The Grecian Manifesto (22 page)

Chapter 41

The Northern Mediterranean

“Reports are coming in that
there will be a huge production shortfall this year from many of the region’s
farmers. They are saying that the shortage is a direct result of the erratic
weather patterns that have impacted the area over the past ten months.
”
The reporter from the BBC news network
presented the breaking news in an emotionless tone.

Sean and Tommy stared at the
screen from their tan leather chairs inside the plane. On the way to the
airport, Sean had sent Emily a message relaying their theory on Gikas’s plan.
She’d responded like she always did when Sean needed something: by getting
right on it.

When the news report came out,
Emily sent him a quick message.
Looks
like you were right. Turn on BBC news.

The blonde reporter continued
talking on the screen. “This, amid growing concerns over the Greek economy,
will surely serve to add fuel to the fire for those wishing for a change in
government. The economic distress Greece has been under for the better part of
a decade has been widely publicized. With tensions growing, many pundits wonder
if this will be the straw the breaks the camel’s back.
”

Sean and Tommy’s mouths were
gaping as they watched footage of people standing in line at supermarkets in
Athens and Thessaloniki. Everything seemed orderly for the moment, but that
could change quickly. If the food supply was cut off, people would only stay
calm for so long. Hunger made humans do crazy things. Sean had seen it
firsthand on a mission in Nigeria. He shook his head at the memories.

“At present, it seems order is
being maintained by most of the public.
”

Tommy muted the television as
the screen cut away to an on-the-street interview with a consumer in a supermarket
line.

“I can’t believe how fast this
happened,” he said, staring at the screen for a few more seconds.

Sean stood up, walked over to a
small refrigerator on the other side of the plane, and took out a bottle of
water. He twisted off the lid and took a few sips, then put the cap back in its
place. “It’s just like when the weatherman predicts a snowstorm in the South.
Remember back home in the winter? All it takes is predicting that there will be
an inch of snow, and everyone goes crazy. The grocery stores get packed with
people trying to buy eggs, milk, and bread. Gas stations fill up too, with
people trying to make sure they have full tanks in case they can’t get to a
fuel source during the storm.”

Tommy nodded. “Yeah, people do
go a little crazy back in the South when there’s a hint of snow in the
forecast. A few of my friends who go a tad overboard with conspiracy theories
believe that the grocery stores are in cahoots with the local news stations.
They say the stores pay the stations to forecast snow to drive up sales.”

Sean chuckled at the idea.
“I’ve heard some people say that too.” He turned his attention back to the
issue at hand and pointed at the screen. “This is just the beginning. All Gikas
has done so far is send out a message saying that there’s going to be less food
than they expected. At the moment, there’s not even a real shortage.”

 
“I guess you’re right back in the thick of it again, huh?”
Tommy asked as he watched Sean go through his routine.

“Seems that way.” Sean clicked
the magazine back into place and put the gun back on the coffee table in front
of him.

“I’m sorry for that. I know
you’ve been trying to get out of these kinds of situations for a while. Seems as
if no matter what you do, you always get pulled back in.”

A reluctant smile crept onto
Sean’s face. “I’ve made my peace with it,” he said, staring at the television
screen. The BBC was showing images of protestors outside the Greek parliament,
carrying signs and shouting angrily at the building. Police with riot gear were
standing off to the side at a safe distance, not yet engaging with the
protestors.

Tommy hesitated to say
anything, but he was never one to keep his thoughts to himself. “Unfortunately,
you’re good at this sort of stuff, Sean. I mean, I’ve never seen anyone able to
think and act as quickly as you do in some of the situations you’ve been in.
It’s one of the things you’re good at.”

Sean snorted. “Yeah, well,
maybe the universe is trying to tell me something.”

“I’m not saying that,” Tommy said
defensively.

“I know, but it’s true. Maybe
the universe really is trying to tell me something. People say that you should
do what you are. It could be that this is who and what I am. That doesn’t mean
I’m going to stop trying.” He smiled at his friend and leaned his head back
against the headrest.

