Chapter 46

FORTY-SIX

Trigger gagged, spasming violently against the restraints on his wrist and ankle as a blinding light filled his vision and he felt a tracheotomy tube being pulled from his throat, he could hear a voice, thought the words sounded like they were underwater and were indecipherable to the pilot.

 

After what felt like an eternity, the fog around his mind started to clear. At his bedside looking over him was a man with a buzz cut and teal scrubs, he was speaking something in a guttural language that Trigger couldn’t understand, but through the hand gestures the man was making Trigger assumed it was for him to breath. There was a loud continuous beeping of a heartrate monitor behind his head and the whir of dozens of other pieces of equipment around the hospital room. As Trigger continued to gasp for air, he was slightly relieved that he was in a proper hospital this time.

 

He slowly regained his breath enough for his eyes to focus, standing the bulkhead doorway was a far older bearded man, his paunch apparent under his black naval officer’s uniform and doctors coat. The nurse attending to Trigger stiffened up when he noticed the man but continued his examination of the pilot.

 

The nurse released his restraints, easing some of his discomfort, but he couldn’t help but notice that despite the drugged feeling he had, almost everything in his body still ached incessantly. He could feel the tightness of stiches in various places along his chest, legs and back and itching of casts on his arms and other leg. When the nurse was completed with checking Trigger’s cognitive abilities, he quickly rushed to the doorway to greet the intruder. The two men spoke in hushed tones in a language Trigger was sure was Yuktobanian, before the nurse was dismissed by the older man.

 

“I see you have come to join the land of the living!” the man laughing said in a booming voice. His speech was impeccable but clouded by a thick accent.

“Yeah, I didn’t care for the whole ‘being dead’ thing… way too boring.” Trigger quipped weakly, falling into a coughing fit.

The man smiled widely at Trigger “Well, it is good to see your humor was not taken from us at all Major.” He said supportively.

 

The use of his rank made the sweat on the back of Trigger’s neck run cold.

“I’m sorry but, who are you again? I don’t believe we are acquainted.”

“Actually we have met, but we were both quite drunk at the time.-“ the man explained with a chuckle, Trigger stared at him blankly not remembering the incident he was referencing “-Counter Admiral Marko Borodin of the Yuktobanian navy, At your service.” He said, holding out his hand. Trigger cautiously shook it, keeping eye contact with the Admiral.

 

Trigger attempted to keep his best poker face, but the anxiety building up in him was betrayed by the rapid beeping of his life-support equipment. The Admiral seemed to enjoy the pilots discomfort.

 

“I wouldn’t worry about that Major. Even if our respective countries were at war, your time on this ship is off the record. Cinigrad and Oured have no idea you’re aboard this ship, and only I know who you are.” The Admiral explained.

“Wait, what do you mean ship?” Trigger asked.

“Da, we’re currently aboard the Milost. It is one of the hospital ships of my countries Navy. We’re currently on a cruise back to our homeport of Dakhovsky in west Yuktobania.” The Admiral explained.

Trigger shook his head “Man, how long was I out for this time? A month?”

The Admiral shook his head, walking to the foot of the bed and picking up his chart. “Looks like you came aboard just about two weeks ago. As for how long you were in that state before hand? I really can’t say.” He explained as his eyes dashed across the documents before him. “We had to keep you sedated to reduce the stress on your body. Honestly with how the attending has written your report here, I’m surprised we’re even having this conversation.” The Admiral replied.

Trigger shrugged, before wincing at the pain “What can I say, many have tried to kill me, no one has yet succeeded.”

“But which ever it was this time definitely came close, do you want the full list or just the abridged version?” the Admiral asked rhetorically, not waiting for a response.

“You had at first examination, multiple lacerations across your body, internal and external bleeding, seems semi-redundant, collapsed lung, renal failure, multiple broken bones, severe damage to your liver, and significant bruising across most of your body. You put our Operating room into overtime just putting you back together.”

Trigger coughed in shock at the news. “Christ! I’d say I’m doing pretty good all things considered.”

