The Siberian Incident 2 Page 4

“That’s what we’re going to find out.”

  “One more question for now.”

  “Yes?”

  “How the hell are we going to get into Russia? We going to bribe someone to let us fly into the country?”

  “We aren’t flying.”

  Just as Scott answered, Maddock, heard a rumble and felt the ice beneath their feet begin to shake. He heard a loud cracking noise that startled him. Massive pieces of ice seemed to rise up out of the Beaufort Sea, and in the light of the rising moon, he saw the outline of the masts and sail of a nuclear submarine.

  Scott stood looking at the black hull rising out of the frozen ocean with a smirk on his face. Maddock could tell that he was trying to hide the thrill, he got out of watching this spectacle and by watching Maddock’s expression as he witnessed the awe-inspiring sight.

  Suddenly Scott’s expression changed, “Oh shit!” he exclaimed, surprising Maddock and making his heartbeat even faster.

  “What? What’s the problem?” Maddock asked, concerned that something serious had gone awry.

  “We left the Savage 99 on the sled, that should have gone back with Torngarsuk,” Scott said, removing the long case that was attached to the side of the snowmobile.

  “Isn’t he coming back to get the sled? Won’t he bring it?”

  “Do you want to take the chance that he can’t find it or that the ice breaks up before he gets here? I can’t give him the coordinates for at least five hours.”

  Maddock took the large black hard case from Scott. The sound of the submarine’s hatch opening echoed through the cold night air as Maddock brushed salty snow dust off of the black box.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Aboard the USS Jimmy Carter

  "WELCOME ABOARD USS Jimmy Carter, I'm Commander Harrison, and we'll be delivering you to the deployment zone. For the next four days, we'll be running submerged toward your destination."

  Maddock nodded to the commander after nearly saluting him as he and Scott climbed into the Seawolf Class attack submarine. His role as a contractor was still awkward, and he was a bit unprepared for questions of decorum and procedure. Seamen wearing winter fatigues helped them with their gear, including the Savage 99 box, as they climbed down into the bridge.

  The crew escorted them to the living quarters where Scott and Maddock were greeted by other seamen.

  "Your bunks are here, you'll probably want to catch some sleep," the crew member said.

  Maddock threw his pack, and the long box containing the Savage 99 onto his bunk then turned to Scott, "A four-day ride on a submarine? I don't think I expected to spend my vacation beneath the ocean. I have been underwater before on vacation, but it was usually in places like Bonaire and Key West, not the Beaufort Sea."

  "About that, you're still a certified diver?"

  "Do you ever become uncertified?"

  "Well, no, but are you comfortable with nitrox diving and a rebreather?"

  "It's been a little while, but it sounds like I have a few days to reacquaint myself with dive equipment. So you mean, we're going to?"

  "Yes, the USS Jimmy Carter sub is specially equipped with an ocean interface for divers, we'll be deploying from this submarine into Golden Horn Bay."

  "Golden Horn Bay, you mean the area where the borders of North Korea, Russia, and China meet? You think they are not going to notice a submarine dropping off two divers in that area?" Maddock asked.

  "They won't," a crewmember said, looking up from a secured e-reader that didn't resemble any kind of commercially available device.

  Maddock looked at the young seaman and then back at Scott, "Ok, sure, I still know how to use a rebreather and do nitrox dives. Like I said, we've got plenty of time to plan the dive. You are certified in advanced diving?" he pointedly asked Scott.

  "Yes, I completed my first class training two weeks ago," Scott replied, somewhat sheepishly.

  "Yeah, that won't be dangerous at all," Maddock said sarcastically, "So what is our objective?"

  "Let's retire to a secure location to discuss that. No offense," Scott said, addressing the seaman in his bunk.

  "None taken," he said, waving, his eyes never leaving the material he read as his face was illuminated by the secured military e-reader.

  ***

  They walked through the mess hall, which Maddock found surprisingly spacious in the Seawolf submarine. The last submarine he'd been on had been The USS George Washington Carver, a Benjamin Franklin Class submarine, and the Seawolf seemed wider. The Seawolf was just a rumor back then, and its tech sounded like some kind of magic, but now he stood in one.

