Bahia, Kino, Sonora, Mexico
Casa De Bustamante
Park had set up the secure satellite communications unit in the spacious living room. The airy room allowed for good signal to the circling communications satellite, high overhead. He had been talking to someone in Pacific Command for over twenty minutes. Suddenly, he stiffened. “Sir, yes sir.”
Peters walked over from where he had been sitting. “What’s up?”
“Get Ping Pong down here right now.”
Peters was going to ask more questions but the look on Park’s face silenced him. He shrugged and went to go find Ping Pong. When they returned, Park was still talking on the satellite phone. “Here she is, sir, one moment.”
He handed Ping Pong the handset. “It’s for you.”
Ping Pong made a face but took the handset. “Hello?”
The voice on the phone was very formal. “Captain Harris?”
“Yes, who is this?”
“Captain Nancy Harris, formerly Travis, service number 3544366?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“Ident. Alpha Foxtrot Lima.”
“Fuck, I don’t carry those cards in my sweats. Who is this?”
“Ident. Alpha Foxtrot Lima.”
“One minute.” Ping Pong went upstairs to find her purse. All embassy personnel had been issued little laminated cards that were to be used in case of an emergency in order to identify themselves. Each card had challenge response codes they were supposed to use. One set for “everything is fine” and another for “I’m in trouble.”
She walked downstairs and took the handset back from Park again “You still there?”
“Ident. Alpha Foxtrot Lima.”
She read the all clear code off the card. “Whisky Zulu Sierra.”
“Hold one for SACPAC.”
She looked at Park, an astonished look on her face. Park just shook his head. He had no idea what was going on.
“Captain Harris?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Do you recognize my voice, Captain?”
“Sir, yes, sir.”
“Captain, I am about to violate at least ten regulations. You are under no obligation to follow my orders in any way. I am not in your chain of command. Do you understand me, Captain?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Captain, I am afraid that something extremely dangerous to the United States is going on in northern Mexico.”
Ping Pong snorted and before she could stop herself, blurted out, “Well, no shit!” Realizing she had spoken aloud, she belatedly added. “Sir.”
The Admiral just laughed. “Well, glad we’ve got that sorted out.” He paused. “I need you to get out to the desert and document what you find. We have an issue that I am dealing with and we need that evidence.”
“The fact that we have Russian Spetsnaz troops and PLA regulars on the ground here isn’t enough?”
“We think that the Russians are feeding disinformation directly into the Pentagon.”
“And we defeat this disinformation campaign how?”
“I need intel. Counts of troops, vehicles, reports of their movements. You know the drill.”
“Get a P-8 down here and I could tell you. One hour with the AN/APY-10 and I could tell you exactly. Sir.”
“Don’t I know it. Look, Captain, this is not the correct way to go about it, but regular channels are being blocked from upstairs. Will you help me?”
“Sir, this would be much easier with some air support.”
“Is Captain Peters with you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Put him on, please.”
Ping Pong handed the handset to Peters with a smirk on her face. “It’s for you.”
Peters picked up the handset. “Yeah? Who’s this?” She watched Peter’s face turn from annoyance to confusion to alarm in just a few seconds. “SIR! YES SIR!” He listened for a few moments. “Yes SIR!”
After a few moments, he disconnected the call and turned to Ping Pong with a scowl. “That was a dirty trick!”
Park put up a hand. “Was that really SACPAC on the phone?”
“Yeah.” While there were many Admirals, SACPAC was always The Admiral to those who served under him. You could hear the capitol letters when they talked about him. It had become so pervasive that his actual name was never used. Just one of those strange things that happen when someone becomes larger than life like SACPAC had become.
“Isn’t he retired or something?”
“Apparently, he’s been restored to active duty, temporarily. Working with Red Team at Pearl.”
“Well, fuck.” Park looked at Ping Pong who just looked determined and back to Peters who looked amused. “So?”
“So, he just ordered me to do what we were going to do anyway.”
“Can he do that?”
“He’s a fucking five-star admiral. I didn’t ask about chain of command.”
“Aren’t you retired?”
“Not anymore. Apparently, I’ve been activated also.”
“Well, shit.” The secure comms started beeping. “Who the fuck is that?”
Peters laughed. “My guess? 160th SOAR.”