Patriots & Tyrants (Rebels & Lies Trilogy Book 2) (6 page)

Kaspar lay next to
Krys outside of their tent. The squad had stopped for a few hours so they could
try to get some rest before the next mission started. Upon Krys’s suggestion,
demand really, the two brought their sleeping gear to the outside. The black
sky above was cloudless and lay bare the stars. Krys loved to star gaze, so it
was out of the question to sleep inside tonight. There hadn’t been a night sky
this clear in a long while.

Her head was rested on
Kaspar’s shoulder. He rubbed at her arm and fought back the sleep that attacked
his consciousness. His eyes closed once again, but he forced them back open. In
the process, his body jolted which startled Krys. She looked over at him and
smiled.

“Never thought I’d be
asking if
you
were okay.” she said.

“Just trying not to
fall asleep.” Kaspar replied.

“Really? Why not?”

“This moment is just
too perfect to waste.”

Krys smiled again and
kissed his cheek. “Sorry again for being a bitch today.”

“You don’t ever have
to apologize to me.”

“But, I feel like I
do. You were just looking out for me and I snapped at you. We…don’t…”

Krys started to cough.
She forced her body up into a seated position. Kaspar rose up as well and
rubbed at her back as she continued her violent coughs. He reached over into
one of the cargo bags. Inside was a handkerchief that he handed over to her.
She put the white cloth in front of her mouth and continued. The coughs lasted
longer than Kaspar could have anticipated. As he rubbed at her back, tears from
his eyes were forced back. Would this be the moment? Was this her time?

The attack finally
stopped. When Krys moved the handkerchief away from her mouth, droplets of
blood were littered all over it. She threw the cloth to the ground in anger.
Kaspar reached over and held her close to his side. Although she remained
silent, he could feel through the jerks of her body that she was crying. He
reached over with his hand and started to run his fingers softly through her
hair.

“It’s going to be
okay,” Kaspar said.

“What if it’s not?”
Krys demanded. She pulled her head out of his chest. “I’m almost at the end and
I have so much left to do.”

More talk about a cure
would only upset her, so he kept his mouth shut. Instead, he looked up towards
the stars, and her eyes followed his to the heavens above. They sat there and
marveled at them once again. After a momentary gaze, Kaspar focused his attention
back on Krys. He tried to remember how vibrant and full of life she used to be
before she got infected. It seemed like only days ago she was that same old
Krys. The violent effects of the experimental drug had taken on with a fury.

“What was it you called
me, when we first met?” Kaspar asked, trying to change the subject.

“Huh?” Krys replied,
confused.

“You remember, don’t
you? You called me a bitch or something…”

Krys laughed. “Oh,
that’s right, I called you a butch.”

Kaspar smiled. “That’s
it.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t
even know you back then. And, you were kind of a pussy back then, too.”

“Hey, hey…” Kaspar
said with a chuckle.

“Those were good
times, back then.”

“These are good times now.”

Kaspar looked over to
Krys and kissed her on the forehead. These were good times, moments like these,
and they weren’t to be wasted. There were so many things he wanted to tell
Mother, but he never did, always thinking he could just do it later. In his
mind, Mother would always be there. He learned a harsh lesson when she was
gunned down…

The stars, they are so
beautiful, Kaspar thought to himself to get his mind away from those horrible
thoughts. Not about Mother, he loved to still think about her, but about the
Agents who killed her. He peered over at Krys who just lay there, on her back,
in complete wonderment at the sight above. He reached over and grabbed her
hand. She squeezed it back in response.

If only these moments
could last forever…

***

Kaspar’s head shot up
as a military boot kicked at his side. He reached around for a gun that wasn’t
there. It was still dark outside, had to be about three or four in the morning.
His eyes moved next to Krys, who was doing the same thing after her rude
awakening. When his mind finally became alert, he saw that Harvey stood over
top him with a no bullshit look on his face.

“Time to get up.”
Harvey said.

