The Ranch

by Sean Liscom

  “Don’t you mean us? After all, you were just as complicit and complacent as everyone else.”

  “The difference is; I’m going to stop you. I’m going to end your reign of terror, Blair. I’m going to level the field and I’m going to give the strong men and women a fighting chance. My consolation is that if they screw it up, if they blow it, I won’t be around to see it and neither will you.”

  “You’ve always been strong willed, Jack. That’s one of the things Ashton really liked about you. Even I can admit that I found it, dare I say, endearing. I do think your tenacity will be your undoing though. I think, should you actually succeed in making it into the ARK, you won’t have the resolve to launch the missiles. I think you will have actually found the line which even you won’t cross. I truly believe this mission of lunacy you have embarked upon will end there.”

  “You’ve never been more wrong.”

  “See! That’s what we all loved about you! That “never say die” mentality. Mind if I ask you a question, Jack?”

  “What?”

  “What was it that drew you to us? Was it power? Wealth beyond comprehension?”

  “Oh, come on, Blair. You’re smarter than that.”

  “Yes.... If it was power you wanted, you would already have it,” she paused. “I have to give you credit, Jack. I really do.”

  “For?”

  “You played Ashton like a master. You discovered our secrets when you built our computer servers and instead of killing you, he gave you a job. I can only wonder how that conversation went,” she mused. “You rose through the ranks like a rocket and you secured yourself a leadership position. That was also well played, if I don’t say so myself.”

  “Of course, we knew you were feeding information to the agency but that was something we were able to control, something we had planned for. All you and Bill Butler did was confirm our suspicions by giving the information right back to the people we had in place in the government. Something happened though. Somewhere along the line, I think you actually began to believe in our mission. I guess the frustration you were feeling at the time helped move that along.”

  “It really was a shame about Gary Wesson though. We warned him, multiple times, not to confront you with the evidence he had. Had he just listened; he would probably still be alive. It was his loyalty to you that got him killed. I bet the surprise on his face when you drove that letter opener into his heart was amazing, am I right?” Jack didn’t reply but his grip on the steering wheel got so tight his knuckles were turning white.

  “You walked right into that staff meeting and went straight away on the offensive. That was a very big gamble on your part. It paid off though and you were allowed to walk right out of the ARK. Did you know, we spent the better part of two hours coming up with creative ways you were going to suicide yourself? It was actually quite entertaining.”

  “Yet, you managed to slip away like a ghost in the dark. That was truly impressive. You weren’t done though, were you? You intentionally used that specific credit card to rent your plane. You knew we would be after you, so you drew our agents a roadmap straight to you. If Paul Wesson hadn’t beaten the other operatives to your plane, we might have actually gotten you. Again, well played.”

  “I wanted to give the man a medal for blowing your plane from the sky, but Ashton wouldn’t let me. We couldn’t let Paul know what we knew and until we had seen your dead, rotting carcass, you weren’t dead as far as we were concerned. I guess you really are like the proverbial cockroach in the apocalypse. Seems you can survive just about anything, Jack. That is, until I put the heel of my boot down and crush you,” she taunted.

  “It wasn’t surprise,” Jack said quietly into the mic.

  “What was that?”

  “When I killed Gary, it wasn’t surprise in his eyes. It was fear, terror and lingering questions that he never got to ask....”

  “Oh? Thank you for clarifying that,” Blair replied. “Will you permit me one more question?”

  “What?”

  “Was it surprise in dear, sweet Olivia’s eyes when she knew she was going to die?”

  CHAPTER 16

  Monday, September 4th, 2017

  The Ranch.

  Jill and I had left the security office to find my sisters. I’d never been the sort of guy that was good at giving people bad news and this was no exception. We found them and the entire Specter team in the warehouse working on one of their five-ton trucks. As we approached, we could hear them laughing at a story one of the men was telling.

  “Kari!” I called out as we ducked under the roll up door that was only open four or five feet.

  “Under here,” she called back from under the truck. I knelt down and could see that she and Isabella were putting the rear driveshaft back in.

  “You got a minute? I need to speak to both of you, in private,” I said.

  “Yes,” Kari replied and both of them slid out on their backs. Jill and I helped them to their feet and Kari handed the wrench to the man who had told the story. She instructed him to finish tightening the bolts and took a shop rag from him.

  “Everything okay?” Isabella asked.

  “C’mon, outside,” I pointed the way Jill and I had come in.

  “What’s wrong? Is it Melissa?” Kari asked once we were clear of the building and any ears that might be listening.

  “No, we haven’t heard anything on that front. Listen though, I’m not very good at these things so I’ll just say it. We have reason to believe Fortuna has been completely destroyed.”

  “What?” they said unison.

  “Bill was trying to get some satellite photos of the compound and it looks as if he captured their last few moments. We also received a very broken radio transmission.... I’m sorry,” I didn’t know what else to say. Seriously? How do you tell someone their home and friends were gone? After spending a few minutes explaining what we knew, they asked to go to the security office so they could see the evidence for themselves.

