Twilight’s Last Gleaming
Published: 26 Apr 2018
12:05 EST December 1, 2012
USS Ronald Reagan
Off the Coast of New Jersey
Norris looked up from his desk as NCIS Agent Clausen, Secret Service Agent Anastio and Bucky walked into his office.
“Sit down gentleman and tell me you have a fucking explanation for this fucking mess.” Norris pointed to the chairs across from his desk. “Agent Anastio, let’s hear what you have.”
“Sir, after returning to Naval Base Newport, my team, with Agent Clausen, investigated Agent Locke’s office. We found a letter addressed to Agent Tom Clark, the Chief of President Bryce’s detail. The letter lays out the plan to kill Ashwood, to ensure he did not divulge any secrets. Agent Locke also states that it was never his intention to betray his country or the Service. However, agents of a group called the AoG had kidnapped his wife and 3 year old son and threatened to kill them if he did not comply. They sent him pics of his family with guns to their heads. We have the pics being analyzed so we can try to find them.”
“How were the pics sent to him?”
“They were delivered to him moments after he received the assignment to protect Ashwood. He was in the Seattle office. The envelope was an official Treasury Department classified envelope. It would have bypassed screening.”
Norris leaned back. “So either you’re telling me they counterfeited the envelope or someone in the Treasury Department is compromised.”
Anastio took a deep breath. “Sir, those envelopes are numbered and registered. I contacted the Seattle Office; the envelope used came from Supervisory Treasury Agent Mitch Stohr’s desk. Agent Stohr is missing in action and his apartment in Seattle is empty.”
Norris stood up. “Ok, listen up gentlemen and let me make this clear. I just got my ass chewed by the President of the United States. We fucked up here! We should have seen this possibility and prevented it. I want this Agent Stohr found and found fast. Track down all known family members, associates, colleagues. Fuck, track down all the whores he fucked in college. I don’t want to hear about jurisdiction and agency turf wars over this shit. Right now every one of you works for me! You will work together and find out where he is and bring the fucker to me. NOW.”
Agents Clausen and Anastio both rapidly rose and left. Bucky just sat there smirking.
“Wipe the smirk off your face Commander, I am not joking. If they find him, I want your team to get in there and get him. I don’t want to risk any more fiascos.”
Bucky stiffened up a little. “Sir yes sir.”
Norris stood and started pacing. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. This has been fucking insane. First the nuclear missile and now the Ashwood assassination, all on my watch. I don’t want any more surprises, Bucky, I know you’re still a little beat up but I need you to stay on this and make sure no fucking rock gets left unturned.”
Norris paused and sighed. “I recommended the President cancel his upcoming trip but he is refusing, so we have 5 days to get this figured out. Get with Adam and see if his people can help.”
“On it Admiral.”
Norris sat back down as Bucky exited. “MYERS”
Commander Myers stuck her head in the door. “Sir?”
“When do Adam and Logan arrive?”
“They should be here in a couple hours, sir.”
“Are they bringing the Commander from the 82nd Airborne with them?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good, let them get settled in and get the senior commanders together to review and finalize the plans for DC.”
“Yes sir. Doctor McCray is waiting to see you.”
“Send him in.”
Myers went to the door and let the Doctor in. Norris looked up and pointed to a chair. “What’s up Leo.”
“This.” He handed Norris a sealed evidence bag with the remnants of a bullet in it.
“What the fuck is this?”
“One of the bullets we removed from Ashwoods face. Technically we removed it from the back of his skull. It traveled through the nasal passage and lodged in the back of his skull. I thought that odd because most of the rounds went all the way through. I talked with our armory and Chief Petty officer Berria told me there is no way a 9mm at that range wouldn’t go clean through…unless the round was tampered with and some of the powder removed. So I inspected the round under a microscope and here is where it gets interesting. It’s engraved. Here is a picture of the engraving.” McCray handed him the picture which clearly showed a series of letters:
Norris looked closely. “What the fuck does it mean.”
“I am a Doctor Aggy, not a spy. I don’t have a clue.”
