Follow The Phoenix
Chapter 28
XXVIII
As smoke, flames, and the fires of hell rose all around them, fifteen people stood silently, trying to comprehend the enormity of what had just happened, and wondering whether or not they were still alive.
"Max?"
"Yeah?"
"Are we… are we still…" Liz stammered. "I can't see you."
"I've still got you in my arms, Liz."
"I know. But… what just happened to us?"
"I don't know."
Max looked around. He could see the bombed out, fiery remains of the house behind and all around him. He could see the flames that reached up to the sky. But he couldn't see any of the other members of their group.
"Michael! Are you there?"
"I'm right here, Max. I've got Maria. She's still with me."
"Iz? Isabel?"
"Yeah! I'm here, Max."
"Is Alex with you?"
"That depends," Alex said. "Did we all just die or am I asleep in my bed and dreaming all of this?"
"You're dreaming it," Kyle said. "Go back to sleep."
"What are you doing in my dream, Kyle?"
"Sorry, Alex. I couldn't see who you were. I was looking for Cindy's dreams."
"Who's Cindy?"
"October Playmate. Ow! … Who did that?" Kyle looked around, but everyone was still invisible. He knew that he was holding someone by the hand, but he wasn't really sure who it was.
No one answered.
"Someone whacked me… on the butt!"
There was a giggle.
"Angie Lee?"
"You wandered into my dream, Kyle. Sorry about that. Cindy's not here."
Something in Angie Lee's voice made Kyle smile. And now that he knew whose hand he was holding, he noticed that he liked the warm feeling her hand in his gave him, too.
"Oh… well, that's okay. Cindy isn't really so hot, anyway. She's probably all plastic. You know… looks good in the package, but when you get it home…"
Angie Lee giggled.
"I guess you'll have to keep dream-hopping, Kyle… till you find the dream… or the dreamer… that you like."
Kyle was silent for a moment. "Or… I could just hang out here for a while… in your dream with you."
"Okay… but you'll have to promise to leave when Mel gets here."
"Mel?"
"Gibson."
"I'll give him Cindy."
Angie Lee giggled again. "Mel with your October playmate? Odd couple!"
"Maybe… who knows… or maybe not," Kyle said. "Anyway, you know what they say… Opposites attract."
"Am I your opposite, Kyle?"
"Yeah. You're a girl… I'm a guy."
"Janet Reno's a girl, too…"
"That's blurring the line a bit, Angie Lee! She can out tackle me!"
"Is that bad?"
"Hell, yeah! I'm the tackle! I need a tacklee."
"So if I decided to tackle you sometime then…" Angie Lee said suggestively.
Kyle grinned. "I guess I could make an exception to the rule… What's life without exceptions?"
"And Janet Reno?"
"Too exceptional!"
Angie Lee giggled again.
"Hey! Hey, guys!" Alex said sharply. "This was my dream… remember? I'm the one who's home sleeping! Kyle, go find a girl in your own dream!"
"I hate to bring you guys back to the real world here when you're obviously having so much fun in the middle of this WAR," Michael said, somewhat testily, "but we need to figure out what's going on here and where we're going. Angie Lee?"
"I'm right here, Michael."
"I'm assuming you're still the reason we can't see each other."
"Yeah."
"Okay… and no one else can see us either?"
"Right."
"How did we just survive that… you know… thing… just now? Did you do something?"
Angie Lee looked at the scene around her. It looked more like the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust than anything she recognized.
"I didn't do anything… except cover us with a mind warp shield to keep anyone from seeing us."
"Could your mind warp shield
have protected us?"
"I… I don't know. I don't think so. I know I wouldn't have counted on it… or expected it to."
"What was that bright light right before the explosions," Diane Casey asked. "I saw a bright light."
"Yeah, she's right," Alex agreed. "I saw it, too. I just thought it was part of the explosion, but since she mentioned it, I do remember seeing the bright light right before the explosions."
"I don't think it had anything to do with my mind warp," Angie Lee said. "It was like something from outside… maybe it protected us."
"Then let's take advantage of it and get out of here," Michael said. "I don't care what it was… a mind warp or divine intervention… I'll take it!"
