don’t know, but Bill is calling them tonight and
telling them we’re done if they don’t send us what we need. I told him that
before I left.”
“He’ll sugar coat it.”
“He will, but maybe it will get through to someone.”
“I doubt it.”
“Me too,” Cory sighed and looked around the cave. He
saw Tim and Racheal sleeping in a corner, huddled together like two bears in a
den. He saw the rest of his warriors sleeping quietly in the corners of the
cavern.
“We’ll have to send the hunting parties out again
tomorrow, but they’ve been coming back with less every time we send them out. Let’s get whatever is left at the ranch tomorrow, including
the livestock, and move what’s left here. We really can’t afford to lose
anything from the ranch anymore.”
“I’ll take care of it, and we might as well bring
Ben back. He’s been staying there for months. and so far we’ve been lucky he hasn’t had a visit from the
Mexicans yet.”
“He’ll miss sleeping in a bed and having heat and
power, but yeah, we need to bring him back.” Cory paused for a minute, then added, “I’ll see you in the morning. I’m tired.”
“I’ll be asleep in the morning. Justin is taking the
radio shift at first light.”
“Well, if you want to sleep on my bedroll with me,
you can.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Okay, see you later.”
The following night, the Air Force finally delivered
on its promise to resupply the partisans, and the drop was spectacular to the
militia that waited for the supplies. Cory wasn’t there. He had left for Tucson to continue the raids on the railroad cars that
delivered the supplies to the Mexican Army. Bill went along, carrying four
bricks of C-4 that they intended to use to blow up a bridge on the railway.
An ordinance and weapons training man fell out of
the sky that night. He landed with an awkward stance, stutter stepping and
almost falling over before he regained his balance, and then limped off the
drop zone before he introduced himself. His name was Jim and he was clearly not
happy to be there; but he got his act together , helped
retrieve the SAWs and other automatic weapons from the drop, as well as more of
the encrypted radios and food rations, before he climbed into an ATV and rode
off to the cave.
Cory and Bill sat on a small rise that overlooked
the railway between Nogales and Tucson. They both hated the terrain. “How the
hell are you supposed to fight a guerilla war in a place that’s so damn flat
you can watch your dog run away for a week?” Bill complained.
“You must have a poodle,” Cory replied dryly, and
again glassed the bridge they were about to place the charges on. “But I get
what you’re saying. It makes me jittery to be somewhere where there is no
concealment, much less cover. I’m a lot happier in the mountains, but this is
where the targets are, so let’s just get this done and get the hell back to
Prescott as soon as we can.” After a moment he added, “I haven’t seen anything
move down there for an hour. When it gets to be twilight, I think we should
head down and place the charges.”
“You want to use the contact detonators?”
“Yeah, we need to take the locomotives out. They can
replace the rolling stock all day long, but the locomotives are a finite
resource; so we just place the charges at the northern side of the bridge and
make sure they blast before the engines get to the other side. We can save the
remote detonators for later. How many of those do we have left?”
“Around twenty.”
“How do those things work?”
“Radio waves. A small servo
closes the contact on the detonator when you activate them from the control.”
“So we could place bombs in buildings and detonate
them from another location?”
“Up to three miles away.”
“We can use that later. We got people working at
their bases all over the state, and if we can find a way to get the explosives
into their headquarters, we could
telling them we’re done if they don’t send us what we need. I told him that
before I left.”
“He’ll sugar coat it.”
“He will, but maybe it will get through to someone.”
“I doubt it.”
“Me too,” Cory sighed and looked around the cave. He
saw Tim and Racheal sleeping in a corner, huddled together like two bears in a
den. He saw the rest of his warriors sleeping quietly in the corners of the
cavern.
“We’ll have to send the hunting parties out again
tomorrow, but they’ve been coming back with less every time we send them out. Let’s get whatever is left at the ranch tomorrow, including
the livestock, and move what’s left here. We really can’t afford to lose
anything from the ranch anymore.”
“I’ll take care of it, and we might as well bring
Ben back. He’s been staying there for months. and so far we’ve been lucky he hasn’t had a visit from the
Mexicans yet.”
“He’ll miss sleeping in a bed and having heat and
power, but yeah, we need to bring him back.” Cory paused for a minute, then added, “I’ll see you in the morning. I’m tired.”
“I’ll be asleep in the morning. Justin is taking the
radio shift at first light.”
“Well, if you want to sleep on my bedroll with me,
you can.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Okay, see you later.”
The following night, the Air Force finally delivered
on its promise to resupply the partisans, and the drop was spectacular to the
militia that waited for the supplies. Cory wasn’t there. He had left for Tucson to continue the raids on the railroad cars that
delivered the supplies to the Mexican Army. Bill went along, carrying four
bricks of C-4 that they intended to use to blow up a bridge on the railway.
An ordinance and weapons training man fell out of
the sky that night. He landed with an awkward stance, stutter stepping and
almost falling over before he regained his balance, and then limped off the
drop zone before he introduced himself. His name was Jim and he was clearly not
happy to be there; but he got his act together , helped
retrieve the SAWs and other automatic weapons from the drop, as well as more of
the encrypted radios and food rations, before he climbed into an ATV and rode
off to the cave.
Cory and Bill sat on a small rise that overlooked
the railway between Nogales and Tucson. They both hated the terrain. “How the
hell are you supposed to fight a guerilla war in a place that’s so damn flat
you can watch your dog run away for a week?” Bill complained.
“You must have a poodle,” Cory replied dryly, and
again glassed the bridge they were about to place the charges on. “But I get
what you’re saying. It makes me jittery to be somewhere where there is no
concealment, much less cover. I’m a lot happier in the mountains, but this is
where the targets are, so let’s just get this done and get the hell back to
Prescott as soon as we can.” After a moment he added, “I haven’t seen anything
move down there for an hour. When it gets to be twilight, I think we should
head down and place the charges.”
“You want to use the contact detonators?”
“Yeah, we need to take the locomotives out. They can
replace the rolling stock all day long, but the locomotives are a finite
resource; so we just place the charges at the northern side of the bridge and
make sure they blast before the engines get to the other side. We can save the
remote detonators for later. How many of those do we have left?”
“Around twenty.”
“How do those things work?”
“Radio waves. A small servo
closes the contact on the detonator when you activate them from the control.”
“So we could place bombs in buildings and detonate
them from another location?”
“Up to three miles away.”
“We can use that later. We got people working at
their bases all over the state, and if we can find a way to get the explosives
into their headquarters, we could
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