Blue Plague: War (Blue Plague Book 6) (21 page)

Jake jumped up. “They are ‘minions of Oz,’ not geeks!” he shouted.

Never stopping, Bruce shook his head, gathering his stuff. “Son, when I think of minions, I see small, yellow creatures that speak gibberish to Gru, not people,” he explained and looked at Angela and Stephanie. “Ready for your doctor’s appointment?” he asked.

“You remembered?” Angela asked, shocked.

With a smart ass response on his lips, Bruce wisely didn’t respond as he shouldered his rifle and held out his hands. The two jumped up, grabbing his hands. They walked out with Ted and Carl following. When they were gone, Jake looked around at the table. “If someone calls me Gru, we hit the floor. They are not geeks,” he said, getting up.

Shaking his head, Matt stood up grabbing his stuff. “I never thought about it, but Daddy Bruce has a point. We need a new name for the team. I don’t think I can call them minions again without laughing,” he said as they walked out.

The girls started laughing. Buffy looked at Danny and Mary. “Daddy’s so cool,” she said, straining to get out of her chair.

“Trust dad to find something funny like that,” Danny said, holding her arm then helping Buffy up. With Mary on one side of Buffy and Danny on the other, they left.

Bill looked at Marcus. “When those kids get older, I feel sorry for whoever pisses them off,” he said.

Willie gathered his winnings. “Shit, I feel sorry for them now,” he said, leaving.

Walking outside, Bruce led the two to a waiting, brand-new, large, black Suburban, and they climbed inside. Carl closed the door as Ted climbed in the driver’s seat. Carl jumped in the passenger seat as Ted took off. Bruce looked behind them to see a Hummer following. “What, I only get one Hummer today?” Bruce asked with a swaggering tone.

“No, boss,” Carl said as Ted pulled out of the farm. A Stryker, two more Hummers, and two Suburbans that were identical to the one they were in were waiting for them on the road.

“Where did you get the new Suburbans?” Angela asked.

“Found them,” Ted answered as Carl talked on the radio.

Studying the interior of the Suburban, Bruce said, “My guess is they sent someone to Dallas to get them.”

“Why Dallas?” Stephanie asked, looking around. “There are a lot of car lots around.”

“It’s the closest place that makes armored rides,” Bruce said.

“It’s armored?” Angela said, sitting up and looking around in shock.

Nodding, he pointed. “Look at the windows; they are two inches thick. Feel how it rides? That’s because of the armor.”

Spinning around in his seat, Carl asked, “How in the hell did you know we got these in Dallas?”

Shrugging his shoulders, “I could’ve taken you there; Mike and I went there to see if we could buy some stuff for the Beast when we were making it.”

Carl turned around, disgusted. “You know entirely too much. It took us four days to find that place.”

Stephanie smiled. “Bruce knows a lot,” she said then leaned her head on his shoulder. “Baby, I’m glad you have let Ted and Carl keep your protection detail in place.”

Wanting to object, Ted opened his mouth to speak, and Carl grabbed his arm. “Say anything, and I’ll put my foot so far up your ass you will taste leather,” Carl threatened softly.

Getting comfortable, Bruce put his arms around Stephanie then Angela. “That’s the only reason I’m agreeing to this.”

The convoy sped through the base to Hope. Everyone working stopped and watched the procession speed by. When they reached the hospital, Ted pulled up to the door, and the other vehicles fanned out to provide protection. Carl jumped out, opened the back door, and turned around, holding his rifle up.

“I feel like a queen with this protection,” Angela said as Bruce moved around her.

Jumping out, Bruce said, “Guys, not so flashy with the hardware,” and helped the girls out.

“Forget it; everyone here is armed like we want them to be. If anyone thinks about it, I want them to know we can play too,” Carl replied.

Shaking his head, Bruce led the two up to the door. “I’m really beginning to start to not like this building,” he said as Ted opened the door.

Squeezing his hand, Stephanie said, “It will have good memories soon.”

