Rise of Aen (4 page)

And now, the best search and rescue team in the Air Force was assigned to his task, although they didn’t know what, as of yet. But he would soon be with his men again, and this was the best news he’d had in years. With a thud, the Blackhawk landed on the rooftop pad and the six men filed out in full gear without hesitation. As soon as they saw their former commander, they sprinted over to him to greet him with enormous smiles. Knowing the wind noise from the mountains combined with the thump of the helicopter rotors would make a discussion impossible, Taylor motioned for them to follow him inside so they could exchange
pleasantries.

“I can’t believe you’re still alive you stubborn old goat!” Major Wilson said as the doors shut behind them. “You all but vanished after that fucked up night in the badlands! How you been
General?”

“Good, Avery. It’s been a lot harder without you and the
boys.”

“Sorry to hear about you and Miri. How you holding up?” Wilson said with a soft tone to his former
commander.

“Don’t give it much thought anymore, to be honest; too much to do. Heard about your mess in Baghdad. Reports were pretty blacked out by the time I read them and I’ve got clearance the president
doesn’t.”

“Ten days of pure hell in hostile territory. Not something any of us want to relive any time soon, sir. But enough small talk, why did you bring us to the middle of nowhere to a place that doesn’t
exist?”

Taylor tilted his head towards the elevator. “Conference room is on sub-level eight. Meet me there in ten and I’ll give you a full mission debriefing.” He handed Wilson a swipe card. “It only gets you to where you need to go, Major. Any deviation will get you and the boys killed, so go straight to sub-level
eight.”

Wilson looked carefully at his long-time commander as he digested the seriousness of the general’s tone. “Got it, sir!” he said plainly, then waved his men towards the elevator, without moving himself. Taylor went in the other direction and disappeared through a door at the end of the hall. Avery slowly turned and made his way to join his men, running through the words of the General in his mind. His gut was telling him something was wrong here, but he was ordered to at least listen to the proposal before accepting this
job.

The doors of the elevator slid closed behind him and Wilson swiped the card before pressing the button for sub-level eight. He looked over at his men who nodded in agreement. They trusted Taylor and felt he wouldn’t do anything to put his team in jeopardy, but there was something in this situation that made them uneasy. So Wilson pushed the floor button and the elevator began to descend. His mind began to strategize on multiple scenarios, trying to ready himself on what may come their way. He would be damned if he was going to lead his men into another Baghdad
situation!

—

“You say it’s just a simple snatch and grab, but to me it seems a hell of a lot more complicated,” Wilson said as he read the subject file in his hands. He closed the file and threw it on the table. “There’s a lot of factors involved here, ones that we normally don’t have to deal with. Taking a civilian and making it look like something different is a whole world that we’ve never had to work
with.”

“Your role is to just secure the subject, Major.” Taylor piped up from the end of the table where he’d sat quietly since giving the mission details. “We will have a whole other team in place to play with the smoke and
mirrors.”

“And the brass is okay with this
shit?”

“Major, I would have spent an entire day of getting the proper clearances in place for you and your men to even be allowed within a hundred miles of this facility if the ‘brass’ gave a shit about how we did things. We have our mandate; they don’t fucking care how we do
it!”

“Sorry, sir!” he stammered slightly. “Don’t know the answer if you don’t ask the question.” Regaining his composure he looked over at his men who all looked a little concerned. “Could you give us a few, I think the boys and I need to discuss this one considering what it
involves.”

“You have five minutes.” Taylor answered with a hint of annoyance in his voice. He left the room and stood outside with the door closed as he marked the time on his watch. Murmurs were all he could hear, with the odd raised voice. Obviously this offer came with challenges to one’s morals and that is where the issue lay. Looking down at his watch, he noted that they had a minute left when he heard the door
open.

“Sir?” It was Everett that was summoning him. Taylor spun around and entered the
room.