  They approached the wardroom. It had a digital screen on one wall with wooden paneling and a table with chairs that encircled the table on all four sides. An officer sat at the table doing paperwork, and he stood as Scott and Maddock entered the room.

  "Gentlemen," a Lieutenant Junior Grade addressed them as they entered, "Privacy?"

  Scott nodded.

  "15 minutes enough?" the LTJG asked.

  "Plenty," Scott answered.

  "Ok, so, we suspect that Colin Crossfield is helping the Russians with some kind of genetic experiments. I know it sounds like a comic book or something. From what we can determine, he's attempting to make himself stronger, smarter, and healthier with some kind of genetic manipulation."

  "Genetic manipulation? That sounds like a good idea," Maddock said, rolling his eyes.

  "Well, if you recall, he is into biohacking, I feel that he's looking to experiment with this so that he can use this technology on himself," Scott responded.

  "Biohacking?" Maddock questioned.

  "Yes, it's an attempt to improve your strength, intelligence, lifespan, and other physical traits by using science and self-experimentation. Colin was pretty involved with a guy, Julian Sedgewick, who was attempting to make himself immune to cancer and several diseases. He famously injected himself with an untested vaccine for Alzheimer's, which ran in his family."

  "It's like GMO, but for people?"

  "Kind of."

  "Did this vaccine work?"

  "Not sure, Julian Sedgewick is dead."

  "From the vaccine?"

  "No, he bled to death trying to graft a vibrating device with enlargement capabilities into his penis."

  Maddock awkwardly looked away, not knowing what to say.

  "Yeah, Colin isn't interested in that kind of stuff. What we think he is doing is looking at super healing, super strength, and immortality. The money he'd invested in Sedgewick's company was focused on those areas," Scott explained.

  Maddock collected his thoughts and then spoke, "Okay, so what? Why does the CIA care if Colin Crossfield wants to be immortal? As awful as that idea sounds, how did you get them to authorize this op when he could just be working with the Russians to create a gigantic, vibrating cock?"

  "Colin's has set up a shell company named Vechnozelenaya Technology, that's Evergreen Technology in English. We feel it has something to do with his desire for immortality. The problem is this company is run by a Russian General and its products, including US Military technology are provided directly to the Russian Military. He's trading tech secrets from his companies in the United States for the ability to use Russian soldiers as human test subjects for his biohacking experiments."

  "Okay, that is a problem. We know this?"

  "Our intelligence says that's what is happening, we just need to go get the evidence. We were unable to do when he was brought up on charges of aiding the Russian Military last time," Scott said, pulling a ruggedized laptop from his bag and setting it on the table.

  "How good is your intelligence?"

  "We have a 50% level of certainty that this is what is happening. I hacked his accounts myself and I can see a flow of money, this is what I do Maddock. A good accountant is the first person who can see evil and wrongdoing."

  "I think that's maybe a little bit of an overly heroic view of accounting, but I get it. Look, I am your employee, and I signed up for this, but
I'm not in the military, so I don't have to blindly follow orders here. I really would like a greater than 50% chance that we don't go trespassing in Russia and find a warehouse full of Extendor," Maddock said, naming a Russian penis enlargement machine that had been famously debunked a few years earlier.

  "It was a vibrating, penis enlargement device Maddock, and this is intelligence from the NSA and CIA, our people, including me, got this information, it isn't a hunch."

  "You guys don't exactly have a great track record of getting it right."

  "Maddock, this is good intel."

  "Again, I'm not in the military, so I don't need to sit here quietly. Fire me if you don't like what I'm saying, but I get to say it. I've had plenty of friends die because of intelligence you guys said was rock solid."

