Ava's Crucible- The Complete series Box Set

by Mark Goodwin

  “Markovich knows that. He’d never attack a city in the Alliance States with a nuclear missile.” Ava held Foley’s hand.

  Foley pulled her hand close to his body. “The leaders of the various state militias aren’t so sure about that. They think if Markovich feels like he’s losing the war, that whole mutually-assured-destruction thing will go out the window. That’s what I mean by a catch 22. It’s like we can’t lose, but we can’t win either.”

  Ulysses sat pensively for a while. “The Alliance needs a definitive victory. Something that will tip the balance of power just enough for Markovich to want to take his toys and go home. We can never be a single country again anyways. The liberals are so far to the left that we’ll never be able to coexist with them. We each need our own country.”

  Ava saw the conundrum but felt happy to see her father’s analytical mind beginning to function like it used to. “I could be content with that. We’ve been two Americas for decades anyway. Perhaps a good strong geographical separation between the two is just what we need.”

  “I’d take it,” Foley said. “Otherwise we’ll keep massacring each other until no one is left who can hold a gun. Basically, mutually assured destruction, but the slow-motion version.”

  The three of them spent the rest of the morning catching up with each other, then headed to Hangar 97 for lunch.

  CHAPTER 22

  Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

  Proverbs 22:29

  Ava had enjoyed Foley’s company for the better part of a week. She knew their time together was coming to a close and made the most of every moment. Ulysses continued to show signs of improvement. He had fewer episodes of anxiety, no flare-ups of the dissociative amnesia disorder, and his nightmares came less frequently.

  Thursday afternoon, the landline phone in the guest house rang. “I’ll get it.” Ava hurried to the kitchen.

  “Hello?”

  “Ava, hi. It’s Colonel Barr.”

  “Good afternoon.”

  “To you, as well. Listen, I won’t keep you but I was wondering if you, your father, and Foley would honor me with your company. Will you have dinner at my home this evening? I’m at Altus often enough to justify keeping one of the guest homes. It’s just a couple of blocks over from where you’re staying.”

  “Wow, that’s a fantastic offer. Let me just check with the guys.”

  “Sure.”

  Ava placed her hand over the receiver. “Dad, Foley, it’s the colonel. He’s inviting us to have dinner at his place tonight. It would be great if we could go. Is it okay with you both?”

  Foley looked over from his seat on the couch. “Yeah, sure.”

  “Tell him, thank you. I’d love to come,” Ulysses said from the other couch.

  Ava put the phone back to her ear. “We’ll be there. What time?”

  “Is six o’clock alright?”

  “That will be great. See you then.” Ava hung up the phone.

  “I wonder what this is all about?” Ulysses asked.

  Ava walked into the living room and sat next to Foley. “It’s just dinner. Tomorrow is Foley’s last night here. I’m sure he figured we’d want to be alone, so tonight was the best choice.”

  Ulysses turned the page of his paper. “If you say so.”

  Ava got up and sat by her father. “Why, what do you think it’s about?”

  “You got me, but it’s not just dinner.”

  “Dad, everything isn’t a clandestine operation. Sometimes people just want to be people.”

  He peeked over the top of the paper at her. “Okay.”

  Ava moved to the arm of the sofa where she could see her father’s face rather than the back of the newspaper. “Okay? You said that like you’re trying to get rid of me.”

  “Not at all. But I’m not going to debate the matter.”

  She crossed her arms playfully. “Insinuating that you think I’m wrong and you’re right.”

  “I don’t think anyone is right or wrong, but I can tell you this isn’t just dinner.”

  Ava wasn’t successful in getting him to acknowledge that she was right, nor was she able to draw him into a deeper squabble over the issue. “Fine. I’m going to go see if I have anything besides jeans and tee-shirts to wear to this exquisite social engagement.”

  “I hope it’s not a black-tie affair because I’m limited when it comes to clothing options also,” said Foley as she walked to the bedroom.

