Corps Justice Boxed Set: Books 1-3: Back to War, Council of Patriots, Prime Asset (52 page)

The Marines laughed with their commander as
they fixed their bayonets. When the trailer sides flipped down,
they’d be arrayed facing out, bayonets at the ready, as if about to
ward off a horde of enemies.

“Let’s all get into position,” the First
Sergeant barked over the loud music.

Andy shifted the pistol in
his waistband one last time. The damn thing kept digging into his
back.
Maybe I was being a little too
paranoid
, he thought.

Just as he moved to the center position, the
trailers lights flickered. Andy looked up and squinted. Was that
steam coming out of the ceiling?

+++

6:48am

“Whew, we just made it,” remarked the
President.

“Sorry about that, Mr. President. It’s
Howie’s first time in Vegas,” the lead Secret Service agent
explained jokingly. Howard Grant was the President’s driver for the
day and a Secret Service veteran of almost twenty years. Contrary
to his boss’s comment, Grant knew the streets of Las Vegas
intimately.

It was actually the President’s daughters
that had kept them from leaving on-time. They’d insisted on an
extended breakfast with Dad. Never one to deny his beautiful girls,
the President had relented until his detail leader had discretely
tapped on his watch.

The President sat down as the music rose to
its first crescendo.

Chapter 39

Las Vegas,
Nevada

6:50am, September 19th

The oversized trailer moved out of the
staging area. It paused at the entryway to the arena and waited for
the correct point in the music.

+++

“Good. They got it to the door. I’d love to
see the look on the President’s face,” Nakamura noted to his
son.

Ishi didn’t bother to respond. He kept his
eyes glued to the arena. Father and son anxiously awaited the
show.

+++

Half of his Marines were already lying
unconscious on the floor.

As Andy had noted the gaseous substance
coming out of the trailer’s ceiling, he somehow had the wherewithal
to take a deep breath. Without opening his mouth, he’d silently
tried to gesture to his Marines. His First Sergeant was the first
to comprehend and took in a deep breath before the fumes hit.

By the time the mist had moved down past the
Marines’ necks, some had already collapsed. Andy scrambled to get
back to the ramp and engage the opening mechanism. When he got
there, the Marine Captain could barely hear his Marines hitting the
floor as the powerful gas assaulted their nervous systems.

In the back of his mind, he somehow
recognized that keeping his breath in seemed to help. He’d always
read that the more powerful chemical weapons entered the body
through the skin and not through the airway. Andy had no way of
knowing if that were true or not. It was like those videos the
government used to show about how to react when a nuclear explosion
occurs. Was it real or just made to make it seem that you “could”
survive such an event? Was this gas agent the same way?

It had been close to a minute since he’d
first inhaled. He pounded on the ramp release button. Nothing
happened. He tried again and again then pounded on the ramp itself.
Nothing. They were trapped. Almost all of his Marines were on the
ground. Through the mist he could just make out his First Sergeant
stumbling his way over the platoon of unconscious Marines.

+++

“Looks like they had to go with the backup
trailer,” Cal noted.

“Huh. Good thing they brought it,” Daniel
added.

A second later, a cannon in the music boomed
loudly and the trailer flaps folded to the ground. The platoon was
arrayed in a large oval, some kneeling in the front row, the second
row standing; all were arrayed outward with bayonets fixed and
presented toward the crowd.

“Wow! That’s pretty sweet,” yelled Daniel
over the music.

Cal agreed. He’d never seen the Silent Drill
Team doing anything like this before.

As they watched, the platoon of twenty-four
reformed into a column and marched down onto the field.

+++

The First Sergeant had finally collapsed to
the floor after banging on the ramp with Capt. Andrews. No one was
coming to help them. Just as he started to lose his breath, he
remembered the pistol in his waistband.

Andy quickly aimed toward
the ramp.
Where to shoot?
The mist was clearing so at least he could see
where he was aiming. Then he remembered the two hydraulic pumps at
the bottom of the ramp that powered the door. Maybe he could shoot
them out and push the ramp open. He only had ten rounds in each
magazine so he had to be as accurate as possible. Luckily, the
trailer sides were made of aluminum instead of steel. At least he’d
have a chance. He fired five shots into the bottom of the left side
of the door then moved to the right. His lungs ached as he realized
he’d depleted almost a minute and a half of air. His limit was fast
approaching.

+++

Cal and Daniel watched as the Silent Drill
team did its opening tricks in the middle of the field. All of a
sudden, he noticed something. “Are those guys all white?” he yelled
to Daniel.

Briggs squinted. “Yeah, where are all the
black guys? And…wait…are they all Asian?”

Cal’s eyes widened as he thought he heard
something. He looked at Daniel who suddenly stood up. “Gunshot!” he
yelled.

Without another word, the companions ran for
the stairs.

+++

The President was enjoying
the performance. He loved the Silent Drill Marines. But there was
something he couldn’t put his finger on. They seemed sharp, but not
as precise as he’d seen them perform before.
And I thought they had some African-American
Marines
, the President thought
privately.

+++

Andy had one more magazine but was out of
breath. He shoved the ramp with all his remaining strength. It
started creeping open.

+++

Cal turned the last corner and sprinted
towards the trailer. He could see a hand sticking out of the side
of the door. Daniel joined him as they ran to the trailer and
started pulling the ramp down. Simultaneously, they noticed the
vapor and quickly held their breaths. Soon the door was open enough
that they could pull Capt. Andrews out. He hungrily gasped in clean
air as they dragged him farther from the trailer.

Andy pointed back at the chamber. “There’s
an…emergency release…lever under the…left side of…the trailer
that…unfolds the sides.”

