"Rapid Wrath, Chpt 3" by James C. Oliver

Undisclosed Location…

“Your teams have failed yet again!”

“I am sorry.  Our intelligence has apparently underestimated their abilities to detect our aircraft.”

“No more of your excuses!  I am tired of listening to them, and your mounting numbers of failures are only making your position even more…<i>delicate</i>.”

“<i>Jahet</i>.”  The soldier took a deep breath before continuing.  “Even with our losses, we have been able to score a number of victories.”

“What do you mean?”

“Even with their well-drilled and equipped force of soldiers, three of their highest ministers are dead, and we were able to kill twenty enemy soldiers and severely wound fifty.  This has eliminated what is known as ‘Red Squad,’ an elite paramilitary group of forty-two soldiers and officers.  Also, we have crippled their ‘Black Squad,’ by also eliminating some of their soldiers.”

“Very well.  I will allow your warriors to continue their raids.  But I want this,” she shuffled some papers, “United Nations destroyed.  They are key to accomplishing our planned objectives.”

“Yes m’lady.”  He clicked his heels and spun, leaving the room.  After arriving in the soldiers’ accommodations, the Captain called his lieutenants into his office.

“Very well.  How many soldiers do we have left?”

“As of last count, my platoon is down to twenty men and women from the original forty.”

“I am up with forty.”

“Down to thirteen men and women, sir.”

The captain cursed under his breath.  Seventy-three battle-ready soldiers was not a good number.  He would have to ask another company if they had another platoon to spare.  Asking another clan for help was not a good way to start the most important operation of the plan.  It was not only a sign of weakness, but also a sign of incompetence or ineptitude.  With no warriors, a house could not defend itself.  “We will have to ask for assistance.  Which company is the friendliest currently, or needs to redeem itself the most?”

“<i>Mo’wasan</i>.  They lost thirteen men at the hands of the vampires, for no gain.  High Command is thinking of revoking their status.”

“Very well.  Get them to give us two platoons.  For this mission, we will be carrying the human’s AK-47 version projectile weapon.  No <i>eiras</i> or <i>kempas</i>.  We will not be wearing traditional armor, just the human equivalent; something they call “tactical clothing.”  This is the mission…

Geneva, Switzerland

“We’re back together, and going to do <i>what</i>?”

“Yeah.  Exactly what I thought.  They’re bringing us home, and then we’re going to be part of the security detail to the envoy to the United Nations.  Who the heck would want to assault that?”

“Well, you do remember the last time.”  The event he was referring to was the last desparate terrorist act.  A group of ten Al-Qaeda and ten Abu Sayaff gunmen broke into the UN and managed to kill close to a dozen diplomats and nearly forty other personnel, one of whom was daughter of the sitting US president, before being killed by the NYPD.  After that, security consisted of a combined platoon of Army Special Forces, Navy SEALs, Marine FAST personnel and Recon, and Army Delta Force troops.  This platoon, called ‘Aegis Shield,’ was backed up by nearly 100 members of the New York City SWAT team and the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team.  Put together, they were all-told the deadliest group of military and police personnel that had ever protected government lives and property.  To add to this, the Vampire government provided close-in protection for all of the dignitaries and any important people who came to visit.  It didn’t make sense to the two why they’d need to add to the security det, other than the fact that there had been four attempts, of which three were successful.  The math didn’t add up.

“Yeah, and that was bad enough.”  Nick shook his head.  “Oh well.  Guess we better ship our weapons home.  We can leave the rest here.  They want us back as fast as possible.”

“Well, that’s good, actually, that means I might be able to get Jennifer to allow me to escort her to the Birthday Ball.”

“Yeah, where’s my invitation?”

“Got lost in the mail, squid boy.”

Aboard the VNS <i>IMPALER</i>

The President and what remained of his cabinet were shoehorned into the small space that was a modern nuclear-powered submarine.  It had been converted to serve as a mobile command post, but there was still not much in the way of creature comforts.  The <i>Impaler</i> was an old Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, and the area with the missiles and their launch tubes had been removed to make it better suited to what its new job was.  The president was pissed however, because they had not been fast enough to secure the entire cabinet, and as a result, he had lost more troops and could not strike back at an enemy he could not see.  He was right then on the phone with POTUS, the President of the United States.

“Well, we need help, some of your citizens are going to be killed in this, and we don’t want relations with your country strained, because that isn’t good for either economy or our citizens.  And I would not like to see them take a swipe at you too.”

“Yes, but I can’t help you, we have enough problems dealing with China, and since our recognition of Taiwan, they’ve been hounding us to the hilt.  It isn’t a good thing for either of us, but I cannot help you right now.”

“Well, I’m going before the UN in a few days, and I would like you to be there, along with the British Prime Minister to talk over our response to this.  I don’t want to seem rude, but if you can’t help us, who is going to?”

“I hear you, but you must realize that this could all just be a misunderstanding.  I think that you need to sort out your internal problems by yourself and that if it is too big for you to effectively deal with, then ask the UN or NATO to help.  Without that sort of support, our Congress won’t want to help, and neither will the American people.”

“OK.  But you will need that shipment of Polyheme.  Remember that.”

“I will.  Goodbye, Mister President.”  The phone line went dead.  The Vampire president looked at his security officers, and told them what he needed.

“Sir, I strongly recommend you hold off and not go.  We’re not even sure about the capabilities of the elves.  And that makes me nervous.”

“Sorry, but I need to go…I wonder how the rest of the world will take the message that they are not alone in the universe...”

Dulles International Airport

They were glad that this time through the airports there were no problems.  The pair picked up their checked luggage and headed outside, to find a car already waiting for them, driven by none other than Jennifer.  “What are you doing here?”  Jim was the first to ask.

