Section 22

Phil moved away from the others, finding a place on the bleachers to sit and sort the questions in his head. The clock on the scoreboard read 9:45. The score was Tigers 00 Visitors 00. No winners. That seemed appropriate enough, but did not explain where more than three hours went since he woke up so many lives ago. Surely, the game was in overtime.

Did Friday morning rush hour start on time today? Were the weekenders arriving for their escape from the city’s stress? Were the residents warned to stay out of sight, out of the fight, until an all-clear signal? Had it been given yet?

Who was doing the work on the lawn outside and on the street? Would the bodies be there until the Medical Examiner gave permission to tag and bag? Would the Crime Lab, using ballistics, keep score? Sally - 7, Bonnie - 6, etc.? A Death Scorecard just seemed wrong. But he knew they would. Forms had to be filled out, lines had to be filled in, the ever hungry bureaucratic machine had to be fed.

Maybe necessary for an accidental manslaughter case in some suburb, but warfare should be a different matter.

Would politicians promote a memorial so they could pontificate at the dedication? The thought made him a little nauseated.

Could the girls and he ever go back to being college students after the news hounds finished spinning the story out of control? Would they ever give a concert? Maybe they should move to the island and retire?

From the day he answered the Art Department advertisement to sitting on this hard seat in Beaufort High School, it had been a long strange trip, indeed. He wondered if in fact the Grateful Dead were grateful. The ones littering the yard out front weren’t talking. Shouting perhaps, but the living couldn’t or wouldn’t hear.

Phil was working through his personal decompression. Happy his girls and friends were safe but not happy about why he was happy. Happy to survive a war is all good, but dismisses the unhappiness of the war. Happy to be on vacation is a better brand of happy. The emotional curve is not as steep. DEET looks better on a cute lover than a Kevlar vest. Then again, a Kevlar vest looks sexy on a hot girl.

On the spur of the moment he called the local phone store. “Evvie, it’s Phil Swenson. Yes, I’m OK. So are the twins. Thanks for asking. Can you open a second account for me? I need six medium smart phones, activated ASAP. Chargers, the works. One for me. Two for people named Martha and Morrie Wilkins Three for Cal, Valerie and Beverly Clement. Area code? I don’t know. Let me ask.” He spotted Bev. “Princess, what is your area code? And the Wilkins?”

“336 at home. Our cell phones are 919 cause of where Daddy and Mr. Wilkins work.”

“Evvie. Make all six based in 919, prepaid unlimited everything, Charge me. Program all five numbers into the phone for me. Put my number as speed dial for the one you assign to Beverly Clement. In fact make her and my phones the smartest genius phones you have. The other four can stay at medium smart. Can they happen soon? We are holed up at the high school until Mel gets the ‘Darling’ out of dry dock. In an hour! You always did give good phone.”

He totally decompressed when Beverly hopped in his lap and started feeding him orange sections. “Captain Phil, you look a lot better without all the yucky stuff. Mom went to the hospital to check on Daddy and the Wilkinses. One of the Candy Strippers took her. I call her that ‘cause her buttons keep coming undone. Christy didn’t act like that last night. Mom said Daddy and Martha were like they were really badly sunburned. Morrie was not concussed but really stunned. His arm will be OK in a couple of months. She had to call Ms Rachael from nurses’ desk. All our phones are on the bottom of the ocean. Mommy says they have to come back soon cause it’s getting crowded there. I can’t call my BFFs and tell them about summer vacation. I could be taking pictures and making movies. They won’t believe me. Darn!”

“Bev. You have to slow down and breathe. Relax a little, have one of these orange sections. I’m glad everyone is going to be OK. Have Christy talk to me when she brings your family back. I’m sure lots of people have phone cams that aren’t sunk. They can send you some, maybe with you in them. That would be plenty proof.”

“OK. I hope they don’t have any when you saved me. What are you going to get everybody to do now?”

“Find out what has everybody done so far. Then we can see what we have to do next.” Phil answered. “We can’t even go home until we get the boat back and we have to see if home is even safe. A bunch of pirates were mad because we saved you and tried to invade our island. Some friends fought them near our place while we were fighting them here. They protected our house and we protected theirs.” He smiled. “That’s some pretty good friends, you reckon?”

“Pirates won’t try to get us at home, will they? We can’t even get home ‘til we can get a ride or a new boat.”

“Not likely. Remember the jet that could stop in the air and go in any direction? There are dozens of them and thousands of Marines all over the place near Swansboro. Cherry Point, Jacksonville and Havelock have tons of Marines. Not even pirates are stupid enough to mess with people where you live.”

