by J C Ryan
Only three days after the Nabatean operatives had been told to get the low-down, Rick failed to show for work one morning. When Sam called his home, his recorded phone message stated he was feeling under the weather and he’d be off for a couple of days. Sam left a message wishing him a speedy recovery and that she would miss him. She thought no more of it.
However, Rick had been forced at gunpoint to leave that recording. He was in the hands of the Nabatean operatives, and they’d threatened to harm Sam if they had to shoot him because he wouldn’t cooperate. He decided to spare himself a gunshot wound and Sam an equally horrifying fate and did exactly as he was told.
Fortunately for the team, but unfortunately for Rick, he didn’t know everything, nor did he have any of the information stored on his personal computer. Bit by agonizing bit, he gave up what he did know under torture. The library of the giants, the progress they’d made translating it, the surprising knowledge of the Dolphins, and even the plans to go to the Alboran Sea, and with the help of the Dolphins, locate the ancient nukes hidden in the giants’ capital. Because he didn’t know the timeline for the last revelation, he died pleading for them to spare Sam. On the third day after he didn’t show up for work, his body was found in his burned-out car in a vacant lot in Southeast Washington.
Identification was from dental records, the autopsy revealed that he was badly beaten but everyone assumed it was a hate crime because of the neighborhood, but no one could explain what Rick was doing in that neighborhood. The police had their hands full, and Rick’s parents were grief-stricken but believed the police. Sam was inconsolable and unable to work.
Carter and his team as well as the Executive Advantage were shaken by the loss of one of their most valuable team members. The suspicious circumstances of Rick’s death also set off alarm bells for Carter and a few others. At the insistence of the senior management of A-Echelon, Executive Advantage rushed most of them back to the safety of Freydís. There was still so much they wanted to learn from their new found marine friends, but it wasn’t going to be. They’d have to work with what they had.
However, Carter and Mackenzie sided with Samantha when she refused to go until after Rick’s funeral. Despite their desperate need for her expertise and experience with the code, they understood her desire — no, her absolute need — to grieve for Rick. Only their concern for their children made them go before paying their respects to their colleague as well. James, Irene, and Sam would all represent the entire A-Echelon team at the funeral. Sam would rejoin the others on Freydís within a week afterward. Meanwhile, more security was assigned to her. Sean and Dylan promised they wouldn’t let so much as a mosquito get within two miles of her.
Mackenzie hugged Sam goodbye as they boarded the plane to return home. “Take care of yourself, honey,” she said.
“I will, and thank you. I’ll be there as soon as I can; I promise. I know your beautiful Freydís is the best place to recover. You, Liu, and Bly have become like family to me.”
“We feel the same way, Sam. Hurry home.”
Chapter 56 -
We MUST have that information
The report from Rick’s torturers electrified Mathieu Nabati. Another emergency Council meeting was called, this time to present a coup. He had vital information and a decision was required.
After presenting what he knew and how he knew it, Nabati made his proposal. “We MUST have that information. All of it. It’s time to move in on Carter Devereux’s ranch, Freydís, and get it at all costs.”
“We have only minimal intel from our observation satellites and drones,” objected one of the members.
“Nevertheless, we have to strike before their planned expedition. We cannot allow them to find those ancient nukes, and we cannot allow them to be the only guardians of the knowledge of the giants. We should have captured that library and those weapons as well. This is no time to be cowardly,” Nabati concluded, eyeing the objective member with a frown.
“I can help.” It was the member from Russia, who also happened to be the Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia. “I have a team of ex-Spetsnaz on my payroll, standing by for just such a mission. Let them earn their keep. These puny guards on Freydís won’t stand a chance.”
No debate was needed. With the one naysayer duly chastised, the vote was unanimous — attack Freydís. Take Carter Devereux and anyone else they might find useful alive if possible, but priority number one was to get the library and anything pertaining to dolphins at all costs, up to and including the killing of everyone on the ranch.
The council left the details up to the Spetsnaz team, and they made their plans with their usual efficiency. Over the next week, sixteen men would arrive separately at different locations within Canada, either alone or traveling with a fake partner or family. They would make their way, one group of eight to Montreal and another group of eight to Quebec City, meeting up there within ten days. When they were assembled, they would use two private jets to fly them over Freydís to be parachuted in from high altitude, collect their information and hostages, if any, and then be extracted from the private airstrip on Freydís.
Assuming everything went per plan, they would fly back to Quebec, turn over their booty to a Council operative, and then make their way back to where they’d arrived in the first place and leave the country in a reverse of their entries. Each was trained to improvise. If the unthinkable happened and the mission failed in any way, only the leader knew they were hired by the Director of the FSB. The others would protect whatever information they garnered from the mission itself with their lives and kill anyone they couldn’t extract.
Chapter 57 -
The battle of Freydís
At first, everything did go according to plan. One plane dropped its deadly load to the west of Freydís, and the other to the east. Each group assembled, made sure they were all there, hid their parachutes, and then split into two four-man teams to observe from four separate high points in the mountains surrounding the ranch. For two days, they observed the homestead, taking note of the comings and goings of Ahote, Bly, and the people living in the cabin and surrounding outbuildings.
