Jesse's Starship (20 page)

“You don’t think that man will be able to hold them off?”

“What do you think will happen if the Military takes control of this planet? I know that young man and he will understand the Aliens are right in their judgment that Earth is a danger to every species in the universe. I don’t know if he could seek revenge when he knows they are right. They may feel compelled to do it and take their chances. Either way, I’m not going to sit back and do nothing. I’ve got to see if something can be done to protect my loved ones. If it means sticking my gun in someone’s face to force them to get along, I’m going to do it. But first, the ones seeking to take power have to be stopped.”

Adams looked at the Colonel, “Sir, is that planet real?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Sir, I humbly ask for forgiveness and request I be allowed to join my brothers. I know I don’t deserve it, but I have some talents that might make a difference in what’s coming. The only reason I joined the organization was they promised that the military would never surrender if our country was placed in danger. It sounded like a noble ideal.”

“I will consider it, but only after you tell us all you know about that organization.”

“Lieutenant Snow would know more than any of us; however, that one lying over there bound hand and foot probably knows more than the Lieutenant. None of us knew about him.” The Captain stared at Adams and he said, “There will be events that are going to be extremely dangerous. Send me in on those. I have to have a chance to pay for my dishonor.” He looked at the others in the line, “All of us really believed we were protecting our country.”

The other eighteen Seals moved forward and Adams said, “Consider us expendable and shock troops to make the way easier for our brothers.”

Dunbar looked at the Seals and saw their sorrow and embarrassment. He turned to Mike, “Sir?”

“Keep them together. They should be given a chance for redemption. They’ve been deceived and I suspect they see it now. Their crime is to believe those in higher command that recruited them were doing the right thing.”

“Sir, we should have known when they threatened our families. They need to be stopped permanently.” Adams looked at the Seals around him, “If any of you break the faith, I’ll kill you myself.”

Mike said, “Let’s sit down and determine what you know. Captain, will you allow all the others to listen in; they’ll need to know how a Seal could be turned.”

The Captain nodded and Adams began talking.

• • •

“What are those Seals doing?”

“You know how hard they make it on them. Adams was able to send a brief message and said that one of them was dropped on a mission in the Middle East and missed his target by more than a mile. He says they are having to endure mass night drops. He also told me that both Snow and two others died the first night when they collided while freefalling toward the drop zone.”

“Who were the others?”

“I asked him and it appears Jefferson’s chute was damaged when he hit another Seal and he fell to his death.”

“I find it highly suspicious that two of our elements were killed.”

“Eight others ended up in the hospital, Sir.”

“Oh.” The man paused, “I guess that isn’t as unusual as I thought.”

“Barnes was one of those treated for a severely sprained ankle and he confirms that they are really getting a going over by the Captain.”

“What does our contact in their headquarters say?”

“He says the Seals are really being pushed. He thinks they are being made an example for all the other units. He doesn’t see anything suspicious.”

Mamba stood up and briefly raised his arms over his head and stretched, “Let me know if anything else turns up.”

“Yes Sir.”

T
he President looked at Bill and said, “Where are we?”

“General Branton found six traitors among the staff in the War Room. They have been reassigned to jobs in Alaska and Antarctica.”

“I’m surprised that didn’t cause a response from them.”

“They would have expected it, Sir. Every new Chief of Staff examines their staff before assuming the position. Those six protested being examined and he offered them reassignment if they refused. They chose reassignment.”

“They won’t be doing much at those locations.”

“Three of them are assigned to the weather station in Alaska. I’ll be surprised if they survive it.”

“Are you not telling me something?”

“No, I am telling you something.”

The President smiled. The new Secret Service Agent in the Limo was cleared and he was just as committed as Bill to protect the President from harm. Slowly, the staff at the White House were being changed. One of the CIA operative’s team members who survived the failed pick up was directing the cleansing of the staff. He was using a device that tracked all communications that went in and out of the White House and ten had been identified who used the frequencies of the eavesdropping devices. The third survivor was operating in the Pentagon. Progress was being made.

