B00C74WTKQ EBOK (12 page)

Chapter 13

“I
’m all ears Admiral.”

“We have limited intelligence capabilities Adrian. Our aircraft are mostly nonoperational. These are delicate machines that take constant maintenance and repair. We’re no longer receiving replacement parts, and have to cannibalize parts from other aircraft to repair those few we still have flying. They aren’t much use for gathering intelligence anyway, they can’t see much in the way of gathering threats. What we do have is radio. We listen to everything that is being broadcast everywhere. We’ve been picking up little bits and pieces of radio traffic from deep in Mexico. We’re interpreting this incomplete information and we think, and I stress
think
, that there is a movement gaining ground to invade Texas.”

“The Mexican government is in good enough shape that they can do that?” Adrian asked somewhat shocked.

“No Adrian, not the government—it cratered like ours did. Like almost every other government that we’re aware of. There are exceptions, China for one. This movement seems to be coming from the former drug cartels. It makes a strange kind of sense. They were large and well organized. Well-armed and completely ruthless. Even the Mexican government was in fear of them. But now there is no drug trade. They either have to find another
raison d’etre
or they dissolve, completely ceasing to exist. The question is one of motivation, what motivated the drug lords to become drug lords in the first place. The answer is simple once you boil it down: power. They want power. It appears that they intend to regain their power by invading and taking over the United States, starting with Texas.”

“That seems to be a mighty big undertaking.” Adrian responded.

“Yes, well it is, but it is also quite possible. With enough manpower they can pull it off because there is no central authority that can rally enough troops to stop them. They’ll move north through Mexico, gaining men as they go—thousands of men. They’ll loot and pillage their way north, and continue until they get so far into Canada that there’s no place else to go. They’ll pick up more men here in the States too. Their success will cause perhaps hundreds of thousands of Mexican men to flow up behind them. They’ll leave presidios behind to maintain control, impose high taxes, and treat everyone as serfs. It’s bold, it’s ambitious, and it’s also, unfortunately, doable.”

“Our best bet is to wait until they begin to coalesce and move north, then our aircraft have a chance—a slim chance but a chance—to break their backs. If we can break their morale before they get here we might avert a huge catastrophe. Maybe. If it gets down to the really dirty necessity of it, we still have some tactical nuclear weapons. I’m hoping, no, I’m actually
praying
, that it doesn’t come to that. No long-lasting good can come of that.”

“All I can say is Wow. That’s a hell of a lot to take in. Where do I fit into this?” Adrian asked gravely.

“Now you see why I took the time to give you the background,” said the Admiral. “What we need is on-the-ground intelligence. We need to know what’s happening, and where, and when. We can’t get that by sitting here listening to infrequent radio traffic. We need men out there who are watching and listening. We need men down in Mexico who can report to us.”

Adrian opened his mouth, but the Admiral held up his hand. “Before you say anything, let me tell you I
don’t
want you going into Mexico, for a lot of solid reasons. What I
do
want you to do is to report to me on a regular basis what you’re hearing
near
the border. I want you to recruit Mexican-Americans to travel down into Mexico, join the cartels themselves if possible, and report back. In effect, I want you to do some low-level spying and some high-level spy recruiting.”

“I speak fairly decent Spanish and I can recruit an interpreter, so why not go into Mexico myself?”

“You’re a celebrity, you’ll be spotted immediately. You’ll be as welcome as a roach on a wedding cake, and stand out even worse. Your scars are too visible and everyone, and I do mean everyone, knows about them. There is no reason to believe that anyone down there would tell you anything useful anyway—not a
gringo
, not any
gringo
.”

“I can see your point. But you’re not really asking a lot of me.”

“It may not seem like a lot to you, but it’s a critical mission, extremely critical, and you’re uniquely qualified for the job. You’re famous, you’ll be welcomed everywhere you go
in Texas
. Everyone already knows you’re going down there to look around, so suspicion will be minimal. Your unique fame will make it far easier for you to inspire men to go down and live on a knife’s edge of death. They’ll know what will happen if they’re caught, and not many men will be likely to take that risk if just anyone asks them. I believe that you will be able to send more men down faster than if I sent out a party of one-hundred individuals to recruit. Your coming here at this time is a Godsend, almost a miracle. The timing couldn’t have been better and a better recruiter probably doesn’t exist.”