"I'll second that," Alex said. Then he looked up at the sky… "and Kyle didn't really mean what he said about hooking Mel up with Cindy."
"Yes I did," Kyle retorted.
"Let Mel take care of his own love life," Michael said. "He's not the one they're dropping missiles on. Besides, I'm pretty sure he's married. Now if we can get down to our own situation here, guys, I need to make sure everyone's here… and we need to make a plan so we don't get separated. Maria… hold onto Max's arm with your other hand. Max has to carry Liz. Alex, you hold onto Max's other arm and hold onto Isabel… and Isabel, hold onto Kyle and Angie Lee…"
"Jim? Are you there?"
"Yeah."
"Stay in touch with Kyle and Angie Lee. Amy?"
"I'm with Jim.
"Gray Hawk?"
"I don't think there's enough peyote in all of New Mexico to hide this," Gray Hawk said, surveying the bombed out houses.
"Little Fox?"
"Yo."
"White Feather?"
"Still with you, man."
"Okay, you guys all keep in touch with each other and with Jim. Diane?"
"I'm okay… Glenna and Jeff, my assistant and cameraman are with me, too. We're all here."
"Good," Michael said. "Let's go then. Max and I will lead. The rest of you… just hold on till we get there… wherever there is."
Michael and Max began walking away from what had been, only moments before, a nice –even if small by some standards- Mesaliko home. Now it was nothing but a pile of cinders and broken dreams that still crackled with the flames of destruction that rose high into the sky. Several other houses around the target house had also been destroyed, collaterally, in the explosions. Michael had the odd feeling, as he walked along the street, that he was in a scene from a doomsday movie in which he was the only survivor of some nuclear holocaust. It had that eeriness to it. He squeezed Maria's hand… convincing himself again that she was there.
"What was that for, Michael?"
"Just… just making sure."
The group walked on… occasionally passing a still-standing home then more destroyed homes. They had lost count of the number of destroyed homes they had passed, but even the standing homes had considerable collateral damage, so the real figure, Michael considered, was one hundred percent total destruction. The Mesaliko Reservation no longer existed… certainly not as the place of quaint and peaceful little homes that it had once been. It was now a charred and destroyed battleground. Michael wondered how in the name of all that was holy the perpetrators of this desecration would explain this to the country… to the people… to their superiors… TO THE PRESIDENT! Did even the president know about it? Michael wondered. How high did this go? Would it even matter? If no one was left to testify against the perpetrators of this massacre… they could make up any lies that seemed convenient to them… and they would undoubtedly be exonerated of any and all wrongdoing. Michael steeled his resolve. He was determined that he would survive to tell the world what had happened here… even if it killed him.
**********
Unknown to Michael or the others, 1,649 miles away, in Washington DC, the Mesaliko Reservation was indeed, at that very moment, the topic of a discussion… a very serious and hastily called, very high-level discussion…
"Who did you say was responsible for this raid… and who approved it?"
"Special Agent Erwin Barker called the raid, sir. He goes by the code name, 'Culpepper.' General Hawkins approved the raid for him and gave him the muscle. Agent Culpepper also has a spy –of sorts- in Roswell who has been assisting him for favors… a judge by the name of Lewis… Horace, I believe."
"I'm having a hard time getting my mind to accept this footage that was aired before the cameras stopped rolling, Mister Klein. I mean of course I believe it… I'm seeing it! But it's just so… so incredible."
"Yes, sir. I understand. Aliens have been living among us for years… grew up here… went to school here…"
"Oh, I can see that, too, Mister Klein. But I can't believe that General Hawkins would actually think he could get away with this… this… heinous act against a reservation… against all those innocent people! General Hawkins must know that if the truth of this ever got out his butt would be the next target for one of his hellfire missiles. He could never run fast enough or far enough to escape. He must believe that he has all his angles covered. Does he even know about this footage?"
"Uh, no, sir. You see, sir, Barker… that's Culpepper… had an elaborate radar system set up to intercept and jam these transmissions. That's why he allowed the news team to keep filming as long as he did. The jamming was supposed to block their transmissions without them knowing it."
