Mega 3: When Giants Collide (Mega Series) Page 15

  Everyone at the table watched Gunnar for a minute, then they turned and looked at Thorne.

  “What?” Thorne asked.

  “You have the most experience with shadow organizations,” Darren said.

  “Yet, Gun didn’t feel that I should be invited to this meeting,” Thorne smirked.

  “Sorry about that,” Gunnar said, “but you’re here now and I’d love your professional opinion.”

  “My opinion?” Thorne laughed. “I don’t have one. I have a job and that’s to run Grendel and make it the best Team it can be.”

  “Hooyah,” Darren called out.

  “Hooyah,” Kinsey echoed.

  Dr. Morganton cleared her throat. “Are you suggesting that Ballantine doesn’t work for the company anymore?”

  “Well, that’s obvious since they’re trying to kill him, and he said we’d been let go,” Gunnar replied, “but I think it goes deeper than that.”

  “How so?” Kinsey asked. “That maybe he works for a different company?”

  “That maybe there has never been a company,” Gunnar said, “or something like that.”

  “There has been a company,” Dr. Morganton argued. “I’ve sent in reports and my findings. I’ve had top level phone meetings with many of them.”

  “Not in person,” Thorne said, “or even over video conferencing.”

  “Well...no,” Dr. Morganton admitted.

  “We need Darby,” Darren said. “Darby knows Ballantine the best. She’ll know what’s real and what isn’t.”

  “Will she tell us?” Gunnar asked.

  “She will,” Kinsey said, “or she’ll tell me, at least.”

  Kinsey stood up and stretched.

  “What? Now?” Darren asked.

  “No time like the present,” Kinsey said.

  “Why will she talk to you?” Dr. Morganton asked.

  “Because she loves my cousin,” Kinsey said, “and we’re almost family.”

  ***

  “Go away,” Darby said as she sat in the shade of the superstructure, her eyes locked on Tank Top and Bokeem, “I’m not talking about this.”

  “But we’re almost family!” Kinsey protested.

  “Almost family andactually family are very different things,” Darby said without looking at Kinsey, “and you are assuming I’d tell my actual family anything at all, which I wouldn’t, even if they were alive.”

  “Your family is dead?” Kinsey asked. “All of them?”

  “Yes,” Darby replied.

  “Wow, I’m sorry,” Kinsey said. “So, I guess that means you need almost family more than ever.”

  “You are relentless,” Darby stated.

  “That’s what I’ve been told,” Kinsey smiled. “So, to keep me from hounding you, just tell me one thing about Ballantine that will put my mind at ease. Just one thing that assures me that I can trust the man. That’s all I’m asking for. One thing.”

  Darby finally looked away from the two mercs and fixed her gaze on Kinsey. “You will learn everything when it’s time and not before.”

  “That doesn’t tell me shit, Darby,” Kinsey frowned. “That only makes me question things more.”

  Darby sighed. “You can trust Ballantine. He is looking out for all of us and has it all under control. He’s not the bad guy. He’s a lying bastard, but he’s not the bad guy.”

  “Is he the good guy?” Kinsey asked.

  For a split second, Darby smiled, then it was gone and she shrugged and turned back to watching the mercs.

  “Good talk,” Kinsey said as she patted Darby on the shoulder. “We should do this more often.”

  “Probably not,” Darby said and the split second smile came and went again.

  “Yeah,” Kinsey laughed as she got up and walked off, “probably not.”

  ***

  “You get the feeling that not everyone is in the know?” Tank Top asked Bokeem quietly.

  “I always have that feeling,” Bokeem said.

  “Typical Ballantine to put together a top notch Team and leave them in the dark,” Tank Top said. “We were this Team once.”

  “We were never this Team,” Bokeem said. “We were skilled, but undisciplined. We were loyal, but untrustworthy. We could take orders, but none of us could follow.” He nodded up at Shane and Lucy in the crow’s nest. “Those two have been smoking it up all day, and yet, I haven’t seen them waver one bit. I keep waiting for them to slip up, but the second I think I see them relax, that one-eyed freak is suddenly scoping me.”

