Petteri curled his lip in mischief. “I want you to announce to our troops the way must be secured by your teams. Every bridge needs to be guarded. Every inch of highway needs to be swept clean of terrorists. Then, we’ll need to load the dump truck ore onto the hopper cars as fast as possible. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“It’s very clear, sir. Hold open the road to the soda ash plant for as long as possible. Spare no troops to get it done.”
“Good,” he went on, “because that’s for enemy ears to hear.” He looked over to Dorothy, noting her concerned face. When he caught her eye, he motioned to the laptop. “How are things coming with the space program? Did you create what I needed?”
The confusion washed away. “I did indeed, sir. You’re not going to believe this.” As she’d done many times before, she spun her laptop so it faced Petteri. She paused as she observed Mr. Aarons approach.
“This is for him to hear, too,” Petteri said in a soothing tone.
“Very well,” she replied, pressing buttons.
A voice recording of a woman kicked off. “I don’t care what you have to do. I need those ships on the move to the coordinates I sent you.” The voice was clearly Nerio’s, accent and all.
Another woman replied, “I can have all of them launched within the hour. You’ll have the agreed upon payment in my Swiss account?”
“Of course,” Nerio’s voice answered, “as long as they blow up what needs blowing up.”
Dorothy stopped the recording. “I have five minutes of juicy stuff and about thirty seconds of small-talk. I thought it was appropriate to show these two had a familiarity with each other. It’s why they’re working together to sabotage TKM. They even talk specifically about crashing your maintenance drones to nuke cities.”
“Nerio is working for the other side?” Aarons said in wonder.
Dorothy was going to reply, but he cut her off. “Mr. Aarons, I’m sorry to do this, but could you step out? This is a critical juncture in our operation, and I don’t want Nerio to be a distraction for you. Come back in five minutes, please.”
He looked surprised at first, but then resigned to doing as he was told.
“I’ll be outside,” Craig said, walking out the door.
Petteri had a few seconds to appreciate his own cunning, crafted on the fly. Aarons would have no idea it was all a forgery. He would unwittingly be a part of the conspiracy against Nerio. He would swear he heard intelligence implicating the woman. Way down on his list, he thought, he also was glad Aarons wouldn’t be in on the con. The fewer people he had involved in a critical aspect of his operation, the better.
When sure the room was clear, he turned back to Dorothy. What she’d created was brilliant, but he always tempered his praise. “This will work. Nice job. Is the other woman who I think it is?” She’d been a guest of his for several days recently.
“Yep. I used the voice of Diedre Creighton to good effect, since she was already employed at mission control. You and I both know she’s not there, but who’s to say she isn’t hacking in as we speak?”
“A nice touch,” he said in an agreeable tone. Of the several cons he had running at the same time, Dorothy’s was the most rewarding. Over the next five minutes, she explained her software specs, how she’d gotten the voices of the women, and how she’d simulated the entire conversation across several states. Anyone snooping for the truth would be hard-pressed to identify the fake.
“Thank you,” she said, sounding most grateful.
The recorded voices would pin the upcoming nuclear attack on Nerio, while also implicating Diedre and, by extension, her brother and that insufferable park ranger. With a little extra effort, he could lasso in the Crow Nation and everyone else currently shooting at his people. Instead of being liberators for the people of Wyoming, they would be cast as money-grubbing terrorists intent on destroying every rock but their own. By doing so, they would ensure their lone surviving piece of asteroid would drive up the value of the rare earth minerals inside to untold trillions.
No one would have a clue it was actually his plan for TKM.
At exactly the five-minute mark, Aarons returned.
“Please, sit back down,” Petteri said, not giving a hint as to what the man had missed. He cleared his throat. “Now, getting back to my dump trucks. Take everything I’ve told you to say publicly and ignore it for the time being.”
Petteri rubbed his hands together, knowing they were about to be impressed by his brilliance.
“I’m going to tell you both what’s really been going on at this dig site.”
Chapter 17
Boulder, WY
Twenty men came out from behind the convenience store wielding every type of rifle and shotgun she could imagine. They were all dressed like normal people, however, without the typical blue shirts of other TKM employees. She kept her hands up until she saw a familiar face.
“Shawn Runs Hard?”
The Crow leader’s face brightened immediately. He didn’t let his wounded leg stop him from hobbling over to her. “Grace! We meet again.” He wrapped his arms around her while talking to his associates. “This woman and her friends are with us.”
Glancing at them again, she figured out most of them were darker-skinned Native Americans. She might have noticed it much sooner if they weren’t pointing weapons at her.
“I can’t tell you what a relief it is to see you,” she gushed. “I came out of this store thinking we’d walked into a trap.” She did a double-take. The plume of smoke was still miles away. “How did you come to be here, anyway?”
He stepped away from her and gave Asher a chuck on the arm. “We are Crow. We’ve been one with the land since before time. This isn’t our homeland, but the land sings a similar tune here. Our Wind River allies showed us the way through the mountains. They also helped us scout out this enemy encampment days ago. Last night we snuck a handful of warriors into this place, then we waited for daylight before creating the smoke you now see out there.”