"But it didn't. Why not?"
"I, uh… I sabotaged the jamming radar… sir."
"You destroyed it?"
"No, sir… I just recalibrated the signal. Culpepper was unaware that I did it. I was supposed to be on his team, so he didn't suspect me."
"I see… I'm going to handle this, Mister Klein. I need to make a couple of calls. I'm putting you in charge of the Special Unit to replace Agent Barker's Unit supervisor… temporarily. That could become permanent if you are amenable to the position and want the job."
Klein nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Good. There's a general down in Texas who's very loyal to me and would love to take over General Hawkins' position in Roswell I'm sure. I'm getting him on the line now. I'll have him coordinate a counter… rescue… attack… whatever it is we need to do down there. We'll get Hawkins and Barker out of there… and Culpepper's Unit supervisor, too."
"Just like that, sir?"
"Just like that. I can relieve them of duty immediately under the emergency statutes act… pending further review. They'll all get a fair trial, of course. I just hope it's not too late for your friends… and for the Indians down there in Roswell."
"So do I, Mister President. Thank you, sir. I promise you I won't forget this."
"I know, Mister Klein. You're a good man. I can see that. I hope you're as good a director as you've shown yourself to be at getting in here to see me and making your case. If you are, the Unit will be in good hands."
"I'll do my best, sir."
**********
On the Mesaliko Reservation… or what little was left of it… Max and Michael had already led the group back to the main road that would take them out of the reservation and back toward town. They were passing the last of the Mesaliko homes when Max stopped suddenly, without warning.
"Why are we stopping," Isabel asked.
"shhhh… Listen."
Isabel listened. Everyone else listened, too.
"Someone's talking," Isabel said
quietly. "Where are they?"
"In front of the house," Max said… "behind that Humvee over there."
Max moved the group forward to get a better look, then he instinctively caught his breath.
"Judge Lewis," Alex and Liz both whispered at the same time.
"And he's talking to Culpepper," Kyle added. "That can't be any good."
"Just keep walking," Max said. "They can't see us. Nobody talk or make any noise till we're well past them."
Max led the group on past the two men. The invisibility warp seemed to be working even better than hoped. Judge Lewis and Agent Culpepper continued talking, and it was obvious that neither one suspected that the group had been there. After several minutes, Max and his group had put a fair distance between themselves and their nemeses.
"That was almost too easy," Alex said after they were out of ear shot once more. " I kept expecting one of them to turn around and see us or something."
"Can I breathe again?" Maria asked, trying not to wheeze.
"Me, too," someone else said, letting out a gasping wheeze and filling their lungs again with a much-needed breath of fresh air. It was Glenna, Diane's assistant.
"You can all breathe again," Michael said. "I think we made it."
"Good! I was about to pass out," Glenna gasped. "I don't think I could have held my breath any longer."
"Well, we didn't mean you actually had to stop breathing," Michael said. "We just meant be very quiet."
"I know," Glenna said… "I was trying to breath… I just couldn't."
Michael smiled to himself and nodded. "Then you have some idea what it's like to be us… That's our lives… 24/7. Welcome to our world."
"It's not our world," Max interjected dryly. "That's the problem. It never will be."
"It's our world, too," Isabel countered insistently. "Mom and Dad are here. They were born here. And we grew up here. We belong here now just as much as those… as much as those…"
"Say it, Iz!" Alex coaxed. "We all know what they are!"
"Good," Isabel sighed. "Then you know what I'm thinking."
"Yeah," Alex nodded with a grin… "But I'd like to hear you say it anyway."
"You just want me to talk dirty to you, Alex," Isabel said teasingly.
Michael chuckled.
Alex shook his head. "No, I just want to hear someone else call those assholes what they really are."
"You just did it for me," Isabel said.
"Besides, Iz… you belong here more than they do. They're the ones that the world would be better off without, not you."
"Convince the world of that," Max said glumly. "Then maybe we'll all be able to stop running, getting shot during our graduation, and being held in cells waiting to be dissected… or worse…"
"I can help," Diane said quietly.
"How can you help us," Max asked.
