Jesse's Starship (27 page)

“Then what?”

Mike punched a number in the phone and waited. All three of them were surprised when it started ringing. It rang ten times and Mike was reaching to hang up when he heard Jess say, “Hello, Mike, why are you calling?”

“I need some help.”

“I’ll be there in a few moments.”

“Do you know where I am?” Suddenly, they all jerked their heads around to the left side of the helicopter as a loud popping noise erupted; two hundred yards of cacti were crushed into the ground. Janet and Tilly looked at Mike and he said, “I guess he knew.” Mike saw the stars go dim overhead and he realized the spaceship had extended its force field to cover them. The next thing he saw was two aliens step out of the ship and one said, “What trouble are you having, Mike?”

“A
re you ready to do this?”

“No, but when had that ever stopped us.”

“Just act impotent.”

“Don’t you mean important?”

“Same thing.” The two stepped out of a blue Chrysler with Air Force Tags and went into the modern looking building. They walked to the security checkpoint and handed their ID cards to the armed security guard. “State your business.”

“We’ve been sent here from Dyes to discuss some security issues with the General.”

“Is he expecting you?”

“We were sent here on short notice and arrived on a commercial flight. Please call and let him know we’re here.”

The Guard stared at them as he dialed an extension on his phone; a female answered the phone. He told the woman two Sergeants were at the check point requesting to see the General about security issues. “No, they say they came here from Dyes.” The Sargent handed the phone to Adams and said, “She wants to speak to you.”

“Who sent you here?”

Adams prayed he wouldn’t be shot. He looked at Bowen as he said, “Salamis.”

“Give the Sargent the phone back.” Adams handed the phone back to the guard and heard the woman say, “Send them.” The guard hung up the phone and said to an Airman, “Take them to the General’s office.” Adams and Bowen followed the Airman to the third floor and were ushered into a large office. A beautiful woman with Captain’s bars on her collar dismissed the Airman and looked at them, “What happened at Dyes?”

Adams looked around the office and turned back to the woman, “We should talk about this in the General’s office.”

The woman was watching Adams closely and saw him look around, “This place is clear.”

Bowen said, “So was Dyes.”

The woman looked around and nodded. She stood up and said, “Come with me.” They followed her through a door and saw General Atkins talking on the phone. The woman said, “Hang up the phone, now!” Adams looked at Bowen and both of them were surprised at a Captain ordering a General around.

“I’ll have to call you back, something has come up.” He hung up the phone and looked at the woman and both Seals saw his nervousness, “These two have come from Dyes. We need to see what happened.”

The General nodded and stepped out from his desk and the woman took his chair. She lifted the General’s phone and said, “Bonnie, please hold all calls.” She listened and said sweetly, “No, I don’t know how long this meeting will last but he has requested me to take notes. Take messages and tell everyone he’ll return their call when he gets out of the meeting.” She listened and said, “Thank you so much, Bonnie.” She put the phone down and said, “Stupid twit.” She looked at Adams and said, “What happened at Dyes?”

Adams stared at the woman and saw something dangerous in her eyes. Her brown hair was perfectly tied into a bun, her uniform was perfectly pressed, her skin was porcelain perfect, her teeth were perfect; everything about her was perfect but her eyes held menace. “I apologize for this but my handler didn’t tell me to share this with anyone else. He ordered me to go and speak to the commander.”

The woman scowled, “You’re looking at her; I’m in command here.”

“Do you have any way to confirm that?”

The woman was starting to get angry, “Your handler is named Mamba.”

Adams allowed his eyes to go wide and he nodded, “You’re right, Sir. Colonel Jackson was killed; he did not have a heart attack.”

“I knew it!” She looked at the General and said, “I told you he was murdered.” The General weakly nodded. When she looked away, Bowen pulled a small gun shaped device out and shot both of them in the neck with a small needle. The General tried to stand and fell back before he could get half way to his feet. Adams had to grab the woman’s arm and pull it off the phone. Her strength was amazing with the powerful drug in her system. She struggled for five seconds and collapsed to the desk.

