The New World Order

by Robert Boren

  “Great idea,” Cary said. “The drone is over City Hall now. Nobody came back so far. I’ll hold it here until you need me at the bus terminal.”

  Laleh was typing furiously, glancing over at Eve. “Where’s Taylor?”

  Eve smiled. “I saw her go in the back with Jace.”

  Laleh giggled. “Saw that coming.” She got closer to Eve. “Slash better watch out later.”

  Eve burst out laughing. “Wonder if he calls you sister when… you know.”

  “Shut up,” Laleh said, breaking into a naughty laugh.

  “What’s so funny?” Slash asked.

  “Never mind, I’ll tell you later,” Laleh said, flashing him a smile.

  “We’re getting a heavy response rate,” Julio said. “Wow. Wish we didn’t have gun control all these years in Manhattan.”

  “There are more guns around than any of us realize,” Kate said. “Trust me on that.”

  “I see a recurring theme on the posts,” Penko said.

  “What’s that?” Albena asked.

  “Remember Penn Wynne.”

  { 9 }

  The Blockbuster

  M ateo was pacing in his suite, overlooking Lake Geneva. His phone rang. He picked it up off the coffee table and accepted the call.

  “Hello, Charles.”

  Charles was quiet for a moment. “What the hell are you doing? This wasn’t our agreement.”

  “We aren’t bound by the wishes of the Manhattan establishment,” Mateo said, still pacing.

  “You are if you want funding. Why’d you kill Romano? He was on our side.”

  “He caved to Mayor Fine and sent the National Guard to the city,” Mateo said. “He was no longer trustworthy.”

  “You’re a moron,” said a different voice.

  “You’ve got another person on the line and you didn’t tell me?” Mateo asked.

  “Lance wanted in on this call, and I don’t blame him. Jean is here as well, and Maggie.”

  “Executing those citizens in Penn Wynne was a massive mis-calculation,” Maggie said. “There are armed citizens all over Pennsylvania. They’re coming out, getting organized. This should not have happened.”

  “Like I said, you’re a moron,” Lance said. “Do you know what happened to your operation to dig into City Hall?”

  “I was just about to call them,” Mateo said, sweat breaking out on his forehead. “They missed their scheduled update call.”

  “They were blown sky-high by a military drone,” Lance said. “We’ve got somebody against us with deep pockets, or President Simpson has had second thoughts.”

  “We need to get somebody back in control of New York State,” Charles said. “You killed the Governor and almost all of the legislature, and now the Lieutenant Governor has fled. Nobody knows where she is.”

  “If you’ve killed her too, boy am I gonna have fun,” Lance said.

  “Your feeble threats don’t scare me, Lance. We didn’t put a hit on Tracy. She’s still trustworthy.”

  “She obviously doesn’t trust you,” Maggie said. “She split.”

  “I’ll find her, but maybe I won’t share her location,” Lance said. “At least not with the frigging UN. We should start working against them.”

  “Better watch what you say,” Mateo said.

  “I’ll have you gutted,” Lance said, “and don’t think being in Switzerland will save you. My reach is that far.”

  “Settle down, Lance,” Charles said, sounding weary. “Look, Mateo, you’ve got a job to do, and you’d better start doing it well. We want Manhattan locked down. Where are all these UN Peacekeepers you promised? I want large enough numbers that they won’t have to do anything like we saw in Penn Wynne.”

  “People won’t take orders from foreigners unless they fear them,” Mateo said. “I’ve seen that in country after country. Americans are no different… except for the arrogant privileged attitudes.”

  “See what I mean?” Lance asked. “This cretin has no understanding of Americans, and it will cause us to lose the war. It’ll lead to our deaths. It’s only a matter of time.”

  “That’s enough, Lance,” Charles said. “Don’t act like a bull in a china shop. We need to salvage this mess. If the UN doesn’t do what they promised, I’ll come in on your side, but let’s not poison the well just yet.”

  “Whatever, I don’t have time for this,” Lance said. “That hacker who warned Mayor Fine about the bomb is still out there, and she’s good. Best I’ve seen yet. I probably can’t stop her, but at least I can watch and get a feeling for what she’s doing.”

