Chapter 58: Deeper Connections

Mid to Late Sept, 1986

Charlie POV:

I was happy with the way the Directors were handling our encounter with the Russians.

They never had any intentions of just destroying both submarines and possibly killing their crews. Also, Director Logan does desperately want to change the culture of the CIA from the way I viewed it after Dad told us about his experiences with it when we were just little kids.

Neither Bob nor I remember anything before living here in Illinois.

Our operation, ‘Let’s Goose Gorbachev’, went flawlessly.

Well, almost.

Because Bob and Willie had already been physically down there, instead of flying and ‘swimming’ down, we teleported instead. Largely, so that in case the spy satellites weren’t tempted by our girls, they would never see us.

Instead of going down in pairs we all went individually since everyone wanted to ‘do it on their own’.

That led to some very humorous moments. (You know, like the Keystone Cops Go Scuba Diving?)

As soon as we all materialized by the two submarines, Rex, Jeremy and Bruce immediately started floating up toward the surface. Bob, Willie and I were laughing our butts off watching them trying to figure out how to use their PK flight abilities to stay down rather than up. Since Bruce had the least experience with PK flight we each took turns ‘grabbing’ him so he didn’t accidentally float away.

The thing was, only Bob and I had previous experience with trying to use our PK to bend or break something when we weren’t firmly standing on the ground.

Bob and I were chuckling watching the four of them trying to bend an antennae to the left, only to have their bodies move to the right.

The other thing we didn’t consider was that since we were all in our own individual bubbles, we couldn’t ‘hold hands’ to help each other out.

That didn’t stop them from trying things.

Like, Monte wedged the back his bubble against a thick, stiff antennae and then tried to break the one in front of him.

It ALMOST worked. Except that, just before it snapped he must have lost focus and it snapped back so hard it hit him and sent him skittering out of control through the water!

Rex then tried ‘bull-rushing’ another one, only to have it send him tumbling out of control right into Bruce, who then began laughing so hard HE started floating away!

Finally, Bob and I flashed everyone to pop back to the boat and start over.

When the Directors asked if we’d finished already we all broke out laughing.

Willie barked out a snigger, “That was like watching six monkeys trying to fuck a football! Doing that stuff underwater is a mite tricky. Bob has another plan but we had to come up here to do it without drowning.”

We quickly formed two groups of three, me, Rex and Jeremy and Bob, Willie and Bruce. That worked like a charm as we were all holding hands so two of us were able to anchor us in place, psychokinetically, while the other one did the damage.

Thank God I flashed Adam telling him to weigh anchor and move a little bit farther away from the submarines. By the time we started trying to bend the periscopes, we must’ve made enough noise that both subs slowly started to raise up off the bottom.

As we watched bubbles rapidly rising from around the edges of the periscopes, we figured we did as much damage as we should do and all popped back to the boat.

When we got back to our meeting area in the saloon, only FBI Deputy Director Hodgkins was still there. When we asked where everyone was he started chuckling, “It seems that your ladies convinced my fellow directors they had a plan of their own, to help us out.”

About that time, both submarines popped out of the water like forcibly submerged beach balls. Everyone was scrambling out of the hatches and either looking all around or climbing up to the top of the conning towers to see what the heck had happened.

Dad, Alex Logan and Captain Morgan were standing by the aft railing nearest the subs.

Captain Morgan, using a bullhorn, announced, “Ahoy there! You guys surfaced in a heck of a hurry. Is everything all right?”

Of course, about that time, every sailor was now staring at the top of our boat, many with their tongues hanging out.

I should’ve known, after hearing all the giggles, that the satellite surveillance guys weren’t the only ones that the girls wanted to give a show for!

A very wet, disheveled officer raised his bullhorn, “We very sorry if we frighten you. It seems some unknown denizen of the deep has damaged our communication and sonar devices. Could you tell me, have you heard of any giant squid or octopus in this area?”

