Serve and Protect

by Douglas Varnell

  He then turned to King Verron and asked, “Will you and your people help me? I believe it’s time we joined forces instead of continuing to resist each other.” He turned back to Hunter, “No more organized crime or terrorist activities will be tolerated inside any Russian controlled territory and you have my word, there will be no more illegal Russian arms shipments getting into the hands of terrorists. They will need to find another source.” Paul placed his hand on President Putin’s shoulder, and replied, “I think this is a good place to start; I believe we can work together now that we’re on the same page.”

  When President Putin arrived back in Moscow at the side of King Verron and entered the headquarters of VGTRK – All-Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company – there was a panic among those who had no idea he was coming. They were even in more of a panic when he demanded to be put on the air to announce his Joint Russian and Verron Crime Elimination Team. Even as he was preparing for the on-air broadcast that would reach 90% of the people in Russia, the Dragon Guard was already targeting the terrorist cells along with Hunter’s Terrorist Elimination Unit. Video footage was shown later that evening of commandoes in gray body armor walking into machinegun fire as they took out one cell after another across Moscow. It was also reported that numerous men who held positions in the military and secret service were missing, the Dragon Guard was cleaning house at the Kremlin and KGB Headquarters. Several high ranking Generals and government administrators responsible for weapons manufacturing and design had disappeared from their homes or offices. When Putin decided to purge his government, things happened, especially with the assistance of King Verron and his men and women.

  When the broadcast with King Verron and President Putin was aired, there was an outcry from Muslims all over the world that they were planning genocide and declaring a jihad on Islam. The following day, President Putin made it clear to the Russian citizens that no one of the Islamic faith would be harassed in any way as long as they obeyed the laws of the land. Only those who were plotting against his government or the people of other Nations would be at risk. Within a week, terrorist organizations were scrambling to find a new source for their much needed weapons; China and North Korea would profit from Russia’s new position. It had been the first time Hunter and his group of men had received the blessing of the government where they were operating. Two dozen Spetsnaz were added to their numbers as they methodically targeted crime and terrorist organizations in Russia and every Islamic country that bordered their Nation. Paul and Hunter were pleased to be working with Russia instead of against it. General Vlad kept reminding them to never trust a Russian. Paul would approach any future business with Russia cautiously. He was completely aware of the fact that Vlad knew what he was talking about.

  During the course of the next few months, more Russian’s decided to immigrate to Verron, some of those people ended up settling on Darsai, where a Russian was the Governor General; others decided to go to the planet Hope. The little planet was now home to 250,000 people from Xhondar, Verron and Russia. Governor General Dumas was not a very good politician and that is probably why things were going so well on the newest Verron colony. Dumas knew what he wanted, he knew how King Verron wanted things done and he simply passed on his instructions and expected them to be followed. He wasn’t harsh, just well-structured and disciplined. He always looked after the interests of the local survivors first. He did not want them to be pushed out of their lands or their homes by aggressive people from other worlds. He was most pleased by the number of children being adopted from the orphanages. With people from Earth able to receive rejuvenation treatments when they arrived on Hope, there were plenty of people young enough to take on the responsibility of a family. It didn’t hurt that there was an incentive of larger lands and lower taxes for those who adopted the natives of Hope.

  There was a 10,000 man Marine and Air Force outpost established on the planet and the wives and families of the soldiers could join any who agreed to stay longer than the normal one year assignment. Over half of the married soldiers liked the stability of a permanent assignment and soon grew to love their new home. Several of the Xhondarians who had ulterior motives tried to convince Governor Dumas that it was not wise to expose the people from Hope to so much technology so quickly; that going from almost caveman status to living in modern cities and a high-tech society was not good for the backwards people. What Dumas found to be true was quite the opposite. The younger children were learning extremely fast and adjusting just like children who had been born into a high-tech society. The older residents were not all that old and were excited to be able to do jobs much easier and handle weapons that could help them defend against Volvs should they ever come again. They looked healthier and happier than ever before and with no shortage of missionaries from Verron, there was now a revival taking place where the youngsters were actually getting married.

