The Horse Soldier: Beginnings Series Book 10 (61 page)

“How’s it feel?” George’s voice carried into Dean’s hide-a-way lab.

Dean only raised his eyes from the microscope to the voice that made him sick to the pit of his stomach. “How does what feel?”

“To be working for the better side
?”

“I worked for the better side. Now I’m . . .” Dean turned around to see George with Frank standing behind him
, looking so serious. “Now I’m biding my time.”

“Working
, I see.”

“Viewing what . . . what you have.”

“I see.” George took another step into his lab. “Are you finding it interesting?”

“I’m finding agents I have . . .” Dean took a breath and cleared his throat.

“Is there a problem?” George asked.

“No.” Dean closed his eyes. He didn’t want to tell George that he was trying not to laugh as Frank kept holding up ‘rabbit ears’ behind George.

“Good.” George walked by Dean and began to examine what the lab had. “We set this up just for you.”

“I appreciate it.” Dean widened his eyes to Frank to tell him to quit it.

Frank laughed silently then switched to cold looking when George turned around. “I think you’re wasting your time with this man sir. He’s been nothing but irritating since he has arrived. I think you should let me take him out and shoot him. He’s one of those Beginnings people. He told me.”

George smiled as he faced Frank, not seeing the middle finger Dean shot Frank. “Colonel, we’ll just give him more time. He’s brilliant and has a lot to offer. Isn’t that right
, Dr. Hayes.” He spun to Dean and when he did, Frank flipped Dean off.

“I have more to offer than you deserve.”

“Oh!” Frank barked loudly. “Listen to this little man and his arrogance. I really think . . .” A soft subtle thump interrupted Frank’s words. He tried to cover up by fake sneezing. “Excuse me. I think we should leave him be. Who wants to be around him anyhow.”

Another thump and Dean tried to act as if he too didn’t hear it.

Thump

“Did you hear that?” George asked.

“Hear what?” Frank asked.

Thump-thump.

“That,” George said.

“What?” Frank asked.

Thump-thump.

“That. That noise. You don’t hear that?”

“Was your trip long, sir?” Frank asked so seriously.

Thump-thump

“There it is again,” George spoke excitedly. “You are not hearing that?’

“Hearing what?” Frank lifted his hands. “All I hear is my stomach growling. Man.” He rubbed his own stomach. “I need food. Do you need food
? I bet you do. Let’s go.” He grabbed George’s arm.

George blinked several times
, so confused. “Maybe, maybe I just need to rest. I had to chase a moving train for close to a half a mile.”

“My God.” Frank gasped.

George began to leave the lab.“The conductor left me behind.”

“Bastard.”

George stopped in his leaving. He looked back at Dean. “I’ll be in touch, Dean.”

“I won’t hold my breath.”

“You!” Frank pointed at Dean. “Are a rude man. This is the President you know.”

Dean rolled his eyes as they left. He started to deal with the thumping that came from under the counter when he noticed Frank pop his head back in, smile
,and flip Dean off again. Dean just shook his head then laughed after Frank left. He had to give it to Frank. It was really amusing to watch Frank totally mislead George. But Dean had to wonder how amused would George be if he found out, the whole time, he was being played for a fool. Hopefully George would be long gone and shriveled up somewhere before he realized the likes of Frank out smarted him.

^^^^

Joe was supposed to be directly on his way to Robbie’s house
but instead he found himself following that weird bird sound. Like a sick canary or something, the amphibian sang loudly then went sour. It irritated Joe’s inner ear and caused it to itch. It didn’t sound right. It didn’t sound normal and Joe didn’t have to follow it too far at all. It seemed to come from Henry’s house. It dawned on Joe what it was when he heard the bird sound worsen, heard a series of thumps, and then the cheers of the two eccentric, inventive mechanical men of Beginnings. They had to be working on the stun system for the SUTs.

I
n his mind, Joe described Robbie and Jess’s house as strategically set up, when he walked in for their secret afternoon meeting. He was the last to arrive. Robbie, Jess, Hal, and Sgt. Ryder, along with even John Matoose ,were there. Maps were on the table and a computer in the dining room. “Sorry I’m late. I was following the sound.” He stood with the others around the table. “Robert. Why is John here?”

“Well.” Robbie hesitated before answering. “I figure we have to keep an eye out for him anyhow until this all goes down
so we might as well put him to work. And we will. All right.” Robbie drew everyone’s attention to the map spread out on the table. “I have given this a lot of thought. I’m not as anal as Dean so no one gets printed copies of the plan. Take notes if you want.”

All eye shifted to Hal, who pulled out a small note
book. He looked at the faces who stared at him. “What? Oh, are we making fun? Fine. Well, don’t ask me any questions if you forget.”