I could tell Adam was pinching his thigh, “Not in this area, no, but, there were rumors, previously, of unusual happenings somewhat south of here. That is why we decided to drop anchor here so our ladies might have some fun. Is there anything we can help you with?”

After looking up at the ‘scenery’ for nearly 20 seconds, the officer replied, sheepishly, “Would you consider allowing my first officer and myself to use your radio? We need to call for assistance. I’m afraid you probably don’t have the necessary equipment that we need to make repairs.”

I could tell that Adam was being coached by Director Logan before he replied, “Yes, we should be able to accommodate you. Since I don’t feel safe moving any closer, how’s about I send a couple of our jet skis over to give you a lift?”

The officer looked over at who I assumed was his second in command. They both shrugged their shoulders than the captain replied, “Thank you Comrade. I have never ridden on one of your jet skis before. Could you give me a minute to put on some dry clothes? I do not want to drip all over your magnificent boat!”

Adam nodded, “That would be fine. I will tell my ladies to be careful not to get you wet on the way over. Most of the time we ride these wearing our swimming suits.”

I was somewhat surprised when Adam told Melody that she and Sheila should get Mike and John to help them prepare two jet skis. I figured it would have been Maggie and Sheila, since Maggie had just returned from HQ.

At least Melody and Sheila weren’t naked. Although, their ‘wicked weasel’ bikinis didn’t leave much to the imagination. Needless to say, when they stopped next to the submarine there was no shortage of eager sailors helping to them keep from floating away.

The two Russian officers carefully climbed on the back and very gingerly put their arms around the girls’ waists. You could tell the rest of the sailors were very reluctant to give them a push away from the sub so they could motor over to us.

We all went down below to welcome our two guests aboard.

Dad flashed that this was all part of the plan. The Directors wanted to disarm the Russian officers as much as possible while providing them with exactly the information that the Directors wanted them to have.

Also, to gain as much intel as we could, ourselves.

I was getting a graduate level education on diplomacy and the spy game all at once.

It was comical to see our guests try to maintain military decorum by requesting permission to board from the jet skis.

Bob flashed me, “Jeez! We wouldn’t have brought them over here if we didn’t want them to board!”

The ‘Boss man’ and his buddy, decked out in full dress uniforms, actually saluted Adam before saying, “My country thanks you for your assistance Captain... ?”

“Morgan, Captain Adam Morgan at your service, sir.”

“Let me introduce myself. I am Admiral Lyosha Tokarevo and my first officer is Captain Ilya Kontakt.”

They shook hands with Adam, then Dad, then both Directors. Before Adam made the introductions, however, Dad gave him ‘pseudonyms’ for him and the directors.

Dad was INTERROGATING both officers, without them ever knowing it!

He flashed that the Admiral already KNEW both director’s identities from photographs he’d studied, which explained his raised eyebrows during the introductions.

With that revelation, it was immediately decided that Willie, Bruce, Rex and Jeremy should stay out of sight. Just because Dad didn’t pick up a reference to them didn’t mean the Russian government or the KGB might not already have dossiers on them.

If the KGB were to discover all of them onboard their suspicions would go through the roof and could even possibly lead to more aggressive covert actions.

Dad and the Directors had a much more devious plan in mind to mislead our Cold War adversaries. And, increase our Intel at the same time.

I just didn’t understand at this point who all was going to be involved, so it should’ve come at no great surprise when Mary was giggling in my head, “Hey there, Sugar Bear,” she was already buttering me up, “would it be all right if I helped Maggie do a little spying?”

“Aaaarggh, baby, you do know that when people get caught spying they’re usually shot?” I knew I had a weak argument, but it was the best I could do.

“Giggle. And just what do you think the odds are that they could catch and confine me? Especially when that cute Admiral invites me to entertain him for a while?”

Okay, this is actually sounding worse and worse by the minute. Truthfully, with her and Maggie’s ability to teleport there was virtually no chance they would ever get captured. The idea that they were going to try and seduce the Admiral just wasn’t sitting right with me.

