Douglas Bunger's Blaze Of Glory

Chapter 35



 
 
 
    Ralston and Baker had not acknowledged each other when they had boarded the plane at Los Angeles International, and had not been seated together on the aircraft. Even though Baker had bought both tickets, he flew first class, and Ralston flew coach. Brad arrived at McCarren International about thirty minutes before the flight's scheduled arrival and waited an additional eight minutes beyond that for the plane to reach the gate.
    Baker saw Brad waiting and immediately assumed command of the situation. "Is everything going as planned?"
    "Better than planned."
    "How do you mean?" asked Baker.
    "Just joking," stated Brad. "Everything's okay. Where's Ralston?"
    "He'll be out in a minute, hold this."
    Brad took the thin briefcase that Baker handed him. "What's this?"
    "Fifteen thousand dollars in cash."
    "fifteen thou-- Wha-- What for?"
    "Asher's second five, the pilot's eight, and an additional two because I figured you owe Asher some expense money by now."
    "How did you get it through airport security?"
    "Are you kidding, a man taking a little gambling money to Las Vegas! What's suspicious about that?" asked Baker with a grin. "Besides, they're looking for guns and bombs, not money."
    When Ralston finally made it off the plane, Baker led the others toward the a set of luggage lockers. He opened the briefcase, placed five bundles of twenties in a paper sack, then placed the sack in the locker. He repeated the process with five bundles for the pilot. Brad explained the deal he'd made with Wilson, and Baker removed a bundle. "Okay, Dartmouth, here are the keys. One for Asher, one for the pilot. If you lose them, they will kill you. Do you understand?"
    "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Brad put the keys in his pocket and started toward the exit.
    "So what's all this money about?" asked Ralston. "What's this about a pilot?"
    "I told you this was a rescue mission," explained Brad.
    "No you didn't. You asked if I wanted to be a part of your plan. I figured that if Baker trusted you, I could trust you. What rescue?"
    Brad opened the doors of the car, and Baker crawled into the back seat. It surprised Brad that Baker would let Ralston sit in the front, even though Ralston would have been very uncomfortable in the back. What Brad didn't realize, was that Baker was use to sitting in the back when being chauffeured. "Nice car," mentioned Baker, "You rent it?"
    "No, it's Melanie's."
    "Who's Melanie," asked Ralston.
    For a moment Brad wasn't sure what to say. Who was Melanie? Was she a business associate, his girlfriend, or just a women who was helping him. "She's a girlfriend of mine who's going to help us."
    "Wait a minute," insisted Ralston. "I don't understand what's going on here? What's the money for?"
    "Asher is going to brief us on his plan when we get to Melanie's office."
    "Dartmouth, who the hell is Asher!"
    "Asher is the mercenary who is going to rescue the aliens," explained Brad.
    "Oh... I see, the money is to pay the mercenary," stated Ralston. "So, why do we need a mercenary to start with?"
    "You'll understand it all when Asher briefs us. There's just one thing, Ralston: when Asher mentions Roger, don't mention that Roger is an alien."
    "Dartmouth! I thought you said you were going to tell him!" yelled Baker.
    "I will tell him!"
    "When?"
    "When we find Roger."
    "Wait a minute!" interrupted Ralston. "Let me see if I understand all this correctly. You hired a mercenary to help you find Roger, you convinced Baker to pay his salary, but you haven't told the man that Roger is an alien?"
    "Yes."
    "Dartmouth, didn't this guy tell you about the relationship between a mercenary and his employer?" inquired Ralston.
    "I told him," said Baker, "But he wouldn't listen to me."
    "You two are a couple of wimps!" yelled Brad, causing Baker and Ralston to exchange a sideways glance. "All this man cares about is his money. As long as he gets his ten thousand dollars, it shouldn't matter whether Roger is human, canine, or alien."
    "Hey, it's your ass, Man. But what I still don't understand is what we're going to do?"
    "Asher will fill you in when we get there." It was quite apparent to Brad that Ralston was having a problem with the situation. He only hoped that he could still count on the man to participate.
    When they arrived at the office, Brad parked the car next to Asher's and noticed the rented cargo van at the back of the building. He lead Ralston and Baker to the door and entered the waiting room. Asher and Wilson were seated, looking at a map on the coffee table.
    "Great, everybody's here. Now we can start the party," said Asher, following it with a round of introductions, mostly for Wilson and Ralstons' sakes. He asked everyone to sit, and moved to the opposite side of the table. "We're missing one," said Asher loudly.
    Melanie stepped around the corner and apologized. Baker and Ralston looked at each other wide-eyed. She moved past Wilson and reclined on the padded arm of the coach-- next to Brad. "Okay, let's start," announced Asher.
    "The situation is the enemy is holding a friendly captive at a compound in the Nellis Air Force Base Range, here. The terrain is open desert with occasional small mountains. We can't cross this in the daylight, so we'll have to do it at night."
    "Our mission is to rescue any friendlies within the compound. To execute our mission, we will march a detail across the desert from a point outside the perimeter. Here. The distance is about fifteen miles. Baker, Ralston, can you handle fifteen miles?" The two nodded. "Good. We're going to have two major advantages over the enemy. First, surprise-- the best advantage you can have in a rescue. The second is confusion-- we'll be dressed in Air Force uniforms. If there's any trouble, try to mix in until Wilson gets there. There shouldn't be any trouble, as long as everybody stays cool, and doesn't panic. Just act like you're suppose to be there. We'll be in two teams. Dartmouth and Baker will be the search team. You can identify your man by sight, right?"
