Onio (21 page)

They
were approaching the southern base of the Rockies now, safe and sound, because
of his mother’s old Lincoln Continental. When Sandra Spiles passed away nine
years ago, she had left her pride and joy to her only child, Andrew. It was a
1994 Lincoln Town Car, as red as a cherry. It ran cherry, too, thanks to Andy.

When
Andy and the sasquatch walked past the firefighters and soldiers, the water
hoses and ambulances during their escape from base, the lieutenant held his
breath. He just knew that any minute, he and Blue would be taken into custody,
or shot by one of O’Dell’s team members. Instead, they simply walked to his
pickup truck, opened the doors and drove away.

He
almost told Blue to hide in the bed of the truck, but worried about the
detection devices embedded within the machinery at the checkpoints. It would
not seem strange for the interior of the cab to glow with heat signature on
such a cold day. In truth, although the MPs were usually ultra-alert,
especially on this part of the base, the fire engines, ambulances and emergency
personnel distracted them so much Andrew was able to drive through with less
than normal scrutiny.

He
drove three miles to his duplex, grabbed his over-night kit, a picture of his
mom and dad, what little cash he had stashed away, and his service weapons
before going out to the carport to start the Lincoln.

He
heart pounded fretfully for an anxious moment. He knew that the car needed a
new starter, but it fired up instantly, purring throatily while he loaded his
gear into the trunk. Opening the back door of the truck, he said, “Come on,
Blue. You need to get in the backseat of my other car.”

Blue
emerged from the Toyota, groaning, “Is it small, Ann?” the sasq asked, then
grinned when he spied the Lincoln idling a few feet away. “Ah, I can fit in
there, I think.” He paused and said, “Ann, I need to relieve myself before we
leave.”

Andy
nodded and said, “Okay, but hurry, please.” He started to open the door to the
house but the sasq waved him away. “No, I don’t want to go in there.”

With
those words, his body shimmered again, like a desert mirage, becoming almost
translucent as he stepped out into the side yard. After what seemed like hours
but was probably less than a minute, Blue reappeared and climbed into the back
seat. Without further ado, Andrew backed out of the carport, onto the street
and took off. There was one more checkpoint to pass through but, luckily, the
MPs had not yet been alerted to watch for Lieutenant Spiles or the escaped
prisoner.

Andy
pulled into an all-night gas station on the outskirts of El Paso. He filled the
gas tank, putting a significant dent in his ready cash, and ran inside for
coffee, water and snacks. Once outside again and heading north, the argument
started.

“Where
are the rest of my people?” the sasquatch asked.

Glancing
in the rearview mirror, Andy saw the worry and fear in Blue’s eyes. He
understood, suddenly, that this sasq was different from the others. In the
never-ending nightmare of O’Dell’s lab, Andy had not noticed the difference
until now. Not only was Blue smaller than the other sasquatches, his facial
features were finer than theirs were. The other sasqs were hairier as well. The
lieutenant wondered if his traveling companion had human blood running through
his veins.

The
sasq’s eyes studied Andy’s reflection with suspicion and anxiety. “Ann,” he
repeated, “where are the others? We need to find them!”

For
a second, Andy considered lying. Blue seemed almost childishly gullible and it
would be easy enough to convince the sasq that his people were safe. The trust
in those eyes was hard to ignore though, and even harder to betray.

Focusing
on the road, he said, “They were probably taken to another facility, Blue, but
we can’t go find them.” He glanced in the mirror and saw the frown that etched
the sasq’s forehead. “I’m sorry, but we’ll just get ourselves killed if we try!”

“It
is not right!” Blue exclaimed. The sasq leaned forward, grasping the front seat
with his hands, eyes wide with horror. For a moment, Andy thought the sasquatch
was simply going to open the car door and fly out into the night.

“Listen
to me, Blue.” Andy made a conscious effort to interject as much calm into his
voice as possible. In the short run, it was probably smart to get as much
distance as possible between himself and the escaped prisoner. In the end
though, he knew he could not live with himself if he let this creature go off
half-cocked on some crazy scheme, just to get himself blown to bits by machine
guns or laser-rifles.

