I sat down in the Hummer and started to read the badges. The badges told their names and what title they held. The first guy I kicked was Joe the General Supervisor. The second one that I kicked was Nick the Weapons Expert and Sr. Technician.
Maybe one of these men might be a good apple. I was scanning threw the name tags trying to match one with the guy who looked friendly. I found his badge and to my surprise his name was … Dr. Carl Urban, Jr. … I thought holy shit this is Carl’s Son.
Walking over to Tommy I said, “Look at this name tag.”
“Wow that’s interesting. Carl does have a real kid.”
I walked over to the Supervisor named Joe and asked him, “What’s in the trailer and who has the keys?”
He replied, “Nothing is in the trailer but spare parts. I don’t know where the keys are shit head.” Joe looked like a big strong guy about 40 years old with black hair and a small black beard.
Carl Jr. yelled, “That’s a lie!”
Joe responded, “Shut up you little bastard. Your Daddy can’t protect you now.” Then I knew that was Carl’s kid.
I told Joe, “You’re pretty dumb and a slow learner. I guess that’s why they made you the boss.” Then I kicked him in the face once more. This time he didn’t get back up for a few minutes.
I looked at Carl Jr. and told him, “Come over here.” He stood up and walked over to me and I thought he walks just like his Dad.
I peered into his eyes and thought yes this is the man we can trust. He appeared to be about thirty years old and was about the same size as his Father. I took him by the arm and led him over to the Humvee about fifty feet away from the men so I could talk to him in private.
“Are you Dr. Urban’s son?”
“Yes I am his Son. I saw you kill him and burn his body. Why did you kill him?”
“It was an accident Carl. I was trying to save his life. Dr. Sinclair was going to stab your Dad so I shot Alvin but he was on top of Carl. The bullets went right threw and also killed your Dad. I am sorry about that. I didn’t know your Dad very long but he seemed like an ok guy. He was helping us.”
“Why would Alvin try to kill my Dad they were best friends and very close if you know what I mean.”
“Alvin freaked out when he saw us blowing up the robots. He called them his children and blamed your Dad. Somehow he got hold of a knife and started stabbing people. I tried to stop him but I was too late.”
“How did my Father happen to be with you and the Army Rangers?”
“That’s a long story but last night we captured him and Alvin. Actually your Dad more or less volunteered to come along and teach us all about the RCCD Units. We have his truck at the Ranger base.”
Carl Jr. commented, “I knew something was wrong when I woke up today and his truck was gone.”
“To be honest we know Alvin was a big time Commie but your Dad seemed to believe in freedom and wanted to help us because of all the people killed at Ellenton by the Federal Police Force.
“Carl, are you a Commie? Do you believe in freedom and the Constitution of the United States?”
“I am not a Commie and yes I do believe in the Constitution. My Father taught me all about it because they stopped teaching that in schools years ago.”
I grabbed a shovel and body bag telling Carl Jr., “Let’s go bury your Dad.”
I pulled my knife out and cut the plastic tie off Carl’s hands. I had to use the shovel to put dirt and sand on the still burning body. The body fat was like a candle it would just keep burning. Using the shovel I scooped up the melted corpse and poured it in the body bag. It was a smelly mess. Carl Jr. had to look away and up chucked a few times. I felt remorse for the death of his Father.
While I was digging the grave I asked, “How did you and your Dad get involved with the Feds?”
“Well my Dad invented the Units to make police work safer and help improve the situation for all people. The Feds came to us one day and took everything over. Basically they made us slaves. We had to do what they told us to do or go to jail. Alvin was happy about it because he was a Commie.”
I was putting the last shovel full of dirt on top of the grave and Carl bowed his head. Carl said, “Thanks for helping me bury my Dad.” I put my arm around his shoulder and gave him a little hug as he sobbed.
“We’ll come back later and put a marker on his grave.”
