“Wait? You know him?” Darren asked. “Who is this guy?”
“He’s corrupt, ruthless, and lacks compassion for anyone or anything,” Ballantine said. “He’ll slice your belly open in front of a crowd of people without batting an eyelash. And no one will question him for it.”
“Jesus,” Darren said. “That’s just great.”
“What’s great?” Thorne asked, walking up next to them.
“Ballantine was just informing me that the commander over there is basically a Mexican wolverine,” Darren said.
“Will he piss on everything he has just to make sure no one else will take it?” Thorne asked.
“Without hesitation,” Ballantine replied.
“Good,” Thorne said. “Those are the easy ones to deal with.”
Ballantine kept his eyes on Espanoza while Darren turned to look at Thorne.
“What was all that shit up there?” Darren asked. “You and Kinsey okay?”
“We are,” Thorne said.
“Not going to implode while we need you two to bring your A games, are you?”
“Have you ever seen me without my A game, Darren?” Thorne asked.
“No, I haven’t,” Darren said. “But there’s a first for everything.” He looked at the observation deck. “She going to be alright with all that coke down below deck? That’s quite a temptation.”
“I think she’ll be just fine,” Thorne replied.
“I never wanted her on this Team, remember?” Darren said. “You insisted.”
“I know,” Thorne said in a voice that stated the conversation was done.
“Well, this has been fun, but how about we get down to business?” Ballantine said, cupping his hands to his mouth. “Hello! Shall I come over there or would you prefer to meet on my ship?”
“
M
y
ship,” Darren said.
“Shut up,” Ballantine replied. “Captain.”
“We shall meet aboard your ship, Mr. Ballantine,” Espanoza shouted back. “I am looking forward to a brief tour.”
“As am I, senor,” Ballantine smiled then turned to Darren. “Lock the decks down. He only sees the briefing room.”
“He going to be okay with that?” Darren asked. “He did say he wanted a tour.”
“Then he’ll have to be disappointed,” Ballantine said.
***
Espanoza watched the videos of the shark attacks off the coast of Playas Rosarito. He nodded and sighed then turned to Ballantine who was seated at the conference table.
“I have seen all of these,” Espanoza said. “Why waste my time?”
“Because we believe the sharks may be on a cocaine binge,” Ballantine said. “Crazy, I know, but then I work for a company that specializes in crazy.”
“Cocaine?” Espanoza frowned. “You must be joking?”
“I enjoy a good ribbing as much as the next man, but not today,” Ballantine said. “People are dying. That is not funny to me.”
“How in the name of God could sharks be high on cocaine?” Espanoza laughed. “Ar
e
yo
u
high on cocaine?”
“If I was, I wouldn’t tell you,” Ballantine said. “But I’m not.” He pointed at the monitors. “Those things are. You wouldn’t happen to know how that could be possible, would you?”
“The cartels have smugglers running up and down Baja,” Espanoza shrugged. “Perhaps the sharks found a sunken narco sub? Perhaps they each ate a tourist that had coca inserted in their rectums? There are many possibilities. None of them matter because the idea that sharks are high on cocaine is absurd, Ballantine. You are wasting more of my time with this fantasy.”
“Do you have a better explanation?” Ballantine asked.
“If I did then I wouldn’t be here, would I?” Espanoza glared.
“Neither would I,” Ballantine said. He gestured towards Thorne and Darren who were seated at the conference table. “Please tell us what has already been done to get the situation under control. And how we can help before we get down to what we do best.”
“We have evacuated the beaches and the waters along the coast,” Espanoza said. “No more people will die today. So there really is no need for your assistance.”
“Except that’s not up to either of us, is it, Ricardo?” Ballantine said.
“Commander,” Espanoza replied. “That is my rank.”
“I can see that by your pretty epaulets,” Ballantine grinned as he stood up. “Congratulations on your promotion. Never thought that would happen.”
“Ballantine…,” Espanoza warned, looking at his officers that stood by the wall of the briefing room. “Please show respect.”
“Look, Ricardo,” Ballantine said as he took Espanzoa by the shoulder. “The company has told me to cooperate with you. Your government has told you to cooperate with me. We both know what a farce this is, right? Let’s not pretend anymore. We do our jobs and go our separate ways when it’s all over, okay?”
“Yes, of course,” Espanoza said. “That is what I would like. Our separate ways.”
“Good,” Ballantine said as he let go of Espanoza and clapped his hands together. “Tell me more about this cocaine that could be up some tourists’ butts.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Espanoza replied. “I am here to deal with sharks. Sharks that a client of yours created.” He smiled at the brief look of surprise on Ballantine’s face. “It’s a small world, Ballantine. News travels fast in the naval circles. A private group takes out pirates and blows up a monster shark and you expect it to stay quiet? Not when that same group is then called in to be a thorn in my side.”
“A man can hope,” Ballantine said. “And I don’t think Commander Thorne here appreciated your use of that analogy.”
“Leave me out of this,” Thorne said, his arms crossed.
“I wish I could, Commander,” Espanoza responded, turning back to the videos on the monitors. “But while one man wishes, other men act.”
“So we can proceed to Playas Rosarito?” Ballantine asked. “Unmolested and unimpeded?”
“Why, of course,” Espanoza said. “Today we are allies.”
“Aren’t we always allies?” Darren whispered to Thorne.
“Great,” Ballantine said, looking over at Darren. “Captain? Please inform Chief Officer Lake to steam us down the coast.”
“We will accompany you the entire way,” Espanoza said. “As support.”
“We invite all the support we can get,” Ballantine said. “Isn’t that right, Commander?’
“Yeah,” Thorne said. “We invite it.”
“Anything you’d like to add?” Ballantine said, looking from Thorne to Darren. “Before we get going?”
“I’m good,” Darren said.