Norris pushed the button on the phone. “Myers, can you come in here for a moment, please?”
Moments later Myers stepped in. Norris handed her the picture. “What do you make of this?”
She studied the picture for a moment. “It’s coded coordinates.”
Norris just stared at her for a second. “Ok, how the hell did you know that.”
She smiled. “It’s a standard cipher code, that much is obvious. I know they’re coordinates because the letters convert to numbers. Two numbers, dot, six numbers, dash, two numbers, six numbers. Latitude and Longitude. If Agent Locke did this he is trying to tell us something.”
Norris took the picture back and looked at it. “All this shit has me rattled I should have seen that. How do we decode it?”
Myers shook her head. “We don’t without the cipher key. If he left this for us to find, he knows we can find the key somehow.”
“Well shit get this info to Bucky and Agent Clausen, their eyes only, tell them to start looking for the key.”
“Yes sir.” she started to walk away. “Oh, and sir, I scheduled you for dinner with Bucky, Colonel Rodriguez, Adam and Logan. You haven’t really had a chance to celebrate their engagement.”
“Good call Myers, can we make it special somehow?”
“Already working on it sir. The officer’s mess is baking a cake and Lieutenant Payne did some bartering and came up with a couple of bottles of champagne.”
Norris looked up and raised his eyebrows. “How much did we give away for that?”
“Not much, sir. Just some extra AVgas for the Maine National Guard.”
“I thought we were going to give them some anyway.”
“We were, sir but they don’t know that.”
Norris just chuckled. “Myers, there are some things I shouldn’t know and I think this is one of those.”
“Well then sir, pretend I never said it.” She turned around and walked out of the room.
17:30 EST December 1, 2012
USS Ronald Reagan
Off the Coast of New Jersey
Norris walked into the conference room and motioned for everyone to stay seated. “Adam, glad to see you’re up and around.”
“Sort of Aggy, but still very sluggish.”
“Well take it easy and get back to 100% fast. Logan, always a pleasure to see you as well. Keep this knuckle head from hurting himself any further.” He was pointing at Adam.
“Oh don’t worry, sir. There will be hell to pay if he doesn’t stay out of trouble, at least for a little while. Admiral, I would like to introduce you to Captain Eve. She is the new Tactical commander of the UNIT.”
Norris reached over and shook her hand. “Captain, it’s an honor. I have heard a lot about you. And you must be Colonel Revere.”
“Yes sir, it’s a pleasure to meet you sir.”
“The pleasure is all mine and I hope the fighting men and women of the 82nd Airborne are ready to get back into action.”
“More than ready sir. We want some fucking payback, sir. Excuse my french.”
Norris smiled. “Think nothing of it. That’s what I want to hear. Ok everyone, thank you for coming today to go over these plans. I take it everyone took the time to introduce yourself to Colonel Revere; if you haven’t do so after.”
Norris rolled out a tactical planning map on the table. “Ok, so we have multiple objectives to accomplish. Elements of Task Force Neptune will enter the Chesapeake Bay and sail up the Potomac. Navy SEAL Team 4 will go in advance of the main force and secure the area around the FDR Memorial. The main body will split: A battalion of Royal Marines will land and secure Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling. The 1st Battalion 574th Infantry with support from the UNIT will land and secure Ronald Reagan National Airport and the Pentagon. The 2nd Battalion 33rd Armor with UNIT assistance will conduct an Amphibious landing at Fort McNair. Drones and satellites show little to no resistance at McNair. 33rd Armor will then advance north with the objective of seizing the US Capitol Building. The 32nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, with the 1st squadron of 2nd ACR, will land at the FDR Memorial and seize the National Mall. They will then move on and retake the White House.
“The Battalion from the 82nd Airborne with support from the UNIT and the Blood’s Honor Regiment will drop into and seize the town of Beckley, West Virginia, completely disrupting the enemy intention of creating a formidable defensive front along route 64.
“Air support will be tasked as follows. Air Squadrons from Ronald Reagan will support the main offensives in DC and Arlington. Air Squadrons from HMS Illustrious will support the secondary attack in Beckley.
