Chapter 3

Alpha1 and Alpha2 slowly circled Ireland to give their passengers a view of the island. Once they had completed the circuit, Maureen contacted Ireland’s ATC and identified themselves then indicated their position, transponder code and destination. After a few minutes they were given instructions for entering the traffic flow to Dublin’s airport.

Maureen looked over at Rusty and said, “The link Siobhan and I have makes it seem like we are flying both ships. I would like to do more of this.”

“Siobhan is doing well at the controls of the other shuttle. But I know what you mean, since I can see the link between the two of you and the AIs. Actually, both of you are pretty impressive.”

“Thanks,” they both responded.

Maureen and Siobhan maintained their relative positions as they approached Dublin airport. When they were over the runway, they asked ground control which was the preferred taxiway. They were told to use any once past the halfway point. When they reached the taxiway, they switched to single file as they followed GC instructions to the VIP ramp.

“It looks like everything is at a standstill,” said Joyce.

“I suspect that they are all watching us,” replied Sarah.

Once in position on the VIP ramp, the two shuttles settled down so the stairs would be just above the ground. The doors of both shuttles opened simultaneously. After a few moments, the members of the Command Staff began exiting followed by the choir. They timed it so that both groups would reach the Uachtarán na hÉireann simultaneously. As they warmly greeted the President in Celtic, each of them introduced themselves. Siobhan and Rusty then walked with President Shonnesy past the Honor Guard, closely followed by Maureen, Sarah, Joyce, Tara, Maeve and Aoife as they proceeded into the arrivals reception area. They were followed by the choir and Security team members.

Entering the reception area Briana and Adam approached the head of Óglaigh na nÉlreann. After introducing themselves, they asked if they could have a word in private. Once they were off to the side Briana told him that the two of them were heading up their security detail. When he heard that, he motioned for another to join them. When the man arrived, he was introduced as Commander Egan O’Reilly who would be their contact during their visit. Together, the four of them reviewed the security plans they had worked out before the arrival. As they were finishing, Egan said with a perplexed look, “Are you the only two handling the security?”

“No. There are six others in the room,” replied Briana, “that have our group’s security as their primary focus.”

“How do you plan on dividing up the detail when the choir and the Command Staff are involved in separate events?”

“There will be one or two of us with Command Staff and the rest will be with the choir.”

“You seem to think the choir is more at risk?”

“Yes, according to the most recent intelligence information we have, that is the case. Also, bear in mind that Command Staff is as proficient in self-defense as any of the security team, if not more so. Many of the choir members are also reserve Security team members.”

“I don’t remember you giving any indication of an increased risk.”

“We only became aware of the potential about a week ago,” replied Briana. “It is only in the last day or two that it has crystallized as a definite threat. Our apologies if we made an error, but we felt we should wait until it had some substance.”

“It would be helpful from our standpoint if we knew more about this threat.”

“We have some time tomorrow morning, and this is not a good place to say much more,” replied Briana. “Our information indicates that the incident will not occur until we leave for Clifden. Could you have breakfast with us in the morning in our suite?”

“Sure. What time?”

“Well, with what is planned for today, let’s say 9 AM, as I suspect we will all be up late. I believe Command Staff is to have a late lunch tomorrow with members of parliament. The choir has an afternoon rehearsal and an evening performance. So we will all be in the suite till near lunch time. All of us will go to each performance.”

“Do you want our people to stay with you all the time?”

“If they can, that way we will be less likely to create an incident, since we are not familiar with your laws.”

“They are prepared to do that, and all are Special Forces members. With the phone numbers I gave you earlier, you can reach me at any time. Tomorrow night I will be at the theater, as my family wanted to see it.”

“Let us know when you arrive at the theater. Right now, we ought to be walking around.”

“Yes, that is true for all of us,” said the Chief. With that, they began to mingle with the crowd.

It was approaching midnight when the group from Dóchas returned to The Gresham Hotel. It had been a busy day. The reception at the airport lasted longer than they expected. Once they arrived at the hotel, they had just enough time to get settled and practice, before getting ready for the evening’s activity. After dinner with the President, Taoiseach and cabinet members, the choir gave a shortened version of what they had planned for their concerts. To add a special flavor, they sang two songs that would not be in the concerts. They had all enjoyed the day, but all of them missed being at home.

