4

Altogether there were sixteen Japanese Red Army faction members dead, including their cell leader, Tagugi Yashita, the most wanted man in Japan. The embarrassment of the Japanese government of having a known and wanted terrorist so deeply ensconced in the Okinawa civil authority would be something debated for many years to come. But Yashita had indeed used his family influence to place himself as deeply undercover as he could, biding his time while directing the assaults on Japan’s officialdom from the safety of his governmental position, even receiving notices of gains against the JRA movement. His activities would scar the government for many years.

The Japanese Army Special Forces unit that had planned and carried out the assault on the cave complex had allowed Major Jack Collins access to the operation only because Jack had had a hand in training their officers in the fine art of covert assault years before. The information Jack had given them was also a deciding factor in allowing him to come along, with the Japanese military believing fully that he was still a part of the Fifth Special Forces out of Fort Bragg. But little did they know he had been on detached service to Department 5656 for the past year and a half.

The Japanese assault element was now working closely with the home island’s chemical warfare department for the safe handling and removal of the powdered agent. Altogether, 865 pounds of the unknown powder was present in the hold of the old junk.

Sarah McIntire walked up to Jack and didn’t say anything; she simply grabbed his wrist for a brief moment and squeezed. Collins winked at her.

“How in the hell did you know what was happening here?” Carl asked, walking up to Jack as soon as he had made sure Fallon and his graduate students were safe and secure outside.

Collins safed his Ingram and eased it onto his shoulder; the whole time he never took his eyes off Sarah. Then he finally looked around and found the person he wanted to speak to, Danielle Serrate.

“Since it had been a woman who called Director Compton on his private line at Group two days ago, and we know it hadn’t been Sarah, because we couldn’t get through to you or Mr. Everett on your radios—if you check to see, I suspect they have been tampered with—and since we can eliminate Dr. Fallon’s students because they don’t even know we exist, may we assume it was you, Miss …”

Carl shook his head. “Jack, this is Danielle Serrate, the head of the Commission des Antiquités of the government of France.”

Danielle stepped forward, her chemical suit was unzipped and the upper half tied at her waist. Carl saw that she had a few large scratches on her arms, but other than that she had come through the hostilities with little damage.

“The United States government is indebted to you. But if I may ask, why call us? French commandos would have been more than happy to jump into the fray,” Jack asked.

She clicked the safety back on her Beretta and then placed the pistol in her satchel. “My government does not know about this operation. I was on a personal leave of absence.”

“Okay, now can we have your real name?”

“Jack, her married name is Farbeaux,” Carl said in a low tone.

“I no longer associate myself with my ex-husband, Mr. Everett. I believe I informed you of that earlier.”

“Well, the plot thickens,” Jack said, turning from Danielle to Carl. “That would explain how she came by Director Compton’s private phone line.” Jack turned back to the Frenchwoman. “Ms. Serrate, may I offer you our hospitality and a chance to explain yourself?”

“I am afraid I cannot allow you to take me to the Japanese authorities, as that would leave too much explaining to do to my government.”

“No problem; we have a ride coming that’ll take us to a secure location. I think we can leave the Japanese government out of this one.”

“This is not the sort of hospitality I would expect after aiding you in saving all of these lives.”

“That’s what I’m curious about, ma’am—just why would the ex-wife of an antagonist contact us instead of using her own national resources? Commander Everett, assist our savior outside. I believe our ride is here,” Jack said, as the sound of a helicopter could be heard outside of the cave.

The gray MH-60 Seahawk flew low to avoid becoming an unknown blip on any airborne radar. The navy chopper skimmed only a few feet above the masts of Japanese fishing vessels. Jack Collins, Sarah McIntire, and Carl Everett, still in their covert guise, sat calmly without talking. Their cover as naval special weapons people was still intact, a story sanctioned by Niles Compton and the president of the United States. Danielle had seen dossiers on all three from her husband’s files recovered in the raid on his Los Angeles home. She knew Sarah to be a new second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, the new head of the Geology Department. Sarah had been an integral part in another mysterious operation in the American desert last year. The same with Jack Collins; it was rumored in the dark places where governments meet that it was the major who had actually headed the bizarre mission that had confronted a UFO. Danielle had only heard rumors, only bits and pieces about the Event from intelligence speculation.

The person that interested her most was Lieutenant Commander Carl Everett, a former SEAL. Currently it was surmised by French intelligence that he was the number two man in the Group’s security department, under Collins. The man was a brute. But he intrigued her nonetheless. Maybe it was his immediate dislike for her, she didn’t know, but she would learn as much about him as she could. He wore his emotions on the outside and thus could be very helpful to her in the future.

As she thought this over, the Seahawk started climbing at a high rate of speed. Danielle adjusted her earphones and leaned over in her seat toward Major Collins.

“Am I to assume I am to be taken to a small CIA trawler off the coast and asked some questions, to a little ship of torture perhaps?” she asked, raising her right brow.

Carl snorted and turned away, shaking his head. Sarah just absently scratched her nose. Jack Collins leaned forward and in all seriousness pointed out the side window. “No ma’am, no torture, no CIA, and definitely not a small ship,” he said, his blue eyes never leaving hers.

Danielle turned to where the major was indicating and was stunned for the first time in many years. She tried not to show it as she looked upon the largest object she had ever seen in her life that wasn’t anchored to the ground. The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier was making at least thirty-plus knots. Her massive bow tossed the green seas high into the air as she cut through the Pacific 130 miles off the coast of Okinawa.

The Seahawk crew chief lowered his microphone so he could speak to the others on board the naval version of the Blackhawk.

“Ma’am, please sit back for landing, and welcome to the USS George Washington.”