“Found out that you’re augmenting my detail, so I decided that I should pick you up and brief you in.”

“Thanks,” Nick nodded and chucked their bags into the back of the Hummer.  He jumped in back while Jimbo and Jennifer took the front seats.  Jennifer expertly took them out of the loading area and back onto the Dulles Toll Road.

“So, how was the ‘op’?” she snickered.

“Ha, ha, very funny.  Celtic here got into a fight with the Yallis, and got one of ‘em before having to disappear when the Swiss police showed up.  They promptly shot the other three Yallis dead.”

“Sounds like fun,” she looked back at the road and the car went silent as they continued on their path to Washington, D.C., and a train taking them to New York.  Time passed quickly, and it wasn’t long before the Hummer merged onto the Beltway.  Traffic was lighter than usual, and the remainder of the trip took only ten minutes, instead of the usual twenty.  As soon as they were into the parking lot, Nick and Jim both put on their game faces and began checking out their situation.  <i>Clear, Wraith</i>, Nick said into Jim’s mind.

<i>Clear, Celtic</i>, came the expected reply.  They stepped out of the vehicle in unison and moved to the rear of the vehicle.  Grabbing their bags, the small team forced its way through the crowds and onto the afternoon train.  Encountering no problems, they all bought their tickets and made sure they were the first ones on the train.  Jennifer grabbed a set of four seats, and the bags disappeared into the overhead racks.  Jim and Jennifer settled in together, Nick sat alone next to the window.  He was thinking through all of the things that were going on, and decided that they were lacking in the information department.  Right then, an attractive woman walked up to the group of adults.

“I’m sorry, is this seat taken?”  she said, with obvious hope that it was.  Jimbo shot a glance at Nick, who was looked back at Jimbo.  Jimbo shrugged.

“No, you can sit there.”  Nick grabbed his hip pack that held his Mark 23.  “There you go.”

“Oh, thank you so much.  You have no idea how hard it is to find a seat on this train, especially at this time,” she told Nick.

“Yeah.  I know.  It is a pain.”  Nick smiled.  She seemed nice enough.

“My name is Jill,” she held out her hand.

“Nick Fitzpatrick, nice to meet you.”  He took her hand and shook it gently.  She nodded at his haircut.  “You in the military?”

He grinned and nodded his head.  “Yeah.  I’m in the Navy.”  It wasn’t really a lie, not technically, anyway.

“Oh, they have the best uniforms.  I guess I’m always gonna be hooked on those white uniforms; I always am watching either <i>Top Gun</i> or <i>An Officer and a Gentleman</i>.”

“Yeah.  Some people, especially Jimbo here,” Nick almost kicked Jim, “Would take exception to that.  He’s a Marine.  They always think that they have the nicer uniforms.  The age old question.”  Nick laughed.  Jill smiled but didn’t say anything else.  Nick went back to looking out the window at the land rushing by.  He didn’t even notice that Jennifer was staring at him intently, attempting to break into Fitz’s brain and see what he was thinking about.  She felt Jill’s eyes on her, and leaned back to look at her.  Jill smiled, and put her magazine in her lap.  “How do you do it?”

“Excuse me?”  Jennifer was confused.  “Do what?”

“Stay with them?  I could never do that.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Aren’t they gone most of the time?”  Jill nodded towards Nick, who was still oblivious.

“Oh,” Jennifer had to giggle about that.  “I’m not with him, I’m in the Marines, too.”

Jill thought about that for a minute.  “Uh-huh.  Whatever floats your boat I guess.”  She leaned back and went back to reading her magazine.  Jennifer thought to Jimbo <i>What is your take on this woman?</i>

<i>She’s not a Yalli, if that is what you’re thinking.  But she might be after Nick.  Why?</i>

<i>I dunno.  I guess it gets lonely in a one-bedroom apartment, with only your cat to keep you company.</i>

<i>You would be one to know.</i> He poked her in the ribs with his right hand.

“Hey!”  Clark said, loud enough to get a look from Jill over the top of her magazine.  Her eyes darted from Jennifer to Jim and back again.  The rest of the train ride passed without incident and terminated for the three after another hour.  Right after they had picked up their luggage and headed to the door, Nick noticed Jill jump up and run to catch up with the three.  Jim, who had caught the entire exchange between Nick and Jill, raised an eyebrow and looked at Celtic.  “I almost missed my stop!”  Jill said, exasperated.  She turned and nudged up to Nick.  “You would have let me do that?”

Nick appeared shocked and slightly annoyed.  It seemed like this woman wanted to stick to him like glue almost.  And that was not a good thing.  Nick had grown up reading Tom Clancy novels, and was wary of coincidences.  It all added up: woman, stuck like glue, trying to get him to take responsibility for her all brought the term ‘enemy agent’ to mind.  Nick answered Jill’s question with a question of his own.  “Really?  I’m sorry, I don’t remember you asking me to remind you.  Did you and I didn’t hear?”

Jill smiled, another hint to Nick and Jim.  “No, I didn’t…but I need to go to work now, see you later, OK?”  She disappeared into the crowd before a response could be given.  Nick, Jennifer and Jim all looked at each other.  “Well, this could change things.  We need to get out of here, and back to HQ.  I don’t like Jill and what she might mean.  Our presence is known, and we need to change that fast.”

“Roger that, Jennifer.  OK, here’s what we do.  Nick and I’ll go and get our stuff in at HQ, you follow Jill and try and figure out what her intent is.  If it is hostile, we need to get her out.”

Jennifer nodded and the team broke up to head in their respective directions.  Nick and Jim went out, hailed a taxi and left to drop their bags off at their hotel.  Soon afterwards, they were heading towards the UN building.