Authors: Robert Storey
Moments later a bright light shone through her eyelids. Blinking, she opened them in time to see the large man on top of her being yanked backwards like a rag doll. He appeared to float in mid-air for a moment and then disappeared from view. A second after the grips on her arms also vanished.
Shouting and blinding light was everywhere now. Huge arms encircled Rebecca’s shoulders and legs, and she was picked up off the ground and carefully placed on her feet. Disorientated, she swayed slightly as she stared around her.
Someone gently tugged her trousers back up, but she hardly noticed as armed, black-clad soldiers swarmed everywhere. The men who had attacked them lay bound, face down on the ground; most struggled against their bonds while a few lay unnaturally still.
‘It’s all right, miss, it’s over now,’ her rescuer said in a deep powerful voice. ‘I want this area secured and cleared in three,’ he told a passing soldier. ‘We can’t afford to stop for long,’
‘Yes, Commander.’ The man saluted and moved off, issuing orders.
Rebecca looked for Joseph and the others. Then she saw them next to a large armoured vehicle. The officer who’d saved her guided her over to her group. ‘Will you be okay, miss?’ he said, but she didn’t really hear him.
She bent down to Joseph who was being tended by a woman with a medikit. ‘How is he?’ she asked her.
The woman gave her a reassuring smile. ‘He’ll live,’ she said in a strong South African accent. ‘It’s lucky he was wearing this flak jacket otherwise he might have sustained serious injury.’
Rebecca felt dizzy and the ground lurched beneath her.
Someone caught her from behind. ‘I think you need to sit down,’ a new voice told her as they lowered her down next to Joseph.
‘Thank you,’ she said as a sob escaped her lips, sparked by the compassionate tone in the man’s voice; it had been a long time since she’d been cared for. As her tears flowed, Joseph cuddled into her and she clung onto him as he held her close.
♦
Goodwin left the young weeping woman in the arms of her friend and made his way over to Hilt.
‘Good job, Commander. What are you going to do with those?’ He pointed at the men who had been bound and placed face down on the roadside.
‘There are a few things I’d like to do with them, but this is still the United States and unfortunately on the spot capital punishment is not an option.’
‘What about them?’ Goodwin indicated the three dead bodies of the rapists.
‘Casualties of circumstance; they made their choice and paid for it. I’m a soldier, sir, not a politician. I act as required.’
‘I can live with that,’ Goodwin said.
Hilt looked over at the small group of people they had gathered together. ‘Are we taking them with us?’
‘We can’t leave them out here now. This part of the city is a free-for-all. No, we can squeeze them in.’
‘They may be better off here,’ Hilt said.
Goodwin considered the traumatised woman. ‘Given what they’ve just gone through, I think they might disagree.’
‘It’s your party, sir, although we better get moving again. There don’t appear to be any military or police in this sector, but we shouldn’t hang around to find out.’
‘Good idea, let’s get going.’
‘Let’s move out!’ Hilt shouted to his soldiers.
The gang of men, still prone and restrained on the ground, cried out as the Darklight forces departed.
‘You can’t leave us like this!’
‘Untie us, you bastards!’
‘Where are you going?! I’m innocent!!’
The calls fell on deaf ears as doors slammed and engines roared to life once more. Goodwin climbed back into the multi-wheeled transport, soldiers and civilians alike retaking their previous positions.
The Darklight convoy rolled out, quickly regaining speed, and flew through downtown Albuquerque after its pit stop.
Goodwin was satisfied with his decision to get involved. He’d been watching a stream from one of the lead vehicles and noticed the incident taking place on the pavement. Hilt had wanted to press on, but Goodwin had insisted. The commander had returned to the site and had taken charge of the situation personally. Goodwin knew the man was a trained killer, but he could tell Hilt was happy to have intervened. He might be a gun for hire, but under Goodwin’s command he intended to show him his skills could be used more positively.
Having worked his way back to his seat near the front of the personnel carrier, Goodwin looked round as Kara Vandervoort came up to join him after helping the new additions to settle in.
‘How are they?’ he said, as she sat down next to him.
‘Most of them are fine. They are all mentally handicapped to various degrees, except for the three women with them, who are their carers. The woman who was raped, Rebecca, is still in shock. Joseph, her dependent, has suffered a cracked cheekbone and extensive bruising, but he will make a full recovery. The old woman we found on the bed has been made comfortable, but I fear she won’t be with us for much longer.’