A man came up and took them to the back of the hospital, where they met their doctor. She was medium height with brown hair. “Hi, I’m Dr. Shelly,” she said, holding her hand out to them. They all shook her hand, and Shelly led them to an examination room. “Since you both wanted to be examined together, we made up this room,” she said then ushered them in.

She pointed at two examination tables sitting side by side. “Get into those gowns please; I’m sure you know the rest,” she said and left.

As the two started to undress, Bruce smiled, seeing their little baby bumps. When they took off their shirts, he grinned. “Wow, where did those come from?” he asked.

“Well, if you paid attention,” Angela said, putting on her gown.

“I don’t want him to; they hurt all the time, and any touch is like a railroad spike,” Stephanie said, getting in her gown. “Bruce, put your rifle somewhere; you’re holding my hand for this.”

Taking off his vest, he laid it and his rifle on the floor. “Women have been having babies for years, Little Red,” Bruce assured her.

“I don’t give a shit. They are a bunch of lying bitches; this sucks,” she informed him. Bruce just smiled and lifted her up to one table then went and lifted Angela up to hers.

“Just to let you two know, I stay up here,” he informed them, moving up to the head of the beds.

When he was standing between their heads, “Hey I don’t have a problem with that,” Angela said.

“Bruce, you’ve done these examinations before,” Stephanie said.

Staring straight ahead, he said, “Only because I had to. This is like some morbid torture to me. The post-hole diggers send shivers up my spine.”

“Post-hole diggers?” Stephanie asked with trepidation.

“The vaginal speculum. I loved it when Bruce would pay people to take his GYN patients at the hospital,” Angela said, snorting.

Dr. Shelly walked in. “Ready?” she asked.

Angela nodded. “Yes, and start with me. Stephanie thinks you’re going to fry her baby’s brain with the ultrasound,” she said as Bruce moved between the tables.

Dr. Shelly smiled. “That study wasn’t conclusive and had a lot of assumptions,” she said, looking at Stephanie.

“Hey, the theory is sound,” Stephanie snapped, grabbing Bruce’s hand.

Expecting to hear bones snapping in his hand any minute, Bruce shook his head. “Shelly, don’t bother; we’ve tried.”

“Okay then, but call me Carrie. Shelly is my last name,” she said, moving the ultrasound machine over to Angela. “Hold on; I need some gel,” she said, leaving the room.

When she was gone, Angela sat up. “That woman better rectify,” she said, looking at the door.

“What?” Stephanie and Bruce asked together.

“She flirts with you one more time, and it’s ass-whoopin’ time,” Angela warned.

Stephanie sat up. “She was flirting with Bruce?” she asked, worried.

“No, she wasn’t,” Bruce told her.

With her face turning red, Angela threw her legs over the side of her table. “Oh, you can call me Carrie,” she said, batting her eyes imitating Carrie.

Letting go of Bruce’s hand, Stephanie said, “Where’s my gun?!” She threw her legs over the side of her bed.

Grabbing Stephanie, stopping her from getting down, Bruce begged, “Hey, will you two calm down? She was just being nice.”

“Bruce, I don’t mind when women flirt with you but not in front of me,” Angela said, moving to get down. Pulling Stephanie back on her table, Bruce stopped Angela then grabbed her exam table and moved it closer to him so he could hold both and keep them from getting down.

He looked from one to the other. “Now that is enough, you two. I’m here because you wanted me here, and I want to be here. What in the hell? Shit, I don’t even notice other women.”

“You really wanted to be here?” Stephanie asked, smiling.

“Well yes,” Bruce said, caught off-guard.

Angela tapped his arm, “You really don’t notice other women?” she asked, smiling.

“Why in the hell would I? Shit, I’ve got two of the best there is,” he said. Bruce wanted to tell her he was secretly thinking of becoming a monk.

The two leaned over, hugging him tight. “I love you,” they said in unison.

“I love you too,” Bruce said as Carrie came back in.

“Oh, I’m sorry; am I interrupting?” she asked.

Shaking his head, “No, just happy,” he lied, hoping the two didn’t jump off and start a beat down.

