“Yes, sir… I mean, yes, right away,” Kate answered, freezing her arm in mid-salute. “I have a suggestion of my own, if I may. I saw a pile of camping supplies in the garage: sleeping bags, tents, freeze-dried food, everything, and I think we should bring them along, just in case.”
“Not a bad idea,” agreed the Colonel. “It would be a hell of a lot harder to find you out in the woods than the cabin, if the location turns out not to be as secret as we hope. Secure the camping supplies, and bring boots and hiking gear for everybody. Then let’s get our fugitives out of here, on the double.”
There was a flurry of activity. Jodie, Robin and Merry were hustled back to the garage by Steph, and loaded into a ridiculously luxurious Cadillac sport utility vehicle, while Dick Murphy and Kate Swenson piled supplies in the rear cargo area and under the seats. Ten minutes later, they were rolling through the streets of the capital.
It looked to Jodie as if they were not leaving any too soon. The outsized green personnel carriers of the Military Police, the blue and white cruisers of the D.C. Police, and swarms of unmarked vehicles containing grim-looking men in business suits and wearing sunglasses, whom Jodie suspected were not tourists in town to see the sights of the nation’s capital, seemed to be everywhere. Uniformed soldiers were busily setting up security checkpoints at every major intersection. It seemed that either the cabal had learned of Jodie and Robin’s escape even more quickly than Colonel Bransom had feared, or there had been a sudden change of plans for some other reason and they had decided not to move quietly behind the scenes by arresting and charging Jodie with treason, but to openly stage a coup d’etat.
Dick Murphy followed smaller streets to avoid the roadblocks as long as possible, while still continuing to head toward the western side of the city. Eventually, however, in order to cross the Potomac on the Pershing Bridge, he was obliged to use a main road, and ran into a checkpoint on the east bank, covering the approach to the bridge.
Murphy chatted with the soldiers as they examined the driver’s licenses of the party, and checked them in the DMV records. As all the new identities of the party had been prepared in advance, and matching information inserted in the DMV records and were as good as their real IDs, there was no danger that the driver’s licenses would give them away. However, Jodie’s retinal patterns were on file (as were those of all general officers, as a routine security precaution), and her phony contact lenses would not prevent her being identified if she was scanned.
“What’s all the fuss about, Corporal?” Murphy asked. “Looks like somebody really stirred up the ants’ nest this time.”
“Who knows?” the soldier answered, shrugging, as he waited for the private running their IDs and the car’s plates through the DMV computers to return. “First there’s a rumor that Red agents were plotting to blow up the Pentagon, then we’re told it’s all just a drill to test the city’s security plan in case of an invasion, and then… this one was really unbelievable… that assassins had killed General Lawrence and replaced her with a double, and were planning to use the fake to take over the country. I mean, did you ever hear anything so ridiculous in your whole life?”
Before he could answer, the private who had taken their I.D. cards returned with them in his hand. “They’re all clear, Johnny,” he told the Corporal, “and the plate is clean, too.”
“So where are you off to, Mr. Carlton, with a car full of lovely ladies?” the Corporal asked Murphy, casually. He went on without waiting for an answer. “Wherever it is, it has to be a lot better than what we have to look forward to. We’ll probably be standing around out here like idiots the whole weekend, and then they’ll tell us it was just a drill or a false alarm. But that’s the Army for you. Go ahead and have a good time,” he said. He signaled to his men to move the barricade aside for them, and slapped the car to urge them on.
“So that’s the line they’re taking,” Jodie said after they cleared the bridge. “I was replaced by a ChiCom imposter. It sounds like something from a bad thriller. Who’s going to believe anything so nonsensical?”
“The only other choice would be to try convincing the Army you’re a traitor, and that would be an even harder sell, is my guess,” Merry suggested. “Do you think that Corporal back there would believe you had sold out to the Reds?”
