Chapter 93

Present – Jens, Yasmeen and Zarika – Traveling back to the cabin

Damn this is taking forever! Yeah, after the cab company disabled the taxi and Yasmeen accidentally shot out the deputy's window we bailed out of the cab and now we had to run to the cabin. Oh, don't get me wrong, I love running but if the e-mails I've been getting from the security system are accurate, all hell is breaking loose. Plus I don't dare push the girls any faster - thank God they didn't bring a crapload of stuff with them.

We finally reach the drive and head down the road for the cabin. When I hear a vehicle behind us, I command, "Quick - everyone hide."

We duck behind some bushes, the vehicle stops and I hear, " Ah wonder if ye three nee' a ride?"

Thank God it wasn't the sheriff or a deputy! I would recognize that accent anywhere. I step out from behind the bush and accept, "Hell yes, we need to get to the cabin as soon as possible. Something weird is going on."

Hammer says, "Hop in burds."

The three of us get into his car and I ask, "Where did you get the car?"

He states, "A mukker ay mine loaned it tae me."

It is obvious from the car and the flower vase on the dash the friend of his is a woman. Which also explains where he's been. I begin to catch him up on things until Yasmeen interrupts, "Excuse me Sir, why do you wear a dress? Are you one of those ... Uh ... What's the damn word Zarika?"

Zarika answers, "A homosexual."

At first I worry Hammer will be offended but then he laughs and says, "Thes is a kilt an' nae a frock. Dae ye ken th' difference atween a frock an' kilt?"

I bite my tongue when Yasmeen continues, "No Sir, I do not know the difference between a frock and a kilt."

He winks at me and replies, "If ye wear underwear 'en 'at makes it a frock."

Yasmeen giggles, "Do you mean you go commandant?"

Zarika corrects her, "She means commando? And doesn't that present problems."

Hammer grins at me and answers, "Nae it lets mah wee jimmies hang free in th' win'. Woods ye loch tae see?"

Yasmeen and Zarika giggle like crazy, we round the corner, approach the gate and it looks like a fucking circus. There's an ambulance crashed into the gate with several sheriff cars and one unmarked car sitting ahead of us.

I exclaim, "Shit, I was worried about that, the sheriff deputies are here for me."

Yasmeen begins to cry, "I do not want to be picked up by the fuzz."

Hammer stops the car and advises, "Yo' three slip frm the car n' I'll see at's going on."

We slip away from Hammer's car, make a wide loop and jump the fence, which of course sets off the alarm. Then we head toward the cabin...

Present – Mira – Heading to the cabin on foot

After I terminate the Puma concolar, Alexi also tumbles to the firmament. My greatest concern is in my haste to save him, I might have accidentally shot him. The pain is still too great to use my bipedal units, so I unceremoniously slide on my derriere toward him.

I approach Alexi and notate something terrible has occurred, then my tympanic units detect a noisy approach. I am between a boulder and a rigid place. I must render immediate aid to Alexi but I must also protect both of us.

I fire a duality of warning bursts in the direction of the noise, reach out to touch Alexi and...

Present – Todd – Mission to the gate

I hear two three rounds bursts from a rifle. I fix the position and head toward the infiltrators. I can barely make out two forms, one lying on the ground and the other sliding toward the supine one. I continue to approach when the form that's crawling fires two bursts in my general direction. I drop to the ground and crawl toward them. However, it's strange because neither of them are moving...

Present – SA Hotchner – Investigating at the gate to the cabin

Finally I get a damn break! The taxi company reports one of their cabs was stolen and the driver was headed here. From the description, the culprit was Ms. Donaldson. Finally, I have her exactly where I want her and there is no way she is going to slip out of a charge of grand theft auto. Besides that, she fired upon a sheriff's deputy. Yeah, her ass was finally mine!

We arrive at her property and there is an ambulance which was stolen from the hospital blocking the gate. We try multiple times to raise the cabin on the intercom but no one answers. Then the alarm sounds at the cabin, and we hear several three round bursts from a weapon. I look at the deputies and order, "Well, if this isn't probable cause then nothing is. I'm heading up to the cabin."

One of the deputies comments, "Well there's no way in hell you're moving this ambulance without a tow truck."

