by Saxon Andrew
Jinks stared at her and shook his head, “That’s just not possible.”
“Get over yourself, Jinks. You’ve just never allowed yourself to be around a female long enough for them to see who you are. This time you messed up.”
“How?”
“You stayed in the plant too much. I think every woman in the building is infatuated with you. Heck, half the men want to be just like you and I suspect Julio will grow up trying his best to imitate you.”
Jinks lowered his head, “What do you want?”
“I’ll leave if you tell me to go. But I genuinely think you and I could really help each other find peace with all the terrible things we’ve had to do serving our country. I don’t care what you’re doing; I just want you to keep doing it. I really only want to be near you and be able to come down here and do more than just talk.”
Jinks stared at her and then shook his head, “You’re too pretty.”
“So I’ll mess up my hair.”
Jinks laughed out loud and then his cell phone rang. His head jerked back and he said, “Hello.”
“You might as well bring her in.”
“How can we do that? You know who she is.”
“Yes, but the Pod says here physiological readings confirm that she is being absolutely honest.”
Jinks’ eyes narrowed and he looked at Sarah, “She is?”
“She is. Bring her in to talk with us in the morning.”
Jinks hung up the phone and looked at Sarah, “I’ve just been told that you’re being absolutely honest with me.” Sarah laughed out loud. “What?”
She shook her head and said, “Jinks, you just can’t believe that anyone could really care about you.”
“I guess.”
“You need look no further than Stoney. He’s the only one you’ve ever opened up with.”
Jinks stared at her and she stood up and walked over in front of his chair. She sat down in his lap and leaned back. After a moment she said, “It is beautiful.” She paused and looked over her shoulder at him, “Isn’t it.”
Jinks sighed and put his arms around her, “It just got more so.”
The sun rose and found them in each other’s arms.
Chapter Sixteen
Trevor arrived and brought someone with him. Salud met him at the runway that had been built and waited for him to exit the jet. When he stepped off she said, “Oh my aunt’s broken backside.” Trevor came off the jet and assisted a black haired woman down the steps. Amanda Dockery, the Nobel Prize Science winner for her work in nuclear power. How in the world had Trevor gotten her to come with him and how were they going to hide what was going on from a mind as brilliant as hers?
Salud walked over and said, “Hello, Trevor.” She turned to the woman and said, “What a surprise to see you here, Amanda.”
Amanda smiled, “Oh lighten up. You look like if someone put a lump of coal in your butt you’d have a diamond in two days. I’m not going to jeopardize your project here.”
Salud was surprised by the response and after a moment she smiled, “You tend to draw a lot of attention wherever you go.”
“Let us hope I’ve been successful in escaping the hounds.”
Salud looked at Trevor, “Why is she here?”
Amanda said, “Hello, I’m still here.”
Salud turned to her, “Ok, why are you here?”
“I’m curious about the power plant your spaceship uses.”
Salud looked at Trevor and he shrugged, “Doctor Vazquez…”
“Call me Salud.”
“Salud, Amanda and I are engaged and have been for two years while we waited for me to get my degree.”
Amanda put an arm around his neck and kissed Trevor on the cheek, “It’s just so hard to find someone that can challenge you mentally. I was lucky to find Trevor when he was a freshman and convince him I was the one for him.”
Salud shook her head, “Why don’t the two of you come with me?”
Trevor looked at Salud, “How are the modules coming along?”
“We have about twenty thousand completed at the moment.”
“REALLY!?”
“Yes, what about the barrel dimensions?”
“I’ve got the specifics worked out.” He looked at Amanda, “With her help.”
Salud shook her head and walked faster toward the converter building. This was not good. The government would be looking to use Miss Dockery. What was going to happen when she wasn’t there? They entered the building and Lukas saw them and came running up, “Trevor, it’s good to see you.”
“Hi Lukas, this is my fiancé Amanda.”
“It’s so good to meet you, Amanda.”
“You must be the alien.”
Lukas’ head went back and Trevor said, “I’ve kinda told her everything.”
Lukas stared at Trevor and then shrugged. He looked at Amanda and smiled, “Yes, I am the alien.”
“Outstanding! I have some questions concerning the containment field your ship uses.”
Salud saw Lukas’ confusion and she said, “Amanda is recognized as the planet’s leading authority on nuclear power.”
Lukas looked at Amanda, “No kidding?”
“Yep, that’s me.”
“Then let’s start answering your questions, come with me.” Amanda kissed Trevor on the cheek and looked at Salud, “Stay away, he’s mine.”
“Don’t worry, he’s safe.” Amanda nodded and ran to catch up with Lukas. Salud looked at Trevor, “How could you have told her?”
Trevor shook his head, “Salud, she found my drawings and knew immediately what I was building. You can’t hide anything from her.” Salud shook her head and Trevor said, “You also can’t get anything out of her she doesn’t want known.”
“I sincerely hope you’re right.”
