“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Can we take back the Castle or not?”
“I assure you, our employer is determined to take it at any cost. They’re moving three battalions into position as we speak. Tell me, Jackson, what’s his next move? You know the man better than I do.”
“The first thing he’s going to do is take the hijacked Hal system offline. Then he’s going to move every asset he has to the top of the Castle to defend it.”
“Well, he can try all he wants to, but he’ll never be able to pull it off.”
“Never? You sure about that?”
Charles smiled. “Hal?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Who am I?”
“You are Howard Beck.”
“Who created you?”
“You did, sir.”
“Does that answer your question, Jackson?”
“Your son is capable of anything. You do yourself a disservice by underestimating him.”
“I’m afraid I disagree with you, Jackson. I think he’s coming here to find me. If my assumption is correct, he’s in the process of locking down the Castle, and no one will ever be able to get inside no matter how hard they try. He wants to face the man who defeated him; he wants to know how I did it. His ego and, more importantly, his pride have been gravely wounded.”
“You’re not seriously going to face him, are you?”
“I’m not planning on it. Our employer wants my son publicly executed. They want to destroy the Pacific States of America and crush their spirit. You and I have been tasked with his capture. If my son wants to come here, we wait for him. The Chinese want him. They want him so badly they’re willing to threaten nuclear war to ensure his surrender.”
“That won’t work. It’s an obvious bluff. The Chinese want this entire country from coast to coast.”
“I concur, Jackson. It’s an empty threat; let’s hope my son doesn’t call their bluff.”
Richard Dupree kicked Simon Sterling square in the chest, sending him tumbling to the ground. Richard drew his sidearm and dug the barrel of the pistol into the disgraced man’s forehead. “Howard! Why in the HELL did you bring this man? Give me one reason, just one reason why I shouldn’t blow his brains out!”
“Richard! Stop right now! We need him!”
Richard cocked the hammer. “Like hell we do.”
Howard pleaded. “Please, Richard, please trust me. We need him alive. He’s going to surrender the military forces of the UAE to us. We need him alive to do it.”
Richard leaned forward. “Is that right, Mr. President? You gonna play ball with us?”
“Yes! I swear it! I swear it, General! Please, don’t kill me!”
“I love hearing you beg, you piece of shit. Stand up.”
Simon got to his feet and dusted himself off. He looked at the group and saw nothing but contempt reflected in their faces. Simon realized his delusions of forgiveness were foolish. He’d mistakenly thought that if Howard trusted him, the others would do the same.
The group had been reunited in a deserted stretch of land between Montrose, Colorado, and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Hal had landed the fleet of nine stealth jets and waited for Howard to bring the three remaining jets to the rendezvous point.
“Maxwell, how are you feeling?” Howard asked.
“Well, Howard, let’s see. I had a crushed vertebra replaced and was placed in a drug-induced coma to escape the Chinese. Then we ran over one of your psychotic killer robots. Now I feel like I’ve been beaten half to death with baseball bats, and here we are.”
“That requires so much more explanation, Max, but it will have to wait for another time. We have much more important things to do.”
“All in good time, Howard, all in good time. What’s the plan?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to Richard about. Tell me, General, do you think these twelve jets could take back Beck Estates?”
“If the Chinese have the place locked down like I’m certain they do, we’ll lose half the jets attempting to do so. Would we lose Hal in the process?”
“We would. Three of those cores are crucial to keeping Hal online. We lose those three and he won’t survive. The risk is just too high .
Richard glared at Simon. “What about the UAE forces at Beck Estates? Can we get them to turn on the Chinese?”
“They’re no doubt taking orders from Regional Governor Butler. He probably has them under the delusion that the Chinese are allies. If I declare Butler a traitor to the UAE and the Chinese as our enemies, they’ll turn on them.”
“I like those odds much better. We assign an escort for each of the vital jets and we can pull it off.”
Howard turned to Simon. “Who do you trust in Jackson’s camp?”
“Matt Bankhead is an old salt. I can talk sense into him.”
“Wait. You mean Butler’s old top NCO? The guy who helped him kick me out of my own house?”
“Yes, Matt has a secret hatred for officers. He despises the ass-kissing and politics, and the officers love him for it. They’ll listen to him and turn on Butler in a heartbeat.”
Howard struggled to believe that one of the men who’d taken his house from him was now going to help him get it back. “Simon, I’ll compile a data file you can send to show him what the Chinese have done to the West Coast. The thousands of dead UAE troops will be enough to illustrate what Butler is hiding from him.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Command Sergeant Major Matthew Bankhead was torn between his loyalty to the United American Empire and a gut feeling that something was very wrong with the country he had sworn to protect. He mourned the death of President Sterling, a man he’d admired a great deal. The Silent Warriors, the cowardly bastards, had attacked the president in Miami and killed not only the president, but some great men and women of the UAE, and Matt hated Iran all the more. Despite mourning the loss of a great man, he was happy to celebrate the man’s successor, President Jackson Butler. CSM Bankhead had served as first sergeant under Jackson Butler while the man was still a captain
What was troubling Bankhead was the mysterious man that walked right into Beck Estates like he owned the joint. President Jackson Butler was the most powerful man in the empire, but the stranger treated him like an underling. This puzzled Matt a great deal. The only logical assumption Matt could make was that the man was an agent of the Chinese government. Matt had tried to broach the subject with the president, but the only answer he got was “He’s my advisor, I trust him and that means you do, too. Understood?” Matt had snapped a smart salute and left the room. He didn’t even know the mysterious man’s name. No measure of loyalty to President Butler would ever mean he trusted the president’s so-called advisor.
Matt was in his office when his aide knocked on the door and handed him a tablet. Matt dismissed the aide and stared at the tablet in front of him. The screen contained three simple lines:
Omega? The Omega encryption was discontinued when Jackson took office. What the hell? Matt typed in his Omega encryption code to find four separate video screens. He clicked on the first one and watched in horror as Chinese soldiers ransacked the streets of San Francisco, engaged in combat with UAE soldiers, and murdered armed citizens who dared to resist the invasion force. The second screen provided an aerial view of the decimated remains of Edwards Air Force Base. The third and fourth screens showed similar destruction at Fort Irwin and the Presidio. Matt was speechless; this had to be some kind of joke.