Chain of Command (22 page)

He raised the twenty pound launcher to his shoulder and looked through the IR scope. As plain as if it were light out, he saw the two forms moving closer, traversing the military crest of a steep hill, coming right to his position. He wanted to wait, let them get a little closer. That way he didn’t have to walk too far to see the remains. He’d always wanted to see what the carnage was like after his new favorite weapon cut through the enemy.

+++

7:47pm

Cal and Vince were taking turns at point. They hadn’t said more than a few words since stepping off hours ago. There was no need. There were the occasional stops to consult their map, but other than that it was moving and scanning.

They were just dipping below the military crest of a particularly steep hill when Vince signaled a halt. He took a knee and Cal followed suit. They were getting close. He wondered if Daniel and Karl were already to the rendezvous point, and tried to shake the feeling that they were being watched.

+++

7:48pm

Dan watched the two men take a knee. It looked like the one in the lead was checking out his map.
This is too easy
, he thought, caressing the trigger. The shit he did to the Marines in Afghanistan had been fun, but he hadn’t been around to see the aftermath. This time he’d get to see it up close and personal, and if everything went according to plan, and Gen. Mason’s scheme worked, there would be a lot more killing to be done in the near future.

He patted the launcher lovingly. A few more minutes, and then he could unleash hell.

Chapter 38

North Carolina Airspace

7:51pm

Gen. Winfield checked his gear as the Osprey banked left. The Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, SgtMaj Harley Sharp, was doing the same. The grizzled warrior, who had the innate ability to cuss and drink like a sailor, was one of Winfield’s favorite people. They’d come into the Corps the same year, serving in their first battalion together. Over the years their paths converged time and again as they stepped higher up the Marine Corps ladder.

He’d chosen SgtMaj Sharp to be the new Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps for one simple reason: he was the best goddamn enlisted Marine he’d ever met. He was Dan Daley reborn. The man cared for his Marines, even though he could be tough as nails, chewing and spitting them out, but the smart ones loved him back.

When Sharp had heard about what the Commandant was planning, he volunteered at once. Winfield was glad he had. There wasn’t much chance of them getting into a firefight, but he felt it was important to have the senior officer and senior enlisted man of the Corps on deck when things were resolved.

The other services had come to his call. With the help of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, his good friend Gen. McMillan, they’d conversed via conference call. In true joint service fashion, and after an impassioned speech from McMillan, the other heads of their respective services opened their doors to Winfield. He was overwhelmed by their generosity, and promised himself that he would do more in the future to help them in return.

So as they flew into enemy territory, emboldened by the fact that they now had Gen. Ellwood’s files and no longer needed the confession from Mason, Winfield felt like a young Marine lieutenant again. He and his men were against the enemy, hoping to make it in time to save more Marine lives.

+++

7:54pm

It had been the Air Force Chief of Staff who’d recommended the most crucial addition to the plan. While they didn’t know what kind of anti-air defense Mason had up his sleeve, the Joint Chiefs were loath to commence an all-out aerial attack on U.S. soil.

“I suggest we use an EMP,” the Air Force general had said.

“In North Carolina? That’s insane!” the Chief of Naval Operation replied. “That could wipe out the electric grid for thousands.”

The Air Force general, gave his colleague a sly grin. “We have recently developed a localized EMP smart bomb that can be tailored to an area of our choosing. That means that as long as we know what we want to black out, we can do it rather effectively.”

There’d been some further questions about why the others didn’t know about the new technology and how exactly it would work, but in the end, and with the blessing of the president, they all agreed that it was worth the risk.

The delivery vehicle was a clone of a commercial airliner, complete with US Airways lettering and a valid tail number. It was already rigged for military use and even had a fully functioning bomb bay. Using the commercial plane would mask their intent in the eyes of Gen. Mason and his anti-aircraft pods.

“Target acquired,” the bombardier announced over the PA system. A moment later, the orange painted smart bomb left the plane and dropped toward terra firma.

