ASYLUM: Chapter 34

Chapter 34

   It probably sounds like things were going pretty well, and they were to a degree, but there is always something that doesn’t want to play along. This pregnancy of Debra’s for one. She was really upbeat when she was carrying Danni Lynn, this time, she seems, I don’t know, off, just off. It worries me that maybe she isn’t really sure of us. No, it’s not that, not us, but I don’t know, maybe the problem isn’t her, maybe it’s me.

   Debra was seven months along before I finally found out what the problem was. I was asleep and Danni shook me awake. I was in bed and could tell it was either very late at night, or early in the morning, “Danni? What’s wrong? The kids okay?”

   “The kids are fine, Daniel. Babe, there’s something you need to know and Debra made me swear not to tell you until…”

   “Until what?”

   “Until she has the new baby.”

   I scrubbed my eyes and sat up and looked around, “Where is she?”

   “The livingroom and she’s crying her heart out. This shit needs to stop because she’s starting to, god, Daniel, it’s starting to scare me. She thinks when the baby is born, you’re going to leave her, us.”

   “Why would she think that?”

   She paused and started to talk twice, but both times she stopped, “Damn it!” She said.

   “Danni, talk to me, now you’re getting me scared.”

   “She didn’t want you to know, she didn’t ever want you to know and made me promise not to tell you.”

   “Tell me what, Danni?” I started getting angry, the kind of angry that…never mind. “Tell me what is going on; I can’t help if I don’t know.”

   “Danny, the day you were shot, Walter Pix raped Debra and she thinks that might be the reason she’s pregnant.”

   “Oh, Christ.”

   “She didn’t want you to know, but now she’s convinced the baby will look like him and you won’t want the baby or her. She thinks you’ll leave and…”

   “Because the baby would be, black?” I clenched my jaw and shook my head. “It would be a bit of a shock, I’ll admit that; she should have told me from the very start.” I started getting out of bed, but Danni held me in place.

   “What are you going to do?”

   “Talk to her, find out if…”

   “Dan, please don’t attack her; it’s not her fault and if you blame her in any way, it’s going to crush her.”

   “Is that what you think of me? That I would blame her?” I shifted her aside and stood up, but she stood up also and got between me and the bedroom door.

   “No, I don’t think so. I trust you, but this is too important for me to be wrong.”

   “Good, at least you have some sense anyway.” I grabbed her wrist and dragged her behind me and into the livingroom where I sat her down on the opposite end of the couch that Debra was curled up on. Debra wiped her eyes and scooted back as I rounded the coffee table and stood in front of her. She honestly looked frightened. I knelt down and placed my hand on her belly.

   “Danni told me, what you should have,” she began to cry. I tilted her head up and said, “Look at me.” She shook her head. “Debra, Look at me.” She finally did and I said, “This baby, is mine, it doesn’t matter what color it is, this is my child, do you understand?”

   “If it’s black, everyone will think…”

   “We tell the truth and if anyone has anything to say we don’t like, the Adobe is waiting for us, right?”

   “I don’t want you to…”

   “Be the father?” I asked. “Because that’s the only thing that would make me back up. If you want me to be the father, I am the father, understand?” She nodded. “Besides, it could actually be mine, right? Who was it that crawled on top of me in the clinic and welcomed me home? Without a condom if I remember correctly?”

   Danni fake gasped and said, “Debbie! You hussy!” I knew what Danni was trying to do, it was a favorite way the two of them used to lessened the severity of disagreements they would occasionally have.

   Debra started crying harder and then she began hiccuping as she tried to talk, “I don’t know what I was thinking, I was confused and upset and I thought if we had sex without a condom you would think it was yours, but if the baby is black you would know anyway and I didn’t want you to know he did it and I didn’t like it, I swear!”

   “Debra…”

   “I didn’t like it at all! I hated it when he touched me! I didn’t have an orgasm, I swear to you, Daniel, I didn’t, I really didn’t, but you won’t believe me, I know it!”

   “Debra, Babe…”

   “You don’t want me anymore and…”

   Danni, loudly broke in, “Debbie! For god’s sake, shut up and listen to Daniel! Give him a chance to talk!”

   Debra slapped both of her hands over her mouth and silenced herself as she tried to breathe through a runny nose. I pulled her hands away and said, “Babe, you need to breathe, okay?” She quickly bobbed her head up and down and then tried to look away, “No,” I said. “Look at me, please?” She locked eyes with me as I said, “This is the last time I’m going to say this,” I put my hand back on her swollen stomach. “So, you have to believe it. This baby is yours, and mine, and Danni’s, right?” She nodded. “I, am the father, right?” She nodded again. “I believe you when you said you didn’t like it in any way, okay?” She nodded again as fresh tears started running down her cheeks. “You love me, right?”

   “Yes.”

   “Say it,” I said as I reached out to Danni and taking her hand, I pulled her tight against Debra and I.

   “I love you.”

   I leaned forward and kissed her gently before saying, “We’ve had more than our share of troubles, haven’t we?”

   “Yes, but another man has never…”

   “Stop,” I allowed a little harshness into my tone. “Remember when you were telling me about your escape from Denver?”

   “Yes.”