  “Not seeing your point,” Tank Top said.

  “Would you let any of our crew, God rest their souls, smoke pot while on duty and watching over a dozen prisoners?” Bokeem asked.

  “Not a chance in Hell,” Tank Top replied.

  “That’s my point,” Bokeem said, “yet, look, they’re lighting up another spliff right now. That’s like the fourth one. Ballantine hasn’t come out to check on them once.”

  “That’s because the beautiful Darby is supervising,” Tank Top said and blew a kiss over to Darby. She flipped him off. “Isn’t she lovely?”

  “Darby is watchingus,” Bokeem said. “She could give a shit about our crew. She has complete trust in the two shooters getting stoned, just after having kicked the shit out of most of our best men.”

  “I don’t think Darby has complete trust in anyone,” Tank Top said.

  “Fuck you, you know what I mean,” Bokeem snapped.

  “Only the one-eyed asshole was on the MB kicking shit,” Tank Top said. “The chick sniper was over here putting holes in our shooters.”

  “My point exactly. I would have laid my fortune on our shooters to take out anyone, on any day, in any condition,” Bokeem responded. “She popped them while they had scopes on her. Fuck that.”

  “Okay, okay,” Tank Top sighed, “what the fuck is your real point?

  “That we were never meant to succeed with Ballantine,” Bokeem said. “Not as his true Team. Everything he’s done has led to these people. They’re better than we are. They have skills above the norm, and I’m talking above the SOF norm, not every day soldier norm.”

  “Yeah, well, we knew that was possible coming in,” Tank Top said. “We heard the stories, we read the reports our employers sent us, and we’ve studied these fucks. They’ve killed giant sharks, giant snakes, something with spiders or squids or squid spiders or whatever. They have taken on the cartels and Somali pirates, plus cannibal tribes and even a weird mist. These guys have been working non-stop since Baja. If our employers didn’t think we could handle the job, then they wouldn’t have sent us.”

  “They didn’t send just us,” Bokeem said, “they sent the cartels and the Somalis.”

  “That was the smoke screen,” Tank Top said. “The Somalis and cartels bankrolled this whole operation, our employers let them, knowing it would all get cleaned up in the end.”

  “So zero financial risk on our employers’ part,” Bokeem stated, “and zero witnesses if it all goes wrong.”

  Tank Top opened his mouth then closed it, and thought about what Bokeem had just said. He started to respond again then stopped. Started, and then stopped.

  “Our employers had nothing to lose,” Tank Top said finally. “We could fail and it makes no difference.”

  “We could fail and it makes all the difference,” Bokeem said. “Somalis, cartels, us. The three biggest threats to Ballantine. The Somalis have had a bounty on him and his Team’s heads since day one. The cartels have as well.”

  “They’ve had a bounty on the Thorne chick’s head,” Tank Top said.

  “You think Ballantine didn’t know that when she was recruited?” Bokeem said. “The man misses nothing.”

  “He wanted the cartels to get involved? Why?” Tank Top asked.

  “I don’t know,” Bokeem said, “but how about us? The man has always been on our radar, and eventually we were going to take him down before he took us down, but this is what bothers me. His new Team. They obviously have
the skills to wipe us out, so why did Ballantine have them hunt down sharks and snakes and all that other shit? Why not send them to take us out first? Then this whole mess would have been avoided.”

  Tank Top thought about it then frowned deeply.

  “He wanted us to find him,” Tank Top said. “The fucker set us up.”

  “He wanted us to chase him,” Bokeem said, “not just find him, but chase him. Force him in a specific direction.”

  “While bringing the last of his major enemies along for the ride,” Tank Top added. “The crazy fucker. Except he doesn’t know why we’re really here.”

  “I think he does,” Bokeem sighed. “I think the fucking asshole wanted everything to happen exactly how it has happened from day one.”

  “Seriously? Why?” Tank Top asked.

  “You said it,” Bokeem replied, “he wanted the last of his major enemies all in one place.”

