by Robert Boren
Ivan paused for a moment. “Why? Will the Feds come after me?”
“No, they recognize what you’ve done. You’ll receive a full pardon from them. I’m worried about elements of the California Government. It’s not just you I’m worried about, either. Jules, Tex, Ted, Sparky, Robbie, and Sam might be targeted after the war is over. Pass that around to them, but in a way that won’t panic everybody. Got it? I’m worried about some of my team too. Frank and Jane, for example. I don’t want them going back to California until we’ve got things under control.”
“So we should just walk away with our tails between our legs?” Ivan asked. “I can’t go back to Europe. You know that.”
“No, I don’t want you to run. I want you to finish the job. I’ll be sending a couple old friends to help. You guys will need to go on a hunting expedition.”
“Old friends?”
“George Franklin and Malcolm Davis.”
Ivan laughed. “Last time I saw George, he damn near killed me.”
“He’s on your side now, my friend. We’ll talk more about this. Just wanted to get you thinking. When your current operations are done, I suggest you gather the people I mentioned and have a chat. A private chat. No need to bring the others into it. They shouldn’t be on the target list, and they’ve done enough for their country.”
“It’ll take me a little time to think through this,” Ivan said. “California Government? Really?”
“You know they’ve been the main beach head for the Globalist movement in the United States. Hell, most of them would rather secede from the Union than give up on that idea. This war was a huge setback for them. California was supposed to be their base of operations. You did a good job of ruining that for them.”
Ivan smiled. “Wasn’t just me, but we did quite a job on them. The real heroes of this mess were the citizens of the state.”
“Agreed, but without some leadership, it’s a lot harder. I’ve got to go. Talk to you soon.”
“Good luck at Carlsbad Caverns.”
“Thanks, we’re gonna need it.”
***
Sam drove the Jeep through the Dodge City gate, Sid’s Jeep following. They raced down the road, Sam stopping next to the mine. Erica bounded out of the passenger door, rushing to the access hole, scrambling down the ladder. Sam was right behind her. Shelly saw them as they headed into the child care room.
“She might be asleep,” Shelly said.
“Don’t care,” Erica said, slipping past her into the room. Mia was lying on her cot, not asleep when Erica approached.
“Mommy!” she cried, getting up and running into Erica’s arms, Sam joining them. They hugged and wept.
“Take her out of here, before you wake the others,” Susanne whispered. Erica nodded, and they left the room.
“Mommy, I was so scared that you wouldn’t come back,” Mia said.
“We’re here, honey,” Erica said, stoking her hair.
“We missed you so much,” Sam said, tears in his eyes.
Ivan walked past them, not noticing who it was at first, then turning to smile at Sam. “You made it back. Great job, you two.”
“Thanks,” Sam said.
“Can we take her home?” Erica asked.
“Not sure where our battle wagon is,” Sam said. “I’ll send a text to Garrett and see if we can go to his ranch. It’s late.”
Erica nodded as he typed the text to Garrett. It dinged a second later.
“Okay?” Erica asked.
“Yep, let’s take the Jeep back there.”
***
Mr. Black was driving the Lincoln, heading up I-5 in the darkness, Mr. White in the passenger seat.
“Where we stop?” Mr. Black asked.
“Maybe you should sleep, and take over when I’m done. I can go few more hours.”
“Maybe we should talk to boss. Might not need to be there so fast. Info sounded sketchy anyway.”
“Too late to call?” Mr. Black asked.
“Operations still running, and it only 10:00. I call.” He hit Ivan’s contact, and put it on speaker. It rang twice and clicked.
“Good, I was just about to call you,” Ivan said. “It’s on speaker?”
“Yep,” Mr. White said. “What go on?”
“This no longer has to be top secret,” Ivan said.
“Why not?” Mr. Black asked. “These powerful folks.”
“I just had a chat with an old friend. They’ve fled the EU. The gig is up. They’ve been exposed. Nobody will have a problem with us killing them.”
