by Robert Boren
“Yeah,” Frank said. “Nothing going on. Quiet as a church.”
“Good. I’m going back over to the ruins.”
“Good luck with the barbeque,” Frank said. “I’ll watch for movement.”
“Roger that,” General Hogan said.
“Thanks, guys,” Vicki said.
“Good luck, Vicki,” Jane said.
“Be careful,” Frank said.
She nodded and rushed out the door.
“Movement around the semis,” Jane said. “I just saw a flash of icons.”
“They probably opened the back for a second,” Frank said.
“I’d better take a look on the satellite view,” Jane said.
“Yeah, you do that,” Frank said, staring at his screen.
“I see them,” Jane said. “They’ve got a small drone. Several men are huddled around it.”
“Must be men without chips,” Frank said.
“Yeah,” Jane said. “Why are they just sitting there? They waiting for somebody?”
“Probably an extraction team,” Frank said. “We need to get done at the caverns and get on them.”
***
Shirley and Charles Goodnight heard commotion in the tunnel. They rushed over. “What’s happening?” Shirley asked.
“They’re getting ready to bust through again,” Wedgie shouted back.
“Sounds like they’re up to something,” Spence said. “They might be getting ready to send some lead at us before they break through the rest of the dirt.”
“Well, how about if you beat them to it?” Charles said.
“Wish we had an M60 down here.” Wedgie said.
“I can get one down here, but it’ll take a few minutes,” Shirley said.
“Do it,” Wedgie said. “I’m going to send a few 30-06 rounds at the dirt.”
“Me too,” Spence said. They each fired a few shots, then stopped.
“Well?” Shirley asked.
“I don’t think the bullets went very far,” Wedgie said. “We’ll wait a few more minutes and try again.”
“Might have scared them away,” Charles said.
“Maybe,” Wedgie said.
“The M60 will be here in five minutes,” Shirley said.
Suddenly there was an explosion in the tunnel.
“Oh, no, you guys okay?” Charles shouted.
No answer.
“Bring guns up here,” Shirley shouted.
“Wait,” John Harper said. “I’ll send my dogs in.”
“They won’t hurt Wedgie and Spence, will they?” Shirley asked.
“No, they know them,” John Harper said. “Go kill!” He pointed to the tunnel, haze coming out. The dogs ran in. There was silence for a moment, then screaming in Arabic and a couple of gunshots.
“I’m going in,” John Harper said. He scurried into the tunnel, Charles Goodnight and a couple more men on his heels.
“I see Wedgie and Spence,” John Harper said. “Their feet, anyway.”
“Pull them out,” Shirley said.
“Working on that,” he said. “I don’t think they’re dead.”
“No, we’re not dead,” Wedgie said. “My eyes are full of dirt. Can’t see a damn thing.”
“Same here,” Spence said.
More snarls and barking. More screaming and shouting in Arabic.
The men pulled Wedgie and Spence out of the tunnel by their feet.
“Hey, guys, help us over to the sinks in the snack bar area,” Wedgie said. “We got to get this dirt out of our eyes.”
“Will do,” Charles said, taking their hands and rushing them there. They were passed by two men bringing in the M60 and ammo.
“M60 just arrived,” Charles said.
“Good, spray the bastards down,” Spence said.
Gunfire erupted from the hole. The dogs snarled again.
“Call the dogs out of there,” Shirley shouted. “Here comes the M60.”
“Dogs!” John Harper shouted. They raced out of the tunnel and stood to the side, shaking themselves as they eyed the two new men rushing over.
“Stop!” John Harper shouted. “Good guys!”
The two dogs trotted over to John Harper, and he wiped the dirt of their faces with a piece of cloth.
“Send a volley down there before you go in very far,” Shirley said.
“Got it,” the first man said. They got in a few steps, put the gun down on its bipod, and sprayed machine gun fire into the hole. There were screams inside.
“I could see the outline of about four men,” shouted the machine gunner. “Going in deeper.”