“Yeah, yeah.” Kaspar
replied. He moved his hands to his tired eyes and rubbed at them.

Kaspar couldn’t
remember when he had passed out. He was so worried about not losing the moment
that his consciousness eluded him. There was no way to know how many hours of
sleep he got, but it couldn’t have been more than four, given the fogginess in
his mind. He nodded his head when Harvey told the two there was coffee ready at
his tent. Never being much of a coffee drinker, the thought of having some
caffeine in his system to help with the tiredness nonetheless sounded good to
Kaspar.

After he stretched,
and worked out the ache in his back with a few pops, Kaspar headed over to
Harvey’s tent. Krys walked beside him, her hand firmly entrenched in his. They
just had to keep surviving, Kaspar thought as they walked, until they found
something that could fix what was wrong with her. He felt jitters like these
before every mission. It wasn’t the bullets that would fly, or the thrill of
life or death, but the anticipation that there might be some type of
information found which could lead them in that direction.

Inside Harvey’s tent,
Clarke sat on a fold out chair, he sipped at his coffee and played around with
a PDA. When he heard the sound of his two old friends walk in, he smiled.
Clarke placed the coffee down on the grass and stood. Krys gave him a big bear
hug and then Kaspar shook his hand. The two friends each grabbed a fold out
chair and sat them next to each other, in front of Clarke.

“You two ready for
this mission today?” Clarke asked.

“I guess we’ll see.”
Krys replied. She yawned then asked, “How far out are we?”

“Not too far. A couple
of miles, really.”

“That’s good.”

“How are feeling
today?”

Krys shrugged her
shoulders, “You know, same old, same old.”

“Yeah, I hear you.”

Kaspar sipped at his
bitter coffee. “You think we’ll find anything there?”

Clarke sighed, “We can
only hope.”

“Let’s not even think
about that,” Krys said with a frown. “We’ve got a job to do. We need to see it
through no matter what.”

Clarke pointed an
index finger in her direction. “She’s right, you know?”

“Of course she is.
She’s always right.”

Krys gave Kaspar a
playful punch to the arm. “Glad to see you’re finally learning.”

They all engaged in a
short laugh together. The laughter didn’t last long, however, because they
needed to prepare their minds for what was to come. The grins and laughs ended
almost immediately.

“Whatcha looking at?” Krys
asked as Clarke stuck his nose back into his PDA.

“Just trying to keep
my eyes on that compound. I was telling Ryan earlier that I didn’t like the
layout of the place.” Clarke replied.

“We’ll be fine,”
Kaspar said. “Look, have you found anything out about what’s going on in that
compound, information wise.”

“Negative. This one is
no different from the other ones. The firewall is too strong for even my
hacking skills to break into. You’re going to have to get it from directly
inside.”

“Got it.”

Their conversation was
cut short when Harvey entered the tent. Everyone stopped what they were doing
and looked to him. One thing that was different about Harvey from Paxton,
Kaspar came to know, was that Harvey was much more reserved and conservative
with his leadership. Even though he didn’t command respect like Paxton did,
Harvey still expected his soldiers to give him that respect.

“Time to move out.”
Harvey said.

Harvey stopped the
armored vehicle and pulled on the emergency brake. Once again, his son was
seated next to him. Without a word, he turned and winked to Buck before he got
out of the vehicle. Buck, annoyed by the gesture, quickly opened the door then
hopped out on his side. The others began to file out, as well. Harvey gave them
one last note of encouragement before he set them off. He grabbed hold of the
camouflaged duffle bag which contained his sniper rifle, silencer, loads of
extra mags, and beef jerky. He called out to Buck as they turned their backs to
him. Buck stopped dead in his tracks and then looked back to his father.

“You be careful in
there, son, you hear?” Harvey asked.

“I got this,” Buck
replied. “Don’t worry about me. You just worry about those sentries out there.”

“Good thinking.
Remember, just…”

Buck’s near perfect
posture slouched. “Focus on what I’m doing…pretend like there’s nothing there…I
got it.”