  “No, no, that’s what our employers wanted,” Tank Top replied.

  “Who are our employers, really?” Bokeem asked. “We’ve never met them in person.”

  That one Tank Top didn’t have an answer or counter argument for.

  ***

  All the briefing room’s video monitors were extended from the ceiling and actively streaming different views and conversations on the B3. Ballantine switched his attention from one to the other while he changed the audio feed in the com in his ear.

  The galley mess and the conversation still going on with Gunnar, Darren, Dr. Morganton, and Thorne. Kinsey walked into view, shrugging her shoulders and Ballantine didn’t need the audio to know what she was about to tell them.

  A view of the crow’s nest where Shane and Lucy had just finished another joint, and were busy playing Twenty Questions while they kept close watch on the men on deck.

  Darby sitting in the shade of the superstructure, watching two men she had once fought side by side with. Ballantine smiled as he saw Darby’s middle finger extend surreptitiously while her hand rested on her thigh. He had no doubt she knew he was watching her.

  The Toyshop and his industrious elves- Pissy, Perky, and Mute. They were all busy working on projects he had just given them, especially Ingrid, who wanted to earn his trust back so badly. He did feel bad for what he put her through.

  The engine room and Cougher. The poor guy looked so stressed out as he hurried from instrument reading to instrument reading. Ballantine knew the engines couldn’t handle too much more of the strain of their modifications, but he had confidence they’d hold out long enough to get them where they needed to go.

  That brought him to the bridge.

  “Captain Lake?” Ballantine asked over the com.

  “What do you want, Ballantine?” Lake asked.

  “Just checking on our ETA,” Ballantine replied.

  “We’re on schedule,” Lake said. “Should be approaching the coordinates in less than an hour. Care to tell me what I’m looking for?”

  “How do you mean?” Ballantine asked.

  “You aren’t just sending us into the middle of nowhere,” Lake replied. “There’s something important at these coordinates.”

  “Iam sending us into the middle of nowhere,” Ballantine said. “That is the point, and don’t worry, Captain, you’ll know it when you see it.”

  “Great,” Lake grumbled.

  “Call me as soon as you know what I mean,” Ballantine said.

  “Yeah, I’ll be sure to do that,” Lake said. “Now get out of my ear.”

  “Gladly,” Ballantine replied as he switched his view to monitor that showed nothing but the murky deep. “Come on. Where are you?”

  He pressed a button and a sonar ping rang out in his ear.

  Slowly, then faster and faster, the shape of the shark emerged from the murk. Ballantine grinned and checked the readings, then did some quick calculations in his head. While he calculated, the shark grew closer and closer until its jaws opened wide and the remote camera was swallowed whole.

  “Well, this just got fascinating,” Ballantine said as he watched the camera make its way through the insides of the shark. “Unfortunately, I do not have time for this.”

  Ballantine switched back to the view of Lake. “Captain Lake? Do you see anything on the sonar?”

  “Not a thing,” Lake said, “which is weird. Shouldn’t I see at least something? Even if it is smaller fish?”

  “Not this close to our destination,” Ballantine said. “The waters around this area tend to stay clear of sea life. It’s in their best interest.”

  “Comforting,” Lake smirked.

  Ballantine stood and stretched as he watched Lake with amusement. The captain went to reach for a bottle of beer by the wheel and accidentally knocked it over, sending it falling to the floor where it shattered, spilling beer and glass everywhere.

  “Not to worry, Captain,” Ballantine said. “I am heading in your direction right now. I’ll bring some towels and a fresh beer for you.”

  Lake visibly stiffened.

  “Are you fucking watching me?” he asked.

  “See you shortly,” Ballantine laughed as he killed the feeds to all the monitors and sent them back up to nest in the ceiling of the briefing room.

  ***

  “Oh...hello, everyone,” Ballantine said as he stepped onto the bridge with a roll of paper towels in one hand and a six pack of beer in the other. “Looks like I should have brought more beer.”

