Invasion (4 page)

CHAPTER 8

Ian made his way back to where the Troop and Mary were hiding.  Adam was not immediately visible when Ian appeared.

“What’s it looking like?” Mary asked.

“Where’s Adam?” he countered with his own question.

Mary pointed to a very large boulder that was close by.  Adam was lying down on top of the boulder.  All Ian could see was his head and the tip of the gun.  Adam had a vantage point that allowed him to see Ian and the soldiers working around the pipeline.

“He saw you coming before you could see us,” she said with a crooked smile.

Adam nodded to them and then turned to climb down from the boulder. “He’s like a chip off the old block,” she added with a smile.

Ian raised an eyebrow.  This kid was really starting to grow on him.  Ian waited for Adam to climb down and then pulled everyone together for a briefing.

“Alright, here’s what I know.  Around that bend are five men; they are soldiers from China.  They are our enemy, and they will not hesitate to kill us if they know we’re here.  Is that clear?” he asked.

All of the Scouts said, ‘yes sir.’  Mary nodded; she knew what he was talking about from her own first hand experience.

   Ian continued.  “They are working to shut off the oil flow at a pipeline terminal.  Adam, your Dad told me that this is the last major terminal before it reaches the East Coast.  That makes it important,” he said, looking at the youth.

Adam nodded.  “So, what’s the plan?” he asked.

Ian looked at each of the boys and then at Mary before responding.  “We’re going to stop them,” he said simply.

The boys seemed to like the decision; Mary was anything but supportive.

“Are you out of your mind?” she asked.  “We can’t take on professional soldiers with three guns and the Boy Scouts!  There’s not a merit badge for that!”

Ian countered her.  “We can if we have reinforcements.”

“I hope it’s the Green Berets or the National Guard or something!” she said, incredulous to Ian’s decision.

“It’s Adam’s father,” he countered evenly.  He then looked at Adam.  “Your Dad was a Marine…”

“Still is a Marine,” Adam cut him off politely.

“Roger that;
still
is a Marine.” Ian continued.  “He’s gearing up now and will take one of the horses to the top of the ridge.  Once there, he will make his way down and we’ll stop these guys from shutting off the oil flow.”

Mary couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  “Are you out of your mind?  You say, we’re just going to ‘stop these guys,’ like we’re gonna put them in timeout or something!” 

“Mary, I…”

“No, Ian!  Listen to me for a minute.  These are children,” she waved her arm around at the Scout Troop.  “They’re not Rangers or Seals or Storm Troopers or whatever!  They build fires, help old ladies across the road and sell cookies!”

“Ms. Mary,” Adam tempted.  “That’s the Girl Scouts that sell cookies.”

“Same difference!”

“Ms. Mary,” Adam started again, not intimidated by the raised voice of an adult.  “My Dad was in the Marines for 20 years before we took over the farm.  He was Recon.  That means that sneaking up on the bad guys and doing whatever he needed to do, was what he did.  He’s real good at doing exactly what Mr. Ian just described.”

Mary went to speak, and Adam cut her off again.

“Also, I have been shooting for almost as long as I can remember.  I am trained on most civilian weapons and my Dad taught Joshua and me some of his tricks.  I’m not scared.”

Mary lowered her voice.  She already knew she wasn’t going to win this argument.  “Adam, it isn’t about being scared. And, I know that you want to prove that you can do this; I can respect that.”

“It really isn’t a choice anymore,” Ian said, effectively shutting down the debate.  “We’re at war.  This war has become very personal and has hit close to home.  What those soldiers are doing over there is shutting down a major source of energy for the East Coast.  If we allow that to happen, there could be many more lives lost.  This is an opportunity to make a stand against the people that struck us first.  Mary,” he lowered his voice, and looked her squarely in the eyes.  “These are the people that killed Elizabeth.”

Mary looked from Ian to Adam.  That last statement of reality slapped reality into focus for her.  “Okay, I give,” she said, bending to the argument. “But, I’m going on the record that I’m opposed to this, but…I guess I’m going to have to use this stupid thing,” she said, tapping the revolver on her belt.  “So, show me how to use it again before I hurt myself,” she said to Ian.

CHAPTER 9

Grace and Joshua retreated up the hill from the apex of the road where they had viewed the city.  From their hiding place behind several huge boulders, they watched a small black helicopter circle twice, scouting the area.

“What’s he looking for?” Grace asked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think he’s looking for us,” Joshua answered.  “It actually looks like he’s looking for a place to land.

“Damn!  We’ve got to go,” Grace said, frustrated at the delay.  “If he puts down right here, can we get down the road without him seeing us?  We’ve got to meet my Mom!”

