A Dubious Race: The Phoenician Stones (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 14)

by Gerald J Kubicki

  Chase came running into the room. He was the last person to leave the roof. He looked from face to face. There were eleven people huddled near the door including Lisa and Joey. Chase needed everybody to make the fourth part of his plan to work.

  He told the geek, who sat at the table, to turn off the jammer. He wanted his people to be able to communicate in the darkness outside.

  “Everybody ready?” He yelled out. “Make sure you have your plastic cuffs,” he added.

  “Let’s get them,” Steve howled.

  “Team A, you go left. Team B, you go right. Most of the men will be on the right side near the grounder. Got It?”

  “Got it,” several people replied.

  Chase threw open the front door. Blew his whistle three times and yelled, “Charge,” at the top of his lungs.

  The defenders poured out of the ranch house. The women manning the sounder and the three people that held RPG’s were already chasing attackers across the desert. Joey let out an Indian war cry.

  Chapter Seventy-Six

  Tony Ryder had managed to hit the release on his helmet and it had flown off into the night. He rolled over on to his back and tried to assess how bad he had been hurt. He was in considerable pain. He and the pilot with him had been dragged for about a hundred feet on their faces. He picked rocks and bits of sand from open wounds on the exposed areas. The pilot was doing the same thing.

  “What the hell happened,” the pilot asked as he spit sand from his mouth.

  “They got the grounder to work,” Tony Ryder said bitterly.

  “This attack isn’t going very well,” the pilot commented. This pissed Tony off as it was his plan.

  Before he could answer, he heard another whistle and lots of yelling. He could make out an Indian war cry in the distance. He brushed sand from his eyes and turned towards the ranch house. He saw people running out into the desert.

  “We need to get the hell out of here,” he spat.

  “There is still one transport bird left,” the pilot told him. “It’s right over there.”

  As they got to their feet, they heard movement behind them. The two women from the sounder were running in their direction. Both had wooden clubs in their hands.

  The two men bolted for the chopper, but the women were faster and gained ground quickly. They were only a few feet behind brandishing their weapons.

  “Sorry, old buddy,” Tony Ryder said to the pilot. He reached out his arm and pushed him. The man went down and the two women were on him immediately. Tony kept running as fast as possible.

  A voice sounded in his ear. “This is Alpha Four. We see you.”

  “Spool up,” Tony screamed into his communicator. “We’re getting out of here now.”

  “Are you the only one left from the attack team?”

  Chapter Seventy-Seven

  Colton Banyon was part of the A team. It was headed up by Steve. They sprinted out into the desert in search of attackers. About thirty feet from the front door, they found the two men that Banyon had rolled off the roof. Both were lifeless and already trussed up.

  “Leave them,” they aren’t going anywhere,” Steve yelled. “They’re securely cuffed.”

  “There is an attacker over there,” a woman screamed and pointed.

  The entire team of five people ran like they were zombies after a meal. The attacker was clearly dazed and hurt. He made it to his feet just as the unstoppable wave crashed over him. He was driven to the ground by fists, clubs, and leg kicks. Steve tied his arms while Joey cuffed his legs. As soon as they were done, Lisa pointed to the next man.

  They covered the ground like locusts, bouncing from left to right and heading out into the dark desert. They found that the attackers were shocked, dazed and usually hurt. They offered little resistance and those that did attempt a defense were viciously dealt with by people armed with clubs made from chair legs. It was all over in five minutes.

  “How many have you captured, Steve?” Banyon heard over his ear piece. It was Chase calling for an update.

  “We’ve cuffed eight,” Steve replied. “How many do you have?”

  “Twelve,” Chase responded.

  “Cindy and I have one,” everybody heard. “We caught him out by the sounder.”

  Banyon moved away from the group and asked Wolf if they had all the attackers. Once he had his answer he pressed his ear piece.

  “We got them all and the man captured by Cindy was actually the pilot of one of the transport helicopters.”

  “The other one took off,” someone voiced. “One man got inside before they left.”

  “That was the mastermind, Tony Ryder. He’s headed for the warehouse and a surprise,” Banyon replied.

  Part Six

  Revelations

  Chapter Seventy-Eight

  Twenty-four SEAL team members surrounded the Goblin warehouse in Barstow. They had arrived five minutes ago and were told the hardware they were after was not there. They were told to wait until the Cobras returned before they attacked. The lethal Cobras were worth millions of dollars and the controllers wanted to recapture them while they were on the ground — and not lethal.

  The leader of the team already knew there were four men inside the vast warehouse. The President had ordered a drone to be stationed overhead. It showed the infrared signatures on a tablet the leader held.

  The President was watching from the situation room at the White House. Three of the SEALS had cameras attached to their helmets so he could watch the drama as it unfolded. Colton Banyon wasn’t on line to help, but the President was sure the SEALS would make short work of the Goblin personal. He wanted his weapons back.

  “The two Cobras are three minutes out, Major,” a technician announced into the leader’s ear piece.

  “Any news on the Goblin ground troops?” He asked.

  “We’ve also got one transport chopper about four minutes behind,” the technician replied.