“Correction,” Mr. White said. “Nobody on our side will have problem.”
Ivan chuckled. “Okay, you’ve got a point. These folks have tentacles all over the world.”
“So we can tell commando team who target is?” Mr. Black asked.
“Yes, but don’t do that until you need to,” Ivan said, “and we don’t want to discuss that I already put this operation into place before I talked to my old friend.”
“Who old friend?” Mr. White asked.
“I’ll tell you, but if it gets out, you guys are in serious trouble,” Ivan said.
“Boss, it us,” Mr. White said. “Who?”
“General Hogan.”
Mr. Black burst out laughing. “I knew. Should have bet with junior here.”
“Junior?” Mr. White asked, cracking up.
“Hey, American banter rub off. You no lika, you lumpa.”
“That sound more like Italian than American.”
“Okay, you guys,” Ivan said. “Why’d you call me?”
“You want we should drive through night, or can we stop at motel on way?”
“You can spend the night someplace, as long as you get there by tomorrow evening. I won’t know their exact location until then.”
“Good, then we stop in Fresno,” Mr. Black said.
“Where are you now?”
“Just passing through Bakersfield. Dana Point is far south. Long drive from there.”
“All right, then you guys get some rest, and we’ll talk tomorrow. Oh, one more thing. After the war is over, there may be more work to do in California.”
“What kind of work?” Mr. Black asked, shooting a glance at Mr. White.
“Forces aligned with our current targets aren’t too happy with our team. They’ll probably try to kill us all.”
“What you do, boss?” Mr. White asked.
“Kill them before they can kill us, of course,” Ivan said. “Talk to you tomorrow.”
The call ended. Mr. Black looked at Mr. White and snickered. “This be fun. I hate these guys,”
“Likewise, but not be stupid,” Mr. White said. “They have reach. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. We have to kill many.”
“Since when was that not fun? Call commando team, tell we overnight in Fresno.”
“Garden spot,” Mr. White said as he pulled out his phone.
{ 11 }
News Van
B ryan was sitting in the battle wagon driver’s seat, watching out the window as the others were sleeping. It was barely six in the morning. A few cars had come through the parking lot, the drivers doing a double take when they saw the massive rig sitting there. The bedroom door opened, Haley and Ted coming out. That woke Brianna on the couch.
“Still quiet?” Ted asked.
“Yeah, boss, nothing going on yet. People are looking us over as they drive through the parking lot, but that’s about it.”
“Anything from Dodge City?” Haley asked.
“Nope, I think they’ve been cycling people out to sleep too.”
“Good,” Ted said. “Why don’t you take a break now?”
“I’m fine, slept four hours, remember?”
“Oh, that’s right,” Haley said. “They’re young.”
Ted snickered. “Suit yourself, but I don’t know when the next chance will be.”
“There’s a donut shop close by,” Brianna said. “Maybe we should go get a box, and some coffee.”
“I’ll go with you,” Haley said.
Ted nodded. “Take your guns. We can see the donut shop from here, right?”
“It’s right there,” Bryan said, pointing out the driver’s side window.
“Good,” Ted said. “I’ll text the others to see how they’re doing. Any movement of the enemy since I went to sleep?”
“Nah, the Peacekeepers at the Bonita Country Club are still hanging out there, but they didn’t recede all the way back into the facility. They’re still close to Willow Drive. It’s a little hard to see them in the drone video, though.”
“They’ll probably be coming, then,” Ted said. “Keep an eye on them.” He sent out a broadcast text, his phone dinging with responses a moment later.
“We’ll be back soon,” Brianna said. She and Haley left the coach.
Ted got into the passenger seat, eyes locked onto the two women as they walked away. “What else is going on?”
“I think our forces might be coming home from Mexico pretty soon.”
“Why?”
Bryan smiled. “The enemy started flinging artillery rounds at our guys down there. The Navy sent fighter jets in to wipe them out, and the Air Force sent in B-1s and B-52s to flatten the harbor at Ensenada.”
