The Peacekeepers. Books 1 - 3.

by Ricky Sides

  “What time will we be leaving in the morning?” Tim asked.

  “That all depends on what we learn when the drones do the flyover in a bit,” Jim said. “We’re about to ask Bill and Pol to do a recon of the place in just a few minutes.”

  “Then I think I’ll get some sleep. Wake me if I’m needed guys,” Tim said and turned to go back to the ship.

  “You have any idea what all of that was about?” Pete asked Jim.

  “I have no idea,” Jim admitted as puzzled as was Pete by Tim’s questions. Both men knew Tim well enough to know that something was bothering him.

  ***

  Tim mentally kicked himself for letting a dream get to him. However, it had seemed so real that after waking from the nightmare he just couldn’t shake the feeling that the dream might be a precognitive dream revealing the future. He knew that some people experienced such dreams and he devoutly hoped that he wasn’t one of those people. When he entered the ship, he found Patricia waiting for him near the door and she whispered, “Did you speak to Jim and Pete about the dream?”

  “I tried, but when the time came to mention the matter, I just couldn’t,” Tim replied in a whisper of his own. Then in a loud voice he said, “We’re staying here for the night, so I’m going to sleep for a while. Bill would you get the relief pilot please?”

  “Certainly, Tim,” replied Bill. Pausing he looked at Patricia and asked, “Should I get the communications relief as well?”

  “Thank you, Bill, but I have a bit more work to do before I can sleep,” Patricia stated.

  “I can wait a while then,” Tim said.

  “No you can’t dear,” Patricia said firmly. “You got all of three hours sleep last night. If you do not get some rest tonight, Maggie will relieve you of duty tomorrow on a medical basis because your judgment will be impaired. You’ve only had five hours sleep in three days and she knows about that situation. Therefore, you have to sleep six hours minimum tonight, doctor’s orders.”

  “All right, who ratted me out to the Doc?” Tim asked glaring at the crew.

  “I did,” Patricia said, and then added, “But only because I love you.”

  Sighing in resignation and then smiling tiredly at his wife Tim said, “I love you too, Patricia. Sleep well when you do,” he added and then he turned to go to their quarters.

  He was so tired that Tim was asleep almost the moment his head touched the pillow.

  Chapter 14

  The two drones approached the large farm flying close together, but once they crossed the fence surrounding the farm they split up. They were attempting to gather as much information as possible. Jim was afraid that the cameras wouldn’t be able to get much useful footage because it was a moonless overcast night and not even the stars were visible. However, when the drones arrived at the site they found many sections of the large farm illuminated by bright lights.

  The farm was a beehive of activity with men running here and there, in what at first appeared to be chaos. However, leaning toward the monitor, which was displaying the feed from Bill’s drone, Pete pointed to the screen and said, “That group is preparing a firing position.” Glancing over to the right he saw something that interested him and asked Bill to try to zoom in on that area a bit more. A moment later, he saw a fifty-caliber machinegun. “We’ll need to take that out before you return the drone to the ship,” Pete said with a frown. “That weapon is too deadly to leave intact. But wait until the recon is over and note this location.”

  “No problem there. It’s right in front of the main house,” Bill noted.

  “What are these men doing to this road grader?” Pol asked from his position a few feet from Bill.

  Jim was standing behind Pol observing and he said, “They are placing armor plating in strategic locations to protect the driver. I’d say they mean to use that to attack our lines at some point.”

  “Let me see that please,” Pete said, and he joined Jim behind Pol. “Yes that’s exactly what they are doing. We’ll need to disable that by coring the engine before you bring the drone back. Pol, can the little laser do that?”

  “It can if I maintain a sustained fire, yes,” Pol answered.

  “Pete, I think I’ve got another machinegun emplacement here,” Bill announced.

  “Note the location of the road grader, Pol, but do not attack it yet,” Pete advised and then he returned to Bill’s station.

  The camera was facing a second story window. The lighting was poor in that area but Pete agreed with Bill’s assessment and ordered him to note that location for his second attack.

  “They are moving the women,” Pol said from his seat. He was observing them herding a large number of women toward, what appeared to be a storm shelter, situated behind the huge farmhouse.

  “It’s good to know where they will be but I’d have expected them to keep the women in the main house to serve as hostages,” Jim noted puzzled.

  “Ahh look my friend,” said Pol zooming in a bit and Jim cursed as he saw the dynamite charges ringing the mound at the entrance to the shelter.

  “Pol, is that box what I think it is?” Pete asked having joined them.

  “I believe it is an electronic detonation device,” Pol stated hesitantly.

  “Can you disable that with the drone?” Jim asked.

  “I’m afraid that would be too dangerous. There is a good possibility that the circuitry would be fused and the connection made that would send a charge to the blasting caps,” Pol said.

  “I was afraid of that,” Jim said. “So Wild Bill could threaten to blow the shelter with the women inside and use that as leverage against us.”

  “What about hitting the wires trailing from the detonation device to the charges?” Pete asked.

  “That might work, but the wires are small and it is too dark to see adequately in that area,” Pol noted.

