United States Northern Command
Peterson Space Force Base, El Paso County, CO
“Case Red Confirmed.”
Wilkes shook his head. He had been involved in war planning since the day he arrived at Peterson. As head of J5, planning for crazy scenarios that would never happen was just part of the job. However, the idea that Russia would have special forces operating in Mexico seemed too outlandish to be real. But here he was, watching a video of a Russian Spetsnaz pilot being interrogated.
“This man was captured by the CIA?”
“Yes, the team from Forward Base Echo nabbed him and two mechanics. We flew them out of the base and up to a secure facility.”
By secure facility, Wilkes assumed the sergeant doing the briefing meant Groom Lake in Nevada. Nobody was going to escape from there; the only way in or out was via aircraft. Even if the Russians knew where they were being held, their odds of escaping the base in the middle of nowhere were essentially zero. Assuming they had been hooded before boarding the aircraft, they didn’t even know where they were. Double zero. They were not going anywhere.
“Do we know who they are working with?”
“We had assumed they were working with the cartels, but it seems like they have support from the Mexican military as well.”
“Seems like?”
“The prisoner doesn’t know any names, but he reports seeing uniformed officers meeting with his boss.”
“I assume the boss man is dead?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Convenient.”
“It was a pretty dynamic situation there. The CIA black team lost ten men between the two attacks, and the Mexican Marines lost six.”
“Understood.” Wilkes re-read the briefing document, not liking it any more the second time. “It looks like a joint operation with Mexico is out. We just don’t know who is compromised over there. Even if it’s a small group, we could easily tip them off.”
“Yes, sir.”
“OK, I will take this to the boss. Give the ready signal to the 944th that we may have new tasking for them.”
“Yes, sir.”
Within two hours, he had his answer back: a directive from the Joint Chiefs to investigate without the cooperation of Mexican forces.