Aileen took another bite of her breakfast and smiled up at her husband.
"Will you be taking one of the guards with you to the traders?" she asked.
Brad wiggled in his seat and pleaded, "Can I go, Dad, please? Huh?"
Jack laughed at the four year old. "Not today, son. Brent's going with me, and Mike." he said in answer to his wife's question. "I'm only taking some samples."
Aileen nodded, "We've a good haul of cotton cloth and fruit, there shouldn't be any trouble selling it."
Aaron appeared in the doorway. "Hey, Captain, there's a trader on the dock wants to know if you want to come down. He says he's interested in doing some deals."
"I'll be right down", Jack said, pushing up from the table.
"Hey, I'll come with you, Dad." Brent started to get up, but Jack shook his head.
"Finish your breakfast. I'll see what he's got, then we'll get going to the trading post."
"Okay". Brent settled back to eating as Jack and Aaron left to see about the trader.
Jack picked up the shotgun and slung it over his shoulder as he strode out onto the deck. He left Aaron standing guard on the deck, and nodded at Dawson lounging alertly in the bow. He went down the gangplank toward the trader.
Aaron shouted as he saw the Enclave soldiers swarming down the dock, at the same time Jack spotted them. He snatched his gun and pulled it up, just as the trader landed a hard blow to the side of his head. Aaron was firing his laser rifle, Dawson leaped for the gangplank, and the other two guards came running up from below.
Aileen heard the shout and the distinctive sounds of battle. Yelling "Take care of your brother " at Brent she snatched her laser rifle and ran onto the deck in time to see the soldiers dragging her husband up. She joined in the battle, running forward firing from the hip, dashing to rescue Jack. Strong arms grabbed her, dragging her back into shelter.
"Let me go" she screamed, flailing at the man holding her, but Aaron grimly held her as the soldiers carried Jack off.
Dawson and the other two guards were after them, but being held at bay by concentrated fire. Then they were gone. The trader and dead and dying soldiers littered the dock. Aileen turned on Aaron. She glared at him for a moment, but she knew he was following Jack's orders. Protect his family at all costs. She was heavily pregnant, not able to fight. Aaron dropped her arms.
"Send out word," she said grimly. "We need Calli." Then she turned to go down the gangplank, knife in hand. She was going to find out why Enclave soldiers had kidnapped Jack.
Calli and Hawk were half a day's easy walk at the north trading post, getting ready to display some of the goods from their latest foray into the wasteland. Calli had her pack on the counter when the young man came in.
"Have you heard?", he asked excitedly. "Soldiers attacked a trading vessel south of here on the river. They say the captain's gone after them." Calli's face paled beneath the unique helmet she always wore.
"Boy", she said. "Do you know what ship was attacked?" The boy looked at her a little warily.
"I'm not sure, it was the Trade something or other, Storm or something."
"The Tradewind?", she asked intently.
"Yeah, I think that was it.", he said.
Calli began to unload all non- essential items from her pack. She didn't even look at Hawk, she knew the big mutant was doing the same. She hesitated when she pulled out a slave collar then returned it to the pack. She didn't know what the situation was or exactly what she might need. She perused the items they had unloaded then quickly made her selections of ammo and meds. The trader knew Calli well from their many trades. She was a master trader, scavenger and warrior, and that now she was giving him more than a fair deal didn't bode well for whoever she was going after.
"Travel safe, Calli", he called as the pair left the building. They took off at a trot toward the dock where the Tradewind ll should have been waiting for her to keep their rendezvous on the following morning.
Calli stood with Aileen on the deck, not even breathing hard from the long run. Aileen explained what had happened, adding "They didn't attack the Tradewind, Calli. They lured Jack out. It was just him they wanted. Why would they take our husband? Two of the soldiers are still alive. We put them in the hold for you. I thought you would want to question them."
Aileen hadn't gotten anything out of the trader before he died, and the other soldiers were already dead. Calli nodded.
"Do you want to help me, sister?", she asked.
"No, but if you're done examining the bodies the guys need to clean the dock before the stench of death attracts every predator within 5 miles." Calli nodded. Signaling to Hawk she headed toward the bowels of the ship to find out where the Enclave had taken her husband.
xx
Calli crouched low on the hill ignoring the raging storm whistling about her. It was just dark on the second day since Jack had been taken. The battle suit she wore was so much a part of her now, and it cut through the storm with sensors so familiar they seemed her own. She wasn't thinking of her companion Hawk, or David or anything but her concentration on the garrison below where her beloved Jack was being held prisoner. It was her fault he was there. They had taken him to get her into the open. Well, she was here, scanning the terrain, noting the guards and heightened security.
Slowly she rose and slipped quietly through the storm toward the underground entrance. The guard never saw her, never knew she was there as she quietly dispatched him. The second guard was a little more alert but never had time to sound an alarm. She scanned the tunnel quickly but the only sensors were ones she expected, and she easily avoided them. Disabling them would have alerted security. She moved lithely from cover to cover until she came out into a main hall.
When she had been in the Enclave's main garrison in Raven Rock she had downloaded the garrison's specs to her pip-boy, so long a part of her now that it had grown in to her flesh. The Enclave tended to set up their garrisons in the same pattern. She moved toward the weapons room.
A guard robot ahead was quick to spot her. She hesitated as it took aim, then blasted it into oblivion. Good. It had had time to send a message she had been spotted heading toward the weapons section. The garrison would react, sending most of their defenses to keep her from that area. They couldn't know she had already been to the weapons room and planted a bomb in a strategic spot before allowing her presence to be detected. She had only to activate it from her pip-boy. The way would now be relatively clear to the cells.