“Okay, and…”

“What now?”

Harvey wanted to tell
his son that he loved him, but couldn’t think of the right way to say it. It
always struck him as bizarre that it was so hard to just say three simple
words. He’d freeze up and then do what he always did: give Buck a salute. Buck
seemed to be disappointed with the gesture as he simply turned his back and
caught up with the others. Harvey cursed himself under his breath. There was no
time to sit and dwell on it, though, as they were right in the middle of a
mission.

The sniper rifle came
equipped with a tripod which rested underneath the barrel of the gun. Once the
silencer was screwed onto the muzzle, Harvey rested it on the end of the pod.
He reached over, clicked the safety off, and then popped off the black latch
which covered the scope.

It seemed like ages
since Harvey put himself on sniping duty. There was bound to be some rust which
he hoped wouldn’t be too hard to shake off. He took in a deep breath then tried
to get a feel for the wind. The breeze was light, which would make for a good
day for sniping. After he adjusted the scope, he lined up his first shot, right
at the head of one of the sentries posted outside the compound.

He took in another
deep breath and waited for the others to signal their approach.

***

Steinner led the way
down the steep hill. They all moved at a deliberate pace so as not to lose
their balance and alert the enemy. Kaspar held up the rear, per the usual. He
never quite understood why he was always last. Maybe it was just part of his
personality, never being one to volunteer anything. Buck was in front of him.
As they kept moving down, he could hear the kid’s breathing getting heavier.
Kaspar didn’t want to have to slug the kid in the jaw, or at least feel the
temptation to, this time. He hoped that whatever the kid and his dad talked
about when they were alone a few nights ago stuck.

The morning southern
air was hot and humid. Underneath all that armor and gear, Kaspar could feel
his body becoming drenched with sweat. Even in this early morning hour it felt
like a million degrees. He was tempted to pull his mask off and wipe away the
sweat on his brow, but knew that he couldn’t. This would be a miserable,
uncomfortable mission, and he would have to train his mind not to let it get to
him.

When they reached the
bottom, there was a trench with tall, green weeds that grew all around it. The
team knelt down behind the cover of the trench to check their equipment. Kaspar
made sure his silenced MP-5 had a full mag in it. He then set the rifle to
three round burst, though he was sure that, just like every other mission it
seemed, he would set it back to full automatic. Everyone gave the all clear to Steinner
who radioed in to Harvey.

Let’s get this shit
going, Kaspar thought.

Harvey got the signal
from Steinner. He took a couple of deep breaths and cleared his mind. All that
remained in his thoughts were the targets down below. One thing about sniping
that Harvey had learned was how impersonal it was. Taking targets out from long
distances away was worlds different from shooting them at close range. A flash
of the sun penetrated through the still dark morning sky. It was a signal that
they needed to move fast.

The first target was
still lined up in the crosshairs. Without a blink, Harvey pulled the trigger.
Seconds later, the large caliber bullet hit the Agent in the head, tearing
through the helmet. There was a small spray of crimson that shot up through the
air. The Agent beside him looked around in shock. He reached down to check his
fallen comrade. Seconds later, he suffered the same fate. Harvey moved the
rifle swiftly around the tripod. He found an Agent reaching down for his
walkie. The trigger was pulled and the Agent fell to the ground. He then
touched his neck.

“All clear.”

***

Kaspar heard Harvey’s
words. He gripped his MP-5 and prepared to raid the building. Steinner led the
way as he stood and motioned for the others to follow him. They moved forward
with swiftness. To his right, out of the corner of his shaded eyes, Kaspar saw
another Agent go down from a precise sniper shot. When they reached one of the
back doors of the complex, Buck pulled out a small explosive and stuck it to the
handle. He moved out quick and the small, near silent explosion blew off the
door handle. A light kick to the door from Steinner opened it.