  Several of the existing families had one alpha male with two or three wives and dozens of children. To the frustration of those who thought it was immoral, Governor Dumas simply informed them, “I will not force our morality on these people and break-up a functioning and happy home. You can teach and preach monogamy all you want, and maybe the next generation will embrace it, but a family is a family and those that are together will stay together.” He got King Verron’s wholehearted endorsement on the decree. It was not unusual to see an entire row at church filled with a husband and his wives and children. It took some getting used to, but if it wasn’t broke, there was no need to try and fix it.” When the elders of the community came to Paul to complain, he looked at them and said, “The Apostle Paul wrote that a man could only be the husband of but one wife if he was going to hold a position in the church. He said that because back then there were often men who had more than one wife, not because he didn’t want divorced people to have jobs in the church. As long as these men are not elders, deacons or preachers, I say we leave the family alone. I have no doubt that they are just as loved by God and just as saved as you are.” I’m not saying I approve of it and the marriage laws still stand, but a family should never be broken apart, even if it doesn’t exactly fit into the normal mold of what a family should be.”

  Katelyn and Bart were visiting Hope when they got a message from King Verron to return home ASAP. It was usually something of importance when he made a request of any kind, so they boarded the ship they had arrived in delivering medical supplies and headed for home. When they arrived in Paul’s office, he looked almost sickened by what he was about to tell them. He asked them both to take a seat and began, “Los Zetas discovered the identity of Ray Ballesteros. Evidently it was leaked from someone inside the DEA. Ray and his entire family were tortured and killed yesterday in Mexico City and for good measure, almost everyone he considered a friend, both inside and outside of Los Zetas was killed as well. Those boys have lost millions and are practically out of business, they are ready to retaliate against anyone they can for their losses.”

  Katelyn began to cry. She had been in their home and played with their six young children. The youngest was even named Catalina, the closest Spanish name to her godmother. She and Yvette, Ray’s wife, had become good friends. Soon her grief turned to anger, she asked, “Do they know who did it?” Paul handed them a picture of two bodies of men Ray had managed to kill before he lost his own life defending his family. They both had Kaibiles tattoos on their arm. Bart recognized right away that the deadly Guatemalan Special Forces, the Kaibiles, had been hired to kill Ray and his family. He knew that not all the elite military unit was corrupted. He had even worked with them in joint DEA and Guatemalan drug raids. But, many had broken away and become mercenaries. The drug cartels paid much better than the Guatemalan Army. With blood in her eyes, she asked a one word question, “Where?”

  They spent the next two days determining where the unit of mercenaries was located and where the leaders of the Los Zetas were operating from. Observation drones were buzzing all over Mexico and Guatemala fe
eding back information. It was finally discovered that the Los Zetas had a fortified and heavily guarded compound in the rough mountains north of Acapulco near the small village of Las Juntas. The drones showed an almost impregnable fortress high up the side of the mountain complete with machinegun emplacements and even American made Howitzers surrounding the compound built deep inside the mountain. At first Katelyn wanted to gather the assault team and take the fortress, but Paul suggested a much easier solution and one that would get the attention of anyone who thought about messing with his people.

  That evening, while the leaders of the Los Zetas drug cartel and four hundred members of their private army, including the Kaibiles who had killed Ray and his family, were celebrating the elimination of their enemy, Brigadier General Katelyn Verron and Bart Brown exited a gateway with the sound of thunder as they cracked open the sky at over 3000 mph. Windows rattled for miles to what people believed a passing thunderstorm. The ship did not cloak, Katelyn wanted someone to witness what was about to happen and as far as she knew, they were the only spaceships that operated regularly in the Earth’s atmosphere. Soon the Light Destroyer was positioned five miles away and two thousand feet above the surrounding Sierra Madres. The 8000 foot mountain housing the Los Zetas complex was surrounded by several taller peaks. Katelyn took careful aim and released one shot of a 200 mm whitematter-tipped standard missile directly at the middle of the mountain. In a flash of glaring light from the whitematter warhead, there was suddenly a valley four thousand feet deep between the surrounding peaks. It would be Mexico’s new Grand Canyon. As they turned to leave, Bart wondered if the rivers and streams would ever mange to fill the massive two mile wide canyon up with water. He knew that the small mountain village nearby was vanquished with the rest of the mountain. His only consolation was the town was home to most of those who worked for Los Zetas.

