“Hello.”
“It’s me,” Allison said. “Two things. First, all the birds will be out flying. Also, I’ve planned for a conference call so we can speak to each other collectively. The call that you will make to advise us that you are ready will now be taken by someone else, another team member. That person will be known as TWO. When he returns your call, you are to call him back at one forty-five—that’s when you, me, and the birds will be linked telephonically to a connected network. You will be known as FIVE. I will be SIX and in charge. If you encounter the opposition team, refer to them as bear or bears. Any questions about the scavenger hunt?”
“Yes. What type of coverage can we expect?”
What the hell. It will all be over shortly, and we can dispose of these damn phones, Allison thought as she began to answer Nina’s question.
“ONE will be in a sedan parked not far from the start location. TWO will be with him. TWO’s the one in charge of linking the phones. THREE will be in a small truck parked along the route and FOUR, well, you know what he will be driving, the same as before. They all are prepared to provide interference, but you have to provide updates and let us know your situation and location at any given time. If you see ‘smokey,’ we’ll take action based on your input.”
Nina recognized that Allison wanted her to use the words “smoke and bear” to describe police activity. She knew that from a conversation she and Allison had had about “Smokey the Bear” being a forest ranger—a law enforcement figure.
“OK, thanks. Anything else?”
“No, that’s it.”
Allison secured the phone, reassuring herself that she had made the right decision not telling Nina about the BOLO. She walked out of the building and got into her car. Upon further reflection, Allison felt sure that Mike would have gone ahead with the op even if she had told Nina about the BOLO. Therefore, there was no need to give them more cause for concern and no need to immediately inform the chain.
When Nina ended the call, she explained to the team what she had been told by Allison.
“Good show,” stated Rick, “but I think it’s probably a lot of effort and won’t be necessary.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Mike stated, looking at his watch.
***
It was twenty minutes past 0500 when Claire looked at her watch. She got up to answer the ringing telephone.
“Windstrum,” she answered. It was the duty supervisor.
“Yes, ma’am. I thought you’d want to know that the team has left Echo and is en route to the target area.”
“Thank you. I’ll be right there.” She hung up the phone, grabbed the coffee cup, and headed to the Ops Center.
***
After making the preliminary call, Nina received the call back from TWO at 1315 local, telling her that everything was OK. She informed Mike, and they were operational and en route to the institute five minutes later. When they crossed the Liteyniy Bridge, Ron turned onto the Arsenalnaya embankment highway driving eastward in the direction of Kresty Prison. That’s when Nina called and was linked with the other RAVENS. Allison then conducted what would otherwise be known as a radio check.
“This is SIX,” she said. “Let’s check to make sure we are all on the line. Starting with you, TWO.”
“TWO here on the line with ONE at our location,” she heard R/2 say and seconds later R/3.
“THREE on the line and parked by the road.”
After a pause, R/4 gave his response.
“FOUR here on a side street near the bridge.”
Finally, it was Nina’s turn.
“FIVE here. We are on the embankment highway.”
“OK, let’s be alert,” Allison said.
***
SORM had detected the call made by Allison to Nina and the subsequent network check she conducted to ensure the parties were linked telephonically. That’s when Serge realized that the parties were on a conference call. He quickly forwarded the information to Captain Kasikov, but it didn’t help him to locate the people they were looking for.
***
It was quiet for a few minutes until THREE announced that he had just seen the van go by. Ron drove past him and then past Kresty Prison. Later, he took the exit marked for the SAPHSTIN Institute. He turned onto the side street paralleling the back side of the institute and slowly pulled over to park. They waited patiently as Nina gave the support team an update.
Again, the calls were intercepted and passed to Captain Kasikov.
Mike was fixated on the pedestrian gate located fifty yards or so in front of them. Ron almost shit himself when he saw a police cruiser coming over a small hill in the road, driving in their direction.
“Cop car,” he shouted.
Mike saw it. “Just sit still,” he stated, reaching down to remove the Glock from its holster.
Minutes later, the cruiser passed. The officer driving the car didn’t pay any attention to the van parked on the side of the street, but the officer sitting in the passenger seat did look back as they drove past. He and his partner had missed the BOLO issued earlier in the day, but he was curious about the van. Nina had informed the support team that they had seen a bear. Allison held her breath, but relaxed when Nina reported that the fire was out; the smoke had cleared. Mike holstered the Glock and turned his attention once again to monitoring the pedestrian gate.
Serge passed another intercept to Kasikov. They both realized an operation of some sort was in progress. Kasikov decided to dispatch more personnel. He sent another mobile search team out. If they could get close to one of the cell towers, it might be possible to track the location of the calls. He now had teams operating in Sectors A and B. Areas close to the city’s ports and government warehouses. It was a lot of territory to cover.
