by Franks, JK
Several weeks later, Colonel Shane Willet found himself leading a contingent of the 194th out of Fort Benning. They had quietly come ashore on the eastern side of New Orleans at the aptly named Port America. Joining up with the 1st Armored division coming in from Fort Bliss, they now were driving hard directly toward the SOR storage facility. The colonel’s new C.O., Commander Kitma, was busy assembling a larger force for other action farther north. The fuel reserves were essential to all branches, though. There would be no future missions without it. The timetable thus far had been somewhat fluid awaiting the arrival of his tanks and artillery as well as intel from a recon team on the ground.
Colonel Willet had been in combat in both Gulf Wars as well as skirmishes in shithole countries around the world. Now, he was on his own Gulf Coast and about to go to war with his own president. Nothing about this would ever feel right or just. Like most battles, he knew it was going to suck. He ran a hand through his sweat soaked hair before donning his cap again. A junior officer sitting in front put down a radio handset and turned to him.
“Sir, M88 insertion teams are on standby for 0400 tomorrow.”
The colonel nodded. Mission-88 was the joint team of Army Rangers, Navy SEALs and several members of the less well-known Air Force Special Tactics squad. The mission was planned so that the heavy artillery would already be in place just prior to the Spec Ops jumping in. Looking down at his watch, a frown crept across his forehead. It is going to be damn close.
Chapter Sixty-Five
Harris Springs, Mississippi
“I still don’t see why you need to go.”
“Scott, sweetheart, stop worrying, I’ll be fine.” Gia sat down heavily on the bed. “We’ve been through this.”
It was true, they had, but Scott still didn’t like it. He knew she was going to keep visiting the other labs until they all had the treatment perfected. While he still was unsure where the labs were, few places remained safe.
“G, listen. It’s not just the infected anymore. The country is falling apart—it’s all-out-war in many places.”
“Like the one you aren’t telling me about? The one that Jack and Todd are dealing with?” She knew it was bothering Scott to keep anything from her just as much as it killed him not to be there with his friends.
His eyes dropped to the floor. “That…” he sighed and looked out to sea. “That’s a supply run, that’s all. They will be fine, and I promised you I wouldn’t do anything stupid before the wedding.”
She raised an eyebrow, then tilted her head slightly as if that was not entirely right.
He caught the look, then stammered, “I mean, until the baby comes.”
“Only partially true, Scott Montgomery. You are done being reckless, your hero days are over. Our baby and his mother need you to stay safe.” She reached out a hand and pulled him toward her. He bent down and kissed her sweetly.
“I’m trying, honey.”
She smiled, “I know you are, but it’s killing you. What I don’t know is if it is because of your sense of duty or…” She lay back on the bed. “Maybe you just need the thrill of the fight now. Maybe your warrior gene has been turned on, too. No going back if that’s true.”
Scott gently climbed up on the bed and then atop his fiancée. “I’ll tell you what has gotten turned on.”
She reached a hand down from his chest toward his waist, then lower. “Ah…I think I understand why you want me to stay now.”
He kissed her, then with a show of willpower that surprised them both, he slid off her and lay next to her cradling her softly in his arms. They lay like that for several minutes, neither speaking. Finally, he broke the silence.
“Gia, I have loved you forever, you are the reason I exist now. You and our baby are my life. Despite everything going on, all the struggles the world keeps throwing at us, I’ve never been happier.” He ran a hand over her body, lifting her shirt up to expose the very noticeable baby bump. His fingers smoothly rubbed her tummy as he looked deep into her eyes. “I can’t believe this is even real.”
Her fingers intertwined with his as their lips met. She softly whispered, “I know.” She reached for him again, but differently now. She wanted him, inside her, needed him to physically be a part of her once more. They made love, slowly, gently. Neither in any rush for it to be over. Silence permeated the ship's cabin as the two bodies moved as one. Scott’s face nuzzled her neck, his soft kisses pushing her closer to the very edge.
