The Navigator 2: We the People Page 9

  "Hold it together, Cassie. We'll try to buy you the time; five might be a little long, so do what you can, okay?" Joe said as he shot another Agent.

  Abby ducked as a bullet hit the facade behind her. Joe turned slightly and saw the Agent with the rifle up on the hillside. He pulled the trigger.

  The rifle was destroyed and the Agent was rolling down the hill trying, in vain, to put out the flames. Joe slewed back to the main group and made sure to at least slow down the enemy advance.

  "This is getting harder; they're not exposing themselves as much," Joe said.

  "Yeah, but the bastards aren't running full tilt towards us either," Abby said. "Not that I'm worried, but how do you plan on getting us outta here?"

  "Magic," Joe replied grinning.

  "How many are left, Colonel?" Abby asked.

  "I can't really tell; they're moving around too much and are too spread out. Do me a favor, keep an eye on the area between where the agents are coming in and Cassie's place if you can. I think some might have moved in that direction while I was busy elsewhere," Joe replied.

  "Gotcha, I'll look, but if they did, they have a lot of cover," Abby said.

  "Joe, we have the last family; our fighters are escorting them here. Two minutes," Cassie sent telepathically.

  "Does Abby know where you're going?" Joe asked. "We'll follow once you're clear."

  "Yeah, she does. Just tell her it's safe house three and she'll give you an image," Cassie replied.

  "Got it, see ya soon." Joe replied and shot another agent making a run from cover to a house at that edge of the community.

  Joe heard Abby shoot her AK twice. "What's going on Abby?"

  "You were right about them trying to sneak past. Did you know they have a weak point in the neck?" Abby replied.

  Joe chuckled. "Good work, keep looking; let me know if you need me to switch over. Cassie says only a couple more minutes then we're out of here."

  "Great, these assholes are getting way too close for comfort," Abby replied.

  Joe adjusted aim and started shooting buildings on the edge of the community, setting them on fire. "That should mess with their optics somewhat."

  "Colonel, we are tracking two F-22 fighter craft heading in your direction. E.T.A. is ten minutes," Hawklings said over the comm.

  "That's okay Admiral, we should be gone before they get here. I'll let you know once we're clear," Joe replied.

  "Understood, Good Luck to both of you," Hawklings replied.

  "One thing Admiral, we have some wounded; can I offer our help?" Joe asked.

  There was a short pause. "Affirmative, Colonel. Medical assistance is approved. I'll have Medical get a team ready and prepare to receive wounded," Hawklings replied.

  "Thank you, Sir," Joe replied.

  "Joe, everyone's safe. Get out of there!" Cassie replied.

  "On our way in a moment," Joe replied. He cleared the air fuel rounds from his rifle and loaded a magazine of depleted uranium. He ripped the tarp away and stood shouldering the big weapon. As he reached into the bag for one last item he looked up at Abby. "Ready to get out of here, kid?"

  "Yeah," Abby gasped. "This place is a dump." When she turned, Joe saw that she had been shot in the left shoulder. She slowly slid down the back of the facade.

  "Oh fuck! Why didn't you say something?" Joe said.

  "Just happened really," the girl replied. "Let's get out of here, and you can bitch me out later."

  Joe nodded, took her hand and pulled her to her feet. "I need you to send me an image of safe house three,"

  He saw the place almost immediately as the girl thought about it. He nodded and opened a portal. He pulled the pin on the grenade and, dropping it into the pile of ammo, took Abby's hand and stepped through, closing the portal behind him.

  When they got to the old armory that was safe house three, they found a type of ordered chaos. Joe helped Abby over to where several people were helping others that had been hurt. Cassie and the Elders met him there. Carlos was already there, since he'd taken a hit in the right leg.

  "Cassie, Elders, Admiral Hawklings has approved the use of Darkwater station medical facilities. I can bring a team in to help with this if you'll allow it," Joe offered.

  "We'll allow it," Mrs. Davis replied. "Carlos, do you still believe these people are our enemy here?"

