The Peacekeepers. Books 7 - 9 (The Peacekeepers Boxset Book 3)

by Ricky Sides

  Then Tim saw Maggie. She was standing with a peacekeeper who was gesturing for her to board the transport, but she was shaking her head and pointing toward the numerous wounded near the wall.

  Tim said, “Patch me through the external speaker of the drone in that area if you can Patricia.”

  Patricia had to check with the Constitution to see which drone Lina was flying, but once she had its code, she was able to patch a link in so that Tim could utilize it for communication purposes.

  “Maggie, this is Tim Wilison. Get your butt aboard that transport, now. There are medics tending the wounded. We’ll get you aboard the Constitution or the Valiant to help with the overflow as soon as possible, but for now there are enemy forces on the ground in your location.”

  Tim could see Maggie sigh in resignation. She went aboard the APC, but she stopped on the way in. Turning, she looked up at the camera. There was a beatific smile on her face as she calmly raised her right hand and gave Tim the one finger salute.

  Despite the gravity of the situation, Tim smiled and said, “I love you too, Maggie.”

  That response broke the tension and Maggie shouted, “Sorry, Tim. But you know my temper.” Then she disappeared inside the APC. He saw the drone hovering near the APC and knew that it had picked up and transmitted Maggie’s voice.

  “Helm, give me an ETA on our arrival,” Tim said.

  “Twenty minutes, sir,” the pilot said.

  “Are our fighters still catching up?” asked Tim.

  “Yes, Captain. They are closing rapidly on our position. They may arrive in the capital before we do, but only by a matter of minutes,” Patricia explained.

  “There’s no help for it,” Tim said with resignation. The same storm system that had recharged the patrol ships had severely hampered the fighters attempting to get from the Lake Charles base to Base 1. As a result, they had arrived just as the patrol ships were departing Base 1. The Louisiana base had replenished what conventional ammunition they could, but the majority of the fighters had less than half capacity. Tim elected to have them fully reloaded, but that would require time. He had ordered the patrol ships to proceed. The fighters would catch up when they could.

  “Helm, I’ll take over for a few minutes. I think I can shave a little time off the trip. Patricia, you had better announce a rough ride. Pol, go tell the boys I said to be ready to be inserted into a hot combat zone. Tell them I said full armor. We’ve already lost too many peacekeepers tonight,” Tim ordered.

  “Yes, Captain,” Patricia and Pol responded.

  As he sat down in the pilot’s chair and took over the controls, he said, “Hang on Jim. Little brother’s coming!” Just as had happened back when Tim and Patricia first arrived at Jim’s farm with the Peacekeeper, fear wrenched at his soul. He was afraid that when he got there, he would be too late.

  Behind the Peacekeeper, the other patrol ships noted an immediate difference in the piloting of the Peacekeeper. She altered course, taking on a more dangerous flight path. The other captains told their pilots to stick with the Peacekeeper like glue. Captain Cliff Barnes told his pilot that Tim must be flying the Peacekeeper and that he should try to learn some of his tricks as he was widely regarded as the foremost pilot in the fleet when it came to patrol class ships.

  All of the ships sounded the rough ride alarms as Tim led them on an increasingly violent journey.

  ***

  Lisa screamed in her sleep. Several rooms down the hall, Evan, who was tuned to listening for sounds of her nightmares while he slept, heard her screaming. He awoke instantly and rolled out of his bunk. He was out the door in moments and headed for her room. Outside the door to Lisa’s room stood Captain Young with a perplexed expression on his face. “I’ll see to her, Captain. It’s probably the dreams she has about Reggie,” Evan stated.

  “Let me know if she needs anything,” Bill stated as he stepped aside.

  She was still screaming in her sleep as he entered the room. Most of the time, her bad dreams woke her. However, if Lisa had lost a lot of sleep, as she had recently, then there were times when she couldn’t seem to awaken on her own. At times like that, Maggie, Pete or Evan had to awaken her. Fortunately, there were currently no other occupants of the room, so her nightmares hadn’t awakened her cabin mates.