“I think you put your finger on it, sis,” Robin agreed. “Now, I don’t believe they ever intended to bring Jodie to trial. The charges were just an excuse to get her into custody, and after that…”
“After that,” Jodie finished grimly. “I would be taken down into to a nice, quiet basement somewhere, and I would never come out again. If the admirals turn out to be behind this, they are in for a serious housecleaning over at the Navy Department after I take over. Somebody is going to pay for this… in blood.”
Chapter Four: Party
There were no roadblocks or security checks after they left Washington and no other cause for delay, so they drove west for three uninterrupted hours on the Virginia Turnpike, not stopping until they exited at Front Royal. From there, they went south, going from the four-lane Federal Highway to two-lane state roads, to still smaller county roads, until at last they were bumping down a dirt lane so heavily rutted that the maximum speed was no more than thirty miles an hour.
“It’s unspoiled, I’ll say that for it,” Jodie remarked when the vehicle came to a stop at a gate which barred further progress on the dirt road they were following through the middle of nowhere. They had been seeing fewer and fewer signs of human habitation over the last two hours. Now they were in a thickly forested valley that appeared to be unchanged since the days when the only inhabitants of Virginia were deerskin-clad Native Americans. “This road must be almost useless after a heavy rain. How does anybody get in or out in bad weather?”
“This isn’t the main road,” Murphy explained. “It’s an old logging road that cuts through the National Forest and comes up behind the cabin. It’ll give us a chance to see if anybody is waiting for us up by the front door before they see us. I’ll just jump out and open the gate. Kate, drive through and I’ll close the gate behind you.”
“Very clever,” Kate muttered, shifting over to the driver’s seat, “but what if they’re waiting for us on this road?”
After it passed through the gate, the road became narrower and ever rougher as it snaked its way to a higher elevation. Murphy pulled off the road, which by now was really not much more than a trail, into a thick patch of undergrowth. “The cabin is just around that bend. I want to go ahead on foot to take a look.”
“I’ll go with you,” said Kate. “Let’s take something along in case the party gets unfriendly.” She jumped out, went around to open the rear gate, reached under the seat and slid out a green metal box. Inside were several deadly looking black machine pistols. She handed one to Murphy, then tossed him a pair of full magazines. She slid one into her weapon, locked it in place with a click, and then stuffed two more into the hip pouches of her pants. They moved silently off into the lengthening shadows of the late afternoon, and soon disappeared in the thick stands of white pine and spruce.
The remainder of the group sat staring in silence in the direction Kate and Murphy had gone.
The first to speak was Jodie. “I think I’ll into change into something a little more practical while we’re waiting.” She rooted through a duffel bag and dug out a set of camouflage fatigues and boots, then stripped off the colorful silk blouse and embroidered jeans she had been wearing and slipped into the more rugged garments.
Steph, Robin and Merry wordlessly copied her, stuffing their civilian garb into the duffel bags. Merry dragged out another metal suitcase from under the last row of seats, this one containing four partially disassembled M-63 assault rifles. She distributed parts for three rifles to the others, and the four women rapidly put together barrel, stock and receiver to make operable weapons. From another box, she took 20-round magazines of 5.56mm ammunition and handed them around.
“There
’s probably nothing to worry about,” Merry said as she locked and loaded her weapon. “I mean, Murphy did say this was an ultra-secret location.”
“No, probably not, but it can’t hurt to be prepared,” Jodie agreed. “So, why don’t we find some decent cover, and set up a secure perimeter?” She pointed. “Steph, you go over there. Robin, set up behind that fallen trunk on the left, Merry, work your way through the woods to the right of the trail about twenty yards, and try to find someplace to take the road under observation. I’ll go up the other side.” Although she was supposed to be under the orders of her security detail, Jodie was a born leader who almost instinctively took command of situations, and the others responded to her automatically.
The women moved quickly into position, then settled down to wait either for the return of their comrades… or a fight for their lives. With the approach of sunset, the red light reduced visibility and made the thick woods look as if they had been bathed in blood. Jodie was on the verge of sending someone to see what had happened to Murphy and Kate, when the two scouts suddenly appeared, as if out of nowhere.
