Balto: Espionage Tactics:

In A Father’s Footsteps

By: Balto5670

This story and its corresponding plotline are © 2007 Balto5670. The characters Balto, Jenna, Kodi, Kirby, and Niju are © 1995, 2002, 2005 Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. All other characters are © 2007 Balto5670.

When a son looks to a father as a hero, how is it possible to fail?

Inspired by the game series Metal Gear Solid: Tactical Espionage Action and Splinter Cell

The year is 2005. The United States government has been forced to order all secret operative agents to disregard any and all missions in order to turn the tables in the war in Iraq. Hundreds of secret agents and spies are sent as mercenaries to the desert country, fighting like normal soldiers. The only special forces operatives that remain are those too important to risk or to lose. Two of this handful of agents include Balto and Jenna Harrand.

Chapter 1

Washington D.C., June 21st 2005, 1330 hours.

            The form of the crimson and cream colored husky slowly pacing back and forth in the waiting room was the only thing that moved in the moderately-sized room. Her amber eyes continuously went from the door to the door at the back of the room marked “Examination Rooms,” then to her watch, then to the clock on the wall. She sighed heavily, resuming her pacing before repeating that similar pattern once again.

Heaving another heavy sigh, she bit her fingers gently in eager anticipation, anxiety flooding through her. God, was there a time she’d been more nervous? Well, there was that time in Botswana… Or just half a year ago up in Alaska… THAT was my closest brush with disaster ever! she thought to herself. She grinned slightly, memories flooding back to her from that one mission that led her up to this moment in time; that caused her to pace nervously back and forth here.

Before anything else happened, the doors to the examination rooms opened up and a Samoyed wearing a white doctor’s coat stepped into the waiting room, looking over some file on a clipboard. His eyes moved up to the female husky, then back down to his clipboard.

“Jenna Harrand, correct?” he asked, looking over his files again, “We’ve gotten the results back…”

“That’s great news!” Jenna said, smiling slightly, “So what are the results?”

“They were positive…” the doctor replied with a warm smile, “Congratulations… So, how are you going to tell your husband? Believe it or not, most males are surprised when they hear of this kind of thing…”

“Oh, thank you so much doctor! I took a couple tests before, but I wanted to make sure they were completely accurate, and I guess they are!” Jenna replied, beaming widely, “I don’t have to worry about my husband… He’s down in Cancun right now…”

“Ah, I see…” the doctor said, handing Jenna the clipboard to sign, “So, he’s in Mexico, huh? Business trip or something?”

“Well, not really… It is for his job, but it’s not really a trip… Just, sort of a business deal, you know?” Jenna answered, signing the clipboard and handing it back to the doctor, “Thank you again doctor.”

“Take care, Mrs. Harrand!” the doctor called after her as she walked out the front door and vanished from sight.

Once outside, Jenna couldn’t stop beaming, grinning from ear to ear. This had to be the most thrilling thing that had ever happened to her! Not wasting any time, she got into her car and drove back home, arriving fifteen minutes later. She quickly got out of the car, unlocked the front door, ran inside, and ran to the Equipment Room they had in their house. Unlocking the door and walking in, she walked past the rows of metal cabinets filed with government-supplied guns and walked to a table, snatching up a small long-range radio, clipping it onto her belt, and placing the headset on before turning the radio on. One of the two radios was gone, but Jenna didn’t worry. She knew exactly who had it.

“This is Jenna calling Balto… Balto, can you hear me? Over…” Jenna said, then waited for a response. She and her husband had their own frequency where the two of them could talk when they were apart. A few moments later, Jenna got a response.

“This is Balto… What’s up, baby?” came the voice of Balto through the earpiece of her headset.

“Hey Balto… How’re things going down in Mexico? The Mexicans aren’t giving you too much trouble, I hope…” Jenna said into the microphone piece of the headset, still beaming despite the fact she knew Balto couldn’t see her.

“Heh… Jen, when have you known anyone to give me any trouble?”