  Scott attempted to interrupt Maddock, who was clearly getting angry," I get it Maddock, Operation Eagle Cl…"

  "No, you don't get it, you guys sit there in Langley with your computers and your agendas, and you make yourself out to be infallible. You've created some kind of aura that you're like Santa Claus or Jesus or something that you see what everyone is doing and know when they're awake. You've got nut jobs wearing tinfoil hats because they think you guys can read thoughts or something because you want people to believe that about you. In reality, it's pretty far from the truth. I think you guys have perpetuated this myth so much that you now believe it. The CIA can barely figure out the whereabouts of some Yemeni shepherd, and you want me to make myself an illegal immigrant in Russia based on this intelligence."

  Scott paused and let Maddock calm down for a few seconds, "You're right, our thought reading privileges were severely restricted during the Obama administration Maddock. I get it, you've had a long and distinguished career in the special forces, I'm sure you've seen a lot, Maddock. I think we got it right, though. I'm going in with you here. If I thought there wasn't a good chance that we'd be helping the security of the United States and stopping a bad actor, a bad member of our family here, I wouldn't be doing this."

  "Well, I signed up, you've arranged a ride on a submarine for me, and here I am, so I think I'm committed. I just wanted to say my piece Scott, if you say this intelligence is good, I believe you. How are we going to get into Russia?"

  "Alright, Maddock," Scott said, slightly unnerved by Maddock's opinion. He had thought his great uncle would be impressed by his line of work, and Scott truly believed that the work his agency had done was steadfast and helpful to the Military. To be told by a person, Scott considered a great soldier that he had little confidence in the agency he worked for was unnerving.

  Scott opened the laptop and motioned for Maddock to sit next to him so that he could see the screen. As Maddock sat, Scott pulled up a map of the East Coast of Russia, Japan sat to the East, and China, North Korea, and South Korea were also visible. Scott began to zoom into the map, on the eastern shore of the city he brought up a green area near what appeared to be a highway, scrolling northward, Scott pointed to a river.

  "We'll have to scuba dive with our equipment up this river. We'll rendezvous with a contact at this point. They will give us a set of clothing and the rest of the equipment we can't carry."

  "Okay, who is our contact?"

  "We'll be picked up by an associate of Dimitry Strovenyevich, he's a Rosneft executive, the Russian oil company. He had dealings with Colin before, and he can't stand him. He's willing to give us the locations of Colin's facilities, one is very near his dacha, not far from Vladivostok. We'll be meeting Strovenyevich at his night club here in Vladivostok. It used to be called Sky Bar but recently changed its name to Club 21."

  "A night club, great."

  "Yes, well, this also retraces the steps that Colin took when he came here with my grandpa ten years ago. I'm hoping we can glean something about that trip from these places."

  "Mason's trip with Colin?"

  "Yes, they went to Sky Bar and then to Strovenyevich's dacha. At the time, it was owned by the Russian President who gifted it to Strovenyevich a few years ago before they had a falling out, apparently precipitated by Colin."

  "A falling out with the Russian President? Sounds like a terrible thing."

  "Strovenyevich is too important to assassinate, as long as Rosneft makes money, he'll be alive. He wants to see Colin out of Russia, we believe he thinks that he'll be able to reassume relations with the Russian President if Colin is out of the way."

  "What exactly are we hoping to do to Colin here? I mean, he's my sister's kid. Our objective isn't to kill him, is it?"

  "Absolutely not, the CIA does not generally kill US citizens. We're not targeting Colin for assassination. I just want to make sure he's properly punished for colluding with Russia and that he gets what's coming to him."

  "This sounds personal, what did he do to you?"

  "Nothing. It's what Colin did to my grandpa."

  "Mason? What did Colin do?"

  "Mason tried to get the word out about Colin, and Colin had him committed."

  "Can you still do that? Getting someone committed isn't an easy thing to do these days. I thought Mason died in a nursing home."

  "It was a memory care facility. Colin had him declared mentally incompetent and produced some documentation that showed that my grandpa was threatening him. He was committed to a memory care facility, and it killed him, he couldn't stand it in there, he begged me to do something to get him out, and there was nothing I could do. I told him before he died that I would make Colin pay for what he'd done, though."

  "What was Mason saying? I mean, I know Mason, was he threatening Colin?"

