Book 39 of The Lyssa Kordenay Missions!   training continues on all fronts   arctic training goes sideways and becomes   a search and rescue mission.   WARNING: The Lyssa Kordenay Missions may be hyper-violent for some readers!

 

 

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CHAPTER 1

"Nyet Tiffany. Again," Katya said flatly.

Tiffany returned to her first position calmly and began again. The Russian Prima watched her intently then called her down again.

"Nyet. Still you do not get it. Your steps must fluid and tamborine strike punctual. Is like speaking. Words flow until the sentence ends. Maria Kotchekova perform best Esmeralda Variation until Lyssa. You must be better. Better than me. Better than Lyssa. You are new and we are old," Katya encouraged, "Prima title will not come to you Tiffany. You must earn it from us. Many wish for it all their lives; and never get."

"Its very hard to get it Prima Katya. My body resists the movement," Tiffany sighed.

"Nyet Tiffany. You can not allow yourself to think so. You must wish with all that you are. If Lyssa can, you can. She choose you to take her place. In you she sees greatness. You may not but she does. I see you try hard, but fight yourself. Do not fight Tiffany. Be. You can be, so just be. All will come to its place but first you must let go of fight," Katya said pointedly," Save fight for evil. Lyssa does, so can you and be even better."

Once again Tiffany began the routine and made it almost halfway through before Katya stopped her.

"Tiffany, you must enjoy this or is just work for you. I have idea. Close your eyes. Da. Now dream of dance. In your head see the dream. A story you tell with your body. Speak it gentle. speak soft. Speak sweet then not. Speak, speak. I need word. Mischief. Mischievous attitude but still good girl," Katya grasped in her vocabulary.

Tiffany chuckled, "you mean sassy."

Katya giggled, "Da. Sassy. Gentle, soft, sweet then sassy and all over again. Variation is beautiful but fun dance."

Tiffany went back to her starting position and began again, steadily she went through the routine.

Katya smiled, "Da. Da. Now look down and up, tell story. Da. Now sassy to one person, look at person. Always happy, pleased to be doing. Da."

"Kind of like a burlesque," Tiffany mused.

"Burlesque? I don't know it," Katya said puzzled.

"You know. The old striptease dancers. Sometimes they used big feathered fans," Tiffany explained.

Katya smiled, "Da! Now you get. Always sweet, always nice but for second be naughty girl."

They both laughed at that.

"Well. Sounds like progress in here," Lyssa said walking in.

"Tiffany understands now. The rest is practice, practice, practice," Katya praised.

"In ancient times the samurai believed that there must always be balance. For anger there must be happiness. For Love there must be hate. For violence there must be art. The greatest of them were more than skilled fighters. They were also accomplished artisans. Painters, poets, even landscapers and florists. The most formidable samurai made the most exquisite floral arrangements. It was considered a martial art. The best of those designed palace gardens and courtyards. They had to be aesthetically pleasing yet have strategic and tactical advantage," Lyssa explained.

"Da. This is what you must be Tiffany. Like that," Katya agreed, "The artist. The soldier. One and the other, both together."

Lyssa was very pleased with Katya's attitude at the revelation of her true nature. The balance of deadly grace. Katya even made the joke calling Lyssa 'The dancing assassin'. As Tiffany left Katya stared into space for a moment.

"What is it Katya," Lyssa asked.

Katya shook her head then said, "for days now I think."

Lyssa put the tamborines away, "What about?"

"Us," Katya said,"Our friendship. Always you push me forward. Make sure I get good things while you hide behind me when bright lights shine. Sometimes I think things that I have not earned yet you make sure i get anyway. Favors. Lyssa's favors."
Lyssa looked at Katya's reflection in the wall mirror, "you think you may not have earned but you deserve them. You work hard and never forget or take for granted anything."

"I wonder sometimes, would I be this way if not for you. Would I be spoiled and demanding like Irena was? Would I do bad things like she tried with us," Katya pondered.

Lyssa looked at her intently, "would have, could have, should have. No one will ever know how things WOULD HAVE turned out if we COULD HAVE done things differently if in hindsight we SHOULD HAVE. I didn't choose you Katya. You were there as was I. That was our common ground and based on that i looked and saw you for what you were and still are. A wonderful girl that loved to dance and treasures friendship with that heart of pure solid gold of yours. How could I not want to be friends and later on how could I not want to protect you?"

Katya smiled, "Lyssa the Ghost, the Legend. Little girls in their first pointe shoes dream to be you. Ekaterina still tells of you re-teaching her to dance and they all wish and hope you come back to Bolshoi."

"All things in their proper time Katya and there are many things to do," Lyssa said sagely.

"Still Lyssa I think of Helena. She had such hopes. Hopes I had. When I think longer about her, I think it could have been me. Me lying there in the bed and her in front of you. Lyssa please think not bad of me; sometimes I am glad it is not me in there. I know is not nice. Is selfish of me but I think sometimes."

