Marcus tightened his grip around Caldwell’s neck. “You traitorous bastard! Going to work for Carrington’s regime and the IGC! I can’t wait to put you on trial after all of this is over!”
“Hah! Roman, you’re an idealist! Me? I’m a realist…I go where the money is,” Caldwell responded, a sneer audible in his voice. “You and your precious Arizona State Guard and United States. The IGC is going to destroy you and the Piss Ants and they’ll be in charge of the whole world. I don’t have to believe their crazy ‘religion’ to make myself useful to them!”
“I wouldn’t bet on that, Caldwell,” said Marcus. “I don’t think they ever intended for you to leave the dam alive. Whatever made you and the IGC think you could pull off this attack?”
“To make a point!” Caldwell growled. “We knew that Nevada would defend their money-maker…Vegas at all costs! They wouldn’t split their resources to defend the dam, as well.”
“But it’s a suicide mission…” Marcus began.
“Exactly!” said Caldwell. “It’s what the jihadis like…a suicide mission to strike at the infidels. They’ve got the bodies to spare…to throw away. Everywhere they go, they soon have the highest population growth…to shift the population balance in their favor in a few years. They have millions and millions of soldiers more than willing to die for their cause! They’ve been infiltrating the old U.S. and the PSSA for decades…growing their population. And they’ve been shipping in more by land, sea, and air for months thanks to that bitch, Carrington.”
“So who recruited you?” Marcus asked.
“Al Zahrani’s boy, Mustafa Al-Fakeeh. He was there on the dam but ran off as your troops closed in!”
“Just like he and Al Zahrani did a couple of years back near Kingman,” said Marcus.
“Yeah, he told me about that. Bragged how they tricked you and the CBII,” Caldwell chuckled at the thought. Then his eyes grew hard, “Then the bastard bails on me on the dam! I hope one of your troopers shot the son of a bitch!”
Cowen appeared next to Marcus and Caldwell. “Lu’s dead. I pulled her out of her seat to keep her from interfering with the controls. Which are pretty badly damaged, by the way…thanks to Caldwell! Frodo’s having real trouble keeping this bird in the air. He thinks he’s a found deep, narrow canyon close by that might work. We should be over it in a few minutes. The rock formation has some overhangs and such that might help deflect the blast.” Marcus nodded and told Cowen to go back and check in with Hills.
“When Cowen comes back, I’m going to have him cover you while I tie you up,” Marcus said to Caldwell. “I don’t want any more trouble out of you…get me?”
Caldwell nodded, but Marcus didn’t trust him as far as he could throw him. A few minutes later, Cowen returned. “Sir, we’re almost there!”
Marcus grunted then said, “Good, Tobias! I want you to cover Caldwell, while I tie him up. Then we’ll winch the bomb down into the hole and get the hell outta here!”
“I’m with you, colonel!” Cowen replied grimly. He pulled his sidearm and nodded to Roman to proceed. Marcus slowly released his grip around Caldwell’s neck and began to scoot himself away from the traitor. Marcus checked the nearby wall of the cabin to find some rope or webbing to use to bind Caldwell’s hands and feet.
Major Hills voice came from a speaker nearby. “Colonel, I’m about to go into hover over the canyon. This bird is hurt bad, sir! Don’t know how smooth this will be…or even how much longer we’re gonna be able to stay airborne.” Marcus rose to his feet and found a coil of intercom wire and plugged into the intercom system and his helmet.
“Frodo, do your best! I’ll have Cowen lower the bomb!”
Marcus drew his own sidearm and turned to Cowen. “Tobias, we don’t have time to tie Caldwell up. I’ll cover him while you lower the nuke. Go!” Cowen turned and made his way quickly to the belly hatch and winch controller.
As Marcus kept his pistol aimed at Caldwell, Cowen operated the winch and lowered the bomb away from the helo. The Chinook was bobbing and wallowing in the sky as its systems continued to fail. Some electrical shorts in the control panel upfront were adversely affecting other systems…including the power to the electronic winch, which suddenly stopped working altogether!
“Pull the quick release, Tobias!” Marcus yelled over to Cowen, taking his eyes off of Caldwell for just a second. Cowen reached up and yanked the emergency release lever. The cable drum began to spin freely, playing out the cable quickly. When the last of the cable played out of the drum, the who winch jerked once, twice, then stopped. Cowen opened a panel on the side of the winch box and pulled another lever. The cable separated from the drum and slithered through the hole in the Chinook’s belly, vanishing into the darkness below. “Frodo,” Marcus yelled over the intercom, “get us the hell outta here…NOW!!!”
