Drop Team Zero

by Jake Bible

  “My son,” Keer snarled.

  Leguin held out his hands. “I can send one of the other Drop Teams,” he said. “Zero is the best, but any one of my Teams can get the job done. I’m thinking Three would be best suited for the task.”

  “But we don’t know where to look!” Keer shouted.

  “Councilman, I will have you removed if you cannot be calm,” Kimo said.

  “Remove me and you’ll have the wrath of the entire Fleet Council coming down on you like a span-hammer,” Keer snarled.

  “I don’t think we want that, Councilman Keer,” Leguin said. “I do understand how hard this is for you, but I can promise you that we will find your son and we will retrieve him before any permanent damage can be done.”

  “Permanent? Permanent! You will find him and retrieve him, like you were already supposed to do, without any damage being done at all!” Keer yelled.

  “That I cannot promise you,” Leguin said. “I am sorry, but I don’t think anyone in here would believe me if I told you I could. The Drop Teams are the best at what they do, but they cannot stop the Collari Syndicate from harming your son. My guess is that you will be receiving a message from them shortly just like the message you received from Sha Morgoal originally.”

  Leguin looked to Gerber for confirmation and the major general nodded.

  “We expect to receive the message any minute now,” Gerber said. “The Collari wouldn’t stick their necks out like this unless you have something important they want. You will have to be patient and let us all do our jobs.”

  “I was patient before and where did it get me?” Keer asked. “Nowhere. I’d be a fool to expect different results.”

  The man stood up and shook with so many conflicting emotions he looked like he was having a small seizure. He pointed a finger at each person present, finally resting on Kimo.

  “I am hiring a private security firm to handle this situation,” Keer said. “Do not try to stop me or talk me out of it. It is within my rights as a citizen of the Galactic Fleet to protect my family at all costs.”

  “I’m going to advise against doing that,” Leguin said. “But you are your own man and a free citizen, so the choice is yours.”

  “Anyone else want to flap their gums uselessly?” Keer snapped. No one else responded. “Good. Then it is settled. Now, my advice to all of you, is to get your houses in order because if my son comes back to me in less than perfect condition, I plan on using the Council’s full powers to destroy each of you personally.”

  He didn’t wait for a response and stormed from the conference room. Two alarmed-looking Marines watched him go as the doors banged open then both glanced into the conference room before turning about and snapping back to attention when they received a less than pleased glare from the commandant.

  “That didn’t go as well as I had hoped,” Kimo said once the doors were closed and she sat down heavily in her chair. “He will do what he feels is right and we will do what we are duty bound to do.”

  “This could be good,” Gerber said. “Letting him off leash.”

  “How could this be good?” Walton asked. “A councilman does not trust the Fleet to do what it does best and is bringing in outside entities to do our job for us.”

  “I know Intelligence has screwed the gump on this, but I know for a fact it is not an organization-wide issue,” Gerber said. “Intelligence Officer VilMon was acting on his own. I want to know why as much as everyone else does. I believe Keer has some of those answers. Sha Morgoal snatched his son for a reason. The Skrangs wanted the boy for a reason. The Collari Syndicate exposed a mole in order to get that boy. This isn’t random and Keer is not innocent.”

  “You’ll surveil the security team he hires?” Leguin asked.

  “I will,” Gerber said. “If they go directly to where the boy is being held then we’ll know Keer has inside information.”

  “And if they do not go to where the boy is?” Walton asked.

  “Then I still send Drop Team Three,” Leguin replied. “I’ll have them on standby.”

  “I’ll do what I can to discover where the Collari Syndicate is holding Dylan,” Gerber said. “I have a few agents imbedded in their organization. None have any idea why the Collari want Dylan Keer, but they can probably find out his location.”

  “Then that is how we proceed,” Kimo said. “Colonel Leguin, you will prepare your Team for deployment as soon as we know the location of the Keer boy. Gerber, I expect that location to come across my desk within the hour.”

  “It could take longer than that, ma’am,” Gerber said.

  “Within the hour,” Kimo insisted. Gerber nodded.