“Well this is a fine mess you got me into, Ollie.”

“Oh be quiet, Bowen. This woman must be someone of importance in that organization.”

“Do you think she’ll talk?”

“No, she resisted the drug too long. We need to get her out of here.”

“How are we going to do that?”

“Let me think about it.”

“By all means, take your time; we have all the time in the world.”

“Why do you worry so much? Hit the General.”

Bowen went over and took out a flat plastic disc and pressed it into the back of the General’s right hand. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes. “Is there a way out of here other than the front entrance?”

“I have a stairway to the right as you go into the adjoining office.”

“Where does it lead?”

“To the parking lot under the building.”

“Do you have transportation there?”

“Jeanette’s car is parked just outside the exit. She doesn’t allow me to park there.”

“Is Jeanette your commander?”

“She is the commander of the entire Southwest and California.” Adams looked at Bowen and he shrugged. “Where is her contact list?”

“It’s in her laptop.”

“Where is her laptop?”

The General pointed at the far wall, “In the safe behind that painting.” Bowen hustled over and took the painting off the wall. The safe was there and he turned to Adams.

“What is the combination?”

“Eight right, forty four left, fifteen right, and two left.”

Bowen moved the safe’s dial and heard a click. He opened the safe and took out a laptop, “Got it.”

Adams turned back to the General, “Are you aware your organization is plotting the overthrow of the Government?”

“Yes.”

Adams shook his head and blew out a breath. He lifted the general’s right hand and inserted a hypodermic needle under his little finger. He pushed the plunger and the drug went into the General’s hand. Bowen stood beside the woman and said, “What do we do with this one?”

“Keep her under until dark. I’ll take her out of here using her car. You need to go and take the car we used to get in and clean it of fingerprints.”

“Do we need to sign out?”

“No, they’ll start calling the General if we do that.” Adams looked over at the General and saw him slumped over on the couch. He sighed and knew he had done the General a service. At least his family would be safe. He saw Bowen turn on the computer and look through the directory. Bowen shook his head, “What’s wrong?”

“The directory is password protected and appears to be encrypted. I’ve looked at the password and if an incorrect one is entered, everything will be erased.”

“Well, we have to take her with us. We have an hour before dark. Give her another shot and let’s get her down into her car.”

Bowen picked up the woman’s purse and took out a Berretta 9 mm handgun. He rummaged around and lifted a black key fob, “My, my; the Captain drives a BMW.”

“Give me a hand.” Bowen pulled three books off the shelf and preceded Adams into the front office. He opened the door and put a book in the jam to prevent it from closing. He helped Adams get the woman down the three flights to the garage and put another book in the jam. They put her in the passenger seat and belted her in tightly. The sun was on the horizon and Adams said, “Go and clean everything up and come back to get your car. I’ll meet you at the Walmart.” Bowen nodded and ran back through the door. Adams waited until the sun was below the horizon and it was getting dark. He knew the base would go to tighter security at night and he needed to get moving. He sat in the driver’s seat and pressed the starter button. The exhaust blasted and he knew the car was powered by the twin turbo three liter engine. He saw a garage remote on the visor and he pressed it. The double garage door to the garage opened and he drove the red car out of the garage and drove toward the front gate. He hoped they wouldn’t stop him…if they did he would have to make a run for it. Jeanette was leaning toward him and he put his arm around her and pulled her toward him as he approached the gate. The guard saw him and shook his head. He waved them through and Adams smiled. The guard looked at the gate commander and said, “That lucky stiff; we’ve all made passes at her and came up empty.”

“I thought she was the General’s squeeze.”

“Apparently not; she even let him drive her car.”

“Go figure.”

• • •

Bowen wiped the office clean of fingerprints and went back down to the garage. Adams had left the door open and he walked out and reached back in pressed the door button lowering the garage door. He had on a pair of gloves and he took them off as he walked around the building to the parking lot next to the front entrance. He had parked the car as far away from the entrance as possible and he opened the door without being seen by anyone at the entrance. He pulled out and headed for the front gate. The guard stepped forward and stopped him. Bowen handed him his ID and the guard looked at his roster, “Where’s the other one who came in with you?”

