They had done this before.
There were personnel files for every member of Dead Six, including our field leaders. I found mine. It proved to be a fascinating if vaguely surreal read. It was almost frightening how much they knew. My Air Force service, details of my time with Vanguard, bank statements, phone records, everything about me up until my recruitment. After that were newer entries about my performance in Zubara, evaluations, even notes regarding my relationship with Sarah. Apparently, I had gained Hunter’s admiration, though he’d suspected I was a flight risk.
There were bios for every one of us, nearly clinical assessments of our suitability. There was one common thread in the pre-recruitment section. Nobody of importance would notice if we were gone.
The meat, the part that Hunter had entrusted me with, came from his personal logs. There were two sections, official daily entries reporting back to some unknown overseer about our operations, successes, goals, and losses. April 1—Successfully neutralized terror cell in city. 20+ kills. No losses. It was all very professional. In addition to the official entries, though, were his notes, almost like personal journal entries. Apparently these had not been sent in with his reports. April 1—Tailor’s chalk hit a club. Murdered a bunch of them. Burned it down. Sent a real message. Good op. Not getting support from above. Logistics are a nightmare. I’ve got a bad feeling about this one.
I began to skim.
April 15—Tailor and Valentine eliminated Adar. Gordon screwed them, sent just the two of them. Said he wasn’t authorized more, but I think it was a test. I think he’s eyeing them for Direct Action jobs. They got the job done, though. Chalks are running without enough support. Intel is shit. They’re lucky to be alive. Two chalks have taken casualties now because of Gordon’s bullshit. I don’t know what he thinks he’s doing, but nobody will answer my questions.
It seemed that Colonel Hunter had grown increasingly disaffected with the project as time went on. He distrusted his superiors, especially Gordon Willis.
April 18—I got confirmation today. The hit on the assistant ambassador was Gordon’s call. Anders pulled the trigger. That was unnecessary. They were being evacuated anyway. They were no threat to OpSec. This was not part of the plan. This is not what I signed up with the organization for. Things have changed over the last twenty years, and not for the good.
Frustratingly, there was almost nothing about his organization on the drive other than a few scattered opinions. It was, however, pretty clear that whatever the late colonel’s organization was, it was powerful, it operated strictly behind the scenes, and it had been around for a long time.
April 21—Singer is dead. Two chalks took heavy casualties. Gordon didn’t give two shits, and now I know why. Gordon secured another asset for Project Blue. Blue is so much bigger, but still. As much as I dislike Gordon, I can’t believe he’d compromise this entire operation just to boost his career.
That was one of the few mentions of Project Blue, but there was a lot more about Gordon. I learned a great deal about the man. Hunter had despised him and didn’t trust him in the least.
May 5—We’re done. I’ve not got the order yet, but I can read the writing on the wall. Project Heartbreaker is Gordon’s baby, his ticket to upper-management. He lobbied for a DEAD op in Zubara. But by last month our superiors knew we were done. Zubara has spiraled out of control and I simply don’t have the manpower to do anything about it. Too much reliance was placed on indigenous assets. The Emir is too weak. The best I can hope for is that we can kill a few more of these assholes before we pack it in. Gordon’s withdrawn. He knows his career is shot.
By May 7, Gordon Willis had received orders to wrap up Project Heartbreaker as quickly and quietly as possible and prepare to withdraw all assets from Zubara. The hit on Rafael Montalban had taken Hunter by surprise. Even his official report had plainly stated that Gordon had ordered the op over Hunter’s objection.
May 10—Gordon is up to something. Orders were hands off on anyone from the Rivals. Montalban was not on our list. Moving on someone as high up on their hierarchy as Rafael Montalban is an act of war. Gordon had to have cut a deal with somebody. This puts us all in danger. Our organization isn’t ready for that kind of fight. The bastard. He’ll hang for this.
The lack of details about Montalban’s rival group was also frustrating. It was as if Hunter had expected whoever read this to already know about them.
I sat back from my computer and pinched the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes tightly for a moment. I realized I’d been reading for two hours and had scarcely learned a thing. What did he expect me to do with the information on this drive? Who could I give it to that would make a difference? Who would even believe me? I’d have a hard time proving that I’d been in Zubara at all, much less that there had been some kind of international conspiracy afoot there. Still, I wasn’t ready to give up just yet. I rubbed my eyes and continued to read. There was only one entry left, dated the morning of Dead Six’s betrayal.
May 11—Preparations for the evacuation have been made. I pushed for one last mission targeting General Al Sabah, hoping that maybe we could leave this country a little better off, but was denied. Gordon Willis left ahead of the rest of us. Probably hoping for a head start so he can try to explain this all away before I can file my official report. I think I know what he’s up to. Turns out Rafael Montalban’s second-in-command was his younger brother, Eduard. I’ve gathered some evidence that Eduard has been in contact with Gordon. I think the Montalbans just had a coup, only our organization will get the blame. I don’t know why Gordon did it. He either got paid off by Eduard, or worse, he’s more ambitious that I thought. Worst case scenario, he’s trying to force us into a war so we can initiate his precious Project Blue. Even Gordon can’t be that crazy.
I could figure out the rest. Instead of waiting for Hunter to burn Gordon to their mysterious organization, Gordon had turned the tables and sold us out to General Al Sabah.
Recording any of this is a direct violation of OpSec, but I have a bad feeling about tonight. This file is my insurance policy. The first DEAD unit was stood up thirty years ago. Detachment One, protecting the world from communism. I was on D1. We accomplished a lot of good, killed a lot of bad guys, saved a lot of lives, but things changed. We’ve changed. The organization has gone bad, turned rotten. I don’t recognize it anymore. Men like Gordon Willis run it now. I used to be proud of what I did, but not anymore.
The plan is to evacuate by ship. A handful of D6 have been approached and accepted permanent positions with the organization.
Gordon had tried to hire me and Tailor, and I had nearly shot him. The personnel files were still open in another window. It looked like some of us on the chalks had been approached, and it appeared several had agreed. Sarah hadn’t been approached, though; neither had Anita King. In fact, there was a note on all the support-staff files that they were unsuitable for recruitment. Curious, I continued with Hunter’s final entry.
The recruits and I will rendezvous with a chopper in the gulf for transport home. As for the rest, once out to sea, the evacuation ship will be destroyed, terminating the remainder of D6 deemed to be security risks.