The Peacekeepers. Books 1 - 3.

by Ricky Sides

  Chapter 15

  The Peacekeeper arrived at the farm around noon. The need to permit the drones to recharge after their last mission had delayed them. By now, the thought of going into this battle without the aid of the two drones was inconceivable to the leaders. The little drones had proven to be a wildly valuable asset in battle.

  As the ship approached the farm, an amplified voice began to speak saying, “Do not come any closer. If you do, we will kill all of the slaves starting with the females who are gathered nearby. This is your only warning,” the voice threatened.

  In the ship, the peacekeeper council composed of Tim, Jim, and Pete discussed the situation as the ship hovered in position. All three men knew that negotiating with these slavers was a bad proposition. The slavers had committed atrocities without number. They would continue to do so, if left free to do as they pleased. Pete argued that they should completely disregard the threat and annihilate the enemy. Jim was similarly inclined because he felt that unless they succeeded in liberating these slaves their days were numbered. Tim was indecisive. Before they could reach a decision, he heard a male voice say, “I see the wires, and think I can disarm the bombs.” A moment later, there was a horrific explosion from behind the farmhouse. Men standing in the yard near the farmhouse were knocked off their feet, and a cloud of debris filled the air.

  Tim awoke drenched in sweat and felt someone shaking him. His wife Patricia was speaking to him. She was asking if he was all right. An insistent pounding on the door added to the general din. “Are you two okay in there?” the duty guard’s voice queried.

  “We’re fine,” Patricia answered, while Tim fought to free himself from the panic state induced by the dream.

  “They’re all dead!” Tim said shaking his head and then he realized it had only been a dream. The same dream in fact which he had previously experienced.

  “Patricia,” Pete’s voice called to her.

  “Yes Pete?” she responded.

  “Maggie’s with me, and she wants to examine Tim,” Pete explained.

  “You’d better let them in,” Tim said. Then he added, “I think something’s wrong. I can’t seem to stop shaking.”

  Now she was frightened. Patricia got out of bed and hurriedly slipped into her robe. Opening the door she said, “Come in please.”

  Maggie entered the cabin in her robe and went immediately to examine Tim. Checking his pulse her eyes widened in alarm. She checked his blood pressure and his temperature. Closing her medical bag Maggie regarded Tim thoughtfully and asked, “Did you just suffer an acute nightmare?”

  “Yes I did,” Tim replied honestly.

  “Your pulse and blood pressure were elevated well beyond your normal perimeters, but they seem to be dropping now,” the doctor explained. Next Maggie asked, “Is this the first time that you’ve experienced a physical manifestation after having a nightmare?”

  Tim hesitated to answer that question and Pete spoke up from the doorway saying, “If you’d rather, I can leave the room and give you some privacy.”

  Sighing Tim said, “It’s not you, Pete. It’s this damned recurring dream. I’ve had it three times now.”

  “Three? I thought this was the second time, Tim,” Patricia said in alarm.

  “I didn’t want to worry you,” Tim responded.

  “Famous last words,” Maggie said shaking her head. Then she asked, “And you say it is the same dream?”

  “It is the same dream yes. There are sometimes little variances but the basic dream is always the same,” Tim admitted.

  “Perhaps it would help to talk about this dream,” Maggie suggested. “Many patients have been helped in the past by discussing disturbing recurring dreams.”

  Shrugging Tim said, “At this point I’m ready to try anything to sleep peacefully again.” Tim began relating the dream. Pete stood looking on with a disturbed look on his face. “What’s wrong with you, Pete?” Tim asked.

  Pete then revealed to the three of them, who’d all been sleeping at the time, what they had learned concerning the women slaves at the farm during the drone reconnaissance mission. He further added that he and Jim had discussed it and felt it best to arrive at the farmhouse about noon the next day so that the batteries on the drones would have time to reach a full charge.

  “And the women were being held behind the farmhouse?” Tim asked for clarification.

  “Yes in what appeared to be a large storm shelter with a mound of earth on top,” Pete explained.

  “Well no offense, Pete, but I hope you reconsider the current plan under the circumstances,” Tim stated quietly. He added, “Now I’m not one for believing in the supernatural as a rule. I’ve scoffed at more than my share of people who make claims to have experienced the paranormal. However there are just too many similarities here to ignore.”

  “I agree, but I need a viable option,” Pete said with a somber expression on his face.

  “Did you guys save the reconnaissance video?” Patricia asked.

  “Yes it is listed under the filename slaver recon one,” Pete stated.

  Patricia went to the computer and in five minutes, she had the file pulled up, and had advanced it to a time marker Pete gave her which he said would be right give or take a few minutes. Once the video began he said, “We overshot it. That’s my fault. Back it up about three minutes.”

  Patricia did so and she watched the video until the image zoomed in on the radio controlled detonator device. She froze the picture and captured the image for a data file comparison, which she augmented by including a model number. The computer expert had enlarged and enhanced the image until the number became legible. A few minutes later, she had the details on that device. It was an older unit that could utilize one of six different frequencies that were preset manually on the units. Inputting another query, she soon had the list of the frequencies and crosschecked to see if the Peacekeeper could jam them all simultaneously. Smiling she assured Pete and Tim that she could jam the frequencies easily enough once they were within a reasonable distance of the receiver.