***
The security camera in the institute garden was controlled by a motion detector. When the camera was activated, the video would play on a monitor in the security office and a recorder would automatically capture the activity. The institute security officer happened to be sitting at his desk when the monitor came alive with video coverage of the garden. He looked at the monitor and watched as the attendant sat Mauldin down on the bench. He couldn’t see him handcuffing the patient’s hand to the bench, but he sat up and took notice when he saw the attendant walking away toward the gate. He followed him by moving a joystick that turned the camera.
“What’s he doing?” the security officer asked himself. Maybe it’s him, he thought, as he saw the attendant go out the gate.
He picked up the phone, called his contact at the nearby police station to let them know of a drug operation possibly going down at the back side of the institute. He then got up and walked out of the building, heading to the bench where Mauldin was sitting.
***
“There he is,” Ron said.
Mike watched, as did the others, straining from the back of the van. They saw the attendant come out and reach back to close the gate. He never attempted to lock it. He just pulled it closed, walked over to his car, got in, and drove away, heading in the direction that Allison had stationed RAVEN/1 and 2.
“Let’s go,” ordered Shocklee.
Ron started the van and drove up near the gate and stopped. He kept the engine running and sat watching as Mike hopped out carrying a small leather pouch. He attempted to turn the gate handle. It wouldn’t turn. It had locked automatically after being closed, and the bars were too close together for him to reach through to turn the inside handle. Mike placed the pouch on the ground and removed a locksmith kit. He removed the tools, picked the lock, and opened the gate. He put the kit back inside the pouch and took out the syringe case. Mike used the pouch to block open the gate. As soon as Ron saw the gate open, he informed the others and they got out, leaving him and Nina inside the van. Once outside, Charlie took up watch near the van as the other three hurried inside the gate. Frank went in first, rifle at the ready, followed by Rick with the bolt cutters, and then Mike with the syringe case.
***
Nina announced to the network that the team had gone in to get the package. Both Serge and Kasikov were now extremely frustrated with their inability to locate the callers.
***
As they approached Mauldin, the delirious old patient turned to look at the approaching men. He started to rise as Frank came up from behind. Frank rested his rifle and grabbed Mauldin by the shoulders to hold him down.
***
Claire watched the large monitor in the Ops Center. Everything appeared to be going as planned. She saw one of the men take a position, standing near the van, and watched as three others hurried through the gate. She was startled a bit later after seeing someone else, another person walking toward Mauldin, but from the direction of the institute. She wanted to yell to get the team’s attention so they would take notice of the approaching person. By then, the team had reached the target, and she saw one of the men reach from behind the bench and grab Mauldin by his shoulders, a mini AR-15 rifle dangling at this side. Mauldin struggled a bit, but was being restrained as Mike opened the syringe case. The SEAL in front used a tool to free Mauldin’s hand. He put the bolt cutters into a leg pocket and took a cloth out from another. Claire watched as he pulled the hood over Mauldin’s head. That’s when Mike injected Mauldin with the serum. Frank released Mauldin’s shoulders and moved to the front of the bench to help lift the man up.
***
Everything had been accomplished without incident, save the police car that drove by, and that still caused Mike to worry. He knew as they waited for the serum to kick in that if something could go wrong, it probably would.
***
The security officer hurried toward the bench located at the far side of the garden. As he approached the area, he saw three men gathered around Mauldin. He saw that a hood had been placed over Mauldin’s head and the men were attempting to lift him from the bench. He didn’t know why they wanted him, but it looked as if they were getting ready to take him out the gate, which was now open. The gate had been closed when the attendant went out, and he was probably responsible for letting them in. The security officer couldn’t let them take Mauldin. He knew they had to be stopped, or he’d lose his job if he had to report to his superiors that a patient was missing and he knew the police were on their way.
“Stop. Hold it right there or I’ll shoot,” he yelled.
They looked in the direction of the booming voice. Frank let go of Mauldin’s arm and raised his rifle, but not in time. The approaching man had already taken aim. He fired his pistol. The shot hit Mike and knocked him to the ground. The round from Frank’s muffled rifle brought the security officer down to his knees. He slumped and fell forward, lying face down on the ground. Mike was conscious and saw the man go down. He moved his hand and touched the burning area on his side. He raised his arm to look at his hand; it was covered with blood. Rick stepped around the bench to look at Mike.
“I’m OK,” Mike said to Rick. “Get Mauldin out to the van.”
