Chapter 63

Present - Ben - At the cabin

After taking out the two guards at the entrance to the tunnels, I slip inside and I'm fucking shocked at how nice these tunnels look! Hell, if I was going to stay I would say fuck the cabin and let's live in the tunnels – but since I'm not staying that is a moot point.

There is a problem that's bothering me: With Jack's training, it's going to be hell to find Ivan in this maze of tunnels. Oh well, time to get cracking and check one room at a time. And I will naturally do a better job than the greenies.

The first room is clear but as I come out I hear – someone is humming a Russian song. I move toward the sound and find the humming several rooms down. I open the door and hear, "Is that you in the suit of trees Unca Ben."

Damn smart kid knew to hum a song so I could find him. I enter the room and answer, "Yeah Ivan it's me. Did Jack teach you to hum a song so I could find you?"

Ivan's answer was surprising and confusing, "No Unca Ben, wolf that is also a lady told me to hum song so you could find me."

I want to ask him what the hell he's talking about but I know better than to waste time so I state, "Ivan, you can tell me all about her later but for right now let's get you out of here."

He comes over to me, I pick him up and he asks, "Will you take me to Mama and Papa?"

I know better than to lie to him (for a kid he's sharp as hell) so I answer, "Not right now Ivan, there's a bad man that is holding them prisoner."

He smiles at me and says, "Yes, wolf who is also a lady told me that you and she come to puff and huff and blow all the bad men down."

I chuckle slightly and say, "Yeah that's right, we're going to kick their asses."

Ivan scolds me, "Unca Ben, you should not use bad words like Donaldduckson lady, she used so many bad words my ears burnt like on fire."

It took me a second but I figured out he meant Jens and couldn't wait to find out more about her. I ask, "Ivan, do you know piggy back ride?"

He answers, "Yes and positively."

I stand him on a table, back up and order, "Okay I'm giving you a piggy back ride out of here because I need both my hands free in case we meet any bad men."

Ivan giggles and counters, "Unca Ben, you no need to give piggy back ride, I can run good and fast to keep up with you."

Hell that's even better! To be truthful I wasn't looking forward to carrying him especially if we got into a fight. However, we did need to take one precaution so I warn, "Ivan, I have body armor so if I get shot it probably won't hurt me so you need to stay right behind me. Do you understand body armor?"

He salutes and says, "Yes Captain, armor like tank so bullets hurt you not."

I chuckle because I can only imagine how Jack would respond to being called Captain. I check the hallway and we slowly move out...

Present - Stacy – Escaped

We run our asses off to escape the greenies chasing us then one of the Marines turns and says, "Shit, they're gaining on us."

I look at Linus and say, "Sorry, but you're slowing all of us up. I guess you become our sacrificial lamb to the Special Forces."

As we stop running slower for Linus, he falls behind then we hear him begin to laugh and he yells, "Fuck, I should have known the Marines don't know the fucking difference between two horses and a bear and the greenies. You all can stop running because there are no troops chasing us."

When we stop Patches, Bo and Wojtek run up. Wojtek yowls and gives me a hell of a bear hug (I worry that he's going to break my back and as usual he smells like shit) then Patches comes up and nuzzles me. I look at Patches and ask, "Where is your saddle."

She nickers and I decide that it's in the trailer so I tell her, "I guess I need to ride you bareback."

I look around for help and a Marine helps me up on her back. I take my phone again and attempt to make a call...

Present - Linus – Escaped

Stacy starts to make her phone call and I order a Marine, "Help me up on this other horse because I'm fucking tired of running."

Stacy pauses in the middle of her phone call, grins at me and threatens, "Linus, it's your funeral if you try to ride that horse - that's Ben's horse and he won't let anyone else ride him."

Hell, I've ridden lots of horses before. Most people don't realize it but we used them in the mountains of the sandbox all the time. I bragged, "I highly doubt that this horse will give me any shit. If he does I will fucking show him who's the boss."

Present - Stacy – Escaped

I try to warm Linus, but like the brain dead Seal he is, he won't listen. He gets a Marine to help him on Bo's back and then the fun begins. This requires all my attention so I terminate my call and watch as Bo gives Linus not only an E-ticket ride, he includes an F and G ticket for good measure. Finally Bo goes one way and flips Linus up into the air the other way. Oooh, this is going to hurt like hell! Linus falls for what seems like forever and hits the ground flat on his back. One of the Marine runs over, checks him for a pulse and laughs, "He's out cold."

I quip, "I tried to warn him. Anyone else want to try to ride Bo."

There were no takers on riding Bo so I continue my calls but I'm having problems I hadn't anticipated. It seems that Mike is better connected than I had thought so I have to call in some 'big guns' and threaten to have my companies cease production of some 'critical' military weapons. Once I inform the Senators and Congressmen of this, it doesn't take long until my phone rings and I have a General on the line. He demands, "What's this I hear that you are refusing to deliver our weapons systems?"

I gladly inform him, "That's correct. Some of the weapons systems that I have delivered to you are being used illegally in the continental United States. This violates the contract I have with the Department of Defense so my companies will no longer deliver the weapons system."

He scoffs, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

Just as I assumed, much if not all of Mike's mission is off the books. I take the opportunity to explain, "Well General, I am in Colorado at a cabin and was taken prisoner by a full company of Army Special Forces. They are under the command of a civilian in a wheelchair named Mike." I add some fuel to the fire, "So, are you telling me you're not in command of your own troops?"

He complains, "I haven't authorized or even heard about this so I will need to do some checking and call you back."

I get sassy with him, "You do that, but until this situation is resolved you're not getting Jack Shit from my companies."

Present – Samantha - Taken prisoner

Ben shoots the shit out of the dirt at the feet of the Special Forces who are firing at Wojtek. It makes for an impressive scene and I make sure my video glasses record the whole conflict. Liz comes over and questions, "Sam, when do you plan on sending the video to the station."

I look at her and explain, "Liz, I can't do that as long as Mike is around since he will figure out who has done that and I will end up in a worse place than I am now."

Liz tries to persuade me to change my mind, "Come on Sam, let's release it now - Mike will never figure it out."

I give her my hard drive and ask, "Just how do you propose to get this out of here? You know Ben has disabled all communications in the area don't you?"

Liz shakes her head and answers, "I didn't know that and that blows my plan out of the water." She hands the hard drive back to me and says, "You might as well keep this. I sure as hell don't like Mike so make sure you document everything."

I need to give Liz some hope so I say, "Stacy has been recording everything too and I'm sure if she gets to someplace with available communication links she will send her videos to the network..."

Present - Stacy – Escaped

I figure I've lit fires under more than half of the Senators and Congressmen in DC and I need more ammo to demonstrate how bad things are here so I call up the Truth Network. I'm impressed because the station manager comes on almost immediately and asks, "Ms. Summers, I hear you have some video for us that let us know what has happened to Elizabeth Morgan and Samantha Stevens?"

I laugh, "They show a hell of a lot more than that! They show Army Special Forces operating with impunity on American soil, detaining war veterans under the command of a real SOB that goes by the name of Mike." Then I warn, "The only problem is they are raw videos and will need to be edited for viewing. We will also need a reporter to tell everyone what's going on."

The manager asks, "Well, would you like to take a stab at being that reporter? Your credibility with America is very high and you could report it as firsthand experience."

I think about it and like the idea but there's a huge problem so I ask, "How in the hell do you expect me to report on the videos if I won't be able to see them?"

He answers, "That's no problem. We will edit the videos then I will call you back and describe what's going on the in the video and you can do your report on it."

I answer, "Okay I will give it a try, get the first video edited and then give me a call."