“Oh. Good. Maybe the’ll get back here and shore up San Diego. What about the armada?”
“Still on the way, and it appears to have grown since yesterday afternoon.”
“Dammit.”
Bryan chuckled. “When they arrive here, it’s gonna be a turkey shoot.”
“Don’t assume they’ll land north of the border. Hell, they could arrive at Rosarito beach and walk in. Or they could send part of the armada north to see what happens. They have options.”
“True,” Bryan said. “Sam’s team got back home last night.”
Ted smiled. “That’s great news.”
“The first timbers got placed inside the mine opening, too. Sounds like they’ll make rapid progress now.”
Ted leaned back in the seat for a moment, his brow furrowed.
“What’s wrong, boss?”
Ted snapped out of it, looking at Bryan. “This war is close to over, but our society is a basket case, and there are still folks with bad intentions all over the place. Not sure I’ll want to stay in California.”
“Where would you go?”
“I don’t know. Depends on what Haley wants.”
“You two are gonna stick together?” Bryan asked.
“Oh, hell yeah,” Ted said. “I think that woman is the love of my life.”
“I feel the same way about Brianna.”
“What are your plans for after the war?”
Bryan laughed. “Settle down someplace and make babies.”
“Wish we were young enough to do that. My choice of careers didn’t promote having a family.”
“The restaurant?” Bryan asked.
Ted laughed. “No, I didn’t get into that business until I was forty-five. I’ll tell you, though, it’s as cut-throat as hell. The only difference between that gig and what I used to do is the lack of casualties.”
“You weren’t happy when Tex arrived.”
“Not really, but I knew what was coming. No way would I have put up with living under martial law. I now look at Tex’s arrival as a gift.”
“So do I,” Bryan said. “If that wouldn’t have happened, we wouldn’t have saved our women.”
“Dana, Allison, and Megan are heading towards the donut shop now too,” Ted said, leaning forward to see past Bryan. “Oh, and here comes our women.”
“Good, I’m hungry.”
“Me too, but I’d rather have bacon and eggs.”
They watched as Haley and Brianna approached, one carrying a box of donuts, the other a paper tray with four coffees on it. They were at the steps after a few minutes. Ted got up and opened the door.
“Thanks, honey,” Haley said as she climbed the steps, her blonde mane blowing in the breeze.
“Wind’s coming up,” Brianna said, following Haley. They put the donuts and coffees on the kitchen counter. “Dig in, guys.”
“That coffee smells good,” Bryan said, getting out of the driver’s seat.
“How did things seem out there?” Ted asked.
“What do you mean?” Haley asked.
“Get any bad vibes?”
Haley laughed. “What, you think I’m psychic?”
Ted laughed. “No, but after you’ve been in battle for a while, sometimes you can sense the enemy. Remember that these creeps don’t have RFID.”
Brianna looked uncomfortable. Bryan noticed.
“You sensed something, didn’t you?” he asked her.
“It’s probably nothing, but yes, I felt like we were being watched.”
“Shit,” Ted said, grabbing a donut and his coffee, and sliding into the driver’s seat.
Haley watched him, her brow furrowed. “You don’t think they’ll try to hit us here, do you?”
“Always be sensitive to your feelings,” Ted said, not turning towards her, his eyes scanning out the passenger side window. “Wish we could do without this front shield.”
“Now you’ve given me the willies,” Bryan said. “I’m gonna go check out the rear window. Why don’t you pull down the gun sight. That’ll give you a better view.”
“I’ll have to raise the guns to use that,” Ted said.
“Nobody’s gonna mess with us,” Haley said. “Do it. I’ll get on the front and rear machine guns and take a look through that sight too.”
Bryan disappeared into the back bedroom, Brianna watching him, then checking out the side windows on the driver’s side, and the passenger’s side.