“For
one thing,” he continued, “we have no idea where your friends were taken. The base
we just left covers almost twelve hundred miles and extends into two states!
They could be anywhere!” Andrew was on the verge of shouting. He took a deep
breath and lowered his voice. “Also, by now, I’m sure the CO has people
searching for us. What I did was against the law…Army law, at least. I’m AWOL
and you…well, I think O’Dell just likes to kill your kind!”

 He
was shouting again, with nerves and frustration. He looked at Blue, who sat in
the backseat, glaring out the side window. “Do you understand me, Blue?”

The
sasq sat still for a moment, then nodding, he said, “I understand Ann, but that
does not make it right. I will be considered a coward amongst my people. My
mother and father will not understand why I left my companions behind.” A tear
fell from the sasq’s eye and he wiped it away with a growl of shame.

“Would
they rather you were dead in some sort of crazy suicide mission? Because that’s
exactly what will happen. I know you people are strong, but there’s no way you
can stand up to cannon or laser fire!” Andy was yelling now. The tension of the
last seven hours finally caught up with the young lieutenant; he pulled the
Lincoln onto the shoulder of the road, under a copse of trees, with a screech
of rubber.

Turning
around in the seat, he glared at his passenger. “If you really want to go back,
be my guest, but I’m telling you, Blue, you’ll die in the attempt!”

The
sasquatch stared at the almost hysterical man who had risked everything to help
him and realized that the small human was probably right. Usually, his sense of
direction was keen, but they had come so far in the darkness he had no idea
where his comrades were now or how he would go back to save them. In addition,
he had seen the terrible weapons the soldiers carried…could he stand up to that
kind of assault? He shook his head and his shoulders slumped in exhaustion.

He
looked at the kind and compassionate human in the driver’s seat and whispered, “I
am sorry, Ann. I’m sure you are right.” He stiffened with alarm and asked, “Do
you feel that?”

Andy
frowned at Blue for a second. Then his eyes went wide and he shouted, “Get
down!” The sasquatch pressed himself down into the seat. Andy did the same as
two Army choppers flew low over the horizon. They were “Little Bird” stealth
choppers. Searchlights mounted on their nose cones etched the road with white
precision. They flew fast though, passing over the Lincoln without hesitation.

Andy
wiped beads of nervous sweat off his forehead with a trembling hand. “That was
close,” he whispered.

That
was three hours ago and luckily, there were no additional fly-overs since. Now
though, the sky was starting to glow with the sun’s eminent arrival. Watching
the road carefully for a place to turn off and hide, Andy found a wide spot
where he could park under some tall pinion pines. He turned off the engine and
sat still, trying to fight off the road buzz and fatigue that threatened to
overwhelm his senses.

“Where
are we, Ann?” Blue asked urgently.

Andrew
consulted his roadmap. “It looks like we are about twenty miles away from
heading up Glorieta Pass,” he murmured. Turning back he added, “The foothills
of the Rocky Mountains.”

Blue
nodded and replied, “I know the mountains, Ann. It is our home. We need to go
there.” His voice held a hint of excitement. “Yes, we can go there now and hide
very well!”

Spiles
stared out at the darkness that was starting to show the faint blush of dawn.
They were still in the rolling hills but far ahead, in the distance, he could
see the shadowy silhouette of the encroaching forest. Turning back to stare
into Blue’s eyes he said, “It’s got to be at least twenty miles to the forest.
We would have to run, find cover…if those choppers spot us, it’ll be all over,
Blue.”

The
sasquatch nodded, “I will carry you close, Ann. I can make both of us invisible
if you let me hold you tightly. It is only a short run to the nearest tunnel
opening. If we go now we will make it there before the sun rises and the black
birds find us!”

Blue’s
eyes were wide with excitement and relief. Spiles realized that the sasquatch actually
did know where they were, and suddenly he felt as if the weight of the world
had just been lifted off his skinny shoulders.