  Later that evening, Ava heard a knock on the bathroom door. “Just a second. I’m putting the finishing touches on my makeup.”

  “Sure, baby. I don’t mean to rush you, but it’s five till six. I know in your world there is such a thing as fashionably late. But, for your father and I, being military men, fashionably late equates to KP duty, push-ups, and ten-mile midnight runs in the rain; that’s if the commanding officer is in a good mood.”

  Disgusted with the cheap makeup she’d bought from the on-base exchange, she tossed the compact in the sink. “Okay. Maybe the colonel will excuse my appearance on account of there’s a civil war going on.” She opened the door to find her adoring husband waiting outside.

  “You look beautiful.” He leaned in for a kiss.

  Ulysses called out from the living room. “Our ride is here.”

  “Thanks.” She checked her teeth for lipstick in the mirror, then quickly followed Foley out the door.

  “Hey, Sergeant Griffith, are you coming to dinner?” Ava asked the driver as she got into the back seat of the waiting car.

  “Not this evening ma’am.” Griffith smiled at her in the mirror.

  The ride was a short one. Colonel Barr’s on-base accommodations were only a few streets over. Sergeant Griffith stopped the vehicle, got out, and opened the door for Ava. “Have a nice evening.”

  “Thank you, Sergeant.” Ava held Foley’s hand as they proceeded up the walk to the colonel’s porch.

  Ulysses trailed close behind them. “I told you this wasn’t just dinner.”

  “Why?” Ava asked.

  Ulysses looked left, then right. “You don’t see those guys hanging around?”

  Ava hoped he wasn’t having an episode. She looked at the house to the left to see a man with dark sunglasses and a light jacket sitting on the front porch. She looked next door on the right and noticed two men, also with jackets and dark glasses standing near the garage. “So?”

  Ulysses replied, “It’s six o’clock. You might need sunglasses if you’re driving, but not to loiter around your own property. And it’s June in Oklahoma, you certainly don’t need a jacket.”

  Ava puckered her forehead. No doubt about it, something curious was afoot.

  The front door opened and the colonel stepped out. “Ava, Ulysses, Foley, it’s so good to have you. Please, come in.”

  Ava walked in cautiously. The first thing she noticed was that the table was set for six. It was obviously intended to be less intimate than she’d supposed.

  From the rear den, appeared another guest.

  “Agent Shaub, what a surprise to see you here,” she said. “This is my husband, Foley Mitchem. I believe you remember my father. Foley, this is Secret Service Agent Shaub.”

  “Please, call me Mike.” Shaub shook hands with Foley.

  The colonel held out his hand toward the table. “Why don’t you three go ahead and take a seat. We’re still waiting on one other guest.”

  As they sat down, Ulysses whispered with a smile and a wink, “I hate to say I told you so, but—I told you so.”

  Foley leaned in and spoke low. “Secret Service? Why would Secret Service be here?”

  Ava nodded at the extra chair. “Typically, they investigate credit card fraud and protect the life of the president. So, unless you’ve been placing card skimmers on ATMs and gas pumps in your spare time, I’d say we just narrowed down the possibilities of who the other guest is.”

  Foley shook his head. “No way.”


  “I realize this is your first time meeting the man but try not to act like a hayseed and embarrass Dad and me,” Ava whispered with a wink.

  Shaub spoke into the cuff of his jacket and nodded to the colonel as he went to the door.

  Instinctively, Ava stood up. Foley and Ulysses did likewise.

  “Ava! So good to see you again.” Blackwell came in and walked straight to the table. “Ulysses, I’m so glad to see you are doing well. We were praying for you.”

  “Thank you, Mr. President.” Ulysses shook his hand.

  “And this must be the man I’ve heard so much about.” Blackwell grabbed Foley’s hand and shook it vigorously.

  “Yes, sir,” said Ava. “This is Foley Mitchem, my husband.”