The CH-47 dipped to port and Hills poured more power to the engines to drive them away from where they’d just dumped the nuke. To Marcus and Cowen, the engines and rotors didn’t sound right.
Caldwell used the sudden tilt of the helicopter to roll away from Roman and to get to his feet. He leaped forward and chopped the edge of his hand down sharply on Roman’s wrist; causing him to drop his pistol. The two men grappled once more, each trying to get the better of the other. Caldwell seemed intent upon forcing Roman back towards the open ramp at the rear of the helicopter.
Marcus brought both of his arms down forcefully on the inside of Caldwell’s elbows causing the man’s arms to bend and his hands to release their grip on Marcus’s uniform. The ASGuard colonel pressed the advantage. Marcus gripped the front of Caldwell’s tunic, then rolled backwards and downwards, pulling Caldwell off balance. As he neared the deck, Marcus tucked himself into a ball bringing his knees up between Caldwell and himself. His butt hit the deck and Marcus rolled onto his back still pulling Caldwell with him. Suddenly, Marcus uncoiled his legs propelling Caldwell up and over.
Marcus released his grip on Caldwell’s tunic and the man flew through the air to land hard on the ramp and slide towards its edge. Caldwell struggled to stop his slide finally catching one finger of his left hand in a tie-down loop on the ramp. “Roman! Help!” he screamed.
Roman rolled to his feet and moved carefully toward the ramp angling to one side of the cargo bay to find something to use as a handhold. “Be careful, colonel!” Sergeant Major Cowen warned Marcus as he approached the ramp from the opposite wall. “Don’t trust him, sir!”
Marcus knew he had to try to rescue Caldwell. It’s the right thing to do! Besides, the bastard has to stand trial for treason! Marcus thought to himself. He found a webbing strap tied off to the wall. He wrapped the loose end several times around his left wrist and hand then, squatting down, slid himself towards the end of the ramp. Marcus stretched out his right arm as far as he could but wasn’t close enough to grab Caldwell’s hand. Letting a couple of loops of the webbing slip from his left wrist allowed Marcus to get a little closer to Caldwell but still not enough to reach him by hand.
Marcus shifted his body slightly, swinging his right leg and foot over to the ramp’s edge. “Caldwell, grab my foot!” Marcus yelled to the man hanging precariously from the ramp. It took Caldwell two tries, one of which almost cost him his grip upon the tie down ring, but he was able to latch onto Roman’s boot with his right hand. With himself firmly anchored, Caldwell shifted his left hand from the hold down ring to a grip on Marcus’ trouser leg and began to pull himself up over the lip of the ramp.
Bit by bit, Caldwell pulled himself back into the helicopter. He was almost on top of Marcus when Cowen suddenly shouted, “Colonel…knife!” Marcus saw Caldwell’s right hand and arm shoot up, a combat knife gripped firmly in his fingers. Marcus brought his right arm up to block Caldwell’s attack.
Cowen’s booted foot suddenly appeared, striking Caldwell across the right side of his face. As Caldwell fell back, Marcus thrust his right hand and arm forward sharply, striking Caldwell in the chest. This time, Marcus let the ma
n fall. “Good riddance, you bastard!” Marcus yelled as Caldwell fell screaming into the darkness.
“Colonel, are you okay?” asked Cowen as he gripped Roman’s left wrist!
“Yeah, Tobias! Let’s get off this ramp and go check on Frodo!” Cowen and Roman pulled themselves deeper into the cargo bay until they reached a point where they could stand up and stagger along one wall towards the pilot’s station. By now, the Chinook was bobbing and weaving in the night sky. Standing behind Major Hills, Marcus had to hold on to the back of Hills’ seat to remain standing. He was shocked to see the control panel half darkened…and the other half seemed to be full of red warning lights blinking on and off.
“Colonel, you and the sergeant major strap in…tight! Put your backs against the forward bulkhead. I’m trying to find a place that we can set down but I guarantee…it won’t be a soft landing. I’ve got us some distance from the detonation point and I’m going to try to drop behind a mountain range up ahead…but it’s gonna be close,” Hills shouted over his shoulder.
