THE TOCABAGA CHRONICELS: (BOX SET PART II - BOOKS #6-8)

by Thomas H. Ward

  Mike responded, “Roger that. We’re on the way.”

  A short time later Mike pulled up with the Hummer. We crammed inside and Tommy took control of the fifty caliber machine gun. The rest of us were just sitting there ready to make a fast exit.

  Speeding down the road with Tom in the gun turret he yelled, “There they are, about 100 yards away. Stop!”

  We all jumped out of the truck as it rolled to a stop. Tommy started firing and so did we. The soldiers started to scatter and ran for cover towards the beach.

  I saw a few men fall when we fired. I wasn’t positive that they were hit or just ducking to avoid being shot. We spread out and started to walk forward staying close to the Hummer in case we needed to use it for cover.

  Tommy kept firing the fifty in their direction. We stopped firing because they were out of sight. Tom yelled, “You guys follow them to the beach. Mike and I will drive ahead, down the road, and circle back. We’ll get them in a pincer move.”

  Tony, Rick, and I headed to the beach. We spread out keeping about 20 feet apart. We moved slowly searching behind every bush or tree on the sandy beach. It was a good place for an ambush, but I felt these soldiers had enough. They were trying to escape as fast as they could.

  We found two of them laying on the beach, at the edge of the water. They were drinking salt water out of pure desperation. They had heat stroke and didn’t know what they were doing. They had apparently dropped their weapons somewhere. As we approached them they just laid there gulping down salt water. They were totally out of their senses.

  Tony and Rick walked up to them. They looked at us, held their hands up, and asked for water. Like I said earlier, we normally don’t take prisoners because they need to be fed and guarded. These were dangerous men and we had no choice but to terminate them on the spot. Tony and Rick shot them both in the head. It was painless and quick. We carried the bodies out into waist deep water and pushed them into the current.

  My radio hissed and Tom said, “We’ve got visual contact. They’re getting in a small boat underneath the fishing pier.”

  “We’re a half mile away,” I told him. “Do you see a gunboat out there?”

  “Negative.”

  “Look for a wake.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense.” After a minute Tom replied, “I don’t see any wake.”

  I told him, “Keep looking. Oh, by the way, we just killed two dorks. That means there should be six men in that boat.”

  “There are only four.”

  “Shit that means two are missing.”

  Tom answered, “We have to engage these guys now, or we could lose them. Over and Out.”

  I responded, “We’ll search for the two that are missing and head over to your location.” I could hear the 50 caliber gun firing in rapid order. He must have let loose about 300 rounds.

  A short time after that Tom radioed. “Four enemy, KIA here.”

  We were making our way west on the beach carefully checking in the high shrubs and sea grass for the missing combatants. It was a slow process and an hour went by before we knew it.

  I grabbed the radio. “Tommy have you guys seen any wakes or any kind of water movement?”

  “Negative. We ain’t seen shit, except for sea gulls. Maybe the gunship left when they saw their troops were losing the battle.”

  “We’ve haven’t found the other two men. They could be anywhere. We’re about 500 yards away from you so don’t shoot us by mistake. We’ll be there in 30 minutes.”

  We walked up to the Hummer and sat down for a break. It was almost 10 am and we were tired and hungry. We sat there and scanned the surface of the water for any unusual waves. The gulf was choppy from the wind blowing. Under these conditions it would be impossible to see any wakes.

  I told Tony, “Check the other Hummer we left here. See if we can drive it.” The rest of us went to the HQ office to cool off and determine our next strategy for dealing with the situation. Tommy turned the AC on high. The cold air felt great on our sweat soaked bodies. Everyone needed a rest from a long stressful night.

  We were far from being out of the woods. It worried me that there are two men running around Fort Desoto who could snipe us at any minute. The invisible gunship had disappeared and it could create a lot of problems for us with its 37 mm rapid-fire cannon.

  I sat down and lit up a smoke while looking around the room. I asked, “Does anyone have any ideas how to find the missing commies?” No one replied right away.

  Finally, Rick said, “Let’s get a hundred men out here and search the whole island.”