“If only” the Admiral replied “Looks like we had to remove your lung, a kidney, and well, let’s just leave the rest as your suddenly a few pounds lighter than you were some time ago. Also, I would avoid metal detectors if I were you. Your femur is currently being held together with titanium plates and screws. It was the best we could do with our limited facilities.” The Admiral explained apologetically.

 

Trigger sat for a moment and dwelled on the news. “Well, if it was just that, I guess I look pretty good then.” He quipped. “Indeed, with enough rest and proper therapy, you should make a mostly full recovery soon.” The Admiral informed him.

“About damn time.” A voice from the doorway said. Trigger looked to see Bandog leaning in the doorway, looking far paler than before. The Admiral took notice and scowled.

“Bezlikiy, You haven’t been taking the Dramamine like I prescribed, have you?” he admonished.

Bandog shook his head. “Makes me too drowsy, hard to think.” Bandog said dismissively.

“Fine then tupitsa, keep throwing up in the head for all I care.” The Admiral said frustrated before turning back to Trigger. “I’ll let you deal with him. For someone with his reputation, I would have expected him to not be as big of a child as he has been.” The Admiral said before leaving the room.

 

“Ain’t he just a ball of sunshine.” Bandog said entering the room, shutting the door behind him.

“I think it’s just you Bandog, he was fine with me.” Trigger replied, causing Bandog to roll his eyes.

“Joy. I guess I have a way with people. But enough about me, how are you doing?” Bandog said changing the subject.

 

Trigger gestured to the room “All things considered, pretty darn good. I always did want to drop that last ten pounds, figured this was a great way of doing it.”

Bandog raised an eyebrow “I’ll have to try the ‘Getting the shit kicked out of me to almost die’ diet sometimes if It works so well then.”

 

The two stood in silence until Trigger spoke. “How long have I been away this time?”

“The Chopinburg raid was two and a half weeks ago.” Bandog replied matter-of-factly.

“What happened after I, you know.” Trigger’s voice trailing off.

Bandog took a deep breath.

 

“I wont lie and tell you everything worked out. It was close and the team took casualties, but without your support it would have been far worse. Those Hind’s and Hips you attacked were able to land, and did effectively break the Marine’s positions, but the alert fighters Osea sortied were able to route the attack. All in all, it was an Osean victory and last I checked there is an Osean Army unit garrisoned on the airfield while they pack up the few jets that survived.” Bandog explained.

“Who didn’t make it?” Trigger asked, a lump forming in his throat.

Bandog frowned. “Sergeant Zhao and the Belkan’s crew chief were killed. Lieutenant Fick is still in critical condition and it’s not looking good for his recovery, but he’s a marine and has been surprising the doctors in Selatapura with how long he’s made it. There were other minor injuries but those are expected to heal fully.”  As Bandog relayed the names, Trigger felt an immense sadness. He was no stranger to Close Air Support missions where the men he was supporting had been killed. While he did feel sadness and a twinge of responsibility for them, He compartmentalized everything knowing ultimately it was a part of the mission. For those three however, he found it hard to separate their deaths from the forefront of his mind. They were not a faceless voice crying out over a crowded radio frequency, but instead the men he had worked with for the past few months.

Bandog watched the pained expression on the pilots face. “Good news is though, Lauren will make a full recovery, just some blood loss but nothing permanent.” He said hoping to change the subject. Trigger cracked a weak smile “That’s something. And I guess I’m here too. Are the Marines with you still?” Trigger asked.

 

Bandog sighed. “No, actually they don’t know your alive either to tell you the truth.”

“Really? You’ve known for a week and haven’t told them?!” Trigger said astonished.  

Bandog held up his hands defensively. “Look, if it was up to me, I’d tell them personally, but, a lot has happened since you disappeared.”

“Like?” Trigger shot back

 

Bandog pulled out a small stack of papers from his pocket and handed them to Trigger. They were print outs from various articles, written in various languages but Trigger could tell from the context clues that prominent figures from around the world had ended up missing or dead.

