by Robert Boren
“Can’t see it from here,” Hannah said as she got out of the truck.
“There are the wagons,” Brendan said, pulling one to his truck as the others parked. He loaded personal belongings, guns, and ammo, then waited for the others to do the same.
“I thought this thing would be in the bay,” Lita said, walking to the wagons with Richardson. “Maybe it’s bigger than we’re thinking.”
“Maybe so,” Richardson said. “Glad they have the wagons.”
“You and me both, dude,” Juan Carlos said, joining them with Madison at his side.
“Hope we aren’t sitting ducks out there,” she said.
“It’s supposed to be bullet proof,” Lita said.
“So are our patrol boats,” Madison said.
Richardson tried a reassuring expression as he looked at them. “We’ll be fine.”
They pulled their loaded wagons down the road to the dock, where a pontoon boat waited for them.
“Good afternoon, sir,” the pilot of the boat said. He opened the side gate. “Sorry, we don’t have a ramp. We’ll have to lift these wagons onto the barge.”
“They’re not that heavy,” Brendan said. The men helped each other get all three wagons onto the deck.
“Are we going to a larger version of this boat?” Hannah asked.
“It is a massive pontoon boat,” the man said. “With four outboards to move it around. You won’t break any speed records, but it’ll go about twelve knots given some time and smooth conditions.”
“Wow, that’s faster than I expected,” Richardson said.
“Any patrol boats there yet?” Juan Carlos asked.
“Just two, and an experimental,” the pilot said. He untied the pontoon boat, then fired up the engine and drove them out. They went past their side of the isthmus, beyond the point, and Lita gasped.
“That thing is huge!” she said, looking at the rectangular barge with its turrets on top and decks ringing the hull.
“We can’t move that thing around with the boats tied to it, can we?” Madison asked. Harley looked at her and laughed.
The pilot chuckled from behind the wheel. “I wouldn’t advise that. It’d be best to tow them from the back end.”
“Or have them follow with separate pilots,” Richardson said, “but I doubt we’ll be moving this thing around much.”
“You don’t think the enemy is gonna find us, dude?” Juan Carlos asked. “They’ve done it before.”
“We can see them coming,” Brendan said.
“That’s true, but let’s not get over-confident,” Richardson said.
“You got that right,” Harley said.
They were approaching the barge quickly now.
“I’ll man the bow line,” Juan Carlos said, looking at Brendan.
“Got the stern.”
“Think I’ll relax and supervise,” Richardson said, leaning back in his seat with his hands behind his head. Lita snickered.
They had the pontoon boat tied up in seconds, then turned to moving the wagons onto the deck. When everybody was on the barge, the pilot waved and nodded at the ropes, which Brendan and Juan Carlos untied. The pontoon boat cruised away.
Brendan cracked a smile. “Home sweet home.”
“Bite your tongue,” Hannah said, looking around the strange structure. “Not much curb appeal.”
“I think it’s bitchen, dude,” Juan Carlos said. “Always wanted to live on a houseboat.” Madison rolled her eyes.
“Let’s go check this tub out,” Brendan said.
“Tub?” Harley asked.
“Always wanted to say that,” Brendan said with a sheepish grin.
“We’d better get these wagons lifted from the dock to the deck,” Richardson said. “Wouldn’t want the chop to make them roll off.”
“You got that right, man,” Brendan said. They got to work, lifting them aboard in a couple minutes.
“Wow, thick armor,” Lita said, looking at the steel wall around the entire deck of the boat. “Too bad it’s only waist high.”
“Perfect for shooting from,” Juan Carlos said. “The walls of the cabin are armored too, right?”
“Yep,” Richardson said. “And the windows are bulletproof.”
“Hope this thing is air-conditioned,” Madison said as they walked towards the stern. There was an overhang like a patio roof, double doors, and a wide deck covered with a rubbery material.
“Good, the outboards are shielded,” Brendan said. “At least they learned that lesson.”
