Blackwood tried to remember. “I’m not sure.”
“What about the attack on this other army?”
Blackwood laughed bitterly. “We couldn’t attack a convalescent center with what’s left here.” He shook his head. “No. We’ll wait for them to come after us and do our best to repel them.”
Monroe nodded in agreement. “Let’s help with the wounded.”
“Yeah,” Blackwood said with deep sympathy, and led Monroe back along the road.
*
The sun was rising over the eastern horizon and creeping through the window of the infirmary. Mark waited in the recovery room with his sister and parents, while Alex and his friends stood around in the doctor’s office. Marcia, Judy, and Christa told Alex what had happened after the plane crash, and Alex told them about the trek he and David had made to find them.
“Do you still have the computer disks, the crystal, and vial?” Alex asked.
“Yes,” Christa answered. “They’re in the cabin that Joyce . . .” Her voice trailed off for a moment as she thought about the poor woman who had helped them through so much.
Alex saw the sorrow in her eyes. “Okay. I guess our next step is to continue what we started to do. They must have a cellphone around here. I’ll try to get through to Martin Donner and see if he can send some help.”
They heard a truck drive up in front of the infirmary, and Alex walked to the window. The driver jumped out and ran to the door.
“Get the doctor!” the young woman yelled. “I’ve got a truck load of wounded people out here!”
“Get the doctor, David” Alex ordered and followed the woman to the back of the truck, wondering how there could be wounded when there shouldn’t have been an attack. When the woman threw open the canvas curtain, he could smell a burnt odor escaping from inside. He turned and saw his friends standing behind him. “Grab the stretchers and let’s help these people,” he told them. “Judy, run and find some soldiers to help.”
Christa and Marcia ran back into the building to get the stretchers.
The doctor ran out of the infirmary and looked into the back of the truck. “My God!” he moaned. “What happened?” he asked the driver.
“Everything started blowing up. More trucks will be coming in a few minutes.”
“How many more wounded?” the doctor asked.
“A lot,” she told him. She and Alex jumped into the truck and began helping the ones who could stand to get out the back.
Christa and Marcia helped David and Mark bring the stretchers out, and handed them up into the truck. A moment later, Judy came back with Grady and several dozen soldiers right behind her. Grady took over, ordering soldiers to bring out the stretchers. Once the truck was empty, the driver climbed back into the cab and drove back to the disaster. Twenty minutes later, another truck arrived with more wounded and the ground outside the infirmary became crowded with patients.
Alex took Grady aside for a moment. “Is there a cellphone around here?”
“In Blackwood’s cabin, on the desk. He forgot to take it with him.”
Alex asked his friends to stay and help, and ran off to find the phone. He sat on the edge of the desk, grabbed the phone and dialed, glad when a White House secretary answered. He told her who he was and asked to be put through to Donner.
“Alex! Thank God you’re all right!” Martin told him.
Alex explained what had happened and what was going on.
“Alex, just before we lost contact with you, we were notified the tanker in route from Cook Inlet was attacked. There is no more crude oil. That’s when we decided to move this experiment with the crystal to Area 51. There’s no need to go all the way to Alaska.”
“Can you get us a helicopter?”
“I’ll try, but things are a mess right now. Give me your number and I’ll call you back.” Alex read off the numbers from the phone. “Your friend, Bull, has been calling. He’s just as worried as we’ve been. Here’s his number.”
“All right, I’ll call him. Get back to me as soon as you can.” Alex hung up and was about to call Bull when he noticed Christa standing in the doorway. “What’s up?” he asked.
She had followed him to the cabin and had been watching him the whole time he was on the phone, desperately wishing he would hold her for a few moments when he was through. She walked into the cabin and stood in front of him. “Would you mind just giving me a hug? I promise not to get in the way of you and Judy. It’s just that I . . .”
Alex stood and wrapped his arms around her. “There’s nothing between Judy and me.”
Christa looked away and stared at his chest. “You don’t have to lie to me. I heard you that night back at your house, and I know that . . .”
