Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 01

USS Downley

Missile has been fired!" yells a crew member.

"All hands on deck! Communications get on the horn with the Chinese and command!" Pellington barks. "Prepare for battle!"

"Sir, Captain Tong of the Chinese flagship Gang Jun is on the line."

"Put him through," Pellington orders.

"Missile has been shot down," a seaman relays.

Pellington gives a curt nod in the seaman's direction then gives his attention to the screen where Captain Delun Tong now appears.

"I apologize for the missile attack Admiral Pellington," Tong says with crisp English. "We are under way to investigating the reason for the attack."

Pellington gives the screen a stern look. "You had better get your sailors under control before the war does begin."

"Do not presume to give me orders Admiral," Tong snaps back. "I do no—"

The screen goes blank abruptly cutting Captain Tong off mid-sentence.

"Communications? What is happening?"

"Montana is under attack sir!"

"Damn it," Pellington swears under his breath. "If it's a battle they want then they're going to get one. All ships full attack!"

——

Major?

"Yes Nash?"

"The war has started."

"Then we don't have much time," Graves says looking at his watch.

"Time for what?" Spencer asks.

"We are on a time schedule. I can't tell you much of what is going to happen because much of it is classified and even with our alliance we once had with Roger cannot cut through all the red tape."

"Then what the fuck can you tell us?" Sam asks beginning to get irritated over the sidestep talk. Much of her irritation is because of Roger's death and Spencer would help her through it later. Right now there are too many other priorities to work through.

"Still got that fight in you," Graves remarks to Sam. She smirks at Graves in return. "With Winter controlling the Russian and Chinese armies, there is simply no way CATU or Black List can do to stop them. Simply put we are the last line of defense against Avyanna."

"So what why the hell are we here?" Spencer asks.

"Because you two are already involved."

"No. You said because of Roger you got involved." Sam points out.

Graves laughs. "Nothing gets past you. I see why Roger held you two in such high regard. Because of Roger we went out of our way to pick you two up before the Chinese did."

Sam makes a humph sound and folds her arms across her chest then sits down. Spencer decides it is time to turn the conversation around. "I don't suppose we have many options here."

"Not really," Graves answers.

"Then what's the plan because afterward we are going after Roger's killer," Spencer states.

"Not going to happen," Graves says firmly.

"And why the hell not?" Sam yells jumping up from her seat.

The three SEALs stop what they are doing to see what is going to happen next.

"Let's just say it's a confliction of interests."

"With who?" Spencer asks. "And who killed him? We'll find out soon enough."

"Classified and I guess you will have to find out later," Graves says straight faced.

Spencer and Graves stand and stare at each other. The three men tense grabbing their weapons and readying themselves in case a conflict breaks out.

"This is bullshit," Spencer says at last.

"It may be, but I have bosses and my bosses tell me I can't share," Graves says with a curt smile.

Spencer is about to say more when Sam grabs his arm and gives him a look to let it go. "What's the mission?" Sam asks.

"We rendezvous with the last member of my team in Port Louis. From there we HALO jump two klicks from the island of Madagascar. We will then infiltrate the complex eliminating any threats and finally eliminating Avyanna."

"Sounds simple on paper," Spencer remarks.

"With my team there is no having to worry. They will get the job done," Graves says assuredly.

"So who is the team since we are going to be working with them?" Spencer asks. "Unless that's classified too."

Graves ignores the sarcasm and begins to point out each member present. "We have Lieutenant Commander Wesley Nash; Petty Officer Jared Bridges, our corpsman; Senior Chief Petty Officer Jasper Mason, our heavy weapons expert; and the one member not present at the moment Warrant Officer Katie Matthews, our sniper."

Sam and Spencer look at each member as if studying them as models in an art class. Nash has the gung ho look about him with his lean muscular look. Bridges is more slender looking like a runner except for the small Mohawk which seems odd for SEAL to have. Mason is the tallest and largest of the group. If they had never met the man before this he could have been mistaken as an average person that like to body build.

"So head this little group as the last line of defense?" Spenser asks inquisitively.

"In a way, yes," Graves confirms. "You will meet my boss once we reach Port Louis. He will deem what is necessary you need to be told."

