“Is it a giant sub?” she asked. “And if it is, what would it be doing in a lake?”
It is a landing platform. Chinese design. Used on their newest submersibles.
“That’s what we thought at first,” Faust continued. He clicked on a remote in his hand. “However, the structures never move.”
The fast forwarding continued. A few days later, a lone signature flew in from the southwest. There was one heat signature on the structure waiting for it. Then several people departed from the flying signature. Then the group of people on the platform walked into two of the corner columns.
Faust clicked off the display. “That platform hasn’t moved since that incident two days ago. Yesterday, five more transports came by and picked up what looks like a large group, perhaps a hundred heads, and then they all headed southwest. We’re not sure where, but their trajectory seems to have them headed somewhere in the Pacific Northwest territory.”
“The platform hasn’t submerged since?” Jill asked, not quite able to shake off a strange feeling about that. Something didn’t seem right.
Foolish to keep a platform raised if they are trying to hide it. Something must be wrong down there. Best to strike as soon as possible.
Faust shook his head. “Still sticking out like a sore thumb. Maybe they have a lot of traffic coming in and out. Conserving energy by staying above water.”
Jill tapped her finger on her chin. “Would be silly to build a secret underwater lair and then have something like that stick out. Something must be preventing them from lowering it.”
“Regardless,” Faust said. “Here’s our advantage. We’re pretty sure that was Rin they took there. The timestamps are about right. With that large group of people leaving, this might be our only chance to sneak in and get her back.”
Jill nodded. “We infiltrate with a team of nine, find Rin, and sneak out before those five transports return. I wonder where they went.”
“I might be able to answer that,” a familiar voice said from behind her. “And instead of sneaking in, let’s just throw the kitchen sink at it.”
Jill turned around and stared, shocked. In a split second, she launched herself out of her chair and barreled into Roen’s arms. He grunted from the impact as her momentum pushed him back into the wall, but he held onto her just as hard. She kissed his lips, wrapped her arms around his neck, and then kissed him some more. It probably was unprofessional to do so right here in Faust’s command room, but she didn’t care. Neither did Roen, it seemed. The two stood alone in the world for what seemed like hours as they tried to catch up on soothing the pain and fear and worry they had felt for each other. Eventually, someone had to ruin it for them and coughed.
Perhaps it would be wise to adjourn the meeting. First, ask Roen what he meant and why he is here. He is supposed to be assisting the attack on the catalyst facility, which is supposed to commence tonight.
Jill was tempted to just ignore Baji and keep on kissing her husband, but the sooner she got the answers Baji needed, the sooner everyone would leave her and Roen alone. She broke their embrace and pulled back. “You’re supposed to be blowing up a catalyst facility right now. Tell me you did not go AWOL, or by God…”
Roen grinned that beautiful goofy boyish grin. He squeezed her arms. “Change of plans. We suckered someone else into doing the dirty work for us, so we’re all going to join your party instead.”
For the first time, Jill noticed Marco and a group of guys standing at the door. He gave a lazy wave and winked. She went up to him and gave him a hug. “Thanks for bringing the lug back to me in one piece.”
Faust walked to the table and gave Roen what Jill called their bro-hug. The two grown men would throw their arms around each other, but instead of a real hug, they would do this silly chest-bump-single-pat-on-the-back, as if too much physical contact was frowned upon. The two went back a long way and had been scuba diving buddies. Roen was on Faust’s fantasy football league, and Faust came up to the farmhouse for Thanksgiving every year. In fact, it was because of Roen’s prodding that Jill got Faust the promotion to this region.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” Faust said. “Jill’s right. If you’ve disobeyed a direct order again, I’m going to have to arrest you this time. I can’t tell the Keeper ‘no’ twice.”
Roen rolled his eyes. “Why does no one believe me when I say I’m on the level?”
“Because you never are,” Faust grinned. “So what’s going on?”
Roen explained the situation with the IXTF, and how right at this very moment, the federal government was pitching an old-fashioned siege of the Genjix. As predicted, the Genjix facility was heavily defended, and the IXTF were getting their butts kicked, but it was only a matter of time before they took it, whether within the next few days or the next few months. At the end of the day, not even the Genjix could match the United States government in a heavyweight fight, especially when the government had home-field advantage.
Jill didn’t quite seem convinced. “Don’t you think the Genjix can buy their way out of this one, like they always do?”
“I know the woman in charge,” Roen said. “She’ll get the job done.”
“What would prevent them from coming after us next?” Faust asked.
“Nothing,” Roen admitted, “but at least it’s not our guys dying trying to break in there. The Keeper is going to reallocate the forces meant for the catalyst facility to busting out Rin. So there you have it, Jill. Use us wisely. Most of the squad commanders won’t get here in time, so we’ll have to relay the plan remotely, but I believe everyone is on board for first thing tomorrow.”
This changes everything. The attack will have to change from a small-team infiltration to a fully-staged assault.
The group in Faust’s tactical command center spent the rest of the evening devising a new plan. They broke for a late dinner and reconvened to coordinate their plans with the commander of the attack force flying in from Greenland.
“At best, the rest of the attack force will rendezvous with us in the air,” Faust said, as they worked through the times.
“Who’s leading the attack?” asked Jill.
Faust looked down at his tablet and blinked in surprise. “Seems our favorite Aussie colonel.” He looked up and grinned. “I thought the bloody bastard retired.”
“What?” she exclaimed. “Who dusted the mothballs off him? Shouldn’t he be on a beach drinking Mai-Tais and failing to hit on local girls?”
“He should be. I attended his retirement party.” Roen frowned, shaking his head. “Old bastard can’t let go. If he’s un-retiring, I want that set of golf clubs I gave him back.”
Marco shook his head. “Seems the old bugger is intent on coming back on his shield.”
Dylan had retired from active operations two years ago, and no one had heard from him since. Supposedly, he was living out his golden years hunting poachers in the outback.
I do not know how wise it is pulling another host into this operation, especially at Dylan’s age.
“Baji, I am not telling Dylan ‘no.’ Besides, he’s probably still spry and strong as a bear.”
On that we agree.
At this point, Roen checked the time and excused himself, pulling her with him as he left the room. Jill led him to the upstairs balcony, where they snuggled on a hammock while looking up at the sky. A stead wind blew in from the ocean, just cool enough to make shared body warmth necessary, but not uncomfortable. The sky looked heavy, filled with large puffy clouds that blocked any sign of the moon or the stars. A breeze swept in from the ocean, and Roen could smell the salt in the air. For a few beautiful moments, they just lay there together, basking in the night. Roen gently put his hand on her face, turned it toward him, and kissed her. He pulled her in closer and she wrapped a hand around the back of his neck. There was a desperation in them, a feeling of relief mixed with a sense of dread.