Roman and Cowen got themselves into seats and fastened their restraints as tightly as they could. They pressed themselves into the back and head cushions. A moment later, horrendous screeching sounds started coming from the engines then…both engines suddenly shut down. “Colonel, engines are out! I’m trying autorotation! Hang on!” yelled Hills as he fought the controls.
The CH-47 had made it over the ridgeline and had begun descending into the valley beyond. Hills tried to keep the helicopter’s fuselage parallel with the angle of the mountain’s downward slope and use the energy stored in the still turning rotors to bring the Chinook down slowly. But CH-47s are big, heavy aircraft unlike other helicopters, so the helo continued to drop closer to the sloping ground below.
The forward wheels of the helicopter struck the ground hard enough to break the wheel struts off their mounts, dropping the helicopter’s nose to the ground. The rest of the helicopter smacked into the ground and slide lengthwise through the sparse, low brush dotting the mountainside. The rotors slowed and dipped, clipping the ground and scrub brush, then they began to break apart. The lower windshields cracked and were shoved into the cockpit area, breaking both of Major Hills’ legs. The pilot’s pain was intense but short lived. The twisted remains of an old Joshua tree lay directly in the helicopter’s path.
The nose of the Chinook smashed into the old tree shattering the windshield in front of Major Fred Hills. A large, jagged piece of plexiglass broke free and flew into the pilot! It caught Hills in the chest near his heart and pinned him to his seat. His heart beat once, twice…then stopped. Seconds later, the Chinook came to a halt, broken into in numerous large and thousands of small pieces.
Sergeant Major Cowen roused himself. He could smell aviation fuel and smoke, never good omens following an aircraft crash! He hit the quick release on his harness and once free, turned to his right to check on Colonel Roman. Marcus hung limply in his harness, a long, narrow piece of the windshield was sticking out of his upper left arm like a knife.
Cowen made his way carefully across the tilted floor to reach his commander. He checked Roman’s pulse and breathing and was happy to find both! Cowen positioned himself to catch Roman and then hit the colonel’s harness release. Marcus slid forward and Cowen caught him across his shoulders and shifted Marcus slightly into a firefighter’s carry. With one hand holding Roman in place, Cowen was able to use his other hand to firmly grip handholds to keep himself stable as he made his way to a large gap in the Chinook’s fuselage.
Reaching the gap, Cowen stepped carefully from the broken fuselage into the darkness. He knew that he needed to get himself and Colonel Roman as far from the helicopter as possible in case of a fire or an explosion. The darkness and the slope of the ground made it difficult for Cowen to keep his footing but he continued to move forward slowly, putting as much distance as himself and the helicopter. He moved eastward trying to stay at about the same elevation as the bulk of the helicopter debris. Cowen was about 100 feet from the fuselage when one of the helicopter’s fuel tanks exploded! The blast lit up the area. The blast wave lifted Cowen and Marcus and threw them through the air…only to crash back to the ground seconds later; leaving both men unconscious.
In a deep, narrow canyon several miles to the north, the timer on the nuclear device reached zero. The primary explosives detonated compressing the radioactive core materials into a super-critical mass. Milliseconds later, the nuclear genie was unleashed! The shape of the canyon and the rock of which it was composed contained much of the blast. Some radioactive materials were blown into the air and the sudden flash of the nuclear detonation lit the sky. People in Las Vegas, Henderson, Kingman, and many nearby towns later said that they saw two sunrises that morning! The first northwest of Lake Mead and the second, hours later, in the eastern sky as it had appeared for billions of years!
Chapter 13
January 12th, 1442 hours (MST)
ASGuard HQ Hospital, Verde Valley
Through the darkness, Colonel Marcus Roman could hear someone moaning in pain. As his mind cleared further, he soon realized he was the person moaning and in pain. His head, left arm and shoulder, and various other parts of his anatomy were all sending pain signals of one level or another to his brain.
His eyes fluttered open then closed again because of the sudden brightness of the room he found himself in. Marcus opened them ever so slightly, squinting to block some of the light. It helped…allowing him to make out that he was in a hospital room of some type…somewhere? He closed his eyes again and tried to take stock of his condition.
