“I understand,” Ian said. This surprised Nolan. “That was how the D.I was in the beginning. It was only after their numbers really increased were there more formal rules.”
Nolan never knew that. Of course, Ian would know he had been with the D.I since he was young, at least younger than he already was. Nolan felt a sense of sadness fall over him as he looked at Ian, who had spent much of his life preparing for war. He had been around it and felt the effects of war his whole life. It didn’t surprise Nolan at all that he felt so passionate for the D.I. he didn’t like people talking down about it. The Insurgence had helped him have a home when his parents were forced to leave. If anyone had a reason to be fighting it was Ian.
Danny froze. He had stopped so quickly Nolan ran into his chair. He felt guilty until Nolan saw what Danny was looking at. Several cars were driving fast down the road leading to the house. Dirt from the road was being kicked up. Nolan couldn’t see what kind of cars they were until some sunlight hit one of them and Nolan saw the familiar black of a USSB van.
“It’s the Security Bureau!” Nolan yelled.
He grabbed Danny’s chair and pushed him back down the ramp. They would hide him inside Terri’s house. It was behind the house which would give him cover. Nolan knew he would have to warn the others. He knew they were coming for them. There could be any number of ways they found out what they were doing. First things first, protect the people and stop the agents.
“Ian, take my Uncle Danny into Terri’s house,” Nolan instructed. “Does she keep any guns in the house?”
“Of course she does,” Danny said.
“Good find them and be ready.”
“For what?” Danny asked.
“This is going to get messy,” Nolan said. “I have to tell the others.”
Nolan left Ian and Danny and ran to the barn. The cars were still some distance away but they were moving fast. He hoped they hadn’t moved the guns to some other location. He watched the cars come close to the property.
Nolan entered the barn in a panic some people spotted him and silenced. Others looked concern. They must have thought something happened to Danny. Nolan cleared his throat and called out.
“They found us!” He yelled. “The Security Bureau is coming!”
Chapter 19
Safe House
Sarah’s heart was racing. She didn’t know the rules on fraternizing with fellow soldiers. Sarah tried to glance at Steven to get a read on his face but didn’t want to give too much away just yet. Mary crossed her arms like a parent having a serious talk with a child. Captain Underwood rubbed his face.
“How long has this been going on?” Captain Underwood asked.
“Not long sir,” Sarah said.
“Only a day or so,” Steven added.
It seemed they both had subconsciously decided not to lie to their squad leaders.
“As a Sergeant, Steven you should know it is not a good idea to get mixed up with the people under you,” Mary said.
“I understand that but I am not directly in charge of her, Sergeant,” Steven said.
They tend to use ranks when having a serious talk. It was a sort of unwritten rule. While it is okay to call superiors by their first names on missions if things were serious proper military procedure was to be observed.
“As of now we don’t have rules about being with someone in your unit,” Captain Underwood started. “That being said. The unit and the mission must come first. If a situation comes along where we are in danger, the unit and mission, must come first. Is that understood?”
“Yes sir,” They responded together.
“Good,” Captain Underwood said. “Get your things together our ride should be here soon.”
Sarah and Steven both left to go upstairs to the room where the team had kept their things. Sarah could feel her hands were sweaty. She really thought they would be chewed out. She wondered what this would mean for the rest of mission. Would they be separated during watches? The mission was almost over and before she knew it, they would be back at the base waiting for the next thing. She thought about Nolan. What would he think of the two of them? She wondered how he was doing. He must be so bored at the base, waiting for them to come back.
They got to the room and gathered their things. They hadn’t brought much mostly changes of clothes and some gear. This wasn’t a combat mission so weapons and ammo were a minimum. Considering how they might get into a firefight Sarah had wished she brought more ammo.
“I really thought that was going to be worse,” Steven said as he packed.
“I did too. What does this mean for us when we get back to base or on the next mission?” Sarah thought about the amount of danger they were in all the time and wondered if starting a relationship in this environment was a good idea. “You know we are fighting in a war.” She tried to explain.
“I understand. When we get back we can have a discussion about it. How does that sound?” Steven asked.
“It sounds good,” Sarah said.
Steven grabbed her hand and she put her arms around him. They kissed. She didn’t want to stop kissing. She pulled away sooner than she would like. She knew if they were gone too long Will and Mary would come looking and then they might end up in trouble.
They carried their bags down the stairs and into the front room. Captain Underwood and Mary were sitting and discussing something with Sergeant Miller.
“I am just saying that it is a big risk to try and attack these agents,” Sergeant Miller said. “We didn’t give up any information to Mr. Reese so there isn’t a reason we should be in danger.”
“They can’t be allowed to know what we have been up too,” Mary explained.
“There would be a chance then that the US would get in contact with all of these type companies and make sure they don’t work for us. Even worse they could put up bounties on us. If that was the case then we are in danger now.”
