New America 02 - Resistance (16 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Maxwell Harris couldn’t feel his left leg.  The nerve branching off from his crushed L2 vertebra had been pinched in his broken spine.  He’d lost sensation in most of his groin and buttocks and could barely feel his right leg.  All Max could do was stare at the stars shining through the hole in the bridge’s roof…and scream.

Max dragged himself
across the floor to the lifeless body of Captain Konkoly and groped about for his radio, relieved to find it lodged securely in the dead man’s pocket. 

“Help!  I need help!  This is Maxwell Harris, I’m trapped on the bridge
and I need help!”

Four hundred
nine yards away, one of Hal’s drones picked up the transmission and flew to the bridge.  “Sir, this is Hal.  Help is on the way; you are safe.”

“My wife!  Please find my wife!”

“I’m here, Max!”  Elizabeth Harris said as she climbed through the shattered doors leading into the bridge.

“I broke my back.  I can’t move my legs.”

“You’re alive, sweetie!  Let’s get you out of here.”  Elizabeth motioned to the small drone hovering nearby.  “Hal?”

“Yes, ma’am.  I have a larger drone en route that will assist you in evacuating the ship.”  
Seconds later, a massive drone landed on the bridge.  Arms and legs snapped out from its side as it stood upright and became a Hal robot.  The anthropomorphic extension of Hal’s programming looked like a headless human.  In the center of the robot’s chest was a bright red, glowing fish-eye lens in honor of Hal’s namesake.  “Ma’am, if you will assist me, we can get you both out of here.”

“Hal, you’re a lifesaver.”  Elizabeth and the
Hal robot took Max by the arms and stood him up.  The robot extended both arms and cradled Max like a baby. The pain was more than Max could bear.

“Max, honey, we’re getting you out
of here.” Two six-inch metal plates extended from the robot’s knees and Elizabeth stepped on, wrapping her arms around the Hal robot’s torso.   “Hal, can you carry us both?”

“Yes, ma’am, I can carry three times this weight.  H
old on. I’m going to fly you to the nearest lifeboat.”  With thrusters blazing from the robots arms and feet, the three hovered out of the bridge and slowly descended at a forty-five degree angle towards the nearest lifeboat. 

***

“Sir, I have transported Max and Elizabeth to the safety of a lifeboat.”

“That’s good news! T
hank you, Old Man.”

“You are welcome, sir.”

“Are they okay?”

“Sir, Elizabeth is fine.
Max, on the other hand, is severely injured.  My scans detect that his L2 vertebra has been shattered and the L2 nerve pinched.  He is almost completely paralyzed from the waist down.”

Dammit, Max.  Why can’t you catch a break?
  “What’s the status on the third cruise ship?”

“Sir, the majority of the crew is on lif
eboats.  The submarine has intercepted the third ship and has opened fire.”

“This is a nightmare. 
We should be doing something.”

“Sir, my
drones are doing a great deal to help.”

“What about our stealth jets?  Are we within range?  How many can they hold?”

“Two of the jets are down for maintenance. The other ten can make it there in fourteen minutes. Each can hold twelve.”

“Launch them immediatel
y.  Evacuate as many as you can; don’t waste a second.”

“Yes, sir.  They will have to land in California.”

“That’s fine. Make it happen.”

“Yes, sir.  The stealth jets are already in the air.”

“I doubt we’ll get that lucky, but if the sub is still in the water, sink the fucker to the bottom of the Pacific.”

“I will endeavor to do so, sir.”

***

“Weapons, status report.”

“Captain, all three vessels are damaged beyond repair and will sink.”

“I must say I’ve never seen cruise ships used to transport a military force.”

The XO, proud of his knowledge of history, interjected.  “Captain, the Americans used cruise ships to transport troops to the European theater during World War II.”

“Is that so?  Fascinating.  Well, they won’t be doing so this time around.  The UAE will regret trying
to double-cross the Chinese.  Governor Butler will pay for this betrayal.  Our invasion force will see to that.”

***

“Max, honey, wake up.”  Elizabeth Harris planted kisses on her husband’s clammy forehead.

