The Forgiven The Fallen The Forsaken

by S. M. Armstrong

  Jamie had found an economics professor, Dr. Sandra Black, from the University of San Diego. Jamie was thrilled with Sandra's approach to macro economics. Sessions were less about lectures than about discussions of concepts out of the book and applications to the current reality. It was fascinating material.

  Meanwhile, Luke slaved away at advanced algebra. Raul was fantastic about pointing out where the math could be used. That one skill set could be the gateway to so many others was not lost on Luke, and he was hooked.

  Both Jamie and Luke were convinced that they had made the right decision, but what caught them off guard was Sandra's insistence that they start attending small dinner parties of academics. Usually the parties would be of seven or eight college professors plus Luke and Jamie.

  The intellectual arguments were enlightening. Luke and Jamie were delighted to be exposed to cutting edge theory and disagreement among some of the brightest in various fields. This is so much better than just reading textbooks, thought Luke.

  Before long, the sessions were an open secret among the southern California academics and intellectuals and Sandra was buried in requests for invites. Luke and Jamie were thrilled with the opportunities to learn, and the various professors were pleased at having any connection to the first family. It was a good match and an impressive education.

  SAN DIEGO HARBOR

  NOVEMBER 6th

  The Slippery Slope had powered into San Diego harbor the day before. Kemp had been only too happy to refuel then park the trawler at the dock. He hadn't slept enough during the voyage and was grateful for a day or two to recover, so he sent the rest out to enjoy San Diego while he slept.

  In the morning, he woke to find all of the women waiting for him in the living area. Maria said, "Skipper, we need to go now!"

  He took one look at them and said, "Untie us and let's get moving then. You can explain to me once we're underway."

  After the ship was away from the port, Kemp asked, "So what happened."

  Sonya turned on the television in the bridge and hit play on the video recorder. It was a news show covering a major explosion in the heart of Boston and describing it as an act of terrorism. Kemp's mouth dropped when he saw his name and picture on the screen as the man believed to be behind the bombing.

  "We know you weren't involved because you've been with us the entire time, but we sure would like an explanation."

  He rubbed his face in his hands for a moment, then looked up and said, "My employer was involved in a coup attempt that was nearly successful. When it wasn't, the idiot ordered a hit on President Ambrose that also nearly succeeded. I would have blocked it had I known.

  "Then the jackass ran and called me on the satellite phone afterward. He was too stupid to know that the NSA had to be listening. From that call he was identified which led to me being fingered. They killed him, but I fled before they could get to me. They even carpet bombed to try to get me and came very close. All three of my men who were with me died.

  "They're not sure if I'm alive or not, but now they're going to cast as wide a net as possible. I'm just glad the bombing wasn't in Southern California.

  "So now you know my big secret. You can't say my real name anywhere. You can't look me up on the internet because they will be watching for patterns that might indicate that a searcher knows something about me.

  He sat upright. "Did any of you do an internet search? If you did you can't ever use that computer online again."

  Lisa said, "We just watched the TV. We were waiting for you to wake up to do anything at all."

  "That's a relief. If anyone needs off, I understand."

  Pam said, "Fuck you! I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you. We're here to stay and we're going to protect you." All the rest agreed strongly.

  "Sorry. I had to ask."

  Sonya said, "We wouldn't have recognized you except that we've been with you so much. Maybe no one will be able to connect you to that picture."

  He thought for a moment. "The problem is Simon and Phil, and we told both of them we were heading to Hawaii to live."

  "I don't think they're going to recognize you," said Sonya, "Simon was nearsighted and only saw you up close once or twice and Phil only saw you for an hour or so, but just the same, I think you're headed for some plastic surgery in South America."

  He grimaced, and said, "Unfortunately, that's the plan."

