A Dubious Device: The Nanobot Terror (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 10)

by Gerald Kubicki

  “Well, the best thing for us to do is let them do all the digging and carrying. Once they get everything into the van, then we can come up behind them,” Banyon replied quietly. “We’ll catch them off guard.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Pramilla whispered.

  “Besides, I don’t think the guys in the blue van will come out until all the work is done and we need them to come after the loot,” Banyon added.

  “But what if they all decide to fight?” Maya wondered.

  “You guys take the big helpers and I’ll take the woman,” he joked. “We all have guns, remember” he added. “I don’t think it’ll get down to hand to hand combat.”

  “Oh, darn,” Previne responded in a purr. “I haven’t wrestled with a big strong man in quite a while.” She rubbed her hand across Banyon’s chest. The more time Previne spent near Banyon, the more her desire grew.

  “Down Previne,” Pramilla ordered in a whisper, like she was talking to a cat. “Not now, okay.”

  “Okay,” Previne replied reluctantly.

  ***

  “Dig here,” Brenda finally said loudly and pointed to the ground. The sound echoed off the nearby mountain cliffs.

  “Is this the center or the edge?” one of the helpers asked.

  This totally confused Brenda. “I don’t know,” she said in frustration and flapped her arms. She thought about it for a few seconds. “You dig here,” she pointed to one man. “You dig here,” she pointed to another man. “And you dig here,” she told the third man. I’ll hold the flashlights.” Banyon already knew the third man was over the vault.

  The men started digging in the soft sand. It was hard work and the sand did not cooperate. For every two shovelfuls of sand taken out of the holes, one shovelful slid back in. But these men were big and strong. Soon progress was being made. Suddenly, a loud clank, made by metal hitting metal echoed in the desert.

  “That’s it,” Brenda said with excitement. “That’s the door.” She scrambled to look into the hole.

  All three men jumped into the hole and picked up their pace. Sand was now flying out of the hole. The thrill of finding something buried in the desert was beginning to increase their interest. They wanted to know what it was. In just a few minutes, they had scraped the sand off of the entire metal door.

  “There is no lock, just a handle,” one man reported breathlessly as he looked up at Brenda.

  “Open it,” Brenda pleaded. One man grabbed the handle. The other two used their shovels as wedges. The door was heavy metal, but offered no resistance, other than the squeak of the old hinges. Brenda moved forward and shined a flashlight into the dark interior. What she saw stunned her.

  “I see nine, no ten crates. Oh my God, it’s really here!” she exclaimed. “Bernard kept his promise.

  “What’s in the crates?” one of the diggers asked, as he drew a ragged breath while recovering from the strain of digging.

  “It’s a lost treasure,” she proclaimed. “And each of you will get a piece of it when we get it to the van.”

  “What kind of treasure?” another helper asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Brenda responded. “Let’s get all these crates to the van and find out, shall we?”

  A helper dropped into the seven foot deep hole and piled a crate on top of another one. A second man then stood on the crates and began passing the remaining crates to the third helper outside the hole.

  “These crates are heavy,” the first man warned as he lifted one over his head for the next man to grab.

  “How heavy?” the middle man asked.

  “Maybe fifty pounds.”

  “That means there is five hundred pounds of treasure,” the man in the middle said joyfully.

  As the man outside the hole grabbed each crate and set them on the ground, Brenda attempted to look for markings and signs of the talisman. While she wanted all the treasure for herself, the talisman was the key. She had to have the talisman.

  When all the crates were stacked outside the hole, Brenda ordered one of the men to go to the van and back it up to the treasure.

  “The sand is too soft,” he replied. “We are also adding five hundred pounds to the back. It will just sink into the sand. We need to leave the van on the road.”

  Rebuffed, Brenda then told them they would have to carry the boxes. Each man hefted a box without comment and they headed off to the van.

  ***

  “They’re changing location and carrying boxes to the van,” Banyon said into his ear piece for Eric and Loni to hear.

  “Roger,” Eric replied.

