Chapter 112

Mexico

Matt stared down at the swiftly moving desert landscape. He'd never much cared for flying in helicopters... maybe it was those rotors... so like swinging blades... above his head. For some reason... the idea of "death by chopper rotor" did not make him feel at ease.

Across from him lounged the dozing form of Donald Tremain. Like Matt and the military unit… he was garbed in battle fatigues. Diplomat by day he may be… but he was still a combat warrior. He'd insisted on leading the operation. Matt had not felt he was in any position to prevent it.

He'd been surprised at how swiftly things had come together. True… he'd dropped all the right words into his conversation with Tremain… making him think this was a major terrorist plot against the United States and that American lives hung in the balance. But, Matt had shrugged to himself, in a way it was all true… just not quite the truth.

The one worry he'd had was Katya and the others. Matt was not pleased with her report about what Jeremy had learned. Nor was he pleased that Katya's phone was evidently dead. He was cut off from them… and had no idea what he was leading this group of mortals into.

The chopper bounced in turbulence… and Matt saw lightning on the horizon.

"We're heading into a storm," the soldier next to him shouted over the noise.

Matt nodded. He feared that wasn't a normal storm… that an immortal had just died. His inclusion of a machete with his outfit had raised a few eyebrows… but Matt had no time to explain. He'd simply shrugged as if to say… "I like to have a good blade as back-up." He'd pulled on the body armor and also carried several automatic weapons. His targets were mortal… surely he'd not need the blade… but it was better to be safe than sorry. He hadn't lasted this long without being careful.

"So," the soldier shouted, "You're FBI! Tell me… do you work the X-Files?" he and several companions laughed.

Matt smiled benignly. "Not usually." It was an old joke that he'd run into occasionally. That nineties TV show was still a part of pop culture. Still… the truth was out there… but it was Matt's job not to expose it so much as to prevent others from finding it.

From up front, the pilot pointed downward. Matt could see the hacienda in the distance… figures racing about. He held on for the descent and readied his weapons.

-----

A few hours earlier

Under cover of darkness, Katya, Jade and Amber slowly crept up on the hacienda. As yet there was no sign of movement, no lights… nothing that spoke of inhabitation.

They'd heard nothing further from Jeremy or the rescued Walter.

"We need to try and secure it against their return," Katya had finally decided. "If we can hold it against them until Matt and the military get here… perhaps we can insure that what is there… is still there for them to find."

"You don't think it might be an error to let outsiders see these things?" Amber had asked.

Katya shook her head. "We'll have to wipe the computers… or blow them… but they need to find the bodies. What would headless corpses tell them? If the Watchers take hold of the place again… they'll hide or destroy everything… and then the military will apologize for the intrusion and we'll be left without support."

"And Jeremy?" Jade's jawline indicated her clenched teeth. Her eyes glared at Katya.

"He knew he was heading into danger when he went. All we can do… is make certain his sacrifice means something."

Jade had sniffed and looked away. But she'd nodded in agreement.

"Let's pack up and go," Katya had ordered.

So here they were at the edge of the compound. Katya waved them forward as they raced to the main gates and swiftly secured them. They wouldn't hold long against a heavy, sustained attack… but it would delay the attackers. Maybe it would delay them long enough.

Their main worry was the helicopter's return. Katya had ordered Amber to take care of the computer files… while Jade was to stand guard over the morgue's inhabitants. "Those bodies have to be found," the immortal said quietly. She was to set up on the hacienda roof with their heaviest firepower… and hope it was enough. She needed an advantage… she just hoped her sniper's training would be the advantage they needed.

-----

Jeremy wrapped the torn sleeve of his shirt about the cell phone and the computer disk and buried it deeply in the earth, setting a rock on the re-filled hole. He nudged the sleeping Walter.

"It's time," Jeremy said.

"Time? Are they coming?" Walter said groggily looking around.

"They are."

"Blast! How do they know where we're hiding?"

Jeremy smiled. "I'd say you're telling them."

