The Peacekeepers. Books 1 - 3.

by Ricky Sides

  The videographer noted a shadow drifting over him and he glanced up to see one of the fighters hovering overhead. A voice spoke then saying, “As you can see it’s dangerous here. I suggest that you people go make your movie elsewhere. There may be other enemies nearby,” the pilot informed the people gathered there.

  “Who are you people?” asked the videographer.

  “We’re the peacekeepers, sir. Now please leave or I’ll be forced to have security come and discuss the matter with you. And they might want to take your film, for security reasons you understand,” the pilot said guessing correctly that if the people felt their film was threatened they’d leave the area. The pilot chuckled to himself as the men and women below scrambled to grab all of their gear and turned to begin the trek back to their vehicles parked a mile away. The pilot saw that the man with the video camera had forgotten a padded storage case on the ground and he said, “You with the camera. You left a storage case behind.”

  The videographer turned and rushed back to grab the case which contained the first hour of his film and he waved his thanks to the pilot as he turned to catch up with the others. “Have a great day,” the pilot said and turned his fighter to resume his patrol flight pattern.

  ***

  Jim walked into the infirmary to see how Namid was doing. When she’d flown her fighter into the path of the minigun to save the people in the open on the ground below, she’d taken an incredible risk. “Maggie, I was told that you said it was ok to visit now,” Jim said addressing the doctor who was making a final adjustment to the bandage on Namid’s arm.

  “Yes for a few minutes, but don’t excite her. She’ll be fine thanks to the battle armor someone insisted the pilots start wearing in flight despite the discomfort,” Maggie said.

  “I may be fine, but I’ll miss the big battle,” Namid said bitterly.

  “Yes but you saved a lot of people today. You’re a pilot and you’ve used a minigun on ground forces before. How many of our people would that pilot have hit if you hadn’t flown cover over us?” Jim asked.

  Namid visibly shuddered as she pondered Jim’s question and then she said, “Too damned many, sir.”

  “Thank you, Namid. All of the folks want you to know that they appreciate what you did. That took an incredible amount of courage,” Jim observed.

  “What’s going to be done with my fighter, Captain?” Namid asked.

  “As you know we brought several replacement canopies with us for just such an eventuality. The canopy is being replaced and the interior cleaned out. With your permission, Tim has volunteered to take your place for this mission. Actually, it’s more of a trading positions type of thing, because with him gone for a few days we will need a pilot. It’s my understanding that though the wound would prevent you from flying fighter duty, you’d be fine in the Peacekeeper pilot position. I would prefer a pilot with combat flight experience and you’re the only pilot I have available that fits the criterion. Just remember the Peacekeeper isn’t a fighter and can’t perform the same maneuvers,” Jim said.

  “Captain, did I not say I didn’t want my patient excited?” Maggie asked.

  “Excited?” Why would flying the Peacekeeper get Namid excited? After flying her fighter, flying the Peacekeeper is going to seem like she’s flying a barge by comparison,” Jim said in obvious confusion.

  “He doesn’t understand the awe in which the other peacekeeper pilots view this ship. Any of us would be chomping at the bit to get to fly this ship for an hour. To get to fly her for a whole mission is something I never even dreamed possible,” Namid said happily. “Remind Tim that he won’t be able to target aircraft unless they are at or near his flight level or lower, sir,” Namid said smiling. “And make him wear his battle armor. I’ll never again carp about wearing mine in flight,” she said emphatically.

  “I’ll mention those issues to him,” Jim said and then he added, “If you’re well enough to fly by morning, report to the control room. If you’re not then we’ll have one of the alternate pilots fly us to a position near the Kansas border.” Jim glanced at Maggie who smiled and nodded that Namid should be ready. “Bring a release form from the doctor,” Jim added and then he excused himself to be about his other duties.

  When Jim had left the room, Namid confided in Maggie saying, “When the peacekeepers rescued us from that storm shelter in Texas, I glanced up as we came out of the darkness of that pit. I saw the Peacekeeper there fighting the slavers. I thought it was the most wondrous thing I’d ever seen. Yet now, just a few months later, I’ll be flying that ship into another mission of a similar sort. I never would have dreamed that possible.”

  “You’re familiar with the flight control system? I understand it is different from the fighters,” Maggie pointed out.

  “It is totally different but yes, I’m familiar with the system. The captain insisted that I take a cross training course just in case I ever needed to take over the flight controls for any reason,” Namid said.

  “Does it really seem like flying a barge by comparison?” asked Maggie curiously.

  Namid pondered that question for a moment before answering, and then she said, “I suppose that some might think so, yes. But to me it was like piloting a chariot of the gods.”

  “Has anyone ever told you that you have a way with words, Namid?” asked Maggie smiling.

  “You should have heard the words I was using when the chopper pilot hit me,” Namid said grinning.

  Maggie laughed because she’d heard a few of those words while she dressed the wounded arm and removed the dented up armored chest piece.

