CodeY

by Lamar Rutherford

  The replay on the big screen showed it was a clear foul. The Dogs not only got a penalty shot, but the Tunisian player was red-carded and benched. Rane was helped up slowly to give her a chance to catch her breath. The Dogs lined up for their penalty shot. Alex, the other forward who had just missed the last shot on goal, was their best penalty kicker. He lined up to take the shot.

  As he got into position, Rane covered her mouth and spoke to him through his ear set, “Their goalie typically goes the opposite way of any fake. He’s more comfortable going right, so I’d recommend faking left and then going left.”

  Alex did as Rane recommended and scored to the left, the Tunisian goalie leaping to the right, clearly misreading the shot. The Dogs took the lead 2-1 as the clock wound down to the final ten minutes.

  Rane was badly bruised and had the wind knocked out of her, but she could still play. They had slapped an icy patch on her to reduce the swelling. She continued to talk to the team as they lined up for the next kickoff.

  “Focus on defense, wait for the opportunities. They will start to get rattled under pressure and are more apt to make mistakes. Especially watch Aman, #4. He takes responsibility for the team and really wants to win.”

  Sure enough, within seconds Aman got the ball and aggressively bolted downfield. The Dogs midfielder was ready and with a quick tap knocked the ball loose from him. The next Dogs forward, Alex was ready and picked up the ball. They pressed all the way downfield, passing between them. Alex got another shot off on goal, but it was just wide.

  Rane reassured the team, “Patience guys. Let them unravel a bit more. Let’s play our game.”

  The Tunisian teammates were yelling at each other now. They brought the ball in and surged downfield. Rane headed for a player near her as he received a pass. He quickly passed the ball to another player nervous she might steal it from him with her quick footwork. What he didn’t realize was that she was the decoy. Her player behind her neatly intercepted his pass and was off and running again towards the Tunisian goalie. Rane sidestepped the Tunisian player and followed her teammate down the field, taking a pass from him as he neared another defender. Two Tunisian defenders charged her, both looking like they would flatten her. The biggest player on her team slipped in front to protect her as she made a quick pass and sidestep to avoid the collision. This time both whistles were blown. The replay showed the Tunisians fouled again.

  Alex lined up for the penalty. He looked at Rane. She covered her mouth again, avoiding the risk of lip-readers catching her words. “He won’t want to let the same thing happen this time, so I think he’ll be slow to leave his mark. I’d suggest fake right, but go left, deep in the corner so it will be out of reach if he does guess right.”

  Alex nodded, faked right, and kicked left. The goalie went left this time, but the ball just slipped by his fingertips. The Dogs had a 3-1 lead. With only a few minutes left, the game was essentially over.

  As they were about to start the final moments of the game, the audience already going crazy over the inevitable victory. A loud alarm sounded, and troops started marching on the field, blocking the entrances. The TV screens went blank and then crackled as if the broadcast was being intercepted. Rane did not hesitate. She sprinted for the tunnel, Kaz at her side

  Chapter 18

  As soon as Keece heard the alarm, she jumped up and started shepherding her crowd for the VIP exit. Pele had not mentioned the potential attack, but, based on the amount of uproar over Rane playing in the men’s tournament, she was already on guard. Many in the crowd also rushed toward the door. Keece was shouting orders to her group, trying to keep everyone together and get them out. Cole and the hired guards were helping shepherd them toward the exit. Pele, Drew, Devon, and Pace had already left for the tunnel to meet up with Rane on the pretense of protecting her, but also in anticipation of the potential attack.

  Keece and the rest got out of their seating area and hurried down the special VIP ramp. As they reached the next exit, they saw troops closing in.

  “Run!” screamed Keece, and they slipped through. As Keece looked back to see that everyone made it out, she saw two guards grab Shanta, Jadyn, and Jaya.

  “No!” she screamed and started to head back, but the guards Pele hired to protect the family stopped her and kept everyone moving forward.

  “They will all be in trouble if you go back!” yelled one of them.

  The family’s guards caught Keece in time to stop her, but not Cole. He shot past them to get to Shanta and his kids. Reaching them, trying to break the children away, there was melee. The children were swept out of sight, Cole fighting, broke free and started running after them. The enemy guard shouted and then shot him several times in the back. Cole collapsed to the ground.

  Keece still being pulled along by the family guards screamed in horror, but before she could do anything, his limp body disappeared, crushed under the footsteps of the panicking crowds.

  “Keep moving,” growled the family guard.

  The crowd moved them forward, away from Cole’s body and the three children, who were now completely out of sight. Her focus immediately went back to rest of the group, determined not to lose any more. But where to go? And what was happening?