Joshua looked over their shoulders and down the other side of the hill.  “I think we can get away if we move slowly and stick to the forest for a mile or so, instead of the road.  It’ll put us behind schedule, though.  I think there’s some path up by that old water tower above us, but I’ve never been on it, so, that might not be the way to go.”

The helicopter touched down on the road below them, and two soldiers jumped out.  One soldier swept the area visually, his rifle pointing where he was looking.  Satisfied that he wasn’t going to be ambushed, he turned to help the other soldier pull a large crate out of the helo.  Once the door was closed, the helicopter lifted back off and flew away, leaving the two soldiers and the crate.

“Maybe we should hang on a minute and see what they’re doing,” Joshua added.

Grace didn’t want to do it, but she agreed anyway; learning what the enemy was doing could be valuable.  Besides, they would have to come back through here to get back to the farm, so they would have to deal with these guys either now or later.

“Momma B this is Tardis Blue.  Over,” she called quietly into her radio microphone.

Leah stopped long enough to key her own microphone and respond to her daughter.

“Tardis Blue, this is Momma B.  What’s up?  Over,” she asked and moved off of the side of the road and to the shade of some large oaks.  There she took a swig off of her canteen and then poured some into a cup for Daisy.

“Momma B, we’re going to be late,” she said.  “A helicopter has just dropped two soldiers off at the top of the ridge, and we need to get past.  Over.”

“Tardis Blue, this is Bob,” Bob Tiller said, breaking into the conversation.  “Are you at the top of Water Tower Pass?  Over?”

Grace looked at Joshua, and he nodded positively.

“That’s affirmative.  Over.”

“Do they have anything with them?  Over,” he asked, slightly out of breath.

“Bob, can you be more specific?  Over.” Grace countered.  “Why is he out of breath?” she asked Joshua.

“Sounds like he is already moving to go help your father,” Joshua suggested.

“Do they have equipment like a satellite dish or materials to set up a radio tower?  Over,” Bob asked more directly.

Joshua put his small set of binoculars up to his eyes to get a better view on what the men in black fatigues were doing.  He keyed his own microphone to takeover the conversation with his father.

“Bob, affirmative,” he said, and then handed the binoculars to Grace.  “I can see a small satellite dish.”

“And they’re putting up a small radio whip, too,” Grace whispered to Joshua.

“They are also erecting a radio whip,” Joshua relayed the new data.  “Do you have instructions for us? Over.”

There was a long pause before anyone spoke.

“This is Momma B, sounds like a relay station to me.  Over,” she said, breaking back into the conversation. She was moving at a jog, and also breathing hard when she spoke.

“This is Bob, I agree with Momma B.  Can you two lay low and gather as much intelligence as possible?  Over.”

“But we’ll miss the rally point!  Over.” Grace countered harshly.

“Tardis Blue, I know exactly where you are now,” Leah responded smoothly.  “There’s no need to meet me at the rally point.  Gather the intel; it’ll be valuable.  I can be there in a little more than an hour. Over.” 

“This is Bulls-eye, I agree with Bob and Momma B,” Ian contributed.  “Tardis Blue, if you can hear anything, that could be very valuable, but use caution and wait for Momma B before any engagement.  Do you understand? Over.”  Ian’s voice was somewhere between commanding and fatherly.

“Tardis Blue, wait for me before trying to get close,” Leah said, reinforcing her husband’s tone. “Like Bulls-eye said, we can engage them once we gather more information.  Over.”

“What do you mean by engage?  Over,” Grace asked whoever would respond.

“Tardis Blue, it means that we’re going to eliminate the relay station.  Over,” Leah said, quickening her pace and calculating a shortcut that she knew to reach the kids sooner.

“Roger that.  Over and out,” Grace said.  She then looked at Joshua, who raised his eyebrows.  “I’ve got to get closer to hear them,” she said quietly.

“You heard your parents, we’re supposed to lay low and watch,” Joshua said.  He looked down the hill at the two soldiers working feverishly.  “But, if you think you can get closer without being detected, I’ve got you covered.”

She had been expecting him to challenge her idea, not support it.  She smiled at him.  “I knew I liked you,” she said, with a half grin.  “Cover me, I’m going to get close enough to hear them.”

“Roger that,” he said, smiling back at her before putting one of his eyes up to the scope on his rifle.

CHAPTER 10

“Bob, this is Bulls-eye, we’re in position and waiting for your signal.  Over.” Ian said, scanning the soldiers working to shut off the oil pipelines.

It had been a while since any radio communication amongst the group.  In that time, Ian had positioned Adam on a boulder with the small rifle.  Ian was concerned about the stopping power of the rifle at the range that Adam was from any targets, but it was as close as he wanted to place the boy.