They all looked to the continuing cloud of dust.
“It’s the oldest trick around. We have trucks dragging chains down the road. It made them think we were far away. While they were preparing for an attack from the east, we came at them from within their own camp.”
Another voice joined in. “And we didn’t lose a warrior!”
She whipped her head around. “Logan?”
“It’s me,” he bragged. The young man rushed over to her as if to hug, but then reconsidered. Before he could get away, she yanked him in for an embrace.
He blushed hard as they separated.
She spoke first. “When we left you in Rawlins, I checked my truck six times, inside and out, to be sure you didn’t sneak a ride with us.”
Her words made him laugh. “I thought about it, but I really wanted to travel the land with my dad. He let me meet with the other tribe. I got to ride in the lead truck on the trip through the mountains. He even took me with him as we snuck into this place last night. I think I made the right call.”
“I’m glad. And thanks for clearing this town for us. We were sitting ducks.”
Rangers piled out of the three trucks, loaded for war. She figured they might have made an honorable effort at attacking Boulder, but it wouldn’t have been as bloodless and perfect as what the Crow had done.
“What are you going to do with the TKM people?” Asher asked, looking around.
“When the women get here, we’ll let a few of them herd the group of men back through the mountains on foot. It will take them out of harm’s way.”
She was glad to hear they weren’t being killed, but she didn’t envy anyone having to walk a group over the mountains.
They stood there for a few moments before Grace remembered her manners. “Shawn Runs Hard, I’d like to introduce you to Candy, Rocky, and Carson. These three, plus all these other rangers running around, have chosen to join us in our efforts to rid this valley of Petteri Tikkanen and his ilk.”
“Nice to meet you all. I usually lead with a joke or two, but we’re pressed for time. The main group has been given the all clear, so they’ll be arriving shortly. My brother was supposed to come in from the south, but I haven’t heard from him, yet. Once we have everyone together, we’re going to press on toward the dig site to our west.” He pointed to the flat territory sprawled beyond the town. Unlike the thick plume of dust created by his people in the foothills of the mountains, there was a thin, wispy haze out in the valley, as if many machines were driving on the gravel roads out there.
For the next hour, the Crow people rounded up the last of the TKM guards hiding in the trailer park. The rangers set up in defensive positions throughout the little town. When the main convoy of Crow arrived, they set about getting the column of TKM men on the gravel road. They also brought all the ranger vehicles into the town, stuffing them behind and next to the shipping containers as a way of keeping them out of sight.
From time to time, she looked out on the valley, as did many others. There wasn’t a distinct plume of dust, like the one created by the dragged chains, but there was always a dull haze out there, as if heavy machinery and vehicles were constantly on the move. It was a continual point of discussion to try to guess what was creating it.
Shawn eventually gathered the leaders of both groups under the canopy protecting the gas pumps. “We think Petteri is going to take his ore to the railroad down to the south. As I said before, my brother was supposed to take care of that, but I’ve lost touch with him. Looking at the dust billowing down there, I’d say he failed to capture the place. Petteri is driving his trucks there as we speak. The ore will likely escape if we don’t make our move right now.”
Grace reached in her pocket for the phone. Where was her dad? He hadn’t left a message recently and she desperately needed to hear from him. However, there at the meeting, it wasn’t time to call.
She looked out to the dusty hinterlands.
I’ll call him when the meeting is over.
Boulder, WY
After barely surviving his cage match with Christian, Ezra was almost glad to be led by the hand away from the continuing battle at the soda ash plant. What he didn’t expect was getting on a helicopter with Nerio, flying forty-five minutes to the north, then being dumped off in an isolated dry stream bed next to an empty two-lane highway.
“This looks like where they take someone they want to murder,” Haley said, still nursing her bruises where she’d been punched.
“Looks like there are others,” Butch said quietly.
They watched as several civilian helicopters brought in men and women in their blue shirts. Like them, the new people stood around the riverbed as if expecting to get offed. He didn’t go around asking questions, though he very much wanted to do so. However, too many questions could reveal his group’s own dark secrets. Instead, Ezra hung out on the rocks, waiting, like everyone else.
“Over here!” Nerio shouted from on top of a nearby rise.
“We could sneak away,” Butch suggested. It wouldn’t be too hard, given no one knew who they were, and the wide spaces around them. Unfortunately, Nerio always locked on him like a hungry shark. She was looking at him at that moment.
“No, she’s got it in for me,” Ezra lamented. “But if you two can get away, do it.”
“Nah, we stick together,” Butch reminded him.
“Agreed,” Haley said, holding Butch’s hand as they walked at the back of the large crowd gathered there.
When they came up to the highway, it was impossible to miss the line of flatbed semitrucks arriving from the south, each carrying a lone metal shipping container. Nerio waved the people closer. “While the trucks arrive, I want you all to see where we’ll be going. Over there is the town of Boulder. It’s a nowhere town in this nowhere state. Probably ten people live there. However, right now it’s crawling with terrorist forces. They killed our men, slaughtered the few women we had working there, and they’ve threatened to take their mayhem right to Mr. Tikkanen at his dig. Our job is to put an end to their reign of terror.”
