“Good point. So what do we do next?”
“Bring one of those A-rabs down here and have them open it,” quipped one of SEALs. T-Ball smiled. The frogs were getting bored now.
T-Ball took a drag from his Camelbak and thought.
“It’s an alarm or an indicator, not a booby trap.”
“How do you know?”
“If it was a booby trap, they wouldn’t want us to see it.”
“Maybe they want us to see it so we don’t go in, a proverbial explosive fence.”
“Nah, that ain’t it. These guys have been boarded before. They put a destruct charge on the bridge that definitely would have zapped us. They want to take a couple of us out if they can.”
“Okay, I’m sure you’re right. So go ahead.”
“What?”
Hooke smirked. “Open the door.”
T-Ball reached for the door handle. One of the SEALs said, “Shiiit!” as they scrambled down the passageway.
They stopped when they heard Hooke and T-Ball laughing together.
“Fuck you guys,” Barnes said with a smile on his face.
Hooke caught his breath first. “Listen, sir, we can ‘what if’ this thing all day. The long and short is… T-Ball is probably right, but we’re gonna bypass this sensor anyway.”
“How ya gonna do that?”
“With two very precise and highly calibrated EOD instruments, the K-bar knife and a roll of duct tape.”
T-Ball slipped off his pack and dropped it to the deck again. He got some duct tape from the outer pouch on his response pack. Then he knelt down and taped the top sensor to the bottom one. Next he pulled his K-bar from its sheath. He stuck the point under the sensor on the door and started to pry it off. It snapped off easily.
Now he taped around the two sensors, cocooning them together. He folded the unit below the door so that it now could open freely. The sensors taped together would continue to act as if the door were shut.
T-Ball opened the door. The five men looked through the hatch into the hold.
“Holy shit,” said Barnes. The SEAL officer keyed his radio. “Kermit, this is Fozzy. Do not let the trees or Lone Star’s crew onboard yet. We’ve got a hold full of Thoroughbreds.”
SEVEN
The slightly bitter taste of cold beer always seemed better after an afternoon mowing the lawn and trimming the hedges. Johnny Ashland sat back on the chaise lounge by his backyard pool and relaxed his 210 ten pound frame. He took another swig and lathered some more sunscreen on. An even greater reward for completing the day’s work emerged through the sliding glass door — his wife, Judy. The bombshell was wearing her fluorescent green bikini.
I’ll be mowing that lawn later, he thought.
Judy came out with a beer in one hand and a portable phone in the other.
“Johnny, hon, your beeper was going off. It was Tony’s cell number.”
Ashland raised an eyebrow. He wondered if his Leading Chief Petty Officer, Senior Chief Antonio De Napoli, was reviewing his ammunition and explosive inventory logs prior to their Explosive Safety Inspection on Monday. De Napoli was a perfectionist. Ash had visions of drinking coffee in the shop until midnight with De Napoli, reviewing their books for correctness. Then he remembered that his boss was in the shop this weekend.
“Damn it. LT’s got the duty today. Think he’d call us in?”
She shrugged and handed him the phone and stretched on the lounge next to him and closed her eyes. Still admiring his wife, Johnny hit the speed dial for De Napoli’s cell phone. He picked up on the first ring.
“Senior Chief.”
“It’s Ash, what’s up? Called to tell me you finally caught something?”
“Nope, this is a recall.”
Johnny sat up and scratched his head.
“Really? What for?”
“Helo with a weapon onboard crashed into its mother ship at sea. I don’t know the details.”
“No shit? Okay, I’m on my way in.”
“See you there.”
Ashland hung up the phone and stood up.
“I’ve been recalled, hon.”
Judy looked surprised. “It’s not a drill is it?”
“No.”
She was already used to this.
“Be careful.”
He leaned down to kiss her. “I will.”
Twenty minutes later Ash was driving through the delivery gate near the airfield at Norfolk Naval Air Station. It was just one small part of the world’s largest naval base.
Ash zipped through the recreation area, turned his International Scout left and parked next to the old fire station that housed the base’s EOD team. A sign in front, decorated with manila line read:
EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE DISPOSAL MOBILE UNIT TWO DETACHMENT NORFOLK
The Mobile Unit Two and EOD Group Two logos were displayed prominently on either side.
As Ash got out of his International Scout he noted by the cars already there that he was the last det member to arrive. He chuckled to himself as he mounted the stairs. Every single vehicle in the parking lot was a 4X4.
He recalled once hearing a diver groupie remark to her girlfriend, “Pilots drive sports cars, divers drive trucks.”
Det Norfolk assembled in the conference room on the second deck of the station. The rooms that the firefighters used to bunk in transformed into offices. The high bay garage downstairs now housed the detachment’s equipment, boats, and an ambulance-like response vehicle.
Ash donned a flight suit as the OIC, the officer in charge, began his brief. Tim January was just promoted from lieutenant to lieutenant commander. The shore detachment would probably be his last operational tour. He already received orders to join an Amphibious Squadron as the Staff Special Operations Officer.
“Okay fellas, here’s what’s up. About forty minutes ago I got a call that an SH-60 Seahawk helicopter crashed aboard the USS Normandy. The helo carried an experimental air to surface missile onboard. To make matters worse the helo did not make it to the flight deck. She squished into the aft vertical launch system right above sixty-some SM-2 and Tomahawk missiles”
January paused. Nobody was interrupting him, they knew by his demeanor that it this was not a drill.
“The Normandy is so far out to sea that she can not be reached by helo. Obviously, all ordnance has to be rendered safe before she can come back in. This means we are going to insert by parachute.”
This statement led to catcalls of joy by the Techs.
“WHOOHOO!”
“Right on!”
“Water jumpin’ baby!”
January raised his voice. “Okay, okay guys. Yes it will be fun. I’ve already got a C-2 lined up. Here is what I recommend… Chief Billings,”
“Sir?”
“I want you to be the jumpmaster. Make sure all of our gear is ready, prepare the aircrew, etcetera. You know the deal.”
“Roger, sir.”
“Willy, I need you to gather pubs. Check the classified fax and the computer for new info on this missile. The EOD Technical Division called and said they had some stuff to add to what they gave us in anticipation for the first firing next month.”
“Got it.”
“Senior Chief, assign the rest of the crew as you see fit to conduct the load-out. Any questions or suggestions?”
The Techs looked around at each other; they had trained so well together that there was no need for questions.
De Napoli assigned Ash the F470 inflatable boat. Ash opened the high bay door to let the sun in and prepped it for the jump. Secured inside would be much of the detachment’s support gear including a hardened laptop and waterproof cases containing tool sets with everything from titanium pulleys to surgical clamps. He secured the MARS engine in the back and lashed everything in.