Goodwin nodded, looking pensive.
‘You made the right decision, Richard.’ Kara placed a reassuring hand on his knee. ‘You’re a good man.’
‘Thanks,’ he said, suddenly feeling self-conscious. ‘I try my best, but sometimes it’s difficult when you have so many people relying on you to make the right call. I just hope stopping hasn’t compromised our position.’
‘A few minutes won’t have made any difference. Besides, the commander knows his stuff; he’ll get us through to Sanctuary.’
‘Sir.’ The door of the cab had opened and a soldier motioned to Goodwin. ‘You’re wanted on the com.’
‘I hope so,’ Goodwin said to Kara. Getting up, he followed the Darklight operative into the vehicle’s control cockpit. He accepted the proffered headset and put it on. ‘Commander?’
‘Sir,’ Hilt said, ‘we have a problem.’
‘Another one? What is it this time?’
‘The army detachment we avoided has been redirected. They are closing in on our position from behind.’
‘We can just outrun them, can’t we?’
‘We could if there wasn’t a second, much larger force approaching from the east.’
‘So what do we do?’
‘They’re coming at us from the north and east. We could head west, but that would make any border crossing virtually impossible as we would be run down by the time we reached a viable location. That leaves us with only one option; south.’
‘Past Fort Bliss?’ Goodwin said, knowing the answer.
‘Yes, we have to cross at El Paso. The sooner we get into Mexico the better.’
‘Am I missing something? Surely they’re pushing us south intentionally; won’t we be playing right into their hands?’
‘That is a possibility, but I don’t think so. If they had the manpower at Bliss then they would be coming at us from the south, but they aren’t – why? I think the majority of units at the Fort had already been deployed prior to our departure. Once we were on the move Joiner, or whoever is tasked with restricting our movements, called in any available assets to close on our position.’
‘But you can’t be sure?’ Goodwin said.
‘It is only a theory, but we don’t have much else to go on and our alternatives are rapidly disappearing. We must act now, sir. The final decision is yours. El Paso or full engagement?’
‘What would our chances be if we were to tackle this new threat to the east?’
‘We would take heavy casualties as we would be hit from two sides and effectively crushed in a vice.’
‘We head south then, Commander, and pray your theory is correct.’
‘Yes, sir. I advise you stay in direct communication with me for the duration. Quick decisions may need to be made. I’ll stream a live video feed to your vehicle from mine so you can get eyes on from my perspective.’
‘Good idea,’ Goodwin said, as a soldier offered him his seat so he could view the screen in comfort. Goodwin nodded his head in thanks and sat down in a tight yet well-supported chair surrounded by a plethora of dials, switches and buttons.
‘Sir,’ Hilt continued, ‘I’ll need you to put your microphone on mute unless we’re talking as I’ll need a clean line during operations.’
‘Of course, Commander, I’ll switch it off now.’
‘Thank you, sir. To ensure you can hear all my commands and the feedback from my men, I’ve patched you into to my audio.’
‘Excellent, Commander,’ Goodwin said, ‘I’m going silent now.’ Goodwin pushed a button on his headset. With the confab over he settled in to watch and listen to the Darklight officer as he followed out his order.
‘Lieutenant,’ Hilt said, ‘increase our speed to ninety-five miles per hour. I want to pass Bliss as quickly as possible.’
It wasn’t long before Goodwin’s transporter also picked up speed to match the lead vehicle, the roar of its massive engines increasing as it did so.
The convoy was really shifting now. The roadside flashed by on the edges of the green head-up display a Darklight operative was utilising to drive the vehicle. Goodwin hoped they didn’t encounter any civilian traffic on the road; at this speed and with such a large train of vehicles any accident might well prove disastrous.
‘Sir, the army are closing on us at the rear,’ Goodwin heard a soldier tell Hilt.
‘Distance, Major?’
‘Less than a mile. They have some high-speed light armoured Humvees.’
‘Tell the rear units to drive three abreast and block their path. Prepare the gunships for launch at my command.’
‘Being actioned, sir,’ the major told his superior. After some moments he came back on the com. ‘Rolling blockade is in place and all helicopter launch bays are open.’