——

Captain! a lieutenant calls from his station catching Tong's attention. "We have lost the Kai Che."

"It is to be expected we'll lose something. You have to lose before you can win Lieutenant. Notify the fleet to hold coarse. When I give the signal we are to move with Battle Formation Bravo. Get me General Wei on the line."

"Yes sir," the lieutenant replies.

"We are within range of enemy cruisers sir," another Lieutenant informs the captain.

"Have the Hai Tien come about to provide us protection," Tong orders.

"Sir."

"Where is my transmission to General Wei?"

"We don't have communications sir!"

"Get on the horn with engineering damn it!" Tong yells furiously.

"Already did sir. Able Seaman Chan is missing."

"Missing?" Tong shakes his head trying to get his anger under control. "Ship wide search. Find and detain him."

"Destroyer off the port bow!" a yell rings out.

Tong curses to himself. His career is on the line and without any means of communications this battle would end too soon. Unless...

"Dedicate a group to do a search of the ship. I want people in engineering to get communications up and running. And someone get up on deck with flags. I want the Hai Tien and Fu Hsing to cover for us. Concentrate all fire on that destroyer. And switch to Battle Formation Tango with the remaining ships."

"On it sir."

I will turn this disaster around. General Wei will not think he made a mistake.

——

What is the Oklahoma during that far in enemy territory?" Pellington asks out loud. "Nobody has a goddamn answer?" He asks when no one steps up to give an answer.

"No one knows sir."

"What the hell do you mean Lieutenant?"

"We have no communications sir."

"Then get—"

A sudden explosion shakes the ship cutting the Admiral off. Red lights flash on as the regular ones kick off. Alarms begin blaring causing shouts to have to be made.

"Get the alarms off. Damage assessment?"

"Explosion in the first armory sir. Minor damage caused the bulkhead to cave in. They are working to contain the water."

"Will we sink or not Lieutenant?" Pellington asks with impatience hinting at his voice.

"Ship integrity is holding at ninety percent sir."

"Good."

"Oh my God! Someone set the missile to detonate!" an ensign screams.

"Ross," Pellington says. "Find that son of bitch and arrest him. Use Morse code to rely to the Oklahoma to pull back to safety. Get whatever ships are closet to us here for protection."

"Sir we just lost the Oklahoma."

——

Able Seaman Chan?"

Bryan Chan comes to a halt just as he is closing the door to the communications room when he hears his name called. He turns to face two men both Junior Lieutenants and both officers. He stands at attention and salutes both men. "What can I help you with Lieutenant Tse, Lieutenant Fei?"

"You are to be detained and brought to the bridge to see Captain Tong," Lieutenant Fei answers sharply.

"You must be mistake sir. I just come from the bridge and the matter has been cleared with Captain Tong. He sent me to the communication room," he says gesturing to the door he just walked out from, "to find out why communications have been lost. You are welcome to call the bridge to ask, but I have orders from Captain Tong and I must fulfill them."

Both the lieutenants look at each other unsure whether to believe the man or not. "I'm sorry but we will still need to detain you until Captain Tong himself clears the matter," Lieutenant Tse says deciding it isn't worth the risk in case the man was lying.

"Then I am sorry to do this," Chan says as Tse reaches in to grab hold of him. He steps forward blocking the lieutenant's arms with his pushing them outward. With a firm heel kick Tse goes flying backward into the ship's bulkhead.

Lieutenant Fei doesn't hesitate and begins upholstering his gun but Chan is too quick. He reaches down grabbing the man's hand holding it down along with the gun and back fists him with his free hand. Fei lets go of his grip of the gun and attempts to grab Chan but is stopped short by a chop to the throat.

By now Tse is back of his feet and charging Chan. Catching him in the stomach he forces Chan back slamming him into the bulkhead. Chan reaches down and wraps his arm around Tse's neck and yanks up. An audible crunch resounds and the man goes limp.

