Minus America (Book 3): Rebel Cause

by Isherwood, E. E.

  The couple waved while still holding hands.

  God, please let me see them again.

  CHAPTER 25

  Minot Air Force Base, ND

  “Is he coming? Did you see him?” Emily was uncharacteristically frazzled as she asked her and Meechum about her uncle. Uncle Ted stayed upstairs to deal with some guy, which was a bummer, but she understood. He was a warrior, and that was what warriors did. Emily came across as a warrior, despite her diminutive stature, so her concern seemed like more than professional courtesy.

  “He’ll be here as soon as he can,” Meechum assured her.

  The three women walked briskly down the hallway, past more technicians who seemed enthralled by their tablets and phones. Kyla tried to get a look at one of them and saw the face of a man talking. When a woman walked by holding her phone at a low angle, she saw the same man’s face. The white-haired guy seemed to be giving a speech. The curious side of her wanted to ask one of the strangers who was on their screens, but she discounted it as a very bad idea.

  “It’s that one, at the end of the hall.” Meechum motioned thirty feet ahead. The wooden door faced them and was closed.

  As they passed the doors in the rest of the hall, Kyla figured out that this floor was dedicated to computer labs for security of the air base. The screens in one room faced toward them, and she saw what was on the giant terminal: aerial images. Most of them were open, with people going in and out, but the one Meechum called out had no activity.

  “Does it need a key?” Emily asked, reading her thoughts.

  “Don’t know.” Meechum whispered. “It wasn’t in my briefing.”

  They got to the end of the hallway and Emily did an abrupt turnaround. “Where is he?”

  Meechum went to the door while Kyla pulled gently at Emily’s elbow. “My uncle knows what he’s doing. If he stopped, it was for a good reason. I’m sure he’d want you to complete your, uh, mission.” She didn’t think of herself as being on a military mission, but it came out of her mouth sounding that way. Mom would either be so pissed she was doing this or proud of her for avenging her country. She went with the latter.

  Emily glanced at her. The woman’s brown eyes were balanced between crying and desperate resolution. It confirmed her suspicion that maybe Uncle Ted meant more to her than just another pretty-boy pilot. It grossed her out to think of him that way, but she was proud of him for catching the eye of someone as important as the VP. “Thanks. I feel responsible for him, you know? I pulled him off Air Force Two and made him do special missions for me. I hate being separated.”

  Oh, yeah. She likes him.

  Kyla kept her excitement in check. “Ma’am, Meechum has the door open. We need to get inside and log you in.” She tugged at her arm to get her to move. The techs weren’t too big on security, based on how they walked around with their noses stuck to their tablets, but someone might recognize the vice president, despite her efforts at disguise.

  “You’re right,” Emily said with a heavy sigh.

  They got inside without anyone shouting at them, but Kyla checked the hall once more as she shut the door. Uncle Ted was nowhere in sight. It would have been great if she could cheer up the VP before they got into the system. She had no idea how long it would take.

  The inside was a lot like the other rooms on the level, but it was extremely cool. It was about twenty-by-twenty, or about the size of an average school classroom. In the middle, four or five computer desks supported giant desktop cases and even bigger monitors on top. The outer part of the room was lined with computer cabinets, servers blinking and humming inside. An industrial air-conditioning unit sat on the floor near the back, keeping everything cool. A long tabletop hung from another wall. A hundred tablets were lined up in a row, each with charging cables attached. Though she was there for the computer terminal, she trotted to the tablets and picked one up.

  “This is what everyone has out there.” The lock screen showed the white-haired man’s face. She walked it over to the two women.

  “That’s David,” Emily reported. “His real name is Jayden Phillips. Your uncle and I saw him when we were in an apartment the other night.” Nosy Kyla immediately wondered if anything had happened that night. It was the type of gossip she used to fake interest in when talking to Ben. He always wanted to hear about who she was dating, so she’d made up a lot of stories. If they ever got a minute where their lives weren’t in danger, she was going to plumb Emily for the truth, but it wasn’t yet the right time.

