Bug Out! Texas Book 4: Texas Battle Cry

by Robert Boren

  “Okay, hold your fire,” Richardson said. “We need to save most of our ammo for the enemy boats.”

  Brendan nodded.

  “Hey, dude, they’re speeding up. They must have heard that.”

  “You got it to the floor?” Richardson asked.

  “Nah, about three-quarters,” Juan Carlos said.

  “Punch it,” Brendan said.

  Juan Carlos pushed the throttle all the way forward. The engine roared and they flew forward.

  “Damn, how fast are we going?” Richardson asked, holding onto the gun handles.

  “Seventy-five,” Juan Carlos said. “That’s about it, though. It’s to the floor.”

  “We catching up to them?” Brendan asked. “Never mind, I see the first one. Dead ahead. What’s the range on the grenades?”

  “Forgot to ask, didn’t we?” Richardson said. “Let’s hit them with the machine guns first. I know we can hit those last two boats with the .50 cals.”

  Brendan opened up, bullets ripping into the back of the first boat. “They got armor.”

  Richardson fired, a little higher, hitting the enemy pilot in the back. The boat veered off course as the other men on board struggled to get the dead pilot out of the way. Richardson sent another volley of .50 cal rounds into them, killing all but one.

  Brendan shot a grenade at the other boat. It exploded, blowing the stern off. He followed with a second grenade, which flew through the opening and blew up inside, sending debris from the boat high into the air.

  “Look out, man,” Brendan shouted. “Don’t run into any of that debris.”

  “Got it,” Juan Carlos said, speeding around it. “Damn, look at that big cruiser!” He slowed the boat and fired the main grenade launcher, hitting the upper deck, men flying into the air. Brendan and Richardson both opened up with machine gun fire, cutting the men to pieces as they struggled to get away. Then there was more machine gun fire hitting them from the side.

  “Watch starboard,” Juan Carlos yelled as bullets flew over his head.

  “See them,” Brendan yelled, wheeling the gun around and opening fire on a smaller boat racing towards them. “Heavy armor again. Switching to grenades.” He let go with two rounds in rapid succession, the first blowing a hole, the second going through and blowing up inside. The boat started to settle, but it was still moving, the enemy sailors who were left trying to get to the main guns on the top deck.

  “Get those guys!” Juan Carlos shouted. Both Brendan and Richardson turned their weapons in that direction and opened fire, killing the men on the deck. Then Juan Carlos turned the main gun towards them and fired, blowing up the bridge. Brendan hit them with one of his grenades and the boat exploded.

  “Wow, dude!” Juan Carlos yelled.

  “Any more enemy boats showing up?”

  “Yeah, a couple of the big boats are getting pretty close to Corpus Christi,” Juan Carlos yelled. “They’re almost to that big bridge.”

  “Look behind us,” Brendan shouted. Two more Texas patrol boats were flying up behind them, pouring on the speed.

  “Yeah, dude, let’s go get them!” Juan Carlos yelled, moving the throttle all the way forward again, the boat screaming forward as the other two got alongside.

  “Hope we get to them before they destroy anything,” Richardson said.

  “They’re trying to duck into that big harbor on the left,” Brendan said. He fired a grenade, but it fell short. Then one of the other patrol boats pulled forward and fired again, hitting the closest of the two boats, stopping its engine.

  “Nice shot,” Richardson said.

  “Seriously,” Juan Carlos said. He looked into the sight of the main gun and fired two rounds in rapid succession. The first missed, but the second one hit the other boat, which opened up with machine guns, Brendan and Richardson returning fire along with the other two boats. Then Juan Carlos and the pilot of another boat let grenades fly, both of them hitting the remaining enemy cruiser within a split second of each other, breaking the hull in half. It sank quickly in front of them.

  “That’s it, man!” Brendan shouted.

  “No more showing up?” Richard asked.

  “No, dude,” Juan Carlos said. “Should we stick around?”

  “No, let’s go back in,” he said. “But keep an eye on the display, and slow it down a little bit.”

  “Got it,” Juan Carlos said.