“But these pirates are pretty stupid.” Bev frowned. “Who sinks a boat before they look for treasure? Who sends a hundred pirates to attack a high school? Where do you find a hundred pirates?”

“That’s a question a lot of people who get paid more than me are going to have to answer, Ms Clement.” Sheriff Overman said as he ambled up. “Who let this happen?”

“My question is who let it get this far? And why?” Phil asked. “You can’t watch everybody and you shouldn’t. But there had to be warnings even Messrs. Smith and Jones couldn’t hide unless this organization just sprang up recently.”

“Why don’t they just listen to everything? Then they find the bad guys.”

“People accuse the government of that already. Maybe they’re right. But I don’t want somebody listening to my wife talking about our anniversary celebration. It’s not their business. Who gets to see the stuff they collect that isn’t a threat? What do they do with the credit card numbers and the doctor bills and pizza orders they get when you order something on line or on the phone.” The Sheriff said and asked, “Who watches the watchers?”

“Speaking of watching, Sheriff, either I took a longer shower than I thought or things are moving fast everywhere. The man on communications reported a lot of action when I asked.” Phil wondered. “More news?”

“Things are moving very fast. Our guys put things in place pretty quickly, Phil. It was tense when the CGs and locals started tracking suspected highjackers. As soon as it got serious here, they went for broke. With city, county, state, Federal and private on the ground, we had more guys than them and were more mobile.” Overman started to laugh, “Some of the Eastern counties are pretty far down in the income category. Thieves are not welcome. You do not want deputized, heavily armed farmers and fishermen in rusty pick-up trucks or shrimp boats on your case.”

Phil sent Beverly to ask Ollie if more than fruit was available. He wanted her busy when the bloody details were discussed.

Nick and Ed joined the group. Nick added, “My men called in with high praise. Half of the posses were veterans, all remembered Beirut and the World Trade Center. One guy told his police chief that in Iraq, defending ‘America’s freedom felt kind of abstract, that I was shooting at people who were shooting at me. But fighting terrorists in my own hometown is pretty damn concrete.’ He was not alone thinking that the terrorists did not ‘hate our freedom’ as much as they wanted our stuff.”

“I’m just glad there are good people willing to do the dirty work.” Phil sighed. “It’s too bad there’s dirty work to do at home.”

Before the group could get more philosophical. The deputy manning the radio got their attention. “Late breaking news. Joey called from Lola. The good guys won big time. They collected the stiffs and cleaned up the sound. Nobody got to Phil’s island. Baxter found his hat. Captain Hardcastle asked me to tell the Sheriff that every house they hit lead to another. A laptop in Stumpy Point pointed to cells in Savannah and Hampton Roads. Homeland, using the model we developed here, is hitting hard and fast. The Coast Guard is fully involved and the Navy is on high alert.”

“The feds can blow them up wholesale. But I know the water and can run them aground, forcing surrender or capture. Blake’s guys know who is a stranger and who is from around here.” Archie commented, “Works better if we play together. It’s a lot less messy.”

Ed wanted to know if there was any word on the ‘big picture’. “Hitting guys like Allan Jefferies and a day tripper out of Salter Path or the ‘Mad Momma’ doesn’t feel right.”

“Hitting Swenson’s crew for ransom makes sense, but they weren’t on the list before last night and even them, the ‘pirates’ went for the kill, not a kidnapping.” Archie said, “But you’re right, Ed. It doesn’t add up.” He looked at the deputy with the headphones. “Any word from above?”

The deputy said, “Must be above my pay grade. I haven’t heard a whisper.”

“It ain’t above mine. I’m a conscripted volunteer.” Phil grinned and called David Abrams.

“And a fine Friday morning to you, Mr. Secretary. Do you mind if I put you on speaker? The Sheriff, Harbormaster and Chief of the Harbor Patrol are here and curious.”

“Not a problem” Phil pressed the button. “Good morning, gentlemen. I was going to call you anyway. We had quite the interesting time since we talked last. What do we talk about first?” David was unusually cheerful for a man responsible for the nation’s security.

Overman asked, “How did the roundups go everywhere else?”

“Ongoing, but effective. We’re hitting before they see us coming. We have a number of wounded, but they have more and worse.”

“Did OK here, too. Any idea who dreamed this little plot up?”

“That is the big one, Ed. Preliminary information points to a Colombian drug cartel looking to expand territory and ‘services’. Thanks to the relative success of the warlords in East Africa, certain individuals figured they could combine drug smuggling and highjacking to maximize profits versus investment in infrastructure. That’s how it will read in the reports, but it means stolen ships moving contraband with the captured loot on board as a bonus. Not such a great business model. Lacks a good customer service component.”