“I wouldn’t mind that tour now,” Espanoza said. “I have heard of the many special modifications made to your ship. It would be a privilege to see them first hand.”
“You have?” Ballantine laughed. “I’ll have to speak to my superiors about possible leaks. Unfortunately, I’ll have to offer a rain check on the tour until after our mission is completed. Wouldn’t want to waste more of your time, Ricardo.”
“No, of course not,” Espanoza said, offering no resistance. “I’ll return to my ship so we may lead you to the site.”
“And you believe they are still there?” Ballantine asked. “The sharks?”
“I know they are still there,” Espanoza replied. “I have made sure of it.”
“You have?” Ballantine asked. “How have you managed that?”
“We are feeding them,” Espanoza said. “They are fond of cattle.”
“You’re feeding them?” Thorne exclaimed. “Are you insane?”
Espanoza bristled at the insult, but took a breath and let it slide.
“We are launching a carcass into the water every thirty minutes to see if the sharks have left the area. They have not. In fact, they seem to be staying put for now. Both of them.”
“Well, yeah, sharks will do that if you feed them,” Darren said.
“Just two?” Ballantine asked.
“Just two,” Espanoza replied. Ballantine frowned.
“Then why not blow them out of the water yourself?” Thorne asked.
“I have been instructed not to,” Espanoza said, glaring at Ballantine.
“We all have our orders,” Ballantine said.
“In some ways,” Espanoza said then nodded and left.
The Mexican officers followed Espanoza from the briefing room as Ballantine returned to the table and took a seat. He watched them go then turned his attention to Darren and Thorne.
“That was a little enigmatic. I wonder what that could mean,” Ballantine said. “In some ways…”
“Don’t know,” Darren said as he stood up. “I’ll let you two worry about that. I’ll be on the bridge with Lake.”
Darren left and Thorne looked at Ballantine then at the video monitors.
“We better be going to kill these fuckers, Ballantine,” Thorne said. “Not capture them. You hear me? Darren told me of your less than assuring chat. We blow these fuckers out of the water. I’m not putting my Team through Hell again.”
“Life is Hell, Commander,” Ballantine replied. “Sometime we get to choose which part we live in and sometimes we don’t.”
“Cut the fatalistic poetry,” Thorne snapped. “The techs have our gear ready?”
“They do,” Ballantine said. “I made sure of that before picking you up. Right now, though, I have them focusing on our little secret below.”
***
“Not that one!” Carlos yelled.
Short, squat, with a thin, black Mohawk, Carlos slammed his hand against the hull of the whale sub as he peered inside the cockpit. He wore a ratty t-shirt that once had the X-Men logo on it, but was so faded it was hard to make out. A roll of fat folded over the waist of his jeans and he absentmindedly tugged at the hem of his t-shirt to cover it.
“Stop,” Ingrid said, shoving Carlos out of the way. “Don’t yell at Moshi.”
The opposite of Carlos in many ways, Ingrid was tall, skinny, and had long, bright green pigtails that were braided up around the back of her head. She wore a bright yellow jumpsuit that fit her perfectly. Her white blue eyes glared at Carlos then looked down into the cockpit.
Below was the ever silent Moshi. Black hair in a bowl cut; short, but not squat like Carlos, with dexterous fingers that flew across the controls of the sub. Moshi shrugged off the annoyances above and focused solely on the task before her.
“I wasn’t yelling,” Carlos said. “I was telling her not to turn a dial that obviously has to do with the bilge system of the submarine. If she turns the dial while the sub is dry docked then that could harm the pumps! And since we know nothing about the construction of this vessel we could end up rendering it non-operational!”
“Now you’re yelling a
t
m
e
,” Ingrid said. “Stop that.”
“I am not yelling at anyone!” Carlos yelled.
“Problem?” Ballantine asked from the catwalk above. “Trouble with my elves?”
“WE ARE NOT ELVES!” Carlos roared. “You refer to me as an elf again, or as the armory as the ‘Toyshop’, and I will quit immediately!”
“We both know you can’t do that, Carlos,” Ballantine said. “So stop threatening it.”
“Whatever,” Carlos fumed.
“Any progress?” Ballantine asked.
“Some,” Ingrid replied. “Moshi seems to be figuring it all out. It would be easier if we could all get down there, but Moshi is the only one small enough to fit and still move.”
“Have you cracked the navigation system yet?” Ballantine asked.
“Have we?” Ingrid asked, looking down at Moshi. The timid woman shook her head. “No. Not yet.”
“Let me know when you have,” Ballantine said. “We need to be able to backtrack the sub’s passage and find out where it originated from.”
Ingrid gave him a thumbs up.
“Are we in Mexican waters yet?” Carlos asked.
“We are,” Ballantine responded. “We’ll be to the site in less than an hour. Is the equipment ready?”
“Yes, the equipment is ready,” Carlos snapped. “Had it ready the moment you told me what we were doing and where we were going.”
“Excellent,” Ballantine nodded. “I’ll expect you to show the operators what they will be using when the time comes.”
“Ugh,” Carlos said. “Can’t Ingrid do it?”
“I’d love to,” Ingrid said enthusiastically.
“No, I’d prefer you did, Carlos. You are such a better people person,” Ballantine said. He looked down and noticed the cargo hold was open and the cocaine was removed. “Uh, might I ask where the hell the drugs have gone?”
“Gunnar,” Carlos said. “He wanted to run tests. I told him to knock himself out.”
“He took it all?” Ballantine asked. “Why would he take it all?”
“Sampling,” Ingrid said. “He wanted to test each and every kilo for consistency.”
“Oh,” Ballantine nodded, not looking happy. “Well, I better see what he has found.”
***
“You’re pissed,” Mike stated as he sat in the wheelchair, out of the way of Gunnar.