Percy's Mission (14 page)

“Maybe out here…” Percy suggested, knowing the response he would get.
“You know Pop. He just won’t go for it. It’s okay his veteran’s pension is paying for the rest home. He wouldn’t take your help or anyone else’s.”
“I understand, Andrew. I just wish there was some way I could help.”
“I know. Thanks. Pop is where he needs to be, no matter what happens.”
“Okay, Andrew. Just come on out any time it suits you. Day or night.”

“I will, Mr. Jackson. Thanks. Say hello to Susie for me.”
“She’s right here, Andrew. You can tell her yourself.”
“Andy,” Susie said, “I’m glad you apparently agreed to come out here. Especially work for Mr. Jackson. But I don’t really appreciate you checking with him after I told you what I did.”
“I know. And I believed you. It just one of those guy things, I guess.”
“Guy thing, huh? It’s a good thing I love you or I’d hang up on you for that.”
“You love me? Really? I love you, too, Susie. I wish I’d told you sooner.”
“Oh, Andy! I do. I wish I’d told you sooner, too. Please, please, come out here if things look bad. Please.”
“I promise, Susie. I promise. I love you. Bye.”
“I love you. Bye, Andy.”
“Well. That’s nice to hear,” Percy said.
Susie threw her arms around Percy. “He loves me! He really does. He was asking these kinds of leading questions the other day. About marriage and all. But he didn’t ask me and I was afraid I gave him the wrong impression. I don’t think so now. I’ve got to go tell Mother.”
“Okay. But don’t forget about Doc and moving your stuff.”

“I won’t.”
“Tell your mother, too, that I’m headed for the Bluhms. I want to talk to them about coming here if there are more problems. That’s a nice house, but not good enough for anything as serious as what this may become.”
“Good. I really like them.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

It didn’t take all that much convincing. The terrorist attacks and the resulting earthquake had scared them. They were closer to town, but agreed to head for the estate if things got worse. He gave them a hand held radio and charger for it. “We’ll be monitoring that most of the time. If you need one of us, just keep calling until someone answers. It would make me feel better if you called just to check in so I know the radio is okay. A couple times a day would be fine, if you don’t really mind doing that.”
“No. That sounds like a good idea,” Jock said. “Will it reach all the way to the city? We may have to take Judy Franks in. She’s had some labor pains, off and on, the last few hours. It’s probably false labor, but we’re not about to take a chance, considering the circumstances.”
“It’s on a repeater system. As long as commercial power is on it should work. On the direct link, only about halfway to the city.” Percy hesitated a moment, then asked the doctors, “Do you want me to take her in using the Suburban? There’s plenty of room, and I do have an errand I need to run there, anyway.”
“No…” Jock said slowly, after looking at Melissa for a moment. “It’s not like the weather is bad or anything. But… If you’re going pretty soon, we might just tag along with Judy and her family. Just in case. You know.”
“Sure thing,” Percy said with a smile. “I have a few things to do in town, and then I’ll be ready. Meet me at Rosie’s when you’re ready.”
“Okay. I’ll call Judy now and make the arrangements. She thinks it’s false labor, too, but it is her first and she’s a little apprehensive. Her mother will take her in and we’ll take the Bug. We need to do a couple of things ourselves.”
“You know, I have a Jeep I don’t use, if you want something besides the Volkswagen and the Taurus. Winters can get pretty severe here, you know.”
“I don’t really like Jeeps,” Melissa said. “I had a friend roll one, one time. We’re thinking about trading in the Taurus on something like an Explorer before winter.”
“That would do you a good job. Okay then. I’ll be on my way and see you in a little while.”
The trip went well, until Percy stopped to see Sara. Percy tried to convince her to move out to the estate. He even offered to supply all her fuel to go to and from the city every day to go to work.
“Are you asking me to move in with you, Percy?” she finally asked.
“Of course I am. I thought that was clear. Oh.” He turned slightly red. “Not like that… Just stay in one of the extra rooms. I’m not… Sara, I’m just not ready for that next step.”