  “Why are all the people watching videos of him?” she asked.

  Meechum seemed agitated. “We’re here, guys. This terminal is locked, just like we talked about. Kyla, you need to get your ass in the chair and do your thing. Madame President, be ready to input what you need.”

  Kyla nodded, singularly focused on the moment. “Let’s get this over with.”

  I have so many questions saved up.

  Minot Air Force Base, ND

  There wasn’t much time to plan what he was going to do if Ramirez came for him. His pistols had been taken at the door, and none of the workers seemed to have any he could borrow. If he got into a tussle, he wanted it to be out of view as much as possible. When the girls disappeared into the stairwell, he continued walking down the hall, purposely avoiding the stairs.

  If it’s him, he’s going to shout my name.

  He repeated the thought to make it stick. The last thing he wanted—

  “Major MacInnis!” the man shouted.

  Ted didn’t flinch. He kept walking as if deaf to the name. The rest of the workers in the hallway flinched and stopped, however, which inadvertently made him the one guy who stood out.

  “Shit,” he said under his breath.

  “It’s me, ER,” the other guy laughed.

  Ted increased his pace and angled for an open door, which happened to be an empty room. There were twenty folding chairs set up facing a screen on a tripod, but none of it was in use. He thought about shutting the door, but it would be the end of his battle. He’d be cornered and would never get out. Instead, he took his chances the portly jerk would want him alone, so he took a seat in the last row.

  When ER came in, he knew it was him by his heavy breathing. Ted’s initial impression of the man was that he was better suited to serve hot dogs at the ball game than be down on the field. The last few days hadn’t changed his mind. Neither had the man’s change of uniform. As he walked casually around the far side of the chairs, he seemed to show off his black jumpsuit. “It is you,” he said admiringly. “I didn’t realize you’d joined the winning team, Major.”

  “Is the president really dead?” Ted asked, trying to cut right to the heart of his intelligence-gathering responsibilities. They’d gone to the White House, but ER had been the one who claimed he’d found the president’s clothes. As he sat there, he spun the presidential challenge coin in his pocket, underscoring the only hard data he’d gotten from that mission.

  Ramirez laughed and raised his hands, which were partially wrapped with skin-colored bandages. “I got what I needed from the White House, including that nice little fall on the glass. But my mission wasn’t to find the president; it was to get his precious suitcase.”

  Ted nodded. “Which you then brought back here, didn’t you? Why would you betray your country so badly?”

  The edge of ER’s mouth curled up. “Officers like you must live in some world where you see everything in such black and white terms. The rest of us live in the real world. A world where someone can offer you the entire state of Vermont for your service.”

  “That’s funny. I knew a ship captain who was convinced he’d be rewarded with a giant swath of Vermont. Are you sure you’ve got your contract signed correctly? Might want to have a lawyer give it a once-over. Just sayin’.”

  The smug look on Ramirez’s face disappeared. “What are you doing here?”

  He wanted to delay as long as possible. “Thanks for saving me from the plane crash. I at least owe
you for that.”

  Ramirez bowed a little. “I might have killed you if I thought there was even a tiny chance you and I would cross paths again. I figured if the drones didn’t get you, the packs of wild dogs would. Plus, I’ve got to admit, I never thought you’d crawl out of the burning truck.”

  Ted stood up. “Yeah, well, I guess the Air Force makes us tougher than you Army pukes.” He’d said it matter-of-factly, instead of with bile and venom. His blasé attitude worked as intended.

  “You have no idea what you’re dealing with.” He patted his chest, showing off his uniform again. “This army is unstoppable. We took down the entire United States government in seconds. We’re cleaning up the rest of your military around the world in mere days. Everything that was once yours is now ours. How does that make you feel, tough guy?”

  He took a few steps toward the heavier man, waiting for his chance. “I heard some rebels kicked you in the nuts in Amarillo. It sounds like there’s a whole Army division still in play. How does that make you feel? Tough guy.”

