by Ira Tabankin
Chapter 13
The once mighty USS Missouri is dead in the water. Admiral Jefferson, his arm in a cast watches his ship being towed by two ocean tugs to Johnson Atoll where the US Navy is building a major navy base to replace Pear Harbor. Floating dry docks are being towed to the atoll to repair battle-damaged ships. The atoll already had a military airport and missile batteries, it was once used for nuclear weapons testing. When China demanded the Hawaiian Islands, the US military began shipping men and materials to the atoll making it a joint services base with Air Force fighters, early warning planes, Marines, anti-air missiles and berths to support the Navy’s war and supply ships. The atoll was only 750 miles away from Hawaii.
Admiral Jefferson thought to himself, that’s the second time the damn Chinese subs got inside our screen. We’re paying the price in blood for our years of ignoring the threat of small diesel electric boats. Diesel electric boats lack the speed to pursue our fastest surface ships. If we make unpredictable course changes, the subs shouldn't be able to get into torpedo range. At least that's how it used to be. After the cold war ended, we all but stopped our research into anti-submarine warfare. We thought our major threat, the Soviet Union, had self-destructed. We never learn histories lessons. We didn’t learn from the Second World War, we didn’t learn from the Cold War, we don’t have enough dry docks or parts to repair the carriers and the Missouri. Since the Chinese boats are almost totally silent, we have to go active which lights us up like we’re holding a flashlight at midnight telling them our position.
We knew all about the Russian wake homing fish and we did nothing to develop a countermeasure. I’d like to get my hands on the morons who thought we’d never fight another naval war. Some think tank thought everything was going to be about missiles, we spent hundreds of billions on anti-missile defense, which only partially worked and almost nothing on anti-torpedo defense. We even retired most of our anti-submarine warfare planes. Billions of dollars of damaged ships and planes are all we have to show for it. The Missouri is now going to be nothing but a gun and missile platform. D.C. has decided to put all of the available resources into the carriers, whose vulnerabilities have been clearly shown. None of the carriers can be quickly repaired, we didn’t stock spare props and rudders. It’s going to take months or years to repair the carriers.
If I can convince the brass to spend a little time and resource on the Missouri, we can get back into the fight. All we need to do is cut off the broken props, seal the shafts and cut away the destroyed rudder the old girl could still maneuver, we’ll be slow, but we could get back in the fight. I’m going to fly to D.C. to make my case.
“I need a plane or a ride to D.C., see what’s available.”
“Aye, sir. When do you want to leave?”
“Two hours ago.”
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Captain Black looks for his aide, “I think it’s time for us to find and knock on their front door. We’ve had the ‘welcome signs’ up for two days, I’m sure they’ve seen them.”
His aide lays out the diagram of the shelter, “Sir, where do you think the front door is located?”
“Their emergency exit is here.” Pointing to the tunnel that leads to the other side of the hill. “It’s where I’d place mine.” Studying the diagram, he says,
“I bet it’s in one of these two locations. One is most likely a false entrance, I bet they used it during construction. When they finished their shelter, they closed up the original door. They did that so anyone working on the shelter wouldn’t be able break in. They most likely spread mines and booby traps around both the real and false entry. Let’s try this one.” He said pointing to the location of the shelter’s front door.
“Yes, sir.”
Captain Black and four soldiers, two men, and two women begin a slow walk towards where he thinks the shelter door is. One of the women, Corporal Sara White asks,
“Captain, we’ve looked around this area and didn’t see anything.”
“I know, they’re good aren’t they?”
“Sir, if they wanted to meet with us, wouldn’t they have come out?”
“I don’t know, maybe they’re afraid we’d shoot if we saw them just pop up inside our security zone, maybe they can see us, but not communicate. We’ll find out soon enough. I want two mine detectors to scan the area in front of us, the last thing I want is for us to walk blindly into one of their minefields.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll get them moving.”
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John taps Todd on the shoulder, “We’ve got company coming.”
Todd spins his chair around looking at the monitor John is pointing at.
“Crap, just what we don’t need right now. Want me to get Tony?”
“Yeah and bring Fred too, this worries me.”
“Will do.”
Tony and Fred arrive at the security room panting, they ran from the front door which is almost on the farthest end of the shelter from the security room. Fred manages to say between pants,
“What’s so important that you sent Todd running to get us?”
“It's nice to see you’re keeping yourselves in such good shape.”
Tony holds the door frame of the room rolling his eyes at his friend,
“Cut the shit, what’s up?”
