Afterburners Discarded Chapter 1

Chapter 01: Race You

~*~

Ramona Gibbler can hear the wind against her helmet as she raced through her practice track. Her yellow and white Formula 1 racecar zooms around the corners and its engine reeves loudly as she crosses lanes and takes the corners tightly. Her crew chief is communicating through the microphone giving her time updates and how well she is doing or when necessary telling her when she needs to pick up the pace. When she finishes her practice run her crew chief tells her to bring it in. As she starts to decelerate she catches the image of another formula 1 race car coming up on the outside of the track.

The red and white race car pulls alongside Ramona.  Ramona wasn't supposed to race against anyone but she took this up as a challenge and put her foot down on the gas pedal. Ramona's car pulls ahead and the two take the course three times around with Ramona leading the entire time but the driver of the other car made her work for it. After the third lap, the car falls back and starts slowing down. Ramona is breathing heavily as she decelerates and pulls into the pit. She stops the car, turns off the car, and removes the steering wheel. The other car's driver does the same and after the car is shut down he climbs out of the car. He heads over to Ramona's car where the American-Argentinian-born racer is waiting to meet with her practice opponent. Ramona removes her helmet and when the other racer is within five feet removes his helmet. Ramona does not recognize the man immediately but something about his eyes and his features look very familiar.

“You're pretty good. Not sure I'm familiar with you though.” Ramona states holding out her hand to the man.

Her opponent shakes her hand and smiles before saying, “So this must be how Jackson felt when he ran into us a few years ago.”

Ramona is taken aback by the other man's statement and recoils immediately. Before the racer realizes what Ramona is doing the young woman has produced a Walther CCP and has it aimed directly at the man's heart.

“Whoa, Whoa, Whoa...” The young man says raising his hands. “Ramona... it's me... Charlie Donovan.”

“Charlie Donovan...” Ramona repeats. She looks at the person's face and tries to tie it to the name that has been thrown at her.

“Cancun, Mexico... spring break 2021.” Charlie says.

“Oh My God... Charlie.” Ramona says lowering her weapon. She holsters the pistol, closes the distance, and gives Charlie a hug.

Charlie returns her hug holding her close for the first time in over ten years. “I'm sorry if I scared you. It's a long story but Jackson had a similar situation happen to him and now I know how he felt.”

“You've seen Jackson?” Ramona asks.

Charlie reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pair of wireless headphones and his cellphone. “You need to hear this.” Charlie states.

Ramona puts the earphones into her ears and presses the play button. Jackson and Rocki are in the video and give her the authentication code that Jackson had created so that his loved ones always knew that in a situation like this that it was truly him. Jackson says he doesn't want to go into details in this video but he needs her to go with Charlie to meet with their group. He further states that while he knows she is in the middle of her race season that he really needs her and hopes she will come. Removing the headphones and replacing them in their case, Ramona looks Charlie Donovan square in the eyes.

“So... where are we going?”

~*~

“What is this place?” Ramona asks Charlie as they walk into a rather large building that looks like a factory or some kind of warehouse. It is a nice-looking building, well maintained and rather large.

“Jackson's contact provided it for us. He said we needed a special training facility and the person gave us this place.” Charlie explains.

“We... who is we?” Ramona inquires.

Charlie chuckles as he enters the security code to unlock the door. Holding the door open he allows Ramona enters first and then Charlie follows her in. Ramona watches the lights come on as she enters the main area.

“Motion sensors.” Charlie states.

Ramona hears muffled shots from the direction they are walking to and she looks to Charlie. “Shooting range.” Charlie informs Ramona to put her at ease. Ramona watches from the other side of the safety glass as she sees Rocki and another young woman going through a combat range. Rocki is making her way through a course and Ramona watches as wooden targets with armed terrorist illustrations or civilians on them pop up in random patterns. She sees a timer on the other side of the wall and a scoreboard.

As soon as Rocki clears the room the timer and scoreboard reset and the young woman enters and takes the course. The pattern is changed up and the young woman puts two rounds in every enemy combatant in quick succession. Ramona sees that she is hitting the target in the head and chest before the target retracts. Once clear Ramona hears Jackson congratulating the pair on their time.

“They're not competing against each other, it is against their own record. They've gotten really good at this, you should have seen them fumble about just twenty-four hours ago.” Charlie states.

“They got that good in twenty-four hours?” Ramona asks stupified.

“Their shooting skills were good, the issue they had was doing it in a combat-like situation and in a timely matter,” Charlie says. “They were tripping, dropping magazines during reloading, reloading in the open... it was hysterical.”

“Hysterical wasn't how I would describe it,” Jackson tells the pair. “Fortunately after an hour they got their acts together and are now quick and accurate. How are you doing sis?” Jackson says walking up to Ramona. The two hug for the first time in months with Ramona giving Jackson a kiss on the cheek.

“I've missed you,” Ramona tells Jackson.

“Me too,” Jackson replies.

“Well, this is cute,” Rocki says as she walks up to Ramona. The two best friends hug warmly.

“Ramona.” The brown-haired woman greets the Formula 1 racer holding out her hand.

“Oh my god... Chloe.” Ramona says finally realizing who the young woman is. Ramona ignores her hand and pulls Chloe into a hug. Chloe smiles and hugs her one-time friend.

“What is going on?” Ramona inquires. “What are you guys all doing here?”

“Yes, Jackson... we are all here now. So what are we all doing here?” Rocki asks.

“Let's go to the conference room and I will explain everything.” Jackson tells the group.