“So, looking for pirates results in wiping out pipelines for cocaine and heroin distribution in the Southeast, exposes others nationally, and eliminates a few hundred ‘associates’ in one huge sweep. And to think the Wildcats’ incompetence got this started. They are going to very popular in Florida, don’t you know?” Phil chuckled. “Not a bad day’s work. You done good, Mr. Secretary. How’s things at the FBI?”

“As many red faces as here at DHS. They hate to have another agency point out their moles. There will be job openings at the Hoover Building.” David hesitated, but spoke anyway. “I forgot to ask if logging you out of the administrative mode would end my eyes behind the firewalls.”

“It wouldn’t. Your desktop will still see past anything now on the network, not anything installed in the future, but you will get an alert that files are hidden. You have to call me to get another key. I can’t give you one now, because it doesn’t exist until I have certain data that changes by the second. Any key is valid for three seconds. If you enter one and wait too long to click the entry, it won’t work.”

“I left it on so one of my geek programmers could do a search for more secrets. Without authorization and for reasons he did not reveal as he packed his personal possessions, he wanted to see if it worked as a hack into other systems. Target, IBM and Mastercard pounced and kicked him out. His fourth probe, Elliott Engineering hit back. The laptop he slaved to my station literally exploded.”

“It does that. All of ours will treat a hacker harshly. We consider hackers a virus to be destroyed, not avoided. Elliott’s system stopped his processor fan and dumped the entire battery charge into the motherboard at once His box is fried. Period. Had he tried to bounce the intrusion through infected proxies or other ISPs, they would have blown up, too.”

“That’s harsh. Smoking innocent bystanders.”

“People should keep their protection updated. Norton and Avast! would have stopped him from capturing another box. I do not allow my software to be abused in any way. That includes DHS.” Phil said. “By the way, the only damage to you is the laptop used. Your system is unaffected. I hide nothing from a client. Your activity logs recorded the whole incident, including my activity. As an administrator, I can access and advise, but even I can’t change anything without your agreement and cooperation. That’s why I have top clearance. People say I’m nice.”

“Glad you’re on our side, Phil. You can be one scary kid when you try.” David laughed. He had no idea.

“You ain’t seen nothing, Mr. Secretary. Wait until you see him when he is annoyed, forget about mad.” Nick said, catching the end of the conference. “It does not pay to underestimate Swenson. Great friend, total good guy. But not a guy you want as an adversary. Not to tell tales out of school, but he is scary kid when he’s not trying.”

“Sorry I can’t tell you more, gentlemen. But I have reports to get out and press releases to write. The news services are all over this. As far as the government is concerned, it was an interagency push, with local involvement and unnamed citizens’ assistance, to put an end to a drug smuggling operation. Talk to you later.”

Nick told the guys he had been outside with the EMTs and MEs, moving casualties. The totals were, 23 wounded, 56 dead. The Medical Examiners told Nick they had no intention of trying to determine who wasted whom. Too many shooters, all law enforcement and with no apparent abuse of power, there was no reason to look any deeper.

Phil was pleased to hear they weren’t keeping score. Now, he needed to get his boat back and get the shipwreck victims home. They weren’t going to get home if they didn’t start.

Still, where did they find 79 people to risk on an assault in Beaufort? And there were plenty more all up and down the coast. Where does the money come from? What was the end game? A mob takeover? To capture and hold the city? Beaufort might not be a Baltimore or Los Angeles class port, but North Carolina wasn’t Sonora or Nariño, either. Did they expect the country to cede the territory out of fear? Puh-leeze!

Dana strolled in and called Phil. “Beverly said to say Mr. Biggie had an omelet stuffed full for you. Better come eat it or she would.”

“That is my exit line, folks. Dana and Bev have spoken. If Evvie drops by, please have her find me. I’ll be the one with his mouth busy.”

He followed Dana to where the food waited. It didn’t have to wait long. Big Ollie built an omelet the size of a serving platter. Bacon, sausage, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, Anaheims, ham, cheeses and mushrooms mixed with and folded in perfectly cooked eggs. Biscuits and OJ on the side completed a wonderful work of culinary art. Phil destroyed it immediately, deciding that art is ephemeral.

Phil found and thanked the not-big-at-all Oliver Quinn. “Thanks, Ollie. But don’t you need to get back to the diner. We appreciate this good food, make no mistake, but people are probably lining up for lunch about now.”

“Phil, my lunch crowd is either on the water looking for troublemakers or making plans to hide the bullet holes in a certain high school. So, what I’m gonna do, sit all alone in the diner and stare at the empty chairs or be where I’m useful?” He grinned, “My beautiful wife is coming over later to help with lunch. Melanie is going to love these girls. She has a soft spot for girls who can hold their own.”

