Chapter 63 -- OGCVSRURZJXURSA
Grant Page had slept late. He and the others on the committee, along with
several members, had spent the weekend at Luther's commune, setting up for a
possible return by the authorities. They fairly certain that a check for the
unregistered children would occur, and would probably be a pretext for a
search for the fugitives.
The fugitives, along with the twenty-eight children, had been taken over
to Grant's enclave, to await developments. They had worked out some plans,
including battle tactics in case it came to that. They had left small
disguised radios for Luther and another of them to carry.
He wasn't really expecting a visit on a Monday morning, but you never knew.
He quickly shaved, showered and brushed his teeth, skipping breakfast but
promising himself a cup of coffee later. Dressed in dark olive BDUs, he
joined his other colleagues at the headquarters, with a dozen or so volunteers.
All were armed with SIG516 rifles, a large quantity of which they had
purchased some years earlier when the group had decided it was time to create
a safe haven from the continuing encroachment of the government. They hadn't
expected to need them so soon, but there it was, and had to be dealt with.
The rifles were supplemented by .40 caliber handguns, carried in a variety of
manners but most were in vertical shoulder holsters, secured to the belt,
while some others were in belt holsters. They stood around in the area in
front of the headquarters building, while Grant and the others were inside
monitoring events at the neighboring camp.
"I was thinking Monday was too early," Grant said, "but come to think about it,
they just might show up early to surprise them."
"Considering the last couple of operations," Arthur said, "we shouldn't be
surprised if they show up with some heavy weaponry. They've been burned a
couple of times now, and they don't like it happening even once."
"They'll have trouble getting around in there in anything other than off-road
trucks", said Gerald. "It's a good place to set a trap."
"Which they may or may not consider," said Bill. "Unless they have some guys
with military training or experience, they shouldn't try an assault."
"Well, they can't surround it and starve them out," Grant said. "There's
nothing on three sides of it but forest. So what do they do, if they want to
do a search, or a mass arrest? Normally they might get away with it, only
losing those who flee into the woods. But they're armed and prepared. And
apparently not going to go quietly."
The radio receiver startled them, Luther's voice coming over clearly as he
spoke to someone.
"The children you seek are not here," he said. "Neither are the two. You have
your warrant, you are free to inspect the place. You will
not be molested as you do so. If you intend to do so, we would appreciate if
you would be expeditious."
They could not hear the response, but a number of voices were heard in the
background. After a couple of minutes Luther spoke.
"I'm alone for the moment," he said. "They are dispersing to search the
premises. There are about twenty men on the property, and more, probably as
many more, coming down from where they are parked on the road. Ted is here
with me, he is wearing the other radio. I'll try to keep you updated."
"They're going to toss the place," Grant said. "Under the circumstances, they're
likely to express their annoyance in unpleasant ways. We should get moving."
Riding in their off-road vehicles to a short distance from the encampment,
they dismounted and walked to a place they had earlier found useful for
observing the place without being seen. Grant and Bill used their field
glasses to get a better view. as what appeared to be forty to fifty black-clad
personnel moving about the area, entering houses and outbuildings,
occasionally emerging to confer with others before continuing.
They could see all the way to the highway, over the camp which was downhill.
The back road to the area was clearly visible, and they expected that the
searchers would check it out. Eventually they did, an off-road truck driving
through the camp to the road and then disappearing. It was almost fifteen
minutes before it returned. Their vantage point safe from detection, they
watched. They heard Luther's voice on the radio.
"It looks like they're finished. They're coming back towards me."
"Let's get ready to move," Grant said. "If they leave, good. If not, there's
likely to be trouble."
They could see as several of the personnel approached Luther and Ted as they
stood in front of Luther's house. Their words could not be understood, but
then Luther spoke.
"You have searched everywhere. They are not here. Now will you go?"
Grant tried but could not understand the response.
"What for?" Luther said.
More unintelligible speech.
"Something's wrong," Grant said.
"You will do no such thing," they heard Luther say.
Two of the men facing Luther and Ted had drawn handguns, and two more move
behind them, grasping their arms and pulling them back. The crack of a rifle
shot broke the quiet, and one of the men with the cuffs fell, and before the
other one could move a second shot felled him as well. The two men with their
guns on Luther and Ted broke and ran for cover, leaving Luther and Ted to fall
back into the house.