With a bottle of gel in her hand, Carrie smiled and moved over to Angela as she laid down. Carrie finished her exam then grabbed the ultrasound. “The gel’s cold,” Carrie said as she squirted some on Angela’s skin. She placed the probe on Angela’s belly and slowly moved it around as they all watched. “There we are,” Carrie said, pointing at the screen, but they all saw the tiny human.

“It’s so cute,” Stephanie sighed as Carrie took measurements with the ultrasound.

“Angela, I’m putting you about twenty-two weeks,” she said. “The baby shows good viability and activity,” she said as the baby moved on the screen.

Startled at the numbers, Angela sat up. “What?”

“That’s what the measurements say,” Carrie said as she printed off pictures.

Going over the numbers again, Angela said, “My calculations are only fourteen to eighteen.”

“I doubt it, but maybe,” Carrie said, moving over to Stephanie. “Let’s get the exam done,” she said. Angela jumped off her table and went to the other side of Stephanie to hold her hand. Bruce fought the urge to laugh. Angela looked like a kid in her hospital gown that was dragging the floor.

When the exam was over, Carrie stood up and grabbed the gel. “Don’t worry, Stephanie,” she said, putting some gel on her belly. Bruce moved to the other side with Angela so he wouldn’t be in the way. Angela was holding Stephanie’s hand, and he held both of them.

Gently, Carrie put the probe on Stephanie’s belly and started scanning. “There we are,” she said, looking at the baby. After making measurements, Carrie smiled and said, “I’m putting you about twenty weeks as well.” Stephanie was just staring at the screen.

“That’s really my baby?” Stephanie asked with tears on her cheeks.

Leaning over, Bruce kissed her head. “Well, I hope so,” he said.

“Whoa,” Carrie said, moving the probe.

“What!?” Stephanie yelled. “Its brain isn’t fried, is it?” she wailed.

“No,” Carrie said with a furrowed brow, concentrating on the screen.

Getting pissed, Angela leaned over. “Well, what the hell was the ‘whoa’ for?” she snapped.

“Hold on just a second,” Carrie said, and even Bruce was getting worried. They all stared at the screen hard and could see the baby move in and out of the picture as Carrie moved the probe. Then, Carrie froze the probe. “Thought so,” she said, but nobody asked anything. On the screen were two babies. “You’re having twins,” Carrie announced loudly.

A loud crash followed by a thump sounded behind the exam table. The three women looked back to see Bruce face down, comatose on the floor. Carrie moved toward him, and Stephanie grabbed her arm. “He’s tough; don’t worry about him,” she said.

Carrie looked at Angela in shock. Angela shrugged her shoulders, “He’s fine,” she said.

“Show me some more of my babies,” Stephanie said, pulling Carrie back around.

Chapter 17

The three were back at the Center for lunch. Bruce was in his chair staring off in a daze. His nose and right side of his face were swollen from where he hit the floor. Angela and Stephanie were showing ultrasound pictures to everyone at the other end of the table.

Leaving the crowd, Mike came over to Bruce. “Hey, you okay?” he asked, and when Bruce didn’t even look at him, Mike hit his shoulder, and Bruce looked up. “You okay?”

“Twins,” Bruce said.

Mike smiled. “I’m happy for you, brother,” he said, patting Bruce’s back.

“Twins,” Bruce said, and Mike stopped patting his back.

“Aren’t you happy about that?” Mike asked.

“Twins,” Bruce said, staring straight ahead.

Slowly, Ted and Carl came over to Mike. “That’s all he’s said since—” Carl started but stopped.

Worried about a concussion, Mike leaned down and looked Bruce over. “Hey, are you hurt?” he asked, feeling the knot on Bruce’s face.

“Twins,” Bruce repeated.

Grabbing Bruce’s face, Mike turned it to him. “They aren’t that rare. You adopted a set already,” Mike said.

Not giving any indication he heard Mike, Bruce said, “Twins and a baby.”

Ted looked up, smiling. “Hey, you got him to say something else.”

