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“NO!” COOLIO YELLED out as he watched the near real-time satellite feed video and saw Cowboy captured by the North Korean soldiers.
Sierra rushed over to Coolio’s workstation. She was alone with him in their makeshift operations center while Kruger and the rest of the team planned the rescue mission. “What is it? Is it Reginald?”
“He was just captured by North Korean troops,” Coolio said.
“Bloody hell!” Sierra yelped as she leaned over Coolio’s shoulder and watched them carry off her brother. “Can you track them?”
“I can try,” Coolio said nervously.
“Don’t try!” Sierra yelled in a sudden flash of anger. “Do it!”
“Okay, I’m trying,” Coolio replied sheepishly.
“I’m sorry,” Sierra said. “I know you’re under a lot of stress.”
“It’s okay,” Coolio replied as he tracked the group of soldiers hauling Cowboy through a clearing.
Kruger, Tuna, and Ringo walked in as Coolio and Sierra watched the satellite feed.
“What’s going on? We heard yelling,” Tuna said, leading the trio into the small room.
“Cowboy made contact and I gave him the evasion plan you gave me to send in the event of contact,” Coolio said.
“That’s great!” Ringo said. “So, why all the yelling?”
“Cowboy’s been captured by the North Koreans,” Sierra said.
“Are you sure?” Ringo asked.
“We saw the whole thing unfold as it happened,” Coolio said, pointing to the screen as the group with Cowboy reached a small path and convoy of vehicles at the base of the hill. “He made contact and I found his location through his survival radio’s coordinate burst. Once I had eyes on, I saw a group of North Korean soldiers looking for him. So, I told him to get moving to the next point and sent him coordinates. I never saw the soldiers that got him. They must have just arrived from a nearby area. But I watched him fight and then fall down the hill before they grabbed him.”
“Fall?” Sierra asked. “You didn’t mention a fall. Is he okay?”
Coolio shrugged. “I couldn’t tell. He rolled down the hill and it looked like a tree stopped him. The resolution isn’t good enough to tell whether he stopped himself or just stopped. I wish I could tell you more.”
“What about Woody?” Kruger asked. “Have you found him yet?”
“Nothing from his seat’s locator beacon, his personal location device in his G-suit, or his SAR radio,” Coolio replied. “I’m searching every grid I can, but I haven’t found him yet.”
“Keep looking, bub,” Kruger said. “And find out where they’re taking Cowboy.”
“I’ll do my best, boss,” Coolio said. “But this satellite isn’t easily repositioned. If they take him outside the coverage area, I’ll be blind. We need drone support.”
Kruger turned to Tuna. “Can you make that happen?”
“I’ll make a call to Langley,” Tuna replied.
Coolio’s computer chimed as Tuna headed out with his encrypted satellite phone in hand. Kruger turned to see the young analyst reading a classified file.
“What is that?” Kruger asked. “If it’s not mission essential, skip it for now, and let’s focus on recovery of our people.”
“I hacked into South Korean intelligence services and set up a keyword search for anything related to Choe Il-Sung. I’m reading it now, but it looks like they believe he’s planning to visit a missile launch and test facility near Kosong tomorrow,” Coolio said as he skimmed through the secret document.
“Do they believe a launch is imminent?” Ringo asked.
“It doesn’t say that, but it does say that the last time he visited a site, they did perform a rocket test and it is feared that he may do so again due to stalled peace talks,” Coolio replied.
Kruger turned to Sierra. “Can you verify this intel with MI-6? I’ll have Tuna look into it with the agency once he gets off the phone.”
“Are we sure the agent you administered hasn’t taken effect yet? This may not even be necessary,” Sierra replied.
Kruger turned back to Coolio. He was back to tracking the vehicle that had taken Cowboy. “Any updates on the live feed of Il-Sung?”
“Nothing, boss. Feed ended twenty minutes ago and he appeared to be in good health,” Coolio answered.
“We can’t risk it,” Kruger said to Sierra. “If there’s any chance he’s still alive and thinking about launching that EMP, we have to take him down.”
“What about Reginald?” Sierra asked.
“We will send a team in to get him when we have a better idea of where they’re taking him,” Kruger said. “But the priority is Il-Sung.”
“I agree,” Ringo added. “We have to stop that little bastard before he starts a nuclear war. At all costs.”
“Those are your teammates out there!” Sierra yelled. “My brother. Our brothers in arms. We can’t just leave them there.”
“Look, bub, I don’t like it any more than you do,” Kruger said. “No one is leaving anyone behind. Once you confirm the intel, Ringo and I will insert and take Il-Sung out. The rest of the team can work on extracting Woody and Cowboy.”
“That’s not enough people,” Sierra replied. “If you and Ringo go to Kosong, and they take Reggie somewhere else, we don’t have enough people to launch a rescue mission. They’ll all die.”
“Look, I get it. He’s your brother and you’re worried. In case you forgot, the woman I love is probably being held by the North Koreans right now as well. But we all knew what we were getting into when we signed up for this mission – including Natasha. Including Woody. And including Cowboy,” Kruger said.
Tuna walked back into the room, carrying a small phone. He started to speak, but froze as he saw the standoff between Sierra and Kruger. “What’s going on? I’ve got new intel.”
“Kruger here wants to leave two of our own hanging in the wind to fend for themselves,” Sierra said. The anger in her voice left no question as to what she thought of Kruger’s plan.
“Well, not to throw a wrench into this any further, but Director Chapman just told me Il-Sung is expected to visit one of their test sites tomorrow. They’re moving AEGIS cruisers into position expecting a launch. He wants us to go to Plan B if possible.”
“Coolio just found the same thing,” Kruger said. “I asked Agent Carter to verify with MI-6 and that’s how we got into this.”
“Well, if it makes you feel better,” Tuna said to Sierra, “Director Chapman was also adamant that we bring our boys home. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because Americans caught flying a Russian fighter in North Korea to assassinate a high-ranking cabinet member is a PR nightmare no one wants.”
“Well then, I will join you,” Sierra said suddenly. “You don’t have enough men to do both.”
“Ringo and I will execute Plan B,” Kruger said. “Tuna, you can take the rest and grab Woody and Cowboy when we get more intel.”
Kruger turned to Sierra. His voice suddenly softened. “I’m sorry. I know this is not easy, but I need you to confirm this through your sources. And if you can get us intel on where they might be taking Cowboy, that would help too.”
“Okay,” Sierra said softly.
“Coolio!” Kruger barked.
“Yes, boss?”
“Find Woody! Now!”