“Ma’am, if I may?  I’m a medic.”

“What are you waiting for?  Yes, please.”

The lifeboat was at capacity. T
he medic stood up and made his way over to Elizabeth.  He placed his palm on Max’s chest, and checked the pulse on his neck. Fifteen seconds passed before he spoke.

“Given his condition, he’s fine for t
he time being.  His pulse is weak, but steady; so is his breathing.  He just passed out from the shock.”

“Sir, I concur.”

“What the hell is that?”  The medic pointed at the briefcase-sized contraption, its red fish-eye ablaze, hovering off the starboard bow. 

Elizabeth
smile.  “You’ve never met Hal?”

“Hal?  Beck’s A.I.?  I thought he was in Beck
Castle.”

Elizabeth gazed fondly
at the robot hovering nearby.  “Honestly, I think Hal is everywhere.”

“Ma’am, I assure you I am not omnipresent.”

“Just a figure of speech, Hal.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Hal, what’s the plan?  We need to get out of here.”

“
I am going to deploy a drone for every lifeboat.  Each drone will attach to the rear of the ship and act as a motor.  I estimate that we will make it to the California coast in seventy-five minutes.”

The medic could not contain his optimism
.  “Your husband will be fine as long as we take him straight to a hospital when we come ashore.”

“Sir, t
hat is the route we are taking; it will place us at the closest possible distance to a hospital.  I have triaged all the injured and will take them directly to the hospital.”

“He’s amazing
.”  The medic grinned at Elizabeth.

“Yes! Y
es, he is.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

President Simon Sterling was in a bullet-proof limousine trying desperately to get out of Florida.  His plan was to drive to Fort McClellan, Alabama, and take a jet back to Howard Beck’s former mansion outside of Denver.

His lead security agent was
in the backseat.  “Mr. President, we have a secure location at which to stage you until McClellan can get reinforcements to us.  We travel too far north and your safety will be in jeopardy.  I want us off the road ASAP.”

“Where
?  Wait, is McClellan in any kind of shape since the attack?”

“
It will take longer than I like, but McClellan can have reinforcements here. We just have to be patient.  We’ll be waiting at Benjamin Black’s compound at Walt Disney World.  He’s an ally of the UAE.  We have a small contingent of soldiers there that will secure the site until reinforcements can come for us.”

“Thank you, Mr. Watts.  You’ve
done your job well.  How long until we get to this...what was his name?”

“Benjamin Black.”

“Yes, how long until we get to Mr. Black’s compound?”

“Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we will be there in under two hours.”

“Thank you. I’m sure Stacy will be comfortable in the trunk.”

***

Jessica Bradley had the luxury of driving a Mustang at break-neck speed across the Florida wasteland.  She also didn’t have the burden of a convoy.  She beat the president back to WDW by a full hour.  She had already briefed Benjamin, and they’d formulated a plan on how to proceed.

Twenty-
four UAE soldiers were stationed in the parking lot of Walt Disney World awaiting the president’s arrival.  Minutes after Ben and Jessica decided to roll out the red carpet for President Simon Sterling, twelve very attractive, flirtatious young females were sent out to distract the soldiers.  While they were preoccupied, Ben’s people shot or stabbed all of them to death.  With the soldiers dispatched, their uniforms were stripped off and their bodies hidden from view.  Within thirty minutes of the president’s arrival, all the soldiers had been replaced by Ben’s people.

***

“Mr. President, we will be arriving shortly.  Our people are all in place, and Mr. Black will be there to meet you personally.”

“Excellent,
Mr.Watts.  I look forward to meeting a true patriot.”