   “Remember you said you decided you were not going to be taken prisoner because no man, but me, would ever touch you again?”

   “Yes?” She started clouding up again.

   “What did I tell you about that?”

   She started to look away, but I turned her face back, “You told me,” she said. “You didn’t want to hear that. You told me to stay alive and you would come for me, and find me because you wanted me by your side, no matter what.” She raised up on her knees and put her arms around my neck and squeezed, “I love you so much, Daniel.”

   Danni smiled and said, “I think Debbie needs a little quality alone time with our man; why don’t I sleep in the spare room tonight?”

   Debra pulled an arm from around my neck and put it around Danni, “No, I need to feel both of you against me. I need both of you.”

   Things were more normal after that and I think Debra accepted the fact I wanted to be the father of our child no matter what, but there was still a noticeable difference. As far as me? I kept finding myself wishing Pix was still alive, so I could kill him again for what he did. If anyone deserved a worse death, a slower death, it was him.

 

   Danni was sent to Denver again and stayed for two weeks before she could come home again, but she made huge strides in removing kinks in their Cadet and Militia programs. She was home for a week and then off to Holloman to attend meetings there regarding the same reasons as Denver. Holloman wanted Debra to come, but finally conceded that it was getting too close to her time to deliver. Then, Packer dropped a bombshell on me. He told me it was time for me to get back with the program and accept the fact that it was time for me to return to the Ranger fold. Julia and Terry were hitting home runs in the Intelligence Office and though they brought me in on occasion when they were stumped, they were doing an outstanding job. Julia was advanced to Provisional Captain and Terry was officially a Sargent.

   Me? Packer said I needed command experience and wanted me to accept the position of Company Executive Officer. I informed him there was no way I had the experience necessary to perform the function and he said I was right, I didn’t, but I was going to learn on the job. He had two openings available that needed to be filled, one was with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, Rangers, and the second was, Golf Company, 3d Battalion, 1^st Regiment, Militia. Unfortunately, the position also came with a demotion; Packer said it would be confusing to everyone to have a Major as an XO under a CO that was a Captain, okay. I decided I preferred staying close to home, so I chose Golf Company.

   Yeah, I was closer to home, but what a cluster fuck. I had no idea an XO’s job was so demanding and complicated. I struggled constantly to stay ahead of the curve, but every time I thought I was caught up and looking good, I discovered something else I should have been doing. In one respect, I was lucky, the Company Supply Sargent, Sargent Harold Navarre, and the Company Motor Pool Sargent, Sargent Chet Amendola, were both retired ex-Army and had served in both of the capacities they were assigned to in the Militia. Captain Jacobs, was the Company CO and I had a sit-down with him my first day.

   “Okay, Lieutenant,” he shook his head and added, “I don’t know for sure what the General was thinking when he assigned you, a Major, as XO for a Motorized Infantry Company.”

   “I’m, unofficially, a First Lieutenant for the duration of my assignment, Captain Jacobs.”

   “Maybe so, but it just doesn’t seem right for you to be saluting me instead of the other way around. One other thing, I know in the past, you’ve gone by the last name of Smith, then Tarn, followed by Monroe and now, by the paperwork I’m looking at, your last name is Menendez?”

   “Yes, Sir.”

   Jacobs stared at me for a moment as he waited for clarification, but finally shrugged, “Right, alright then, here is where things start getting crappy for a new XO, your first priority is getting the Company up to speed with transportation. As Motorized, we’re supposed to have a total of twelve trucks and a Command Vehicle; what we have is three trucks we use for training purposes. What can you do for me?”

   “Well, the Rangers and Militia are all short on vehicles, so it’s not like you are being shorted on purpose. I assume you have already approached Battalion Command with your problem?”

   “Yeah, I have, and what I was told isn’t worth repeating. Apparently, Battalion expects us to procure our own equipment, but how we’re supposed to do that is one of the great mysteries. Again, what can you do for me?”

   I had an uncomfortable feeling that Jacobs might be one of the people Packer advanced to a rank he was incompetent at. “What does my responsibility look like to you, Captain?”

   “You’re XO, figure it out and get back to me.” He then completely ignored me and finally, I saluted, turned about, left his office and walked outside, what the hell?

   Standing outside the Captain’s office were Sergeants Navarre and Amendola, and Navarre was the man who spoke first, “I see you’ve met the Captain.”

   “Did the blank look of disbelief give it away?” I asked.

   “Sort of, what’s he wanting you to pull out of your ass?”

   “Nine trucks and a Command Vehicle.” I answered.

   Amendola chuckled, “Well, not to piss on your parade, but the three trucks we have are barely running. We have three of those Mercedes trucks and they’re held together with bailing wire and duct tape; we ran out of bubble gum. What you need is twelve trucks we can procure parts for.”

   “Great, okay, are the two of you available this evening?”

   “Could be,” Navarre said. “What did you have in mind, Major?”

   “Asylum Bock and a brainstorming session, are you up for it?”

   “Tell us where and when, anyone else you want?”

   “The Company First Sargent, do you know where Deer Track Road is?”

   “Up where they finished those rammed earth houses by the airstrip?” Navarre asked.

