This was supposed to be the last chapter. It got too long, so I've had to break it down into two. This is why I need to change the rating, tho'.
6.
"General, we just got a pretty cryptic message from Flint," Breaker found Colton, Hawk and Duke going over some reports in one of the conference rooms.
"Flint? I thought he had the night At Liberty?" Colton frowned.
"He does, sir," Hawk nodded. "He and some of the others went to check out that new place just outside of town. The Fort, I think it's called."
"A new Cobra front?"
"I don't think so, sir," Breaker shook his head. "He didn't mention any snakes. Birds, hotels, aspirin, stairways…"
"Excuse me?"
"What exactly did Flint say, Breaker?" Duke demanded.
"That the place should be called the Hotel California, only birds are free, and something about a long, cool woman in a black dress," Breaker replied. "Then the signal cut out, and I couldn't get it back."
"It's not like Flint to talk in riddles," Hawk frowned. "We have no point of reference to start with…"
"Birds are free… 'birds' could mean 'girls'," Duke suggested.
"What about the rest of it?"
"I suggest we ask Lady Jaye."
But it was actually Ziff and Kass who picked up on some of the further references.
"Hotel California is a song by the Eagles, and Long, Cool Woman is by the Hollies," Ziff said right off. The woman knew music.
"And that helps how?" Colton asked.
"We are programmed to receive. You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave'," Kass quoted. "Sounds like women can come and go…the guys, not so much?"
"A gender-specific trap?" Jaye looked considering.
"Is that even possible?" Scarlett asked.
"Depends on the type of trap. If they're tapping testosterone levels somehow…" Duff made a rocking motion with her hand.
"It becomes a definite possibility," Lifeline nodded.
"Which means we don't dare send in any men to get out Joes…and the civilians…out of there," Colton said. "Lady Hawk, OMEGA is about to earn its keep. Duke, put together a back-up team, just in case, but it will be OMEGA going in."
"I'm down one woman, sir. Pistol got a weekend pass," KT said.
"You want one or all of the female Joes?"
"No," KT decided. "Although I think having Lady Jaye, Scarlett, Cover Girl and Freestyle on the back up team would be a very good idea. I don't want my team getting caught like a football between two fractions of male Joes, if we can't find an off-switch for whatever is affecting the men in that bar."
"Get your teams and go," Colton ordered.
"Yes sir!" KT saluted. "Ladies, a change in wardrobe is required. Duke, we'll meet you out front in ten."
"A change in wardrobe?" Duke looked at Colton and Hawk as OMEGA filed out.
"They have their own style of doing things, Duke," Colton pointed out.
"I'm not asking," Hawk decided. "Because somehow, I don't think I want to know."
"You're going in dressed like that?" Duke demanded, when the two teams met in the parking lot. Someone in his team whistled loudly.
"Yeah," KT nodded. "Somehow, I don't think we'd get passed the bouncers in uniform." She wore the black miniskirt, teamed with a tank top, short jacket, and heeled boots. Although both Jo and Ziff wore pants, the pants were spandex and form-fitting. The rest wore variants of KT's outfit.
"How the hell do you fight in high heels and a skirt that's painted on?"
"Carefully, Duke. Very, very carefully."
OMEGA took one of the buses, with Jo driving. The Joes piled into A.W.E. Strikers and followed. They all parked a block away from the club, out of sight behind a warehouse. The girls would walk from there.
"We don't know anything about the layout of this place, so please, let's make sure your homing beacons are working now, before you go in," Duke requested.
"That's a go," Breaker announced, checking his screen.
"Spanner and GPS; Diva and BlackBird; Wires and Firecracker; Princess and Angel. Stick close to your partners, at least until you latch onto individual Joes. Princess, see if McArthur can't hone in on Junkyard ASAP."
"Be damn careful in there," Duke added. "I don't like not knowing what you're walking into. And you still have a week of training left."
"Only if we get back the rest of our instructors," Gabrielle pointed out.
"And if we screw up, Leatherneck won't let us live it down, even if he has to come back as a ghost to get on our cases," Jo agreed.
"Let's move out," KT ordered. "The sooner there, the sooner done."
"What do you think we're really looking at, Lady Hawk?" Ziff asked as they walked towards the bar.