"Me?"

"There must be a tracker on you somewhere."

Walter rubbed hands through his hair. "Where? I can't find anything."

Jeremy shrugged. "Does it matter?" He stretched out prone on the dirt and pointed the barrel of the automatic toward the horizon where the chopper was approaching.

Walter picked up his bone saw and stared at it and then at Jeremy's rifle.

"I say… you wouldn't have another of those… would you? I fear this," he held up his weapon, "will only be useful close in."

"Sorry," said Jeremy as he sighted. "I don't even think this will be of any actual help… but I'm not about to give it up." He aimed… letting the image grow in the crosshairs of the site. He waited until he could make out the rotor housing. His mind reached back for the military training he'd had a few times in the past. Usually he'd stayed out of the way of such things... except when it was peacetime… and he could use the cover of military to learn new weapons and techniques. He'd had a bit of sniper training several decades ago… perhaps it would prove useful. He let his breath out and slowly squeezed on the trigger. First one shot… and then a multitude erupted finding their target.

The chopper tilted to one side and the blades tilted at an angle so great… that it seemed impossible they could hold. They didn't.

Spinning out of control… the chopper hovered over the desert and then began to rise at a steep angle. The rotor blades spun free… bouncing and flinging through the desert as they continued to whip. The chopper hesitated and then descended like a dropped stone.

"Ohhh… nooooo!" Walter said, as he hugged the dirt… raising his hands over his head.

The blades spun past him… just inches from his head and slammed into the saguaro… splattering everything with fluid. After decapitating the cacti… the blades continued their spinning motion.

Jeremy likewise hugged the earth… feeling the moving air from the blades. Thankfully… cacti were their only victims.

Once the rotors had passed them by… Jeremy rose up on his elbows and sited toward the downed chopper. Men were emerging… a few were limping or holding arms at awkward positions… but most scrambled out… crouching in the sand… weapons at ready. He counted at least twelve men total.

"Damn!" he hissed under his breath. He flipped to single shot and sited carefully. He took careful aim and fired. Then he fired again… then once more. By then he knew they'd have a bead on his position. He rolled quickly to his left three times until he was behind a severed saguaro. He aimed once more and fired again.

Bullets peppered the ground about him. One lanced into his shoulder. Jeremy hissed, flinching at the pain. "It always hurts!" he thought and squeezed off two more shots, before another bullet hit him in the head.

-----

Walter waited quietly until the armed men began their approach. He lay very still… as if dead. He'd have maybe one chance to take some of them out… but only if he waited. He'd not liked being used. He still didn't know how they'd used him… and right now it didn't matter. He just wished Dexter had let him have his sword… but he'd make do… he'd have to.

Voices… laughter… Walter made no move. A gun barrel pushed at him. He kept his eyes closed and shifted with the nudge. His weapon was held tightly in his hand… beneath his body.

"Come on," Walter thought, "Laugh and move on… don't shoot… I'm dead."

The crunch of footsteps on the sandy soil told him the man had turned. Walter took a long slow breath and tightened his grip on the bone saw... then he leapt up... swinging. "If I can get my hands on his weapon," he thought, "I might have a chance!"

The swinging bone saw connected with the man's mid-section. Walter grabbed the automatic from the man's suddenly lax hands and began firing at anyone who moved even as he felt bullets enter his body and he tasted the coppery sensation of blood in his mouth. He kept firing… aware that one man had raised a machete over Jeremy's head and was preparing to strike. He fired… even as he fell to his knees and slumped over to one side. He fired… as a raining hail of bullets hit him until the darkness claimed him… and his consciousness fled deep into the blackness that seemed to foretell the end.

-----

Katya saw what looked like quickening rise on the southern horizon. She lowered her head and closed her eyes. "We are all going to die!" she thought. And with that… she limbered up and re-focused her attention through the site of the sniper's rifle. Two of the trucks were returning. She could see armed men hanging off the sides.