• • •

Tilly looked at Janet sitting on the wall with the high powered night binoculars and said, “What has you spooked? You’ve been sleeping during the day and staying up all night.”

“Tilly, I hope I’m just being paranoid.”

“What are you afraid of?”

“I had to call you on your cell phone to find you.”

“It was a short call.”

“I know, but I’m afraid they have your number and know your location.”

“Nothing has happened.”

Janet sighed, “If they were able to get a line on the call, I’m reasonably certain they were able to isolate it to the Phoenix area. If that happened, they would exhaust finding you in Phoenix before they started thinking about other places you might be. I’ve got to believe they may consider taking a look around here.”

“And if they come, they’ll come at night.”

“That’s how I’d do it.”

“Why would they still want me? I would think they’d be after Mike.”

“They are; but now you’ve escaped them twice and they’ve lost face. They won’t tolerate that.” Janet paused and smiled, “Besides, there’s nothing worth doing in the heat of the day. If one must sleep out here, that’s the time to do it.”

“The fans help, don’t they?”

“The automatic water spray helps a lot. How are you coming with the hooks?”

“They’re done. That Dewalt impact drill really made a difference.”

“I’ll help you lift it above the opening in the morning.”

“What could they possibly do that would necessitate using it?”

“I can think of about fifty different things. We’ll probably not need it, but you never know.” Tilly nodded and turned on the battery powered TV. The Voice was on and Janet said, “I really like Christina’s candidate.”

“She does have a great voice.”

They sat on top of the rock wall outside the cave and watched the show; Janet would often glance at the road from Phoenix.

• • •

“Pete, are you ready?”

“I’ll go to the outer planets in the Holding Facility’s star system.” The view changed and they saw an ice covered ball outside their ship. The ball remained in place and Jess said, “Is there not a Q ship here?”

“No, I can see one clearly at the Facility.”

“Is it doing anything?”

“No, it’s not. It doesn’t appear to know I’m here.”

“Should it be able to see you?”

“If I can see it; it should be able to see me.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“I’m moving half way into the system and will see what happens.”

“If it sees you and no one is on board, will it leave to pursue you?”

“Probably not; it will call for help and those ships will conduct the pursuit.”

“You should hear the call for help, right?”

“Yes. I’m moving now.” The view changed again and they were next to a giant planet.

Elle shook her head, “That planet looks a lot like Jupiter.”

“It is a gas giant like the planet in your solar system, Elle. However, this one is slightly smaller than Jupiter. There is still no response from the ship at the facility.”

“Pete.”

“Yes, Jess.”

“I’ve been thinking and it might not be a good time to try to get them to fire on us.”

Elle looked at Jess, “Why not?”

“If we intend to go inside that facility and look around, we shouldn’t let them know we came here. They would have to know there’s something here of interest to us.”

Elle looked up, “Pete, I don’t have the power management module; are you capable of using two power sources.”

“I am.”

“What are you thinking, Elle?”

“She’s thinking that if we show up here, we have to appear just like every other Q ship. If we’re invisible and the two of you go onboard, they’ll know something’s up.”

Jess nodded, “Pete has ten collection chambers. He could collect positrons in one of them to power his systems and the ship would appear normal.”

“Do you want to definitely find out if we’re not detectable now?”

Jess looked at Elle and saw her nod. “Go ahead. We’ve come this far.”

The view changed again and they saw the Q ship less than a mile away. They gripped the arms of their chairs and felt fear course through their bodies. After a moment the view changed and they blew out a breath at the same moment. “They are not able to detect my presence.”

“Pete, you are the bomb!”

“The what?”

Elle smiled, “That means you are the best.”

“Oh.”

“Now don’t get all serious on me.”

Elle put on the helmet and after a moment she heard, “Thank you. That clears things up. I wasn’t sure what you meant by calling me a bomb.”

“I’ll try not to use that phrase again.”

“Don’t get all serious on me; I understand it now.”