“I understand, Percy. And that’s okay. I just want to be sure. And I appreciate you offering to provide my gasoline, but it’s not quite proper, don’t you see?”
“Yes. I guess I do. But you will promise me to come out if things get worse. How did your apartment fare, by the way, during the quake?”
Sara frowned. “One of the plates my mother left me broke. I had it on a stand and it walked off the shelf and broke. It’s not as if I was all enamored of it, but my mother loved Elvis and that plate was her favorite. I hate to have lost it.”
“I’m sorry. I wish I could replace it for you. And I’m sorry if I upset you. I just… Well… I guess I’ll be going, then.”
“Okay, Percy. And Percy I’m not mad at you or anything.” She stepped up to him and gave him a long hug. “I appreciate you trying to look out for me, but I’m a big girl. And I will come to the estate if something worse happens.” She leaned back, her arms still around him and looked him in the eyes.
“I care about you, Percy. A lot. I want you to promise me you won’t do anything stupid if things do get worse.” She brought her face forward and kissed him lightly on the lips before he could protest.
“I… I care about you, too, Sara.” Then he frowned. “I don’t do stupid things. What made you say that, anyway?”
Sara stepped away from him and smiled. “Oh, Percy. Don’t worry about it. I was just teasing. Sort of.”

“Well… Okay. I guess I really should go. I want to stop and get a couple of things before I go back to the estate.”
“‘Bye, Percy.”
“Goodbye, Sara.”
Percy brooded about the exchange a little, but quickly put it behind him when he went to the medical supply shop. There were no delays this time when he picked up several more medical items. They were glad to help him load them into the Suburban.
When he met the Bluhms’ at the hospital again, they told him they were staying in the city to have dinner and thanked him again. Judy was doing fine, but was going to stay in the hospital overnight, then stay with a cousin in the city until the baby came.
He made another stop, at the larger of the two shopping malls the city boasted. He spent much of the early afternoon there and left with a dozen shopping bags. He’d made three trips out to the Suburban to take things out, he’d bought so much.
Percy didn’t particularly like firearms, though he did use them like the tools they were. He’d ordered a few items almost three weeks before. There’d been a waiting period and this was the first time he’d been in since the waiting time was up.
The clerk helping Percy carry out the ammunition and the reloading supplies and equipment asked Percy, “How’d you know so far ahead this was going to happen?”
“Know?” Percy asked. “I didn’t know. I just… like to be prepared.”
“Yeah. You’re definitely prepared now. You know good stuff when you see it. That is a cool Suburban.”
“Thanks. And thanks for helping me load. I need to head back.”
“Sure thing. Come back any time. Ask for me. I made a nice commission on this sale.”
Percy waved politely. He didn’t like that clerk much. He wasn’t bloodthirsty and out to hurt anybody. It was just prudent to have the most effective means available to protect himself and those in his care. The clerk was of a mind to just go out and shoot someone for sport, using the situation as an excuse.
With the Assault Weapon Ban not having been renewed for the moment, he decided to get a few things he couldn’t get while the ban was in effect. A pair of the old pistol grip, collapsible stock Heckler and Koch HK-91 .308 rifles and thirty twenty-round magazines, plus thirty thirty-rounders. The two collapsible stock versions would give him six of the HK-91s, including the four HK-91A2s he already had in the gun safe at home. He’d had those since well before the ban, along with four of the very rare, and very expensive, G8 50 round single stack drum magazines.
He’d picked up some thirty round Ruger 10-22 magazines. He had three of the .22 rimfire rifles. The shop had two Mossberg Model 590 12-gauge riot guns and a Remington 11-87 semi-automatic. He’d taken all three of the shotguns and an extended magazine tube and folding stock for the Remington. They brought his total combat shotgun count to six, including two more of the 11-87s with extended magazines and a Remington 870 with pistol grip folding stock and extended magazine.
Again, since they were available once more, he’d added another thirty AUG thirty-round magazines to the order for the four Steyr AUG carbines he’d picked up when he got the original HK-91s. That gave him a total of a hundred AUG magazines.
