The Peacekeepers. Books 1 - 3.

by Ricky Sides

  “I think we can let the others return now,” Pol said cautiously. “But it would be safer for just the two of us to search, just in case we missed another trap.”

  Pete concurred with that assessment so the two men turned their search toward the items that they had traveled to this facility to locate. The room was approximately ten feet by fifteen feet in size, with storage shelves anchored to the concrete floor. Soon Pol found a box of components and asked Pete to take them out to Patricia and the others so that they could count the sub assembles. He added that to his knowledge, there should be ten packed inside this box.

  One by one, Pol found the boxes of components he was seeking stored neatly in their shelves.

  Chapter 3

  The components to assemble additional lasers were loaded aboard the Peacekeeper and then the crew turned their attention to some other needed equipment. That equipment ranged from specially designed tools and meters needed to test circuitry to other gauges, which they would need during the assembly process. Pol personally supervised the loading of two very large boxes. The crew also secured Malcolm’s personal logs, which were located in a locked, fireproof safe hidden in the farmhouse. Those notes might contain thoughts and details not related in the files stored in the computer of the Peacekeeper. All of the developers had utilized the safe. They stored precious documents concerning their research inside the safe. The majority of the safe’s contents had been downloaded into the computer of the prototype, but there were a few documents contained in the safe that neither Pol nor Patricia had ever seen before. They packed up the contents of the safe and had them taken to the ship for future reference. Eventually, they would add them as computer files aboard the ship and to the backup system at the base.

  Next Patricia turned to the sophisticated computer system set up to house the research data and a myriad of programs that the researchers had needed to perfect the ship. They had transferred much of the computer system’s contents, but since the intention was to take the ship out of the hands of the researchers, some programs had not been transferred. Patricia painstakingly disconnected that system and had the entire system carefully boxed and carried to the ship. Tim escorted the men transferring the computer system. He had it secured against accidental damage during flight.

  Patricia and Pol took the opportunity to gather a few of their personal items that they had left in the house when they’d gone to await the Pentagon testing and evaluation of the ship. Patricia also gathered a few items that had sentimental value to her because they had belonged to her father.

  They were carrying these items to the Peacekeeper when the control room door opened and out rushed one of the men. Running to the captain he said, “Sir, we have been monitoring some radio traffic that Lieutenant Wilcox thinks you need to be made aware of since it concerns the nearby city,” the man explained.

  “What sort of radio traffic?” Jim asked.

  “Apparently a large band of Marauders has been raiding the city on a fairly regular basis. The city sends out patrols from time to time in an effort to keep the Marauders at bay. Well, sir, the Marauders captured one of the patrols and they are heading to the city where they mean to use the patrol as human shields as they raid the town. But, sir, they mean to kill the patrol no matter what the city does in response. The patrol has been a thorn in their sides for too long. The Marauders aim to remove that particular thorn.”

  Jim nodded his understanding and thanked the man for the report. Turning to Patricia, he said, “Lieutenant, I’m sorry to cut the visit here short but…,”

  “I understand, Captain,” Patricia said and then she added, “I’ll get to communications immediately.”

  “Thank you Patricia. Tim, see if you can pin down a location for us to intercept them,” Jim said in a businesslike manner. “The rest of us will deposit our packages and join you in the control room ASAP.”

  “I’ll have the cargo bay door open in a moment,” Tim shouted over his shoulder as he ran to the ship.

  It took the crew a few minutes to get the packages secured for flight but soon the entire control room crew joined the duty crew in the control room. Lieutenant Wilcox was looking at the map of the city, which Patricia had pulled up from the computer files. It was one of the Google Earth images. Jim saw a marker at an intersection. He asked, “Is that where the confrontation is to take place?”

  “Yes, Captain. We've intercepted messages from the defenders and this is where those messages indicated they plan to meet the Marauders,” replied the strike force leader.

  “You have a briefing ready?” Jim asked.

  “Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Wilcox said, and then he added, “We’re looking at approximately thirty Marauders who are using a communications system that the defenders cannot intercept. It is unfortunate for the Marauders, but we can, and did intercept the messages they were transmitting back and forth. They ambushed the patrol by using a female as bait. She was actually the woman of one of the Marauders and from what I’ve heard, sir, that woman is no lady,” the strike force leader said glancing at the women who stood gathered near the communications station.

  “Then she is a willing accomplice?” asked Jim.

  “To say the least, sir. She plans to castrate some of the patrol members for kicks before they kill the men,” the lieutenant explained.

  “Then treat her just like any other hostile,” Pete said firmly and Jim nodded his agreement.

  “Can we beat them to the scene?” Pete asked.

  “They are waiting an hour before they approach the city, so yes we can beat them to the scene with a lot of time to spare,” Tim responded.

  “Then I have a plan,” Pete said grinning. Walking to the screen depicting the image, he pointed to a large clearing in the woods about six hundred yards from the barricade the townspeople were guarding, “We approach undetected from the west by flying up the little valley leading to this clearing. Tim keeps us below treetop level of the surrounding hills. We land in the clearing and ...” Pete went on to explain the rest of his plan. Jim liked the plan and thought it had a good chance of success.