As they were waiting for the elevator, Sarah said, “Could all of you come to our suite for a bit?” Everyone responded affirmatively. “We want to confer with Intelligence, and would like some background sounds while we do it.”

“So you think our suites are bugged?” asked Laurin.

“We haven’t found any,” replied Briana. “However, considering everything, we think it would be wise to assume there are still some there. We will continue to monitor the room, to see if we can detect any hidden microphones missed on our initial sweep.”

When they reached their private floor, the choir and security team dropped their things in their rooms before going to Command Staff’s suite. Several brought musical instruments, while others brought a game. Once everyone was in the suite, Sarah tapped a glass. The room was soon very quiet. “We are very pleased with your performance this evening,” the Command Staff said together. “It was one of the best, if not the best you have given.” They then gave the group a small bow, together.

“Yea, but Joyce and Sam were off key all evening,” said Laurin, loudly.

“We were not!” they replied. That began a loud teasing session, as they chided each other about the small mistakes they had each made that were never noticed by the audience. Command Staff smiled, as the noise would suit their purpose perfectly.

“Well, Shannon and Danny, how are things developing?” asked Rusty, as the Command Staff in Ireland telepathically linked with those on Dóchas.

“We know all of you are tired,” replied Shannon, “so we thought we would summarize today’s events, and include our response as we go along.”

“That’s fine.”

“Our two bots and their friends were kidnapped this evening while on their side trip. They were given a drug at a night spot. The drug made them very receptive to suggestions. The bots sensed the change, and went along with their friends’ reaction to it. They will have to remain very alert, since their systems do not react to biologically based drugs. Their tracking devices are working. Currently, the four are in a van with a number of other women. The van is headed toward the Fudan estate. While in the van they are being given more food and drink, which is also laced with drugs. The van should be at the estate by mid-morning.”

“Besides making them submissive, what are the other effects of the drugs?” asked Joyce.

“The medical staff is assessing that now,” replied Muireann.

“Cathan’s team will intercept the van just after midnight,” said Danny. “Their plan was to stop it just as a line of thunderstorms moves across the area. They will cause the engine to quit. At that point, the team plans to show themselves. Once they have control of the two bandits, those in the van will be released. From the bandits point of view, at that point they will disappear into the desert. Once the captives are in the shuttle, they will be given an antidote to the submissive drug. The shuttle will take them to Comrie.”

Shannon continued, “With respect to the estate, we have come to the conclusion that there is some kind of electronic shield keeping us from communicating with our drones. Our engineering wizards think it is a passive device with the same shape as the building. The strong weather front that is going to pass over the van also will pass over the estate. As it passes over the estate, its intensity will increase, and a severe electrical storm will occur, with the buildings being struck multiple times. We are going to use this as a cover to place repeaters for the drones.”

“We take it that this fits with the weather events of the area? How are you going to place the repeaters without them being seen?”

“Yes, the storm will be on the severe side but not unusual. As for the repeaters, engineering will create openings in the corners of the shielded area that won’t be detected without physical inspection. Once repeaters are placed, they will appear to be part of the building. The repeaters also improve the quality and rate of data transmission, which will be a great help.

“Our drone in the Fudan President’s office picked up a conversation regarding a weapons dealer. From what was said, they believe he is stiffing them. They are planning on getting even, but didn’t go into details. They are apparently holding his mistress/office manager, and have been interrogating her. We think the other man in the conversation with the President was his security chief. The security chief said that it hadn’t taken much to get her to talk. He then told how they had placed her in a cell with a window facing an interrogation room so she could watch others being interrogated. After that, it only took removing her two little fingers, one joint at a time, before she answered questions without hesitation. She signed a confession then appeared before a judge. In response to a suggestion made earlier she begged for the court’s mercy. The court offered her twenty years in prison or twenty years working at a state farm.

“She chose the farm and after signing the documents, they took her to a cell in nearby room. In the cell were three other women. A short time after another woman was placed in the cell those running the court room entered the room with two guards. Each prisoner was stripped and then had cuffs placed on their ankles and wrists, which were then welded closed. Next, each had to place their hands in a device to remove their ring fingers. One managed to refuse. After she was bound, the Security Chief told them where to take her. The other three, including the mistress, were taken by a guard to the estate we’ve been watching.”

“So, they mutilate people like the group in Afghanistan did?”