  “How do you know it’s a she?” Maggie asked.

  Lance chuckled. “She’s very devious. Too devious for a man.”

  Jean burst out laughing in the background. “Lance, you’re a riot. You aren’t wrong, either.”

  “It’s the poodle,” Lance said. “I’ll talk to you guys later. If Mateo doesn’t deliver, I’ll have him in lime as soon as you approve. Talk to you soon.”

  Lance left the call.

  “I hate that man so much,” Maggie said.

  “You hate him?” Mateo asked. “Look, we have to work through some things. We knew it was gonna be messy. I understand that the Penn Wynne event didn’t go the way we agreed, and I requested discipline for the person who made the decision.”

  “What sort of discipline will he get?” Charles asked.

  Mateo sighed. “I said I requested it. The citizens killed him before my lead could take action.”

  Jean burst out laughing again.

  “Don’t you take anything seriously?” Maggie asked.

  “Sorry, but this is truly amateur hour. We’re doomed. If I could go back to France, I would.”

  “You can’t go back there?” Mateo asked.

  “I’ll be blamed for the Paris bombing. Some of my associates have turned after that.”

  “I need to go,” Mateo said. “I’ll speed up the deployment of the Peacekeepers in Manhattan, but I’ll have to send some troops to Pennsylvania now.”

  “Manhattan is more important,” Charles said.

  “No it’s not,” Mateo said. “There are armed citizens in great numbers just outside of Philadelphia.”

  “Quite a few armed citizens in Philadelphia, from what I’ve seen on the news videos,” Charles said, “but I agree to a point. The people in Manhattan are less unruly than the people in Philly, in no small part because their city was bombed.”

  “We’ll have problems with the people in Queens and the Bronx,” Maggie said.

  “We won’t start operations in those Boroughs until we’ve locked down Manhattan,” Mateo said. “I’ve got to go.”

  Mateo ended the call, then got up to pace some more.

  ***

  Rico rushed into the garage on 37th Street in Manhattan. “Hey, Stevie, social media is going nuts. UN Peacekeepers are gathering down at the bus terminal. They’re gonna try to take Penn Station back. You in?”

  A huge, dark-haired man came around the side of an SUV. “How many?”

  “Numbers keep going up,” Rico said, sitting down on a stool, phone in his hand. He was a middle-aged man wearing shoddy clothes, a scraggly black beard on his face, hair sticking out in every direction on his head, framing a large bald spot.

  “So they’re going up. You didn’t tell me where they’re going up from.”

  Rico chuckled. “Sorry, guess I’m a little worked up. About fifty.”

  “Kid stuff.”

  “Thousand.”

  “Oh,” Stevie said, pulling off his rubber shop gloves, scratching his head. “Fifty K, huh? You say it’s growing?”

  “Yeah. Is the Blockbuster ready?”

  Stevie grinned, walking towards the back of the shop. An old police car sat there, steel plate welded all over it, making it look like a land-going Iron Clad from the Civil War era. “She’s not gonna go too fast, even with that super charger on there, but she’s got gun ports galore.”

  A van pulled into t
he garage, Stevie and Rico turning to see who it was.

  “Duffy,” Rico said, watching as the van pulled further inside.

  “About time,” Stevie said.

  A small man with a wrinkled face got out of the van, his bald head glistening with sweat. “Got them. Had to go by a check-point to get here, though. Saw a bunch of them, but only one was on my route.”

  “Son of a bitch,” Stevie said. “You marked all the checkpoints on the map, right?”

  “Yeah, and there are protesters at every one of them. A couple of purple-haired freaks tried to make trouble at the one I was stopped at. I’m in their debt, actually. The normal people were about to kill them when the UN guys manning the checkpoint went to protect them. They waved me ahead.”

  Rico snickered. “They’ll regret that in time. What’d you get?”

  “Three M79s.”

  “No frigging way,” Stevie said. “Pops told me about those.”

  “Aren’t they just single shot?” Rico asked.

  Duffy chuckled, shaking his head. “It’s never enough for you morons. I brought you three grenade launchers and a hundred and fifty rounds, and you’re complaining.”