  “Marty told me you were watching him up here,” Darren said as he stood by the captain. Kinsey, Thorne, Gunnar, and Dr. Morganton stood behind him. “Any reason why you’re spying on our captain?”

  “I get bored,” Ballantine replied as he set the towels and beers aside. “I hate being bored.”

  Lake looked at the beer and snapped his fingers. “I still need a fresh one.”

  “Right, of course,” Ballantine said as he popped open a bottle and handed it to Lake. “My apologies.”

  “Endgame,” Thorne said, “now.”

  “No,” Ballantine responded.

  “No?” Thorne asked. “Why the hell not?”

  “Because it’s not time,” Ballantine shrugged.

  “Time for what?” Thorne asked.

  “Time for the endgame,” Ballantine sighed. “Commander, the entire point of an endgame is that it isn’t revealed until the very end. It’s in the very name. End and game. If you point out your endgame before the end, then it’s just a boring, old game, and as I just stated, I don’t like being bored.”

  “I don’t like having information withheld from me,” Thorne said. “One of us is about to be disappointed.”

  “That would be you,” Ballantine said, “it’s my endgame.”

  “So, you admit you have an endgame beyond what you’ve told us?” Gunnar asked.

  “First, as a general policy, I admit to nothing ever,” Ballantine said as he opened his own beer and took a swig. “Second, what have I told you? As far as I can remember, I haven’t really told any of you anything. A few vague references here or there, a little misdirection this way and a little misdirection that way, but when you think of it, do you even have the tiniest bit of real information as to what’s going on?”

  “We know a giant shark is on our ass,” Kinsey said.

  “Some of the men now on this ship were part of the first Team you had before Grendel,” Darren said.

  “Maybe that ship we just blew up was the original Beowulf,” Gunnar added.

  Ballantine sipped his beer again and looked at Dr. Morganton. “Anything to add?”

  “No,” Dr. Morganton replied, “I’ve been busy with the technological assignments you’ve given me.”

  Ballantine nodded and looked to Thorne. “Commander?”

  “I know that you are running from the company because of something you’ve done,” Thorne said. “That something has already gotten Popeye killed, which is really all I need to know.”

  For the first time since stepping onto the bridge, Ballantine’s ubiquitou
s cocksure smile faltered.

  “Yes, well that was unforeseen and a true tragedy,” Ballantine said. “At no point did I intend for Popeye to be hurt or killed.”

  “How about the rest of us?” Kinsey asked. “You have no problem with Team Grendel going into the water without all the information. You have no problem with us trying to take out a ship that used to be yours without giving us all the information.”

  Ballantine walked forward until he was only an inch from Kinsey’s face.

  “You are right, Ms. Thorne,” Ballantine replied. “I have no problem with any of that, because it is your job to do all of those things and without question. You are an elite tactical Team of highly trained operators. You knew what you were getting into when you signed up and you know what you could get into every time you go on a mission. I regret Popeye’s death because he was a boatswain, not an operator. There was no expectation of death for him, but for you? Always.”

  “Back off, Ballantine,” Darren said.

  “I don’t think Ms. Thorne needs you to protect or defend her,” Ballantine replied, his eyes still fixed on Kinsey, his body still only an inch away.

  “I’m not protecting or defending her,” Darren replied. “I’m just being a friend to a woman I care for and asking a threat to unthreaten itself.”

  “Dethreaten,” Gunnar said.

  “I don’t think either of those choices are actual words,” Dr. Morganton said.

  Ballantine backed off and looked pained. “You see me as a threat?”

  “Well, duh,” Kinsey said, “have you ever been around you?”

  “Commander?” Ballantine asked Thorne.

  “You don’t threaten me, but you aren’t exactly the comforting type,” Thorne shrugged. “Not that I could give a shit.” He looked at Darren and Kinsey. “He is right. You two have been hired to be operators. If you die on a mission, it is understood that you knew the risks going in.” He switched focus to Gunnar and Dr. Morganton. “You were hired for your skills as scientists. It’s not always your job to know, or see the big picture. Sometimes, you need to focus on one detail at a time.”