“That’s true,” Eric said. “There are a lot of them and they are well-equipped and trained, but the thing is, if we allow their forces to get fully established here like they already are in some places, it’ll be a hell of a lot harder, if not impossible, to ever get rid of them. Look, I’ve worked situations almost exactly like this in Asia, Africa and most recently, parts of Europe. And I can tell you, small pockets of determined resistance can have a bigger impact than you think, even against modern military forces. If you kept up with the news at all over recent years, you’ve seen the difficulty the full might of the U.S. military has had in dealing with poorly equipped, unorganized rebel forces in places like the mountains of Afghanistan. I know what it was like, because I was there too. I’ve been on both sides of battles like this.
“The takeover and occupation of Texas that is coming this way has been contracted out to a notorious organization that I’ve dealt with before known simply as C.R.I. They are working in conjunction with the Fronteras Cartel. But while there are a lot of trained men in both organizations with combat experience, as far as I know they don’t have air support, long range missiles or artillery. Instead of dropping bombs, they are doing home and town invasions and setting up checkpoints and detainee camps. In some areas, they are being more subtle and attempting to convince people remaining in the regions they occupy that they are there to help, and that they’ll be safe and well fed if they just relocate to these ‘refugee’ camps they’ve established. I don’t know how much of the population has fallen for it or what became of those who did, and I don’t know how much opposition they’ve met since they started this operation, but they will meet it now. We have effective tools and techniques at our disposal even if we are few. Do you know how much havoc even two or three snipers can wreak with just minimal training? I’m willing to bet that you and several of the men in this camp already shoot well enough to carry out such attacks, Sam. All you need is a little instruction on setting up hides and avoiding capture.”
“Maybe,” Sam agreed. “But won’t going after them just guarantee that they’ll double down on their efforts to catch or kill us? Won’t it give them all the justification they need to burn down our homes and everything else in the parish?”
“It probably will, but what are you accomplishing by hiding out here in the woods? You’re just biding your time, hoping the problem will go away. Well, I can assure you, it’s not going away, and you won’t be able to hide from it forever. If you ever want anything remotely resembling your old life back, then you’re going to have to start doing something about it now. Work with us, Sam. There’s strength in numbers, and there’s time to get ready if you start now.”
“I can’t answer for everybody here, but I understand where you’re coming from and I agree, we need to do something.”
“Then here’s an idea,” Eric said. “We know that gunboat that shot up our boat yesterday was formerly stationed at the post in Simmesport. And we know that whoever is operating it now is in association with the same ‘soldiers’ you say killed local residents and forced all of you into hiding out here. Our area of operation will be based on the lower Atchafalaya River, and that gunboat would be a valuable asset in the near future. It’s partially armored, it’s fast and it’s equipped with a Browning M2 belt-fed machine gun. After its crew attacked us yesterday, I can’t tell you how bad I wanted to take them out, but with only two of us, I decided it wasn’t feasible. But if we had the help of you and a few of the others here, we could pull it off. It will be a chance for a small amount of revenge for you guys, and it will be a victory for us, working together as a team. What do you say, Sam?”
Fifteen
KEITH WAS RELIEVED THAT Becca was there beside Diane with Joe. With her friend to keep her company, Diane would focus on Joe and leave Keith free to concentrate on avoiding obstacles in the growing darkness. Even though his plan had worked to draw more of the contractors into an ambush, Keith felt it was a total failure, considering what happened to Joe. He regretted making the decision to try it, as none of the three men he’d involved in this had either police or military training. While Joe was a good shot with a rifle, Keith figured he probably didn’t fully understand the concept of cover versus concealment, and before today, had certainly never been on a two-way rifle range with skilled opponents on the other end. Keith knew now he should have waited for Eric’s return and the chance to get these men some training. Even though the ambush had accounted for six more enemy combatants, the trade-off simply wasn’t worth it, especially if Joe didn’t make it.
The best he could do now was to get Joe to the trawler. There was a good chance Eric was back by now, and Eric had more combat medical experience than any of them. As he headed up the river, Keith switched the VHF radio in the console to the agreed-on channel he knew Bart would be monitoring and called to give him a heads up on the situation. At first, his transmissions were answered with silence, but then a man’s voice came over the channel speaking in rapid-fire Spanish. Keith didn’t understand what the speaker was trying to say, as he knew very little of the language, but he did know enough to recognize that many of the words were common expletives or insults he’d heard before, and he gathered that he was being threatened and told where he could go. Where the transmission was coming from, Keith had no idea. The VHF band was open and available to anyone, and he figured that whoever this person was, they were probably traveling the river somewhere within range of his radio, and for whatever reason, happened to be using the same channel he and Bart had preselected.
Keith waited a couple minutes and tried Bart again, this time getting no response at all. He wasn’t really concerned at that point, as he knew it was possible that the volume was turned down on the trawler’s VHF station, and that Bart and the others could be out on deck somewhere, too far from the speaker to hear the call. He would wait and try again when he got closer, but in the meantime, Keith turned his attention back to Diane and Becca as he kept the boat in the middle of the channel.
