Over the South China Sea
August 26
Lieutenant Lacey efficiently completed her briefing of Commander Nicolaou in just under five minutes. “All right men, listen up!” He shouted to be heard over the roar of the massive Osprey engines. Their transport had completed a mid-air refueling and, under new orders from Colonel Pierson, was racing west on a new course for Bandar Seri Begawan.
The team gathered around Boss Man. “Bull, log onto the SGIT secure server. Lacey has uploaded a briefing packet including the floor plan of the Istana Nurul Iman palace. That’s the home of the Sultan of Brunei.”
Bull set to work typing furiously on the touchkeys of a ruggedized mil-spec tablet. Each team member had one as part of their mission kit. Once he retrieved the file, he’d disseminate it over short-range, encrypted Wi-Fi to the other operators.
“Are we gonna go knocking on the Sultan’s door?” Iceberg asked.
Jim nodded. “That’s right. The intel is still sketchy, but here’s what we know.” He ran through the key elements of the situation at the palace, being clear to indicate what was known and what was speculation.
“The palace guards are to be considered hostile. They’ve already engaged friendlies, killing two. Based on human intel, we know the control room is located in the east wing. Lieutenant Lacey’s team has narrowed down the exact location to the ground floor rooms indicated on the floor plan in the docs you’re about to receive. Memorize it. This structure is massive in size. The interior may seem like a maze if you are not familiar with it.
“Our primary objective is to secure the control room. Since we do not know it’s complete purpose or function, we are to apprehend all technicians and other personnel on the site and render inoperative the main consoles. Questions?”
“Sir, how will we identify the main consoles?” Ghost asked.
“Communications and radar. Our people do not believe there is any fire-control capability at this facility. Rather, they speculate it is the nerve center of the operation to coordinate missile launches from multiple remote facilities. We’ve taken out two of those launch facilities, but we don’t know if there are more.”
Homer looked confused. “Sorry sir, did you say two launch platforms were removed?”
“That’s right. The second was the Royal Seeker, another oil exploration ship very similar to the Panda Star. Friendlies boarded her and captured the captain and bridge crew, but not before a missile was fired. Fortunately, they were successful in destroying the guidance-control equipment while the missile was in flight.”
Iceberg raised his index finger, receiving a nod of acknowledgement from Commander Nicolaou. “You said that’s our primary objective. Is there a secondary?”
Jim folded his arms. “There is. We have reason to believe there are three hostages, perhaps being held in or near the control room. Two are American.”
“Is this intel good?” Bull asked.
“It is. The source is Peter Savage. He’s inside the palace, although communication is sporadic. But he’s relayed key information already. He was also involved in boarding the Royal Seeker.”
“We’ll get him, sir,” Homer said. “Just like before.”
Jim recalled the many SGIT missions in which Peter had participated—with this same team of operators—and knew he was tough, but equally reckless. “As you all know, the situation with hostages is always fluid. Hopefully, they haven’t been moved to a different location. We focus on the primary objective: The control facility must be neutralized. Am I clear?”
He received a unanimous reply. “Yes, sir.”
“We’re working multiple channels to get assistance from the Brunei Special Forces, but I have no guarantees at the moment.”
“Shooters or intel?” Ghost asked.
“Both. Obviously, they will know the layout of the palace and grounds better then we will. And it would be a whole lot better going in with an elite team of shooters, guns hot.”
“How are we to tell the good guys from the bad guys?” This question from Magnum.
“The palace guard is a paramilitary force, so their uniform is common to the Brunei military. However, the palace guards wear black berets, and the Special Forces are issued maroon berets.”
“Just the color of their hat? That’s not much,” Iceberg complained.
Jim had the same thought, but he still gave Iceberg a stern look. “It’s what we got, soldier. Deal with it.”
Bull looked up from his tablet. “Briefing packet is coming across now.”
The chatter ceased while everyone studied the electronic files. In less than an hour they’d be on the ground, and they had a lot of preparation to complete.