Kate silently gestured for Jodie to go back down the trail, and she signaled Merry to do the same. Robin and Step joined the others as soon as they saw the others returning. The team huddled together in the thicket of shrubs around the vehicle.
“Sorry we took so long,” Kate said. “It looked OK, but something didn’t feel right, so we moved very slowly and extra carefully.”
“They had a beautiful set-up,” Murphy said. “The cabin looks vacant, no cars in sight, no signs of anything, if you came up the drive to the front door. They have infra-red detectors, sound detectors, trip-wires and people in position to pounce as soon as General Lawrence appeared.”
“Luckily for us they didn’t know about this back entrance,” Kate said. “All their stuff is pointing the wrong way.”
“This still seems like a poor choice as a campsite,” Jodie said. “I suggest we hop back in the car and put some distance between us and our friends up there.”
“General, I think it would be a mistake to try to go back out to the highway now,” Murphy said. “It’s very likely they’ll have aerial surveillance covering all the roads after dark, and the canopy will provide pretty good cover, as long as we stay in the forest.”
“OK. What do you suggest?” Jodie asked.
“The National Forest is huge, and bordered by more uninhabited woodland,” he said. “My advice would be head west into the heart of the preserve, find a likely place and set up camp down there somewhere. They probably don’t know that we came out here after we left Washington, or the whole area would be swarming with patrols, with ’copters everywhere. Even if they eventually begin to suspect that we’re around here, we could make ourselves almost impossible to find in that wilderness.”
Jodie considered for a moment, and then said, “All right. Let’s do it.”
They eased the SUV out of the shrubs, and then with the engine off pushed it until it started to roll silently back down the logging road, starting the engine only after they were well away from the cabin. They left the road a mile down, plunging into the forest, navigating by using infrared night vision goggles. Kate expertly maneuvered the big vehicle across rocks whenever possible, and they stopped frequently to wipe away any evidence of their passage. This meant that progress was painstakingly slow, so it took three hours to reach a location that they agreed would be reasonably safe.
They hid the SUV at the base of a knob in a stand of blue spruce which grew so close together that their branches intertwined. The knob was covered just as thickly with the evergreens, except at the very top, where an ancient forest giant had fallen, leaving a clearing big enough for their tents. The remaining trees were tall and wide enough to roof over most of their refuge.
They set up two tents: one for Jodie, Robin and Merry and another for Murphy, Steph, and Kate. They made a silent meal from self-heating ration packs, and set up a rotation of watches. At first, Kate and Murphy wanted to excuse Jodie from sentry duty, but she insisted and would not be denied.
“If they find this place, it won’t matter if I’m on guard duty or hiding in my sleeping bag when it happens. I’ll be scooped up with the rest of you,” she said. “We have to make sure they don’t find us even they’re poking their noses near here, and we need alert, well rested sentries. I’d rather not trust my neck to somebody stupid from lack of sleep, thank you. We will all take turns.”
The night passed uneventfully. They heard no sounds but birdcalls and water rushing along the little stream at the base of the hill. They had a few anxious moments when they heard a helicopter in the distance the next day, but it never came any nearer and the sound soon faded away. Nothing much happened until a little after midnight on the second day.
Jodie and Merry had taken the first watch and were sound asleep in their tent. They were abruptly woken when the tent flaps flew open and a large, soft object landed heavily on them. Jodie sat up, still more asleep than awake, to discover that a human body was sprawled across her sleeping bag. As she fumbled for her flashlight, Merry’s light flicked on, and she heard her gasp, “It’s Dick Murphy, and he’s hurt!”
At first glance, Jodie thought he was dead. His eyes were closed, his mouth open and blood trickled down over his forehead from a scalp wound. She was relieved when he moved his head a little and groaned, proving that he was, for the moment at least, alive.
Suddenly, a bright light played on Jodie’s face, momentarily blinding her before it switched to Merry. A strange male voice said, “All right, now. You cunts put yer hands out where I can see ’em, nice and slow like, then come on outta there. Don’t do anything sudden-like, or I might just get scared ’n accidently blow you all to Hell with this shotgun.” His tone suggested that he considered the last part to be a jest. Jodie instantly sized up the man. He was relaxed, and confident he was in complete control of the situation. She did not doubt that he had a shotgun pointed at their heads, nor that he was prepared to use it.
