by Andy Straka
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.”
“We know you were Air Force and you’ve told us you used to be with the Company, but you can’t be doing all this alone.”
“Of course not.”
“Who provides the money?”
“We’re self-funded. We prefer to work off the grid.”
“Who heads up the organization?”
“I can’t tell you that either. Not yet anyway. But I do want you both to understand the gravity of the situation we all now find ourselves in.”
“Yeah, well I kind of got that message loud and clear when that guy’s head blew up in my face,” Tye said.
“What do you know about the dead man in the alley?” Raina asked.
“He was a former soldier like yourselves. On the wrong side, I’m afraid. We didn’t think they’d act so quickly, but you must have tripped a wire that alerted them.”
“What do you mean, they? Who is they?”
“I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but you two have been dropped into the middle of another war. It’s being waged with both public and independent resources, and it can be dangerous at times. No one will hold you responsible if you elect to walk away right now.”
“What kind of a war are we talking about?” Raina asked.
“Think about the mission you’re on right now.”
“You mean against people like Nathan Kurn and his son?”
“That’s part of it, yes. Look. We all know there are people among us, some of them very prominent people, who have gotten away with things…who continue to get away with things.”
“That’s what this is all about? Taking down people like that?”
“To some extent.”
“What about the law?”
“Laws can be bent, circumvented, or ignored. Happens every day. Sometimes we tiptoe on the fringe of that as well. Takes some getting used to, but of course I’d grown accustomed to that kind of practice working for the Company. It’s not that I don’t believe in the rule of law. It’s that when the law fails….that’s why a few of us have spent so much time and money on developing some of the technology you’re employing.”
“You said we tripped a wire,” Raina said. “We identified the rape victim and went to talk to her.”
“Let me guess. And she wanted to talk with her parents,” Williamson said.
“Yes.”
“Who no doubt would’ve contacted their lawyer...that’s probably what called the dogs on you.”
“Not Lance Murnell from Homeland Security?” Raina asked.
“The two may not be mutually exclusive.”
Williamson paused, maybe to let the weight of what he’d just told them sink in.
“So wait,” Tye said. “You’re trying to tell us the guy in the alley worked for Nathan Kurn and maybe DHS, too?”
“Maybe. But not directly.”
Tye rubbed the back of his neck. “So you’ve gotten us deep into this big thing, whatever it all is.”
“No,” Raina said. “We’ve gotten ourselves into it. No one’s been twisting our arms.”
“Let me just tell you this,” Williamson said. “We may not be perfect, but if you’re working with us, as far as I’m concerned you’re on the side of the angels. Anytime you disagree with that assessment, you’re free to quit.”
“Really?” Tye said. “No questions asked? Sounds too simple.”
Williamson shrugged.
“If what you say it true, it wouldn’t matter if we quit right now. Some of these people might still be coming after us.”
“Very likely.”
“I smell a rat with Nathan Kurn. He’s mixed up in all of this.”
“Well we’ve known that all along, haven’t we? It’s part of the reason we started all this.”
“Which means we have to keep moving against his son before it’s too late to do anything about it.”
“I agree,” Raina said. “But if we’re in some kind of a war, as you say, Major, what if we get caught? We could all go to prison. If nothing else, the FAA has yet to legalize the use of drones for the kind of thing we’re doing here.”
“Unless they’re private…and operated below 400 feet in altitude. There’s a lot of gray area in the rules right now. As far as the FAA or anyone else is concerned, we’re all still hobbyists…No one really knows how to handle all of the implications of this next generation of security and war fighting technology. Not the President or the Joint Chiefs. Not the Director of Homeland Security. No one with the NSA or the Company. Certainly no one in Congress. And what most of them fail to fully appreciate is that it’s already here. Military UAVs have been making test flights over American soil for years. Law enforcement is clamoring for them, and contracts have already been signed.
It’s just a matter of time before all of these things become routine. We’re just a few clicks out in front of the curve.”
“Who else knows about the MAVs and the kind of thing Murnell was showing me?”
“Enough people to make the technology very volatile at the moment. These things aren’t like nuclear weapons. Not so easily containable.”
“We could expose your whole operation,” Raina said.
Williams shrugged. “I would think you’ve both known me long enough, Raina, to know I’ve made contingency plans. The question is, do you still believe in what we’re doing? After all, you’ve come this far...”
There was a long pause as they stood inside the glow of the headlights looking at one another.
“We’re on the side of the angels, huh?” Tye said.
“I like to think of it that way, yes.”
“What if the President of the United States ordered you to shut down right now, would you do it?”
Williamson smiled. “I’m not going to speculate about hypotheticals. The fact is he hasn’t ordered us to shut down and he’s not about to.”
“Does the President even know about what you–about what we’re doing?”
