The cigar glowed once more. “The Americans failed to protect Maria. You know what happens when people fail me?”
Torres nodded.
“Send Romo,” the colonel said. “He is our best killer and he is near the bastard who failed my daughter. Forge a pass, allowing Romo to go where he pleases.”
“The Americans are nervous, Colonel. Security has been tightening.”
Valdez stared at Torres. The man looked down, nodding quickly. “It will be as you say, Colonel.”
“I want Kavanagh’s head. If Romo cannot bring it to me, I want pictures of Kavanagh suffering brutally before he dies. I want to see a dagger planted in his eye, planted to the hilt.”
Torres nodded once more.
“Go. Do this. Then we leave Laredo tonight. I do not like the reports from Mexico. The Chinese in this sector are up to something.”
“Yes, Colonel,” Torres said. He softly closed the door behind him.
After several glows of the cigar, Valdez whispered in a voice few would have recognized. “Maria, my darling girl, I will avenge you and then I will free our country from the foreigner. This I vow to you, my child. This I vow by the Madonna.”
-4-
The Abyss
(NNI) In the early morning hours of May 17, a thunderous crashing boom awoke soldiers of the Free Mexico Army and General Kemp’s Fifth Corps.
The Chinese claim American provocations have forced their hand. “It was an entry point for terrorists coming into allied land to commit murder and mayhem,” the Chinese ambassador said later. “We will defend the SNP Revolution, with brutal force, if we must. China, the entire Pan Asian Alliance and the South American Federation stand shoulder to shoulder with allied Mexico. American provocations must end here and now. Otherwise, China will act and end them through force of arms.”
American artillery responded to the bombardment. According to embedded sources, Chinese counter-artillery erupted soon thereafter, creating considerable confusion among the Americans. The indications appear obvious. The Chinese have planned this artillery barrage thoughtfully and carefully, perhaps with a greater intent in mind.
Considerable troop movement behind Chinese lines has heightened fear and worry in Laredo and in San Antonio, and, one would suspect, among higher American Command.
“Is this the Big One?” soldiers are asking, and likely, many in the country are wondering the same thing.
“What’s wrong, honey,” Cheri asked on the computer screen. “You look troubled. Are you in Texas, by any chance?”
Paul shook his sweaty head. He wore regular body armor, with a combat helmet and assault rifle on the table beside the screen. He was Colonel Norman’s “bodyguard,” but had done precious little of that this past week. Mainly, he drove the colonel’s truck everywhere. It was a gray Dodge with reinforced sides, ballistic glass windshields and bullet-resistant tires. The man said he liked the truck’s comfort and this colonel seemed to get what he liked.
Colonel Norman spent most of his time in conference with generals. Paul had never been in those meetings nor even stood near the door. He drove from one headquarter to another. A few times the colonel went on a sightseeing tour, with five Humvees of staff officers following behind the bouncing Dodge.
“You look upset,” Cheri said. “Is it about the news?”
Paul had heard about the Chinese artillery attack in Texas on the Fifth Corps there. The colonel had commented earlier that NNI’s writer had gotten it wrong. It hadn’t been a “barrage,” but a “fire assault.” Barrages assisted defensive or offensive troops by providing a wall of fire, or there was a standing barrage of smoke shells or poison gas to screen or prevent enemy movement or observation. Near Laredo, the Chinese shells had targeted strongholds, fortifications and American artillery parks. It had been concentrated on targets for the obvious purpose of destruction. It implied an impending attack on Kemp’s Fifth Corps, which guarded the route from Laredo to San Antonio deeper in Texas.
That had worried Colonel Norman. If the Chinese attacked in Texas, what were their plans along the SoCal border? It wasn’t adding up for the expert from Washington.
Paul had listened to talk before the artillery attack in Texas. Colonel Norman and the SoCal generals were worried about the Chinese in their sector. According to scuttlebutt, Paul had learned the Chinese had expended too many drones along the border for it to simply be routine reconnaissance. Night traffic near the border had increased, too.
Paul knew the veteran ground-pounders were telling each other it was another Chinese fake. The artillery fire-assault in Texas proved that, according to the vets. If anything big were going to happen, it would be in Texas. It made more strategic sense to happen there, anyway. If the Chinese broke through in Texas, they could possibly split the United States in two by driving deep into the flat American heartland. It was good attacking country because it was hard to defend, with no choke points. The vets here had agreed: the Chinese weren’t going to hit the strongest American defense: the SoCal Fortifications. No way, the Chinese were obviously probing for the soft spot in America’s underbelly.
“Paul?” his wife asked, via the computer screen.
While grinning at her, Paul noticed that Cheri had aged since the Alaskan War. They’d been separated during it, getting back together afterward. She had gained weight since that time, but Paul usually had trouble noticing. When he looked at her, he saw his wife as the small, beautiful woman with long dark hair and a gymnast’s grace he’d first married. She was still all that, but with more curves and sometimes with tired eyes. They looked puffy today, probably because of worry after reading about the Chinese provocation.
It had been too long since he’d seen or talked with his wife. He knew she would be worried sick about him, so he’d taken the risk of calling her. This was BS, his driving a colonel around all week. If they wanted to jail him for this call with Cheri…let them. He’d had enough of playing chauffeur to a closed-mouthed DC staff officer.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I haven’t heard from you for weeks. I was beginning to worry.”
Yeah, he’d guessed right. News of Chinese military action had terrified her. It hardly mattered what front it had taken place on, either. That it had happened is what mattered to his wife.
Of course, he wasn’t supposed to be talking to her now, but the comm-shack was empty. It was small, with three tables crowded together and piled with equipment, including a small refrigerator. He’d checked earlier and found rows of blue Pepsi cans and a single M&Ms package with a torn corner and half the candies missing. Paul had said he was coming here to get out of the heat. It was like the old days out there in the nineties. The colonel had ducked into a bunker to hold yet another conference, this time with the commanding general of the John J. Montgomery Freeway: Interstate 5. The freeway went all the way to the Mexican border three miles from here.
“I’ve been busy,” Paul told his wife.
“You’ve been reassigned then?”
“You could say that.”
“Are you in a safe place at least?” She frowned. “I’ve been watching the news about the Texas attack. The TV shows huge flashes on the horizon. It’s the Chinese guns booming. I don’t know why, but we’re all on high alert here. Maybe they think the entire border will erupt.”
