Invasion (3 page)

CHAPTER 5

The Troop, Mary and Ian heard metallic clanking before they could see anything.  The noise was coming from around a bend in the two-lane road.  A close growth of trees shaded both sides of the road and prevented them from seeing what was around the bend, but Ian suspected what it was.

“The Brown’s farm is around the bend, yes?” Ian asked Adam.

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay,” Ian said, looking around their surroundings.  “Let’s get everyone off the road.”

“Over there, looks good,” Adam offered.  He pointed to some large boulders several yards off the road and deep in the shade.

“Looks good to me.  Get everyone in there, get some water, and be ready to bug out quickly,” he said to Adam.

“Mary,” Ian said, walking into the woods with her. “I want you to have this,”

“What is it?” she asked.  She looked much more in control than she did earlier.

“It’s a pistol.” He pulled a .38 revolver out of a holster that was tucked under his shirt. 

“Another gun, I thought I was done with guns,” she protested lightly, but not convincingly.

“I found it in the Airstream.  It’s loaded with six rounds; all hollow-points.  All you have to do is point and shoot.  It’s not very accurate, so hold your hand steady if you have to use it,” he advised as a last second piece of advice.

She took the gun and the holster and clipped it to her belt, smirking at her new reality.  “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to check out what’s up ahead. Be prepared for about anything,” he said to both Mary and Adam.

“Yes sir…it’s kind of our motto,” Adam said, with a smile.

Ian tilted his head at the quick wit of the youth and turned to walk deeper in the woods.  He was angling out and then in on whomever was up ahead.

“Will he come back?” the youngest Boy Scout asked Mary.

“He always has a way of coming back,” Mary said, softly.

<  >

Ian moved quietly and with precision; adrenalin and training were the vices controlling his movements. Regardless what these soldiers were doing up ahead of him, he needed to lead these kids and Mary through there. The intelligence gathering side of him wanted to learn more before they made any decision.

With this thought in mind, as he walked through the woods, he tried to talk himself through what he knew about the greater situation as a whole. 

There was an invasion force penetrating through the main shipping ports of the Gulf Coast and the West Coast.

Why aren’t they targeting the East Coast? 

Why didn’t they want to destroy those ports?

They weren’t of value. But what’s more valuable than New York City?

No, that’s not the right question. 

The right question is, what does the Mid-West, Gulf Coast and the West Coast have that New York doesn’t?

Oil.

Ways to move oil.

Ways to process oil.

Ways to ship oil.

That’s got to be it! 

There are markets emerging in the world that have greater long-term benefit over America.  China must see us as a has-been and only want to use us for our natural resources.  China doesn’t have oil.  Russia has oil, but it’s hard to get to…but not as hard as taking down America! 
That thought made him pause, but then he continued with his analysis.

The Mid-East has oil, but the region is vastly unstable and possibly depleted.  America’s oil will last for hundreds of years.  It made sense to save the ports for exporting the oil, once they got their hands on it.  I would have used the same ports to bring in most of my troops, support equipment, base the helos and launch the drones…damn…it makes sense.

By attacking America, China solidified itself as the premier world power.  By shutting down the power across North America, it shut down all trade of currency from the States to the rest of the world.  The dollar must have tumbled to obscurity within hours of the attack…leaving the Yuan as the number one currency in the world.  Damn!

With the power out, the US fell into chaos; we’re killing ourselves so our enemy doesn’t have to!  Our military is spread around the nation, and there’s no good way for them to regroup.

What about our Navy?  Do we have the troop strength domestically to rally and fight back? What about the troops and bases overseas? Can they get back and help?

These were questions that Ian would think about later as he pulled down a branch of a tree to get a better look at what was happening across the road from where he hid. 

The section of the road turned off into a large field.  The field ran in both directions across the road and was devoid of trees.  The field ran for miles in a west to east fashion.  In the middle of the field was a fenced in gravel area with dozens of pipes protruding from the ground, arching over in an upside down ‘U’ and then burrowing back into the ground.  This was a massive unmanned pipeline terminal.