  “There’s your viable option dear,” Maggie said smiling.

  “Well done, Patricia,” Pete said smiling. “I knew it was possible that the slavers could have trapped the wires so that the explosives would detonate, should one of the wires be cut. Frankly I underestimated them and thought that too sophisticated for them to manage.”

  “If you folks don’t get some sleep I may have to ground the lot of you tomorrow,” Maggie threatened. She said goodnight and left with Pete to try to get a few more hours sleep.

  ***

  A tense group of slavers waited for the expected sunrise attack on their farm. They felt a nervous sense of anticipation as the sun began to rise. Several times men eager to be the first to spot the enemy raised false alarms as they shouted that they saw movement out by the gate.

  Wild Bill strode out to stand before the men assembled at the trench along with three other men. When he had the attention of the men in and around the farmyard, he raised his hands for silence. Gradually the murmuring of the men quieted and he said, “It looks like the enemy is sleeping in this morning.” There were a few laughs along the slaver line and Bill added, “Men we’ve spent almost a year and a half building something for ourselves here in Texas. Many of you have worked harder here than you have ever worked anywhere else in your whole life. When we came here there was nothing to this farm but the house and family who owned the place,” Bill said referring to the family that the escaped convicts had raped to death.

  “That family wasn’t working a third of the land that we now work. Just look what we have built for ourselves during our time here. But last night the so-called peacekeepers raided us. They destroyed the barracks that so many of us worked to build with our own two hands. Now I ask you all. Are we going to let the peacekeepers drive us off our land and take our property from us?”

  “No!” shouted many in the crowd.

  Pointing to one of the men beside him,
Wild Bill said, “You all know Slim here. Slim caught a slave girl trying to poison us after word got around of what had happened at the other farm. We count Slim as a hero among us don’t we?”

  The crowd of men cheered the man who’d stopped the slave from poisoning their food. Bill let them cheer themselves out and then he said, “And who can forget Gary here who single handedly stopped seven male slaves from escaping? I call Gary another hero among us!” Again, the crowd cheered.

  Bill next pointed to the remaining man and added, “But then there is George. A man among men, George trained a group of men to go out and secure our volunteer work force. George worked out the system to control them and recruited the women who would share their bodies with us when we have the need, and oh we have a lot of need, don’t we boys?” he asked grinning.

  The crowd roared with agreement on that score and Bill waited patiently for them to grow silent. When silence returned he said, “Well at some point today these peacekeepers will arrive. They mean to take our workers and destroy everything that we have worked so hard to build. The question I want to ask is this, will you let them?”

  “Oh hell no!” shouted a man in the front ranks of the slavers. Scores of others followed his angry shout and then hundreds joined in.

  When the shouting died down Bill said, “The cooks are preparing a meal. You’ll eat at your defensive stations. These peacekeepers won’t catch us with our pants down today, no matter when they arrive. I don’t want to hear any carping about the matter either. This is war, and as any fool knows, war is hell. But you men should take comfort in the fact that before this day is over, you will have a new batch of slaves in the survivors of the peacekeepers. I hear they have loads of pretty women and good strong men. So enjoy your meal, but be ready for the fight when it comes, and it will come,” Bill said. He walked back to his house to the cheers of his men.

  Chapter 16

  The opening moves of the battle at the farm were covert. Teams of men advanced on foot to be in position to protect the women in the storm shelter should the slavers opt to attempt to pull them out once they learned they could not detonate the bombs. But if all went well they would open the shelter door during a diversion and evacuate the women through a circuitous back route.

  While the ground forces were moving into position, the Peacekeeper flew in a wide circle and deployed the battle bike team in a position from which they would be able to help cover either the female or the male slaves at a moments notice. Patricia activated the jamming of the radio frequencies utilized by the radio controlled detonation device as the ship came to within range. Tim landed the Peacekeeper between the shelter and the house to act as a physical shield as the peacekeeper entry team on the ground hurried toward the shelter and opened it in a bid to free the female slaves inside.

  An incessant barrage of small arms fire hammered the ship. Patricia reported that the entry team had successfully opened the door to the shelter and was in the process of evacuating the women. Next, she reported that fire from the far right second story window had the ground forces pinned down and they were requesting assistance with that set of shooters since they couldn’t target the enemy without exposing themselves to the lethal fire of the occupants of that room. Pete couldn’t target the problem window because of the angle in which the ship sat. The ship couldn’t move without exposing the ground forces depending upon the shelter that the vessel offered. However, Bill’s drone soon arrived, and a few shots from his laser either killed or discouraged the men in that room, who were attempting to kill the ground forces and shoot the fleeing women. Soon all of the women had reached the drainage ditch that the peacekeepers had used to get to within a few dozen yards of the shelter. Once they were in the ditch, the peacekeepers escorting them had the women crawl away from the area. When they reached the point where it would be safe to stand and walk they did so and soon they arrived at the transports waiting to evacuate them.

