The helicopter landed on the tarmac. As Duke and Hawk got off the chopper Duke scanned the tarmac for Scarlett. He didn’t find her, what he did find was what looked like the remnants of a recent battle.
Hawk came to a dead stop next to his second, “What the hell happened? We didn’t receive any reports on a Cobra battle!”
“There’s Flint, if he’s back from his vacation early then he’ll know what happened.”
Flint snapped to salute as Hawk walked up “Well man, do you have an explanation for this?!”
“No sir, I do not.”
“What the hell do you mean, no?!”
“Hawk, Flint has been on vacation, it’s likely that whatever happened took place when he was off base.”
“Well son, is that true?”
“Yes, sir. I can give you a preliminary report on what I have been able to uncover thus far. I’ve only been back a little more than 24 hours.”
Hawk didn’t like his answer, “You were under specific orders to report any unusual Cobra activity. An attack on base falls under that category!”
“It wasn’t Cobra.”
Both Hawk and Duke stood dumbfounded, if not Cobra, then who could do this kind of damage?
They both jumped to conclusions at the same time, “Where’s shipwreck?” they asked
“I’m sorry to report that Shipwreck isn’t responsible for this.”
“Then who the hell is?” Duke asked
“Let’s go to your office, things will be quieter there and I’m sure you could both use a cup of coffee.”
“Very well Flint, my office.” Hawk agreed
After they were settled in to Hawk’s office Duke noticed that Flint wouldn’t meet his eye. That was a bad sign, a very bad sign.
“Where is she?” he asked
Flint’s shoulders drooped as he poured yet another cup of coffee, this was his eleventh cup in as many hours. He turned to Duke and looked him straight in the face, “I don’t know.”
Duke was right; it had been a bad sign. “Explain.”
“From my understanding, and I wasn’t here at the time so this is a conglomerate of stories, approximately 24 hours ago an unmarked helicopter dropped in below our radar level and landed on the tarmac. A battle followed, at sometime during the battle, several Joes saw Scarlett in the helicopter. Just after she got in, the assault team that accompanied the helicopter loaded back into the helicopter, which then took off. When I returned from vacation, Lady Jaye brought this to my attention.”
He handed Duke a note that read similar to a telegraph, “Grandfather shot. Must leave. Will be in touch. Love, Scarlett.”
Duke handed the note to Hawk, scarcely believing what he had just read. Gone. Good God, what was he going to do now? He
wondered.
“Anything else?” Hawk asked
Flint hesitated a moment before answering, “Yes. This.”
Flint handed Hawk what looked to Duke like transfer orders.
Hawk read them aloud, “Shauna ‘O Hara is to be transferred to General Peters command. Effective immediately.”
Hawk summarized what he had learned upon his return to base, “What we know for a fact is an unknown helicopter landed here, on
base, two days ago, and Scarlett has not been see since. We have orders that transfer her from the Joe team to another command. These orders have a beginning date of two days ago but they don’t have an ending date. Is there anything else we know for a fact?”
“What we know, facts only, not rumors-we haven’t pinned enough of them down yet to discuss them, is that Scarlett received a call to her beeper two days ago, while she was out with Bill, Ace, and Gung Ho, several hours before the helicopter landed on base. She told them her grandfather had been shot- her note confirms that much. Several Joes claim that she was on the helicopter when it took off. What we don’t know is whether or not her phone call is in any way related to the helicopter or her disappearance. Nor do we know when she disappeared, if it was before the helicopter arrived, during the ensuing battle, such as it was, or if it was afterwards.”
“What have you learned by talking to people? I’m concerned about how this helicopter was able to find, land, and hold off an attack on our base without our knowledge.”
“I’ve got several people investigating Scarlett’s disappearance and the helicopter. So far we haven’t come up with much. I’ve told you the only facts we have, I’ve tried with out much success to get a hold of her family and her new commander.”
“I can probably track down this General Peters. He’s not army, or I’d know of him already. I’ll give it a try. I want a written report on my desk in one hour detailing what you know and what’s been going on with your investigation.”
“Yes sir.” Duke and Flint left Hawk’s office
Flint came to check on his friend later that afternoon and found Duke pacing his office. “I brought you some lunch. I figured you hadn’t eaten anything yet.” Duke mumbles thanks.