He hadn’t ordered any additional handguns or hunting rifles. He had plenty of both, including five Para-Ordinance P14s, 3 Glock 21s, a Browning Hi-Power, three Ruger 22/45s, four HK-4s with all four conversion kits each, and an assortment of Ruger single actions, some with interchangeable cylinders, to handle a variety of other calibers.
His hunting rifles included Remington 700s in .223, .243, .270, and .350 Remington Magnum. He had a pair of the rifles each in .308, .30-06, and .375 H&H Magnum. Percy didn’t really count what he considered his fun guns. He’d grown up watching re-runs of the 1950s and ‘60s westerns and had Marlin lever action rifles in .45-70 and .45 Long Colt. He had a pair of Stoeger 12-gauge coach guns and three Ruger Blackhawks, also in .45LC. He also had companion American Derringer Corporation derringers in .45LC and .45ACP.
Also mostly for fun, though they did have serious uses, each of his highway vehicles carried a Marlin Camp Carbine in .45ACP with half a dozen spare magazines.
As far as ammunition went, this order included ten thousand rounds each of .308 and .223 to bring his total up to fifty thousand rounds each. Also included two thousand rounds each of 12-gauge slugs, 12-gauge #4 buckshot, and a thousand rounds of various numbered shot. He already had similar amounts for the .45s, and over a thousand rounds each of the other handgun and hunting calibers he used.
When it came to .22LR he was just as well supplied. Another fifty thousand rounds, ten percent of which was BB caps, CB caps, and shorts.
Since he only expended a few rounds a year for practice and to do the little hunting he did, Percy had never really done much reloading. The twins were into it and provided him with some specialty ammunition he liked to keep on hand. They had pretty extensive reloading equipment and supplies and he’d just bought a complete set of reloading tools and components to reload every cartridge and shell he used, except the rimfires. He counted himself lucky to have found another three hundred 12-gauge brass empty shells. He’d ordered two hundred fifty of them once before and paid the twins to load them for him.
His errands accomplished, except for getting Sara to agree to move out to the estate, Percy headed back. He wanted to get there in time to help take care of the animals. He didn’t want Susie to have to do it on her own, though she was perfectly capable of doing so.
Percy smiled when, at four o’clock, he heard Jock’s voice on the radio mounted in the Suburban. “This is Jock. Radio check. Percy, are you there?”
“I’m here,” Percy replied, picking up and keying the microphone. You’re loud and clear.”
“We’re just going in to get something to eat and thought it’d be a good time to do the radio check.”
“Consider it a successful check,” Percy responded.
“We’re checking in, too,” Susie said. “Everything is fine. Have you seen the news?”
“Negative,” Percy replied. “What’s up?”
“Korea is looking worse,” Susie replied. “Oh. And we moved. I went ahead and moved the rest of our stuff to one of the rooms in the utility barn. That way the cottage is available for someone else to use if you need to.”
There was a hint there that Percy didn’t take to let them know if Sara was coming out to the estate. “You didn’t need to do that. But it might not be a bad idea.”
When he didn’t elaborate, Susie said, “Okay, Boss. I can take care of the animals if you’re running late.”
“Nope,” Percy said, activating the gate opener remote. “Be there in a minute. I’ll help with the animals.”
“Mom didn’t argue at all when I said you wanted us to move into the house for a while,” Susie said when she met him at the animal barn.
“I didn’t think she would, actually,” Percy replied as they worked to bring the animals in and get them fed and bedded down. “Your mother is a very practical woman. She knows I’m going to be pretty active ‘til this is all over and it’ll be easier for her to just be there around the clock to keep me out of trouble.”
Susie laughed. “She did actually mention something to that effect.”
They were silent after that, until they’d finished. When Susie went to help him move the things from the sporting goods store, she exclaimed, “Geez, Boss! You expecting a war?”

“Yes,” Percy said quietly.