 

“Most of the team went radio silent about a week ago. Not even Osea can find them right now.” Bandog explained as Trigger thumbed through the document. “Now I’m personally not a betting man but… I had time to go through those files captured from that club in Anchorhead as well as getting my hands on the intel they’ve been pulling out of that airfield. A lot of powerful people who wouldn’t be looked at otherwise are now ending up dead or worse. I think we both know who and why.” Bandog continued.

 

“But why though?” Trigger asked. Bandog shrugged and leaned back against the bulkhead, folding his arms “You’re right. At first it was just business, but now two of their guys is dead, their former commander is in the hospital, and they think your missing, dead, or worse.”

“I’m betting now Osea just wished they’d have a blackjack and hooker method of blowing off steam.” Trigger said impressed.  

“Beware the fury of a patient man.” Bandog replied with a smug smirk. “They’ll show up eventually, but only when they’re done. They know Osea’s playbook better than most field grades.”

 

“Let’s, hope we stay in their good graces then.” Trigger replied.

“Indeed, just ask Rudolph Scmidt how well that worked out.” Bandog said. The name stuck out to Trigger.

 

“Why does he sound familiar?” Trigger asked.

“Herr Schmidt is the CEO of the SRW Group. A low-level arms manufacture that mostly works with smaller countries selling licensed Belkan arms. He not only is on first name basis with dozens of world leaders, but the future father-in-law to the Princess of Erusea. It appears Schmidt, his pleasure yacht, and its crew and security compliment all went missing off the coast of the Crescents Island. Calm weather, no distress calls and its unheard of for piracy.” Bandog explained.

 

Trigger though back to the Erusean ball, and the heavy-set man that Alex Schmidt had followed after their altercation. For the life of him however, he was unable to recall any major details about the senior Schmidt. Guess I was more than distracted. Trigger thought to himself. “What did Schmidt do to get on Morgan’s bad side then?” Trigger asked.

 

“Seems like Schmidt was the one organizing less than above board shipments to the Machado Cartel. Not only were his ships moving drugs for them, but he sold them weapons wholesale and getting them in touch with the more specific vendors for the more specialized ordinance and materials. I’m sure that every district attorney from Oured to St. Hewlett would have wanted their pound of flesh from every law he broke.” Bandog concluded.

 

Trigger shook his head. “The only thing I am left to wonder is why the Cartel had those jets and were at the airfield anyways. Guns I get, but those jets? Seems like more trouble than they were worth.”

Bandog shrugged “Unfortunately Park has been tight lipped since her capture, but I poured through the records and found some interesting intel on at least some of the questions. Are you by chance familiar with Sapinish-Aeronáutica?” Trigger shook his head Bandog chuckled “Didn’t expect you to. They were a Sapinish engineering firm back in the late 90’s. Sapin had seen firsthand how behind they were on the world stage for an Air Force and was looking to make their own Fifth Generation fighters to counter the Raptors, Lightnings, and the Morgans; So they formed Sapinish- Aeronáutica to design and produce the jet for the air force to give them that edge.

 

“The design was between their two most capable airframes. Their most recent purchase had been a fleet of Rafeal fighters, but their backbone of the fighter force in Sapin was their aging F-20 Tigersharks. Wanting to keep the maintenance of the jets simple, as well as the flying aspects, the engineers opted to base the design as an update to the F-20’s design to complement the Rafael instead. The Project went along until the Continental War. The Administration in Osea loosened up its restrictions on the procurement of jets to its neighbors and Sapin instead opted for more proven designs, pulling funding for the F-20 upgrade program and killing their project in its design and early prototype phase.”

 

Trigger gave Bandog a confused expression. “I still don’t see how a bunch of gangsters ended up with a jet though.”