Chan walks over to Fei who is lying on the ground and places two fingers on his neck. When there isn't a pulse he rolls the man over to see he has killed him by crushing his throat. Chan scans the immediate area to ensure no one is going to surprise him before hiding the two dead bodies in a storage room. He knows they won't stay hidden for long but it doesn't matter. Once the bodies in the communications room are found the entire ship will be on alert.

——

The plane lands smoothly on the tiny island of Mauritius where it finally settles in a private and secluded hanger on the edge of the airstrip. Spencer and Sam exit the plane after Graves followed by the DEP Six members. The temperature is mild with a cool ocean breeze.

"Nice place. Maybe we should move here," Spencer says throwing a sidelong glance to Sam who responds with a smile. "I know better than to ask but I will anyway. This isn't an official U.S. installation is it?"

"No. As a matter of fact it is secret much like your organization is. Now follow me and my boss will answer your questions."

"I didn't see any other buildings near here and other than the plane there isn't much here," Sam whispers to Spencer.

"That's because some things are better kept hidden underground," Graves says cutting off any chance Spencer has to reply.

The group walks toward a stack of crates that looks like any other until Graves places his hand over a dirty looking section of the middle crate. Underneath his palm a green light appears briefly than as quickly disappears. Next to the stack of false crates the floor parts and sinks slightly before moving under the rest of the floor and disappearing to reveal a stairway leading down.

"No codes or anything else? Kinda useless if you get your hand chopped off," Spencer remarks.

"One would normally assume that. It is more sophisticated than that though. The scanner takes a reading of temperature as well as pulse to detect if the person is alive or under duress preventing a false or forced entry."

"Fancy," Sam remarks.

"Now shall we?" Graves asks holding his hand out toward the entrance.

——

The stairs lead down about twenty feet to a small circular room with another security device, an eye scanner. Graves lowers his eyes to the scanner where it emits a small laser, scans his eyes then shuts off. A few short seconds later the walls part revealing an elevator.

He gestures for them to get on and once everyone is loaded Graves explains the device. "The scanner detects for subtle involuntary eye movements including pupil reaction and distance between the eyes. Unless you are unfortunate enough to only have one eye then the scanner only looks for the movements. This avoids someone having their eye or eyes cut out."

"If it only looks for movement when only one eye present then—" Sam begins.

"You can still fool the scanner? No. Each member with access to this facility has been scanned into the central computer so it knows who you are and how many eyes you have."

"Pretty sophisticated stuff you got here," Spencer remarks.

"You have no idea," Graves says smiling.

——

The remainder of the elevator ride takes about a minute. Silence fills the small space until broken by the parting of the doors. The elevator opens to a long hall where two people stands; a man and a woman.

"Colonel Peirson, sir," Graves says shaking the man's hand. Then he regards the woman standing next to him. "Matthews. I trust your mission was successful?"

"Without incident sir," somes her reply.

"Excellent. Let me introduce you to the members of CATU we picked up: Special Agent Spencer Reeds and Special Agent Samantha Roberts."

"Yes I remember Roberts."

"Do we know each other?" Sam asks.

"Not formally no, but I know a great deal about you and you too of course Reeds."

"It has been in my experience bad for the person not knowing someone that knows everything about them," Spencer says gravely.

"I assure you that it is nothing bad. It is in my best interest to know who I'm working with beforehand as you I am sure are aware being in the intelligence business. Now if you will follow me I can answer some of your questions you may have with Matthews and the rest of her team get some rest and ready for the briefing."

"Lead the way," Spencer says.

——

Sam and Spencer are seated at a table in a small conference room. Across from them sits Colonel Pierson and Major Graves. On top of the table sits a coffee pot with little Styrofoam cups and a plate of muffins.

"My name if Colonel Jacob Pierson and as you know this if Major Duncan Graves, United States Army. From this facility we run DEP Six."

"Graves called it DEP Six Alpha back on the plane," Spencer points out.

"So I did," Graves confirms nonchalantly.

"He is right. Of the many original teams, Alpha is the only one left. The best and brightest all put into one unit. He just has never gotten out of the habit of calling them Alpha."

"So what makes them so special? Sam asks this time.

"Like you, they have Second Sight and the special training of Navy SEALs. Our objective is to eliminate threats caused by the demons. Threats that never come to light because we have been there to stopped them."