Lukas took Amanda over to the corvette and said, “Open.” The driver’s door opened and Lukas said, “Please take a seat.” Amanda sat in the car and Lukas said, “Provide direct link.” The center console opened and Lukas took a black elastic band out of it. He said, “Put this around your forehead.” Amanda took the band and pulled it over her hair and around her head. “Now you are connected directly with the ship’s computer. Her name is Willow and feel free to discuss whatever you want.”
“How…” Then Amanda stopped talking and her eyes went wide. She looked at Lukas, who nodded, “Just think and the computer will hear you.” Amanda sat back and closed her eyes.
Lukas walked back over to Trevor and said, “Do you have the diagram for the new disruptor barrel?”
“I do.”
“Let me have them.” Trevor opened his backpack and pulled the blueprints out. Lukas looked at them and tilted his head, “These are pretty good.”
“Thanks. The main beam won’t actually touch the sides of the barrel. It should flow through without resistance.”
“Will it need time to cool after multiple shots?”
“That will depend in large part on the power being used to operate it.”
Lukas nodded and fed the forms into a receiver on the converter. Lukas looked at the panel above the receiver and assigned a code for the entry. “Wrist Unit.”
“Yes.”
“Can you determine how long Willow and Amanda will be communicating?”
“I must say that I really think both of them were shocked by the other. They will not be stopping soon.”
“What?”
“She is mentally in a state of bliss and Willow is already modifying the power control programs.”
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t start production.”
“They’re being radically changed. You were wise to wait.”
Lukas looked at Trevor and then at Amanda. He thought about Joey and Salud. Then there’s Jinks and Sarah. Something was going on and he began to suspect that he knew what it was but didn’t dare say anything. He needed to talk about it but knew
there was too much at stake to consider it. He shook his head and began to wonder about fate. “Did it really exist?”
• • •
“Hello.”
“Jim, we have an issue.”
“What is that?”
“Sarah does not answer her pager.”
“What?”
“The agent I sent to that car plant.”
“Yes.”
“She’s not responding to her pager.”
“When was your last contact?”
“When she reported nothing unusual was happening.”
“Call her.”
“What?”
“Why are we so reluctant to make a phone call?”
“Ok.”
Jim waited and fifteen minutes later his phone rang, “HELLO!”
“She answered.”
“Imagine. Shocked, yes shocked I am!”
“You don’t need to use sarcasm. She says that while she was spying on General Jekins, she developed a real affection for him. She says it wasn’t easy but she convinced him to give her a chance.”
“That does happen occasionally.”
“I guess.”
Jim heard something in her voice, “What are you thinking, Jill?”
“I don’t know if there’s anything more than that but…”
“Do you think she was honest in her report?”
“She has never been dishonest in the past.”
“But?”
“She’s never been emotionally attracted to anyone during the entire time I’ve been using her. And according to Jekins’ file, he’s hasn’t either.”
“Why can’t I shake the feeling that something’s going on beneath the surface of that island?”
“I don’t have anything to say it’s more than what it is but it just doesn’t feel right.”
Jim thought for a moment and said, “We need to get someone to take a real look around. Do you still have a relationship with McIntosh?”
“You’re thinking about using him?”
“It’s not American soil. I can’t just issue a warrant and walk in.”
“There might be some…casualties if you use him.”
Jim strummed his fingers on his desk and said, “Contact him with the usual payment method.”
“Yes Sir.”
“This is Black Coded, Jill.”
“I know, I’m erasing the recording of this conversation.”
“That would be good.” Jill hung up and Jim thought about what was going on. He’d wait to see what McIntosh turned up. Then, if he had to bring the General in, he’d request satellite coverage.
• • •
Lukas looked around the table in the converter building and smiled at the group gathered around the table. There were some very powerful minds and people sitting there and he shook his head at the absolute impossible odds that any one of them would be there. Fate? He took a breath and said, “Why don’t we start with Trevor and Amanda and see what they’ve come up with.”
Trevor stood up and suddenly Lukas’ Wrist Unit began loudly beeping. Lukas’ eyes narrowed and he pressed the button on it, “Why are you interrupting us?”
“I’ve scanned three ocean speed boats approaching the island at high speed thirty miles out. There are fifteen men on each of the boats and they’re all heavily armed.”
“That son of a bitch!”
Lukas looked at Sarah, “What are you talking about?”
“It’s got to be McIntosh!”
Salud shook her head, “Who is McIntosh?”
Sarah shook her head, “He’s a modern day pirate. He attacks ships and takes hostages. He’s come ashore at night and blasted his way into banks and taken everything in their safes. Most of the time his trail is littered with dead bodies.” Sarah looked at Lukas, “Our government has used him in the past to remove those that have proven to be troublesome.”
Lukas looked around the table, “Do any of you have a weapon?”
Sarah shook her head, “Lukas, these pirates are armed with automatic weapons along with missile launchers and most are wearing body armor.”
Jinks looked at Lukas, “Use Willow to take them out.”
Lukas shook his head and they heard from the wall speaker, “They are attacking at night so this side of the planet is visible to the probe in orbit. If I use my disruptors on them, it will see it and that fleet might be coming early.”