“The amputation was apparently a part of her sentence. A comment was made about an upcoming event. The drone’s data from the President’s home doesn’t indicate any special preparations. It found a high-quality video link to the estate. In one room of his home there is large flat panel monitor, along with a large padded platform, several large cages, an assortment of restraints and other similar equipment. Our drones also found a room containing cages, and several of them held a person. The woman who refused to amputate her finger is in one of the cages. At this point, we don’t think the party will be at the President’s home.

“The estate appears to be expecting a large number of visitors, as sand was cleared off more of the paved ramp area greatly increasing it.

“The arms dealer has been at the estate for the last two days. During that time, he spent a lot time making calls to Ireland. From those conversations, it is clear that he is arranging for a group to kidnap some of you. We are trying to clearly identify who has been hired to do this. The kidnapping is to take place while you are traveling to Clifden. They intend to take those kidnapped to a plane waiting at a nearby airport. Using this scenario, we have identified a couple of locations on the highway to Clifden where this is most likely to occur. In doing a background check on the arms dealer, we found that his office manager has not been in the office for more than two weeks. His wife, two daughters and son left on vacation over two weeks ago on a private corporate jet.”

“Seems to be a pretty strong coincidence. How old are the children?”

“Yes, it seems very likely that the arms dealer at the estate is the same one mentioned in the Fudan President’s office. We are still trying to track his family’s movements, but they left by private jet, so we don’t have a lot to go on. As for age, late teens to early 20’s.”

“Pat said to tell you that they are ready to either provide support in Ireland or move against the estate, as needed. They will do a run-through of the plan for the estate tonight, up to the point where they enter it. He said the teams are doing very well. So well that he thinks they could do a similar mission from scratch without any major problems.”

“That is comforting, but I hope we never need to commit them to another mission like this.”

“I think he was speaking in a broader context than the estate. It seemed to us that he meant the teams were now so well connected that they could do a mission successfully on an ad hoc basis, with minimal risk to the teams and a high chance of success.”

“Good. Anything else?”

“No, I don’t think so. We would like to have more information on the group in Ireland.”

“We told Commander O’Reilly,” said Adam, “that we had information on a group in Ireland was a threat to our safety. We indicated that this group appeared to be planning to kidnap some our group, after we left Dublin for Clifden. He told us that they didn’t have any intelligence indicating a threat toward us, and asked to see the information. We asked him to join us for breakfast tomorrow morning at 9 AM, at which time we plan on sharing the information we have.”

“Okay. We can send you a summary along with relevant details before your meeting?”

“That would be great. How soon could we give them all the data?”

“We will continue to update the information as we get it. We will only include what we can either confirm or feel is reliable, so you may want to give them what we have, and tell them we will probably have more details over the next several days.”

“What is the status of our information package regarding the estate?” asked Sarah. “If we need it, we don’t expect to have much time.”

“It is coming together. Right now, it would take us several hours to have it ready. We expect that by noon-time tomorrow we should have it organized enough that we can keep it current, and can get it transferred to you in less than 30 minutes.”

“Great. Let’s call it a night.”

Sarah turned to look at the group, then motioned with her hands that it was time to go to bed. With that, they all began to say good night and share hugs before leaving for their rooms.

Earlier Cathan’s team monitored a lone van moving across the dark arid plains of Africa. To the east, there was an approaching weather front. A bank of approaching clouds were filled with nearly continuous lightning. Even though it was just after midnight, the lightning in the clouds silhouetted their rolling movement. Flashes of lightning could be seen striking the ground as the storm came toward the van. The thunder grew louder as it drew nearer. Gusts of wind buffeted the van, causing the driver to slow in order to stay on the road. The occupants were fascinated by the light displays from the approaching storm. The two bandits kept glancing at the storm with growing apprehension as there was no place to take cover. All of them could see the lightning striking the ground as the clouds approached.

As the clouds passed overhead, there were two lightning strikes just in front of the van. The thunderclaps were deafening, enhancing the quiet that followed. It took a few moments before the bandits noticed that the engine had quit as the van rolled to a stop. Both swore, but before they could move some of Cathan’s team in tactical suits appeared in front of the vehicle. The van’s front doors were jerked open by other team members and the two bandits were yanked from their seats. During this time not a word was said by Cathan’s group, as the two bandits were forced to stand in front of the van. They shivered in fear as they looked at the large human forms with shiny domes for heads.