  Instead of answering her, Carlos looked at Joe. "Why did you fight so hard to protect us? We are not your people,"

  Joe shook his head. "I disagree, Carlos. You are my people. Look, I'll be happy to sit here and answer any question you ask, but first, can I bring in some doctors to help these folks?"

  Carlos looked around and sighed. "Yeah, we need the help."

  "Thank you, Carlos. I swear, I won't betray you," Joe replied. "And if someone else tries, I'll be there - if I can - to help you stop them."

  "What if that turns out to be the people you work for?" one of the other fighters asked.

  Joe gave them a half smile. "It wouldn't be the first time I stopped assholes from abusing their power. Excuse me, I'll be right back."

  Carlos looked over the people surrounding them. "Beast, Crow; boost him."

  "You got it, Boss," a petite girl replied as she and a huge man followed Joe over to a clear area.

  Joe turned to the big man. "What did he mean by 'boost'?"

  "He know you gon' do some shit, we gon' he'p ya," the big man replied in a very deep voice.

  The girl, 'Crow' smiled up at her friend. "We can give you an extra boost of power so you don't use up all of your own." She looked at Joe. "We'll put our hands on your shoulders and feed you our power. You just do your thing, and we'll all be good."

  Joe nodded. "Thanks, it'll help, I am getting a little tired. Hey, I forgot!" He said and took out the candy bar. "Fuck, it melted." He tossed it into a nearby trash can. Then his ear piece, "Darkwater Station, this is Anderson, we made it. Is the medical team ready?"

  "Just about Colonel," Hawklings replied. "You'll have to pick them up from the medical center. Becka will guide us. Do you folks need anything else?"

  "Water, maybe some food. My candy bar melted on that roof. What do you mean by 'us', Sir?" Joe asked.

  "We'll get the supplies together. You'll have to get them in a separate port. By 'us' Councilor Young and myself will be joining you," Hawklings replied.

  "Sir, I didn't get permission for a guard detail, just the medics," Joe replied.

  "There won't be any guards, Colonel. Haviar is ready, open the portal, Colonel," Hawklings replied.

  "This is not a good idea, Sir," Joe replied.

  "Open the portal, Colonel. That's an order," Hawklings replied.

  Hawklings and Young coming to the community proved to be the right thing to do. While the two Darkwater VIPs were led around by the Elders to talk to the people, Joe returned to answer the rest of Carlos' questions. It turned out to be more than just Carlos that had questions for him; most of the young people that had been following Carlos had gathered around and asked questions of their own. It took a couple of hours, but by the end of it, Carlos and his faction agreed to abide by the Elders' decision regarding joining the Council.

  The Council controlled what was officially referred to as the 'Black Ocean Project' by the nations of Earth. Finally, after about three hours of talking, the Elders sat everyone down and spoke to the group. Each of them, including Carlos, gave their thoughts and opinions on what they should do next, then asked the remaining members of the community to vote on the issue. The community agreed to join the Council by a wide margin. Now they just needed to figure out how to get this many people ready for transportation to BC IV.

  However, that was no longer Joe's problem, and was handed off to the people that handle logistics and planning. However, Joe did keep himself 'in the loop' just to make sure everything went okay for the group, and that the preparations for the new community were proceeding as quickly and as well as they could.

  Dr. Symms was over-joyed, as he
not only got to build his new shielding into the walls of the new Citadel, he also got his favorite research partner back: Cassie. Before she ran, they had been very close friends and had worked together to develop the Navigator program.

  A week after the gifted community joined the program, Joe got word that Sharon and Laura would be together and away from the base in Nevada. It was the opportunity he'd been preparing for.

  Joe took a private 'jet' down to Reno, Nevada, while his team rode in the big transport 'jet' that he had originally arrived in. It was time to go see the wife.

  Joe arrived in Reno late in the evening. The Council had made the arrangements, and Joe had a suite in the same resort the two women would be meeting in. When he got off the jet, he smiled as he saw the limo from the hotel waiting for him.

