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

by Ricky Sides

  “Two of the three lines intersect,” Jim noted.

  “Yes, sir. The search pattern that the Peacekeeper and the Valiant executed actually stopped just shy of the projected flight path of the drone you’re tracking. I actually went ahead and extended it because it was so close it was within the margin of error.”

  “How close was it?”

  “It was within ten miles of the other line.”

  “Extend the house flight path. Let’s see if we get a match.”

  “I’m betting you will,” she said with a smile. As she manipulated the programs, she said, “You know, Patricia was right. This is exciting.”

  “Get used to it. I rely heavily on my communications and computer experts. I always have. You people have no idea how much grief you’ve saved me in the past.”

  “Finished, sir,” she said and then she triumphantly spun the monitor around.

  “I’ll be damned,” Jim said. Then he issued a rapid-fire set of orders.

  Across the United States, peacekeeper ships received the computer messages that they had been hoping to receive for weeks. The admiral thought they had pinpointed the air raider base.

  Evan found that his orders had changed. Now, he wasn’t just supposed to check on the flying houses with the RV camp that Jim had been tracking. He was to have his strike team inspect them for the possible presence of prisoners. He was also to inspect the interiors of the RVs for the same thing. Jim warned Evan that it was possible that it was a coincidence that the RV camp was taking a similar course as the drone. They weren’t identical courses. However, both courses converged on the same location as the one Evan had targeted for inspection the morning after the attack on the Valiant, and that meant that the odds against the similar courses being a coincidence were astronomical.

  The Arizona was rapidly closing on the truck with the stowaway drone, but it was under orders to follow from ten miles out, once they closed with the truck. That precaution was being taken in case the truck deviated from the projected flight path.

  The Constitution was en route from Minnesota, where they had been investigating a band of air raiders that had set up business in that state. They had been trying to locate that band for two weeks. It had taken that long to learn that they weren’t residing in the state, but were flying in from the west. Bill now held the opinion that they were a faction of the main air raider group that they had been seeking.

  The Washington was en route from Washington State. They had a personal score to settle with the air pirates for raiding their base.

  The Peacekeeper would be leaving Base 1 in a matter of hours. Pol’s work on the Michigan would take that long to complete.

  Jim was moving the Damroyal toward the area. He was going to commit the Damroyal to the engagement. Most of her weaponry was too dangerous to use where dozens of prisoners were suspected to be located, but if the need arose, all noncombatant personnel could be evacuated to her. That was a distinct possibility if the base was heavily defended with lasers.

  ***

  Aboard the Athens, Evan summoned Ralph to the control room and thoroughly briefed the strike team leader. He then asked his engineer to determine the safest location in the ship for the noncombatants to wait out a possible conflict with a laser-wielding opponent. Specialist Gene Sparks replied that the safest location would be the infirmary, as that put the most walls between the exterior and the people. He then asked, “Will that be all, Captain?”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  “In that case, I’d like to request permission to remove the mirrors from the head, sir.”

  “What? Why on earth do you want to do that?” Evan asked in surprise.

  “I want to use them to construct a shield around the baby bed in the infirmary. If a laser penetrates to that point, I’m hoping the mirror would deflect it.”

  “Thank you,” Evan said. He didn’t trust himself to say more, but Gene had seen the intense emotion reflected in his eyes.

  “There’s no guarantee it would work, especially against a prolonged burst, but I believe it will help against a brief strike. If you could spare a drone operator, I could use a hand. It should only take an hour.”

  “Pick one,” Evan responded.

  “I’ll be in my quarters for a few minutes if anyone needs me,” Evan stated for the benefit of the control room crew.

  “Okay, Captain. I’ll page you if you get a priority message,” the communications officer stated.

  He found Lisa and the baby in their cabin. Lisa was holding Beth and rocking her body back and forth in a gentle motion. She was smiling at her child and Evan thought that she had never looked more beautiful.

  “You’re home early, dear,” Lisa said. “Is something wrong?”

  Evan explained the changes to their planned mission and what it could mean. Then he explained that the engineer had recommended all noncombatants take shelter in the infirmary during the fighting, and that Gene was going to fashion shielding around Beth’s bed with the mirrors from the head. “He thinks they’ll work if it takes a quick burst.”

  “Like the one that killed Earnest?” Lisa asked.

  “Yes. He said there was no guarantee, but he thinks it will work. So if it comes to a battle, and I expect it will...”

  “I’ll leave her in the bed, even if she cries. Yes. I understand. Thank you for telling me, and thank him for me. I will when I see him.”

  “Try to feed and change her if she needs it in about an hour. We should intercept the houses in an hour and a half. An hour from now, I’ll announce all noncombatants are to go to the infirmary. I may not have time at that point to see that you did.”

  “I’ll go when you give the word. We’ll be ready and I won’t delay getting there. Not when it’s the safest place for Beth.”

  “Communications will sound a warning if we come under laser fire. That will be the signal for the people in the infirmary to get down and stay down until we sound the all clear.”

  “I understand.”

