by Ellis, Tripp
“That sounds like two trips to me. That will be double.”
Steele clenched his jaw and scowled at him.
“Don’t get upset with me, Steele. This is just basic economics. Law of supply and demand.”
“It would be a shame for your wife to see those pictures,” Steele said, threatening him.
“Shit. I’m holding $40 million in my hand. I’m having a midlife crisis.” Kilgore smiled. “First thing I’m gonna do when I get back is divorce my wife. So, go ahead. Send her those pictures. I’ll even autograph them.”
“Fine.” Steele dug into his pack and tossed his last bar to Kilgore. “That’s all I’ve got.”
“Bullshit. Give me two more, or I’m not coming back.”
Steele’s eyes burned into him. “Two more. That’s it. And if you double-cross me, I swear to God it’ll be the last thing you ever do.”
“I don’t think you’re in a position to make threats.” Kilgore tried to sound tough, but his voice came across thin. He knew making an enemy of Steele was a bad idea. “Round up your people. I’m lifting off in five minutes.”
Steele jogged up the walkway to the house.
Inside, Cassy was interviewing refugees. Steele stood beside her, waiting for her to finish. When she was done, she turned to Steele. The cameraman cut the light and dropped his rig down to his side.
“Are you getting what you want?” Steele asked.
Cassy’s eyes beamed. “Yes. Yes I am.”
“Is that a live feed?”
“It goes out through the uplink, direct to the station. There’s a 7 to 10 second delay. Whether or not the station airs it live is up to them.”
“But it's recorded somewhere, correct?”
“Both on the camera and at the station. That’s standard protocol.”
Steele nodded. “We’re not out of this yet. You should get out on the first flight.”
“What, and miss all the action? I think you know me better than that.”
“I don’t really know you that well at all.”
“Maybe we should change that,” Cassy said, her blue eyes sparkling.
“Maybe.” Steele smiled. Then he pointed to Gabriel. “See the man in the corner. You should interview him. I think you’ll find what he has to say very interesting.”
“Thanks for the tip.” Cassy nodded to her cameraman and they dashed to Gabriel.
Steele found Parker. “The injured, the women, and the children go first.”
Parker nodded.
“That includes you, Delroy,” Steele said.
“Hey, I ain’t no woman or child. And I certainly ain’t no injured.”
Steele lifted an eyebrow at him.
“I’m not going out before you guys,” Delroy protested.
“Somebody’s got to get Xavier into a med-pod. And I need you to look after Chloe.”
Delroy huffed. “Fine. But that’s the only reason I’m going.”
Steele rounded up two bars of titrillium from the refugees. Then dashed back out to the CAV. He gave the bars to Kilgore, hoping they would be the final payment.
The refugees filed out of the house and up the ramp. Cole and Andrew carried Xavier on the makeshift stretcher. He was conscious now, but he looked horrible. His skin was pale, almost green.
As Xavier passed, he reached out his hand. “Thank you.”
Steele gripped Xavier’s hand and nodded. Andrew and Cole carried him up the ramp. Once Xavier was secure, they darted back down.
“Hey, what are you doing? You guys ride out with your family,” Steele said.
“We’re not getting out until you get out, sir,” Cole said.
“Absolutely not. You guys have family. Stay with them.”
“We wouldn’t have a family if it wasn’t for you,” Andrew said.
“That’s an order, soldiers,” Steele said.
The two men hesitated for an instant. Then saluted Steele and climbed back up the ramp.
Delroy hobbled out of the house, holding Chloe’s hand. She ran to Steele and leapt into his arms.
Steele lifted her up. “Go with Delroy. I’ll get out on the second run.”
Chloe shook her head.
“Get out while the getting is good, kid.”
She shook her head again. “I’m not leaving without you.”
“I promise, I’m right behind you.”
Chloe’s eyes were brimming. “You need me to keep you out of trouble.”
“I’ll be fine.” Steele set her down. “I’m giving you a direct order, soldier.” He gave her a sharp salute.