   “Number 14, white house with blue trim, be there at six o’clock.”

    “Yes, Sir!” They both replied as they saluted and then walked away conversing with each other. I headed for the Intel Office with the intent to do some research on where I might be able to find transportation for Golf Company, 3d Battalion, 1^st Regiment, Militia.

   It took a while, but between the three of us, Julia, Terry, and myself, we located some good possibilities, all of which were in and around Tucson and Las Cruces. I had a feeling we would need to hit both cities in order to meet our needs. The plan was to hit the locations of vehicle sales, construction companies, and municipal, county, and state facilities that might have commercial type vehicles available. We were not going to be able to order what we wanted, but salvage might get us what we needed.

  

   I told the girls what was going on and they made a quick dinner, showered, looked after the children and prepared them for the evening while I cleaned up the house and prepped it for visitors. At six o’clock on the dot, Sergeants, Amendola, Navarre, and Company Sergeant Robert Jimenez arrived at the front door.

   “Come in, Gentlemen.” I stepped out of the way and allowed them to pass through to the livingroom, “Have a seat, anyone want a glass of bock?” They all three said yes and I started pouring the beer.

   Danni walked into the room with Danni Lynn on her hip and I introduced her to the Sergeants when they stood up and shortly after they sat back down, Debra walked in with John and we went through the introductions again. The three men already knew who they were, but they had never officially met.

   “Okay,” I said. “I believe I know where we may be able to come up with some transport for Golf Company, but I want to hear what the three of you think we need.”

   Jimenez nodded and said, “Harold, give the Major, I mean, Lieutenant, a run down.”

   Navarre cleared his throat and got started, “Like I said earlier, Sir, the three trucks we have should be relegated to parts vehicles for the rest of the Militia equipped with the Mercedes trucks; at least they’ll serve a purpose.”

   “Agreed,” I said.

   “Next, we need nine trucks just to transport the men of the Company, plus each platoon should have a supply vehicle as well for a total of twelve.”

   “Agreed.”

   “We also need, which Captain Jacobs doesn’t agree with, some sort of tanker truck to carry fuel for the Company.”

   “Reasonable, but why does the Captain believe we don’t need a tanker?” I asked.

    Sergeant Jimenez answered, “He says as Militia, we don’t need to wander far from home; he says the projection of combat capability is the domain of the Rangers.”

   “I see, I take it he was not with the Militia during the Battle of Las Cruces?”

   “No, Sir, he came down from Red River about a month after the battle and offered to serve. He was a Naval Lieutenant in the Seabees and because of his past as an officer, the General gave him the position of XO with Fox Company and then CO here at Golf.”

   “I see, what else do we need in the way of transportation?”

   “The Captain wants a Command Vehicle that will double as a communication van, but we need a dedicated recon team as well. I’m thinking either three Jeep type vehicles with three, or four-man crews, or motorcycles with a support vehicle.”

   “I can think of pros and cons for both ideas, however, the history of the effectiveness of the Long-Range Desert Groups of World War Two makes me lean towards the Jeeps,” I said.

   Jimenez nodded in agreement, “Yes, Sir.”

   “Okay, if we utilize jeeps for the recon team, and the team consists of one squad, we need three Jeeps and one less troop transport, but one more supply vehicle that can stay with the jeeps to resupply. That means we need eight troop transports, three supply trucks, three Jeeps, one recon resupply vehicle, a fuel tanker, and a command/communication van, right?”

   Jimenez hem-hawed and finally said, “Well, the recon team should be separate from the three platoons, Sir. I’m thinking twelve trucks for the three platoons, three jeeps, a fuel tanker, and a supply truck for Recon.”

   “You’re talking about adding another twelve to sixteen men to the Company?”

   “Yes, Sir. It will be best if we have troops trained for recon instead of rotating other squads through the job.”

   “Have you spoken with Captain Jacobs about increasing the head count?”

   “Yes, Sir, he said we don’t need a Recon Team and he didn’t want the extra headaches of keeping track of twelve more men.” He cleared his throat and added, “I know that all of the personnel need to be aware of the recon job, but reconnaissance is a specialty, Sir, and we need men who are well-trained for it.”

   I glanced at Danni and Debra and they both nodded in agreement. “I agree with your sentiments, Sargent.” I looked back at the girls and asked, “What do the two of you think, does the Company need a dedicated Recon Team?”

   Debra said, “Absolutely, Danni and I have both approached the General about this topic and he has already issued the clearance for additional reconnaissance assets within each company. If Golf Company is short the personnel they need, we have a class getting ready to graduate Scout training and we can send a few of them your way.”

   “How many can I have?”

   Without hesitation, she answered, “No more than three, but they’ll be good to go and capable of training others as well.”

   I looked at Jimenez and said, “Okay, you will have three trained team leaders, pick at least nine more good men from the company, so they have a full complement.”

   “Yes, Sir.”

   “Just out of curiosity,” I said. “What type of vehicle does the Captain envision for a Command Vehicle/communications van?” The three sergeants glanced at each other and I could see some hesitancy to answer. “Permission is given to speak freely, First Sergeant.”