“Army, they are on the way to our front door.”
“How many?”
“Two with mine sweepers, a Captain and four soldiers, two are women. Should we deactivate the mines and traps?”
“Yes and turn on the outside speaker.”
Todd flips the switches, “Should we tell Jay?”
Tony lowers his voice to a whisper, “Isn’t he still in a coma?”
Todd smiles shaking his head, “He opened his eyes.”
“Great, I’ll run and tell him.”
“Tony, it's not all good news, his eyes are open, but he’s not able to move or speak.”
“What the fuck? NO! I can’t see him being a vegetable, I know him too well, this isn’t good. What did the doc say?”
“I don’t know. I heard about it from Shelly who is with Lacy in the hospital.”
“OK, we do this on our own, I say we talk with this Captain and see who he is and what he wants. I don’t think we open the door and drop our pants that quickly.”
The other three nod in agreement.
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Captain Black and his team are slowly making their way to where he believes the shelter’s front door is hidden. They are finding mines, punji pits and hidden hunting traps spread out in front of where he thinks the door is. This reinforces my belief this is where their main door is. The recent storm must have blown these trees down, it made a mess of the area.
His thoughts are interrupted by one of his team, “Sir, what are we going to do if we find the door and they don’t want to open it? Are we going to blow it?”
“No, if they don’t want to open it, we’re not going to force it open. God knows what else they have hidden we haven’t found. I’d like to leave this farm alive.”
“Yes, sir. I agree.”
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“Tony, they are only thirty feet away.”
“Todd, I see them, is the outside mic and speaker on?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, here goes nothing.”
Tony clicks the microphone twice, outside the Captain hears the two clicks, he holds up his hand telling his team to pause where they are.
“Hello US Army, what is it you want from us?”
“I assume I’m speaking to Mr. Jay Tolson, I’m US Army Captain Black. I’d like to meet you face to face see what assistance we can provide you.”
“Captain, my name is Tony, Jay is unavailable right now, I’m standing in for him.”
“Are you his executive officer?”
“You might say, we’re similar to partners.”
“May I know your last name?”
“I think Tony is good enough right now. I have you on speaker, there are three other
people with me listening to our conversation.”
“That’s okay with me, my team is listening too.”
“Captain, what is your mission here?”
“My orders are to bring peace to the countryside and provide assistance to the people of America. Has Mr. Tolson taken ill? If you have need, I have a medic with me.”
“Thank you, we have a fully equipped medical area with two doctors, if things go well, we might let you see it.”
“I assume you know my people mapped your shelter, I’m very impressed, it must hold fifty or sixty people.”
“Captain, that was an excellent attempt to find out how many of us are here. I’m sorry. I’m not going to fall for something that simple. Please try again.”
“If I ask a direct question, will you answer it honestly?”
“That depends on the question. Captain, if we’re going to work together and be allies, we have to find a way to build trust between us. Let’s lay our cards on the table face up, what do you want?”
“I want to meet with your people face to face.”
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Word the army is here and speaking with Tony quickly spreads through the shelter. Lacy bends over Jay whispering in his ear,
“Honey, the army is here, Tony is talking to their leader, his name is Captain Black. They’re here to save us. We’re going to be OK.
Jay could only stare into her eyes. Lacy runs her hands gently down Jay’s cheek. Jay’s thinking, Black? Is this the Black, my father, told me I could trust? How the hell do I tell Lacy or anyone to let him in and not kill him, my future, all of our futures may be tied to this man.
Shelly looks at her father saying,
“Mom, look dad’s eyes are blinking very fast, I wonder if he’s trying to tell us something.”
Shelly, good girl, get mom’s attention, get her to focus and find out what’s really going on outside.
“Shelly, I see it, but I don’t know if he’s doing that on purpose. Why don’t you get the doctor and stop by the security room to ask Todd what’s going on outside.”
“Okay mom, will do. Look he’s blinking in a pattern, I don’t know what it means.”
“Shelly, quick go find doctor, Basco.”
“I’m going.”
Lacy, bring John, John will know, I’m trying to blink Morse Code. John will understand. How do I make her listen if I can’t speak? Damn my brother, he did this to me. We were never close, but damn him. Maybe dad will help me one more time. He’s the one who convinced me to return. Surely he had to have known what a position I’d be in here. He must have known how this works out. Dad! Please, I need your help. Dad, can you hear me?”
“Jay, I’m not the one you should be asking for help.”
“Robert?”