Chloe snapped to attention and returned the gesture. “Yes, sir.” Tears were rolling down her cheek.
“Delroy will look after you until I get there.”
“Come on, short stuff,” Delroy said.
“Who are you calling short?”
Delroy chuckled and took her hand. He led her up the ramp.
Steele stepped back as the HK engines powered up. Lurkers were meandering at either end of the street. Steele wasn’t worried about them yet. It would take 10 or 15 minutes for them to stumble their way toward the house. But there would be more soon.
Steele’s eyes narrowed as he heard the rumble of HK engines. But this rumble wasn’t coming from the CAV on the ground. This was in the air. The distant sound grew louder. Too loud for just one CAV.
Steele’s eyes gazed up to the petulant sky, scanning around. A half-dozen CAV’s emerged through the grey clouds. They were flying in an attack formation. This wasn’t a friendly rescue mission.
CHAPTER 32
FOUR CAVS LANDED. The ramps were already open by the time they hit the ground. A dozen soldiers piled out of each vehicle. The other two CAVs circled above, providing close air support.
Within seconds, the troops flanked the house and surrounded Kilgore's CAV.
“Drop your weapons,” a soldier yelled.
Steele set his weapon down. The CAV’s engines powered down. Kilgore and the refugees weren’t going anywhere.
Standing orders from Z-SOC were to kill anything on the ground. But the fact that Steele wasn’t dead yet meant they wanted to talk. They could have demolished the house from the sky. Taken out Kilgore's CAV with a rocket. Knowing Briggs, he certainly wouldn’t want to explain why he had to destroy one of his own CAVs.
Colonel Briggs descended the ramp of his CAV. He was chewing on a fat cigar. The cherry burned bright in the dim light.
“Steele,” Briggs yelled in a gravelly voice. “You’re making me look bad.”
“That’s not hard to do, sir.” Steele said.
Briggs didn’t appreciate the sarcasm. “Careful, Steele. You’re lucky I haven’t killed you already. I know exactly what you’re doing here. Where’s Ferris?”
“Dead.”
“My heart breaks. Tell him hello for me when you see him.”
“You don’t want to kill me, Colonel.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” Briggs said, seething.
“I got a house full of refugees in there. And 20 aboard this CAV. That’s a PR nightmare for you.”
“Nothing a few well-placed bullets couldn’t fix. Nobody cares about you and your refugees. As far as anyone’s concerned, you’re all just a bunch of infected.”
“Well, they might care about the virus going airborne.”
“Excuse me?”
“You know, airborne. Breathe in, breathe out. Infected…” Steele took a deep breath and exhaled for effect.
The colonel’s eyes widened. “What kind of nonsense are you babbling about?”
“You know that this was a man-made virus?”
Briggs’s eyes blazed into him.
“I’ve got the designer inside. You want to talk to him? There’s a news crew inside right now. They should be finished their interview. It’s probably already been broadcast live by now.”
The colonel’s face tightened. He glanced up to the house. Cassy and her cameraman were standing in the doorway, filming.
“That camera
’s got a live uplink,” Steele said. “Still want to shoot me and everybody in the house?”
The colonel gritted his teeth.
“That will look real good on your resume.”
“What do you want, Steele?”
“I think this is a perfect opportunity for you to turn this into a humanitarian mission. It’s really an impressive sight. All of these soldiers here to rescue these poor helpless refugees.” Steele grinned. “Hearts and minds, Colonel. Hearts and minds. Or, should I say, Brigadier General?”
The colonel pondered this for a moment. He certainly wasn’t thrilled with the situation. But it seemed Steele had him backed into a corner. And he might just be able to spin this into a PR win, and a promotion.
The two CAVs in the air circled the LZ, gunning down lurkers that strolled too close. The clack of gunfire and the ripple of the HK engines filled the sky as Briggs stood deep in thought.
“Sergeant Barnes,” Briggs growled. “Evacuate the refugees.”
