Last Stand: Patriots (Book 2) (16 page)

Th
e radio crackled to life as Rodriguez waved Marshall, John and the others inside the command tent.

“John Hancock, this is Patriot One, your signal strength is ten over nine, go ahead.”

‘Patriot One’ was Rodriguez’s call sign, which meant that ‘John Hancock’ must be Edward, their contact in Oneida.

“Patriot One, I have the Chairman’s
presidential commission in my possession. I’ve spent the last thirty minutes going over it in detail and I’m about as certain as I can be that it’s fake.”

John
’s breath hitched in his throat. The revelation wasn’t completely shocking, but the words sent chills up his spine. The implications were staggering.

“Ask him how he can be so sure,” John
said. This wasn’t something they wanted to leave to chance. Taking out an imposter was one thing, but murdering a presidential envoy, no matter how corrupt, could bring the might of the US military down on them.

Rodriguez asked the question.

“Patriot One, gosh, where do I start? First off, the document is laced with grammatical errors. Mostly missing conjunctions. ‘And,’ ‘or,’ ‘so,’ ‘but.’ Parts of it are readable, but others seem like they were written by a foreigner. Most of the problems I’ve found, however, show up in the presidential seal. As you may know, the number thirteen plays a big part in the seal. There are supposed to be thirteen stars in the crest, thirteen stripes in the shield, thirteen arrows in the eagle’s talon, as well as thirteen olive leaves and thirteen olives. In the Chairman’s seal, those numbers are all over the place. For example, the eagle’s only carrying a single arrow.”

Those gathered in the command tent looked from one to another. The
white-hot anger over what the Chairman had done to their loved ones was now so much stronger than before. They and the people of Oneida had been conned by a shyster.

“If that weren’t enough,” the contact
continued, “there are only forty-seven stars representing the states instead of fifty and E Pluribus Unum is spelled wrong. Looks to me like whoever made this either did it in one hell of a hurry or thought we’d be too stupid to know the difference.”

For some reason that last part stung the most. As though they were being mocked and insulted all over again.

“Thank you, John Hancock. Good job.”

“Patriot One, just doing my duty. I do have some bad news however. The agent who retrieved the papers was captured during the mission. From what I’ve been able to discern, it looks like they’ve been scheduled for public execution sometime tomorrow.”

John caught a strange shift in Rodriguez’s expression, one that almost looked like guilt. “I’m sorry to hear that,” Rodriguez said. “Is there anything you can do to help?”

“Negative, Patriot One. As it stands I’m preparing to vacate my post
as soon as we’re done here.”

“Have you been compromised?”

“That’s still uncertain, but I think the wisest course of action would be to destroy my equipment and rendezvous with you at—”

A pause and then a sudden burst of static
.

“Please say again, Joh
n Hancock, you’re breaking up.”

Another rush of static
mixed with angry voices. It sounded like Edward was holding down the mic during a struggle. A deafening boom sounded before the signal went dead.

All assembled looked at one another. They knew now without a doubt
that the Chairman and the cronies he’d brought into Oneida were con artists or maybe worse, but gaining that knowledge had cost them their only window into the town.

“We gotta get in there and help him,” Moss shouted.

“Rushing in hastily isn’t going to help Edward,” Marshall scolded his lieutenant. “He knew the risks. So too did the agent he enlisted.”

That funny look flashed across Rodriguez’
s features again and this time John didn’t think it was just empathy. The radio operator was hiding something.

“We still have our mountaintop observation post,” John told them. “At least we can use that to see if reinforcements show up. The major problem we have is, even with the
new AKs, we still don’t have enough men.” He couldn’t help thinking of Willow Creek and the friends he’d lost there. “I’ve seen what happens when two evenly matched forces do battle and more often than not both of them get decimated.”

The radio came to life again and this time everyone hushed. The signal was garbled and hard to make out.

“John Hancock, is that you, over?” Rodriguez said, clutching the mic in a desperate grip. “You’re coming in very faint. Check your signal strength.”