  “Keep that idea in mind for the attack. It wouldn’t do to disable the charges now. The odds are the slavers would discover the cut wire and simply fix the wiring or even move the women. Make that your first target tomorrow though, Pol,” Jim said.

  “Aye, Captain, noted.” Pol said.

  “Damn these slavers!” Bill said cursing. Both Jim and Pete moved to stand behind Bill. On Bill's monitor, they saw a line of slaves digging frantically as the slavers walked up and down the line applying whips to the backs of any men who weren’t working energetically enough to suit them. They were digging a defensive trench in front of the house. “They will work some of those men to death at this rate!” Bill exclaimed.

  “We’ll see what we can do once we finish the recon and those two machineguns are taken out,” Pete stated.

  “I’ll be looking forward to punishing those whip men,” Bill stated angrily.

  A few minutes later Pol was flying his drone in a widening spiral seeking the slave quarters, the barracks where most of the slavers would have to sleep, and any possible munitions buildings. Jim was helping him watch the monitor as he flew the search pattern and he spotted something that Pol missed. “Stop, Pol,” he instructed, “There in the lower left of your screen, isn’t that a door in the side of that small hill?”

  Intrigued, Pete walked over and joined them. As they were watching, two men pulled up in a pickup truck. They got out, unlocked the door, and then disappeared inside. A moment later, a light switched on in the interior and Pete asked Pol to try to zoom in on the doorway. “The automatic focus is attempting to focus on the doorway rather than the contents within,” Pol explained the out of focus image they were receiving. “Switching to manual,” he said. Moments later, they could see a portion of the interior contents of the underground room. The room appeared to be the munitions dump that the slavers had constructed. There were shelves loaded with the same categories of ammunition that they had located at the factory.

  “Well done, Pol,” Jim said and then he asked, “Who is flying the drone with the bombs?”

  “I am,” Bill said.

  “I think we shou
ld take out the munitions dump immediately, Pete, before any more of the ammo can be distributed,” Jim said, sounding certain that it was the right thing to do under the circumstances.

  “I agree,” Pete said, sounding just as certain. Turning to Bill he asked, “Do you think you can put your bombs through an open door?”

  “I believe so yes, but what about the machineguns?” Bill asked.

  “Once you come to this spot I can go to the front of the house and take out the machineguns,” Pol said.

  Accessing the maneuvering screen, Bill saw the blinking green light that represented Pol’s drone and flew toward that light. A green light also represented his ship on the interface but his icon was not blinking. Moments later he was close enough that he should be able to get a visual with the camera and he switched the interface back to visual mode. “Got it, Pol, I see the target. I’ll have to back off and bring the drone up to attack speed,” he said and began his maneuver.

  “I’m going to the front of the house. When you blow the munitions, I’ll attack the guns,” Pol explained.

  “Right,” Bill said and then concentrated on his attack run. The target appeared incredibly small to Pete as the camera centered on the open door. Pete watched the monitor as the doorway grew in size. He was just beginning to distinguish some of the contents of the room when the automatic focus of the camera tried to center on the threshold of the door instead of the contents of the room. “Released,” said Bill. The monitor image shifted to the blackness of the open sky as Bill flew the drone away from the projected point of impact of his two small bombs. There was a flash followed quickly by another and then there was a huge flash of light as if lightning had struck in the vicinity.

  Bill brought his drone about and flew back toward the flaming hole in the ground. The pickup truck, parked outside the munitions bunker, was now resting on its side. It had been rolled over by the concussive force of the explosion. As he flew past the smoldering hole in the hillside, the fuel tank of the overturned truck blew up, showering flaming gasoline onto the hillside. A good portion of that burning fuel landed in the blast crater causing ammunition that hadn’t been destroyed in the initial blast to begin to cook off. There were numerous small secondary explosions visible on the monitor.

  “Very well done, Bill. Now get back to the front of the house,” Pete ordered.

  “Yes, sir,” Bill said to Pete. To Pol he said, “Altitude one eighty.”

  “That should be fine, I am at one fifty, and I’ll warn you if I have to climb,” Pol responded. They’d learned early on that to prevent possible catastrophic midair collisions they needed to communicate their altitudes to one another frequently.

  “I see the exterior machinegun,” Pol said.

  “If you can target the receiver, you should. That will do the most damage,” Pete explained. “Odds are they will have additional barrels.”

  “Firing,” Pol stated calmly.

  On the ground, mass confusion seemed to be in effect. Men ran this way and that trying to determine if they were under attack or if the men sent to retrieve supplies had accidentally detonated the munitions. However, the moment they saw the laser fire at the machinegun emplacement, there was no longer any doubt. Several of the men fired their pistols and rifles at the little ship hovering in the air and determinedly attacking their machinegun. In a moment the receiver and the barrel separated as the metal surrendered to the incredible heat of the laser.

  “I’ve got the other gun, Pol,” Bill stated as he attacked the gun in the upstairs bedroom.

  “Should I attack personnel, Pete?” Pol asked.

  “Yes, but make it the slavers beating the men at the trench,” Pete stated. Turning to Bill he said, “When the machinegun is destroyed join Pol for a mad minute at the slaver’s expense, Bill.”