Maggie came into my head, “Oh Charlie, William isn’t any happier about this than you are, trust me. Director Logan’s plan is actually brilliant and I could probably do it by myself, but, when it comes to getting into someone’s head there is nobody better than Mary. We will be working side-by-side, quite literally, during this whole thing. And we’re hoping you and William might join us, mentally, to give us any pointers we might need. Would that make you guys feel any better?”

Big Willie had joined our mental four-way conversation and like me knew that any further argument was pointless. Our girls’ minds were already made up, so we may as well surrender and do everything we could to help.

We reluctantly gave them the go-ahead.

Adam, Dad and the two Directors led our two guests from the boat launch to Adam’s private office. Bob, Willie, Rex and I were invisible, waiting there for them, just as Dad had requested.

Adam asked our guests, “Would you gentlemen like something to drink?”

While they looked at each other, Dad started, “I’ll have a Stolichnaya vodka on the rocks please?”

Both Russian officers smiled and the Admiral declared, “I see you have good taste in vodka, sir. My comrade and I would like the same, thank you.”

When the Directors both said they too would like the same thing, Adam pressed the intercom, “Melody dear, could you please send in six tall Stolichnaya on the rocks please?”

It was hard for me not to gasp when it appeared that Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models, Kathy Ireland and Elle Macpherson came in smiling with our six drinks. But that was nothing compared to the looks on the Admiral and the Captain’s faces. I couldn’t be sure if they recognized them from the magazine that had just come out or the fact they were both wearing their wicked weasel bikinis!

When Kathy and Elle, after passing out the drinks, proceeded to give each of our directors a kiss on the cheek, the look on the officer’s faces was priceless. Their looks went from ‘O’s to ‘0’s when the directors chuckled, “Have we lost favor with you lovely ladies that quickly?”

Kathy and Elle then proceeded to pulling Alex and Art into smoking hot kisses that made the temperature in the room raise at least 15 degrees. The two Russian officers looked like fish out of water and were shuffling nervously in their seats, trying to hide the bulge in their pants!

It didn’t get much better when Kathy, whom I’d already figured out was actually Maggie, giggled cutely, “But Alex, darling, I thought we were supposed to keep this a secret?” Of course Elle, with one finger over her lips, was looking at Art and nodding while smiling impishly.

Suddenly the two Russian officers were looking at each other incredulously. The second our two ‘waitresses’ left after waving goodbye the Admiral said, while shaking his head, “WAIT until I get my hands on that KGB agent! My friends, I must confess, I know that the two of you are the Directors of your American NSA and CIA respectively. You two must be the luckiest mans on these earths! Was that really those swimsuit models, Kathy Ireland and Elle Macpherson?”

The two directors nodded as sheepishly as they could, “Yes, and now you know why the two of us are on this ship. Please keep this a secret? It would not do for our bosses to discover we have secret lovers.”

The Admiral said, “I fear... “, he paused, then removed a pin from his uniform and nodded at his Captain to do the same. They both dropped their pins into a glass of water.

The Admiral grinned, “Now that our ignorant, misinformed KGB interloper can no longer hear us, could we, as you say, talk chicken?”

I almost laughed out loud when Alex chuckled, “You mean turkey? Let’s talk turkey?”

The Admiral had a sour look on his face, “I much prefer chicken! Turkey is too tough, yuk!” He then smiled, “But, I mean, can we talk honestly ... just the six of us?”

Alex, Adam, Art and Dad were all snickering and nodding.

“Yes, we can, Admiral.” Alex said, holding out his hand, “Maybe we can clear a bunch of things up.” The Admiral shook Alex’s hand, then handshakes were given all around.

