Chapter 9- Insubordination

Chapter 9

Insubordination

Near Villa Cyranno, Venezueala

Ostrow piloted them in smoothly; the ride was quiet, subdued.  Hannah felt her tension rising.  The memory of the strange and disturbing recording of the last flight of X-Ray Two was still fresh in her mind.

           

Clearly it was still fresh in the other’s minds too as they were all fairly quiet.  Storm was still himself, making the occasional wisecrack.  But the others, even Wooderson, seemed less like himself.

‘One of them wasn’t what they appeared to be.’ She thought.  She looked over at Wharton, a Federal agent.  He wasn’t what he appeared to be too.  She wondered, what did it mean?  That calm southern voice had told them some things they might have taken days to learn.  But there were still so many unanswered questions.

“What’s on your mind Lieutenant?” asked Jones, sat to Hannah’s left.

“Mulling over the recording.” She said back.

“Straight forward wasn’t it?” he said.

“If you say so Sergeant.”

“Why look to make it more complicated than it is?  Why look for trouble?” he offered.

“When it’s our job, we need to find it.” She replied, feeling testy.

“I don’t see the need.  The guy crashed the plane, problem solved.  Next job.” Said Jones flatly.

“Twelve men died in that crash.” Said shot back.  “Show some respect.”
Jones eyes, usually large and expressive, got wider for a second or two.

“Eleven.” He said after a silence.  “One of em just walked away.”
‘Maybe’ thought Hannah.  She looked over at Sergeant Harrison, reassuring and determined.  He didn’t seem fazed by the mission at all.  She wished she could take the same kind of reassurance from Major 

Dalton.  But he had become almost silent since his last radio check in and he seemed pale.

Lt Chung also looked scared too.  His wide, boyish face seemed very much like he had just left College.  Chung, so intelligent and self assured at the crash site now seemed totally lost.  Captain Dietz was sat to Dalton’s right but seemed to be concerned with his CO.  Not just his CO though, thought Hannah, his friend.

Nothing seemed to bother Hunter that much; his face was still set in the normal scowl.  Roburn, sat near him, gazed around nervously.  Newman was still fiddling with dials and trying to clean up the audio.  But she could tell from his body language that he was as unsettled as the rest of them.

 Hannah got up and worked her way to the front of the helicopter where Ostrow was bringing the bird down.

“Hannah, what you doing up here?” he said, a smile on his face.  Hannah felt a little bit better.  At least Charlie Ostrow was still his usual cocky self.

“Have you served with the Major before?” she asked.

Charlie didn’t reply at first.  Hannah thought about rephrasing the question but Charlie finally replied.

“Yeah once or twice.  He’s a solid guy.  When it comes to investigation of this sort of thing, he’s like that Sherlock Holmes.”
“That’s good to know.” Said Hannah.  She mulled over her next question.

“This is Rainbow Three, we’re coming down just outside Villa Cyranno.” He intoned into his radio.

“How about field work?” she asked.

“Field work?  You mean active duty stuff?” asked Charlie.

“Yes.  Like a recovery and rescue operation.” She asked; her tone neutral.

This time the pause was longer.  She began to wonder if she’d asked the wrong person.

“No, not much.  He did a turn in the Five and Dime but that’s about it.  His rep is crime scene stuff, crashed planes and what-not.  He did have a brief run in with the higher ups but nothing seemed to come of it.” Said Charlie.

“I see.” She said back.

“I don’t like this political shit.  Just say what’s on your mind?”

“I think he’s finding the pressure a bit much.  I worry about his performance as a CO.”
“He did fine at the crash site I’m told.” Said Charlie.

“Yes he did.  That’s his element.  But now…”
“Now we’re out of his element.  Problem is sweet-heart that we’re not exactly field marines here.  We’re air force guys.  Leave all that running and shooting, Saving Private Ryan shit to the army.” Said Charlie.

“Yes.  But we’ve got a man to find who may well have been the hijacker.” She said back firmly.  “That makes him very dangerous.”
“No way one guy did all that shit alone.” Said Charlie.  The thought had entered Hannah’s mind but this time it was a more forceful one.

“Well, if this hijackers got accomplices, we’re out of our element and with a CO who I have some concerns about him.  He looks pale.” She said.

“You’re talking some dangerous politics here Hannah.  Be careful.” Offered Charlie. His tone was still friendly but flat.

“If I spoke out of turn then I apologize.” She said.