Lyssa waited as Katya unlaced her pointe shoes and walked outside then down to the beach with her.

"Katya I won't lie to you; yes it could have easily been you. Or Ekaterina. Or any of the other girls we know. Actually its natural to be glad it isn't you. Its not wrong and I don't think less of you for it. I told you things went bad for me once. Before I became a dancer," Lyssa said.

"Da. You were soldier. Caught by very bad men. They did horrible things to you for a long time," Katya recounted the abbreviated tale.

"Yes. Others died in front of me. Murdered in front of me. Many times I wished it had been me that was killed and them in the chair alive. Suffering. Instead of me," Lyssa said matter-of-factly.

They stopped walking and stared out to sea.

"Many times I fear for you. That one favor be too much to ask, you get hurt or worse. Now you tell me secrets and I think even worse now. So many favors. Dangerous favors. And now I make friends with Tiffany and Krystel and Shawna. Will they try to do favor too much to ask one day? I admit that though I was happy you meet Rodrick, at first I think he would try to take you away. I was wrong to think he might hurt you or make you unhappy. I see that happen to so many. I fear for you that would happen," the Russian Prima admitted.

Lyssa shrugged, "and now?"

"Now I sometimes hope he make you stop favors. Please don't be mad for thinking Lyssa," Katya asked.

Lyssa smiled, "I love you too Katya. One day I will stop doing my favors, but for now I still have things to do. Think happier thoughts Katya. After all, I have more people to help me now if I need it."

"Not so much danger though. The babies need you Lyssa. Do not forget them," Katya said firmly.

Lyssa chuckled, "Kitten you can stop worrying."

Katya smiled as she hugged her friend. The use of her nickname wasn't lost. Together they walked back towards the hangars.

 

~o~O~o~
 

Rodrick looked over the schedule,"Kimberly how's the time frame for the Canada field exercise?"

Kimberly brought over the printout, "Looks good for now but the weather is your only situation. It can go crazy anytime and last for who knows how long. I know you guys would like some extreme weather during the cycle but you could get socked in for over a week Rod. We can't get you resupplied or extracted if it gets really bad."

Rodrick leaned back in his chair, "that's a chance we have to take Kimberly. No sure thing in this business. Sometimes you just gotta roll with what you got and find a way to work it out."

"The more extreme and realistic the training; the more comfortable everybody'll be with them out in the field. I get it; just not crazy about it," Kimberly said.

"Yeah well, not everybody gets a sweet office job that they can come to work in a bikini and high heels and not worry about their hair and make-up going to shit," Pete chuckled.

"I'd like to see you try it," Kimberly commented snarkily.

Rodrick laughed, "I'D PAY MONEY TO SEE IT!!!!!"

Carl walked in, "what we paying money to see?"

"Pete, in one of my bikinis and heels doing office work," Kimberly giggled.

"Oh man! Fuck, I'm scarred for life now. Gee thanks K-chick," Carl winced," Boss can I like, go hang out in Nassau for a month? I gotta find a way to get that image outta my head. Visuals from hell, fuuuuuuck."

Kimberly still giggled, "don't worry Carl. I wouldn't loan him the purple one."

"Cool. 'cuz you look sooooo hot in that one," Carl oozed.

"Who looks hot in what," LoneStar asked walking in, "everything's ready to send to the DARPA dweebs."

Rodrick replied, "cool. Money in the bank."

Kimberly stood up and let LoneStar sit in her chair then sat on his lap, "We're gonna put Pete in a bikini and heels to do office work."

Lonestar mocked a shiver and muttered from within the helmet, "nah, that ain't fucking scary."

Pete threw the file folder at LoneStar as Kimberly giggled, "the hell with you all, it won't happen. Assholes."

Lyssa and Katya walked in followed by Warlock," What isn't happening?"

"Kimberly's trying to put Pete into a thong bikini and heels on 'office day'," Rodrick commented.

"Is joke or serious," Katya asked Lyssa.

Everyone laughed as Pete rolled his eyes.

"Oh, is joke. Good. I think Pete not have butt for thong," Katya said.

Rodrick laid his head on the desktop laughing and Kimberly almost slipped to the floor laughing.

"Aw shit. The visual is back and worse than ever. Boss! Nassau today. PLEASE! I need a lot of alcohol now," Carl mocked whining.

Rodrick calmed his laughter enough to say, "ok. Pete, take Carl to Nassau."

"Whoa wait! Why do I gotta ride with Tinkerbell? Why can't Darth Vader take me," Carl protested.

LoneStar threw a notepad at the Californian, "quit callin' me that."

They all laughed as Pete grumbled until the beeper on LoneStar's belt went off making Kimberly jump up to allow him to tear from the office. a minute later his cold voice called out over the speakers.

"Inbound Helo. CLEAR THE PAD," Lonestar announced

Everyone walked down to the doors as a Bell 222 came in fast then hovered down to land.

 

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CHAPTER 2

"Ram's Rock Island gentlemen," the Pilot announced.