“Oh,” Susie replied softly. “Maybe you’d better teach me to shoot something besides a twenty-two,” she added after a moment.
“I don’t want to do that unless you really want to. I don’t want you to feel like you have to defend the estate. That’s my responsibility.”
With a ferocity that surprised Percy a little, Susie replied, “This is my home, too. You’ve said so, Mr. Jackson. I’ll do what’s needed to protect it.”
“Well, if you’re sure, we’ll get you started at the first opportunity.”
Susie was grinning at him suddenly. “You didn’t say after we checked with Mother.”
Percy grinned back. “You’re a big girl now and can make your own decisions. Your mother said that herself. I should treat you more like the woman and lady you are, rather than the girl I tend to treat you like.”
“I don’t know. Sometimes it’s a lot easier being a little girl than it is a woman.”
“You can handle it just fine. Are handling it. You obviously got Andrew headed in the direction you wanted.”
With a fond smile Susie responded. “Well, not completely, but… yeah… I think he might just ask me to move in with him soon. Maybe even marry him.”
“He’s a fool if he doesn’t.”
“That’s so sweet, Mr. Jackson. You sound just like a dad.”
“Yeah? Well…” He let the words trail away, slightly pink. “I’ll get the rest if you can help your mother. I’d like to eat in the dining room. I can see the TV in the living room from my chair in the dining room.”
“Okay,” Susie said. “I’ll set the table for Mother.”
Percy moved the things he’d bought at the mall to his suite of rooms in the two story seven bedroom, eleven-bath earth sheltered dome home. He had a large bedroom with attached bath and large walk-in closet. The suite also included a small den slash home office. It was as nice as the estate office in the big den down stairs, just smaller. What was once intended to be a nursery adjoining the bedroom Percy used simply as a storage room. That’s where he dropped his recent purchases. He’d put them away later.
They were all a bit subdued as they ate. The stalemate in Korea seemed to be heating up. China was making noises about the fallout coming from Pakistan caused by the Indian nuclear attack. One report indicated that India was warning Pakistan to withdraw from the disputed area and acknowledge India’s sovereignty or they would renew the attack, the implication being with nuclear weapons again.
“This is bad. It might be all the excuse China needs to invade India,” Percy said. “I saw a report last night that indicates China is massing troops along their common border.”
“If China gets involved directly, there or in Korea, do you think the US will respond?” asked Mattie.
“Yes. Other reports are linking China and or North Korea with the terrorist attacks here. I think they might have been trying to keep the US at home with the disasters to take care of, plus put the UN out of easy commission. Not like they can’t meet at The Hague or something, but most of the ambassadors and their staffs died in the attack. Lot of embassies put out of commission directly or due to radiation. The UN is not going to be effective for some time to come, if ever.”
Suzie looked at Percy and said, “I’m afraid if North Korea uses a nuke in South Korea, the US will have to respond. Our troops are directly involved in that fighting.”
“Carolyn Mathew’s boy was killed over there yesterday, apparently. They got word today. I talked to Helen today and she told me,” Mattie said.
“Too many people are dying in too many places,” Percy said quietly. “Let’s just hope and pray it doesn’t come any closer to us than that. Uh-oh.”
The news channel changed to a shot of another mushroom cloud. There was no audio at the moment, but the words Seoul, South Korea were superimposed over the cloud.
“That tears it,” Percy said.
Another news channel was reporting that China was again warning all nations to stay out of the troubles in the Far East. The station showing Seoul now had another mushroom cloud on screen, this one listed as New Delhi, India.”
Yet another channel now had a translation of a Chinese announcement that due to the attacks in Pakistan by India, China was receiving fallout and therefore considered the attack by India on Pakistan an attack on China and had retaliated in kind. There were reports that the Chinese were massing an amphibious force on the coast facing Taiwan. Again China issued warnings to leave the Far East to deal with its own problems.
“No way is that going to happen,” Percy said. “Okay. It’s time to batten down the hatches. Susie, do you think you can use the Bobcat to move straw bales in front of the barn doors?”
“Sure, no problem. But why?”