 

“That’s where Lisa Park comes in. her work with Northrop gave her detailed knowledge of the F-20’s upgrade potential and made her one of the lead designers for the Sapinish Fifth Generation program. She vanished right as the program was getting shut down and defected to the Cartel. She helped them with her experience with software, and in return they helped her finish the jet. That Airfield we attacked was former Grunder property, and before the Belkan’s had pulled out, they had brought in all the machinery to make aircraft. It was under Park’s guidance that they reactivated the facility and finished the work she started years prior. All this resulting in the X-10 Hibrido"

 

Trigger nodded. "So they built new jets from the ground up, but that takes a mountain of resources to accomplish, no way they could pull it off alone, and even then what was the payoff?"

 

Bandog shrugged. "Ill leave that to the authorities. The biggest question is the jets capabilities. Even Osea has taken notice of that."

 

Trigger thought back to his run ins with the jets. "Their maneuverability wasn't anything to write home about, but the ECM or whatever the hell they had was a bitch."

 

Bandog smirked "remind you of anything?"

Trigger thought for a moment. "The Bats?" He asked. It was a group of Su-47 Burkit fighters that had been a minor irritation for the LRSSG in the war. They had been hired by a Osean General to kill Trigger in particular to further his own political ambitions within the Osean senior leadership, all coming to a head with two more kills to Trigger and Counts name, Huxian having to be restrained by security forces for trying to kill the General and the greatest insult to injury of the whole ordeal resulting in $1.50 of the Generals forfeit pay going to Lanza for the only casualty of the incident.

 

Bandog nodded "exactly. Their ECM was defense in nature and a product of General Resources. The Hibridos on the other hand, was an offensive use, designed to lock up our fire control and radar system. Without it, the jet is sub-par in every aspect, but with that EW suite?"

 

"You didn't have to worry about the enemy if they couldn't shoot back."

 

Bandog snapped his fingers. "Exactly. They're running tests against one of the captured units, but it seems to have confirmed my theory that they're limited in the scope of their attacks. Which means we can counter and kill them next time."

 

Trigger and Bandog continued to discuss the news for some time. While most of the technical details went over both officers heads, it was readily apparent to the Test and Evaluation squadron that the software wasn’t a normal program either, and what was thought to be a near impracticality only a year prior was staring them in the face. 

 

"AI… What's the A stand for?" Trigger joked, trying to lighten the mood. Bandog glared at him. "Artificial intelligence. You so far are the resident killer of them, so I bet Osea really wished they had you around instead of your wingmen. Of course, they are already looking at the usual suspects, but it doesn't appear to be directly related to that horror Gründer keeps trying to unleash on us." Bandog explained, Trigger almost asked but decided against prying at the details the air battle manager was Even uncomfortable with.

 

Trigger sighed "yeah I do think Osea will want to talk to me, wouldn't they." His voice trailing off, Bandog gave him a side glance "Trigger, before you say what I think you're going to say, my offer still stands. Even if you don't want to work for me, I can get you set up somewhere else where they won't find you. A fresh start, even in Osea if you wanted." Bandog said, a pleading undertone in his voice.

 

Trigger shook his head. "Well maybe with good behavior I can get out of the harshest punishment, besides a club Fed isn't the worst place to retire." Trigger replied wistfully.

 

Bandog scowled. "Then what was the point?! You gave up your life to save Oseans, twice! And they're still going to crucify you for it!"

 

Trigger smiled, he could only think of Cossette, and the slim chance that his plan might give her a sense of closure. "I had a debt to pay. The Marines saved me, I had to repay the favor and by all accounts I did. The mission is over, its simple as that." Trigger replied shrugging.

 

Bandog shook his head in frustration "You have 4 weeks of Physical therapy. Hopefully the Yukes beat some sense into you. If not, I will make arrangements for your surrender." Bandog said.

 

“Thanks.” Trigger replied as Bandog left the room.

***

It was nearing the end of November by the time the Milost had pulled into its home port. Trigger had thought that the physical therapy from Hernandez had been a frustrating experience but relearning to walk a second time on a ship that was constantly listing from side to side as it made its way across the Eusian ocean had been its own exercise of patience. Trigger however had been pleased with his own progress as the days went on, and by his third week he was able to walk around without one of the ships’ crew attending to him constantly.