“Okay
Blue, we’ll do it your way, but first we have to hide this car so the chopper
pilots don’t see it and give our location away. Can you help me do that?”

Blue
nodded. Cautiously, listening for the telltale chop of rotor blades, he opened
the car door and got out. Andy followed suit and gathered his belongings out of
the trunk, while the sasq tore low hanging branches off nearby trees. Then, the
two refugees pushed the Lincoln close to a pile of boulders, covering it with
branches.

A
few minutes later, the son of Two Horses and his human queen, Tanah, ran like
the wind over the harsh and bitter terrain. He carried a duffle bag in front of
his chest, a rifle in his right hand and a small human man on his back. It was
difficult to maintain his camouflage while running, especially with the burden
he bore, but he gritted his teeth and grinned.

It
was good to be free and he knew that soon he would be reunited with his tribe.
Then, with his father’s help, he WOULD go back and rescue his tribe-mates!

Chapter 25

Seven
hours later, a bright ruby flash twinkled in the corner of a chopper pilot’s
eye as he flew reconnaissance over I-25. Alerting his fellow pilots to his
whereabouts, he set his bird down in a clearing. He could see the grill of the
Lincoln clearly from where he sat.

The
Army pilots had received Intel on Lieutenant Spiles’s second car a few hours
earlier and had scoured the countryside since. Now, here it was, covered with
branches, at the southern foot of the Rocky Mountains. Within minutes of touch
down, two more choppers flew in low over the horizon. One of those choppers
carried two tracking dogs, a beagle and a German shepherd. Within seconds of
touching down, the dogs found the scent and took off north. The beagle howled
with excitement while the shepherd growled low in his throat, nose down and
tail held stiff.

Three
helicopters hovered over the dog handlers. The soldiers inside watched as the
dogs sniffed the ground, landing when the handlers waved the all go. Then the
Delta team, in their field desert camouflage, followed the dogs. Some of the
soldiers also growled low in their throats as the dogs sped faster and faster
up the rocky crags of the mountains base toward their quarry.

Within
a few miles, they came to the entrance of a cave. Proceeding cautiously, ever
alert for an ambush, the soldiers probed the cave’s interior with their
flashlights. Spotting nothing overtly threatening, the dogs were set loose.
Immediately, they rushed toward the back of the cave. A massive pile of rocks
rose into the air from what was plainly a recent cave-in. The dogs whined and
yelped in frustration, lunging ineffectually at the fallen boulders.

Stepping
outside, the platoon commander called into headquarters for further
instructions. A series of clicks and extended silences echoed through his
earpiece as the call transferred to a more secure line. Then, his CO answered. “This
is Parks…what’s your status?”

***

The
major said, “They collapsed the tunnel, sir. How do you want us to proceed?”

“Hold
for a minute, Major.” Captain Parks stared into space for a moment, thinking
hard. He could call the corps of engineers in, but that might compromise the
team’s security. One thing the CO insisted on was maintaining the secrecy of
this mission. The more branches of military brought in, the less chance they
had of keeping things on the down low.

Parks
truly felt that the missing sasquatch was probably heading back to its lair. It
wasn’t as if it was going to go running to the press corps with a story to
tell. It would be months yet before the new facility was ready for more test
subjects, and already the remaining sasquatches were proving a strain to what
little resources O’Dell’s unit had left. As far as Park’s was concerned, let
the beast go…for now.

 As
to Spiles, Parks was not excited about chasing him down like a coyote in its
den. He had met the man once. The bony little psychologist with the big nose,
brown eyes and light brown hair that stood up in cowlicks was a kind man who
had helped Parks in the past with some of his own issues, after two tours in
Iraq and Afghanistan.

Orders
were orders though; if Parks had the man in his sights and was ordered to pull
the trigger, he would do it. Putting his men in harm’s way by ordering them to
clear out a landslide in an unstable environment, though, was irresponsible
and, for now, taking an unnecessary risk.