+++

7:56pm

Cal flinched when the explosion went off in the sky, illuminating the area for a few seconds.

“What the hell was that?” he asked.

“No idea,” answered Vince, who was stuffing the map back in his pocket. “One of Mason’s surprises?”

Cal shrugged. “Let’s get back on the road.”

They moved out, neither man glancing at their watches. If they had, they would have noticed that they were no longer working.

+++

The screen in the eyepiece went dark. Dan shook the launcher and tried clicking the reset button. Nothing.

He tried replacing the battery, but that didn’t work either.

It was just his luck that the damn thing went down just as he was settling in for the shot. He’d have to give the engineers a piece of his mind when it was all over. They promised him that the weapon was “grunt proof,” but apparently that wasn’t the case.

Dan pulled out a pair of night vision goggles, glad that he’d brought them along. They didn’t have near the range of the launcher’s scope, but it was better than nothing.

He took off the lens cap and put the goggles to his eyes, flicking the ON switch. Nothing but black.

What the...?

Dread suddenly crept up his back. He grabbed the cell phone from his cargo pocket and tried to make a call. It was dead.

The confidence he’d felt minutes earlier swept away. He picked up his weapon and decided the most prudent thing to do was head back the way he’d come. Maybe Mason knew what was going on.

As he picked his way through the trees, he heard a sound that unnerved him even more, making him break into a trot. There was a helicopter coming, and by the sound of it, it was coming in fast.

+++

The Army UH-60 Blackhawk thundered over the treetops.

“We’ve got a runner,” announced the co-pilot.

The Marine Raider, who’d done his first stint in the Marine Corps as a scout sniper, peered through his scope. “I’ve got him,” he said to his platoon commander, who was watching the scene through his own optics.

“Take him.”

The sergeant exhaled slowly, and pulled the trigger.

+++

Dan had just hopped over a log when the sniper’s bullet hit him in the back. He was conscious long enough to feel his face slam into the cold earth and then see the Blackhawk fly overhead. He was already fading when the machine gun rounds from the door gunner pulverized his body.

+++

The Blackhawk circled over Cal and Vince. Cal motioned south to a spot he knew they could land. The nose of the helo tilted forward, and off it went.

“Well, at least we won’t have to walk much farther,” said Cal.

“Yeah. Let’s go see what’s cookin’.”

Chapter 39

OrionTech Proving Grounds

North Carolina

8:16pm, December 11
^th

By the time the Blackhawk landed near the row of Quonset huts, the mop-up was complete. On the way, the captain in charge of the Marine Raider contingent had given Cal a rundown of the Commandant’s plan and told him that Mason’s remaining men in the field had been eliminated.

From the EMP supplied by the Air Force, to the Delta commandos, Marine Raiders, and Navy SEALs, this had been a true joint effort. All the bad guys except for Mason had been taken care of, and the rest of Cal’s men were on their way in.

Cal stepped off the helo and headed over to where Gen. Winfield was conversing with a couple of black clad operators, most likely Delta, and another man in cammies who had his back turned to Cal. One of the operators motioned towards Cal and Winfield turned.

“I’m glad to see you made it in one piece,” said Winfield, shaking Cal’s hand.

“I guess I have you to thank for that, sir. You want to tell me what changed between us getting here and you guys flying in to save the day?”

Winfield told him about Diane’s discovery and how the contents of Ellwood’s files were now being used to round up the perpetrators, including the men Mason had assigned to take care of certain Marine units around the world.

“So that’s it? We have everything?”

“We have Mason, his men, and the military officers who contributed to Steiner’s report. It turns out that Doug Ellwood was quite the amateur sleuth.”

“Did he leave any indication about why he took his own life?” Cal asked. To him it was still the strangest part of the saga.