    Brad nodded, without a word.
    "Good. Baker, you'll back him up. Ralston you and I will be the support team." Ralston looked at Baker, then at Brad, as Asher withdrew a sketch of the compound from under the map. "The compound has two targets we'll need to hit if things get hairy. One is the communications trailer to north, we'll have to knock it out to prevent the enemy from calling reinforcements. The second is the helicopter that was stationed to the south. If necessary, I think the best way to deal with these is with a satchel charge. Which one do you want Ralston?"
    Ralston sat silently, and examined the map. He met Asher's gaze. "Let me get this straight: you're a mercenary, the enemy is the Air Force, and you expect me to help you shoot your way into a military command post on a wild goose chase?"
    Asher looked at Brad, "Dartmouth..."
    "Baker, I can't believe you've let yourself get involved in this! This is crazy."
    "Ralston, I thought you were behind us on this," protested Brad.
    "I didn't know you were planning a terrorist attack on the Air Force."
    "This is a rescue operation," retorted Brad.
    "I am a veteran of the United States military, and I will not kill American servicemen, regardless of how noble you think the cause."
    "Dartmouth, I thought you said we could trust this man," said Asher.
    "Hold on just a second. Let me talk to you, Ralston," Ralston rose and followed Brad to the kitchen. "Ralston, think about what the Air Force did to you, when they covered-up your UFO. Think about all the other people they've done it to. This is the only way we can prove that UFO's and aliens exist. You said you'd do anything to find out the truth."
    "I would... Anything short of murder."
    "I'm not asking you to kill any one: just help us out."
    "I will not be an accomplice to murder."
    "Damn it, Ralston, you've got to! Look, if all goes according to plans, no one will get hurt. We'll sneak in, find the alien, and sneak out before they know we're there."
    Ralston stared at the floor for a moment. "No shooting, if possible?"
    "No shooting, unless they shoot first."
    "And if I refuse," inquired Ralston.
    "I'm not going to lie to you. You're twice my size, you've probably been trained in self defense, but if you jeopardize my story, you won't make it out of here alive."
    "And how do you propose to stop me?" asked Ralston, inflating his chest and taking a step closer to Brad.
    "By asking Asher to take care of you," offered Brad.
    "You're insane." Ralston returned to the waiting room. Brad was not sure weather he had convinced Ralston or not, but when he turned the corner, his mind was distracted by what he saw. Baker had slid across the couch to where Brad had been sitting and was talking to Melanie. Before he could react Asher interrupted his train of thought.
    "What about it, sport? Are you going to party with us, or are we going to rumble?"
    "I'll go, but I'm not taking a weapon. I'll blow the chopper, if I think the rescue is in danger of failing, but I am not going to kill."
    "Fair enough," stated Asher. "Okay, sit down Dartmouth. Hello... Earth to Dartmouth! Sit Boy." Dartmouth threw Asher a disgusted look, than sat where Baker had been. "Okay, if all goes well, there won't be a shot fired and we can escape through the same hole we went in through, and get our man to an LZ on the other side of this hill to the east. If there's trouble, Wilson brings the chopper down on the north side of the wire. I'll carry the radio and make the call."
    "There is something you need to keep in mind: If the captive has been held as long as is suspected, he may have been brainwashed. Even if he hasn't been, a rescue is always very confusing to the hostages. Because of these factors, he may struggle against us, try to escape or call to his guards, or otherwise jeopardize the mission. Subdue him if necessary. Once we get him out, we'll take him to a safehouse for deprogramming."
    "Once in the helicopter, Wilson will fly us to Hill 6490, where Melanie will be waiting in the truck. Wilson and I have worked out a decoy plan to get the Air Force off our backs for a while. Have you got much to do?" asked Asher.
    "No, I'll be ready when the shit hits the fan," answered the pilot.
    "Great. Any questions?" asked Asher.
    "Yeah," called Ralston, "Why not take the prisoner straight to one of the local television station instead of a safehouse?"
    "A few years back, I made a good living snatching kids from Reverend Moon's cults for their parents. What we found, was that if the kids escaped before deprogramming they would tell the police that we were the kidnapers. The authorities would then turn them over to the cult. We need to give the hostage a day of transition before exposing them to a group of badgering reporters to avoid any surprises."
    "Speaking of badgering reporters," continued Asher, "I think Dartmouth's going to want first shot at his man before the media gets a hold of him. The last factor bearing on this decision is the fact that we're all going to be dog tired after this mission. We'll need some time to rest and regroup. As far as the safety aspect, I'd rather take a chance on the Air Force finding us, then blowing the operation because someone is to tired too think straight."
    "With Wilson's plan, there's little to no chance of us being followed. As long as everyone does as they are suppose to, we can pull this off. One last thing: Melanie is going to have to drive Wilson back to town to get his chopper at the airport. I need someone to go with them to get my car."
    "I'll do it," volunteered Brad. Asher looked at him for several seconds in an attempt to analyze his motivation. He decided it was to 'protect' the girl from the others. He was wrong.
    "Okay, Dartmouth, you got the job. We'll change into our uniforms immediately. Ralston, since you're not going to carry a weapon, I want you to familiarize Dartmouth with use of the M-16. Melanie will drive us to our point of demarcation in one hour. If there are no more questions, we'll get started."


Go to
Story
Index
Email
Douglas
Bunger
Go to
Home
Page
Go to
Next
Chapter