by Ricky Sides
“Your reports are wrong in both cases. As to the fuel, the government has every right to nationalize the natural resources of the country in a time of national emergency. That being the case, the fuel doesn’t belong to the people running the refinery. It belongs to the government, since it was made from crude oil pumped from United States oil wells,” Tom explained in a reasonable tone.
“He rationalizes theft well. I’ll give him that much credit,” Tim said smiling.
“Shall I tell him we pass on his offer or try to arrange a meeting?” Jim asked.
“Go for the meeting,” Pete said grinning.
“Tom, my associates and I are interested in your offer. We’d like to arrange a meeting to sit down with you, face to face, to iron out the details,” Jim said keeping his voice carefully neutral.
“Gentlemen please, what sort of fool do you take me for? There is no need for a meeting at this stage of the relationship. Just start spreading the word that the government is about to be reestablished and that the peacekeepers fully support that government,” Tom said smoothly.
“Tom, hey where are you folks heading in South Carolina, and why there, if I may ask?” Jim asked just as smoothly.
“I’ll contact you when a location is selected. I can’t know for certain until we get there and examine the different sites among the possibilities. To be honest, I selected South Carolina because I was born in the state,” Tom said. Jim felt for the first time that the man had actually revealed something that he probably hadn’t intended to reveal.
“I reckon that’s a good reason, Tom. You plan on swinging through our neck of the woods on the way to your new capital?” Jim asked.
“Not this trip gentlemen. I’m on a strict timetable at the moment,” Tom responded.
Patricia had continued to monitor her communications screen during the conversation. She hastily wrote a message and showed that message to Jim who read it and then said, “Tom, we have two more convoys approaching from the west. One is a heavy armor column of tanks and armored personnel carriers and the other is apparently infantry with light artillery support,” Jim said.
“Yes, Jim. That is the other two columns of my men. They will be the advisors that I am contributing to ensure that my best interests are adhered to by the peacekeepers. Now they will be stopping by your base. Please plan accordingly,” Tom said politely.
“You can count on that, Tom. We’ll give them our warmest welcome,” Jim said smiling and Tim laughed outright. “Have a great day,” Jim said and laid down the microphone.
“You too buddy,” Tom said ending the conversation.
***
In the immediate aftermath of the conversation with the would-be general, Pete ordered Pol and Bill to launch the drones. Pol was to begin a spiraling search of the area around the base. Bill was to fly his drone north above Interstate sixty-five. He was to attempt to locate the column of tanks and armored personnel carriers that were en route through Nashville and headed south on the interstate. Bill was under orders not to fire on the convoy until they had a firm grasp on what exactly was going on. There was a possibility that the men were loyal American troops just following orders. Until the peacekeepers had proof that they were rogues, they had to assume otherwise. Now, all that they had were suspicions and a series of coincidences. That was insufficient proof to fire on anyone.
Pol was looking for evidence of any other military elements that may be converging on the base. Pete had a suspicion that Tom was attempting to manipulate them by luring the ship away from the base thus reducing the defensive capability of the base significantly. He explained this reasoning to the others and they agreed that it would be wiser to take every precaution.
Ten minutes into Pol’s search, he found an abandoned bus located about a mile from the base. A narrow strip of woods bordered the highway in that location. On the other side of those woods was a large field that had been planted with corn the previous year. After harvesting the corn, the farmer had dragged down the stalks and then plowed them under to use as a fertilizer for the next crop. Recent rain had left the plowed field muddy in places. Here and there on the surface of the field, they saw the tracks of many men on foot heading toward the woods on the other side of that farm field. That woodland property was adjacent to the base property.
Pete asked Pol to continue the search to see if he could locate any other sign of intruders besides this group and then he asked to be patched through to the base intercom system. Pete announced that the scheduled dance that night had been canceled due to the need for a drill. This was a code to let the peacekeepers know that an enemy was within earshot and that they were to get to their emergency stations. The children were rounded up and taken into their shelters. Base guards were tripled at all strategic points.
Jim raced to the cargo bay and informed both strike teams that they had intruders approaching the base. He gave them the general direction from which he expected a breach. Strike force two was placed under Lieutenant Wilcox’s command since Bill was busy flying his drone on another critical mission. Jim issued strict orders not to fire on the intruders, unless they were certain that the intruders meant the peacekeepers harm. He also ordered full armored gear for the mission.
“What could they be hoping to accomplish?” asked Tim.
“If it is an attack then I’d say they want to launch a preemptive strike against our defensive capabilities,” Pete stated. “That could mean attacking key personnel as well as key installations or equipment. Of course it could also be a reconnaissance team.”
“Or an assassination squad,” Jim stated grimly as he walked back into the control room. He informed the others that he’d sent the strike force teams out under the command of Lieutenant Wilcox.
Pol’s voice spoke up in agitation as he said, “Pete I have another team cutting the wire and coming in the base near one of the gun emplacements.” Looking up he asked, “Isn’t that satchel charges they are carrying?”
“Kill them, Pol. Fire at the charges if you have to, but kill them all and do it now!” Pete ordered. Turning to Patricia he said, “Upgrade the Base alert to Condition Red!”