  They kept going, loosely traveling in the direction of the flat they had rented. As they hurriedly moved farther away the crowds in the streets dissipated. They were walking by an almost empty restaurant with many TV screens blaring when Keece froze. The few remaining patron’s eyes were glued to the screens. On the ticker tape at the bottom was the English translation of what the speaker was saying, “I am Ali Rehan, leader of ISEX, the new orthodox Islamic State. We are here to bring back the proper order, according to Allah, the true God. We have taken over the Arab Peninsula. There is no stopping us. We have lethal bombs planted in every stadium across the peninsula, in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Iraq, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. Allah finally has his day. We will rule the way Allah meant the world to be ruled! Soon other nations loyal to Allah will follow and then we will take on the world. But first we will restore rule in our homeland, Mecca, and the Arab peninsula. All those who swear allegiance to Allah will be saved. Soon the rest of the world will learn the power of Allah and join us or perish. The law according to Allah,” and he started to read the principles of the extremists,

  “A woman cannot speak alone to a man who is not her husband or relative, a woman who claims she is raped is guilty until proven innocent…”

  The children were standing by Keece’s side now, all stunned into silence. Keece did not wait to hear more. She started walking, almost running, as fast as she could toward their flat, yelling at the others to follow. Zander caught up to her.

  “Do you have a plan?” he asked.

  “Not yet, but I’m hoping to have one soon.”

  Zander, thinking out loud, continued, “They’ve probably already shut the airports down. Train and driving are going to be too slow because we’re a long way from the closest free country. By the time we get close, they would likely be in control of the trains and most of the vehicles.”

  One disadvantage to driverless cars was that they were typically controlled by a central command that could easily be brought to a halt by whoever had control.

  Keece “We can’t very well walk. Boat? Do you think we can steal a boat and get somewhere safe? Maybe Egypt or Sudan?”

  Zander, more serious than Keece ever remembered seeing him, answered, “I’m not sure it’s a safe plan, but at least it’s a plan.”

  Keece shook her head. “So bizarre. Who would have thought this could happen?” She was still grappling with the loss of the children and Cole’s death. She knew the others were as well.

  “Let’s stop at the flat quickly. We can grab anything that might work as Arabic clothing, the sheets or whatever we can find. The less we look like Americans the better. And Zander, I’m so sorry about your father. And your brother, sister and Shanta. We’ll get the kids back.”

&nb
sp; “I know, Aunt Keece,” he replied solemnly. He seemed to have matured over the past few hours, the loss of his father leaving an indelible mark.

  Keece tried dialing Pele as they walked. No answer. She hoped he had gotten to Rane and that they were safe. She tried not to think about it, but she knew Rane would be the prize for ISEX.

  They got themselves into Arab garb and went down to the port. Sanji, who spoke Arabic, inquired about boats. They thought they had found one, just as troops started filing into the port, but they could not quite get to it. It was a pier away and they would have had to go back by the troops to get there.

  Calice saved the day, slipping into the water and swimming to the boat. She was at the boat in a flash. She managed to grab a rope and toss it back to Zander and Sanji, who pulled the boat over close enough for the others to jump in. The hired guards had drifted away, concerned more about their own families. Keece and the children were on their own. Everyone swiftly jumped in the boat. Sanji and Zander started paddling while Keece, Kala and Calice tried to figure out how to get the boat started. As soon as the engine turned over, Kala grabbed the wheel and zoomed out to sea, nearly dumping everyone overboard.

  She grinned sheepishly, “It's a little different than a race car.”

  Everyone held on tight. As Kala took off, two boats started after them in hot pursuit. A few quick maneuvers among the other boats in the port allowed her to lose one of them. Then she accelerated hard and yelled at everyone to get down and hold on tight. The other boat accelerated as well. Kala in the lead did a slight weave to the right, then turned hard to the left, accelerating out of the turn. The boat behind tried to turn to follow her, slamming into her wake and flipping sideways. Everyone in the boat cheered as they flew off across the water heading west, not sure what lay ahead, but knowing it was better to escape what lay behind.

  Keece checked her phone and felt some relief when she saw a missed call from Pele. Hopefully a good sign that he and the others were safe and free of the stadium. Her thoughts turned to Jaya, Jadyn and Shanta. How were they going to find them? And Cole, the image of his prone body forever branded into her memory. Such senseless violence.

  Zander interrupted her thoughts, “Egypt or Sudan?”

  Keece answered, grimacing, “Egypt sounds a bit like the lesser of two evils?”

  Zander, “Yah, that’s my vote too. Only problem is there is a very large national park in the southeast corner nearest us.”

  Zander and Sanji started searching for a hotel or a lodge, or something that might allow them to dock. Their satellite service was spotty over the water, but they were determined.

  Chapter 19

  Rane, Pele, Drew, Pace, and Devon met in the tunnel and suited up in their Robustor gear. They realized they couldn’t stay there; enemy troops were pouring into the stadium in large numbers, blocking the exits and controlling the crowd.

