She waved her hand. “Nah… you guys go. I’m going to get some work done.”
A simultaneous exhale from the group. “Okay, well, we’ll see you tomorrow.” They bolted. She had never seen them go so fast.
The 1MC speaker announced, “Air Boss, your presence is requested in the captain’s cabin.”
Hmm. Now it was her turn to try and avoid dinner with her boss. That was a much taller task. Oh, well. She would be the good lieutenant commander and take one for the team.
She marched down the passageway, turning the corner to the captain’s cabin. She nearly fell down when she saw who was waiting for her.
The captain had a broad smile on his face, standing behind Victoria’s brother Chase. Chase wore a sly grin, happy to surprise his sister. They embraced, joy in her heart.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she asked after finally giving him room to breathe.
His expression didn’t change, but the captain’s did, she noticed. The captain looked serious.
Chase said, “It’s a work-related trip.”
She nodded. “I see.” There was another man — a Navy commander — sitting in the captain’s cabin. She didn’t recognize him.
The captain said, “Air Boss, your brother has a very interesting job. He’s done briefing me, so I’ll let you two catch up. He and his colleague said they’d only be able to stay for a few minutes, so I can’t invite them with us tonight. But when you guys are done talking, come find me. I’m dragging you and the XO out for dinner.”
She smiled politely. “Yes, sir.”
She motioned for Chase to follow her. She decided to take him back to the hangar. “Come on, I’ll show you the seventy million dollars in helicopters the taxpayers are trusting me with.”
“Well, there’s a mistake,” he joked.
She didn’t bother introducing him to her men, some of whom were in the hangar working on the aircraft. Victoria didn’t want to be rude, but she knew that Chase’s work was very sensitive stuff. And while she knew that she might be fanning some rumors with her wide smile and the good-looking man at her side, she wanted to do her part to protect his privacy.
“So you can only stay a moment?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’ve got to keep moving.”
They leaned on the metal railing of the flight deck nets, overlooking the water that fed into the Panama Canal. Passenger jets flew overhead every few minutes, landing at the international airport.
“How’s David?” she asked.
“Honestly? He’s been better. You spoke to him, right?”
“Yeah. I called him a few weeks ago. He sounded scared and frustrated. He couldn’t say too much over the phone.”
She looked around to make sure they were out of earshot. “Anything you can fill me in on? The last thing I saw was what the news put out — saying the whole thing with them being apprehended on cyberterrorist charges was a misunderstanding at Interpol. Then this shit with Iran started happening and the news didn’t care anymore.”
Chase looked at his sister. “Can I tell you something that’s going to sound crazy?”
“Yeah.”
He whispered, “It’s not Iran that we need to be worried about.”
Victoria frowned. Half the US Navy was being deployed to the Persian Gulf. Shots had already been fired between Iran and the US. Her father had debarked the USS Truman only days before it had been attacked by Iranian cruise missiles. The news was nonstop coverage about an Iranian terror cell attacking American civilians on the D.C. Beltway. Now the United States was getting ready to put an end to the extremist Iranian regime once and for all. The military buildup in the region was similar to the Iraq wars. Any day now, the balloon would go up, and a US-led invasion into Iran would begin.
“How is Iran not what we need to be worrying about?”
He shook his head. “I can’t go into it.”
“Come on, little brother, you can’t say something like that and not give me any more.”
He looked at her. “Your captain just got orders — he knows what he needs to do. He’s got a sealed mission brief that he’ll give to you if we need you. Otherwise, I can’t go into it.”
She crossed her arms. “What the hell are you up to?”
Chase looked at the helicopters, folded and stuffed in the hangers. He said, “What type of mission are you doing here?”
Victoria said, “What do you mean? In the EASTPAC? Counternarcotic, mostly. Some training exercises with the UK and some South American countries.”
Chase looked grim. “That could change.”
She didn’t like this. Chase never got rattled. A former officer in the SEAL community, he had been on several deployments in the Middle East. Her brother was, although it was still hard for her to fathom, a decorated war hero. When he’d left the teams a year and a half ago, he smiled as he told her that he was going to be working for the Department of State.
She knew that men like Chase didn’t take jobs like that. Not that there was anything wrong with working in the diplomatic community. But serving in that capacity wouldn’t have scratched the itch for him. He was an operator, and an adrenaline junkie. She knew that Chase was involved in something more… exciting.
The night of their mother’s funeral, the three siblings had drowned their sorrows at McGarvey’s Pub in Annapolis. Chase always had loose lips when he drank. That was when Victoria usually pressed him about his relationships, so she could report back to Mom. Back when Mom was still around. But that night at the pub, Chase had admitted to her that he was going to work for the CIA as a member of their Special Operations Group. It would be similar work to what he was already doing, but it would open up a host of other opportunities within the CIA.
Victoria thought about the reason the CIA would send him here, to her ship. It was highly irregular. She tried once more. “What are you doing here, Chase?”
He shook his head. Then he looked down at the water. A school of fish were causing ripples on the surface, going after bugs. “I can’t tell you what I’m doing here. But you saw me meet with your ship captain. If you guys are needed, we delivered a mission packet to the captain of your ship. Even he isn’t supposed to read it unless you get the call. And Victoria, if you are needed…” He looked up from the water and into her eyes. “Just be careful. Okay?”
“My God, Chase, you’re starting to scare the shit out of me. Something must be really wrong. Does this have to do with the Beltway attack?”
He looked at his watch. “Time for me to run.” He reached over and gave her a great big bear hug. “Love you, sis. Good luck.”
She watched him walk down the pier, hop in a cab and disappear. The executive officer, the number two in charge on the ship, walked up next to her on the flight deck. He was already wearing his civilian clothes.
“Air Boss,” he greeted her.
“XO.”
“Just had a talk with the captain. Seems like we’re going to be changing our operating area for this international exercise next week.”
“Oh? Where are we headed?”
“Somewhere in between the Galapagos and Ecuador.”
“The captain say anything else? Like what the hell those two men just briefed him on?”
“Not really. Just that we need to go into a geographic box next week and stay there in case they need us.”
“Need us for what?”
He shrugged. “He didn’t say.”