  “We still have the mystery of the Skrang,” Walton said. “Should I have the Fleet on alert?”

  “No,” Kimo said. “If we do that then we are sending a signal to the Skrang Alliance that we are preparing for war again. The Skrang at Sha Morgoal’s palace may have been acting independently of the overall Alliance. Or they may not have been. Until we know for sure what the Skrangs’ involvement is, we hold tight. The last thing we need is to plunge the galaxy back into war over some councilman’s child. I do not mean to sound cold, but I have to consider everyone’s children, not just a privileged politician’s.”

  “That we all agree on, ma’am,” Leguin said. He stood up. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a Team to get ready.”

  “Of course, Colonel,” Kimo said. “You will hear from me within the hour.”

  Leguin gave a quick salute then strode casually from the conference room. As soon as he was down the hall and out of sight, he activated his com and the casualness dropped away.

  “Get me Lieutenant Falk this second,” he said.

  “Funny you should say that, Colonel,” a voice replied in his ear. “She is waiting to speak to you. It’s a scrambled channel that is not part of the Fleet system, so you will need to take it in your office. I cannot reroute it over the com.”

  “Good,” Leguin said. “Purge all records of her communication and get me Drop Team Three’s CO ASAP. I want to talk to him as soon as I’m done with Falk.”

  “Yes, sir,” the voice said and the com went dead.

  Leguin ground his teeth as he made his way to the closest lift that would get him back to his office.

  Twenty-One

  “You’re safe?” Leguin asked, his eyes studying the holo projection of Motherboard. “Zero is safe?”

  “Safety isn’t our concern right now, sir,” Motherboard replied. “But we are in a secure location.”

  “Hole did a good job with the off-system communications link,” Leguin said. “I’ve had my people hunting for cracks in the code, but they can’t find them.”

  Motherboard smiled. “By people, you mean Staff Sergeant Lo’wn, right?”

  “Yes,” Leguin admitted. “But, she being a Klav and nothing but a ball of eyes, it’s hard for things to get past her.”

  “Tel’ile is great at her job,” Motherboard said. “You would be hard pressed to find a better assistant.”

  “Speaking of great at their jobs, I am going to have to ask Zero to stand down for the time being,” Leguin said.

  “That’s a contradictory request,” Motherboard said. “Praise us for being great at our jobs while also firing us? Mixed messages there, sir.”

  Leguin gave her a weak smile and a nod as his response.

  “Who may I ask is taking over the op?” Motherboard asked.

  “Three,” Leguin said. “They’ve been tasked with retrieving the Keer boy and delivering him to us directly. No more handoffs with Intelligence.”

  “How deep do you think the Syndicate has their fingers?” Motherboard asked. “Or, how high up is the problem, I should ask.”

  “Gerber is clean,” Leguin said. “I don’t care for the guy, but I didn’t sniff out any corruption.”

  Motherboard laughed.

  “Okay, okay, I sniffed out the normal stink of corruption that all Intelligence officers have, but he didn
’t strike me as crooked,” Leguin said. “The Collari Syndicate doesn’t have him in their pocket.”

  “What about Councilman Keer?” Motherboard asked.

  “I sometimes wonder if Hole hasn’t figured out a way for you to be tapped into my com system,” Leguin said and laughed. “Were you listening to the meeting I was just in?”

  “Easy conclusion,” Motherboard replied. “And I was Intelligence at one point. Hard to get rid of that kind of professional paranoia.”

  “Paranoia seems to be all the fashion lately,” Leguin said.

  “How?” Motherboard asked.

  “Keer is hiring his own private security detail to hunt down his son,” Leguin said. “We’re going to give him a first crack at it. If he fails, and doesn’t get his kid killed in the process, then I send in Three. For now, we’re on standby.”

  “His own security detail?” Motherboard laughed. “This should be rich. Especially since no one knows where the Keer boy is.”

  “Gerber is working on that,” Leguin said. “He’ll have a location within the hour.”

  “Will you be sharing that location?” Motherboard asked.

  “Only with Three,” Leguin said. “That’s directly from Kimo.”

  “You want to tell me why we’re really being shoved aside?” Motherboard asked.