  SAN FRANCISCO

  LATER THAT MORNING

  Phil was relieved when he saw Kemp's picture on the screen. He'd been terrified that the buyer would find out that the boat was stolen and come back to kill him. He made a Florida title for the boat and created a fake owner's identity and signature. The work was top notch, so it probably went right through, but you could never be sure when washing a title.

  The opportunities for a dishonest living these days were amazing. Phil wasn't his name and the boat was one he had stolen out of Canada a couple of months before. He didn't know if the real owner was alive or not, but he really didn't care either way.

  He had been hiding since he sold the boat. Now he could come out of hiding and enjoy the $850,000 he scored out of Kemp.

  He knew if he ever told anyone, he'd be headed straight back to prison. For all his flaws, ratting on himself wasn't something he was about to do and, besides, he knew a set up when he saw one. There was no way the guy was planting bombs in Boston when he was buying yachts on the opposite coast. Dude must have pissed someone off big time, he thought. Nice to see someone else besides me getting my luck for a change.

  BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTES

  NOVEMBER 7th

  Rob was beyond pissed off. He had his team with him and they were examining the wreckage of what had been a skyscraper the day before.

  "This doesn't make sense to me," said Will."Why would Kemp hit this?" He looked at Airman Green and asked, "What do you think, PK?"

  Green was assigned to the team tracking Kemp and had almost immediately been dubbed PK for "Puke Kid" by Dave and Ann. The nick name stuck and Green knew that it was a sign of sick affection and not completely sadism, or at least he hoped it was affection. Mostly, he understood he was stuck with it for now. He answered, "I don't think that Kemp was involved in this. I think it was a hit on Senator Ellis and maybe an attempt to get rid of something in the building."

  Ann asked, "What about the e-mail taking credit?"

  "Too convenient. It's a con."

  "I think PK's right," said Dave. "Kemp's scurried down a hole somewhere else in the world or he's dead. He's not going to screw around with this kind of operation. Besides, this just doesn't smell like Mossad methods. This is amateur night."

  Rob agreed with that but didn't like where the idea led. "I'm thinking the conspiracy is still alive and is covering its tracks, but they've lost their most competent people. Casualties?"

  "Estimates are from three hundred to five hundred dead," answered Ann. "We won't know for a while."

  "So what happens next?"

  Will answered, "We get out of the way and let the FBI do their thing. Maybe we'll get lucky and catch a whiff of something."

  Rob said, "I need all of you looking for conspiracy activity. Figure out where they would be and what they would have to be doing. Find the missing pieces so we can kill these sons of bitches right."

  Will said, "Okay folks, back to HQ. We've got work to do."

  WISCONSIN

  NOVEMBER 12th

  Luke and Jamie had picked up a Kunoichi truck in Milwaukee and were running a load of tools to Columbus, Ohio. They were met with the usual fanfare at the tool factory, but managed to cut through most of it with the excuse of having a deadline to keep.

  The workers were thrilled to get to meet the two of them. It was always strange, but Luke and Jamie were beginning to get used to it. Maybe that's the really weird part, thought Luke.

  Once on the road, the convoy drove south on the 94. Luke drove the first leg while Jamie worked on homework. It felt good to be on the road and they r
eally did enjoy the travel. It seemed like what they had done for most of their time together. It was normal.

  When they stopped to fuel up a few hours later, they were surrounded by Kunoichi and other drivers at the truck stop. They took the time to talk with all of them in the store before saying, "Pull time for us, folks. We need to be back on the road."

  To his left, Luke noticed a flicker of movement that wasn't right. He shifted position without even being aware he'd moved, and narrowly avoided being stabbed an Arab man in a restaurant uniform. The man slashed at Luke's head and Luke leaned back out of the way and kicked the attacker's closest knee with his heel. Luke then into the return slash he knew was coming, using both forearms to block the arm and then to guide the man's right elbow up over his left shoulder as Luke turned for a better position. He stood fully upright, pulled down on the forearm and was rewarded with a sickening snap as the arm broke at the elbow and the knife fell from the man's useless fingers.

