Chapter 15: Mole

“It is ten thousand times cheaper to pay the best spies lavishly than even a tiny army poorly.” – Sun Tzu.

York, Great Britain. March 1072

Marion was in a bottomless pile of paperwork when there was a knock on her door. She was thankful the interruption was Gabriella because Marion was working on the budget for the next two years, which required her full attention. The task was made more difficult because Marion knew a war was coming soon in Ireland.

Soon, Gabriella was in front of her desk with a young redhead. Marion looked up and noticed the redhead looked familiar somehow but couldn’t place the woman.

“Marion, I would like to introduce to you former Captain Leofflæd of the Household Guard. She resigned her commission to take over her sick father’s trading company. I’m afraid she has some bad news for you.”

“How much worse can things get?!?! Seriously? We are about to go to war with Ireland, and food prices are rising because of all the food we sold to the French. With rising food prices, the economy is slowing.”

Looking at Gabriella’s face, Marion knew things were about to get worse. Gabriella looked to Leofflæd, and she took a deep breath as she started her tale. By the time she was done, Marion was white with fury. She couldn’t allow anyone to interfere with British trade. Marion stepped around Leofflæd and stuck her head out the door to ask her secretary to call General MacDougall and Admiral Arthur Mills. Admiral Mills was the commander of the British Navy; he had rocketed up the ranks since his victory over the Bretons.

It took almost two hours for Admiral Mills to arrive, with General MacDougall following behind him. The general hadn’t been in a hurry since he only had to travel 20 minutes by horse while the admiral had to travel from Hull to meet with Marion. Once both men were seated, Marion turned the floor over to Leofflæd, who had to tell her story again. From Bard, Luke knew merchant ships were disappearing in the Med but didn’t know who was responsible.

“What are your orders, Your Majesty?” asked Admiral Mills. “North Africa is a long way away, and supply could be a problem.”

“I don’t think it will be as much a problem as you think, Admiral,” replied Luke.

“Why?”

“First, the Med isn’t that far away. Last year, our trade mission to China returned in under a year. Second, there’s no real opposing navy between here and the Med. Third, North Africa isn’t a united nation; it hasn’t been since the Romans. If we send a heavy cruiser, a couple of light cruisers, and enough destroyers to screen the task force and the supply ships, we should be able to blow Algiers off the map. For troops, I would use the Marines, and I can loan you the Grenadiers. The army has to stay because of the coming war in Ireland.”

“What’s the latest word on that?”

“We are waiting on them. I have two brigades of the 2^nd division in Dublin; the third is ready to go. The 3^rd division is being moved down from Scotland to take a reserve position in Wales, and a brigade from the 1^st will be moved to Scotland to keep them in line.”

“You have two brigades in Dublin? Why didn’t I know that?” demanded Marion.

“The second brigade was moved last week, although officially, it’s still in Wales. It seems I have a mole problem in the office. Gretchen has had some intelligence reports come back that hint at a leak. Now I have to find it.”

“A mole problem?” asked Admiral Mills.

“Yeah, sorry, but it’s a term from my time. Moles are long-term enemy agents who penetrate your organization and funnel information back to their side.”

Like the rest of Marion’s top commanders, Admiral Mills knew Luke’s story. Once he heard it, everything that Luke had been pushing for suddenly made sense, and Luke became much less mysterious.

“So, we will be going to war soon with Ireland, and Luke has a mole. That still doesn’t tell me anything about North Africa.”

“Admiral, we have only just begun discussing Africa,” stated Marion. “First thing, who do we have that can lead the expedition?”

“That should be obvious,” Luke stated. “Only one commander right now has the skill set to lead something like this.”

“I beached her and don’t want her back in command,” stated Marion flatly.

“Marion, face facts,” snarled Luke. “She is the only commander with experience for something like this. This mission will require multiple amphibious landings on hostile shores. There’s nobody in the Med right now we want to ally with, so there’s no help on that front. Recall her from running the shipyard and give her command of the task force.”

“I agree,” added Admiral Mills.

“FUCK!!” exclaimed Marion as she slammed her fist on her desk.

“You done acting childish now?” asked a sarcastic Luke.

“Shut the fuck up, general,” growled Marion. “Fine, recall Admiral Ewing. General, if she fucks this up, it’ll be your arse.”

“Chill, Your Majesty. She’s a top-notch commander, and you know it.”

Admiral Mills was glad Luke was in the room to take the anger from Marion. He had been on the receiving end of her temper before and was still singed from it. All Admiral Mills had to do was figure out what ships to send and cut the orders.

“Gentlemen, I want a plan ready for review by the end of the week. Dismissed,” snapped Marion.

General MacDougall and Admiral Mills stood up and gave parade ground salutes. Marion nodded to them, and they were out the door. As soon as the door was closed, Gabriella started on Marion.

“What the hell was that about, sweetie?”

“I never wanted Admiral Ewing to command another ship, not after her Norwegian adventures.”

“But why snap at Luke? He was only suggesting the best commander we have to lead this mission. And before you ask, I agree with him. It’s time to bring the admiral out of drydock.” Marion chuckled.

“Gabby, you have been spending too much time with squids. Okay, maybe you’re right, and I was too rough with him. I’ll apologize this evening.”

Gabriella smiled at her before pulling her in for a kiss that Marion felt clear down to her toes. Unfortunately, she couldn’t do anything with the feeling because she had to return to her paperwork.

When Luke returned to base, he called Colonel Baker to his office. It took her an hour to get there, but from her soiled uniform, Luke didn’t have to ask where she was.

“Colonel, I have a question for you.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Do you get seasick?”

“No, sir. Why? Ireland isn’t that far.”