“HMS Queen Elizabeth will be stationed off the coast of New Jersey and will be held in reserve. FN Charles De Gaulle will be stationed in Long Island Sound and will provide air support to our forces in New England. Speaking of which, the French Marines will relieve the 32nd US Marines and a battalion of Royal Marines will relieve the 2nd ACR. They will link up with the Canadian forces and the State National Guard Units already in place. That is happening today and tomorrow.
“Once we have DC and Beckley, West Virginia secure, we move south towards Richmond, Virginia.
“You all have read the OPORDER. What questions do you have?” For the next hour, the senior officers debated back and forth, the best ways to handle this huge plan of attack. Once everyone settled down, Norris adjourned the meeting.
He walked up to Adam and Logan, who were talking with Colonel Revere. “Gentlemen we are about to sit for dinner and do a little celebrating, I am hoping you can join us.”
Colonel Revere smiled. “What are we celebrating Admiral?”
“Colonel Rodriguez and Commander Buchinski recently got engaged.” Colonel Revere’s mouth dropped. “Is that an issue, Colonel?”
Revere took a step back and realized everyone was watching him. “Oh shit, no sir, sorry for my reaction. I have no issue at all, was just really surprised you are openly supporting it. Most senior commanders just prefer to look the other way,”
“Colonel, you will realize I do not fit the mold for most senior officers.” He looked at his watch. “Dinner is in 30 minutes, see you there.”
1915 EST December 1, 2012
USS Ronald Reagan
Off The Coast of New Jersey
Norris stepped into the officer’s mess and waited for the Officer of the Mess for the evening to notice him. Ensign Baker quickly walked over to the Admiral.
“Ensign Baker, Admiral Norris, requesting permission to dine with the Officers this evening.”
“Permission granted, Admiral.”
Norris smiled at the little trivial formalities that kept them grounded even in a time of war. He walked in and spotted Leo off to the side talking with Adam and Logan. As he made his way over to them Felix stopped him.
“Admiral, may I have a word with you in private please?”
“Of course.” Norris turned around and walked to the corner of the room away from everyone else. “What’s on your mind, Felix?”
“Well sir, and this is kind of awkward, but since Bucky has no family here, other than his father, who we all know is not going to be of any assistance to Bucky.”
Norris leaned against the wall and smiled. “Son your rambling, get to the point.”
“Well sir, Bucky is going to ask you to stand in for his father at our wedding, and I know you probably are going to want to be low key about this, but I was hoping to ask you personally to please give it careful…”
Norris cut him off by laughing loud. “Shut up Felix, why in God’s name would I be low key about this? I would be honored to stand in for Bucky’s father. Am I gonna have to walk him down the aisle or some shit?”
Felix smiled and felt some of the weight come off his shoulders. “Thank you sir.”
Just as Norris was about to say something, Bucky walked up behind Felix. “What are you two plotting over here?”
Norris just smiled. “Felix wants me to walk you down the aisle at your wedding and I told him yes, but I will not be holding your damn hand or carrying any freaking flowers.”
Bucky put his arm around Felix and gave him a tight reverse hug. “But Admiral sir, we picked the perfect arrangement of pink pansies for your bouquet.”
Norris just stared at him for a second. “Pink, you say? Hmmm would go well with Dress Whites.”
All three started laughing. Norris put his arms around their shoulders and turned them around to face the room. “Let’s go eat, I am starving.”
Norris had made sure Bucky and Felix were seated in the two chairs on his right. This was considered the place of honor according to Navy etiquette. As they approached their seats, Norris looked over at Bucky.
“Any luck on that cypher key?”
“Not sure. There is no reference to a cypher anywhere. Payne has a computer program running to try to crack it, but without more input he thinks it’s impossible. The best he estimates is he could narrow it down to about 1000 different sets of coordinates and then we would have to investigate each and he is not even sure if that will work.”
Felix stopped at his chair and looked at them both. “May I ask what this is in reference to?”
Norris smiled. “I had assumed Bucky would have already told you.”