“Are we good now, Major?” Taylor inquired, directing his question to the Major in the
corner.

“We’re good, but we don’t want any paper trail on this one. No files, no orders, no recordings.” He said as he pointed at the cameras in the room. “This shit gets erased and we were never fucking here,
agreed?”

“Done!” Taylor looked up at the camera and made a slashing gesture across his throat. “I want a mission plan at ten hundred hours with a list of what you may need. Dial 311 on the phone for the mess hall and they’ll bring you whatever you need. Grub’s excellent here.” He snapped a salute then held his hand out to Wilson who slowly stood and shook his
hand.

“See you at ten hundred hours, sir!” he said as the general left the room. After he was gone for a few minutes he sank back in the chair and exhaled loudly. “I still think we’re walking into a shitstorm boys! That’s not the same man that had our backs years
ago!”

“It’s just a simple grab mission, sir,” Gentry piped up. “Not like we’re snagging the fucking president. He’s just a simple
banker!”

“Yeah,” added Hastings. “Simple and done, we get our fat mission bonus and we never come to creepy castle Taylor again!” The men chuckled at the comment. Hastings was always the joker of the group, but Wilson could tell this time he was using humor to hide his
fear.

“Ok, let’s get to work.” Wilson interrupted. “The file’s full of surveillance so let’s learn the mark’s habits and snatch him when he’s
alone.”

“I’d like to snatch me some of that wifey of his!” laughed Marlin. “Look at the body on that one! Fuck me, I’m sportin’ wood
already!”

Wilson reached over and slapped Marlin across the back of the head, filling the air with a loud smack. “Get your fuckin’ head out of your pants and let’s concentrate on the mission. No mistakes on this one! We’re not riding into the middle of a battlefield; this is gonna be smack dab in the public eye so we gotta become shadows! Unheard! Unseen! Are we
clear?”

They all snapped to attention, sensing the seriousness in the Major’s voice. “Sir, yes sir!” they all replied loudly and they settled in to plan the operation. Wilson allowed each team member to table ideas and had a hand in the planning of each of their missions, which was a stark contrast to the way Taylor set things up himself when he ran the team. This way, Wilson felt, the group felt ownership of the op and when push came to shove they would know why they were doing things. And in this matter, the boys needed absolute clarity because if things went wrong, the shit would hit the
fan.

Bristol County, Massachusetts

The day was like any other work day for Aaron, filled with appointments with clients for personal and business loan applications. Usually he would go about his day in automatic, but today was different. Today he felt like his whole life was coming together for the first time in a long while. His relationship with his family—while once on shaky ground—was now as sturdy as ever. And now with his personal life no longer struggling, Aaron felt overwhelmed with happiness and excitement that carried over to his professional
life.

All day he had been humming and whistling, with a cheerful smile never leaving his face. As the day sped to a close, he felt anticipation to go home and spend even more time with his family. His after-work schedule was clear; he was all theirs. The steady drum of the late summer rain had all but been ignored as it had been ongoing since mid-morning. Aaron looked towards the parking garage across the street and silently wondered why he didn’t bring an umbrella. Glancing over to the waiting room he could see through his doorway there was still a newspaper left behind, something that was a rarity nowadays. At least I won’t get totally soaked, he thought to himself as he rose to go retrieve
it.

Once the makeshift umbrella was in his possession, Aaron quickly reviewed his appointment log for tomorrow. A few scattered appointments were littered over the course of the day, but otherwise it would be a quiet one. Turning off his computer for the night, Aaron grabbed his coat, briefcase and paper before shutting the lights off and calling it a
day.

“Forget your umbrella again?” the voice behind him hollered as he neared the entrance way. “You’re gonna be soaked by the time you get across the street!” Vince was one of his coworkers and probably the most annoying individual Aaron ever worked with. He would disappear all day only to whine about or make a sarcastic comment when you least expect
it.