Two Security team members held each bandit. “Strip them,” said Caoilinn in a harsh metallic voice. A team member pulled their arms out to their side. Another stepped in front of them. After forcing their feet apart, they began cutting their clothes off in small pieces, letting them fall to the ground. It didn’t take long for their clothes to be a pile of rags at their feet.

“Take off your shoes, now,” said Sal, in their own language. Both bandits were released and quickly slipped off their shoes, adding them to the pile of shredded clothes. When they stood back up, their knees were shaking and their skin was covered in goose bumps. The quiet tension was broke when the bandits began to urinate on their shoes and the rags that were once their clothes.

“Mark them,” said Melanie. A team member held each bandit’s head, while a tattoo was placed on each cheek. The tattoo spelled ‘pimp’ in their native language. In several days, the tattoo’s appearance would change to a scar.

While they were dealing with the bandits, others team members were assisting the captives out of the van. Those assisting the captives had changed their suit settings to make their helmets transparent. Once everyone was out of the van the Security team members hugged the two bots and were introduced to their two friends.

“Come with us,” said Abbie as she reached out to hold their hands. She led them to their shuttle. Everyone followed Abbie into the shuttle.

Sal told the Security team to pull back to the shuttle. As they moved back toward the shuttle the area around the van darkened and the wind picked up again, as the storm reasserted itself. A strong gust of wind caused the van to rock and sent the bandits’ clothes and shoes tumbling off into the darkness. Then as hail began to fall, the shuttle lifted quietly away. It was clearly illuminated by the flashes of lightning.

Commander O’Reilly joined Briana and Adam for breakfast, along with several members of the Irish Security detail. Over the meal in their suite, Briana and Adam shared the information on the group planning the abduction. After discussing several scenarios, it was decided to just monitor the group’s activities until they began to assemble. Briana told Commander O’Reilly that she expected to have more information and leads for them before they left for Clifden. With the taped conversations and a description of the weapons they were planning to use, Óglaigh na nÉlreann had more than enough evidence to arrest the group, along with the pilots they had hired.

Briana passed a summary of their meeting on to Intelligence, Security and Command Staff. She advised everyone that this had not changed any of their operational plans for the visit.

“Looks like the van has arrived at the estate,” said Lydia, to the Intelligence staff. Other members of the staff joined her watching the screen showing the court yard in Fuda.

“How did the download from the drones go?” asked Danny, as he walked into the room.

“Perfect,” replied Muireann. “We lost some information from the first drones, because they were beginning to rewrite their memory. Fortunately, they were programmed to do so selectively. The AIs are sorting through the information now. We now have dynamic links with all the drones.”

“So if we needed to go in, Pat’s teams could go in now?”

“Yes, but there are some parts of the complex we don’t yet have data on. We know from the information our drones collected that there are a lot more captives than anticipated. It is still not clear where they all are.”

“What the heck is that?” said Cathal, as he saw the monitor.

“Oh, that is the arrival area at the estate,” replied Lydia. “The van that was carrying our family members and crew candidates is just arriving.”

“So we have live communication with the drones now?”

“Yes,” replied Danny. “Lydia, why don’t set that video stream to record, so we can look at some of the video we obtained last night.”

When Cathal arrived in the security team’s practice area, everyone stopped and looked at him. “Pat, we are still running this event as a drill, correct?”

“Yes, but I have made an adjustment in team assignments and added another team. You will go with Cathan’s team, as you expected. They are now assigned the President of Fuda’s home. Edana’s, Caoilinn’s, Darcy’s, and Nicola’s Clans are assigned to the estate. Any questions about assignments?”

“No, sir!” responded everyone.

“Let’s not go overboard,” replied Pat with a smile.

“We aren’t, SIR!” With that, the group began to laugh which released the tension that had begun to build.

“Tonight we will go through the entire plan, right up to zero hour minus 15 minutes. After that, we will come back here and review how we did.”

“Good,” replied Cathal, “by the way, Caoilinn’s Clan, you should have heard the two kidnappers trying to tell those at the estate what happened to their captives. The story of the captives and their rescuers disappearing into a lighted door in the middle of nowhere wasn’t believed. I can’t understand why, since I saw it happen!”

“Yea,” replied Caoilinn, “and would you have believed it, without seeing it happen?”