She felt a presence and noted that Amber had climbed up to join her. "I've trashed the computers so completely… I doubt anything can be recovered and set fire to all the paper records I could find."

"Did you get everything?"

Amber shrugged. "All I could find." She noted the approaching trucks. "Where do you want me, now?"

Katya wiped the perspiration for her eyes and concentrated. "How about behind the gate?"

Amber nodded and prepared to leave.

"Amber!" Katya called after her, then smiled as the young immortal turned, the question clear in her eyes. "It's been nice knowing you."

Amber chuckled. "Aye… friendship among our kind is rare. Despite it all… I have enjoyed it." she slipped off the side of the roof, landing in a crouch in the courtyard as she headed for the main gate.

By the time she was set… the trucks were close enough and Katya fired swiftly to take out four men… before they could react.

The trucks braked to a stop and turned to form a barrier as the Watchers hid behind them… there would be no more easy targets.

"At least," Katya thought, "I've slowed your return." She shifted position trying to get another clear shot.

Below in the courtyard… Amber took a position and waited.

Within the hacienda… Jade heard the shots. She secured the heavy steel door to the morgue and waited, shivering in the coolness of the room. "I'm going to die protecting the bodies of people I don't know… in hopes that their bodies will be found by the right people!" Anyone trying to get entrance in here… would have a hard time of it. She stared at the gun in her hands and then lay it to one side. "If I die… it will be as I lived…" she thought… and drew the rapier Matt had given her on their flight south. It was well made… elegant… and she'd yet to have a chance to really use it. Now… she would.

-----

The helicopters hovered over the hacienda. "Put down your weapons!" Tremain's voice rang out with authority over the speakers. "Surrender and no one will be hurt. This is a combined US/Mexican task force."

Shots from the trucks before the gate pinged against the choppers.

"Fire!" shouted Tremain.

A rocket launched from the lead chopper and exploded ten feet from the trucks.

When the roar of the explosion died away, Tremain calmly continued. "Next time I won't miss. Surrender immediately."

Hands went up and the figures dropped their weapons and knelt in the sand.

The other chopper landed and the soldiers emerged to take control of the attackers.

Matt leaned forward and tapped Tremain on the shoulder motioning for him to hand him the microphone.

"This is the FBI… all within the hacienda… stand down." He saw two figures wave and drop weapons. Handing the microphone back he yelled at Tremain, "Evidently the people I left behind as observers entered to maintain a holding action."

"Are they FBI?"

Matt shook his head. "They're friends… just friends."

The chopper set down in the courtyard. The soldiers emerged first. Matt climbed out and waved at Amber… on her knees, her hands behind her head, and grinning widely. "Welcome back to the party… Agent McCormick. I like the friends ya brought."

Matt motioned the soldiers away and Amber rose. He hugged her and looked about. Katya rose on the roof and waved. Matt returned the gesture… feeling a great deal of relief. He looked at Amber. "I saw a storm on the horizon… Jeremy?"

Amber nodded. "Maybe. He and Walter Graham… the man he liberated. They headed south."

Matt turned to Tremain and quickly explained that there was an additional action going on further south. Tremain barked orders to the men inside the compound. They re-loaded the chopper and headed off.

Matt assisted Amber in opening the gate as Katya and Jade emerged from within the hacienda. On the grounds outside… the military had the Watchers well in hand.

Matt raced for the trucks… already feeling the buzz of several immortals. Some yet lived! They'd managed to save a few. Inside each of the trucks were three drugged immortals and some unarmed medical personnel. He motioned the medical people out and climbed into one of the trucks. He'd have to awaken them slowly… one at a time… and hope they would listen to what he had to say. This was no time and no place for any challenges… no matter whom he found.

He was aware that Amber had climbed into the other truck and that Jade and Katya were on their way. Taking a deep breath… Matt pulled out the IV on the first immortal… and waited. Katya winked at him from the truck's rear… and turned to stand guard.

The immortal's eyes flickered open.