It Ain't Paranoia if... Ch. 05

My phone rang; I saw Claude's name pop up, and promptly answered. "We're coming in hot! We've had an AAM shot at us, and the armed helicopter is in pursuit. Our pilot is fresh from combat in Afghanistan and he's an amazing pilot, so we're uninjured. But we're unarmed and you will need to provide covering fire and get some SAMs up as soon as we touch down!"

I shouted the situation to the control officer standing by the table; he relayed it to the troops scattered around the property by radio, and everyone in the house grabbed a weapon. Given his warning that they were being pursued and would be coming in hot, I grabbed a set of binoculars and one of the Barretts and ran for the back wall.

Realizing that their helicopter might obscure my shot through the gun portal while it was landing, I diverted through the side gate and ran across the open ground to the shed. I set up on the west end of the shed, expecting them to come from the west or northwest; if it happened that way, I would have a clear shot at their pursuit while they were landing.

Not knowing where the Ultimate Solution teams were located, or where Carlos' men were, I decided to take care of whatever came into my field of vision, starting with any aircraft that got this far.

The pilot Clay had hired IS good; so good, their pursuit is firing into bare ground while his target has veered off. His chopper is silver with a big Texas Flag on each side; the one chasing them is desert sand colored and unmarked. The lead 'copter veered left and flew a wide circle around the hacienda, giving our men on the ground opportunities to take the pursuit down.

They were flying low and fast, which may have kept the SAMs from being used effectively. I heard small arms fire, but no missiles were fired.

Given their decision to approach from the southwest, I ran back across the open ground and set up behind the northwest corner of the wall. With only one arm, I needed a rest, and the base of the wall jutted out six inches for the first three feet. I could sit, place the barrel on the ledge formed by the base, and shoot within a 45-degree arc across the southwest horizon.

The Texas flag helicopter suddenly appeared from behind the house only feet above the ground; it flared and set down as close to the wall as possible. The pursuit copter wasn't far behind, but had come in too tightly to fire.

The pilot overflew, circled, slowed, and turned the nose to line up his fire. I squeezed off a burst into his cockpit with the .50. My target pulled up and away, flying backward to escape the .50 caliber fire. I fired another burst into the belly before he turned and flew back behind the house.

Nine men were running away from the grounded helicopter toward the wall; I yelled at them to come around the side. As they ran past me, I yelled for them to go in the side gate and I would cover. About that time, we heard an explosion off to the south; with any luck, that meant one of our SAMs got the helo!

I sprinted back to the door, which Clay held open for me; he slammed it shut and bolted it as soon as I got inside.

I saw that someone was at each gun slot on the patio, weapon ready. Clay led me into the house, and made me take a seat in at the kitchen bar. He took the Barrett and laid it on the bar, then ran into the other room, returning with a pack.

He pulled bandages out of the pack, cut my shirt off with a pair of scissors, unwrapped the bandages around my shoulder, sprayed something on my wound, slapped a pad of gauze on it, and applied pressure.

"I'm pretty sure Doctor Wang would not approve of you running around carrying a .50 caliber machine gun, Cabron, much less firing it! Not that I don't appreciate it; you did save our asses, but you reopened the shoulder wound doing it!"

"Hell, it doesn't hurt any worse than it did, so it can't be very bad," I joked. "Where are your brother and our guests?"

"In the operations center looking at the documentation; when we get this to stop bleeding we'll join them."

"I'm ready, coach; rub a little dirt on it, get me a shirt, and let's go!"

He laughed at me, but taped a fresh bandage on, pitched me a shirt from his bag, and told me to come on. The shirt was a size or two too big, but then, I'm barely 6' 200; he's 6'3" 235. I thought of the old saying, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression," but the former Attorney General would have to cut me some slack, given the situation.

The way he reacted when we were introduced, his first impression must have been of me saving his ass with a machine gun, rather than of me wearing an oversized shirt, because he was effusive in his greeting. "Thank you, Sir! I was pretty sure I'm too slow to outrun bullets and I saw him lining us up, right before you opened up on him! Very well done!"

"General Lee, it's my great pleasure to meet you, although I deeply regret the circumstances. Had we known this would happen, we'd have flown the data and documents to you!"

My contact in DC, the former Secretary of State and current power player, grabbed my right hand, shook it firmly, and exclaimed, "Shit, MacGregor, this is the most excitement we've had since we participated in "Shock and Awe" a few decades ago! And thanks for the covering fire! Never seen anyone firing a .50 cal with one arm before, and it was a glorious sight!"

Claude gave me a hug, stepped back, pointed to my shoulder, and sing-songed, "Doc Wang is going to be so pissed at you, you bad boy!"

The pilot stepped up, extended his hand, introduced himself as Paul Peveto, and offered his thanks "for saving all our asses!"

"All I did was scare him off; someone else got the kill, or at least I heard an explosion. Are all our people okay?"

Claude replied, "So far. Carlos' sentries report a couple of trucks headed our way, so this ain't over, but at least we're here and ready."

The four bodyguards were animatedly talking to Abel; he pointed to the weapons cache, and they hustled over and started looking them over. Abel grinned at us and said, "They seem to think they're under-armed for this little shindig with their pistols!"

I turned back to the former AG and SOS. "So what do you think about the documentation?"

They turned deadly serious, and the AG said, "Extremely disturbing, although what we've seen may not be the whole story, because it doesn't rise to the level you'd expect for such extreme measures!"

"Regardless, Rob, we're planning to alert the White House and the DOJ in a few minutes. They need to know the North Koreans are involved, aided and abetted by rogue senators, at least one FBI agent, and one CIA operative, although I suspect there are more. We're going to give them an hour to get it stopped, and threaten to begin sending releases to media outlets if they don't!"