Jess and Elle laughed out loud.

• • •

A week passed in the desert and Janet groaned, “I can’t believe she was voted off.”

“We should have called in our votes.”

Janet laughed and glanced at the road in the distance. Two vehicles topped a hill and Janet saw they were almost bumper to bumper. She stood up and lifted the high powered binocular. She saw two black full sized vans. “Tilly, go get your rifle and bring the clips with you.”

Tilly looked off in the distance and saw lights. She gripped the ladder and scrambled down to the sand and ran in the cave. She picked up a plastic bag with twenty ammo clips inside and removed her rifle from a long plastic bag. She slung the rifle over her shoulder and went back up the ladder. Janet was standing on the wall and staring at the road two miles away. “Damn!”

“What?”

“They stopped at the boulders and men are coming out of both vehicles.” Tilly felt her stomach turn to butterflies and Janet blew out a breath. “They will probably wait until after one AM to start moving?”

“Why?”

“They don’t want traffic. If the vans leave, they’re coming after us.” Tilly squinted and saw the lights at the road drive away.

“They’re not headed back toward Phoenix.”

“No, they’re going further down the road and will turn off where they can’t be seen.” Janet lowered the binoculars and said, “Tilly, have you ever fired at anyone?” Tilly shook her head. “Those men coming after us wouldn’t hesitate to shoot you, Mike, or your children. You need to remember that.”

“How many of them are there?”

“I can’t get a good look at them this far out. I know there’s more than ten.”

“How do you want to handle this?”

“If they spread out, they won’t know where we are. You are going to have to take out the left side of their line and I’ll handle the right. They can’t hear our rifles so you must sight in to make a head shot. We’ll start at the end of the line and work our way into the center.”

“Won’t they see our rifles when we shoot?”

“Tilly, that silencer on the end of your rifle is also a flash suppressor. That little item costs a cool hundred thousand dollars each. We’ve got to try and take them out without warning the others they’re under attack.”

“What if they aren’t really the bad guys?”

“Then they wouldn’t be wearing black; they’d come riding in during daylight on white horses wearing white hats.”

Tilly couldn’t help but chuckle, “You make a good point.”

“We’ll start taking them when they’re two hundred yards out.” You need to relax and do some stretching until they start moving.”

“Do you want me to go and get some beef jerky?”

Janet laughed, “Now that is a superior suggestion.”

“I’ll bring some water to wash it down.”

“Perish that thought. One should savor the taste as long as possible.”

“Boy, you are hooked.”

“You know it.”

• • •

“Tilly, they’re on the move.” Tilly looked at her watch; two thirty in the morning. She crawled along the top of the wall to the left side and activated the scope. “Push the slide forward and it will go infrared. Use your night vision glasses until they move into range.” Tilly looked out at the desert and didn’t see anything. She watched and waited. Janet said, “They’re spreading out with about twenty five yards between them. Stick to the plan.”

Tilly raised the rifle and pushed the slide forward. She saw the red shapes moving in the desert and swept the scope to the left. She found the man on the end of the advancing line and put the crosshairs on his head. “Janet, I’ve never killed a man before.”

Janet said, “Enjoy the feeling but don’t take too long; the second one will help you forget the first.”

Tilly heard the cough from Janet’s rifle and she squeezed the trigger with an even pull. The red shape fell to the desert. She moved the scope to the next man and sighted in. She fired again and moved quickly to the next red image. So far the line continued forward and Tilly knew that they were unaware of death walking in their mist. She squeezed the trigger again and moved to the next image. All of them fell where they stood without a sound. She lined up the fourth image and fired. The image fell and she saw the next target had disappeared. She swept the scope across the desert and didn’t see anything. She whispered, “Janet!”

Janet quietly said, “They’ve gone to cover. They know they’re being stalked. There are six of them left. Sweep your scope back and forth slowly until you find them. They’re taking cover behind the large Saguaros but they’re going to be looking to find us. Don’t shoot, locate them first.”