   “Yes, Sir, the Captain told us to keep an eye out for a motor home, in particular, a diesel pusher with at least one pop-out room.” He sat there quietly for a moment as he waited for my response.

   “I see, an RV, I think that might be a little grandiose for a Company Commander, don’t you think?” I asked.

   The First Sergeant smiled and said, “That was my initial thought, Sir.”

   “Well, if something along those lines presents itself…” I allowed the statement to fade away and continued with, “I’d like the three of you to work out the details for a mission to Las Cruces. I’ll get together a list of probable locations and we’ll head down that way and see if we can come up with some vehicles.”

   Navarre asked, “Duration, Sir?”

   “Probably no longer than five days, but plan for ten. Figure on a full platoon and we’ll want mechanics with us, some of the vehicles may have been sitting for an extended length of time and might need to be pampered a bit.”

   “Yes, Sir,” Amendola said.

   “Sir?” Navarre.

   “Sergeant?”

   “Did the CO mention we had a shortage of weapons?” He was definitely dancing around the prospect.

   “Nothing to me personally, I imagine he figured I would discover the fact and take appropriate action.”

   “Yes, Sir, I’m sure that must be why he has left the problem unaddressed.”

   Debra, who were sitting quietly and listening, inserted herself into the conversation, “How short of weapons are you, Sergeant?”

   “20 percent of the Company have no primary arms, Ma’am.” Navarre wouldn’t meet her eyes.

   Then Danni asked, “And Captain Jacobs is aware of this?”

   First Sergeant Jimenez said, “Begging your pardon, Sir,” I nodded to him. “Will it be possible for Sergeants Amendola and Navarre to return to the Company Compound at this time?”

   I glanced at Debra and Danni and they both slightly nodded to me, “Yes, First Sergeant, I’m sure they have preparations to make.”

   Both men stood up and saluted me, then quickly left. Danni asked Jimenez, “You followed proper procedures?”

   “Yes, Ma’am.”

   “Your Platoon Leaders?”

   “Yes, Ma’am, all three of them.”

   “When you approached Captain Jacobs about your concerns, what was his response?”

   “The same as always, Ma’am, he told us to take care of it.”

   “The acquisition of weapons must be signed for by the Company CO, but he expected you to take care of it?”

   “Yes, Ma’am.”

   Debra inserted herself, “Article 138? Did you mention it?”

   “Yes, Ma’am.”

   “His response?”

   “He informed me, we were not under the U.C.M.J., that we were not real soldiers, we were a bunch of civilian wannabees.”

   “I see,” Danni said. “We will check into this, First Sergeant, thank you for getting us up to speed.” Jimenez stood up, saluted me, and then departed.

   “Okay,” I said. “What was all that?” At first, I started thinking I wished I hadn’t asked, but then realized there was a huge amount of military life I simply did not know. Why does everything have to be so complicated? What it boiled down to was, Debra and Danni were going to approach Packer in the morning and fill him in on Jacobs refusal to perform his duties. God, I hope that doesn’t mean I get bumped up into another job I have no idea of how to perform.

 

   Jacobs was not removed from command of Golf Company and I was still XO, so it didn’t seem to me that much was accomplished. The sergeants and I put together the mission plan to Las Cruces and left three days later, oddly, Jacobs came with us. I wished he hadn’t, because I came to know him better than I wanted; he was self-centered, a braggart, and I suspected a liar as well. His self-promotion was extensive and I noticed the men listening to him quickly lost interest in his stories. I was surprised to discover he commanded a Company of Raiders while he was in Africa building helicopter bases for the Marines. Lucky for the Marines he was there or the Raiders would have had their asses handed to them by a bunch of weekend Jihadists. I found myself wondering how that whopper would go over with Matthew Thomas and decided if the opportunity presented itself, I intended to find out.

   We had the three trucks assigned to the company and we were using my own personal truck as a supply vehicle. At our first repair stop in between Hurley and Deming, Jacobs discovered how comfortable the seats of my truck were and ‘requisitioned’ it for his personal use as the command vehicle. I’m serious, he claimed my truck was officially his truck because of military necessity. We were definitely headed for some serious disagreement when we returned to Asylum.

   Luckily, I wasn’t faced with the actual process of challenging his actions.

   The process of recovering the vehicles we wanted was simple, but also complex. First, we located heavy equipment contractors in Las Cruces and then went through their office records to discover where we might find the ones that were not within their yards. Then, we had to go to where the trucks had been left and see if they could be started. Almost all of them needed new batteries just to begin the process, and we ended up giving all of the trucks tune-ups, oil changes, tire replacements, you name it.

   On the sixth day, we made contact with a small group of people who asked if they could accompany us when we returned to Asylum and Jacobs said no. He didn’t just say no, he was rather caustic about his refusal. In all honesty, I would have refused also, but I would have done so in a manner that may have been more constructive. The people we encountered were slavers and were looking for a new market, apparently, they believed some of the false information that had been broadcast about Asylum and wanted to sell some of their product to us. After angering the assholes, he sent me to negotiate with them. They decided taking me prisoner was a good idea and thought they could negotiate from a position of strength if they had the man who was second-in-command under their thumb.

