Page 29 of Beaches

“Australia. They’ll be the ones most willing, and their Special Forces teams are as good as ours. They could have a boat ready, and we can load those kids off, set the explosives, and be home for breakfast.”

“And the other locations?” frowned Nine.

“Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the northern tip of the Solomons. Again, I think our best bet is the Australians to help with that one.”

“How long before we can arrange support with them?” asked Gaspar.

“Working on it now. Give me twenty-four hours. Max.” They all nodded, and Ace went to work on the allies.

“Code, what do we have on the remote islands?” asked Ghost.

“There are probably two or three dozen that I need to check. I’m moving some satellites and sending out long-range drones that we have in position on the West Coast. It’s going to take me some time, but I understand we don’t have time.

“The islands are too far apart to send you out there and go island hopping around the region. Besides, you could end up playing whack-a-mole if he was one step ahead of you. Let me find them if they’re still out there.”

“Anything else we need to know right now?” asked Jean.

“While you guys were gone, we have Vic, Damon, and Calvin looking through the balls of dog tags. They weren’t the ones to send them out, which tells us that there are others still alive. They went through them and identified as many as they could that they knew were dead. It was nearly all of them.”

“Fuck,” muttered every man in the room.

“Hey, I’m getting a message from a man named Burkhard,” said Victoria. “he said he’s a friend.”

“Patch him through, honey,” said Jean. “Burkhard, this is one of the men you met yesterday.”

“That narrows it down. Look, a contact of mine said there is an island off the coast of Alaska where he thinks some of these men are located.”

“Alaska? They would have frozen to death,” said Nine.

“Most did. The Kaplans were kind enough to leave coats and blankets. The island isn’t ever visited because it’s so desolate other than a few caves, walruses, seals, and polar bears. The contact said that Kaplan was sending someone to get those men and move them. You need to get there first. I’m sending the coordinates now.”

“If this is true, Burkhard, we owe you,” said Jean.

“It’s true, and you don’t owe me. I’m alive, so I count that as a win.” The line went dead, and Jean looked at the others.

“Get your long johns on. We’re about to get cold.”

The absolute desolation of where the island was located nearly took their breath away. There was nothing except glaciers, snow, ice, and miles of absolutely nothing. Savannah and Doug landed the Osprey on a firm piece of land and let the men off.

Code had been able to move the satellites into position and found thermal images of humans in a cave nearby. They could see footprints in the snow. Praying that they weren’t too late, they moved quicker.

When they reached the entrance to the cave, Jean, Wilson, Miller, Alec, Tailor, Whiskey, Rory, and Ian stood at the entrance.

“Hello? Is anyone in there? Don’t be afraid. We’re here to get you home,” said Jean.

“They may not be English speaking,” said Rory. “Try Russian or Chinese.”

“I don’t speak Chinese,” snapped Jean.

“I speak Russian,” said Alec. Remembering all of the Russian he was ever taught, he spoke to the men casually. “It’s alright. We’re here to take you home. No one will harm you. We are enemies of Kaplan.”

They heard men speaking rapidly inside, and Alec knew he’d reached them. Since they didn’t have weapons other than possibly handmade ones, the men slowly walked to the entrance. In spite of the frigid temperatures outside, the cave was fairly warm, with two fires going.

Adjusting their eyes to the darkness, they narrowed their gaze and spotted a group of men huddled near the back of the cave. One stepped forward, his gaunt appearance nearly knocking Alec to his knees.

“You’re Russian?” asked the man in English.

“No, I’m American. So are these men, but I speak Russian. We’re here to get you off this island. Can you step forward? We mean no harm and have food and warm clothing for you.” Seven men stepped closer to the fire, and Alec’s breath caught in his chest. They looked like Jews walking out of Dachau. He turned to his brothers, pleading for help. Wilson walked up slowly, showing them the red cross on his bag.

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