  “Wake up, Lisa. You’re dreaming,” Evan said in a calm but loud tone of voice that could be heard above her screams, but she didn’t react as if she had heard him. Instead, she continued to scream.

  Evan sighed, because he knew he would have to shake her awake this time. He hated it when he had to do that. She always looked so terrified when he shook her awake, but Maggie had explained that letting her stay in the grip of such nightmares was actually dangerous. There was always a possibility of a heart attack with such acute nightmares that caused her heartbeat and respiration to elevate to alarming levels.

  Evan called her name and shook her, gently at first, but then with more force. Her eyes snapped opened and she stared at him. There was no sign of recognition in her eyes. She scuttled across her bunk as far from Evan as she could get. The mortal terror in her eyes broke Evan’s heart. “God, Lisa, it’s me, Evan. I’m not going to hurt you. You know that. It’s Evan, Lisa,” he said pleadingly.

  The stark terror on her face gradually faded. She recognized him and dove into his arms. “Oh, Evan!” she wailed. “We have to land and get Dad out of there. A man is going to shoot him. I saw it in my dream!”

  “Maybe it was just a bad dream,” Evan said.

  “No. This was too real to be just a dream. We have to save him, Evan,” she explained.

  “Alright, Lisa, I’ll go see the captain and tell him we need to land. We’ll get your dad in here. You’ll see that he’s alright then,” Evan assured her, and then he left the cabin and went to see Bill.

  Evan was surprised when Bill readily agreed to land to permit Pete to come aboard the Constitution. Bill wasn’t at all sure that there was anything to her dream, but he wasn’t inclined to risk it. He admired Pete more than any man he had ever known. If there were even a possibility that he was in danger, Bill wouldn’t be the one who failed to act to save him.

  The Constitution landed in the field. Moments later, Pete and Maggie both boarded the ship. They went to see Lisa. Pete remained in the cabin with her and his wife for about six minutes. When he left, he saw Bill and Evan in the hall. “Thanks for the help guys. She just had a bad dream. She’s better now that she’s seen I’m in one piece. She wants to see you Evan. She may want you to keep her company while she tries to go back to sleep. She asked if I’d mind. I told her I trusted you both.”

  “I’d not abuse your trust, the hospitality of the Constitution, or Lisa for that matter. I love her. Someday, I plan to marry her,” Evan stated.

  “I know you do, Evan. And I approve of the match, or will in a few more years,” he amended with a grin. The two shook hands and Evan slid past Pete to enter the room.

  “Pete, why don’t you remain aboard the Constitution? I’m restless and I would like a chance to see some of the ground action. You take my place here, and let me take your place on the ground,” Bill stated.

  “That’s a tempting offer, Bill, but I have a responsibility to the men and women out there. You’ll see after Maggie and the kids if something happens to your ship won’t you Bill?”

  “As God is my witness, I’ll not leave them behind, should we need to evacuate the ship, Pete,” Bill explained.

  Pete smiled at Bill, and then he said, “Coming from you, that means a lot to me, Bill. A man can’t take the safety of his family too lightly. I trust you to keep your word, or I’d take you with me. The problem is that I don’t place that kind of trust in people easily. I know you have a good crew, and I mean no insult to them, but…”

  “I understand, Pete. It’s an honor to serve you. Just be careful. There may be something to her dreams. You can die you know,” Bill said.

  “I know. Remember? You told me that in Chicago y
ears ago,” Pete said. “Yet here I am, almost eight years and God knows how many battles later,” he added with a smile. Then they heard the sound of gunfire outside the ship, followed by a tremendous explosion. “Gotta go, Bill. You take care of yourself,” Pete said as he turned and raced down the hall for the cargo bay.

  ***

  Bran Lynch had successfully blown a hole in the blockade that would permit him to take his ship out of the trap the river had become. Dawn was rapidly approaching, and he knew that with the dawn the ships of the peacekeepers would regain the full use of their weaponry. Captain Lynch no longer thought it possible to defeat the peacekeepers in pitched battle, and he had decided that the fleet should leave.