“Man, you’re going to go far.” Said Charlie, his tone even less friendly. “You got that political shit down.  That’s Dalton’s problem, he doesn’t.  He’s always just played it straight and that’s why he’s still a Major.  You need to give the old guy a break.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Replied Hannah, feeling embarrassed

“I’m always right sweet-heart.” Replied Charlie.

 After the helicopter touched down, Dalton got to his feet and looked around at the team.  “Ok team, this is the plan.  We’ve got to search this village.  Our priority is finding the missing guy.  Second priority is recovering the cargo. Finally we find Captain Barrow.”
“Permission to kick his green ass.” Asked Storm.

“Permission denied, unfortunately.” Said Dietz.

“We’ve got a serious job to do.  We split up into two man teams.  I want everyone armed.  We sweep the village and find….” There was a pause.” Then find what we’re here to find.”

Wharton looked over at Hannah.  She saw the concern in his eyes but then she looked away.

“Ok,   Jones and Ostrow will stay here.  Charlie, I want you to monitor comms.”
“Sir.” Said Charlie.

“Sergeant Harrison, you go with Wharton.”  Harrison looked over at Wharton but said nothing.

“Lt Chung, you go with Newman.  Lt McPherson, you’re with Storm.  Roburn and Hunter.  Finally Dietz, you’re with Wooderson.  I’ll follow you two.”

“Sir, why does the agent man come with us?” asked Roburn.

“Shut up Roburn.” Said Dietz.

“All due respect Captain” Said Roburn “But I think this one needs addressing.”
“If you don’t cut that shit out, we’ll leave your ass here and then NJP you when we get back to base.” Snapped Dietz.

“Straight, a straight…” began Dalton.  He looked around and then shook his head.

“A straight sweep of the village, no heroics.  I want people to be very careful and to keep their eyes open.  Any encounters with the locals, use restraint and be friendly.  But don’t get too close.”

“Ok, you all know what to do.” Said Dietz.  The team got to their feet and began to gear up.  Sergeant Harrison approached Major Dalton but was waved away.

Wharton waited by the small arms locker but Hunter pushed him back with one hand.

“You don’t get a weapon agent man.” Said Hunter.  Wharton said nothing.  Harrison took up an M16 and handed out the weapons to the others.

“Take only what you can handle.  This is detective work, not world war two.” Said the Sergeant.

“Did you see that shit Sarge?” whispered Roburn.

“Shut up man.” Hissed Harrison back at him.

“The fucking skipper is losing it.” Said Roburn.

“Shut that shit up.” Said Harrison.

“He’s not wrong.” Said Hunter.

“You men, keep it quiet.” Said Hannah.  She looked over at Chung pointedly but his face was a slack O of shock.

Wharton had waited for her before following her out.  She hefted the P90 submachine gun.  She was field certified with it but had never been in a real live fire situation before.  She felt incredibly nervous.

“Lieutenant, can I have a quick word?” asked Wharton.

“We’ve got a job to do.” She said back.

“It’ll take like ten seconds.”

“I’m lookin’ at my watch.” She said back.

“Did you see the Major?” He asked her.  “He’s having some sort of mental breakdown.”
“We don’t know that.” She said back, her voice low.

Wharton leant in.  “He’s having some sort of episode and we’re in an incredibly difficult situation.  Hunter and Roburn are idiots but they aren’t wrong here, he’s losing it.”

“You don’t know that.” She said again.

“Come on, open your eyes.  Now I can’t do anything about it, they don’t fucking trust me.  But they do know you.  They respect you.”
“Except Jones.” She said back.

“He’s a non factor.  You need to talk to Dietz about benching Dalton here.  He’s going to compromise this mission.”
“He’s going to?  Do you think all this cloak and dagger shit is going to help us?  Seriously Wharton you volunteer me to commit an act of serious insubordination, no strike that, fuckiug mutiny here?”  She glared at him.  Her heart was beating fast.

“This will not end well if we don’t do something to change it.” Said Wharton.

“Go to hell.” She said back.

The team assembled outside the helicopter, breaking up into it’s two man teams.  She saw Storm and felt a bit better.  He was grinning, a cigarette in his hand, a P90 slung over his shoulder.

“Shit, I guess one of us has got to go home and change.” He joked.  She smiled in spite of herself.

“Ok let’s roll.” Said Harrison.

            They had barely been moving for about five minutes, only just out of eyeline of the others when they heard the first scream.