  When he arrived at the hotel and got checked in, he discovered that the two women were actually enjoying the spa before going to dinner. That should give Joe plenty of time. Temporarily blinding the hallway cameras on their floor, he picked the lock and let himself into their room. Merry barked at him, but quickly remembered who he was and started jumping up and down in happiness. He took a few minutes to scratch her ears and even gave her a belly rub.

  Using the little scanner-jammer that the Admiral had given him, he made certain the room was not bugged, got a mountain dew from the wet bar, and took a seat at the table facing the door. He set the loaded and silenced Glock on the table in clear view. He sipped his drink and petted the dog, who was now on his lap, while he waited.

  It took about twenty minutes before he heard the door open. Laura entered first, saw him and stopped dead in her tracks, staring at him. Sharon, sensing danger to Laura quickly moved in front of her before she too, stopped. She was the one to speak first. "If you were here to kill us, you already would have. I must say, you're looking pretty good for a dead man, Major."

  Joe nodded to her. "I'm not here to kill you; not really anyway. You're looking pretty good yourself, General." At this point, Laura ran around Sharon and all but tackled Joe. "Oh God! I knew you were still alive! What's going on?"

  Joe smiled and kissed her tenderly. "Both of you, sit down and I'll explain. General, I already swept the room; it's clean."

  She nodded and took a seat at the same table. Laura also sat down, but stayed next to him.

  "They knew we were looking for you, didn't they?" Sharon asked.

  Joe nodded. "Yeah, they knew about all of it. I've been authorized to take Laura back with me, but there is a lot of stuff going on here that you have no idea about."

  "That much is obvious! I almost didn't recognize you! How did they make you young again?" Laura asked.

  Joe smiled at her. "I can't tell you that unless you agree to join us; but before you do that, you need to know what 'this' is. Sharon, I need you to swear to me that what you hear from me will not leave this room. If it does, I will consider that broken faith and will have to take action regardless of your rank. Do you understand that?"

  Sharon nodded. "I do. Before you begin, why are you telling me?"

  "Dependent on what you decide, I am authorized to bring you back as well. We do have need of your administrative skills. The powers that be have granted me conditional sanction authority. However, refusal will not necessarily mean your death; you honestly do have a choice, a real one. I made sure of that," Joe replied.

  Sharon considered what he said a moment. "Okay, I swear not to pass along what I learn here today. You have my word, Major."

  Joe winked at her. "It's actually Colonel, but that's not really important. Now, what I'm going to tell you is going to sound like one of my stories, but I assure you, it isn't." He continued on and told the two women about Project Dark Ocean and his part in it.

  "Laura, if you agree to this, you will have to accept that I will have other lovers; we really do need to pass on these genes as much as we can. If Sharon decides to join us, you can even keep her as a lover, that will be your choice." He paused. "There is someone in my life now too, and she is very much looking forward to meeting you. Like Sharon has been doing for you, she has been helping me deal with all of this."

  Laura nodded. "I can understand that Honey, I'm really glad you understand about Sharon as well. I was worried you would be mad it was her."

  Joe shook his head. "No, it actually makes sense to me. Especially since you were desperate to find out what happened to me," he looked at Sharon. "I honestly don't know if you and I can have an intimate relationship beyond friendship. There is a lot of history I need to get past before that could happen. I will admit I do care about you and what happens to you, which is why I'm here. I won't rule out future intimacy, but for now, the best I can offer you is friendship and even that will be somewhat guarded until I get to know you again."

  "Joe, I honestly believed you would kill me on sight because of what happened to you. If I agree to this, it sounds like we will be working together pretty closely again. If you can trust me that much, then I'm certain the rest will take care of itself. I will say thank you for accepting our relationship," she said indicating Laura. "I have fallen for her pretty quickly and pretty hard."

  Joe nodded. "I very much know the feeling, Sharon. I can add one thing you may be wondering about; if you join us, you can be yourself. No one will even care who you love. You won't need to hide anything and you will finally be free of the community. They can't reach you where we'll be."

  "Recruiting me has to be a risk to your commanders. How do they know I won't be duplicitous?" Sharon asked.