“Ollie, what can you tell me about that girl, Christy? The girls are worried about her.”

“You saw it, too? So did Jenny. She got pulled aside for a girl-to-girl talk. The near-death reaffirmation-of-life urge slammed the young thing and she is barely old enough to know what it means. Jenny gently explained some facts of life to the girl.” Ollie said, “So now she a little embarrassed but a whole lot wiser. Jenny’s good soul is contagious. Christy will be OK. Buttons will stay buttoned for a few more years.”

“That’s one more reason we’re glad you folks are here. Until I get my boat back, we’re homeless gym rats. We have the bus, but no place to go.”

The conversation ended when Melanie Quinn came in like she owned the joint. Taller than Zina, the six-foot woman glanced at the people in the room and demanded to know who was in charge. Jenny told her to hush up and grab a spoon. “Not you, Mellie. Girls, meet Melanie Quinn, chief short order cook and bouncer at Big Ollie’s.” Jenny announced. “Best volleyball player the Beaufort Tigers ever had!”

Phil saw Emily and Zina put their heads together. Oops. If they had to stay another night, gauntlets would be thrown. His phone distracted him. “Phil here. Hi, Mel. What’s the word?”

“The word is that we need to reinforce the front hydrofoils. They aren’t dangerous, but won’t make you jump for joy if you have to max it out again. Redlining the whole system with an extra two tons is not something you should do again until I redraw the line. I can have it ready by early Saturday morning. The frame is sound and the engines are perfect, maybe even stronger.”

“Do what you think necessary, Mel. Just remember, we can’t get home until I get the ‘Darling’ back. Poor me.” Phil let Mel get to the task and prepared to tell the girls that the vacation on the island had to wait another day. Marcie’s prediction was regretfully close to coming true.

This required a conference with Joey. He called Lola.

“Joey, I hate to ask a favor, but if we get to the boathouse, can you or the boys ferry us over to the island? Mel isn’t done with my boat and the girls are going to get stir crazy in the gym.”

“Not a problem, dude. The Coast Guard swept the area clean and the water is clear. Let me know when you leave Beaufort and I’ll have the fleet ready.” He laughed. “Yeah. You heard me. We’re the Lola Navy now. Benny’s idea. Pay no attention to him. He just wants someone to call his sorry butt ‘Commodore’.”

“Thanks. If Mel will ferry the boat up tomorrow, we can get the vacation started. I just figured we’ve been here since Tuesday night and have spent about three hours on the beach. Now it’s going on Friday afternoon. Our timing sucks.”

“For you maybe, but for a lot of people, it couldn’t have been better. See you when you get here.” Joey tried, “Sure you can’t stay another week?”

“Most of the girls are either starting or teaching summer classes. Next week is it until August or September. This is all we get.”

“Try to do better than three hours in three days. It is hurricane season, too. Just thought you would want to know.”

“Might as well go back to Scarboro.” Phil smiled. “Some days I feel like the example in the holiday insurance commercials. ‘This could happen to you. Be prepared.’”

“Lies! It could only happen to you. Insurance wouldn’t help. You’re a walking, talking pre-existing condition.”

Next, Phil called Mel’s Marina with the delivery request. “It will give me a chance to give the old girl a shakedown cruise. Beanie can follow with his speedboat and take me home. I’ll call when we leave the dock.”

“I’ll likely regret this. You just want a chance to see how fast it will go. But getting home tonight is worth the risk.”

The Fates did not want him to start home yet. Valerie Clement arrived, followed by Evvie with six boxes, labeled by name. Giving four to Mrs. Clement, he explained the arrangements. “You folks lost your phones in the highjacking, so this, at least allows you to get back in touch with your friends at home. Face it; you can’t stay on a borrowed phone for hours dealing with the boat insurance. And you probably will.”

“But this had to cost a fortune!” Val objected. “These are better than ours. A year unlimited, pre-paid, it’s too much.”

Evvie interrupted. “Not so much as you think. Mrs. Clement, he already has a couple dozen on this plan. What are six more? Besides, after a year, you can flip the service to your provider or open an account with me at the same rate.”

“What about the contracts Cal and Morrie had for the old ones? Can we have the same numbers or get replacement phones?”

“Depends on the contract, expiration date and other factors. You might want to assign the old number to a new but simple phone so people can call you and switch to the new number when the old plan expires. Or put your old number on this phone, but pay a penalty maybe. Why don’t you and I go to my store and see what we can do?” Evvie asked, “I can’t do it from here. I need my computer. You’ll be back in an hour.”