by Robert Boren
“Kill her now,” yelled another Islamist, hiding behind some rocks about five yards to the right.
“You’d better not,” Junior shouted from the extreme left. The yelling man looked over in a panic, his head getting in the open. Rachel pulled the trigger on her rifle, hitting him on the top of the head.
“NO!!!” screamed the Islamist with the knife. He dropped it in a panic, and let go of Amanda. She lunged for the knife and whirled around, plunging it into the man’s stomach. He screamed, trying to hit her in the head as she twisted the big knife in his gut. Curt was in a full run now, shooting two Islamists who tried to get a bead on him with his pistol, killing one and wounding the other, who staggered into the open and was shot by Kim from beside the van. The others put their hands up and stood silently, listening to the blood curdling screams of their leader as Amanda continued mixing his insides like so much tossed salad. Curt got there and pulled the knife out of her trembling hands, then shot the dying man in the head. The remaining Islamists tried to flee, but they were hit by gunfire from Junior, Kelly, and Kyle.
“Remind me never to piss you off,” Curt said, his cheeks wet with tears as he pulled Amanda into his arms. They kissed.
“I knew you’d come,” she said, coming down from the violence, breaking into sobs. The others rushed forward, checking the bodies of the Islamists.
“You’re never leaving me alone in a battle again,” Amanda said. “We’ll dump the barracuda and get a two seater like Junior’s.”
“Okay,” Curt said, still holding her tight, stroking her hair. “I can’t lose you. You’re everything to me,” he murmured.
“Okay, stop the mush, you two,” Junior said. “Let’s go join the others. Rachel just called Jason and let him know Amanda is okay.”
“Is the battle still going on?” Amanda asked.
“We were out of ammo,” Curt said. “That’s how we found out you were taken.”
“We were losing until the injuns showed up,” Rachel said.
“They showed up, huh?” Amanda asked, wiping tears from her eyes. She broke into a smile. “Good. Should be a lot of dead Islamists, then.”
“It was a rout,” Kyle said.
“I don’t see any moving enemy fighters nearby,” Kate said. “The closest ones I see are south of El Paso now. The next closest are way up I-25, just north of Santa Fe, at that big base we keep hearing about.”
“That’s a job for another day,” Amanda said. “Can we go home now?”
“Yes,” Curt said. “You need a ride.”
“We’ve got room,” Brenda said.
“Okay, thanks,” Amanda said.
They got in their vehicles and headed back to their base near Truth or Consequences.
Chapter 3 – Uneasy Success
“Can we go into the bedroom now?” Maria asked quietly.
Hendrix looked her up and down. “You look fit to be tied.”
“I’m still running on that last time,” Maria said. “The one where we reminisced about our dates. When we have a break in the action like this, my mind wanders to it.”
Hendrix smiled at her. “Yeah, that’s been in the back of my mind ever since. Even with all the craziness.”
She got up and walked towards him. “C’mon. Let’s go take advantage while we can.”
Hendrix smiled and got up, following her swaying curves to the bedroom hallway. They were steps away when Austin Police Chief Ramsey came out of the kitchen.
“Maria, we need the console again. Meeting coming up.”
She shot a smirk back at Hendrix, then looked at Ramsey. “Sure, I’ll get it started. Who?”
“The usual suspects,” Ramsey said, “plus a special guest.”
“Well that sounds intriguing,” Hendrix said, following Maria into the console room.
Maria had the call running, and was just setting up the video when Nelson walked in with Dr. Schultz.
“They on yet?” he asked.
“In a second, sir,” Maria said.
Ramsey came in looking down at his phone, a big grin on his face. “Hey, I just got another text from Jason. They got Amanda back.”
“Thank God,” Nelson said. “This has been a good day.”
“Seriously,” Hendrix said. “Taking out those bridges, and defeating the enemy, plus cementing a friendship with that huge Indian tribe. And now getting back a kidnapped woman.”
“Not just any woman,” Ramsey said. “That’s Curt’s woman. She’s important.”
