The Peacekeepers. Books 1 - 3.

by Ricky Sides

  “Well done, Bill,” Tim said from the helm as he returned the Peacekeeper to its normal operating altitude and increased speed to two hundred-eighty miles per hour.

  “Thank you,” Bill said and then he added, “It’s sort of weird. I have this overwhelming sensation to walk from the cargo bay to the control room.”

  “That’s because your mind has been immersed in the drone for so long. It will soon pass,” Pol explained.

  “You get that odd sense of being in two places as well, Pol?” Bill asked.

  “Oh my, yes I do, Bill. The longer the mission the more acute that sensation can become. Oddly, it seems that if the drone was at risk during the flight then the operator immerses himself deeper and that feeling of displacement or detachment is intensified when the mission is over,” Pol explained.

  “Pol, are you sure that using the new charging system for the drones won’t pull our power levels down?” Jim asked. He was referring to the system that Pol had contrived so that the drones could recharge while the ship was in flight with the drones in the cargo bay.

  “I am certain my friend. You see, the battery system of the ship stores a set amount of power. I can give you the figures if you like,” Pol said sounding hopeful.

  “Please don’t,” said Jim. He smiled as he recalled the last time that Pol had attempted to explain the power system of the ship. That conversation had quickly turned into a litany of mathematical formulas that gave him a headache just to contemplate.

  Looking slightly disappointed, Pol said, “The point is when the ship is fully charged the extra energy can’t be stored so the charging system shuts down until it is needed. Charging the drone will simply cause the charging system of the Peacekeeper to continue to function a few minutes more than it normally would. And by charging the drone in this manner we can have it ready for flight in as little as thirty minutes,” Pol said smiling.

  “That’s considerably better than the hours we lost during the slaver conflict in Texas,” Pete remarked with approval.

  “You’d better go aft Bill and see to it that the charging system is employed correctly,” Jim said in resignation. He disliked tampering with the power system of the Peacekeeper, but Pol was one of the original developers. If he was so certain that it was safe, then it must be safe.

  Sensing that Jim still had his doubts, Pol tried a different approach in explaining the situation to Jim. He said, “Fully charging a drone will draw as much power as approximately one shot from the forward laser. I’d give you the exact numbers, but suffice it to say, it actually requires slightly less power than one shot of the laser. The Peacekeeper can make that power back in minutes. So instead of delaying a mission for hours to recharge the drones we can eliminate the delay at best, or limit it to thirty minutes at worst.”

  “Well why didn’t you say so in the first place?” Jim asked grinning.

  “I did, Captain,” said Pol, with a perplexed look on his face.

  “No you didn’t. You gave me the math that I couldn’t begin to comprehend,” Jim said laughing.

  Grinning, Pol said, “So you prefer my little analogy to the scientific explanation. That’s a good thing to remember.”

  “Tanks coming up,” Tim reported.

  “Patricia, please inform the crew that we are approaching the enemy and that they should be prepared for evasive maneuvers with little to no warning,” Jim ordered.

  “Aye, Captain,” Patricia replied and made the announcement that the captain had requested, and then she said, “Captain, I’ve found the frequency that the armored column is using. They’ve seen us, and are discussing us now.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant, patch me through to their frequency. I’d like to address them,” Jim said. He understood that it was most likely a complete waste of time, but he felt a moral obligation to try to persuade the men in the column to abandon their plans for installing Tom Whitmore as the military dictator of America.

  “Ready when you are, sir,” reported Patricia.

  “Men of the armored column, this is Captain Jim Wilison, of the peacekeepers. You are inside territory under our protection. Your attempts to attack our base have failed. You will not be permitted to install Tom Whitmore as the dictator of the United States. We will permit you to stop your vehicles and abandon them. I give you my word that no harm will come to you if you do so immediately. Just stop and leave the armored vehicles where they sit. Go out into America and start a new life for yourself. You’ve already witnessed what our drone can do in battle. You are about to see what this ship can do, and I assure you that it can do considerably more damage. We will give you a few minutes to decide among yourselves what it is you wish to do today. You can all walk away from this alive, if you choose wisely. Refuse, and before this day is over, all of your vehicles will be destroyed. We will not permit you to attack our base with your tanks and armored personnel carriers,” Jim declared with an air of finality.

  Turning to Patricia, he waited expectantly for her to report on the responses of the men in the column.

  Patricia listened intently until she had a firm grip on how things were proceeding and then she said, “Captain, they are divided in their opinions. Several of the tanks and armored personnel carrier crews want to take your offer but the majority seems to be winning the argument to stay their course and follow through with the plan.”

  Nodding his understanding Jim said, “That’s actually better than I expected.” Signaling that he wanted to address them again Jim keyed the microphone and said, “Those of you wishing to walk away from this fight pull over to the breakdown lane. Stop and exit your tanks and personnel carriers. We will destroy any tank or personnel carrier that should fire on those wishing to quit the fight. You men were once American soldiers, so I am giving you one last chance to think about what that meant to you at some point in the past. This plan to install a dictator goes against everything you once held dear. This is your last warning. We will not fire upon those opting out of this fight, and we will destroy any vehicle that fires on them.”