  “I ain’t complaining,” Stevie said. “Rico, go close the garage door, and let’s get them out. I want to make sure they’ll fit through the gun ports on the Blockbuster.”

  Rico rushed to the door, pulling the chain, lowering the garage door, Duffy opening the side doors of his ancient van.

  “What a mess,” Stevie said, looking inside at the piles of auto parts and toolboxes.

  “Yeah, on purpose, to make it hard to search,” Duffy said. “Give me a hand.” He pulled on a large toolbox handle, grunting as he lifted it out, Stevie grabbing it from him and setting it down, Rico coming over to help.

  “How did you fit them in a box that small?” Stevie asked. “I’ve seen pictures. They’ve got a rifle stock, and the barrels ain’t that small neither.”

  “The stocks were cut at the pistol grips,” Duffy said, pulling the second one out, Rico taking it as Stevie opened the first one.

  “Hey, these look like my tools,” Stevie said.

  “I kinda borrowed them last night,” Duffy said, pulling the last of the three toolboxes out.

  Stevie pulled the tools out one by one, setting them on the concrete floor. “I got to admit, nice job hiding them. Where’s all the ammo?”

  “Spread out all over the van,” Duffy said. “I’ll get them. Don’t want any of you guys hitting a primer. That would be bad.”

  Rico busted up. “Yeah, we’d all go out with a bang.”

  “Probably will eventually anyway,” Stevie said, pulling the bobbed M79 out of the toolbox. “She’s beautiful.”

  “What about recoil?” Rico said. “Got to be tough to hold these without the full stock.”

  “Naw, they hardly kick at all,” Stevie said. “These will be perfect.” He walked to the Blockbuster with the weapon, opening the door, the hinges creaking with the added weight. He jammed the barrel at the slit in the side steel sheet just as Rico and Duffy got over there.

  “Shit, doesn’t fit,” Rico said.

  “Keep your panties dry,” Stevie said. “Bring the grinder over here. I’ve got to take off a quarter inch. We’ll make these fit, and the short stocks will be perfect inside.”

  ***

  “How many by Penn Station now?” Penko asked, Albena’s face glued to her screen.

  “Seventy-five thousand. They’re planning on a quick takeover.” She took out her phone and sent a text.

  “Who are you texting?” Tad asked.

  “Chief Harvey,” Albena said. “I think he should pull his officers out of Penn Station. Doesn’t make sense to lose them.”

  Chief Harvey and Mayor Fine came out of the back hallway.

  “What’s up?” Chief Harvey asked.

  “I think you should pull your officers out of Penn Station right away,” Albena said. “Move them elsewhere.”

  “Then we’ll lose the station.”

  “You’re gonna lose it anyway,” Tad said. “There are seventy-five thousand Peacekeepers at that bus terminal now.”

  “I thought we were going to hit them with the drone,” Mayor Fine said.

  “Wait on that,” Penko said. “We’ve got citizens making their way to the area. Lots of citizens.”

  “If they’re not armed, we’ll have lots of dead citizens,” Eve said.

  “There are UN checkpoints all over now, you know,” Laleh said. “What’s the NYPD doing?”

  “Waiting for orders, more than likely,” Chief Harvey said. “I’ll get on the horn with Tim.”

  “Maybe I should put the locations of every checkpoint I see on social media,” Laleh said.

  “That’s a damn good idea, sister,” Slash said. “Need help?”

  “Of course,” Laleh said, shooting a grin to Eve.

  “Good idea, but make sure you mention how many Peacekeepers there are at each, and how they’re armed,” Chief Harvey said. He slipped back into the hallway.

  “He’s worried,” Eve said.

  “Couldn’t raise his wife,” Mayor Fine said.

  “Oh no. How about you?”

  “Got her. She’s going to Canada to visit her sister. She was almost there when I got her.”

  “Good, hope she makes it,” Eve said.

  “Something else is happening,” Albena said.

  “What now?” Penko asked.

  “All those Peacekeepers on Roosevelt Island are heading into Manhattan via the Queensboro Bridge.”

  “Really, now,” Cary said. “We’ve got a missile on the drone that will take that bridge out.”

