Chapter 16 - THE SILENT GUARDIANS
Mercer looked at her, his anger completely draining away, replaced by a profound, hollow humbling. "What happens now?"
"Now, we run the live-fire exercise at zero-six-hundred exactly as scheduled," Amelia replied, reaching for her dress jacket on the back of the chair and slipping her arms into the sleeves. "The syndicate in Europe doesn't know Vance has been compromised. They expect a satellite transmission at zero-seven-thirty containing the tactical coordinates for USS Vermont."
"We give them false coordinates?" Mercer asked, his analytical mind finally re-engaging.
"We give them a signal hash that locks their receiving server and exposes every IP address connected to their master node," Amelia said, buttoning her jacket with precise, practiced movements. "And while they try to clear their terminal, my team will execute a simultaneous raid on their safehouse in San Diego."
Mercer stared at her in disbelief. "San Diego? They have an active team operating inside the city?"
"They have four men sitting in a rented warehouse near the commercial docks," Amelia said flatly. "They’ve been monitoring your perimeter communications for three weeks."
"I'll assemble Squad Three," Mercer offered instantly, reaching for his tactical radio. "Senior Chief Rhodes can have twenty men fully geared and on the water in fifteen minutes—"
"No," Amelia interrupted, resting her hand gently over his radio to stop him. Her touch was light, but firm as steel. "Squad Three is trained for direct action in open combat zones. They make noise. They break doors down. They leave a trail."
She walked toward the heavy steel exit door of Sector Four, stopping just inside the threshold.
May you like
"My team leaves no noise, Commander," she murmured. "Keep your forty men in the mess hall. Let them finish their breakfast in peace."
The steel door opened, and Lieutenant Amelia Carter vanished into the dark, silent corridor once again, leaving Mercer standing alone in the blue light of the command center.