He had Mary positioned behind a set of boulders, just across the street from the pipeline terminal.  There was a natural path that ran between the boulders. If any of the soldiers decided to run across the street to fight, he thought they would follow the natural path.  In which case Mary would be waiting for them on the other end. And hopefully, she would do what she needed to do.

For the remaining Boy Scouts, Ian had tasked them to whittle spears with their pocketknives.  The second oldest boy, Mark, had a locking blade knife, and he tied his knife to the top of his spear. They were another twenty yards into the woods, behind some boulders to protect them from flying bullets.

As for Ian, he discovered a 48” drain pipe that crossed under the road.  The pipe looked like it opened near the chain link entrance of the oil pipeline terminal…he would have to get pretty low to cross through the pipe, and he trusted it wasn’t blocked on the other side.

Ian told everyone that the only signal that they would get that the assault had started was the sound of gunfire.  Until then, sit tight and be ready for anything.  With that, he made his way into the pipe and crouch walked his way under the street to the other side. 

Ian had been in a similar situation in Iraq, but he had a Ranger team behind him that time, not Boy Scouts.  It was the best Ian could do under the circumstances.

The Chinese soldiers closed the fourth man-sized valve and sat down to take a break before taking on the fifth valve.  One of them, the pilot, broke away from the other four to retrieve something from the helicopter; which was parked outside of the fence.

Ian backed into the shadows on the inside of the pipe, and watched the man walk past the opening at the end.  His finger flexed on the trigger of the pistol while watching the man’s shadow slide away.  Ian tried to calculate how he was going to start the assault.  His only obstacle, besides the distance between the pipe opening and the chain link fence opening to the terminal, was a metal bar perpendicular across the pipe in front of him.  He had to have very good timing, or his assault could turn drastically wrong.  But, Ian still had an ace in the hole; he had a sniper.

“Bulls-eye, this is Bob, I’m in position.  What’s your location?  Over.” Bob asked.  He was wedged between two large oaks.  From his position on the other side of the field, he had a shot that was only obstructed by the eight-foot high chain-link fence.

“Drainpipe,” he whispered and then clicked his microphone twice to signal the end of his transmission without speaking it.

Bob put his eye up to the scope on his .308 caliber tactical rifle and focused on the drainpipe.  Although he couldn’t see Ian, he knew that he was there.  “Roger that, over.”

“Your location?”
Click, click.

“Eleven o’clock to your perspective to target and fifteen feet up the side of the hill.  Look for two large oaks.  Over.”

Ian slid forward and looked past the soldiers and to the position.  The drainpipe was lower in elevation to the target, so he could only see the tops of the oaks. 

Click, click.

Bob didn’t respond, something else caught his attention. “Pilot’s headed back.  The other four all have their backs to you.  Over.”

I guess it’s on,
Ian thought to himself.  He knew what Bob was telling him to do.  Take the pilot out now.

Ian clicked his microphone two times confirming the message.  He then slid as close to the entrance as possible, putting his back to the side of the pipe that the pilot would walk past first.  Ian holstered his pistol and drew his knife, watching the ground in front of the pipe for the shadow of the pilot to reappear.

Bob watched through his scope as the pilot shouldered a portable welding torch and walked back towards the chain-link entrance.  He was feet from the pipe entrance when he stopped.  Bob settled his crosshairs onto the back of the pilot, but did not pull the trigger.  This kill would be Ian’s.

Ian could see the shadow, but as he tensed to spring out of the pipe, the pilot’s shadow stopped.  Ian froze.  There was a zipping noise, and then he heard the pilot relieving himself on the side of the pipe.

Ian slowly pivoted past the vertical bar, staying in a crouched position.

The pilot had his hands occupied, his sidearm was holstered onto the side of his leg, but it wouldn’t have done him any good. He only caught a brief glimpse of the man emerging from the drainpipe and never had a chance to react. 

Ian pounced, stabbing the Pilot in the side of the neck; his jab severing the Carotid artery.  He then put his hand on the pilot’s mouth and pulled him down to the drainpipe where he died.

Ian took the other man’s pistol and keyed his microphone.  “Bob, one down.  I’m going to start, and you drop them from the back.  Over.”

“Roger that!”

Ian crawled out of the drainpipe and slowly walked to the entrance of the chain-link fence.  He had both pistols drawn and was not making any sudden movements.  He knew the soldiers’ thought that any movement behind them was supposed to be the pilot…but that didn’t stop one of them from looking back when he heard Ian’s boot crunch on gravel.

Ian focused both pistols on the man that turned around and shot him with two rounds before ducking behind one of the massive steel oil pipes.