However they had done it, the Chinese had convinced enough people that David and Henry were international terrorists. Interpol had captured them in Darwin. David hadn’t even been able to contact his wife.
Just as bad as being captured was what they learned from watching the news.
The Red Cell’s plan for a Chinese attack on America began with a staged war. The plans called for attacks on Iran that would frame the United States as the aggressor. This would trigger retributive attacks from Iran against the United States, further fanning the flames. Covertly, the Chinese would actually execute some of the attacks. If the fire of an Iran-US war burned bright enough, the American military would be forced to overallocate its global military assets to the Middle East. The Chinese would launch a cyberattack and make it look like Iran was the culprit. This cyberattack would disrupt global communications, especially the ones that the US military relied upon. The effect of these initial plans was to leave the best American military assets stuck in the Middle East, fighting a war with Iran, and unable to quickly react to a Chinese attack.
As David and Henry first sat down behind bars, the news channel had rattled off three frightening stories. First, David and Henry were wanted for selling a cyberweapon to Iran. Second, the CIA had assassinated a prominent Iranian politician and his wife, who was related to the Iranian Supreme Leader. Third, global satellite and communications outages were occurring. Lena’s Chinese team had implemented the Red Cell’s war plans.
It would have sounded preposterous if anyone had told Henry this stuff a few weeks ago. But now that he had seen what was on that island with his own eyes, he was a believer. David had seen even more. On the other side of the island from where the American Red Cell was held, David had seen a second Chinese encampment. A man-made cave had been created out of one of the island’s mountains. David surmised that it was some type of bunker, possibly for Chinese Navy ships or submarines. Henry had overheard another part of the Red Cell plans which suggested the use of electromagnetic pulse devices in the Pacific. For years, the Chinese had been building large military bunkers into their coastal mountain bases to protect their assets from EMP attacks. If they proceeded with that plan, it would leave any remaining US Pacific Navy vessels paralyzed and unable to respond to a Chinese assault.
“What a crock of shit,” Henry said when he heard the newscast. The Australian guards glared back at him. “What? Do I look like a friggin terrorist? I like beer and hamburgers. I’m not a friggin terrorist!”
David said, “Give it a rest.”
David was lying on his back on the other cot. He hadn’t said much since last night. Henry figured he was worried sick about what this meant for his chances to be reunited with his family.
The door burst open and an ogre in a military uniform walked in.
The man filled the frame of the door. He had to duck his head down so as not to hit it. A second, shorter man in a different uniform walked in after him. They stood there at the entrance to the small brig, taking everything in.
David looked at the man and sat up, wide-eyed. Hmm. Henry saw something in David’s eyes that he hadn’t seen since they’d been arrested. Hope?
Henry looked at the large man and then back at David. Whatever David was seeing, Henry was missing it. Two more big mean military guys had just come in. From Henry’s perspective, the situation didn’t look like it had gotten any better.
The ogre was six foot six and easily 250 pounds. His face was red from the sun, and his eyes bulged out of their sockets like he was in the middle of bench-pressing a bulldozer. Those crazy-looking eyes searched around like they were deciding what to scream at. The veins in his neck were thick and purple, sticking out like the muscles in his shoulders and back were demanding more room.
“Who the FUCK is in charge here?” The ogre spoke in an American accent. Interesting.
Henry noticed that his uniform had an American flag patch on the shoulder. The man next to the ogre had a uniform like the ones worn by the two guards. There was more shiny stuff on his chest and shoulders, but it was the same type.
The guards were standing at attention, looking back and forth between the two arrivals. The skinny guard said, “Uh, sir… the Interpol officer is—”
“WRONG ANSWER,” bellowed the ogre. “Try the fuck again.”
“Sir, we were told to—”
The ogre said, “These men are American citizens. I am Major Josh Brundle. And you will relinquish custody of these men to me immediately. Captain Sirek here is our Australian liaison and can back me up that this has been fully approved by Australian authorities. No paperwork is needed, gentlemen. Open the cell now, and I’ll see that your names aren’t mentioned in this colossal clusterfuck.”
The guards looked at each other. “Sir, should we call base operations?”
The Australian captain shook his head. He said, “Won’t be necessary, boys. I’ve just spoken with base ops. We need to get these men moving riiiaght noww. Let’s go.” The accent sounded a bit funny. Exaggerated, even. Like he had just gotten done watching Crocodile Dundee before he came and had been practicing.
The skinny guard grabbed the key to the cell and opened it up. “Do you need cuffs?”
The Major said, “Not necessary.”
Henry and David were marched outside to a beige Humvee. The Major and the Australian captain thanked the guards, and then the Humvee drove away in a cloud of dust. No one said a word.
The man in the Australian uniform said, “That went well.” He no longer had an Australian accent.
Major Brundle looked at them through the rearview mirror. “David, your brother says hello.”
“My brother knows where I am?”
Brundle laughed. “David, everyone knows where you are.” He looked back at him through the rearview mirror every few seconds. “Do you remember me from the Academy? I was in Chase’s company.”
The Humvee was moving fast. Ninety miles per hour, easy. The big SUVs drove on the left side of the two-lane road, weaving around the slower civilian traffic.
“Yes, I remember you. Did… did Chase send you?”
“Officially? I have no idea what you are talking about. Off the record? You bet your ass. I served with your brother several times over the past few years. And I remember you from school. I don’t care what the news says, I know it’s bogus. Your brother called. He told me what was going on and asked for a favor. Now I might get in a lot of trouble for this, but the way I see it, the rules are a little unclear. You see, if someone tells me that the CIA wants to establish immediate custody of two US citizens, then I am pretty sure that I am supposed to go do it. Now, the fact that the person representing the CIA is a family member to one of the men in custody, and a former friend of mine in college, is irrelevant.”
David and Henry looked at each other.
“Shit. We got flashing lights in back of us,” the guy in the Australian uniform said.
Major Brundle said, “We’re five minutes from base, let’s just keep going. They aren’t going to shoot us. We’ll probably end up having a conversation at the gate. I’ll take care of it.”
David said, “Where are we going?”
The big man, looking in the rearview mirror at both David and the flashing lights of the car behind them, said, “Ever ridden on an Osprey?”
Henry said, “The bird? Well, if I’m being honest there was this one time in Tijuana. I did have a lot to drink and—”
David said, “It’s a tilt-rotor aircraft. Marine Corps. It replaced the CH-46 for transport and logistics missions.” He looked up at the men, curious. “But it won’t be able to cross the ocean. Where is the Osprey taking us?”