  “Let’s say that Kimo and others don’t exactly see Zero as squeaky clean in all this,” Leguin said and held up a hand before Motherboard could protest. “I have no doubts as to your loyalty. But with the Edgers arriving on Monia’Ja, it’s hard not to see a connection.”

  “It’s hard for me, apparently,” Motherboard said.

  “Is it?” Leguin asked. “You know your teammates better than anyone else. I would think the connection would be obvious.”

  “You’ve lost me, sir,” Motherboard said.

  Motherboard stared out of the holo at Leguin for a second then nodded.

  “There it is,” Leguin laughed. “Your teammate’s personal connection. Should I worry about this, Lieutenant?”

  “I’m worried about all of Zero, to be honest,” Motherboard said. “We’re off our game. Everyone is tense and emotional. This op went bad fast and I don’t know why. I also don’t know why my people are acting like first-year recruits. It’s strange.”

  “Have you swept your ship?” Leguin asked. “Checked for some type of outside influence? You could have a bug.”

  “Hole has assured me that there are no trackers or surveillance devices on the Eight-Three-Eight,” Motherboard said. “She’d know if there was any foreign tech onboard.”

  “No, not tech, a bug,” Leguin said. “A literal bug. Check for biological influences.”

  “There’d be no way that…” Motherboard started then trailed off. “Mites.”

  “Yes, there might be,” Leguin said.

  “No, mites,” Motherboard said. “Sha Morgoal. He’s Slinghasp. Scaled. If he had Volgassian mites under those scales, then let them loose once he was on the ship, we’d not only be emotionally affected, but he could be tracked anywhere in the galaxy if someone knew the vibrational frequency those little parasites put out.”

  “Bish,” Leguin warned.

  “Yeah, I just realized what’s about to hit us,” Motherboard said. She waved a hand at Leguin and half of her left the holo view. “Fo! How could I be so stupid?”

  “Because you’re part machine and the mites wouldn’t affect you like the others,” Leguin said. “Same with Hole. Put her on the search. Clear that ship and get the fo out of there. I doubt you have much time.”

  “I’ll report as soon as we’re at a safe location,” Motherboard said. “Hole is going to have to check the com system again. If we have mites then their mating signals will be combined with our trans-space com signal. No one can eavesdrop, but they will be able to find that channel and crack the code eventually. Fo!”

  “Stop beating yourself up, Bish,” Leguin said. “If there hadn’t been a mole in Intelligence then the mites wouldn’t have mattered. Your people would still be whiny babies, but you would have had the ship back here at Headquarters for its usual post-op clean and purge. No harm, really.”

  “But Intelligence did have a mole and the fact we missed the mites means our location is compromised and we need to run, now,” Motherboard said. “I’ll be in touch as soon as we have a new secure com and we find a place to hole up in.”

  “Talk to you then, Lieutenant,” Leguin said. “Stay safe.”

  “Yes, sir,” Motherboard said and the holo blinked out.

  Leguin sat at his desk for a few seconds then reached up to tap his ear. But before he could activate his com, the door to his office slid open and a being that was basically a large ball of eyes, with several long tentacles sticking from the flesh between, came rolling in.

  “Good timing, Staff Sergeant,” Leguin said to the Klav.

  Staff Sergeant Tel’ile Lo’wn blinked several of her eyes at once, the Klav version of a nod, and stopped at the edge of Leguin’s desk. Only half her body could be seen, but considering how many eyes she had, it didn’t really make a difference. Leguin just had to decide which eyes to look into as he spoke.

  “Tell me you have good news,” Leguin said.

  “I do, sir,” Lo’wn replied. “Major General Gerber’s office called. They believe they know where the Collari Syndicate has taken the Keer boy, Sha Morgoal, and Sergeant Guspo.”

  “That was faster than I expected,” Leguin said. “Gerber’s agents on the inside must have been waiting for him to contact them.”

  “The intel didn’t come from his inside agents, sir,” Lo’wn said. “It came from the surveillance on Councilman Keer. The suspicions were right and the councilman must have some ties to the Collari Syndicate because the security team he hired is already on their way to the target destination.”

