Chapter 1

Through the spotting scope, Grady Polk and Bud Robinson viewed the villa from over half a mile away, hidden by the next ridge. He looked through the picture window into the room where Neal Handley cavorted with two young girls that couldn't be sixteen, in a sunken hot tub. Two weeks before, in Tripoli Libya, they had "interrogated" a man known only as Mustafa, that admitted to actually planning and setting the bomb that blew up the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, and being involved in the first attempt on the World Trade Center.

While numerous human rights groups would "condemn their methods" of interrogation, Polk and Robinson had no more concern for his rights than he did for his victims. Truth serum was administered, with various degrees of "physical persuasion" generously applied to the more sensitive parts of one's anatomy. Thus, when a "confession" was given, it wasn't merely to end the torture; I mean "persuasion". When they had extracted all useful information from the prisoner, they would shoot him with a new weapon that used an electronic impulse to shatter his heart. Death was instantaneous, which in Polk's opinion was "too good for him".

Mustafa's information led them to Handley, who was using his "payoff money" from the former administration to live out the rest of his days away from prying eyes, and to finance covert activities against select US interests around the world. It was "very simple", the agents had told him, "You simply get paraded before the public, have a mock trial, and excecution cortesy of Hollywood, and the people are happy. End of story."

Noting the two "goons" that patrolled the premises, Polk and Robinson returned to report to Ted Morrison, and plan for the assault on the villa. The elite group consisted of seven men and two women all specialized in some aspect of covert ops. All left their former careers in the late 90's in order to operate outside of the restrictions the US Government had placed on them.

They travelled about in three planes, belonging to the group through various secret donations, using "Jaeger Worldwide Air Cargo" as a "front." The smallest was an amphibious Cessna 185 Skywagon that carried a pilot and five passengers. Next in size was a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, equipped with hidden hard points to attach wing pylons for Maverick or Hellfire Missiles. It was configured to carry eight, in addition to the pilot and co-pilot.

To get where they wanted to go fast, was a Cessna Citation X business jet, currently at a remote Alaskan airstrip undergoing fitting with a weapons bay, and 20-mm Gatling gun, in addition to under-wing "fuel tanks". It was also being repainted with radar absorbent coatings in order to reduce its "signature'. The jet was also configured to carry 8 plus the "crew" and the team equipment.

Also at their disposal, was a C-123 Provider Cargo plane of Vietnam War vintage, which could carry a variety of specialized gear to a "forward base" if it couldn't be taken aboard the Grand Caravan. Often this gear was para dropped from the rear cargo bay while in flight. In addition to the "foot soldiers," five of who were pilots, were three other pilots that simply helped move the team around, and then waited for a "pick-up call."

As the two men reported to Morrison, Bud Robinson spoke up first, "It's that little weasel allright, this time without the orange suit and handcuffs. He grew his hair longer and sports a goatee now, but it's him."

"I wonder what he will tell us?" Morrison asked.

"Probably not as much as old 'O'Sammy' did," Polk replied.

You see, there is a reason that bin Laden hasn't been "brought to justice." Fred Olson lost his fiancee in the 9-11 attack, and took it very personal. By plucking a Syrian Boston University student right out from under the FBI, the team had persuaded him to give up four other contacts, which led to other "revalations" and eventually the "safe house" south of Kandahar, where "O'Sammy" didn't return from his stroll until two days later. He was replaced with a "look alike" in order to provide Al Jazeer with their news clips. That is why the post 9-11 "bin Laden" looked sickly.

They are brought to a secure location where the team will interrogate and then "administer justice" to them. They get as much useful information as they can from them, and then terminate them. It is highly unlikely the weighted-down bodies will ever be found in the "maw" of Mt. Redoubt, or another active volcano where they are later disposed of nearer to where the ops take place. Yes they are "outlaws," and answer to nobody. Their victims are the worst that society has to offer, and will only be missed by defense lawyers that are denied their chance for headlines!

Back at the temporary headquarters at a small airstrip near Esquel, Argentina, cargo pilot Randy Smith had just dropped off more equipment to be ferried into the base of the mountain range by the Grand Caravan. Randy had hosted the group on one of their trips to the fishing lodge in Alaska he managed in the summer months. He had flown Ted Morrison in and out of the Alaskan Bush since 1994. They asked if he would be interested in "hiring his services to fly equipment for a group of independent individuals without asking a lot of questions with the C-123?"