Ian pulled his binoculars up to his eyes.  He counted four men, dressed in black; they were all working around the pipeline terminal.  There was a fifth man rummaging through a small helicopter, which was parked just outside of the fenced terminal.  The Brown’s farm was in the distance, about a half-mile down the pipeline field; there was no movement around the farm.  He panned back to the men with his binoculars.

Two of the men had their combat helmets off, their hair was a silky jet black, and there was no mistaking their Asian heritage.  These two men were struggling with turning a giant circular wheel, which was attached to a valve.  One had a massive piece of pipe that he swung at the valve every so often, which created the clanking sound. 

They’re trying to shut off the flow of oil.

Ian panned his binoculars back to the helo, looking for anything that could help him.  His mind raced through what he should do, and then he surmised what he was working with.  He didn’t have a Ranger strike team; he had Boy Scouts and an emotional lawyer.  He had a 9mm pistol a small arms rifle, and a six shot .38 revolver. 

Ian stowed the binoculars and pulled an earpiece from his backpack, which he plugged into his two-way radio.  He needed advice, and there were two guys that he now trusted with his life on the other end of the radio call.

“This is Ian, looking for Dukes or Birmingham Bob.  Over.”

CHAPTER 6

Leah heard the call from her husband.  It was the first time that she had actually heard his voice in over three days. She was still making her way down the sewer drain pipe in the dark and the voice made her stop in her tracks.

“Ian,” she whispered to herself.  Her headlamp illuminated the tunnel in front of her.  She had taken one turn to the left a few hundred yards back, but she still didn’t have the end in sight.  As far as she knew, no one was following her.

The radio that she carried was tied to an earpiece and microphone like the one she would have used with her now dead cell phone.  She listened to the men discuss Ian’s situation and then she heard a break in the conversation.

She keyed the microphone and spoke to her husband for the first time in days.

“Bulls-eye, this is Momma B.  Over.”

Ian sat upright at the familiar voice of his wife.  The voice shot through him and almost caused him to lose all perspective on his current needs and the mission.

“Momma B…Bulls-eye, how are you?  Over.”

Leah wiped the water from her eyes and struggled to keep her composure.

“Bulls-eye, I’m on the way to meet Tardis Blue at the rally point.  Over.”

“That’s a good thing,” Ian said.  “But, are
you
okay?  Over.”

She sobbed one big time and then fought to rein it in.  He was asking directly about her…not about the world…not about whom they worked for…not about life and death…he was asking about her.

“I’m making it, but can’t wait to connect,” she paused, but didn’t release the microphone.  “I can’t wait to put our family back together,” she admitted.  “Over.”

“We’re working on that, aren’t we?  Over.”

“You’re damn right we are!” Grace broke into the conversation between her parents.  “Mom…Dad,” she clicked off the microphone for a second, catching her breath and tempering her excitement. “Everything you ever said is true!  Everything you ever taught me is working! Everything you ever wanted me to accomplish if the shit went south, I’ve done it…and more!  Let’s make it to the rally point Momma B.  Bulls-eye, we’ll see you back at the farm!  Over!” she said, slapping Joshua on the shoulder with excitement at hearing her parents on the same channel.

“Roger that Tardis Blue,” Ian said, his voice firm and full of pride.  “Over.”

“You got that right!  I’ll be there, and you better be!  Over,” Leah responded, the joy in her voice was the first she had heard in days.  She then tried to refocus on her current mission of making it to the rally point.

“Bulls-eye, I need some help,” she pleaded, knowing that he was in his own situation.  “Over.”

Ian looked at the soldiers across the street trying to cut off the flow of oil at the pipeline terminal.  They had broken the grip on the main valve and it looked like they were working together to close the valve.  The wheel of the valve must have been twice as large as the men, and they were having a hard time of it.

“How can I help?” Ian asked quietly.  “Over.”

“Do you recall the new neighborhood we looked at last week?  Over.”

Ian thought about that for a second.  Last week seemed like such a long time ago.  “Affirmative.  Over.”

