At some point, Marshall began talking about his wife again, about his kids and his love for them, the heart shattering hurt he felt, the stabs of depression that still hit him like physical blows any time he thought of them. Kara put her arm around his waist and told him that she understood.
Hail’s eyes were wet.
Kara’s heart hurt for him. Hurt for herself. Hurt for all of those that had suffered way out there, past the glittering coast of Japan and on and on. There was so much hurt and sadness in the world. It was amazing that anyone was truly happy.
The sun was up and they could feel the heat starting to build.
Hail walked Kara to her stateroom. They stopped at her the door. Kara looked up at Marshall and gave him a hug. It felt good. It felt good for both of them. It had been a long time since Kara had felt a man that close and it had not been part of an operation.
And Hail hadn’t felt anyone that close since he had hugged his wife and girls goodbye on that last dreadful day.
“Are you hungry?” Kara asked, her hands still resting on Marshall’s hips.
“Yeah?” Hail said.
“I think I have some popcorn in my room. If you want to come in, we could watch a movie or something.”
“Let me check and see if I’m needed elsewhere,” Hail said, taking out his phone and checking his messages.
The only message was from Renner. It read in bold letters, KARA CALLED KORNEV AND WARNED HIM ABOUT THE MISSILE ATTACK.
Hail did his best not to react to the information.
He looked into Kara’s beautiful eyes and said, “Do you have anything else you want to tell me? If we want to move forward, I need to know we can trust one another.”
Kara thought for a moment. She let her hands fall away from Hail’s waist. She took some air into her cheeks and then puffed it out a few times as she wrestled with how much she should share with Marshall Hall.
“I have something to tell you, but I think it will make you mad.”
“And what would that be?” Hail responded, already looking a little mad.
“Promise you won’t be mad?”
“How can I promise that?” Hail said.
“OK, then I won’t tell you,” Kara said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Hail sighed and said, “OK.”
“No,” Kara said, “You have to promise you won’t be mad.”
“OK, I promise I won’t be mad,” Hail said with a tinge of irritation.
“Alright then, remember you promised,” Kara said.
She took a moment to consider how to phrase her next sentence, but then realized there was no good way to say it.
“I called and warned Kornev about the hit on the warehouse. That’s why he ran.”
Hail said he would not be mad, but to Kara he looked mad. But he didn’t look as mad as she had expected. She thought he would have blown his top by now.
She also added, “Remember, I told you that I wanted Kornev alive. I need him. I need his information.”
Hail looked down on her as if she had disappointed him.
“Is that how your Dad used to look at you?” she asked him.
That comment temporarily stunned Hail and his face went slack.
“As long as we are being honest, then I have something to tell you,” Hail said, regaining his composure.
“Yes,” Kara said.
“You first have to do the whole not to be mad thing,” he told her.
Kara rolled her eyes and said, “I promise.”
“I promise not to be mad,” Hail coaxed her. “You have to say the whole thing.”
“OK, I promise not to be mad,” she said, but instead of annoyance, Kara was smiling.
“Well, after you left to make your call to Kornev, I tried to kill him.”
Kara looked shocked. She wasn’t smiling anymore.
“And how did that work out for you?” she asked tentatively. “I take it when you said that you tried to kill him, that would indicate that you failed to kill him which means that Kornev is still alive?”
Hail looked dejected.
“As far as I know, he is still alive, but it wasn’t from a lack of trying on my part.”
Kara shook her head slowly from side to side. She had her lips bunched up and was giving him the old schoolmarm look.
“Shame, shame,” she told him.
“And I could say the same to you,” Hail shot back.
They both looked at one another, silent, trying to decide in that brief instant how much different their lives might be if this was their last mission together.
“So do you think we can trust each other now?” Kara asked.
“I don’t know. We were able to talk to each other for several hours without killing one another,” Hail commented. “That’s got to be a good start.”
“Well I think you can trust me,” Kara said.
Hail brought his phone up and looked at the old message that Renner had sent after Renner had listened to the recording Kara had made.
“My phone is almost out of power,” Hail said.
Kara reached behind her back, turned the handle and pushed open the door to her stateroom.
“No problem. Come on in. You can use my phone charger.” Kara offered graciously.
Washington, D.C. ― The White House Rose Garden
It was a beautiful summer morning in the Capital city.
The President, Joanna Weston, decided that she would have all her meetings outside in the rose garden today, including of course her luncheon with the newly elected President of the Maldives, Mohamed Yameen.
The first order of business was an update on the Hail Storm mission. Or more to the point, the potential political fallout from the Hail Storm mission.
General Ford, Jarret Pepper, Eric Spearman and Trevor Rogers all sat around the outside table in the center of the rose garden. Coffee had been served. Tea for those who thought that ten in the morning was a little too late for coffee.
Nobody looked happy, and considering how badly the mission had played out, the President expected sincere looks of contrition on the four faces that looked back at her.
Jarret Pepper began the conversation with the upbeat phrase, “The good news is that the decision makers in North Korea have decided not to make a big stink about our attack on their warehouse.”
The President smiled. She had already heard this information, but agreed that it was a good starting point.
The General added, “That’s not surprising. If they went the other direction, they would have to tell the world why their warehouse was so important that it would compel a superpower to bomb it. That’s a very sticky situation.”
“And what was their reaction to having their hotel blown up?” the President asked.
Pepper answered. “A natural gas explosion is how they framed it.”
“Interesting,” President Weston remarked.
“And do we know what became of the pilot of the F-35, Lieutenant Commander Foster Nolan?” the President inquired.
Pepper replied, “Kara called me and provided a mission summary. She indicated that the Hail Nucleus picked up Nolan off his raft in the Sea of Japan. He had bailed out of his jet. He was unhurt and is currently still on the Nucleus.”
“Isn’t that uncommon? Why hasn’t he returned to his unit?” the President asked.
All the men looked to General Ford to field the question.
“The Lieutenant Commander has indicated that he does not want to return to active duty at this time,” General Ford told the group, sounding apologetic.
“And why not? Did he give a reason?” President Weston asked.
“Not per se,” the General said. “But then it would not take a fortune teller to know that his career in this man’s Navy is over. And the Lieutenant Commander may be a little crazy, but he is not dumb. He knows he would receive a court martial. So at least for now, Nolan has indicated that he is staying on the Nucleus.”