Chapter 49

With dawn came a rush of exhaustion. The tiredness that flowed into me threatened to put me down, and I steeled myself to be up to the task of seeing through what we started in the late hours.

Jack never let me out of his sight. I finally realized he was afraid that some of our uninvited guests had escaped our dramatic welcome, and wanted to be there to protect me if one showed up.

Edward handled the disposal of the ships. He and his salvage crew found a number of interesting toys in the wreckage, and brought them home so he could play with them. The wreckage was so gone, that it was like they never invaded our waters. A bunch of people had to be wondering what the heck happened. Once Edward suspected we were under assault, he put up our air defense warning system, and that included radio jamming and all sorts of electronic gadgetry to make it difficult for our attackers to communicate.

Our integrated defense plan worked well, and as we handled disposal and cleanup, the three of us discussed the events of our first national defense activity. Jack kept commenting on how quickly we organized and all worked together to protect the island. Edward was impressed with the overwhelming power of our weapons, and I was distracted by the long wait for news from the interrogation center.

Jack had answers from his key leaders that pleased him. There were ZERO injuries and no deaths on our side. We expended four missiles. Each one hit its target with dramatic results. Our drones recorded and transmitted data up to the second battle center that allowed our specialists to engage and destroy the enemy on our terms and off of our shores. There would be significant bonuses paid to Jack and Edward's crews, with special thanks to our drone pilots.

When word came from the interrogation center, we were stunned.

It seems a rogue element of pirates from Somalia decided to try their hand at taking on our small island instead of tormenting people off of Africa. They were all Muslim extremist, and their psychotic behavior got them shunned by their own pirate corps. The info indicated that they intended to take the island by stealth, execute every living person, women and children first, and take everything we owned and use it to build themselves a home base on Nauru.

These wet brained, maniacs thought that since we had developed self-sustaining agriculture, that they'd just waltz in and take it all. Instead, they got a head full of flying lead and a watery grave.

Once our captives had nothing left to give us, they joined their compatriots in the sea.

The really bad news was that our pirates were "sponsored" by Hussein's crazy father. Apparently he took the news of his son's demise very badly and wanted to eliminate everyone that was involved in his extra-curricular activities. To that end, he funded this group lunatic Muslims, hoping they'd kill me and my loved ones and get all the blame, with no blow back to him and his family. Let me tell you, blow back was coming!

Satisfied that we were temporarily safe, Jack opened up the bunker, and our women, my dog, and Jack's babies rejoined us. They were comfortable, but concerned, and once Jack gave them the details, everyone settled down, and I got some sleep with Benjamin lying beside me.

Colleen called home and gave Jim and Millie the news, but elected to keep the details within our immediate circle for security's sake. Winnie showered Jack with praise and kisses for days over his bravery in battle.

The battle was so quick and over so fast that we chose not to share it with the citizenry. No sense alarming people over a single attempt at piracy. Our intelligence people were positive that the break-off group did not make contact back to their sponsors, so there was no one to really miss them in the short term. We estimated that about one hundred and ten pirates made the trip to Nauru, and we knew zero went home.

With the island safe for now and our agriculture healthy, I took the girls and Benjamin back to Branson for a month of rest and relaxation.

There was no chance of that happening. As we jetted home, I knew we needed to have a sit down with the Judge and get his input on how to best deal with the elder Hussein. I sent a text to him on our special phone, and he responded sometime later with a date and time to expect him. That gave me a few days to work out a few ideas that could get the job done without anything pointing back at us. The Judge would be able to put together his own plans, and maybe we could find the perfect scheme to get the extremists off my back.

Of everyone, Benjamin seemed the least happy to be home. He ran all over the house looking for Brian, Beth Ann, and Rebecca, but had to settle for just us. He was thrilled to see Millie and Jim, and their arrival seemed to perk him up some, but he was clearly missing the rest of his adopted family.

I knew just how he felt.

Colleen sensed my disappointment and suggested we call them all and have them come home for a visit.

Rebecca was home when we got there. She still lived in our home, but had her own suite on the first floor. Beth Ann agreed, and I sent the G5 after her and Brian. Winnie and Jack were already with us, and when the G arrived, Jim and Millie met the plane and brought Beth Ann and Brian home. We were all together. Randy had other things to do, and found he could mercifully avoid having to spend a long weekend with us, again.

Rebecca had a beau of sorts. She was 'seeing' a widower named Wilson Ames, and while the cook got supper on the table, she filled us in on him. "Wilson is older than me, and has been alone since his wife died of breast cancer about five years ago. She was one of my patients, but he wasn't. I didn't know him, other than to catch a glimpse when he brought her in for checkups and things.