A moment later, a claxon sounded and the base security, already tight, was tightened further. Reinforcements were sent to all critical areas including the laser emplacements.
“Pete the enemies at the gun emplacement have been terminated,” Pol said looking grim. “The gun should be all right but that was a fairly large explosion.”
“Check the other two guns Pol,” Pete ordered and then he said, “And good work my friend.”
A few minutes elapsed and Jim had Patricia to update Lieutenant Wilcox’s strike force teams on what had transpired. He also reminded her to place all of the men in the strike force one channel for this mission.
“Gun emplacement two shows all clear, Pete,” Pol reported.
“Proceed to the last gun then, Pol,” Pete responded.
Moments later, Pol said, “Gun three has company. Please check to see if they are our men, Pete. They’ve had time to get there by now.”
“No they are not our men, Pol. Note their head gear,” Pete pointed out and was about to tell Pol to attack when shots rang out and the men whom they were observing fell to the ground. Peacekeepers converged on the men and then looked at the satchel charges that they had been placing at the gun emplacement. Pete observed as a sergeant ordered his men away from the gun emplacement and then he ran to the three satchel charges and started throwing them as far from the gun as he could. He’d just thrown the third when it exploded flinging his body against the concrete steel reinforced pillbox. As the concussive forces of the detonating satchel charges buffeted the drone, the image on the screen waggled briefly. A moment later the picture stabilized and they saw peacekeepers converge on the downed sergeant whose clothes were smoldering. They beat out the flames just beginning to spread on his clothing and got him to a seated position. One of the men stripped off the shirt and flung it away from the sergeant and an
other stomped out the smoldering embers. The sergeant was wearing his armor but his face was burned.
One of the men was a medic and he examined the sergeant carefully and then got him on his feet to return him to the infirmary.
By now, Maggie had joined them in the control room. Seeing the sergeant’s wounds she said, “I’d better get to the base infirmary. I’m concerned about his eyes.” Maggie was the best burn specialist available to the peacekeepers. While the other doctors could treat burns, they deferred to Maggie’s expertise whenever she was available.
“Hold it, Maggie,” Jim ordered and then he said, “Tim take us in as close as possible. Set us down with the ship between the door and the suspect woods.”
“Aye, sir,” Tim responded and began the maneuvers that would lift the ship.
Pete looked at Maggie and an uncustomary trace of fear etched his features. Grabbing his armor from its little storage rack near his seat, he insisted that she equip the chest and back pieces. Then he stripped off his uniform shirt and she slid that on as well. “Is all this really necessary, Pete?” Maggie asked.
“I hope not. Humor me,” Pete said.
Kissing him lightly she said, “Anytime you want me to honey.”
“We’re down,” Tim stated. Maggie turned and walked to the door. She opened it, and hurriedly darted through the line of peacekeepers preparing to guard the bunker.
Pete closed the door and said, “Save a copy of that drone file please. That man gets a medal for what he did,” Pete stated with feeling. He was referring to the sergeant who’d saved the laser.
“It was indeed a brave thing to do,” Pol agreed.
“Strike force one reporting contact, sirs, the intruders are setting up sniper posts all along one side of our perimeter. Lieutenant Wilcox, requests instructions,” Patricia informed the council.
“Kill them all,” Pete said. Jim nodded his agreement with that decision, as did Tim.
“Message relayed, sirs,” Patricia said a moment later.
“I have contact with the convoy of tanks and armored personnel carriers,” Bill stated. In all of the recent excitement, the rest of the crew had all but forgotten about that mission. When two machineguns mounted on the lead tanks opened fire on his drone, Bill dodged and descended behind the cover of some trees alongside the interstate. “I’d say they aren’t exactly normal American soldiers,” he said grimly. He’d noticed that few were wearing uniforms and that the gunners seemed to be practicing on anything that moved along the highway including innocent civilian traffic. He’d seen two cars attacked as the drivers desperately tried to get out of the way of the column, the members of which apparently wanted the entire interstate to themselves.
“Forget them. You can’t harm them. Proceed to their rear. According to our report, there should be a two-mile gap and then another convoy of infantry and light artillery. Kill the drivers,” Jim ordered.
“How many?” Bill asked for clarification.
“All of them,” Jim, Pete, and Tim said in unison and grinned at each other.
“Great minds think alike,” Pete said.
“Yeah that explains me and Jim, but how does that account for you?” Tim asked, taking a shot at Pete who smiled and let it pass. This time.
Chapter 18
Lieutenant Wilcox and the men under his command worked their way to within striking distance of the snipers who had assumed positions along one side of the base perimeter. The lieutenant ordered the three snipers under his command to seek out their own firing positions and take out the snipers at the first opportunity. He knew the snipers trained to work alone or with a single spotter and that keeping them with the main group was a waste of a valuable asset. The snipers were using silencers for this mission. He gave the snipers a ten-minute head start to get into position. At the end of that ten-minute wait, he got the rest of his command moving toward the enemy sniper positions. They were moving well to the rear and parallel to the line of enemy snipers.
