by Siegel, Alex
"I don't think we have a form for giving away radios."
Joseph found the AN/PRC-148 that he was hoping for. The black case had a few dings, but when he turned it on, it seemed to function. He headed towards the door.
Collins stepped in front of him. "I'm sorry, sir, but I can't let you take our equipment without authorization."
"What are you going to do? Arrest me? Do you have any idea what will happen to you if you lay a hand on a Lieutenant General of the United States Air Force?"
The two men stared at each other for a moment.
Collins stepped aside. "Have a nice day, sir."
"Thank you." Joseph nodded.
He hurried outside. The sky was clear and the sun was bright. A breeze was unusually chilly for September.
He headed towards his car which was parked in the huge, open lot to the south. As he walked, he surreptitiously checked for signs of a tail. He saw many other people coming and going. Around thirty thousand people worked in the Pentagon, so there was always plenty of activity. It was impossible to know if he was being followed.
After a long, vigorous walk, he found his car. It was a high-end, Chrysler sedan with a custom Air Force blue paint job. He looked around one last time but saw nothing obviously suspicious.
He got in and drove off.
He quickly found his way to Interstate 395. He headed south towards Virginia, but he would take the scenic route to his destination. The Fourth Corner needed time to prepare the trap.
* * *
President Haley looked up at the brick and glass exterior of the Secret Service Headquarters. There was barely any signage to indicate who occupied the nine-story building. A passerby could've easily missed that it contained a universally respected and feared government agency.
"Make the call," Tawni said.
Haley was sitting in the back of a mid-sized sedan which looked like many others on the streets of Washington. It had inch-thick windows, but that wasn't such a rarity in this town. The tungsten-carbide armor plate concealed in the doors and roof was more unusual.
Tawni was at the wheel, and Atalanta was riding shotgun. They wore civilian suits, but he knew they were well armed underneath. With her Japanese features and unusual height, Atalanta was a striking woman. Her eyes never stopped checking for threats.
Haley took his new, gray phone out of his pocket. The weight and thickness alone marked it as different from a regular phone. He had barely had time to skim the manual describing an extraordinary list of features. It was like a gadget from a science fiction movie.
He also had a scrap of paper with a phone number on it. He unlocked his phone and dialed the number.
"Hello?" George Seferis answered.
"It's me," Haley said. "I'm parked in front of your building. Come alone."
"Yes, sir. I'll be there in five minutes." Seferis hung up.
Haley settled back in his seat. The only sounds were the whisper of the air-conditioning and the purr of the engine.
"What's going to happen to General Joseph and the others?" he asked.
"They'll be captured, interrogated, and killed," Tawni said.
He raised his eyebrows. "Are you going to torture them to death?"
"Yes. They're working with an enemy of God. They'll get no mercy." Her tone indicated nothing else needed to be said.
Haley wanted to argue on behalf of due process and the rights of the accused. He believed that "innocent until proven guilty" was more than just a slogan. He had sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States which included a prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
He didn't argue though. The Gray Spear Society clearly didn't give a shit about such things.
"It sounds like you've done this before."
"A few times," Tawni said. "Atalanta is the veteran."
"I've been a member of the Society for twenty years," Atalanta said. "Thirty-six successful missions."
A knock on the window startled Haley. Seferis was standing outside the sedan. Haley unlocked the door and let him in. As soon as Seferis was safely seated, Tawni pulled away and merged with traffic.
"Are you wearing a disguise?" Seferis said.
Haley stroked his false beard and mustache. "Do you like it?"
Seferis grimaced. "It looks weird, sir." He had dark circles under his eyes, and his face sagged.
"You're tired."
"I spent all night on that damn bus. You were right about the traitor though. It's Julie Zimmer, the Secret Service agent with red hair."
"I think I know her." Haley nodded. "She was assigned to me a couple of months ago."
"I'll launch a formal investigation today."
"Don't bother," Tawni said. "She'll be taken care of."