I confidently answer, "Then I'm going to walk."

The other deputy advises, "Suit yourself. All I know is I wouldn't be going walking around on her land at night. Especially not after the whole issue they had with the drug cartel army."

The other deputy adds, "Plus, they have some sort of high tech security system that's not to be messed with."

I laugh, "You two are cowards." I open the trunk of my car, put on my attack vest, grab a rifle and jump the fence. It triggers the alarm system and I suddenly have a few second thoughts...

Present – Jack and Ira – Cabin

I enter the code to open the tunnel door, then the damn alarm goes off and the door's locked again. I complain, "Ira, I thought you said this damn security system is working correctly."

She checks the terminal and states, "General Sir! It is! Someone has just breached the fence."

She enters the code to unlock the tunnel door, I reach for the door again and the damn alarm is triggered and the door locks again.

I order, "Stand the fuck back so I can beat some sense into this system again."

She turns and states, "General, remember what happened last time you did this? Once again someone breached the perimeter of the property and triggered the system. We can not ascertain if the forces are foe or friend so the logical step is to access the tunnel doors, make sure our families are safe and then lock down the tunnels.

I enter the code and this time the alarm isn't triggered. As I open the door, right inside the door are Masha and Ivan. Ivan holds out his hands and says Gapa! I take him and question, "Masha didn't you have any problems with the rats?"

My loving wife answers, "No my Jack, no rats entered the tunnels. But how are you my love?"

I answer, "I'm fine. Oh, I got bit a couple times."

Masha scolds me, "Jack, we need to get you to the hospital because getting bitten by a rat is a serious injury."

I approach Ms. Morgan and question, "Ms. Morgan are you without injury?"

She smiles and says, "Yes Ira, I am fine how are you."

I complain, "One of the vile rodents bit me on my derriere."

Ms. Reynolds overhears and declares, "We need to get both of you to the hospital to be checked out. Rats carry many diseases."

I inform her, "I agree with that statement, however the perimeter has been breached multiple times by unknown forces. We must withdraw into the safety of the subterranean tunnel system until we can ascertain the identity of the forces."

Masha orders, "Then I will make sure to cleanse the bites you both have received. Jack and Irina follow me."

I am surprised that my wife Masha didn't have any problems with rats in the tunnels so on the way to the treating of my bites I decide to take a side trip. I say, "I need to use the can first."

The minute I step into a bathroom I know why they didn't have any rat problems...

Present – Todd – Mission to the gate

The two unidentified persons that fired toward me haven't moved. So I jump up, run toward them and realize it's Mira and Alexi – they are both unconscious! I pull my tactical light from my vest shine it on them and realize that they killed the puma that I had wounded earlier. I note the collar on the puma and realize what happened. One of the rounds that killed the puma damaged the collar. If these were like the collars we used, any damage to them inflicted a deadly shock to the animal.

I use my bow to break the connection between Mira and Alexi but cannot loosen Alexi's hands on the puma's tail. So I take out my knife and severe the tail.

I kneel beside Alexi and do not find a pulse, I move to Mira and believe I find a faint pulse. Therefore, I begin CPR on Alexi...

Present – Jens – Traveling back to the cabin

We're headed toward the cabin when I notice a light and say to the girls, "You two stay here while I go an investigate who the hell is on my property."

As I approach I realize it's Todd and call, "Todd, it's Jens and I'm coming in."

I walk into the light and see that he's performing CPR on Alexi. He motions to Mira with his head, so I drop and check her but I can't find a pulse. I whack the hell out of her chest and begin CPR...

Present – Yasmeen and Zarika – Traveling back to the cabin

Ms. Donaldson has left us alone in the darkness so I question, "Zarika, do you think we should follow her?"

Zarika hushes me, "Yasmeen, someone is coming."

I ask for help, "What should we do?"

Then Zarika comes up with a brilliant idea.

I sit on the ground and pretend to cry, the person walks up and demands, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Zarika springs on him from behind and hits him over the head with a big rock. The man falls to the ground.

We search his clothes, find a flashlight, turn it on then I realize we might have made a mistake. The back of his vest says FBI. I worry and ask, "Zarika if he is FBI then we might be in big trouble."