The money was good, and it did give he and Janice, his wife of three years a chance to travel and share some of the adventure. When they did, their children, Matt and Felicia stayed with Randy's close friends Gary and Donna Walker. Gary knew very little about Randy's extra curricular actiivities, and preferred to keep things that way.

Gary did know that the modifications they were making on the CitationX private jet were not exactly standard. He only knew of this from Tim Robertson, one of the pilots that flew from the Shaktoolik River Fishing Lodge in the summer and the Aurora Air Taxi and Air Cargo Service the rest of the time. As far as he was concerned, the Alaskan Bush was all the adventure he and Donna wished to experience. The reason someone would take a perfectly good CitationX and paint it flat gray was one of the things Gary would never ask. Since it was being done at Randy's Lodge and in his hangar, and wasn't bothering anyone, that suited he and Donna just fine.

Pat Daniels met Randy to carry the crates of surveillance equipment developed at the Rome Laboratory at the former Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York. This would allow the team to eavesdrop from almost a mile away, on "Handley", formerly known as Tim McVeigh, and be aware of any movements that would affect their own efforts to gather intel. Pat formerly flew F-16's with the 174th Fighter Wing at Hancock Air Reserve Base in Syracuse, New York. When her enlistment was up, she like so many fine personnel under the previous administration, "separated". In fact, that is the one thing most of the "team" had in common.

So many things occurred under that administration that it would take a complete moron to believe they were all accidental. The "reasons" given for these events was part of a massive coverup to avoid having to wage war. "Smoke and Mirrors" was the term Ted Morrison often used. "Like a carnival Magic Show."

The group's founder was a man from Palestine, Texas named Mike Harrison, who once had a website with links to various scandals and coverups from the Clinton Administration. Several of the people, who comprise the team, "met" in a chatroom on his website. Although Harrison was an avid hunter and owned both rifles and shotguns, he never owned a handgun. He would much rather confront an intruder with a 12 gauge and 3-inch magnum goose loads!

Thus when his website went offline and he turned up dead on August 31, 1999, with a gunshot wound behind his left ear, ruled a "suicide" Ted Morrison took it upon himself to get the group together. At the initial meeting at seven p.m. in Rome, New York that December, 12, the original members of Ted, Pat Daniels, Bud Robinson, Grady Polk, and a few others decided to "go covert" to uncover and deal with individuals and groups that would otherwise never answer for their deeds.

"It's all smoke and mirrors," Ted began. "How do you deal with smoke and mirrors?"

"I use Windex," Pat answered. "It works every time."

"That would be a good term to call ourselves," Grady suggested. "Only shorten it somehow. Like maybe Win DX? Nobody would think we were talking about anything but glass cleaner if they ever eavesdrop on us."

They all agreed, and began to discuss Mike Harrison's supposed suicide. Ted knew the man, and knew he was right-handed. Right-handed people don't normally shoot themselves behind the left ear with a gun they never owned. Then again, it was pretty common among victims of what had become lnown as "Arkancide" among the conspiracy circles.

"I knew Harrison," Ted explained. "We had a trip to Alaska booked to do some Salmon fishing and Caribou hunting out of King Salmon the following week. He was really looking forward to it."

"That don't sound like someone that would kill himself," Bud commented. "Has anyone spoken to his widow? I didn't see any of you at his funeral that I recall. There were some thuggish looking guys copying the guest register though. I didn't sign it for that reason."

"She won't talk to anyone," Ted said. "I can't say I much blame her. I tried to call last month and the phone is disconnected. I believe she moved. I sent a card and it came back marked 'no forwarding address'. To be honest, I am more than a little worried about Diana Harrison."

"Well what talents do we have?" Bud asked. "I mean I was Special Forces, and flew helicopters. I fly fixed wing as well."

"I was an F-16 jock," Patricia answered. "As you know, my big thing was the TWA 800 crash coverup. That lying little weasel didn't want to have to confront anyone over it, so they said it just blew up. I got out after his wife was touring our base and they made us shake hands with her. I refused to, and received a reprimand for it."