  Once we returned to the underground office and showed them the photos Bill had gotten from the satellite fly-over, they were able to identify some of the dead. When Bill played back the last radio transmission, it was confirmed as authentic. Both girls knew the man on the microphone.

  Kari and Isabella also confirmed what I had suspected; the compound was wired to self-destruct should a no-win scenario ever be presented. We had very similar measures here, at our ranch. Undoubtedly, whoever had attacked Fortuna had paid for it with their own blood, a lot of it too.

  They’d also proven invaluable when it came to pointing out things that didn’t belong in the photos. They spotted half a dozen vehicles both inside and outside of the compound that did not belong to the ranch. They correctly identified them as Costa Rican Police vehicles. Seeing as how Costa Rica had no military to speak of, the police were the closest thing they had.

  The big mystery was; why would the dictator whom they had aligned themselves with attack them? Neither of the girls had a clue and there was nothing in the photographs to suggest a motive. Bill informed us he was expecting new photos later in the afternoon. Those were expected to show the aftermath and, with any luck, more evidence as to what had gone down. Once the bad news had been delivered, they returned to the warehouse to continue their work.

  I asked them if they were going to inform their crews and was told they weren’t going to say anything until they had as many of the facts as they could acquire. They knew this would be a serious blow to the morale of their troops and they wanted to stave that off as long as they could. Both were hoping that the afternoon set of photos would give them some answers. They were also hoping that they could have a focal point for the crew’s anger. If a “Bad Guy” emerged, they would be able to channel the anger in that direction instead of imploding in despair. I understood their position, but I also gave them until 8am the next morning to break the news, otherwise I would.

  President Dixon and her security detail had returned to E
lko around noon. She wanted to be there when the train full of supplies pulled in. My understanding is there was a lot of fan fair surrounding its arrival. It wasn’t hard to figure out why either. With the arrival of those supplies, many of the hardships Elko had endured would be eased greatly. It was also a sign of significant progress by the President and her staff which couldn’t hurt if she decided to run for re-election down the road.

  Jill and I retired to the dining room with Luke and Tara for a late lunch and some much-needed relaxation. It had been a stressful morning and the lingering thoughts of Fortuna were trying their best to take over my mind. Coloring a dog with Luke seemed like a really good distraction. I caught Jill looking across the table at me several times, a slight smile always present on her face.

  A little after five, Jill and both kids left to go take care of the chores in the horse barns before dinner. The front door didn’t even close when Doc and deputy Kerns walked through it and into the dining room. With everything that had been going on, I’m ashamed to say, I’d forgotten about Kerns and Sheriff Wagner being here. Judging by the looks on their faces, they couldn’t be coming with any good news.

  “We did everything we could for the Sheriff, Jason. I’m sorry,” Doc said as he sat at the table. Kerns pulled out the chair next to him and sat heavily in it.

  “What? What happened?” I asked.

  “She was showing signs of improvement, but I think it was a blood clot that broke loose. She went into cardiac arrest an hour ago and we just couldn’t get her back.”

  “Damn....” I muttered. I looked to the young deputy. “I’m sorry for your loss. If there is anything we can do to help, please, let us know.”

  “I just need a lift into Elko, I need to tell the rest of the people that came with us....” his voice trailed off.

  “Deputy Kerns, we can most certainly get you into town, but you need to know something,” he looked up at me. The despair in his eyes was evident. “What happened out there, on that stretch of road, wasn’t your fault. Kaitlyn getting shot wasn’t your fault. You can be proud of your actions and you can be proud of the fact that you got the majority of your people out of there alive. I’m sure, absolutely positive, Sheriff Kaitlyn Wagner would have been very proud of you,” I tried to console him.

  “So you say. What I do know is this; I’m done,” he slipped his badge off of his belt and tossed it on the table. “I’ve had enough of the killing. I can’t do it anymore! I’ll go into town and I’ll tell those people what happened to Kaitlyn but after that, I’m done. I’m just gonna fade away and disappear,” I looked from the badge to the young man’s eyes again.

  “You can’t do that. Want me to tell you why?” I asked.

  “Why?”

  “Now that Kaitlyn is gone, those people are going to be looking to you. They are going to NEED you to draw their strength from. They are going to NEED to see you carrying on with your life and moving forward so they can do the same thing. She wasn’t just your friend, Kerns. She was that and so much more to those people and they are going to need you. They are going to need someone to show them the way.”

  “I’m not their leader,” he replied.

  “Maybe not but they’re going to be looking to you to help them settle into their new lives,” I let out a sigh and looked to the ceiling for a moment. “Everyone, myself included, is tired of the killing and death. Everyone is looking for some pillar to grab on to in this storm. Whether you like it or not, you’ve become their pillar. You showed leadership in what seemed like an impossible situation and those people believed in you enough to follow you when Kaitlyn fell.”

  “They didn’t give up on you, you can’t give up on them,” I continued. “Your job ain’t finished. Go to Elko and let them know what happened. I can guarantee you that they will look to you for what to do next. If you want to look them in the eyes and hand over your badge, well, nobody can stop you,” I pushed his badge back toward him. He stared at the Silver Star for the longest time. Finally, he reached out and picked it up and continued to stare at it while it rested in his palm. When his fingers closed around it, he looked back at me.

