by Robert Boren
“What’s that?” Nelson asked.
“The reason for taking Texas out of the union,” Ramsey said. “They’re starting to disarm citizens in the blue states.”
“And in the purple states, too, but it’s not going well for them. These people are beyond stupid. They can only get away with that in places like Manhattan, Baltimore, Newark, or Chicago. There was a real bloodbath in upstate-New York a couple days ago. Local citizens and law enforcement killed a group of Federal agents who came in to confiscate weapons, after the President extended martial law north of the city.”
“Never let a good crisis go to waste,” Ramsey said. “Idiots. And the President said he wouldn’t do that in his speech, remember? They doing anything about the uprising?”
“Yeah, enforcing a press blackout,” Nelson said. “They don’t have anywhere near the amount of soldiers needed to put down a rebellion of the size they have building in the rural areas of the New England states.”
“So that means they probably wouldn’t have tried that in Texas,” Ramsey said.
“That made my decision difficult,” Nelson said. “Came down to focus.”
“Focus?”
“Yeah, I want our citizens to focus on the enemy, not on the Feds. The problem with the Feds will solve itself. The citizens will see to that eventually. They’ll take about so much, then they’ll be done. Even in the blue states.”
“Think so, huh?” Ramsey asked. “Hope you’re right. We’ve been shellacked in the last few national elections.”
“I’m watching California carefully right now. It’s a blue state because of illegal immigration and the fact that it’s been a magnet for lefties for so many years. Conservatives and moderates have lost their voice in government due to that and very shrewd gerrymandering, but look at the initiatives which have passed by landslides. Some of them would have a tough time passing in Texas.”
“Haven’t paid much attention to the land of fruits and nuts,” Ramsey said. “So what about the rest of the tanks?”
“Landry is going to fly reconnaissance missions along I-10, east from Fort Bliss. He’ll follow the tributary roads too, like 290 and 62, and I-20. Ought to be able to find them.”
“Well, make sure they ignore the ones in Fort Stockton,” Ramsey said.
“Don’t worry, he knows about those,” Nelson said.
“Any news about the other thing?” Ramsey asked.
“What other thing?”
“Kip Hendrix,” Ramsey said.
“Oh, that,” Nelson said. “Ought to be interesting. They’ve already approached him, but they’re making like they want help with the nuclear attacks and the anti-submarine weapons. We traded some intelligence with them along the back channel already. I told Hendrix it’s fine for him to become part of the back channel, but to keep his eyes and ears open and report anything dicey right away.”
“You really trust that guy, don’t you?”
“Well, yes and no,” Nelson said. “I still consider him to be my friend, and I think he loves Texas.”
“I’m skeptical,” Ramsey said.
“You been keeping an eye on him?”
“Yeah. He spent a good part of the day with his secretary yesterday.”
“She his type?”
“In spades,” Ramsey said. “Name’s Maria. Beautiful Latina. He’s being careful, though. Her sister attempted suicide, so Hendrix went over to help. Took Maria to the hospital, then to lunch afterwards.”
“What happened to the sister?”
“Under observation for now,” Ramsey said. “She’s got a history. Poor girl is pretty messed up.”
“What happened after lunch?”
“He took her back to her apartment and dropped her off. We expected him to go inside.”
“I don’t want you to jump to conclusions,” Nelson said. “Really. Hendrix has used women in the past more than once, but he’s also been a good actor with more than one of them. You know his mom killed herself when he was in his early teens, right?”
“No, I didn’t know that,” Ramsey said. “We were never that close. I wasn’t in his social class, remember?”
Nelson chuckled. “He can be a little elitist. I used to ride him on that all the time. Became kind of a joke, actually.”
“Not funny to me,” Ramsey said. “So you want me to keep following him?”
“At a distance,” Nelson said. “I don’t care about what he does with the girl. They might develop real feelings for each other. Not our business. I know office romance can backfire, but look at the times we’re in.”
“So who do you want me to watch for?”
