Strike Force by Robert Stanek Read Free Book Online Page B

messages myself."
       "And no issues with F.I.S.C. or Senate Intelligence Oversight?"
       "Everything must be triple authorized now, especially if any military-grade encryption breaks are required. Nothing I can't handle," Keneke replied.
       "Wait, a minute," Scott said aloud, even though he meant only to think it. He tried to think, to work through everything that had happened and was happening. He thought about the briefings and what he'd heard the Operations Commander say. What had he said exactly? Did he say they were going to kick these jihadist bastards back to their caves? "Keneke, you still there?"
       "Scott, I'm here."
       Scott looked into the briefing room. "I think I need you to do something else for me too."
       Keneke said clearly, "Anything, just ask."
     

 
     
     
    Chapter 16
    Mediterranean Sea Late Afternoon, Tuesday, 19 June
     
     
     
    She walked down the hall, surprised no one said anything to her about being in the wrong place or on the wrong deck. She didn't know exactly where she was headed, but she knew the general location of the operations rooms from the ship's diagram she'd seen.
       Her head throbbed, her body ached. She'd been in the water so long she never thought she'd be warm again. But she was warm now, though she felt disoriented, like she wasn't herself anymore.
       As she trudged onward down the narrow corridor, she began looking for a workspace. Surely, there were workspaces onboard the ship or just some place to access a computer.
       She needed information. She needed to know what others knew about what was happening.
       At the end of the hall, she paused, unsure which way to turn. The hallways in the Kearsarge were like labyrinths and she hadn't spent enough time memorizing the path to where she thought she needed to go next.
       She stood a moment and closed her eyes, exhaling as she tried to collect herself. Then she turned right without thinking anymore about it.
       She passed a porthole, saw that the sun had yet to set. Both were good signs. "I'm going to find Scott," she told herself.
       In her years working in security and as an operative, she'd performed all kinds of strange assignments. None though that she'd loved or dreaded as much as this one. Working in a moral gray area was commonplace for someone in her line of work, but she never thought the work would lead to this.
       The prospect of what was ahead, what would happen tomorrow, she dreaded in a way. She didn't want to know any more than she already knew and yet she wanted to know everything, even as she tried to remember everything that had happened so should could understand how things had gone so terribly wrong.
       In the new clothes, she felt transformed, never expecting them to be so formfitting or to complement her lithe figure so well.
       Suddenly realizing the absurdity of such thoughts at such a time, she almost laughed at herself.
       More irrational thoughts from an overexerted mind.
        What I need is rest, to sleep for a day or two .
       But she didn't have a day or two to sleep and she knew it. She tried to focus on the events of the day, to sort what was relevant from what wasn't.
       Coming to a t-intersection, she stopped.
       "Sit 1?" she asked a passing ensign.
       The ensign pointed.
       "Thanks," she replied, turning to follow the path he indicated.
       She recognized him immediately, but didn't say anything until he hung up the satellite phone. "Scott?" she said softly, her hand going to her pocket.
       His eyes lit up when he saw her. "You?" he said, waving an accusatory finger.
       She took her hand out of her pocket and rushed at him, running as fast as her legs would carry her. As she got closer, she reached out to grab him.
       When she grabbed onto him, she turned and twisted, almost as if they were a couple of bears going at it. He pressed his lips firmly against hers. "My God," he said, "I thought you