During this time, Keeva and Loki had noted the presence of the newcomers. Put off by their furtive manner, they had posted their pups, Nadia, and her two to observe what these strange humans were up to. They made sure to stay out of sight until they had some signal from Mackenzie, their special human, that the newcomers were friends. For the time being, the new humans weren’t making any threatening moves, but the wolves were on alert.
After observing with high-flying drones during the day and infrared imaging by satellite at night, the Spetsnaz team had enough intel. At two a.m., they began making their stealthy way toward the main cabin, where they knew Carter Devereux and his family would be sleeping when they arrived after a forced march. Tough as nails, none of them were unnerved by the faint howl of wolves in the distance. They all knew that wolves in the wild would not approach humans, and they were confident in their numbers and weapons.
Communicating with their pups and Nadia to stay put unless called, Loki and Keeva raced for the cabin. Something was very wrong about these new humans, and they had to warn Mackenzie to protect her pups. At three thirty a.m., both adult wolves arrived at the cabin and set up a howling like never before. Carter and Mackenzie, startled out of a sound sleep, were up like lightning, Carter grabbing his semi-automatic weapon as Mackenzie threw on a robe over her nightgown and checked that the children were still asleep.
“Mackie, take a look and see who’s out front, while I take a look around back,” Carter said.
Mackenzie looked out the front windows and saw only Loki and Keeva. Both were still howling, their heads pointed skyward. “It’s just Loki and Keeva. Where are the rest of them? Do you think something’s happened?” she called to Carter.
He called back, “No, I think they’re trying to warn us.” Just then, his peripheral vision caught movement. Two human figures were cr
ouched at the side of the barn. As he watched, they made a dash toward the translation prefab. Shit. This wasn’t good.
Carter ran toward Mackenzie’s position, and she met him in the middle. “Get the children and take cover in the hallway,” he whispered urgently. “Stay down.”
“But Carter . . .”
“No buts, Mackie. We have armed intruders out there. I’ll raise Dylan while you get the kids. Try to keep them quiet. If you can get to the guns and ammo, please get them to me ASAP.”
Mackenzie’s blood ran cold when she heard “armed intruders”. Her concern for the wolves took immediate second place to her fear for her children. She hurried to Liam’s room first, gave him quick instructions to go quietly into the hallway, lie down, and keep quiet. To Jeha, she said, “Guard.” The little dog followed Liam at a trot and lay down on top of him. Mackenzie moved quickly into Beth’s room and lifted her from her bed, blankets and all. “Shhh,” she soothed, as the little one began to stir.
Once in the hallway, she asked Liam, “Can you be mama’s big boy? I need to help Dad. Can you stay here no matter what happens, and keep Beth here?”
“Yes, Mama. And Jeha will help me. But I’m scared.”
She took a moment to hug him. “I know you are, sweetheart. But Dad and I will protect you. Loki and Keeva are here, too. Stay down, now, and keep Beth with you. Can you do that?” Seeing him nod, even though his eyes were wide with fear, Mackenzie squeezed his shoulder. As she duck-walked to the end of the hall to get the weapons out of the gun safe, she spared a thought for her parents and brother, two miles west in a secluded cabin. When Carter had built the cabin and its attached apartment for them, the distance was a way of giving both families some privacy. Now she worried that they were unprotected, although her brother had begun training with them and could probably hold off a normal break-in until help arrived. This was no normal break-in; she knew in her heart. All she could do was pray they’d be safe until the EA team secured the ranch.
She heard Carter speaking firmly on the two-way radio. “I saw only two, but there could be more. Be careful. We’ll hold the fort until you get here.” Apparently satisfied with Dylan’s reply, he laid the radio down and turned toward her position. She handed him his Sig Sauer P226 pistol, his bulletproof vest, belt with a spare magazine and high-powered flashlight, and a throat mic. She’d shrugged on her own vest and throat mic as soon as she’d gotten the safe open. Carter took his weapon and accessories with a quick smile of reassurance and then did a double-take as Mackenzie pulled her own weapon from the safe.
“I never thought I’d see the day . . .” he muttered as she slammed a magazine home into the pink-trimmed weapon. But now was not the time to razz her about her sissy gun. It would do just as much damage as his, and Mackie had proven herself a crack shot in their training sessions. He was silent as she buckled her own combat belt around her slim waist.
“Do we stay put until we have more information?” she asked. “Dylan and his team are on the way. Are they not?”
“Yes, they are. But I don’t like the idea of staying inside. If we’re in here with the children when they attack, there may not be time to protect them. They can throw a grenade through the window. Let’s go outside, reconnoiter, and keep them away from the house and the children. The wolves are out front, so it must be relatively safe in that direction. We can radio Dylan with whatever we learn, too.”
“Good point. Okay, stay low,” she replied.
Carter led the way as they bush-crawled through the living room and out the front door, first opening it a crack to see if the wolves were still in position. Loki and Keeva paced back and forth on the cabin-wide front veranda, closer than Mackenzie had ever seen them come to the house.
