Chapter 59
…even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
2 Corinthians11:14
Prescott, Arizona Region Airport
1106 hours, April 29
The whine of the Gulfstream’s jet engines died away as Károly Rosos stepped down the ladder onto the tarmac of the Prescott airport. Awaiting him nearby stood Adder with six heavily armed guards. At his heels came Amunet Mwangi, followed by six men in the uniform of the Rosos family and sixteen more wearing the fatigue uniforms of the Chinese, complete with insignia.
“Welcome to paradise,” Adder said to Rosos.
The younger man turned in a slow circle, taking in his surroundings. Mountains could be seen in all directions, some closer and some more distant. Beyond the dilapidated airport was desert to the north and west, and the buildings of Prescott to the south and southwest. “I prefer Malibu. I can already feel my allergies kicking in.”
“North Dakota’s nice this time of year.”
Rosos lifted an eyebrow, his version of a half smile. “Any problems?”
“Not yet, but I’m glad for the reinforcements. I’ll feel even better when we get more Chinese troops in here.”
“But nothing yet?”
“A lot of bitching, but everybody who might lead resistance is away. Angriff and Fleming you know about. Green Ghost is with Fleming, and something’s happened to his psychopath sister… she’s, shit, she’s normal. She was never like that in the old days.
“Should we take her out just to be sure?”
“I will if I need to, but there’s no reason to stir up the natives any more than we already have. I didn’t know the Zombies were even here until Ghost left me that message, but it looks like all of First Squad came along for the ride, with a couple of exceptions. But no Second Squad… some of Third Squad is, though. Gomorrah’s not here, or Judge, or Esther, or most of the others, but Claw is, although he’s with Green Ghost up north.”
Mwangi interrupted. “How did Claw get there? He was at Comeback.”
“Fuck if I know. The point is, there’re only a few at Prime, and none are likely to start trouble. There’s some old guy that Angriff promoted to major general, but he’s away, too. The only other two we needed to worry about are both neutralized. One’s in a cell; the other signed on to serve under Steeple. That’s Colonel Saw, the man Angriff gave the keys to when he left.”
“By the way, Scope was also at Comeback,” Mwangi said.
“Good, we can always use a first-class sniper.”
“Not any more, you can’t. She’s dead.”
“What happened?”
“She met a better sniper.”
Rosos shot her an irritated look. “So this colonel, his name is Saw?” He headed for the lead Humvee and Adder matched him step for step, ignoring Mwangi, who fell in behind. Had either man bothered to look, they would have seen her face twisted in anger.
“Yeah, nickname’s Chain Saw, but I don’t think he likes being called that.”
“He doesn’t,” Mwangi said from behind them. They ignored her.
Rosos noticed smoke rising from the far end of the runway and pointed. “What’s that?”
“Somebody didn’t want you to land safely.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Got an RPG from somewhere and put himself right next to the runway. He wanted to hit you as you touched down.”
“But we came in from the other direction.”
“I guess he didn’t understand wind currents when landing a plane.”
“Lone wolf?”
“Far as we know. He was the only one we found.”
“Dead, of course.”
“Very.”
“And the smoke?”
“Right after I took off the top of his head, he put the RPG round into the grass at his own feet. That’s him you see burning.”
“Glad he’s downwind. I’m hungry and that might ruin my appetite. So what’s the food like here?”
#
They all headed for a convoy of three trucks and two Humvees. Adder detailed four of the Chinese to supplement the guard already at the airport. Dozens of people from Prescott stood back from the road to get a glimpse of the airplane, as none of them had ever seen a fixed-wing aircraft in flight before. The Chinese had their rifles at the ready, just in case, but as Prescott faded into the rear, everyone relaxed.
Flashing by north of the road into Prescott, Rosos pointed toward the ruined mall on the outskirts of town. “In my entire life, I never went into a mall.”
“No shit?”