Robbie swayed his head. “All right. Right here
, Binghamton Alabama is where Frank and Dean are. They were spotted by John and Jess.” From under the map, Robbie pulled out another. “This is a drawing of the compound that Jess drew. It’s not to scale, but it’s relative to the plan. In the main area of the base, off the training area, are four buildings. These do not include housing or the hospital. These are the buildings where John and Jess spotted Dean and Frank, which is good because there is four of you going. Buildings A, B, C, D. See the buildings? Now here is the plan . . .” Robbie raised his eyes and began to quickly spew forth the details, using a pencil as an indicator. “Each of you will be armed with a rifle, hand gun, grenades, gas and so forth. We will not carry weapons for Frank or Dean and nothing heavy. Knowing my brother, he’ll be able to get a hold of arms. Now, we’re gonna have to do this fast and in order to do it quickly and efficiently, exhaustion has to play a pivotal part. Because of that, I will fly you down, leaving here at four-thirty the morning of the thirtieth. I’ll drop you off seventeen miles north off of Binghamton. You’ll walk the distance. I’ll return to Beginnings at approximately 11:30 which should be about the same time, if you take the hike easy, that you get to the wooded area around the base. One hour. One hour’s rest is what you take. During that time you will set up the audible descrambler and position yourselves here, about thirty yards from the side gate. At 12:30 you set off the descrambler. According to Danny, it should take ten seconds for the SUTs to stop. And that’s what they will do, just stop. Which is good because they all just stand there anyhow. They will be stunned but only for forty minutes. You will go through the side gate here,” Robbie indicated. “Most of the men at this time will be training or in the field. You should have no problem on base. You will go to building ‘A’ first and scout as a team. These buildings are not big so if you hustle you shouldn’t have to spend no more than five minutes in each building looking for Frank and Dean. Now back in Beginnings, ten minutes before descramble time, Sgt. Ryder and myself will take Ellen and all the kids out of Beginnings and head to Miles City. There are fifty armed UWA soldiers there and with Sgt, Ryder and myself with them, El and the kids will be safe. We won’t return to Beginnings for four hours. At that time, Sgt. Ryder will stay with El. There’s no radio contact. We can’t take a chance, so timing is everything. Four hours should secure enough time for you to get in there, get them, and meet the Bowman men.”

Joe looked up. “So basically you won’t know anything until we get home.”

Robbie shook his head. “No. I figure you should arrive back home the next morning. Hal has two men leaving Bowman tomorrow afternoon. They will go to Gillian and camp out until you guys hike there from Binghamton. Then they drive you home.”

Jess lifted his hand. “Us walking in there seems easy
but it all hinges on whether or not Danny and Henry’s altered Auralnator works. What happens if it doesn’t?”

“Plan B
,” Robbie answered. “There’s only four of you. Fifty if you include Frank. But . . . there are two hundred SUTs and about two hundred and fifty Society soldiers. That’s a lot. You’ll be outnumbered so . . . if the invention doesn’t work, you’ll know right away. Plan B is simple. You place on the Society uniforms we kept from the defectors and you go to the side gate. There are only four guards there. Each of you will be armed with a pocket Auralnator and, being dressed like that, you should be able to at least get close enough to them to zap them.”

Joe waved out his hand. “The invention is going to work. I hear them cheering over at Henry’s. They’ll have it down pat.”

“I think so too,” Robbie said. “But they said the most they can do is forty minutes. Forty-five tops. The moment the SUTs come to and realize something is up or they see you, you not only could have those two hundred SUTs, but those other soldiers as well chasing you through those woods. The whole idea is to sneak in unnoticed and without drawing attention and to get back out, unseen. Now . . . everyone might want to have a seat because we’re gonna learn the base inside and out.” Robbie walked to the computer that was on the table. He pulled up a program. “Remind me to compliment Danny on his upgraded version of that digital camera. The pictures turned out really nice.” Robbie waited until everyone was seated. Standing next to the computer with his hand on the mouse, he began to show the pictures one at a time like a slide projector. “Here is the base.”

Click.

“This right here is a good shot of the four buildings. A, B, C, and D.” Another click of the mouse and Robbie kept explaining. “O.K., now here you see some of the SUTS. According to Jess and John, they concentrate mainly in the front, lining up like their own wall.” Robbie clicked again, only this time the picture caused moans. Robbie looked at the screen. “Oh.” He looked to Jess.

Jess shrugged. “Had to do it. Sorry.”

“Ok.” Robbie pointed. “This here is a shot of Frank’s fine work buried in a hole. Thanks, Jess, for slipping that in there.” Robbie clicked the mouse again. He smiled “Here’s Frank behind the building with Dean.” He clicked again. “And here’s Frank posing like Hulk Hogan.”

Joe grumbled and ran his hand down his face.

“Here’s Frank posing like Mr. Atlas. Frank being Elvis. And here’s Frank . . .”

“Stop
,” Hal said as he stood up slowly. “Robbie, can you zoom in. I want to see my brother.” Hal moved closer to the computer screen. His face lit up in awe. “I need to see my big brother. Please.”

Jess, seeing how computer illiterate Robbie was
acting at that moment, stood up and helped out. He zoomed in as close as he could get. It was close enough to cause an emotional gasp from Hal.

Hal’s finger touched upon the screen. “Frank.” As his index finger ran down the face, Hal tilted his head. “Frank?” He turned around and looked at his father. “Dad? Did they do something to him?”

