Read Crystal Horizon: A Short Prequel to Crystal Deception for Free Online Page A

for arms trafficking.
    This was his fourth field assignment for the Defense
Specialists Agency. DSA Intel had learned that the syndicate boss was on a rare
visit to the island. Sid and his team, briefed and deployed with just two hours’
notice, were to persuade him to close shop and leave peacefully, or be escorted
off the island, feet first if necessary.
    The mission was not going well. The crime boss had his own
ideas about how events should unfold and, not surprisingly, they were quite
different from those of the Union of Nations. The squad of soldiers he had with
him supported his differing views.
    The boss was staying at a walled-in estate on the island,
and his soldiers jumped Sid as he was breaking into the main villa. Sid’s
struggle ended when one of the thugs cracked him on the back of his skull. He had
no sense of the time that had passed since that blow. From his thirst, he
judged it to be several hours.
    His thoughts turned to his two partners. Jack was team lead,
and Jefe, who had just joined the DSA, was getting his feet wet on what should
have been an easy in-and-out. Sid’s duty at this moment was to escape, rejoin
the team, and complete the mission.
    He struggled for most of an hour trying to free himself and,
sore and discouraged, stopped to rest. His mind drifting, he flashed a half-smile
when he recalled the teasing Jack had given him on the hike up from the
lighthouse.
    Members of DSA forward teams all adopted colorful pseudonyms;
it was a tradition in the unit. Jack Sparrow, the same battle-hardened soldier who’d
visited Sid at camp a few months earlier, was Wynn Riley in his civilian life.
And Jefe Diablo—chief devil—had announced his name in a drunken ceremony just last
week.
    Sid had yet to choose a name and Jack was threatening to
assign him “Wimpy” if he didn’t pick one soon. I don’t think so, Sid
thought, resuming his efforts to break free.
    He halted his struggle moments later when an “oomph,” followed
by a muffled “thud,” drifted through the wall. Heavy thumps on the closet door
itself spurred Sid to act.
    He began rocking his chair back-and-forth, straining to gain
enough momentum to rise up to a crouch, the chair riding his back like a
tortoise shell. He hadn’t thought through what he’d do if he got that far, and
it didn’t matter.
    The door burst open and a man lunged through. Plowing his
shoulder into Sid’s chest, he drove Sid and the chair against the back wall of
the closet. Sid tried valiantly to head-butt his assailant during the short
ride.
    “It’s me,” hissed the man.
    Jack! Anxious to be free, Sid spoke with urgency. “I’m
tied to this chair.”
    Jack untangled himself and released Sid’s wrists. He leaned
out the door and scanned the room while Sid freed his own ankles.
    “There are four or five bad guys out on the villa grounds,”
said Jack. “There were three here inside.”
    Sid noted Jack’s use of the past tense. He rose to his feet
and, feeling dizzy, braced himself against the wall. “Where’s Jefe?”
    “I’m guessing he’s locked in a different closet.” Jack looked
Sid up and down, then handed him water. “How are you doing?”
     “Ready to go,” he said between gulps, refusing to
acknowledge he felt battered and weak.
     “Good,” said Jack. “You lead them east toward the coast.
I’ll go free Jefe and we’ll head south. Extraction at the lighthouse in four
hours.” He shrugged. “We’ll have to deal with this asshole another day.”
    Jack’s words gave Sid a fresh surge of energy. “C’mon, Jack.
We got this guy. Let’s not go back empty handed.”
    Jack looked at him with a fixed expression that conveyed his
authority. “I’ve called it. We’re out in four.” He picked his way across the
room and glanced into the hall.
    “We have any weapons?”
    “Whatever you can find,” Jack whispered over his shoulder.
    Sid looked at his bare feet. “Or shoes?”
    Jack stepped into the hallway without