  Luke turned back the other direction and slid behind the attacker while pulling and twisting the broken arm to the side. He kicked out the back of the man's knee and guided the attacker's head into to the right and upward as the man toppled backward. As his assailant hit the floor, Luke dropped his full body weight on top of the badly hyper-extended neck, just as Uncle Jim had taught him. The neck broke at the axis with a loud crack and the man's limbs thrashed for a moment after he died.

  The attack was over in seconds, and Luke stood carefully. Everyone in the room was stunned, except Jamie, who had her pistol out and was looking for a target. As always there was someone standing there with a camera recording. Figures, thought Luke.

  Looking down at the dead man's quivering limbs, Luke thought, Uncle Jim never told me that could happen. Luke shivered, very uncomfortable with the entire situation. He didn't have to break the man's neck. He heard Uncle Jim's voice from one of the training sessions saying, "Killing is a parameters decision. If they come at you with a weapon, you take them out." That's certainly what he had done without any thought what so ever.

  The silence was broken when one of the drivers said, "Fucking Muslims. We'll take care of this asshole, boss."

  Luke and Jamie left as the body was dragged out into the parking lot.

  Back on the road, Luke said, "That wasn't my idea of a good time."

  Jamie snorted, and said, "What a stupid way to die. But what can you do? Uncle Jim's going to be pissed."

  "He'll just figure we took care of it. I have a feeling that won't be the last time. Do you mind driving this leg?" Luke had put his hands in his pockets to hide the shaking.

  She noticed and hugged him. "Of course. I'm glad you did what you did. And if you hadn't killed him, I would have."

  "I'm just getting sick of the body count. We've killed more people than most combat soldiers ever did, and they've mostly been other Americans. I would be happy to go for the rest of my life without killing anyone."

  "I know what you mean. Just don't let wishful thinking slow your aim."

  "It won't."

  By the time they dropped their load off in Ohio, they were not surprised to find that videos of the attack and the abuse of the body had been put online and were now being seen all over the world. One video showed the attack and the other showed the body on a tarp, wrapped in bacon and ham from the truck stop restaurants, and being dumped in a hole behind the truck stop. The male drivers took turns urinating on it before finally burying it.

  "I wish they hadn't done that," said Luke. "It makes me look like a jackass, even though I had nothing to do with anything after defending myself."

  "Relax, it's not all bad," said Jamie. "It's good for people to know not to fuck with us."

  "I'm just worried next time will be a rifle. And I'm not crazy about the whole bacon thing. Now we're likely to have more of a problem."

  "We'll do okay, besides, there aren't all that many Muslims left."

  "One less, now, anyhow," he said with a grin. "Let's dump the truck at the yard and grab a good night's sleep before flying back."

  "That's the best idea I've heard all day."

  Luke's satellite phone rang. He looked at the number and said, "I guess mom saw the video," before answering it.

  PANAMA CANAL

  NOVEMBER 20th

  Kemp had bribed the Panamanian officials well and they had very little time to wait for their slot to enter the canal. It seemed amazing to him that they were able to slip through so easily, but the locals were a lot more interested in getting paid than in doing their jobs. Some things never change, he thought. Thank God!

  Travelling through the canal was fairly boring, actually. It was even a bit tedious when it came right down to it. They just stayed in the shipping lanes at a slow speed until coming to the locks at the other side and waiting their turn to exit.

  Kemp used the down time to think about his situation. On the surface, the women of his strange little family had taken the seriousness of his fugitive status in stride, but in the days since they had discovered it, he found he spent most nights sleeping alone. He had stuck to a rule of never asking any of them for attention. Truth be told, he hated the idea of having a harem and worked hard to make sure that it didn't become that. It was a family and he would never let them down if he could help it.

  Still, he worried that some would feel left out or slighted, so worked at being accessible to all of them and to treat them as individuals. Still, he had fallen off of the pedestal. I hope they come around with time, he thought.

