with sharp speed and precision.
Soon Blood’s gaze shifted to another direction. Near a horizontal beach chair, were two young women laughing and talking in a flirtatious manner. They both wore shorts. One wore a tank top and the other wore a bikini top. Blood guessed that the person on that horizontal chair was Logan Tanner. The former SEAL Team Three sniper was the glue which kept the Hounds together. His regular injuries brought better empathy within the team. Also, his management skills helped to dismantle conflicts in this unit. He had ignored his MBA and joined the Navy a few years ago as he did not want to settle down.
This was the team Blood had put together a year ago and just looking at them gave him pride. Now before he had the chance to find the two Deltas who were new to COBALT, something happened.
“There’s something else you need to know.” A familiar yet unexpected voice came from behind him. He spun around to see the short figure of Linda Moore.
“What’s the catch? Is Ryan hiding something from me?” asked a nosy Blood.
Moore replied, “Save that for later. There are always secrets in this business. What you need to know is that you guys and Park have help within New-Leaf, Alaska. We’re not sure how reliable he is.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s a young Army Corporal who got recruited by the DIA a year ago for this particular assignment. He’s in a well-established deep cover job. His Army service record’s been sanitized. There may be some politics with the DIA as they do not want to blow their operative’s cover until it’s absolutely necessary. So, Park does not have back-up.”
“Don’t be too sure. He’s a rookie. He would have been selected for this job only If he’s a fast learning and adapting hotshot. That kind of person springs at the first chance they get to fight evil and do good. Their heart’s always in the right place and we can rely on them.”
“Wanna brief your team and have a fight with the Delta hotshots to initiate them into the Hounds?”
The Captain grinned. “Yeah, but you don’t need to see that. Go be busy.”
“Jerk!” exclaimed Moore softly, shaking her head. She went back into the mansion.
Blood was left all by himself to think of negotiating the terms of a truce between his team and the two new additions. He jogged into the beach. Taking a deep breath, he let out a loud, long howl.
Buck, Will Lark and Logan Tanner turned at once, dropped their stuff and ran towards Blood. This signature howl was the call of the Hounds which was used to assemble all the members of the team together in times of an emergency. Everyone in their unit was used to this howl by now. The two men and the dog stood in a circle around Blood and waited for word from their leader.
The leader spoke, “Guys, we have a job. Prep as fast as you can for departure to Alaska. Everyone will be briefed on the C-130. Expect heavy resistance and bring an arsenal which will be useful in any situation. The stakes are high. There’s one downside. Two additional members will be joining us for this. So, play well and pack up.”
Tanner spoke, “Who are the additional members?”
“The two Airborne Delta commandos who were transferred to COBALT a week ago. Where exactly are they?”
Lark answered, “They called it a night an hour ago.”
“Guess we’ll have to wake them up,” said Tanner.
‘Why not have some fun in doing so?’ thought Blood.
* * *
On the second floor of the mansion, the three men and Buck stood beside the partially opened door. Lark stroked Buck’s forehead and pointed his hand at the door in a sign that only they could understand. Then his fingers showed a countdown-Three; Two; One.- and the dog burst into the room. There was no noise at all now. This puzzled the three men and they too burst into the room. What they saw angered all three of them.
The two young Deltas stood with their Glock 17 pistols aimed at Buck. He wasn’t an attack dog and never assaulted members of their own unit. Buck’s purpose was only recon and rescue. So, he stood down. The commandos were getting dressed in the room which was barren except for their bunk beds and a few personal duffle bags.
Lark aimed his own Beretta at the newbies and screamed in anger. “Never point guns at our dog. You don’t want him getting confused between good and bad guys!”
Jake Trevor was the first to lower his gun. He said, “Moore briefed us about the situation. We’d be honored to fly for you. Just keep the damn dog away.”
Dave Harper, the other Delta said, “What’s the logistics of our arsenal here?”
The Hounds seemed surprised, confused and sad that Moore had taken out all the fun here by briefing
them on the op. Damn you, Moore. Thought Blood.
The captain answered, “We carry everything we can in the Hercules and the Pave Hawk. Come on, time’s against us.”
* * *
June 1st
11:30p.m
New-Leaf Island
South-East Alaska
How much was Nick Park possibly hiding here? Nobody knew this lab in the middle of nowhere was worth anything. There are so many burnt animals here along with one human body.
Sheriff Edna Morgan’s train of thought was broken by the words of her trainee.
“Sorry to bother your thoughts ma’am, but McCain isn’t answering the call,” said her newest addition to the New-Leaf sheriff’s department. Dominic Quill was the most polite, resourceful, result-oriented, out-of-the-box thinker she’d had the opportunity to come across. She took her eyes away from the blazing wreckage of the lab and turned towards the rookie.
“Any luck with Park’s phone?” she asked hopefully.
Quill analyzed and said, “Not yet. The body in the lab is too short to be that of Park’s. We all know what he has achieved. Let’s not doubt his survival based of this wreck. He could be anywhere. At this very moment, he could be hunting down the real enemy. We need to aid him. Why aren’t we doing that?”
His voice was not clearly heard in the midst of the firetrucks putting out the blaze with their fire-hoses and water cannons. Sometimes the water reacted with some rare chemicals inside the lab and gave out smaller explosions. The town’s fire department wasn’t well equipped to put out chemical fires and so the process took more time than required.
Morgan sighed. “He may be a war hero, but he did hide the fact that he was experimenting on animals. If he needs help, why isn’t he calling us or even sending out any sort of communication.”
“If I may speak freely Ma’am, he may be well out of phone network coverage area. Or he may be in deep trouble and not be able to reach out. And there’s another option. You’ll definitely hate to hear it.”
Alaskan Storm (Part 1 of Blood Stone Impact): A Taskforce COBALT Action-Adventure Technothriller Page 3