   While I was being held, Jacobs told Jimenez, Navarre, and Amendola to gather everyone up and prepare to leave. When they asked him about me, he said he considered me an acceptable loss in exchange for the vehicles I had provided Golf Company. They conferred with Lieutenant Jason Merrell and decided they would rather return to Asylum with the trucks, and me. I wasn’t there when it happened, but I got the story from Merrell and Jimenez afterwards.

 

   Merrell asked, “Captain Jacobs, you are aware, are you not, that Major Menendez is a rather popular person amongst the rank and file of both the Rangers and the Militia?”

   “He’s one man with a checkered past and well worth the exchange for the trucks. I’m not getting into a fire fight over one man of dubious loyalty.”

   “How many hostages would make a fire fight worthwhile?” Amendola asked.

   Jacobs looked puzzled and said, “What?”

   Lieutenant Merrell said, “Sir, the men will be unhappy if you drive away and leave one of our own in enemy hands.”

   “They are enlisted grunts; they have no opinions and I am in command.”

   “Yes, Sir,” Navarre said. “Speaking as an enlisted grunt, I’m curious though, if you’re willing to drive away and abandon someone like Major Menendez, how quickly would you leave someone like me behind?”

   “No man is more important than the mission,” Jacobs said. “With that said, let’s get the convoy on the road and back to Asylum. That’s an order, people!”

   Merrell looked back and forth at the Sergeants and finally said to Jacobs, “No, Sir, not without the Major.” Turning to First Sergeant Jimenez, he said, “First Sergeant, take first Squad and position them to attack the right flank of the Slavers on my command.”

   “Sir!”

   “Sergeant Navarre, Sergeant Amendola, take your people and escort Captain Jacobs to the trucks and make sure he doesn’t cause any problems, he is no longer in command. Second Squad and Third Squad, follow me!”

 

   I was on my knees and a man named, Duarte was standing next to me, “You’re making a mistake,” I said.

   “Am I?” He clipped the side of my head with his pistol. “We’ll see; I think they’ll bargain for your life, and believe me when I say, it is your life we’re negotiating for.”

   “You don’t understand,” I said. “We don’t bargain with slavers; it’s in your best interest to walk away, right now.”

   “I’ve heard it before pal, lots of times.” He punctuated his statement with another smack from his pistol. It was actually kind of pretty in a grotesque kind of way. Looking at the muzzle and the cylinder of the big, nickel-plated revolver, I figured it was .44 Magnum or .45 Long Colt. Whichever it was, it was definitely overkill and the recoil would slow down target re-acquisition. “Nothing else to say?” He laughed.

   “Naw,” I replied. “My inner voice is saying to just wait until one of our DMRs puts a bullet through your brain pan.”

   “One of your what? What’s a DMR?”

   “You’ll find out…” He collapsed as if there were no bones in his body; the .45 caliber bullet had passed through his mouth and embedded itself in his brain stem. “…or not.” There were ten or twelve others and they started falling all around me as I threw myself down on the ground. I waited as the sound of gunshots and pissed off bees buzzing past dissipated, then someone started shouting.

   “Cease fire! Cease fire!” I raised up high enough to look around and saw Lieutenant Merrell walking towards me. “Are you alright, Major?”

   Standing up, I swallowed, hard, and said, “Yeah, but I may have pissed myself a bit.”

   One of the Militia guys was picking up that big ass revolver and said, “Yeah, right, you were probably getting ready to kill them all somehow.” He tucked the pistol into his MOLLE Belt and continued to the next body as he broke down his silenced rifle.

   Merrell chuckled and said, “There were bets being made while we were setting up for the attack.”

   “Concerning what?” I asked.

   “How many of these asshats would be dead before we got here.” He laughed at my expression, “You know, I’ve met both of your wives.”

   “Most people have, both of them love a good bullshitting session.”

   He smiled and said, “Captain Monroe, Danni Monroe, told us about you going hunting for the people that murdered Stacey Menendez.”

   I nodded as I felt the side of my head where Duarte had clubbed me; there was a double-bump and small smear of blood on my fingertips, “Not a very good time for me.”

   “No, Sir, I imagine it wasn’t, but…”

   I looked at him and said, “What?”

   “Captain Monroe said you killed over fifty men that night.”

   I nodded and said, “Yeah, but it’s not as big of a deal as some have made it sound.” I shrugged and added, “I set fire to their headquarters and shot anyone that tried to escape the flames, most of them died in the fire.” I looked around and asked, “Where’s the Captain?”

   He looked a little uncomfortable as he said, “I’ve relieved the Captain of command, Sir, as ranking officer and Company XO, I guess you are in charge now?”

   “Uh, I suppose so, I’m still a little inexperienced and this is actually your platoon, Lieutenant Merrell, so why don’t you command your unit and I’ll sort of, uh…” I stammered to a halt.

   He smiled and said, “Yes, Sir, I’ll get the men to wrap this up and…”

   “Lieutenant, these men were slavers and they wanted to do business with Asylum.”

   “Yes, Sir.”

   “When someone wants to trade and do business, they usually have product to sell, right?”