  On the road below them, several tanks and armored personnel carriers pulled over into the breakdown lane and stopped. Hatches opened and men poured out of the vehicles. Some scrambled to get off the road away from the vehicles because there had been threats that should they stop the rest of the column would fire upon them. One tank stopped and turned its turret to target one of the tanks that had stopped as the men inside tried to exit. Pete saw this and targeted the aggressor with the forward laser. The blue laser struck the tank turret and the red pulses raced down the beam exploding the turret. Debris and shrapnel rained all around the destroyed tank.

  Seeing this development, other tanks, and armored personnel carriers began to trust the peacekeepers to keep their word. They had not fired on those who accepted their offer to quit the fight, and they had protected them with their ship. Several more pulled over into the breakdown lane and exited their fighting vehicles. They too scrambled away from their tanks and armored personnel carriers because at that point they were in more danger from their former associates in the column than they were from the peacekeepers.

  Using the external broadcast system Jim warned the fleeing men not to abuse his trust by causing harm to any of the local survivors they encountered. He promised them that they would hunt down and kill any man doing so. He advised them that in peacekeeper territory if you needed food and water you asked. The survivors would usually give aid to those in need, if they had sufficient quantities of supplies, but there was zero tolerance for raiders and Marauders.

  By now, a full third of the vehicles had abandoned the fight but Patricia said, “Sir, the column commander just radioed Tom a report of what is happening. Tom ordered the column to stop and attack our ship in mass. But several of the tank commanders are saying that would be suicidal and are refusing.”

  “Put me back in their channel,” Jim instructed and at Patricia’s nod of compliance he said, “We intercepted the message sent to you by the would-
be dictator. Pull over now if you want to live. This is your last chance. In two minutes I will give the order to destroy all vehicles still actively following Tom’s orders.”

  “They are good men and will follow my orders. If they are to die today, then they will die doing their duty to their country and their commanding officer,” Tom’s voice said smoothly. On the road below, several more vehicles made their way to the shoulder and the men inside exited. Tom spoke again saying, “Loyal men of the column, you are hereby authorized to use lethal force on any deserters. Do it and do it now. That’s a direct order from your commander.”

  A man operating a machinegun on one tank swiveled his gun to bear on the personnel just exiting their vehicles but Pol’s drone zipped in and shot the gunner in the chest after he’d managed only a few rounds that hadn’t even been close to the men. After that incident, no one else seemed inclined to attempt to fire on the men quitting the fight.

  Jim addressed the men of the column still on the highway one last time one saying, “Gentlemen your time is up, but I see several of you pulling off the highway. We will wait to open fire on the hostiles until they pass you, and are a safe distance from your location.”

  This final message prompted another three vehicles to join those pulling over and quitting the fight and Jim nodded in satisfaction. Turning to Pol he said, “Pol, please fly your drone north along the highway. Make sure none of the crews are returning to their vehicles as the column leaves them behind.”

  Turning to Tim who’d been following the column near the rear he said, “Back us off a bit more so that Pete can target the rear vehicle. We’ll work our way up the column.”

  Of the original thirty-seven tanks and armored personnel carriers in the column now only eight remained as active combatants. Before opening fire on those vehicles Pete said, “You did your best, Jim. Frankly, I’m surprised that so many listened. I wish to God they all had.”

  “Fire when you think we are a safe distance from the other personnel,” Jim instructed. But if any others try to quit while we are working our way up the column, leave them alone,” Jim said hoping that more would quit once they saw that the peacekeepers would indeed destroy them if they did not quit the fight.

  Just as Pete was about to fire, the rear hatch on the armored personnel carrier opened and a white rag was waved outside the door. The vehicle immediately slowed and moved over into the breakdown lane. Another crew would be spared.

  The next vehicle was one of the tanks and its crew showed no signs of surrender. Pete hesitated a few moments but nothing changed. He fired the forward laser and seconds later, the tank exploded.

  As the ship flew past the smoking wreckage, Pete saw the next vehicle in the line slowing and it too pulled off the highway into the breakdown lane.

  “The men left in the column are arguing,” Patricia stated. “Some want to quit but the others are calling them cowards who are abandoning the rightful ruler of America.”

  “Can you identify the supporter of the illegal government?” Pete asked.

  “I think he is in the lead tank, sir,” Patricia said. “One moment, let me scroll back in the log and check a sentence,” she requested. A few seconds later she said, “Yes it is the lead tank. That man is the commander in charge of the armored column.”

  “He was the commander,” Pete said with an air of finality. Nodding to Tim, Pete said, “Put us in position to take out that tank please.”

  “Will do,” Tim said and throttled the ship ahead in the convoy until he was matching the speed of the tank and holding the ship in the same position relative to the tank.

  Pete was reaching for the firing control button when Patricia shouted, “Tim! Take evasive action, now!”

  Tim had lowered the Peacekeeper to one hundred feet for the attack. He immediately put the ship into a hard climb, as he broke right in a hard emergency turn. “Someone painted us with their radar. I think they were preparing to launch a missile of some sort at us,” Patricia explained and then she said, “I’ve activated the jamming though and now they shouldn’t be able to get a lock.”

