In
flight
Sixteen minutes
ago
“Eight minutes to drop, Captain,” called the
pilot.
About damn time, I thought.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Bunny
nudge Top and then the two of them share a look. I must have had
quite an expression on my face. I turned away and hoisted my poker
face on.
There was a bing! in my earbud and then
Church’s voice said, “Cowboy. Our spotters are seeing some activity
around the island. Over two dozen small commercial fishing craft
have closed on Dogfish Cay and launched boats.”
“What the hell? Don’t tell me the Navy’s
jumped the gun on this.” “No,” he said. “They’re not
ours.”
“Then who the hell are
they?”
“Unknown at this time.”
“Russians?”
“Possible, but there are a lot of them.
Early estimates put the number at over one
hundred.”
“Christ. Any word from Grace? Do we have the
trigger device?”
“She reported in just before I called you.
She does not yet have the device. This situation is still
fragile.”
Shit.
“Okay. keep all of the backup on standby.
I’m seven minutes from my drop. I’ll get back to you with intel as
soon as I’m on the ground.”