Bucky’s face became very serious. “Sir, you said my and Agent Slawson’s eyes only. Sir, you need to know, Felix and I will never violate confidentiality even with each other.”
Norris nodded and smiled. “I am happy to hear that but there will come a time when one of you will need the advice of the other and you will break that promise. So unless I explicitly tell you not to tell each other, I will always assume you have. Now yes, Felix you can ask.” Norris paused and looked up to see Ensign Baker standing by the door watching him. He nodded to the Ensign. “Let’s talk about it over dinner.”
“GOOD EVENING LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. I AM ENSIGN BAKER AND WOULD LIKE TO WELCOME YOU TO TONIGHT’S DINING IN.”
Bucky looked over at the Admiral. “Going a little formal tonight Sir?”
Norris just shushed him.
“PRESIDING OVER TONIGHT’S FESTIVITIES IS VICE ADMIRAL AUGUSTUS T. NORRIS.”
Norris stood and rapped on the table three times. “The Mess will come to order. Post the colors.” The door opened and the color guard marched in.. The color guard placed the flags in the holders behind Norris’ seat, turned around, saluted Norris and marched out. Norris turned around and faced the table.
“Our National Flag dates back to the Resolution passed by the Continental Congress on 14 June 1777. That resolution established the flag consisting of 13 alternate stripes of red and white and the union of 13 stars in a blue field representing a constellation.
“A symbol of liberty and strength, the American flag has carried its message throughout the world.
“My fellow officers, our National Anthem.” Everyone snapped to attention as the first bars of the Star Spangled Banner started to play on the sound system.
Once the Anthem finished, Norris looked over to Chaplain Palmer. “Chaplain, the invocation please.”
“Pray with me please. Dear God almighty, we raise our voices to you in hopes that you will hear our plea. We beg of you to guide our hands and minds. To give us the wisdom to make the right choices. We plead with you to protect all those under our care, keep them from harm, and help us get them all back to their families. This we pray in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.”
There was a chorus of muffled Amens. Norris waited until everyone was looking up again before he rapped the table one more time. “Please stay standing for the toasts.”
Norris raised his glass. “Fellow officers, to the United States Coast Guard.”
Everyone raised their glasses and responded. “To the Coast Guard.”
Norris looked over at Bucky and Bucky raised his glass. “To the United States Marine Corps.”
“To the Marines.”
Felix raised his glass and puffed out his chest. “To the United States Army.”
“To the Army.”
Sinclair raised his glass. “To the United States Air Force.”
“To the Air Force.”
Adam reached raised his glass and as he began to speak he coughed slightly. The quick look of embarrassment washed over him, but didn’t stop him from delivering one of the most honored lines in the official US Navy Toast. “To The United States Navy”
The response was so loud, later there was speculation it may have been heard on the flight deck. “TO THE NAVY”
Logan raised his glass and smiled at Adam. “To our families waiting at home for us.”
“To our families.”
Myers raised her glass. “To our fallen comrades.”
“To the Fallen.”
Finally Norris raised his glass one more time. “To the Commander in Chief.”
“To The President.”
“Excuse me Admiral?”
Norris paused and looked at McCray. “Yes Captain McCray.”
He turned and looked at Adam “I propose a toast to our returned comrade.”
Everyone raised their glasses again. “To Adam.”
”Excuse me, Admiral?”
Norris just cocked his head to the side and glared at McCray. McCray ignored him. “I propose a toast to our other returned comrade.” He raised his glass towards Bucky.
“To Bucky.”
Norris opened his mouth to tell everyone to take their seat…”Excuse me, Admiral.”
“Captain Leo McCray, you are violating Navy etiquette; would you please shut up.”
“No. I propose a toast to the future Newlyweds.”
Once again everyone raised their glasses. “TO BUCKY AND FELIX.”
Everyone was chuckling a little as Admiral Norris stood there staring at the Doctor. “I swear to God, if you say one more damn word before I get to eat I will serve your head on a silver platter. I am freaking hungry and you are treading on thin ice Doctor. Please be seated.”
