Gordon Ryan - State of Rebellion

A second round of shots impacted the cabin, and Dan returned fire, putting several three-round bursts into the area where he had seen the muzzle flashes. He heard the scream of someone hit by his fusillade, and the incoming rounds decreased. The silhouettes of two men moving back up the hillside convinced him that his defensive shots were giving Shaw second thoughts. In three minutes, Dan launched another flare and several moments later, heard the unmistakable sound of heavy-caliber automatic weapons coming over the cabin, followed shortly thereafter by the sound of helicopter blades. He picked up the cell phone and called General Del Valle’s number again. The general answered immediately.

“We’ve got your flare in sight, Captain. What’s the ground situation?”

“Sir, the LZ is hot, but I think the enemy is withdrawing. No shots for several minutes.”

“Understood.” Two helicopters flew directly over the cabin, and Dan could hear one hovering behind the building, a spotlight suddenly illuminating the open field to the rear of the cabin.

Ten minutes later, and long before daylight, an unconscious Nicole was carried onboard by two medics, who had stabilized her with an IV drip and pressure bandages. Within moments, the helicopter lifted off and was on its way to Woodland Memorial Hospital, twenty minutes away. Del Valle offered Dan the opportunity to accompany Nicole. His hesitation puzzled the general, but Dan explained the necessity of retrieving the computer disks, which had been the primary purpose for their evening’s excursion and for which, Dan knew, Nicole would have maintained priority.

The other two helicopters sat down in quick succession, and a well-armed squad of State Military Reserve troops occupied the cabin and surrounding hillside, joined at first light by the remainder of Company B, 324 thMechanized Battalion-Colonel Jack Harman’s outfit. As dawn broke, no additional Shasta Brigade troopers were present in the area. On the surrounding hillside, they discovered one dead Shasta Brigade trooper and one wounded man, lying silently beneath a tree, who raised his hands as the SMR troops approached.

Slightly more than an hour later, Dan sat in a waiting area near the operating room at Sacramento General Hospital, where Nicole had been redirected. The decision to extend the flight the extra fifteen minutes to Sacramento was made during the flight on the advice of the surgeon who was available to perform immediate thoracic surgery. During the long wait, while Nicole was in surgery, Dan reflected on the violent events of the previous night.

When Nicole was hurled through the door into the Scout hut, his heart had come up into his throat. At that moment, he didn’t know if she had been abused by the guard or if she was injured. Sitting helplessly bound to the chair, he had been astonished by her strength and agility as she disabled one guard and then, in a thoroughly professional way, responded so decisively in firing her weapon and killing Dahlgren.

The ghastly wound she had sustained sickened him, and while waiting for the helicopters to arrive, he had watched her face, alarmed by how pale she was becoming. He had agonized over her, imagining the pain and trauma she was enduring. Throughout the agonizingly long minutes they had waited for General Del Valle, she was unable to speak, drifting in and out of consciousness.

Nicole was truly a remarkable woman. Over and over again, she continued to amaze him. He wondered if he could have performed as she had, and readily admitted to himself that she had excellent instincts in tough situations. As he sat on the pale green vinyl couch in the waiting area of Sacramento General Hospital, he shook his head and smiled at the thought. She’d proven that on at least two occasions.

The experience they had been through had not only intensified his admiration, but had also served to compound the tender feelings he had for her. In the quiet of the hospital corridor, Dan once again began to fear that he was in danger of losing the second woman he had ever loved. As he sat waiting for her to come out of surgery, he prayed that she would survive, that they might have a life together-that he might have the chance to tell her that he wanted them to have a life together.

It was six hours later and approaching noon before the surgeon walked the long corridor to tell Dan that Nicole was out of immediate danger, but that she would be unconscious for some time yet, and they would have to wait and see regarding the complications that frequently accompanied such wounds.

The computer disks had been retrieved and, following a telephone call to Colonel Connor, had been entrusted to General Del Valle. Now, sitting by Nicole’s bedside, Dan rested his head on the bed and was in a twilight sleep when a nurse came in to inform him of a phone call. He walked to the nurse’s station in the center of the corridor.

“This is Dan Rawlings.”

“Dan, it’s Pug Connor. How’s she doing?”

“Out of surgery, Colonel, but still unconscious. The doctor thinks she’s going to be all right, but it’s really too early to tell. The bullet punctured her lung.”

“Dan, I know it’s asking a lot, and that you’d like to stay with Nicole, but I’m obliged to ask you to leave her side. I’ve laid on a military fighter at McClellan, which will have you here in a little over three hours. General Del Valle has sent the data from the disks via modem, and preliminary review suggests a wide-ranging election conspiracy. We need to review that information before our appointment in the morning.”

“Appointment, Colonel?”

“That’s right, Dan. I’ve relayed the preliminary information to President Eastman and Vice President Prescott. The president would like to speak to both of us as soon as possible.”

“Colonel, what can I possibly add to your presentation?”

“The president is a forceful man, as I’ve discovered over the years. He likes to deal directly with those involved.”

“I’m a mess,” Dan said, looking down at his muddy trousers and boots. “What time is the flight?”

“As soon as you can get there. Why don’t you go home, shower, and change clothes, and I’ll have a car waiting for you at your apartment.”

Dan was silent for a moment, and Connor picked up on his reluctance.

“I understand if you don’t want to come, Dan, and I really can’t order you, but it is important-and you’d have a chance to tell the president about Nicole’s participation. Nicole will be guarded ’round the clock-police, FBI, and National Guard security. We have General Del Valle’s word on it.”

Dan paused for several long seconds. “I’ll call you and confirm departure before we go airborne, Colonel.”

“Good. See you in a few hours, Dan.”

Returning to Nicole’s room, Dan took her hand. Her nose and mouth were enclosed in a clear plastic oxygen mask. She was sleeping soundly, her breathing shallow but steady. The color was beginning to return to her face as the blood transfusion began to take effect. He thought briefly of Jack, and for a moment, decided not to leave until she had regained consciousness. But then he smiled. “You’d go, wouldn’t you?” he whispered to her unconscious form. He raised her hand and kissed it, then gently placed it back on the bed and exited the room, taking one last glance through the glass wall of the ICU as he passed down the hall.

“She’ll be fine, sir, and we’ll take extra good care of her,” the nurse behind the counter said.

A weary smile crept over Dan’s face as he put on his jacket.

“Thank you, ma’am. She’s earned it.”

Mexico City, Mexico

As Dan crossed America in his first F-16 flight, clad in helmet and flying gear, another military ceremony was about to take place, twenty-one miles outside Mexico City. At the same time Dan’s plane was landing at Andrew’s AFB, near Washington D.C., a retirement ceremony for Mexican General Augustus Fernandez, a contemporary of General Rodrigo Cordoba and General Emiliano Valdez, was bringing to a conclusion his thirty-two years of service to his country. Cordoba had been pleased several days earlier when Valdez called to suggest both of them attend the ceremony in honor of their mutual friend.