  “We’re going to move in closer to the van to watch,” Banyon said. He and the three Patel sisters began jogging. The three women ran effortlessly. Dressed in their sleek, black, body suits, they looked like panthers on the hunt, lethal, beautiful and hungry ones. Banyon struggled to keep up.

  When Brenda and the helpers reached the van, she opened the two rear doors. A light came on inside and spilled out into the desert at a distance of about three feet. The men gently placed the three boxes in the cargo area.

  “You guys go and get some more boxes,” Brenda suggested. “I’m going to get these crates open and see what’s inside.” She reached into a tool box which was always in the van and pulled out a hammer. She then began to pry open the wooden crate. When she looked up, she noticed the men were still there. They hadn’t moved. It unnerved her a bit.

  “We want to see what is in these boxes before we go and get more,” one of the men said a little too strongly.

  “Fair enough,” Brenda replied. “Then you open the box.” She handed the hammer to the nearest helper. He had the top off in just a few seconds. Inside the crate were gold goblets, silver tea sets and other valuable household items — but no talisman.

  “Let’s try the next one,” the man with the hammer said. The box was narrower than the rest but was also longer. He quickly pried the top off. This box contained rolled up parchments. Brenda grabbed one and spread it open. It was an oil painting. She dropped the picture of the bright floral scene and searched through the rest of the paintings. There was no talisman.

  “We’ll have to fence all this stuff,” one of the helpers complained. “We’ll only get ten cents on a dollar.”

  “Open the third one,” Brenda now said in a growing panic. She had to find the talisman soon.

  The contents of the third box made everyone gasp. It was lined in decaying red velvet cloth and filled to the top with gemstones of many varieties. Brenda could see diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and other valuable stones. She put her hands in the box and almost had an orgasm as rare stones sifted through her fingers, but there was still no talisman.

  “Now, this is more like it,” the man with the hammer exclaimed. “Let’s get the other boxes.” The three men ran off into the darkness to grab another load.

  ***

  “That’s the sign we have been waiting for, my friend,” Aldo said excitedly and pointed to the light shining in the desert. He had told Raul that sooner or later the treasure hunters would have to open the van doors to load up the treasure. All they had to do was sit tight until they saw the light.

  “Are you sure we have to kill them?” Raul nervously asked. “Can’t we just knock them over the head or something?”

  “You’re a fool Raul. If we don’t kill them, someday they might find us and come after us. Do you want to live in fear for the rest of your life?” Aldo was filled with greed and bloodlust. He also wanted a piece of Bernard’s daughter. That meant killing everyone else — even Raul. But he needed Raul’s help for now. Aldo began to stretch in the cabin and then checked his gun. They had been sitting for about an hour and their muscles had tightened. Their sudden movements didn’t go unnoticed.

  “Loni, they’re getting ready to come out of the van,” Eric whispered into his ear piece. “Be ready.”

  “Roger,” she replied.

  Eric was on the left side of the blue van and Loni was on the right side just be
hind the door panel. Their plan was to take down the two servants as they stepped out of the vehicle. It would be quick takedown with no fuss.

  The only problem was that things rarely go as planned. When the two men opened their doors, the overhead light came on in the cab. It was bright enough to momentarily blind the two attackers for just a second as their night vision goggles became overloaded.

  Raul, who was big, heavy and not very coordinated, mis-judged the distance to the unseen ground from the van door. He fell forward out of the van and slammed into Loni, who had her head turned because of the brightness. She landed on the ground, with Raul falling on top of her small body and knocking the wind out of her. Raul was so stunned that there was someone underneath that he him accidently fired his gun and screamed.

  Aldo was only half the way out of the door when he heard the shot. He immediately kicked out with his foot and knocked the gun from Eric’s hand. It was a lucky kick and one of the last ones he would ever make. Aldo was an experienced killer, but he had gotten old. His reflexes were slowing down.