The two SEALs climbed out and ran crouched out from under the rotorspan then stood to slowly walk toward the main hangar.

"Huck? Banker? What the fuck," Rodrick asked as he saw them closer.

"Hey. Sorry to drop in but we gotta talk," Banker said stepping close and shaking hands.

Huck shook hands as well then turned fast hearing the feminine russian voice squeal,"Huckleberry!"

They all laughed as he barely caught the ballerina who had launched herself at him. After kissing both her cheeks then hugs from Lyssa and Kimberly Huck turned to Rodrick, "We gotta talk."

Everyone went into the sitting area inside the hangar below the office.

"What's up, you two don't just drop in to grope a ballerina and hassle me," Rodrick commented.

Banker gave him a flat look, "Its Jumps."

Katya echoed in puzzlement, "Jumps?"

Rodrick replied, "Jimmy 'Jumps' Jantzen. A former teammate. Last I heard he was in Alaska."

"He is, and in a world of shit," Banker commented.

"Baby, isn't he the one that does the tourist glacier treks or something like that," Lyssa asked sitting on the corner of Rodrick's desk.

Rodrick nodded to her then asked the two former teammates, "what makes you think he's in trouble?"

Huck answered, "We were all getting together and he was supposed to call us to confirm his arrival time. That was five days ago. We checked with everybody including the resident Nasty-girls. Doggy Army and the Hair Farce and even civil air patrol. Nobody's seen nothing of him. We gotta hurry and get up there because a storm is closing in."

LoneStar asked in his usual cold voice, "what kind of wreckage is there?"

Banker looked over, "That's the problem; no wreckage. He's disappeared completely. Nobody wants to look for him because he's out, you know how it is."

They all nodded. It was a familiar problem. Once a person is out of the military, even units as elite as SEALs very few really cared. Especially if they weren't a risk to the public. Those that adjusted slipped through the cracks a lot more than the ones with chronic problems.

Kimberly noticed the slight nods from Lyssa then Rodrick and returned it then left the room.

"Sorry to bust up whatever domestic shit you two got planned Lyssa but its a teammate," Banker said.

"We'll help Buck," She smiled.

"We? What you mean 'we' Lyssa," Huck asked as he and Banker traded glances.

Rodrick picked up his extension when it beeped,"Yeah? James Jantzen. From Denali. Ok."

He hung up, "guys its gonna be a little while for Kimberly to find anything. Hit the head if you need to."

Banker nodded and left the room.

Katya tugged at Huck's arm and asked in Russian,"walk with me?"

Huck stood and walked out holding her hand.

"I haven't called you lately Katya, I'm sorry. I said I would, things got busy after the wedding for me and Banker," Huck apologized.

"I understand, we have right now to walk and talk, nyet," she asked.

Huck smiled," yeah. We have right now. How are things for you?"

"I come to visit Lyssa and since here, I help train her understudy. Tiffany will go to Julliard in New York first then Bolshoi in Moscow after. She must be on her own. Lyssa can not introduce or opinions will not be good for Tiffany," Katya explained as they walked.

"I don't understand. If she's Lyssa's understudy then why can't Lyssa make introductions for her," Huck asked.

The Russian dancer shook her head, "does not work that way. Tiffany must work hard. If Lyssa introduce her then some may not be fair to her. She earns what she earns, not given anything because of Lyssa. Many owe Lyssa, and they may think that by being overly nice and go easy on Tiffany settles debt. Maybe even swing more to them. Lyssa and Tiffany not want that. Lyssa has her favors she earn herself. Tiffany must earn as Lyssa did, working very hard with no help."

They turned a corner around a trailer and found themselves staring at a black belgian shepherd that stood and growled once.

"Oh no. We are not supposed to be here," Katya said softly," maybe we back away slow."

"I'm not worried about a dog Katya," Huck commented.

"No. Lyssa's dog is not pet. Warlock guards things. We aren't supposed to be here because he is," Katya whispered.

"Did you say Warlock? That dog's name is Warlock," Huck asked quickly.

"Da. Warlock. He used to be war dog but belongs to Lyssa now," Katya answered.

"Oh fuck me," Huck said and began to slowly try backing them both away from the tactical dog.
"Warlock knows I am friend, but you are different. He is not supposed to hurt me, but we are not supposed to be here," Katya explained.

"No Katya. That's Warlock. That dog HAS no friends. Its crazy. A killer that won't stop even if shot," Huck eyed the dog as they reached the corner and eased around.

With the same slowness they moved further away. The Belgian tactical dog didn't follow.

"Huck, is all good now. We are fine," Katya said.

"No Katya. All is not good. That was Warlock. There's a reason he isn't in combat anymore. That dog is unstable," Huck stated rushing them back to the hangar.

As they approached they could see Lyssa talking with three women who turned and left.

"Whoa sailor. where's the fire," Lyssa asked chuckling.

"Are you fuckin' nuts," Huck demanded.