“Yes, sir,” Barnes replied. He led a team of men to escort the refugees from the house to a CAV.
Briggs ordered everyone off Kilgore's CAV. Before allowing anyone to board any of the CAVs, soldiers performed retinal scans to detect traces of infection. One by one, people were cleared and searched. Every bar of titrillium Steele had given the refugees to carry was found and confiscated. As well as the bars Steele had given Kilgore.
Steele grimaced at the sight.
“I see you found what Ferris was looking for,” Briggs said, gloating. “That’s government property now.” He had a devious glint in his eye.
Steele could see that Briggs planned to keep some for himself. Steele clenched his jaw. “Clearly there should be some type of reward for the brave men and women who risked their lives to recover that money?” Steele whispered.
“The reward is that those brave soldiers are still breathing. They’re lucky they won’t spend the rest of their lives in lockup.”
Briggs was going to be rich and get promoted. The rest of the titrillium would probably line the pockets of Briggs’s superiors. Everyone up the food chain would dip their hand in it.
Steele’s eyes flicked to Parker and Delroy—their faces were tormented, just like Steele’s.
Cassy filmed the refugees loading onto the CAVs. Steele waved her over. Soon the camera was rolling on Steele and Briggs.
Steele put his hand on the colonel’s shoulder like they were good buddies and beamed a smile as wide as Texas. “As part of the humanitarian relief effort here today, Colonel Briggs has guaranteed that every last ounce of the 24 bars of titrillium recovered on this mission will be donated to the Disaster Relief Fund. The money will help resettle these refugees and fund research into finding a cure for this devastating virus.”
Briggs’s eyes went wide and the cigar almost dropped from his mouth. Steele shook his hand, triumphantly.
Parker and Delroy smiled.
“There you have it,” Cassy said, stepping in front of the camera. “A major 180 of the Army’s official policy toward the refugees.”
Briggs gritted a smile, but his eyes were throwing daggers at Steele.
The troops continued to scan and load the refugees onto the CAVs. Once everyone was cleared, the ramps closed, and the CAVs lifted off. The flight back to base would take fifteen minutes.
Steele dug into his pack and pulled out Mr. Carlisle. He handed the stuffed tiger to Chloe. Her eyes lit up. She took the doll and hugged it.
Cassy took a seat next to Steele. “I talked to Gabriel. He said he made up the airborne thing. Thought it might keep him alive if Raddick thought he was valuable.”
“I know,” Steele grinned. “It sure got Briggs’s attention, though.”
“You risked a lot trying to help these people,” Cassy said. Her voice was warm, and her eyes sparkled. “You know, you might have been able to get out of here with some of that titrillium, had you left these people behind.”
“Our mission priorities changed,” Steele said, trying to play it off.
“I guess there’s a heart under that tin shell after all.” Cassy smiled.
Steele grinned. “Careful. You might ruin my reputation.”
“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. But it’s going to cost you.”
“You realize I’m a man who just lost a fortune?”
“It’s just dinner. I’ll buy.” Her big blue eyes glimmered.
“Well, in that case, how can I refuse?”
Cassy smiled. She stood up and walked back over to the cameraman. Steele watched her go. She had a nice walk.
The cameraman pulled his rig on his shoulder and Cassy went back to work, interviewing refugees.
“I think she might be good for you, Steele,” Parker said.
Steele lifted an eyebrow at her.
“Just saying.”
Chloe unzipped the back of Mr. Carlisle and was digging around in the stuffing. “It’s okay, Major.” She pulled out a handful of rare gemstones.
Steele’s eyes flared at the sparkling gems. “Where did you get those?”
“Mr. Ferris. He said they were worth more than all of his titrillium.” Chloe gave Steele a sassy look. “You didn’t think I was that attached to a stuffed animal, did you? I’m way too old for that.”
Steele smiled.
THE END
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please consider rating and reviewing on Amazon—a simple “Loved it,” or, “Hated it,” would be appreciated.
—Tripp
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