Walking back to my Humvee I advised Carl, “Ok you’re not a Commie now prove it. When Joe told me there was nothing in the trailer but spare parts, you said that’s a lie. Why?”
“First of all I hate Joe and most of these men. They’re not good people. The trailer is full of guns and there are two Units inside that are Security Guards. Security Units have one purpose and that is to protect the technicians. They function differently than the other Units. I know that my Father deactivated the sensors on all the Units that you destroyed. That’s why they didn’t fight back. I know how that system works since I helped invent it.
“The Security Unit sensors cannot be deactivated because we changed the design to protect us 24-7. These Security Units have a brain or central processor that controls them. They are real robots. The Units are pre-programmed, they do not have an operator or master. They think for themselves how to fulfill their prime directive which is our security. As long as you have a card and do not carry a gun you are safe.”
“Your Father told us about them. What will they do if you have a gun?”
“The RCCD will order you to lay down your weapon. If you don’t comply you will be shot or zapped.”
“What if you don’t have a card?”
“A card tells it you are friendly and if you do not have a card you are unfriendly. The Units central processor decides what to do. If it detects you are a threat or if you make any move it perceives as a threat it will kill you. If you walk away then you’re not a threat. If you advance you’re a threat. If you stand still or sit down it will watch you. So you need to have a card because the wrong move could get you killed.”
“Can you turn this thing off?”
“No, unlike the other Units these cannot be turned off. The only way to stop them is to remove the power pack.”
“Tell me Carl what happens if we open the trailer doors?”
“If you open the door they will jump out and scan everyone here for a card or weapons. I suggest don’t open the door unless you have one of those tanks here ready to shoot them.”
“Carl where are the keys to open the trailer?”
“Joe the Supervisor has them. He wants you to open the doors.”
“Yes I know he does but I want to get those keys away from him. Carl stay here with Tommy.” Tommy was in the machine gun turret watching the prisoners. If fifty men decided to attack us at one time the machine gun would mow them down.
Tommy watching me commented, “Dad be careful.” I just shook my head yes and gave him the ok sign.
Carl Jr. asked, “He’s your Dad? What are your names?”
“I am Tommy Gunn and my Dad is Jack.”
“Jack Gunn was killed by al-Qaida.”
“No he’s still alive obviously.”
I walked back over to Joe and said, “Joe give me the keys.”
“I don’t have them ass hole.” Then he stood up right in front of me.
He was a good two inches taller than me and I could see the muscles in his neck. I knew he was strong but to me he was just another big bully. I looked up at him and said, “Sit down fuck ass before I knock you down! Give me the keys. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
Staring into my eyes he grunted, “Let’s do it the hard way.”
Then bam … he head butted me hard right on the nose and then … bam … he gave me an upper cut with both of his hands cuffed together which knocked me back a few feet. My nose was bleeding and I was dazed from the upper cut punch.
Wiping the blood from my face I saw him break the plastic tie cuffs and two other men ran over to help him. I heard Tom
my yell something as Joe reached out and grabbed me. I thought this ass hole is strong.
As he pulled me up I drew my Glock and pointed it at him. To my surprise he started to use the same hand gun disarming technique that I used to kill the cab driver in Mexico City. The method taught to me by a Navy Seal buddy years ago.
Now I knew I was in deep shit. This jerk knew how to fight, he knew hand to hand combat methods. I couldn’t out muscle him so I grabbed his right thumb bending it inwards and down into what is called a thumb lock.
If you have hold of the thumb the hand and arm must follow it. Twisting his thumb back his arm turned and he dropped the gun to the ground. Now he used two hands to stop me from breaking his thumb. I quickly punched him in the throat as hard as I could and he was gasping for air.
I jumped back as the two other guys tried to grab my arms. I pulled my Cold Steel fighting knife from my tactical vest slashing and cutting their arms. I heard them scream as they moved quickly back out of my reach.
