AB (The Blake Reynolds Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  “OK, I will tell you!” the AB yelled. “We are gathering for two reasons. First, to assemble our forces and make a final assault on those of you who are unclean so we can create our utopian society. And second, to gather for the grand celebration where we will send the message back to the creators,” the AB finished with a euphoric look on his face.

  Blake once again walked back to his side of the table. While the first bit of information worried him, the second piece made him terrified. “And what is the content of this message?”

  “I’m not privy to that information, but I know it will be something wonderful.”

  Blake bounced the AB prisoner’s head off of the table a few more times, but he wouldn’t or couldn’t divulge any more useful information. Blake left the room to report what he had found out.

  An hour later the sun rose. The two ships pulled their anchors so that they could move further out to sea. It was thought they would be safe from another attack if they were further out.

  Blake had orders to take the AB prisoner to his base where he would be met by other soldiers and taken back to Pacific Command for further interrogation. He knew there was little chance they would get any more useful information after his interrogation so hesitated to follow the orders.

  As he was about to leave, he stopped to say goodbye to James and wish him luck on saving the world. James just gave Blake the thumbs-up sign since he was hooked up to all sorts of tubes and wires and could barely move.

  Blake, the AB, and the SEALs that had come to pick them up the day before crawled down the ship’s ladder into the pontoon boat they had taken on the way out to the ships. The AB was secured with handcuffs and place in the front.

  Slowly the body bag that contained Munns was reverently lowered into the boat. Blake and the two SEALs silently placed his body in the middle, securing the bag to both sides of the boat. The two SEALs made their way to the back of the boat while Blake and the AB sat in the front.

  As the boat made its way towards shore, Blake’s thoughts turned to Munns’s family and what he was going to say to them. He looked at the AB. The AB looked up to the sky and grinned. Blake wondered if he thought that he was going to meet his messiah.

  As the boat neared the shore, Blake’s next reaction was instinctive and not planned. The boat hit a large wave, and Blake bumped into the AB hard enough that he fell over the side of the boat. The AB screamed as he hit the water. The two SEALs stared at Blake in disbelief, wondering if what they had just seen actually happened. Blake shrugged his shoulders.

  The SEAL driving the boat was about to turn around to retrieve the struggling AB behind them, but the other SEAL grabbed his arm and shook his head.

  “This piece of shit deserves to die,” Blake thought. The three soldiers continued towards the shore.

  The SEALs escorted Blake until he reached the south gate of his base. Once they unloaded Munns’s body, the SEALs headed back to their ships. Some medics came down to the gate to take Munns’s body to the makeshift morgue. Blake walked straight to the command center to give a report on what had happened in the last twenty-four hours.

  “While interrogating the prisoner, he revealed that they are building some kind of device to send a message just southwest of here. His exact words were, ‘We are going to send a message back to the creators.’”

  The commander seemed concerned. “Did he say what the message would contain or where it would be sent?”

  Blake shook his head. “I think the AB that we interrogated was a low-level grunt that didn’t know much.”

  The commander leaned forward. “I heard you were bringing him in for further interrogation. Where is he?”

  Blake accidently let a tiny smile slip across his lips. “Um, he had a slight accident on the way to shore. We hit a large wave, and he fell overboard. By the time we got turned around, he had already slipped below the waves.” Blake felt a little guilty for lying about the last part, but he couldn’t forget what had happened to Munns. He still needed to talk to Munns’s wife and child.

  Blake could tell from the commander’s eyes that he knew exactly what happened. “Do you want me to send a man out to notify Munns’s family what happened to him?”

  “No, I’ll do it. It’s the least I can do for him.”

  “OK, I will notify Pacific Command on a secure channel about the message. Talk to Munns’s family and spend some time with your own. Report back at 0700 tomorrow.”

  Blake stood, saluted, and left the room. He walked down to the tents where the families were stationed. They seemed far away, but as he approached Munns’s family’s tent, he wished it were even farther.

  As he stepped closer, he could see Munns’s son playing in the doorway of the tent with some small action figures. Blake knew he would hear Munns’s wife humming softly inside. As Blake approached, she stepped outside the tent’s flap and smiled. “Well, you guys have been gone long enough. Where is that husband of mine? Did you leave him out on some important assignment to save the world?”

  When Blake didn’t return Sue’s smile, her expression changed. He recounted the story about the fight and Munns’s bravery. Sue’s emotions started to surface, and her eyes filled with tears.

  “No, no!” she screamed.

  Blake could only hold her as she beat his chest angrily. By this time, several of the other women in the camp heard her cries and rushed to her side.

  “If it is any consolation, his last words were of you and your son. I’m so sorry… I wish I could have done more for him.”

  Blake couldn’t take seeing her anguish anymore and left her to be consoled by the other women in the camp. The walk back to his tent wasn’t far, but he moved extremely slowly. When he entered his tent, Tara and Kaya were playing cards on the cot. Kaya leaped off the bed straight into Blake’s arms. Tara gave him a warm smile that he couldn’t return.

  “Munns didn’t make it back this time,” he managed to say as he stared at the floor.