“I am in one of their new drain pipes that runs to the highway, because three helos sat down at that intersection that we always complain about,” she added to pass along the intel about the helicopters.  “I can’t find a way out and I can’t go back.  Over.”

There was a pause before Ian responded; he knew right where she was.

“Momma B, I’d advise that you stay straight or at minimum turn left at any intersection,” he said.  Ian racked his brain for how contractors would lay out the pipes in a logical manner as it relates to the new neighborhoods in the area.  “My guess is that you’ll come out near a new retention pond, or if you see a hard left, you might cross back under the street and then be able to climb out.  Did you say three birds sat down at that intersection?  Over.”

“Bulls-eye, that’s affirmative.  Why?  Over.”  She had been walking the entire time, and could now see light from an intersection up ahead.

“Momma B, I think they’re staging to take the city,” he offered, hoping that he was wrong, but confident that he was right.  “Are you on track to reach the rally point and do you have a tail?  Over.”

Leah looked behind her first to see if anyone was following her.  She had been religious about looking back, and Daisy was on full alert, so she didn’t think she was being followed.  Next, she looked at her watch; the analog dashes and hands glowed in the darkness of the pipe.  “Negative to the tail, and 10-4 to rally point.  Also, I think I see a way out.  Tardis Blue, are you on schedule to meet at the rally point?  Over.”

“Working on it, but we have company,” Grace whispered.  “Will advise, over.”

CHAPTER 7

Anna read through one of Violet Tiller’s field triage guidebooks as she sat at the kitchen table listening to the radio chatter between the Burrows family.

“You’d think they were all Navy Seals or something,” Anna commented to Violet.

Violet looked up from the task she was doing at the table to answer the girl.  “It sounds to me like Grace’s parents have definitely had military training.  Her father was a Captain in the Army, right?”

Anna nodded.  “I think that’s right.  He doesn’t talk about it much.  I think he served right after college in Iraq or somewhere like that,” she offered. 

“But Grace’s mother…what’s her name?”

“Leah, Leah Burrows,” Anna answered.  She had known Grace’s mother for most of her life and Leah Burrows was like a second mother to her.

“Right, Leah,” Violet confirmed.  She moved a few small medical supplies from one pile to another on the kitchen table.  “She must have some training too, don’t you think?” Violet probed again.

Anna looked up from the diagram in the book describing exit wounds from bullets.  “Well, she works for an international charity.  They do something with clean water.  When Grace and I were little, Mrs. Burrows would travel internationally a lot.  I know that some of the places were pretty dangerous.”

“Really?  Like where?” Violet asked.

  “She went to Africa and Eastern Europe mostly,” Anna answered.  “Grace said that the charity used to provide body guards in some of the places, but her mother never trusted them.  She had the charity pay to train her in self defense,” Anna said, pulling the information from a number of conversations over the years with Grace.  “I guess that’s where she gets it from,” she offered.

“Interesting,” Violet answered. 

“I guess?  So, what are you doing with all of this stuff?” Anna asked, referring to the piles of medical supplies spread on the table.

“Well, I’m configuring a new version of my field medical kits,” Violet answered.  She had more questions about these two new people that seemed to hold the lives of her children in their hands.  The questions would have to wait.  “I’m making them so that we can treat wounds that are more common during war.  Things like bullet wounds, shrapnel removal, tourniquets, punctures and slices.”

“Did you say, we?”

Violet nodded and smiled.  “I did.  I’ve seen your interest in my medical books, and you told me about your passions for science and biology.”  She moved around the table and put her hand on the girl’s back.  “Also, with both of your parents being doctors, I imagine that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Anna nodded, listening to the woman reveal the girl’s true desires.  She couldn’t believe it had taken a war to make her realize that she really did want to study medicine.  She had spent the last two years telling her parents how much she hated medicine, and they had been right all along.  She whished she could take it all back.

“Do you think my parents would be proud of me?” she asked, looking up at the woman.  Anna fought to keep the emotion from her voice.

Violet pulled up the chair next to Anna.  “I know they are.”  She hugged the girl.  “I know they are, sweetie.”