  “Don’t we need that for the bus terminal?” Tad asked.

  “She carries two, and we can get more in about twenty minutes.”

  “Assuming the enemy hasn’t taken out the base at MacArthur Airport,” Tad said.

  “We’ve got three alternate bases, and four more drones as well,” Cary said. “Perhaps it’s time to get them in the air.”

  “What do you need to do that?” Mayor Fine asked.

  “Permission from Jared Carlson,” he said. “I’ll call Don, and see if Jared is available.” He pulled out his thin phone and walked away with it to his ear.

  ***

  Jacob and Sunshine sat together with the others in the semi-truck trailer, almost to the new base.

  “This thing’s bumpy as hell,” Tyra said. “We still gonna be in Boston?”

  Adrian laughed. “We’ve been on the road for almost an hour. That’s well outside of Boston.”

  “What are we gonna do from far away?” Dave asked.

  “Attack the enemy,” Jacob said. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “We’re slowing down,” Sunshine said. “Turning. Feel that? Driveway.”

  “Yep, we’ve arrived,” Ava said. Her phone dinged. “Ashley from the cab with Jaak and the driver. We’re almost there, but we’ll be taking this underground.”

  “Of course,” Gavin quipped, Todd and Justin cracking up.

  “Hope it wasn’t a mistake to leave Henry behind,” Tyra said.

  “He’ll be fine, and we’ll need him in place when we go there for operations,” Justin said. “Remember how much we learned from the radicals that hang out at the bookstore.”

  “That was his reasoning,” Tyra said, “but I think he just didn’t want his bookstore going down the tubes… not that I blame him.”

  They felt the truck on a downward incline, bumping to a stop shortly after it leveled off, the hum of the engine stopping.

  “We’re here,” Jacob said, standing and helping Sunshine to her feet. The back of the truck opened, Jaak and Ashley standing there.

  “Welcome to our new base,” Jaak said.

  The team got out, walking into the cavernous loading dock area. There were rows of off-roaders parked to the left, bristling with machine guns.

  “Holy crap!” Justin said, rushing over to them. “Suzuki eng
ines. Rad. These will be fast.”

  “Asians,” Todd said, shaking his head. “They are pretty cool, though.”

  “How are we gonna use these?” Ava asked. “Won’t we be shot at if we show up someplace on them?”

  Jaak chuckled. “Jared has a lot of toys, some of them built here. These specimens might be going elsewhere. Heard rumors that some of them are headed for California.”

  “Look at those things,” Sunshine said, walking past the off-roaders with Jacob. “Hybrid sedans?”

  Suddenly something clicked in the car, and gun barrels sprung out.

  “Oh shit!” Sunshine said, Jacob moving her back.

  “Sorry, it’s not loaded,” said a tall thin man, rushing out the door, clicking a remote, the guns receding. “Forgot to shut that one down. Was doing trials with her a couple hours ago.”

  Jaak shook his head. “You and your toys. How are you, Art?”

  “Jaak, so nice to see you,” he said, shaking his hand. Jacob and Sunshine eyed him.

  “Samson Corporation, I’ll bet,” Jacob said.

  “Yes,” Art said. “Sorry about the scare. These things are ready.”

  “What are they?” Sunshine asked.

  “Armed bullet-proof vehicles that can re-configure.”

  “Re-configure how?”

  “Let’s just say they can get past traffic jams better than your average car,” Art said. “We’ll talk about this and the other things later. Let’s get you set up inside.”

  “Where are we?” Todd asked.

  “Under Hanscom Airport,” he replied. “Next to the Air Force base.”

  “Is that a good idea?” Gavin asked.

  “The enemy doesn’t control all the military services,” Art said, leading the group through the door, down a short hallway to a freight elevator. He pushed the button.

  “We going up or down?” Ava asked, her eyes darting around.

  “Down,” Art said. “Don’t worry, you’ll get a complete briefing.”

  The elevator doors slid open to each side, the entire team fitting inside. Art punched a button that said B2.

  “There’s a B3 and a B4?”

  “This is a large facility,” Art said. “You’re the third group to arrive today.”