by Marcus Sloss
“Uh oh,” Willow said in a hushed tone. Uh-oh was an understatement. “What does this mean?”
We stood there in shock. My brows furled and I rubbed my worry lines. Who would have done this? My eyes scanned the store, no longer focused on the awesome weapons. I was looking for another one of Dr. Gepstein patients I might know. When I came up empty, I deflated. The plan I had for weapons shopping was already falling apart. The other stores could get us weapons but they would be lacking uniformity and each team member would end up with a unique set. Unless… I rushed to the checkout counter, desperate for answers.
“Howdy, how can I help you?” the young man asked. He wore a Gunrific hat, vest, and even a lanyard hung around his neck with the store name and logo.
“In the market for 308 rounds -”
“All sold. Something about an apocalypse. I tend to hear that a lot working at a place like this. She was mighty convincing. Especially when she bought the best stuff the store had to offer. I mean all of it, missed her about twenty minutes ago. Came in with these guards you see in the movies. Started waving at whole aisles as needed purchases. The boss, and I think the owner, were trailing behind her. I doubt I will ever see something so crazy again.”
My jaw wanted to smack the floor when I pieced together what he was saying. My Gpad pinged an alert. A flick of my eyes to my wrist device said I needed to open a message.
‘You should really answer my texts’ - Persephone
‘Perci, I told you I needed space to adjust to civilian life. Things have changed, though. I need you to come to Denver. I should have messaged you earlier. I promised I was planning to invite you on Monday. I am sorry.’
‘You want me in Denver? Why now?’ - Persephone
‘Classified. I need you on my team Perci.’
‘You need me? Kinda leading a girl on, aren’t you?’ - Persephone
‘I never have done so before, Perci. You know that. I have been nothing but honest and open with you. I need you.’
‘Is the pink-haired one a team member or a love interest?’ - Persephone
My eyes squinted and my teeth ground as my jaw clenched. Finally, everything was starting to make sense. Being played like a puppet was painful and I hoped she had a good reason. The young man behind the counter saw my grimace and frowned.
“You okay mister?” the clerk asked.
“Perfectly fine. Need to work on my poker face. What’s your name?”
“Barry, sir.”
“She was not crazy, Barry. I hope you prepare. Give me your Gpad.”
The young man put his Gpad forward and I dumped $9,000 into his account. I left behind his elated eyes of joy as my eyes scanned for my target. A delighted scream drew the attention of the entire store. Perci barreled for me and leaped into my arms. She smelled of roses and I noticed a few things different about her immediately since the last time we had seen each in Saudi. Her flat chest mysterious had grown plump, large boobs. The hair my nose was buried in during our embrace was no longer black; she went light brown with streaks of blonde. Torrez was explaining to Willow who this new woman was as I walked us over to the two. Perci nestled in tighter, not wanting to let go and Willow smirked at me with a raised brow.
“Perci.”
“Cap. Before you tell me no, I can hug you now. It is okay,” Perci said, trying to convince me.
Her hazel eye locked to mine and she beamed a smile at me. The woman was short at barely five foot one. She had never been anything besides skinny and I was happy to see a flesh over her cheekbones, which meant that she had gained some much-needed weight. Perci was always a positive woman despite her disfigurement from a dead left eye. She untwined her legs and delicately landed.
“So, Cap, what do you notice that is different!?” Perci asked in a chipper tone.
“You changed your hair color and grew it out! I liked the natural color but understand this brighter tone. Perci, I never in a million years would have figured you would suddenly grow boobs,” I said with a smile and she gave jazz hands in a ‘huzzah’ gesture.
“They certainly bring the boys to the yard. And?”
“And what?”
Torrez had enough of our banter and said, “Sergeant Persephone, good to see you. Did Dr. Gepstein fix your eye?”
Perci raised her left brow and spun on Torrez with her fists clamped to her hips. Uh oh.
“I wanted him to acknowledge something he has always avoided. Hi Willow, I am Perci. I promise we will catch you up and I am glad you accepted Cap’s offer. Really, I am. However, we need to leave though. Like five minutes -”
“Estás en tantos problemas Miguel.” Maria blasted out angrily from the front of the store.