  "You can read it yourself," Scott threw a report toward Maddock, who donned his reading glasses and skimmed through the document.

  "This is a little outrageous, yetis? Bigfoot? Did Mason actually say these things?"

  "Look, I know you're going to find it a little hard to believe, but what my grandpa says in those documents isn't quite as outlandish as you might think. My grandpa gave me that Savage 99 and a tuft of fur. I had it analyzed, and it didn't come back as any known animal's fur. It was distinctly hominid, however," Scott said, now not looking at Maddock.

  "What, what do you mean?"

  "It means it could have been very human-like."

  "Like a yeti?"

  "I don't know, I'm not saying that. I think it is a result of genetic engineering experiments, maybe crossing the DNA with a primate, like a gorilla with a human to obtain their strength or something."

  "Doesn't sound outlandish at all. Scott, do you realize this is exactly what I am talking about? Your personal vendetta against Colin has directly led to this mission. This is so typical, just replace Colin Crossfield with Saddam Hussein or Manuel Noriega or even the President. Your organization specializes in revenge, not the security of the United States."

  "I'm not trying to get revenge Maddock, I'm trying to prevent Colin from helping the Russians."

  "Helping them with yetis?"

  "I don't know."

  "The fact that you don't answer that in the negative really concerns me about this mission. We're going to Russia to fight yetis?"

  "Actually the way my grandfather tells it, the yetis aren't hostile. They seemed to care for him even after he'd acted violently toward them."

  "So, they are nice yetis?"

  "Apparently."

  "There aren't any yetis Scott. Didn't you see that TV show, some bozos ran around in the woods for nine seasons? They didn't find Bigfoot, we aren't going to find Bigfoot in Russia. The more I hear the more it seems like Mason died right where he belonged. You don't know him like me, Scott."

  "Listen, Maddock, what Colin did was unjustified, Mason was no threat to him. Why go through the effort to keep someone locked up who is ranting about something most people would consider insane. It might not be yetis, but Colin didn't like something my grandpa was saying. He falsified documents saying that my grandpa was threatening him, that never happened. All of his statements were about these creatures
they'd encountered. That's gotta be what Colin was afraid of."

  "How many times does the agency send people out on a hunch? Do you have any idea how dangerous this is? Do you know what will happen if we get caught?" Maddock questioned.

  "Yeah, I do, I've had training. I've seen pictures and videos of captured agents, not pretty. I thought that was what you were looking for. I thought you were looking to be back in the game. I'm telling you that I am your only chance at this. Without me, you'd have been laughed at and told to go to a singles night at The Villages if you wanted some action."

  Maddock paused, looking hesitantly at Scott. His expression suddenly became neutral, and then he spoke, "Yeah, you're right. I asked for this. You're right. I agreed to be paid to do it. I really don't have a leg to stand on from a moral perspective. I'm a mercenary, I don't even know why I am questioning this. Of course, this is the kind of operation I should expect to be involved in," Maddock said, thinking aloud.

  Scott went back to his laptop explaining how they'd navigate toward the river, which was now zoomed on the screen."

  CHAPTER NINE

  From the Depths

  “WHAT ABOUT THE Savage 99?” Maddock questioned as Scott zipped him into his drysuit.

  “We’ll have to have them send it back to us,” Scott replied.

  “Who? The Navy? I don’t think I trust the Navy to get it back to us. I think I’m bringing it along,” he said.

  “There’s no place we can go with a long gun and blend in. I think there is a better chance you have to ditch it on the mission. I think it would be a better idea to leave it with the commander and have him send it back.

  “I lost it once before I think I’ll just take it,” Maddock insisted.

  “Be my guest, but you’ll have to carry two guns then, your M4 is going to be a lot more useful if we run into trouble.”

  “That’s another question, I specifically asked for an M-16, this thing you gave me isn’t an M-16. It has no carrying handle, and this stock moves around.”

  “Yeah, it is an M4, we would have to requisition the gun you asked for from a museum or something. It’s the same system, you’ll be fine,” Scott explained as he checked his dive equipment.