Their passion was a fire that both energized and consumed them. They had made love many times, but this was something more. Each touch felt electric, like they were experiencing one another for the first time. But, they were so comfortable and so familiar that each knew intrinsically how to move, where to touch. When to be soft and when to be more. The couple had become masters of each other’s body. Gia arched her back as waves of orgasm hit, her ecstasy raced through his body as well and he released into her. His soul pulsing as she pushed back. Exhausted, they stayed that way, neither wanting to break the spell.
The moment was so perfect that he wished for a way to capture it just so he could play it back later to feel it all again. He knew he had never been in love before. This was where he was supposed to be, right now, this exact spot in the cosmos. Her love was exquisite, she was beauty, she was love.
He opened his eyes a short time later to see her looking at him through tear-filled eyes. They were still in the same position, facing each other on the bed. Her fingers traced the outline of his face. A slight smile was her only expression. He knew this was one of those times; he knew not to speak. He kissed her softly. They lay that way for a long time before she spoke.
“Thank you, Scott. I don’t deserve you.”
He shook his head and began to speak, but she shushed him.
“I treated you so badly back in college. I knew you were in love with me, but instead of returning it, I just used you. I thought I knew what I wanted, and…I think maybe I just assumed you would always be there for me. For so long, I refused to even think about you. The men in my life other than you were...” she stopped and turned away for several long seconds. “You are just different, you are my heart, and I should have followed it from the very beginning. Now…” she stopped again.
“What, hon?” he whispered.
“It scares me, Scott. It can’t be real.”
He pulled her closer and ran his fingers gently through her long red hair.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I’ll do my best to stay out of trouble as long as I know you are mine.”
She was sobbing now, almost inconsolably. Her shoulders shook with the tears that seemed to be tearing her soul from her body. She muttered something he couldn’t quite make out, then rolled to the side. He’d reached the end of his understanding of women, much less pregnant women. He lay a hand on her back and soon heard the soft, familiar sounds of her sleep.
He lay on the bed wide awake watching her sleep. She was an amazing woman, not just to him, but to the entire world. Trying to keep her here, all for himself, was selfish, but damn, he wanted to be. Her chest rose and fell, and he placed his hand on her swollen belly once more. He had no idea of how it was supposed to feel. Would it be too soon to feel the baby moving or kicking? No clue. This woman would be his wife, and this baby would make them a family. He thought briefly of his friends on the mission but gave up the pretense of leadership. It just felt good to be him right now.
Chapter Sixty-Six
Hackberry, Louisiana
“Okay,” Jack said coming back out of the 35-foot Hike riverboat into their makeshift base camp. “I just talked with Garret and Bobby letting them know this whole fucking thing looks like a setup, we need to get the hell out.”
DeVonte looked sick. “But the military’s still planning to attack?”
“Looks that way, yeah. Once the military machine gets going, it’s hard to shut down,” Todd said. “They would rather just go ahead and hit this place and hope they get lucky
.”
“They keep asking us to go in to get an even closer look. They don’t believe us since the place isn’t rigged to blow.” DeVonte had gone in during the night to check and found no evidence of explosives anywhere. “No matter what we say, though, they are coming in tomorrow morning—we all know that.”
“Fuck that, Preach,” the kid said grinning.
The radio in Jack’s hand beeped with an incoming message. “Sit tight, headed your way – Sky.”
“What in the fuck does that mean?” Jack wondered aloud. A slight noise came from behind.
“Hands-up!”
They all turned at the shouted command. Half a dozen black uniformed troops emerged out of the dense foliage all aiming short barrel automatic rifles.
“Oh, shit,” Todd muttered raising his hands.
“Fuck, what we do now?” DeVonte said.
“Raise your fucking arms,” Jack whispered loudly. Obviously, not all the NSF troops were fake.
Tahir raced frantically through the ship's corridor. “Where’s Scott?” he yelled. No one seemed to know.