Jacob Orr grabbed several grenades and rushed in behind them. More machine gun fire erupted.
“Take that, assholes,” shouted somebody from the tunnel.
“Move over,” Jacob shouted from inside. There was silence for a few seconds, and then several loud bangs.
“Wow, that tunnel just collapsed!” the machine gunner shouted.
“Bring that M60 out of there, but leave it by the entrance to the tunnel,” Shirley shouted. “They’ll be back.”
“Yeah,” Jacob Orr shouted on his way out of the tunnel.
Wedgie and Spence came back in with Charles Goodnight.
“We need goggles for that kind of duty,” Wedgie said, laughing. “Heard the grenades. I’ll bet the inbreeds are pissed off.”
“Some of them are dead,” Jacob Orr said. “I saw shapes in the tunnel before I tossed the grenades in. It’ll hold better this time. I tossed the first one a lot further inside.”
“Good,” Shirley said. “Now we wait.”
***
The bobtail backed up next to the fuel tanks. Trish and Jasmine jumped out with Gabe, and they opened the back. Jake rushed over with Terry, and both of them got into the back, coming out with a small gas generator, some extension cord, and a big drill.
“You get the generator going,” Jake said. “I’ll get this drill hooked up.”
“Okay,” Terry said, moving the generator a short distance away. Gabe followed him. Trish watched Jake.
“Hey, honey, could you bring my socket set over here?” Jake asked.
“Sure, dad,” she said, rushing back into the truck. She carried it to him. Jake put a socket on the end of a long extension and put it into the drill chuck.
“Perfect,” Jake said. He held the drill in place. “I’ll take power any time, Terry.”
“Okay,” Terry said. He primed the generator and turned the starting spring. The generator roared to life, and he plugged in the extension cord. The drill’s motor started with a whine.
“Yes! I feel it flowing a lot faster,” Ned said, hands on the gasoline hose. “Good pump.”
“Find a rock that I can rest this drill on,” Jake said. “My hands will get tired. It’s heavy.”
Terry, Trish, and Gabe got busy with that.
“Where’s Jerry?” George asked, walking up to Jasmine.
“He stayed in the Jeep with his laptop, watching those two semis,” she said. “They were flying a small drone around a few minutes ago.”
“Hey, shut it down for a sec,” Kurt shouted over the web meeting. “We got a leak in the tunnel section.”
“Got it,” Jake said. He stopped the drill. Gabe ran over with a good sized rock, and they put the drill down on it. “Perfect.”
“Okay, we got the connection fixed,” Kurt said. “Go ahead. Glad you got the pump. Gravity was too slow.”
“Thanks,” Jake said. He turned the drill back on, and the gasoline flowed.
“Good, it’s holding,” Kurt said. “We’ll keep an eye on it.”
“What about the diesel?” Terry asked.
“It’s still flowing,” Ned said. “Just not as fast.”
“Not worried about it,” Jake said. “The gasoline will burn hot and fill that chamber with carbon monoxide. Those guys aren’t going to survive if we can get most of this tank emptied in there.”
“Hell, if it burns long enough and we can
shut that main tunnel, it will consume all the oxygen,” George said.
“He’s right,” Private Brown said. “Let’s take C4 into the tunnel and blow it after we’ve lit the gasoline.”
“Now there’s a good idea,” George said.
“I’ll go get it,” Private Brown said. He left, Privates Jennings and Peterson following him.
“Don’t make this a suicide mission,” General Hogan shouted as they were leaving.
“Don’t worry, dad, I won’t.”
Jake held the drill for about ten minutes, and then Gabe took over. Then it passed to Terry.
“How can we tell when we’re getting close?” George asked.
“There should be a gauge somewhere on that tank,” Gabe said. He got out his flashlight and looked. “Found it. We’re down to a quarter of a tank.”
“Good, let’s take those flares down there,” Ned said.
“How far away from the opening should we be when we light that up?” George asked.
“Good question,” Ned asked. “Maybe we ought to use those fire suits.”
