Arctic Storm Rising by Dale Brown (android based ebook reader .TXT) 📕

old boys’ network undoubtedly meant Rosenthal knew all about his earlier run-in with the CIA and its Libyan black ops arms smuggling.

“If it’s any consolation, Captain Flynn,” the general continued, “my strong suspicion is that there are a number of peopleback in Washington right now who are almost equally unhappy that you’re in charge of this mission.”

Flynn shook his head. “Frankly, sir, that’s not much consolation at all.” He sat back with a resigned sigh. “Okay, we’ll doour best.”

“I know you will, Captain,” Rosenthal said. “Now, from what I understand, there’s supposed to be a lull in this blizzard latertonight, but it may not last long. So organize your team and pull together any gear you’ll need fast. We’re putting MajorIngalls and Captain Van Horn and their HC-130J on standby out at the Barter Island airport right now. They’ll be ready totake off as soon as your men are on board.”

 

Sweating in the station’s steam heat, Flynn strode down the corridor toward Sergeant Andy Takirak’s tiny quarters. He’d thoughtbriefly about stopping by his own room to wriggle out of his parka and the rest of his cold weather gear to get more comfortable,but he’d resisted the temptation. They were already on the clock, without any time to waste. And any layers he took off nowwere only ones he’d have to squeeze back into before they headed out to the airport.

Behind him, he heard a solid door bang open. Deep voices echoed through the station as the soldiers who’d been on outpostduty came hurrying back into the dining area to get out of the bitter, bone-chilling cold.

“Hey, what are you guys doing back inside?” he heard Cole Hynes ask, sounding annoyed. “You’re not due for another coupleof hours.”

“The captain called us back in,” Vucovich told him. “He said we should grab some hot food and stand by for new orders.”

“What new orders?” Hynes demanded.

“Hell if we know,” Sanchez’s bass baritone rumbled. “I was freezing my balls off out there, so I’m sure not planning on bitching.”

That would change soon enough, Flynn thought somberly. Nobody in their right mind was going to be thrilled about the prospectof a night jump—let alone a night jump into the wilderness in the tail end of a blizzard. In fact, he might be lucky if hegot out of this without a full-fledged mutiny on his hands. Or was mutiny only something that ever happened to the Navy?

He reached Takirak’s door, knocked once perfunctorily, and then pushed it open. “Sorry to bust in on you, Andy. But we’vegot a situation,” he said quickly.

Obviously caught off guard, Takirak looked up sharply from his tablet. He’d been sitting upright on his cot, apparently concentratingintently on something displayed on the tiny device. Hurriedly, he put the tablet facedown beside him. “Excuse me, sir? Whatkind of a situation?”

“A bad one,” Flynn said quietly. He kicked the door shut behind him and ran through a quick summary of their new orders.

When he was done, Takirak whistled softly and shook his head. “You weren’t kidding.”

“Oh, how I wish I was,” Flynn said with a twisted grin. “So, anyway, we’ve got a crapload of work to do and no time to doit in.” He nodded at the noncom’s tablet. “I’m sorry to cut into your poetry writing time, but there it is.”

Takirak stared at him with a puzzled expression. “Poetry, sir? Me?”

Flynn colored slightly. “Ah, shit, Andy. M-Squared hacked us all a while back, and he blew the whistle on that amateur writinggroup you’re part of. Forget I mentioned it.”

For a moment, the older man looked furious. It was not an expression Flynn had ever seen on him before and it made the powerfully built National Guard NCO seem strangely dangerous. But then, visibly, Takirak forced himself to calm down. He donned a half-abashed grin instead. “Already forgotten, Captain.” He shook his head slowly. “Somehow, Senior Airman Mitchell keeps managing to surprise me. I must be losing my touch.”

“He’s trouble with a capital T,” Flynn agreed. “Speaking of whom, where is M-Squared, anyway? I haven’t seen him since I got back inside.”

“In town,” Takirak said. “Along with Pedersen. They were next on the leave roster.”

Flynn nodded. Although they were still at DEFCON Three, his soldiers and airmen needed some occasional downtime to blow offsteam if they were going to stay even half-sane in this remote, frozen outpost. Four-hour passes into Kaktovik were the besthe could do for them. There wasn’t exactly any hell-raising nightlife in the little village, not with all alcohol sales andpossession strictly banned, but at least they could eat different food and see different faces for a change.

“Look, I’ll go round those two up,” the sergeant volunteered. “Alert status or not, their phones are probably off, or outof battery. And I know most of their likely haunts.”

Flynn nodded. “Yeah.” He grinned crookedly. “That’ll give me a chance to spring the glad tidings on everybody else while you’regone. Though maybe I should put on my body armor first.”

“Mission briefings are a prerogative of rank, Captain,” Takirak said stolidly.

“Which you wouldn’t dream of horning in on,” Flynn guessed.

“Not in a million years,” the sergeant said devoutly. “Yours is to reason why. Mine is but to do or die.” He stood up andstarted pulling on layers of cold weather gear, pausing only to slide his tablet into an inner pocket of his parka.

That took Flynn aback for a split second. He wouldn’t have guessed that the veteran noncom was a slave to tech gadgets, the way so many of the younger soldiers and airmen were. Then he shrugged inwardly. After all, he wouldn’t have ever pegged Takirak as a would-be poet, either. But maybe the National Guardsman just figured they might not be coming back to the radar station anytime soon, depending on how this hazardous search-and-rescue mission went.

 

Nearly an hour later, in the middle of supervising his men as they finished stowing their weapons and other equipment aboardthe airport bus, Flynn checked his watch for what seemed the hundredth time. He frowned. Where