Abel spoke up loudly, "Three trucks are turning preparing to turn onto the ranch road. Orders?"

Claude looked at me, shook his head, and turned to our guests: "You guys are going to have to cover for us if they come up this road, because about 200 yards in the shit's going to get real!"

"I believe what is going to happen is, our bodyguards, assisted by local ranchers, are going to blow the fuck out of three truckloads of terrorists, who had earlier tried to shoot down the helicopter we were riding in.

"So don't worry about fallout or terrorists: just keep our people safe!"

"What the hell?" Abel cried. "We have air support again?"

I smiled; everyone else looked puzzled. "Maybe the Texas Air National Guard is on maneuvers in this area," I proposed. Our people all chuckled; our guests looked quizzical.

"The report is four F16s just buzzed the trucks, banked, and flew back at them at treetop level. Men ran from the back of the covered trucks, and the Vipers fired into the ditches on either side of the road. Our men fired RPGs into the area just this side of the right of way, and peppered them with automatic weapon fire.

"The trucks are backing up and turning around. Men are running back to the trucks and climbing in; looks like they're in full retreat!

"Oops! The sentries to the north report a stream of law enforcement vehicles are heading our way! The trucks are coming to a halt!"

"Tell our men to make their presence known! Maybe place a couple of grenade behind or beside the convoy so we don't leave the LEOs facing three truckloads of people with automatic weapons!"

Abel relayed the orders from Claude and we soon heard distant explosions. "Sitrep, Gamma?" Abel asked.

"Convoy is stopped due to an explosion in front of it. Delta has a bullhorn; he's advising them to stay inside the truck or die. So far, no one has disembarked."

Claude spoke to Abel, who relayed, "Delta, this is command; tell them to offload their weapons, or we riddle the truck!"

"Carlos, can you call the sheriff's office and relay the information?" I asked. "They need to know how many and that they are well armed. Keep them on the line so we can update as things change."

Lots of moving parts right now, and one of the most important is the former AG talking to his successor once removed. I can't hear what's being said, but our guy is talking a lot more than listening. He makes a pissed-off face, and speaks louder, "Okay, I'll try to keep it out of the news, but their copter chased us for ten minutes, firing intermittently for at least 20 miles. He was hit with covering fire when he tried to kill us after we landed, and there was a loud explosion!

"Three trucks show up and start firing at our bodyguards, who are trying to secure the road, and they fire back. Now I know we're out here near Bumfuck, Nowhere, but you can bet your ass SOMEONE heard and saw something, so I expect a report on the local news tonight and national news in the morning!

"Threat? No, a threat is when I tell you I'M going to be on the national news in the morning, with retired Air Force General and former Secretary of State Tom Yonkers standing beside me!

"No, I'm not telling you what to do, but unless you want to get hit with a Category 5 shitstorm, you better call your fucking agent and find out how deep he is in on an attempt to kill two former top government officials, and the kidnapping of a mother and two children by FUCKING NORTH KOREANS! You might want to find out who else is in on it with him, and who he's reporting to, maybe!

"The Fuck!

"Tom, come over here! Mr. Secretary, are you going to be standing beside me on the Today Show tomorrow morning telling the world how two government agencies and three Senators conspired with the North Koreans...

"What? Say again! Okay, that's better, but let me -- no, let US -- assure you: we have all the evidence, we have it hidden in unreachable places, and we're going to start releasing it early in the morning if we can't see concrete action has been taken! Clear enough? Okay, we'll be waiting for your report."

The SOS grinned at his friend, palmed his own phone, and called the President's Chief of Staff. That call went a lot like the call to the AG, but the consequences were intimated rather than stated. He hung up, and two sixty-something men actually high-fived each other!

"I'm not fond of getting shot at again, but damn it's nice to be where the action is happening!" exclaimed retired General Tom Yonkers enthusiastically.

"What about the CIA Director? His man is involved too?" I asked.

"The Chief of Staff is already up his ass, you can trust me on that! Those two and the AG will be meeting shortly, and I suspect the President will be there too."

I grinned at him, bumped knuckles with Claude, Clay, and Carlos, gave Abel two thumbs up, and started toward the hall to the panic room. A smiling Kaitlyn was leaning on the frame of the door, watching and listening. I held out my arm; she flew into it, wrapped hers around me, and gave me a one-sided hug.

"Been listening long?" I asked quietly.

"Long enough to know this is over and done!" she replied. "That means we can get to OUR business!"

"Come on, Cachonda; let me introduce you to our guests."

Perhaps it's that messy mane of honey-blonde hair, or her wholesome Donna Reed beauty, or possibly it's that curvaceous body, but, for some reason, they reacted like everyday men do.

She played them with skill and zest, and those of us who knew her looked on in admiration. Power players at the highest level, respected and feared by other power players, as they had just demonstrated; yet a 5'6" blonde in tight blue jeans and a skimpy cold shoulder blouse had them tripping over their tongues.

After ten minutes, she took my arm again, and told the assembled group, "I'd appreciate it if y'all would look after the kids for an hour or two. Rob's shoulder and ribs need attention, and he needs a little rest. I'm going to take him into the panic room and take care of him for a while."

Everyone but our guests started laughing, and they both smiled knowingly.

"Of course, La Chica Cachonda, it will be our pleasure to look after your children while you look after your man. Should I go ahead and make a reservation in an hour for the emergency room? I remember your threat..." Carlos teased.

She smiled smugly and replied, "Just don't interrupt our nap, regardless of what you hear! I promise I won't hurt him... too much!"

I heard Tom tell Claude, "You're going to have to tell me that story!"

Claude responded by rather loudly telling Carlos, "Amigo, I am so glad I talked you into installing video cameras in the panic room!"

And so ends Part 1... See ya in 2022, and have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!