“You’re kidding, right? Sorry, folks. But that’s the way this game is played. Too much is happening too fast for it to be otherwise. I never said it was going to be easy. But I will tell you this: we may not technically be public servants, but we will never do anything, ultimately, to subvert the Constitution or this country. I would also hope you’d know me well enough by now to understand I mean what I’m saying.”
“Even when people are dying?” Raina asked.
“Especially when people are dying.”
Tye looked at Raina. She looked back at him and nodded.
Tye said: “The police are going to have an interesting time trying to figure out how the guy died in the middle of town from a shot like that.”
“We’ve already made sure there were no security cameras linking you to that alley. As for any witnesses, well, we’ll just have to hope for the best on that one. At least it was beginning to get dark.”
Tye thought about the irony of someone watching them when he and Raina were the ones who were supposed to be doing the watching. “How long have you been running surveillance on us?” he asked.
“Just since we picked up on the fact you were being tailed. It actually started a couple of hours before you ended up in the alley. You’re lucky we intervened when we did. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be standing here right now.”
“Are all of the people we’re working with ex-military or ex-Company, too?”
“Sorry. I can’t tell you that either, but as you might imagine, we’ve all got our share of friends and supporters we can call upon when needed.”
Another long silence hung between them.
“So what happens next?” Raina asked.
The major folded his arms. “I’m just here to give you some reassurance. I’m trusting in you to make the right decisions. You people are running this op, not me.”
Tye thought for a moment. “We might need a favor when it comes to the cops. Not about what just happened in the alley. Something else….”
W
illiamson stared at him for a moment. “All right. We’ll see what we can do.”
“What about any other people who might be after us?”
“We’ll do our best to try to keep them off your backs …Speaking of which…” Williamson looked at his watch. “It’s time we hightailed it out of here. The police patrol this place regularly and they’re due to make another check in a few minutes.”
20
“What’s all this?” Raina asked.
After leaving Williamson they had returned to the apartment complex to get ready for the late night ahead on campus. Tye had insisted she accompany him her over to his apartment where he led her to a utility closet behind the kitchen. Its heavy door was secured with a pair of beefy padlocks Tye was in the processing of unlocking.
“I’ve had a feeling we might be headed toward trouble, so I went out earlier this morning after we talked and picked up a few things. Figured I’d put some of Nathan Kurn’s money to good use.”
She squinted into the darkness of the small space as he opened the door to see a cache of firearms, body armor and ammunition–two AR-15s, a pair of Mossberg tactical shotguns, and four or five semi-automatic handguns, from 9 mm up to .40 caliber.
“What, are you planning an invasion?”
Tye shrugged. “Williamson did say we were back at war.”
“How did you buy all of this stuff at once?”
“Williamson may have friends. Well, I’ve got some, too.”
“You checked out on all of these weapons?”
“Yes, ma’am. Plus, I’ve got that sweet Beretta I took from the dead guy. How about you?”
She looked over the selection, picking up a mid-sized Glock and turning it over in hands. “Most of them. Not all. Enough to get by.”
“That’ll do.”
“Hopefully, we won’t have any need of them.”
“You never know. Always pays to be prepared.”
By eight o’clock they were back in Raina’s apartment, having talked things through and formulated what they hoped would be the right approach. When Raina’s cell phone rang on the table beside her computer desk, Tye almost reached for it. He waited for her to pick it up.
She looked at the display. “Stacie Hutchinson,” she said. She pushed a button on the keypad and put the phone to her ear.
If Hutchinson got cold feet about exposing Kurn’s son, or if her parents had talked her out of it, they’d have to figure that into their plans.
Raina sat listening to whatever Hutchinson was telling her.
“Thank you,” she said finally into the phone. “You’re sure?”
There was a long pause.
“Okay. Thank you for letting us know. You’ll be hearing from us shortly.”
She broke the connection and looked up at Tye.
“Well?”
“She’s in. She talked it over with her parents, and she’s willing to press charges...but only we if get a taped confession or come up with better proof than what we’ve got on the recording.”
She waited as he pulled in a deep breath. “Dang, woman.”
“Well, you can’t blame her, can you? She and her family are looking at having to go to war, too. And with Kurn, we all know it’s bound to get very, very ugly.”
“All right then,” Tye say. “I guess we know what we have to do.”
“I’ll try to give you enough advance warning if anything bad looks like it’s coming your way.”
He chuckled. “Hey. It’s just a frat party, right? It ain’t Fallujah. I get in there and nail this turkey and we’re done. At least for now.”
“It’s like being downrange again a little, isn’t it? Even when the threat appears, it isn’t always so obvious.”
“I guess that’s one way to look at it.”
Raina looked at the floor. “You ever read Ender’s Game?”
“The book? Sure. Back when I was in high school. Seems like a long time ago.”
“You know I feel a little bit like Ender sometimes when I’m flying the MAVs. Like it isn’t even real.”