  Richardson grabbed the radio mike and hit the key. “Riviera Beach, come in please. Over.”

  “Richardson? You get them? Over.”

  “Yeah, Captain. These boats are a huge improvement. Over.”

  “The others get there in time to join the party? Over.”

  “Two of them did,” Richardson said. “Looks like we have two more approaching. Over.”

  “Yeah, we sent out a total of five counting you guys. Come on back. We need to chat. Over.”

  “On our way. Over.” Richardson put the mic back on the holder and got back to his gun.

  “We get to go back?” Juan Carlos asked.

  “Yep,” he said. “The Captain wants to talk to us.”

  “Wonder what’s up?” Brendan asked.

  “I have no idea,” Richardson said.

  The boat cut through the water as they all calmed down, getting back to the boathouse without enemy encounters. Juan Carlos pulled into the slip while Richardson and Brendan jumped onto the dock with ropes. Shelton rushed over.

  “Well, what’d you think? I heard from Cappy that you kicked some serious ass.”

  “This thing is unbelievable,” Richardson said.

  “Seriously, dude,” Juan Carlos said as he undid his seatbelt. “Feels weird wearing this belt, but I’d probably have flown out of the seat without it.”

  “Yeah, we could use something to stabilize us at the guns,” Brendan said.

  “They weren’t really designed to fire weapons at full speed,” Shelton said.

  “Don’t know why not,” Juan Carlos said. “Worked pretty well, all things considered.”

  “Let’s get up to headquarters,” Richardson said as he tied off the port line. Brendan finished with the starboard line and they rushed up the path to the building.

  “Good, you guys are back,” Jefferson said. “Nice work out there.”

  “Nice work with the boats,” Juan Carlos said. “Big improvement.”

  “Yeah, the enemy wasn’t expecting it,” Richardson said. “Especially the speed.”

  “Good,” Jefferson said.

  “What did you want to chat about?”

  “We got intelligence on those enemy vessels,” he said. “They were going to hit the harbor facilities next to Nueces Bay. We can’t afford to lose a facility like that, especially now.”

  “Yeah, what we have on the gulf coast has to supply the whole damn state,” Brendan said.

  “Exactly,” Jefferson said.

  “What were they going to hit us with? A nuke again?” Richardson said.

  “That weapon they used to take out the dam at Falcon Lake,” Jefferson said.

  “No way,” Juan Carlos said. “Where are they getting those? Russians?”

  “Not the Russian Government,” Jefferson said. “At least that’s what they’re telling us.”

  “So why’d you call us in?” Juan Carlos asked. “To tell us that?”

  “You guys got a better look at the impact of that weapon at Falcon Lake than anybody else.”

  “We weren’t the only boat that survived that, as you know very well,” Richardson said.

  “My boat was sheltered in a cove where we couldn’t see the wave coming,” Jefferson said.

  “Well, I remember it, that’s for sure,” Juan Carlos said. “I can still see it. Remember that cheesy movie about the ocean liner that got knocked upside down by the rogue wave?”

  “You mean the Poseidon Adventure?” Jefferson asked.

  “Yeah,” Juan Carlos said. “It was like that. A huge rolling wall of water. The only reason we surviv
ed is because we were close to shore when we saw it. It was coming like a frigging freight train.”

  Richardson was looking at the map app on his phone. “My God, if they let one of those loose in this channel, it wouldn’t just take out stuff in the water. It’d take out all the oil facilities along here. See?” He held up his phone to the others.

  “We know we have a problem,” Jefferson said. “We’re trying to find the base for these boats. We have a pretty good idea where it is. Waiting for confirmation, but it’s our third try. They keep finding our operatives and killing them.”

  “Where you thinking?” Richardson asked.

  “Mexico, of course,” he said. “Below South Padre Island. That’s why that area was so crazy. That’s why they wanted us out of there.”

  “Long way,” Juan Carlos said. “A lot of it in the open gulf.”

  “Yes,” Jefferson said. “I was thinking the new boats were over-kill. Maybe not.”

  “Trust me, they aren’t,” Juan Carlos said.