  “I think it’s too risky to bring a lot of men out here. It’ll give them a lot of targets to shoot at. Besides they can’t get off the island without a boat.”

  Mike said, “See if we can get a drone from Captain Sessions.”

  I, nodded in agreement. “That’s a good idea. Sessions will need to send drones anyway to look for that gunboat. If the drone spots the Reds we’ll set a trap.”

  Just then Tony walked in and said, “The Hummer runs and is somewhat drivable, but it needs a new tire and some body work. I found an MK 153 we left inside and some ammo.”

  I said, “Thanks for the report. We were just discussing how to trap the two commies out here. Do you have any proposals?”

  “They need food and water to survive. If I was them I’d scout out the base for water. We all know there’s food and water stored here. Sooner or later they’ll find them.”

  “Good points,” I told him. “We need to stake out the storehouse.”

  The Rangers had built a storehouse for food and water. It contains six months supply for 500 people. It is located near the HQ building in a clearing close to the chow hall. We can view this location from several look-out spots. The best one is on top of the fort wall. From there we can see the entire perimeter.

  Tommy butted in, “They’ll probably hunker down during the day and move at night. Without food or water they’ll have to surrender sooner or later.”

  Rick commented, “We need to pick up all those invisible suits so they don’t get a hold of them.”

  “I forgot about that,” I replied. “Let’s go find them now. While y’all look for the suits I’ll get four Amazons and come back here for guard duty. First let me call Sessions.”

  I pulled out my cell and pushed Sessions number. He answered, “Hello, Sessions here.” I put the phone on speaker mode.

  “Captain, it’s Jack. We have a situation here. Chinese soldiers invaded the fort using stealth-suit technology. We terminated all the men except for two. They’re hiding out somewhere around the fort. They also have an invisible gunboat. The gunboat has vanished.”

  Sessions replied, “It sounds like you been busy. We knew they had stealth technology, but have never seen it. We weren’t aware they had a stealth gunboat. How can I help you?”

  “We need you to fly a drone over the fort area tonight using infrared cameras to locate the two missing men. Set up a direct video feed to my phone showing their location. In addition, we should eliminate the threat of the gunboat. Maybe you can have a drone knock it out.”

  “Ok, I’ll send up two drones at dusk. By the way did you capture any of the stealth outfits?”

  “Yes, we’ll hold them for you.”

  “Alright, a drone will be on the way. Do you want the drone to fire on the soldiers?”

  “Negative. Just advise their location because some of my men will be out there searching for them also. I don’t want them shot by mistake.”

  “Roger that. I’ll send a missile drone to eliminate the stealth boat. Where was its last location?”

  “It was in the channel between Egmont Island and Fort Desoto. I assume it sailed out into the Gulf.”

  “Understood. We’ll find it and will advise you when it’s destroyed.”

  “Roger that, Captain. That’s all for now.”

  “Good hunting.”

  Rick said, “Let’s get going and find those stealth outfits.”<
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  Tommy and Mike stayed behind to guard the storehouse. Rick drove me to Shark Channel Bridge and dropped me off to meet with the Amazons. He returned to the battle ground to help find the stealth uniforms. I advised him to collect the outfits and take them to our gun vault for security reasons. I didn’t want anyone to get their hands on them.

  I approached the Amazons who were standing guard on the bridge. They were all there except for Amy who was taking care of Jim’s injury. I climbed up into the bed of the closest pickup truck and the women warriors all gathered around me.

  I shouted, “We’ve killed all the invaders except for two. Two of them are still loose in Fort Desoto. I need four volunteers for guard duty at the fort. We have to protect the warehouse and if possible capture these men.”

  Before I could finish my speech I noticed that Trini, Maggie, Lisa, and Wanda, raised their hands. Others were also waving their hands in the air. I looked around the group and said, “Thank you all for volunteering. I want you to know that this is a dangerous assignment. I only need four people.”

  I needed the best Amazons for this assignment. Trying not to look selective, I peered around and slowly picked out Maggie, Lisa, Trini, and Wanda. Then I commented, “Half of you to stay on guard duty here. The rest of you take a break and get some rest. We’ll do four hour shifts until all the commies are found.”