   “Oh, shit, I wonder where…”

   I pointed back behind us and farther up the street, “While we were waiting for the Captain’s response to their taking me hostage, one of their guys showed up and said the bus was behind a building up the street. I imagine their slaves are in that bus, so what do you say to us searching for it?”

   It took a while, but find them we did. We collected all of the slaver’s vehicles, weapons and the people they were holding for sale. We told those we rescued they could leave on their own, in which case we would provide them with weapons, food and transportation if they had somewhere other than Asylum to go. Of the sixty-three freed prisoners, fifty-two returned with us to Asylum. Their ages ran from fourteen to thirty; slavers figured younger than fourteen and older than thirty were not worth the trouble of transporting. Those who were not taken by the slavers? Again, dead men tell no tales.

 

   It was a good homecoming, Danni was back at Holloman, well actually East of Holloman somewhere in Texas. A new group of survivors had made contact with the Air Force and requested a meeting with both Holloman and Asylum and because Danni was already there, Packer and Felicia Ortiz sent her as our representative. They had requested me, but they were in a hurry and settled for her instead. The ex-slaves were handed over to Human Resources and were quickly settled in and the interview process developed by Dak was started to find out where we could use them. Packer relieved Jacobs from duty until a decision could be made concerning his command, but no matter what, he was definitely out of favor. When your entire company command structure turns on its CO, you can bet there are repercussions.

   Debra dragged me home and dumped a huge load of saved up sexual cravings in my lap; like I’ve said before, pregnancy seems to really increase her desires. We don’t have a phone in our house, so I wasn’t surprised when one of the General’s runners knocked on our door at 8:30 in the morning.

   The young female Cadet said without preamble, “Major Menendez, Captain Monroe, the General is asking for you at the Intelligence Office immediately.”

   “When you say, immediately, immediately as in…?” I asked.

   “As in, come as you are, Sir, right now.” She pointed over her shoulder and added, “I’m to take you to the child center to drop off your children and then drive you straight to Intel.”

   I removed my duty belt from my gear rack and buckled it on, Debra retrieved jars of breast milk from the fridge for John as I picked up Danni Lynn, she put the bottles in a courier bag that had her side arm and spare mags attached to the front. She then picked up John and we locked the house and got into the cart the Cadet was driving. After the child care center, the Cadet raced down to and inside Asylum without slowing down.

   “Cadet,” Debra asked. “What is the rush?”

   “The general was very specific, Ma’am, he said he wanted the two of you as quickly as possible.”

   “Did he say why?” I asked.

   “No, Sir, I’m kind of low on the need to know list.”

   I glanced at Debra and could read the concern on her face. The cart stopped in front of the Intel Office and I assisted Debra at getting out; her belly was well past, huge. A guard on the inside of the office saw us pull up through the window and opened the door for us as we walked in; I could see Julia, Terry Martin, Gilly and General Packer in my old office. Packer saw us and waved us in.

   “General?” I said as I walked in.

   He pointed to a chair and said, “Daniel, have a seat, you too Debbie.”

   I pulled a chair out for Debra and she sat down as Gilly pulled up another chair and sat next to my wife. I sat down and before I could say anything, Debra asked, “This is about Danni, what’s happened?”

   I closed my eyes and slowly reopened them as Packer said, “Danni and her security team were ambushed outside of Austin. Initially, we thought everyone had been killed,” Debra gasped and her right hand went to her swollen belly as she leaned forward. “But we received a video this morning that proves she is alive.”

   “Show it to me,” I said.

   “It’s pretty rough, Daniel and with Debra’s condition…”

   Gilly leaned forward and said to Debra, “Sweetie, you shouldn’t see it, you should…Debra? Oh crap! Jerry! Her water broke!”

   I turned to her and put my arm around her, “Get a crash cart here immediately! Babe, come on, look at me.”

   She gasped out, “Not now! NOT NOW!”

   Julia was already on the phone and Terry was white as a sheet.

   Gilly looked up at Packer and shook her head, then she looked at me and did the same as Debra said, “I want to see the video.” She took a deep breath and leaned back in the chair.

   “Babe…”

   “Daniel, she needs us, I know she does.”

   “The baby needs you to get your head in the game, alright?”

   She grabbed her belly and leaned forward again. Gilly who had her hand on Debra’s stomach said, “Uh, oh! These contractions are very close together. Julia! How long on that crash cart?”

   “Pris had one there and it’s on its way now.”

   Debra’s contraction lessened and she said, “The video, show it to me!”

   “No,” I said. “Your job and only concern right this moment is the baby.”

   “Daniel, it’s Danni! Show me the…” She bent over again as the crash cart pulled up in front of Intel and the paramedics rushed in with a stretcher. They hurriedly got her on to it and before they carried her away to the clinic, she said, “Daniel! See me before you leave to go get her!”

    I held her hand as she was carried to the cart and I said, “I will, as soon as I finish here, I’ll be with you, I promise.” She was strapped down and driven away as she again suffered through another contraction.

   I walked back in and sat down as Gilly said, “I’m not needed here, so I’m going to the clinic. Someone needs to let me know what is happening, okay?”

   Julia answered, “We’ll all be there shortly, tell Debbie that.”

   I looked at Packer and repeated, “Show me.”

