Free SEAL Team Bravo: Black Ops VI - Guantanamo by Eric Meyer

capability.
    The four men were still in manacles and sandwiched between a squad of marines. Evers led the way up the gangplank and took them down into the bowels of the ship, where the armorer removed the steel shackles on their wrists. In a last act of spite, the Panamanians clamped the iron on them before they allowed their release, then claimed to have lost the key.
      Nolan flexed his arms; glad to be rid of the tight handcuffs. Evers waited by the door, as if not wanting to associate himself with the act of releasing the four desperadoes. He looked at his watch.
    "Guys, we're to report to the communications room for a briefing, is this going to take much longer?"
    "Why don't you put on a set of these manacles yourself?" Will grunted, "Try it first hand, then you'd know."
    The spook grimaced and kept quiet. A few minutes later, they followed him through the ship to the operations room, the combat information center, and the heart of a fighting ship. A Naval officer was waiting to greet them. He stepped forward with his hand outstretched.
    "I'm Ed Miller, Captain of the USS Scott. It's lucky you caught us. We're on our first voyage. This'll probably be the first and last time we navigate the canal."
    He was tall, broad shouldered, square jawed, and he had mastered the art of standing as erect as a telegraph pole, while his expression was still relaxed but wary. He had deep lines, crow's feet, around his eyes. Not unusual for seafarers who spent much of their service lives looking out to sea for threats.
    Nolan introduced them, and he regarded them quizzically.
    "You're squids, or so they tell me."
    "Kind of," he hedged, "Right now, our status is unclear."
    He nodded. "Is that right? Sounds like some lace pants at the Pentagon has it in for you. Or is it to do with this operation?"
    "Something like that."
    "Right." He'd worked with Seals before and knew their MO, "There's a call waiting for you on the console over there," he pointed to where a petty officer was sitting behind a monitor, "When you're done, you can use our facilities to update yourselves on the local geography."
    Nolan thanked him, and they walked over to the console. The marine punched buttons on the keyboard, and a face appeared on the screen. Rear Admiral Drew Jacks. All four men relaxed for the first time since the Panamanians had grabbed them.
    Jacks grinned. "Good to see you're all still alive. You understand what this operation involves?"
    "We're civilians," Nolan quipped, "You sure you got the right men?"
    The grin faded a little. "Ouch. I guess you were thrown a raw deal, so you're entitled to feel that way. By the way, I've ironed out the worst of the legal and political problems."
    He didn't tell them any more. It wasn't relevant to the operation. Besides, blackmailing the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs wasn't something you'd want spread around. Neither was it relevant to admit General Walker hadn't given the final go-ahead. Jacks was certain it would come. Had to come.
    "That's good news, Admiral. Suppose you spell out the bad news."
    He looked grim. "I guess you know the political realities of entering Cuba." Nolan nodded, "That's why the Pentagon decided to keep your status as civilians, just for the time being. You'll be going in on your own, with no overt assistance from the military."
    Will was listening, and his expression changed to anger. "You're not serious? Admiral, you know we were screwed over that Colombian business, and now you're telling us we're going to fight as civilians! No back up? No reinstatement?"
    Jacks sighed. "If it was up to me, you'd be back in the service in the blink of an eye. Preferably with promotions all round for what you went through. But it isn't up to me. The feeling is that if you go in as civilians, it'll allow our government to deny all knowledge of any incursion into Cuba, or any other foreign soil. The last thing we want to do is start a war."
    "Admiral," Brad interjected, "the guys at Guantanamo who