State of Defense (State of Arizona Book 1)

by Doug Ball

  Dispatch interrupted with, “2Adam all units. Is anyone available for a meeting at Camp Navajo with the Guard?”

  “Gotta go, baby. Keep it warm for me.”

  “2Adam19. I am available.” He had to get back to cop mode or he would fall apart. It was a sure bet, he wouldn’t sleep if he tried.

  3:00 AM

  The meeting was a real surprise. Three in the morning and a bunch of folks were out and about on the camp. Ten wheeled trucks were rigged for troop transport. Humvees were topped off with fuel. Troops were gathered around Sergeants and command colors everywhere Tan looked. A sentry waved him into a parking spot and showed him to the conference room where he found out about the Snowbowl and Indians.

  A Captain, who had introduced himself as Albert Tallwalker, had taken charge of the meeting. “Gentlemen, and Lady, there are in excess of one hundred native tribesmen at the ski area right now. More are arriving as we meet by using forest trails to come in the back way. We are not yet in a position to interdict their supply routes or stop the movement in that direction, but that’s going to change by sunrise. Those units outside are preparing to move on the target, the Snowbowl, within twenty minutes after we get done here.

  “Who we got from law enforcement?”

  A few hands went up. Tan could see a deputy from Yavapai County and another from Navajo County. Two DPS officers were seated a couple of chairs down from him closer to the door. A suit was leaning nonchalantly against the side wall next to the door, ‘FBI, no doubt,’ Tan thought.

  “Okay, we want you with us to make civil arrests. The Guard is in effect assisting you. We will not be treating these natives as POW’s. They are demonstrators on private property doing a lot of damage, endangering the national forest, and the city of Flagstaff. They will be treated like rioters out of control and destructive. Every one of them is to be considered armed and dangerous.”

  He paused to check his notes.

  “Agent Tascott and one of the DPS officers will go in with the group going up the access road, here.” He used a telescoping pointer from his pocket to show the road on the map beside him.

  “Lieutenant Sawyer’s group will be going in with the Agent and DPS Officer. Sawyer’s group will appear to be our main thrust and, as of ten minutes ago, meet the most resistance. About forty men are currently set up right after the second slide blocking the road.”

  A voice in the back asked, “How do you know?”

  “We have a small drone up with an infrared camera on its belly. We will keep all units posted with what we see. This drone cannot and does not carry armament of any kind. I wish otherwise at this moment, but this is best.”

  Everyone seemed satisfied with his assessment.

  The Captain listed the units going in, where they were going, and who from the law enforcement personnel would be going in with each. “The Governor has activated the Guard during this time of unrest on the border to the south and the uprising of radical members of the tribes, to do one job and one job only, restore peace. So, here we go, just like in Iraq and Afghanistan, only you law enforcement folks aren’t reporters, thank God. Welcome aboard and let’s go get them out of there with as few casualties as possible on both sides.”

  Tan found his Lieutenant standing outside the door after they broke up, introduced himself, and exchanged credentials and experience quickly. The Lieutenant, Sergio, was a vet of one tour in Iraq and knew what it meant to kill the enemy. Tan was an experienced officer and knew what it was like to fight hand to hand and kill his enemy. Sergio ended this phase of their discussion with, “We are scheduled to go up Hart Prairie Road to just short of Fern Mountain and hike uphill just short of two miles and hit the northwest side of the target. There is one group ahead of us that will disembark the transports at the same place. They will be hiking much further than we will to get to the north east side of the target. Our hike should be rather leisurely compared to theirs. You know the area?”

  “Hiked through it on the Arizona Trail and skied there a time or two. Don’t know it intimately, just in passing.” He smiled and added, “I’ll run over to my unit and get my stuff.”

  “No, I’ll ride with you in your unit in the lead of my element. That keeps it official that we are assisting you in this. Take your time. Check your gear. We leave in 20 minutes and jump off time from here 0330, from the spot on Hart Prairie Road is 0400 and the attack at our target objective is 0600. Lots of time and you look like you need a nap.”

