Page 31 of SEAL's Tempest
“Okay.” Tempest sighed. A tingle that started at the nape of her neck had her pulling her hand from his and making her way across the room to check the video monitor. Before she got halfway, another blast shook the building.
Reaching for the desk, she held as more dust fell from the ceiling. Josh was at her side before she had a chance to realize he’d gotten up.
“I guess they’re starting again,” Josh said.
“Sounds like it. I’m not sure how much more this building can withstand.” Tempest pointed toward a crack in the concrete wall next to the door.
“Yeah, no shit. I still can’t reach Quinn.” Josh didn’t look any happier than she felt.
“It shouldn’t have taken them this long to evaluate the aid workers. The EXFIL was just outside of Zdolnihiv. Do you think they ran into trouble?”
“Anything is possible. But I know my team, they’ll get here. No one gets left behind, right?” Josh smiled.
She knew he was trying to reassure her. But this wasn’t her first mission, and she’d had her share of close calls. She was usually alone. She didn’t want to be the reason he didn’t make it home.
“Maybe you should try again?” she asked. “If they’re closer you might be able to reach them now.”
Josh nodded. “Falcon 1, do you copy?”
Josh started laughing.
“Did Quinn answer?” Tempest exclaimed as she grabbed Josh’s arm.
“Not exactly,” Josh said.
“What are you talking about?”
“Look.” Josh pointed to the video monitor, and there was Quinn, waving at the camera.
Relief hit Tempest so hard, she sank back against the desk, her knees weak. “But we can’t hear them?”
“No. I’m not sure why, but the comms isn’t working. And see, Quinn signed he can hear me through his comms. The problem is on my end.”
“Wait, he’s signing? You guys know sign language?” It was a surprise. She knew the teams used signals but didn’t know they could sign.
“We do. It was something Quinn insisted we all learn. It makes it easier to communicate in sticky situations. Are you ready get the fuck out of here?”
As the words left his mouth, another explosion knocked a chunk of the wall down. Tempest watched the video as the guys on the other side of the door disappeared from view.
“Yeah, I just hope they can get the door open without blowing all of us up.”
“Me too, but I’m more concerned with the ceiling coming down on us,” Josh said.
Tempest followed his gaze and saw how spider web type cracks appeared on the ceiling.
“Velniop.Maybe they should just go. I can’t be the reason why your team is killed.”
“That’s never gonna happen, baby. Trust me. They will do whatever it takes to get us out of here.”
Tempest prayed he was right. “And you still can’t hear them?”
“Falcon 1, comm check,” Josh said, then shook his head. “Nothing but static. Quinn is signing that Lucky is going to see if he can disable the failsafe on the lock while they work on moving the debris.”
“Falcon 1, clear copy,” Josh told Quinn.
“I wish we had a two-way camera,” Tempest muttered.
“Yeah, that would make this easier. But as long as the camera feed doesn’t go out, we’re golden.”