The captain’s quarters aboard Big George, as the men fondly called their ship, were spacious and very well appointed for a United States naval vessel. The skipper had excused himself and allowed the members of the Event Group to utilize the largest and most secure cabin on the ship to debrief the foreign national. The captain of Big George didn’t believe they were any sort of naval special weapons people. He could smell CIA.

As the mess stewards brought in coffee and a small tray of sandwiches, Jack took the time to remove his Nomex assault gear. He would have to thank SEAL Team Six, which was aboard, for the loan. Sarah poured everyone coffee and sat heavily in one of the overstuffed chairs that lined the conference table. Her arm had been tended to by the ships surgeon and the painkillers they had given her were dragging her down.

There was a rap on the cabin door and navy lieutenant JG Jason Ryan stepped in. He smiled at everyone and walked up to Jack, who was wiping his hands on a face towel. He shook Jack’s hand.

“Glad to see you made it in one piece, Major,” Ryan said as he turned to shake the hands of Carl and Sarah.

“Are you getting reacquainted with old friends?” Jack asked, as he sat down and pulled his cup of coffee toward him. “Ms. Serrate, this is Jason Ryan; he used to fly off these carrier things the navy plays with. He works for me and the Group now.”

Danielle took a sip of her coffee and nodded toward Ryan, who took a chair next to Sarah and winked at her.

“By the way, Jack, the captain has cleared Ms. Serrate here for a flight leaving within the hour aboard a C-2A Greyhound heading for Narita International in Tokyo. Director Compton has arranged a first-class flight out of there for our guest to Paris.” Jason looked over to the redheaded Serrate. “The director wished to pass on his personal thanks for the warning you gave us that Mr. Yashita wasn’t who he seemed to be.”

“Can you explain how you knew this?” Jack asked.

“I came across Yashita’s name in my ex-husband’s file on this site. It said that he was a man of unscrupulous nature, and was known to the Okinawans as Mr. Asaki. So, when we were introduced to that gentleman on the island, it wasn’t a stretch to put two and two together and that is why I called your director. Now, am to be released?” she asked, looking from Ryan to Jack.

“As far as we know, you’re not wanted by Interpol, the FBI, or any other foreign intel service; in other words, Ms. Serrate, we can’t link you to any of your husband’s transgressions,” Jack said.

“To make it crystal clear, we can’t arrest you for being married to an asshole and murderer,” Carl added, looking directly at Danielle, waiting for a reaction.

Jack cleared his throat. He was watching the subdued anger rise on the Frenchwoman’s face. “The million-dollar question, Ms. Serrate, is why you were there in the first place.”

Danielle placed her cup of coffee down on the table. “Several months ago I became aware of my ex-husband’s interest in the rumors of this site on Okinawa. In this and several other locations across the world where there were bizarre rumors of lost ships, cities; anywhere there could be found the legends of ancient alchemists—advanced science, if you will. Why? I do not know, as my husb … ex-husband’s schemes are his own. But he has become an embarrassment to my government, my department, and to me. As his current interest seems to be beyond his normal pursuits, I believe he may be mixed up with foul elements that may be of concern to both your government and mine.”

“So, tell us what you’ve got,” Jack said, knowing that a hidden tape recorder was running, taking down everything the Frenchwoman was saying.

“I thought he would have been here in pursuit of that vessel. We came across a safe house in Mexico and another in Los Angeles, where we uncovered several research items on the possibility of an ancient weapon of mass destruction that was buried with that ancient junk,” she said as she took a sip of her coffee. “It was my hope he would show himself here so I could cancel his bogus affiliation with my government. And I wished to do this in front of his most ardent enemies, as proof of my department’s commitment at cooperation.”

“You and he were married for how long?” Carl asked, standing and walking over to the silver coffee service and pouring another cup. He then walked over and refilled Danielle’s.

“I married him when I was eighteen.”

“Please continue, Ms. Serrate,” Jack said.

“My husband has been quite …” She stumbled for the right word to use. “He’s been rogue for some time and is up to some very disconcerting research, for a reason that I cannot yet fathom. He even had a complete scientific investigative report commissioned on an obscure legend about a Spanish expedition in Brazil that supposedly took place over five hundred years ago, a very expensive research project.”

“Do you have anything else he may be working on?” Sarah asked her.

“All I have is that he has found a new financier and has been dealing with an American professor on a project. I was hoping it was Professor Fallon and the Okinawan site. Now I fear I am at a dead end.”

Jack looked at his watch. “I’m afraid we’re out of time. Mr. Ryan, would you escort Ms. Serrate to the flight deck, please, and get her outfitted?” He faced the director of the French variation, albeit a far weaker version, of his very own organization. “May I assume we can count on cooperation with your agency instead of harmful competition in the future?”

Danielle stood and pushed her chair in. “That is not up to me, or you, I’m afraid. Times are dangerous and people aren’t very trusting in these very violent days. But I will promise you this: where I can, I will forward as much information as possible if it affects your government where Colonel Farbeaux is concerned. I will start there.”

“You do that,” Carl said, as he held her eyes. “But we won’t hold our breath.”

“Before you go, can you let us in now on just what it was that was in those containers?” Jack asked. He looked at her sharply.

Danielle returned the stare. Obviously this man was good at his job. He knew she was aware of what they had been dealing with all along.

“The most virulent form of anthrax that has ever been produced, enough to kill most of a continent if unleashed.”

“I think you could have informed us earlier,” Carl said angrily as he glared at the Frenchwoman.

Danielle returned the hateful look and then turned away to follow Ryan out of the cabin. Carl watched her go without further comment, pushing his full cup of coffee away from him in disgust.

“I told you she liked you,” Sarah half-joked.