Code Name: Buffy and Buddy
Chapter Six
The lady who had worn the NASA jacket and the gray skirt was waiting for me when I arrived at the island. She was wearing jogging shorts, a tee shirt commemorating a shuttle launch and rafting sandals. Her hair was loose over her shoulders. She was slathering bug repellant on her legs when I approached her. She was sitting in a canvas camping chair with her back to a large group of trees.
“Evening Buddy.”
“Evening,” I replied.
She looked up at me. “Buddy, you look tired. Have you slept since yesterday morning?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Have you eaten?”
“A little.”
“Buddy, I’m not sure how much of this you have figured out, but we care about you. Not the way your mother does of course, but we are trying to protect you.”
“Why?”
“Because you can stop whatever plans they have to kill our rocket.” She stood. “Look, my sharpshooters are angry with you for what you did to them, but they do understand.”
“That’s nice.”
“Keeping you alive is our primary mission. Stopping the plot is secondary.”
“Who are you really?”
“We are a private security company contracted by the company that owns the rocket. If the rocket does not launch successfully, a lot of people will lose their lives.”
“And how do you think I can stop this?”
“We don’t know, but whatever it takes, you can’t do it if you’re dead.”
“I see that.”
She gently touched my cheek. “Beth Anne was foolish to leave you.”
“She was afraid. I understand.”
“On my way here, we received proof of life. Her captors let her call her father. She’s upset, but they’re not mistreating her.”
“That’s good to know.”
“When she tried to tell her father that they had set a trap for you, they cut her off.”
“Did she say if Buffy was with her?”
“No. You must be so worried.” She took my hand.
I pulled her tight into a hug. “Air Force is coming up over the rise behind you.”
“So now what?”
“Tell your people not to shoot no matter what happens.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I grabbed her bottom firmly with both hands. She pulled back and slapped me hard. The Air Force Captain stopped to laugh. He was within twenty feet, and I shouted. “Now.”
I pointed at the captain with one hand and at the NASA woman with the other. Softly I said, “Relax, they’ll take good care of you.”
The woman screamed as Xander and Oz picked her up and flew away with her. Fortunately, she did not struggle because if they had dropped her in the lake, an alligator would not have been far away.
The Air Force Captain had been caught by surprise by the slap, but the expression on his face when Spike and Angel carried him away was priceless.
I did not know if I had one or two more visitors coming, but when I heard both a helicopter and an airboat, I knew I was in trouble. I did know that unless the guys returned quickly, I would not have enough airlift capacity. Caleb, who was flying high cover, was not as strong as any of the others.
I listened carefully to the noises of the night. The women sharpshooters were out there somewhere. The slap of a mosquito gave one away. I assumed that they had chained themselves to their weapons and if I could see the reflection of their scopes, I could drag them, kicking and screaming to me. I spotted one and reached out for her rifle. I had guessed correctly. She came out of the blind she had built chained to her rifle. I had to admire her discipline. She did not scream. She did not attempt to shoot me. I had lifted her out of the surf and deposited her safely on the beach so she knew I could. When I put her on her feet, she glared at me.
“Look, I’m sorry for hitting you with the fire ants. I know you’re going to hurt for a few more days and there’s not much that can be done about that. But we’re alone on this island, and we’re about to be in a lot of trouble.”
“We can take care of ourselves.”
“I’m counting on that.”
“What did you do with Mrs. Carson?”
“Mrs. Carson? Is there a Mr. Carson?”
“Was. He was killed in Iraq.”
“Sorry to hear that. She’s safe. I’ll take you there if we survive this.”
She gave me a look that said she would live, but if I did was an open question. “Look, the helicopter will be here in a minute. Can you disable it without killing anyone?”
“If it is low enough.”
“Can you disable an airboat?”
“Yes.”
“Go hide. Disable them at your first opportunity. Remember, their mission is not to negotiate with me, but to capture me and they won’t have any problem killing you in the process.”
She silently returned to her blind.
The helicopter swooped in low over the water. It stopped, hovered and six men repelled the few feet to the ground. Two shots, so close together they could almost be one shot, split the night air. I had heard the boom of an assault rifle in the movies, but nothing prepared me for the sound of one in real life. They were loud. I heard the sound of shredding metal from the chopper’s transmission as it sank to the soft surface of the marshy ground. It was not going anywhere.
The men hit the dirt and tried to identify the sources of the shots. We were to the top of a little rise where the men were bathed in the low light of the rising moon. The women were in the shadows and had the advantages of camouflage and placement. I snatched the weapons from the men and threw them toward the women. I was not sure I could trust the women, but I knew I could not believe these guys. I had to figure which one to take captive. Taking all of them made no sense. I only needed one to lead me to Buffy and Beth Anne.
I could hear them talking to each other over their radios because the chopper pilot had not muted his radio. I determined which was the leader and tried to figure out how to separate him from the others.
I heard a second airboat coming from the other direction, but this one had a flashing police beacon on top. I always suspected the police had airboats, but this was the first time I had ever seen one. Hearing the airboats and the police siren, the men on the ground panicked and started to run. I have no idea where they thought they were going, but they tried to run. I unhooked their belts and dropped their pants. You know, I wanted to laugh, but it would just not have been right. They were jumping around fighting with their heavy gun belts and trying to fix their pants. I did hear a laugh from one of the blinds, so I knew the women were enjoying the show.
Xander showed up as the first airboat hit the shore. I pointed. “The sharpshooters are there and there. Bring them.”
“What about these guys?”
“They’re mine.”
Two sheriff deputies jumped of the airboat. The chopper pilot put his hands behind his head in his seat. The one I had determined as the leader had dropped his belt with his weapons and was headed for the water. That was seriously stupid. There are gators in that water, and they like to hunt at night. I flew from the small recess where I had been hiding and tackled him from behind. He pulled a knife on me.
“Stupid, your orders are to capture me, not kill me.”
“My orders are to kill you. Those guys want to capture you.”
“The cops?”
“No, the ones at your cousin’s house.”
I took his knife, tied him to a tree, picked up as many weapons as I could and flew away.