Reckoning ~ Indian Hill 2 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (12 page)

“So this is how it ends,” the general said, more to himself than to any one in particular. “ I always figured it’d be the Chinese. Lieutenant! Get the president on the phone. Lieutenant!” The lieutenant snapped around.

“Sir?!” The glaze that had begun to form around his eyes like that of a condemned man being led to the electric chair briefly vanished.

“Get the president on the line, and then go to DefCon 5.”

“Sir, only the president can give the order for DefCon 5,” the lieutenant sputtered.

“I really don’t think the president is going to mind this one time, Lieutenant; and I don’t want to waste another five minutes waiting for the answer I already know is coming.” And somehow, Lieutenant, I don’t think that any mistake I make tonight will be noticed at all tomorrow. But the general merely thought the latter; he had no desire to send his entire staff into a panic, no matter how he felt.

Chapter 12

General Weston felt a certain unease from the depths of his soul. What it was, he couldn’t identify. He knew he outmanned this new enemy two to one, but they had superior position, and possibly equal fire power. But that still wasn’t it. Sure, anytime you faced an adversary, some apprehension was guaranteed. But not like this; this was downright dread. For only the second time in his life, the general felt that he was being led into a trap.

The first time was when he was in Vietnam. His platoon had been cut to ribbons by an enemy laying in wait, who knew he was coming. To this day, he occasionally still had nightmares of the screaming men who fell around him. Men who depended on his leadership to get them out of any situation. He felt that same itching on the back of his neck that he had on that night, so many years before. But he was, and always would be, a Marine. At the very least, he would do whatever it took, no matter what the cost, to take control of that mountain with as few casualties as possible.

“Sir, our recon Marines are only spotting minimal movement on the ridge,” Major Bernhard said. The general didn’t really like the man, but he was efficient at his job and that was all the general required. “Recon believes they are all hunkered down for the night.”

“Or lying in wait.”

“Excuse me, sir?” the major asked.

“I’m saying, Major, that they just might be waiting for us.”

“Sir, what exactly are we up against? I was under the impression we were just going up there on a reconnaissance mission, and that they were just some rabble with gun licenses.”

“That’s part of it, Major, but these are well-armed militia that have better defensive position.”

“Sir, to be frank, I wouldn’t care if they had ten to one odds. These Marines are the finest fighting soldiers on the planet. They’ll take one look and probably run home, screaming for mama.”

“You might be right, Major. And I hope that you are because I have no desire to ever write another letter to some young Marine’s parents again.” The major turned away as if to issue orders, but actually because he didn’t like the look of concern that obscured the general’s face.

“This is no time for self-doubt,” the major muttered as he headed towards his junior officers.

The general knew he wasn’t supposed to hear that last comment, he felt no hostility toward the major; in fact, he agreed.

Chapter 13

“Hey Becky! Come and look at this,” a slight, red-haired, freckle-faced boy said with excitement lilting his voice.

“Oh come on, Bobby Ray, you’ve been looking through that thing all night. Wouldn’t you rather look at this heavenly body?” a sprawled-out, bored blond replied.

Chapter 14

“Hey Dad! I think that one of the planets is exploding.”

“No, son. Venus is just particularly bright at this time of the evening.”

“Dad, I’m serious. Take a look through the scope.” The father stopped to appease his son with a cursory glance. He then dropped his full can of beer, wondering how he was going to get the number for NASA.

Chapter 15

General Weston’s troops crested the mountain and were greeted by sparse and erratic gunfire, which turned out to be decoys, firing blanks.

“Major, what the hell is going on up there?”

“Sir, you might want to come up here.”

“Is the area secure, Major?”

“Sir, this area was secured way before we got here. There is nobody up here.”

“Then what the hell was all that small arms fire?”

“Sir, they had trip wires rigged to fire some weapons. Sir, one more thing.”

“What is it, Major?”

“Sir, they were using blanks. I don’t understand it, sir. It seems they knew we were coming and vacated post haste; but they wanted to slow our ascent. It makes no sense; if you’re going to leave, why bother with the props?”

The general removed his cap to wipe his now perspiring brow. “I’ll tell you why, Major, they’re playing with us.”

“Sir?”

“Major, they knew we were coming. How? I’m not sure yet, but I’ll figure it out. They set up the booby traps just for fun.”

“I don’t see the humor, General. I’ve got two wounded Marines, one with a broken collar bone and one a broken wrist. They were diving for cover and hit bad patches of land.”

“Well, let’s be thankful it wasn’t anything more serious than that. I’ll be up momentarily.” The general turned to his Humvee driver, “Corporal, get me up that mountain, post haste.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” the corporal said before literally putting the pedal to the metal. It was a Humvee though so that wasn't much of statement with punch. The Hummer came up over the ridgeline to an anthill of activity. The majority of the invading Marines had already taken the mountaintop and were checking all the tents. The major flagged down the general.

“Sir, it appears that they left in an awfully big hurry.”

“Why do you say that, Major?”

“Sir, all of their tents and camo netting are here.”

“Is any of their gear here, Major? Any weapons?”

“Well, none that we’ve found sir, except, of course, for the dummies.”

“Well, Major, I’m not so sure we scared them out of here. I think they left all the tents and camo netting as a decoy. They didn’t want us to know they were leaving.”

“Isn’t this good news, sir? We took the objective with zero casualties?”

“Not at all, Major. We now have a large, cohesive, armed militia on the move and no idea where they are. At least before, we knew their exact location. We also failed to regain two of our troops, who were reported missing. Major, get on the horn to General Burkhalter and let him know what has happened here. And then tell him to get all the satellite images of this area for the last twenty-four hours. Maybe we’ll be able to tell in which direction our ‘friends’ have evacuated. Major? I’m talking to you. Have you heard a word I’ve said?” The general followed the major’s line of sight. If he hadn’t been sitting, he was sure that he would have fallen over. As it was, he had to grab onto the roll bar to keep himself from falling out of the Hummer.

The corporal, who was not paying much attention to the officer’s conversation, finally noticed when he realized they weren’t talking anymore. He followed their line of sight also.

“What the fuck is that?!” the corporal exclaimed as his cigarette went flying. The noise broke the stunned silence of the general.

“Major!!” The general had to yell it twice to break the major out of his stupor. “Major!!”

“Sir!? What the…”

“Major! No time! Rally the troops!! Now! I want defensive positions immediately! Get the tanks up here now!” The general had to give the major credit. He snapped it together in an instant and was belaying orders to the junior officers. Some of the Marines had to be pushed into action, judging by their bewildered stares. The vast majority knew their part; they had trained hard and long for this. Maybe not this particular scenario, but going on the defensive was the same, no matter who the enemy. Marines scurried around, jumping into fighting holes and readying their M-16’s or SAW’s. The tanks were just beginning to ramble up into the camp.

“Yea, though I walk through the shadow of death…” The General started.

The corporal had been through a few scrapes with the general but had never before seen him utter the Lord’s Prayer. At that moment, the corporal wished he had listened to his mother and stayed in school.

Chapter 16

The world governments knew first, then the major telescopes around the globe, then pretty much anybody who had a scope from Sears. Not until the line of ships was visible, did the planet reach its most heightened state of alertness. Most people didn’t have enough time to panic. More than likely, that was a good thing.