I was confused as to why she was here.
“Huh!” I blurted. “Maria!? Oh, hi, Jasmine!” I said and the little girl hid behind her mommy.
Jasmine was skeptical of most men, so I knelt down and waved. The two big guards in tactical gear escorting Torrez’s wife and daughter jokingly returned my greeting. Four more guards enclosed around us.
“Perfect, everyone is here. Our take off clearance is now. Follow me please,” Perci said and I kneeled there, stunned. “Cap, it is vital to the lives of these people we leave now. Trust me.”
I nodded in acceptance. Perci loved me, like a lot. We trusted each other and I knew based on her tone and serious frown she was being honest in her statement. We were ushered out a side door that an employee held open. The intense noise of helicopter blades assaulted our ears while blasting us with washing air. Jasmine freaked out, forcing Torrez to clutch her tightly against his chest as we ducked on approach to the blackhawk. The transition from the interior of a gun store to the landing pad had been swift. So rapidly, I turned the internal military me back on without notice.
Confused looks greeted me as our growing team found seats to occupy. I verified every five-point harness was properly secured by yanking on loose straps. Willow was in the spot of someone wearing armor before and I had to tighten all her straps before seating myself. She gave me conflicting eyes and I planted a reassuring soft kiss on her cheek. The conversation we were going to have later was not going to be fun. I sat across from Willow and Perci with two black suiters cramming me in. Torrez, Maria, and Jasmine were on a different row sitting across from Becca and more guards.
Yup, I had been played; this was confirmed by Becca being in the helicopter beside a duffle bag. A few deep breaths cooled my brewing temper. This could all be explained rationally and I was certain it would be.
The whine of the 701c engines increased as the pilot pulled collective. A slight nose pitch and we soared away from Pew-Pew Emporium. I checked on Willow and saw her clutching Perci’s hand tightly in anxiety. Helicopters were old news to me, and the vibrating hum of the blades keeping us aloft was comforting. We flew for the Rockies as the city grew smaller with our increased altitude. We never went too high, because the elevation of Denver was already five thousand feet and helicopters hate high altitudes due to thinner air.
I glanced down the open left side door and saw the mass of drones delivering packages. There were so many that even the birds gave them space. For Perci to land and get take off authorization inside Denver meant I was fairly certain what was happening. I only needed to ask her. Unfortunately, the earmuffs they handed me were flight only; not the cool kind you could talk to the pilot with. So again, I let out some frustration with exhales, knowing all my puzzlement would be solved soon. For now, I tried to enjoy the spring flight.
The blooming trees were fifty shades of green as we exited the confined city. Traffic clogged the limited roads west and gated communities were frequent. Down below, we could still make out the kids waving up to our loud ride in the sky. My thoughts drifted to what all the rich suburbanites would do when the news of aliens arrived. The logical conclusion was pushing further into the mountains. Isolated mountain ranges always drew humans with their chance of salvation from the masses.
The large excessive
homes transitioned into steeper cliff faces as the mountain grew. The trees thinned and their height shrunk from the thinner air. We leveled out only a thousand feet over the earth. A glance at the pilots and I saw they were supplementing oxygen at this altitude. My training had told me two things about going high in the air. You lost two degrees Celsius every thousand feet you went up. And above twelve thousand feet you needed supplemental oxygen. I had planned to flee to an area I had picked out at just under ten thousand. The fresh creeks, flowing river, and large local wildlife would mean we could survive easily in the summer. Winter was months away and another story. My mind did not drift too much as I absorbed all I could on the trip for later use.
Sporadic mansion sized homes and small isolated communities dotted the landscape between sections of vast wilderness. We flew over trees, creeks, and far fewer houses for the next ten minutes as building this far into the mountains presented logistical challenges and astronomical costs. I glanced out the left door to the south, expecting to turn for Aspen. We turned north following a river and suddenly my mind concluded what was happening and where we were going.