"Let's go," Grant called. "Remember. All black."
They had told Luther's people to be sure they were all dressed in light
clothing, particularly on the upper body. They were counting on the enemy
being in the flat black uniforms.
Grant and his men jogged into the clearing, spreading out as they ran. By now
the enemy was in a state of confusion. Two or three were shouting orders,
lost in the bedlam. More and more shots, mostly from handguns, added to the
din. He saw a couple of the villagers fall, neither of them appeared to have
been armed. He approached a house, two black-clad men about to enter. One
kicked the door open and went in in a crouch, disappearing just before two
shots sounded. The second one had gone in behind him, and Grant ran toward
the open door.
Inside, the two men in black stood over a young woman, unmoving and with red
spots already appearing on her light blue blouse. Grant fired as the two
turned towards him, catching the first one in the left shoulder while still in
mid-turn, then hit the second in the throat. Turning to the first one, he saw
the man was down on one knee, trying to raise his gun. A second shot ended
that endeavor.
He could hear constant fire now, mostly bursts of rifle fire, he recognized
the sound of the little Ruger 9mm carbines they had left with some of the
young men. As he turned toward the door he saw that one of the attackers had
lost his helmet. Rather, her helmet. The end of the blonde ponytail was now
red. He was glad they were wearing helmets and goggles - the residents of the
camp might hesitate to fire facing a female combatant. Even he might, he
thought, hesitate for a fatal second.
The fire slackened and then stopped completely. Grant stepped out on the
porch to see what looked like a scene from a battle in one of the third world
hellholes so often in the news. Only how the hellhole was his back yard. He
saw Arthur approaching, slung his rifle and stepped down from the porch. He
looked grim.
"The ones up on the road are hiding behind the vehicles," he said. "Quite a
few, I believe. They weren't very eager to join in."
Their crew, now wearing sky blue baseball caps, were moving with the residents
among the carnage. They went over to where Luther and Ted were standing, by
the bodies of the first two men who fell.
"Luther, they're going to be all over us before long. Probably try a low-buck
shock and awe. They'll screw it up just bad but if we're all dead it won't
make much difference. We need to quickly assess the casualties, get any
wounded to medical care and, well I saw one dead. There may be more."
"There are," said Luther. He looked angry and sad, and the two emotions seemed
to be fighting for control. Grant hoped anger would win - it would be needed
if people these were to survive. Arthur and Douglas were approaching. Grant
looked up at the line of vehicles along the road. He had do do something,
anything, to defuse the situation. Quickly.
"Art, how quickly can you and Doug get back to our place and then back up there,
on the road?"
"It'll take a few minutes. What do you have in mind?"
"Go back, come down the road and approach them. Act innocent. Tell them you're
from up the road and know some of these people. See it they'll let you help
as a negotiator. You can do it. Improvise."
"Got it," said Arthur. "Let's go." They headed toward the hidden entrance to
the road to their place.
"Luther," Grant said, "we need to buy them some time. Go on up, take Ted, and
get them talking. In a few minutes Art and Doug will show up. They can take
it from there. Take a white towel or something so they don't shoot you right
away."
Luther went into the house and got a white towel, and he and Ted began walking
towards the road, holding the towel up. Bill and Gerald had arrived, and
Grant filled them in.
"Did we take any casualties?" he asked.
"Couple of close shaves, but no." Bill said.
"Any ideas on the locals?"
"There are several dead, and quite a few wounded," said Bill. "Not sure how
many are bad. The attackers have several dead as well, and some more that aren't
going to make if if we don't get them out quickly."
"All right, then," Grant said. "The first order of business will be to get them
out, theirs and ours. Any prisoners?"
Gerald grinned.
"About a dozen, maybe ten or eleven if we let the ones that
are just scuffed up a little go. Some of them just dropped their weapons as
soon as they saw one pointed in their direction."
"Figures," said Grant. "They're not getting the best and brightest these days,
if they ever were. Anyone helping the badly wounded?"
"Yeah," Bill replied. "Some of the locals are helping, now that their own are stable."
"OK. Let's see what happens when Art and Doug get there. Shouldn't take long."