“Is he still stable?”
“He seems to be the same,” Becca said, as she got up and moved back to the console so they could talk. “Diane is a wreck though! We’ve got to get him through this, Keith, but he needs a doctor!”
“I know! I just don’t know where to find one right now. Driving to Lafayette with all those contractors in the area would be suicide. I’m hoping Eric will be there when we get to the boat. He’s dealt with more than his share of combat wounded in the field, so he’s the best we’ve got right now.”
When Becca went back to Diane’s side next to Joe, Keith tried the radio again. He was nearing the lake now, less than three miles away, and this time he got the answer he expected. Bart’s voice broke over the channel, instructing him to immediately go to “Alt One” just as the Spanish voice broke in again, cutting him off. Keith switch to the first alternate channel they’d agreed on, knowing anyone else listening wouldn’t be able to find them without scanning the dozens of channels in the VHF band.
“Miss Anita, this is St. Martin S.O. river patrol Unit One.”
“I hear you, son! What’s your location? We have a situation aboard the Miss Anita! Hostiles are on board and in control! I repeat: hostiles on board and in control of the vessel!”
Keith was stunned to get this news. He backed off the throttle to slow down so he could better hear the radio, causing Diane to turn and scream at him that they needed to hurry.
“Give me a minute!” He yelled back at her. There’s a problem aboard the boat. I have to find out what’s going on!”
“I’m on the handheld!” Bart said, when his voice broke over the radio again. “All of us are ashore, in the woods.”
“Where is the Miss Anita?” Keith asked.
“Still at anchor. She’s not going anywhere. Her prop is wrapped, but we have two, maybe three armed individuals hunkered down inside her, and we can’t flush ’em out!”
Keith didn’t know where to begin with all the questions h
e needed answers to. Bart helped him out without being asked:
“Two boats, with five or six well-armed Hispanic men each. They came in out of nowhere while we were ashore doing a drill. Good thing we were armed too! We killed most of them but two or three that boarded the Miss Anita are still there, behind cover. They tried to get the anchor up and escape, but Shauna swam out there underwater and fouled the prop with a line from one of their boats. Both of their boats are secured in the cut coming into the lake. We’re ashore in the woods, keeping them pinned down.”
Keith was stunned. So that explained the Spanish voice he heard on the radio when he first called.... He couldn’t believe all that had happened in the course of a day. Were these Hispanic men working in conjunction with the C.R.I. contractors that had attacked St. Martinville? He had to assume that they were, and that maybe they were with the cartel Eric already knew was affiliated with C.R.I. Bart and the rest of the crew had done well to survive the attack, and what Shauna did was incredible. But this was a major problem for him now, as he had a wounded man that needed the medical supplies aboard that vessel. Keith backed off his throttle some more to talk to Diane and Becca. But they’d both heard most of the radio conversation already, and Diane was desperate.
“Joe is getting worse!”
“Apparently, Eric isn’t back, and now we can’t get aboard the boat! You’ve got to keep talking to him, Diane! Keep him awake until we figure this out!”
“He needs help now! We’ve got to do something!”
“I don’t know anywhere else we can take him. We’re better off out here on the river than on any road in the area. We’re going to get the supplies we need from that boat. Just trust me to figure it out. If we have to negotiate with those men on board, that’s what we’ll do.”
“If they’re in the way of getting what we need to save my husband’s life, I’ll kill them myself!” Diane screamed.
“I understand the sentiment, but it’s a difficult problem. I want you two to stay down in the bottom of the boat when we approach, because we may come under fire. I’m going to ask Dad and the rest of the crew to cover for us, and hope we don’t need it, but I’ve got to try and resolve this some other way than trying to storm that boat, because that’s nothing but a good way to get a lot more of us shot.”
Keith radioed Bart again and told him what he had in mind. It was fully dark now, and he would enter the channel to the lake with his blue lights flashing and attempt to address the Mexicans aboard the trawler through his P.A. speaker. If any of them understood English, then there was hope that talking to them would work. They had to know they were surrounded, and on a boat that was immobile. Most of their men were dead, and there was no escape without a fight that would not end well for them. Keith knew there was a possibility the men were listening to his conversation with Bart even now, but they had to coordinate a plan so Bart and the others would know what he was doing.
“I don’t like the idea of giving them any quarter at all,” Bart said, “but I reckon this standoff could last for days if we don’t. They’ve got access to all our food stores as well as everything else we have, so they’re not hurting for anything.”
Keith knew that in order for Bart and the others to cover the men properly and prevent them from trying something stupid, he had to get them out in the open on the main work deck with their hands up. And the only way to get them to comply was to offer them something in return. As he motored up the river to within sight of the cut leading into the lake, he swept the banks with the powerful remote searchlight mounted above the patrol boat’s hardtop canopy and saw the two sleek center-console Makos that the cartel men had come in on. Both of them were tied up to the bushes along the bank, thanks to Shauna’s brave efforts, and Keith knew that using one of them to offer an exchange was his best bet for resolving this quickly. He hated the thought of giving these pirates their freedom, but not as much as he hated the idea of another firefight after the day he’d already had. As he approached the two empty boats, Keith flipped the switch to activate the blinding blue L.E.D. strobe lights also atop his boat, and told Diane that he wanted to move her, Joe and Becca aboard one of the empty boats for their safety until this was resolved.