  ***

  At the barricade, eight men waited for the encounter with the Marauders. A group of men and women who were a mixed lot protected the city of Hannibal. Some were former military personnel and others had been with the police or sheriff’s departments prior to the collapse of the United States government. The remainder was men and women who had little prior experience but were willing to risk their lives to help keep the community safe. The group maintained a base, which they primarily used to house their weaponry and communications equipment. The remaining female members of the group currently staffed the base. The group operated three patrols with each patrol consisting of four personnel. One patrol was composed of three former military men and one woman while the other was composed of men with law enforcement experience. The remaining four men were the civilians who had volunteered. Those men primarily patrolled the city proper leaving the patrols of the area around the city to the more experienced personnel.

  The patrol with the former military personnel had been instrumental in breaking up several Marauder gangs who’d thought to settle near the city of Hannibal where they might prey upon the inhabitants. The patrol had been so effective at their work that two separate Marauder gangs had merged temporarily to deal with them for the last time. They had set a trap using a woman as bait and captured the three men and one woman that comprised the captured Hannibal patrol.

  Now eight of the defenders of Hannibal stood alone to deal with the large force of Marauders they knew would soon be arriving to raid the city using the captured patrol as hostages to safeguard their entry into the city. The men at the barricade knew that soon they would have some very serious decisions to make. They didn’t trust the Marauders to keep their word and suspected that the moment they had the opportunity they would kill all of the defenders. Yet would they be able to attack the Marauders knowing that the first to die would likely be their cap
tured friends?

  As the time for the arrival of the Marauders drew near the men wished each other luck and checked their firearms for the last time. Each knew that most likely not all of them would survive the coming confrontation. The women at the base were instructed to leave that base immediately if they hadn’t heard from the men at the barricade within thirty minutes of the deadline for the confrontation. They were not to go home but instead they were to go to one of the safe houses that each member was supposed to keep ready for just such an emergency. That was a relatively easy thing to do in a city where better than a third of the population had left seeking a better life elsewhere.

  Soon the defenders at the barricade saw the Marauder vehicles approaching from the west, as they had expected. However, what they saw soon after, they would never have dreamed possible. Attached to the hood of the lead vehicle was a wooden X-shaped cross. Tied to that cross was the nude, spread eagle body of the female patrol member. One of the men cursed when, using a pair of binoculars from his vantage point atop the barricade, he saw that the Marauders had severely beaten the woman. He knew that no matter what they had done to her, she had resisted with everything that she had. The vehicle approaching was a flatbed truck. In the rear, the three male members of the patrol were tied in a standing position behind the cab facing the barricade as it approached. Two men with pistols pointed at the heads of two of the hostages stood behind them holding onto their shoulders for support. Sighing, the former sheriff’s deputy thought that this was about to get bad. He saw no way that they could save the hostages.

  Behind the lead vehicle followed five other trucks loaded with men. When this convoy reached a distance of about nine hundred yards from their position, the defenders saw an amazing sight. The Peacekeeper swooped up behind the approaching convoy emitting a burping sound as it flew until it passed the five pickup trucks and hovered just a few feet ahead of the lead truck matching its speed. Suddenly a small green laser flashed down from the rear of the ship. The laser struck the passenger side of the windshield of the truck striking the man sitting there in the chest on a sharp downward angle. The laser passed through the man’s body, then exited his lower back. The laser beam then punched through the floorboard behind him. A voice ordered the driver to stop the vehicle immediately or he would be the next target. The driver slammed on his brakes, counting on the accompanying Marauders to deal with the strange flying craft. He was ordered to shut off his engine the moment the vehicle stopped. Staring at the back of the huge flying machine, which hovered soundlessly before his eyes the man complied. A voice said thank you, and a moment later, he heard a shot to his right, and then he never heard anything else. One of the snipers had put a bullet through his right temple. Two more shots rang out simultaneously and the two guards in the rear of the truck fell off the sides.

  The Peacekeeper landed and out of the rear rushed a team of heavily armed men dressed in fatigues. These men ran past the truck. One of them carried a blanket, which he stopped and spread over the nude woman who thanked him and said, “Now go kill one of those bastards for me, Lieutenant.”

  “With pleasure Ma’am,” Lieutenant Wilcox said as he sprinted to the rear for the mop up operation, but the minigun hadn’t left a lot that needed to be mopped up.

  The men at the barricade heard a female voice from the ship telling them that they were friends and that they had come to help. The voice assured them that they were free to go to the aide of the hostages while the other peacekeepers mopped up the remnants of the Marauders.

  Needing no further encouragement, the men left the barricade and went to aid their friends at the lead truck. A beautiful woman with short black hair wearing a doctor’s smock emerged from the rear of the ship. Another slightly younger woman, similarly attired, accompanied her. They approached the truck and the lead woman said, “I’m a doctor. Get the patient off that truck for me so I can get her to the infirmary and treat her wounds.”