“Anybody who looks like they might be the enemy, from the local Mosques and such,” Nelson said. “Also late night meetings with Holly or his minion.”
“Jerry Sutton?”
“Yeah,” Nelson said. “Don’t get caught. I don’t want him to think he has a reason to do something bad. Comprende? ”
“Yeah, okay,” Ramsey said. “I get it.”
“Good,” Nelson said. “I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything about Landry’s search.”
“Thanks,” Ramsey said. He got up and left the office.
Chapter 15 – Genetics
Jason walked out into the mid-day heat, following the ratchet noise.
“Damn, you’re almost done already?” Jason asked, watching as Curt and Kyle torqued the .50 cal and remote control assembly onto the truck’s roll bar.
“Hey, brother,” Kyle said. “We’re making progress.”
“How heavy is that?” Jason asked.
“Let’s just say it’s good that he’s got a three-quarter ton pickup with some extra suspension pieces,” Curt said.
“You could have put the smaller machine gun on there,” Jason said.
“Nah, that ought to go on a lighter vehicle. You know, like a Jeep.”
Jason cracked up. “I thought I was getting an M-19.”
“We’ll see,” Curt said. “You probably still will, assuming we can get to San Antonio and back without getting ourselves killed.”
“Lovely thought,” Carrie said as she walked up.
“Seriously,” Kate added.
“I actually have another idea for the 7.62,” Curt said, “and we already have a potent off-roader.”
“Which we could tow to make it more highway-worthy,” Kyle said. “That worked really well. Best of both worlds.”
“That’s a good point,” Curt said.
“So what’s the idea?” Jason asked.
“I’m still thinking about it,” he said. “I’d need a better video camera than I have in order to pull it off. Might have to go into town and see what they’ve got.”
“Fort Stockton?” Jason said. “Good luck.”
“You still haven’t told us the idea,” Kyle said.
“One crazy idea at a time,” Curt said. “Now comes the hard part for this job. Mounting the control. I’ve got to design something that my 3D printer can handle. I’ll talk to you guys later.” He jumped out of the pickup truck bed and trotted to the toy hauler, climbing into the garage.
“Should I go help him?” Kyle asked.
“Nah, he has to think,” Jason said.
“We just saw something disturbing on the TV in the clubhouse,” Kate said.
“Uh oh,” Kyle said. “What?”
“Three of these tanks drove into Stonewall and made a big mess. Killed a bunch of people.”
“Stonewall?” Kyle asked. “Shit, that’s on 290. Hope Eric didn’t get caught up in that. He planned to go through there.”
“What happened to the tanks?” Jason asked. “They still on the loose?”
“No, they were taken out by some Texas Air National Guard jets,” Carrie said.
“Good,” Jason said. “I hope they know not to hit ours.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Carrie said.
“Maybe we should go get our training done with the tanks,” Kyle said.
; “I wouldn’t bother,” Kate said. “They already got enough men trained for all of them. I overheard Logan and Tyler talking to Nate, Fritz, and Gray about that. They’ve moved their focus onto those flatbeds. They’re trying to find a source for new tires.”
“Good,” Jason said. “Chances are we won’t be able to stay here for long.”
“Even with those tanks protecting us?” Carrie asked.
“Yeah, those things ought to help us quite a bit,” Kate said.
“There’s half a million of these creeps wandering around Texas,” Jason said. “We could get hit with a large scale attack, and the tanks would only slow them down.”
“Not to mention the fact that there were so many tanks hijacked,” Kyle said. “They might attack our tanks with some of their own. They might outnumber us by quite a few tanks, too.”
“So what do we do?” Kate asked.
“Watch, wait, strengthen ourselves,” Jason said. “Get ready to go on the offensive.”
Carrie looked at him, eyes getting glassy. “We have Chelsea to worry about.”
“I know, sweetheart, but if we don’t win this war, what’s her life going to be like?”
“I’m with Carrie,” Kate said. “I wish we could just go hide out somewhere.”