"Debatable. Why," Lyssa asked calmly.

"You have Warlock here. Warlock the Special Forces tactical dog," Huck said hotly.

"Ok; few people know who he is and even fewer know he's here but, yes," Lyssa answered, "your point?"

"I know for a fact that dog is listed as dead. Was transported back stateside to be put down. My question is: when did you go completely fucking nuts and save his ass," Huck all but shouted.

Huck then noticed Rodrick casually leaning against the door watching.

"Be a pretty damn good idea to check that tone sailor and re-develope a quick case of act right," Lyssa warned in a flat voice.

"Stay outta this Rod," Huck said hotly glancing over.

"oh I'm just gonna stand here and take bets on exactly how fast she rips you apart. You are about to cross a line that you can't go back. Last chance buddy," Rodrick said casually.

"Bullshit," Huck started but was cut off by the kick Lyssa snapped.

Katya watched Lyssa's foot catching him under the chin and lifting him up several inches before throwing him back.

"FUCK THAT! ITS ON," Huck bellowed.

"NYET HUCK! Lyssa please don't hurt him bad," Katya shrieked.

"Your bitch better run Rod," Huck growled advancing as Lyssa stood casually.

"I'll put five grand on Lyssa. Any takers," Rodrick asked sounding bored.

Huck glanced at Rodrick in genuine shock but quickly re-focused on Lyssa.

"No way I'd bet against Lyssa," Pete commented.

"I'll see your nickel and kick up a grand that says she'll play around for three minutes then cripple him for practice," Kimberly offered.

"I make no joke, I have three hundred rubles to bet. Lyssa does not play, she kills in two minutes," Katya said softly looking down as if ashamed to say anything.

Rodrick looked over, "I'll take that bet Katya. I'll give you three to one odds and use Euros to your rubles. Lyssa kills in three minutes."

Lyssa didn't even look away or change the casual expression, "I'll spot Katya a million for that bet. In any currency she chooses."

Rodrick looked thoughtful for a moment then answered, "Its Katya so ok, you're on. A mill at three to one. Katya says two minutes Isay three and a half. Go ahead Huck. Do your best to stay alive for longer than two minutes. If that's even possible."

Banker had heard the entire exchange, "WHAT THE FUCK?"

"Our good and stupid friend Huck is about to get waxed. Tick tock Huck. The clock is running. Twenty seconds," Rodrick called out.

Banker started to move and felt a vise-like hand clamp down on his neck and a slightly muffled yet icy voice, "best stand back, you're safer not getting into that mix."

Banker spun and came face to visor with LoneStar.

"Hands off asshole," Banker hissed.

LoneStar squeezed and the former SEAL's body locked from the nerve pinch and dropped to his knees, "call me whatever you want but I'm increasing your life expectancy."

All watched as Lyssa slowly advanced silently then flicked her wrist forward. Huck tapped it and spun in to power a backfist. Lyssa had already pivoted and was ramming her left knee upward off center-right of his back. Huck yelped from the pain lancing through his kidney and was distracted as Lyssa spun with another kick that all but took his head off, slamming him to the tarmac. Lyssa stayed on him, not even allowing him the moment to voice anything as she slammed an elbow just above his ear then a chop at his collarbone.

Huck made the mistake of looking up. *Lyssa slammed the heel of her palm down at his forehead. He felt all the vertebrae in his neck compress and felt locked. She stepped back then advanced again.

"The fuck. Did you. Do to me," Huck labored out struggling to move and couldn't.

"Time," Lyssa asked softly looking at him intently.

"seventy-two seconds. And counting," Kimberly answered.

"We'll wait," Lyssa replied.

Katya turned around to face away, "keep money Rodrick. I don't want to win. I'll go get rubles. I don't want to watch Lyssa do this."

Quickly the Russian ballerina walked away toward the house.

Lyssa stood behind Huck, "you're the luckiest fuck on the planet. If you EVER piss me off again; I'll revoke that elite status. Permanently."

Carefully Lyssa brought an uppercut-type punch to the base of his skull. They all heard a loud crackle and he fell over, spasm-ed twice then groaned.

 

~o~O~o~
 

Jimmy shivered in the glacial cave and looked at his pack. He had fourteen MRE's left. The rescue radio sat in it too but he wasn't about to use it. Never in his life had Jimmy ever dreamed Chechen terrorists would use his beloved Alaska as a training ground for some type of winter strikes. They had armed themselves to the teeth and all he had was the one ten millimeter pistol and three clips of hollow-points in case of the odd wolf or bear. Winter was dead-set making the ice safe but that was a double-edged sword. Stable ice meant that temperatures plummeted and stayed below freezing.

Mentally he kicked himself for making sure they had all the necessary gear to survive for a month out here. All he had was enough for two weeks if he stretched it.Huck and Banker had expected a call from him but he couldn't really be sure they'd realize something was definitely wrong and take some action. If he had a satellite phone he could call for help from over a dozen people but he'd never thought the expense was worth it.