  Foley said, “It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. President. Thank you for your help in getting Ava home.”

  Blackwell threw his hands in the air with a chuckle. “Whoa, hey! I don’t know anything about that. All that kidnapping the governor’s daughter stuff, wow, that’s way outside of my wheelhouse. But, I’m glad you were able to get her back.”

  “Yes, sir.” Foley seemed to not understand why Blackwell would deny his involvement but didn’t press the issue.

  Blackwell patted the colonel on the back. “Smells good in here, Tom. What are we having?”

  “Seafood linguini. I’m half Italian.”

  “Barr? That sounds Scottish or something.” The president took the chair at the head of the table, next to Ava.

  “On my mother’s side. Her maiden name was Rossi. My grandparents came over from the old country. Mom was born here.”

  “Can I help you with something, Colonel?” Ava offered.

  “Mike is giving me a hand,” Barr replied.

  Agent Shaub brought several plates in and set them at each chair before taking a seat himself.

  Barr brought in the last of the plates along with a basket of bread. He took the last seat and said, “Mr. President, will you ask the blessing?”

  They all bowed their heads while President Blackwell prayed.

  Afterward, Barr said, “Please, everyone enjoy and let me know if you need anything at all.”

  Ava took her first bite. “Mmm! Colonel, this is spectacular!” She finished chewing and looked at the president. “I feel so honored to see you again, but you’ll have to pardon my suspicious nature. Are we here for some purpose other than appreciating the colonel's culinary wizardry?”

  Blackwell took a long drink of water and dried the corners of his mouth with his napkin. “I honestly did want to have dinner with you and Ulysses, to thank you for what you did. But I’m afraid I am having to multitask here.”

  Everyone listened as the president spoke.

  “Did you happen to hear about our little operation down in Amarillo?”

  “No, I’ve been following the news and didn’t see anything about Amarillo.” Ava broke off a piece of bread and dipped it in her linguini.

  “We were—testing the fence, for lack of a better term. Last week, I sent in two battalions, to see if we could take and hold Amarillo. The obvious objective was to establish a foothold in Texas. My strategists have looked at this thing from every angle imaginable. The consensus is that we’ll never end this war without taking back Texas.”

  Ava looked at her father. “The decisive victory you were talking about the other day when Foley came home. You said we needed something that will tip the balance of power enough for Markovich to want to take his toys and go home. Taking back Texas would be just the thing.”

  Blackwell nodded. “That’s almost verbatim what my strategists are telling me.”

  “So, what’s stopping us?” Ava asked.

  “The reason no one is talking about Amarillo is that it was essentially a loss for both sides. We went in hard and fast. We took the city, but . . .” Blackwell let his fork rest on his plate and his expression grew grim.

  “What?” Ava begged.

  The president swallowed hard. “Markovich gassed three education camps located in Potter County, outside the city.”

  “Gassed? You mean like Nazis?” She let go of her bread and wiped her hands.

  “The Nazis used Zyklon B. Markovich used Cyanide gas, but yes, the same concept,” the president answered bleakly.

  Everyone was silent for a while. Finally, Blackwell spoke. “I wanted to wait until after dinner to discuss this, but you obviously knew we had an important issue to cover.” He looked at Ava with apologizing eyes.

  “I guess my curiosity ruined dinner.” She turned to the colonel. “Sorry about that.”

  “Don’t mention it.” Barr smiled kindly.

  Blackwell continued, “Anyway, when we took the city, the administrators of the three education camps already had the gas hooked up to the ventilation systems. Two of the facilities were level-one. One was a men’s facility, the other a women’s facility. The third camp was level-two. It was mixed, families. He had fathers, mothers, and kids all staying together in that one. It was supposed to be an incentive for them to not get kicked down to level one.”

  Ava listened to the story. “Why? Why didn’t anyone want to report it?”

