Chapter 40

The F15 was now circling us widely. I felt sure he was staying out of range of the stingers. I told Aimee to tell the others to do as he wanted and to let Jasmine know what was going on.

"Jasmine, he's forcing us down."

"Roger."

Gloria and Helen headed for a spot to set down and we followed. When we were on the ground ten armed women approached us. They all had M16s. We left all our arms in our helicopters. The women motioned us away from them and then one put down her M16 and patted us all down. They seemed friendly enough after that and directed us to a small hangar.

The hangar was air-conditioned and we all went in and sat down and just chatted about nothing. I tried once to ask for some details about their situation but they told me to wait for Steve. He was the F15's pilot. We were in a bad spot, but I didn't know exactly how bad. Seventy-five percent of my combat pilots were with me though, so I knew it could get really bad.

We could hear the F15 land and as I still heard its engine I assumed he taxied close to the hangar we were being held in. He entered the hangar a few minutes after I heard the jet wind down. I hadn't seen any helicopters outside. That didn't seem to matter at the time though.

Steve came over and introduced himself. He proclaimed himself the leader. Most of the women seemed to agree. I noticed from their body language three of them weren't overjoyed by the announcement.

Steve asked where we were form. I told him we were staying within a hundred miles. He wanted it narrowed closer than that but I refused. Now I knew what Frank had felt like when he'd told me he wasn't going to reconnect my access to the data center. Steve held most of the cards. We were under his control.

I knew we weren't going to tell him anything that could damage the other's chances. If Brenda could get the Patriots working Steve would not be a threat. With the PAC-2 weapons she could practically take him out as he flew over his own base.

He had no hope of getting to our compound by flight. He didn't have enough manpower to take it if he arrived on foot. Especially with the place's security looking like an ordinary fence and pinpointing every invader's position. They were safe if Brenda could just turn on the missiles. We on the other hand were not safe.

When Steve asked why we came here I told him the truth. I said that we were looking for F15s for our protection. I told him we had been attacked by an F16 yesterday. I explained it had only had one crew and only the 20mm cannon and we had shot it down and captured the pilot. I told him she had been headed here and when she told us that, we were reminded the air base was here and we came to see if we could get an F15 or two.

"I don't think I'll be sharing any aircraft right now. I have plenty, but I'm not sure I want anyone that knows about me to have any," Steve said, grinning.

He was like I expected all pilots, all male ones anyway, to be. He was cocky and assured of his greater intelligence. I was assured he was intelligent too. Dumbasses don't make it to be pilots. Cocky assholes often did though. I was hoping he would be extremely over confident. He questioned me some more and I told him how many people I was leading. I didn't mention I had two experienced former military personnel still at home. I let him think all my trained people were with me.

I didn't say it, but he assumed it and I didn't correct him. In the back of my mind I was desperately trying to construct a scenario that would let Brenda and Jasmine rescue us. I could tell Steve didn't even consider this.

I complimented him on his organization and on his foresight in obtaining the F15s and the airbase. He was cocky. He was also a braggart. He told me more with his bragging than I would have ever hoped for by questioning him. He had only taken us by the slimmest of luck.

He hadn't scrambled because he knew we were coming. He was just getting up for a daily look around. The F15s radar had warned him we were in the area as soon as he got a little altitude.

Three of the women were also pilots. Even better they were F15 pilots with combat experience. He pointed them out and it was the three that hadn't seemed all that happy when he announced his leadership.

The rest of the women were ground crew. I lusted after them when he pointed out one who was a helicopter mechanic and two who were jet mechanics. The rest had worked loading ordinance and fueling fighters and doing small maintenance work. I hate to admit it, but I also lusted after their beauty. They all had the fit bodies I had come to associate with former military service. Three were blondes, one redhead, three Latinos and three black women.

The black women were the first blacks I had seen since the sickness. I have to say they were exceptional examples of black beauty. None of them were light skinned. They were all dark black. They had wonderfully jutting asses and more than one of them caught me staring at hers. None of them mentioned it though.

The Latinos were also the pick of their breed. Living in Austin I had developed a soft spot in my heart and a hard place in my jeans for Latino women. Their flashing eyes and beautiful skin just rolled my socks down. The three here were in excellent shape. Their breasts seemed nearly identical in size and they were big. They seemed larger than C Cups but not quite D Cups. I would have to examine them more closely later, if I lived long enough.