“They’re on,” Maria said, rolling her chair away from the console. Director Wallis was on the screen, looking down at his phone. He looked up and noticed the video was set up.
“Hey, boss,” Director Wallis said, beaming. “We’re gonna patch somebody else in. Gallagher will be here in a sec.”
“I’m right here,” Gallagher said, sitting down next to him. “You guys know that we got Amanda back, right?”
“Just heard,” Ramsey said.
The screen split into two sections, the new one showing General Hogan. His black skin was mottled with bruises and one eye puffy, but he was smiling.
“General Hogan!” Nelson said, grinning ear to ear. “You got rescued.”
“Yes, I did,” he said.
“You look a little battered, sir,” Gallagher said.
“The people who were holding me look worse,” Hogan said. “Trust me on that.”
“How’d they spring you?” Ramsey asked.
“Long story,” Hogan said. “I’ll tell you sometime. How are things going for you guys?”
“We’ve made some strides,” Nelson said. “I-25 is a mess. We’ve blown the bridges in three places.”
“Which three places?” Hogan asked.
“Near El Paso, near Las Cruces, and the big bridges over the Rio Grande south of Truth or Consequences.”
“Wow, impressive,” General Hogan said. “The apps helped them, I suspect.”
“They did,” Ramsey said. “I just heard from Jason. He has a request. He wants to give the apps to their new allies.”
“What new allies?” Hogan asked, looking worried. “We still need to keep that pretty tight to the vest.”
“The Mescalero Indian tribe,” Ramsey said. “They saved our people in the last battle.”
“Is Stanton Hunt involved?” Hogan asked, eyes lighting up.
“Yes,” Ramsey said. “He’s the main liaison person there.”
“Okay, but leadership only. Got me? Stanton Hunt, and two lieutenants. They’re going to continue fighting with us, I take it?”
“Yes,” Ramsey said. “What’s the next objective you want, now that we’ve ruined I-25?”
“Shut off I-40 as close to the Arizona border as possible,” Hogan said. “If we have a large enough force, that enemy stronghold near Santa Fe could be hit, but I don’t want to lose your team. It’ll take a large force.”
“We already figured I-40 would be a good target,” Gallagher said. “There’s some smaller roads that need to be hit too. Highway 60, for instance.”
“Yes,” Hogan said.
“How’s your tech expert doing with the apps?” Hendrix asked.
“He came up with an extremely high-resolution version of the long-range app,” Hogan said. “That’s the reason they could get me out of stir. The new app can pinpoint people into individual rooms inside buildings.”
“Wow,” Wallis said. “That could’ve helped our DPS Patrol Boaters a few days ago. Is there going to be a new release?”
“This one takes too much computing power to run on an android or IOS device,” Hogan said. “You need a high-end laptop or a decent desktop to run it.”
“Oh,” Wallis said. “By the way, Richardson still has the apps. Can he keep them for now?”
“I don’t see why not,” Hogan said. “We’re getting close to our objective. We already have a prototype that shows the other information. It’s got bugs, though, so we’re still working on it.”
“Well, glad they’re making progres
s,” Hendrix said.
“One other thing,” Hogan said. “If you need your team back in Texas after the I-40 job is done, let me know and pull them back. Okay?”
“Fair enough,” Nelson said. “We know we’ve got a big problem in Dallas. Huge buildup of enemy forces there.”
“Can you handle it without the Fort Stockton team?” Hogan asked.
“Not as well as we’d like,” Gallagher said. “We’ve got the lion’s share of the Texas National Guard either there or on the way, but we’ve had to pull from other areas which are vulnerable.”
“What about the folks who joined with the Fort Stockton group in the earlier battles?” Hogan asked.
“They’re still in play, but we need them on our western border, now that we’ve ruined the enemy’s main route into Colorado and Utah.”
“Oh,” Hogan said. “Sorry. Pull your people back as soon as you can, then. Don’t get yourselves into a pickle.”
“We’ll leave them there at least until I-40 is blocked,” Nelson said. “We understand that helping you helps us too.”