  “Thank you for the warning, Lieutenant,” Jim stated.

  Pete fired the moment he was in position to fire at the lead tank. When that tank blew, he paused to see if any of the other vehicles wanted to quit. When none did so, he had Tim circle to come at the convoy from the rear and he attacked the rear vehicle. The rest of the convoy applied their brakes and slowly pulled over to the breakdown lane. They’d had quite enough of attempting to take the fight to the peacekeepers. They hurriedly exited their fighting vehicles and made their way into the countryside off the road.

  “Bill check on the status of your drone. I want you to help fly cover while we get some men moving from the base to guard the tanks and armored personnel carriers,” Jim instructed.

  “Are you thinking we can salvage the vehicles?” Pete asked.

  “I think we should try,” Jim responded.

  Pol spoke up saying, “Jim, you and Pete should see this.”

  The two council members walked over to see what Pol had on his screen and saw a curious sight. A large group of men had gathered on the interstate in formation. They were marching past the tanks and armored personnel carriers heading south. Jim asked, “Pol, do we have the ability to communicate with those men by means of your drone?”

  “What’s going on?” asked Tim, who was piloting the ship and couldn’t see Pol’s monitor.

  “A large group of men formed up and are marching south,” Pete answered.

  “Yes Jim. We can use the drone to speak to them and we can hear their replies if I am close enough but the audio quality is poor,” Pol said.

  “Patricia, patch me through,” Jim ordered and she handed him a microphone when she had made the correct connection for the transmission. “Pol, get the drone close enough for them to hear me please,” Jim requested. When Pol indicated that he was ready, Jim keyed the microphone and asked, “Gentlemen, what are your intentions?”

  A captain stepped forward and said, “Sir, I am Captain Cliff Barnes of the California, National Guard. When Tom Whitmore arrived in California with his men, he sought out surviving elements of the National Guard and Army there. He told us that he had a plan for restoring America. Now, sir, many of us saw what he was doing as wrong, but to our knowledge, it was the only plan being carried out to restore America. Yet on the way here, we witnessed some bad things. We stopped some serious abuse a few times and we grew dissatisfied with what we’d gotten ourselves involved in with Tom. You gave us an opportunity to extract ourselves from the mess we had gotten ourselves into, but we still want to play a role in restoring America. Therefore we thought we’d just walk on down to Alabama and present ourselves to you as volunteers.”

  “One moment please while I consult with the other council members,” Jim replied.

  “It could be legitimate,” Pete said although he sounded far from sure that this was the case. “A good many did pull aside at the earliest opportunity,” he pointed out.

  “Ask them what made them decide to volunteer for duty with the peacekeepers,” Tim requested.

  Jim asked that very question and Captain Barnes said without hesitation, “You prevented the others from attacking us. That tells me that you are men of honor. You opposed a military dictatorship, as did we. We linked up with Tom under the understanding that the moment the military government took control, preparations would begin to be made for an election in six months. Lately that six months period was stretched into five years. The peacekeepers are opposed to five years of military rule. So are we.”

  “Are all of you men from California?” Jim asked.

  “No, sir, we are not,” Captain Barnes replied. “Some are from Nevada, Colorado, Oregon, Washington State, and Oklahoma. They came to California back when we almost got things going in the state to try to help us. The majority of us are from California though. I think Tom’s original deserters are still running,” the captain said smiling.
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  “That story sounds plausible,” said Pete, remembering the rumors that California had restored order for a time.

  “How many of your men can drive the tanks and armored personnel carriers?” Jim asked.

  “A good many, sir,” the captain replied. “That wasn’t our specialty before the disasters, but times being what they were, we were forced to adapt,” he concluded with a shrug.

  “We can try them. I think if they really wanted to fight us, they’d have done so when it was just our ship and the drones. They’d know that once we reach the base their odds of success go way down,” Pete stated.

  “Captain, organize your men. Have them get to the tanks and armored personnel carriers, unload the weapons, and then assemble the vehicles into a convoy. Once that is accomplished, I want them to kill their engines and stand beside the vehicles. Then you and I will inspect each crew to ensure that no rogues are among them. Once that is accomplished we’ll return to the base where you will go through peacekeeper training,” Jim said.

  “Pardon me, sir, but do you want the ammunition dumped on the side of the road?” the captain asked.

  “No. Keep the ammunition in the vehicles, just unload all of the weapons,” Jim stated evenly.

  “You trust us, sir?” the captain asked and for the first time he sounded surprised.

  “Trust has to begin somewhere, Captain. Your men trusted me first. I gave you my word that we would protect you if you would quit the fight, but for all you knew we would cut you down when you emerged. I don’t normally trust people easily, Captain, but in this case, my instincts are telling me that you are legitimate. My instincts also tell me that some within your ranks are not, so I will be watching you all carefully. That’s no insult to the majority, whom I believe are sincere, but I have a responsibility to the people who entrust me to safeguard their families.”