Noah's Adventure - 27. Operation S.H.I.L.O.H

Little B lay on the floor breathing heavily while Dom and Dame rushed to his side.

“I’m ok,” he croaked between breaths. “Just… worn out.”

“I’d say,” CC said as she appeared in the room. “You really are T3’s grandson.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

Grandma and CC exchanged a look.

“Well,” Grandma began carefully, “the whole room spinning thing is one of T3’s signature moves… among others.”

“Other things?” Shiloh asked.

Grandma and CC shared another look.

“Nut buster,” Little B said softly.

“That was Grandpa,” I said immediately.

“What’s a nut buster?” Dame asked, tilting his head. “Sounds painful.”

“It’s exactly what it sounds like,” I replied. “Grandpa kicked some principal in the balls and… let’s just say they couldn’t be saved. Hence the name.”

“Grandpa did that?” Dame asked in disbelief.

“It was a heat-of-the-moment thing,” Grandma said quickly, clearly trying to steer the conversation away.

At that moment Grandpa walked into the room with a slightly amused look on his face.

“Check this out,” he said, holding out his tablet to Grandma.

She read the screen silently. Her expression didn’t change much, but I could tell she already knew what it said.

“Tristan,” she muttered, handing the tablet back.

“Good news, Shiloh,” Grandpa said, passing the tablet to him.

I leaned over his shoulder and read the report.

Report: Operation S.H.I.L.O.H

Upon arrival at the warehouse in Hagerstown, our team noted that the two suspects inside were already incapacitated. The interior of the warehouse was found in complete disarray.

Medics attended to both suspects while the team swept the building looking for the hostage. Intel was received that the hostage had already been recovered prior to our arrival.

Medics noted both suspects appeared to be suffering from severe vertigo. Both men repeatedly stated the word “balls.”

Further medical evaluation revealed both suspects appear to have been castrated, though there are no visible signs of surgical intervention.

Patients are being transferred to the FBI for interrogation.

Confirmation received from HQ to terminate Operation S.H.I.L.O.H.

“Why is my name spelled like that?” Shiloh asked, pointing at the letters with the periods.

“It’s an acronym,” Grandma explained. “Silent Hostage Infiltration & Liberation Operation Hawk.”

“Clever,” I said.

“We try,” Grandma replied with a faint smile.

“What about the Senator?” I asked. The entire night had been insane.

“He’s dead,” CC said simply. “Murder-suicide.”

The room went quiet.

“He arranged the kidnapping,” she continued. “He wanted leverage. Money. Killing your mother and the rest of the family was his way of tying up loose ends.”

“His brother knew what the NTSB was finding,” she added. “Between tips and investigative work there was no way to dispute the evidence. What surprised everyone was that most of the plane disintegrated on impact… yet somehow the control panel survived.”

“What actually happened on the plane?” I asked.

“Lack of oxygen,” CC replied. “Once the aircraft climbed past ten thousand feet the oxygen levels thinned. The plane was supposed to automatically pressurize the cabin… but the wire controlling the system had been cut.”

“Hypoxia,” Shiloh said immediately.

CC nodded.

Ah, my boyfriend the scientist.

“Tristan was obsessed with the show Air Disasters,” CC continued. “He used elements from a real case but modified what actually happened. There were two known incidents involving pressurization failures—one with a large passenger jet and one with a smaller aircraft. Both eventually crashed after running out of fuel.”

“Wow,” someone murmured.

“What about the castration?” I asked, backing up to the more disturbing detail.

Grandma and CC both laughed.

“Tristan,” Little B mumbled sleepily.

“Tristan?” I repeated.

Little B was already drifting off.

“He has several signature moves,” Grandma said dryly. “Turning people into eunuchs is one of them.”

Every man in the room instinctively grabbed their groins.

Grandma smirked.

Suddenly T2 appeared.

And he looked like he absolutely did not want to be here.

“We have a problem,” he said.

“What is it?” Grandma asked.

T2 hesitated.

“The Elder Council,” he said finally. “They’ve demanded a full investigation… into Little B and T3.”

The room went silent.