Alex started, “Since we’re all coming clean, let me explain what we’re really doing here. My wife, Judy, is the Director for the National Foundation for Missing and Exploited Children. Her group recently rescued nearly 100 children who were being held, tortured and abused as sex slaves by some very nasty mobsters. More than half of these unfortunate kids had no living relatives. Her friend, Stan, the owner of this yacht, volunteered the use of this magnificent vessel to transport them to his sanctuary island. There, these kids wouldn’t have to worry about falling prey to a very corrupt government program that was supposed to care for kids like these. His ‘Sanctuary Island’ is fully equipped to provide them with an education as well as a place to just be kids again. Then, when they turn 18, they will be given the opportunity to go back to the United States to live their lives as they see fit. The other Director as well as the Deputy Director for the FBI all worked together to arrest over 50 mobsters, corrupt government officials, assassins and the like.”

He grinned widely, “Aaand, Director Sloan and myself felt we deserved a ‘vacation’ to be with our special girlfriends!”

Both Russian officers were slowly nodding their heads. The Admiral smirked, “And your wife? She knows about these girlfriends?”

Alex chuckled, “Yes! You see SHE has her eye on some of the virile young men on this yacht, herself! We decided ‘what happens on the boat, STAYS on the boat’, if you get my meaning?”

Both officers were belly laughing, “You are indeed a lucky man, comrade Director. My wife would NEVER be so understanding. I fear I would lose ‘family treasures’ if I were to even suggest such an arrangement!”

I had a sudden thought made my blood run cold. I was nearly positive that the Russian spy network had to of seen the network broadcast of everything that happened at McCormick Place. If so, it would stand to reason they might be very curious about who or what ‘Jonah’ was. Especially because both of the directors were on stage during the whole thing.

I know if I was the Russians, I would damn sure want to know everything I could about something that could do everything that Jonah demonstrated last night.

I flashed that concern to everyone in the room.

I was shocked when Alex flashed me, “The Russian spy network undoubtedly knows just enough about Jonah to be very curious, Charlie. However, it’s highly doubtful the crew of these submarines know anything about last night’s telecast. That was one of the reasons I wanted to take out their communication abilities. There is always a chance that KGB agent assigned to the sub might have a satellite phone. That’s why we need to do this as expeditiously as possible.

“Thankfully, their spy network is even more dysfunctional than ours is. Lenny already told me that neither of these two Russian officers have any clue that anything called Jonah even exists. We all realize they’ll get the picture in the near future, which is why we gave them the information about rescuing those kids. The best lies are 90 percent truth! I fully expect the Admiral will inform his KGB contact everything that’s being talked about. Or almost everything. We’ll just have to see how things progress from here. Your observations are deeply appreciated. Just watch and see for yourself, my friend.”

The next thing I knew Director Logan asked about getting refills. That was met with unanimous agreement and Adam called Melody again. This time however, when our swimsuit models delivered their drinks, they both made a point to pay special attention to the Admiral and the Captain.

The two Russian officers became slightly uncomfortable, causing Alex to say curtly, “You ladies seem to be embarrassing our guests!”

The Admiral immediately snorted, “You need not chastise them, Director. I am personally rather enjoying the attention. I find the two of them to be quite enchanting!”

Kathy giggled, then gave the Admiral a kiss on the cheek, “Alex knows that I’m very attracted to men in uniform. Alex darling, would you mind terribly if I gave the Admiral a proper kiss?”

While the Admiral’s eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning, Alex sighed theatrically, “That is up to the Admiral, my dear. I just didn’t want to cause an international incident with our guests.”

When Kathy raised an expectant eyebrow at the Admiral, he carefully stood up and opened his arms invitingly. Kathy (Maggie) seductively accepted his embrace and started to kiss him softly. As the kiss became more passionate, the Admiral was nearly shaking, not knowing just how far he could press things. After about 10 seconds Maggie ended the kiss but maintained contact with him. Elle (Mary) quietly huffed, “Don’t I get a turn?”

Maggie tittered, “Why aren’t you kissing the Captain? Look at the poor man, he looks like a lost puppy!”

Both the Admiral and the Captain began chuckling, while the Captain was still just sitting there with a hopeful look on his face. The second the Captain began sliding his chair backwards, Mary wasted no time in sitting on his lap and putting her arms around his neck, “I didn’t mean to ignore you, cutie, I just wasn’t sure if you wanted a kiss or not?”