“No, no. Judy was blackmailing me. She wasn’t going to fly you to Washington if I didn’t sleep with her. Please believe me.”
Christa stared up into his eyes and saw his sincerity. Tears suddenly filled her eyes, and she smiled and pulled him close. Alex felt her kiss him on the neck. He started to turn his head so he could place his lips against hers, and a picture of Sevi’s mangled body, lying dead on a stretcher, flashed into his mind. I still have a mission to complete, he thought. After a moment, he gently eased her away from him, and saw the puzzled expression in her eyes. He didn’t want hurt her, but he couldn’t put her in more danger, either. He tried to make his smile appear cheerful.
Christa stared up at him, and saw sadness in his smile and eyes. “What’s wrong?” Even as she asked, she thought she already knew. She pushed him away and turned her back to him, not wanting him to see the painful look she knew she couldn’t hide. “I’m sorry,” she said as she fought to keep her voice steady and walked briskly to the door.
Alex felt a deep anguish ripping at his heart, his frustration burning in his soul. He tried to think of a way to explain to her just how he felt, but couldn’t find the right words to ease her pain. Instead, he just stood there, helpless to ease both of their suffering.
Alex dropped heavily into the chair at the desk, and dialed the number he had for Bull.
“Yeah,” Bull answered in his unmistakable voice.
“It’s Alex.”
“Thank God! Where the hell have you been? What’s going on? When will the women get here? You’ve had me really worried!”
Alex filled him in on the women’s plane crash and the AOS camp. “Martin told me about the attack on the last tanker. Even if we could get up there to Valdez, there isn’t much we could do.”
“I still have some crude oil, Alex. I didn’t trust the military, so I stole a few hundred gallons,” Bull told him, not trying to hide the smugness he felt.
“That’s great!” said Alex. “I’ll try to arrange for transportation to get it down to Groom Lake, Nevada. They have everything we need.”
“No way, pal. I’m not letting this stuff out of my sight. Especially to the military.”
Alex knew where Bull was coming from. The military had bungled every attempt they tried.
“Okay, Bull. Give me some time to think of another way. I’ll call you back as soon as we come up with something.”
“All right, I’ll be waiting.”
Alex turned the phone off and sat thinking. The phone rang and he answered it.
The sad tone in Martin’s voice said it all. “The President sends his sincerest thanks for the effort you made.”
Alex released a deep sigh. “It’s not over until I’m convinced it is.”
“What are you getting at, Alex?” Martin asked.
“First, I must have your word you won’t tell this to anyone.”
“I don’t know what you’re getting at.”
“Just trust me, Okay? Do I have your word on this?”
Martin was silent for a moment. “Not even the President?”
“That’s right. Not without my okay and that isn’t right now.”
Martin hesitated again as he thought about everything he knew about Alex. He knew he thoroughly trusted him, but my
God! Not being able to tell his Commander and Chief was asking a lot, but he knew if anyone could come up with miracle, Alex could. “You have my word.”
“Good. Where is the nearest military base with helicopters?”
Alex set his plan in motion. There was only one person standing in his way. Colonel Blackwood. Alex decided he’d better get back to the infirmary and see if he could do anything to help. No sense in calling Bull until he had everything lined up. He wasn’t going to let the phone out of his possession, so he grabbed the extra battery from the charger, then walked out of the cabin.
* * *
Chapter 34
STATE ROUTE 22 SOUTH, IDAHO:
I lost one-hundred soldiers, Blackwood kept thinking as he and Jerry Monroe led the remaining two trucks loaded with bodies back to the camp. Monroe stopped to let him out and Blackwood strode across the parade ground and up the steps to his cabin. When he opened the door, he abruptly stopped when he saw a black-haired stranger sitting at his desk and talking on the phone. “Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my quarters?” he demanded. When the stranger held his hand up for silence and kept talking, Blackwood couldn’t hold back the rage he had kept buried since the explosions. His face flushed with anger and he drew his pistol, adjusting the sights on the stranger’s forehead. A tall woman suddenly stepped in front of the pistol, and Blackwood looked into her eyes. “Get out of my way, Marcia!”
