This piece doesn't make much sense unless you read the opening scene first. As always, Gold Eagle owns the rights to the Mack Bolan characters. I'm just borrowing them at no profit. :-) Inspired by what I'd written, Tim Dzaman wrote this follow-up. I'm pleased to present it here. - Alice
Katz closed the door behind him as he entered his office. As he glanced around the familiar surroundings he could only feel a sense of emptiness.
Sighing, he slipped into his chair, unsure for once in his life what kind of response was open to them. Terrorism, animal man, whatever you called it, was a hydra... cut off one of it's limbs and it immediately grows another. Seemingly stronger and more entrenched than before. There were reports coming into the war room that the terrorists had been operating in the US and abroad for up to 2 years planning this attack. Stony Man had the best information available to them and they hadn't been able to stop it.
Katz flexed his good arm in frustration. How had they missed it? How, with the vast array of resources available to them at the Farm, had they missed this?
Barbara took that moment to knock on the door. "Katz, I think you might want to get in here, we have a call from Hal." Hal was Harold Brognola, head of the Stony Man program, and the Farm's liaison to the Justice Department, NSA, CIA, FBI and all the way to the White House itself.
Katz entered the War Room as Hal's unmistakable voice was coming over the speaker. "Hal, it's me," said Katz. There was a short pause; Barbara and Katz glanced at each other as they imagined Hal shifting his ever-present cigar from side to side. He'd stopped smoking them, but always seemed to have one around when he was under stress. They both realized it was his way. "Barb, Katz, has everyone been in contact yet". Barb picked up a clipboard and read from the list. "Phoenix is currently arranging transportation with the Air Force from their last assignment. They'll be back at the Farm by nightfall. Same with Able. They're on their way." The rest of the Farm is on full alert, and the blacksuits are all on site.
She paused, already knowing the question before it was said. She glanced at Katz. "Nothing yet from Striker." The news seemed to disturb the big fed, and they could hear him cover the phone as he informed the Man. After a moment Hal came back on. "Katz, I need you to co-ordinate from the Farm with the FBI and the CIA task force that is being set up."
"Get what you can from the usual channels. We've got more than 4000 special agents on this, with another 3000 support people. The Man is going to want scorched earth on this one. I can tell you that the Joint Chiefs have already had high-level meetings regarding the measure of our response. It will be big. But we need the full Stony Man team on this one. All of them."
Katz could only nod, as he knew that of all the missions he had been apart of at the Farm, this was the one that had hit closest to home.
"We're on it," he said, but the connection had already been broken.
Just then, one of the technicians waved Katz over. "Sir, I'm getting something here on a unsecured channel, but it's a bad connection, I'll try to clean it up..." As the tech worked the keyboard, Katz leaned in.
The sound jumped and static drowned the audio.
"Ston... Man.... this is ... come in ...an. Stony.... M.... come in."
"Can you clean it up," snapped Katz.
"Trying sir, but it's a weak connection." The audio was hard to make out, but as the tech's fingers flew over the keyboard, it cleared enough.
"This is Stony Man Farm... go ahead," said Katz.
Barbara came up behind them.
As the voice boomed out over the mike, the techs all glanced up from their screens. Her heart leaped to her throat.
The voice was cold— colder than she'd ever heard it. It was a voice from the grave. The voice of death.
Katz stifled a shiver. He'd stood in front of the worst the world had to offer, been forged in the fire of battle too many times to count. But the voice that came over the air was like nothing he had ever heard.
He realized that there would be an accounting for today's events. Someday there would be a final justice.
The simple statement caught them by surprise. She and Katz exchanged glances. They all realized that he never referred to himself by name. He always spoke carefully, in code. Never outright, even on a secure line.
But this time was different. It was an open line. lt was as if he wanted anyone who may be listening to know first hand who it was who that was coming after them. He wanted them to know, to think about what was to come.
"Stony Man Farm... this is Mack Bolan."
And that changed everything.