After a tense moment. “Is that better, over?”

“Reading you loud and clear.”

The voice on the other end was different.
Clearly this wasn’t their contact in Oneida and the mood in the command tent began to flounder.

“What’s your call sign?”

“This is
Captain Brian Mitchell, 278th Armored Cav Regiment. There aren’t many Americans broadcasting these days. Good to hear your voice.”

Moss looked skeptical
at the mention of armored vehicles. “Didn’t the EMP destroy just about everything the army had?”

“Tanks, Bradleys and Humvees, among others,” John told him, “were hardened against the effects of an EMP blast. But the real challenge is delivering the fuel and parts to keep them running.”

Rodriguez got back on the radio and explained to Captain Mitchell who they were.

“Keep your strength up, boys
,” came the Captain’s enigmatic reply. “We may need you up at the front soon.”

Rodriguez
shook his head. “Say again. Which front are you referring to?”

“Well, I guess you
haven’t heard. We’re at war. A combined force of Chinese, North Korean and Russian troops landed on the West Coast about two months ago and we’ve been sending everything we have to slow down their advance.”

John and the others were positively stunned. Foreign troops on US soil. Nothing like it had happened since the war of 1812.

But there was more shocking news.

“What about aid from the European Union
?” Rodriguez asked.

Mitchell laughed. “They were hit just as hard as we were. Seems like this new Axis of
Evil took aim to conquer the continental US while leaving Europe to thin itself out through anarchy and social chaos.”

“I don’t know what to say,”
Rodriguez told him. “We’re all sitting here with our jaws on the floor.”

“I can’t blame you,” Captain Mitchell said. “But there’s more bad news if you’re ready for it. Since that EMP hit
, Russian agents have been taking over towns and cities all over the country, claiming to be presidential appointees. Those tricky Slavs are now playing havoc with our logistics, lemme tell you.”

“Wh
at is your current position?” Rodriguez asked.

“That’s classified. All I can say is we’r
e moving west through Tennessee. A last defensive line is being drawn up along the Mississippi river. If we lose that then we lose this war.”

For a moment John was
utterly speechless. He remembered hearing about troops moving west, but he’d assumed they were heading to restore law and order to some of the big cities.

Marshall
was pacing back and forth in the hot confines of the command tent. “There must be some strategic importance to Oneida, or else the Russians wouldn’t have bothered with it.”

The answer formed in John’s head as clear as a summer’s day. “They need the
rail yard,” he said and the words fired out all on their own. “With the roads piled with cars, what better way to control the movement of large numbers of troops and materiel than with the rails?”

“You might be right,”
Marshall said, running a hand through his beard.

John
’s spirits rose. “A single Bradley fighting vehicle is all we would need to swing the odds in our favor and take back the town,” John told them. “Rodriguez, explain the situation to him, that we have a fifth columnist in control of a major rail hub and that we need support to recapture the city.”

Rodriguez
looked to Marshall who nodded. “Do it.”

“Captain Mitchell, this is Patriot One. Are you there, over?” A moment of silence followed. “Captain Mitchell, are you there, over?”

When there was still no response, Rodriguez glanced down at his equipment. “I think our signal’s being jammed,” he said.

“What do you mean?”
Marshall spat.

Rodriguez switched the receiver on
, producing a loud pulsating signal.

“They must have done it after they saw Edward’s radio,” John said. “The Chairman want
s to keep us isolated. It’s the main reason our forces have been pushed back to the Mississippi. They can’t effectively communicate with one another.”

“Oh, God
, this is a nightmare,” Moss said, dropping his head into his hands. “Didn’t we beat these guys during the Cold War?”

John shook his head. “We did, but that was before Putin’s ambitions to reinstate the former Soviet empire became apparent and before he,
China and North Korea apparently found common cause.”

“
So what now?” Moss asked no one in particular.