  Tara’s expression turned to shock, and she put her hand over her mouth. “I’m so sorry, Blake! Should I go talk to Sue?”

  “No, there are several women down there to help her. Just sit here and be with me for a while.” Tara jumped off the cot and crushed him with a comforting hug.

  Day 12: Lord Dameon

  After Lord Dameon learned his soldiers had failed to kill the James, Lord Dameon went into panic mode. Nothing could get in the way of getting the message out. He ordered his brothers to work double shifts until the transmitter was built and the message was sent. He also feared an attack from the unclean and felt that he didn’t have enough brothers and sisters to protect their work.

  The next morning after the failed assault, it was reported to Lord Dameon that the enemy was starting to amass troops not far from them. Lord Dameon’s worst fears were being realized: An attack was inevitable.

  Later in the morning, as Lord Dameon sat in his office, a large man accompanied by four others walked in. They carried two large boxes and set them on the floor with a thud. The large man approached Lord Dameon and smiled.

  “We have been sent north with this gift from Sir. They are creations of the unclean that were used to kill and destroy each other. I believe they call them nuclear bombs. These were once mounted on missiles, but we were able to capture one of their ships and retrieve them. One of my men retains the knowledge to unleash their power, and we leave it to your discretion on how they will be used.”

  Lord Dameon smiled. “Remind me to thank Sir for his kind gift.” He addressed one of his military commanders. “We need a prisoner to send a message back to the unclean.”

  The commander left the room and was back in ten minutes. Behind him, he dragged a tired, bloodied, and beaten soldier. He was thrown down on his knees in front of Lord Dameon.

  “This is your lucky day. We are going to let you go. But in exchange for this gift, we require that you deliver a message for us.”

  Lord Dameon stood from his desk and approached the soldier. H
e bent down, lifted the soldier’s head, and pointed to the two cases at the side of the room. “See those two boxes over there? In them are two devices that you and your kind created. You call them nuclear bombs. We are prepared to use them to destroy the west coast of this land. We are not afraid to die; we exist to serve and further the goals of the creators.”

  The soldier turned his confused gaze from the cases back to Lord Dameon.

  “We now have in our power the ability to destroy us all, but we would rather just be left alone. The message we want you to deliver is, ‘Just leave us alone and we will not launch any further attacks on your people. If you attack, we will trigger the nuclear bombs.’”

  Lord Dameon knew it was a lie, but it was a way to buy some time. He really didn’t care as long as it helped them achieve their goals. The soldier nodded and was cut loose.

  “We will escort you north until you are out of our area.” The soldier was dragged out of the room.

  Lord Dameon stood and addressed everyone in the room. “Brothers and Sisters, let us gather for one last battle. Once we have sent the message of peace, we will launch our attack on the plague of uncleanness that infects this planet. Let us purge it so that we may await our creator’s glorious return. I want runners to be sent to our entire realm and deliver a message to converge on this location, so we may all celebrate the glorious day. Then we will begin our attack.”

  Day 12: Blake

  Several soldiers gathered in the commander’s office to go over the day’s plans. Blake walked in and sat down. “So what are we planning?”

  The commander and the other two soldiers glanced at Blake. “You’re sitting this one out, Captain Reynolds. You need to spend some time healing, and even more, you need some down time.” Blake stood to protest when the commander raised his hand. “That’s an order.”

  Blake sat back down and frowned.

  “We do need your advice on a retrieval mission, though. We have orders to capture an AB that might be able to tell us what they are constructing by the old white church. Lieutenant Jackson here will be leading the mission.”

  Blake opened his mouth again to protest, but the commander shot him a stern look.

  “We would appreciate your advice on the best way to approach the area where the church is located, seeing how it is the center of all their activity.”

  Blake stood and spun the map on the desk and pointed to the hills just south of their position. “When we were on our patrol a few days ago, it seemed the least amount of enemy patrols were in the foothills. So I would head south and stay just on the east side of the ridge until you are directly east of the church. Make your way to the I-5 and that should put you within a quarter mile of the church and close to whatever they are building. Try to avoid any encounters on the perimeter. The ABs there probably won’t know any more than what we already know. You should be able to notice the differences in the ABs the closer you get. A few still have some smarts and act differently than the others.” He glanced back at the lieutenant. “So how many men are you taking?”

  “I thought ten would be a good number.”

  Blake stroked his chin. “That could be good or bad. Good to have numbers if you get into a firefight, but bad if you are trying to keep things quiet. But this is your mission.”

  “Thanks, Captain, I will take it under advisement,” the lieutenant said as he stood. The commander stood, and all three soldiers saluted and were dismissed.

  After the short meeting, Blake stopped by the medical tent to get his bandages changed. He then went to get his family to go to breakfast.

  The rest of the day, Blake enjoyed spending time with his family in the park and had a small picnic. However, his thoughts kept dwelling on the patrol that was out on the mission. He knew he was more qualified to lead.

  As the day ended, Tara pulled Blake over to a park bench and motioned for him to sit down. Blake gave her a confused look. Tara sat Kaya on her lap. They both seemed very excited about something.

  “Kaya and I have something to tell you,” Tara said with a smile.