My eyes locked onto Perci, who gave a smirking wave. Of course, if she was behind this, then she clearly anticipated my surprised reaction. I noticed Willow had relaxed and even Jasmine was enjoying the flight now. The nose pitched over and the pilots dipped us over the river as he went near as possible to the water. The trees flew by us in a mix of blur and detail as we hurried north. A slight bump in elevation revealed a power pole. Hmm, I knew there was a dirt road back here from my earlier observations on Gmap. I wished I could get the pilots to spin to show why there were suddenly power poles, but we flared up with aft cyclic to bleed off speed.
The helicopter shuddered as the force of the blades smashed into the wind at an angle meant to slow the aircraft. The nose tilted back to a level pitch and a tiny shake of the frame told us we had landed. The view outside was astonishing. There was a mega-mansion here inside a valley. A horse barn was divided from the main structure by a mountain-fed creek. There were two in-law homes connected by brick paths to the main mansion. This revelation had me confused because this home should not be here.
We were ushered out of the helicopter, minus the guards who gave blank emotionless stares as they remained seated. The helicopter shimmied into a hover the moment we cleared its rotors. We watched the aircraft bank in a U-turn to proceed down the river south. The thought of where the power poles led to was gone as I saw a dozen pallets stacked beside the horse barn. Large print indicated the neat piles contained thousands of meals ready to eat (MRE). A chinook helicopter was parked with engines spooling in a soft whine as they idled. Around the dozen stacks of food, soldiers were moving the MREs one box at a time into the enclosed horse barn.
A lady in a power suit approached my stunned group. I recognized her immediately. The head of Gcorp herself - arguably the most powerful woman in the world - Linda Growlen, who happened to be the mother of Perci. We had only briefly met once before. She was on a video display telling me her irate daughter demanded I be rescued from Saudi Arabia. When I asked her if there were rides for my surviving men, she said there was only room for three. I tossed my most wounded onto the helicopter and thanked her. She told me no more help was coming, and I again thanked her, regardless of that fact, for saving Vasquez, Rogers, and Lohan. They were good soldiers and even if that was the best I could get, then that was the best I could get.
To see her here was a shock and I doubted the others understood who she was. Linda Growlen glanced at me with a charming smile. I gave her a terse nod of recognition and hoped she would leave it at that. Wrong. Linda patted Perci’s shoulder in goodbye and diverted from her daughter to me. The woman’s guards all but tackled me as I was frisked and a hairy hand found my penis before it discovered my hidden weapon. The pistol was tossed to the ground by the professional guard who never flinched at his task. Clear of weapons, Linda Growlen walked to me, while indicating we should head for the chinook helicopter.
The air was cooler up here and the sun was almost warming the crisp breeze. Linda wore a pristine white power suit and plain white reebok sneakers. She had shoulder length hair and wore no jewelry. She was pretty with dominating hazel eyes, but at the same time, she could have been the woman you called your neighbor. Not how I envisioned a person with god-like powers among humanity.
“Ms. Growlen.”
“Mr. Yang.”
“I like your retreat.”
“Ha! We both know you are not dumb, but for time’s sake, I will cut to the chase. I love Persephone. I tried for years to get her to fix her lazy eye, become more feminine, or find any passion besides trying to be normal. The girl is a Growlen, not a paperwork sergeant.”
“She earned her stripes under a fake name. Perci is the best hacker I know…”
“Ugh, she even lets you call her Perci. The world is going to change. Even my supercomputers and AI are not able to hack that ship. When I tell you AI, I mean AI,” Linda said as we walked over lush fields of spring grass in need of cutting. The chinook was not far away and as we closed the distance soldiers started to ready for departure. “Gcorp is the know all be all corporation of earth. We control the networks and the governments. Remember the last time I told you no more help was coming.”
“I understand, Ms. Growlen.”