“That’s right, there were some in the maintenance building,” George said. “Let’s get them.”
Ned and George jumped into one of the pickup trucks and drove to the maintenance building.
The privates came back, carrying the C4 and detonation device. “Where do we go?”
“Get to the stairwell and I’ll lead you in,” Kurt said.
“I’ll go too,” Jackson said, running alongside them.
George and Ned arrived back with the fire suits.
“Who’s got the flares?” George shouted.
“Saw them next to the hoses,” Malcolm said.
“Oh, I see them,” George said. “How much longer?”
“Just a few minutes,” Gabe shouted. “I’ll call you.”
“I’m going along to cover you guys,” Malcolm said.
“Good,” George said.
***
Kurt trotted along the cinderblock wall, the Privates following. He stopped near the mound of dirt and pointed into the tunnel.
“Wow, I smell gasoline,” Private Brown said. “Kurt, why don’t you get the men out of here?”
“Yeah,” Kurt said. “Okay, everybody out!” he shouted. Men who had been watching for leaks got up and headed for the stairwell.
“How about us?” asked the man manning the M60.
“You see any evidence they can climb up here?” Private Brown asked.
“Nah,” he said. “They’re down there praying. They know what’s coming.”
Just that second an Islamist stuck his head up. Private Brown pulled his pistol and hit him in the head before the machine gunner noticed.
“So much for that,” Private Jennings said. “Go on, get out of here. We’ll watch while we’re getting the C4 set up. That machine gun is liable to touch things off before we’re ready.”
“Okay,” the machine gunner said. He picked up his gun and ammo and headed for the stairwell.
George, Ned, and Malcolm came in carrying the flare gun cases and the fireproof suits. “How long till you’re ready with that C4?”
“Five minutes, tops,” Private Brown said. “How many minutes should I set the timer for?”
“Good question. How big is the bang gonna be?” Ned asked. “Is it going to blow out that cinder block and trap us down here?”
“Nah, it’ll collapse this tunnel, though,” Private Brown said. “Big time. And I wouldn’t be within about forty yards of the opening.”
“Set it for thirty seconds,” Malcolm said.
“Sounds reasonable,” Ned said.
“Okay, we’ll suit up,” George said.
“Watch it!” Malcolm said, seeing another Islamist head pop up, trying to push the hose away from the opening. Malcolm pulled his pistol and shot the man right between the eyes.
“Wish we could toss a grenade down there,” George said.
“Don’t even think about it,” Malcolm said. “That’ll burn my eyebrows off.”
“C’mon, let’s finish suiting up.” Ned said.
George and Ned put the suits on while the privates got the C4 charges set.
“Another one,” Private Jennings said, shooting the man in the head.
“They’ll keep coming,” Private Peterson said. “I would. This is their last chance.”
“Okay, I’m done,” Private Brown said. “You guys ready?”
“Gabe, we ready?” Kurt asked.
“Ready enough,” Gabe said. “I’ll shut off the pump.”
“Okay,” Kurt said. “Ready for the flares.”
Ned and George walked to the tunnel. “Start the timer,” George said.
Private Brown nodded and pushed the button on the device. Ned and George rushed into the tunnel, close to the hole. Another Islamist raised his head, and Malcolm blasted him. George and Ned took aim and fired the flares downward as gunfire came at them, hitting the ceiling of the tunnel. Then there was an explosion, and a blast of heat hit them. They turned and scrambled towards the exit of the tunnel as men in the cavern screamed and smoke billowed up.
George ripped his hood off. “Let’s get the hell out of here!” The men sprinted along the cinderblock wall as fast as they could. Gunfire erupted behind them. Malcolm and George turned and shot two Islamists who were coming out of the tunnel, and then the C4 went off, knocking all of the men off their feet.
“Holy shit!” Private Brown shouted. “C’mon, let’s get out of here!”
The men scrambled to their feet and ran up the stairs as smoke billowed towards them. They all made it to the surface.
“Wow, that was something,” Ned said.
“Everything alright in the main cavern?” George asked over the web meeting.