  I asked Wanda, “How’s your Chinese?”

  “It’s still pretty good.”

  “Great, I need you to translate a message to the Chinese soldiers.”

  I selected the best Amazon Warriors. I needed warriors who had experience. I wanted warriors who had actually killed someone. I wanted a warrior who would not hesitate to kill the commies. I wanted warriors that I could trust.

  Wanda had been in combat, but she had never actually killed anyone. She is physically tough and a good soldier. She obeys orders to the letter. The reason I chose her was because she is Chinese-American. Wanda can speak and read Chinese. Her father came here 30 years ago and opened a Chinese restaurant. Wanda, a good-looking single woman, also works in the mess hall with Steve adding a little Chinese flair to our food. She’s in great shape and knows Kung Fu.

  My general plan was to drive slowly around the fort and let Wanda use a megaphone. She would speak in Chinese and tell the men to surrender. If they surrender we’d provide them food and water.

  I brought along Maggie, Trini, and Lisa, because they would relish the chance to kill our enemies. They are the best women warriors I have. You can trust them with your life.

  Maggie is methodical and thinks before acting. She is also my most trusted woman warrior. I’ve seen her in action. I’ll never forget when she chopped off a gang leader’s head. Maggie keeps her cool and is fearless.

  Lisa is the youngest and the strongest Amazon. She knows how to use any weapon and is deadly with a knife. Rico had trained her to be one of the best. I knew in a bind she could take care of herself.

  Trini is just a natural born killer. She likes killing bad guys. She has no fear of anything. She has speed and the fastest reflexes I’ve ever seen. I often worry about her because she’s so blood-thirsty.

  I radioed Amy and told her what I was doing. She advised me Jim was doing fine but he’d be out of commission for a few days. Amy told me she’d be back on duty in an hour.

  I told Wanda to find the hand-held megaphone which was at the old bank building. While she was gone I had a meeting with my warriors and told them, “If these guys surrender we’ll put them in the cell block and question them one at a time. After that we have no use for them.”

  Trini asked, “Do you mean we … let them try and escape?” Trini giggled and gave me an evil smile while rubbing her hands together. Lisa and Maggie looked at her and shook their heads.

  “Yes, they’ll try to escape while you’re guarding them,” I told her.

  Trini replied, “Goodie.”

  “Maggie said, “Trini, you’re sick.”

  “I know that.”

  I butted in, “Anyway I want the three of you to make sure they’re terminated. Wanda is along because she can speak Chinese. Once we capture these guys and interrogate them she’ll go back to Tocabaga. Y’all will stay on guard duty with me.”

  Maggie asked, “What if they don’t surrender?”

  “If they don’t surrender then we shoot them on sight. Anymore questions?” No one replied as Wanda came walking up with the megaphone.

  I said, “Mount up. We gotta go.”

  I was driving the 4 door pickup truck as we went to the fort. All of the Amazons were in the pickup bed except for Maggie. Wanda was using the megaphone and was yelling for them to surrender as we drove down the road. Trini and Lisa were watching our backs from the pickup bed.

  I told Maggie, “We’re gonna slowly drive from one end of the fort to the other. Then we’ll go back to the storehouse and set up a look-out post on the fort wall. Keep your eyes open.”

  Maggie nodded her head. “Don’t worry, I will.”

  End-to-end the fort road is about four miles long. The road runs east-west and makes a dog leg turn at Fort Desoto HQ and then runs north-south.

  Wanda was speaking Chinese into the megaphone. “Drop your weapons and surrender now. If you surrender we will provide you food and water. Your Commander, Colonel Park, is dead. Surrender now!” She repeated this message every few minutes.

  My guess was that the enemy soldiers were somewhere around the Fort HQ already. They were somewhere close to our warehouse. I knew they badly needed water.

  We completed the loop on the fort road, but the commies didn’t come out to surrender. I pulled up to the HQ building and we dismounted. I told Tom and Mike to take a break and help find the stealth clothes. They drove off in the damaged Hummer.