***

When Benjamin Black set up the community at Walt Disney World, the very first priority was external security.  They had to be able to defend their walls from outside aggressors.  The parking lot leading to the front gate was barricaded with an intricate maze of obstacles and roadblocks.  Anyone attempting to gain access to the park had to navigate three armed checkpoints before they could even approach the main gate, which had two armed guards of its own, including one in a thirty-foot-high tower constructed by Ben’s people.  Any vehicle not cleared for entry at the first checkpoint was held up while the guards radioed their counterparts at the other two checkpoints and the main gate.  In the past, raiders had attempted to storm the Black compound to pillage what Ben’s people had fought so valiantly to procure.  No one had ever breached the complex.  An alarm would be sounded at the first checkpoint and a standby platoon residing just inside the front gate deployed to deter the threat. 

Standard protocol was to allow the UAE to proceed unmolested all the way to the front gate.  When President Sterling’s motorcade approached, the same protocol was observed
.  As the armored limousine and its three support SUVs raced past the first checkpoint, the guard at the front gate radioed ahead to announce their arrival.

“Okay, listen up
, people. We have about three minutes before they get here.  No one in uniform is to approach the president’s security detail.  Avoid making eye contact with them.  If they want to speak to a soldier, Hayden Smith is the one to approach since we put him in Captain Brown’s uniform.  Hayden was an officer in the Air Force, so he can pull it off.  I will separate the president from his detail as quickly as possible.  When I shoot his lead security agent, that will be the signal to open fire on the rest of the detail.  Is everyone clear?”

A sea of heads bobbed
in unison.

“Good.  Let’s not screw this up.  We’ve got a lot riding on this
, and we have precious little time before reinforcements get here from Fort McClellan.”

A minute later
, the president’s motorcade approached the front gate and screeched to a halt.  A smart-looking man scanned the crowd before him as he quickly approached Ben.

“Mr. Black?”

“Yes, I’m Benjamin Black.”

“Okay, bring out the Suit.”  The president’s call sign
reflected his predilection for fine clothing.  Simon thought it a fitting title and didn’t object.

T
he passengers disembarked from the SUVs and surrounded the president’s door.  Out came the president of the Unified American Empire.  Benjamin was shocked to discover how short the man was; he couldn’t have been more than five-foot four.  Ben was also surprised to see the president wearing a mismatched military uniform.

“Mr. Black, it’s
a pleasure to meet you.  Thank you for playing host during this desperate hour.  I hope you will forgive my attire; my security detail chose to toss me in a church baptistery to protect me from the blast.  My favorite suit was ruined and, well, here we are. This monstrosity is an embarrassment,” he said, in obvious distress over his highly unsuitable dress.

“I und
erstand, Mr. President.  We’re honored to have you in our humble community.”

“You are modest, Mr. Black. What you’ve
done here is remarkable.”

“Please, Mr. President, call me Ben.”

“Ben it is.  Are you in charge of security for this community, or should my lead agent make arrangements with one of your subordinates?”

Ben motioned for Jessica
Bradley to step forward.  “Mr. President, this is my second-in-command, Jessica Bradley. She will see to any security concerns your team may have.”

“Miss
Bradley, it’s a pleasure to meet you.  This is Agent Watts. He’ll have some security details to discuss with you.”

Ben and Jessica exchanged a subtle glance; the plan had just changed.  Jessica would have
to kill the lead agent.  This worked out perfectly. Ben could grab the president and throw him to the ground to ensure he wasn’t killed during the crossfire.

As
Ben led the president toward the front gate, Jessica and the lead agent headed in the opposite direction.  Jessica shook Agent Watts’ hand, preventing him from drawing his weapon.  With a pistol on both hips, Jessica quickly drew with her left hand and shot Agent Watts in the nose, his brains exploding out the back of his head.  She bear-hugged the corpse and dropped to her knee, using the body for protection as she began to fire at the other agents.  To her delight, she only had to kill one agent before the “soldiers” opened fire and gunned down the entire security detail.

Benjamin Black helped the awe
struck tyrant to his feet.  “Mr. President, you are now a prisoner of the Pacific States of America.”

“You’ll never make it out of here alive.  My people are coming from McClellan and will squash you like a bug.  You’ll hang for this.  I’ll put the noose around your neck myself.”

Ben ignored his prisoner. “Hayden, contact Colonel Sanderson.  He’s still with the 519th out of Fort Polk, isn’t he?”