  To that end, he’d had explosives placed onboard the two smallest ships at the end of the blockade then had his men detonate those explosives.

  Now, the fleet was attempting to depart, but even as they did so, a single fighter appeared in the sky over the fleet. It attacked the lead ship that was attempting to navigate out of the cordoned off area. Within a few moments, the fighter had dropped three bombs on the ship and it was sinking; thus once more effectively blockading the fleet.

  Furious at the pilot for ruining his plan, Bran ordered every gun in the fleet turned on the fighter. He had the satisfaction of seeing it hit numerous times, and then the pilot turned his aircraft and made a run for the peacekeeper fortifications.

  Bran watched eagerly as the stricken fighter lost altitude. “A chest of treasure to the man who brings me that pilot’s head!” he shouted from his position on one of the ships near the bank. He had moved there as a precaution during the demolition of the blockade. Captain Lynch raced to get to the shore, shouting as he ran, “Bring me that pilot’s head!”

  Pete had just climbed to the top of the wall as the pilot made his bid for the safety of the peacekeeper fortifications. He quickly realized that there was no way the pilot could possibly make it to their side of the wall. He saw his M60 machinegun, where he had placed it after the last charge. Racing the ten feet to the weapon, Pete picked it up and opened fire at the charging pirates from his position on the wall. All along the wall, other peacekeepers added their defensive fire to the battle. Once more, the pirates dropped by the score.

  Pete’s M60 ran empty a few moments before the stricken fighter slammed hard into the ground. It slid across the grass and crashed into the fence. The impact with the fence caused it to buckle in that section, which knocked several men off the battlements.

  Pete found himself alone on that section of the wall. Somehow, he alone had retained his footing during the impact. He could see that the pilot was attempting to get out of the fighter, but it appeared as if he had been wounded and he couldn’t manipulate the cockpit canopy. Leaping over the wall, Pete landed on the nose of the fighter. He worked his way to the cockpit. Reaching down, he worked his fingers under the open canopy and breathed a sigh of relief. The pilot had managed to unlock it. Otherwise, he would have had to get off the nose and move to the locking lever on the side of the fuselage to unlock it himself.

  Giving a strong pull on the canopy, Pete slammed it backward. He heard the sound of gunfire from every direction. Pete felt a bullet crease his arm, and heard men shouting in anger. More than one man was shouting his name. Another bullet hit his chest just as he began to reach down to pull the pilot out of the cockpit. It hurt like hell, but he knew it hadn’t penetrated his hard armor. He wasn’t surprised to see Jeff Brown, the escort pilot of the Peacekeeper. “Come on, Jeff. I can help, but there’s no way in hell I can haul your ass out of that cockpit in time, without your help,” Pete stated.

  Working together, the two men were soon standing on the slippery nose of the fighter. Pete was behind the wounded pilot. He squatted down a bit, placed his hands on Jeff’s hips and thrust him upward as high on the wall as he could. Waiting hands grasped the wounded pilot and dragged him over the wall to safety. Pete looked up to see Jim and Jack Wilcox with their head and shoulders above the wall. Their hands were extended to help him. Jim took his left hand and Jack was reaching for his right when Pete took the hit to the left side of his neck. His body spun around, and his feet slipped off the surface of the fighter. Two more rounds struck Pete in the chest.

  Jim almost lost his hold on his friend as all of Pete’s body weight was suddenly pulling against his grip, but somehow he managed to hold on to Pete’s wrist. Jack moved closer to Jim and reached down to grab the same arm. They pulled upward with all their might, but yet another round struck Pete. This time he was hit in the stomach, just below his protective vest.

  Pete’s instinctive reaction had been to go for his pistol. He managed the draw even as his eyes sought out the man who had shot him. He saw Bran Lynch standing three hundred feet away with a rifle in his hands. Aiming the pistol, he felt more rounds hit him. He ignored them as he concentrated on killing the man who was trying to kill him. With grim determination, Pete steadied his hand and squeezed the trigger. He fired four rounds in rapid succession and had the pleasure of seeing the pirate with the rifle go down, and then he felt a burning sensation in his arm and a massive chest pain as he was pulled over the fence.