“That’s laying it on a bit thick isn’t it?” Adrian asked with an embarrassed smile.

“No sir, I’m not. If you could look at yourself objectively, and in a global sort of way, you’d see just how rare an opportunity you are for me. Will you do it Adrian?”

“It could mean a much longer absence from the girls Admiral. Are you willing to give me your word that you will personally see that no harm comes to them before I get back? That’s the crux of it for me. I find myself with an unexpected obligation here, and it has become close to my heart. Those are fine girls, and I’ve grown attached to them. We’ve become something of a family, and family comes first in this world, especially as it is now.”

“Absolutely I will. I give you my word of honor and will swear on a Bible or cut my thumb and you cut yours and we’ll be blood brothers. Any way I can prove to you, I’ll do it.”

Adrian sat silently for a minute, thinking it over. “Admiral, there’s one other stipulation that I have to make. You’ll probably not like it, but it’s a deal breaker if it’s not met.”

“What’s the stipulation?” asked Admiral with a slight frown.

“I have to tell the girls what I’ll be doing while I’m gone. They need to know that I’m not staying away from them for so long without a damn good reason. They’ve known from nearly day one that I intended to go on without them at some point, but as we grew closer I could sense that the separation is going to bother them, maybe a lot. Some of these girls are very young and I am perhaps the first stable and non-threatening influence they’ve experienced. Leaving, even for the few weeks I had planned on was going to be difficult at best. Leaving for a much longer time, well that could be a real problem if they don’t understand the full reasoning behind it.”

“Can you guarantee their silence on this?” the Admiral asked.

“Guarantee? No, but I’m damn sure of it. As long as I explain everything thoroughly and swear them to secrecy and assure them I’m coming back for them afterwards…I’m not worried about it.”

“It’s a deal then. Since I’ll be personally watching over them, I can remind them from time to time as well. When were you planning on leaving? I’d like to take several days of your time to be trained by an intelligence team on the details of recruiting and communicating before you go. Also, like you, I have one last request, but it’s not a deal breaker: I’d like you to take three of my men with you.”

“Without even knowing who you want me to take, three is too many. Two, I think, would be better for this trip. Who are they?”

“Two then. One can do double duty. I want you to take an interpreter that’s fluent in Spanish, or rather Mexican, which is something else again. We have several in intelligence that speak the language. The other is our Naval historian.”

“Historian? That’s out of left field.”

“Yes, well it would seem that way at first. But hear me out. He’s a fit young man and won’t be a hindrance in your travels. He’s also extraordinarily intelligent and can bring perspective to situations you wouldn’t have otherwise considered. His advice is valuable, and he can radio in much more detailed descriptions of your journey, and the people you talk to and what they said than you can. He’s trained to record things as they are, objectively and factually. You’ll benefit from his advice and I’ll benefit from his detailed reports.”

“If you say so Admiral, but I retain the right to send either or both of them back if it becomes a problem.”

“Done.”

There came a knock at the door. It opened, and Lieutenant Jenkins and another officer were standing in the open doorway. “Permission to enter Admiral?”

“Come in, we were just wrapping up here.”

“Admiral, Mister Hunter, we’ve gotten the girls bathed, their clothes washed and dried and Bones has given them all a health check. As the doctor was examining the girls, in my presence of course, he discovered something a bit odd. He took the liberty of calling in our psychologist here to chat with the girls. He’d like to make a report.”

The Admiral said, “Come in and sit down. Dr. Andrews, go ahead, what do you have?”