“Indeed,” Richardson said. “The patrol boats are on the starboard side.”
“Starboard?” Hannah asked. “Which side is that again?”
“Passenger side,” Brendan said. Juan Carlos chuckled.
Richardson jogged to the patrol boats, Brendan, Harley, and Juan Carlos hot on his heels, the women staying in the shade of the back roof.
“Boys and their toys,” Hannah said. Madison and Lita laughed. “Shall we wait for them before we check out the inside?”
“They’re coming back already,” Madison said.
“Well?” Lita asked.
“An inboard model and an outboard model,” Richardson said, “and something new. Didn’t expect that.”
“What?” Lita asked.
“A hovercraft.”
“Shocked the hell out of me,” Harley said.
“Yeah, wonder what that’s for?” Brendan asked. “It’s got weapons, but no armor.”
“It had Kevlar all over it,” Richardson said. “Anxious to check that out. Might be a better choice on the Rio Grande. Imagine flying along the water and racing up onto the bank.”
“And having your skirts shot out from under you,” Juan Carlos said. Brendan laughed.
“It will be nice taking that to shore,” Harley said. “No muss, no fuss. We could pull it right next to our trucks.”
Juan Carlos laughed. “That’s a good point.”
“Let’s go check out the inside,” Madison said. “It’s hot out here. I hear an air conditioner.”
They walked through the doors into a rush of cool air.
“Thank God,” Lita said, pausing by a register so the cold air hit her full force.
The stern room was a common area, with couches, chairs, tables, a TV set, and a galley.
“Not so bad,” Lita said.
“Wonder what that trap door is for?” Hannah asked. “Engine compartment?”
Brendan laughed. “No, it’s got outboards back there.”
Juan Carlos pulled it open. “It just leads down to the water. Last-ditch escape route.”
“Lovely,” Madison said.
“Spiral staircases,” Brendan said. “See, one in both corners of the wall.”
“Roof access,” Richardson said, rushing to the starboard one. He climbed up the steps and opened the trap door, sticking his head through. There were mini guns at each corner, and M19 grenade launchers next to them, all shielded. A waist-high bullet proof wall extended above the roof all the way around. “Those can be fired with remote control. Look at the cables and gimbals.”
The port trap door opened, Juan Carlos sticking his head out. “Bitchen, dude!” His head sank back into the room, replaced with Brendan’s, who looked around with a big grin on his face. Harley took Richardson’s place to look.
“Boys, get down here,” Hannah yelled. Brendan and Harley came back inside, closing the trap doors behind them.
“There’s two doors leading to the rest of the space,” Lita said. “Let’s go.”
They went through the starboard door, which led to a long corridor with two doors, widely spaced, on the right, and four doors on the left, closer together. There was a single door at the end of the hallway.
The first door on the right led to barracks, with three bunk beds and foot lockers. There was a door on one side, which Lita checked out. “Combo bathroom and shower stall,” she said. “Like I’ve seen in some RVs.”
“Eewww,” Hannah said.
“There might be four rooms like this,” Richardson said, “if the port side is a mirror image of this side.
“Let’s keep going,” Lita said.
They left the room and went down the hall to the second door on the right.
“Well, Richardson, you might be right,” Harley said as they entered the room. It was barracks just like the first room.
“Yep,” Richardson said. They went back in the hallway. “Which door? The front or the left side?”
“Front,” Juan Carlos said.
“Fine with me,” Lita said. They went through the door.
“The bridge,” Richardson said, looking at the windows in front, the bank of monitors across the wall just under the windows, and the pilot’s chair. There were gunnery stations on either side, and the room ran the entire width of the boats’ cabin.
“So, those guns up there can be fired remotely,” Brendan said, rushing to one of the gunnery stations, with its seat and target reticle screen.
“Yeah, all of them, dude,” Juan Carlos said, pointing to the gunnery console. “See the eight toggle switches?”