“I don’t think we need to move him like that,” Diane said. “He seems a lot weaker than he was when we left. I think he’s bleeding internally. He’s in bad shape, Keith.”
“We don’t have a better option, Diane. The three of you don’t need to be on this boat when I approach that trawler. I’m going to tow the other boat over there if they agree to my terms. You’ll be safe waiting here until it’s all clear and then we’ll get Joe aboard the Miss Anita.”
Diane’s argument was cut off by the sound of gunfire. Keith heard the impact as a bullet took out one of his blue strobes, and just as he hit the deck, pulling Diane down with him, several rifle shots rang out from the direction of the woods on the other side of the lake. A few seconds later, Bart and the others ceased their suppression fire, and the old man radioed Keith to make sure he was okay.
“See what I mean?” Keith said to Diane. “Come on, the three of us can lift him over the gunwales easy enough and set him in the cockpit of the other boat. It won’t stress him any more than what he’s already been through.”
Diane agreed this time, and after quickly tying alongside the boat that was farthest from the trawler, the three of them moved Joe across and Keith ordered Diane and Becca to keep low and wait until he came back for them. Then he switched the VHF to the P.A. speaker and motored towards the Miss Anita.
“Buenos Noches,” He said, using one of the few Spanish phrases he knew, before switching back to English, hoping that at least one of them understood the language: “You are surrounded and cannot escape on that fishing boat, and you know that if you try to leave the boat, you will be shot. Most of your companions are dead already! I am the sheriff of this parish, but I am willing to make a deal if you will accept it immediately. The deal is that you put down your weapons and come out on the deck in the open, with your hands where I can see them. If you do that, I will let you leave in one of your boats if you go down the river and get out of my jurisdiction immediately! Answer me on Channel 16. Comprende?”
There was only silence in return, and Keith wasn’t sure if it was because the men didn’t understand him, or if they were simply being belligerent or perhaps were afraid to reply. Keith addressed them again using VHF Channel 16.”
“This is a good deal for you, considering your situation. My deputies and I have justification to shoot you all, so give me your answer, right now!”
“Why should we trust you?” A heavily accented voice came back. “Why would you let us go? How do we know you will not shoot us anyway or put us into some prison as soon as we surrender?”
“Because you have my word,” Keith said. “Why would I let you go? Because we need that fishing vessel you are on. It will not benefit you to stay aboard it and try and fight us. We will take it back and we will kill you all even if we have to sink or destroy the boat. But we would rather keep it than have to do that, so it would be better for us and for you as well if you simply take my offer now and leave.”
There was another period of silence, lasting nearly two minutes, before the voice came over the radio speaker again.
“Both of those Makos are ours. We want to take them both with us.”
“No,” Keith replied. “You can have one of them. My offer is more than generous.”
“Are you loco man? That boat costs nearly $50,000!”
“What is your life and your freedom worth? Keith asked him. “You decide, but I am done with negotiation, and I need an answer before I change my mind and call off the entire deal.”
“Okay, okay. We will accept it! We will take the one boat and go.”
“Then leave your weapons inside and come out on the main deck aft with your hands on top of your heads! I mean all weapons, not just your rifles, but pistols, knives, everything! If we see a weapon on a
ny of you, we will open fire!”
Another long minute passed as Keith stood by with his boat at idle and in neutral, the bright spotlights mounted between the blue flashers flooding the entire starboard side of the Miss Anita. Finally, he saw the lower pilothouse door open, and then two men walked into view, both with their hands on top of their heads, as he’d instructed. The men were wearing jeans and T-shirts, and from what he could see of them in the beam of his spotlight, they didn’t appear to be concealing anything under them. Bart had told him there were either two or three men on board, but he didn’t know for sure.
“Where is your other man?” Keith asked, this time shouting to them directly, as he was close enough to be heard and they were away from the radio.
“It is only us left alive! We had one more guy still with us, but your deputies in the woods shot him as well! We didn’t come here looking for trouble, man. We thought the boat was abandoned when we saw it in here with no one aboard.”
Yeah right! Keith thought. Bart had already told him the men came into the lake brandishing their weapons, and he knew they would have killed everyone on board, given the chance. Anyway, it seemed reasonable that the third guy that had survived the initial firefight could have been hit later. Bart said they had fired nearly all the ammo they had at them throughout the day, in an attempt to keep them from coming out on deck or shooting back. Keith put his boat in gear and eased forward, pulling two pairs of handcuffs out of the console shelf and holding them up for the men to see.
“I’m going to toss these handcuffs to you, and I want you each to put one cuff on your right wrist, and then lock the other one to the rail.”
Feral Nation - Defiance (Feral Nation Series Book 8) Page 15