The team entered the
back door and there were no Agents around. They split up in their two teams.
Dexter and Krys went left with Buck; Kaspar and Steinner moved right. With his
MP-5 shouldered, Kaspar followed close behind Steinner. It was still before
dawn so the shift was smaller than it normally would be. It almost came as a
shock to Kaspar that they had not been ambushed, yet.

They kept moving until
they got to the end of the hallway where they took a left and entered through
the last door on the right. Three Agents were caught by surprise when the two
rebels entered the lab. The Agents tried to get their shit together and went
for their weapons. A wave of cool, calculated bursts from the silenced weapons
put them down before they could. Kaspar moved past the bodies and went for the
computers. Steinner moved fast towards the machines which produced the new drug.
With a firm grip on the flash drive from his vest, Kaspar inserted it into the
USB drive. After that, he turned his attention to the door.

Steinner moved fast
when the pressure was on. He was already halfway done when there was a
communication over their ears. Harvey was talking to Buck, trying to calm the
boy’s nerves over the radio. It made Kaspar want to vomit. The kid needed to grow
a pair and get the job done just like everyone else.

The door opened. An
Agent walked in and was just as shocked as the others. He grabbed for his
pistol, but Kaspar blew him away with a three round burst to the chest, then
another burst to the face. What was left of the head made a loud thud on the
white tile floor. Steinner stood from the black boxes with the C4 assembled
properly. He set the timer for ten minutes then joined Kaspar by the door.
Kaspar walked over to the computer and snatched the flash drive from it.
Together, the two rebels moved out from the lab.

Their pace was brisk
as they tried to keep their noise down. From the conversations over the radio
with father and son, it appeared the Buck was doing just fine. All of sudden,
there was silence and heavy breathing through the headphones. Then, the sound
became so loud that it caused Kaspar’s ears to ring. Gunfire. Steinner yelled
for them to move fast. Kaspar didn’t need the command, he was already well past
his partner. He ran through the circular lobby that Clarke warned about. He
didn’t take the time to sweep from left to right with his gun. Krys was in trouble.

“We’re getting
ambushed here!” Dexter cried through the radio.

“How the hell did that
happen?” Harvey demanded.

“I don’t know! I…”

As they ran, Kaspar
unscrewed the silencer from his MP-5. Not much use for it now and he never
liked the damned things anyway. They moved fast to the sounds of the loud
bursts of automatic fire.

Just hold on, Krys,
Kaspar thought.

Kaspar, in the lead,
turned the corner of the hallway. As soon as his body was exposed, a rapid
burst of automatic rounds were sent his way. He saw the Agent just before he
pulled the trigger and immediately moved back. Several of the rounds hit the
corner, causing pieces of the concrete wall to go flying in the air. Kaspar
held up his balled fist for Steinner to stop. Steinner obeyed and then turned
his back.

“How’s Buck doing?”
Steinner demanded into his mouthpiece.

“Not good!” Dexter
replied.

Kaspar moved his head
slightly over the corner. When he heard the shots, he moved back as more
concrete chunks blew past him. Beside him, Steinner was standing in a poised
position to shot anything that approached. Kaspar then heard the footsteps of
the Agent around the corner moving in closer.

Kaspar moved his MP-5
against the wall and pointed the barrel at the corner. Before the Agent got
there, the loud sound of a high caliber bullet breaking through a glass window
filled Kaspar’s ear. A swift moment later, he heard a body fall to the ground.
The Agent who had him pinned down was taken out by a precise sniper’s bullet.

“Whoever is stuck at
the corner,” Harvey said. “You’re good to go.”

“Thanks, boss.” Kaspar
replied.

“I’ll cover your asses
from here. Just keep moving to the other’s position.”

Another bullet tore
through the glass window and struck another Agent in the head. Kaspar and
Steinner moved into the hallway now with their weapons drawn. They continued
until they were right next to the lab that the others were in. When they
reached the opened door, Kaspar pressed his back against the left side of the
doorway, Steinner on the right. Kaspar poked his head slowly through the
doorway. The Agents weren’t watching the door.

Instead, they
surrounded the three rebels inside.