Hogan chuckled. “Okay, I get it. Thanks for that. I’d better get going. I’ve got a conversation to have with the resistance in California.”
“How’s that going?” Nelson asked. “Still working with Ivan the Butcher?”
Hogan chuckled. “Yeah, he’s our best hope there. The people in California are having a rough time.”
“Maybe they should’ve been more careful about who they voted for,” Ramsey said. Hendrix shot him a glare.
“I don’t completely disagree,” Hogan said, “but let’s be real. Even the furthest-left voters in California didn’t sign up for what they have now.”
“Thank you,” Hendrix said.
“Talk to you gentlemen later,” Hogan said. “Godspeed.”
“Same to you, sir,” Nelson said. “Glad to have you back.”
Hogan’s feed ended.
“Wow,” Gallagher said.
“I’d like to move the Fort Stockton group towards the I-40 job right away,” Nelson said, “hopefully with the help of the Mescalero tribe. Then I want them back here.”
“I agree,” Ramsey said. “I’ll let Jason know that he can give the apps to Stanton Hunt and two of his top folks. Be back in a few minutes.” He walked out of the room, phone to his ear.
“I’ll get on the horn with Richardson as well,” Wallis said. “I’ll let him know he gets to keep the apps for now. He was worried sick about losing them.”
“Sounds good,” Nelson said. “Have Richardson take another look at Texas for us. Especially Dallas.”
“Will do, boss,” Wallis said.
“Thanks,” Nelson said. “We’ll talk later. You can end this, Maria.”
She nodded and shut down the session.
“Hogan seem okay to you?” Hendrix asked.
“He’s scared,” Ramsey said. “Could see it in his eyes.”
“He’s just been in captivity,” Nelson said, “and it was obviously not pleasant. You saw the marks on his face.”
“Hopefully that’s all it is,” Hendrix said.
“What are you getting at?” Nelson asked.
“I’m wondering if the situation he’s facing is worse than he’s letting on. I’m wondering if what we’ve pulled off in New Mexico was too little, too late.”
“Oh,” Nelson said. “Well, Kip, you might be right. Could be that he’s afraid of what he’s finding now that they have a prototype with names. Maybe the infiltration is worse than he expected.”
“Time will tell,” Hendrix said. “We done? I’m worn out.” Maria shot him a glance.
“Yeah, I could use a little relaxation myself,” Nelson said.
“Good,” Hendrix said. He got up and waited for Maria to come by his side. They walked out of the room together.
“Think you can be quiet?” Hendrix whispered.
She looked at him with knowing eyes, and shook her head yes. They went into the bedroom.
Chapter 4 – Davy Jones
Richardson was sitting in the bar, watching his men work on the boat dock, sipping a beer. He checked his phone every few minutes, to see if the enemy was approaching, and to see if he still had the apps. His phone rang while in his hand, making him jump. He answered it.
“Richardson?”
“Director Wallis,” he said, sitting up straighter, as if Wallis had entered the room. “Hello.”
“Good news,” Wallis said. “General Hogan was rescued.”
“That’s great,” Richardson said, fear rising in him. Fear of giving up the apps.
“You still there?” Wallis asked.
“Yes, sorry. Is he going to pull the apps back?”
Wallis chuckled. “I figured that would be the first thing you thought of.”
“They’re keeping us safe,” Richardson said. “They’d be hard to give up at this point.”
“Well relax, because Hogan is letting you keep it,” Wallis said.
“That’s good news,” Richardson said. “Do we need to keep up the ruse that the enemy fighters are still alive?”
“We killed all of their compadres,” Wallis said. “Maybe they ought to be victims of a sinking boat.”
“Ah, take them out a ways and dump them, eh?”
“Yeah,” Wallis said. “Hopefully they’ll figure that they were victims of the US Navy.”
“We’ve got a couple extra yachts here,” Richardson said. “Maybe we ought to put them on one and scuttle it, just in case they decide to investigate.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Wallis said. “Just be there with a fast boat in case they show up. And keep an eye on the apps at all times.”