  Evan kissed her tenderly. “I love you. Thank you for Beth. I love you both so much.”

  “I love you too, and so does Beth. Just look at how she stares at you with so much trust.”

  “Dad is right you know. She does have your eyes,” Evan said, and then he kissed Lisa again. “I have to get back to work.”

  “I’ll gather some things and see the cook for a bottle to take to the infirmary. I may as well go ahead and get there now.”

  “The bed won’t be ready yet.”

  “I’ll hold her. I don’t mind.”

  ***

  Edward Giovanni was flying the lead house when the massive Athens flew into view. He knew there was no avoiding the peacekeepers, and he knew that there was going to be trouble when he saw the four fighters pull up alongside the battleship. Then, he saw numerous drones take off from the top of the vessel and move to encircle the houses.

  The Warlord’s lieutenant wracked his brain for a way out of this situation, but he could see none. He would have to permit the peacekeepers to board the houses, if that was their intentions, and try to bluff his way out of any potential problems. Therefore, when the peacekeeper sled approached with the strike team boarding party, he meekly permitted them to enter the house. “What’s going on, fellas?” he asked, affecting an air of innocence.

  “We have reason to believe that these houses are being delivered to an air raider base, and that there may be prisoners aboard. We have been ordered to search the houses and the RVs. Where are they?” asked Ralph.

  “They had to detour to get gas. We are supposed to meet them in southern Montana,” Edward lied.

  Ralph snorted in disbelief, and then he asked, “Do you object to us searching this house?”

  “Well yeah, but I can’t stop you. This used to be America, where a man’s home was his castle. There used to be laws to prevent unlawful searches.”

  “I thought you people were just using the houses as a power source,” Ralph noted. If that’s the c
ase, your objection has no relevance.”

  “I said you could search it, didn’t I?” Edward responded, bristling at Ralph’s cavalier attitude, which was contrived in order to cause the man to become irritated enough to say something he shouldn’t.

  “Watch this guy,” Ralph said to one of his men. The rest of the team disbursed and thoroughly searched the house. They found that the man flying the house was the lone occupant.

  There were no furnishings in the home. In fact, with the exception of some food rations for the pilot, it was completely empty. Ralph walked up to the man and asked, “Where did you get the MREs?”

  “Oh Christ, man. I’ll be damned if I know. I’m always trading for those when I run across a peddler with them. They taste like shit, but they beat the hell out of nothing. I could have picked them up at any of a dozen trading deals.”

  Ralph frowned. The man’s story was just plausible enough to be true. He had often seen people using the meals ready to eat to barter for other things they needed.

  “Can we get back to our flying now?” asked Edward with just the right amount of impatience.

  “No. We have to search the other two houses,” Ralph responded.

  “Damnit, man, we don’t have any prisoners. We haven’t even been to Tennessee,” Edward said indignantly.

  Ralph smiled at Edward and used hand signals to alert his men that he was a raider. “How did you know the people we are looking for were taken captive in Tennessee?” he asked.

  “You said so.”

  “No, I didn’t,” Ralph said with a grin.

  “Shit!” Edward said with a shout as he drew a concealed knife from the sleeve of his jacket.

  However, the peacekeepers were faster. Two of the men threw him to the ground as a third knocked the knife from his hand with the stock of his assault rifle.

  “Gag him and tie him up so he can’t get free, and then lock him in one of the rooms. Then we’ll collect the rest of these people. When we board the other houses, I’ll say that so far they were checking out as innocent. Don’t tip our hand until we can grab the guys in the other houses.”

  “Right, Sergeant,” one of the men responded.

  One by one, Ralph’s team took the other two men prisoner. It was easy, since they believed that everything had gone fine at the previous house. Although they searched all of the houses, no sign of any prisoners was discovered.

  ***

  Evan stared at a sullen Edward who was sitting on a bunk in the room where they were keeping him. “I guess you think I’m gonna talk don’t you, boy?” the renegade asked.

  “No. I doubt I could get you to talk, and if I did, all I’d hear is lies. I’m not here to interrogate you. We already know everything. The other two men talked. They singled you out as the leader, and then they told us everything in exchange for their freedom.”

  “Who are you kidding, boy? Peacekeepers don’t make deals. Everyone knows that.”

  “No one has ever captured forty-seven of our family members. There’s always a first time, but this isn’t the first. We’ve made several deals in the past. We just don’t talk about them to the public.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  “Aboard my ship, I give a condemned man a last meal. You’ll be executed tonight. Would you prefer spaghetti or the meatloaf that we are having for dinner? I recommend the spaghetti. Our cook has his own recipe, and it’s really good.”

  “You cold bastard. You come in here and tell me you’re going to kill me, and then you want to talk about recipes?”

  “Well, if you’d rather not eat, that’s fine. We can just move up the execution.”

  “I’ll eat damnit. Gimmie the meatloaf. I never did like spaghetti.”

  “Then meatloaf it is. It’ll be here in twenty minutes.”

  “So soon?” asked the prisoner.

  “Why yes. Why? Aren’t you hungry?”