I just let Steve keep the floor and he regaled us with his exploits before and after the sickness. With his cockiness he had been blessed with remarkably poor perception of others feelings. His tales and stories seemed to alienate his women either one or more at a time. I think he managed at least a slight insult for each and every one of them.

We had been captured just before nine am. Steve had been with us since ten. He talked for nearly five hours, mostly about himself with very few questions for me. He said it was lunchtime at three fifteen PM. Two of the black beauties warned up and served MREs for us all, mine was some sort of chicken stew or the like. It was edible, but I wondered what these women would think of a home cooked meal for every meal. Helen must have been wondering also.

"Wow, I haven't had an MRE since I left the service. I'd forgotten what they were like," Helen said.

"What do you eat then?" One of the black women asked her.

"Oh regular food. You know. Like for breakfast we had bacon and scrambled eggs with homemade bread toasted. Last night we had smothered pork chops with sweet potatoes and black-eyed peas. That was one of the best meals yet," Helen said.

"Powdered eggs I guess?" Ask one of the women pilots.

"Well we may have to use them later. Now we still have hundreds of dozens of fresh eggs. I'm sure most of them will go bad before we can eat them up. I don't know how long it will be before Johnny get his hens laying," I said.

"How have you kept any fresh eggs from spoiling since the power went out," Steve asked.

"Well we have power. But we keep the eggs in a refrigerated truck's trailer. We had a whole truck load of them but we left half to load other food."

"Well I'm sorry our food isn't up to your standards," Steve said, rather testily.

"Oh don't mind about us. We've eaten MREs before. We have about a hundred thousand stored in one of the barns just in case. We probably won't need them now since we've gathered so many cattle. We're also preparing some land to raise crops," I said.

Steve acted like he didn't hear that and started talking about himself again. I let him since I could see it wasn't bringing him any closer to his women and I knew as long as he was talking about himself he wouldn't be asking me any questions.

I was worried he might run out of anecdotes, but I needn't have. He began repeating some of them and I just acted as interested as I had the first time. Helen and Gloria finally caught on and started asking him to explain some things whenever they could get a word in. Aimee finally tumbled too and the hours just dragged by for everyone but Steve.

I was reminded of the part in the Hobbit when Gandalf had kept the trolls talking and arguing until daylight came and turned them to stone. I was afraid even Steve couldn't talk until dawn though and I was aware he wouldn't be turned to stone by the light no matter how much a troll I thought he was.

Amazingly he talked until nine-fifteen PM though. He didn't even slow down much when we had another MRE for supper at around seven. I guess he would have been talking yet if we hadn't heard a Barrett detonate one of the 50 caliber rounds and then heard a tire of some kind explode.

"Cover them," Steve ordered the women.

They obeyed. They picked up their M16s that had never gotten far from them.

Steve might be a good pilot and I'm sure he was smart and brave. He didn't know shit about combat on the ground though. He walked right out the front door with only his 45 ACP in his hand. Hell it was dark and he didn't even take a flashlight. It wouldn't have done him any good if he had, but God damn it was a stupid move.

"I don't know who you are out there but you'd better get your asses up her and put down your weapons," Steve yelled.

I couldn't believe this. His fucking F15 wasn't going to help him out in this matter. I wondered just what he had on his mind. I knew he didn't have any other members in his group. As much as he'd talked he couldn't have kept from mentioning them. I even knew his sister's first son was named Bradley. We heard the Barrett detonate again and then we heard Steve scream. Then we heard Jasmine.

"Throw you gun away and we'll come and try to stop the bleeding. We have a doctor on the way just in case and she'll do what she can for you," Jasmine said, shouting in a very authoritative voice.

One of the black women had started at the sound of Jasmine's voice. She acted as if she might have recognized it. I told the women they should put their weapons down now. I said Steve was obviously wounded and that my girls would be coming in here shortly.

"If they come in here you'll be the first to die. Just remember that," One of the women pilots said.

"Jack, are you OK," Jasmine yelled, from much closer now.

"So far," I said.

The black woman that'd seemed to recognize Jasmine's voice looked at me. She asked me the name of the woman who had been yelling. I told her it was Jasmine. She ran near the door.