“Damn,” Brendan said. “This sucker is like a water-going tank.”
Richardson and Harley glanced at each other and cracked up.
“We’ve got to go on the roof to reload,” Harley said.
“Why do they have this land-locked in a lake?” Lita asked. “It ought to be near South Padre Island or Galveston.”
“I have a feeling we’re testing this out, along with doing the patrol boat training,” Richardson said. “I’ll ask Wallis next time we chat.”
“Could they trailer something this big out to the gulf?” Lita asked.
“Maybe they built it on site,” Harley said. “It’s got a really wide beam. Tough to tow.”
“Yeah,” Richardson said. “I’ll try to find out.”
“Let’s check out the staterooms,” Lita said. “You boys can play later.”
They went back into the hallway, taking the first door. It was an officer’s stateroom, with a double bed, a couple chairs, dressers and shelves, and a TV on the wall. There was a door on the far side of the room.
“Not bad,” Lita said. “What’s that door?”
“It’s another one of those bathroom and shower stalls,” Hannah said. “That’ll take some getting used to.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Madison said, “compared to how we’ve been living, this isn’t all that bad.”
“I agree,” Lita said, looking over at Richardson. “What do you think, honey?”
“I could live here with you, but remember that we’ll get an allowance to live on shore if we want to.”
Madison was thinking, then looked at Juan Carlos. “You know, sweetie, there’s something to be said for living in a bullet-proof space.”
Juan Carlos smiled at her. “I’m good where ever you want to be, honey. Really.”
“The bullet-proof walls might not be that valuable if we get sunk,” Hannah said.
“This won’t be easy to sink,” Harley said. “It’s got six pontoons under it, and they’re sectional. It’d be hard to hit anything but the outside pontoons, and they’ve got armor at least to the water line. I saw that when we got next to it. I’ll bet there are at least ten sealed sections to each of those pontoons. That means they’ll have to make a lot of big holes to ruin them, and that still won’t sink us because of the four pontoons between the outside two.”
“We’ve also got an armored way off the barge with the patrol boats,” Richardson said. “We’ll be safer on this thing than we’ve been for a while.”
“These beds are full size,” Hannah said. “Gonna be a little cozy compared to a queen or a king.”
“I can do cozy,” Brendan said.
Hannah rolled her eyes, smiling despite her best efforts to look stern.
Lita laughed. “Let’s look at the rest of the boat.”
They left that room through the Port side door, checking the other three staterooms, which were exactly like the first one. Then they looked at the doors on the left side of the port hallway. The back one was another barracks, the front a gym and recreation room.
“So, we have enough room for eighteen trainees,” Harley said. “Not half bad, if we can pump out a group every four or five days.”
“We’ll be lucky if we can get a flow of men that large, but it’ll be great if we can,” Richardson said.
“Let’s check out the rest of the deck,” Brendan said.
“You boys go ahead,” Lita said. “We’ll figure out which staterooms we want.”
“I’m good with any,” Harley said.
“We’ll put you in the back, okay?” Madison asked.
“Perfect,” he said.
“C’mon,” Juan Carlos said.
The men went outside to the deck.
“This is a good place to fight from right here, if we get some M60s,” Brendan said.
“Definitely,” Harley said.
“Let’s go to the bow,” Richardson said. “I saw a big container out there. I want to see if it’s ammo storage.”
The others followed him as he walked up there. The box was in front of the pilot’s bridge, taking up the entire width of the cabin, and sticking out about four feet. There were doors on the front, and the top lifted. Richardson unlatched the doors, lifting the top, which had hydraulic arms to assist and hold the heavy door up. Double doors in front could then be open, allowing full access. The locker was full of ammo and firearms.
“Wow, look at all those ammo belts for the mini guns.”
“Looks like a lot,” Harley said, “but those things chew through ammo at an amazing rate. Lot of M19 grenade belts. Those will last longer.”