From his position, the lieutenant saw one of the enemy snipers appear to grow restless and glance over his shoulder to the rear. He ordered his men to freeze and waited until the sniper returned his attention to the activity in the base. He contacted the ship then and asked if one of the drones could possibly create a diversion to hold the sniper’s attention while his team moved into position. He received a reply that Pol would see what he could do toward that end.
Soon the drone flew into view. It hovered briefly above the larger ship and then it shot straight up into the air to maximum altitude. The lieutenant watched as Pol rotated the ship on its axis slowly as if it were searching for something. Lieutenant Wilcox smiled as he observed the enemy sniper who was devoting his full attention to the drone. Quietly the lieutenant gave the command for his men to move out. Soon they arrived in position behind one of the snipers. The lieutenant signaled one of his men to advance toward the sniper, find a firing position, and then keep the enemy covered. The plan was to get men behind the snipers in position to fire, but wait until all of the snipers were covered. They would then coordinate the attack so that all of the snipers were taken out simultaneously.
It was a good plan, but not without its risks. One of the snipers could decide to kill a peacekeeper at any moment. The team had been ordered that in the event a shot was fired all team members who had acquired a target were to immediately attack that target and neutralize it. Their own snipers might be able to get any of the enemy snipers that might elude them.
It was a slow process and it took almost thirty minutes for the team to cover just half of the snipers. When the first shot rang out, other shots answered all along the perimeter that they had covered. One by one, his men who had been left to cover the snipers reported kills. One of the strike force snipers also reported a confirmed kill. Another sniper reported that the targets were moving to different positions. One of the lieutenant’s men reported having to fire early when the sniper he was watching had turned around searching his back trail. That sniper had spotted the peacekeeper and moved to fire his rifle at the man.
The drone flew past overhead. It was now actively seeking the snipers in an effort to assist the ground team. The men saw its laser flash toward the ground and then the drone moved on. They could not see what the drone had fired at, but Pol reported that he had neutralized one of the snipers.
Moving forward with his men, Lieutenant Wilcox moved on to try to locate the remaining snipers. He knew that somewhere in these woods were three more men whom his team had been trailing. The strike force team moved rapidly but they also moved quietly. All were by now quite skilled at moving through the woods as quietly as possible. Up ahead the lieutenant saw a flicker of motion in a pile of leaves. He was bringing his rifle to his shoulder to cover the spot when he felt a violent punch in his chest. The impact propelled him backwards and he fell to the ground. All around him he heard his men firing as he struggled to remain conscious. Closing his eyes, he thought he would rest just a moment and then he would get up.
When the firing stopped the men gathered near the lieutenant. Most squatted to maintain a low profile and faced outward in a semicircle while the medic knelt and checked the lieutenant’s wounds fearing that the bullet had penetrated the armor chest plate. However, when the medic found that piece intact, he searched for other causes of the lieutenant’s unconsciousness. When he got to the head, he found that the lieutenant had a lump the size of an egg on the back of his head. Brushing the leaves aside the medic found a fist sized rock embedded in the soil under the impact point and he smiled in relief. He reported to the ship that the lieutenant was unconscious due to a head wound received in a fall. He was ordered to get the lieutenant to safety. The rest of the team was to carry on with their mission. The medic said, “Cover me while I get the Lieutenant on my shoulder guys. I’ll get him to the infirmary. You guys are to take out the rest of the snipers.” The medic slipped the unconscious lieutenant over his shoulder and headed back the way they’d come. He would backtr
ack a little and then he would cut back down to the base grounds. Once he was out of the woods, he could summon assistance.
The rest of the team moved out to locate the other two snipers. They’d managed less than twenty yards when a shout rang out to their rear. Fearing that the medic and lieutenant had walked into one of the snipers, the team turned and hurried back along their back trail. They soon found the medic and the lieutenant lying on the ground and stopped in their tracks. Their training made them aware that snipers often watched the area by a kill to target people attempting to rescue the downed victim. The medic groaned and the strike-force team members present saw the medic take another hit in the upper arm. One of the men darted forward despite the danger and tried to drag both the medic and the lieutenant to safety. That man was shot in the chest and he fell backward. One of the remaining team members whispered for the man to keep still and they would try to locate the sniper. The men moved out, carefully examining their surroundings. They hadn’t progressed more than seventy feet through the dense growth of young saplings when one of their own snipers reported that he had shot the man who had them pinned down.
The strike force team knew that there was one more sniper in the woods with them but they had three men down now and needed to check on their condition. They knew that the medic needed medical attention immediately. Pete sent them the message that they were to send one man back to check on their wounded, but that the others were to proceed with the mission and get that remaining sniper.
The remaining medic volunteered to wait with the wounded and see to their medical needs as best he could, while the rest of the team located and neutralized the remaining sniper. As this man was returning to his wounded friends, he heard one of their snipers report that he had shot the remaining enemy sniper.
Pete ordered the team to do a thorough search of the area. He informed them that he had dispatched a team to help retrieve their wounded. He further ordered searches of the bodies for any possible documents. He also informed them that he was sending a team to examine the bus that the enemy had utilized and they were to be careful not to mistake that team for additional enemy combatants.