  “That happened faster than I thought, too,” Leguin said. “Makes me think Keer had that security team lined up and ready before we even met with him.”

  “That would be a logical assumption,” Lo’wn replied. “Would you care to know who he hired?”

  “Irrelevant,” Leguin said. “Just tell me the target destination.”

  “No, sir, I think you do want to know who he hired,” Lo’wn said. Leguin gave her a raised eyebrow. “BooshGon security.”

  “Mother of pearl,” Leguin snarled. “Get me Meeks Boosh on the com right away!”

  “I already tried and his secretary says he is unavailable,” Lo’wn replied.

  “Yeah, I bet he is,” Leguin said. “Meeks has always been scared of me. I’m sure he’s hiding under his desk right now and his secretary is busy covering for him with every call that comes in just in case I try a fake name and slip by.”

  “That is what the secretary said, knowing we’d probably try,” Lo’wn replied. “He is a very friendly Slinghasp, but also extremely loyal. There is no way anyone is talking to Meeks Boosh over the next forty-eight hours.”

  “Then get me Z Gon,” Leguin snapped. “If I have to then I guess I’ll talk to the Jirk.”

  “Yes, well, Z Gon is out on assignment according to her secretary,” Lo’wn said. “A not-so-friendly Lipian that has made it out of the sex trade and into office life.”

  “I sense you do not approve,” Leguin said.

  “Lipians are a prostitute race, sir,” Lo’wn replied. “Anytime you have to deal with them, you know you’re going to get foed.”

  Leguin couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Did you get an idea of what kind of assignment Z Gon is on?” Leguin asked. “And maybe what form that skintaker has stolen? How we let that race live is beyond me.”

  “The Lipian was not going to give out any information, but I did manage to get her to slip up once,” Lo’wn said, her eyes widening in what passed for a smile with Klavs. “I believe that Z Gon is heading up Keer’s security detail personally.”

  “Fo…” Leguin said quietly and leaned back in his chair. He rubbed at his chin then
nodded at Lo’wn. “Okay, you’ve managed to shock me sufficiently. Now, where are they headed?”

  “Care to guess?” Lo’wn asked.

  “Why the fo would I want to…? Oh, Eight Million Gods, don’t tell me,” Leguin said. “The Klatu System?”

  “The Klatu System,” Lo’wn said. “They should be arriving within two hours if they make a few shortcuts through a couple of the less-stable wormhole portals. Knowing BooshGon, they will do just that.”

  “Well, it’s out of our hands now,” Leguin said. “We’ll let BooshGon make a mess of things then send in Three to clean up. Is Lieutenant Queshor standing by on the com?”

  “Lieutenant Queshor is standing by, sir,” Lo’wn said.

  “Good, put him on,” Leguin said. “I want them with wheels up and their ship heading to the Klatu System before my call ends.”

  “He is well aware of that, sir,” Lo’wn said.

  Leguin sighed. “Well, at least Zero isn’t heading to the black site anymore. They would have had a rude surprise waiting for them.”

  “Yes, sir, they would have,” Lo’wn replied.

  Twenty-Two

  “You sure about this, LT?” Wanders asked. “There have to be other places to go hide out at.”

  “Is that the Volgassian mites still talking or are you actually worried, Wanders?” Hole asked.

  “Only a fool wouldn’t be worried about willingly going to the Klatu System,” Wanders said. “And those mites are gone. I’m feeling more like my stone-cold self.”

  “Good to know,” Hole said.

  “I agree with Wanders on this,” Cookie said. “It doesn’t sound like the sanest of strategies.”

  “That’s exactly why it works,” Motherboard said. “It’s just sitting there empty and waiting for us. It has full provisions and supplies put in. And no one would even think we’d be crazy enough to willingly go to the Klatu System. We can land the Eight-Three-Eight in one of the hangars and lock down that site tighter than an Ichterran’s vent hole.”

  “We can also get it prepped for when we retrieve Sha Morgoal, again, and also the Keer boy,” Hole said. “We will be more prepared than we would have been originally.”