  “Could use one. Been up the biggest part of two days. I did get two hours of sleep in the ER when they sewed me up and hour or so ago.”

  “Tell me about it on the way, or would you prefer me to drive and you sleep?”

  “I’ll drive, county policy. See you in 15 minutes. Where?”

  Sergio pointed a finger at a troop hauler, “There. Fill up your tank at the pumps just behind that building.” He shifted his point.

  Law enforcement units led Humvees and transport trucks across the bridge to I-40 and turned eastbound toward Flagstaff.

  #

  Tan watched the first unit hoofing it uphill into the graying blackness. ‘The darkest hour is just before dawn,’ ran through his head with the voice of Mama Cass. He began humming the song as he strapped on his pack over his vest, changed into boots, and checked his AR-15 for safety and load. After turning it off, he tossed his cell phone on the dash.

  Sergio looked over his way and smiled, enjoying the sight of a man who wouldn’t have to be carried through this fight. Turning to watch his Sergeant checking the men, he said, “Sergeant, make sure each man stays safe. We will be walking through the woods in the dark. One trip with a safety off and a finger on the trigger and this party will get hot, even if no one dies.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Within moments the first group up the hill was out of sight. The Sergeant set up the order of march and waited as the Lieutenant stood around checking out the stars and talking with the deputy.

  One of the men asked, “How far up this hill we gotta go?” He was a bit pudgy.

  “Two miles, lardbutt. You’ll make it or I’ll kick you the rest of the way. Got that?”

  “Oh, yeah. When you start kicking me, you better be ready.”

  “Me, I’m always ready and never readier than just before combat which is two miles up that hill. You ready?”

  “Don’t you worry your pretty little head. I’ll be right beside you, Sarge.”

  The Lieutenant gave the silence sign, pointed at the Sergeant and indicated he would bring up the rear along with lardbutt and one other, and then, starting up the hill, rolled his arm in the follow me sign.

  Tan took up a position twenty feet to the Lieutenant’s right, rifle at the ready, trigger finger alongside the action, and both eyes open. Within minutes he was thinking, ‘These guys move pretty quiet.” Sergio checked his GPS and motioned for him to head just a bit more to the right.

  6:00 AM

  Agent Tascott and Lt. Sawyer stood just out of sight of the rebel Indians around a corner in the road waiting for their men to finish getting in position when the Lieutenant said, “It’s time.”

  The FBI agent raised a bullhorn to his mouth, “This is Field Agent Tascott of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Surrender or we will attack. You have one minute to decide.” To Sawyer he added, “They won’t surrender.”

  The woods were silent on the issue.

  A Corporal slid down the hillside next to them and said, “We got about thirty men spotted. Most of them are behind the top of the slide, well dug in, but big heads showing in the scopes. Anytime, anyway you say, sir.”

  “Stick with the plan, Corporal.”

  “Yes, Sir.” He moved back up the hill to his position which was with second squad. They were set up all along the front, any place the berm of the slide could be seen, with an automatic weapons man on each end to cover what the rest couldn’t see. The Corporal was angry that he was stuck up here all the time the good fighting was going on down
south. He had broken a leg just before the unit went to Afghanistan and missed all the fun over there. Most of his buddies argued with him on the fun part. Now he was going to get his baptism of battle and he was planning on enjoying it.

  He grabbed a limb and pulled himself up to see better and was greeted with an arrow in his left arm just below his wrist not more than six inches from his head. The pain didn’t come quickly so he was able to stifle a cry. Thinking back on the John Wayne movies he had seen, he broke off the arrow and pulled it out of his arm. Using his field bandage, he wrapped the arm tight enough to stem the flow of blood.

  “You all right, Corp?”

  “Yeah, you wanna knot this for me, please?”

  “Sure. When we gonna get to shoot them suckers?”