  The much taller, stronger, and younger Eric surged forward and slammed Aldo into the open door. Aldo was a vicious killer, but was no match for the former Navy SEAL. Eric picked him up like a sack of potatoes and threw him against the side of the van.

  “Loni are you okay,” he asked as he did it.

  “I can’t br…” was all she could reply.

  Eric didn’t know how badly she was hurt. He needed to come to her rescue, but Aldo had other plans. He went for the gun which was still in the waistband of his pants. Eric anticipated the move and kicked Aldo in the stomach. The gun slipped away into to the endless sand. Aldo kicked out with his leg and caught Eric behind the kneecap bringing him down to the ground. He now felt he had the advantage. He was a specialist in close hand to hand combat, but he was wrong.

  The blow to the back of his kneecap hadn’t hurt Eric; it had only made him lose his balance. He bounced back up to his feet before Aldo could land a series of punches. He danced away from the ineffective swipes. It caused Aldo to fall on his face.

  Aldo struggled back to his feet but couldn’t see Eric. He didn’t have night vision goggles. As he turned to his left, a right hook hit him and broke his nose. He lashed out, but his reach was six inches shorter and he punched air. An upper cut from nowhere lifted him off the ground and dazed him. Aldo now knew he was in real trouble. He whipped out a switchblade from his pocket, clicked it open and brandished it in the air. He slashed left, then right, and as he went to slash left again he heard Eric speak.

  “I don’t have time for this anymore. I need to go and help Loni. It’s time we end this dance,” Eric said with a hiss.

  Aldo braced for an attack. “I’ve killed many people like you before,” Aldo said defiantly. Blood sputtered from his nose and mixed with his words. He was looking around in a circle, but couldn’t see anything. The desert was that dark.

  “Well, you’ve killed your last person, asshole,” Eric replied. Along with the warning there came a crushing blow to the side of his face. Aldo slashed out with the knife, but an arm-block deflected the razor sharp blade. It brushed his neck. Aldo suddenly felt a little light-headed and wet. He fell to his knees feeling weak and tired. His last thought was a realization that he had cut his own throat by mistake.

  Eric watched Aldo fall over dead and immediately ran to the other side of the van to help Loni. He found her leaning, with her head down, against the van. He quickly looked around, but couldn’t see the other servant.

  “Where is the other one?” he screamed into his ear piece.

  “Wolf, said he ran away into the desert,” Banyon answered. “Let him go. He is a victim here. Take care of Loni.” Eric fell to his knees and lifted Loni’s head and looked into her dazed eyes.

  “Loni, speak to me,” he pleaded.

  “I’m okay,” she said softly. “I think I’ve broken a couple of ribs. You’ll have to carry me to the treasure.”

  “My pleasure,” he replied with a smile and easily lifted her in his arms. He headed off to the single light in the desert.

  ***

  As soon as Brenda heard the shot echo off the cliffs, followed by a scream, she knew they were not alone in the desert. The helpers had just delivered a second load of three crates and she was just about to open the fourth crate. But she issued some orders instead.

  “We need to get the hell out of here, right now,” she yelled out. “Go get the rest of the crates, hurry.” The men hustled off. Brenda didn’t have a clue as to who was after her, but was very concerned now. Everything depended on her finding the talisman. And now someone was trying to stop her.

  She pried the top off of the fourth crate in desperation and there it was, gleaming in the cabin light. “I’ve found it,” she yelled out loud with joy. She took the talisman and looped it over her head. It felt heavy and warm against her body. She then withdrew her two silenced guns from her fanny pack and got herself ready.

  The three helpers jogged up to the van carrying the remaining four crates. They dumped the boxes into the van. Brenda had her back turned like she was searching in a crate for something. She was about to turn and shoot the helpers when she heard a voice come out of the darkness.

  “Put your hands on your heads and kneel on the ground,” Colton Banyon ordered. He stepped out of the dark desert with a gun leveled at the men. The Patel sisters soon joined him as they formed a perimeter around the back of the van.