  Inside the house, Wild Bill furiously demanded to know why the bomb wouldn’t detonate. They had the big ship sitting almost on top of the bomb and he’d tried numerous times to detonate it, but nothing was happening. One of the men who’d set up the charges spoke up saying, “They must be jamming the frequency Bill. Maybe one of our sharpshooters can hit one of the charges. If one is detonated that would set off the others,” the man explained.

  “Get the word to the men to hit one of those charges the moment one becomes visible. We may have lost the women, but if we can blow the bomb with them in close proximity, then we may be able to take out that damned ship,” Bill ordered.

  Once the women had evacuated past the danger zone, Tim requested that the drones back off and give him some maneuvering space. He was edgy about being in such close proximity to the bomb. The memory of the power of the explosion in his dreams was a vivid reminder that even the comparatively primitive technology could indeed prove lethal to the ship, so he was planning to get clear of that area as quickly as possible. Tim overrode the computer safety protocols that required minimal clearance before initializing other maneuvers. He lifted the ship barely above the ground. Turning the ship slightly on its axis he prepared to surge straight ahead into the open space between the rear of the house and a large barn. He planned to put the ship into a very rapid climb toward maximum altitude, while he applied maximum acceleration.

  A withering hail of light weapons fire initiated the moment that the ship moved away from its blocking position, but such was the speed of the maneuver that the ship was several hundred feet away and almost at full altitude when the bombs detonated. The ship was buffeted somewhat by the concussive force of the blasts, but not enough to be a real problem for Tim. The house had taken serious damage from the blast, as Tim noted when he brought the ship back around to survey the damage. All of the windows on the back section had been blown out. One portion of the exterior wall seemed to have buckled under the concussive forces arrayed against it when the bombs had detonated.

  By now, the peacekeeper ground vehicles had begun to arrive. The peacekeepers moved two hundred men into containment positions from which the slavers could not easily target the men without having to expose themselves to return fire. They had many of the best peacekeeper snipers with them. These snipers, working with spotters, soon began to take a serious toll on the slavers. One by one, the snipers picked off any man foolish enough to expose himself. The rest of the peacekeepers concentrated their fire on the front of the house effectively making it suicidal to attempt to fire from the windows.

  The slavers had several hundred men located to the east of the house in a column behind the road grader. They were using the armored vehicle for cover. The vehicle had apparently been repaired, because it was slowly advancing on the line of peacekeeper ground forces and the slavers were using the body of the road grader for cover. Lieutenant Wilcox radioed the Peacekeeper and reported the impending attack. Jim ordered the battle bikes to attack the road grader and take it out of the fight. The ship and drones were busy elsewhere attempting to keep the main mass of men in the trenches pinned down. If they charged the peacekeeper infantry in mass, there was a very real danger that they could overrun them.

  “Now men, let’s light up that road grader,” the lieutenant said. He gunned the engine of his bike and released the clutch. Shooting away from his men he carefully ran through the gears as he closed with the target. Riding on the grass was tricky business, but there was no alternative if they were to stop the advance. Soon his men drew their bikes alongside his as they raced toward the machine that could simply roll over the peacekeeper infantry line. Several of the slavers following the road grader saw the bikes approaching and opened fire.

  Lieutenant Wilcox fired his missile first. His men fired their missiles a moment later. After firing their missiles, the team swerved their bikes to the right and opened fire with their machineguns. They concentrated their fire on the center of the column of men. As they rapidly approached the enemy, the strike team members felt the impacts of bul
lets on the fairings of their bikes. Upon the lieutenant’s command, the unit executed a maneuver that they had practiced diligently. Two of the men swerved to the right and the remaining two swerved to the left. As they executed that maneuver, they continued to fire at the Marauders. The slaver line was devastated. The survivors broke and ran for the comparative safety of the trenches.

  With the enemy infantry contained, the strike team shifted their attention back to the road grader, which was heavily damaged, but was still moving toward the peacekeeper infantry line. “Grenades on my mark!” shouted the lieutenant into his radio. He calmly gauged the distance as he led the men on their attack run. “Now!” he shouted as he fired his forty-millimeter grenade. Seconds later the other three men fired their grenades and all four bikes swerved hard to the left just as they had done in training. The four grenades slammed into the road grader. The engine of the vehicle took two direct hits while the remaining two grenades struck the side of the driver’s compartment and the forward motion stopped.

  There were cheers along the peacekeeper infantry line. Inside the house, Wild Bill cursed as he saw his attack plan fall apart. He’d lost nearly a third of his remaining men during that failed attack. He’d been planning to take several peacekeepers prisoner to use as leverage to force the flying machines to stand down from the battle.

  A large number of the slavers fought from the trench that they had forced the slaves to dig overnight. When the attack hadn’t materialized at dawn as anticipated, the slavers had put the slaves back to work improving that trench. They now had the slaves chained and seated in front of the trenches. Wild Bill’s men were using them as human shields to prevent the return fire of the peacekeepers. The snipers occasionally got the men popping up to fire from the trenches, but the drones really took the fight to those men. The drones would fly above the trench and execute strafing runs. After the third such strafing a voice on a loudspeaker announced, “You peacekeepers out there better call off your little robot ships or we will start executing the slaves!”