Seferis looked at her with a distasteful expression. "I remember you from last night. The woman who slices rocks with a sword." He turned to Atalanta. "Are you another one of Miss Pickenpaugh's freaky thugs?"
She shook her head slightly. "I don't work for her, but I am a freaky thug."
He sighed with exasperation and refocused on Haley. "What's going on, sir? Do you know who tried to kill us?"
"Yes," Haley said, "and they'll be taken care of, too. This isn't your problem anymore."
"What happened to you last night?"
"I wish I could tell you about it. All you need to know is that I'm in good hands." Haley nodded towards the women in front.
Seferis snarled. "Drive me back to my office, please. My work is actually appreciated there."
"George..."
"Don't bother, sir. I understand how it is. The Secret Service has to play second fiddle to a clandestine criminal organization that controls the President of the United States. Nothing unusual about that."
Haley's shoulders sagged.
Tawni turned left at the next intersection. Traffic was slow and getting slower. It took five minutes before she could make another left in the direction of Secret Service Headquarters. Haley noticed people carrying signs a few blocks ahead.
"Fuck!" Seferis rolled his eyes. "The protest march. I forgot all about it. Take the next right. We'll have to go the long way around."
* * *
General Joseph drove into the parking lot of the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission Transit Center. It was a very long name for a bus station, but the station almost justified it. It was two stories tall with a blue, sloping roof. There were offices on the second floor. The parking lot was large, but he was pleased to see relatively few cars in it. He didn't want a lot of innocents getting in the way.
The Corners of Freedom had picked this location for a couple of reasons. First, it was surrounded by a belt of thick forest which offered plenty of cover. Second, it was just eleven miles from Marine Corps Base Quantico where thousands of soldiers were stationed. The Fourth Corner had a lot of pull at Quantico.
Joseph parked close to the front door. He entered the large lobby of the bus station. There was a ticket counter, but he ignored it. He didn't expect to leave this place by bus.
He counted thirty people in the waiting area with an even mix of civilians and off-duty soldiers. There were a couple of children, unfortunately. Joseph winced at the sight of their eager, young faces.
He walked to the middle of the room and faced the door. After a few minutes, the Second and Third Corners entered. He recognized them from last night, but now they wore their formal military regalia. Second Corner was a major general in the Army, and Third Corner was a rear admiral. As they approached, Joseph read their nametags. They were Heywood and Caskey respectively.
"I see you have the radio," Caskey said. "Good." Her steel gray hair needed to be combed.
Joseph held up the AN/PRC-148 proudly. "You look much better in uniform than that ugly, green raincoat from last night."
"We tried so hard to be careful, and in the end it was wasted effort."
"And it's probably why we fell short. We were too worried about risking our own skins. We lacked a
willingness to accept the consequences of our actions. Our plan was too elaborate. A good soldier accomplishes the task first and then deals with the fallout. I met the President in the Oval Office before he even left for Chicago. I could've killed him with my own hands."
She faced the entrance of the bus station. "It's not over. We still have a few bullets left in our guns."
"Assuming the Fourth Corner does his part," he said. "I'm a little irritated about the Fifth Corner not offering to help us."
"He probably went into hiding. I never liked him much, anyway. I was never quite sure he had the same agenda as us. We don't need him."
* * *
Aaron peeked over a bush at the front of the PRTC Transit Center. The main entrance was on the far left. Most of the large building lacked windows and was probably storage space for buses. Alternating white and light brown stripes ran horizontally across the front.
He turned back to face Ethel, Boreas, and the four Washington legionnaires. Everybody was dressed in civilian clothes, but underneath, they were equipped for battle.
"We might as well grab them now," Aaron said. "They're obviously trying to flee by bus. I don't want to chase them across the country."
Ethel nodded. "I agree. Lead the operation."
"Thank you, ma'am." He looked at the two male and two female legionnaires. "I don't know your names, and I don't want to know them. I'm not your commander. I have to call you something though. Brownie, Blondie, Muscles, and Hairy. Got it?"