Dr. Andrews, the ships psychologist started, “To put it bluntly, all but two four of the girls from the onset of menses have been sexually abused, multiple times. Bones discovered this and called me in to talk to them. I discovered that Adrian rescued the girls from a whore house where they had been held against their will and forced into prostitution. These young ladies are dealing with it pretty well, given the circumstances. They’ve also formed an extremely strong bond to Mr. Hunter; he’s become their surrogate father. This bond is, in large part, perhaps why they are handling the abuse as well as they are. But there’s a problem coming up. They know he will be leaving them behind soon, and they are very worried about it—some to the point of being quite distraught. I wanted to warn him, and you sir, of the consequences of that separation. Another large part of their coping ability comes from the training Mr. Hunter provided them. He has given them a strong sense of self-esteem based on their learning to fend for themselves, and the manner in which he has woven them into a strong and positive group. But the separation, that could break all of that down.”

There was a long silence. Then the Admiral said “I know about the forced prostitution, this is a subject that remains entirely confidential, not that I need to say that to any of you. But to reinforce it, I am saying it: This is confidential information. Only the girls, themselves can make that knowledge public, and only if they want to on their own. Frankly, I would discourage them from doing so if they showed any inclination.”

“Adrian will be leaving in a few days. We need to get the girls situated in that time and I want you three as a team to come up with a plan on how to minimize their anxiety as much as possible. I’m thinking that we might want to house them aboard ship, what do you think?”

“I think it’s a good idea.” Adrian interjected. “But let’s ask them and see what they think. And I’d like to have final approval on the plan to ease their anxiety.”

“Excellent idea. Lieutenant Jenkins, why don’t you have the girls gather in the Officer’s Mess again. Let’s feed them and talk to them. I think Adrian will want to talk to them privately first though, to prepare them.”

Chapter 14

A
drian and Bear entered the
Mess, closing the door behind him. The girls were seated at the table that was laden with food. Bear had acted with supreme dignity throughout what Adrian felt must be a trying ordeal for him.

“I’ve good news and bad news, well…not bad news just some not so good news. First though I have to swear each of you to complete secrecy. What I have to say cannot, I repeat…
cannot
leave this room.”

Race replied. “Anything you say Adrian. What’s this about?”

“Raise your right hands and place your left hands over your heart.” When all had done so, Adrian continued. “Do you solemnly swear that what I’m about to tell you will not be repeated to anyone, anywhere, at any time?”

A subdued chorus of “Yes’s” and “I do’s” followed.

“Okay then. Here’s the top-secret stuff.” Adrian explained about the possible Mexican incursion into Texas that the Admiral was worried about. It didn’t take long. “Any questions?”

“That’s bad Adrian. Really bad. What can be done about it?”

“The Admiral has a plan, and he wants me to play a role in his plan. I’ll be going along the border, more or less as I was going to anyway, and recruiting spies to go into Mexico and report back on what they’re doing. I won’t be going into Mexico myself, the Admiral thinks that would be a mistake.”

Looking a little bit relieved Race said, “We’re glad you won’t be going down there.” Then, with a look of foreboding, as though she already knew the answer, she asked, “When do we leave?”

Adrian scowled. “Race, you know damn well I wasn’t taking you girls on this leg of the trip. I was planning on leaving you here and eventually coming back for you as I’ve told you several times. Now…now that I’ve gotten to know you girls better it’s more difficult to leave you, but I still plan to do it.”

He looked down at his hands, and couldn’t seem to figure out anything to do with them. “Okay the good and the bad. Which do you want first?”

“The bad first.” Race replied solemnly.

The bad is that I’ll have to be gone longer than I had originally planned.

“How long?” Race quickly interjected, showing a hint of tension.

“I’m not sure exactly. I had planned on moving fairly steadily, making the trip in a few weeks. Now I’ll be stopping to recruit spies. Each stop could take a few days. I might be gone a few months instead of a few weeks, I’m not really sure.”

“Months?” Three of the girls groaned out with dismay.

“I don’t really know but it’s best to be prepared for what may be a long time don’t you think? That way if I get back sooner it’ll be a nice surprise.”

“So, what’s the good news, if there really is any.” Race mumbled with obvious disappointment at this news.