***
As Claire stood beside a conference table watching the action taking place on the video monitor, she saw Shocklee fall to the ground, as did the approaching man just seconds later. She grasped the back of a chair, pulled it out, and sat down. Mike had been shot, and Claire was deeply concerned for his safety and the security of the operation. There wasn’t much hesitation in the action as she continued to watch. The two SEALs were in the process of lifting Mauldin from the bench when the duty supervisor heard Windstrum’s pronouncement.
“No, get Mike out first.”
***
Nina reported the incident over the net. By this time, Captain Lubikov was standing at Serge’s desk to make sure that he was passing the information as quickly as possible to Kasikov, who had called and complained about Serge’s work and that they needed more help in identifying where the calls were originating.
“We’re doing the best we can, Captain. Kasikov should know that we can’t pinpoint the cell towers being used because the calls are being trunked out over a satellite link; that’s how we’re getting the intercepts.
“Listen to this,” continued Serge. He pushed a button and turned up the volume. The captain heard the female’s voice.
“A weapon has been fired. I just heard a shot coming from inside the garden.”
“I sent that to him a few minutes ago,” stated Serge, looking up at the captain.
“You’re doing good, just keep at it.” The captain turned to walk away when Serge spoke again.
“I have an idea, Captain. Why doesn’t Kasikov monitor the police network? If something is going down and the police get involved, he can compare that information to the intercepts that we are receiving and possibly determine their location.”
“Good idea. I’ll call and let him know; however, I don’t know if all this effort we’re going through will be worth much when it’s all over.”
***
Charlie, after hearing the shot, rushed toward the gate to go inside. Mike laid on the ground still looking at the downed man and thinking of Marcie and what she was going to say when he came home with another bullet hole in his body.
It’s about time to hang this shit up, he thought as the image of a security camera cleverly concealed on a pole located beyond the man came into view. Mike realized that more security personnel could be coming and knew he needed to get out to the van.
***
“FIVE, what’s happened?” Allison had asked.
“I don’t know, SIX. Will advise as soon as I know something.”
Kasikov was pissed about all the intercepts, and he couldn’t ascertain where to look for the activity. In the meantime, Rick had Brandson on the secure phone relaying information about the op to him as it was going down.
***
Charlie met Rick and Frank as they carried Mauldin out. Rick nodded his head back toward the bench. Charlie looked and saw Mike trying to get up from the ground. He rushed toward him to provide some assistance. Nina had the doors open when Rick and Frank arrived with Mauldin. She reached out to help pull him into the van. Afterward, she asked Rick about the gunshot.
“A security guard surprised us. Mike’s been shot.”
At that moment, Charlie arrived, helping Mike, who was holding the small leather pouch he had used to prop open the gate. It contained the remaining serum they would need to keep Mauldin sedated during the long journey back home. He had the sense, even being wounded, to grab it as they passed through the gate on their way back to the van.
Mike handed the pouch to Frank, who tossed it to Nina.
“There’s a security camera in there and more guards could be on their way. We need to get the hell out of here,” he said.
Frank climbed in to help Rick and Charlie as they carefully lifted Mike into the van. Nina watched the action and provided an update to the network.
“TL has been shot, but he appears to be OK. We are leaving with the package.”
Allison relayed the information to Randy. Sirens could be heard getting louder as they approached their location. Charlie jumped in once Mike was safely inside, and Rick closed the doors. He hurried to the front of the van and got in. Charlie grabbed his ruck and opened it to get a bandage to dress Mike’s wound. They heard Rick’s order.
“Let’s go, Ron! Step on it!”
It was difficult for Charlie to tell how badly Mike had been wounded when he picked him up from the ground near the bench, but now, after opening his bloodied shirt, Charlie could tell from feeling Mike’s backside that the bullet had gone all the way through; it appeared to be just a flesh wound. The entry point was about two inches in from Mike’s side and halfway up between his hip and rib cage.
The sound of sirens grew louder as Ron drove away from the curb. He looked at his outside mirror and could see two police cars quickly approaching from behind. The radio transmission made by one of the policemen could be heard by others over the net. “We are pursuing a beige van possibly involved in a drug operation at SAPHSTIN.”
Nina reported that they were being pursued by two bears. They all heard Allison’s response.
“TWO, tell ONE to take them out.”
***
Randy sat in his office chair reflecting on what Allison had told him. He informed Brandson that Shocklee had been shot.
“What the hell happened? How bad is the situation?”
“Don’t know. Don’t have that info yet.”
***
As Ron sped over a small hill in the road, he braked hard to make a right turn, but he didn’t brake soon enough: Ron turned the corner on two wheels. Mike moaned as his body rolled from one side of the van to the other. More blood oozed out from his wound, as Charlie had yet to get the bandage wrapped around his midsection.
