“I don’t know what he is talking about,” said Lieutenant Lopez. “Ask him about the bomb that went off at the truck repair shop. You owe the Chevron-Texaco Corporation big-time for damages.”
“Again Lieutenant Lopez accuses me of something?” asked the Team leader, taking a step forward. “It is you who is the provoker. It was you who ordered an air strike on a construction project.”
“And you are in league with the Cable Guy!” responded Lieutenant Lopez.
“You want to talk to me about minor incidents no one cares about?” I asked. “Why are you wasting my time?”
“You are quite right,” said the Special Forces Commander. “It’s all liquid under the bridge. I want to talk to you about Carlos Bonanno.”
“Bonanno?” I said. “He is just another thug. We kill them off, and more pop up. Bonanno runs the rackets in New Memphis.”
“I want to whack Carlos Bonanno,” said the Special Forces Commander. “And I want your blessing and support.”
“I didn’t know my translation device spoke New Jersey,” said Lieutenant Lopez. “Why do you want to whack Bonanno?”
“We owe Bonanno some payback,” explained the Special Forces Commander. “There is evidence he ordered the nuclear destruction of our Command Flag Ship.”
“I noticed you haven’t been talking much about that,” I said. “Debris is still falling from the sky. What makes you think Bonanno is responsible?”
“It was either Carlos Bonanno or the Legion,” replied the Special Forces Commander. “Was the Legion involved?”
“No. Of course not,” I answered. “That would be an act of war.”
“I know Carlos Bonanno ordered the bombing,” said the Special Forces Commander. “The nuke was mailed from Arthropoda, but it was sent by the Mafia. Do you deny that the Mafia has influence on both our home worlds?”
“No. It probably does,” I said. “Are you sure you want to start a war with the Mafia?”
“The war has already been started,” said the Special Forces Commander. “What I propose is to win the war.”
“You aren’t afraid of the Mafia,” said the Team Leader. “I heard you once bombed the New Memphis Mafioso from space.”
“We have had our differences, but I can depend on my superiors not being corrupted by the Mafia. I can’t say the same for your superiors on Arthropoda.”
“That is my worry,” said the Special Forces Commander. “I have already taken that into account.”
“What is it you want me to do?” I asked.
“Just look the other way when our Special Forces commandos cross the border on their way to New Memphis,” said the Team Leader. “My mission will be to arrest Carlos Bonanno and as many of his associates as possible.”
“Why go to all that trouble?” I asked. “Just kill them and be done with it. I might even help you.”
“They will be summarily executed,” said the Special Forces Commander. “But first they will be interrogated. I will find out who are their accomplices on Arthropoda.”
“Just follow the money,” I suggested. “Check bank accounts. Okay, I will help you. I will even share our database for New Memphis so you can ferret them out. A shuttle can drop your commandos at the outskirts of the city.”
“Wait,” said Lieutenant Lopez. “General Kalipetsis needs to know about this. You are talking about allowing spider commandos to kill American citizens. There may be collateral damage. Aren’t you worried about the scandal if this gets out? Do you trust these spiders?”
“He is right,” I said. “You are asking me to take a huge risk. General Kalipetsis needs to be brought on board with this.”
“We are just killing Mafia,” argued the Special Forces Commander. “The Legion throws Mafia out airlocks all the time. What is the big deal?”
“The big deal is I cannot allow your mission unless General Kalipetsis approves it.”
“That will take too long,” said the Special Forces Commander. “General Kalipetsis will pass the buck. We need to cut through the red tape and just do it.”
“Sorry,” I said. “There is too much risk of something going wrong.”
“How much?” asked the Team Leader.
“What?” I asked.
“How much do you want for your cooperation?” asked the Team Leader. “A million dollars?”
“We can not be bought on this issue,” advised Lieutenant Lopez.
“Two million dollars?” asked the Team Leader.
“They insult us,” said Lieutenant Lopez. “It’s time to leave.”