Elbow propped on the window sill, Rosos stroked the short beard on either side of his lips like he would a cat. “That’s what the little people were for. When we were younger, my brother and I wanted to stand in the protest lines with Antikap, you know how they did, faces covered and screaming insults at the police. We bought the whole capitalism is bad program. But Father wouldn’t allow it. He explained that most of those people were professionals, and that they were well paid to make a lot of noise that looked good on the nightly news. That’s not what people with power did; that’s what you hired other people to do. It was that way with Antikap, or buying groceries or a new pair of shoes. Never confuse the message with your true objective.”
“I always liked your father. He knew what he wanted.”
“He certainly does. Well, enough of that. Now I’m excited to see what my father’s money bought,” he said with sudden enthusiasm. They sped up in the open country, where ambush wasn’t as likely. “I came along late in the game, but wasn’t sure he’d spent it wisely.”
Adder held up a cigar that Steeple had found in the Crystal Palace. “I used to smell these things when Saint smoked ’em and wished he’d offer me one, but he never did. Habana Monte Cristo Number Three. I’ll never forget that.”
“Just don’t light that thing in here.”
Adder cut his eyes toward Rosos and the younger man held up his hands.
“Please,” he said.
Adder slid it into his breast pocket. “I don’t smoke.”
“Then why did you want Angriff to give you one?”
“You wouldn’t understand, Károly.”
#
On the approaches to the southwestern entrance, they passed the newly plowed and planted fields. Rosos watched people with sun-browned skin doing whatever it was such people did in their farm fields, and nodded to himself. Every society needed peasants to grow food and it pleased him to see this natural order of civilization taking hold again.
When the convoy pulled into Motor Bay D, the few technicians going about their work paid it little heed. Instead of unloading near the entrance, they kept going until reaching the bank of elevators at the northern end of the vast expanse. Once they stopped, the Chinese jumped out and formed a defensive ring, rifles at the ready.
When the first elevator door opened, a corporal staring down at a tablet stepped out without even noticing the group waiting to get in. Rough hands grabbed the woman and threw her up against a wall with a rifle barrel sticking into her back. She held her hands high and gasped out words. “Stop, stop, I’m an American!”
Adder shook his head and glanced over at Rosos. “I love his enthusiasm.” Then, stalking toward the eager man, he pushed the gun away from the woman’s back and clapped the man on his shoulder. Gently he turned the terrified woman around. No insignia marked her uniform. “What’s your name?” he said in a neutral tone that still brooked no refusal.
“Torrehon. I’m a civilian engineer…”
“Sorry for the fright, Torrehon. Our new allies are a little trigger-happy. You might want to tell your friends.”
She nodded, her eyes still wide. Adder bent down and picked up her tablet, handing it back. Torrehon walked away very fast.
“That’ll get around quick,” he said to Rosos as they got onto the elevator.
“Good.”
For one of the rare times, Adder smiled. “Yeah, very good.”
> #
Initially, the faces Adder and his men passed showed curiosity before snapping to attention on sighting Colonel Mwangi. But then they recognized the odd uniforms of the guards flanking the dark-haired man in the middle. Their expressions darkened as reality dawned. One lieutenant holding a tablet recognized Chinese uniforms and went for his sidearm.
Adder saw it and stopped him by squeezing his forearm in a vise-like grip, fingertips digging into the man’s nerves to deaden his fingers. “They’re on our side,” he said in a low growl.
Outraged, the lieutenant met Adder’s eyes and both men recognized a fellow combat veteran. “They’re Chinese. Let go of me!”
“They’re… on… our… side!”
“They killed my best friend at Prescott.”
“And no doubt we killed a lot of theirs. Let it go, Lieutenant.”
“Who the hell are you? I’ll have you court-martialed for assaulting an officer.”
“Go ahead and report it to security. I’ll give it top priority. See, I’m the new S-5.” Adder let go and stuck a finger in the man’s face. “I’m a colonel. I’m not busting you now because I’m not wearing insignia, but you’ve been warned. Next time, show me the proper respect or I’ll break your balls.”