  “Mommy is going to have a baby!” Kaya blurted out.

  Blake sat there stunned before Tara broke the silence. “Aren’t you going to say something?”

  “Well, um… how did…” He cleared his throat. “How long have you known?” He shook his head as the shock fully hit him. “This is wonderful!”

  “I wasn’t sure at first, and then the whole world fell apart. There just wasn’t an opportunity to tell you. Anyway, I’m about two months along.”

  Blake reached over and clutched both girls into a tight hug. “This is just wonderful.”

  It was almost sunset, and Blake and his family were headed back to their tent to get some much-needed sleep after the ups and downs of the day. Just as he sat down to take his boots off, he heard commotion at the southern gate. He knew it was the gate where this morning’s patrol would be coming in. He looked at Tara, and she nodded her approval.

  Blake sprinted down the row of tents towards the gate, never taking his eyes off it. The guards on the towers had their guns trained on the Hummer approaching at high speed. The vehicle was smoking heavily and swerving all over. It was barely staying on the road. From what Blake could tell, the Hummer had been in a heavy firefight, and he wondered how it was even running at all.

  The vehicle stopped at the gate, but no one stepped out. Several medics were running towards the gate while four heavily armed Marines held up their weapons ready to fire. By the time Blake reached the truck, the medics were hauling wounded out and laying them on the grass. The Marines had grabbed two prisoners out of the back who had been bound and gagged. One had a severe chest wound and was unconscious; the other had a leg wound but was resisting with great force.

  The last person removed from the vehicle was the driver, Lieutenant Jackson. He wasn’t wearing his helmet and had sustained a nasty-looking wound to the side of his head. Dried blood was caked from the top of his head down his face and over his chest.

  Jackson looked up at Blake and grabbed the side of his arm as he was laid down on the grass. “We thought we were clear, but it was a trap!”

  “Don’t worry about it now. Just lay back and let us take care of you,” Blake said. Jackson slowly closed his eyes and fell unconscious.

  Blake helped carry all the wounded to the medical tent. He didn’t know what else to do, so he found a place to stand out of the way in a corner in case he was needed.

  There were more wounded than the doctor and nurses could handle, so all the soldiers and civilians who had helped carry the wounded were used to help administer medical treatment. Once all seven were inside, they went to work on the wounded soldiers. The two ABs were in the corner under heavy guard.

  The commander walked in and assessed the situation. He saw the two ABs lying in the corner and immediately commanded everyone's attention. “Listen, I want top priority to go the two AB prisoners. We need to keep them alive or this whole thing will have been for nothing.” At first, everyone stared at him with hatred over the thought of the ABs, but they knew he was right.

  The doctor and one of the nurses went to work on the critically wounded AB, while the other two nurses went to work on the soldiers. One of the AB men was rushed into surgery, but the doctor soon returned because it had died on the operating table. The other AB was less severely wounded, so his wounds were easily treated. He was then tied to a chair until they decided what to do with him.

  With the two ABs dealt with, the doctor turned his attention to the wounded soldiers. One had already died due to blood loss. Lieutenant Jackson’s head wound was cleaned, stitched, and bandaged. He had been awake for the last thirty minutes but was having difficulty lying in bed, as he kept wanting to get up to help what was left of his men.

  For the last hour, Blake helped the doctors and nurses treat the wounded. He had gotten little out of the soldiers as to what had happened. But he felt extremely guilty and wondered if it had been his suggestions that
had led to this.

  The base commander entered the medical tent and headed directly to Blake. “Reynolds, do you have anything to report yet?”

  Blake scanned the room. “Not really. We have been very busy just trying to keep everyone alive.”

  The commander walked over to Jackson. “Lieutenant, how is your head doing?”

  “I have a serious headache, but I’ll be fine. Give me twenty-four hours, and I can get back into the fight.”

  “Do you feel like you are able to do a debriefing of what happened out there?”

  “Yes sir. But parts of it are still a little fuzzy. I’ll do my best.”

  “Very well then. Meet me in my office in twenty minutes.”

  The commander turned to Blake. “Reynolds, I want you there as well.”

  “Yes sir.”

  When Blake entered the office, the commander and Jackson had already started the meeting.

  “Captain Reynolds, please sit down. Lieutenant Jackson here was just explaining what happened on his mission.” He looked back at Jackson. “Please continue.”

  “Like I was saying, we followed the dirt roads and trails heading south like Captain Reynolds suggested. We saw a few AB drones wandering around gathering supplies. None of them engaged us. We parked our vehicle behind some trees about a quarter mile east of I-5. I figured we were about a mile away from the old white church. We were extremely surprised that we hadn’t hit any patrols up to this point. But we thought, ‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, right?’”

  Blake felt extremely guilty and he knew Jackson could tell. “Captain, your suggestions were good, so don’t blame yourself for the attack.”

  Jackson turned his attention back to the commander. “So our patrol made its way through the residential area until we hit I-5. The closer we got, the more I had an uneasy feeling that we were being watched. As we crossed the I-5, one of the men at the back of the patrol reported seeing several AB children that seemed to be shadowing us.”