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

by Ricky Sides

  When Pol found out that Maggie was captive and that she had been injured, he went to his cabin and got his pistol and hard body armor.

  Evan woke Lisa to tell her that their baby was being held hostage, but that Ralph and Jim were negotiating with the man who had her. Evan feared that Lisa would panic, but she didn’t. Instead, she became angrier than he had ever seen her in his life. “Are we at full speed?!” she demanded.

  “No,” he replied.

  “Order it. Now!” she demanded.

  “Get to the chair,” he said. Reaching to his desk, he thumbed the toggle switch that operated the intercom. “This is not a drill. All hands prepare for full acceleration in one minute. Pilot, get us there ASAP. That’s an order.”

  “The pilot confirms your order, Captain. The clock is ticking people. Forty seconds to full acceleration Get to a chair at once!” responded the duty communications officer.

  Tim watched as the Athens accelerated away at an incredible rate of speed. The communications officer of Evan’s ship apologized for leaving them behind, but said the Captain had ordered full acceleration after talking to his wife.

  Tim didn’t blame him. If his ship were faster, he’d have left Evan behind in this particular situation.

  “Tim, my friend, when this is over, and I have my Maggie back safe with me, I’m afraid I must insist that you give me the battleship module for a month for the retrofitting of speed upgrades.”

  “I was about to say the same damned thing to you, Pol. I accept. We got by for years without the module. I’ll manage without it for a month.”

  “Good,” Pol said simply.

  Aboard the Athens, the acceleration this time wasn’t as severe as the last, because the ship had already been traveling at three hundred miles per hour, but it was still intense. When the pressure returned to normal, Evan said, “You’d better get dressed. We’ll have to decelerate in a few minutes. Put on your armor if you want to go with me to the infirmary.”

  “I will,” she promised. Then she began to cry and asked, “Will we get our baby back?”

  “Yes, Dad is there negotiating, Ralph and Maggie are also there. Either of them would die before they let anyone hurt Beth. We’ll get her back.”

  “Is that a promise? You’ve never broken a promise to me. Tell me it’s a promise,” Lisa pleaded.

  Evan hesitated for just a moment, but then he said, “As God is my witness, I promise you I’ll never rest until I have my baby girl back safe with us.”

  Lisa’s demeanor changed immediately. She stood straighter and gazed lovingly at her husband. “I believe you. Thank you. Now you’d better check on the crew. I hope no one was injured because of my demands.”

  “I’m sure they weren’t, but you’re right. I need to know,” Evan responded. He quickly kissed his wife and left the room.

  ***

  “I want transportation to our base. One of your APCs will do, and don’t even try to say you don’t have any. I saw several in the big bay we entered.”

  “First, I need some answers,” Jim said.

  “What? Answers about what?” the man clarified his question.

  “Who cut Maggie?”

  “That man,” Bruno said pointing to the man Ralph had shot.

  “I got him, Admiral,” Ralph explained, absently rubbing his chest, which was still hurting from the impact of the bullets.

  “Good,” Jim stated flatly.

  “She needs medical treatment now, and that’s not negotiable.”

  “You people help the woman, but stay where I can see you,” Bruno ordered the medical staff.

  They looked at the admiral, Jim nodded and said, “Do it. Be careful. Don’t try anything. Just fix her up.”

  Turning back to Bruno as the medical staff began to work on Maggie, Jim asked, “How’d you get a pistol in here?”

  “That was easy. I had it under my shirt. Your people didn’t search us. Why would they? They thought we were peacekeepers.”

  “Who is the man behind the desk?” asked Jim. He could see a pair of hairy, naked legs protruding from behind the sign in station.

  “The guy must be a patient here. He came out of a room demanding to know what was happening. We clubbed him to shut him up,” Bruno answered. “Don’t worry, so far we haven’t killed anyone here, but your man killed my team.”

  “A couple of you get the guy behind the desk and drag him over beside Maggie. Do what you can for him,” Jim instructed.