“We had a hell of a lot of dirt blow out of that tunnel,” Wedgie said. “And it really stinks in here, too. Nobody got hurt.”
“Thank God,” General Hogan said. “Get back over here. Something’s going on.”
“Okay,” Spence said. “C’mon, guys, let’s get topside.”
“What’s the problem, general?” Ned asked.
“There’s a couple of choppers heading towards those semis,” he said.
“Obviously not ours,” George said.
“No,” General Hogan said. “They’re coming from Juarez, Mexico.”
“So where the hell is the air force?” Ned asked.
“Watching,” General Hogan said. “There’s several transport helicopters still sitting in Juarez. We think they will coordinate with the smaller choppers. Our sources are telling us that Daan Mertins is involved with this operation.”
“That’s why they don’t shoot down the choppers, huh?” Jeb asked.
“Yeah,” General Hogan said. “The Joint Chiefs are asking if we could send a team to secure the high-ranking Islamists without tipping Mertins off.”
“They’ve got a small drone operating now,” Frank said.
“Yeah, I’m seeing that too,” Jerry said.
“So they’ll be able to see us coming a ways out,” General Hogan said.
“It’s a pretty lousy drone,” Jerry said. “It’s like the one we used at Gabe’s park. Lousy camera. Limited time in the air.”
“I’ve got to go for a moment,” General Hogan said. “Another call coming in.” He left the web meeting.
“Hey, guys,” Gabe said, “what do you think they mean by secure?”
“Good question,” George said. “The General will be back in a minute. Why do you ask?”
“We’ve got a van full of dynamite and enemy chips,” Gabe said. “Maybe we could get it close enough to those semi-trucks to blow them up.”
“That sounds too much like a suicide mission to me,” Ned said.
“Doesn’t have to be,” Gabe said.
“I’m back,” General Hogan said. “Our sources think Daan Mertins is on one of those small choppers.”
“You’re kidding,” Ned said. “Why would he risk that
? We could just blast the whole area when he gets there.”
“He’s not aware of our mole,” General Hogan said.
“There’s something in those semi-trucks he wants,” Malcolm said.
“Yeah, I think Malcolm is right,” Ned said.
“I’ll make some calls,” Hopper said. “I can check with the last couple of people we had at their headquarters.”
“Yeah, you do that, but hurry,” General Hogan said.
“Be back in a minute.” Hopper left the call.
“Guys, let’s get that van ready to take off,” Gabe said. “That way we can be almost there before something breaks.”
“Who’s driving?” Charlie asked
“I’ll drive,” Gabe said. “I know how that trigger works, so if something goes wrong, I can improvise on the fly. It’s my stuff, remember?”
“What kind of help you going to need?” George asked.
“An able-bodied man who can jump out the back of the van and leave the doors open,” Gabe said. “To expose the chips at just the right time.”
“You mean a young man who won’t break their legs if they jump out of a moving vehicle?” Terry asked. “I’m in.”
“I want to go too, and bring a laser target designator just in case,” Private Brown said.
General Hogan sighed. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” he said.
“You can get the air force on line with missiles, right?” Private Brown asked.
“Not up close,” General Hogan said. “Those are attack choppers. They have radar. I don’t have access to any stealth aircraft.”
“I’m back, guys,” Hopper said. “We got a problem. Daan Mertins is probably after the crown jewels.”
“What’s the crown jewels?” General Hogan asked.
“Data,” Hopper said. “Names and last known locations of all resistance organizations and all of the enemy sleeper cells. Also a bunch of detailed maps.”
“Son of a bitch,” General Hogan said. “They don’t think this thing is over. Not by a longshot. We need to take out those semis before he can get away with that information.”
“Couldn’t they just transmit that stuff over the internet?” Ned asked.
“We’re watching them,” General Hogan said. “They probably don’t want to risk it.”
“Yeah, we burned them good with those lists of names, remember,” Frank said.
“Let’s leave now,” Gabe said. “We only need one person in the back.”