“You know better than that. You know what you need to do, just do the right thing. I have to go. I’ve overstayed my time.”
“Dad, please wait, please! I need your help!”
“No, you don’t. You know what to do.”
“Knowing and doing are two different things.”
“I have faith in you.”
Ricky visits the last family on his list, he’s smiling to himself because if the rumors are true that Jay can’t speak, he knows he’s won.
Chapter 14
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman escaped from a Mexican prison in July 2015, by having his people dig a mile long tunnel into his cell’s shower stall. Once he was out of jail, he hid in a cave that was more luxurious than most palaces. He watched the hated American economy fall apart; on one hand his enemy was dying, on the other he held billions of US dollars which he knew he couldn’t fairly exchange. Any attempted exchange would place him at risk of being recaptured. He decided to send ten of his most trusted lieutenants to America to see if he could work out an exchange with the Secretary of the Treasury for a fair exchange. He knew he was going to have to bribe the Secretary with a few million dollars if he was going to have any chance of success. El Chapo considered the bribe a normal cost of business. He instructed his lieutenants if the Secretary refused to accept his bribe and work with him, they were to kill him and all of his family, then meet the next cabinet officer. They were to make the killings as painful and bloody as possible. El Chapo was sending his personal message to Washington, work with me or face unbelievable pain, watch your family tortured, raped and killed before your own death.
The American Secretary of the Treasury received a call on his private cell, a number less than ten people knew. He looked at the phone, the calling number was listed as private. He pressed the call button,
“Hello?”
“Mr. Secretary, don’t hang up. El Chapo sends you his regards. We’re at your home, by the way, it is very lovely. We wonder how you can afford it on a government salary. We’re entertaining your wife and two daughters. Why don’t you cancel your afternoon meetings and join us? If you contact the police or FBI, we’ll be mailing you pieces of your family for months. We’ll keep them alive just so we can cut parts off them for your scrapbook. Do we understand each other?”
“I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
“We’ll be waiting.”
Hanging up, he wondered if he should contact the Secret Service or the FBI. He wasn’t going to allow some Mexican thugs to dictate terms to him. He was a United States Cabinet Officer. He buzzed his administrative assistant,
“Please cancel my afternoon meetings and tell my driver to pull my car around, I have some personal business to attend to. Ask my secret service agent, that one who always has a gun under his coat to step into my office.”
“Sir, you told me when you promoted me to this position that I could never allow anyone with a gun into your office.”
“I’m changing my mind, just do it.”
“Yes, sir.”
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Tony asks, “Captain Black what can we do for the US Army today?”
“It’s what can we do for you. Why don’t’ you open your front door and we’ll discuss our situation face to face?”
“Captain, I don’t want to be disrespectful, however, we don’t know you’re really who you say you are. I’m sure you agree, in these times, confirming who someone says they are is very important.”
“I agree, will my dog tags suffice for confirmation?”
“No, they are to easily copied.”
“What will you accept?”
“How about we call your commanding officer and get him to describe you?”
“The General is a very busy man.”
“Aren’t we all? What would you do if our roles were reversed?”
“I’d look for some way to identify the person on the other side, I can show you my military ID card, my driver’s license, and my voter ID card.”
“What currency do you have on you?”
“Two tens and three twenties, the old stuff. I haven’t had any time to exchange it for the new crap.”
“The fact that you haven’t exchanged your currency yet says a lot about you. We’ll open the door and allow your entrance. Drop your weapons at your feet and agree to enter without any weapons. No knives, no backup pistols, nothing or we’ll kill you and your people.”
“It won’t be easy to do that, my people are better trained.”
“We have mines and weapons you haven’t discovered, we can sit safe and sound in our shelter and kill all of you. If you think your people will break in, this shelter was designed to survive large explosives.”
“I understand, I don’t want to see anyone lose their life. There’s been too much loss of life already.” Captain Black lays his M4 on the ground by his feet, he unhooks his belt and lays his holster next to the rifle.
“Are you happy now?”
“What about the knife?”
The captain pulls a Marine Kbar from the small of his back which he lays next to his other weapons. “Sorry, I forgot about it.”
“I’m sure it was an innocent mistake. We’re going to pull back a camo
net which will show you our door, approach the door, but don’t touch it. When it opens, walk through the doorway and wait. The front door will close leaving you in a small sealed room, we’re going to check you with a camera. When we’re satisfied, a second door will open, walk into the room you see in front of you. This will be a second small sealed room, the door will close behind you before the next one opens. Do you understand?”