  Two burly orderlies moved to comply with the orders. “Careful now. Don’t give me the impression you are gonna try something,” Bruno warned as he pointed his pistol at the baby in a menacing manner.

  “I’m going to tell you something for your own good,” Jim advised the man.

  “Yeah? What’s that?”

  “If you point that pistol at Beth again, I intend to kill you. I’ll take my fingers and gouge your eyes out of the sockets first. Then I’ll make you eat them. But after that, I’ll kill you.” Jim made the statement with such a calm expression on his face and with such an air of certainty as to the outcome that he unnerved Bruno.

  “Man, you must really love kids,” Bruno said as he turned the pistol away from the baby and aimed it at Jim’s chest.

  “You have no idea how much I love children, or how many I have lost. But in this case, that child is special to me because she’s my granddaughter.”

  “Will you take her place as my hostage?”

  “Admiral, you can’t. Let me...” Ralph began, but he grew silent when Jim held up his hand.

  Without taking his eyes off the raider, Jim said, “Your job is to get these people out of here, Sergeant.”

  “Yes, sir,” Ralph said, and he started to move toward the baby.

  “Wait!” the raider ordered. “First, I want to know if you plan to honor your word. I’m told a promise from you is as good as gold.”

  “I’ll take their place as your hostage. I’ll give you an APC, but it’ll be an unarmed air ambulance. You’re not leaving here with peacekeeper weapons technology.”

  “I’ll take that deal,” the man said reluctantly.

  Turning to Ralph, he said, “You stay back. I don’t trust you. You’re crazy as hell, and you just might try something.” Gesturing to the women, he added, “One of the bitches can get the baby.”

  “I’ll get her,” Maggie said as she got to her feet. Jim noted that the medical staff had placed a bandage on her face. He frowned when he saw blood already seeping from the bandage.

  “Come ahead, woman, but don’t do anything stupid,” warned Bruno.

  Maggie went to the little bed and took Beth in her arms. “Thank you, Jim,” she said with tears in her eyes.

  “Go, Maggie. Get her out of here,” Jim said. Turning to Ralph, he added, “Make sure the wounded man isn’t left behind.”

  “Right, Admiral,” Ralph said. Then, thinking that he might never have the opportunity to do so again, Ralph came to rigid attention and saluted Jim. “Well done, Lieutenant,” Jim said after returning Ralph’s salute.

  “That’s sergeant, Admiral, and thank you.”

  “After what you’ve done tonight? No, it’s Lieutenant now, so you get used to it.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “Maggie, make sure Pol and Tim know about the status change for him,” Jim instructed.

  “I will,” she said, and then she walked out of the infirmary where she was met by security forces in the hall who quickly escorted the doctor and the baby away to a safer location.

  Ralph made sure the orderlies had the wounded man, and then he herded the rest of the hostages out of the room.

  Like Maggie, they were met by security forces who took them to safety. Ralph remained behind with the security personnel. He was briefing their lieutenant when Evan and Lisa arrived.

  “Beth?!” Lisa said, but Ralph stopped her as she tried to walk past the security forces to get to her daughter.

  Lisa fought with Ralph, but he just held her and
said, “She’s with Maggie, Lisa. They were just freed. Beth’s fine. Maggie has been cut though. They are tending her in the emergency first aid room.”

  “She’s really okay?! Oh thank you, Ralph!” Lisa said, and then she hugged him fiercely. Turning to Evan, she said, “I’d better go take the baby, so they can help Mom.”

  “You do that, Sweetheart. I need to check on some things here. I’ll be along in a bit.”

  Lisa nodded her understanding. “Take her to the room, please,” Evan requested of the security detail.

  “Where’s Dad?” Evan asked Ralph when Lisa left.

  “He traded himself for the other hostages,” Ralph explained.

  “Damnit, the guy has orders to kill Dad if it looks like he might be rescued.”

  “They’ll be leaving in one of the air ambulances,” Ralph said. “He has already agreed to the deal.”

  “He’d head for the base, but we wiped out that base. The moment he figures that out, he’ll kill Dad.”