“He had a date and left with her.”

The guard looked out toward where the red BMW had gone and shook his head. He handed Bowen his ID back and said, “I wish I knew what he has that we don’t.”

Bowen smiled, “Her.”

The guard nodded and waved him through. Bowen drove eight miles and pulled into a coin operated car wash. He took a small bag out of the console and put six dollars in quarters into the machine. He turned the hose on to a high pressure rinse cycle and began moving the spray over the car. The blue car began changing color and in less than five minutes, the blue car was white. Bowen got back in and drove off.

He arrived at the Wall Mart parking lot and found Adams waiting. He started the BMW and followed Bowen along the side of the building and then pulled up behind it. Bowen exited the car and helped Adams put the woman in the back seat. He pushed her over and she fell flat in the seat. Bowen jumped back in the car and drove away with Adams following him in the BMW. They drove until they were in a residential zone and Adams parked the car in a public park under a large tree. He threw the keys into the bright red BMW and left the windows down. He got in the white car and they drove north. Three hours later, four teenagers were in the BMW driving around downtown. They were surprised beyond their wildest dreams when they were stopped by military vehicles and the soldiers jumped out with raised weapons. The biggest surprise was the Apache Gunship hovering over them with its machine guns locked on them.

• • •

Bowen looked at Adams, “What are we going to do with her?”

“That’s not my call. I’m calling Sanders to see what he wants done.”

“Why him?”

“I’m not completely certain our team is clean; are you?” Bowen sighed and shook his head. Adams picked up the handset.

• • •

Mike whipped out the H&K and the alien said, “Put that away; hey, that looks like my gun.”

Mike’s eyes narrowed and he said, “Jess?”

Jess looked at Mike and said, “Oh, my bad. Give us a moment.” The two aliens ran into the ship and two minutes later, Jess and a pretty blonde girl walked out. Mike’s eyebrows went up and Jess said, “We used the ship to make us look like the aliens. We needed the disguise to get into their holding facility to look for our families.”

Mike lowered the gun, “This is your gun; did you find them?”

“They’re there but won’t leave without all the others being released. The aliens now know they have our families; they’re trying to negotiate a deal. Why did you call me?”

“The Military is planning to overthrow the government and I’m working with the President to prevent it.”

“Mike, I thought you were a farmer?”

“I retired from the military’s satellite surveillance command. I had one of my former friends keeping an eye on you in the desert to make sure you were ok. That’s when you hijacked the ship. The ship that came in behind you shot down an Apache and four Raptors. Things got crazy after that. By the way, this is my Wife Tilly and this is Janet, she was my co-pilot in Iraq.”

Jess stared at Mike and then said, “This is Elle, she is my fiancé. I’m pleased to meet you; but Mike, what are you doing with this helicopter?”

“Trying to take out some of the traitors attempting to overthrow the government. However, my wife has been attacked five times now and I’m forced to try and prevent them killing her. It’s impossible to hide from them.”

Elle said, “Pete, how many personal fields do you have?”

“Twenty, however, do you want to release that technology?”

Mike, Tilly, and Janet watched the two young people appear to be talking to someone. Mike decided that the helmets they had on must be connected to the ship.

Jess said, “Can’t they be set to self-destruct if they’re removed from the one’s they’re set to protect.”

“Yes.”

“I trust Mike and by extension, his wife and friend. However, will that device cover that helicopter?”

“It can be extended to cover it but it will lose some of its protection.”

“How much?”

“A Q ship can penetrate it.”

“What about the weapons on my planet.”

“They will not penetrate it.”

Jess looked at Mike, “Come with us.” He turned and walked toward the ship and Mike looked at Tilly and Janet and nodded. They followed them into the open port and saw two chairs in the middle of the room. Jess looked up, “Peter, please continue our conversation where my friends can hear it.”

“I am now using the speaker system.” Mike did a double take and looked at Jess. “We’ve named our computer Peter. It sounds better than Puter. Pete tells me that he can program a personal force field to you that will protect you and also make you invisible.”