“There’s no place to hide,” Kyle said softly, getting closer to her.
“This just figures,” Kate said to herself, shaking her head as she went into Kyle’s arms.
“What?” Kyle asked.
“I finally find the right person, and it’s in the middle of all of this crap,” she said.
“I know,” Kyle said. “Our timing could have been better.”
“You two might never have met if not for this stuff,” Carrie said. “Hell, Kate, you didn’t exactly want to tag along with us at first, either. Remember?”
Kate giggled. “Yeah, I know. I thought this guy was an over-grown twelve-year-old at first.”
“Hey!” Kyle said.
“Oh, don’t worry,” she said. “You’ve won me over and then some. I’m yours, gladly. But Carrie is right about the timing.”
“Daddy,” Chelsea called from the motor home.
“She’s awake,” Jason said, smiling. “Coming, sweetie. Hungry?”
“Yes,” she said. “Can I have a popsicle?”
“I think lunch would be a better idea,” Carrie said. “I’ll come make you something.”
“No, it’ll be yucky,” Chelsea said, stomping her feet.
“See what you two have to look forward to?” Jason grinned and followed Carrie to the motor home, Kate and Kyle watching. Kate looked up and kissed Kyle passionately.
“Wow,” he said. “Middle of the day, huh?”
“I don’t understand the feelings I’m having,” she said. “It’s crazy, but I want that. Now.”
“What’s that?”
“Children,” she said. “I know, stupid idea.”
“It’s not stupid at all, except for the timing,” Kyle said.
“Carrie’s pregnant,” she said softly.
“Yeah, and Jason is worried sick about it,” Kyle said. “The baby is gonna come before this war is over.”
“You really think it’s gonna be that many months?”
“Yes,” Kyle said. He looked her in the eyes. “Shit, you don’t care, do you?”
“No, not really,” she said. “The urge is too strong. That’s what I don’t understand. I should be scared of being pregnant in this world, but I’m not. The way I look at it, better to bet on a positive future than to accept a horrible one.”
Kyle chuckled. “This isn’t unusual, actually. Read an article on that once. Scientific American. The article was mainly about how more boys than girls are born during and right after wars but it also talked about increased fertility in general. Can’t remember exactly why. Something to do with genetics.”
“Maybe human population is like one big organism,” Kate said. “What happens to the group affects individuals beyond what we’re conscious of.”
“Where we going with this?” Kyle asked.
They locked eyes again, Kyle drawing her tight into his arms. Kate stretched herself up and kissed him again, then backed off and studied his face.
“Out with it,” Kyle said softly.
She sighed. “I’m almost out of birth control pills. If I’m going to stay on them, I need to get with my doctor and have the prescription sent to a town around here.”
“You don’t want to,” Kyle said.
“No, I don’t, but it’s not just my decision.”
Kyle was silent for a moment. “You’re right, it’s not just your decision.”
She looked at him. “So what do you want?” she asked, her voice tremoring.
“Don’t call your doctor,” he said, pulling her close again. “Toss what you have left.”
“Oh, God,” she said, kissing him again. Then she took his hand and pulled him towards their trailer.
Chapter 16 – Cruising the Bay
“There’s our baby,” Juan Carlos said, walking on the dock with Brendan. “None the worse for wear.” There was a tech working on something in the pilot structure.
“It’s the only boat here,” Brendan said. “I thought Jefferson’s boat was gonna be with us.”
“Somebody told you that, dude?”
“Nah, I just assumed.” Brendan snickered. “You know what they say about that.”
“When’s Richardson going to be here?”
“Should be any minute,” Brendan said. “Probably still playing kissy-kissy with Lita.”
“Wish I was still playing kissy-kissy with Madison,” Juan Carlos said. “What a dish.”
“Think they’re going to keep us around here for a while?”
“I hope so,” Juan Carlos said. “We’ll see. Here comes Richardson.’