  “Sounds like we have a suicide mission coming,” Brendan said.

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” Jefferson said. “We aren’t going to send you to your deaths, believe me.”

  “Why not just station folks all along the coast?” Juan Carlos asked.

  “You don’t want to play defense against this weapon,” Jefferson said. “Wouldn’t work. They could clear out the area with one, then cruise through the devastation ten minutes later and get to their target easily.”

  “We should be using air power for this,” Richardson said.

  “There are still a bunch of M-1 Tanks and other mobile hardware in the hands of the enemy, all over Texas,” Jefferson said. “Lot more people at risk from them. Most of the air power is being used for that at the moment. If we’re lucky it’ll change before we have to send any boats to the Mexican coast.”

  “We don’t have enough resources for this fight, do we?” Richardson asked.

  “No,” Jefferson said. “We’ve got a really dangerous few months ahead of us.”

  “Maybe Nelson shouldn’t have taken us out of the union,” Juan Carlos said.

  Jefferson chuckled. “The US Government is in on this mess. Nelson figured that out. The military capability that would’ve stayed active in and around Texas would’ve been used against us.”

  “If that’s the case, Nelson had no choice,” Richardson said. “No choice at all.”

  “I can just see Hannah’s reaction to this,” Brendan said.

  “Do not tell your women about this,” Jefferson said. “Or anybody else, for that matter. This is classified. Get it?”

  Juan Carlos laughed. “Hell, dude, we don’t even have clearances.”

  “You do now,” Jefferson said. “So get serious about it. We’re already landlocked by hostile territory. If we lose the harbor facilities along the gulf coast, we’re done. The US Government will starve us out.”

  “We understand, don’t we, men?” Richardson asked.

  Both of them nodded quietly.

  “All right,” Jefferson said. “You guys can go back home. You’re going to be on call, though, so keep that in mind. I’d lay off the intoxicants.”

  “Just like the Battle of Britain, eh,” Brendan asked.

  “Yeah, pretty much,” Jefferson said. “Now get out of here.”

  “See you soon,” Richardson said. He headed for the door, the other two following.

  “Dammit,” Juan Carlos said. “This sucks, dude.”

  “I know, guys, but suck it up,” Richardson said, “and remember what the Captain said. Mum’s the word with the girls. Understand?”

  “Yeah,” Juan Carlos said.

  “I understand, boss,” Brendan said.

  “Good, then let’s go home.” They got into the SUV and drove away.

  Chapter 25 – Celebrity Witness

  Maria woke up in a cold sweat next to Hendrix.

  “Kip?” she asked softly.

  He grunted and turned towards her.

  “Kip!” she said, a little louder.

  “What, sweetie?” he asked.

  “Hold me. I’m scared.”

  He moved towards her, feeling her tremble. “What’s wrong?”

  “I had a nightmare,” she said.

  “I’m sorry, sweetie. Want to talk about it?”

  She was silent for a moment.

  “You don’t have to,” Hendrix said, holding her in the embrace.

  “No, it’s okay,” she said. “It was about Celia. She broke us up.”

  “Oh, honey, that’s not gonna happen,” Hendrix said, pulling her closer.

  “I know, but it was so scary,” she said. “Go back to sleep. I’ll be okay.”

  Hendrix reached for his bedside table lamp and switched it on, then looked her in the eye. “You’ll never lose me. I love you so much.”

  She reached for him, tears in her eyes. “I know. I love you too.”

  “Let’s get married,” Hendrix said. “We’ll go in the morning.”

  “You don’t have to do that now if you…”

  “I want you to be my wife,” he said, looking intensely at her. “Will you marry me?”

  A smile broke through her tears. “You know I will.”

  “Good,” Hendrix said. “You don’t mind a simple wedding?”

  “Not at all,” Maria said. “Tomorrow? Really?”

  “Really,” he said, smiling at her. “Now go to sleep.”

  She smiled back at him. “You think I can sleep now?”

  “Try,” he said, “We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

  “All right,” she said as he turned off the lamp. They settled against each other. Hendrix drifted off in minutes. She lingered for half an hour, listening to him breathe. I love this man so.