‘We have movement up ahead, Commander,’ Hilt’s lieutenant said, ‘air radar indicates multiple targets converging on our location. They’re on the deck, sir, altitude one hundred feet. Speed, nine hundred knots. Bearing zero fife seven point two six!’
‘Drones?’ Hilt asked.
‘Hard to tell, sir.’
‘Launch the gunships,’ Hilt said, ‘defence pattern niner bravo eight, and get me the Phoenix.’
‘Yes, sir, patching you through.’
‘Captain, this is Commander Hilt. I need some low altitude air cover a-sap at my location.’
‘Commander, this is Captain Takahashi of the aircraft carrier Phoenix; we can send you two Sabre interceptors; they’ll be with you in five.’
‘Copy that, Phoenix, Hilt out.’
‘We have inbound, sir, secondary single high-speed bogey.’
‘Position?’
‘Crossing over us now, east to west pass.’
As Goodwin listened in on Hilt’s conversation an ear splitting thunderclap shattered the silence and sent vibrations shuddering through his seat. On instinct he looked out of the blackened window and glimpsed the receding glow of an afterburner searing into the black sky.
‘This is gunship Sigma Two; we have a confirmed sighting of a reconnaissance drone circling our position, over.’
‘That is an affirmative,’ said the lieutenant, ‘confirmed drone, manoeuvring for another pass on our six.’
Goodwin got a feedback whistle through his headset as Hilt forwarded a message over the vehicle’s intercom and throughout the convoy.
‘This is Hilt, deploy all weapons systems and activate window shielding. We are under protocol eight six two, we are a go for engagement. Hostiles closing on our position. I repeat, we are a go for engagement.’
Goodwin felt helpless and vulnerable as a clanking noise indicated shutter shields were being lowered over the transporters windows. The crew of three around him activated various systems as per Hilt’s orders. The man behind him pulled down a bulky instrument which looked like a giant helmet, inside which twin screens shone brightly. The soldier positioned the optics close to his eyes and switched on its tracking and targeting technology.
‘We’re passing Bliss, sir,’ Hilt’s driver said.
Goodwin’s tension rose higher as he saw an imposing fence on their left via the HUD signifying their proximity to the U.S. Army’s base. He could also hear the rotors of one of the Darklight helicopters as it patrolled their moving airspace.
‘Our air support won’t reach us in time, Commander.’
‘Copy that, Lieutenant,’ Hilt said, his voice grim.
A thumping explosion detonated nearby, followed by another, even closer, which rocked the transporter and sent it into a violent skid. The driver grappled with the wheel as the overladen personnel carrier veered across three lanes and then back again, only its bulk keeping it from turning over. Goodwin gripped onto the dashboard in front of him as the vehicle swerved again and finally regained its previous course.
Another ear splitting roar shot past overhead and then another. Two more followed in quick succession.
‘Four bogeys, Commander,’ someone told Hilt. ‘All drones.’
‘Report,’ Hilt said.
‘Two gunships are down and three trucks have been destroyed,’ the lieutenant said. ‘Our weapons are ineffective against such low targets. They’re coming about.’
Hilt’s radio crackled and then a muffled voice came through. ‘This is Sabre Delta Phoenix Niner, we have your bogeys in sight and are in pursuit, over.’
‘Copy that, Delta Niner,’ Hilt said to the pilot in the skies above.
A deep rumbling, whooshing noise streaked past overhead, followed by another, indicating the Sabre fighters deployed by Phoenix had entered the fray.
‘Commander, we’ve engaged ground forces at our six. They’ve been repelled and their path blocked by surface percussion mines. They won’t be able to follow us any further.’
‘Good job, Major,’ Hilt said.
‘Sir, we’re approaching El Paso,’ Hilt’s driver informed him.
Goodwin looked at the screen in front of him to see a mass of blazing lights less than half a mile away.
‘Sir, there are two class four tanks situated on the border crossing bridges.’
‘Thank you, Lieutenant,’ Hilt said. ‘I see them. Move the gunships in to clear the way.’
‘Roger that,’ the lieutenant replied as he got on the com.
Goodwin watched on his screen as the helicopters advanced on the tanks blocking their path. Multiple rockets fired and a blaze of light filled the image.
‘Targets neutralised,’ the lieutenant told Hilt. ‘There’s still the gates themselves, sir, shall we take them out?’