“FINALLY!” Rocki decrees throwing her arms in the air in frustration at the situation.

~*~

Jackson is sitting to the right of a seventy-two-inch monitor that the Donovan's, Ramona, and Rocki watch. Pressing a button on the remote in his hand, an image of a shipyard appears on the screen.

“This is a shipping yard in Haiti. In a matter of days, a cargo ship will be bringing a large cargo container that after it is offloaded will be shipped from Haiti to an undisclosed location where its contents will be used by this individual...” An image of a man that three out of the four people in the room only vaguely recognize. The fourth will never forget him.

“Director Anthony Miles, the disgraced Director of Domestic Operations & Clandestine Affairs... my old boss. He was the man that burned me when I found out he was running illegal operations in the United States. He is the reason our family had to go underground Ramona, he orphaned Jessica... and he had Chloe's husband killed.” Jackson states.

“Oh god....” Ramona says in shock. “Why?”

“Long story short, Jackson was once engaged to Chloe. Because the director couldn't get to any of us he kidnapped Chloe to lure Jackson out.” Rocki tells Ramona.

Jackson gives Rocki an irritated glare. “I love you Jackson but after keeping us in the dark about what happened after you saved Chloe we need to know where this is going and why you had to drag Ramona into it as well. We want to know why we are here!” She exclaims.

“I was approached by an unnamed government agency that wants that container. If Miles gets it he will be able to carry out his operations for quite some time. The agency wants the contents for themselves to hinder his plans and because they have their own plans for its contents.” Jackson states.

“What's in the container that's so important?” Chloe asks her ex-fiance.

“Three-hundred million U.S. Dollars.” Jackson states.

“THREE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS!” Chloe, Ramona, Rocki, and Charlie exclaim.

“During the conflict in the middle east in the early two-thousands the United States government sent billions of dollars to help the governments with reconstruction. Millions of that were lost, millions more were misappropriated. I don't know where this money came from but the former director wants it but more importantly, he needs it to fund his operations.” Explained Jackson.

“So this unnamed agency wants you to steal the money for them.” Rocki surmises.

“Correct... and I want the four of you to help me pull it off,” Jackson states matter-of-factually.

The room goes relatively silent with that statement. Jackson knows that they never expected to be pulled into this, but at that same time they all had to know that he would rather have not let it come to this.

“Ok, I'll bite... why us?” Rocki asks.

“Because I know I can trust each of you. For my plan to work I need one person on overwatch manning the computer. One sharpshooter, and two drivers.” Jackson says and clicks the remote. The quartet watch as their four pictures come up next to graphics of the jobs. Chloe is designated overwatch, Rocki is the sharpshooter, and Charlie and Ramona are the drivers.

“Where will you be during all of this?” Ramona asks.

“I am the point man running this operation. If I get the equipment I've requested to pull this off I will be in charge of extracting the container.” Jackson says.

“What aren't you telling us?” Rocki asks. “Or should I say, what haven't you told us?”

“I'm not hiding anything from you... I just haven't finished my briefing.” Jackson tells the four. “I know none of you asked for this... I wish I didn't have to ask you for this. But I need your help to deal with this situation. I can take on the mercenaries that the Director hired for security, their numbers don't worry me. No... this is why I need your help.”

Six images pop up on the screen. The first is Jackson's and it is placed atop the row of his group. On the opposite side of the screen are five men that Rocki and Ramona have never seen before. Charlie and Chloe however do recognize the people on the oversized monitor.

“These five men are one of the Director's elite tactical units. They are one of the best teams ever put together at completing their task when they are left to their own devices. Tao is the team's silent weapons and close-quarters combat specialist. Beckett is a world-class driver and one of the better cyber specialists in the world. Carson is a conman, he is capable of talking almost anyone into giving him what he wants and a sharpshooter. Windham is a demolitions expert. Stevens is their leader and is a jack of all trades. He is one of the best shots I've ever seen and is unrivaled in hand-to-hand combat and is tactically gifted. This is why I need your help.” Explained Jackson.

“Chloe, Charlie... do you know these men?” Rocki asks after seeing the reaction the pair have on their faces.

“We've met,” Chloe says.

“Chloe and Charlie met them the night I came back into their lives. These men are... were my teammates for twelve years. I know them and they know me.” Jackson tells his sister and lover. “In a fight, I can take one maybe even two of them... but the whole team... never.”

“Who is the most dangerous?” Ramona asks.

“Stevens. He is the glue that holds the whole team together. The problem is that due to our training it is almost impossible to split the group up and pick them off individually. However.. I do have a plan. It's bold and risky but until I hear from our contact I won't know how feasible it is.”

“Ok, say we all agree to this... what exactly is in it for the five of us.” Rocki inquires.

“Athena, our contact, is already clearing Chloe's name with the video I provided her,” Jackson tells the group.

“Cleared her name?” Ramona asks perplexed.

“The police thought I killed my husband... or I should say, I was a person of interest,” Chloe tells Ramona.

“Well that's good news but this sounds incredibly dangerous... what else is in it for us?” Charlie asks.

“Twenty percent of the contents of the container,” Jackson says.

“Twenty percent...” Ramona repeats.

“Sixty Million Dollars...” Rocki says almost not believing her ears.

Jackson looked at the expression on the faces of the four people in the room. These four people meant more to him than almost anyone else in the world. That's why he wished he didn't have to do this. “So the risks are high but the payday is potentially very large. What do you say?” Jackson asks the quartet.

~*~

To Be Continued (Sort of)