Zarika says, "We will not be in trouble if we are not here when he wakes up."

We take his guns and run toward the light and Ms. Donaldson...

Present – Ira – Cabin

We prepare to lock down the tunnels, then my chest suddenly experiences pain and I realize my sister Mira has been injured. I look at everyone and state, "Mira has severe physical problems and I must go to her."

Ms. Morgan declares, "There's no way in hell you're going by yourself."

I look at General Pain and request, "Sir, might you detain Ms. Morgan. If she comes with me she will only slow me up."

He replies, "Liz she's right, I'll go instead."

Masha complains, "Jack, we need to promptly treat those rat bites."

He laughs, "Hell, the team is more important than my tired old butt."

We leave the tunnels and I suggest, "We should stop by my room for some medical supplies."

We acquire the trauma kits from my room and proceed rapidly into the night. It is almost like I can perceive Mira guiding us...

Present – Jens – Traveling back to the cabin

As we're doing CPR on Mira and Alexi, Todd pauses a second and signs to me. I pull out my phone and make a call since we need a helicopter here to transport these two to the hospital.

I return to doing CPR on Mira when I hear someone headed our way, I look and determine it's the girls. But where the hell did they get the weapons? I question, "Where did you two get the guns."

Zarika quickly provides an explanation, "Ms. Donaldson, we are sorry. But a man was sneaking up on us. We didn't know who he was so I hit him over the head with a big rock."

Yasmeen adds, "Then we realized he was an FBI agent. So we took his guns and came here to tell you."

I think that it's probably that damn SA Hotchner - he's been after me forever. I get ready to answer the girls when we hear from the direction of the cabin, "Mira we are coming!"

Ira and Jack arrive but they look like they've been over hundreds of miles of bad roads. Their clothes are covered with blood and something that smells even worse. Ira drops beside Mira, checks for a pulse and announces, "I will prepare and injection." She prepares Mira and gives her and injection right into the heart and orders, "Ms. Donaldson, please monitor her pulse."

I check and can now feel a faint pulse. She moves over to Alexi, prepares another injection, cleans his chest and injects it right into his heart. Then she monitors his pulse and says, "Thank God I perceive a faint pulse."

Jack pulls me to the side and starts telling his story, "Jens you aren't going to believe what happened to the cabin! Someone dumped thousands of rats into the septic system and they came up into the cabin and attacked us. We killed all the fuckers but the cabin is a mess. By the way it was a smart idea to make the toilets in the tunnels incinerating toilets. If they had been connected to the septic system then the rats would have gotten in the tunnels."

I interrupt Jack, "We have several bigger problems to deal with: First, I stole a taxi to get here faster and the cab company quickly disabled it. Then Yasmeen accidentally fired a shot into a deputy sheriff's car, Zarika clocked SA Hotchner and the girls stole his guns."

Jack states his opinion, "Jens, they are going to fry the three of you if they catch you."

I explain my plan, "Well, I was hoping we could hide out in the tunnels until I can get my lawyer to fix things. Is the house livable?"

He shook his head, "Hell no! The place is a blood nasty mess!"

I think for a moment and order, "Okay, let's move everyone into the garage and set up bunk beds. We will get a professional cleaner in to take care of the house and the girls and I will hide out in the tunnels."

Jack adds fuel to the fire, "Jens, you might also want to check the security system, I'll swear it acted like it was possessed. The damn house even tried to kill us."

Todd comes up beside us and signs, "He is right Jennifer, someone has hacked into the security system. Until I forced it to reboot using my stun gun, it was going to kill us."

That pisses me off and so I growl, "No one hacks my system and gets away with it! I'm taking the girls and heading to the tunnels then I'm going to totally purge and reinitialize the security system. A chopper should be here soon to transport Mira and Alexi to the hospital. I will make the calls for the cleaners and also the call to get the ambulance removed from the front gate."

Todd signs, "What ambulance?"

I explain, someone tried to crash through the front gate with an ambulance."

We hear Alexi weakly state, "I am sorry Ms. Donaldson, that was my mistake."

I look and see that Zarika and Yasmeen are taking care of Alexi while Ira is taking care of Mira.