  “We’ll wait until all the choppers are on the ground and the pilots have reached the tarmac,” he broadcast to his troops. “Meanwhile find out what happened to the other chopper. I don’t want any bad guys sneaking up on us,” the SEAL leader, Major Ball, ordered.

  “Roger,” the technician replied.

  A few minutes later, the two Cobras came gliding in for a landing, right in front of the huge doors to the warehouse. The big doors began to slide open and the four maintenance men inside rushed out to push the big birds inside the opening. The pilots and co-pilots exited the choppers shaking their heads.

  The men stopped and turned their heads towards the north. They could hear the sound of another chopper approaching. Soon they saw the running lights and decided to wait for the transport to land before continuing inside.

  “They’re making this too easy,” the SEAL leader said to his men. “Watch out for an ambush.”

  “Roger that,” came a reply from his squad leaders.

  The transport chopper touched down a minute later. The pilot and co-pilot soon jumped down from the cargo area. Only one more man left the chopper and he looked like he had been run over by a truck.

  “Okay, we go on my mark,” Major Ball spoke into his microphone.

  “Squad one in position,” Major Ball heard. “Squad two in position,” he heard immediately after.

  The technician came online. “The other chopper was destroyed at the site of the attack. It won’t be bringing anymore men back.”

  “Roger,” the major replied.

  “You only have to deal with these hostiles,” the controller spoke.

  “Ready…Go,” the major said.

  The SEALS sprang into action and surrounded the men on the tarmac. “Hands in the air and down on your knees,” a squad leader roared. The Goblin men were shocked. They looked around and saw twenty some men in black assault dress and sporting assault rifles. One of the pilots went for his pistol. He was shot four times before his hand withdrew his gun. The Goblin people realized that resistance was futile and quic
kly dropped to the ground. Several SEALS were on them and grabbed their weapons while they cuffed the men.

  “The banged up man is Tony Ryder,” a controller from the White House broadcasted into everyone’s ear. “The President recognizes him.”

  The SEAL leader quickly moved over to him. “Where are the rest of your men?”

  “They have been detained,” Tony said sarcastically through swollen lips. He said nothing more.

  ***

  As soon as all the men had been cuffed and put back to back into a circle, Major Ball sent twelve of his men into the warehouse to search for evidence and any more military equipment. Meanwhile, the leader called in the backup crew to sanitize the area and take away the recovered secret weapons. They would also chaperone the captured men to a lock up on a local military based called Area 51.

  The SEAL leader worried about the missing twenty Goblin men. Where are they? Shortly after sending his men into the hanger, they found a small infirmary. The five busted up Goblin men from the morning raid on the ranch were there. They gave up without a fight.

  A few minutes later he heard a small explosion and knew his men were blowing locked doors to see what was inside. Suddenly his ear piece erupted.

  “Major, you really need to see this,” one of his men spoke into his ear.

  “What’ve you got?” The leader asked anxiously.

  “Something right out of a forty’s movie,” the man replied. “You need to come and see this right now,” he said with emphasis.

  “I’ll be right there,” Major Ball yelled and jogged into the hanger.

  Chapter Seventy-Nine

  Colton Banyon was seated on a couch in the ranch house. He cradled Loni on his lap. The paramedic had looked at the cut on Loni’s head and said she would recover but may have a concussion. Banyon was told to keep her alert and not let her sleep. He had taken her into the bathroom and washed the blood out of her hair. Remarkably, there was not a drop of blood on her clothes. The paramedic then applied a gauze bandage around her head and gave her some painkillers.

  “How does your head feel?” he asked.

  “Like someone hit me with a baseball bat,” she struggled to answer. “I have a huge headache.”

  “We found your guns,” he said sweetly. He handed them to her.

  “Thanks,” she answered. “Colt, is this over? I want this to be over. We have better things to do.”

  “The attack is over, but we still haven’t gotten to the bottom of this mystery yet,” he said with concern.

  ***

  Outside, Chase and his people collected all the weapons from the ground and moved the sounder and grounder to the porch. They also positioned all the captured Goblin men in front of the porch. Six men were dead. They were the ones that had attacked the roof. Twelve more men were wounded or badly bruised from beatings. Five had broken arms from attempting to fend off Chase’s people. Only three were in relatively good condition. Chase had also taken the prisoner they had captured earlier in the day, cuffed him, and sat him with the rest of the Goblin men. He scanned the carnage around him in terror.

  “Someone is coming,” one of his scouts yelled out.

  Chase grabbed a pair of night vision binoculars and placed them against his eyes. “They’re army vehicles,” he said. “They must be the Rangers sent by the President.”

  Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the small convoy as it sped towards the ranch house. It consisted of four trooper transports and a lead armored vehicle. The trucks pulled up to the porch. Thirty Army Rangers piled out and took up defensive positions. A paramedic made his way to the wounded. The door to the lead vehicle opened and a very tall Black man wearing a full colonel’s bars extracted himself. He leisurely ambled up to Chase wearing a smile.

  “I’m here to see Colton Banyon,” he announced in a deep bass voice. “My name is Colonel Braggs.”

