The Terminus Protocol

The Vice President of the United States, who has created a highly covert counterterrorist team he calls Terminus, has offered retired counterterrorist operative Bruce McGowan the job as its director. With the assistance of the National Security Advisor, Bruce must now staff the team with four trusted operatives with whom he has a history. Their mission? Respond on an emergent basis to annihilate any threat that surfaces anywhere in the world, which will usually entail total extermination.

After putting his team through two weeks of intense training at Quantico, Bruce immediately receives his first mission locate and terminate a Mexican drug and human trafficking cartel, bringing home the dozen young females snatched off a Mexico City street.

No sooner had the team completed the mission than the NSA dropped another one on McGowan, which would take the team into Syria, where a notorious terrorist was planning to launch dozens of missiles into U.S. military and allied bases located in Europe and the Middle East. The Terminus mission? First, to knock out the missile sites utilizing Naval assets located in the Mediterranean. Then, locate and assassinate the primary target, international terrorist Abboud bin Rabah. But to accomplish their mission, the team must travel on a submerged run via a nuclear submarine, swim onto shore, get into the Nusayriyah Mountains to meet their double-agent contact. However, after positioning themselves to take on their mission, their plans soon go awry when McGowan loses contact with them for nearly a week. As no one else except the VP and NSA knows about the team and the Syrian mission, who will go find them? Must McGowan go in on his own? Is that even possible? If he does, given his history, one thing is certain...people are going to die.

Col. Lee Martin, a native of West Virginia, lives in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Retired from the U.S. Army with the rank of Colonel, he was awarded the Bronze Star and Gallantry Cross in Vietnam. He has a Doctorate in Counselling and was an Adjunct Professor teaching courses in Psychology.

Terry S. Byrnes, after completing Active Duty in the US Navy Reserve, based out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, serving as a (Supply) Storekeeper, 3rd Class, on board the Nuclear Fast-Attack Submarine, USS Swordfish, SSN 579, until mid-1972, returned to Miami, Florida. He maintained his US Navy Reserve status into mid-1975.Working in the Travel Agency Industry for several years while attending Florida International University, he graduated in 1978 with a degree in Hospitality Management. After decades in the Hotel, Travel, and Culinary Industries, (Hospitality Management), he then became a Municipal Government Senior Procurement Manager, earning certification as a Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB) until retiring in 2016. Terry Byrnes is now Co-Authoring and Publishing as C.E.O. of I.E.R. Media, as well as a Literary Agent, Website Designer, and Marketing Developer.