by Nathan Combs
Little Soldier said, “Wow, that was a curveball from hell.”
“Yeah it was, but I was always good at hitting curve balls. Don’t worry, Ty, Captain Coltrane will adapt. They’re used to that kind of thing, and I’d be surprised if he stays with the original plan anyway. It doesn’t matter, though. We have to go ASAP. How many horses do we have?”
Watts said, “We have enough.”
“Okay, we’re going to leave all the guys we were going to designate as yellow here. In addition, I want you to leave ten of Jackson’s weakest men to guard his palace. That’s a total of forty-seven guards. Derrick, set that up right now. Tyler, saddle everyone else up. And make damn sure you don’t leave Horst Nagel here. I want his ass with us. Get one Humvee ready and paint a big—and I do mean big—red diamond on the front of it. You know why.”
Handing a box of red duct tape to Little Soldier, he said, “A strip of this goes around our guys’ helmets. Have them put it on just before we get to Robbinsville.”
An hour and fifteen minutes later, fifty-three former FPS agents left the ORNL and headed towards their date with destiny.
******
Two days later, the Robbinsville OP radioed in, “I have eyes on a large column of mounted men led by a Humvee coming down Tapoco road.”
“Roger, OP.”
“The Hummer has a red diamond painted on the grill, and…stand-by.” He looked over the advancing troops through binoculars. “Troops at the rear have red on their helmets. I don’t see any yellow.”
“What do you make of that, Randal,” asked Wade.
“My guess is King Jackson didn’t make the trip. The lack of yellow targets simplifies things for us, though. The only targets will be those with no red. We have to assume there are no bad guys in the Humvee. As long as no one gets on that fifty, we’ll leave it alone.”
“OP, Zeus. Get a body count and total number of red helmets. Terminators hold fire on the Humvee, but keep it targeted with the AT4. Enemy ETA is approximately thirty mikes.”
Three minutes later, the OP radioed a body count of fifty-one men. Thirteen, at the rear had red on their helmets.
“Benjamin and Little Soldier are probably in the Hummer, Dad. That leaves thirty-eight black-hats.”
“OP, this is Zeus. ETA?”
“ETA fifteen mikes.”
Wade said, “How do you want to play this, Randal?”
Grinning, he said, “The same way we did during the first meeting.”
“You walk out and hold up your hand?”
“Unless you have a better idea, we have about ten minutes to come up with one.”
Eight minutes later, the Humvee poked its grill around the bend in the road, and in a column of twos, mounted troops followed.
“Terminators, this is Thor, weapons hot.” Randal stepped onto the roadway in front of the Humvee and held up his hand.
When Randal materialized, Benjamin turned to Little Solder and with a big grin, said, “It’s improv time, Tyler.”
Benjamin got out of the hummer and walked toward Randal. When he was within speaking distance, he said, “What now, Boss?”
In a low voice, Randal said, “Well, Sergeant, since Mr. Murphy and his ‘if things can go wrong’ bullshit stuck his big nose in here, I guess it’s time to piss and pray. Since you had the foresight to turn the fifty toward the rear, why don’t you get on it and give me the Humvee’s PA system?”
Returning to the Humvee, Benjamin handed the mic to Randal and made an obvious point of charging the .50 caliber machine gun, which was pointed directly at Jackson’s black-hats.
Randal keyed the mic, “You men are surrounded. Do not resist and do not move, or you will be killed. Put your hands up slowly.”
Astonished, they slowly raised their hands. They weren’t combat troops, but they weren’t fools either. Little Soldier relieved Benjamin on the fifty, and Randal handed the mic to Benjamin and told him what to say.
“Reds collect the weapons from these men.”
When they were disarmed, Terminators materialized on both sides. Randal took the mic and said, “You men in the column on my left will dismount, beginning with the head of the column, one at a time. You will dismount on your right side. When you have dismounted, you will sit on the ground with your fingers laced and hands behind your head. The column on my right will dismount next, one at a time, beginning with the head of the column. You also will sit on the ground with your fingers laced and hands behind your head. Your mounts will be collected and you will be further disarmed and handcuffed. If you resist, you will die.”