Grimly he muttered to himself, "brilliant thinking. I swear if I ever get outta this; I'll get one of those damn phones. Make plans double clear from now on too, dumbass."

Jimmy looked up to the dark sky," God? If you're there, I could really use some help about now. I fought the good fight, never backed down and only hated once. I'm pretty much fucked forty-two ways from sunday down here. I know this ain't no church-goin' type prayin' but its what I got and I don't think you'd be the type to care about fancy fifty dollar words that don't mean nothin'. If you can't get anybody to come then do me a big favor. Make this shit quick. These types never heard of the Geneva convention and even if they had; they wouldn't care. A little mercy if you can swing that. Amen."

A cloud passed in front of the moon and a single beam filtered down to shine on him at the entrance to the cave.

"I sure hope that's an answer to the positive," Jimmy muttered.

He then pulled out the packet of peanut butter he had warmed next to his body, squeezed some onto a cracker and munched quickly before it froze again.

A shadow loomed to front of the cave.

Jimmy hunched down more and whispered to himself, "c'mon anybody. Come bail my ass out before I become polar bear bait."

 

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CHAPTER 3

Lyssa went over the final check list with Tiffany, Shawna and Krystel as Katya sat quietly.

"That's everything," she remarked, "wheels up in three-zero mikes."

"Ma'am," Shawna asked.

When Lyssa nodded she continued, "What about Rodrick's SEAL buddies, how are we going to operate with them around?"

Lyssa answered, "We'll be working away from them. They'll take one quadrant and we'll take another. Objective is to rendezvous at a point in between. We'll explore every nook and cranny between his last known position and the projected flight path. They'll start at last known and we'll start at the end of his range and work our way together. Somewhere in between is their guy, if no joy on the straight and true then we'll break off and go sideways in opposite directions. LoneStar and Carl will stay on station close by with the C-130 using the drones to resupply us if needed and provide aerial recon. Anything else?"

"No Ma'am," they answered.

Lyssa nodded, "gear up. We got places to go and things to do."

The old Special Forces phrase rang true. The three saluted and moved out.

"Lyssa, you take Warlock with you," Katya finally asked.

"No. Its too cold up there now and he'll freeze. We're not using sleds either. All of us will be on foot to search. That brings us back to you Katya. You can't go with us, can either stay here or Kimberly can take you back to Nassau to go anywhere you want," Lyssa answered," if we can't find him or his body in two weeks we'll shut down and return."

"I would like to stay if is ok," Katya replied.

"Its fine, enjoy the time here. We'll sure be missing it in a few hours there,"Lyssa replied with a laugh.

Katya laughed too, "ok. If anybody ask, I tell I am driving you crazy fussing over you and playing on the beach."

Lyssa nodded then they both walked out to go over to the hangar to get Lyssa's gear and board the plane.

 

~o~O~o~
 

Banker checked the compass and map.

"What the fuck Jimmy sees in this damn place is beyond me," Huck shivered.

"He's from here. Unlike us. You like woods, Banker digs beaches and you assholes used to call me 'Swamp-Thing'. Jimmy loves the snow and ice," Rodrick reminded them.

Pete looked around, "can have it. I'll take islands and tropics any day over this. Its just as bad or worse than the desert."

"Well, we're now in his flight path unless he went sideways. Man I hope we find him quick so we can all get back down to Cali," Banker stated.

"Amen brother," Huck commented and took his turn on point, "when this is done, me and you gonna talk about that psycho-bitch of yours Rod."

"Call my wife that again and I'll turn her loose on you. On an island. All by yourselves; for a week. You got that," Rodrick demanded.

"The only thing crazier than her is that dog! I can't believe you'd allow her to have it around," Huck growled.

Rodrick slammed his fist into Huck's jaw fast and totally by surprise. Huck looked up forcing his eyes not to roll back and saw the Colt ten millimeter leveled at him.

"What is; is. Get used to it and fuckin' like it or when this is done; so are we," Rodrick said in a voice as cold as the snow they stood in.

"Fine! Done! After we get Jimmy," Huck snarled, "Banker?"

Banker stood still and sighed, "the team split once before and it was because of Kagan and his bullshit. They tried to drag me into it then. I said fuck that. I still say fuck that. Both of you are my friends and its gonna stay that way."

Huck turned and stomped his way forward to lead the party on course. Rodrick simply nodded. The formation fanned out to two hundred meters apart as a picket line moving forward searching for any sign of plane, crash or survivors for three days until they did find the wreckage of the crash-landed plane. Rodrick quietly called Kimberly over the satellite comm and she patched through to Lyssa and LoneStar.

Rodrick reported, "We found the plane. Crash landed along the flightpath. No bodies in the wreckage."

"We have to assume then that they are trying to self rescue," Lyssa replied.

Kimberly informed them, "I have your positions. You two are almost a hundred miles apart."

"ok. LoneStar send the drones to fly a search pattern between us with a hundred miles off each side of center," Rodrick instructed.