Everyone including the Admiral was laughing so hard they barely noticed the stewards bring the food and more wine in. Norris looked around and could swear he could physically see some of the stress leave everyone at the table.
Felix leaned over towards the Admiral. “Sir, about the cypher?”
“Oh right. So Agent Locke engraved coded coordinates on one of the bullet fragments and we have no idea how to decode it.”
“Do you think it was intended for us.”
“Based on the fact that his family is being held hostage, I think so but, shit Felix everything is just guess work at this point.”
“Well did his office have a standard emergency cypher like we do?”
Norris and Bucky both turned and looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“Well our regiment has a standard emergency code. Anyone one that has served in the regiment knows the code. It’s not very secret but it works in the most desperate situations.”
Bucky slammed his fist on the table. “Are you fucking kidding me! Locke served in the 2nd ACR in Mexico, he was a young Lieutenant.”
Norris and Bucky turned to Felix and both at the same time said “What’s the code word.”
Felix leaned back a little. “BLACKHORSE”
Both Admiral Norris and Bucky shot out of their seats and paused as they saw the glaring looks from Felix, McCray and Myers. They looked at each other and nodded. “After dinner.” and sat back down.
Dinner, while not overly extravagant as Norris would not allow the ship to procure extravagant foods at this time, was still delicious.
As the plates were being cleared Norris looked around the table and tapped his spoon against his water glass the tapping continued around the room until everyone was tapping their water glass. Norris stopped the tapping and stood “Love, it finds us in the most awkward places, it finds us always at the wrong time. We don’t fall in love when everything around us is picture perfect. You don’t find love, love finds you and only when you least expect it to. Love knows when it’s the right time to shake you to your core and make you rethink everything you know to be true. Too few are strong enough to grasp it and ride it like the giant beast it is. But these two on my right, found the strength to not only pursue the love they feel for each other but to do it at a time when such a statement could cost them everything they had worked for in their lives individually. To Commander Albert Buchinski and Colonel Rodriguez, may you find eternal happiness in each other’s arms.”
Everyone cheered, hooted and hollered just as the stewards brought out the cake. Norris made Bucky and Felix cut the cake as soon as they were done the stewards popped the corks on the champagne and began pouring.
Norris smiled. “Ladies and Gentlemen, dinner is ended and you may now have your leisure.” Norris smiled as drinks began flowing and jackets started coming off.
He noticed Major Downs take Bucky and Adam aside and his curiosity got the better of him. He started walking over toward them. He noticed the Major reach into his breast pocket and hand something to each of them and Bucky reached into his breast pocket and handed something to Downs.
Norris walked up beside them and chuckled. “Ah remembrance tokens.”
Norris looked back out to the room. “I wonder how many of you know where the tradition of the remembrance tokens started. We all know when we are about to do something pretty hairy, we give a token to our best friend and say, ‘If I don’t make it back give this to my spouse’. It is believed to have started with the Spartans. Spartan wives and mothers were the owners of their husband or son’s shield and right before they marched off to battle they would say ‘take this shield and bring it back to me or come home carried on it.’ That tradition has stayed with the warriors of almost every nation and today we still do it. I am willing to bet Doctor McCray still has my son’s baby picture.”
Everyone turned to look at McCray and he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a tattered and crumpled picture. “Yes I still have your damn picture, although at this point your old ass has survived so long there is no one to give it to.”
Norris laughed. “Thanks Leo. We have all done it time and again. When faced with our own mortality we think about the ones we love. So how many of you would like to hear what tokens these young men charged their savior with returning.”
Felix was the loudest by far. “Oh hell yes.”
Norris turned and looked at them. “Well gentlemen, let’s hear these stories. Oh, and just so you know rules of the mess, if we don’t like your story, you have to buy us all a round.”
Bucky laughed. “It’s an open bar sir.”
“Shut up and don’t ruin the fun we are having making you three uncomfortable as hell.”
Downs looked at Bucky and Adam and shrugged. “It’s just my wedding ring, sir.”
Norris nodded. “Very fitting, adequate token. Mess do you all agree?”
