Call Me Mr Smith, page 6
part #6 of The Fallen World Series
“Mr. Smith is an exception.” He glanced at me. “To a lot of rules.”
“What the hell is it between you two? You think I didn’t see how mad you looked at the stadium?”
“That’s a story for another time, baby girl,” Paul said.
She rolled her eyes. “It’s always another time.”
“I think I can explain this fairly simply, Paul.”
His eyes widened, and he shook his head. “No! Not you.”
I shrugged.
“Well, now you have to tell me!”
“I’m sorry, Miss Todd. I’m a lot of things, but I do respect your father’s right to handle things regarding you in his own way. Though I do think he should do it sooner rather than later. On another subject, did you hear anything about some kind of operation tonight?”
Paul shook his head and shrugged. “No, should I have?”
I waved a hand dismissively. “Nah, just wondering. Stay safe you two.”
I nodded and walked on down the street. I heard Cindy storm away from Paul, and he ran after her. He’d have to tell her eventually. Personally, I figured she was mature enough to understand, but it wasn’t my story to tell.
Unless I missed my guess, Bethany had invited the people she thought least likely to give a damn about killing everyone to solve a problem. I probably should have stayed involved in this whole Defense Force thing, but I hadn’t. At least Bill and Ted seemed to have the pulse of what was going on, to a point, and soon it wouldn’t be an issue anymore.
I spent a few hours scouting, but without full knowledge of what their plan was, it was impossible to pick out a good spot to intercept them. I decided I might have to go hands-on with this one, and deal with the repercussions later.
When I got back to the plaza, I saw a few covered trucks on the street. I also saw Jim and Scotty in the cab of one of them. Figures. They were pure company men from the word go. That was a shame, they might have to go too. I had to assume the trucks were there to quickly transport the people involved in the mission. Then I saw another vehicle which most people had probably never seen, but I had.
I stared at the M1135 NBC Recon Vehicle and put a confused look on my face. It was best if no one knew that I knew what it was. I shrugged and walked to my room as quickly as possible. I had a chemical weapon suit, but it would be rather obvious that I knew what was going on if I wore it, or even took it with me, given the bulk. Fortunately, I could likely recover from anything short of direct exposure, but it would hurt like hell.
Once in my room, I triggered the system that would summon Bill and Ted, thanks to Skynet 5, and walked over to look out the windows again.
Within a few minutes, there was a knock on the door. “It’s open,” I called.
I watched the reflection in the glass to make sure it was them. “Have a seat.” I heard them walk over and sit on the couch.
“I suppose you saw the recon vehicle?”
“Yeah. Honestly not familiar with that one. Never seen it before,” Ted said.
I grunted and clasped my hands behind my back as I turned around to face them and adopted my professor stance. “It’s a nuclear, biologic, and chemical detection and recon vehicle. It has a positive overpressure system, which makes it safe for the people inside. Its purpose was actually detection of such weapons, as it’s loaded with sensors, but it can also be a safe delivery platform. Of course, it wasn’t conceived that way. WMDs were illegal when it was designed.”
“So, you’re saying anyone inside it will be safe from the gas, and anyone outside it is probably going to die,” Bill said.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying, Bill. I assume they’re keeping the gas as a binary product, and that it mixes when the munition is launched.”
Ted scratched his head. “This is outside my training; what about after? How long is it dangerous?”
I shrugged. “Too many unknowns. Hours to months.”
“What if it gets into the lake?” Ted’s eyes grew wide.
“Then I’ll go back to my bunker and leave you folks to it.”
I turned back and looked through the window. More people had gathered around the trucks. Time was running out.
“Well?” Ted rose and walked over to stand beside me at the window.
“Well what?”
“What are you going to do?”
“Do Jonathan and Jeremy know about this?” I asked.
“Not sure.”
“Find them, quickly, and bring them here.”
When they didn’t move after a few seconds, I turned around and shouted, “Now!”
They ran out of the room and left the door to swing closed on its own. I could see that they separated and took different hallways. As the door closed, I looked at a metal briefcase sitting innocently on the coffee table, then turned back to look out the window again.
It’s good to have insurance in this Fallen World.
* * * * *
Chapter Seven
Bill, Ted, Jonathan, and Jeremy came in without knocking. I’d heard them coming down the hallway, so I didn’t react, I just stared out the window.
“Okay, what the hell is going on?” Jeremy asked. “They found us, said we have an emergency, and drug us down here.”
“Do you know what Bitchany is about to do?” I asked calmly.
“Yeah, get rid of Jacob and his crew.”
“With sarin and tabun gas,” I said.
“What?!” Jonathan exclaimed. He sounded shocked, and I didn’t sense deception, though he was intel, so he could just be good at hiding his emotions.
“Come see for yourself.”
They walked quickly over to the window and looked down. Jeremy seemed clueless, but I could tell Jonathan knew what he was looking at.
“You know what that is?” I asked.
“Yeah, but I didn’t know we had one,” Jonathan said.
I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
“Military wasn’t my thing. Information was extremely compartmentalized, and apparently still is.”
“Someone want to let me in on it?” Jeremy asked, frustrated.
