Black Ops

Chapter 2

2

In meeting room 811b of the Australian National Security Agency, Divisional Chief of Black Ops Paul Henderson and Commander Alexandria Tap were staring at a laptop. Rioting men wearing balaclavas and holding Molotov cocktails streamed across the screen. The men shouted and held up placards reading ‘Free Carraldo’.

“Four Cuban judges were killed last month,” Paul said.

“What are they protesting against?”

“The law.”

“Chief, please drag to 2.12, pause, lift and magnify. Then zoom to under the burnt flag.”

In the dark corner of the screen a man’s face appeared, clean-shaven with one blue eye and one green eye. The man was old and walked with a walking stick and he wore a poncho over what looked to be a white shirt.

“His name is Cerberus, Chief. The dog that guarded the gates of hell. But the funny thing is we believe it is his real name?”

Paul stood, brushed down the lapels of his wool suit, and walked the length of the room. He paused and turned back. Commander Tap raised one long black eyebrow in anticipation. She had known him long enough to anticipate that his small stroll around the room would precede an announcement.

“Commander Tap. I think it is time to go for a more field-based solution, starting tomorrow. This guy comes out of the shadows and then disappears into the shadows again. We need someone on the ground.”

“We’ll need more Black Ops whizzes for the scheduled bang and burn jobs. So, do we have the budget for that, Paul?”

“Leave that to me. There’s a partnership cooking with the big house on Pennsylvania Avenue. Seems they got intel that Cerberus is heading to Australia and they want him as badly as we do. If judges start appearing dead in this country …”

“Jesus, seriously, is there anything you can tell me right now?”

“I promise to tell you when I have all the details. All I know is the gods may have delivered us an option.”

“Care to share?”

“The man we want is ex-Duntroon and did a stint in Afghanistan with our Special Operation Task Group. SOTG were tasked to provide security during a training validation exercise for the Provincial Response Company of Uruzgan (that’s the PRC-U) in Tarin Kot, Afghanistan. SOTG have worked with PRC-U special police officers since 2001 and turned over operations in Uruzgan province in 2005.”

“Did you know him from Duntroon?”

“I recall he came through the year I got this assignment. Bit of a public face now and he puts out fires, literally. Prior to that, he went to the States and worked for a subunit of the US Marines after six months at West Point to complete his Special Ops combat mustering. Actually, he did two trips through Afghanistan when the s**t was at its heaviest. Then, when they were about to promote him, he asked to be transferred home. Said he wanted to start a business!”