Lukas said, “Did anyone bring a weapon with them?”
No one spoke and Joey stood up and hit the table with a fist, “This is my fault. I should have brought some in.”
Lukas said loudly, “So no one has anything to defend ourselves?”
Stoney snickered, “I have a cutlass.”
Everyone looked at him and he shrugged, “Hey, it was on sale at a novelty shop on Barbados.”
Lukas said, “Go get it.”
“What?”
“Quit wasting time; go get it.” Stoney stared at him for a moment, looked at Jinks, who nodded, and then jumped up and sprinted out of the room.
Lukas looked at Willow, “You mentioned that the Fellowship Warships did not detect your new force field.”
“I had it inside my normal field.”
“Could that probe detect it at its lowest setting?”
“I couldn’t.”
Salud looked at Lukas, “Just what are you planning?”
“I intend to meet them when they come ashore and see if I can’t persuade them to leave.”
Jinks shook his head, “No way. If anyone is going to take them on, it should be Stoney and me.”
Lukas looked at Jinks and smiled, “I admire your bravery, Jinks, but we only have one cutlass. The truth of the matter is that I could take you and Stoney together.”
Jinks tilted his head and Lukas shook his head. Faster than anyone at the table could see, Lukas was behind Jinks and had him in a headlock that Jinks could not break. Lukas released him and said, “If you can do it faster, you can go.”
Jinks rubbed his neck and still couldn’t believe how fast Lukas had moved. Stoney came running back in and handed Lukas the cutlass. Everyone moaned, it was little more than a toy. Stoney said, “Hey, I like shiny objects.”
Lukas took the cutlass and walked around to Willows rear. The deck lifted and Lukas threw the cutlass into it converter. He waited and a few moments later the deck opened and Lukas took out a cutlass that gleamed in the overhead lights. Stoney said, “I don’t know how that is going to help you against body armor.”
Lukas walked over to the front wall and picked up a twenty-pound sledgehammer. He brought it with him and put it on the table. He raised the cutlass and lightly hit the hammer’s head; it split into two pieces. Lukas reached in his pocket and took out his portable force field. “I’m taking a neon lantern with me. I’ll see if I can’t talk some sense into them.”
Sarah shook her head, “That isn’t going to happen.”
Lukas winked at her, “You haven’t heard me trying to be convincing.”
Everyone looked at Salud. Joey said, “You’re just going to sit there and let him go?”
“Do you think anyone in here can stop him? I’m going to have to watch him board one of our ships and go out and face warships more than a hundred times larger and know he has to do it. I’ve accepted that the odds against us will always be outrageous.” Salud looked up, “Willow, can you send us a view of what’s happening?”
“Turn on the TV.”
Lukas walked over and kissed Salud on the forehead, “I’ll be back.”
“Take your time.” Lukas put the back of the cutlass on his shoulder and walked out of the building.
Jinks looked at Salud, “That force field must really work.”
Joey said, “Why do you say that?”
“She’s not worried about him. That says more than any words she could use.” He looked at Salud, “Am I right?”
“Y
es you are!” Salud looked at Sarah, “If we prevent McIntosh from getting any information, what do you think your former associates might try next?”
“They’ll bring us under full satellite coverage to see what they’re up against. Then they’ll probably drum up some lie that terrorists are moving weapons here to use against them.”
“I was afraid of that.”
“This is lose-lose for us. Either way, we will get their full attention.”
Salud nodded and the TV screen showed Lukas walking down to the beach with his cutlass and a beach chair. Stoney said, “He really has some huge brass…”
“Stoney, there are ladies present.”
Amanda nodded, “I think they’re made of steel.” Trevor tapped her on the arm and she said, “Hey, I’m just saying.”
• • •
McIntosh saw the shoreline ahead and looked at the spacing between his three boats. Perfect, the lads were spot on. Suddenly, he saw a bright light illuminate the beach directly in front of his boat. His eyes adjusted and he saw a single man sitting in a beach chair. He looked at the driver and said, “What’s wrong with this picture?” The driver shrugged and the gunner manning the fifty caliber machine gun on the bow looked back, “You want I should put out the light and him with it?”
McIntosh shook his head, “No, I want this one myself.” He looked under the deck and the radar operator said, “There’s nothing else around him.”
The boats ran into the sand and McIntosh walked across the bow and jumped to the sand. He lowered the eight-gauge shotgun and pointed it at the man sitting in the chair, who continued to sit and smile at him. “Welcome ashore, Captain, or are you an Admiral?”
McIntosh smiled, “Actually, I’m a Commodore.”
“Well welcome ashore, Commodore.”
McIntosh looked around as his men spread out. They wouldn’t move further ashore until McIntosh led the way. “Do you know who I am?”
“I do. Your actions have been quite impressive.”
“And you’re sitting here smiling like a donkey eating briars. I would think you wouldn’t be here showing me this disrespect.”
“I’m here to make an effort to stop you from going any further.”