27
Keo
Keo was used to having guns pointed at him. Two guns, three guns. Four? Why not. It could be fifty, for all he cared, because all it took was one guy and one shot to do the job.
Of course, Mercer’s men didn’t see it that way, and there were already two of them in the hallway when he began marching their leader from his quarters to the Comm Room on the other side of the main building. Just his luck the men would turn the corner as soon as he stepped out of the room with Mercer.
It took a lot of effort to make sure the men never got behind him, and each time one of them drifted too far back, Keo had to stop and pull Mercer against him, with his back against the wall, and order them back in front of him. He thought about using the M4 he still had slung, but while the firepower was a major plus, the weapon’s length made it untenable for quick close-quarter action. Even so, he was tempted to lob a grenade round or two to wake the whole place up, maybe give Erin a heads up that the shit had, indeed, hit the fan.
Two guns became four when they rounded the second corner, because the first two had radioed for reinforcements. Keo recalled the two new arrivals (Two more makes four, unless my math is off) as being the same two from the front doors when he first entered the facility with Erin. Four later became five when they took the final turn, because there was another man standing outside the Comm Room.
There would probably have been more if the island wasn’t already pressed for bodies and if Mercer hadn’t ordered the rest to stay at their positions.
“Send them away,” Keo said as they approached the Comm Room.
“No,” Mercer said.
“You do remember that I have a gun pointed at your head, right?”
“And the answer’s still no.”
“You’re pushing your luck, pal.”
“So are you.”
So what else is new, Keo thought as he backed his way to the door, reached over and found the lever, then pushed it down. With Mercer between him and the soldiers as a shield, he bent slightly at the knees and turned his head and peeked into the room, noticing a lone figure sitting on the far side, oblivious to what was happening outside in the hallway.
Keo tightened his grip around Mercer’s arm and backtracked into the Comm Room, then moved quickly over to the wall where he once again put Mercer between him and the soldiers as they rushed inside after him. It took a while, but the woman sitting in front of the row of communications gear finally sensed that someone else — a lot of someone elses — were in the room with her and turned around. Keo saw why she was so clueless when she did — she was wearing a headset with thick earpieces.
The woman shot up from her chair and stared wide-eyed at Keo and Mercer, then (hands shaking) removed her headset and said, “Sir, what’s going on?”
“It’s fine, Jane,” Mercer said in that impossibly calm voice of his. “Please sit back down.”
But Jane remained a statue, seemingly incapable of moving.
“It’s all right,” Mercer said, and nodded.
His calmness had an effect on Jane and she finally sat back down, then oddly rested her hands in her lap like she was back in school. Unlike Mercer and the men pointing their weapons at Keo, her uniform collar was white.
The room wasn’t particularly large, and with all the electronics equipment hugging the back wall, it didn’t leave a lot of space for Keo and Mercer and all five soldiers to breathe. It was suddenly so quiet that Keo thought he could hear all eight heartbeats beating at the same time, but that might have just been his and Mercer’s. Or his, anyway, because he swore Mercer was as relaxed as any man could be with a gun jammed up his chin.
Guy’s got the emotions of a robot.
“Send them out,” Keo said.
He kept his head hidden behind Mercer’s, leaning out only far enough to see just in case one of the soldiers decided to risk a shot from close-range.
“We already went over this,” Mercer said. “That’s not going to happen.”
“Look around you, pal. You really think six people with guns drawn in a room this small is a good idea? All it takes is one Nervous Nelly and we’re all dead.”
Mercer didn’t take long to think about it, and maybe the sight of his men fidgeting nervously in front of him sealed the deal. “Not all of them,” he said.
“Three,” Keo said.
“Two.”
“Deal.”
Mercer nodded at two of the men — the first two that had intercepted them on the way over here. “You and you. Wait outside.”
The men pulled up their rifles and backed away without a word before slipping outside the open door. They weren’t even trying to hide their relief as they left.
“Sir,” Jane said, her voice trembling slightly. “What’s happening?”
“Everything’s fine, Jane,” Mercer said. “Has Cole radioed in yet?”
“Ten minutes ago, sir.”
“Contact him for me, please.”
“Yes, sir,” Jane said and swiveled around in her chair, though she glanced back at Keo and Mercer one more time before getting to work. “Cole, this is Black Tide Island. Please come in. Cole, this is Black Tide Island. Please come in.”
“Relax,” Keo said to the three men in front of him.
The three didn’t respond. At least, not verbally. One of them shuffled his feet (Olsen was scribbled across his name tag) and another (Travis) wrinkled his nose like he had an annoying itch he couldn’t get to. The third man, the biggest of the bunch, didn’t move a muscle, and dark brown eyes remained laser focused on Keo. Jasper was stenciled across one side of his chest.
“Tell your men to relax, Mercer,” Keo said.
“Relax, men,” Mercer said. “Everything is under control.”
Jane turned around and slipped off her headset again. “Sir, I have Cole on the radio.”
“Put him on the speakers,” Keo said.
Jane looked to Mercer for approval, and he nodded. She hit a switch and Keo heard a deep male voice coming through the walls around him: “Waiting for further instructions, Black Tide.”
“The microphone, Jane,” Mercer said, holding out his hand.
Jane picked up the mic and walked the short distance over.
“She can go, too,” Keo said.
“Agreed,” Mercer said, and nodded at Jane.
Like the other two, Jane didn’t argue and hurried past them and out the door, moving as fast as her feet would carry her.
Everyone’s getting out alive except me. Just my luck.
“Just the five of us, boys,” Keo said, forcing his best devil-may-care smile at the three soldiers standing across from him. “You guys fans of the show Full House?”
No response.
“Guess not,” Keo said.
Mercer had pressed the transmit button on the microphone and was saying into it, “Cole, this is Mercer. Come in.”
“Yes sir, I read you loud and clear,” the pilot answered. “Didn’t think you’d still be awake, sir.”
“Neither did I.”
“This isn’t a fucking date,” Keo said. “Get to the fucking point.”
“What’s your situation, Cole?” Mercer said into the microphone.
“Spotted that white whale I was looking for,” Cole said.
White whale? Keo thought, then, Right. The Trident. Clever, jackass.
“Can’t tell how many people are onboard,” the pilot continued, his voice coming loud and clear through the speakers along the walls. “It’s currently heading southwest.”
“Southwest?” Mercer said.
“Looks like it might be angling back toward the Texas shore.”