  Someone on the ground had a camera, and a few days later a good picture of the Destroyer launching its missile was on the cover of every Mexican newspaper. The disappearance of an entire mountain filled with Los Zetas and the aerial assault on Mexicali’s main drug distribution center was covered by every major news network. Everyone knew that others would take their place, but Los Zetas was no more.

  Two days later three DEA employees were found dead, two in their homes and one in his office inside the DEA Headquarters. All three had been left with a perfectly smooth 5mm hole through their skull. Bart Brown had never done anything like that in his entire life, but he was not about to ask someone else to do it for him and he knew the informants would probably escape if left to the slow justice inside the DEA. Beside their bodies were tapes of conversations with them exposing agents who had penetrated drug organizations. Jorge Fuentes and his family were nowhere to be found. While the DEA was searching for them to save them from a planned assassination attempt, the del Valle Cartel was searching for them to end their life. Neither would find the Fuentes family, they were living on Verron now, safe from any harm planned for them by the cartel.

  While the Fuentes family was settling into their new home in Farmington, Verron, Fast Frank had chosen to live on Hope. He was tired of crowds and pretending to be something he was not. He was given a job assisting Governor Dumas as his Chief of Police. His biggest problem was the driving habits of people who had never even seen a car, now driving one. It drove him mad, but he did enjoy the perk of having his own crotch rocket. He often came to Verron to visit Bart and Katelyn. The truth was he sort of had a thing for the Crimson colored women from Grnardo. It was fun to sit at dinner with a giant sized biker and his petite crimson girlfriend. They were making arrangements to get the remainder of his family off Earth and safely to Verron or Hope. Fast Frank was concerned about what his mother would think of his choice of women. Bart reminded him, “I’ve seen some of the women you’ve dated. Hirlani will be a delight compared to Freaky Freda or Cocaine Katie.”

  While Katelyn and Bart were cleaning up the mess in Mexico and Columbia, the streets of every major city in Russia was becoming safer by the day. With more and more of the organized crime disappearing, legitimate businesses began to spring-up to take their place. Paul decided to have Renee meet with President Putin and his economic advisors and soon began to establish limited trade with Russia. After about four months of negotiations, Putin agreed to make a visit to Verron. The most he had seen of it was the inside of the military planning room while interrogating Fyodor. The President was expecting the usual dog and pony show that took place whenever he visited any country, he almost felt slighted when he and Renee landed in Mississippi and deplaned to walk to the gateway to Verron. He was greeted with pleasant hellos, but no one even bothered to stop and talk to him. He and Renee walked into the Transportation Center on Verron and he had to stop to get his mind in order as he looked around. His eyes were darting in every direction as he took in the sights and sounds of Capital City. As they stood on the sidewalk awaiting Renee’s personal transport, she was greeted by nearly everyone who passed by, evidently she was well known and well liked. Humans, androids, Tramlaw in their hooded cloaks, Chikondi clones, Klelta, Lyncardi, Crimson Grnardo, Tecalna, and a dozen varieties of robots and cyborgs, were being escorted on a tour by two of the girls he recognized from the hostage rescue, Tala and Katelyn; there were also four creatures that looked like over-sized salamanders wearing an oxygen bottle as they strolled down the street. The unattended vehicle arrived and they climbed in. Renee spoke their destination and the un-manned transport took off for Mountain City.