There was a chorus of “Here, here” and “yes.”
“Very well Major Noah Downs, we have accepted your tale.”
Norris looked over at Adam. “Adam?”
Adam shrugged. “It’s just a flash drive.”
Norris smirked. “Now come on you’re gonna have to do better than that.”
Adam sighed. “Over the years I have had many opportunities to take pictures of Logan when he is not looking. He has never seen the pictures but every time I am about to go on a mission I pull out the flash drive and review all of my best memories. Memories of me just watching the person I love more than anything else in the world.”
Logan walked up and put his arms around Adam and kissed him. “I don’t ever want anyone to bring me that damn flash drive.”
“I know Babe, Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
“I think that is a very dear story and I approve. Mess, does everyone approve.”
Everyone in unison shouted out “Aye sir.”
Norris looked up at Bucky “Well, Commander Buchinski that leaves you.”
Bucky looked over at Felix and smirked. He held out his hand and a souvenir key chain that said GONAVY dangled from his finger.
“YOU ARE NOT TELLING THAT STORY.” Everyone spun and looked at Felix.
Norris laughed. “Well the Colonel has changed his tone rather suddenly, this should be good. Colonel Rodriguez, I will bring in the Marines to restrain you if I have to.”
Felix smiled and hung his head in defeat. “Go on, Bucky, just get it over with.”
Norris grabbed a chair, pulled it over and sat down. “Go on Commander…Oh wait! Do we have popcorn…Damn it, okay, this would have been better with popcorn.”
Bucky had to wait for everyone to sit and stop laughing. “So I don’t think anyone here knows how Felix and I first met. It was my senior year at Annapolis and Felix’s senior year at West Point. It was the Army Navy Game and we ran into each other while getting a drink, it was early in the first quarter of the game. At first it was the usual go Army, go Navy bullshit. We both laughed and smiled and walked away. Something made me turn and look at the exact same moment Felix turned and looked, we both turned away quickly but I noticed him turn into the souvenir shop. I took a huge chance, and remember, this was a time when acknowledging that I was gay would have destroyed my career and family. For some weird reason I didn’t care. I wanted to talk to this guy so I went into the souvenir shop, walked over and introduced myself. We chatted for a moment about academy life and then decided to leave the game and go get a beer. I had picked up this keychain and had been twirling it around on my finger. I set it down and we left. We went to a bar across the street and had a couple beers and chatted away. Right before the end of the game we left and went back. When we got back to the stadium we shook hands and went our separate ways. The Army beat us that night and there was a usual tradition of burning the programs from the game if we lost. I hid mine; I wanted to keep it to always remember the moment I fell in love. At the time it was heartbreaking, because I knew I would never see him again.”
He paused and took a deep breath. “Fast forward a couple years and we are getting ready to start training for a big mission and we get told we have an Army Recon platoon that is going to assist us. Seems this platoon had already been to the country AO and could give us some valuable input. We griped and complained about there being no way an army unit could help us. Then the C-130 arrived and keep in mind, I was not the team leader then. This young Army Lieutenant walked off the back of the plane and walked right up to Commander Marrow. Now Marrow was the most hard core Navy SEAL I had ever met. Anyway this Lieutenant walks right up to Marrow and his cocky ass snaps a salute and says, ‘Lieutenant Rodriguez here to make sure your ass don’t get killed.’
“Marrow just stood there staring and then busted up laughing. He says to this Lieutenant ‘you are one ballsy son of a bitch, I like you already.’ Marrow stepped aside and the Lieutenant and I locked eyes. My heart skipped a beat and I smiled. Felix smiled back. I think at the moment we both knew and didn’t care if we were wrong. We did the mission together and after we got back, right before the army guys had to leave, I asked Felix on a date and he said yes.
“We would steal weekends to meet up and see each other whenever we could. Years later when we finally decided we were in fact a couple and we just had to figure out how to live with that, we both arranged some time off together, told our units some lame ass cover story and met in Niagara Falls. Felix was in the shower and he had dropped his jacket on the floor. I picked it up to hang it up and this key chain fell out. After he got out of the shower I asked him about it and he said he went back to that shop that very first night we met and spent his last $25 on a stupid Navy keychain so he would always remember the happiest moment of his life. Right before I left for this mission he gave me the keychain and made me promise I would bring it back to him.”