She punched in the code to open the cell door, turning only briefly to deliver another blast to a still moving body. The bodies of guards lay in broken heaps behind her. She moved to the still form lying on the hard cot, and gathered him into her arms. He was confused, bleeding and broken, hardly moving.
"Oh, Jack" she whispered. "What have they done to you? Come on, love, we have to move. Come on now, try to get up." Her voice was gentle but insistent as she took one stimpak after another from her pack and injected him. Jack groaned, his eyes focusing on the familiar helmet. He struggled, and slowly rose. She supported him with one arm, helping him to walk. She didn't think he could go far, but if she had to carry him, she wouldn't be able to defend them.
They staggered up the hill, the flames from the garrison behind them hot on their backs. The storm had passed and there was no howling wind to hide their flight or pouring rain to douse the flames. If they were being pursued it didn't matter now. Jack couldn't stagger any further. Slinging her weapon across her back, she gathered him into her arms. He was a big man, all muscle and sinew, and it strained her even with the assistance of her suits power. Her body screamed with the pain of many wounds and the strain of her burdens, but she struggled on up the hill until she could go no further. Near the top she staggered to a stop behind a crop of rocks and trees. She could see the garrison below, the soldiers rushing wildly like ants.
She removed her helmet to look at Jack with her own eyes and took his damaged hand in hers. He was breathing in short, rapid gasps, blood trickling from his mouth. He was bleeding out internally. She could see it was too late to save him. She was out of meds and it was too late to operate to try to stop the bleeding, even if she had the tools, which she didn't. There was nothing else she could do. He was going fast.
He focused on her face. "Aileen" he managed to gasp, heaving with the effort.
"It's all right, love" she said quietly. "You can rest. Aileen and the kids are safe. Hawk will take them to Arhome. You don't have to worry about them. We'll take care of them." He smiled a weak thanks. She bent her head close to his, her mouth to his ear.
" I love you, Jack." She whispered. "Safe travels, my love". She felt the slight grip on her hand, then a last gasping breath, and he went still.
She held the limp hand briefly then lifted it to her lips for a last kiss. Laying the hand gently down she picked up her helmet and put it on, snapping it in place automatically. Grief was pulsing through her like a living thing. The pain was too much. She threw back her head and howled her grief to the wasteland.
Scott was on the way to the garrison to visit his brother when a vast explosion shook the ground and flames shot high into the air. NO!NO!NO! Marcus was in that garrison. He broke into a run, trying to get there as fast as he could. His breath came in heavy gasps. He had to slow down. What was that?
The howl stopped him, someone, or something, a howl like nothing he had ever heard before, loud and eerie. He hurried on to the garrison. He found a guard trying to staunch the bleeding on another.
"What happened here?" he asked. "Have you seen Marcus Halliday?".
The guard looked up. "What happened? Calli happened! Didn't you hear her, howling in triumph? She blew up the whole garrison. Who knows where anyone is? Go look for yourself. We have to take care of our own now.", he growled.
It took Scott 2 hours to find Marcus's body, under some debris in the entrance hall. He must have been guarding the entrance when the garrison blew. He worshipped his older brother, and had been so proud Marcus had been accepted into the Enclave. Now he held his broken body and cried like a baby.
"I'll get her, Marcus" he promised. "I'll make her pay for this." He had just turned 16 and had been planning on enlisting himself, but now he had a new goal in life. He would never give up until she was dead.
Calli heaved great sobbing breaths, her tired wounded body throbbing with each one. If they found her now it would be all over. She didn't think they were tracking her yet, but they would be. She couldn't let them find Jack's body. The world had to think she had succeeded; she had rescued a loved one from her enemies. She grunted as she heaved the body over her shoulder. She knew she couldn't go far, she had to heal, but she knew of a cave, more of an overhang actually, just the other side of the mountain. She left behind the now useless combat rifle. She had used most of her weapons and was out of ammo.
She began to trudge, weaving and stumbling, only the power cells in the suit keeping her upright as they took most of the weight, but they were fast losing power and needed to regenerate too. She barely made it to the overhang and pushed Jack's body as far back into the opening as she could. She crawled in beside him, barely hidden behind the concealing brush. She had used all the stimpacks and medicines she had to stop Jack's pain and get him out. She didn't have anything left. She was so tired, so hurt. She wanted to let go, to sleep beside him forever, but she knew she couldn't. She had promised him to get his family to safety. She set the suit to alarm if anything came near, placed her laser rifle in firing position, and allowed herself to go unconscious, sleeping one last time beside the man she had so deeply loved.
The bright sunshine poured through an opening in the brush, striking the power suit and setting it to humming as it absorbed the power to its power cells. It had some self-healing properties and some of the holes blasted through by high powered weapons and flying debris partially repaired, but it would take a craftsman several hours to fix the suit properly. The quiet humming and bright light filtered into Calli's consciousness, arousing her. She peered out of the brush at midday. How long had she been out? It had been just full dark when she had attacked the garrison.
She turned to feel Jack, now cold and stiff. A quick check of her Pip-boy told her over 10 hours had passed. Surely the garrison had organized and sent an eyebot to track for her. The longer she waited now, the more likely she was to be found, although it was possible they had assumed her long gone and wouldn't send a tracking drone. She had destroyed all the ones in the garrison and they would have to bring one in.
She pulled herself out of the overhang, moving stiffly. She hadn't had nearly enough time or resources to regenerate and was still in bad shape. A quick perusal of the landscape found no danger lurking nearby. With careful, short bursts of the laser rifle she brought down the overhanging rocks, sealing Jack's body into a hidden tomb. She was badly injured and Jack was dead. His family was her responsibility now. She shouldered her rifle and turned toward the river. It was time to take her family home.