Tommy’s phone dinged,
interrupting the quiet whine of the jet engines. He checked the screen and
entered his security code. His fingers swiped the screen as he read an e-mail.
“Looks like we have a rental boat and all the dive equipment we need. Our
driver will pick us up at the airport and take us straight to the marina on the
coast of Corfu.”

“That was fast,” Sean said,
impressed.

“Hey, it’s what I do,” Tommy
pointed a thumb at his chest and grinned proudly.

“When this thing goes down,”
Sean said suddenly, “I don’t want you to get too involved. This is my fight,
not yours. I don’t want you to be in harm’s way. Okay?”

“Ha! Sorry, buddy, but I’m in
this with you. I’m always in this with you. That’s what brothers do. And since
I didn’t have a brother growing up, you’ll have to do. Besides, you know I can
take care of myself.”

“Yes, you can.”

The flight attendant appeared
from behind a curtain at the front of the plane and strolled down the aisle
toward the two men. Her fiery-red hair was tucked up in a bun. Green eyes
twinkled in the middle of a perfectly chiseled face of creamy skin. Her pouty
lips turned up in a smile as she neared the two passengers. “Can I get you
gentlemen anything before we begin our descent?”

“No, ma’am,” Tommy answered.
“I’m good.”

Sean waved a hand dismissively.
“No thanks. I appreciate it.”

She gave a pleasant nod, turned
and walked away.

When she was gone, Sean tilted
his head toward his friend. “She’s cute.”

“Yeah she is. The government
sure knows how to pick ‘em.”

“For sure.” Sean thought for a
second and then grinned mischievously. “You gonna ask her out?”

Tommy just shook his head and
turned his attention to the tablet he removed from his book bag. “No. I’m not
going to ask her out.”

“Why not?” Sean protested. “Did
you see the way she smiled at you?”

“She didn’t smile at me any
way.”

“Whatever, man.”

Sean had known for years that
Tommy wouldn’t know a girl was flirting with him if she slapped him on the side
of the head. He’d seen it all the time when they were younger. Tommy had always
dressed a little differently, more like a college professor than a high school
kid. He liked looking sophisticated, which really worked to his favor even
though Tommy thought it to be to the contrary.

“Women like that aren’t into
guys like me.”

“Women like that? You mean
attractive, friendly women?”

He shrugged but said nothing,
instead choosing to tap on his tablet screen and begin perusing some research
on ancient Chinese structures.

“Well, whether you believe it
or not, women like that do find you attractive. One of these days, you’re just
going to have to accept that.” Sean ended the conversation and checked his
phone. No new messages appeared on the screen.

He was going to have to buy Emily
dinner when he got back to Atlanta for getting them out jail back in Rome. He,
no doubt, would also have to endure another round of her attempts to recruit him
back to work for Axis. She’d recently moved the entire operation to Sean’s
backyard in Atlanta after a sequence of events with the location in Washington,
D.C., made her realize it was time for a change of venue.

Axis worked as a part of the
Department of Justice, but with such a small scope that they were able to
maintain a low profile. At any given time, Axis only employed twelve field
agents to handle the delicate missions handed down from the feds. Keeping such
a small, tight-knit group made administration much simpler, and it kept the
possibility of a leak pretty much at zero.

The plane bounced a few times,
jostling its occupants. Despite being terrified of heights, Sean loved flying.
It was a good thing he did since global travel usually required a flight of
some kind. He’d seen turbulence turn full-grown men into squirming little
children. A few bumps thirty thousand feet in the air never bothered him. For
some reason, being fifty feet up on a scaffold did. He smiled as the plane hit
another batch of aerial potholes. Tommy found the turbulence less amusing and remained
focused on his tablet.

Sean glanced over his friend’s
arm at the screen. “Boat shopping?” he half joked.

“I’m checking out the boat
we’re taking out to the island. Pretty nice, actually.”

“Forty-three foot, Princess
V39? Little fancy for what we need isn’t it?”

“It will get us where we need
to be. And fast,” Tommy said.