  “Markovich told us if we didn’t pull out of Texas, he’d start gassing more education centers. His side doesn’t want to announce the brutality, and we don’t need to broadcast the fact that we tried to take Texas and got our tails handed to us.” The president looked around the table.

  Ava shook her head. “That’s all very tragic, but what can we do about it?”

  Blackwell’s demeanor improved. “I’m glad you asked.”

  CHAPTER 23

  And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few. And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.

  1 Samuel 14:6-7

  Ava listened closely to Blackwell’s next words.

  The president’s eyes darted from Foley, to Ava, to Ulysses. “The bottom line is, we have to take back Texas. The resources, the borders, the people, and even what the state symbolizes to America are all critical to sustaining the Alliance States.”

  Ava interjected, “But you can’t invade because Markovich will execute hundreds of thousands of people.”

  “Try millions.” Blackwell’s eyes showed his grief over the situation.

  Foley looked at Ava then back at the president. “So, you’re asking us to liberate the education centers first?”

  Ava shook her head. “That’s impossible! Markovich must have re-education camps all over the state.”

  “Actually, not that many. And they’re all located close to other camps. Lubbock has two. Two in Odessa. Only one in Abilene. Fort Worth and Dallas have four between them. Houston has four. Austin and San Antonio each have three.” The president paused to take a bite of his pasta.

  Ava sighed. “Nineteen. You need nineteen teams to simultaneously secure and hold one camp each. Not only that, but you need each team to get across the border, armed to the teeth, without being spotted by the SJL or the regime’s regular military.

  “And what are they supposed to do while they’re waiting for the cavalry to arrive? Austin and San Antonio are at least three hundred miles from the nearest border. You’d still have to fight your way through Houston to get to them.”

  “Not if we come up from the coast.” Colonel Barr entered the conversation.

  Ava turned to the colonel. “You don’t think Markovich will be watching for an invasion from the Gulf? Besides, why are you telling us all of this? We’re three people, and my dad isn’t even supposed to be watching coverage of the war on television.”

  “You are three very resourceful people.” Blackwell wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Ulysses would be very helpful to us, working in a planning capacity.”

  “Ava’s role woul
d also have to be restricted to planning and advising. She’s finished getting her hands dirty.” Foley resumed eating.

  Ava held her hand up. “Hold on, now. I assume you’d want us to assist in the effort to secure the re-education centers in Austin, since we’re familiar with the area.” She likewise took another forkful of her food, which had turned cold since her last bite.

  Blackwell nodded. “That’s correct. Foley, you’d be in charge of putting together a militia force large enough to take and hold all three facilities in Austin. I know you fought side-by-side with the best militia fighters in this country when you were in Boise. Should you accept the mission, you could hand-pick as many or as few soldiers as you need. I completely trust your judgment. Ava’s role is . . . open to discussion.”

  “No, it’s not. If you want me to lead this raid on Austin, I have to know she’s staying here.” Foley’s eyes burned with resolution.

  “I’m not sitting on the sidelines for this!” She faced her husband with an equally determined scowl.

  “You said you were done with the war. And that was before you tromped off to California and literally got yourself killed on a mission I didn’t hear about until I saw you on television.” He glared at her harshly.

  “I had no idea where you were or how to get a hold of you. But I assure you, if I had, I certainly would have given you the courtesy of a proper goodbye before leaving.” She crossed her arms and looked away.

  Ulysses held up his hand. “We can discuss all of this when we get back to the house. The president has seven other cities to consider and plan for besides Austin. Let’s decide if the three of us are willing to dedicate ourselves to this challenge so we can give him an answer. I think that’s the least we can do.”

  Ava looked at her father, then at Foley. “It’s Texas, it’s Austin, it’s my home. Of course I’m in.”

  Foley pressed his lips together, staring at his wife, obviously wanting to make sure Ava understood she would not have a combat role. “I’ll put together a team of the best guys I know.”