“Because you’re not going to Ireland. You and your unit are going to North Africa. Algiers for starters.”

“Why and where the hell is Algiers?”

“Piracy. They have been capturing our merchant ships and enslaving the crews, especially female ones. Algiers is a city west of Tunis; think historic Carthage for Tunis. We had a former Household Guard member escape there last year and make it back. The local rulers have made it a sport of taking our merchant ships. She said in the three months she was there, they captured eight ships, and from what I have been hearing from merchants, the problem is even bigger than that.”

“So what forces are going, and how are we getting there?”

“It will be your Grenadiers and the Marines. You will not be conquering these places. You will go in, free all the slaves you can find, loot every bit of gold, silver, gems, and other valuables, destroy all shipping facilities, and withdraw. If I have to guess, you will have to hit not only Algiers but also Tunis and Tripoli. There will be a naval task force commanded by Admiral Ewing composed of a heavy cruiser, a couple of light cruisers, and a screen of destroyers. You and the Marines will probably travel on converted supply ships.”

“When do we leave?”

“I don’t know yet. Plans have to be submitted by the end of the week. If I had to guess, two weeks.”

“Well, that will give me time to prepare my troops.”

“It will because you will be moved to Portsmouth for amphibious training. Also, you are to tell no one where you are headed.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I don’t want anyone to know the grenadiers are preparing to go to Africa. In fact, outside of this office, I don’t want you to say anything about this. Officially, you will still be here. According to Gretchen, I have a leak here at headquarters, and I haven’t found it yet.”

“A leak?”

“Yeah, Gretchen has had intel coming in from Ireland that strongly suggests someone here has been sending information to the Irish.”

“What will we do if the Irish attack before we leave? They will expect us to be moved to Wales when they attack, and if we don’t, they are going to be suspicious.”

“Simple. You will be moved to Wales and embark for Africa from there.”

“So, it sounds like we will have guaranteed action soon?”

“That’s about the size of it.

“Good. All this peace is bad for us Grenadiers. It’s making us soft.”

Luke tipped his head back and laughed. Colonel Baker sounded like some of the hardcore special forces he had known in Iraq.

“Well, you will soon have your chance.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

“You know, I would have never suspected you would turn out as an elite soldier when I carried you through the swamp.”

“You can say I found my calling when I was forced to fight in Scotland.”

Luke chuckled, “Dismissed, colonel.”

Colonel Baker saluted and left Luke’s office to start preparing her troops. She was sure her troops would figure out they were about to be deployed, but none would guess where. Luke looked at the closed door and sighed. He hated sending troops into battle, knowing some wouldn’t return. Unfortunately, that is part of war, and Luke understood that point all too well.

While staring at the door, Luke also thought about his mole problem. He then stood up and stuck his head out the door to tell his secretary he didn’t want visitors unless it was Marion or Alice for the rest of the day. Once back in his office, Luke locked the door and began going through files, trying to match files with intelligence reports.

It took several hours, but by the end of the day, Luke knew which files had been leaked. As Gretchen suspected, they were all files regarding Ireland. Now came the fun of figuring out who had access to all the files. Before he did that, though, he had to get some sleep. He looked at the mountain of files and tried to figure out what to do with them until they could be reviewed. They couldn’t be taken with him because that would be too obvious, and they couldn’t be left out because that would tip off the mole he was on to them. In the end, Luke set aside a hidden area of his files to store the compromised files until he could review them. Now, it was time to face Marion.

When Luke entered the door to his quarters, Marion slammed into him, and Luke found his mouth sealed by hers. He barely had time to wrap his hands around her arse before she wrapped her legs around his waist. Luke turned around and pushed Marion against the wall, getting a deep moan out of her.

“I’m so sorry, Luke.” Marion panted, “Sometimes I’m such a bitch.”

“Sorry for what?”

“For snapping at you at today’s meeting. I didn’t know what I was thinking.”

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. I know what you think of Admiral Ewing, but I suggested her because she’s the best. We lack the troops or naval strength to send overwhelming forces, so we need the best troops and commanders.”

“Still, Luke. I knew that, but she pissed me off so badly after Norway that giving her another command is a bitter pill.”

“So, did you learn anything?”

“Yep, jumping into your arms feels really good.” Marion moaned as she ground her mound into Luke.

Feeling Marion’s golden mound grinding into his crotch made Luke forget what they were discussing and focus on his golden wife. Soon Marion could feel Little Luke poking her, which drove her higher. Also, as she ground her mound into Luke, he used his hands to knead her buns.

To take things further, Luke carried Marion to the bed and slid a hand between them to undo their pants. As soon as her pants were unbuttoned, Marion took over and pushed Luke’s pants down over his arse. While Marion was pushing his pants down, Luke did the same to hers, and soon, both pairs were lying on the floor.

Marion wasn’t interested in foreplay and pinned Luke to the bed while she lined his pole up with her hole and sank down on it. As she slid down Luke’s pole, Marion gave a content moan, and she had that wonderful, full feeling. Once Marion was seated, she began to roll her hips as Luke thrust into her and unbuttoned her top to get to her nipples.

Luke rolled Marion’s nipples, producing a loud moan. Soon Marion’s eyes rolled back in her head, and seeing that, Luke reached down to pinch her clit. Her eruption would have launched her off of Luke if he hadn’t had a hold on her. Luke kept thrusting but gently until Marion could bring her body back under control. Over the years, he learned that slowing down while she was cumming, allowed her to keep going instead of passing out. Although Marion had told him multiple times to go ahead and fill her if she passed out, Luke always stopped when she passed out. It wasn’t nearly as much fun for him if Marion was unconscious.