“Three million dollars? You are a thief to make me offer so much,” said the Team Leader. “Justice demands we get payback on Carlos Bonanno.”
“This is getting ugly,” said Lieutenant Lopez, standing up to leave.
“Three and a half million dollars,” said the Special Forces Commander. “That is three and a half million dollars apiece.”
“You have a deal,” I said. “I will make the arrangements immediately.”
“You should have brought a Green spider to do your haggling,” Lieutenant Lopez advised the commander. “You could have saved a couple million.”
* * * * *
When negotiations started, the Fleet Commander introduced a resolution calling for coordinated efforts to fight banditry along the border. I noticed that Team Leader #1 slipped out a side exit, so I followed him. At first the Team Leader appeared to be innocently walking to the checkpoint gate. But then he stopped by a wall and lit a cigarette. The Team Leader looked from side to side, as if checking to see if he had been followed. He took a rag out of his pouch and erased graffiti from the wall. How odd, I thought. The Team leader then walked past the Legion checkpoint, entering the spider zone.
I went to the spot where the Team Leader had been standing. The graffiti must have been put on the wall in chalk, because it was easily wiped off. But I could still see traces of the marking on the wall. It was a human street gang symbol. It was a Roman numeral ‘XIV.’
Street gang graffiti was common anywhere the Legion fought. Tagging was encouraged because it promoted esprit de corps. What was not common was for a spider Special Forces Team Leader to erase gang graffiti that had been printed in chalk. I theorized that this particular tag had been put on the wall as a signal. Perhaps a message would be delivered or sent later to or from a traitor.
I walked up to the checkpoint. Guido was at the gate waving traffic through.
“I want one of your security video cameras pointed at that wall,” I ordered.
“Why?” asked Guido. “I need my cameras pointed at the spiders. It does me no good to have a camera pointed back at our zone.”
“There was a tag on that wall earlier,” I said. “It got erased. If the tagger comes back, I want him identified.”
“You’re talking about the XIV? You don’t need a camera for that. It was Lieutenant Lopez.”
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Chapter 5
“You are joining the spider commandos as an advisor,” I said. “I want you to keep them out of trouble. I don’t care if they get killed. Just don’t let them get into trouble.”
“I would rather stay here and help with negotiations,” said Lieutenant Lopez. “I rather like the life of a staff officer.”
“Call it punishment for shooting that survey team and not telling me about it,” I said. “Did you know they are sending out another survey team?”
“I heard the Fleet Commander is raising a stink about the border being marked in the wrong place,” said Lieutenant Lopez. “He’s right, too. We moved the markers.”
“Now you tell me?” I groused. “Oh well. It makes no difference. I’m going out there myself with the armored car and tanks. We are not going to give up that oil field.”
* * * * *
Lieutenant Lopez and about twenty-five spider commandos loaded into a shuttle and left for New Memphis. They landed just outside the city limits. A rented truck was waiting. Lieutenant Lopez got t
he commandos through the Legion roadblocks and checked into the Marriott Hotel. The Special Forces Commander brought lots of cash. The commandos were split up into teams and promptly sent on their missions of kidnap and mayhem.
“This is the best pizza I have ever eaten,” commented Team Leader #1, as they ate at Bonanno’s restaurant. “Who would have thought that the Mafia could make such good pizza?”
“I say we arrest the cooks, too,” said Commando #97. “If we take them back to Camp Alaska, we can force them to cook pizzas for us.”
“We are here to arrest Alfonso Bonanno, one of Carlos’s top associates,” said the Team Leader. “We will stay put until he shows up.”
“How about we arrest just one of the cooks?” asked #97. “Who will miss one cook in a city this big?”
“Slavery is immoral and illegal,” insisted the Team Leader. “We have only been here an hour and already you are starting to think like the human pestilence.”
“Fine,” said #97. “I am going back to the salad bar. It is all you can eat night.”
“Bring me another pitcher of beer,” ordered the Team Leader. “And don’t be bringing me Lite beer again.”