Joe placed on his glasses and looked. “His hair grew some, but nope. Why?”

“His face. It’s so . . . so . . .”

“Mean?” Sgt. Ryder tried to finish the sentence.

Robbie snickered. “No,
scary.”

Again Hal looked. “What the hell happened to him?”

Very solemn and very serious, Joe answered. “Life.”

^^^^

What was the big deal with this Sgt. Ryder guy?
That was the question that kept popping into his mind along with the question.
Why does he keep having to hold my kid?
Henry pondered those and other questions that seemed to be the center of his universal thoughts as he wandered the streets of Beginnings. He wanted to be at El’s, but oddly enough, she was at the chapel. Henry wasn’t a church goer so he just waited. But the second time he went to Ellen’s, that Sgt. Ryder guy was there. Ellen bragged about him. Henry couldn’t figure out why. She wasn’t specific, just that he made the list of her heroes. In his thoughts, Henry closely examined the situation and debated if he should start to get jealous of this newcomer. If Henry was a woman, he’d find the Spanish looking gentleman attractive, but would El?

Knowing that being alone with Ellen would be next to impossible while she was playing hotel hostess, Henry went on a search for someone to talk to. He walked into the social hall figuring if all else failed, at least Josephine would be there. She was the bar fly, attached to the second to last stool
and it was still early enough that Henry could carry on a conversation with her before she lost all ability to speak clearly.

Henry knew he may be out of luck when he walked in. Four people were in there. Johnny
, who really looked like he had too much to drink was slumped on his hand staring at Bev, none the less, who was across the room. Josephine was there as usual and so was Cole the pervert. He was hitting on Josephine.

It was either leave or interrupt Johnny’s stare at Bev, so Henry made his way to Johnny.

“Hey, John.” Henry pulled out a chair, awaiting the drunken conversation.

“Oh hey
, Henry.” Johnny sat straight up.

Henry did a double take
at Johnny. No slurring. Not glossy eyes. “You aren’t drunk.”

“No. I’m on call. Why?”

“I thought you were drunk.”

Johnny snickered. “Why would you think that?”

“You’re staring like a lost puppy dog at Bev.”

“Oh, not lost.
I’m confused and grossed out.”

“Huh?” Henry asked.

“She has this thing on her neck behind her right ear, a little purple mark. Wait . . .” Johnny whistled. “Bev.” He waved his hand for her to join them.

“Johnny.” Henry hunched.

“Yes, Johnny?” Bev hurried over smiling.

“Show Henry that gross birthmark you have . . . Hey!” Johnny lifted his hand when Bev turned on her
heels and walked away. “Anyhow, Henry, she has this circle mark there.”

‘O.K.”

“Have you see it?”

“No.” Henry shook his head. “Why do you care
?”

“Aside
from the fact that it is really gross, I have seen it before. I just can’t figure out where.”

“Oh, I saw that movie.” Henry snapped his finger. “Space
Invaders. All those people had this mark on their neck.”

“Yeah!” Johnny said. “But it isn’t where Bev has it. I have seen it before. God.” He ran his hand down his face. “You have to see it.”

“That’s O.K. Hey, Johnny. Wouldn’t that be so sci -fi if Bev was an alien and that mark was her mark and . . . and she was the one eating people up in the woods?”

“Oh my God.” Johnny looked back at Bev. “What if she was attacked by something, not an alien
, and she became one herself and now she is attacking others.”

“Good thing we buried Marv.”

“But we didn’t bury Hank.”

“Who?”

“The other guy that died.”

“Shit.” Henry looked horrified. “We should stop talking about this. I’m getting scared.”

“We should go to the morgue and locked the drawer Hank’s body is in.”

“It’s not locked?” Henry asked.

“Why would it be.”

“Oh
, it should be locked. As leader, I think that should be a new rule.”

“Then you should go lock it
,” Johnny said. “Just in case that awful mark is the mark of some sort of demonic beast. I mean, look at her, Henry. She’s like a vixen. She has that look.”

“I’m gonna go lock that drawer right now.” Henry stood up. “You wanna come?”

“Nah.”

“Come on
, Johnny. Come with me.”

Johnny raised his dark eyes. “Are you scared
, Henry?”

“Well
, yeah. What if this Hank guy comes back to life.”

“O.K.” Johnny finished his drink. “Let’s go.” Johnny stood up. “We really should find out where Bev was when
those killings happened.”

“That could be her feeding ground
and if she turned into a bat or an animal, that could be the cause of the wacky signal.”

“Oh.” Johnny gasped in thought. “It just hit me.”

“What?” Henry asked as they walked to the door.

“Vampires
cannot see their reflection nor can you take a picture of them. No movies were ever made about tracking devices. What if that’s why the tracking goes batty.”

Henry took one more look at Bev. “This is all making sense now. Joe is right. It is like a Stephen King
novel.” They walked outside and moved to the clinic. Henry noticed Johnny had stopped. “What’s wrong, Johnny?”