“Can more than one of us have the apps now? If something happens to my phone, we’re toast.”
“I didn’t ask, but I will next time we talk to Hogan. Might become a moot point, because they already have a prototype of the new version with name capability. I’ll let you know.”
“Understood. Anything you could do would be helpful.”
“Roger that,” Wallis said. “We’re trying to get the new boats and recruits to you, but we got slowed down.”
Richardson snickered. “Run a little low on contractors to help out, huh?”
“You guessed it,” Wallis said. “When we’re staffed up again, I’ll have you check out their location to see if there’s any RFID chips among them.”
“We can do that,” Richardson said.
“One other thing,” Wallis said. “Could you take a quick look at Texas. Especially the Dallas area?”
“Sure, I’ll put you on speaker so I can look at the screen.” He did that and focused the long-range app, zooming out to cover the whole state. “Big blob in Dallas, where you expected.” He zoomed in. “Dammit. Worse than before.”
“How much worse?”
“Double, at least,” Richardson said. “Something’s going on along the Louisiana border, too. Not as large, but I don’t remember it last time I looked.”
“Crap,” Wallis said. “Anywhere else?”
“Several good size clumps along the western border.”
“Where?” Wallis asked.
“Near I-10. Probably because we shut them down at El Paso. Whoa. Something going on down at Big Bend. Might want to shore that up.”
“Son of a bitch,” Wallis said. “How about your area?”
“Nobody around South Padre Island. Not for miles. Same with the gulf coast northeast of there.”
“That’s good,” Wallis said.
“Geez. The large force that was in Matamoros appears to be gone. Still a few along the Rio Grande to the north and south of there, but nothing like we saw a few days ago.”
“Can you see where they are?” Wallis asked.
“Looking,” Richardson said. “There’s several thousand in Monterrey.”
“Uh oh,” Wallis said.
“Yeah, uh oh,” Richardson said. “I’m seeing traces along Mexico’s Highway 40D, and a few h
eading north on Highway 49D. Shit, looks to me like they might be moving towards the Arizona border.”
“No massive moves, though?”
“No,” Richardson said. “They might know we can see them.”
“They might,” Wallis said. “Do me a favor. Keep an eye on them. Let me know when you’re pretty sure they’re really headed for Arizona.”
“Will do. We’ll go take care of the bodies. Talk to you later.”
“Don’t drop your phone overboard,” Wallis said.
Richardson laughed. “Yeah, that would be bad. Talk to you soon.”
He ended the call and left the bar, rushing to Lita. She was standing next to the yacht they’d mounted the mini-gun on. Brendan and Juan Carlos were still aboard, puttering around. Madison and Hannah were making another round with the carts of bodies, approaching from the far side of the dock.
“Hey, honey, what’s up?” Lita asked as he approached.
“Just heard from Wallis,” he said. “General Hogan got rescued, and we get to keep the apps.”
“Good,” Brendan said, jumping onto the dock from the bow of the yacht. Juan Carlos leapt off the stern and joined him.
“What are we gonna do now, dude?” Juan Carlos asked. “We have a mission yet?”
“Yeah,” Richardson said. “Either of the other yachts running yet?”
“That one runs,” Brendan said, pointing to the one about forty yards further down the dock. “You want us to put the other minigun on that one?”
“Nope, we need to stage a sinking, with the bodies of the traitors on board.”
“Really?” Brendan asked. “That’s a damn shame. Nice boat. Good living quarters, too.”
“Maybe we should tow the other one out and sink that instead,” Lita said.
Madison and Hannah walked over, pulling carts with the bodies.
“How much longer do we need to drag these creeps around?” Hannah asked.
“You can stop now,” Richardson said. “They’ve got a date with Davy Jones.”
“We’re dumping them into the water?” Madison asked.
“After we take them out a few miles,” Richardson said.
“We’re gonna sink one of the boats with them on it,” Juan Carlos said.
“So what do you think?” Brendan asked. “Can we tow the lousy yacht out there and sink it?”