  There was no end to his amazement as they entered the hanger bay. Dozens of the most advanced aircraft he had ever seen were parked in the hanger and being attended by the same mix of citizens as he had seen in the city. The two walked along the floor among greetings from dozens of people. When they exited the elevator doors into the foyer of the Mansion, Renee was attacked by four creatures that seemed to drop from the sky. What he at first thought were screams, turned out to be hysterical laughter. Fe, Fi, Fo and Fooey had been awaiting the arrival of anyone who happened to step off the elevator. Renee just happened to be the first one. She was glad she had not let Mr. Putin walk out ahead of her. Renee introduced the President to the four gargoyles and they all saluted him and took off to see what other trouble they could get themselves into. Soon Inga arrived with a laugh and a warm greeting, apologizing that she had not gotten to the elevator ahead of Fe, Fi, Fo and Fooey. She escorted Mr. Putin to the terrace where Paul was enjoying an outdoor lunch with his two brothers and two nephews, Marcus and Michael. They rose to greet President Putin and Marcus walked over to get another chair. Asked if he wanted anything to eat or drink, Mr. Putin placed an order for Pumpernickel on rye and an Amstel light. A serving drone arrived a few minutes later with his food neatly displayed on a serving platter. The men sat and discussed how things were going in Russia and what Mr. Putin hoped to accomplish over the next few years.

  Paul was arranging for him to receive a tour of the weapons plant from Kary and a tour of the Space Ship Factory from Marcus, when the sun was blocked by what Putin assumed was a passing cloud, then he heard the sound of flapping wings. He looked up to see Zeus on final approach to the terrace. He was not about to be the first one to run and carefully watched the others at the table. Not a one made any effort to flee. Paul saw his face and informed him, “Now you get to witness why I am known as the Dragon King and my most elite fighting unit is known as the Dragon Guard. Come on, I’ll introduce you to Zeus.” Hesitantly Mr. Putin touched Zeus and stepped back as he was being spoken to in Russian. He knew that he now had always underestimated just who this Paul Verron was. He was determined to become his friend and ally. He was indeed the scariest man alive, better to be his friend.

  As they were about to leave the terrace, Tlase arrived with her usual smile and declared, “There you are. Someone told me that Renee had slipped someone across the border illegally. She held out a syringe. President Putin, we require everyone who visits Verron to be properly immunized. The e
ntire population of Verron was once destroyed by a virus and we don’t want to be responsible for killing a President or an entire population of his home planet, if you don’t mind. Mr. Putin rolled up his sleeve and in a flash, the painless injection was given. Paul gave the crafty Tlase a smile. He knew exactly what Tlase and Zimuel had done. He also knew his brothers and nephews knew as well. By the time he left Verron they would know just how sincere Mr. Putin was in his desire to be an ally or if he had a hidden agenda. He would not be able to tell a lie. By the time President Putin was given a plant tour by Kary Verron of the Weapons Factory, of the Medical Center by Dr. Joe Verron and the Space Ship factory by Marcus Verron, it was after 11:00 PM back on Earth and Mr. Putin was so excited he thought he would bust. Escorted back to Paul’s office before he had to leave, Paul was facing a different man than he had faced nearly ten years ago and who Hunter had dealt with over the past few years; he was a man who saw a different future for his country, a future completely different from the status quo of the past 100 years of Russian politics. His people could be free of crime, sickness, poverty and persecution. He saw a future with a government that was loved and trusted by the people instead of feared and avoided at all costs. He knew he could lead his country into a future that was nothing like he had been planning or that his economic advisors had been predicting. He saw a future with Verron as a closely held and trusted ally instead of an enemy of Russia.

  Paul realized that President Putin had a new attitude when he asked, “I never brought it up before, but I want to thank you for saving my grandchildren and the others. What I would really like to know is, after all our differences, why did you choose to help?” Without hesitation, Paul pointed to the flag hanging on the wall of his office that said, “Serve and Protect” then said, “Because it was the right thing to do.” President Vladimir Putin decided that Paul Verron was indeed either the best friend or the worst enemy you could have, depending on which side of right and wrong you chose to be. Paul knew that Mr. Putin had been honest all day about his intentions. With the rescue of his grandchildren, it had become personal for Mr. Putin; he would do anything he could to assure a safe future for his family.