  “With pleasure,” Bill responded. He fired three more seconds with the laser just to be certain the receiver was destroyed, and then Bill spun the drone on its axis. He flew away from the house, past the slaves who were now cowering in the initial stages of their trench. Turning to come at the trench from one end, he lined up on the channel and flew to the left on the side where the slavers stood mouths agape with their whips in hands. They saw Pol’s ship as it was hovering and firing at them, but they had not yet noticed Bill’s drone.

  “Pol, I am starting a strafing run and I’ll be diving under your altitude. Cease fire for just a moment,” Bill requested.

  “Done,” Pol said succinctly.

  Bill throttled forward, opening fire immediately. He shot several men on that strafing run and then shot the drone up into the air. “Run complete, returning to designated altitude and resuming search pattern. Fire when ready, Pol,” Bill said letting the man know that his drone was safely out of the line of fire.

  “Making a similar run and then resuming spiral search pattern at my designated altitude,” Pol said. His shots hit several of the remaining slavers who were in charge of the trench detail and then, like Bill before him, he flew the little drone off into the night.

  “I think I have the barracks, Pete,” Bill stated and Pete joined him at his monitor.

  On the ground below, armed men were running out of an extremely long wooden structure. The roof appeared to be asphalt shingles. “Looks like rain tonight,” Pete said smiling thoughtfully. “Let’s deny them their warm comfortable beds. Fire the barracks,” he ordered.

  “Coming to join you, Bill, at my designated altitude,” Pol clarified.

  The two drones flew along the length of the barracks firing at the roof as they did so. Bill took the right side of the roof and Pol flew on the left. They flew slowly cutting through the roof and setting fire to the shingles as well as the wood beneath. They couldn’t know it, but the powerful little lasers were also cutting through men inside the barracks until the slavers realized that if they watched the lasers coming they could just sidestep the beams. However, the beams also set fire to anything flammable inside the barracks, which included the beds and the floor. Soon the barracks filled with smoke that killed many of the men who had survived the two lasers. Once that attack run had been made Pol asked, “What is your power level Bill?”

  “Forty-five percent,” Bill replied.

  “We cannot continue to use the weapons much longer, Pete. Certainly not in sustained fire,” Pol warned.

  “Then cease firing and try to locate the slave quarters,” Pete said. He was satisfied with the amount of damage inflicted during the reconnaissance. It had been a successful venture from the prospects of hampering the enemy’s ability to fight them. They’d destroyed their ammunition supply and their machineguns. At the rate the barracks was burning, he had no doubt that it would be a total loss. He doubted they’d managed to trap many men inside the inferno. Surely, most would have been outside, preparing for the coming battle. However, a night spent on the cold ground, especially if it rained, would leave them inadequately rested for the coming battle with the peacekeepers.

  “Pete, what about the road grader?” Pol asked.

  Pete said, “You’re right. Thanks for reminding me. You go back and take that out, Pol. Bill, try to find the slave quarters. If you can’t find it by the time Pol is ready to leave, then break off the search and join him. We need to get the drones back aboard and rearm yours.”

  Two minutes later, Pol said, “I found it, Pete. Someone is trying to move it into a barn. Targeting the engine now,” he said as he watched the power level carefully.

  “Any luck?” Pete asked when Pol ceased firing.

  “I’m not sure, Pete. It’s still moving though steam seems to be leaking out of the engine compartment, but regardless of the amount of damage inflicted, I can’t continue the attack. Power is at thirty-five percent. If we continue to drain the system now, we risk losing the drone.”

  “Bring it home my friend,” Pete said with no regrets. “Congratulations you two,” he said to the two pilots. “If your drones needed further vindication, you now have that and then some,”
Pete said smiling at the happy scientist.

  ***

  On the ground in front of the farmhouse, Wild Bill stared furiously at the carnage left in the wake of the attack on his stronghold. The damned peacekeepers had ruined his machineguns and blown his ammo dump, not to mention killing some of his best overseers. In addition, they had done all of that without exposing a single one of their men to his retaliation.

  At least he hadn’t lost the farmhouse. The fire started when the machinegun on the second floor had been attacked and the flames had severely damaged that room. However, his men had extinguished that fire before it could spread to the rest of the house.

  For the first time Wild Bill wondered if perhaps he should have listened to the man in California, and left with his best men.

  A man shouted and Bill looked in the direction in which many of the men were turning. He saw the flames licking the sky in the direction of the barracks. Making his way to the barracks Bill found it fully engulfed in flames. It took Bill two hours to learn that three hundred sixty-five of his men had died in the barracks. That brought the known death toll to very nearly four hundred. When that realization sank in, Bill admitted to himself that it had indeed been a mistake to stay.

  Many of his men wanted to take their frustration out on the slaves. They pulled several of the slaves from the trench they were digging and would have beaten them to death if Wild Bill hadn’t intervened and stopped them. He pointed out that the slaves would be useful as leverage against the peacekeepers who would attack the next day. He also pointed out that any man who beat a slave to death would take the slave’s position in digging the trench and that included any overzealous overseer. The overseers weren’t so quick with their whips after that comment.

  It began to rain as Bill was working to restore order and he cursed vehemently.