   Julia placed her laptop on the table and opened it up as Packer said, “Brace yourself, Daniel, she looks…just brace yourself.”

   Julia opened a folder and a still picture appeared, it was a picture of Danni, tied to a chair. Her arms had been secured behind her and over the back of the chair. Her ankles and knees were tied to the front legs of the chair and she was nude. Her breasts and belly were striped from blows and there were trickles of blood running down to her lap. Then the still picture became a video. Someone, a very big someone, walked up behind her and grabbed a handful of her hair and jerked her head up and back. Her face was almost unrecognizable and both eyes were completely swollen shut. The man reached around and forcefully opened her lips and mouth, I could see gaps where teeth should have been. This was identical to the way I had looked when Becker had finished with me.

   The man stepped from behind her and knelt down as he stared at the camera filming what he was doing, the actual image of his face was blurred and I suspected on purpose. “Daniel Smith, are you there? Do you see what I have done?” He was speaking with a German accent. The hair on my arms and the back of my neck stood on end. “Do not be concerned, she is alive.” He reached and grabbing one of her nipples, twisted it savagely causing Danni to suddenly squirm and try to look around herself until she focused on the probable location of the camera. I doubted she could actually see it as she shook her head as if to clear it and oriented her face in the direction of the camera again as her lips moved.

   “You must come for her, if you come, she will live, if not? It will take a long time for her to die and I will enjoy making her live longer; do you understand?” He smiled as he twisted her nipple again and she cried out in pain. “Send a message to the IP address of this broadcast and I will cease until you come. If you do not? Well, I am very experienced with this, I can make it last a lifetime if I choose. You wonder who I am. You killed my son, you knew him as Major Carl Becker, I am Heinrich Becker and I demand retribution. You, or her? I’m waiting, are you coming?”

   The video froze as I took a deep breath and said, “Do we know where this was sent from?”

   Terry quietly said, “Austin.”

   “I’ll leave as soon as possible.”

   Packer said, “No, you won’t. Daniel, there’s nothing you can do, he’s not going to release Danni just because you show up and surrender to him. You know that.”

   Julia leaned down and said, “Daniel, one of Terry’s friends from Cliff is deaf and reads lips, did you see Danni moving her lips at the beginning?”

   I nodded, “What was she saying?”

   “She said, ‘I love you, do not come, for the children.’ She said it over and over.”

   “I’ll be leaving as soon as possible; get me all the information you can,” I looked up at the three of them and said, “Understand?”

   “Daniel,” Packer said. “Your death will be for nothing; she may already be dead.”

   “No,” I said. “He’ll keep her alive as long as he can while he waits for me. She’s entertainment, an appetizer, he wants to guarantee the main course, me.”

   “Daniel…” Packer started to say.

   “I need a security team, is the one I had before still available?”

   “The platoon attached to you when you were traveling to negotiations?” He asked.

   “Yes.”

   “Rich Morrison is still…”

   “No married men, no fathers, no mothers, no one with dependents, volunteers only.” I kept staring at the image of the blurred face of Heinrich Becker on the screen. Packer kept trying to dissuade me and finally I put my foot down and said my wives needed me and I needed to get to the clinic before I left. Packer tried one last time to change my mind with guilt.

   “Daniel,” Packer said. “The chances of any of them coming back…”

   “Alright, I’ll go alone,” I said as I stood up. “I need to get to the clinic” I looked at Packer and said, “All I ask is, don’t get in the way.” I walked out of the Intel office and headed for the clinic.

   When I walked into the clinic, Doctor Horne and Pris were standing next to the admitting desk and nodded to me. Horne said, “Daniel, you’re late to the festivities.”

   Pris stepped forward and took my elbow as she led me down a corridor, “Listen, this probably is going to be a shock for you, especially with what’s happened with Danni, but…”

   I nodded and said, “It’s okay, Pris, Debra and Danni knew there was a possibility, but it doesn’t matter. The baby is just another added to the menagerie.”

   She frowned and said, “Well, I guess that’s one way to look at it, still though, a child no one was expecting can be challenging to a relationship, you know?”

   “Not to ours, really, I knew there was the possibility.” I was serious, what color the baby was didn’t matter. Not to me, the child was mine, period.

   She pulled the curtain aside and said, “Debbie? Look who’s here.”

   She didn’t smile at me; she looked drawn and off-color. “When are you leaving?” She asked.

   “As soon as possible; Becker’s father has her and is doing the same thing to her that Becker did to me.”

   “Oh, god, no!” Tears started running down her cheeks, “I’ll be ready in a day or two, then we’ll…”

   “Don’t be ridiculous, the baby needs you and your milk, there’s no way you can go.” I looked at the baby that was wrapped in her arms and obviously suckling, “Boy, or girl?”

   “Both,” she said as she exposed the baby’s pink face.

   “What?”

   She pointed to a bassinet beside the bed and said, “This one’s sister is in the crib.”

   “What?”

   “Twins, Daniel, you came loaded for bear, I guess.” A faint smile flitted across her face, but then was gone. “I want to be so happy, but without Danni to share in it…”

   “She will, one way or another.” I leaned over the bassinet and gazed at my new daughter. She was swaddled tightly and was making sucking motions with her mouth as she slept. “Names?” I asked.