“She’s obviously got a knack for consuming your thoughts.” Duke thought his friend had suddenly developed a penchant for stating the obvious.
He recalled staring out into space as the helicopter lifted off the tarmac headed towards Washington. Hawk had turned to him and asked, “Something on your mind, Duke?”
He had replied succinctly, “The Artic.” And then softer, “The Artic.” What else was there to say, “Hey there General, I’m thinking about the Artic because what I’d really like to be thinking about would get me and her into more trouble than we’d be able to get out of.”
Duke turned to Flint, “Yeah, you could say that. What happened Flint? What the hell happened?”
“Were working on that.” He replied and turned to leave, knowing the only that would help his friend now would be to find out what had happened.
Duke was thinking. He was sitting at his desk looking at Bill and Ace whom Flint had, for some reason, brought to his office for fighting. This was just adding to Duke’s frustration. Two of his men, who had never been such a discipline problem before, were making trouble now when he most needed their cooperation. Duke was wondering what had happened to his life. Up until two days ago his life was great. He had a great job that he loved, a great girl whom he loved even more, and what was especially good was that she loved him just as much as he loved her. He remembered the last time he saw her, slipping out of his bed to give him a good sound kissing before he left for the meeting in Washington. She had developed a talent for making him late. He wished she were here to make him late again.
“Alright, what happened?”
Flint spoke up first, “They were apparently ‘defending’ Scarlett’s honor, since she isn’t here at the moment to defend it herself-their exact words.”
“In what manner?” Duke asked, suddenly realizing Flint had brought them here for a reason; they must know something Flint thought was connected to her disappearance.
“Leatherneck opened his mouth and called Scarlett a traitor. We told him to take it back, he wouldn’t so we dealt with it.”
Duke sat up a little straighter, “Why would he call Scarlett a traitor? Does it have anything to do with the reports that Scarlett left with the helicopter?”
Bill and Ace looked at each other wondering what, if anything, they should tell Duke. Yeah, he was as fond of Scarlett as the next guy, even more, but he was still an officer and as such he had certain duties he must fulfill; one of those being to investigate potential traitors. They knew Scarlett wasn’t anything of the sort, but they didn’t actually have any evidence and they had to admit that her behavior was a little odd.
Flint prodded them with a glance, “Go on, tell Duke what I heard you tell Snake Eyes.”
Bill started, “We were all sittin’ ‘round the table have a drink and playin’ cards when her beeper went off. She thought it was you so she scurried over to the pay phone. It turned out not to be you after all, but someone, I’m guessin’ Breaker, callin’ to tell her that her grandfather had been shot. I guess he wasn’ doin’ too good ‘cause she sure was worried about him. We took off back to base but when we got here Beach Head wouldn’t grant her leave. I offered to fly her to Atlanta, but she told me she might be able to swing something else.”
Ace took over the story then, “Yeah, she wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of getting us into trouble. I figure she knew she was headed into trouble and didn’t want to drag us down with her.”
“That was the last time we saw her. But no matter when she left or how, Scarlett had a good reason-and it’s not ‘cause she turned traitor!”
That was certainly something to think about. Someone saw her get on the helicopter, she left a note saying she had to leave, the transfer orders were sitting on his desk, could she have somehow managed to get transferred to someone high enough up in the military that could pick her up within hours, with transfer orders, which was apparently her only course of action other than to just resign, and then take her to see her grandfather? If she had then what kind of deal had she made? A hope sprang up inside him, what if she wasn’t here because she couldn’t be here? That was at the moment his favorite solution to the problem of her disappearance. And if she couldn’t be here because her grandfather was injured then finding her could be as simple as finding her father. Of course, if this grandfather was an old intelligence contact, someone that had pulled her out of the fire before, someone she felt she owed something to, perhaps her life. Then her father wouldn’t talk even if he knew how to find her or what was really going on. But, all bases had to be covered.
Duke turned to Flint, “Get your investigative team in here. It’s time we find out exactly what happened. And then, call a meeting for one hour from now.”
Flint left and Duke started asking Bill and Ace questions; questions like, “Why do you think she was headed into trouble?” and “Do you know for sure that Breaker beeped her?”