  “Rebels didn’t do squat. The Reboot Legion must never be compared to the scum we’re eradicating.”

  The man at the gate had also taken offense to his apparent misuse of the word rebel. “Is that what you call yourselves?” Ted asked.

  “Rebels, yes,” ER said in an agreeable tone. “Reboot Legion. Reb L,” he added, shortening it. “Get it now?”

  “I call you terrorists,” Ted said matter-of-factly.

  “We’ll see who’s the terrorist.” Ramirez pulled a small revolver from his pocket. “Remember this? It belonged to the vice president. You gave it to some asshole at Andrews. That asshole shot two valuable members of my team.”

  Ted reflexively held up his hands, but he was far from surrendering. “That asshole was my friend Frank. I hope he sent your guys to hell. They swept us at the door. How’d they let you keep yours?”

  “I’m a national hero. They look the other way for guys like me.” The pistol was trained on him for a few seconds before Ramirez dipped it a little. “Wait, you said ‘us.’ Who else is here? Where are they?”

  Aw shit. He’d accidentally said more than he’d needed to. It was a rookie mistake. Emily was going to chew him a new one for it. If he ever saw her again.

  “Up yours,” Ted replied.

  Ramirez snapped his fingers. “You lost the briefcase, right? Maybe you thought you could lock us out using a manual terminal. Such an act could be executed by a skilled programmer, or a high-ranking member of the US government, but you’d have to come here to the air defense mainframe. And that means…” The gun pointed at his face. “Let’s go downstairs.”

  Amarillo, TX

  Brent and Trish were the first to arrive at the Cadillac Ranch. He’d driven in a confusing series of turns and backtracks, on the off chance someone tried to follow them. Driving with no headlights was a challenge, but he became accustomed to it as his eyes adjusted. The eastern sky was at nautical twilight as he pulled onto the short dirt road leading to the half-buried cars.

  The younger woman had been quiet for most of the ride, but she shifted toward him once they were parked. “Brent, thank you again for coming to my rescue back at my house. I have to admit I never saw any of these guys as upstanding human beings, but you’ve changed them. They’re putting their lives on the line for a cause greater than themselves. It really was amazing tonight.”

  Brent was taken aback by her dive into the personal. “Well, as long as we’re admitting things to each other …” He took a deep breath. “I’ve always thought of you as a daughter. Mara and I never got to have any. I reckon you’re as close as I’ll ever get. That’s why I went out to save you from Curtis and his thugs.”

  She unclicked her seatbelt and leaned over to give him a hug. The personal contact and the smell of her hair almost made him tear up. He’d missed Mara for the past few years, but never as much as he did while in that embrace.

  Trish pulled back and looked outside. “Do you think the rest of them made it?”

  “I’m sure they did. We saw them leaving.” It was true he saw Cliff and Kevin drive off, but not the other three men. They’d all taken different routes through the city.

  Dwight didn’t know what to say for the next few minutes, so he sat at attention, sure another car would be along shortly. After about five minutes, he saw one. “Thank God. They’re here.”

  The headlights on the lone car came up the abandoned highway but went by the turnoff for the Cadillac Ranch, so Brent flicked his headlights on and off. “They must have missed the turn.”

  A few seconds later, the car turned around.

  “Come on, let’s greet them,” he said while hopping out. Almost after the fact, he opened the back door and brought his shotgun with him. If the bad guys were out there, he wanted to be able to fight back, no matter what else he was doing.

  The headlights were blinding as the vehicle slowly came up the dirt road. They’d switched so many cars over the course of the night’s activities, he had no way to know who was driving based solely on the make of vehicle. He had to wait until it pulled alongside him before he got a look in there.

  It was a man he didn’t recognize…

  CHAPTER 26

  Minot Air Force Base, ND

  “Can you hack in?” Emily asked over Kyla’s shoulder.

  She’d gotten through the first password gate with no problem, and now she had access to the mainframe. It surprised her that she understood the operating system. “Yes. Actually, this is a lot like the code I worked on with the Navy. It’s probably from the same defense contractor.”