“Keeva, Loki. Who’s out there?” Mackenzie asked, almost believing they would answer her. For a minute, she truly thought they would, as both their ears pricked up and rotated toward Camp Tala. They gave a series of sharp yips, and then resumed their pacing.
***
Within minutes of receiving Carter’s distress call, Dylan had his ten-man team up and in full gear, only waiting on the order to move out from Camp Tala. The wolf-handlers each put a dog whistle to their lips to call the wolf pups. They’d had enough training to be of assistance in a nighttime operation and were nearly the size of their fearsome parents already. No sooner than the whistles were employed, at frequencies inaudible to humans, a series of yips from the direction of the Devereux cabin let them know the wolves had heard. Within a few moments, the six juveniles and Nadia, the lone female, reported for duty — Loki and Keeva having given their permission for the pups to leave their assigned posts.
Dylan gave the signal to move out, and the ten men and seven wolves set out at a brisk trot for the cabin with orders to hold up and assess the situation before rushing in with guns blazing. As he was wondering how intruders got past the passive security measures — laser trip wires, motion sensors, and others — he and the others heard all hell break loose at the cabin.
A couple of gunshots, the sound of a wolf yelping in pain, and a high-pitched scream — it was Mackenzie — followed by a firefight with too many gunshots too quickly to count. He halted his men in their tracks.
“OK, we’ve got real trouble. You three, circle the cabin clockwise. Assess and report. You three, go the opposite direction and do the same. Don’t shoot unless you can absolutely identify your target as an unfriendly. You two, come with me. Hendricks, Johnson, separate and cover us.” He motioned the last two men right and left, and then began trotting toward the cabin in a zigzag manner, with two men following.
***
Back at the cabin, Carter motioned Mackenzie to go to the east side of the veranda while he took the west to see if any of the intruders showed themselves. Loki and Keeva maintained their pacing, but nosed Mackenzie each time they passed her. As she gained the corner and cautiously peeked around, she saw a man wearing night-vision goggles peering through the windows of the master bedroom with a handgun at the ready. Slowly, she raised her weapon. Before she got it fully raised, a blur of gray-brown raced out of the woods and leapt on the man’s back.
Under attack by one of the young wolves, the man panicked and turned toward it, reflexively firing as he turned. The wolf pup yelped and landed on the ground, still. Mackenzie lost it. With a blood-curdling war cry, she leaped over the railing and charged the man, pulling the trigger as she went and spewing obscenities she didn’t even know she knew. Her cry had alerted the man, and he turned toward her, raising his gun. But it was too late. Her first round took him between the eyes, taking almost half his head away — he was dead long before he hit the ground. Mackenzie, wild with grief for the wolf, kept shooting. By the time she reached the man, he was hamburger. She fell to her knees beside the wolf pup to examine its wounds. Keeva was right beside her.
At the same moment when Mackenzie saw the man on her side of the cabin, Carter looked around the corner on his side and saw two men at each of the children’s windows. Noting that they were each wearing night-vision goggles and had their guns raised and pointed to the inside of the rooms, he quick-drew his flashlight and blinded them with its high-power beam before dropping them both, each with a single shot to the head. Carter was infuriated that these attackers would go after kids.
As his two villains dropped to the ground, he heard the commotion from the other side of the house. A gunshot, and a yelp! Mackenzie’s scream galvanized him. He yelled her name and whirled in place. He reached the other side of the veranda in time to see her charging a man on the ground and firing at him on the run. There was little he could do. He cleared the railing with a long high-jump and fell to his knees in a shooting stance in case she gave him the chance to defend her.
When she veered from her straight run at the intruder, Carter saw the man torn to shreds by her bullets and watched as she fell to her knees beside the wolf pup, Keeva right next to her. Carter breathed a sigh of relief that Mackie seemed safe, but in the blin
k of an eye, the relief turned to terror as a man appeared from the back of the cabin and grabbed her from behind.
Carter raised his gun again, but once more Mackenzie was between him and his target. As he roared in frustration, Mackenzie dropped into a dead weight and the man lost his grip on her. Before Carter could react, Mackenzie whipped her head back, connecting solidly with the man’s unprotected groin. As the man doubled over in pain, Mackenzie shot up, spun around, and brought one knee violently into the man’s face. The assailant was done for when Keeva got into the act. As soon as his back hit the ground, Keeva was at his throat, and it was over in seconds. All Carter and Mackenzie heard was his gurgling as Keeva ripped his throat out. Keeva raised her head to the sky and howled, an eerie sound of triumph and grief, before going back to tend to her wounded pup — JR, named after James Rhodes.
Carter spoke to the corpses of the two intruders. “Can’t say that I’m sorry, assholes. On this ranch, no one messes with the women. And apparently, you didn’t know about our arrangements with the wolves.” He looked up to find a feral look on Mackenzie’s face. “Didn’t you know that wolf moms will kill you for messing with their pups?”
Just then, one of the EA men rushed out of the woods, too. Mackenzie saw him and looked down at the wolf pup, with Keeva guarding him. “He needs first aid. Hurry! Keeva, let the man help your pup.” Keeva relaxed and whined, then licked the hand of the startled soldier. He flashed a grin at Mackenzie.