  “I’m hungry alright, but I probably won’t live long after I eat.”

  “That’s true,” Evan said in a pleasant tone of voice.

  “Why the hell didn’t you offer me a deal?”

  “I didn’t think you’d take it. You look like the tough sort to me. The other guys looked scared. I had a feeling they were looking to make a deal,” Evan explained. He shrugged and added, “I was right. They were.”

  “That figures. I never did trust those bastards,” Edward said bitterly. Then, after thinking a moment, he added, “Well, I want a deal too. I can give you more information than they did. I’m one of the Warlord’s lieutenants. Those two clowns are just minor underlings, who happened to know a bit about flying machines.”

  “Well, I don’t know,” Evan said hesitantly.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Those other guys warned me that you might try to kill their deal by offering more information, but they said it would be all lies.”

  Edward smiled then because he had figured out an angle that might get him out of this mess with his skin intact. “What if I give you information that you can verify in minutes?”

  “That would cause me to reconsider,” Evan stated.

  “Have you guys discovered the frequencies we use for communications?”

  “Weeks ago,” Evan said with a bored expression on his face.

  “Have you broken our codes?”

  “Only partially,” Evan admitted with a frown.

  “What if I give you the code key?”

  “That’s a start, but that’s not enough. That just gives me something to verify that you are being honest.”

  “Then what do you want?”

  “I want to know the location of the base and everything you know about the prisoners. I’m not sure I trust the other two men, so I want to see if you give me the same information they did. Each of them gave slightly different versions, but that’s actually normal. People perceive things differently. First, give me the code key.”

  “I need a pencil and some paper,” the prisoner stated.

  “I’ll be right back,” Evan promised.

  Stepping out into the corridor, Evan met Ralph who was waiting as ordered. “Bring a pencil and some paper. He’s willing to talk.”

  “I’ll bring a couple of guards, then. If he gets a pencil, then he has a weapon.”

  “Okay, but don’t keep us waiting long,” Evan said, and then he went back in the room.

  “My security chief is getting the items you need. Meanwhile, tell me about the location of the base and the disposition of the prisoners.”

  Edward told Evan, approximately, where the base was located and everything he knew about the prisoners. He was afraid to lie, fearing that the other men had already mentioned portions of what he was revealing. He knew much more than they did regarding the fate of the prisoners, but they knew enough to be a problem if they’d told everything they knew.

  Evan was pleased to hear that the base was close to the location his Dad had pinpointed with his investigation. It was so close; they would have located it with a simple spiral search, which would have been the first thing they tried after arriving at the wrong location.

  Ralph returned with two other men in the middle of Edward’s revelations. When the prisoner said that he had told them everything he knew, Evan began to ask a series of questions relating to the confinement quarters of the prisoners. When he finished, he asked Ralph if he had any questions. “You covered all of mine, sir,” Ralph responded.

  Next, Evan had Edward write down the key to the code. When he finished it, he handed the key to Evan. “I’ll be back when I have this verified,” Evan said. Turning to Ralph he added, “Feed the prisoner. He wants the meatloaf dinner.”

  “Yes, Captain,” Ralph replied.

  After the captain left, Ralph sent one of the guards to get the dinner tray. “Why do you take orders from that guy? With your size, you’ve gotta be twice the man he is.”

  “That guy is my captain, and he has to be the toughest man I have ever fought. Now, tell me how I can get yo
ur prisoners out of this mess.”

  “How should I know? For that matter, why should I care?”

  “You should care because that’s the price of your freedom. If we get our people back, then we will release you. If we don’t, then you will be executed.”

  “Your captain didn’t say anything about that. He just said if I talked, and it could be verified, I’d live. He’s too easy going to do what you’re saying,” Edward said with confidence.

  “You say that as if you think he’s weak,” Ralph said with a grin.

  Edward didn’t bother to reply. He just smiled knowingly at Ralph.

  Ralph smiled right back and in a pleasant tone of voice, he said, “The other two guys thought he was weak too, so they decided not to talk to us. The Captain executed them over an hour ago.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Edward said, but his face had turned pale.

  “Ralph shrugged. “I don’t care what you believe.”

  The door opened, admitting the guard who had returned with Edward’s food. “Your dinner’s here. Eat fast. The execution is set for thirty minutes from now.”

  “That’s not what the Captain said!”

  “I lied,” Evan said from the doorway. Looking at Ralph, he added, “The code key checks out. Will he tell us how to rescue our people?”

  “No, sir. He says you’re too weak to do anything to him. He thinks it’s funny.”

  “He does?” Evan asked.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Evan drew his pistol and chambered a round.

  “Hey, now hold on, man. You’re putting words in my mouth,” Edward said, glaring at Ralph.

  “I’m going to ask you this, just once,” Evan said as he aimed his pistol at the prisoner’s chest. “How can I get our people back in one piece?”

  Sobered by the serious expression on Evan’s face, Edward realized that he had underestimated the peacekeeper captain. He began to talk about the weaknesses in the Warlord’s defenses that could be exploited in order to free the prisoners.