  “He’s inside the house,” Chase said as he thumbed over his shoulder. “I’ll take you to him.”

  “Looks like you guys did pretty well against your attackers,” the colonel offered casually as he looked around.

  “We used a tactic from an old Vietnam war movie. It is called ‘We were Soldiers’, ever heard of it?”

  “I’ve seen it ten times,” the colonel laughed and clapped Chase on the back.

  ***

  When they reached Colton Banyon, he placed Loni on the couch and stood up to shake the Ranger’s hand. “Pleasure to meet you colonel,” he said.

  “Hell of a plan you put together to stop those guys,” Colonel Braggs remarked.

  “It wasn’t my plan,” Banyon responded. “All the credit belongs to Chase here. It was his plan.”

  “I brought some paramedics with me,” the colonel said. “Do any of your people need assistance?”

  “We have our own paramedic and they have patched up our people, but the attackers need some attention,” Chase said it like there was only a few scratches.

  “Then let me get to it and clean up this mess. By the way, I also need the secret weapons you have captured.”

  “We have them stacked on the porch,” Chase replied.

  Banyon’s cell phone rang. “I need to get this,” Banyon said as he noticed the call was from Timmy.

  “Let’s get started so my people can go home. We’ve been here almost all day,” Chase told the colonel and led him out the door.

  ***

  Banyon moved to one of the back bedrooms. Loni followed like a puppy dog. She held both her hands against her head as she walked.

  “Timmy, what’s up?” Banyon said calmly into the phone.

  “You’re right, man, it’s a conspiracy, dude,” Timmy shouted back. Banyon had given Timmy several assignments and couldn’t for the life of him remember which one involved a conspiracy.

  “Refresh my memory, what are you talking about?” Banyon asked.

  “The Smithsonian, man,” Timmy screeched. Banyon could tell that Timmy had been drinking too many energy drinks. He was hyped up and spoke in staccato.

  “Are you telling me the Smithsonian Institute is involved in some sort of a conspiracy?” Banyon asked.

  “Yeah, dude. It goes all the way back to eighteen seventy-six. Even before your time,” the geek said without realizing the insult.

  “What happened in eighteen seventy-six?” Banyon was annoyed, but understood the way the geek thought.

  “Custer’s last stand of course,” Timmy replied like everybody should have that information at the tip of their tongues.

  “Timmy, slow down. You’re not making any sense. What does Custer’s last stand have to do with the Smithsonian and a conspiracy?”

  Banyon could hear Timmy take a large breath. “One of Custer’s men was a guy named Izzak Ryder, although he didn’t use that name when he volunteered. He was killed during the battle of Little Bighorn.”

  “Is he any relation to Tony Ryder?” Banyon quickly asked as his attention became more focused.

  “Great-great-Grandfather or something like that,” Timmy responded like it was unimportant. “Anyway, the Ryder family were big-time bankers back then. They had lots of money and established a foundation in memory of their fallen son. The Ryder Foundation has been a big contributor to the Smithsonian since then. In fact, a member of their family has served on the Board of Directors at the Smithsonian since that time.”

  “That’s interesting information, but where is the conspiracy?” Banyon asked. Loni now stood hugging Banyon with her head against his chest.

  “The Ryder family hates Indians. They also hate Blacks, Asians and anyone else that isn’t pure white,” Timmy continued. “The whole family is racist, man. What I uncovered is that every time a new Indian artifact is uncovered, they put the kibosh on it by paying off or threatening an accredited archeologist to dismiss it. The Ryder family is behind every one of the discredited artifacts that Lisa talked about. It’s a conspiracy.”

  “And you can prove that?” Banyon asked.

&nb
sp; “I’ve got emails and phone records right up until yesterday,” Timmy said gleefully. The Ryder family is responsible for a whole lot of racist activates — including murder.”

  “Put it together in an email and send it to me,” Banyon ordered. “I’ll pass it to the President.”

  “Got you, dude,” Timmy replied.

  “Got any information about Dr. Hage and his ties to the secret Denver facility,” Banyon now asked.

  “It’s next on my agenda. I’ve got three of my girls pulling data as we speak,” Timmy said confidently.

  “Good work, Timmy,” Banyon complimented. He then ended the call.

  Chapter Eighty

  “What the hell am I looking at?” the President of the United States roared. He had taken the head set from the controller in the room and spoke directly to the troops on the ground. All of Major Bell’s men heard him rant.

  A camera was pointed at the face of the major who talked as he walked into a well-lit room. “When we blew a locked door open we found a secret passageway that led down to a hidden stairway,” Major Ball said in a rush. “When we blew the second door we found this room.”

  “What’s so important about the room, Major?” The President asked impatiently. He had no time for details.

  “Sir, it looks like a 1930’s German beer hall. It has a podium at the front, long drinking tables in the middle that are set up picnic style, and there is even German draft beer available behind the bar. This is surreal. Everything in here is vintage 1930’s!” the confused Major Bell exclaimed.

  “It’s an old fashion meeting hall,” the President agreed.

  “Didn’t Hitler meet with his cronies in beer halls like this in the early thirties?” Marlene Moore asked the President.