  “Soon, Lew, soon.” He hoped. The waiting was killing him and so was the pain as it came with a flood throughout his entire body. He thought of the morphine and resisted for fear of sleeping through the battle to come.

  To his Radioman, “One last check.”

  After some chatter, “All are in position, sir.”

  “First squad, open fire on targets only.”

  Off to the right a rattling of rifle fire sounded.

  “Third squad, open fire on targets only.”

  What sounded like three shots came from the left and the firing ceased.

  “Second squad five seconds of heavy fire.”

  With over two hundred rounds slicing through, the woods blew up. Limbs, leaves, and bark went sailing in all directions. Screams of pain sounded from the berm. After the five seconds all was quiet except for cries and moans of agony.

  “This is Agent Tascott again. Throw down your weapons and come out with your hands up or we’re coming in.”

  “You white men have always promised us the moon and then repossessed it within a short time. This time we are taking it and holding it. These mountains are sacred to most of the tribes in Arizona and all of the tribes in northern Arizona. We will no longer allow you to defile them with your trivial pursuits of outdoor recreation. You ski over the graves of my people.”

  “You sound like an educated man. Come on out to the middle ground and let’s talk about this.” The agent tried to put as much sincerity in his voice as possible. He was not a sob sister, but he did believe in hearing folks out.

  “What, so we can talk forever some more. I am Apache. I do not like what the white man has done to us. They act too much like conquerors. I see the county idea as a ploy to impoverish us even more by dumping the cost of everything on the tribes. You can fool us for only so long and then we rebel, 130 years of servitude is over. If you lying white boys want this place, come and take it.” His voice reeked with anger and hate. A blast from a shotgun put an exclamation point to his words. The heavy slug whistled through the air, cutting limbs which dropped on the agent before smacking into a tree trunk.

  The agent ducked, looked at the Lieutenant, “Well, what now?”

  “We take them.” He turned to the Radioman, “Are all the other units in position?”

  “Still waiting for the unit to the northeast. Last I heard they were about 500 meters from their assigned spot.”

  “Check again.”

  The Radioman spoke into the mike. Listened. “Unit is taking up positions now. Says they are as ready as they need to be.”

  “We are then ready to attack. You ready, Agent Tascott?”

  “Not really, but it’s the only thing left that I can see. Although we could hold them in a siege status and starve them out.”

  “We discussed that. There is a restaurant full of food.”

  “Burnt to the ground and still smoldering according to recon.”

  The Lieutenant looked to the Radioman again, “Right flank encircle the enemy left. Left flank commence firing on sure targets. Everybody move careful, I hate writing letters home.”

  Within moments the sound of firing came from the left as those troops began their encircling movement. The right wing was firing from time to time as the targets presented themselves. The northeast group began firing with one shot and then silence. The group Tan was with moved forward to encounter no one. They kept moving up hill into what would be the lower backside of the ski area.

  Sergio and Tan moved forward in the middle of the line easing from cover to cover and finding no one. The burning buildings slowly succumbed to the fire as falling walls sent up sparks and ash with the breeze, which was right into their faces. Tan caught a glimpse of an Indian moving on the back side of a burning building. The short whistle he gave alerted Sergio who motioned the group to go to ground.

  Moments went by with nothing else happening. Tan got the idea that the Indian he had seen was moving to the other side of the ski area to join the now hot fighting on the east and south side, where the access road came in. Sergio gave the follow me again and moved up the hill quickly, eating up the final hundred yards to reach the buildings.

  The Lieutenant took a quick look through the smoke which was making his eyes water and moved the troops to their left around the moldering restaurant building and into the clear air. The firing to the east was getting very heavy as Sergio took a look in that direction where he saw what he estimated to be twenty or more Indians making a stand on the far side of the parking lot. ‘That’s stupid, they have no place to fall back to except open asphalt. I’ll solve that problem for them,’ he thought.