"I can do a special report on your lives… what you have to go through every day… what you've been through already… as young as you still are…"
Max was silent.
"It might work," Michael said. "It probably couldn't hurt… now that the whole world is going to know about us anyway… I guess."
"We'd have to get away from Lewis and Culpepper first," Max reminded Michael. "Then we'd have to hide out until… well, until things changed."
"We'll have to hide out anyway, Max," Michael said. "We can't just show up in the CrashDown tomorrow as though nothing ever happened. We're marked to be killed now… all of us. Count on it."
"Diane may be, too," Max reminded Michael. "She's a threat to them now more than ever. I don't think they'll just let her do a TV special that exposes everything they've been doing. I don't even think she can go back to work again at all… ever… not and be safe."
"So what do you suggest," Michael asked.
"I'm thinking."
"Well… I think it would be worth the risk," Diane said. "Nothing good ever came without a risk. Besides, it's my story, too, now. I have to do it if I'm ever going to be free again."
"You may find that these guys think 'dying to be free' should be a literal expression in our cases," Max said. "You need to consider what you're up against here."
"I know what I'm up against," Diane said. "It's a risk I'm willing to take. I just have to keep a really low profile until the story airs. Once they've been outed… it's all over. It would be pointless for them to kill me then."
"Ever heard of revenge," Max asked.
"I'll risk it," Diane said again. "Like I said, it's my story, too, now. I refuse to live like a coward because of some low-life, lower-than-slime, vegetated pieces of rats-ass sewer scum!"
Max smiled. "I knew there was some reason I liked you, Diane. You're a poet!"
"Hey, Max, listen," Michael said, interrupting the conversation. "Do you hear something?"
Max listened. "Sounds like a car coming. We'd better get off the road."
Max led the group off the road and onto a grassy shoulder. Then they stopped and watched. Within moments, a vehicle appeared. It was the Humvee.
"Everyone stay quiet," Max cautioned. "They still can't see us, so there's no need to panic. Just stay still and be quiet till they're past."
The group watched in silence as the Humvee approached. It was going much slower than they would have expected, barely more than walking speed. As the Humvee approached the place where the group had left the road, it slowed more… then it stopped. Judge Lewis jumped out and looked at the ground excitedly.
"See! I told you those were shoe prints! And I told you they were new! They go off into the grass right here."
Culpepper got out of the Humvee and looked closely at the slight traces of shoe prints on the hard dirt road. They weren't very obvious. It might even have been debatable whether or not they were really shoe prints at all. But they did seem to turn off into the grass in this area.
"What's your point, Judge? You think there are more aliens?"
"Maybe…" Judge Lewis said skeptically… "But I'm more inclined to think it's the ones we already know."
Culpepper laughed. "Only if they're ghosts! I assure you that's the only way they're ever coming back, Judge!"
"Laugh if you want, Culpepper. I know these kids better than you do. I know enough not to believe anything before I see bodies."
"There weren't any bodies left to see, Judge. They're dead! They were burned up! Take my word for it. You don't get hit with four hellfire missiles and just walk away! Maybe you're seeing ghosts." Culpepper laughed. "Corporal, get the Judge the number for Ghostbusters. He wants to call 'em."
The driver and Culpepper both enjoyed the joke, but Judge Lewis wasn't paying attention to their ribbing. He stepped onto the grass and looked around. Max and all those with him stood totally still, not ten feet away from Judge Lewis. If they ran, he would see the movement in the grass… but if they stayed and he came any closer he might actually find them. For a moment, Max was unsure. Maybe Judge Lewis would not want to venture too far from the road.
Judge Lewis stepped forward, taking several more steps into the grass. Somehow Isabel managed to stand totally still, though Judge Lewis was now standing right in her face. She could even smell his breath. She closed her eyes momentarily and hoped she wouldn't sneeze.
As fate or bad luck would have it, Judge Lewis decided to take one more step, and Isabel was forced to back up to keep him from running into her. As she stepped back, Judge Lewis' eyes grew large, and he pointed at the grass…
"They're here! They're here! I saw the grass move!"