“We need to get someone into
Oneida and destroy that jamming equipment as soon as possible,” Marshall told them. “If the army shows up, the town is sure to surrender without a fight.”

“I’ll go,” John
offered.

Moss didn’t look at all convinced. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. We know what happened the first time John went in on his own.”

John clenched his fist. Moss seemed to forget how John had saved him and Sullivan from a summary execution on a lonely stretch of road. But long ago he’d learned not to stoop to another man’s level.

“The three of you
will go,” Marshall said, motioning to John, Moss and Rodriguez. “Get your gear, we leave in ten minutes.”

“We?” John asked.

“The rest of us will launch a probing attack from the north and east to draw their attention away from your insertion point. Once you get Rodriguez to that jammer, we’ll use their own radio to call in the 278th.”

“There’s something you aren’t tell
ing me,” John said to Rodriguez. The others were filing out of the command tent in order to prepare their men for the coming assault.

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Come on,” John snapped, clenching his fists until the muscles in his forearms pushed against the sleeves of his shirt. “I saw that funny look on your face during the briefing.”

“Listen, we have a mission to do,” Rodriguez began. “It’s best if neither of us are distracted
…”

“Distracted by what? Did you hear something about Diane or the kids?”

John’s voice was starting to carry and the people around paused what they were doing to listen. Among them was Brandon, who had been loading John’s AR magazines.

Rodriguez sighed and the breath wavered as it came out of him. He was nervous
, which could only mean John’s gut had been right.

“Please tell me none of them are dead.”

“Not yet,” Rodriguez replied, shaking his head.

“All right, you’ve got fifteen seconds to spill it because after that I won’t be responsible for what I
—”

“She was
recruited by our man in Oneida, Edward.”

“Recruited?
What are you talking about? I thought she was sitting in a prison cell.”

“Well, the Chairman took a liking to her. I told you that much. I’m sure you remember.”

“How could I forget?”

“
I guess Edward saw an opportunity and brought her on board.”

The musc
les in John’s face went lax. “You brought her into the plot to assassinate the Chairman?”

Rodriguez’
s hands flew in the air. “I didn’t do a thing. Edward was acting on his own. But yes, he approached Diane with the plan and she accepted.”

John’s head fell into his open hands.

“But then we scrapped Operation Hammer Fist, remember? You said killing the Chairman might be a bad idea until we knew who we were dealing with.”

“Yes, I did say that.”

“So we took your advice and informed Edward to retrieve the presidential commission instead.”

“Except Edward wasn’t prepared to do that himself.” John’s voice was rising again.

“He was, but Diane could get so much closer and without arousing suspicion. They agreed to spike his drink and…”

“Spike his drink? How on earth was s
he going to do that?”

“During dinner.”

“Oh, this keeps getting worse by the second.”

“Yeah, well, she tried and apparently
was only partially successful. She got the papers to Edward, but your wife was captured in the process.”

“And why on earth are you only telling me now?”

“I only discovered it myself. Besides, what would you have done if you knew? Forbidden her from doing her patriotic duty?”

“I would have gone i
n there and done it myself,” John shouted.

“Yes, and gotten yourself killed. You’re a practical man, John,
but when it comes to your own affairs you can’t see ten feet in front of you. Under the circumstances, there wasn’t any other choice. Edward took an asset under his wing and they did the best they could. You can’t protect them at every turn, John. I know that’s killing you right now. It’s a father’s and a husband’s job, I know, but guess what? This is real life. You aren’t Superman.”

The anger and sense of impending loss was surging through
John. “Before he was yanked offline,” John said. “Edward mentioned the asset had been compromised. That they were going to be executed.”

Rodrig
uez’s eyes fell. “It’s supposed to happen sometime tomorrow. But we’ve got a mission to fulfill. If those Bradleys leave the area and roll into position along the Mississippi we may not get another chance to call the army in to help clear the Chairman out of Oneida.”

John glared at him with determination
. “Then we’ll just have to find a way to do both.”