I turned my knife on Joe and he suddenly had hold of my knife arm. He was too strong for me to stop and he twisted my arm almost breaking it making me drop the knife. Tommy yelled, “Duck Duck Goose!”
Years ago when Tommy was around 2 years old we played a game called Duck Duck Goose. When someone yelled that you fell to the ground. Last one on the ground lost the game. I knew that Tommy wanted me to duck so he could shoot the ass hole.
I was standing between Tommy and Joe so he didn’t have a clear shot. The other two men were now as close to me as possible. Joe punched me in the face. Then he grabbed me in a bear hug and was squeezing the crap out of me. I couldn’t breathe and felt the air being pushed out of my lungs as he pulled me up close to his ugly face. He was foaming at the mouth and his stinking hot breath blew on my face along with his spit.
The other men got behind Joe so Tommy couldn’t shoot them. But they didn’t know Tommy is a great shooter. If he can see any part of your head or body he can hit it.
I saw one man going for my gun on the ground and I tried to kick him. I swung my head into Joe’s face but my feeble head butt did nothing. The big bear had me … then I remembered another trick … stomp down with your heel on to the top of his foot.
I stomped and stomped and on the third stomp he let go just enough for me to slide out of his bear hug. As I was dropping to the ground I wacked him in the balls as hard as I could and he jumped backwards. This gave Tommy a clear shot. I heard six shots … 3 double taps … rang out from an M 4 and that meant three dead dorks.
Laying on the ground I looked around in time to see the last man fall and he had my Glock in his hand. I rushed over to him, grabbed my gun out of his hand, and promptly shot him in the head. I looked at the other prisoners who were all standing up wanting to get involved but didn’t have the guts to attack.
Stepping over to Joe I noticed he was still alive laying there with blood pulsating out of two bullet holes in his chest.
His eyes glared at me as I put my gun to his forehead while saying, “You wanted it the hard way shit head,” and I pulled the trigger … BAM. His head exploded blowing what brains he had out onto the road. One more dead bully.
I turned around looking at the rest of men and they made a move towards me. Tommy fired a burst from the machine gun over their heads and they stopped dead in their tracks.
I yelled, “If anyone else tries anything stupid we’ll shoot all of you on the spot! Sit down and don’t move a muscle!” Of course they all sat down like good little boys after the machine gun bullets whizzed over head.
I reached down into Joe’s pocket and pulled out the keys for the truck. I picked up my knife wiping the blade off on my pants and slid it back into the scabbard on my vest.
I dragged my ass back to the Humvee and thought man that was close. The big jerk Joe could have killed me. He could have broken my neck. The whole thing was over in about three minutes but three minutes of fighting is a long time. I was really beat after that fight.
I fell into the front seat my hands were shaking and took a drink of water from my camel back. Tommy wet a handkerchief and wiped the blood off my face. Carl patted me on the shoulder and asked, “Are you ok Jack?”
Tommy answered him, “Yep he’s ok. He does this all the time.” We both started to laugh. Carl looked at us like we were crazy.
Carl advised us, “Those guys deserved what they got. They were real dirt bags. They laughed every time the Units killed someone at Ellenton. Now what are we going to do?”
A few minutes later I replied, “The plan was we were going to load these guys in the trailer truck and take them back to Fort Desoto. We can’t do that since you have dangerous robots inside.”
Carl suggested, “I have an idea. Since you have the security cards we are safe. All you need to do is put down the guns and stay away from this Hummer with the machine gun. Then we can walk right up to them and spray paint their eyes. If they can’t see they can’t fight. That’s how I programmed them. If their eyes or camera is blocked they automatically stop.”
“Let me think about that. If we put down our guns we can just take a can of spray paint and cover their eyes. Won’t they try and stop us from doing that?”
“No they won’t if we do it fast. I’ll do it, I’ll paint their eyes. I have a can of black paint in the trailer. So first we need to let them out and I’ll go in to get the paint. They’ll be watching the work men and I will walk up to them with the paint can behind my back. I’ll get real close and spray them quickly.”