Two guards had stayed back with him and sneered at the lieutenant before flanking Adder as he caught up with Rosos and Mwangi.
#
Despite the knowledge that Steeple awaited him, and the danger that came from being surrounded by armed people trained to kill as a career even though he was escorted by Chinese soldiers, Károly Rosos took his time walking down the hallways. Hands in his pockets, he strolled along as if he were shopping on the Champs Elysees, eyeing the merchandise and the passersby like a taxonomist studying unknown organisms. The tailored black suit, well-trimmed black beard and hair contrasted sharply with his pale skin to lend him a ghostly pallor.
“What are you doing?” Adder whispered in his left ear. “Let’s get going.”
But Rosos held up his left hand like the pope waving at cheering throngs in St. Peter’s Square. “There’s no rush,” he said without deigning to look at Adder. “I’m inspecting my family’s new home to see what needs to be changed.”
“I can’t guarantee your safety out here like this.”
“You’re very good at what you do, Adder, one of the best.”
“The best.”
“All right, the best at what you do. That makes my point even better. You’ll keep me safe and these people will get used to the new order of things.”
“This ain’t Antikap we’re dealing with, Károly. These people aren’t baristas covering their faces and spitting on cops. They’re all trained to kill.”
“You know how to fight, but not how to lead. These people are trained to kill who and where they are told to kill… isn’t that what you’ve always told me? They believe in the sanctity of their chain of command? That’s what makes them weak.”
Adder hated Rosos at that moment. Some part of him still loved the camaraderie he’d felt in the teams and he wanted to rip the man’s head off. Instead he fell into step behind the arrogant asshole, where he could see any threats ahead or to the side, the most likely ambush directions; and, as much as he hated it, the further they walked into the base, the more it became clear that Rosos was right. With no one to rally around, the seething hatred in the faces of everyone they passed didn’t boil over into violence.
He couldn’t believe they’d rolled in so easily. What the fuck kind of warriors were these people, anyway? By now Rosos and his Chinese escort had been inside Overtime for more than twenty minutes. Where were the Zombies? Even if nobody else fought back, he’d assumed Wingnut wouldn’t passively accept such an invasion. Most of all, he was disappointed in Nipple. He’d have killed her without a second thought, even if down deep he liked the psychopath, because she reminded him of him. But now she looked to be gone, and he hated that, too.
Then his sweeping gaze stopped on a knot of armed people up the hallway. Drawing his personal weapon, a Sig Sauer full-size P320-M17 chambered to 9mm with a 17-round magazine but without the Electro-Optic reflex sight attached, he held it in his right hand beside his leg. His left hand reached toward Rosos’ left shoulder so he could throw him to the ground if shooting erupted.
Thirty feet down the hall were four faces he recognized, behind a knot of unfamiliar ones looking their way. He could only see their faces and shoulders, but that was enough. Wingnut he’d already seen earlier, but with him were One-Eye, Frosty, and Zeus, four of the original fifteen Zombies, and from the way they stood, he knew they all held rifles.
“Alert, left ahead,” he called out. Rosos turned to him, as did all of the Chinese guards. The four Zombies stepped out into the middle of the hallway. Adder shoved Rosos to the ground and brought up the pistol with both hands, ready to fire.
But he didn’t. The Zombies all stood casually with their weapons pointed up. Only when the Chinese saw Adder ready for combat did they turn around and see the Americans arrayed in front of them. Panicking, several almost dropped their weapons.
“Nobody shoot!” Adder called out.
“Hey, Adder, you want us to do you a favor and shoot these people?” One-Eye called out.
With his right knee in front of Rosos, Adder lined up his sights on One-Eye’s chest. “What do you want, Wingnut?”
“You said you’re our new commander.”
“Yeah, so?”
“So command.”
Adder stood, slowly, and while still holding the pistol in both hands, moved its barrel to point over the Zombies’ heads. He didn’t bother hiding his skepticism. “Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“Does he speak for all of you?”