Within fifteen minutes, King Jackson’s army was handcuffed and sitting on the ground. Not one shot was fired.
Wade asked what happened with Jackson and Benjamin explained, adding that he felt the pieces were in place for a bloodless coup.
Wade nodded and said, “Good. We’re going to send a few men with you when you take him down. We have a vested interest in this, and I don’t want to waste resources watching for a future threat from the ORNL.”
Benjamin smiled. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, sir. In fact, I was hoping you’d assume command of the entire ORNL.”
Wade thought about that for a moment. “Maybe in the future, Sergeant, but right now we have other fish to fry. We have to figure out what we’re going to do with these guys, and we have to do it now.”
“That’s a tough call, sir.”
“Have any of them violated any of the old laws? Murder, rape, and the like, or did they just decide it was easier to steal from others?”
“Most of them just followed Jackson’s orders. But none of them baulked at taking food from survivors either. There is one guy, though, who’s a sadistic son-of-a-bitch. He enjoyed all of it, and I wouldn’t trust him for a nanosecond. His name is Horst Nagel…that’s him over there on the far right—the surly looking blond haired guy. There are two others, but Nagel is by far the most dangerous and untrustworthy.”
Wade shook his head. “It’s like you said, Sergeant. We aren’t going to kill any of them. We probably should, but it’s not in our DNA. In a way, it would have been nice if they’d resisted. That would have solved the problem. But they didn’t, so here we are. We damned sure can’t imprison them. And we know it’s not a good idea to let them go. So it’s a big-time conundrum.”
They stood thinking, and after a minute Wade asked, “How many of them do not have families?”
“Just Nagel and the two others I mentioned. They’re not as bad as Nagel, but they can’t be trusted. Everyone else is married, and most have kids.”
“Bring them over here three at a time. Save Nagel and the other two for last.”
Brought before Wade and Randal, they were informed Jackson was no longer in charge of the ORNL. Wade told them they were in this position because they followed Jackson’s orders even though they knew those orders were wrong and immoral. In a stern voice, he told them the only thing saving them from a firing squad was their family who was dependent upon them. “You have proven you cannot be trusted and are hereby relieved of your duties with the FPS. You will be allowed to live in or around the ORNL, but your lodging will be at the sole discretion of Captain Benjamin. You will be assigned to a work detail commensurate with your ability, which will not include security. If you don’t work, you don’t eat. You may not possess firearms at any time, for any reason, and upon our return to the ORNL, your quarters will be searched, and any weapons found, including knives, will be confiscated. The alternative is banishment, or a bullet in the head. If you prove yourself, and regain the trust of your commanding officer, your service with the FPS may be re-instated in the future.”
When the first 35 men were processed, Wade said, “Let’s get this over with. Bring the other three.”
It was easy to see what Benjamin meant about Nagel. He was not contrite. Given the circumstances, Wade found his arrogance amazing. The other two looked reasonably cowed, but their eyes flashed anger and hatred.
Wade
said, “You men have been found guilty of immoral trespass and are hereby banished from the ORNL.”
Nagel sneered and said, “What the hell is immoral trespass, and who the hell are you to judge me?”
Randal, with his face inches from Nagel’s, said, “Moral trespass is whatever we say it is, asshole. One more word out of you, and instead of banishment, you get a bullet in the face. Now shut your pie-hole and listen up.”
Wade gave Nagel a hard, cold stare. Eyes still narrowed, he said, “Your faux king has been deposed. And the three of you are banished from the ORNL. You will be allowed to take one knife each, nothing more. Releasing you is against my better judgment, as the consensus is you should be shot and your bodies left for the vultures.”
Taking Bill aside, Wade said, “You and Cole take these three assholes around the bend. Wait a few minutes, shoot three times into a tree, then take them down the road a hundred yards. Cut the cuffs, give them each a knife, and ensure they head south. By the time you get back, we’ll be ready to head out.”
Grinning, Bill said, “Now that is devious, Boss.”