“Carl that sounds so stupid it might just work.”
Tommy jumped in, “It sounds really dumb to me. I’m not putting down my gun. Carl are you willing to spray them?”
“Yes I can do it.”
I asked, “What about their guns can we take them?”
“Yes you can take the guns after the eyes are covered but remember the Units have an electronic zapper in the left hand that can also kill you. We need to cover the arm with a piece of rubber after we paint the eyes.”
“How do you work on these Units if you can’t turn them off?”
“They are voice activated. They have a voice recognition system. The three men you killed were the only people whom they would respond too. Once we have the eyes painted and the left arm covered then we can take out the atomic battery pack which will deactivate them completely. I can reprogram the Units to accept our voices.”
“I think we should wait for Captain Sessions to see what he wants to do with the Units. I agree with Tommy I don’t want to put my gun down either.” I looked at my watch it was already 14:00 hours or 2 pm. We’ll wait for Sessions and the TALOS Warriors to return before we do anything.
“Carl can these Units fight?”
“Of course they have a gun.”
“No I mean can they do hand to hand combat?”
“No they have not been programmed for hand to hand but they will try to grab you if possible. Their hand can crush a coconut. Why do you ask?”
“I just wondering that’s all.”
I was thinking that when the TALOS Warriors come back they could have some real practice with these robots. I would like to see the Warriors’ take on two Units.
I told Tommy, “It’s past 2 pm where the hell is Sessions. They have been gone for 4 hours.”
Tommy suggested, “Call him on the phone or radio.”
I picked up the radio and pressed the button and all I heard was static. I tried phone but there was no signal. That means there are RCCD Units close by still in working order.
I asked Carl, “Are there any Units around here other than at Ellenton?”
“Not that I know of but the FPF is very secretive about what they do. So who knows, there could be.”
“The phone and radio aren’t working so there must be some robots close by us.”
“No Jack, your phone and radio are being jammed by the two Units in the trailer. If you drive down the road 200 yards they should work just fine.”
&n
bsp; Tommy looking down the road yelled, “Hey here comes Sessions now!”
Arriving about a fifteen minutes later Sessions pulled up to us in his truck. He jumped out and said, “The mop up went great all the BOTs are destroyed and the mall was burned to the ground. How are you men doing?”
Sessions looking at the three dead bodies on the side of the road commented, “Looks like you guys had some action right here.”
“Yes we took care of that situation but we have another problem,” Tommy responded.
“What’s the problem Gunn?”
“There are two live BOTs inside the trailer. They aren’t normal ones. These BOTs think on their own, they have a brain. They don’t have a remote controller. Captain this is Carl Urban, Jr. the son of Dr. Urban. He is also one of the inventors of the RCCD Units.”
“Where the hell did you find him?”
“He was forced to work with his Father on the BOTs for the FPF. He is one of the men we captured. Don’t worry he’s not a Commie. He already told us a lot of information so he’s on our side for sure.”
I butted into the conversation, “Here’s the situation if we open the doors on the trailer the robots will come out and shoot anyone with a gun. I collected these security cards from the prisoners. Anyone holding a security card and no gun will be considered a friend by the robots. Anyone with no card will be perceived as a threat. If you have a gun it will shoot you. They cannot be turned off.”
Sessions took a drink of water and sat there thinking for a minute before he stated, “I would hate to totally destroy these because SOCOM would definitely want to examine them. So I suggest we open the doors and shoot out the eyes. Then we disarm them and remove the atomic battery pack.”
Sessions looked at Carl and asked, “Will that work?”
“Yes that will work.”
“Ok the TALOS Warriors will shoot out the eyes with their Cobb 50 rifles and the rest of us will back up out of range.”
THE TOCABAGA CHRONICLES: (BOX SET - PART I - BOOKS #1-5) Page 32