Aaron pretended not to hear him as he pushed through the doorway and raised the paper above his head as he exited the bank to walk through the minor deluge. Vehicles roared by on the streets, creating a fine mist that added to the rain as rush hour began. Racing to the corner, he pushed the button on the traffic light to signal that there was a pedestrian waiting to cross. Time seemed to slow as the light didn’t change for what felt like an eternity. When it did change, Aaron darted across the intersection and into the dryness of the first level of the parking
garage.

Discarding the paper in the trash can, he realized that it helped only a little bit in keeping him dry. He was almost entirely soaked, even his shirt and tie were dripping. Laughing to himself, Aaron shook his hair out and made his way to his car on level three. The parkade was unusually dark, as more than a couple of lights had gone out in various sections. It was also unusually deserted for this time of day; usually it would be a hive of activity around this hour with people leaving work on their way
home.

The door for the stairwell creaked as he pushed it open as the stale air hit him and climbed to the third floor. The stairway was dimly lit as well making him laugh nervously. “I’ve walked into a fucking horror movie or something,” Aaron muttered to himself, trying to make the best of the
situation.

At last, he reached the third level door and opened it, emerging into the concrete maze that housed various vehicles housed throughout the day. From the doorway to the stairs, he could see his car, which was only about twenty feet away, and with it a puzzling sight; it wasn’t empty! Behind the wheel, a man was sitting in the seat dressed identically to Aaron. In fact, the man looked like his twin! He was in shock; his mind raced to comprehend what he was
seeing.

Moving to his side to get a better vantage point at the mysterious man, certain aspects of his face raised alarms deep inside Aaron. The man’s face had an expression of frozen terror on it and was ghostly pale. In fact, Aaron could swear the man was already dead! He tried to get the fellow’s attention by pounding on the hood of the car closest to him and started to
yell.

“Hey!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. “Hey, you’re in the wrong
car!”

The stranger was unmoved, sitting there deathly
silent.

“Asshole! Get the fuck outta my car!” Aaron’s frustration began to show. Still, the man didn’t move. Taking a few steps closer, Aaron began to shout again. “I’m callin’ the cops man! Hope you like jail, because your ass is
gonna...”

His car exploded, cutting his rant short, and sent him flying back into the concrete wall some twenty feet behind him. The blast decimated his car as well as those nearest to it, burning everything around it. The walls shook violently and cracked from the concussion wave. Aaron found himself crumpled in a heap, clinging to consciousness with the sound of multiple car alarms blaring in tune with the throbbing in his head. With his blurry vision, he could make out the mangled, burning wreck of what used to be his Ford Edge among the twisted carnage of the surrounding vehicles. The heat from the flames bore down on him, but he was unable to move. The smoke began to fill the corner of the garage, choking him slowly. With the world growing dim around him, Aaron caught the shape of a man approaching him. He tried to cry for help, but only a croak escaped his bloodied
lips.

“Of all the luck,” the man spoke as he lifted Aaron up into a fireman’s carry and began to run. “Ya need someone to help ya, but ya run into me! Hope ya like pain, cause they got some real shit lined up fer yer
ass!”

With his last grasp on consciousness, Aaron felt himself being placed flat on something metal, and heard the sound of a metal door sliding shut. Then everything went
black.

—

“Fuckin’ guy don’t do much but sit at a desk!” Marlin commented sarcastically from the vantage point set up in the fourth floor of the parking garage, which sat across from the bank where the target worked. The team had been on standby since late morning and now had to sit in the dampness of the open air garage as the rain began to pour. Marlin was getting restless; this op was completely out of the norm for
them.

“Stow it, Private!” Wilson barked. “Maintain surveillance on the target until he leaves for the day. That’s when we
move!”

“Yes, sir!” Marlin sneered back as he lit a cigarette. Normally he wouldn’t smoke on an op, but he figured it wouldn’t attract too much attention in the middle of downtown. “How much we getting paid for this shit
again?”