“Alfonso Bonanno better show up soon,” said #97. “It he does not, I will be too fat and you will be too drunk to do anything.”
Commando #88, standing at the front door, gave an alarm signal. The Team Leader dispersed his commandos along the wall. The Team Leader stayed seated, trying to look relaxed. In walked two deputy sheriffs, one human and one spider. Immediately the spider deputy sheriff noticed the Team Leader.
“Show me identification,” demanded the spider deputy.
“I do not have identification,” replied the Team Leader. “I lost it in the flood.”
“Everyone needs identification,” advised the spider deputy.
“No one told me I needed identification,” said the Team Leader.
“Are you one of Bonanno’s boys?” asked the human deputy. “I haven’t seen you here before.”
“Yes,” said the Team Leader. “Alfonso will get me my identification. Do you think he will be here soon?”
“He’s here now,” said the human deputy. “I saw him go in the back door as we pulled up. I’ll tell Bonanno you’re here waiting for him. What is your name?”
The Team Leader hesitated, looking around for inspiration. “My name is … Kraft Cheese.”
“Whatever,” said the spider deputy. “The next time you hang out up front, conceal your weapons better. Your showing off like that makes us look bad.”
The deputies then went through a door at the back of the pizza parlor. A waitress handed the Team Leader the bill. The Team Leader sprayed her with a short burst of nerve agent. She dropped to the floor. #97 did the same to the two cooks. Other commandos sprayed several customers. They would all wake up tomorrow with bad headaches.
The two deputy sheriffs and three Mafioso burst through a swinging door at the rear of the parlor with their guns drawn. They died in a hail of automatic gunfire from the spider commandos. The Team Leader examined the bodies, kicking the nearest. “I am not sure, but this one looks like Alfonso Bonanno. What do you think?”
“The human pestilence all look alike to me,” said #97. “I think we need to get out of here fast.”
The Team Leader ignored the warning and rifled through their pockets. Finally he found identification belonging to Alfonso Bonanno. “Our mission is to make arrests and interrogate the suspects,” said the Team Leader. “This will not do.”
“More police just arrived,” shouted #88. “What do we do now?”
“Shoot our way out,” answered the Team Leader. “We will try the back door first.”
As #97 stepped out the back door, he was killed by a shotgun blast. The Team Leader peeked around the doorway. A deputy sheriff fired another blast at him as he ducked back inside. The Team leader tossed a grenade out the door. #88 was firing his assault rifle out the front door. A sheriff’s sniper killed him with a bullet to the head.
“This is the police! You are surrounded! Come out with your hands up, and you will not be harmed!” promised a deputy sheriff sergeant over a loud speaker.
The Team Leader sat down at a table to finish his beer and pizza. One of his commandos called out to him. “Do we surrender?” asked Commando #72. “What are your instructions?”
The Team Leader glanced at the two dead deputy sheriffs on the floor. “Surrender if you want to,” he said. “But, I think we are going to die tonight, no matter what we do. First, I am going to finish this marvelous meal.”
#72 threw a grenade out the front door. After the explosion, automatic gunfire blew out windows and ripped through the building. A shard of glass struck #72 in the neck. He sank to the floor and died. Commando #64, standing next to him, threw his rifle out the front door. “I surrender,” yelled #64. “Do not shoot. I am coming out.” As #64 stepped outside he was shot and killed.
That left just the Team Leader and a sergeant. By now the Team leader had finished his meal and was washing the pizza down with beer. He got up and walked to the front door. “We have eight hostages!” yelled the Team Leader. “Stop shooting, or they all die! I want to surrender!”
“We have orders not to surrender,” said the sergeant. “We are to take poison first.”
“Go ahead and take your poison pill,” said the Team Leader. “You first.”
“My orders are to make sure you poison yourself rather than surrender,” said the sergeant. “I insist you go first.”