  “Jim takes a lot of killing,” Tim’s voice sounded from behind Evan. “A lot of men have died trying to accomplish that.”

  Tim stepped up beside Evan and Ralph. “We met Lisa in the hall. Pol went with her to check on Maggie.”

  “We’d best watch for Pol then. When he finds out they cut Maggie’s face, he’s gonna be really mad,” Ralph stated.

  “Oh hell,” Tim said. “Is she going be all right?”

  “Yes, I doubt it will even leave much of a scar,” Ralph speculated.

  “The guy in there with Jim did that?” asked Tim who was fingering the butt of his pistol.

  “No, I killed the man who cut her,” Ralph stated.

  “Under the circumstances, you’d best go explain that to Pol. He’ll come hunting this guy if you don’t,” Tim stated.

  “Okay, I’ll go tell him.”

  “While you’re there, you’d best get that wound treated too,” Tim said.

  “What wound?” Ralph asked.

  “You have blood on your shirt.”

  “Oh that’s just where the guy shot me three times, my armor stopped them though. One probably just broke the skin. That happens to me all the time,” Ralph stated nonchalantly.

  “Have it checked out to make sure that’s all it is,” Evan ordered.

  “Yes, Captain,” Ralph said. He saluted both captains and then he walked away, absently rubbing his chest again.

  “He takes that in stride, doesn’t he?” Tim asked as the strike team leader walked down the hall.

  “He takes it better than I would, that’s for certain,” Evan stated.

  ***

  “She’s fine, Sweetheart,” Maggie assured Lisa as she fussed over Beth.

  “I know, Mom. I was just so scared. I promised myself that if we got her back, I’d never leave her behind to go on a mission again. I felt so bad about that.”

  “Well, with Ralph as your strike team leader, I know she’ll be well protected,” Maggie stated with assurance. “That man’s amazing. He reminds me of Pete.”

  “Ralph?” Lisa asked. “Yes, he’s pretty good at what he does, isn’t he?”

  “If what the man did in the infirmary is a good sample of his work, I’d say he’s exceptional. Why the man single handedly took on the boarders and killed six of them.”

  “You’re sure he got the man who cut you, Love?” asked Pol.

  “Yes, and stop fingering that pistol before it goes off and shoots you in the leg,” Maggie said.

  “Doctor Bleakman! We found this guy in the corridor. We think he’s dying!” a peacekeeper said from the doorway. “Get him in here guys!” he shouted behind him.

  “Oh no, no no!” Maggie said when she saw the men bearing a stretcher bring Ralph inside the first aid station.

  Maggie quickly moved to the examination table where the men had placed Ralph. Like Tim, she immediately noted the small amount of blood that had seeped through the man’s uniform shirt

  “Help me get his shirt off,” Maggie said to the orderly who was standing near her. Together, they managed to get the BDU shirt off Ralph. Then Maggie went to remove the chest plate of the carbon fiber armor. The moment she lifted it a fraction of an inch, blood poured out from under it. “We’ve got a bleeder,” the doctor said.

  Turning to her husband, Maggie said, “Pol, if we are going to save him, I have to have access to the infirmary. I need it, and I need it now!”

  “Then you shall have it,” Pol said. He was striding out the door when he heard his wife yell for him to be careful.

  Pol raced through the corridors of the ship until he reached Evan and Tim. “We need the infirmary for emergency surgery. Ralph is dying,” he explained breathlessly.

  “He seemed fine a minute ago,” Tim said in confusion.

  “The chest piece was stemming the blood flow. Moving around must have caused it to worsen. He is bleeding profusely now.”

  “Damn, he didn’t even realize he’d been wounded till I mentioned it,” Tim said. Then he asked, “Evan? Where are you going?”

  Evan didn’t answer. In his mind, he was seeing his friend who had once taken a bullet to protect his wife and unborn child, and who had apparently done the same thing tonight to protect Beth and Maggie. He strode into the infirmary with a determined expression on his face.

  Tim, Pol, and the rest of the security team hesitated to enter for fear that they would cause the raider to shoot Jim or Evan.

