Conquest ~ Indian Hill 3 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (64 page)

“Mike?” Paul asked with concern
,
looking
over
at me.

“It can’t be, I mean the odds would be astronomical
, but I can feel it
.
I know it, it has to be Durgan’s brother
.
”

“Fates are funny this way
,
Michael
.
T
hey have a tendency to throw related events together no matter how improbable
,” Dee said
.

“
He
’s a philosopher
,” I told
Paul.
“
I feel it and yet I still
doubt it
. To think that Durgan's brother
was
even
in the same city as me
seems absurd
,
much less that he is here now
in this secured location. It can’t be
but it is
, there’s something way more insidious going on here.”

“No,
hold on
,
Mike
.
I
t’s not really as far-fetched as you might be thinking
,” Paul said
, thankfully reaching for reason
.
“So Durgan is at that concert, odds are he was from Colorado.”

“Fair enough
,” I said
, seeing his thread.

“So if he lived there
,
then there’s no reason to think that his family didn’t also.”

“Except he was an asshole and I’d think they’d want to get as far away from him as possible.”

“Can I finish?” Paul asked.

“Go ahead
,” I told
him
.
I had made a valid point, however.

“We were not covert in our recruiting
.
T
here’s a good chance his brother wanted answers as bad as any one of us.”

“Why now and why send two henchmen?”

“Don’t know about the ‘why now’
part
;
maybe he caught
wind of you leaving and wanted to get his chance while he could.

“Great
,
kill me before I die. Wonderful.”

“You know what I mean
,” Paul said
. “And maybe he sent a couple of goons because you would have recognized him.”

“You think
crazy
runs in the family?” I asked.

“He did send two men to
kidnap you
,” Dee said
.

“Maybe he just wanted to thank me for ending that bat-shit crazy brother’s life
,” I said
.

“Doubtful
,” Dee said
.

“You’re probably right
,” I answered
.

The doctor pushed past me to get to the bleeding man. I had completely forgot
ten
about him. The doctor looked scornfully at Paul.

“Accidental discharge
,
D
oc
.
F
ix him up as best you can. Don’t spend too much time on him
.
Cut the leg off
if you
have to.”

Man one passed out.

“If this man survives and is out of immediate danger I want him in the brig
,”
Paul told the returning guard.

The doctor had a medical team and a gurney and was extracting his patient when the radio on Paul’s desk came to life.

“
Sir,
we have a situation down here in general housing.”

Paul grabbed the walkie off his desk. “Elaborate.”

“Sir, the man you sent us to pick up says he has a bomb
.
H
e says it’s big enough to take out a fair portion of the
H
ill and make a big enough tremor that the aliens
would
notice
.”

“Can anyone put a bullet in his brain?” Paul asked.

“
Sir,
we do not have a visual on him.”

“Shit. I’ll be right down there.”

“
Sir,
one more
thing
.
H
e says he will come out peacefully if Michael Talbot comes here personally.”

“Of course he did
,” I said
in the background.

“Tell him to go fuck
—
” Paul started.

I put my hand up. “Don’t do that
,
Paul
.
I
f he’s got the bomb he’ll use it.”

“Belay that
,
Sergeant
,” Paul said
in the radio. “We’ll be right down. Can you evacuate the area?”

“No
, sir
, he said if heard anything like that he would detonate
,” the sergeant said
.

“Sergeant
,
what’s your gut say? Does he have an IED?” Paul asked.

“I know the man
, sir
.
H
e’s in munitions, my educated guess would say ‘yes’.”

“We’re on our way.
O
ut
.
” Paul
opened
the cylinder
of
his revolver
and
replaced
the spent cartridge with a new one.

“What about him?” I asked Paul, pointing to the passed out man.

Paul pulled back the hammer on his pistol and
put it up against the man’s eye.
T
he
man
did not stir.

I could tell Paul was contemplating putting a bullet in him, I had never seen Paul so cold in my life. I thought I had spread my humanity thin, Paul’s was hardly present.

“He’s out, I’ll deal with him later
,” Paul said
.

I relaxed. There’s not much I won’t do for the preservation of the lives of those I love
d
,
including myself, but killing a passed out handcuffed man was not on that list
, I hoped
.

