Chapter 17

Present – Jack – At the cabin

I'm working my way to Masha who has just eliminated another suicide bomber, when - Son of a Bitch! Some bastard in a Marine uniform is pointing his rifle at Masha. I raise my rifle, but others are in the line of fire so I yell, "Everyone down on the ground!"

Unfortunately, not everyone complies, but then thank God!!!

Present – Ira, Mira and Alexi – At the cabin

It is obvious that many of the troops who have taken residence at Ms. Donaldson's domicile are not and have not ever been military (they are extremely easy to occu-locate because of their easily interpreted countenance). The smell of detonated RDX is heavy in the air as these charlatans are suicide bombers. I hate suicide bombers! They are cowards of the greatest magnitude who require utilization of extreme elimination methods.

My tympanic receptors cognate the vocal exchange between Jack and Masha Reynolds. Jack commands everyone to relocate upon terra firma and I occu-locate the problem. One of the charlatans is approaching Masha with evil intent and Jack can not fire his weapon because innocents are in the fire of line. I withdraw my katana and vocalize a 'kai' with all my energy while the charlatan turns toward me. I hurl my katana with full force...

Ira launches her katana at one of the charlatan Marines and I am amazed as it strikes him between the eyes and transverses it's entire length and comes to rest with its hilt resting against his forehead. Not to be done out, I withdraw my pistol and began to eliminate the other charlatan Marines. Unfortunately my action, while successful, produces an undesired effect...

Mira begins to shoot some of the Marines, then other Marines turn their weapons upon her. I level my rifle and prepare to protect my sisters when we hear...

Present – Jack – At the cabin

It's pandemonium here! Ira saved my wife, then Mira begins shooting Marines which pisses off other Marines. They get ready to fire at Mira so I command, "Everyone stand the hell down! That includes Ira, Mira and Alexi!"

Thank God they all lower their weapons, however the Marines grumble. I look at Glen and command, "Get control of your troops."

Glen orders, "All my Marines shut the hell up." He then looks at the twins and demands, "Mira, why did you shoot my Marines?"

Mira replies, "The ones I assaulted with my weapon are not Marines but charlatans."

Ira adds, "Yes, it is obvious to us which ones are the pretenders."

The Marines look at each other then all hell breaks loose again!!!

Present – Jens – In a world of hurt

When they finally remove Jim from on top of us, I sit up. After I move, Maria sits up and groans, "Damn, that's the last devil dog pile I want to be under."

I ask the doctor, "How are Matt and Jim?"

He replies, "Matt is doing much better than Jim. When the bomb detonated, a piece of the carbon fiber hand guard of Jim's rifle broke off and embedded itself into his leg. The shrapnel unfortunately damaged his femoral artery. He's unconscious but we have temporarily stopped the bleeding until he has surgery."

I gulp and question, "Will he survive?"

The doctor emphatically states, "Hell yes he will!"

Maria then orders, "Jack and Linus, we need to protect Jens as we move her back into the tunnels."

Then all hell breaks loose as the Marines start fighting with each other...

Present – Maria – In a world of hurt

All hell has broken loose! All that I can assume is with the twisted sisters back and being able to recognize the men who aren't Marines, those imposters have decided it was time to inflict as much damage as possible. I grab Jens under the arm, help her up and say, "We need to get the hell out of here."

We dash toward the tunnel as rounds dance around our feet.

As we approach the tunnel entrance, there's a huge problem. Our path is blocked by what I assume to be one of the pretend Marines. He raises his rifle and I realize in our haste both Jens and I left our rifles at the scene of the blast.

I draw my sidearm and begin firing at him. Jens does likewise but the bastard must be wearing body armor. Then help arrives...

Present – Todd – Battle Royal

I am astounded at the Angels of Death ability to discern the presence of false Marines because I am unable to perform the same task. I quickly decide it must have something to do with their female intuition. Unfortunately with the false 'devil dogs out of the bag', the bad guys start firing at the real Marines and a battle royal has erupted.

I notice as Jens and Maria head toward the tunnel and run smack dab into one of the false Marines. They pull their pistols but they are ineffective against his body armor. But most body armor can't stop an arrow. I nock an arrow, take aim and smile as my arrow does what their pistols couldn't.

Maria pauses as they pass and pumps two rounds into his head.

I work my way toward the Angels of Death to see if I can further assist, when something changes my mind and I move toward Glen...

Present – Mira, Ira and Alexi – At the cabin

We translocate to an area with bodily protection and continue our battle with the charlatan Marines who have decided they will fight. After occu-locating the cabin, I mouth a silent prayer for my expired and blessed PSG1. My sorrow motivates me to eliminate more of the charlatans responsible for its demise. However I am excited to have a new PSG1 that my Ben actually owned and most likely fired...

My sister Mira has resuscitated her previous (before the ill-fated contact with Ben Blaine) motivation once again. She is eliminating the charlatan Marines with haste of post. Then I see something that bothers me extremely. I order, "Provide cover fire for my derriere!" I rise and locomotivate rapidly toward my katana...

Some fool attempts to remove my sister Ira's katana from its heady rest. Instead of shooting the offender, she unwisely jumps up and runs toward the katana. I decide that since I have a rifle to assist her, I will ease her task by shooting the charlatan Marine. Then something unthinkable happens...

Present – Glen – Battle zone

How the fuck did so many fake Marines infiltrate our ranks? Once the twins alert them that they can be spotted by their behavior, they open fire. I rush for cover, pull my firearm, but I sure can't tell one from the other.

I look for Jens, but she's nowhere to be seen - I can only hope that she made it to safety. This is a fucking mess! Good men are being lost because of the infiltration. I identify one of the fake Marines so I pull up my pistol and shoot him. Then the ground shakes and dust and smoke belch out of the shell that remains of the house. Shit, someone set off a bomb in the tunnels!

Todd runs up and signs, "Glen, Jens and Maria are in the tunnels."

I swear, "Fuck, someone just blew up the tunnels!" I jump up and order, "All my Marines follow me!"

We run toward the house and the tunnels...

Present – Liz and Bernie – In the tunnels

Bernie and I barricade ourselves in a room and I try to calm Ivan. He complains, "Many bad men want to hurt momma."

I hug him and say, "I'm sure your mother is fine."

Then there's a huge explosion, the lights go out and...

Present – Masha and Jack – At the battle

Ira saves my life in a spectacular manner: I had never seen someone throw a katana. I continue to work on the deadman switch when Jack joins me and then all hades happens. When pretend Marines recognize that the twins can discern who they are, they start a battle. Jack questions, "Masha how much longer?"

I reply, "My husband I am working as quickly as possible..."

Shit! This is one time I wish that Masha was a soccer mom. What the hell does she think she's doing disarming this suicide bombers vest? I'm doing my best to keep the fucking fake Marines from killing us when Masha finally announces, "Jack I'm complete."

Then there's a huge explosion from the tunnels and Masha screams, "Jack, Vanya is in there with Liz and Bernie!" We both jump up and run toward the house...

Present – Zarika and Yasmeen – In the medical plane