The captain’s voice came over
the intercom. “We will begin our descent in a few minutes and should be on the
ground in Corfu within the next thirty. Please fasten your seat belts. And I
apologize for the turbulence. It’s a little bumpier than we expected. Nothing
to worry about, though. Again, we should be on the ground in Corfu within a
half hour.”

“Never understood the thing
about seat belts in an airplane,” Tommy commented as he buckled the strap
across his waist. “We’re traveling at several hundred miles an hour. If
something goes wrong, what’s the seat belt going to do?”

The plane hit another huge air
pocket that sent Sean’s water bottle two feet into the air. He quickly snatched
it before it hit the ground and secured it next to his hip, between the armrest
and his leg. “It’s so that if the landing is a little rough, or we hit big
bumps like that, you don’t crack your thick skull on the ceiling,” Sean said
dryly, casting his friend a derisive glance.

“Good point.”

The rest of the flight went
uneventfully. It always impressed Sean when a landing went so smoothly. He’d
experienced his fair share of terrifying ones, the worst of which had been at
the Seattle airport. When his plane landed there, it jerked to one side and
then the other, causing everyone onboard to move over nearly one full seat
position. He’d wondered how it hadn’t flipped over onto its side. Then again,
Sean didn’t claim to understand all the mechanics and physics behind aviation.
He convinced himself he was being irrational about the whole thing. That didn’t
change the fact that he still thought about it. Fortunately, the pilot of their
flight to Corfu had kept the landing uneventful.

After a few minutes of waiting
on the tarmac for the other planes to get out of the way, the private jet
taxied its way over to an empty area where a tractor waited with a set of
stairs, ready to dock with the plane.

Once the plane came to a full
stop, the men grabbed their backpacks and walked down the aisle toward the
cockpit and the exit. The redhead stood by the door with a broad smile on her
face, showing off her almost perfectly white teeth. “Good luck,” she said to
them both, though she gave an extra long look at Tommy.

“Thanks,” Sean said. “I’ll let
the pilot know when we need to leave.” She nodded pleasantly at his comment.

Sean quickly made his exit,
leaving Tommy awkwardly alone with the flight attendant. “Thank you,” he said
in an uncomfortable tone. “I noticed that you weren’t the flight attendant that
was with us on the way over from the United States.”

“True,” she said, still
grinning. “We sometimes change over at different locations.”

“Ah. Well, are you going to be
taking us back to the States, or will we have someone else on the way home?” He
hoped his question didn’t sound too creepy.

She seemed taken aback by the
question, but maintained her friendly demeanor. “Actually, I will be. We don’t
have anyone here on this island. It is kind of remote, after all.”

“Right,” he said blushing. “Good
point.” Tommy started for the exit and stopped. He turned around and stared at
her for a second. “What’s your name? I didn’t get it on the way here.”

It was her turn to blush. “My
name is Amanda,” she answered, never losing the bright smile.

“My name is Tommy. It’s nice to
meet you, Amanda.” He tipped his head to her and pivoted around.

He saw Sean standing halfway
down the stairs, waiting for him. “Good job, Captain Awkward.” He shook his
head and laughed as Tommy lumbered down the steps toward him.

“She’s definitely not into me,”
Tommy said with a disappointed pout.

“You have so much to learn
about women.”

The two friends hit the tarmac
and walked toward a door in the middle of the building directly in front of
them.

“Isn’t that all men?” Tommy asked,
half joking.

Sean simply raised an eyebrow,
as if to say, “touché.”

A security guard waited just
outside the entrance to the building. When the two men approached, he opened
the door for them and gave a quick explanation of where they needed to go to
get through customs.

Sean thanked him and led the
way through the door into the private terminal. Corfu’s airport seemed somewhat
small by American standards but was still large enough to boast the title of International
Airport. Although to be fair, the large island was situated above Greece’s
northern border. It was actually parallel to the Albanian coast, northeast of
the Greek mainland. The island’s airport claimed to be the third busiest in the
country. After flying out of Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta, Tommy
and Sean were delighted to find such a
busy
airport nearly vacant by comparison.