The conversation seemed to be at a standstill. Sarah figured they did this dance of conversation the entire time Sarah and Steven had been upstairs. The car arrived and everyone gathered their things. Sarah was relieved because at least at the moment the debate would stop. She understood both sides of the argument. If the CIA was operating the way they were then wasn’t information being transmitted back to the States. They know some information had been out because that was how they found out about the CIA. Sarah didn’t think it was a big deal that Ms. Hill was known to work the Insurgence. She had been missing for months until now. The US government surely must have known which side she was on.
Everyone squished into the car. They left the complex and headed out of the city. The safe house was in one of the suburbs of Willowfield. The town was called Rolling Hills. It was a nice community. She wondered how no one was aware that there were US fugitives living among them. The thought kind of made Sarah laugh to herself.
“What is funny?” Captain Underwood asked.
“Think these people know that a house full of Insurgents are living here?” Sarah said with a laugh.
Agent Young laughed the hardest. “I doubt it.”
They pulled up to a nice brick home. The house had wood accents and white windows. Even from the outside the house seemed large even. The neighborhood appeared to Sarah to be an upper-middle-class community. Every house had nice landscaping and well taken care of lawn.
“How did you all remain hidden for so long here?” Steven asked.
“It wasn’t hard. We had to act like normal people. We would mow the lawn and do all that stuff. I think the people here are less suspicious than people back home.” Agent Young explained. He grabbed a two-way radio. “We are pulling in now.”
The garage on the fourth house of the block opened. Agent young pulled the car into the garage and waited for it close before they exited the vehicle. Sarah was relieved to get out of the cramped car. Ms. Hill came into the garage.
“How did it go?” She asked.
“We have a lot to talk about,” Captain
Underwood said.
They left the garage and entered the house. They were in an empty kitchen. The kitchen didn’t have a fridge or any appliances. Sarah looked around and could see into the living room and there wasn’t any furniture. She figured the house was completely empty. Agent Mason and Orson came into the kitchen from the downstairs area. Everyone gathered around Captain Underwood who explained what happened in the meeting with Mr. Schweppes.
“After speaking to Jonah I think it would be a good idea if we find these CIA agents. We need to make sure they don’t relay the information back to the government. More importantly, we need to make sure they don’t try and seize anything Mr. Schweppes owns back in the States.”
“Do we think Reese will turn his business partner over to the US?” Ms. Hill asked.
“He seems to be wanting to play both sides until he finds something that works for him,” Sarah explained.
“Jonah trusts him,” Captain Underwood started. “That doesn’t mean we have to though.”
“I think it might be a good idea to take out these agents then,” Ms. Hill said.
She didn’t seem to like the idea but Sarah felt she must not have had any other options. Sarah noticed Captain Underwood saved the part where they tell Ms. Hill she has to return home for last. Will cleared his throat before continuing.
“Also because of the danger of the mission, I would suggest we get you out of here.”
The room was silent. Ms. Hill looked at him with a blank stare.
“I don’t think so,” Ms. Hill said simply.
“Ma’am this isn’t a question. We are going to meet with Jonah and he will be able to get you out. My team will be following behind.”
“You can’t do this on your own.” Sergeant Miller said.
“Your job Sergeant is to protect Ms. Hill. That is what you will do. Our job is this,” Captain Underwood said. He used authoritative voice.
“We are going to leave together, Captain,” Ms. Hill said. “We leave together. No matter what. My men will assist with the disposal of the agents.”
She said disposal as if they were talking about garbage. This didn’t sit well with Sarah. She understood what she meant but something about the way she described the act they were going to perform turned Sarah’s stomach. She didn’t want to think of herself as an assassin.
“I can’t allow you to stay here while we do this. The risk to you is too great,” Captain Underwood said.
“I am not leaving,” Ms. Hill said.
She crossed her arms like a parent telling their child this is how it is going to be.
“You can call command and inform them of who is here with you but in the time it would take for them to send a rescue we would have already been caught or these CIA agents will have gotten away. This is an order, Captain. You have no choice.”
Sarah tried to think of a way to outsmart Ms. Hill but she had a point. The team couldn’t force Ms. Hill to do anything. They had to let her come along. Sarah looked at Captain Underwood’s face and she knew by his expression that he had come to the same conclusion.
“Fine,” Captain Underwood said. “You can’t be seen though. We keep you here.”
“No,” Ms. Hill said. “We need to get these agents out in the open.”
“That puts us in a lot of risk,” Sergeant Miller said.
“Not to mention we can’t get into an open fight here,” Mary added.
The group discussed different plans. None of which seemed like a good idea to Sarah. As the group talked, Sarah couldn’t help but wonder what the consequences of this could be. She got the feeling that it might cause more problems to terminate these agents rather than just disappearing with the CIA never getting that much information. Then the idea came to her.
“They must have made contact with Mr. Reese at some point right? Sarah asked.
“I would think so.” Ms. Hill said.
“Why don’t we get into their system and check Mr. Reese’s phone records. We could find out how they called him. With that information, we can try and trace the phones. Orson,” Sarah said and looked at Orson. “You can do that right?”