Marcia was scared when she saw the look in his eyes, but stood firm. “Just wait a moment, George!” she pleaded.
Blackwood looked past her and glared at the stranger, who was now holding his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. “What’s going on here?” he demanded.
Alex recognized Blackwood by the black eye patch. “Sorry to be here without your permission, Colonel, but you were gone. I’ll explain everything in a moment, but first I’d like you to talk to someone. It’s the Director of National Security.”
Blackwood looked at him skeptically, thinking the man was joking, but from the look in his eyes, he decided that wasn’t the case. He stepped around Marcia and took the phone, keeping the gun aimed at the stranger. “This is Colonel Blackwood. Who am I talking to?”
Marcia and Alex watched the stern expression slip off the Colonel’s face as he recognized the voice on the other end of the phone. They listened to his side of the conversation, and saw Blackwood smile and stand a little taller.
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. That was a long time ago.”
Marcia and Alex saw the Colonel look up at the plaque on the wall that held his Purple Heart.
“Yes, sir. I’ll do my best. Yes, sir. You can count on me.” Blackwood handed the phone back to Alex, and stepped over to Marcia, a smile forming on his lips as he took her hand and held it gently.
Alex listened to Donner for a few moments, said goodbye, and hung up. He saw Marcia and the Colonel smiling at each other, and cleared his throat to get their attention. “My name is Alex Cave, Colonel,” he said and extended his hand.
Blackwood took it. “The Director asked me to help you, Mr. Cave, and I’ll do my best. But first, I have to prepare to defend my camp. There’s an army on its way here to . . .” He stopped when he saw Alex grin. “You think this is funny?”
Alex shook his head, still grinning. “No sir, but there isn’t any army coming this way. I made the story up to keep your Major from killing us.” Alex’s grin disappeared when he saw the cold look in Blackwood’s eyes.
“One-hundred of my solders are dead because of your story, mister!” Blackwood growled ominously.
“I’m sorry Colonel,” Alex said sincerely. “And I assure you I had nothing to do with the explosions that killed your people. I never would have told that to the Major if I thought people would get killed.”
Blackwood saw the sincerity in Alex’s eyes as he thought about it. If it hadn’t been for whatever Everex’s guards had been doing to blow up the motorhome, no one would have died. Everex was the culprit, he realized. Now, without his guards to protect him, Blackwood knew he could have the bastard locked up. “Okay. There’s something I need to take care of, then you can tell me what this is all about.”
Blackwood walked out onto the porch and looked around. He spotted his training officer and an attractive blond woman walking across the parade ground. “Mr. Grady, come here for a moment,” he hollered.
As Grady and Judy approached, Alex and Marcia walked out on the porch and saw them holding hands. Judy had become infatuated with Carl Grady from the moment she saw him standing on Blackwood’s porch and had asked him to get some help for the wounded at the infirmary. Now she was with him nearly all the time and paid little attention to Alex.
Grady and Judy stopped at the bottom of the steps. “Yes, sir?” Grady asked.
“Get some men and arrest Major Everex,” Blackwood ordered. “Put him in jail until I decide what to do with him.”
Grady and Alex exchanged glances. “That won’t be necessary, sir. He’s dead,” Grady told him.
Alex saw Blackwood’s baffled expression, then saw him grin, and wondered what the Colonel was thinking.
Blackwood felt as though the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders and wondered if the nightmares would finally end. He had to see the body for himself, he decided. Only then would he really be free of the demon. “Where’s the body? Have you buried him yet?”
“No, sir,” Grady answered. “He’s with the other bodies, in the woods.”
“Take me to him.” Blackwood turned to Marcia and Alex. “You’ll have to excuse me for a moment. There’s something I have to do.”
Alex and Marcia nodded, both wondering why the Colonel wanted to see Everex’s body. As Blackwood left with Grady, Judy walked up the steps and smiled at Alex and Marcia. “Isn’t he handsome?” she said with genuine delight and stared after Grady.