Angelique was coming out of her office on the mid-deck when she heard his voice. “He’s down in the galley with Bartos.” The young man nodded thanks as he sped by and toward the hatch at the end of the corridor. She called out, “What’s wrong?” but he had already disappeared down the steps.
Tahir found Scott seconds later, pulling him urgently aside. “You have to get them out of there now.”
“Who…out of where?”
“Everybody. Anyone near the SOR. Move them out, or they are dead.”
Chills crawled up Scott’s back, every nerve on edge. They began moving quickly toward the communications room. “Tell me what is happening,” Scott said as they navigated the people heading to eat in the small dining area.
“Trust me on this; make the call,” Tahir said, now winded and struggling to keep up.
Scott reached the radio room first; his brother was on duty alone. “Bobby, can you get Jack’s group on the radio? It’s urgent.”
His brother nodded and began spinning the dial on the huge radio as Scott turned back to Tahir. “So, what’s the problem?”
“It is a trap, the entire SOR storage facility is a trap for the military.”
Scott shook his head. No, this couldn’t be true. Skybox checked this out, early reports said lightly defended and no signs of the enemy rigging the compound with explosives. He trusted his friend, but he was baffled.
“Jack’s no longer responding. Should I try Skybox?” Bobby asked, the stress level in his voice creeping up noticeably.
“Yes,” Scott and Tahir answered nearly in unison.
“How can it be a trap, Tahir?”
In response, the man logged into one of his laptops nearby and began typing a series of IP addresses. “I finally got into the satellite. You know, the one I said the president’s compound seemed to be communicating with?”
“Yes, yes, of course, but what does that have to do with…” Scott left the question unfinished as he watched what must be a real-time feed from the satellite. The image was unmoving and showed a small section of the Gulf of Mexico. The exact location was well known to them. Dead center of the image was Cameron Parish, Louisiana, and the tiny community of West Hackberry. The sense of dread in the room was quickly becoming a tangible entity.
Tahir clicked to a schematic view of the satellite. Only it was obviously not a satellite. “Guys, this is an orbital bombardment platform for something called a Kinetic Energy Weapon.”
“Oh, holy shit, ‘Rods from God.’ Someone actually built it?” Scott asked leaning in for a closer look. “We are so totally fucked.”
Bobby’s voice rose in tempo, “Hold Sky, AlphaCat just threw us a curve. I am patching him and BikerBoi in.”
Tahir filled in everyone over the next several minutes. The Kinetic Energy Platform was located in high orbit and had a payload of solid metal ballistic spears the size of telephone poles. “Skybox, you are familiar with Rail Guns and the depleted uranium projectiles. Ramp that up in size and power to this, but instead of needing high-energy magnets to fire on a target, with a KEP you just let gravity do the work. It is very similar to dropping a small asteroid on a target.”
To his credit, Skybox remained calm. “Accuracy and yield, Cat. I need specifics.”
Tahir checked the schematics gathering weight and altitude, entering it into a sidebar program. “Guys, if I am reading this correctly, they have accuracy down to fifty yards, regardless of atmospheric conditions. Projectiles traveling at the maximum speed of Mach-9.5” He tapped more keys. “Oh, holy mother…output is somewhere between the MOAB and a small nuclear device. By far, the most powerful conventional weapon ever created.”
Skybox stayed silent for much longer than was comfortable. “Everybody is already en route to the party. Even with Preacher’s earlier warning, none of them wanted a hold. AlphaCat, how many projectiles do they have, and how long from launch to impact?
“This station has sixteen, but it is almost certainly not the only platform up there. They could never maintain target lock with a single satellite. I haven’t found any others but would expect a minimum of four, possibly as many as twelve. From de-orbit to reach terminal velocity to impact would only be a few minutes at most.”
Tahir looked around the room nervously, “I can’t stop this from happening, guys, I am logged in via a very low-priority maintenance port. Nothing I can do to alter a launch command.”