He paused and with tears streaming down his face, he stared right at Felix. “I brought it back to you, like I promised.”
No one said a word as Felix came up, took the keychain, wiped Bucky’s tears with his hand and then kissed him. “I always knew you would.”
Norris leaned back and wiped his eye. “I will ask the question but if any one of you say the negative, you will be on head inspection detail for the rest of this war. Mess, will we accept Commander Buchinski’s story?”
The response was direct and firm. “Hell Yes.”
Norris stood. “Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for allowing me to join your mess this evening. It’s good to take a moment to laugh and celebrate, especially now during this very dark period we are all embroiled in. We are here to honor those that came before us, we are here to welcome those returned to us, we are here to celebrate love. But we must also remember, too many of our fellow Americans are going without heat, food or shelter tonight. There are still detention camps out there for the “Undesirables”. We can have this evening to celebrate but tomorrow, we rise and fill ourselves with determination, we push out our chests and we say to ourselves, not on our watch. Good night, everyone.”
Everyone applauded as the Admiral left. Norris knew the drinking and celebrating would continue for a couple hours so he wandered over to the Operations Center. When he walked in he noticed Lieutenant Payne off to one side, so he waved him over.
“Good evening Admiral. How was dinner?”
Norris cocked his head and looked at Payne. “Why the fuck were you not there, John.”
Payne stepped back a step. “My duty rotation sir.”
Norris nodded and handed Payne a napkin with writing on it.
“What’s this sir?”
“The key to Agent Locke’s code.”
Payne stared at it for a second and them darted to his desk and started decoding. “Someone pull up the maps of these coordinates 46.352483 -84.816178.”
Norris watched as the map came into focus. “What the fuck is that?”
“Raco Army Airfield, sir” One of the Operators shouted out.
“Ok what do we know about Raco Army Airfield?”
“Pre World War II construction. Used as a refueling base for Army, Navy and Air Force in route to Alaska from the east coast. Closed in 1972 and turned over to National Parks Service, currently leased to API, the American Petroleum Institute. The API is the largest Trade Organization for the Oil and Natural Gas industry. Current CEO is Jack Gerard.”
Norris looked over at the Petty officer reading the information to him. “Why the fuck would Agent Locke give us this location? There is nothing there.”
Payne looked around the room. “Marley, find me everything you can on every mission ever flown into or out of Raco Army Airfield. Crest, dig through everything on API and Nunez I want to know everything there is to know about Jack Gerard. Someone get real time footage.”
“Lieutenant Sir, the Indians have a satellite in orbit that should be over Alaska right now, I can try to get them to shoot some pictures.”
“Not yet let’s keep this in house for now.”
“Sir, we could get a drone in place pretty quickly.”
“Let’s do that. Admiral I will have more information for you shortly.”
“Thank you Lieutenant. Thank you to the entire ops team. You guys have been pushed way beyond what I should expect and I want you to know I personally appreciate it.”
Norris turned around, walked out of the room and back to his own office. He sat at his desk with all the lights off except the ancient metal lamp given to him by his father years ago. He reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a folder. He opened the folder and began leafing through the long list of written names until he reached Lieutenant Commander Albert Buchinski. He reached up and took his pen out of the holder and drew a line through the name, then he drew a line through the next name General Adam Casey. He turned to the back of the list looked at the total. He crossed that out and subtracted 2 and wrote the new total 3978.
He sighed, poured a glass of scotch and raised his glass. “To the three thousand nine hundred and seventy eight souls we have lost.”
Following the story? Let Ken know: Ken dot Barber at CastleRoland dot net
Authors note: Twilight’s Last Gleaming will continue with Chapter 9 after a short interlude titled “Shadow Warriors”. I strongly recommend reading Shadow Warriors before continuing to chapter 9
Editors notes: We agree!