  Chapter 29

  At a checkpoint along the border shared by Nebraska and Kansas, the guards were bored. They’d spent the day in the sun with nothing to show for it but a deepening of their tans. They thought it ridiculous to continue to staff these posts when the peacekeepers had obviously warned people not to approach the state, but Tom had been adamant that they continue staffing the checkpoints, and what Tom wanted Tom got in Kansas.

  The bored guards saw a truck pull up on the Nebraska side of the line flying a white flag of truce. The truck stopped a hundred yards from the checkpoint and a heavily amplified voice spoke to them saying, “Gentlemen, this is a representative of the peacekeeper council. I am here to deliver a message to you on behalf of the council. We believe that many of you want to leave Kansas and the despot who would be king. Therefore, we will give you this opportunity to leave Kansas now if you promise not to attack innocent civilians if we let you leave. You have two minutes to decide, but remember that once those two minutes are up you will have consigned yourself to your fate. Whether you live or die today is entirely up to you.”

  One of the men raised a rifle to send his reply but another man grabbed his rifle and pushed it into the air. “Are you crazy?” he asked the man who had targeted the truck. “This is our chance to escape this damned mess we got ourselves into. I for one intend to take that chance.”

  “He’s right,” another man said as he stared at the other men. “It’s just a matter of time until the peacekeepers arrive in force.”

  A drone flew up behind the truck and hovered there protectively turning its nose toward the men on the Kansas side of the checkpoint. Further, back up the road, they saw a large patrol of peacekeepers in several vehicles approaching and they stopped behind the truck.

  The six men operating the checkpoint stared at the forces about to roll through their checkpoint and decided it was time to find another line of work. They shouted that they would take the offer, climbed aboard their vehicle, and drove across the line. A peacekeeper held up his hand for them to stop beside their convoy and the driver reluctantly did so, with more than a trace of apprehension. “We’re letting you men go. But just so you know how this is going to work, I’ll advise you that the drone took pictures of all of you. If we hear of you committing crimes we will find you. There’s nowhere on the North American continent that we don’t monitor or can’t reach. We will find you
and when we do, we will execute you on the spot. Do I make myself clear on this?”

  “Yes. Yes, sir, we understand,” stammered one of the men staring into the hard eyes of the peacekeeper. He saw death in those eyes and for the first time in his life, he really understood the meaning of the term scared straight.

  “Then be on your way guys, and have a great day,” the peacekeeper said.

  The former subjects of King Tomas the First gladly left the area. When the men passed a woman struggling with a horse and cart on the road an hour later one of the men wanted to stop and have a little fun with her, but the other men told him to shut up. They had believed the hard-eyed peacekeeper and had no desire to have peacekeepers hunting them down.

  In a coordinated effort, all around the border the peacekeepers operating checkpoints on their side of the line moved forward with a drone flying cover and made the same offer to Tom’s men at the same precise time. Not all of the border guards accepted the offer but a surprising number of them did. They were permitted to drive away after being given a firm warning that there would be repercussions should they commit crimes. In those cases where the men refused to quit the fight, they were killed. The drones did most of that killing without exposing the peacekeepers to danger. With the borders now safely in the hands of the peacekeepers, the drones and their controllers proceeded toward Salina.

  Phase one of the final battles had been completed in thirty minutes and now peacekeeper forces manned the former checkpoints held by the enemy.

  ***

  In the control room of the Peacekeeper Patricia said, “Sir, all units have now reported in. Phase one is now complete, and the drone pilots are beginning phase two.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant,” Jim replied and then he spoke to Namid, “Navigator what’s our ETA for Salina?”

  “About thirty minutes, sir, if we push it on the speed,” Namid responded.

  “Thank you, Lieutenant. Just maintain our current speed,” Jim responded.

  “Aye, sir,” Namid replied.

  Looking outside the window of the ship, he saw the battleship now flying a quarter mile ahead of the Peacekeeper. The battleship was flying at a flight level of three hundred feet. The Alabama based fighter wing was flying escort at four hundred feet. Flying below the battleship at a flight level of two hundred feet were two drones. It was an impressive aerial battle group to say the least. “Just look at that, Patricia,” Jim stated with an expression of awe in his voice. “You and Pol made such a spectacle possible,” he said sincerely.

  “A lot of good men and women made this possible my friend,” Pol observed. “Yes, we developers created the original concept, but the peacekeepers challenged that concept, and drove us ever to improve upon it and adapt it to our times,” Pol stated, but then lest anyone think he did not appreciate the view he said, “And I agree. It is indeed a magnificent sight.”

  “Father would have been so pleased,” Patricia said wistfully.

  “I’m sure he is my dear,” Pol observed from his seat at the control system for piloting the battleship.

  “I’m just glad the timing was executed so well. I’ll be honest with you all. I was afraid the plan was too complex. But everything seems to have happened right on schedule. The flight wings arrived on time. We haven’t even had a mechanical breakdown on any of the ground vehicles, and the ground troops are moving into position at a better than expected pace,” he said smiling. He was referring to the three hundred men and women assigned to semi encircle the target area to ensure that the enemy didn’t try to grab innocent hostages in Salina if things went bad for them. They had quietly taken out a small checkpoint in the northern portion of the state and made their way to Salina in a lightning fast run with two fighters flying cover just in case they encountered helicopters or drones.