  Maria woke with a start the next morning, reaching for Hendrix. He was gone. She felt panic for a moment, but then heard him working in the kitchen. She threw on her robe and walked down the wide steps.

  “Hey, sweetie,” Hendrix said, standing in his pajama bottoms with no shirt. “You finally got to sleep.”

  “Yeah,” she said, hugging him from behind. “Mmmmm, French Toast, huh?”

  “Seemed like a good meal for our wedding day,” he said.

  “You don’t have to go through with it just because I had a nightmare.”

  He turned and pulled her into his arms. “Are you serious? I already told you that was what I wanted, remember?”

  “I know, but we don’t need to rush into it,” she said.

  “Are you saying you don’t want to get married today?”

  She thought for a moment.

  Hendrix flipped the French toast in the pan, then looked at her again.

  “I want to,” she said. “More than anything.”

  “Good,” he said. “Now go sit at the table and I’ll bring your breakfast.”

  They ate leisurely and talked, then went into the bedroom and got dressed.

  “Courthouse?” she asked.

  “That’s what I was thinking,” Hendrix said, as he watched himself put on his tie in the mirror. “I’ve got to make a call before we go.”

  “No problem,” Maria said. “I’ve got a little more work to do on my makeup anyway. I want to look my best.”

  “Do you want your mother to attend?” Hendrix asked.

  She thought about it for a moment. “No. We’re on the outs because of what happened with Celia. I don’t want to deal with her.”

  He nodded, kissed her forehead and went into the living room, taking his phone out of his pocket. He made a call, speaking in hushed tones, then sat on the couch and waited.

  “Ready?” Maria asked, coming out in a smart navy blue dress with white collar.

  “You look beautiful,” Hendrix said as he got up. “I’m so proud to be with you.”

  She smiled as he walked over and took her into his arms, kissing her.

  “Don’t muss my makeup,” she said. “You can do that later.”

/>   He escorted her to the car, and they drove away.

  “Don’t we need a witness to do this?” Maria asked.

  “I got that covered,” Hendrix said. “Don’t worry.”

  She smiled. “Everything well in hand.”

  “Always,” he said.

  The courthouse was busy. Hendrix parked in a VIP spot, and they walked through the sunny morning into the main entrance, heading through the metal detectors.

  “How romantic,” Maria said as they grabbed their metal objects out of the basket. They both chuckled and went to the elevator.

  “You know which floor?” she asked.

  “Top floor,” Hendrix said. The doors opened into a foyer with white lattice photo areas and flowers.

  “Wow, never been up here before,” Maria said.

  “I’ve attended weddings here,” Hendrix said.

  Suddenly there were Capitol Guards rushing into the room, looking at everybody, checking the corners. Maria looked around nervously. “What’s going on?”

  Hendrix chuckled. “Our witness has arrived.”

  Governor Nelson walked in with his wife, beaming. “There’s the happy couple!”

  “Governor, thanks so much for coming,” Hendrix said, shaking his hand warmly.

  “Wouldn’t miss it, old friend,” Nelson said. “You remember Sandy.”

  “Of course,” Hendrix said. “Good to see you again, Sandy.”

  “Great to see you, Kip.”

  “This is Maria,” Hendrix said.

  “Nice to meet you both,” Maria said. “It’s such an honor.”

  “The honor is ours,” Nelson said. “Shall we?”

  “Ready, honey?” Hendrix asked.

  Maria took a deep breath. “I’m ready.” The two couples walked through the double doors to the chapel.

  They were done in less than ten minutes.

  “That was much nicer than I expected,” Maria said, arm in arm with Hendrix as they came out the chapel door.

  “They do a nice job,” Nelson said. “You two are going to take a few days off, I hope.”

  “I’d like to,” Hendrix said. “I’m fine with being on call, of course. We both understand the state of things.”

  “Yes, we do,” Maria said. “If you need us, call.”

  “I’ll try not to do that,” Nelson said. “Things around here are going pretty well at this point. We have the right people doing the right things all around the state. Texas can do without you two for a little while.”