He didn’t like the idea of Scarlett turning traitor, basically he thought it was about the dumbest idea he had ever heard. Besides loving her job and feeling like she belonged to a family here, there was her relationship with him to consider. He didn’t doubt Scarlett’s expertise as an intelligence office, he himself had seen her pull off some amazing cover stories, but he didn’t believe for an instant that she had been playing him. After personal reasons there were just too many loose ends that needed explaining.
Duke dismissed Bill and Ace and went to the control room to talk to Breaker, but before he did that, he was going to have a little talk with Beach Head.
Flint met Duke coming out of the control room. “What did you find out?”
“Let’s meet your team in my office. I’ll fill you in on the way. I found out that Breaker didn’t receive any calls from Atlanta, or anywhere else for that matter, to tell Scarlett her grandfather was in the hospital. Furthermore, he didn’t call or speak to Scarlett at any time that evening. No calls came in for her and no calls went out. That means whoever called her had access to her beeper number. That’s classified and she knows better than to give it out. The only reason I have it is because I’m the one that suggested all essential personnel can be reached at any time.”
Flint responded, “If she didn’t give the number out then who called and how did they get the number?”
“I don’t know. It’s one of the many things I’ve had trouble with since I learned she had magically disappeared. Transfer orders or not, I’m not satisfied that she would just up and leave like that, even if it was important.”
Flint’s team was waiting in Duke’s office when they got there.
“Okay people, I know you like this as much as I do so let’s pool information and see what we’ve found out.”
No one would meet his eyes. “Alright, then we start backwards. We can assume, since she left a note, that she left willingly. We can also assume that at the time it was her last resort. It bothers me that within hours of her phone call she was transferred to another assignment. Hawk is checking that end of this mess. There are too many loose ends! He slammed his fist on the table. She left a note but she didn’t put in for leave in advance so this was something unexpected. We need to make sure that no one from Base called her. Who’s covering that?”
Breaker raised his hand, “That’s my job. I’ve been going through the phone records. Mainframe is already planning to disassemble her computer, do an email trace. We’re covering anything that she would have used to contact someone outside base and means that someone from the outside would use.”
“Good, make sure you check her cell phone. Flint, you told me you and Jaye had put together a list of things she was working on.”
Flint reported what he had learned,” Jaye has been working on getting in touch with her family, no luck there, is that still accurate Jaye?”
“So far no luck. I’ve tried her father and brothers as well as other emergency contact people. No one is answering their phones.”
Flint continued, ”I’m putting together a detailed list of everything she was working on; that includes projects, other people on those projects. Anybody could have information and just not think it’s important.”
Jaye picked up the thread; “Scarlett has a lot of friends on base. I don’t know any of her outside contacts personally but I’m going to start fishing after Flint and I talk to everyone on base.”
“Has someone put together a list of her previous assignments?”
Flint responded in a hard tone, ”Beach Head is working on that.”
“What have you discovered?”
“I haven’t discovered anything that seems to point in any specific direction. I’m still working on it.”
Duke noticed the tension in the room but decided it could wait until later.
“Jaye, since you are planning on contacting her friends outside of the Joe team I want you to help Beach Head come up with a very detailed dossier of her previous assignments, that’s pre-Joe team. I want to know if she still keeps in touch with any of her old contacts. It’s possible they might be able to lead us to someone who would know about General Peters. We’ve already verified that the transfer orders are authentic but we don’t have any details about who this General is or why he would go to such trouble to get Scarlett on his team. You all have your assignments; I want a report in twelve hours. Flint, call a general meeting. Everyone not working on the investigation or on duty should be there. Dismissed.”
All the Joes not on duty were at the meeting. All were concerned. Some were worried about their friend. A few figured that she had turned traitor. The vast majority who did not countered with “Turned traitor to whom? It certainly wasn’t Cobra in that helicopter!” Of course, at the moment no one knew exactly who had been in that chopper, but everyone knew it wasn’t Cobra. For one, it was just one their style. It wasn’t sneaky or flashy enough. For another, the chopper came with an assault team that merely defended the craft. They didn’t deliberately engage the Joe team unless necessary. Most of the bullets they fired missed; all but the last few grenades were only smoke grenades. The entire conflict had been over practically before it started. Everyone shut up as soon as Duke walked in the room.