The other three nodded, although One-Eye rolled his eyes while he did so.
“Take the point. Make sure we don’t get jumped.”
Rosos finally got to his feet. “You’re trusting them?” he said in a low voice.
“Not even a little bit,” Adder answered.
#
1203 hours
“Sorry to keep you boys waiting,” Adder said as he joined Wingnut, One-Eye, Razor, and Zeus well down the hall from the Crystal Palace. His four former teammates wore scowls to express their displeasure at being treated like new recruits. “General Steeple was very pleased to hear that you’ve pledged to obey his orders. In fact, he was so happy that he decided to give you a crucial mission to accomplish.”
“I ain’t givin’ him a blow job,” said One-Eye. “I’ll let you do that.”
Adder threw back his head and laughed. “Aw, man, I do miss the camaraderie of the teams. Always kidding around. No, he is entrusting you with doing a lurp to Phoenix, where you are to penetrate the city and determine what went on there during the Collapse. You are then to radio your results here to Prime, but not to re-enter the base until given specific authorization to do so.”
“Wasn’t Phoenix wiped out by an infectious agent?” Wingnut said.
“Maybe. We don’t know. That’s the whole point. That’s why we need you to do a recon. Check out a Humvee, draw whatever food and fuel you need, and go find out for us. It’s what you were trained to do.”
Instead of protesting, Wingnut help up two fingers. “Two Humvees, one equipped with a fitty.” Slang for fifty caliber machine gun.
“What do you need with so much firepower?”
“I don’t know. That’s the whole reason we need it.”
“Huh… all right, but don’t start any wars. I mean it. If you encounter Sevens, don’t engage without getting permission first.”
“What if they shoot at us?”
“Permission first.”
“Roger that,” Wingnut said.
Once Adder had walked away, Razor grabbed Wingnut’s arm. “I’m not about to let some Sevens shoot at me without firing back!”
“Of course not.”
“But you just said…”
Wingnut pointed with his thumb at Adder’s back. “To that asshole? I lied.”
#
“That prick is going to be a major pain in my ass.”
Alone in the Crystal Palace, at last, with Amunet Mwangi, Steeple turned the glass opaque and scratched his right ear canal with his left pinkie finger. The office smelled fresher after having the filters cleaned, although traces of Angriff’s cigar smoke could still be smelt. Or maybe that was just his imagination.
“Try spending a winter with that family,” she said. “I’ve met some arrogant people in my life, but none to compare with them. And I’m here to tell you they think they own this place.”
“Overtime?”
“And Comeback.”
“They contributed three billion dollars, that much is true, but compared to what all of this cost, that is a drop in the bucket.”
“I’m on your side, Tom.”
He smiled. “I was practicing.”
#
Chapter 60
The woman shall be the helper of the man. Each has their own duties and these should never mix. Above all, a woman may never oppose a man.
From The Revelations of Nabi Husam Allah, Chapter 2, Verses 1–3
Rio Rancho, New Mexico
1248 hours, April 29
“I do not like that woman,” Muhdin said in Arabic. Despite the Caliphate being made up almost entirely of North Americans and their descendants, the Armstrong brothers had mandated the teaching of Arabic in the madaris. Despite intense tutoring over many years, neither of them had ever mastered the language and only spoke enough to get by.
“You do not like any woman who serves in the Sword of the Prophet,” el Mofty replied in English. With the two of them far enough from their aides to be unheard, the Emir relaxed around his best general enough to poke fun at him.
Characteristically, Muhdin missed the humor in his remark, since there were no other women in the army. “She leads men into battle. That is not a woman’s place. It is an abomination!”
“Beware your words, Muhdin.” The low baritone of the Emir’s voice held the warning his words only hinted at.
“I am sorry, my lord, but we have been taught all of our lives that women were not meant to be warriors. Are we now saying that is wrong?”
Standing Before Hell's Gate Page 32