Richardson was staring inside. “I’m surprised they gave us all the small arms. I see five M60s and at least fifteen M4s.”
“Look, there’s a few SMAWs in there!” Brendan said, picking one up. “These things saved us more than once.”
“That they did,” Richardson said. His phone dinged with a text message. He pulled it out and looked. “Wallis. He wants to do a conference call in an hour. He says the back room is set up for that, with microphones in the ceiling and a tie-in for the TV screen.”
“Sounds good,” Harley said. “I’ve got a lot of questions.”
“Me too,” Richardson said. He typed a reply and pocketed his phone. “We’ve got a little time to kill. Might as well get those wagons unloaded.”
“I want to check out the patrol boats and that hovercraft,” Brendan said.
“Yeah, dude,” Juan Carlos said.
“Okay, no problem, but don’t take off with that hovercraft yet. We need to be checked out on that. Take the patrol boats for a spin if you want to.”
“Bitchen,” Brendan said. They both headed for the starboard side, going through the gate onto the dock outside.
“Kids,” Harley said, shaking his head.
Richardson shot him a grin. “Best crew I’ve ever had.”
Chapter 11 – Race Against Time
Eric was at the wheel of his Class C motorhome, taking up the rear of the Fort Stockton caravan. They were heading northeast on Highway 117 in New Mexico. He glanced over at Kim, red hair blown by the wind of her open window, Paco on her lap.
“You look worried, honey,” Kim said.
“Clancy, Stanton, and Chance,” he said. “Seems like they should’ve caught up by now.”
“Maybe towing the bulldozer is slowing them down.”
“We’re all going slow because of the tanks,” Eric said. “I’m going forty-five right now. At least it’s better on the gas mileage.”
“How much gas do we have?”
Eric glanced at her, smiling. “Enough to get to I-40 and back, and then some.”
“Why don’t I send them a text?”
“Would you?”
“Sure,” she said, pushing on Pa
co until he jumped off her lap. He came over to Eric, wagging his tail hopefully.
“Sorry, boy, you know I can’t have you up here when I’m driving.”
Seeming to understand, Paco walked slowly to his bed behind the passenger seat and settled in.
“Poor Paco,” Kim said as she typed the text.
“Which one are you sending it to?”
“All of them,” she said.
“Good.”
After a moment, Kim’s phone rang. “It’s Chance. I’ll put it on speaker.” She set the phone on the center console. “Hear me?”
“I do,” Chance said, background noise making his voice sound small. “No worries, we’re on the road. We just passed the fork onto Highway 117 about ten minutes ago. Where are you guys?”
“We just passed the El Malpais Ranger Station about five minutes ago,” Eric said.
“Closer to ten, honey,” Kim said.
“What happened?” Eric asked.
“That bulldozer is huge. None of our trucks could handle it. The owner of the dozer had a truck big enough, but it was rented out the day before, and was a little late getting back. Cost us about twenty minutes.”
“Who’s driving it?” Eric asked. “Weren’t you all in your own vehicles?”
“Yeah, the rental yard guy is driving it there, and he’ll take it back when we’re done. He’s a nice guy by the name of Hollis.”
“He knows what we’re doing?” Kim asked.
Chance laughed. “Yeah, he knew before we got there. Clancy has known this guy for a while.”
“Wonder why Clancy didn’t say that before?”
“He wasn’t sure how they’d get along. Clancy dated his sister years ago, and it didn’t end very well, apparently.”
“Uh oh,” Eric said. “We’re not gonna have any drama, I hope.”
“This guy is a stone-cold patriot,” Chance said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he stayed on, frankly.”
“What about his rental business?” Kim asked.
“His brother-in-law is part owner.”
Eric snickered. “The same sister?”
Chance laughed. “No, the sister Clancy was with lives in New Hampshire.”
“Not a good place to be, from what I’ve heard,” Eric said.