Having watched the exchange, Gene walked over to Mike, “Mike, may I talk to him?” Gene asked.

“Sure,” Mike said, moving back.

Gene leaned over and whispered into Bruce’s ear for several minutes, and Bruce slowly turned to look at Gene. Suddenly, Gene stood up straight. “You better man up, troop. Keep this act up, and I’ll get you a pretty dress,” he warned.

“You. Are an asshole,” Bruce said, looking at Gene.

“Big, deep, and wide,” Gene said, walking away. Mike ran after him.

“What did you say?” Mike asked.

“Same thing I did when Debbie told him about Steve,” Gene replied. “You don’t have to do anything but love the baby. The woman has the hard job; all you had to do was have some fun making it. Be thankful a woman would bear your child. Don’t be a total pussy, and stand tall. When the labor starts, your job is just a fucking cheerleader,” Gene said as he sat down by Willie.

Patting Gene on the back, Mike laughed as Angela and Stephanie ran down to their seats. “I wish you would’ve visited us before this, Gene. You can rein Bruce in some,” Mike said, heading to his seat. As he sat down, he saw Angela and Stephanie in Bruce’s lap, showing him the pictures.

Danny, Buffy, Tonya, Mary, and Mindy were surrounding them, and everyone was talking. Mike looked at Nancy. “Think they’re identical?” he asked.

“Yep, it’s confirmed,” Nancy said.

Grabbing Nancy’s hand, Mike leaned over. “I kind of feel sorry for Bruce,” he admitted.

“I do too, but remember, they will be our kids as well,” Nancy said.

As his plate hit the table, Mike dove in. “I hope they don’t have too many,” he said.

“Shit, don’t count on it. I’ve never seen Stephanie this ecstatic,” Nancy said.

After lunch, Bruce headed to the airfield to train with the Omega. Gene and Willie were waiting for him by the C-130. Bruce climbed out of the SUV as Ted and Carl started pulling gear out of the back of the Suburban. Seeing his chute, Bruce grabbed it and headed over. Everyone was smiling as he walked up. “Guys, don’t,” Bruce said, dropping his chute and putting his backpack on his chest.

“I’m jealous,” Willie said.

“Willie, keep it up, and I’ll push you out without a chute,” Bruce warned, grabbing his own chute and putting it on.

“Hey, that’s not a military chute,” Gene said.

“Hell, I know that. I bought this one; it’s mine. I know it works, and I packed it,” Bruce said as Ted handed him a padded rifle case.

“You aren’t going to let that rest, huh?” Gene asked.

“What?” Ted asked.

“When Bruce first jumped, the supply sergeant that handed Bruce his chute told him, ‘Don’t worry; if it doesn’t work, bring it back. I’ll give you another one.’”

Carl shook his head. “I’d have punched his ass,” he said.

“Bruce tried,” Gene said, grabbing his rifle case. “Since I helped, Bruce and I had to run with full packs for six hours.” Looking over at Bruce, he asked, “You sure you’re up for this?”

“Shit, as much shock as I’ve had today, my pulse wouldn’t even jump if my chute didn’t open,” Bruce said, walking into the plane.

“I pull my cord, and it doesn’t open, and my backup fails, I eat a bullet,” Ted said, walking in the plane.

For Bruce, Ted, and Carl, this was the first jump of the day, but for everyone else, it was number three. The C-130 taxied, and when permission was given, the pilot gunned the engines, slamming those in the seats in the rear toward the back of the plane. The plane’s front wheel lifted off, and the pilot yanked back. “What is this guy’s problem!?” Ted screamed.

“Don’t know, but the fucker does it every time. I think he’s scared of the ground and wants to get away from it as soon as possible!” Willie yelled back.

Everyone started trying to swallow as their ears popped. Suddenly, the plane leveled out and made a lazy turn. Gene stood up, “Sticks up, check the guy to your front!” he yelled. Everyone started checking the man’s chute in front of them then turned around and repeated the process.