“The dude thought it was all a training exercise or something, didn’t he? Didn’t know he was really killing people.”
“Yeah, and even though I know this is all real, sometimes I can’t help but feel disconnected. I still have all the emotions. Like I’m here with you in this room right now, but I’m not really here.”
“Sounds kind of weird when you put it like that.”
“I wish I could be in there with you when this goes down.”
He didn’t quite know how to take what she was saying. He already knew her well enough to realize she was focused on the job and hadn’t meant what she said in any romantic way.
She stood up from her chair and walked awkwardly to the refrigerator. Maybe she sensed what he was thinking, and it made her uncomfortable. She was obviously stiff from hunching over her keyboard, and her prosthetic didn’t make things any easier.
“It will be just the same as if you were in there,” he said.
“Not really. You’re the one who would’ve been dead in that alley if it weren’t for Williamson.” She grimaced as she twisted the top off of a beer. “You want one?” She tilted it in his direction.
“Why not?”
He stepped over to her, his palm brushing against the back of her hand as she handed him the cold bottle. She turned away and took out another for herself.
Tye took a long sip. He hadn’t drunk beer in a few days. It tasted good. He rummaged in one of the cupboards and found a jar of peanuts.
They sat down across from one another at the small kitchen table. He opened the jar and placed it between them.
“You ever wonder if it was all worth it?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Over there. In Jalalabad. Wherever.”
“Sure. Who doesn’t? But we went over there and did our jobs. We did what we were supposed to.”
“They gave you a medal,” she said. “You deserved it.”
He shrugged. “We all did.”
“Maybe. I don’t know about that.”
They each took another drink and stared into their bottles for a moment.
“You know I had another bad dream about it last night,” she said. “Like a lot of the others I’ve had before.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s dark and I’m looking with my chopper’s night vision and I’m seeing those mountain horses they have over there. It reminds me of growing up on the ranch in New Mexico and my father.”
“That’s cool.”
“I should take you out there riding with me sometime. You’d like it.”
“Never been on a horse. But I’m game.”
“It’s a little harder for me get up into the stirrup these days, but I’ve gone riding a couple of times since I’ve been out. Virginia’s got some beautiful country, but it’s not New Mexico.”
He nodded. “Sounds nice.”
She took another sip of beer and set her bottle down on the table. “You know, when I signed on for this mission with you a few weeks ago, I never figured on people dying.”
“Me either. I guess we should have known better.”
“Live and learn.” Raina didn’t blink. “Either way, there’s nothing cool about what happened to Stacie Hutchinson, not to mention that guy in the alley.”
“Very true,” he said. Their eyes met for a long moment.
“I should start getting prepared.”
“Okay. I’m going to try to get a little shuteye before the main event. Mind if I sack out on your couch again?”
“Be my guest.” She paused for a moment, as if she wanted to say something more but couldn’t. She pushed back from the table and turned back to her computer workstation, her movements almost catlike despite the silent spring of her prosthetic foot. The woman barely ever seemed to rest. In addition to her many other talents, maybe she took some kind of superwoman pills.
Tye had been legendary in his platoon for hi
s ability to grab a quick catnap when needed. In less than a minute he began to drift to sleep, smiling at Raina’s back as she typed something on her keyboard and stared into her screens.
21
The sidewalk looked like it was made of chalk in the near darkness of the suburban street. Along the curb stood an unmarked sedan with two city detectives seated inside.
Tye approached the car with caution. The night had taken on a chill beneath a thin moon while a hint of wood smoke from someone’s fireplace flitted through the air. Even from a block and a half away, the music from the fraternity party thumped through the quiet neighborhood. Laughter from another, smaller student gathering could also be heard from somewhere down the street.
The car window slid down as Tye drew up on it.
“You Palmer?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re late.” The driver was a big man with a bulldog face. Tye couldn’t really tell with him in the car, but the detective looked like he was at least as tall as he, only a lot older and a lot bulkier.
“Sorry.”
It was well after ten p.m. and there were no trick-or-treaters left on the streets. The Halloween action, whatever might be left of it, had moved inside.
“Sounds like there’s a big party going on down the way.”
“That’s why I’m here.”
“What’s with the hockey get-up?” The detective pointed to the colorful jersey he wore over his jeans and boots and the big leather mitt in his hand.
“Halloween costume.”
“No mask?”
“I figured it might creep people out too much.”
“Uh-huh…Chief says some old Army buddy told him you’d meet us here and that you might have some information about a rape.”
“Better than that. I plan to give you the rapist and the evidence to prove it.”
“You do, huh?”
Tye nodded.
“Just like that.”
“Just like that.” He probably sounded too cocky, but he needed to get the guys’ attention.
“What, you know the guy in question? He confess to you or something?”
“No. It’s a little more complicated than that.”
“Mmm…I’ll bet it is…You look too old to be a college student.”