Chapter 15

David, April, and I were at the loading dock. David had assembled an assault team. 7 of his finest. They were double-checking their weapons and communications equipment. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be needed, but just in case they would be ready.

I had just confirmed that David’s friend was standing by when Paul showed up in his patient gown. “And just what are you doing, Paul? I don’t think Doc Holland will be too happy with you wandering around outside sickbay.”

“I’m going with you. I want to help. It’s my moms and sis we’re talking about.”

I looked at David and April. April was trying really hard not to smile. “Paul, I’m sure that you would be a great help to us. And nobody doubts your motivation and courage. But do you realize how you’re dressed? Do you feel a draft?”

Paul looked confused, and then realization dawned on him. “Yeah, well, you guys can get me some clothes. I still want to go with you. You’ll need me down there.”

I looked over to April then back to Paul. “I’ll tell you what Paul this woman here is my wife. Her name is April. She’s also my executive officer. How about she takes you over to clothing sales and get you some new clothes.” I looked up at April. She winked at me.

“That’s right, Paul. We can’t have you running around on a rescue operation with your tushy hanging out. You come with me and will get you something more appropriate.” she reasoned.

“I ain’t got no money. How am I gonna pay for this?”

April took Paul gently by the elbow and started leading him away. “Don’t worry about it, Paul. We’ll take care of any charges. We’ll even get you a couple of outfits. Something for later.” April led him through the hatchway, which closed behind them.

David immediately turned to his team, “Alright guys, let’s get going. We’re on short numbers here.” as the team was filing onto the shuttle, he turned to me. “Pretty slick boss. If your wife is anything like mine, they’ll be tied up for hours. We’ll be back before the kid knows what hit him.”

Very early the next morning, we had moved into position. What little security they had, was quickly overwhelmed, and hustled from the area. A very low volume voice came in on my earpiece. “Surveillance?”

The reply came back. “Objective clear ops.”

A third voice came in, “Hit it.”

There was a bright flash and earsplitting explosion. Followed seconds later by David’s team storming the corridor. Three of them ran past the objective, Paul’s squat. The next two went into the alcove, while the two remaining stood guard at the entrance.

“Entry to ops. We’ve got the targets. And two more.”

Standing with David and me was a large, powerfully built man wearing red camouflage. He spoke up on the radio. “Entry, this is Red Team Leader. Those are my security team. They’ve been waiting for you guys for a while now.”

He continued, “Red Lead to Security, clear.” this was followed by “Roger.”

Two shabbily dressed bilge rats exited the squat and walked towards us.

David came on “Ops leader, Target Evac.” he was answered “Roger.”

As the woman and small girl came out of the squat, they quickly surrounded David’s team and then escorted past our position and out of the corridor. As they passed our location, David was on the air again. “Ops leader, Rearguard Withdraw.” the three officers guarding the corridor started walking backward. One would move to the next cover, whisper quietly. Then the next teammate would move. Very quickly, the team was back to our position.

Major Simpson turned to David. “Very well-done David. I see you remembered my lessons. It’s too bad you missed the obvious.”

David looked at the Major. “The obvious? What are you talking about, Steve?”

Major Simpson took an old fashion police whistle from his pocket and gave it a large blast. A dozen men and women appeared from various locations in the corridor, including the overhead ventilation duct. They formed up and started filing off the corridor. The Lieutenant following behind saluted the Major and, without a word, continued. David and I stood there with our mouths open.

“We’ve been here for about 45 minutes, David. As soon as you called, I alerted my quick reaction force. We’ve been waiting for a good excuse to do some spring cleaning down here. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some work to do.”

As he was talking, a full company of red camouflaged Mars Rangers started coming into the corridor.

David and I were the last to board the shuttle. David’s team and our guests were seated and buckled in. The seats were more like benches that ran the length of the cargo bay. They were thinly padded and could be folded up to accommodate bulky cargo. We took the last two seats across from Paul’s mother and sister.

The little girl, Mary, looked terrified. She was clutching her mother’s arm and a bundle of rags that were tied up to look like a doll. She was staring at me with blue eyes that looked twice as big as they really were.

I looked around at the other passengers. David’s team all had the satisfied look of a job well done. Most were smiling. A couple had no expression at all. I realized that these troops were veterans at this kind of operation. David had assembled an experienced team.

When the shuttle disengaged from the dock, there was a muffled clunk, and the shuttle shuddered slightly. Mary let out a little squeal and clutched at her mother even tighter. Mrs. Holt patted her daughter’s arm and muttered some quiet words of comfort. But when I looked at her eyes, I could see that she was nervous too.

Mary was still staring at me and seemed to be almost in tears. So, I winked at her. She got a little startled look. I then unbuckled and stood up. I looked at everybody “Ladies and gentlemen, I want to congratulate you on a successful operation. It went down by the numbers as planned. Nobody got hurt, and we rescued these two ladies.” I gestured at the Holt women. “I would call that a win all the way around. I’m sure that Marshall Barth has something planned for you. But I will talk to Grandmother Seward and see if we can get you something a little more public. Now I know that some of you aren’t impressed with awards, medals, and parades. So, I’ll be getting ahold of the Commissary and buy each of you a bottle of your favorite beverage.” there were murmured cheers. I sat back down and buckled in.

When I looked up, little Mary was looking at me, not with fear, but wonder. I winked at her again, and she returned the wink. “Are you Sandy Crause?” she asked.

I chuckled at this. David, sitting next to me, also got a snicker. “No, I’m Henry. I’m a friend of Paul’s.” this got her mother’s attention.