Standing by the ramp, Bruce finished checking Gene’s chute and tapped his shoulder. Willie tapped Bruce’s shoulder when he finished checking Bruce’s. Bruce leaned over to Gene, “You still look scared!” Bruce yelled over the noise pulling down his goggles.

“I don’t like trusting a piece of cloth and some string with my life,” Gene shouted back trying to get his breathing under control and keep his goggles from fogging up.

With a shit-eating grin, Bruce said, “Gene, this is the best.”

“If man was supposed to fly, we’d have wings,” Gene informed him.

Bruce shook his head. “We are not flying! We are falling!”

“I really hate you sometimes!”

The jumpmaster walked over, holding up two fingers. “Two minutes!” he yelled.

Gene and Bruce turned around to the men holding up two fingers and yelling, “Two minutes!”

The group lined up, making sure gear was still strapped as the ramp lowered and cold air filled the bay. “Oh yeah, baby!” Bruce yelled. Gene looked over at him with a repulsed look.

The jumpmaster yelled, “Go,” as a green light came on, and the group poured out the back. Leaping out, Bruce threw his arms out so he wouldn’t flip over and kept moving his arms and legs till he was falling belly down. Glancing back, he saw everyone was in a tight group. Looking to his left, he spotted Gene, and his goggles were fogged over from all his sweating. Bruce smiled at Gene, and Gene gave him the finger.

Giving Gene a salute, Bruce lowered his head and folded his arms back. With bulging eyes, Gene gasped, seeing Bruce shoot toward the Earth head-first. Looking at his altimeter, Gene had thirty more seconds before hitting the silk. Looking down, he saw Bruce’s chute open, and it looked really close to the ground. Watching his altimeter, Gene motioned with his arms for the groups to spread some, and he pulled his chute.

Feeling the chute open and yank him up, Gene looked up. “Thank you,” he sighed and looked down but didn’t see Bruce’s chute. He aimed for his target, a big X on the ground. Getting closer, he noticed Bruce standing to the side with his chute folded up and over his shoulder. Reaching over his head, Gene grabbed his toggles and guided his chute to the mark, touching the bottom of the X.

Spinning around, he wrapped the lines in his arms in a figure eight while moving out of the drop zone. Reaching his canopy, he continued pulling down. When he was finished, the last man was landing. Gene threw his chute over his shoulder and walked over to Bruce. “I see you still have no concept of gravity, Bruce,” Gene said.

“Hell yes I do. I hit two hundred miles per hour,” Bruce said, walking over to some long tables that were set up.

“When did you open your chute?” Gene asked.

“Thousand feet, and before you ask, I hit the middle of the X,” Bruce said, throwing his chute on the table and started spreading it out, checking it over. Somewhat envious of Bruce’s lack of fear, Gene laughed as he put his chute on the table. The others came over and followed suit.

Carl walked over to Bruce. “Hey, you free fall belly first, not dive head first like a lawn dart,” he said.

“Nope, if I have a malfunction, I want to make sure I won’t live through it,” Bruce said.

Everyone stopped when he said that, and Bruce spread out his chute and folded over, getting all the air out. “Well, I’m not following you down that fast,” Carl said, walking away. In twenty minutes, Bruce was done and putting his gear back on as the plane landed.

It took the others longer to get their chutes ready, but an hour later, they were going back up. After four more jumps and Bruce acting like a showoff, Gene called a stop and for everyone to go to the Center for supper. The family was at the drop zone for the last two, and they were all talking on the ride over.

“Please Bruce?” Angela begged.

“After you two have the babies, you can jump out with me,” he promised her.

Stephanie shook her head. “That should have no bearing on it. We want to do that,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest, gently.

“No, that’s final,” he told them, and they pouted. Bruce looked over at Danny, who was talking to Buffy. Buffy had a pale complexion as she listened. “What’s wrong, BB?” Bruce asked.

“I don’t know if I want to jump out of a plane,” she said, trembling.

“Don’t worry; it’s fun. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to,” Bruce said, and Jake leaned over to Buffy.

“Dad told Danny that then pushed her out of the plane,” he said.