“He seems like a fine man,” Marcia assured her.
“I’m happy for you, Judy,” Alex said.
*
Grady led Blackwood up the trail to the garbage dump, where they heard the low growl of a small track hoe at work. “Since you weren’t around, Colonel, I took it upon myself to have the soldiers buried.”
Blackwood was stunned. “In the garbage dump? That’s not a proper way for my people to be buried!”
“Not in the dump, sir. Farther up the trail, there’s a small meadow. That’s where they’re digging the graves. It’s pretty up there, sir. You can see for yourself. It has a nice view.”
Blackwood felt relieved, and followed Grady for another half mile. As they entered the meadow, Blackwood stopped and looked around. Grady was right, he thought as he studied the magnificent view of the surrounding mountains. He’d never taken the time to come up here, and didn’t know it existed. Yes, he thought. Now this is a proper place for my people. His reverie was dulled by the sight of a row of bodies placed along the edge of the trees, and a few men waiting to place them in the graves the track hoe was digging.
Blackwood followed Grady along the row of dead soldiers, lying face up on the grass, most of them still wearing bloody bandages from when the doctor and nurses had tried to save their lives. The pungent odor of charred flesh and clothing hung in the still air. Blackwood no longer felt nauseous at the smell, but he heard Grady retching, turned, and saw him doubled over a small puddle of vomit.
When Grady regained control and had wiped the tears from his red eyes, they continued along the row of bodies. Blackwood recognized Joyce Berry among them, and stopped. “What happened to her?”
“Everex shot her in the jail. She was helping Alex and his friends escape.”
Blackwood nodded and indicated for Grady to continue to Everex’s body. At the end of the row, Blackwood recognized Everex. He was set apart from the others, his glazed eyes still open and bloody red flesh ripped open in the chest. “Is this some kind tribute?” he asked, a harsh edge in his voice.
Grady shook his head. “No, sir. I didn’t think it was proper to p
ut him with these decent folks.”
Blackwood’s demeanor changed. “Good thinking.” He knelt beside the body. “Who shot him?” he asked as he studied the missing section of Everex’s chest.
“Private Woolly, sir.”
“Give Woolly a promotion to sergeant,” Blackwood instructed and stood. He looked at the bucket of the track hoe, digging narrow trenches in the meadow. “Bury everyone but Everex here, in the meadow. He doesn’t deserve to remain here with them. I want him buried in the dump with the rest of the garbage.”
Grady thought the idea a little morbid, but didn’t say so. “Yes, sir.” He followed Blackwood back along the row of bodies and paused long enough to give Blackwood’s orders to the waiting men before following him down the trail.
“I’d like you to be my new second in command, Grady. You seem levelheaded, and I’ve seen the way the soldiers look up to you. What do you say? Want the job?”
Grady thought about it for a moment. The idea wasn’t so bad, but he and Judy had been making plans to leave. “I’ll have to discuss it with someone first, Colonel.”
“The blonde woman?”
“Yes, sir. You see, we really care about each other. I’ve never met a woman like her before, and I’d hate to lose her.”
Blackwood thought about Marcia. He understood what Grady was getting at and suddenly realized Marcia would probably want to leave, too. “All right, I think we both need to talk things out with some of the others.”
Alex, Marcia, and Judy sat on the porch as Blackwood and Grady approached and ascended the steps. Blackwood slid a chair up next to Marcia and sat. Grady leaned back on the handrail next to Judy’s chair.
Blackwood looked at Alex. “Okay, Mr. Cave. Tell me what this is all about.”
Alex explained everything he knew, with Marcia adding details about what they had discovered about the enzymes and the crystal. “That’s why it’s so important we get to Nevada. It’s a secret base at Groom Lake.” Alex concluded.
Blackwood nodded in understanding. “I’ve heard of it. A top-secret research facility. So what would you like me to do?”
The Alex Cave Series. Books 1, 2, & 3.: Box set Page 26
