Jones sighed. He had an idea what the next step was, and he wasn’t happy about it. “So what do you want to do?”
Matthews stopped and looked at him. “The D.E.A.D. unit is gone, effective right fucking now. Do you understand me? Any records are destroyed. Your funding is cut and re-distributed. Your entire program is dead and buried. Chris Black, and whoever else is left, are no longer, in any way, linked to this agency. We cannot afford to let our reputation take a hit like this, not now. Not with Adrian Hell still on the loose with his stolen intel. Are you listening to me, Julius?”
Jones was staring blankly at the surface of his desk, hearing every word, but unable to express how he felt about them. The D.E.A.D. program had been his brainchild, his baby, for over twenty years. It began with Adrian Hell. Ironically, it’s with him, albeit indirectly, that it ends.
He nodded, sitting down heavily in his chair.
Matthews regarded him quietly for a moment. “Get it done, Julius.”
He turned and left, slamming the door closed behind him.
Jones sat for a while, silently. He was angry at the decision, but he was angrier that his trust in Chris Black to manage the unit in place of Jericho had apparently been misplaced.
He snapped out of his trance and picked up the phone. He had preparations to make.
SANTA CLARITA, CALIFORNIA, USA
April 22nd, 2017
After a couple of tense hours in the U.S. Embassy, Jericho, Julie, and Collins were allowed to return to the private airfield they landed in. With Vincent in tow, they flew back to California. The flight back passed without incident, and they touched down on GlobaTech’s airstrip, where they were met on the runway by a transport vehicle. They were driven to the main office building, and they made their way to the fourth floor conference room, where Josh and Schultz were waiting for them.
Daniel Vincent stood awkwardly by the door as everyone else took their seats, hugging his briefcase to his chest. Josh stood and walked over to him.
“Glad you’re able to join us, Daniel,” he said, formally, before nodding to the case. “Mind if I take a look at that?”
Vincent reluctantly handed it over, and Josh slid it across the table to Schultz, who was sitting at the far end. He nodded, and Josh placed an arm around Vincent’s shoulder, walking him to the door.
“Daniel, do me a favor? Head on down to the front desk and speak to one of the girls there. They’re expecting you, and they’ll arrange for one of our medical teams to give you a once over, okay?”
He nodded vacantly and turned to walk out of the room. He paused at the door and looked back over his shoulder. “Th-thank you,” he said. “To all of you, for everything you did for me.”
Julie smiled at him. “It’s no problem. You were pretty bad ass yourself, you know that?”
He smiled weakly and headed out of the room.
Josh shut the door behind him, and then turned to face the three returning members of his new team. He looked at each one of them in turn.
“So, anybody care to tell me how that whole thing got turned into a worldwide clusterfuck?” he shouted.
Collins went to speak, but Josh cut him off. “That was rhetorical! I’ll tell you how… You acted like a bunch of amateurs!” He pointed to Collins. “Ray, what part of discreet don’t you understand?”
Collins frowned. “What? I thought I was very discreet,” he said, defensively. “I made the approach perfectly fine. It wasn’t my fuckin’ fault Jerry’s old unit decided to show up.”
“No, it wasn’t — but it was your decision to blow a hole in the side of the fucking hotel!”
“Ah… yeah… I just wanted to see what’d happen if I’m honest. Sure as hell stopped that guy shootin’ at me anyway! Heh!”
He looked around, but both Jericho and Julie shook their heads at him, signaling for him to stay quiet. He fell silent and stared at the surface of the table, feeling like a kid waiting outside the principal’s office.
Josh stood at the opposite end to Schultz, using both hands to rub his eyes and forehead with frustration. “Guys, come on… you’re meant to be professionals. You’re civilians now, and you’re working for GlobaTech, which means you represent this company in everything that you do. You know what we’re up against at the moment — the last thing we need is any bad PR.”
“Josh, with respect, we did the best we could,” said Julie. “We did everything right, and yeah, once Jericho’s old unit showed up, things went to shit, but we did our best to save the innocent bystanders in the hotel, protect Vincent and his information, and get out of there alive.”
“They blew up our vehicle,” added Jericho. “LaSharde had us pinned down with a sniper rifle, Baker was in the crowds — I’m guessing he was the one who planted the bomb in the first place… and Black…” He fell silent for a moment, trying to suppress the natural anger he felt when that man’s name was mentioned. “Chris fucking Black ran out, guns blazing, with no regard for any collateral damage. Say what you want, but they weren’t there to capture Vincent — they were there to kill him.”
Josh and Schultz exchanged a glance in the silence that descended.
“Okay, what’s done is done,” said Josh, finally. “We have a PR department with millions of dollars at their disposal for a reason, I guess. Ryan, what’s in the case?”
Schultz clicked the briefcase open and took out a handful of documents and a flash drive, resting them on the table before putting the case on the floor next to him. He quickly scanned the papers as everyone looked on.
“Sonofabitch…” he murmured eventually.
“What is it?” asked Jericho.
“Whatever it is, it best be worth the shit we went through to get it,” added Collins.
Schultz slid the papers across the table, for anyone who cared to read them. “Documents detailing the hidden extras that were added to the Cerberus satellite post-production,” he said. “Signed by Cunningham himself.”
“Holy shit,” said Josh, picking them up. “This alone is enough to at least get a Senate hearing. This proves the president knew what the satellite was really capable of. And if he knew, it’s hardly a stretch to link him to the attacks that utilized those capabilities.” He looked at everyone in turn. “Guys, this is amazing.”
Schultz slid him the flash drive across the table. “See what’s on that, too.”
“Will do,” he said, picking it up. “I think I’ve got a call to make.” He turned and left the room hurriedly.
Jericho looked at Schultz. “Where’s he going?”
“I imagine he’ll be getting Adrian on the line, to tell him the good news.”
“So, what now?”
“Now? We move forward. The three of you were a goddamn disgrace out there. You need leadership and structure if you’re going to function as a team.”
Collins raised his hand. “I’ll do it,” he said, smiling.
“Like hell you will,” scoffed Schultz. “There’s only one obvious choice.” He turned and looked directly at Julie. “You’re in charge from now on,” he said. “You keep these two idiots in check, and you report directly to Josh. Questions?”
Collins looked outraged, but wasn’t being serious. Jericho simply smiled and looked at her.
“You’ll do great,” he said to her.
“Thanks,” she replied with a smile.
“So, technically, I’m under you now,” said Collins, smiling a devilish smile. “Perfect!”
Julie sighed and rolled her eyes. “You’re an asshole.”