Bill made an obvious exit with the three men, and the cuffed black-hats watched as they disappeared from view. A few minutes later, three shots rang out, and the faces of the captured men showed what they thought happened.
Wade said to no one in particular, “I hope this doesn’t come back to bite us in the ass. Let’s get these guys prepped for the trip to the ORNL. Then let’s go overthrow a kingdom.”
“Have you decided how you want to do that,” asked Benjamin.
“Yeah, Stuart, I have.”
Wade took the mic and stood before the cuffed black-hats. “Leaving you alive is against my better judgment. For your family’s sakes, you are being given a second chance. What you do with that opportunity is up to you. There are over two hundred fifty former SPECOPS warriors under my command, and we intend to re-establish a new society based on the Constitution of the United States. Until that happens, I am the sole judge, jury, and if necessary, executioner. I suggest you take advantage of this opportunity. You will remain cuffed until we arrive at the ORNL. Prior to our departure, you will be allowed to use the head, hydrate yourselves, and eat if you have food. We leave in thirty.”
Randal grinned and said, “Two hundred fifty SPECOPS warriors, huh?”
Wade grinned back. “Sounds more formidable than twenty. I want that figure implanted in their minds.” Turning to Benjamin he said, “Stuart, give me the status of the men you left at the ORNL.”
“Ten of Jackson’s weakest men are maintaining palace security. The other thirty-seven are what would have been yellow-hats. They shouldn’t be a problem. How do you want to proceed?”
“The first order of business is to take the ORNL. Then we’ll take down Jackson. Randal, I’m taking Bill, Cole, Wilkerson, and two of the SEALS with me. We’ll return when the ORNL is secure. Call it a week to ten days.” Turning back to Sergeant Benjamin, he said, “Stuart, as of now, you are officially a captain. Let’s get this show on the road.”
The trip to the ORNL was an uneventful day and a half trip. They stopped one mile from the gates, and eight of Benjamin’s red-hats remained with the black-hats. Benjamin and seven of his men rode in front of the Humvee. Because they didn’t want the gate guards to be alerted by their military uniforms, Wade and the five Terminators rode in the Humvee. Securing the gate took five minutes. The guards were cuffed with plastic zip ties, placed inside the gatehouse, and left under guard of a red-hat.
After taking the command center, Stuart examined the roster and saw Jackson had guards on the palace entrance and reception hall doors.
The only thing left to do was depose Jackson, then arrest the off duty guards who were in their homes. Wade and the Terminators watched as Stuart disarmed the entry door guard, flex-cuffed him, and turned him over to a Seal who took him to the command center. The reception hall was on the first floor at the end of a long hallway, and Stuart repeated the process of disarming and cuffing the reception door guard. Another SEAL took the man to the side of the double doors. Stuart looked at Wade, and with a huge grin said, “Let’s pay our respects to the king, shall we?”
The door was unlocked and they entered the reception hall of the palace of King Jackson, self-proclaimed king of the United States of America.
Stuart nodded toward a door at the rear, which led to Jackson’s suite of rooms. It too was unlocked. Crouching, they entered the living room. Stuart led them to a door on the far wall and mouthed “bedroom.” The door was unlocked. The room was dark.
Wade turned on his weapon light. The beam fell on a small figure huddled in a corner. It was Susan Small, naked, sitting on a pallet. A spiked metal collar attached to a six foot chain anchored to a plate in the wall was around her neck.
Turning towards the light, she raised her hands as if to ward off a blow.
Stuart bent down and whispered, “Susan, it’s Stuart. You’re safe. Where is he?” Susan was groggy, and he suspected she was drugged. He gently shook her shoulder and asked again where Jackson was.
She turned her head toward him and in a slurred voice said, “Bathroom.” She pointed feebly to a door.
Stuart and Bill stood on either side of the bathroom door and waited.
A minute later, Jackson came out. He was nude.
Benjamin said, “Hello, asshole,” and punched him in the face, knocking him to his knees. Cole and Wilkerson picked him up and forced him to stand.
“Where’s the key to her collar?” said Benjamin.