  “I wanted to be a cop all my life,” he started. “It wasn’t because I thought I could be a badass or carry a gun or even drive with the lights and sirens.... I wanted to be a cop because I could help people. I guess this is the raw core of what I wanted....” his voice trailed off as he hooked the badge back on his belt.

  “Just do the damn job, man. Someone once told me that when I was having a really bad day and it’s resonated with me ever since. Do the job. It’s not easy and some days are worse than others, but that’s all we can do,” I replied. He reached across the table and I shook his hand.

  “Thank you, Mr. Sterling. I’ll do the job as Kaitlyn would have wanted and as those people need me to,” he said as he stood. Doc shot me a quick wink and stood with him.

  “Doc, you want to take him over to the security shack and let them know he needs to catch the next ride into town? Please?” I asked. Doc acknowledged my request with a nod. After they left, I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my neck. I could feel one off those nasty headaches starting at the base of my skull.

  “Jason, it’s Bill, could you come downstairs?” the intercom sounded from the wall in the kitchen. I let out a big sigh before I got up and headed for the stairs. No sense in stopping to answer the call, Bill would have been watching on the monitor from the underground security shack.

  “What?” I asked as I strode into the room. Bill had the headphones on and without looking in my direction, he held up a finger. Not wanting to stand there, I sat in the nearest chair and began rubbing my neck again.

  I watched as Bill unplugged the headphones and adjusted the radio volume. Instead of turning it down, he turned it higher. After 30 seconds or so, a digital squawk came from the speaker. It couldn’t have lasted for more than a second, at the most. Bill glanced at his wristwatch and then at me.

  “Every 45 seconds. It started at 2pm and hasn’t stopped yet,” he said.

  “What is it?”

  “Encrypted burst. I don’t know where it’s coming from or who they are sending it to,” he paused and looked at his watch again. Right on que, the radio sounded again. He reached up and adjusted the volume down. “I don’t have the equipment to crack the signal and retrieve the message. Our gear is too outdated,” he explained.

  “Is it military?” I asked.

  “Unknown. The President’s geeks in Austin are picking up the signal too. They have all the current encryption gear and cyphers, but they haven’t been able to crack it either.”

  “You called me down here because you’re receiving a signal from God knows where with a message you can’t read?”

  “Yeah, I did,” his irritation matched mine. “If our own government can’t break the encryption, it means they aren’t the ones initiating the signal. What’s more than that, this signal is going out worldwide. The HAM network lit up like a Christmas tree right after the signal started. Everyone is trying to figure out the source and nobody is claiming responsibility.”

  “Bill, please.... I’m tired and my head is pounding. I’m not trying to sound dense here, but I need you to tell me what’s on your mind. I’m in no mood to try and guess.”

  “What’s on my mind? This has to be something related to your father. There is only one entity that I know of that could transmit on this scale; the ARK’s. If all 12 of the facilities are transmitting, the signal would be heard worldwide. Also, this all started after Jack left here and the destruction of Fortuna. You know damn well what I think about coincidences.”

  “Okay, but until we know what’s in the message, we’re left with nothing but speculation. If the ARK’s have suddenly come on-line, what are they up to? Is this the beginning of phase two?”

  “Unfortunately, we don’t know. I do think we should take some precautions though.”

  “Actually, Bill, we do know what’s about to happen,” Braden said as he
walked into the room and dropped his notepad on the desk. His face was ashy, and I could see his hands trembling.

  Monday, September 4th, 2017

  Devil’s Punchbowl, California.

  It was just north of Lancaster, California, when the radio began squawking from the dashboard of the Jeep. Jack never bothered to pick it up, but a sinister grin worked its way across his face. After allowing it to make its digital call every 45 seconds for 15 minutes, he reached up and turned the volume down.

  Since getting the call about the destruction of the Fortuna ranch, he seemed edgy, tense. When the radio began to make its little noise, his tension level seemed to rise even more. Melissa had no idea what the noise was or what it meant, but if Jack saw it as bad news, so did she.

  The drive through Lancaster itself was eerie at best, downright terrifying at worst. It was as if the entire population had vanished. She had not spotted another living soul and there was no sign of recent human activity. From the looks of things, no one had lived in Lancaster for quite a while.

  Evidence suggested that parts of the city had burned, leaving only the jagged remains of brick walls and charred timbers that once made up buildings. There were cars and trucks to be seen everywhere except on the road they were travelling. Those had been conspicuously pushed to the side.

  Upon reaching the southern end of the creepy city, Jack took the turn onto highway 138. When they reached Pearblossom, he made a right onto county road designated N6. He followed that until he saw the road sign that read “Devil’s Punchbowl Natural Area”. There, he stopped the Jeep in the middle of the road and switched off the ignition.

  “Why are we stopping?” Melissa asked from the passenger seat. Jack didn’t bother with an answer. Instead, he pulled the radio from the dash and turned the volume up as the speaker crackled to life.

  “What’s the matter, Jack? Having second thoughts?” Blair asked.