“Do what he says Merry,” she said. As she unzipped her sleeping bag, moving with extreme care, Jodie pointed at the unconscious Murphy and said, “Our friend needs attention. Let me get the first aid kit, and take a look at that head wound.”
The man turned his head to the side, spat and returned his gaze to Jodie. “No need for that, he’ll be fine. He just got a little bump on his head.” He called over his shoulder without turning around. “Charlie, bring up some rope.”
A figure, no more than a shape in the darkness outside the tent, appeared behind the man. Then two lengths of rope landed on Murphy’s unmoving form. “You tie his hands behind,” he told Jodie. “An’ you lie down on your belly, hands behind your back,” he said to Merry.
After Jodie finished binding the hands of the unconscious Dick Murphy, their captor ordered her to do the same to Merry. Jodie made a show of pulling the knot on Merry’s wrists tight, while actually leaving it as loose as possible without making this too obvious. Her attempt to trick the man was rewarded when her chin met the steel toed of his boot, sending her flying backwards and making little light bulbs pop in her head.
“Nice try, girly,” she heard the man say through the white noise in her brain. “Now, get up, ’n you kin do it right.”
Jodie sat up, blinked, rubbed her jaw and went back to work on the knot, saying blearily, “Well, you can’t blame me for trying.”
The man laughed, a short, sharp bark. “No, I can’t,” he agreed. “I kind a like you, little missy. You got guts, fer a girl. Now come out here an get on yer belly for me, so I kin fix you up like your girlfriend.”
Jodie obediently crawled out of the tent, and lay quietly on the ground while the man tied her hands behind her so strictly that they almost immediately started to lose sensation. He placed a booted foot on her back while he bent low to seize a hank of Merry’s long hair, and used this hold to drag her out to lie in the dirt beside Jodie.
“Fucking bastard,”
Merry whispered to Jodie. “That hurt like a son of a bitch.”
“Sorry, kid,” Jodie answered. “But if that was the worst thing they do to you tonight, I’ll be mighty surprised. These men… ah! Fuck!” she shouted as a boot thumped into her ribs.
“Shut up,” the man ordered. “What did ya get, Mort?” he asked a hulking man who stood in front of the other tent.
The man reached down, to raise the heads of a pair of prone figures by their hair. “Got these two right here, Billy,” he said. “Looks like some real nice pussy.” Billy shone his light on Mort’s prisoners to reveal the dirt-streaked faces of Robin and Steph.
“No better than this here,” Billy said, nudging Merry and Jodie with the toe of his boot. “I’m mortal anxious to get started, an’ if them Carson boys don’t get their asses up here soon, you, me an’ Charlie is just gonna go ahead without ’em.”
At that moment, three new men popped out of the trees into the clearing. They were dressed like Mort, Billy and Charlie in camouflage hunting clothes and hunting boots, each carrying either a rifle or a shotgun. The newcomers also all had infrared night scopes hanging on lanyards around their necks. That explained, at least part, something that had been troubling Jodie: how had these men managed to get the drop on Dick Murphy, who had been equipped with military-grade night-vision glasses?
One of the three newcomers said, “Now, you wouldn’t really do a thing like that to us, would you, Billy? We was going ’round to see if they was any more of ’em, jus’ like you tole us.”
“An’ did I tell you ta take all night about it?” Billy grumbled. “Anyway, you’re here now, an’ we got plenty a’ fancy cunt to go around, so let’s get this party started.”
Jodie felt a sinking sensation in her the pit of her stomach. All four women were alumni of the NWMA at Highpoint, and after surviving that experience they had no great fear of rape, even the anal variety. But she had a feeling that these men were not going to be content with merely using them sexually, or even beating them to a pulp. She had a strong intuition that, unless they were rescued before then, by sunrise not one of her people would be alive.
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