“You’ll hang for this you treasonous dogs. Guards! Guards!”
Bill had heard enough. He grabbed Jackson by the throat and went nose to nose. “Listen up, you crazy bastard. If you don’t tell me where the key to that fuckin’ collar is right now, I will cut your nuts off and stuff them in your mouth. You have three seconds.”
“You can’t talk to me that way. I am your king and you—”
“Time’s up,” bellowed Bill. He put the blade of his Trail Master against Jackson’s scrotum. The response was immediate.
“It-it’s in-in the pocket of my t-t-trousers, in the closet.”
Benjamin retrieved the key, removed Susan’s collar, and covered her with a blanket.
Jackson said to no one in particular, “It’s not what you think.”
Bill grabbed him by the throat. “You have no idea what any of us think, you piece of shit. Shut your mouth, because if I hear one more word come out of it, those tiny little nuts of yours are comin’ off.”
Susan was beginning to comprehend what happened and hesitantly asked Stuart, “What are you going to do with him?”
“Sorry, Susan,” replied Benjamin. “There’s only one thing we can do with him.”
“Sorry? Don’t be sorry, Stuart. I want to do it. Can I? Please?”
Benjamin’s face softened. “Susan, I know you’re traumatized, and I really am sorry. I wish I could have done something sooner. And I do understand, but the answer is no. Let us handle this.”
Susan started crying. “Can I at least watch? You can’t deny me that.”
Stuart thought for a moment, then nodded yes.
Jackson was secured in a section of the command center. The remainder of the newly formed assault force secured the guards who were home, and the men from the Robbinsville mission were secured separately from the newly captured guards. The takedown was accomplished in less than an hour.
Stuart told Wade, “They’re all accounted for, Boss. Little Soldier has a team searching their homes for weapons. Couple more hours and it’ll be done. What now?”
At 1700 hours, on Wade’s order, Benjamin assembled the complex’s population, including the overthrown guards, in a parking lot. Their children were kept secluded and watched over by three of the SEALs.
Wade stood before the men and women of the ORNL. “My name is Captain Wade Coltrane, formally of the United States Navy Special Warfare unit, also known as SEALs. I command over two hundred fi
fty former Special Operations soldiers. We are going to build a new society based on the Constitution of the United States of America. Until that happens, we will operate under a version of martial law. Some of you people have taken advantage of your unique situation and turned away those who desperately needed your help. In the name of your faux king, you extorted food and supplies from survivors who could not afford the loss. That is a moral failure on your part. I understand most of you accepted Jackson’s authority in order to protect your children and your spouses. I will not stand in judgment of what you did or did not do. I hope you retain enough humanity to feel guilty for your actions.
“You men who were on the Robbinsville patrol know your fate, and you can explain it to your wives and children in any manner you see fit. For those of you who have just been disarmed, you are hereby relieved of all security duties with the FPS. Your homes have been searched and your weapons confiscated. We will soon be opening the ORNL to all who need our help. You will no longer receive food from those people. If you want to eat, you will be required to work. If you refuse to work, you will be banished. In other words, if you do not work, you do not eat. You former FPS men are being given a second chance. If you prove you can be trusted, you may be re-integrated into the security forces in the future. Captain Benjamin is in charge, and his word is law.
“Mr. Jackson is guilty of murder and crimes against humanity, and will be summarily executed. I do not think you are bad people. I do think the majority of you were put in a situation where you chose the easy path. Unfortunately, that is a common, human failing. It is my sincere hope that it never happens again. But rest assured, my men and I will be around to ensure the ORNL is the cornerstone for a new society.”
He turned to Benjamin and said, “Don’t make a spectacle out of Jackson’s execution. Just do it, and bury the crazy bastard. From my perspective, it looks like things are pretty much under control.”
Stuart said, “Captain, I never—not in a million years—dreamed it could end this well. And I’m pretty sure they accepted what you said. I think in a way, they’re glad Jackson’s reign is over. I don’t foresee any problems, but I’d appreciate it if you’d stick around for a few days just to make sure.”