He turned around quickly to look for Culpepper, but instead of Culpepper, he saw something he had not expected to see… Amy… standing between him and Culpepper. It took Judge Lewis a mere split second to notice that Amy wasn't really standing, though… Her feet appeared to be floating just above the ground. Momentarily shocked, Judge Lewis' first impulse was to scream at Culpepper and the Corporal who was driving the Humvee to shoot her… and the Corporal, who was even more shocked than the judge by what he was seeing, did, without hesitation.
It had no effect. Either Amy was capable of taking a bullet in the chest now and not even flinching or she really was… a ghost.
For a moment, Judge Lewis seemed to turn pale. Then he looked at Culpepper again. Culpepper was still staring at Amy's feet, which weren't touching the ground. Judge Lewis turned back around and came face to face with Liz standing behind him. Her feet, too, seemed to be floating just above the ground. Whirling around, he saw Max and Michael… then the others… all staring… silently… accusingly… at the three men… all with their feet floating just above the ground.
Culpepper stood paralyzed as though in a trance, and no words seemed to come out of his mouth. The excitable Corporal, however, decided to empty his pistol into the apparitions… with predictable results… no effect.
Judge Lewis turned around to face Amy… then turned back to face the others. The more he looked at the "ghosts," the more he began to think. He waved his hand at Amy, but it went right through her. Culpepper almost fainted, and the Corporal gasped loudly, turning even paler than he had been before.
"No… No… This isn't right," Judge Lewis said, swiping at the apparition again. "This isn't right I tell you! Ghosts don't leave footprints. Ghosts don't make the grass lay down under their feet. Suddenly and without warning, Judge Lewis reached out in the direction of the place where the grass had moved before and made contact with something. He held on tight. It was an arm.
"Ow! You're hurting me!" Maria cried out, as Judge Lewis twisted her arm. "Let go!"
"Not on your life," Judge Lewis growled back. "You're gonna be my ticket."
"She said let her go," a new voice said behind the judge. Judge Lewis whirled back around to look. It was Jim who had spoken… and beside him was Amy… again.
"Oh! So the 'ghosts' can talk, too!" Judge Lewis sneered, looking over at Culpepper as though expecting an apology from the agent to be forthcoming, and in the process, twisting Maria's arm even further. That was a mistake. The moment he turned his eyes away, Amy leveled a crashing fist on his head that sent the judge sprawling to the ground. By now, Angie Lee had dropped the invisibility shield… as well as the special effects. The fake ghosts had all disappeared, and the people were real.
Culpepper started to go for his gun, but Jim got there quicker. The Corporal got to his own gun and tried to fire it, but he had already emptied his clip on the fake ghosts that Angie Lee had conjured up. With Culpepper's gun now in Jim's hand, the two men could do nothing but watch.
Judge Lewis had lost his grip on Maria's arm as soon as Amy's fist had come crashing down on his head sending him sprawling to the ground. Now she was on top of him, and everything that had been pent up inside her finally came flowing out like the waters behind a burst dam. If Judge Lewis had actually been the BIG DOG that he always claimed to be, his fur would have been flying right now in all directions. What actually was flying was pieces of his clothes and probably skin. Since Amy had the judge down on the ground behind the Humvee, Culpepper and the corporal could not actually see what was happening to the him anymore, but his shrill, terrified howls and the rapidly flying pieces of cloth -and what appeared to be skin- made them wince more than once.
"Shouldn't you lend some help there?" Culpepper asked Jim pointedly."
"She doesn't look to me like she needs any help," Jim replied matter-of-factly.
"I meant HIM, Culpepper barked with a tone of exasperation. "You are the sheriff after all."
"NOW you remember that," Jim said. "Well, you must also know then that I have no authority on the Reservation. I'm not the sheriff here. Gray Hawk's people have their own laws."
"Well, then, shouldn't YOU stop her," Culpepper said to Gray Hawk.
"I will do what I can," Gray Hawk said slowly. "I will have to convene a Council first, of course." Gray Hawk looked around at the burned out homes and sighed dramatically… "There do not seem to be enough Mesaliko present now on the reservation for a Council. When there are, I will bring this matter up… if it is still important at that time."