  The VP tapped her on the shoulder. “Good work. Keep it up. I want it to be ready for when your uncle comes back. Then we’re going to get the heck out of here before we get caught.”

  She typed maniacally at the keyboard, using her polished programming skills to work her way through the file system until she came to a folder with some promise.

  Presidential Emergency Satchel

  She was hit with a password gate as soon as she tried to gain access to it.

  “This is where we get down and dirty,” Kyla said quietly to the two women with her. “Though I never thought I’d find myself anywhere near nuclear codes like this.”

  Emily laughed. “Yeah, well, that makes two of us. I’m supposed to be at a grand-a-plate fundraiser in Ohio today. At least, it’s what my schedule said before the world went into the crapper.”

  “Sounds like fun,” Kyla said while breaking into the system.

  The vice president didn’t sound happy. “It gets old. Trust me. The first dozen are fun. Meet new people. Get press taking your photos. Be the most important woman in the room. But it gets tiring always being on your A-game. You get pictures taken every second of the event, even when food falls out of your mouth.”

  Prior to the disaster, that life would have terrified Kyla. She liked being by herself, or with one or two others. She avoided crowds whenever she could. However, even a fancy dinner party sounded better than her new existence on the run.

  “Yeah, that does sound—”

  The door flung open, causing her to stop talking and see who it was.

  “Uncle Ted!” she cried out as he was pushed inside. A pissed-off Hispanic guy came through holding a revolver. She jumped out of her chair as her uncle shuffled over to Emily.

  “Nobody touch nothing,” the newcomer insisted.

  Emily caught Uncle Ted and held him close. He stayed there for a moment, then seemed to think better of it. They separated and put about a foot between them.

  “Is that my gun?” Emily inquired, not showing any fear.

  The man nodded.

  “Emily, you remember Lieutenant Eduardo Ramirez?”

  “From the plane,” she replied with awe.

  “I’m glad we could all get together like this. The last time I saw you two, you were both supposed to be dead. Especially you.” ER pointed the gun at Emily.

  “What do you want?�
� Kyla volunteered, hoping to take some of the heat off Uncle Ted and the VP.

  “What do I want? I want what everyone wants: an upper government official with the authority to transfer command of the nuclear arsenal over to its new owners.”

  “I want a puppy,” Uncle Ted deadpanned.

  Ramirez wasn’t amused. He swiveled the gun between the three of them.

  Three?

  She looked around for Meechum, but the Marine wasn’t anywhere obvious. Before she gave her away, Kyla turned back to the front of the room. “We don’t have anyone like that here.”

  “You would be the guests of honor under any other circumstances. There are teams of programmers working on changing over the authority of the briefcase without having the correct people present. They would all be glad to meet you. They’d be especially glad to have you help them out by unlocking the system for us.”

  Emily shifted on her feet. “We aren’t going to help you do anything.”

  “Oh, you don’t think so? What if I did this—” Ramirez aimed the gun at Ted’s face, which prompted Kyla and Emily to both shout, “No!”

  “Well, that’s interesting. The both of you don’t want me to kill this man?” Ramirez chuckled in an unpleasant manner. “I’d like to do this without hurting a soul, but the only one I really need alive is…” He bobbed the gun between them. “None of you.”

  His aim settled on Emily. “I need your eyes for the biometric scanner, but I don’t need the rest of you.”

  “Wait a second, ER,” Ted pleaded, “let’s talk about this.”

  “Oh, that’s so sweet. You two are into some weird boss-underling relationship, aren’t you? I wish I had someone to report this to.”

  Ted put up his hands and took a step closer. “Just tell us what you want. We’ll do whatever we can, so no one gets hurt.”

  Ramirez grinned. “Your little programmer needs to open the interface. I see she’s most of the way there.” He craned his neck to look at the computer screen. “Then your VP is going to enter her biometric information. From there, we’ll transfer full command to the briefcase.”