  Calling in his squad leaders, he outlined his plan. They went back to share with the troops. The Radioman was smiling from ear to ear as the Lieutenant called the north-east group and told them, “Take cover, I’m gonna take this group by surprise from behind, which means you are directly behind the target.” After getting the all clear from them, the firing across the lot dwindled and almost died out with Indians lifting their heads higher to see where the targets went.

  Meanwhile back down the road Lieutenant Sawyer was facing fierce opposition as his men ground to a halt. The right and left flanks were under cover and taking some pretty heavy fire when he ordered his second squad to open fire up the middle which caused the enemy on his right, uphill, to begin firing at the second squad instead of his right flank. “Tell first squad to move in as they can. I want to pack this group tight fast.”

  The Radioman acknowledged and transmitted his orders.

  Agent Tascott moved up with the second squad only to catch a round along his left ribs, spinning him around until he lay on the ground facing the rear. Sawyer ran up yelling, “Medic.” Moving the agent to a sheltered spot, and as the medic began, Sawyer joined his men on the assault. The line broke as the Indians moved back under superior fire power. ‘Hell, they did a bunch of damage and were dangerous when they were in their fixed positions. Running they’re getting chewed up,’ ran through his head.

  Tan and Sergio were part of an attacking force from the northwest as the northeast group got up and moved on the parking lot as the Indians that had held them back began to run across the lot. Tan’s group was ordered to open fire on the protesters. Rounds ricocheted off the pavement ripping into flesh and trees with no discernment of their targets. In moments Indians from the south ran onto the lot from the access road. All the Indians milled around for just moments before one of them motioned to the southwest and they all headed that way into the forest only to meet Sawyer’s third squad coming up the hill.

  The surviving Indians threw up their hands. Sawyer screamed, “Cease fire, cease fire.”

  Sergio screamed, “Cease fire.”

  Radios crackled all around with the news, the fight was over. Guard troops and law enforcement moved in cautiously with some facing the rear just in case. Two helicopters settled onto the asphalt parking lot. A chopper full of firefighters hovered at the edge of the area as the firefighters repelled on the asphalt and attacked the fires starting to spread into the surrounding grass and trees.

  Lieutenant Sawyer ordered the dozers up the access road and more medical personnel to move in, the lot was littered with downed
Indians and a few Guard. About a dozen of his troops were behind him being helped by medics and buddies where they fell. Without orders two Humvees with medical personnel plowed over the slides on the access road up through the woods to arrive at the blood strewn asphalt just as he finished his follow-up calls. He smiled and pointed out a flat spot for them to set up.

  36

  6:40

  Governor’s bedroom

  The phone’s ring blasted into the bedroom of the Governor and Art as they were getting the best sleep they had gotten in weeks. Both of them sat up trying to figure out what the noise was all about. The Governor woke up first, “Hello.”

  “More good news, my lady.”

  “General, no gentleman awakens his lady or anybody else’s lady in the middle of the night no matter how good the news is.”

  Art mumbled, “Particularly when she is sleeping with her husband.”

  “Well then, I’ll call back later.” He hung up.

  The Governor sputtered and yelled at the phone, “Don’t you dare.” She listened to the dial tone. “He dared.” She hung up.

  The phone immediately rang.

  “Yes, General.”

  “We have secured the Snowbowl. The road will be open for travel in twenty minutes or so. Right now we are ferrying the wounded out by chopper. Casualty count is 27 Guard wounded with 4 in critical condition, 43 Indians wounded with 6 critical and 6 dead and 38 arrested, 1 FBI agent wounded. He’ll have a scar to brag about and tell his grandkids how he won the Indian war in Arizona. No other law enforcement hurt.”

  “So, the last great Indian uprising is over?”

  “Until the next time, if there is one.”

  “You want to know something, General?”

  “What’s that Governor?”

  “There is a time for waking and a time for sleeping, as Governor of the fantastic State of Arizona, I declare today a holiday, a holiday to sleep in for Governors.”

  “Go back to sleep, my lady. And, tell Art I’ll work harder on my boss at getting better working hours from now on.”