Culpepper winced again.
"I didn't realize you were really fond of the judge," Jim said.
Culpepper looked at the Corporal and both of them shrugged.
"Yeah, well… you've got a point. Besides… it's him, not me," Culpepper said.
"Your sympathy is touching," Alex snipped sarcastically. "I think I may cry."
A couple of minutes after it had started, another Humvee approached the group. In it were several soldiers armed with AK-47's, a lieutenant, and a higher ranking officer, the second-in-command to General Hawkins. The higher ranking officer looked at what was happening, as the Humvee came to a stop, then he stepped out of the vehicle. Jim still had Culpepper's pistol in his hand, aimed at Culpepper and the Corporal, but he knew it would be no match for four soldiers with AK-47's. He waited to see what would happen, but he didn't lower the gun in his hand.
"What's going on here, Barker," the higher-ranking officer asked, calling Culpepper by his real name.
"Well, if you'd just open your eyes and look," Culpepper snapped back testily, with frustration and more than a little bit of fear obvious in his voice, "we're being attacked by our prisoners. Now that you're here, I'm sure you'll want to do something about it other than just WATCH!"
The General's second-in-command seemed to smile slightly. "You seem to have a problem, Barker."
"Are you just gonna talk about it or are you gonna do something," Culpepper snapped gruffly.
"I'm thinking," the officer answered. Culpepper's mouth seemed to drop open.
The officer motioned toward the soldiers in the Humvee, and they pointed their rifles at Jim, Max, and the others.
"Give me the gun," the officer said to Jim. Jim hesitated… then handed the officer the pistol.
"This looks like your gun, Barker."
"It IS my gun, Edmonds! You KNOW it is! Give it back to me."
"Do you just let all your prisoners hold your gun, Barker… or do they have to ask nicely?"
"Just give me my gun, Edmonds… or I'll have the General relieve you of command for insubordination."
"Insubordination… to you, Barker?" The General's second-in-command raised his eyebrows. "You're just a special agent. You're not even an officer!"
"With special connections," Culpepper reminded him.
"Maybe not anymore… We'll see," the officer said matter-of-factly. Then he motioned to Jim and the others.
"All of you… down on the ground… hands behind your backs." He looked at one of the soldiers holding an AK-47. "Do we have enough handcuffs?"
"If we don't, there's some rope in the back," the soldier said.
The officer nodded. "Handcuff 'em." Then he handed Culpepper back his gun.
Culpepper promptly aimed it at Angie Lee on the ground. The moment he did, Gray Hawk hit him from the side, sending him reeling into one of the soldiers. Culpepper hadn't even seen Gray Hawk get up. He simply seemed to rise off the ground and strike all in one swift motion. A second soldier hit Gray Hawk on the head with the butt of his gun, and Gray Hawk went down, momentarily addled but not unconscious. The soldier hurried to get the handcuffs on him before he could recover enough to fight again.
Culpepper walked back over to Angie Lee and pointed the gun at her again. "I killed you once… or I thought I did. Maybe the second time will be a charm."
The General's second-in-command grabbed Culpepper's hand and pushed it away.
"What do you think you're doing, Barker?"
"She's dangerous, Edmonds! She'll have you seeing things that aren't there when you don't expect it."
"That's my problem, Barker… and the General's. He may want to find out what makes her tick… if what you say is true."
"If? What do you mean, IF, Edmonds? Of course it's true. You'll live to regret it if you don't kill her now."
"And you WON'T live to regret it if you DO kill her now against my orders, Culpepper," Edmonds threatened. Culpepper begrudgingly lowered his gun.
"What do we do about this one…" the soldier asked, motioning toward Amy, who had still not been pulled off of the pitifully howling, battered, and now mostly naked Judge Lewis. Out of sight as they were behind the first Humvee, and with Judge Lewis howling continuously like a tomcat being pulled through a knot hole by its tail, Amy hadn't even been aware of the arrival of the additional soldiers.
"Handcuff her, too."
The soldiers looked at each other, silently wondering which one was going to do it.