“Dana is coming out of the donut shop,” Ted said as he waited for the mini gun and grenade launcher to rise into place. “There’s Allison and Megan, coming behind her.” His phone dinged. “Tex, wondering why we’re raising the guns.” He typed a quick message back, then focused out the window again, watching the three women as they walked towards their coaches. Suddenly the sound of mini gun fire came from across the street.
“Shit, who’s that?” Bryan asked, rushing back into the salon, picking up an M60.
“Trevor’s rig is firing at somebody on the other side of that Credit Union building, on our side of the street,” Ted said, pulling the sight in front of his eyes. “Allison and Megan hit the dirt behind a planter. Dana made it back to her coach.”
“Sparky’s raising his weapons too,” Haley said.
All of their phones dinged with a text. Brianna looked at hers. “Trevor. He saw three men with sniper rifles trying to find a way into that Credit Union building.”
“Put on the Bluetooth headsets,” Ted said, eyes still at the sight. “Somebody text the intel team and make sure the meeting is still up.”
“I’ll broadcast a text for everybody to get on the meeting,” Haley said.
Trevor fired his grenade launcher, sending several rounds through the front windows of the Credit Union, the explosions inside blowing out windows.
“Here they come,” Ted said, watching the three men flee out the back door. He fired the mini gun, cutting them all down before they got thirty yards.
“Nice shooting,” Bryan said. “Don’t see anybody else yet.”
“Megan and Allison made it back to their rigs,” Haley said. “What do we do? Leave?”
“No, we don’t want to come out of siege mode until we know who’s around,” Ted said. “They’ll nail our tires or worse. Put on your headsets.”
***
Tyler looked up at the second set of beams, just placed into the mine shaft. They were inside more than forty yards now.
Ed came up behind him. “Nicely done. Looks stronger than it was originally.”
Tyler turned towards him. “Yeah, it is. The original timbers were probably a hundred years old. Lots of termite damage. I’m surprised we didn’t have a problem before this place got hit.”
“These pr
essure-treated timbers will last a lot longer,” Ed said, getting close to one of them. He froze, then pulled his cellphone out and turned on the flashlight, shining it on the earthen wall.
“Something wrong?” Tyler asked.
Ed chuckled. “See this?” He pointed to a spot on the wall.
Tyler walked over to him. “What?”
“That’s gold.”
Tyler laughed. “No frigging way. I thought this mine was played out.”
“We just dug into some new dirt,” Ed said. “Might not be enough to do anything with, but it is interesting. When this war is over, Garrett should have a geologist come out and take a look.”
“Wonder if he has mineral rights? If not, he might want to leave it alone.”
“This isn’t a sub-division, so I suspect he does have mineral rights. Probably not worth much, though. Not much gold left around here. Lots of mines back in the heyday, though.”
They heard a vehicle approaching. Elmer drove a small bulldozer into the mine, sporting a big grin, Clem walking alongside him.
“Where the hell did you get that?” Ed asked.
“You know that rental yard in El Cajon that was renting trucks to the UN?” Clem asked.
“Yeah, Smiley’s. So?” Tyler asked.
“The old coot running that place was so happy that we exposed the UN, that he gave us some store credit. Just towed this over. We’ve got it for a week. More if we need.”
“We need to take it easy with this thing,” Elmer said. “Maybe I ought to man it for a while, and let your team watch. If we try to go too fast, we might get a cave-in.”
“Yeah, we need some fans in here too,” Ed said. “That exhaust is gonna be a problem otherwise.”
“We’ve got some big fans in the storage room on the back end of the hotel,” Elmer said.
“I saw those,” Clem said. “You guys want to help me?”
Ed nodded. “Sure. C’mon, Tyler.”
The three men left the mine. Elmer got to work on the loose dirt of the cave-in, pulling out the first load, taking it to the opening and dumping it off to the side.
***
Jules came into the intel room with Shelly, Ivan, and Ben. “Heard about National City. Anybody hurt?”