Ezra and about a hundred other people, mostly men, stared across three or four miles of hot, rocky wasteland toward the tiny town. He didn’t want to give the woman credit for knowing the sky was blue, but he had to admit there wasn’t much to the place. A gas station, a little shop, and a bunch of mobile homes.
Nerio looked down the huge scope of her sniper rifle. “With these twelve gun platforms, we’re going to secure the town so the ore can make it safely to the rail depot. Then it can go off to the processing plant. From there, it goes into your bank accounts. Remember, you’re only paid for helping us get the ore out of this valley. You guys want to get paid, don’t you?”
To a man, the crowd clapped and cheered. Ezra thought it was sloppy to be cheering while at the edge of a battlefield, but he wasn’t in a position to complain. Instead, he used the time to think about how he and his pals could derail the effort of the group.
“And the way we’re going to make sure you get your suitcases full of money is arriving right now.” She slung the rifle over her shoulder and took a few steps off the roadway, giving the first semitruck the right-of-way to roll past her.
As the air brakes belched out hisses, Nerio hopped onto the side step of the second truck, waving at everyone like a little girl. “Gather ’round!”
He sighed, not liking how things were playing out.
When everyone was there, Nerio continued her speech. “You’ll notice we have specially designed shipping containers on the rear flatbed of each truck. Some of you already know what these are for—” Nerio looked directly at Ezra, forcing him to acknowledge her. “But for the rest, I’ll tell you.”
While she explained the plan, he snuck looks all around. The terrain was too flat to run and hide, as it had been everywhere else in the valley. The town was too far away to use as a refuge, though he wished he could run the three miles and warn the town what was coming. It was also unlikely he could hide in or around the trucks. There were too many wary eyes in the group.
When Nerio seemed to be getting close to finishing, he tried to gently guide Haley and Butch out of her line of sight, but that turned out to be a bust. He could only get to the edge of the group. There was nowhere she couldn’t see.
“You three,” Nerio pointed to him, Butch, and Haley, “can get on the last truck. You’re my cleanup crew.”
He acknowledged her with a sarcastic wave.
Haley walked alongside him as they went back toward the rear of the line of semis. “I wish we would have kept going on Susan’s Grace. These people are trying hard to get us killed, aren’t they?”
Ezra admired the young woman for sticking with him as long as she had. Her hair was a mess. She was covered in sweaty dust. Her blue shirt was almost purple thanks to how much dried blood had soaked into it. Yet she still went on. He checked to confirm Butch held her hand on the far side.
They were twenty yards from their designated tractor-trailer. Ezra spoke in a low voice. “I guarantee you we’ll do the same thing we did to them at the other place. By the time we get to the town, we’ll have taken over the cab of the truck, killed the TKM lackeys driving it, and then put an end to this annoying woman once and for all.”
Almost as he said the last words, Nerio ran by.
“Come on, people, we don’t have all day.” She grabbed the handholds and climbed the side of the big rig like an expert. As the truck driver revved the engine and black smoke belched out the tall stacks on each side of the cab, she waved them by. “You three get on the back. Watch my six!”
“Yeah, us three will stay right where you tell us,” he mumbled.
He was shocked to see five other men scramble onto the flatbed at the same time. They went into the front doors of the twenty-foot-long shipping container, which was placed toward the front of the trailer. As he shuffled in after them, he realized it wasn’t built only for three people like the ones back at the soda ash p
lant. This one had three ports on each side, plus two on the back. It required those five extra guns to fire in all three directions.
One of the men shut the pair of doors with a loud clang. It sounded final to Ezra’s ears, as they were once again being backed into a corner. Surviving wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d bragged two minutes ago.
The truck lurched into motion.
Ezra had three miles to find a way out.
Chapter 18
Boulder, WY
Grace got on her phone the second the meeting was over. The rest of the Crow Nation was arriving on the gravel road and soon there’d be hundreds of people and a million things to do. The tribe was going to continue west toward the rock and force Petteri to give it up through sheer force of numbers. She wanted to support their effort any way she could, but first she wanted to talk to her dad.
The phone made some unusual sounds as it tried to dial the number, but then it started ringing. It rang at least ten times before it was picked up.
“Hello?” her dad answered.
“Dad? It went through!”
Her father laughed, but it was rushed. “Yeah, Grace, you got me. But, listen, I’m kind of in the middle of something. Tell me where you are. Tell me you’re safe.”
She glanced around at all the men and women with guns. “Yeah, I’d say I’m pretty safe. I’ve got about a hundred heavily armed Crow defending my gas station.”
“Gas station?” her dad replied with urgency. “Tell me exactly where you are.”
“Boulder. It’s a town—”
He cut her off. “I know where it is. I’m part of a convoy of big rigs heading right for you. From the south. Do you see us?”
She looked that direction, her brain synapses firing like a lightning storm. Why was her dad attacking her? What trucks? Should she warn someone? A glint of metal appeared in the contours of the land down the two-lane highway.
“Dad? What’s going on?”
Impact Series Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 113