I let Jonathan explain the vehicle and what it meant.
“Bethany has to go, gentlemen,” I said.
Jeremy sighed. “I can’t—”
“I’m not giving you a choice, Jeremy. I’m going to kill her today. You’d do well not to get in my way. You’re not a field operative, so don’t pretend you can do anything about it. As Jonathan has likely told you, I will eliminate anyone who gets in my way. I will not let her do this. There are children in there.”
“Look Smith, I don’t know who you think you are, but you’re not in charge here. You can’t just unilaterally decide to kill someone who’s part of the leadership,” Jeremy said firmly.
“Are you going to be a problem as well, Jonathan?”
“I’m on your side, Smith, this time.”
I nodded. “Let’s go then.” I turned around and walked toward the door, picking up the metal briefcase on the way.
Jeremy ran to get ahead of us and stood in front of the door. “You’re not doing this!”
I looked Jeremy in the eyes. “Bill. Ted. Detain Mr. Kent.”
Jeremy’s eyes widened in shock when they followed my order, grabbed him by the arms, and dragged him out of the way.
“Take him to the boardroom and hold him there until we get back. Jonathan, come with me, we’re going to stop and see Doctor Adwani on the way out.”
Jonathan followed me out as Jeremy hurled a flurry of curses at our backs.
* * *
“Will he come around?” I asked once we were on the elevator headed down.
“Does he have a choice?”
“I haven’t decided.”
We rode in silence the rest of the way to the second floor. When we walked out, several men and women in fatigues and body armor were in the arsenal loading rocket launchers onto a dolly. “There’s the delivery mechanism,” I said quietly.
We walked into the medical area, which was thankfully empty except for Doctor Adwani. She looked up from her desk and tilted her head. “You hurt again, Mr. Smith?”
“No, this time I’m trying to stop people from getting hurt. How many doses of atropine do you have on hand?”
She stood and walked slowly over. “That’s…an odd question. Why?”
“How many?” Jonathan asked.
“Maybe,” she paused to think, “twenty, thirty at most.”
“Start setting up for chemical decontamination and recovery,” I said.
“What?! Why?!”
“Just do it,” I said and walked out to stop the group heading for the cargo elevator with the dolly.
I stood in front of them, and they jerked to a stop. No familiar faces; that was a shame. None of them were DF; they all had to be Obsidian. That was bad…for them.
“How many have you already loaded?”
“Out of the way, whoever you are,” a woman wearing sergeant’s stripes said.
Jonathan ran out of the medical area a few seconds behind me. “Those stay here!”
She looked over at him and shrugged. “No idea who you are.”
“She’s been keeping a private army for herself,” I said.
“I’m Jonathan Hammond, and you will stand down.”
That didn’t quite produce the result I expected. The sergeant stood fast where she was, and the other four members of the crew drew their sidearms and aimed them at Jonathan and me.
“Stop that!” Doctor Adwani shouted from her doorway. Fortunately, that provided me with exactly the distraction I needed.
I threw the briefcase at the sergeant, who reacted, but not quickly enough. They weren’t Agents. I jumped to the side just in time to avoid the rounds fired by the others. While I was in the air, I pulled two small throwing knives from my belt. I landed on my shoulder and rolled to one knee. Once I was stable, I threw the knives at the two who tried to adjust their aim to follow me. I moved again as they each fired two more rounds, just before the knives found their marks. They fell to their knees with their hands to their throats. My next move was to tackle the sergeant and pin her face down before she could recover and draw her gun.
The others had fired at Jonathan and found themselves in a similar situation of not being able to keep up with our augmented speed. He pulled a .40 caliber handgun and shot them both in the head.
“Let go of me you son of a bitch!” The sergeant’s yell was slightly muffled due to her face being pressed against the concrete floor.
“I’m only going to ask you nicely one more time…how many launchers have you already loaded?”
She struggled pointlessly, and I punched her hard in the kidney. “How many?!”
She groaned and coughed as the pain washed over her. “Four.”
I let her go and got up to retrieve my briefcase, secure in the knowledge that she wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
“No time to lose, let’s go.” Jonathan and I ran toward the elevator, and I called out over my shoulder, “She’s got a ruptured kidney, Doctor. I really don’t care if she lives or dies.”
We waited impatiently as the doors slowly closed, and the elevator moved.
“Don’t you carry a gun?” Jonathan asked.
“Yeah, but it’s not my first choice.”
“What’s in the briefcase?”
“Insurance,” I said, simply, and ran out as soon as the elevator doors opened.
The doors into the plaza were being held by two uniformed soldiers I didn’t recognize, likely in preparation for the dolly to be rolled through. I walked outside at a quick pace, with Jonathan right on my heels.
I quickly surveyed the group outside. I counted 20 of the Defense Force, five more soldiers, Jim and Scotty, and of course, Bethany. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Paul and Cindy Todd doing a bad job of trying to be sneaky while they peeked around the corner. The look of surprise on Bethany’s face was quite satisfying when Jonathan stood beside me.
“It’s over,” I called out. “Stand your people down, send everyone home.”
The Defense Force members looked incredibly confused, and there was no reason they shouldn’t.