The calm voice answered, "redirecting now. I need to recall the drones for a supply drop?"

Lyssa answered," we're good here."

"We're good for the next twenty-fours hours," Rodrick also replied.

"Copy by two," LoneStar stated then closed the comm.

Twelve hours later the satcom bleeped twice.

Rodrick answered it, "this is unit two, go."

The calm voice of LoneStar answered, "found something. Infra-red picked up some heat signatures. about eight total."

Kimberly chimed in, "Jantzen's flight manifest listed eight passengers. I ran the names and things are definitely way off."

"How so," Rodrick asked after signalling the others with his flashlight.

"one is the ID of a black man dead for twelve years, another is supposed to be an elderly man in assisted living, etc.," Kimberly answered, "fortunately your guy has a security camera and its hooked up to the internet so I accessed the server and used face rec. I don't know how these guys got anywhere near the U.S. without all kinds of warnings going off."

Rodrick had already switched to speaker as had Lyssa for the others to listen in.

"Kim, who are they really,"Lyssa asked.

After a moment Kimberly answered with a sigh, "one is a chechen tango called Palo. Guys, your guy Jimmy is a friend but it doesn't look good. This is a bunch that you'd like throw into Columbian jungles and pay the cartels. They make Pablo Escobar seem like Captain Kangaroo. Bin Laden was cute and fuzzy compared to these guys. They're trying to take the ultimate bad-guy title from ISIS."

"That's about right," Banker commented sarcastically.

"Are all them on the watch lists or just the one Kimberly," Shawna asked.

"All are on watch lists but only Palo has a bounty of sorts on him," Kimberly answered.

"Who and what," Huck asked.

Kimberly replied, "Russians want him for several public massacres and the french want him too for an embassy bombing. they want a live body for both places."

Dannigan cut in, "Ladies and gentlemen, if you can take Palo and crew alive; do so. He's more useful as a bargaining chip with the Russians than a french pay off. Good hunting."

Lyssa and Rodrick both replied,"copy that."

LoneStar then called out the coordinates to Lyssa and Rodrick for them to vector in on the site.

"One other thing," LoneStar added, "I have the drones recalled to pick up a resupply package for both teams. drop in five hours. Wait, hold up. shit. where'd it go?"

"what the hell happened? Did he lose a drone," Huck asked.

"Negative. I saw something, looked like a heat source. Stand by, I'm coming back around," LoneStar said then muttered," better not be some fucking animal hibernating again."

"oh hell, I am not about to go wake up some bear LoneStar," Tiffany commented.

"Standby," LoneStar ordered then moments later came back, "I have another heat signature and its looking very human. alone. just inside an ice cave. manuvering in for an angle. visual coming up. Blue parka, gold edging. position is...closer to you Ramrod."

"Copy that send me the coordinates," Rodrick replied.

LoneStar called out the grid to Rodrick then confirmed the other grid for Lyssa's team.

"Get your guy if that's him and we'll go after the group. Northern out," Lyssa signed off.

"Roger that, Southern out," Rodrick signed off as well.

Both teams set out again moving at a faster speed than before.

 

~o~O~o~
 

"Star are you still up on the line," Dannigan asked.

"yeah," came the calm answer.

" I'll catch a flight out and meet you all at Fort Wainwright. I'll need to have a little chat with Rodrick's buddies and see about transporting our bad guys," Dannigan informed him.

"Works for us I believe," LoneStar replied.

Kimberly closed the comm.

 

~o~O~o~
 

"Can they pull this off Major," Madison asked.

"Depends. If these guys have been doing serious arctic training then our people have their work cut out for them. So far all intel says that Palo and his cronies have been hanging out in eastern block Europe for the past six months after that french embassy bombing. The bigger concern is Rodrick's SEAL buddies. They've gotten a glimpse of us and I need to make sure they keep their mouths shut about it. Kimberly mentioned the one 'Huck' and Lyssa mixing it up in front of the hangar," Dannigan said.

"Think he'll be a serious problem," Madison asked.

"If he does Lyssa has no qualms about solving that problem. She'll shoot him in front of everybody just to make the point clear that there will be no loose talk about them," Dannigan said gravely.

Madison nodded then went back to her desk.

 

---

 

CHAPTER 4

Palo watched as the men explored a crevass. they'd been looking for their pilot and guide since the crash. He'd seen the weapons and explosives they were going to be training with. The man turned out to be a navy SEAL. Now Palo knew why he had come highly recommended by so many. The plans for attacking banks in Switzerland and Finland would not work if they didn't find and kill him so they could finish their training. So far no reports of searches had been filed according to his contact. He checked in daily with a satellite phone. when they were ready the contact would hire another pilot to pick them up. The men were climbing back out of the crevass.

"Hurry up! If we can survive this long he surely can," Palo yelled at his men.

when they had all climbed out the repacking of the ropes and various other mountain and ice climbing gear took several minutes to complete.