“Well, I don’t know… Sometimes I wonder if I gave you any trouble…”

“Well, aside from the memory of watching you kiss Steele back in winter, nope, no trouble at all…”

“Hey, I saved your life by doing that!” Jenna remarked with a soft laugh, walking around the room as she spoke to Balto, “And I already apologized for that… Besides, you’re the only guy who kisses me now… and that’s how it’s going to remain…”

“Heh, I’d hope so… Nah, I trust you Jen…” Balto’s voice replied, “So, what’s up Jenna? You never just call me to say ‘hi’ anymore…” Jenna could feel the excitement welling up inside of her.

“Well… I do have something important to tell you…” Jenna said, “Are you in a good place to listen to this? Where are you right now?” There was a moment of silence before Balto said,

“Oh, just hanging around…”

            The sunlight beat down on a large Mexican prison standing out against the green trees and lush background. Inside, however, the prison was pitch-black. The power had gone out half an hour ago and no one had been able to repair it yet. It was as if someone had sliced all the wires with a knife intently. As the guard struggled about in the darkness, a wolfdog clad in a black combat suit hung from the ceiling by his grappling gun, night-vision goggles around his eyes as he slowly pulled himself up with the pull and hold of the trigger, slowly inching his way up.

“Oh, just hanging around…” Balto replied coolly, making sure to keep his voice low enough so he wouldn’t be heard, but he was up high enough to do that for him, “So what’s so important Jen?”

“Well… Balto, do you remember what we did on our honeymoon a couple months ago?” Balto chuckled as he reeled himself upward past each floor of the prison.

“Well, that depends… What’re we talking about? We did so much…” he replied, “Swimming, waterskiing, walking on the beach, dancing-”

“Let me rephrase that… What we did at night… In our room?”

“Oh! Yeah, yeah, I remember… How could I forget that Jen?” Balto asked rhetorically with another chuckle, “So what’s up with that?”

“Well… God, how do I say this? Balto… I’m pregnant…”

“What?!” Balto asked in utter shock, pushing the trigger on his grappling gun the opposite way and sending him plummeting toward the ground. After a couple of seconds and about two hundred feet, Balto quickly pulled the trigger again and it stopped releasing the steel nylon cord, jerking Balto powerfully as his descent suddenly stopped. Letting out a soft sigh of relief, Balto began to pull himself back upward once again. “Jenna… D-did you say you were pregnant?!”

“Yeah… I did… I am, Balto… I took a couple to tests while you were down there, and they all came up positive… I wanted to be sure, so I got a more accurate test from the doctor, and… Well, I’m sure you can guess the results…”

“Oh my God, Jenna…” Balto murmured, still in utter shock, “This is… It’s absolutely fantastic! I can’t believe it! So, do they know if it’s a boy or a girl yet?”

“I’m not sure… I’m going to go into the hospital tomorrow and get an ultrasound… Maybe then we’ll know!”

“That’s great Jenna! I’ll be home in a few days time… I’ll see you soon, sweetheart!” Balto said, “Love you… Bye…”

With that, Balto turned off his radio and continued to winch his way up until he reached the top floor. With his night-vision goggles, he could clearly see the walkway and halls adjacent from it. He walked silently down one until he came to a door marked “Warden.” Pulling out his knife, Balto jammed it between the door and the handle, breaking the lock and walking inside. As he expected, no one was inside.

Walking around to a filing cabinet, Balto pulled it open and began rifling through the names on the files. After a couple minutes of search, Balto found the one he’d been tasked to receive and stowed it in his rucksack. No sooner had he done that, then a dog walked in, mumbling nervously in Spanish to himself. The warden. Before the dog could react, Balto was on him, grabbing the dog’s arm and hitting a pressure point on his neck, knocking him out and tossing him to the ground.

Above him, he could see an air vent. Jumping on top of the warden’s desk, Balto pulled the grating off and pulled himself inside, silently shuffling until he reached a grating in front of him, sunlight streaming through from the other side. Punching it out, Balto began to pull himself out- only to see a three hundred foot drop down to the ground.

“Shit!” Balto muttered, looking about for another way out. Pulling out his grappling gun again, he shot it an inch onto the metal of the air vent, then jumped out of it