“This is your plan she stole. This is my last favor to her for now. Well, there are loads of supplies on the way, like hesco barriers on the way from Fort Carson. After tomorrow, expect to be on your own. You have food, water, and this other nonsense you wanted. No expense spared to get everything here on short notice. Oh, Dr. Gepstein is squirreled away and safe. I hope you understand we needed him to be silenced for now.” The engines on the chinook spooled to active from idle. “My most valuable asset is in your hands, Mr. Yang. She said only the man who can bring his unit through hell and back could protect her. And Eric, for what it’s worth, I believe her, because you have an uncanny ability to adapt and we honestly know nothing of what is coming with that ship besides it is angry when spied upon. The big reveal besides this estate we picked out that one of my VPs had secretly built, is that the aliens arrive tomorrow. Sorry, we couldn’t let you do the plans the way you wanted. Hopefully, this is enough to ensure my darling daughter survives.”
I was hugged. The most powerful woman in the world had embraced me and I winced, expecting a dagger. When no blade dove into my back, I hugged her in thanks. She leaned forward until her plump lips were inches from my right ear.
“If she dies and you live, you do not live,” Linda Growlen said with the best fake smile in the world as she stared into my eyes.
She left my arms and her retinue flowed with her into the helicopter. The rotors blasted the ground with air as it bounced off the ground once before taking off. I was not surprised when the aircraft went over the nearest peak. My guess, she was going to a super deep bunker to drink champagne while President Hansen rubbed her feet. I was pulled from my thoughts when Perci slapped my back.
“I didn’t even get a hug. She was furious about this, though. The handshake goodbye and shoulder pat was more than normal at least,” Perci said sadly.
I waved Willow over while Becca, Torrez, and his family went to explore the mansion.
“Whose place is this?” I asked.
“You circled it,” Perci replied and I shrugged. “Ah! That explains why she agreed so quickly to my demands.”
“I don’t understand,” Willow said and I think she meant just about everything was not making sense at the moment.
“This is a secret home. Owned by someone she probably knows who won’t be using it in the near future. The mansion really is stunning. Why did you circle this place?”
“We can go over that later, after I explain some things to the both of you. I avoided you, Perci, and that is not fair. Also, your mom is scary as fuck,” I said and a hearty laugh burst out of her tiny frame. “For real, she said if you died and I l
ived, I was dead. I am shocked she did not tuck you into a bunker.”
“I would hack my way out and disable the systems as I left. Pretty much said exactly that. She knows I typically do not bluff. So, she gave me what I wanted. You,” Perci said and I winced. My back was patted softly. I waved both the girls in for a hug. The moment they were close, I snatched them up and over my shoulders they went. “Unhand me, you leviathan.”
“I thought leviathans were sea monsters?” Willow said between giggles.
“Well, it fits here. Okay, maybe it doesn’t. Where are you hauling us to, Cap?”
I reached a full stack of MRE boxes and placed the ladies down. I hefted a MRE box off the top and said, “Willow, I hope you are not hurt by Perci’s affection. We never crossed lines while in the military that we both wanted to. With that said, she is a dear friend and I have kept her at bay. No, I did not know who her mother was for a long time, and Perci obviously knows I never cared about her background when we served together. Okay, both of you are due some answers about Saudi Arabia and why I shut down. I hope you like a war story because things are about to get interesting.”
“I really, desperately need to pee! That darn helicopter twerked, jiggled, and vibrated my bladder the moment we got in. You’re lucky when you hoisted my over that sexy shoulder of yours you did not get soaked.”
“Gross,” Perci and I said in unison.
Willow fled into a horse stall while I wrapped around the outside of the building. Crap, I forgot my pistol. “Did someone pick up my concealed weapon the guard tossed out?”
“Are you peeing?”
“Are you?”
“Men! Yes, your testicular remover is in my bust. Thanks for noticing, by the way. The doctor produced a fantastic set of tits. I play with them all in the mirror or bath all the time. So far, I have not missed being mistaken for a man,” Perci said and I could understand. There were more men than women during the first phase of the peacekeeping. She cut her hair like the men had to and people gave her space. That and the lazy eye were enough. “So, are we moving all these boxes in while you talk?”