  “Like the man said, get down on your knees,” Pramilla hissed. The three men raised their hands and dropped to the soft sand.

  “That includes you too, sister,” Previne said to Brenda.

  Instead of immediately doing what Previne ordered, Brenda turned her head and offered them an evil smile. “Ah, so I’ve finally flushed out the enemy,” Brenda countered.

  “Get down, bitch,” Previne roared.

  “I think not,” Brenda said and turned around facing them. She had both guns in her hands and the talisman around her neck. Everyone stared at the artifact.

  “She’s wearing the talisman,” Previne yelled, but it was too late.

  Brenda made an announcement, “As of right now, none of you can move.” The desert was suddenly silent. She walked right up to Colton Banyon and slapped him in the face. He didn’t move. “I know you can hear me but can’t respond. You probably have many questions and I’ll give you some answers before I kill you all,” she said arrogantly. She then stepped over to the first helper who was still kneeling on the ground. She put the gun against his head and pulled the trigger. He fell over dead.

  “I don’t know if you are CIA, FBI, or someone else. But, na na na na hey hey hey, goodbye. You can’t stop me,” she said like a tease.

  “You see,” she explained while walking around the group and shaking her guns while she made her point. “I’m not working alone. My partner is Vice Admiral Michael Meyers. Maybe you have heard of him? He is the one who is currently taking over America and I’m going to be his first lady. Pretty good for a girl from the streets, don’t you think?” She moved over to the second helper and shot him in the head.

  “That idiot, Bernard, thought he had the perfect plan to take over America. He forgot I’m a trained spy too. I discovered Michael the same night Bernard met him for the first time. That was almost twenty years ago. You see, Michael is Bernard’s son. He has been grooming him to lead America since then and I have been grooming him to serve me.”

  She casually walked near the third helper and shot him in the head. “It took me less than a year to reel him in, I have my ways you know,” she laughed like an insane person. “As long as I wear this talisman, he’ll do my bidding.”

  “Now all I have to do is get this talisman to the base at Nellis and take a quick ride to Washington. By this afternoon, I’ll be the first lady of America. It’s too bad none of you will be around to see that.”

  She stopped and seemed to be considering something for a second, she then continu
ed. “On second thought, I’m going to have this handsome man drive me to the Air Force base. You three don’t belong in America, you’re not white. So you’re going to die right now — I’ll kill him later.”

  Brenda moved in close and aimed her gun directly at Previne’s head. Suddenly, a red dot appeared on Brenda’s forehead. It was followed by a loud boom in the distance. Brenda looked confused and then fell over backward.

  She was dead when she hit the ground and the spell of the talisman was broken. Previne, who was conscious, but couldn’t move, screamed and put three more shots into Brenda’s body. She then began to shake uncontrollably. Her sisters rushed to her side. Banyon took off for the talisman. He took it off Brenda’s dead body and held it gingerly in his hand. He wasn’t sure how to hold it. He called out to Wolf.

  “How do I keep this talisman from working?” Banyon asked.

  “Don’t put it on your neck,” Wolf replied. “It only works when it is around someone’s neck. But, Colt, you need to take her cell phone too.”

  The whole scene was a mess. There were dead bodies everywhere. The three Patel sisters were crying, crates of treasure glowed in the van and Banyon didn’t know what to do next. Eric now materialized from the darkness carrying a grimacing Loni.

  “Nice shot,” Banyon complimented the former sniper. He relieved Eric of the burden of carrying Loni. She nuzzled him and put her head against his chest.

  “I could have taken her earlier, but I wanted to hear what she had to say,” Eric replied humbly. “I could hear everything through my ear piece.”

  “But why weren’t you affected?” Pramilla asked as she slid into her husband’s arms.

  “Out of range for the talisman, I imagine,” he replied.

  “Let me see the talisman?” Maya said as she stepped up to Banyon.

  Banyon hesitated for a second, but handed to over to her. She quickly examined it and then turned it over.

  “There is an inscription on the back,” she exclaimed. “It’s in German.”