They nodded.
"Put your phones in conference mode so we can talk directly without dialing," Aaron said. "Does anybody have a gift?"
"I do," Blondie said. She was relatively small and lightly built for a legionnaire. Her silky, blonde hair was cut short in a cute style. "I can climb walls like a fly." She showed him that her palms were covered with very fine, white fur.
"You'll be our spotter. Get up on the roof."
"Yes, sir." She ran off.
"Muscles and Hairy, watch the back doors. If the bad guys run that way, try to catch them alive, but if you can't, you're authorized to kill. Don't let them get away."
"Yes, sir," Muscles and Hairy said in unison. They took off.
Aaron looked at Brownie. She was tall and impressively muscular for a woman. A gray ribbon held her long, brown hair. He liked the intensity in her dark brown eyes.
"Go inside and be inconspicuous. You'll back us up if there's trouble."
"Yes, sir." Brownie left.
Aaron turned to Ethel. "And the three of us will execute the capture, ma'am."
She wore a gray business suit which was cleverly tailored to disguise the body armor underneath. Yellow sunglasses hid her oversized pupils. Her hair looked particularly white in the sunlight.
Boreas had dressed more casually. A black, leather jacket covered his huge torso, and he wore blue jeans. His sunglasses were mirrored. A gray beard, gray hair, and weathered face made him look like an old sea captain.
"After you," Ethel said.
The three of them walked to the entrance of the Transit Center. They entered a spacious waiting area with plenty of seating.
General Joseph, General Heywood, and Admiral Caskey were standing in the middle of the room and facing the door. They wore dress uniforms with full sets of colorful ribbons and shiny buttons. Joseph was carrying a military radio, and small lights indicated it was turned on.
Aaron immediately had a bad feeling. "I don't like this," he murmured. "They were waiting for us."
"Let's just move quickly," Ethel said.
He hurried over to stand directly in front of General Joseph. "Come quietly, please."
Joseph's big, round glasses didn't match his narrow face. His uniform was so clean and pressed it looked like plastic instead of cloth.
"You must be our mysterious enemy," Joseph said in a confident voice. "It's great to finally see your face. Who do you work for? What government agency?"
"None," Aaron said. "Now are you going to make this messy and difficult?"
"I'm afraid I have to."
Aaron looked down at the radio in Joseph's hand. "What's that for?"
"Calling for reinforcements."
"Are you going to do that now?"
"Already did." Joseph nodded towards Brownie who was standing near the front door. "She was the waitress at the bar last night. I recognized her as soon as she walked in. I figured it couldn't be a coincidence."
Aaron was angry at himself for not anticipating this issue. An inexcusable mistake, he thought.
His phone chirped. He stepped away and put it against his ear. "What?"
Ethel and Boreas also grabbed their phones.
"This is Blondie! A shit-load of Marines just rolled up on us, and they're dressed for a fight."
"They're in back, too," Muscles said over the phone. "We're surrounded. It's like the whole damn Corps just stepped out of the woods! They must've come from Quantico."
"Where are you?" Aaron said.
"Hiding in a bus in the rear parking lot."
Aaron's heart was pounding. He looked through the front windows and saw green troop carriers parking in a long line. Men and women in full battle gear were pouring out of the backs of the carriers. They held M16's.
"Stay put," Aaron said. "Don't expose yourself. Give me a minute to figure this out."
His phone began to buzz. He looked down at the display and discovered the signal was gone. The phone was being jammed, and he was cut off. He couldn't even call his own team.
"Fuck!" he yelled.
* * *
"Sir!" Todd yelled. "We just lost contact with the whole team!"
Neal rushed over to Todd's workstation. "What do you mean?"
"Our legionnaires, the legate, Aaron, all off-line. Somebody must be jamming the phones."
Neal's eyes widened. "The bus station was a trap!"
"You're probably right."