With her heart fluttering, Buffy looked at Danny, who was smiling. “Yeah, but it turned out to be fun,” she admitted.

“I’ll just jump out of a helicopter and slide down the rope,” Buffy let everyone know as they pulled up to the Center.

The group ate, and after supper, Omega did two more jumps then met to go over the attack till midnight. They gathered up equipment and laid it all out. Choppers were readied, as were the airplanes for the attack the next night. Several choppers left that night to set up refueling points as Omega bedded down.

Even though he wanted to sleep late, Bruce was up at 0700 hours. He looked around and noticed everyone was still in the bed. Reaching out, Bruce pulled everyone closer in a hug. PJ immediately reminded him he didn’t like to be woken up. “You need to sleep some more, baby,” Stephanie said as she stretched out.

“Can’t, so I’m going to check on the refueling points,” Bruce said, kissing everyone. When he got out of the bed, the twins jumped on his back. “Guess they’re going with me,” he said, walking out of the room. The guard at the bottom of the stairs scared the shit out of him as he headed to mission control.

Walking in, he found Mike and Marcus looking at a map. “Why aren’t you asleep?” Mike asked, not even looking up.

“Couldn’t,” Bruce said, taking the twins off his back.

They ran to Marcus. “Papaw,” they cried in unison, wrapping their arms around him.

Loving on the twins, Marcus sat down and pulled the twins in his lap. “Bruce, you need to sleep. Once you kick off, it will be close to thirty-six hours before you get downtime,” Marcus said.

“I can’t, and be damned if I take something,” he said, walking over to the map they were looking at. “The fuel points make it to the rally points?” he asked.

“Yep,” Mike said. “We have a few A-10s up over them in case they have trouble.”

“Any trouble around them?” Bruce asked.

“None they aren’t handling.”

Bruce looked up. “What, Mike?”

“Bruce, for an operation, this excursion is very complex with a lot of moving parts.”

Not able to argue, Bruce agreed, “That it is.”

“Bruce, we are sending out twenty Chinooks, ten Blackhawks, and two Super Stallions. We will have to refuel them all three times there and three times back. I know you have the backup refueling points in case they miss an aerial refuel, but this is hit or miss out there,” Mike said.

“Mike, it’s either this or we fight up there and fight back.”

“Why can’t we just launch the choppers after you leave? Why wait till you secure the site if you can? They can be there in case you get repulsed,” Mike said.

“Can’t. If we get beat back, that means the choppers would have to make the extract hot, and most of those choppers make a big target. This way, we will be able to pull back to a safer area for extract,” Bruce explained.

Seeing he wasn’t going to change Bruce’s mind, Mike gave up. “Have it your way,” he said, throwing up his hands. Bruce grabbed the twins and headed upstairs, getting dressed and grabbing his weapons. When he came back down with the family, Ted and Carl were waiting.

“Guys, you should be asleep,” Bruce said, walking past them.

“Hey, you aren’t, so knock it off,” Ted replied, yawning.

Giving up, Bruce led everyone out the back door to the Center. Looking over, he saw the marble statue of Debbie. “I’ll join you in a second,” Bruce said, breaking away from the group. Seeing where he was going, Angela and Stephanie herded the kids inside as Ted and Carl followed him over.

Giving Bruce some privacy, they stopped several yards back as Bruce stopped in front of the statue. “I know you had something to do with the twins,” he said in a low voice, and in his mind, he heard Debbie giggle.

“I really don’t see anything funny about that,” Bruce said, looking at the statue, and the giggle turned into a laugh that slowly faded in his mind. “I’m sorry I got the kids blown up, but I was trying to save as many as I could.”

Suddenly, he could smell Debbie near him, and Bruce closed his eyes and in his mind heard a low groan that turned to a soft whisper.
They must learn war is danger, and some lessons are very hard, but I will be with them.

Stephanie and Angela walked over and stopped by Ted and Carl, but something seemed to push them. They cautiously walked over, standing on each side of Bruce. Stephanie smiled, closing her eyes. “I smell her,” she whispered.