The plan called for Ron to drive around the block after they had Mauldin, making their way back to Arsenalnaya Highway. He heard Mike moan in pain as he made the turn. Ron pressed the gas pedal to the floor, and as the van sped up, he looked in the mirror to see a sedan parked alongside the street adjacent to the intersection.
As the first police car entered the intersection to turn in pursuit of the fleeing van, the sedan plowed into its side, careening from it and bouncing into the second police car that followed. Otto got out and began yelling at the policemen for running the red light. Paavi stayed in the car and announced that they had had an accident with two bears. Meantime, Ron passed a car in front of them. Rick looked and thought it was the attendant’s car. Five minutes later, Ron had reached Arsenalnaya Highway and was heading toward Liteyniy Bridge.
***
Kasikov was monitoring the police network when he heard the broadcast of a high-speed chase involving a large beige van and two police cruisers. Both drivers announced a simultaneous accident while pursuing the van and advised the net that the vehicle was heading toward Arsenalnaya Highway. Minutes later, he received the transcript from Serge with information that he could tie to the high-speed chase. A woman had announced that they were being pursued by two bears, and another woman gave orders to someone to take them out. He turned to an assistant with orders to find out exactly where the accident took place.
***
The attendant had heard the sirens and was leaving his meet location, making his way back to the institute, when a large beige van passed him. When he got back to the gate and parked, everything appeared normal. He got out and unlocked the gate. When he walked in, he saw an empty bench and a man lying on the ground several yards from where he had left Mauldin. He raised a hand and rubbed his forehead and hair, wondering what the hell had happened. The attendant walked toward the man who was lying on his side with one leg pulled up as if he had been trying to get up. He bent down and turned his head to one side. The man moaned. He pushed him over a bit and recognized the institute security officer. The attendant saw a blood-soaked shirt. He stood up and ran to get help. Minutes later, he returned with one of the institute doctors.
***
Nina now had the speaker on so the others around her could hear what was going on with the support team.
***
Brandson became engrossed in the chase information being relayed to him. The team leader had been shot, and they were collectively in deep shit if the team didn’t get away safely. He tilted his head back thinking of options.
***
Allison heard the policemen coordinating their pursuit of the beige van and knew that other cars would be joining the chase, and soon the FSB would be as well, but it would take time for them to get to the chase area. Even with the use of sirens, it was just too much traffic for that time of the day for them to get from Sectors A and B to Sector C where the action was taking place.
Allison reported the information.
“More bears on their way, FIVE. Try to get to your destination as quickly as possible.”
“Another car just turned onto the highway behind us,” Ron stated.
Nina raised the phone to her lips.
“All, we are on Arsenalnaya Highway heading to the bridge with another bear coming up behind us.”
“Your action, THREE,” they heard SIX say.
“Understand,” he replied.
The van was at full speed, but it appeared the police car was catching up with them. Ron saw the small truck parked on the side of the road as he sped down the highway. As the police car neared the small truck, the driver suddenly pulled out, hitting the police car in the side. Ron watched in the mirror as the police car, moving at a high rate of speed, sailed through the air out over the embankment and landed in the river.
Reko kept driving his small, banged up truck down the highway.
“This is THREE. You’re clear from behind, FIVE, but I’m out of action.”
Nina responded, “Thanks, THREE.”
The pursuing policemen, who were now scrambling to get out of the river, had radioed the location of the beige van they were all chasing. Sakke, with his window down, heard the siren and then saw a police car coming down Liteyniy Road toward the bridge. He saw the van in the distance as it turned from Arsenalnaya Highway onto the bridge. He didn’t need to hear the order from SIX; he knew what had to be done. Seconds later, Sakke started the engine and pulled the tow truck out onto Liteyniy Road as if planning to cross and turn up the street in the direction of the approaching police car. He killed the engine halfway across and effectively blocked traffic in both directions preventing the police or the FSB from joining in on the chase. Ron sped across the bridge heading out of the city.
“FIVE, you’re clear from this side of the bridge. Good luck the rest of the way.”
“Thanks to all of you,” Nina replied. “We’re heading to Echo.
“Stay close at home, birds,” Allison stated. “We need to make sure they get to the county line. Everyone get rid of your comm devices; they’ve been used too much as it is.”
Kasikov was pissed after reading the last transcript. Whatever it was the group was involved in would remain a secret. With no additional information and them no longer using their phones, it would simply be a wild-goose chase. He called back the search teams and reached to pick up the ringing telephone.