  “Oh damnit, Pete,” Jim sobbed as he stared into his friends eyes while he desperately fought to save his life. Blood was spurting from the neck wound and oozing from the stomach wound.

  “Stay with me, Pete!” Jim shouted in fear as he saw his friend’s eyes glazing over.

  “Jim, is that you?” Pete said. His voice sounded weak to Jim’s ears.

  “Yes, it’s me, Pete. You hang on. We’re getting a doctor. The Constitution is landing,” Jim said.

  “You promised. Remember your promise,” Pete said.

  “Don’t I always?” Jim asked.

  “Always do, yes. Tell Maggie she’s the best thing… Love Lisa… Evan… Love you all…” Pete said, and then he died.

  For a moment, Jim knelt beside his friend in abject sorrow. Then, something happened. Something inside him snapped. Jim lunged erect and leapt over the wall. Drawing his pistol, he advanced firing at the enemy until his weapon ran dry. They returned his fire, but they were targeting his chest, which was protected by his body armor. He continued to advance as he ejected the spent magazine, letting it drop to the grass, and slammed another home. Without pause, he continued to fire at the enemy as he advanced.

  Beside him were other peacekeepers who had seen Jim go over the wall. Jack Wilcox was on his right, and his new strike team leader, James Borden, was on his left. The rest of the strike teams from the three ships present had also jumped the wall and converged to form up beside these men. Other peacekeepers quickly followed them.

  The fighting was furious for all of a minute, and then the enemy began to run back to their ships. Someone pointed up into the sky above them. The early morning air was full of peacekeeper ships, fighters, APCs and drones, and all of those peacekeeper assets were on the attack.

  Jack Wilcox was able to reason with Jim then. He said, “Admiral, we’ve got to get back over the fence, or we run the risk of needlessly losing some of our men.”

  “You’re right, Jack. Order a recall at once,” Jim said. Then looking around him, he frowned and asked, “What the hell is everyone doing out here anyway?”

  “We followed you, sir,” responded Sergeant Borden.

  “Well, that was a damned fool thing to do. The next time I do something that stupid, let me do it alone. I hope to God none of our men were killed in that insane charge,” Jim said in obvious anxiety that his momentary grief may have caused him to lead men to their needless deaths.

  “I don’t think the pirates ever faced anything quite like that before, sir. They seemed to be firing wildly. A few men took hits, but from what I can see, none were killed, and the move did break the back of their resistance,” Jack said. He ordered the retreat of the ground forces, and then they ran back for the wall.

  Out over the river, the newly arrived peacekeeper fleet pounded the ships of the enemy
as they desperately sought to escape the blockade, but there was no escape to be had. The peacekeepers had lost too many men to the pirates. They were not inclined to let any of the enemy slink away to fight another day. Although some few shallow draft boats managed to make it out of the blockade and down to the bay, they were relentlessly followed and sent to the bottom. Not a single ship that entered the Potomac ever entered the open Atlantic again.

  Jim found Maggie and Lisa beside Pete’s body. Bill stood, silently weeping, a few feet from them. He was holding Evan’s face against his chest as the young man mourned the passing of a good friend and mentor. Jim nodded his gratitude to Bill and turned to attempt to comfort Pete’s widow and daughter.

  Chapter 23

  Pete had elected to be buried at Base 1. Many people wondered whom the visitors were who had arrived in a highly modified APC. The council knew them, and all of the original Illinois survivors knew most of them. The nineteen women stood together during the service. After the service, each of those women paused beside the grave and dropped a single flower down onto the coffin. They each paid their respects to Maggie and Lisa. Their leader conferred with Jim and Tim, who asked them to wait in the Peacekeeper. Sergeant David Thompson escorted them inside the ship. Some thought it odd that heavily armed women were permitted access to a peacekeeper ship, but those who knew them didn’t think so.