"Brother, the American is long dead and frozen by now. Let us commit to the training so we can go to our targets," one of the men said.

"Fool! The American is one of their navy commandos and he is from here. He can outlast us all with only the clothing he wears. He must be found and killed," Palo ordered.

"AS GOD'S SWORD," they all yelled.

Suddenly white forms erupted from the snow spitting flame. Autofire roared as his men began to fall screaming into the snow. For several heartbeats nothing made sense. what was happening around him? Finally as his last man fell bleeding into the snow he drew his gun and brought it to his temple.

"I GO TO YOU MY GOD," he yelled.

A single shot rang out. Instead of lush gardens surrounding him; Palo still saw white snow stained red from his men's blood. Instead of the promised great house; he still felt the gnawing bitter cold. Instead of the reward of seventy-two beautiful virgins; all he had was the seven writhing bodies of his wounded men and the four snow demons with assault rifles bearing down on him. One approached him as he fell to his knees.

A honey sweet feminine voice said, "Past the gates; before the throne. I've been to Hell Palo. I'm taking you somewhere much worse."

She slammed the butt of the rifle to his head and he fell over unconscious.

 

~o~O~o~
 

JImmy's shivering hands tried to strike the match to light the compressed tablet.

"C-c'mon. Light, you shitbird cockbreath matches," he stammered from the cold.

Outside he heard a voice call out, "This is gotta be the one. The only cave within three meters of the coordinates."

Jimmy's cold fuddled mind took a few moments to form a reaction. With his teeth he yanked the glove off and fumbled to bring out his pistol. Shivers wracked down his arm as he tried to aim at the entrance of the cave.

"Jimmy! Hey Jimmy! You in there? We're coming in," a voice yelled.

Jimmy tried to yell back but all he could do was stammer, "ar-ar-armed. d-d-d-don't come c-c-closer."

Jimmy tried to squeeze off a warning shot, unstable ice be damned, but his fingers wouldn't flex. Slowly a dark blurry shape came into view and a bright beam flashed, blinding him.

"Shhhhhoot yyyyou. Ba-back offffffffff," he tried to yell but was so tired and cold he could barely whisper it.

"JIMMY? Hey JIMMY! its us man. don't fire," one of the blurry shapes called out, "Its Banker man."

"Its me Ramrod Jimmy, we found you. PETE! HUCK! GET IN HERE! You're safe man. You're gonna be ok," Rodrick said.

Huck saw him,"Oh man, Jimmy."

Pete watched as Rodrick gently prized the pistol out of the freezing ex-SEAL's fingers, "man we gotta get him warm or he ain't gonna make it."

Quickly they set up shelter inside the cave and began melting snow into water.

"C'mon Jumps, stay with us," Rodrick ordered him.

"Ruh-Ruh-Rod. T-t-t-terr. help,"Jimmy babbled.

"We know about the terrorists Jimmy don't worry, its covered. You just worry about getting warm. C'mon. In the bag," Banker said.

Rodrick and Banker began stripping off the parka and snow clothing to enclose their former team-mate into a sleeping bag. All of them began changing into other clothing and stuffing the warm layers into the bag with him.

Pete came back into the cave, "Star's taking off in five minutes. team two has the bad guys. one drone will land here and the other with them."

"Good," Rodrick replied, "strip off your inner layers and stuff them in with Jimmy. we'll change them out every couple of hours until Star gets here."

"Be better off crawling in with him. take turns every hour," Pete answered.

"Shit. Didn't think of that," Huck said and began zipping his sleeping bag to the other then stripped down to his swim trunks and slid inside with Jimmy.

Rodrick followed suit, inside they wrapped the warm clothing over and under as their heat warmed his sides.

"Man he's gonna scream as the feeling starts coming back to everything," Banker said.

"Well lucky his fingers and toes are only tinged white and not black. He should be able to keep everything," Huck commented.

"That'll be a mixed blessing. Shit. He's out like a light," Rodrick commented.

They began to wrap warm shirts around jimmy's arms and legs then rubbing them to move the blood to the surface warmth.

"Too bad the girls aren't here, he'd snap out of it quick," Pete said.

They all chuckled at that.

"We're SEALs, we'll go with what we got but I'm married so you'll have to step up Huck," Rodrick replied.

Huck laughed, "not even if i had tits on my back."

Half an hour later Pete rushed back in," Drone just landed. Star packed some stuff in the ordinance bay. You won't believe this. Its a blanket that works kinda like the MRE heaters, only instead of water activated, its air activated."

Pete tore open the packet and flared out the blanket then stuffed it into the sleeping bag. Rodrick and Huck grunted and groaned trying to maneuver the blanket underneath Jimmy then a reflecting blanket over the top of him. After an hour they switched. Banker and Pete crawled inside after fortifying themselves with coffee and MRE's while Rodrick and Huck took shift to eat and stretch. An hour later Jimmy began to stir then groan. within the next half hour his groans became steady and he began to scream.

