Savage Son (James Reece #3) - Jack Carr Page 0,113
boat?” Eli asked, wanting to cover all the options.
“Finding a boat of sufficient capability and moving it into position could take days; we just don’t have that kind of time.”
“Roger that. I sure miss being able to drop high-speed boats out of a C-17 on a few hours’ notice.”
“There is something else,” Reece said. “Three of us are going to jump Russian-sourced AKMs. With such a small force we are going to need every technical and tactical advantage we can get so our primary weapons are the 416s on loan from [XXX]. If the only brass left on sight is Black Hills 77 grain made in the U.S.A. we could raise U.S.-Russian tensions to a level not seen since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Wherever we put bodies in the dirt we are going to have to fill them with 7.62x39 and leave Russian brass all over the scene. It won’t hold up to scrutiny by the SVR, but it will be enough to give the U.S. plausible deniability and avert a war. The Agency was planning to bombard their systems with enough disinformation to sow the seeds of mistrust amongst the rival gangs. The official stance will be that this looks to be an organized crime hit on the son of bratva leadership.”
“What could go wrong?” Chavez asked. “That was rhetorical in case anyone was wondering.”
“Chip, Liz,” Reece said, nodding to the pilots.
“Hey, guys, I’m Captain Chip King. You can just call me Chip. By the looks of it I think I’ve been doing this since before most of you were born and I’ve been working for Senator Thornton since he left Congress. I’m going to put you where you need to be so don’t worry about that. I’m afraid I have the easy part.”
Chip outlined the G550’s flight plan, which would move the team from Kalispell to the west coast of Washington and then skirt British Columbia on its way to Anchorage. They would land in Anchorage, refuel, and check the weather. The projected winds between the Aleutians and the Russian Commander Islands would determine their exact path toward the target.
“Liz will cover the drop,” Chip said, deferring to the former Army aviator, who was much more in tune with the language of special operations. Dressed in the Alexo Athletica workout gear and University of Alabama ball cap she wore whenever she wasn’t in her pilot’s uniform, Liz wasn’t a known quantity to anyone in the room other than Reece, Chip, and Thorn, but it quickly became clear that this was not her first mission brief as she projected a schematic of the G550 and explained exactly how the plane would be configured for the jump. Reece noticed that her trademark south Alabama accent abated slightly as she began her portion of the briefing. She could crank it up at will when she needed to lay on the charm and virtually turn it off when she thought it weakened her position. She wasn’t in charm mode today.
Farkus followed Liz with a briefing on the pre-jump and exit procedures, sounding like he did it every day, which for many years he had.
“What’s the medevac plan?” Eli asked.
“After the drop, we divert to Adak, refuel, and wait for the call,” Liz piped in. “There’s an old Air Force field with a ten-thousand-foot runway at Eareckson Air Station on Shemya in the Aleutian chain. It’s used as a civilian diversion field now so we can land there if necessary. If Hanna, or anyone else, needs immediate medical attention, we can land at Shemya and transfer the patient from the Grumman onto the jet. We can have them on the ground in Anchorage within two hours, far faster than the Grumman. If there are no casualties, we will fly back to Anchorage and rendezvous there for the trip home.”
“What happens if there’s a mechanical failure and the Grumman doesn’t make it in?”
“Then y’all better be good swimmers or we’ll have to land the senator’s expensive jet in Russia.” Her comment, in her thickest southern drawl, lightened the mood and evoked a few laughs. Thorn grimaced.
“When do we launch?” Devan asked.
“Tomorrow morning, 0600,” Reece said. “That gives everyone time to prep gear and Thorn and Jonathan can get a head start in the Grumman. They are leaving as soon as this briefing is over. They have a long, noisy trip ahead of them. Anything else?” Reece asked, scanning the room.
“Yes,” Tim Thornton spoke up. “A lot of you know John Barklow down at Sitka.”