  ***

  On the ground below the approaching armada of peacekeepers, the people of Kansas saw the invasion and felt a surge of hope that their state would soon be liberated from the clutches of the tyrant. One little boy turned to his father and asked, “Are those the people you said would come some day to free my mommy?”

  The father was crying joyously and waving at the peacekeeper armada flying past overhead. He heard his son’s question. He knelt beside the little boy and picked him up. “Yes son, those good people will free your mother if they can, and then we will get to see her again.”

  “Oh dad, I’m so happy!” the boy shouted and wrapped his arms around his father’s neck hugging him tightly.

  “So am I son,” his father said softly, and then he waved frantically as another wave of peacekeeper fighters and drones flew overhead. Then he saw the huge battleship approaching. “Look in the sky son,” he said wanting his son to see something that he might never see again.

  “It’s so big!” the boy exclaimed as the battleship flew past. Then the boy saw the Peacekeeper and someone standing just behind the window inside the ship and he waved. The man in the ship saw him and waved back. “Are those the people we heard about on the CB radio before the bad men came and took my mommy?” the boy asked.

  “Yes son,” the father said patiently. “They are the peacekeepers.”

  “When I grow up, can I be a peacekeeper dad?” the little boy asked.

  “Yes son. If you work hard and really try, then you can become a peacekeeper,” the father said with assurance.

  They watched with their neighbors as the peacekeepers flew north until they disappeared. Several men were grabbing their rifles and shotguns and running to the backs of pickup trucks for the forty-minute drive north where they planned to help in retaking their state. The little boy’s grandmother came, took him from the father, and handed her son his rifle. “You be careful, John. No sense in Jenny being rescued just to learn her husband had gone off and gotten killed the day she was rescued,” she said.

  “This is something I have to do mom,” the man replied.

  “I know dear, and I’ve never been more proud of you. You just don’t do anything foolish.” Then she said, “You’d better hurry or they’ll leave without you.”

  The father kissed his son and headed for the back of one of the trucks. Tom’s men had recruited heavily in their community when they’d gone seeking servants for King Tom’s castle. The men of the community saw an opportunity to do their part in rescuing those women and they were leaving to do just that.

  ***

  Tom was in his Palace when word of the impending attack reached him. “Sire, the peacekeepers have breached our airspace and are now right outside Salina heading in. And they have something new with them. We don’t know what it is but it is huge,” one of Tom’s trusted lieutenants reported.

  “How big is it?” Tom asked.

  “Sire, the scouts are saying it is as big as a basketball court, though it is tapered to a smaller nose on one end,” the man reported.

  ***

  In the Peacekeeper, Jim waved at the small boy who was being held by a man and then he turned away from the windshield and the view of the community below. “The people seem happy to see us,” he noted as he returned to his seat.

  “Sir, our scout fighter is reporting that the enemy helicopters are rising from the airport and are flying on an intercept course,” Patricia reported.

  “Shoot them down if they engage us,” Jim said and then he added, “Get me in the channel that they are using.”

  “Done, sir,” Patricia said after relaying the message and opening the correct channel for the captain.

  “Gentlemen, this is Captain Jim Wilison. I am the captain of the Peacekeeper and a council member. You have one chance to live today. Turn north at once. Leave Kansas airspace, land the helicopters, and then go find yourselves a decent life somewhere. Those who leave on a northerly course will be permitted to live. In one minute, you will encounter our fighters and then the offer will be off the table. It’s your life. You people decide, but decide now.”

  “Pass the word to the fighters that any of the helicopters
that go north are to be permitted to do so unharmed but escort them across the border and watch them land and exit the helicopters,” Jim ordered Patricia.

  None of the helicopter pilots responded but a moment later Jim got a report that three helicopters had turned north and were bugging out. Six peacekeeper escorts, two of which had been converted for air-to-air combat, soon overtook them. The peacekeeper fighters followed them toward the border. The fighters encountered a predator drone as they were flying escort and shot it down, much to the relief of the chopper pilots who had the distinct impression that the drone had been attempting to target them and not the peacekeeper escorts.

  “We are engaging the enemy,” Jim’s brother Tim said on the radio.

  Jim listened to the battle chatter during the short but furious minutes of the dog fighting. Tim occasionally advised elements of the fighter wings to move to box in and then terminate the remaining attack helicopters. The helicopters had counted on altitude being their protector as had been the case during the first peacekeeper raid. They soon learned that the peacekeepers had corrected that defect in their fighters and now they could easily be targeted.

  Two more pilots decided to bug out at that point but the peacekeeper fighters didn’t let them. Jim said nothing when Tim closed with and then killed one of those pilots who had dropped altitude in an attempt to escape one of the converted fighters. They’d been given fair warning. Deciding to turn tail and run once they’d learned killing peacekeeper pilots wasn’t going to be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel, didn’t endear them to his brother and the other fighter pilots. Jim understood that.