Page 83 of The Team

Rhett hadn’t truly grasped the impact of what he’d meant back then. But he understood it all too well now.

There would always be a political grab for control. No matter how hard Rhett fought against it.

Well, Rhett was drawing a line today. Was a military base in Shanghai with head officials the best place for it?

Logic and reason would say no.

Diplomatic relations would say definitely not.

But for Rhett? There was no better place.

He met King’s gaze, held it for long enough to see a glimmer of what might have been respect, before Rhett turned to the three senior brass. He drew his feet together and gave a slight bow of his head. “Thank you for your time and consideration,” he said.

Then he turned to his team. “Let’s go,” he murmured.

Before Azrael and Echo even got to the door first, King spoke. “Captain Ouston.”

They all stopped, looked at him, and waited.

“Eight works,” King said. “Yin’s on the team.” Zihao shot him a look, but King wasn’t ruffled. “Yin and Chen will breach. If this is going to work, they’ll need him. And weneedthis to work.”

Zihao stared at him for a long beat, and whether to save face in front of the brass—Rhett couldn’t be sure—Zihao gave a nod as if it were his idea all along.

“Milvus team,” Zihao said without missing a beat. “Prepare for dispatch.”

The late afternoonsun on the water made for a picturesque view that Jay would have otherwise appreciated, but it did little to take the chill out of the air.

Last temperature check of the water was, at surface, twenty degrees Celsius. Not frigid by any means but Yin and Chen would be well below the surface for some time. As practised Sea Dragons, they were used to this, probably worse conditions for longer periods of time. Jay trusted they knew what they were doing and they’d be fine, but as their medic, he couldn’t help be concerned. Recons or extractions in the desert were so much easier...

The fishing trawler was old and, like all the other similar trawlers in this stretch of water, inconspicuous. The inside of the trawler was old too, but the gear they had was something out of the future.

The Chinese tech was far better than any the Milvus Division had.

Echo was at the sonar, headphones on, listening, concentrating. Coyote was rechecking his explosive charges. Azrael was on weapons detail. Rhett, Sid, Yin, and Chen were at the screen with real-time satellite with thermal-scan imaging. They had floor plans, electrical circuit blueprints, and all the intel a covert op needed.

The Chinese cybersecurity analysts were now on the job—confirming everything Yunho had said about Frankston and Wong conspiring to sell and purchase information pertaining to the biochem data Frankston had stolen from Gordian.

It didn’t make sense to Jay.

Not why Frankston sold out. Money was a powerful drug. But when.

When did it start?

When did Frankston start his plan to deceive them?

How far back did it go?

“Hey,” Rhett said quietly. Jay hadn’t heard him come up behind him.

He was sitting near the end of the cabin, looking out across the water.

“Hey,” Jay replied, smiling up at him.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just checking my kit.”

“You were staring off into space. I called out to you but you didn’t hear.”