“Get any sleep last night?” he asked as he walked up.
“Maybe we should ask you the same question,” Brendan asked.
“Yeah, maybe you should,” he said as he stood next to them, looking at the boat. “She ready, Cooper?”
The tech looked up at them. “Yeah, Richardson, she’s ready. Try not to screw her up.”
“How crazy has it been around here?” Brendan asked.
“We’ve had some sniper activity, but only at night,” Cooper said, standing up and climbing onto the dock. He was a tall man with dark hair and a droopy mustache, rubbing his hands on a towel. “Better be careful with that M-19 around here. You hit one of these buildings and there’ll be hell to pay.”
“Damn, he’s right about that,” Juan Carlos said. “This is not like the lake.”
“No, it’s not, and we’ve got to watch the .50 cal fire too,” Richardson said. “Hopefully this will be more patrol and less battle.”
“What’s our main objective?” Brendan asked.
“Stop incoming boats,” Richardson said. “Look for weapons, hidden people,”
“Nuclear bombs,” Juan Carlos said, cutting in. Cooper laughed.
“Funny ha ha,” Richardson said. “I don’t think we’ll find any of those, but this is serious business. The danger here is going to be closer in. We have to stay sharp. Especially if we have to board boats.”
“Well, that is what we were originally trained for,” Juan Carlos said. “All this naval warfare crap came along later, and we never got any training for that.”
“Yes we did,” Brendan said. “The M-19 training.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Juan Carlos said. “Our SMAW is still under the seat, right?”
“You mean that little bazooka?” Cooper asked. “Yeah, it’s still there. Not sure why.”
“Do we really need the M-19 in here?” Juan Carlos asked. “Given the risks of grenades flying around populated areas?”
“Yes, for fleeing boats,” Richardson said. “Remember the directive that Nelson sent through our high command. Pleasure boating is illegal for the time being. No fisherman, no sight-seers, nothing. Whoever we st
op had better have a pretty good reason to be there. If they refuse to stop, we sink them. No quarter.”
“So we need to assume that anybody we see is up to no good,” Brendan said. “Got it. What happens if we have to escort somebody in? We’re the only boat here that I can see.”
“There are several more north of here,” Richardson said. “We call in any escorts, and we’ll get called if we need to move elsewhere to help. We are razor thin, though. Our backstop is air support. Choppers. We have three in the area, ready to take off in a split second.”
“We ready to go?” Juan Carlos asked, standing next to the pilot station.
“Yeah, it’s time,” Richardson said. “We stay out until 2:00 AM, and then the choppers with their night vision take over.”
“I’ll load the guns,” Brendan said, leaping into the boat. Cooper and Richardson untied the lines, then Richardson jumped on.
“Be careful out there,” Cooper said. “We’ve lost people.”
“Will do,” Richardson said. “Go ahead, Juan Carlos.”
He fired up the engines and backed out of the slip.
They cruised slowly out into the bay.
“There isn’t an opening to the Gulf nearby, is there?” Brendan asked. He finished loading the .50 cals and moved to the M-19.
“Doesn’t look like it, dude,” Juan Carlos said. “How far away are the other patrol boats?”
“One’s based out of Port Mansfield,” Richardson said. “the other one is way up in Baffin Bay.”
“Is that far away?” Juan Carlos asked.
“Yeah. There are more boats up further, but they’ve been stationed here for a while. They aren’t transplants from the Rio Grande like we are. They’re around Corpus Christi and beyond.”
“They don’t really expect us to escort anybody, do they?” Brendan said.
“No, if we see unauthorized boats in here, we blast them. Didn’t need to tell that contractor about it.”
“Anybody check that guy out?” Juan Carlos asked. “He seemed a little sketchy to me.”
“Cooper?” Richardson asked. “Yeah, he’s okay. Been in the business a long time.”
“Watch your speed close to shore,” Brendan said. “It’s really shallow. I can see the bottom in the dusk, but once it gets dark, it’ll be tough.”