Cal and Daniel didn’t hesitate as they ran
back to the trailer to save the other Marines. Holding their breath
once again, the two men pulled with all their might on the release
lever. They felt a hard click and the trailer flaps started folding
down slowly. By the time the flaps lowered, Andy had rejoined his
friends.

“We need to get out there and help the
President!” Cal yelled over the din. Andy had no idea what Stokes
was talking about. He had no way to know about the Marines’
imposters. Cal and Daniel bent down and extracted similar objects
from their boot heals. Andy couldn’t make out what they had in
their hands. He followed closely behind Cal and Daniel as they
sprinted to the arena.

+++

MSgt Trent watched the show silently.
Although he’d been impressed by the Silent Drill Team’s appearance,
the rest of the show seemed a little lacking. He’d have to give
Capt. Andrews a hard time about that.

+++

The replica Silent Drill Team moved toward
the President’s position in four precise columns. They’d marched in
step until they were twenty yards from the President. On silent
cue, the platoon halted and four squad leaders from the rear
marched out and to the front of the formation. Instead of doing the
standard weapons inspection routine with two pairs, the planners
had elected to go with four pairs. The squad leaders commenced the
silent inspection, hurling weapons back and forth; making a show of
inspecting the barrel and chamber of each gun.

Then, at the same moment, the four squad
leaders grabbed the rifles. After doing a precise about-face they
kneeled and aimed their weapons at the President. The Secret
Service agents barely had time to react as the rounds came
downrange.

+++

As the four squad leaders knelt on the
ground, Trent sprang out of his chair. He vaulted whole rows as he
extracted his pistol from his holster.

He was so intent on the unfolding carnage
that he didn’t even notice the two politicians following from
behind.

+++

Brandon caught it a split second after
Trent. Without thinking, he followed the Marine, albeit less
gracefully. Zimmer was surprised to see his father following,
too.

+++

Out of the corner of his eye, Nakamura saw
Trent jump out of his seat. “Let’s go, Son,” he ordered.

“What? Out there?”

“Yes! Now get up!”

Kazuo Nakamura pulled the Nambu pistol out
of his coat pocket and walked toward the arena. There were very few
people who could ever claim the killing of an American President.
Nakamura wanted to be one of them.

+++

Cal, Daniel, and Andy
sprinted toward the opposite end of the arena. They could just make
out the President and his security team falling to the
ground.
Shit, shit,
shit
, Cal thought as he ran for all he was
worth. He had no idea what they’d do once they got there,
especially without weapons, but they’d die trying. The anthem music
continued to pound overhead as the three Marines closed the gap.
There were twenty-four fake Marines between them and their
goal.

+++

Trent fired as he leaped the eight feet down
to the arena floor. It wasn’t a particularly well-aimed volley, but
he centered his front sight post on the mass of men in dress blues.
Remarkably, his rounds hit two of the squad leaders and the rest of
the bullets flew into the platoon. With twelve shots, he’d
incapacitated six men. There were still eighteen men for Trent and
his friends to take care of. Trent hit the ground floor and ducked
for cover. He quickly reloaded and focused his attention back on
the platoon.

Where the hell were the rest of the Secret
Service agents?

+++

As they neared the platoon,
several of the imposters fell to the ground, clutching
wounds.
What the hell?
Cal thought. He ignored his own question and said a silent
thanks that the platoon hadn’t turned around yet. They were all
still oriented toward the President.

He gripped two small composite blades he and
Daniel had extracted from their boots. It was a little gift from
Neil before they’d left. Patel knew the Marines wouldn’t want to go
in naked. The small weapons wouldn’t do much against ranged
weapons, but hand-to-hand they would come in handy.

The three Marines closed the
final few feet with only four blades, a pistol with eight rounds,
and a pissed off attitude.
Three against
twenty-four
, Cal thought,
What else is new?

He screamed as he pulled the first man back
by the head and slit his throat.

+++

After a silent prayer, Daniel followed Cal
into the fray. Where Cal was ferocious, Daniel was more methodical
as he quickly cut a swath through the crowd. By the time they’d
gotten to the middle of the group, the Japanese imposters were
refocusing on the pair of maniacal Marines in their midst.

+++

Possibly because of the after effects of the
gas or the constricting uniform, Andy couldn’t keep up with Cal and
Daniel. An experienced triathlete and marathoner, Andy gritted his
teeth and tried to move faster. By the time he’d reached the bloody
scene, his two companions had already dispatched a good portion of
the phonies. The men on the outside of the formation turned inward
and leveled their M-1’s at the marauding Marines.

Andy screamed in anger and started
firing.

+++

Trent cocked his head in
confusion as the platoon fell apart and focused their attention
inward.
Huh?

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth,
Trent left his covered position and closed the remaining twenty
yards, firing as he ran.

+++

Nakamura’s eyes widened as he watched his
elite guard get slaughtered. It couldn’t be. They’d made sure to
dispatch the security agents first. Who were these other men?

Ishi answered for him, “It’s Stokes!” he
yelled, pointing into the chaos.

Kazuo Nakamura growled in rage and ran to
the stairs leading down to the arena.

+++

Just as he pulled his blade out of another
man’s brains, Cal felt an excruciating burn along the left side of
his torso. He turned just in time to see a Japanese man in dress
blues, M-1 Garand aimed straight at him. The man smiled and then
the side of his head blew off, instantly killed by the hollow-point
round from Andy’s weapon.

“Keep moving!” Andy yelled over the booming
music.

Cal nodded and looked around. There were
only four men left. He finally realized how they’d done it when he
saw MSgt Trent pull up. The Marines had no idea why they’d been so
lucky.