Todd signs, "Jennifer, these were not your ordinary rats. They had been trained so that human flesh was their primary food source."

Jack complains, "How the fuck..." Then he stopped and muttered, "Those sick fuckers."

I look at everyone and announce, "Okay, we've underestimated Megan and her damn drug boss too many times and we've paid too high a price for it. If this fucker wants a war, then he's going to get the damn biggest war of his life! Jack, rally everyone that you can, get on the horn with Thom and tell him we need as many of the TSIFFTS teams as they can spare and find out what the hell they've been doing. But the most important thing is that we need to have guards posted twenty-four seven."

I look at the girls and explain, "We're going to hide out in the tunnel until my lawyer can fix the legal problems."

Present – SA Hotchner – Investigating at the gate to the cabin

I wake the fuck up and I hurt like hell! What's going on? Then I realize some damned rat is biting the hell out of me. I reach for my pistol but discover it's missing, so is my rifle. I jump up and run like hell for the gate but the damn rat is hot on my heels...

Present – Ben – Austin Texas

It's getting close to dawn and I do need to catch some sleep before practice today. I head back to Margarita's apartment while the damn little dog follows me. We get to the door, I knock, Margarita opens it, looks pissed for a minute until she sees the damn little dog then she picks her up and begins talking to her and says, "PavErast where did you find such a nice little dog."

I answer, "Well, she sort of found me."

The dog goes over and begins to nose the golden cat that I stole. I plug it into the wall then she sits in front of it and nods her head in time with the waving paw. Margarita gives me a hell of a hug and kiss and says, "Thank you for bringing Motita to me?"

I question, "What the hell is Motita?"

She laughs and says, "It's Spanish for little speck."

I wave my hand and say, "Well, it's been a long night and I need to get some sleep before practice today."

Margarita says, "Yes your exploits tonight were all over the news. However you burned down the old Donkey Kong playground."

Damn, now I know why it seemed so familiar to me - I was physically playing Donkey Kong! I head over to the couch and fell asleep right as my head hit the pillow.

Present – Stacy and Samantha – Escaping from the vets

I wonder how the hell Ben ever put up with me since I was as bad as Sam when I was first together with Ben. At least she listens! I check and find she's finished with Bo and has moved on to Patches without being asked. It's a good thing for her that she made her curry comb mistake with Bo first. If she had done that to Patches, Patches would have bit the hell out of her!

I finish heating the MREs, open the packets and add some wine like Ben used to do. Then I call out, "Sam, it's time to eat."

She comes over and says, "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."

Bo nickers and Sam seems astonished, "Did that horse just understand what I said?"

I mention, "Bo and Patches are pretty damn smart as horses go so I wouldn't be surprised if he understood at least some of what you said."

She takes a bite of her MRE and exclaims, "Wow, this is really good! From the way the Mossad guys talked these were barely edible."

I explain, "They are unless you add a few extra things to them."

She asks, "Was this something else that Ben taught you?"

I nod affirmatively then say, "Well, I need to get the hammock setup for the night." I take a tarp, some rope and tape, climb up in the tree and make a hammock like Ben had done. Then I come down and say, "I will take the first watch while you sleep, then it's your turn."

She says, "Goodnight Stacy and thank you for everything." Then she climbs up in the tree and crawls into the hammock. I'm thankful for the silence and wonder ... No, I decide that Ben felt the same way about me ... No wonder he left me, I was every bit as annoying as Samantha! Well, when I find him, and I will find him, things will be different.

I take out Sam's mobile phone and make a very important call...

Present – Byron, Thom and Inga – Reconnaissance, otherwise known as terrestrial foreplay for successful ground warfare

Something didn't feel right about the sailboat so I spun the dingy around and headed back toward the shore and my feelings are right! The sailboat explodes in a huge fireball, pieces of sailboat are flying everywhere and the wave causes the dingy to capsize.

Son of a bitch! The damn dingy capsizes and we are in a hell of a fix. With all the gear we have hidden under our fake drunk clothes, we begin to sink like rocks. I start to struggle to drop my gear but I can't get out of my damn tactical vest, I look over and see Byron is in the same damn fix that I'm in.