Marcus tensed then relaxed the muscles in the toes of his right foot. He could feel his toes move, so he did the same to the toes of the left foot. They moved, as well. Slowly, Marcus tensed or flexed the muscles of his lower legs then his upper legs. They were strapped down but seemed unbroken and functional. Next he tried his fingers, wrists, and arms. There was pain but also the familiar sensation of movement. Nothing broken…just incredibly sore!
He tried to swallow and suddenly realized how dry his mouth and throat were. “Water,” Marcus whispered hoarsely. Then, a little louder, “Water!” He opened his eyes and looked around the room slowly. His eyes widened when he saw his wife, Teresa, enter the room.
“Doctor Schriver, he’s awake,” LTCOL Teresa Roman shouted as she moved swiftly from the doorway to the side of Marcus’ hospital bed. Reaching his side, she bent over and kissed his cheek. “Marcus, you’re awake…finally!”
“Yesss…” he whispered. “May I…have some…water, please?” Teresa smiled, nodded, and stepped over to a nearby table to pour some water from a carafe into a cup. She put a straw into the cup and carried it back to Marcus.
“Just a sip, darling,” Teresa said, holding the cup and bending the straw to his lips. Marcus took a sip, holding the water in his mouth momentarily before swallowing. It felt so good! He took another sip and then nodded that he was done for the moment. Teresa set the cup aside and asked, “Where the hell’s Dr. Schriver? Honey, I’ll be right back.”
But before she could turn to leave the room, a tall, slender man of about 45 entered the room. He wore a white coat over his ASGuard uniform. “Doctor, he’s awake! He’s awake!” Teresa repeated.
Doctor Keith Schriver smiled at Teresa and their patient. “Excellent! Colonel Roman, I’ve been treating you and Sergeant Major Cowen since we found you. How are you feeling?” Not waiting for Marcus to answer, Schriver checked Marcus’ vital signs on the monitor next to the hospital bed then removed his stethoscope from around his neck. He listened to Marcus breathe and the beating of his heart for a couple of minutes then flipped the stethoscope back over his head and settled it around his neck. From a pocket, Schriver removed an ophthalmoscope, checked its light then used it to look into Marcus’ eyes. Schriver grunted, turned off the scope’s light, and put it back in his pocket.
“Colonel, I want you to look at my finger. Now follow my finger…no, don’t move your
head, just use your eyes,” he instructed Marcus as he moved his extended finger from side to side, up and down, then backwards and forwards. “Very good, colonel! If the lights are bothering you, we can dim them for you?”
“Please,” said Marcus, sounding a little stronger. “How am I?” Teresa Roman stepped over by the door and adjusted the light switch, dimming the lights.
Schriver smiled at his patient and answered, “Pretty good considering that you were in a helicopter crash recently! Oh, you’re bruised, sprained, concussed, lost some blood, and the list goes on. But I can say quite honestly that you are going to live and return to duty. Just not today!”
Marcus thought back to the battle at Hoover Dam, trying to get the jihadi nuke away from the dam, the fight with Caldwell inside the Chinook, and then things started to get fuzzy. He looked at Teresa and the doctor and asked, “What happened?”
Doctor Schriver pointed to Teresa and replied, “I’ll let your wife answer your questions while I go check on my other patients. I’ll be back later, colonel!” With a smile and a wave of his hand, Schriver excused himself and left the room.
Marcus looked up at Teresa and asked, “Is Tobias okay?”
Teresa nodded. “He’s bruised and battered, pulled a couple of muscles but otherwise he’s fine. He’s been out of the hospital a few days now.”
“Days? Wait a minute…how long have I been unconscious?” asked Marcus.
“Eleven days,” answered Teresa, “we were starting to get more than a little worried about you!”
“What the hell happened?” Marcus asked. “I remembering fighting with Caldwell and dumping the nuke then…nothing!”
“According to Tobias, after you guys ditched Caldwell…good job, by the way…Fred Hills was able to get you far enough away from the nuke before it blew. But…the Chinook was badly damaged and crashed down a mountainside. Uh, honey…I hate to have to tell you this now but Caldwell killed Luella and Fred was killed in the crash!” Teresa took Marcus’ hands in her own as tears began to slide down their cheeks. Mingus and Hills had been part of Roman’s Legion for many years and were valued friends and colleagues. They would be sorely missed by everyone in the unit.
The Arizona State Guard Trilogy Page 52