  "I guaranteed it," Joe replied. "You swore an oath. You know what it means to break faith. Besides, if you really are the person I think you are, you'll feel as strongly about this project as I do once you see everything."

  "If we agree, how do you explain our disappearance?" Sharon asked.

  "Car accident on the way to Las Vegas during the night," Joe explained. "This is a one-way trip; in a way, it is a death of sorts; you'll never be allowed to come back to Earth. To everyone here, you'll be dead, including your kids. Unfortunately, Jed will think we killed you to stop you from looking any closer. There isn't a lot we can do about that."

  "You came back," Laura said.

  Joe smiled. "I'm on a mission, Dear. I'm going back tonight. Unless the Council will need to speak to me again, I probably won't ever come back myself."

  "Can I take Merry?" Laura asked.

  Joe laughed. "I knew you'd ask that; Yes, you can bring Merry, but she will have to go through quarantine, and there are restrictions on the planet, but they’re not that bad."

  Laura nodded and looked thoughtful for a few minutes. Sharon got her a soda from the fridge while she got one for herself. "So, you were actually recruited to be a Navigator and not for your other skills?"

  Joe nodded. "Yeah, but the situation changed, and the Council asked if I would do some of that type of work for them. I'll explain more on the flight up, just remember to ask me about it."

  "To tell you the truth, Joe, I'm not too keen on the whole idea of not ever coming back; you know how important my kids are to me," Laura replied. Joe sensed she wasn't finished yet, so he nodded to her and waited. "But since you were taken, I've had a really hard time. I couldn't let go of you."

  "How has Daniel acted since my 'death'?" Joe asked.

  "I think he was upset about it, but I get the feeling it was the manner in which you died, and not the fact that you actually died," Laura replied. "He's still got a lot of growing up left to do."

  "Sweetheart, he's twenty-two years old. He's as grown as he's going to get. He does need to learn responsibility and respect for others. He also needs to learn how to manage money and pay bills. He's not going to learn that living with you. Leave him the house and a little bit of money, and let him go. It's time he became an adult," Joe said gently.

  "He'll party the money away and get evicted, losing the house," Laura said.

  "Yeah, he probably will. If he does, then he has to learn to deal with the consequence
s of that action. He has to learn to take responsibility for his own life; you need to let him go," Joe said. "Even if you don't come with me, you really need to kick him out, or he'll mooch off of you as long as he can."

  "What about all the money and all our belongings?" Laura asked.

  "We can make sure a will is put in place to cover all of that. As for our keepsakes and other belongings; depending on what Daniel does with them, we can either have them dug out of the trash or bought from the rummage sale," Joe replied. "Knowing Daniel, it'll probably be dug out of the trash."

  "Will you be required to kill anyone again?" Laura asked completely out of the blue.

  "Yes, I will. I already have actually. But this time I know the reasons as well as agree with them. I also have full discretionary authority over the mission. If I don't feel it’s right, it doesn't happen." Joe replied.

  "How can you agree to do that again after what it did to you?" Laura asked, very concerned. "You were still having nightmares years later!"

  Joe took her hand. "Calm down, Sweetheart. I only had nightmares about the missions that I shouldn't have been sent on. You helped me to put those ghosts to rest. What I've been asked to do this time is much, much different."

  "You have to kill people; how is that different?" she asked.

  "Because, by stopping these people I will be saving lives and preserving freedoms. I’ve far more intel of the missions this time, and I fully agree with the mission, or the mission doesn't happen," Joe replied. "The people asking me to do this, and they did ask, not order, have gone to great lengths to make certain I am aware of every aspect of the mission. I have full operational control, and I can stop it at any point. This is the real type of mission I was trained for."

  "Laura, more than any of the others, Joe knows what really happened back then. If he says he feels comfortable working for these people, you have to trust him," Sharon offered.

  Laura nodded. "Joe, I know how you feel about Sharon. But she never broke faith with you or any of the others. The night you left the Agency, a team arrived. They killed everyone and erased all trace of that agency. Sharon was the one that called them in; that was the reason she wasn't your controller on that last mission. She never betrayed you."