"Honestly? A set-up, engineered by Colton…or maybe Sharpe," KT replied. "Or a huge hoax; the Joes' way of busting on us…"
"A test? Would Sharpe or Colton do that?" Marty demanded. "The hoax, yeah, I can see some of these jokers doing…and some of them could come up with something this far out there…"
"Apparently, General Sharpe was and is a bit…anti-OMEGA, since we are an all-female squad," KT shrugged. "Regardless, we treat it as 100% legit until proven otherwise. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am!" eight voices chorused.
The Fort was a re-purposed warehouse, its brick façade painted startlingly white, with bars on the windows. Even from a block away, they could hear the music blaring.
"Flint, Bazooka, Alpine and Wild Bill went in there?" Marty looked doubtful. "I can't believe Mutt would take Junkyard anywhere near the place, with those noise levels!"
"Slight change in plans," KT said. "Princess, you find Mutt and Junkyard, you get both dogs the hell out of there ASAP. That racket is so not good for canine ears!"
"Not much better for humans," Charley snorted.
The inside was dim, and had been gutted all but the ground floor, and what had been the fourth. A loft of sorts ran along three walls of where the second floor had originally been. That was filled with tables and seating. On the ground floor, a long bar dominated one side wall, with a stage across from it, and a dance floor in between. More tables rimmed the dance floor. Directly across from the entry were doors apparently leading to the kitchens, restrooms, and storage.
The music being provided was live, and the band was all female.
"That ain't music, it's noise pollution!" Ziff grimaced.
"Can't quite place the tune," Kass agreed.
"I think it's supposed to be 'He's a Rebel'."
"The siren's song," Duff said. "Look at the faces of every male in this place. They are literally drooling!"
"Well, considering what those bimbos aren't wearing…" Maria made a face.
"Let's just find our missing Joes, put 'paid' on this place, and get the hell out of here before my eardrums explode," KT stated.
"Find them? Between how dim it is, and those damn bubblegum lights, I can barely see your face," Gabrielle complained.
"Just do it. I already see one," KT moved off confidently, homing in on a broad shouldered figure hunched on a stool at one end of the bar.
"She didn't see him," Maria shook her head. "When it comes to him, she has built-in radar! Spanner, this way. Only Beach Head would be wearing a balaclava in a place like this, and only Gung Ho goes everywhere shirtless!"
"Okay McArthur, time to find Junkyard," Charley knelt briefly next to her dog. "Where's Junk, Mac?" After a few moments, McArthur started heading for one of the staircases.
"Pick a direction, and let's move out," Gabrielle said. "If this does turn out to be someone's idea of a joke, I'm going to skin that someone alive. I don't want to know half of what we're smelling."
Shipwreck was facing the stage, like every other male in the place, leaning on one elbow on the bar, and holding a beer in his free hand. Polly sat on his shoulder, looking very nervous and a bit miserable. The man didn't even notice as KT climbed onto the barstool next to him, until Polly nipped his ear.
"What the…" he started to turn to chastise Polly. His eyes got no further than KT's legs.
"Buy a girl a drink, sailor?" KT inquired.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded, his eyes narrowing as his gaze moved up her legs, paused briefly at her chest, and finally focused on her face.
"Flint sent out an SOS. Colton sent in OMEGA,' KT shrugged.
"It ain't safe," Shipwreck growled.
"Safer for me, Sailor Man. I'm not drooling over scantily-clad, teen-aged hookers with boob jobs, pretending to be musicians."
"Every female in here is getting hit on big time, and not all the guys are being gentlemanly about it," Shipwreck motioned a bartender. "Beer?"
"Labatts Blue," she nodded.
"That's ale, not beer, and it's not even American," he grimaced.
"Sue me. Beer and I don't like each other much."
Shipwreck placed the order, then moved his stool closer to hers, draping one arm around her shoulder.
"Easy boy."
"Do you want some yahoo steppin' up and stroking your legs?" his voice sounded rough. "Remind me to shoot Cover Girl over this skirt, will ya? I can keep my focus on you, instead of that lead singer, but that skirt is making it hard to think straight."
"We have got to stop that racket," Gabrielle shook her head. She and Marty had found Bazooka, Alpine, and Wild Bill at a corner table, and had easily chased off the females hanging around…not that the Joes had noticed. Their attention was on the stage. Even when Marty had wave a hand in front of Bazooka's face, all he'd done was catch it in his own hand, move it out of his line of sight, and continued to hold it.
