shots followed it.
Artie was still on his feet. Melody was having a problem aiming in the dark. Artie turned and was about to fire at Melody who couldn’t be more than five feet away. Drake braced his arms on the ground beneath him and lunged upward with his feet toward where Artie’s gun must be. He managed to kick the gun, deflecting its aim as Artie fired.
Melody was now right beside them. She put her gun to Artie’s head and fired one more time. He dropped to the ground. She kept the gun aimed at him, but he didn’t move. She carefully picked up the flashlight and shone it on his face. She spoke in a shaky voice. “I think I got him. He wouldn’t go down.”
She pulled Artie’s gun out of his hand.
Drake said, “Good job. Are you okay?”
“Yes, and you?”
“Fine but handcuffed. I think he hit Slick.”
Melody took the flashlight and went to find Slick. Drake struggled to his feet and followed her. Slick was lying on his stomach at the base of a tree with his head to one side. Melody knelt beside him and called his name. She put her fingers to his neck.
“He’s still alive.”
Drake said, “We have to get help. And tell the brass about this.”
Melody shone the light on Slick’s face. She noticed for the first time that he had beautiful blue eyes.
“I’ll stay with him. Maybe I can help him.”
Slick spoke so that they could barely hear him. “Go with Drake. Tell them about the training center.”
“You need help.”
“Go. Stop the craziness. Don’t worry about me.”
Slick lapsed into silence. Melody tore her eyes away from his face and stood up. She shone the light on Drake and saw his handcuffs.
“We need to find the key and set you free.”
“Later. We’ve got to work fast. Let’s get to the meeting.”
She directed the flashlight ahead of them, and they carefully walked out of the woods. A trio of uniformed men, lit by the floodlights, came toward them from around the corner at the front of the lodge, waving handguns.
Drake said, “Drop your gun.”
Melody was still carrying it, unconsciously. She let it fall to the ground.
The men spread out and covered the two. It was obvious that they were itching to shoot somebody. Melody raised her hands. Drake realized that they must be aides for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He turned so that they could see his handcuffs and spoke to the officer with bars on his shoulder.
“Casey’s man just shot a government agent.”
Melody pointed at Drake. “He’s the son of Admiral Drake. The guard was going to shoot him.”
The three looked confused. That could be dangerous. They needed to be won over. Drake tried again. “Casey’s trying to overthrow the government with the help of the military. Giganticorp built the submarine.”
That wasn’t news. Melody interrupted. “Casey planned and carried out the Malibu attack. The USSR had nothing to do with it.”
The three looked more confused. Melody continued. “The top floor of this building was used as a training center for the sailors of the submarine. They’re probably all Americans, but we saw training manuals written in Russian to deceive us.”
The soldier who was wearing captain’s bars spoke. “Are you saying that Casey-Mr. Messinger-engineered this whole thing, and that there’s no threat from the USSR?”
“That’s correct.” Drake was relieved that he had caught on. “We need to talk to your boss.”
“Where’s the agent?”
“In the woods. He’s hurt bad. That direction. The guard is there, too. I think he’s dead.”
The captain turned to the other two soldiers. “Call for help. There’s a phone in the rec room. Find the casualties and do what you can for them. I’m going to take these two to talk to the Chairman.”
Melody gave her flashlight to one of the soldiers. She and Drake went up the hill, followed by the captain, and around to the front of the building. They went in the main doorway; they could hear voices coming from the next room-or rather, Casey’s voice.
“…need for us to fill the void left by the government and provide national security, the first job of any government. If the president won’t step up to the plate…”
CHAPTER 38
Casey stopped talking as they entered the room. A dozen heads swiveled to stare at them. The bodies beneath the heads were clad in civilian clothes. The captain spoke to one of them.
“Two men have been shot in the woods, sir. One is a Giganticorp security guard. The other is a government agent. Ferguson and Baker are calling for help and assisting them. The situation is under control.”
The man the captain had addressed looked at Drake and Melody.
“Who are these two?”
“We’ve got intelligence about the Malibu operation, sir. This is Mr. Drake. He’s the son of Admiral Drake.”
All eyes were on Drake and on his handcuffs. He must look a proper mess with the gash in his forehead and a lump on the side of his head.
The men were sitting around a long, rectangular table. Casey was at the far end. He glowered at Drake but didn’t say anything. Drake spotted his father whose expression registered disbelief. Drake directed his remarks to the man the captain had addressed. He must be the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
“Melody and I have been working with undercover agents to get more information about the Malibu incident. One of these agents was just shot by Casey’s guard. Casey told me this was going to be a bloodless coup.”
Drake paused to let that sink in. “You’re trying to protect the freedom of the U.S.A., which is admirable, but you’re doing it in such a way that we, the citizens, will lose our freedoms. You’ve been led to believe that we’ve been attacked by an enemy power. The president wanted proof, but some decided that he wasn’t doing his job. I’m here to tell you that the president is right.”
Drake hoped that Melody knew what she was talking about. She almost always did. He parroted her words about the training operation in the building. Casey tried to interrupt him. The Chairman told Casey to shut up.
When Drake paused, the Chairman spoke. “Of course we’re going to investigate the room you’re talking about. This is a very serious charge. If true, it completely changes things-”
“If I may, sir…”
All eyes turned to Admiral Drake, including the Chairman’s. “My son and I haven’t always seen eye to eye. But I’m proud to say that there are at least two things we agree on. We both love our country, and we both tell the truth. If Oliver says that Casey is behind the Malibu incident, I believe him. I’ve had a sour taste in my mouth ever since I arrived at this meeting. I haven’t been able to reconcile my respect for our founding fathers and the Constitution with what we were doing. I’m glad my son arrived to shock me back to reality. I will no longer have anything to do with what has been referred to as Casey’s plan.”
There were murmurs of what might be agreement from around the table. Casey was desperately searching the faces of the other men for support. Those faces were turned away from him. Drake decided to seize the opportunity. He addressed the Chairman. “Sir, I need to make a phone call. I have to call the boss of the agent who was shot.”
“In Washington?”
“Yes sir, in Washington.”
“Of course, the news will be relayed immediately to the president. Not yet, Mr. Drake. Before we do anything else, we’re going to have a look at this so-called training room.”
“General, I’d be happy to give you a tour of the room in question.”