  I told Trini and Lisa, “You’ll provide security here at the HQ and the warehouse. Patrol around the buildings and watch your backs. Stay alert and if you hear or see anything, radio me.”

  They answered, “Yes sir.” Trini smiled and giggled. It pissed me off she wasn’t taking this dangerous situation seriously.

  I warned them again, “Stay alert, this is no joke. These guys are dangerous and will kill you if they can. Maggie and Wanda you’re with me on top of the bunker wall. From there we can see anyone approaching the warehouse. Wanda you keep repeating the message.”

  Reaching the top of the 40-foot high bunker wall, I said, “Maggie, you watch the warehouse. Wanda, start using that megaphone and I’ll watch our backsides.”

  I looked at the sky and then my watch. It had been a long day. Soon it would be dark again. I clicked my radio. “Mike, did you guys find all the stealth suits?”

  “All but one,” he answered.

  “Ok, tell the men to keep looking.”

  “Roger that. Have you seen the two enemy combatants yet?”

  “Negative.”

  “It’ll be getting dark soon. Do you have any orders for us?” I didn’t respond right away because I was planning what to do when it gets dark.

  “Boss, are you still there?”

  “Yeah, I’m thinking what to do when it gets dark and we still haven’t caught these guys. You got any suggestions?”

  “We have the stealth clothes so why not use them?” Mike said.

  “Good idea. How would you do that?”

  “We put them on and stake out our buildings. I’ll bring a couple over right now.”

  “It’s almost dark, so bring them here ASAP. Mike, tell Tommy to come along and bring his 308 sniper rifle.”

  “Roger that. We’ll be there as soon as I find him.”

  “Over.”

  I looked at Maggie and asked, “You seen anything?”

  “Nothing at all.”

  “Can you see Trini and Lisa.”

  “Not right now. They’re on the other side of the building.”

  Then I heard a shot come from the storehouse area. I said, “What the fuck!” The shot I heard definitely came from an M4. T
he Chinese use AK47s.

  I picked up the radio. “Lisa, Trini, come in! What’s going on?”

  “Trini, Lisa, come in!” There was no response.

  Maggie and Wanda looked at me with worried faces. “Girls, make sure your weapons are cocked and locked. We’re going down there. Follow me and stay alert.”

  We slowly slid down the side of the thick weed-covered wall. Reaching ground level I took the point with Wanda in the rear providing security.

  We passed by the front of the HQ building. I looked at the door and tried to open it. It was secure showing no apparent break in. There’s a 300-foot space between the HQ building and the warehouse.

  The warehouse contains food, water, and weapons in a secure vault. The building itself is all metal with six windows. The entire thing is bullet proof. Breaking into this building is pretty much impossible. Once the Reds figured that out they would look for a softer target to obtain food and water.

  There are three doors on the building. The north side has a single door. The south side has a double door and an overhead door. We approached the south side first because we could see it was all clear from the HQ building.

  Arriving at the south side I could see the doors were secure and hadn’t been disturbed. I said, “Wanda you stay here and provide security. If anyone comes around the corner blast them. Maggie you’re with me. We’re gonna circle around the building.”

  Reaching the first corner I pulled out a small mirror and held it out to peek around the corner. It was clear so we rapidly moved up to the next corner which would provide us a view of the north side which we couldn’t see from on top of the wall.

  Holding my mirror out I saw two bodies on the ground. I peeked my head out and scanned the area as far as I could see. Peering out to the edge of dense jungle, 100 yards away, I saw no one.

  I ducked back and told Maggie. “Trini and Lisa are down. I didn’t see anyone else. We’re going to move them inside the warehouse. You provide cover while I drag them inside.”

  “Ok,” Maggie replied.

  “Let’s make this fast.”

  We darted out from around the corner and trotted cautiously up to the first body which was laying right in front of the door. It was Trini laying in a pool of blood with her machete in her hand. I slung my weapon and unlocked the door. Picking her up, I saw the blood running from her mouth and neck. I laid her down on the floor and went out to pick up Lisa.