Winfield nodded sadly. “Long story short, General Ellwood found out about the scheme when a drunk Gower tried to enlist his old friend’s help. He later tried to deny it, saying it was a joke, but Doug started digging and used every contact he had to get the information. Gower and Mason caught wind of what he was doing and threatened to not only tie him to the plot, but kill his family. They told him that the only way he could save his Marines and his family was to take his own life. I don’t think they found out about the file until after he was dead.”

“He was a good man, sir, a Marine’s Marine,” said the gray-haired man standing across from Winfield in matching forest green utilities.

“That he was, Sergeant Major. I’m sorry I ever thought ill of him,” said Winfield. “Cal, I don’t think you’ve met Sergeant Major Sharp. I just appointed him our new Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps.”

“Cal Stokes, Sergeant Major. Congratulations on the new job.”

“Thank you. I guess I just couldn’t say no to one more ride in the bull’s ring with my old platoon commander,” said Sharp. He looked like he could’ve been close to eighty, with the weathered face of the Marlboro Man.

“What happened to Mason?” asked Cal.

“The general is waiting for you,” answered Winfield.

“Me? Why?”

“He says he’s got your reward, that you won, even though you didn’t fight fair.”

“Is he armed?”

Winfield nodded. “I don’t think he’ll pull a Custer, but he wants his last hoorah. He said he wants to keep his weapon at his side.”

“I’ll go talk to him.”

“We’ll come with you,” said Winfield, motioning for SgtMaj Sharp to follow.

Cal walked up to the Quonset hut that was now surrounded by operators.  They let the three Marines pass.

Someone had set out a path of orange chem lights leading from the door of the warehouse to the spacious office. There was a kerosene lamp on the desk. It cast a yellow glow over the room, and illuminated only half of Gen. Mason’s face. He was sitting in his desk chair, puffing on a pungent cigar, his rifle leaning against the wall next to him.

“There he is, the conquering hero,” said Mason, throwing a mock salute Cal’s way.

“What do you want?” asked Cal.

“I figured we should see each other one last time, man to man.”

“Say what you want to say.”

“Okay. I’ll bet you’re wondering why I did it. Why did I throw away a good career and ruin a lot of people’s lives, right?”

Cal didn’t respond.

Mason continued. “I’ll tell you why, and Winfield, you and your lapdog may want to listen. The second we take off our uniforms, we’re one of them. Weak civilians who suck off the teat that our warriors provide. We can’t turn back time and do it again. We’re old and used up. There’s nothing I wouldn’t give to go back and do it again, to lead a platoon or even pick up a rifle as a private. But the chain of command is broken, gents. The ranks are filled with war fighters with the hearts of lions. What are we but a bunch of weathered relics? Well I didn’t want to go out that way. I still have fight left. So I had to kill a few people to get there. So what? People die every single day.”

Cal didn’t buy it. “And why the Marine Corps, why General Ellwood?”

“They tried to recruit me to be a Marine out of Annapolis. Did you know that? Well, I realized they already had their shining star. Doug Ellwood could do no wrong. He got the prettiest girl and somehow won the most awards. So I decided to take another path, to make my own way. But that didn’t help. Doug kept one step ahead of me. It’s no secret that he probably would’ve been Commandant one day. So when the opportunity came, when Gower told me what he was thinking, I pushed it as hard as I could. Gower thought he was the one with the MacArthur brain, but I was the one who came up with the plan. I was the one who took it to a whole other level.”

“And Steiner? How does he play into this?”

Mason laughed. “He’s just a pansy politician. He didn’t know we were behind it. We took recipes that have been simmering for years and spoon fed it to him. You wouldn’t believe how many people in the Army, Air Force and Navy would love to see you Marines gone.”

Cal wondered if there’d ever be a time when the egos of man wouldn’t disrupt the lives of others. He knew it was impossible, and reminded himself that he was one of the few people on the planet who could do something about maniacs like Mason.

“Is that all?” asked Cal.

Mason nodded, taking a long drag from his stubby cigar.