Chapter 26

Artemis

Be careful what you wish for, you may get it, that's all I can say.

I was living a simple life, back in Austin, Texas. I rode my bicycle to 'Bagels by Benjamin' every day. I'd get myself a nice cheap breakfast, and a little exercise, too. Sometimes, I'd do a little shopping before going back home. After that, I'd usually play video games, trying to win some money in an online contest or something. I'd chat online with my friends, then have some dinner about four or five in the afternoon. Once in a while I'd ride my motorcycle to a club and listen to some music. There's great music in Austin. All kinds of music, classical, jazz, blues, rock, cowboy ... anything you could ask for. Once in a great while I'd meet some guy. Austin had anything you could ask for in that category, too.

Then this lunatic moved in, next door, and I fell in love. In love with the adventure of going out in the world to do something. Something that might mean something. He was nuts, damaged by the war in strange ways. That's okay. I was damaged, too. As a little girl, I had been trapped in the back of a car my father had driven into a bridge support. I listened while my parents died in the front of the car. Think that leaves you with a little PTSD? I learned to cope. I went to live with an aunt, saw a shrink who helped me get myself together, and eventually moved back to Austin when I turned eighteen. I like the city.

But I came to love the lunatic. He was paranoid. He had a man living in his head, that gave him messages. Messages about future events. He met an awesome person who lived in the internet. She is an abiological person, a nonhuman person, and, nevertheless, a very, very good person. The lunatic had blackouts, and periods when he mentally 'went away' and hallucinated about past events. I do that, too ... well, I did do that, too ... before. I don't, anymore, now that I have Zeus to take care of. He's my hero.

Now I live in a Hummer, most of the time. I drive around the country with Don Quixote, tilting at windmills. They are bad windmills, and we beat them, too, skewering them with our lance that fires bullets. I have a home base on a Navajo Reservation. It'll be the first home I've ever lived in, that has an escape tunnel.

It needs to have an escape tunnel, because Zeus is a hunted man. Hunted, for reasons I do not understand, by some group called '5225.' They almost captured him in Florida, but we escaped, thanks to Martinez, who visited in my head; thanks to Sonny, the dog, who lead me to Zeus; and thanks to me, who disabled a trained mercenary and dragged Zeus to our car. Then they almost killed ME in California, but Zeus rescued me and probably killed one of them.

Of course, we had more windmills to tilt at. We needed to kill a Mexican cartel leader, his customer, an Asian drug king pin, and rescue some girls, one of whom is Martinez' daughter.

This whole adventure started in May. Now it wasn't even six months later, and we were going to get another bad guy. We were driving to Rhode Island, by way of Benton Harbor, Michigan. There we were going to get a bomb. Then we'd drive into the teeth of Frankenstorm, where Zeus was going to go for a nice little swim.

I had wanted to get out of my shell, and do something. Well, we were 'doing something' all right. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it!

The online map service says it is 1584 miles from our Arizona home-to-be, to Benton Harbor, MI, and that it will take twenty-two hours and fifty-four minutes to drive there. Of course, the mapping service doesn't stop for gas, or food, or have to go to the bathroom. We made it in twenty-eight hours, with Io driving, of course. We were taking the camper with us, but we really didn't need it for anything much, except a hiding place for the rifle, which we weren't planning on using. I guess we'd stow the bomb parts in there, too. We never slept in there, except when we were in a campgrounds, waiting ... or at home, waiting.

We cruised up the central portion of the interstate system on I-40, I-35, I-44, I-80, and I-94. It would have been nice to stop in St. Louis or Chicago or even Oklahoma City, all cities we had to drive thru ... well, around, actually ... but we had an evil-doer to kill. This guy was a real bad guy. He bought young girls to keep as sex slaves, he sold weapons to the underworld, and to Mexican cartels. That was just the short list of things we knew of. He was going to get his, courtesy of Don Quixote.

Benton Harbor is a smallish city on the Southeastern coast of Lake Michigan. It's on the 'left' side of Michigan, about twenty-five miles north of South Bend, Indiana. Zeus talked to Scotty McDougal while we were driving. It was interesting to hear them verify each other's identity.

Zeus: "Scotty McDougal, please. Harv Middleton calling."

Scotty: "This is me. Do I know you, Harv?"

Zeus: "You usta. I know The Scott Machine from a former life. You used to know me as Lieutenant SonOfABitch."

Scotty: "Oh! THAT Harv Middleton. Indeed, t'was a former life. I hear you got busted up in 'Ghan. So did I, as a matter of fact. Cost me my right arm. I hear you caught an IED on the right side of your head. Nasty things, those IEDs."

Zeus: "Unless you grew it back, it was the left arm you lost. I saw 'em strap you onto that plane back to Ramstein. And I got hit on the left side of my head. I can show you the titanium plate, when I get there, tomorrow."

Scotty: "You coming here? What's the occasion? It's kinda slow and I was hoping to take Friday off."

Zeus: "I won't take up much of your time. Before I explain, let me say that this call is scrambled from my end, but not from yours. So, just listen. Then you can say yea or nay, okay?"

Scotty: "Roger that."

Zeus: "I'm going fishing in Narragansett Bay, and I'm after some really bad fish. Remember the story about Black Jack Worth? How he got busted a few months back for buying young girls and keeping them as sex slaves? Well ... him."

Scotty: "Yeah. I took note of that 'cause I've got a girl about that age. Made me sick to my stomach. What's he doing in ... that body of water?"

Zeus: "Long story. The short version is that billionaires like him don't go to jail. They run off to somewhere with no extradition treaty with the U.S. He's going to make a run for it. I just don't want to see him get away with it. So ... I'm looking for something that will make a big boat go boom. Something that won't be traceable to either of us, that will look like a natural explosion if forensics ever gets involved. Got anything like that?"

Scotty: "Aye, I know what you need. It's not an off the shelf item though. I'd have to make it special for ya."

Zeus: "Cost is no object. I've got a Sugar Daddy. I'd want it to go off when it's out to sea a ways. I don't know when he's gonna run for it, but it's soon. A timer is out. Maybe something hooked to a GPS trigger?"

Scotty: "Oh, that's doable. But it won't be so natural looking. Say ... you need any backup on this? I know a few guys."

Zeus looked at Arti.

Zeus: "No, but thanks. I've got my backup. She'll meet you on Friday. Just make sure it can be applied underwater, and won't fall off."

Scotty: "Jesus Q. Christ! Did you try and teach your grandmother to suck eggs? I know what you need, and I'll make it ... You know where we are? ... There's an island in the middle of the St. Joseph River. Only one way in, so you can't get lost, even with half the brain you got left. Take Anchor's Way past Shoreview Way. There's one building on the right, with no name. That's us."

Zeus: "We should be there about noon. Thanks a lot, Chief. You remember Navajo Pete? He sends his regards."

Scotty: "That's MASTER Chief to you, Lieutenant Snotnose. I'll see ya when I see ya."

Zeus laughed as he terminated the connection. "Same old Scotty. Best damn guy with explosives and barnacle glue, ever."

"Don't you know anybody," I asked, "who isn't a Master Chief?"

"The SEALs is not a place for amateurs, Arti. We took the best of the best, and they earned every stripe of their promotions."

He fell into silence, remembering. I jostled him.

"I don't mind a little reminiscing, but don't take any long, unpleasant trips. I need you here."