“Corporal
,” Paul said
as we headed into the anteroom, speaking to his
attaché
.

“Yes
, sir
.”

“Make sure that piece of shit is out of my office and in the brig when I get back.”

“Yes
, sir
.”

***

The hallway was cramped with armed personnel, guns all trained on absolutely nothing. It was quiet but it was tense all the same. The thought of death by explosion was weighing heavily on every man and woman present.

“What’s his name?” Paul asked the Sergeant as we came up.

“Du
nne
r
, sir
,” the sergeant answered
,
never taking his ey
es off the closed door.
I guess he figured if he kept a visual
,
the unthinkable wouldn’t be able to happen.

“Really
,
Dunner and Durgan
?
” I said
aloud. “Their parents couldn’t get anymore original than that?”

The sergeant looked back at me, he seemed a little perturbed.

“Dunner, this is General Ginson
.
I’d like to have a word with you
,”
Paul stated loudly.

“Hello
,
General, nice of you to join my party. But I only invited one person and if he doesn’t show I will be so distraught I’ll just have to destroy everything.”

“Sure sounds like his brother
,” I said
softly to Dee.

Dee nodded in reply.

“Michael Talbot is here
,” Paul said
. “Why don’t you come out and say what you have to say
?
”

“The little fuckwad is here? I didn’t think he’d have the balls!”

“I get that a lot.”

“Not now
,
Mike
,” Paul said
to me tensely.

“Sorry
,
I’m a little nervous right now.”

“We all are
,” he said
.

“I am not
,”
Dee added for good measure.
 

“Send him up here!” Dunner yelled.

“I don’t think that’s how this is going to happen
,” Paul answered
.

“I’m making the rules around here now
,
General!” Dunner screamed.

“Blow the place up
,
then because if you’re in charge it’s already over
,” Paul answered
calmly.

I wanted to ask Paul why he was egging the crazy m
an on.

“I’ll do it!!!” Dunner screamed.

I truly believed he
would to
o
, I think he was building up enough crazy juice.

“Your brother was an asshole!” I yelled.

“Talbot?” Dunner asked.

“Dickwad present and accounted for
,” I answered
back.

“I didn’t think you’d show
.
I couldn’t imagine you’d risk your precious hide now that you walk on water
,”
Dunner said.

“When did you learn
how to do
that?” Dee asked in earnest.

“What do you want
,
Dunner?” I asked.

“I want you to pay for what you did to my
brother.”

“He was a psychotic madman who needed to be put down like a rabid dog!” I yelled.

Paul looked at me like he wanted to know why I was egging the crazy man on
now.

“I miss
him
,”
Dunner said. “And now we can all join him.”

“Whoa
—
wait!”
I yelled stepping forward. Dunner was planning on detonating the bomb when I was in range. “What kind of satisfaction is that gonna be for you?”

“What are you talking about
?” he asked
.

“I mean
,
if I walk on water
,
it’s safe to assume where I’ll be going and we all know that suicide is a mortal sin so we know where you’ll be headed. How are you two planning on kicking my eternal ass if you’re nowhere around?” I asked.

“Huh
?” he asked
. “I didn’t mean you walk on water like Jesus Christ
,
asshole!”

“Are you a believer Dunner?” I asked.

“Baptist
,
through and through
!”
h
e yelled proudly.

“Of course you are
,” I said
calmly.
“Even dumbass Baptists like yourself know if you kill yourself
, you get a one-
way pass to damnation.”

Dunner paused, I think we could all hear the cogs in his brain meshing together
,
trying to reason out what he should do now. “I would really like to kill you
,”
h
e finally said.

“Get in line
,” I told
him.

I moved a step closer to his room, if he blasted the damn thing
,
I wanted to be as close as possible, I could hear movement in the room and then I heard his door handle turn. Thirty rifles came to bear.

“I’m coming out, but before any of you pansies gets the wrong idea
,
I have the bomb on a
fifteen
minute timer and I can
guarantee nobody i
n this base is qualified to disarm it in that amount of time.
I am going to have a little one-on-
one time with my new friend
.
I
f he bests me
,
I will give him the code. If he doesn’t
,
th
e
n
all of your death
s will be on his head and my G
od will absolve me of any wrong
doing.”