Neal rubbed his temples as he tried to come up with a plan. All his resources were caught in the trap. With everybody else gone, he couldn't leave his headquarters. He couldn't even call the legate for help.
"What was the name of the black woman that came with Aaron?" Neal said. "Tawni? I need to reach her now."
Todd sent an emergency text message to the twins in Chicago, and they replied with Tawni's number. Neal grabbed his phone and dialed it.
"Hello?" Tawni said.
"This is Neal. We're in a lot of trouble. I think the whole team was just ambushed. We can't reach any of them."
She paused. "What do you want me to do?"
"You and Atalanta are the only legionnaires available. Get your asses down to the PRTC Transit Center immediately. Find out what's going on. It's a bus station about twenty-five miles south of your position. Approach cautiously."
"But the President is in the car with us."
Neal growled like a bear. "Kick him out. He's in disguise. He can wait in a coffee shop until we pick him up."
"Yes, sir. Bye." Tawni hung up.
* * *
Tawni turned to Atalanta and said, "Did you hear?"
"I got most of it," Atalanta said. "The PRTC Transit Center."
Tawni turned her head to look into the back of the sedan. President Haley and Director Seferis were still there.
"I need both of you to get out," Tawni said. "Our team was ambushed, and we have to rescue them."
Haley shook his head. "I won't be tossed out like a bag of garbage. I want to help."
"That's retarded. We're probably riding into a major shit storm. You're not a fighter. You'll just get killed."
"If Ethel is in trouble, I need to be involved. I love her. The PRTC Transit Center, right? If you kick me out, I'll just take a cab."
Tawni looked to Atalanta for guidance.
Atalanta shrugged. "He's one of us now. I say let him serve the Lord as he sees fit."
"Where the President goes, I go," Seferis added.
Tawni rolled her eyes. "You got to be fucking kidding m
e. Do you have any idea how bad this could be?"
"This conversation is a waste of time," Haley said, "I'm the President of the United States. I'm not helpless. I can make things happen. George, how far away is this Transit Center?"
Seferis furrowed his brow. "I believe it's most of the way to Quantico, right near I-95. Maybe a forty-five minute drive at this time of day."
"Get us there in twenty, and summon the Secret Service. I want a full escort. Let's be ready for a major shit storm."
"Yes, sir." Seferis took out his phone.
* * *
Aaron looked out the front window of the Transit Center as he tried to think of a plan. A green truck with a giant loudspeaker on top parked directly in front of the building.
"Stay calm," a male voice boomed loud enough to rattle the windows. "Remain in the building. We are here to capture terrorists. If you leave the building, you will be shot. I repeat. Anybody who attempts to flee will be killed on sight. You are completely surrounded. There is nowhere to go. Be calm and remain where you are."
Aaron sighed deeply. He walked back to General Joseph who had an annoying little smirk on his face.
"Do you think you brought enough soldiers?" Aaron said.
"We wanted to be certain of success," Joseph said.
Brownie ran over, her brown hair bouncing with each step. "Sir, what are we going to do? There's a whole army out there, way too many for us to fight."
"Good question. What's your plan?" Aaron asked Joseph.
"First," Joseph said, "my associates and I are going to walk out of here." He glanced at General Heywood and Admiral Caskey. "Once we're safe, your group will walk out." He looked at Ethel, Boreas, and Brownie. "You'll be taken into custody, of course. Then the civilians will be allowed to go."
"Just that easy."
"No reason for this to be complicated."
Aaron narrowed his eyes. "You realize your comrade out there will probably kill you the first chance he gets. You've been compromised."
"That's possible," Joseph said, "but it doesn't matter to you. If my plan isn't followed, those eager, young, trigger-happy troops will kill everybody in here. It's a matter of national security. They were told dangerous terrorists armed with nasty biological weapons are lurking in the building. No measures are too extreme. Even civilian casualties are acceptable. If you want to live, you'll have to give yourselves up."