  Evan walked in plain view of the raider with his hands held wide apart to indicate that he wasn’t a threat to the man.

  “That’s close enough, boy,” the raider said when Evan was six feet away, but Evan just kept walking toward the man. “I said stop,” he ordered, this time aiming his pistol at Evan’s chest. Evan’s left leg whipped out in a crescent kick, impacting the man’s wrist and knocking the gun aside. Evan felt a burning sensation in his left side and then he fell to the floor.

  With a primordial roar of rage, Jim attacked the raider. He was still beating the man’s broken body when his brother pulled him away, shouting for him to come to his senses.

  When he looked around, he saw medical personnel rolling Ralph in on a gurney. Evan was being lifted and placed on another operating table.

  “Damnit, Jim, help me! We have to get these bodies out of here so the medical people can get to work to save these boys!” Tim yelled to get his brother’s attention. “Help me, please,” he said in a more normal tone of voice when he saw his brother looking at him with growing comprehension.

  “Sure, Tim. Anything I can do to help,” Jim assured his brother. He helped remove three of the bodies, which they dragged out into the hallway for other men of the security detachment to cart away. The orderlies took care of the rest.

  Jim saw Lina in the hallway and went to her. He lowered his eyes and said, “You shouldn’t be here. It’s a gory place at the moment.”

  “I’ve seen gore before, Hon. Are you all right?”

  “No. No, I’m not. If I lose another...If Evan dies...” Jim couldn’t finish. He laid his head on Lina’s shoulder and wept. “What if something happens to our baby too?” he added. “Am I cursed to lose all my children?”

  “No, you’re not cursed. Evan will make it, and our baby will be born,” Lina said fiercely.

  Lina held Jim tightly. She glanced at Tim and then the security team who were all staring at what was transpiring.

  Tim nodded his understanding. It wasn’t proper for the men and women of the security team to see their commander in such a state. He motioned for the security detachment to fall back, telling them that it was all over, except for the cleanup, and there were two emergency surgeries in progress, so that would have to wait. He dismissed the detachment and told them to return to their normal duties. No one questioned his authority to give them orders because he was a council member.

  “Evan!” Lisa yelled from down the corridor. She was holding Beth as she tried to run down the passageway, which was choked with people as the security
detachment tried to leave the area.

  “She’s going to need you, Jim. Maggie is in the infirmary,” Lina said quietly in Jim’s ear.

  “Who?” Jim asked wiping his eyes.

  “Lisa,” Lina responded. “You’ve got to be strong for her now. Don’t let her think there is no hope.”

  Jim nodded and turned to intercept Lisa who Tim was trying to keep from entering the infirmary. “I’ve got her, little brother,” he said to Tim.

  “He’ll be fine, Lisa. He’s in surgery right now. You can’t go in there. Maggie would kill us if we let you enter the room at a time like this.”

  “You’re sure?” Lisa asked apprehensively.

  “Would I ever lie to you?” Jim asked.

  “No, you never have,” Lisa admitted. Then she noted the blood that saturated his clothing. “Oh my God, you’re covered in blood. Are you hurt?” Lisa asked.

  “No, we had to pull the bodies out so the orderlies could swab the deck. It’s their blood, not mine.”

  “Your hands are swollen and bleeding.”

  “I got in a fight with the raider. You think I need to go to first aid and get this fixed up?”

  “It looks pretty bad to me. Do you know where first aid is located?”

  “Actually, don’t tell anyone this, but no I don’t.”

  “I’ll take you there, but then I’m coming back to wait for the surgery to end.”

  “Thank you. It’s not like I can show my ignorance of the ship to just anyone you know,” Jim confided in Lisa.

  “I know. Dad used to be the same way about things. You have to appear infallible to the men under your command,” Lisa remarked as she led him down the corridor.

  “I never knew he could be so crafty,” Lina said quietly to Tim as she watched the two of them walk away. Then, looking at Tim, she asked, “How bad is Evan?”

  “I’m not sure, but it was pretty bad from what I saw.”

  “How did the man manage to defeat their body armor?” asked Lisa.