“I think it is illegal to tap a phone without a warrant,” He said thinking. “Though that was back in the States before the takeover. We are in Canada, things are different here…” He was thinking. “If we are able to get a meeting set up we can trace the calls before the meeting and after. He would be bound to tell them what is going on.”
“I think it could work,” Mary said.
“Risk is certainly lower,” Captain Underwood said. “I think we can make it work. We need to get into their building in order to set the wiretap.”
“No need,” Orson said. “I can do it all from here. I just need to hack into the system. After that, it is pretty easy. It might take some time but I can do it.”
“Get to work then,” Captain Underwood said to Orson.
Agent Young raised his hand. Sarah found this humorous it was as if he was in school.
“Captain, what happens when we find these CIA agents?”
“We will have to capture them to determine how much information they send then take them out. After that, we will take their equipment and gather information. Then the only thing left to do will be to head home,” Captain Underwood explained.
Sarah was sure that the Ms. Hill’s security team were all not fond of the idea of murdering CIA agents. It didn’t sit well with Sarah but she had to follow orders. This wasn’t the first time she had killed someone, but it somehow felt different now.
“We are going to hear from Jonah soon. When we do we will need to be ready to leave,” Captain Underwood said to the group. “Check your weapons and be prepared.”
Sarah went in search for an empty room to clean her guns. The safe house was nice. So far it seemed that the safe houses here were much nicer than the ones they stayed in while they were back home in Chicago. There was a knock on the door and Sarah heard Steven’s voice asking if he could come in. Sarah opened the door and Steven had his things.
“Mind if I join you?” Steven asked.
“Not at all,”
She let him into the room and they both disassembled their weapons and started to clean them. It was nice to have his company.
“What happens when we get back to base and this mission is over?” Steven asked
“I assume we go on another one,” Sarah said.
He had been apart of the D.I longer than she had. He should have known this. He must have known by now what happens.
“I mean with us?” Steven asked.
“I am not sure. How do people have relationships in war?” Sarah asked
“So there will be a relationship?”
“Yes?” She said confused. “Isn’t that what you want?”
“It is. I was just wondering what that will look like?” He said. Steven sort of blushed at this.
“We are at war. I am not sure how we are supposed to go about being together. I think this will have to be something we figure out together.”
“I suppose this won’t be a normal relationship,” Steven said more into his gun than to her.
Sarah laughed.
“Somehow I don’t think it will be normal. Our dates might be more unconventional, to say the least.”
The two of them laughed and threw out different goofy ideas for dates. Steven suggested that they go to the gun range and shoot hearts into targets. Sarah found this particularly funny. She had never been on a date. She didn’t think that the classic dinner and a movie would happen with the two of them.
After the laughter died down and they had finished cleaning their weapons the two of them sat and talked about the upcoming days. Steven praised her for the idea about getting to the agents. The two of them talked about what they thought was going on back home. They hadn’t had any news about how the war effort was going. Sarah wondered if more battles had been fought and what Nolan was up too. This was the most time they had ever spent apart. She hoped his
arm had gotten better. She looked forward to seeing Nolan again and telling him about what had happened. She wanted to tell him about her and Steven but wasn’t sure how he would take it.
There was a knock on the door and it opened. Mary walked in and looked at the two of them.
“It is safe to say you two aren’t doing anything you’re not supposed to Correct?” Mary said.
“We were just getting our weapons ready,” Sarah said.
Mary walked into the room. “Good. Captain Underwood just got the call from Jonah. We are meeting him in a bit at the townhome. You two will be coming with. We’ll need to be on high alert. Will organized another vehicle to be brought there so we have two. It will make it easier for the whole team to travel.”
“Sounds good, Sergeant,” Steven said. “When are we leaving?”
“Few minutes. Get your things,” Mary said.
She left the room but didn’t close the door all the way. Steven chuckled.
“She is like my mother. Leaving the door open a crack while I am with a girl,” Steven said.
“Did you have many girls over?” Sarah said in a playful voice.
“It wasn’t like that,” Steven said. His cheeks were red.
The two of them grabbed their bags with the guns in it. They went to the garage door and waited for Captain Underwood, Sergeant Miller, and Mary. When they all came together Captain Underwood the rundown on how they were to meet with Jonah and explain their plan. Sarah hoped that whatever Jonah’s plan was for getting them out of the country, it wouldn’t conflict too much with finding the CIA agents.
They all got into the car and Sergeant Miller opened the garage door and they headed for the townhome complex. The trip was silent. Everyone was thinking about what they needed to do. Sarah wanted to ask to put on the radio to see if the Canadian’s would report any American news but decided against it. They entered the complex. It was just as they left it. They pulled into the driveway of the house they had been staying at, and exited the car. As casually as they could and walked into the house. Sarah wondered if they all had the feeling of being watched or was it just her? They cleared the house to make sure there wasn’t anyone inside.
Resistance Rising Page 20