 

The night prior to his arrival into Yuktobania, he was hosted by some of the ships officers, including Admiral Borodin for a going away party. Despite Bandog and the Admiral’s best efforts, the news of Trigger’s actual identity had spread through the crew like wildfire and many of the junior officer’s were keen to hear as many stories as the pilot could offer with the aid of one or two translators. By the end of the night, Trigger wasn’t sure if he was unsteady due to the almost constant flow of vodka shots he had drunk at the behest of his hosts or just the aging vessel getting battered by another wave. However, as the dawn started to peak over the horizon, Borodin made a final toast and on behalf of the crew presented Trigger with a present,

 

A simple wooden cane, painted black, with flame decals covering a third of its length. One of the ship’s doctors joking in Yuktobanian that it ‘would make you look faster’.

 

As Trigger made his way down the Gangway onto the dock, Bandog and David were awaiting him.

“Dobro pozhalovat' v Yuktobaniyu” Bandog said. Trigger gave him a sideways look not understanding causing Bandog to roll his eyes. “You were onboard for a month and didn’t pick up a word of Yuktobanain?” He admonished. Guiding Trigger towards a parked car nearby.

Trigger ignored the comment, “About what we discussed.” Trigger opened with. He could see Bandog cringe slightly “I’m guessing you haven’t changed your mind?”

“Nope.”

 

Bandog sighed heavily David smirked “Told you so boss. If he’s crazy enough to do half the things he did, I don’t think you would have been able to change his mind that easily.”

“Shut up.” Bandog hissed at his subordinate. “If that’s the case Trigger, I guess I can make it happen. Any particular requests?”

 

Trigger thought for a moment stopped and smiled. “Actually yeah. I do.”

***

Cossette sat in her office in Cascadia. It had been some weeks since Alex had departed to run his families business and she couldn’t have been more grateful. Not only did it put a delay on their engagement, but it also meant she no longer had to see him every day to keep up the appearances.

 

She opened up the drawer of the desk and pulled out a small blue box, the velvet cover had been damaged in the attacks, but she could still faintly make out the gold lettering of the jewelry store that it originated from in Farbanti. She opened the box to see the small gold wedding band, the single diamond shining brightly in the center.

 

It had been six months since she had seen him. Every morning she missed waking up next to him, to see his smile and to hear his laugh. All of that she had thought six months prior would always have been out of permanent reach. She hated herself to admit her concerns were more towards her country and the crisis of leadership, rather than her own wishes. It crushed her that last night her and Trigger spent together, and how she was unaware it was her last to be with him.

 

Her hopes had been raised months later with the events in Anchorhead, but despite her best efforts, no information was found about the mysterious airplane in the sky that night, and as quickly as her hopes had been raised, they were once again crushed. She still hoped, no prayed, that Trigger was somewhere out there, and would save her like he had done all those times before. But as the days dragged on, and the more she was forced to be around Alex, the less likely that all seemed.

She could feel tears welling up in her eyes when there was a quick rapt on the door.

 

Cossette took a deep breath to compose herself, and gently closed the box and returned it to her desk.

“Just a moment!” Cossette said, trying to hide the emotions in her voice.

“Your Highness, Its Gretchen, We need to talk.” The voice said softly from the other side of the door. Cossette quickly got up and let the maid into the room.

 

“Your Highness, I know you have been pestering them for months for information and they have been ignoring you, but that’s finally over today I-“ the Maid started speaking rapidly. Cossette was taken aback at the flustered expression on the aging woman’s face. she held up her hands to stop the constant barrage of speech. “Ok, Ok Gretchen, one thing at a time.” Cossette said.

 

Gretchen took a deep breath. “There was a message for you today Your Highness, our Intelligence services are verifying it now, plus the Oseans, but they are thinking it might be legitimate. They didn’t want to worry you but my sources in the community tipped me off.” The Maid said.

Cossette looked at her confused “What message? Who are you talking about?”

The maid pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Cossette. The Handwriting was brutish, and hard to read, but it looked familiar.

 

Meet me at 2341 Meridian Plaza

6PM, Friday.