“All right people, one of our is missing and we need to know where she is and what the hell happened. All I’ve heard since I got back from Washington is rumors. What I want now are hard facts.
Flint has set up investigative teams; he will call them out momentarily. I expect all of you to cooperate with the teams, regardless of your personal feelings on the matter. Anyone with any information should come forward immediately, all others will be interviewed at Flint’s disposure.”
Flint and the other Joes assigned to investigate Scarlett’s disappearance reported back to Duke twelve hours after the initial meeting to exchange information and decide where to go from there. They were all seated around a conference table.
Duke started the meeting, “Okay, people, what have we got?”
Flint went first, “We’ve sorted through most of the rumors and have come up with couple scenarios. General Hawk is still making calls, trying to determine who this new commanding officer is. Lady Jaye has left messages with Scarlett’s brothers and father, so far no answer.”
Lady Jaye spoke up, “Her father knows where she is, or at least knows something. He trusts his daughter but he wouldn’t just sit idly by if he thought she was in trouble. Both sets of her grandparents are deceased; they died shortly before her parents came over from Ireland. Whoever her ‘grandfather’ is, he’s not related to her. That more than likely means her family wouldn’t be concerned enough about his well being to up and leave town with out any way of contacting them. I might have better luck if I went down there personally, but baring that, I don’t think we’re going to get any information out of them. She’s probably been in contact with her father by now, she’d tell him that she had been transferred and give him a way of contacting her in case of emergencies; if her father isn’t worried then she’s okay-whatever she’s doing. If he is worried when we get a hold of him then we’ve got problems.”
“Okay. I agree with Lady Jaye, keep trying, if you can’t get in touch with any of them in the next twelve hours then go down there. Wait, scratch that I want you down there anyways. She’s close to her family; they would almost certainly have a method of contact. What do we know about the beeper call she received?”
Beach Head, his jaw aching from his recent conflict with Duke, took over the report, “Someone outside of base called her beeper. We don’t have any way of tracing the call so we don’t know who beeped her. There are two possibilities as to how someone outside base got a hold of the number. The first way is she gave it to this person.” Seeing the sharp looks cast his way he made quickly reported his second conclusion, “I know how many people like that idea, but it is a possibility. The other possibility is that someone hacked it. Breaker and Mainframe are going through the computers looking for traces of any unauthorized access. I doubt they’ll find anything. If somehow, and if I were you, I’d like this possibility even less than her giving the number out, the information was taken from our computer recorders without our knowledge then it’s reasonable to assume that any and all information stored in the computer is now in the hands of the hacker. That is an even bigger problem. We don’t know anyone with that kind of hacking ability so if the computer was hacked it’s likely we’ve got an unknown entity out there.”
Beach Head scanned the faces sitting around the table; everyone seemed to feel the impact of his last statements. He knew no one would want to admit it, but it was a very real possibility that security had been breached.
Duke let that thought sink into him for a moment, “Breaker and Mainframe are both working on it?” he asked
Beach Head answered him grimly “Yes, Sir, top priority.”
“Then proper security procedures have gone into place. We need a timetable for the night she disappeared and we need to know how the helicopter is connected, too many people saw her on the chopper for us to assume it’s not connected. Stalker, you were working on that angle right?”
“Yeah, although I haven’t learned much. The helicopter was a Black Hawk. A small, six-man assault team engaged our defenses as the chopper landed. There were no casualties on either side; the assault team was apparently under orders to defend only. There are three different popular versions of when and how Scarlett got on the helicopter. The first version is she ran out with the rest of the team to defend the base and she was taken captive. The second is she fought alongside and disappeared later. The third is she was waiting, in civilian clothes when the helicopter touched down and went willingly with a man dressed in an air force uniform to the helicopter and left with it. My team is still working on cleaning up the videos enough to gather more information off of them. We do have one clear clip, but it doesn’t tell us anything except she left with the helicopter.”
Stalker plugged in a tape and the Joes gathered around the table saw Scarlett, standing just behind one member of the assault team. It appeared that she was dressed in civilian clothes.
______________________________________________________
Continued in Chapter Three!
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