  Pele said, under his breath to Drew, “So much for reinforcements.”

  Drew looked over and was about to respond when an enemy trooper spotted them and started shooting. They ducked behind pillars, shooting back, moving toward the exit, their Robustor suits protecting them and enabling them to move faster and shoot more accurately. ISEX opposition had earlier versions of the suits, but the latest versions were more advanced, so the group had an advantage. Kaz moved with them, watching Rane closely, ready to protect her.

  Suddenly Kaz started barking loudly. They looked back and saw that Drew, who was bringing up the rear, was hit. Pace was closest. He ran back and dragged Drew to safety. Kaz immediately quieted. The others continued shooting, protecting Pace and Drew. Pace looked at the wound to Drew’s leg and immediately pulled a strip of material from his jacket to form a tourniquet and stem the bleeding.

  Pace asked Drew in his matter-of-fact, logical way, “It looks pretty bad, but I think the best thing is to get you out of here. I’ll stop the bleeding as best I can. Do you think you can fly in your suit? If you fly, you won’t have to put weight on the leg.”

  Drew, through gritted teeth, responded, “Yes, yes, I can do it. Just stay close to me to help me focus.”

  Pace finished tying the tourniquet as quickly as he could, as the enemy forces approached. Fortunately, his doctor father had made sure he and the others were well trained in first aid. He gave Kaz a little pat as he readied Drew for flight.

  “Drew is going to have to fly so he won’t be quite as agile as the rest of us on the ground. Cover us as we move out, then join us.”

  Pele answered, “Got it.”

  They moved forward, continuing to duck, dive and shoot to get free. Once they broke out of the stadium chaos, they lost themselves between parked cars and the few other spectators who had managed to escape. The ISEX guards stayed behind to continue protecting the stadium and to hold the audience in. Pele and the others convened in a building nearby, hidden from the opposition.

  “Turn your headsets off while we’re together so we don’t risk being tracked via the frequency” said Pele.

  He then checked over Drew’s wound to make sure as much had been done as possible.

  Pace saw a screen in a nearby hotel lobby and lead the others over to watch. Every screen in the city had been broadcasting the game. Now Ali Rehan’s speech was loudly blasting across all those same screens.

  Pele said, “Wow, bombs in every stadium. Of course, every stadium in every Arab country was packed today with people watching this game on the big screens.” It was common now for stadiums to broadcast popular games and sell tickets even when the games were being played elsewhere.

  Drew said, still wincing in pain, “Yah, and no military support from our side.”

  Devon was clearly frustrated with the circumstances. “Yah, that would have helped.”

  Rane said, as she gently touched Devon’s arm, “At least we’re all out safely.”

  Devon relaxed slightly under her touch, “Yah, we are, but what about the others?” He motioned to the large audience in the stadium. “And what about the rest of our family?”

  “I’ll check on the rest of the family shortly,” Pele said. “Hopefully the guards got them out. As for support, I don’t know if they didn’t take our warnings seriously, or if they couldn’t get any cooperation from the Arab countries, but, regardless, I think it’s time for us to get out of here.”

  “Where to?” Drew asked.

  Pele answered, “You know, that’s a part of the plan we probably should have given a little more thought to.”

  Drew smiling despite the grave circumstances, “You have an excellent point, if not a little late. I guess I was just so sure it would be a smaller attack, and we’d have more back up support.”

  Pele shook his head, “Me too, but here we are.” Then looking at Pace, “Let’s try to steal a private plane. I think that’s our best bet.”

  Pace smiled, answering with measured enthusiasm, “I like that plan.”

  They identified a small private airport on their phone maps and headed in that direction.

  “Let’s run for now, except Drew of course,” said Pele. We’ll be faster in our suits than their force. That way, we’ll also preserve our jet propulsion, in case we need the suits to fly later.”

  The suits were good for short flights, but not full flying machines yet. A plane would be necessary to get them off the Peninsula.

  Most of the hangars were heavily guarded but they managed to quietly knock out two guards in front of one with their stun bullets. The guards would be out for at least 5 hours, which should give them ample time to escape. There was only one plane in the hangar, but fortunately it was a fast one, a Cirrus Vision SF70, with Arabic writing on the side in bright garish gold letters.

  Pace could not resist commenting, “Gotta love the Arabs.”

  They climbed in. Fortunately, Drew knew how to hotwire the engine to get it started. Pace slipped into the pilot seat and checked everything. He looked back to make sure everyone was ready, “As soon as I start the engines, someone is
going to hear us. We’ll have to go with the element of surprise to get out of the hangar. Devon, can you open the hangar door? As I’m taxiing out, you’ll have to run and jump aboard.”

  “I’m on it,” stated Devon confidently.