The Team Leader casually picked up an assault rifle and shot the sergeant. Then he changed clothes with the dead spider deputy sheriff. He smeared blood all over his face. The ruse worked. When the Sheriff’s Office Fast Action Response Team (F.A.R.T.) finally entered the pizza parlor, they immediately put the Team Leader in an ambulance headed for the nearest hospital. The Team Leader easily escaped from the ambulance while en route.
* * * * *
Lieutenant Lopez and the Special Forces Commander sat in a rented car on the street outside Carlos Bonanno’s mansion. The plan was to wait for Bonanno to come out, follow him, and ambush Bonanno at the first opportunity. More Commandos waited in cars parked down the road on Elvis Street. Through a scope, Lieutenant Lopez could see activity in front of the home. Carlos Bonanno, his wife, two children, and bodyguards were getting into the limousine and a trail car. It was right at dusk when they emerged on the street and sped away.
The commando team followed at a discrete distance. The Bonanno limousine pulled into the parking lot of a downtown pizza parlor. A police car was parked out front. Soon more police cars arrived, blue lights flashing.
“Team #2 must have made their hit, but they are not answering their radio,” reported the Special Forces Commander. “Maybe something went wrong.”
“Or maybe they will report in later,” said Lieutenant Lopez. “We will back off for now. We don’t want a gunfight with the local police.”
The police had arrived quicker than expected, thought Lieutenant Lopez. How did that happen? What went wrong? As they drove by, he glanced at the large new building next to the pizza parlor. The sign out front said, ‘New Memphis Sheriff’s Office.’
Lopez aborted the mission to kidnap Carlos Bonanno and his associates. Bonanno would be alert for trouble now. Future missions would just involve snipers.
* * * * *
“This is Phil Coen, World News Tonight, with breaking news from New Memphis. A gun battle broke out at Bonanno’s Pizza Parlor, located right next to the Sheriff’s Office. Nine are confirmed dead, including two veteran sheriff’s deputies, four gunmen, the owner Alfonso Bonanno, and two associates. Sheriff Mike Murphy theorizes his two deputies walked in on a robbery and got caught in crossfire. The gunmen, all spiders, used military assault rifles and grenades against deputies responding immediately to the scene from Dunkin’ Donuts across the street. One spider suspect is still at large. He may be severely wounded.
“In other local news,
sheriff’s deputies stopped and detained Foreign Legion Lieutenant Manny Lopez and about twenty Arthropodan marines at a checkpoint just outside of town. After a brief but intense standoff, the highly decorated war hero was released after his commanding officer, Captain Joey R. Czerinski, verified by radio that Lopez and the spider marines were on joint patrols to combat banditry along our newly established borders.
“Just this week negotiators passed a resolution calling for the Legion and the Arthropodan military to coordinate efforts to fight bandit gangs that take advantage of jurisdictional problems along the border. Captain Czerinski, who is currently in the field because of increased tensions in a disputed border area of the North, hopes more such joint operations can cement lasting spider/human working relationships and harmony. General Kalipetsis, reached by phone at his headquarters in Camp Alaska, said this is proof of improving USGF and Arthropodan relations, and a desire by both sides for a lasting peace.
“As you all know, USGF and Arthropodan relations have been severely strained, not only because of numerous border disputes, but also by the ghastly nuclear explosion aboard an Arthropodan Command Ship in orbit around New Colorado. The Arthropodan Fleet Commander has accused the Legion of possible involvement in that disaster and for the mysterious loss of supply ships in the area. The Legion denies involvement, but the Fleet Commander says he suspects the Legion is using a new stealth starship to raid Arthropodan shipping.
“Today on Arthropoda, several spider postal workers were arrested as part of a conspiracy to mail the nuke that destroyed the Arthropodan Command Ship. The case broke when Arthropodan Intelligentsia investigators found large deposits of dollars and credits in the bank accounts of several postal workers. When interrogated, all suspects confessed to involvement in a larger conspiracy. Further arrests are expected.
America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 3: Silent Invasion Page 5