“Screw you, Smith! I run the operations around here. We’re going to get rid of Jacob and his fleas for good!”
Several members of the Defense Force nodded and shouted agreement.
“Did she tell you she’s using chemical weapons that will probably kill you too?”
“He’s full of shit! What has he done since he came here? Give a few people some food? So, what! He hasn’t done shit about Jacob or any of the other real problems!”
Unfortunately, Jonathan and I were in a bad tactical situation. The two soldiers we’d left behind us had now drawn their weapons; I’d heard them scrape out of the holsters. Jim was standing still, but Scotty had moved behind him and was likely taking up a position from which to kill me. The other soldiers in the road were still just watching.
The positive was, no one had fired yet. That meant they were listening.
“That vehicle,” I pointed, “has only one purpose. Detecting and protecting the people inside it from nuclear, biological, or chemical attacks!”
Some of the DF members looked a little less certain, and some turned to face Bethany.
“He’s lying! He’s working with Jacob!” she shouted.
I laughed and shook my head. Without any notice, I heard two shots. Jonathan and I jumped away from each other and rolled to our knees as we looked for the threat. Bethany fell to her knees, and then face down. Before she fell, I saw a bullet hole in her forehead. As she hit the ground, Scotty’s body rolled off the hood of the truck he’d been perched on. Unseen by me, he had set up his rifle, and it was aimed at where I had been.
Every member of the Defense Force scattered for cover as the uniformed soldiers in the street drew their weapons and formed a perimeter around the recon vehicle. The two soldiers behind us fired at where Jonathan and I had been. Jonathan beat me to that threat and took them both down with his pistol. What I didn’t know was who had shot Scotty and Bethany. Then I glanced to my right and saw two rifle muzzles slowly pulling back behind the corner of the building at the intersection of King and Bay.
Jim saw the movement too and ran toward the corner as he drew his gun. One of the Defense Force members—I didn’t know his name—shot him three times in his side. It was only because it was his side, and not his front or back, that one of the rounds went in under his body armor and sent him to the ground.
“Soldiers! Override alpha tango four six mike golf foxtrot Hammond!” Jonathan yelled.
I watched as all of the soldiers ejected the magazines from their weapons, cleared the chambers, and dropped them. Then they snapped to attention.
“Well,” I said as I stood up, “that’s handy.”
There was silence for a moment on the street. Some onlookers had started to appear around the corners of buildings, curious to see what had happened. Paul and Cindy came around the corner with their AR-15 rifles shouldered, pointed toward the crowd, and moved toward me. It was obvious he had trained his daughter in combat movement. Their steps were smooth, and their weapons never broke the plane.
I saw motion out of the corner of my eye as Jim pulled his backup gun. I opted for a fast solution this time, so I drew my 9mm and put two rounds through his head before he could bring his gun to bear on Paul.
Cindy jumped in surprise, while Paul just said, “Thanks.”
Cindy and Paul took up positions on either side of me, which I found rather amusing, though I appreciated the gesture.
After a few minutes, I walked toward the back of the recon vehicle. Paul and Cindy kept pace and flanked me the whole way. I put my hand on the latch. “Four-man crew if it’s loaded.”
They nodded and aimed at the hatch.
I turned the handle and stepped aside as the door dropped. “Clear,” Paul said.
I nodded and ducked inside. I came out a moment later carrying an armored case which I set on the ground where everyone could see it. Printed on the side were the letters ‘GB.’
“What’s that?” someone called out.
“G-series, B, also known as sarin gas. One of the deadliest chemical compounds on Earth.”
People started to backpedal, and I shook my head. “In this form, it’s harmless. It’s binary…” I let my voice drift off; no need for a lecture about chemical weapons. “You know what, it doesn’t matter. It’s safe. Now.”
“You risked your life to stop this?” Paul asked.
“Let’s talk about it later, hm? This is still a fairly volatile situation,” I said, quietly.
“Not really,” Jonathan said as he walked up.
I pointed at the soldiers. “Nice little trick. Now what?”
“We’ll deal with that once the area is clear.”
I nodded.
“Defense Force, normal patrols tonight!” Paul called out.
They shuffled around a bit, but eventually they headed off, to home or on their patrols.
“Congratulations, Paul, you just got promoted. The DF is yours now,” I said.
For a second, Jonathan looked like he was going to object, but he shrugged. “Works for me.”
“We’re going to need to bring him into the loop on a few confidential items,” I said.
Jonathan nodded and sighed. “I don’t like it, but you’re right. He needs to know.”
“And me!” Cindy said.
I rubbed my hand over my face and sighed. “Fine.”
Paul closed his eyes and nodded. He knew what was going to come up, and I could tell he dreaded it.
“Now, if you don’t mind, I don’t like standing around in the open.” I walked back into the recon vehicle, brought out another case, and picked up the first one I’d set down. “Grab the other two?” I looked at Jonathan.
“I’ll help,” Cindy said and walked in.
Jonathan and I grinned at each other. Paul looked at our expressions. “What?”
“Holy shit! How the hell did you lift that thing?!” Cindy’s voice echoed from inside the vehicle. She came out flexing her arm. “I think I screwed up my shoulder.”