"What about him," the soldier asked, motioning toward the judge.
"Take him to the base medic. He looks like he's gonna need it."
The soldiers carefully handcuffed Amy, who used her last free arm movement to remove most of what was left of Judge Lewis' hair from his left armpit.
"All right… There are a couple more Humvees on the way," the officer said. "When they get here, you guys are getting in and we're all going back to the base."
Michael groaned. "Sorry, Max… I let you down."
"You did all you could," Max replied. "I don't want to hear any self-recrimination. I'm as much to blame as anyone… More, actually… because I'm the one leading."
"Give it a rest, you two," Gray Hawk said with an ever-present air of authority in his voice. You're both to blame."
Max looked at Michael and raised his eyebrows slightly. "Nice to have someone who can put it all into perspective for us."
Michael nodded.
"Weren't you a little hard on them, Grandfather," Angie Lee asked.
"No. If I said nothing, each one would continue to blame only himself, and we would have to listen to that forever. Now they will have to put it behind them, because neither will want to blame the other."
Angie Lee kissed Gray Hawk on the cheek. "You always were a peacemaker, Grandfather. What do you think they'll do with us?"
"I do not know… I will not allow them to hurt you, A'in Ji Lii."
"I know," Angie Lee said. "I know. That's what worries me."
Moments later, three more Humvees pulled up on the scene. Each had a driver and two armed soldiers in it. The fifteen handcuffed prisoners and Judge Lewis were stuffed into the five Humvees that were now present, including the one Culpepper and the judge had arrived in originally. Then Culpepper's driver was ordered by the General's second-in-command, against Culpepper's wishes, to follow the convoy and return to the base with the prisoners in his vehicle. Still fuming, Culpepper, who had to stay behind, dropped his objections for the moment, but he never planned to allow any of the prisoners to return to the base… even knowing that they would "disappear" once they got there. Culpepper didn't want these prisoners to merely "disappear." "Disappeared" prisoners could still talk… and sometimes they escaped, as he had seen some of these do once already. He wanted them dead… and he had an idea how that might still be accomplished. Unfortunately, it might mean sacrificing "a few" soldiers… and the General's second-in-command. Culpepper smiled.
The Humvees drove off through the reservation, heading over the hills rather than out the official entrance, and as they drove away, Culpepper made a two-way radio call…
"Cobra Leader, this is Culpepper. Come in."
"Cobra Leader here."
"There's a convoy of five Humvees leaving the Reservation… It's heading over the hills from the Reservation bearing south-southeast. The vehicles were commandeered by the terrorists that were holed up on the reservation. They've killed the drivers. The intended target of the terrorists is Area 51. They intend to use our official vehicles to gain entrance and sabotage sensitive areas of national security. I've been ordered to stop this convoy before it reaches the base…"
"They'll never get there," Cobra Leader replied resolutely. "Trust me."
"The whole nation is counting on you, Cobra Leader. Don't fail us! Culpepper out."
Culpepper pressed the button turning off his two-way radio. Then he looked at the Humvees disappearing in the distance over the hill… and he smiled. Three minutes later, as the Humvees headed out across the desert, the General's second-in-command spotted something far ahead of the convoy but approaching fast.
"What do you make those out to be," the officer asked the driver.
"I don't know, sir. I believe they're helicopters… looks like maybe some of our Cobras."
"Why would more Cobras be coming out here now?" the officer asked, more to himself than to the driver, who obviously wouldn't know.
"I don't know, sir… but they're headed directly towards us."
"Yes… they are, aren't they," the General's second-in-command said slowly, beginning to have a bad feeling, as he started to put the pieces together. "Driver, stop the vehicle! Get out! Everybody get out! NOW!"
No one in the Humvees had time to react to the officer's order. As they started to move, the air itself seemed to open up in front of them between the Humvees and the approaching helicopters. There was a tremendous BOOM, blowing out all the windows in the Humvees, as something shot out of a rift and the rift closed back up again. The object headed straight for the convoy. It looked like… but the officer's mind refused to believe it… a rider on a motorbike… coming right out of a hole in the sky.
tbc
Coming up: Michael times Two