  “Yes Ma’am, I will,” said one of the men from the barricade as the woman walked to the back of the truck to check on the men located there.

  A moment later two men emerged from the rear of the ship and they ran to assist the doctor. Maggie clambered onto the back of the truck with their assistance and saw to the men they had freed who were lying on the bed of the truck. The hostages had been beaten to a pulp. All three men had swollen eyes. One had lost some teeth. One had several broken ribs and one had a severe scalp laceration. “Does Hannibal have a working hospital?” Maggie asked.

  “We have some doctors left but the hospital closed,” One of the men from the city explained.

  Nodding her head at the man’s explanation the doctor turned to one of the men from the ship and said, “Captain, all four of the patients need immediate medical attention.”

  “What do you need Doctor?” the captain asked the woman. Following his question there was a brief but intense firefight, as the peacekeepers encountered a few survivors with fight left in them.

  “Just time, sir,” Maggie said.

  “We’ll stay until you finish treating the wounded, Maggie,” the captain assured the woman and then turned to face the men who were returning with a struggling woman.

  The lieutenant led the party and he stopped before Pete and the captain. “Sir, I know what you said about the woman, but she swears that she was forced to be the bait for the patrol,” the man explained.

  Before anyone else could speak, the woman stopped struggling with the two strike peacekeepers who were each holding onto one of her arms. She smiled at Jim. “I am innocent I swear. I was just doing what I had to do to stay alive with these bad men. Spare me, Captain, and I’ll give you a night you’ll never forget,” finished the woman who at one time had been a beauty.

  Lacey angrily approached the woman but the female who had been strapped to the hood of the truck reached the group first. Looking at the captain she said, “Sir, may I borrow your sidearm?”

  Jim thought he knew what was coming and he drew his pistol and handed it to the woman who’d wrapped the blanket around herself. The woman expertly examined the firearm and flipped off the safety. Turning to the strike force members restraining the woman she said, “Let her go.” They did so at a nod from the captain and the woman raised the pistol as the frightened Marauder female attempted to turn and flee. She shot her in the left temple and cursed her as her body fell to the ground. The woman then flicked the safety back on, reversed her grip on the weapon, and returned it to the captain. “Thank you, sir,” she said.

  Pointing to the woman’s body on the ground she said, “It was her that stomped poor Mac’s teeth out and kicked Joe in the head so hard she cut his scalp. She also encouraged the men to rape me, which several of the bastards did. I reckon I had a right to kill her.”

  “I agree,” Maggie surprised the woman when she spoke in her defense.

  “So do I,” spoke the captain solemnly.

  “Now let’s get you into the infirmary and treat your wounds,” Maggie said as she noted the woman was barely able to stand.

  Maggie and Lacey had their hands full the rest of that afternoon as they worked to treat the wounds of the patrol team. Maggie learned that three men had raped the woman, whose name was Linda Waddell, and she feared that the attack had been so brutal that she might lose her child as a result. The woman was just a couple of weeks into her second trimester of pregnancy.

  Maggie performed an especially careful examination of the lady. She took a Fetal Doppler Stethoscope from a cabinet and explained, “We may not be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat yet, so don’t jump to conclusions if we can’t detect the heartbeat. It isn’t uncommon for such a heartbeat to be difficult to detect until a bit later in the second trimester. However, some patients have heard their baby’s heartbeat as early as ten weeks, though twelve or more weeks is more common,” Maggie explained and then she listened carefully. “There it is,” Maggie said and she smiled at the patient. That is a good strong and steady heartbeat. The child
is strong, like its mother,” Maggie said smiling again at the woman who was smiling despite the battered condition of her body as she listened to her baby’s heartbeat for the first time.

  Maggie permitted the woman to listen to the heartbeat a moment longer and then she said, “Now let’s treat your other injuries Linda. I think the baby will be fine.”

  Chapter 4

  The peacekeepers spent three days in Hannibal, helping the group of defenders to improve their overall organization. They left them with the promise that the peacekeepers would accept them, should they ever decide to join. They’d have to undergo the special training and educational courses, but they would then be a part of the peacekeeper network that was growing.

  “It wouldn’t surprise me to see some of those people arrive at base camp one day,” Pete said as they departed the city heading back to their base.

  “They’d make excellent peacekeepers,” Jim acknowledged as they flew at top speed back toward their base.

  The conversation then turned to their immediate plans. Pete wanted to get the three lasers built and installed at the base and Patricia wanted to go over all of the notes that they had retrieved from the development facility and set up the computer that they had retrieved. However, when someone thought to ask Pol what he would like to do in the immediate future his response caused a stir among the crew when he said, “I think as soon as I finish building the lasers for the base I want to turn my attention to converting the scale models of this ship into drones.”

  “Scale models? Where are they?” asked Jim.

  “In the cargo bay my friend,” Pol said with a grin and then he asked, “Do you recall the two-eight foot long wooden crates that required two men each to carry?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t know what was in the crates. We were so busy moving the things you and Patricia needed from the research facility that I lost all track of what all of the items actually were,” Jim responded.