“That’s ok,” Skybox said. “We just have to avoid the area. Get in touch with Garret, either of them. I’ll cancel my insertion teams, but who knows about the Army. Scott, I need something from the AG.”
Scott looked around the control room confused, What can I do?
Skybox filled him in, “I was about to call you guys. One of our Rangers just arrived at the Preacher’s base camp, and there is no sign of any of ‘em. All their gear and the Marco Polo are still there. I have to assume they have been taken. I’m going in to get them. I am going to need you to bring me a few things.”
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Scott cautiously looked over at the man sitting beside him in the LSV Spider. Tommy stared straight ahead, completely still, face expressionless, but somehow, Scott got a vibe of building excitement or anticipation. Skybox had told him to get the tactical buggy and the man most knew better as Ghost. Finding him had proven almost as tough as getting him into the vehicle. Bartos and Kaylie had helped, but it was something akin to trying to herd a tiger. They had managed it and gotten on the road heading west in record time. Solo had hopped in the back as if to say, You aren’t having this party without me. They were both killers, but Scott felt strangely comfortable with his teammates.
He felt way less so heading into a potential combat zone—something he had promised his fiancée he wouldn’t do. Also, knowing the KEP hanging over them like Thor’s hammer was a hard thing to get comfortable with. He just couldn’t stop thinking about Jack, Todd and DeVonte, though. Just as when Bartos was taken, he would do anything to get them back. Thankfully, the rendezvous spot where Skybox was meeting them was only a few hours away, and they had a near empty highway between them.
Near empty was not the same as completely empty. They had bypassed Baton Rouge and, a few hours later, New Orleans by a wide margin, but just outside Lafayette, Louisiana, they rounded a bend in the road to see a roadblock manned by black-uniformed soldiers. “Oh, shit,” Scott said slowing. There was a travel ban in effect which he was violating and a weapons ban. The dual mounted .50 caliber machine guns were also a likely violation of that law. He gave a quick glance at Ghost and noticed the beginning of a small grin on the man’s misshapen face. As he brought the LSV to a stop fifty yards away, Solo lightly jumped out and went to pee in the grass along the road.
The NSF troops all had weapons leveled at them, and several were approaching in a very business-like manner. Weapons locked on target, fingers on the trigger, fanning out to
give clear fire lanes. Scott felt amazingly calm considering the dire position he was in. Perhaps Gia was right, he was getting addicted to this stuff.
“Tommy, enemy,” he whispered. The man sat stoically, but his stone face still hid a grin.
“You, out of the car, hand’s up!” came the shouted orders. “Lay your weapons on the ground first.”
Scott looked quizzically at the men, then over at the unloaded machine gun in the mounts and shook his head. Raising his arms, he said, “I’ll need a wrench, you sure we can’t just leave them? They are really a pain in the ass to take off.”
Four of the guards were approaching, and at least two more were behind the Humvees blocking the highway. “Sir, are you aware of the travel ban? It is illegal to be on the roads without authorization. It is also a felony to be in possession of weapons of any kind.” Two of the soldiers were looking at the light tactical vehicle in awe. It seemed to bristle with every weapon imaginable.
One of the men grabbed Scott, threw him roughly to the ground and proceeded to search him for weapons. Ghost hadn’t moved from the car, but the soldiers were more respectful of him. His injuries were so obvious and so severe they didn’t seem entirely sure how to handle him.
“I don’t guess you guys are just going to let us go, huh?”
“Shut the fuck up. Where did you get this vehicle?”
“So…shut-up or answer…” The boot stomped down in the small of his back driving the air from his lungs.
They made an attempt to pull his arms back behind him, one of them producing a flex-cuff restraint. Scott saw them pulling Tommy out the other side and realized it was time. He snapped two fingers into his palm. Somewhere out there he knew Solo was watching. “This one has a kni...” The man on the other side didn’t finish his sentence as he was grasping his throat trying to slow the torrent of blood rushing between his fingers.