"Explain that to McKinsey or better yet Sara," Sam mutters.

"Yes it is a shame that she was killed. You have to understand though there are only us and a great big world out there," Pierson says spreading his hands in an open gesture.

"The Black List seems to have been able to handle it for a long time without your help," Spencer throws in.

"True. They also have a great many assets throughout the world in many organizations. As a matter fact I am surprised they never asked you to join Reeds."

"I like it where I'm at now. Besides, I have enough on my plate at times to worry about taking on the entire demon world."

"I would like to go into a history lesson for you two but right now we are in a bit of a time constraint. The war has started between us and the Russian/Chinese Coalition or soon will escalate into one if we do not put an end to it. If a cease fire does not come under way and the Chinese forces outside Cape Town and Port Elizabeth then President McKinsey will order the Chinese to disband or our ships will pull out and they will face the consequences."

"I can't see McKinsey going to those lengths just to end a probable war," Spencer remarks assuredly.

"I guess you haven't been watching the news have you?"

Both Sam and Spencer shake their heads in unison. Pierson turns to Graves and nods.

"You know about the trouble Senator Rustlin began stirring up," Graves states causing Sam to nod in agreement. "It only got worse once you left as the message with Roger told you. It was all orchestrated so that CATU could be removed from the public eye. Roger had connections. Not just any connections, not like we have. He was a Magi; a group that has been around probably longer than the Black List. Forgive me if my history isn't up to par. It's something you'll have to ask Martin Sternigan about sometime."

"What the hell? Roger wasn't part of the Magi. I've known the man for the better part of my life. If he were I would have seen something that said so," Sam blurts out.

"And yet you had no idea of the assets he had or how he was able to acquire half the things he did. You should know by now there are two worlds: the one everyone else lives in and the one you fight in. It is something you'll have to come to terms with. Anyhow, Rustlin was now a threat and had to be eliminated. We approached Roger to let him know what we had planned so that he could keep his people out of harm's way. Now I don't know if he intended to have things get out of control or not, but it did. Senator Rustlin was assassinated early yesterday morning. The assassin that killed many of the President's cabinet members will be blamed for the attack and the President will not be blamed."

"And you just slither back into your hole pretending it never happened," Spencer says with anger lining his words.

"As it so happens. Collateral damage I believe they call it," Pierson says looking up at the ceiling as if lost in thought. "Like I was saying though, McKinsey is not going to put up with terrorist or power hungry countries any longer. I don't know what kind of attack he'll make but I can think of a few as I'm sure you can."

"I'm guessing that is where you and we come in to play," says Sam.

Pierson turns to Graves. "I told you I liked her. She has spunk."

Sam ignores the comment and grabs Spencer's hand underneath the table and squeezes it.

"But yes," Pierson says looking at Spencer and Sam, "we are going to prevent a war or genocide or collateral damage, whichever you choose to call it. In about fourteen minutes McKinsey is going to issue the order. In another twenty-four hours it will be carried out. We will not need that long. You two are going to lead our team into the facility on Madagascar and help eliminate Avyanna. We have inside help that when you reached a certain point will lead you to her. Cut the head off and the body will soon follow."

"Sounds easy enough, but what if something goes wrong?" Spencer asks.

"Trust me son, nothing will but in case it does as you say, we have twenty-four hours."

——

Sam and Spencer are led to another conference room much larger than the first. The members of DEP Six are already there waiting by the time they arrive. They take a seat at the first available chairs except for Colonel Pierson. He proceeds to the front of the room to a laptop sitting in front of a large flat screen television. Pierson punches a few keys and a map of the island of Madagascar and the southern tip of Africa appears on the screen.

"Currently our forces are engaged with the Chinese fleet here at Cape Town," he says pointing in a circular motion on the map. "Once through the blockade troops will land and push their way into Russian/Chinese controlled territories. The fleet will then move into Port Elizabeth and engage their fleet there. The majority of Chinese forces will be engaged leaving primarily Russian troops. Intel says the base on Madagascar is guarded by Russian soldier which may also include Spetsnaz, so be prepared for an equal match."