"Agreed," Marty nodded. "And those bubblegum lights." She gently pulled free of Bazooka's grasp.
"Where ya goin'?" Bazooka demanded.
"Powder room. Don't worry, Bazooka. I'll be right back," Marty promised. "I don't plan on leaving here without you."
"Okay."
"I'm almost afraid to leave them alone," Gabrielle sighed.
"We're on it, Wires," Ziff came over, leading Crank Case and followed by Kass with Dial Tone.
"We'll try to make it quick," Marty said.
"This way," Gabrielle headed off to the right of the stage. "You didn't happen to bring any tags, did you?"
"Of course I did. We're on duty."
Maria and Jo had headed straight for the table where Gung Ho, Leatherneck, and Beach Head sat among some females no better dressed than the band.
"Move it, or lose it, sister!" Jo grabbed the wrist of one brazen young lady who was trying to remove Beach Head's balaclava.
"Find your own man, blondie!"
"I just did. Run along, little girl," Jo shoved her away, straight into a guy who was looking for a dance partner.
"Thanks Spanner. I got a killer headache already…" Beach Head rubbed his eyes.
"Let's get you out of here, fellas," Maria tugged on Gung Ho's arm. "General Colton's revoked your passes."
"Oh man! What for?" Gung Ho demanded. Leatherneck was already on his feet.
"Ask Colton. But this really isn't your kind of music, Gung Ho."
"That's true enough."
"It ain't my style, either," Leatherneck's eyes were still on the stage. "But that chick with the purple hair…"
"She's underage, Leatherneck," Jo shook her head. "And her boobs are just as fake as her hair color. You get messed up with her, Sharpe will bury your career personally."
"I'm outta here."
"We need to get the rest of your drinking buddies."
"There were more of us here?"
Charley followed McArthur up a set of stairs to a table. Several women were draped all over Mutt, and he was too involved with them to see the men approaching. Junkyard noticed, and went on the offensive. When someone raised a metal bar to smack the guard dog while he was occupied with one attacker, McArthur sprang forward, scattering the women, and chomping down on the arm holding the bar.
KT kept telling herself it really wasn't Shipwreck's idea to keep trying to get into her shirt, and ruthlessly quelled her inclination to let him.
"Gotta hit the head," he said suddenly.
"You're not going to leave me here alone?" KT demanded. She'd tried to get him to head for the door, but he'd ordered another beer. He'd also scared off two drunks just by growling at them.
"I'll be right back," he promised.
"You'd better be. If I have to go looking for you again, Delgado, you're gonna be on KP duty for a month," she warned.
"Something to keep you warm," Shipwreck leaned in and kissed her. KT couldn't help but sigh a little, and lean into it. "Two minutes. Keep the engine runnin', doll."
Very shortly after he left, KT felt a hand on her chin, turning her face. She was about to break the attached wrist when she realized it was Flint.
"Damn it, Flint! That stunt could have gotten you damaged!" she scolded.
"Where's Duke? Or Hawk?"
"Duke is close by, if we really need him. You said only birds were free," she replied. That's when she noticed the ear plugs; the form-fitting type they wore on the rifle range. "It's the music?"
"And the strobe lights, I think," he nodded. "I put these in as soon as we got here, because it was just too loud for me. It's slowing the problem, but not stopping it. It's affecting men faster, but some of the women are reacting too. I lost count of the number of fights."
"Some sort of frequency disruption or modulation? Triggering rage?"
"Primitive emotions in general," he told her. "Rage, lust, envy, greed…"
"In short, we'd better find a way to stop it, and get out of here fast," KT said. "Or this will be a very embarrassing night for a lot of people."
"Hey pal, get your own girl," Shipwreck returned, stepping in close to KT, and wrapping a possessive arm around her, pulling her tight to his side. "This one is mine!"
"Maybe the lady would like to dance without endangering her toes," Flint snapped back.
"Before you two start, stop!" KT ordered sternly.
"Sure doll," Shipwreck shrugged. "I'd rather dance with you than him, any day."
"Sorry Lady Hawk," Flint stepped back a bit. "I don't know how much longer I can keep a lid on it."
"Then we'd better do something about it," she bit her lip, thinking. Shipwreck nuzzled at her neck. "Hey Sailor Man. Let's find a quieter corner."
"Sure doll!" He helped her down from the barstool. "Later, loser!"