  As if reading his mind, Sandy stepped up behind him and put her arms around him. She kissed his neck and said, "We all love you, you know that, right?"

  He melted into her embrace and gently squeezed her hands in front of him.

  ATLANTIC OCEAN

  DECEMBER 1st

  Kemp was grateful to make it through the storm. They had been tossed around like a toy boat for the past day and a half and he was exhausted. The clear sky ahead was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

  He had Lisa take the wheel for a while and left the bridge to examine the ship and check on the rest of the crew. When he got to the living area, he found Pam and Sandy sleeping in a couple of the reclining chairs. They were all exhausted.

  Moving on to the engine room, he was happy with what he found. Everything looked good. The slippery slope was a tough little ship.

  When he got back to the bridge he asked Lisa how she was doing.

  "I'm good. Why don't you sack out for a while? I'll wake someone up if I get sleepy."

  He started toward the couch on the bridge and she said, "No, you go to your quarters, skipper. You need at least several hours of sleep. No argument. Get off my bridge."

  Knowing he was beaten, he wandered back to his bed, happy to find it empty. He was asleep within seconds of collapsing on the bed.

  He awoke hours later to the smell of steaks cooking. When he entered the dining room, he found Maria cooking and watching satellite television. "So you're awake, Sleeping Beauty," said Maria.

  He walked over and kissed her. "This smells wonderful. Where did you learn to cook?"

  A smile came over her face and she said, "My Grandma taught me. She was amazing."

  Kemp sat at one of the swivel stools around the kitchen bar. "I bet she was."

  Maria just smiled, lost in pleasant memories. Kemp sat looking out the thick windows at a peaceful ocean. After some time he said, "I'm going to check on the bridge and see if they want a break."

  "Thank you for everything."

  "You're welcome. I'll be back later."

  He found Sandy and Pam on the bridge. Sandy said, "Skipper, we were about to call you."

  He looked at the radar and saw a blip ahead. Grabbing the binoculars, he watched ahead, seeing a shipping container floating in the water about a half mile ahead.

  He handed the binoculars to Pam and said, "There's the problem. Let's slow down to make sure we don't get a surprise."

  Kemp had Pam steer ab
out 50 meters to the side of the obstacle and asked, "Who's up for target practice?"

  In a short period of time, he had most of the crew on deck taking turns with his AR 15 putting rounds in to the container. After each of them had fired a ten round magazine, the container slowly sunk under the surface on its way to the depths.

  "Good shooting! Now how about some food?" He stopped by the bridge to ask Sandy to take the speed back up to eight knots and went back to the dining room.

  Maria took a tray up to eat with Sandy on the bridge, and Kemp ate with the rest of the women in the dining room. The dinner was delicious.

  Lisa asked Kemp, "So what's the plan, Skipper?"

  "Few more days into Rio then take things from there."

  "What about us?" asked Pam.

  Kemp looked at her and said, "That hasn't changed. I'm not going to make anyone do anything or force anyone to stay. I'm also not deserting any of you, ever. How often do I have to keep repeating it?"

  Pam kissed him. "At least once a day. I just like hearing it."

  Kemp said, "I don't think I ever would have imagined something like this. It's not going to make you crazy?"

  "Look, we've been over this before," said Sonya." You like us. We like you. We're keeping you. You don't get any more say in the matter."

  Kemp laughed. "I know better than to argue. Let's clean up and go watch the sunset."

  In no time at all they had the meal cleaned up and were out on deck watching a beautiful sunset. Kemp took in a deep breath at the beauty of the sky over the Atlantic Ocean. He loved this new life and he loved all of these women. If it's not broke, don't fix it, he mused.

  LAS VEGAS

  DECEMBER 12th

  Rob, Jim, and Speaker Larson were celebrating the news that all of the new territories had approved their new constitutions and would be holding plebiscites deciding whether to request statehood.