"FUCK! HOLD HIM DOWN AND STILL," Banker yelled from inside the sleeping bag wrestling with him.

Rodrick and Huck dived on top of the bag and joined the struggle.

"Jimmy! Its us man, its ok. You're thawing out," Rodrick told him.

Pete yelped suddenly and tried to double up inside the bag. Huck straddled jimmy's legs as Rodrick held him by the torso.

"What happened Pete," Rodrick grunted.

"Fucking kneed me in the balls," Pete wheezed.

Slowly he inched himself out and began getting dressed. Finally Jimmy stopped struggling from exhaustion and slipped back into unconsciousness. Fifteen minutes later they heard the C-130 come in low and began breaking down the camp and hauled Jimmy still in the sleeping bag up into the plane. Carl raised the ramp locking out the cold and as Pete climbed up to help pilot with LoneStar.

"Hey Boss," Carl leaned in to be heard over the plane as they took off,"We're gonna haul ass to Ft. Wainwright and come back for the girls and the bad guys. There's some guy waiting at the Base. A major something or other. He'll have paperwork waiting for those assholes when we get back with them. Secure transport from there to that super secret hush-hush prison for mega-bad guys we ain't supposed to know about. An ambulance will be waiting on the tarmac for your buddy there."

Rodrick relayed that information to Banker and Huck who gave a thumb's up.

 

~o~O~o~
 

Huck and Banker stood outside the hospital room trying to not vent their anger at not being able to help.

"Excuse me gentlemen," a specialist walked up, "there's someone that needs to talk to you."

Huck and Banker followed the soldier back down the hallway and into the room she indicated.

"Gentlemen. I understand its a rough go of it down the hall," the dark suited man said casually.

The two former SEALs felt uneasy about the man. He reeked of high level spook-dom.

"Yeah. That's one way to put it. Who are you," Banker asked.

"What's important is that your team-mate will have no long lasting after-effects. They'll keep him here for a couple of days then release him to go home with a follow-up or two with his local physician. Other things are at the forefront," the suited man replied.

"You a spook or somethin'," Huck asked rhetorically.

"I'm somebody that knows you two have become aware of certain things that aren't common knowledge. My priority is to ensure that stays the same. Rodrick and the crew are bringing in our recent no-goodniks to be transported to a non-disclosed location to deal with them," the spook answered.

"Warlock," Huck said with some distaste.

"The dog is only a part of a bigger picture. A picture that is to remain obscured. Do we have an understanding," Spook asked.

Banker nodded slowly. Past experience said the guy wasn't a desk jockey. He had blood on his hands. Blood from both the dangerous and the stupid. He wasn't about to cross the guy.

The Spook glared at them both intently until they both answered, "Yes Sir. We have an understanding."

Spook nodded then turned to leave the room.

"Question. Is Katya working for you," Huck asked.

"Miss Taliyenko is a Prima. Nothing more nor less other than she is Lyssa's friend chief Petty Officer Owens," Spook answered then walked out.

"Ol' buddy there's always been things that went on we didn't like. Back in the day we knew when to let something go and when to stay on it like a pitbull. That there all but gave us a marching band with flags saying 'leave it alone'. I think that's just what I'll do," Banker commented.

Huck looked out the window, "fine. Fuck it. Their business, not ours."

"Yeah, and they did pull out all stops to go after Jimmy and only Rod had the reason to. Food for thought," Banker turned and went back down the hall to stand outside the door while their teammate inside finally began to quieten.

 

~o~O~o~
 

Kimberly shook her head in disgust then dialed. Dannigan picked up on the second ring.

"GO," he replied as a Blackhawk passed close by.

"Major that situation is Toledo is snowballing," Kimberly said.

Dannigan stopped, "summarize Moore."

Kimberly sighed, "its a by-the-numbers clusterfuck if I ever saw one. A protective Marshal detail is in so deep they can only trust each other for certain. Its that homegrown bunch that you said tried poking around for the agency about two years ago."

"Stay on top of that. We may have to step in and do a cleaning job that nobody will like. I hate these 'wanna-be king of everybody' types. I should have sent Lyssa to completely wipe out that bunch then. I'll be here for another six hours so keep me updated Kimberly," Dannigan instructed.

Kimberly replied, "will do Major."

She signed off and began poking deeper into the Toledo, Ohio office of the U.S. Marshals. She was bouncing her path. Kimberly slipped into DARPA then the NSA into Homeland and DOJ before going into the Marshals' server. Immediately there was an attempt to trace but it stopped dead cold when it hit the Homeland servers. The trace wasn't manual. It was a program that would automatically try to trace any new activity.

Kimberly rolled her eyes, "amateurs. Clean codes but definitely civilian. No real warfare skills. Better watch your ass little fish. Sharks are circling."
 
 
 
 

the main story continues in a new line; The Chrysalis Project: Ghost Moth. The side story continues in Embracing Justice by wolfjess.

*- author's note. This martial art technique does not exist so please don't try it at home.