   “Not yet, I’m still kind of at a loss, it’s hard to think, Danni…” She began to quietly cry again.

   Gilly stepped around the curtain and stopped beside me, “That was the fastest twin birthing I’ve ever heard of.” She said.

   “I thought she would still be in labor when I got here,” I said.

   “Gilly,” Debra said. “Find out if any of the mothers that are nursing can take care of these two while…”

   “NO!” I think the vehemence in the word surprised both Debra and Gilly. “Sorry, but no, these two, Danni Lynn, and John need their mother, you are not going. I will not allow my children to be raised the way I was.”

   Both of them stared at me and finally Gilly touched my arm and said, “The two of you need to talk; I’ll be back in a while.” She stepped around the curtain and was gone.

   “Debra, please, don’t endanger yourself, I can’t face losing both of you. I…the children need you more than ever now…please?”

   “Daniel, if you go after Danni, you will need me, you know you will. We’ll stop in Holloman and they’ll give us whatever we need, I promise.”

   “The children come first, when I said I refused to allow our kids to be raised the way I was, I meant it. You will be there for them like no one was for me. I will do everything I can to bring Danni home, but you have to be ready to be their mother alone, do you understand?”

   She squeezed her eyes shut and said, “You don’t think you’re coming back, how can I go on without you?”

   “Because of who you hold in your arms; that’s how you will go on if I don’t come back, but coming back is the plan, Debra. The plan is to bring Danni home, so she can see her new children. I will get her home, I promise.”

   She nodded and said, “Can you stay with me for a while? Just a little while? Hold your babies, so they can remember your scent?”

   I reached down and lifted my new daughter to my chest as I sat in a chair next to the bed. “Hey, there little one,” I softly said. “It’s daddy, and I’m going to bring your other mom home, I promise.”

   I sat there for several hours as our friends came and went while holding the children off and on. Finally, Debra reached out to me and I embraced her while we touched our faces together and soaked up each other’s scent. After a few long moments and promises, she said, “Go, go now and bring Danni home. Remember you said you would come for me, no matter what?” I nodded and she said, “I told Danni you would come for her too. I told her to never give up if she was taken because we would come for her. Go get her, Honey, and when you come home? Leave nothing behind but scorched earth. Show these assholes what waits for them when they act like feral animals. They don’t understand who they’re playing with, show them there are consequences.”

   I leaned down, kissed her, and then I whispered into her mouth, “I will, for you, for Danni, for all of us.” I kissed her again and then walked out of the clinic, I had preparations to make.

   I took a cart that was outside the clinic and drove home. Once there, I gathered my away gear, spare magazines, ammo, combat gear, everything, and then drove outside to where my truck was parked. When I arrived, the cab was folded forward and a crew of men were going over it with a fine-toothed comb. I recognized Sergeant Amendola and asked him, “Sergeant, what’s going on?”

   “We heard you were going on and extended trip, Major, we’re just making sure your truck is good to go. There are four fifty-gallon drums of diesel in the back and your main tank is topped off. We changed your oil and checked everything else, she’s ready for a long-range trip, Sir.”

   “I appreciate it, Sergeant, but who told you to do this?”

   “Ranger Lieutenant Morrison, Sir, he was by earlier and said you needed it done. Anyway, we’re done with her and she’s ready to leave when you are.”

   “Thank you, Sergeant.” I opened the back of the truck and tossed in the majority of my gear and then started to close it up as four of the Mercedes trucks and a fuel tanker pulled to a stop behind my own. Rich Morrison stepped out of the first and waved to me.

   “Rich? What’s going on?”

   “Did they finish with your ride?”

   “Yes, but why are you here?”

   “The General called me and said to get the platoon loaded up because we were headed into Indian country with you. He told me about Danni and we’re going with you.”

   “Packer told you? Then he also told you I said unmarried volunteers with no dependents only.”

   “If it was me out there, or Nadia, you, Danni and Debra would be the first to gear up and come for us. Nadia knows the situation and she would be coming along if it wasn’t for the boys, so your security team is here, are we leaving now?”

   “Rich, this is more than likely going to end badly, you might want to rethink the situation.”

   He stepped closer and lowered his voice, “Daniel, these men and women are all volunteers, we know what we’re doing and where you’re leading us, every single one of us. If you go alone, yeah, it’s going to end badly, but you’re not alone, there’s forty-eight of us, all four squads demanded to be allowed to come, so let’s get this show on the road.”

   I stared at him for a moment and then said, “Anything else I need to know?”

   “Yeah, the General says keep our radio use down and make sure we stop at Holloman, he’s made some arrangements there for us.”

   I nodded and said, “Okay, like you said, let’s get this show on the road.” I finished loading my gear and closed the back of the truck. Three of the Rangers off-loaded from their vehicle and climbed into my truck with me.

   “Major?” A sergeant said. “My name is Lawrence.” He pointed to a woman and said, “Corporal Kate Summers.” Then he pointed to the second man, “Jimmy Slate, we have the honor of being your personal security until relieved.” He nodded to Jimmy and said, “You’re driving, let’s hit it.”