AL:ICE-9 Read Free

“let’s not escalate things here any further at the moment unless the hostages are at risk. We can afford to let them sweat while we figure out a plan.”
    “Joe, you guys keep things bottled up here while I go inside. Don’t give them a target, but don’t let them wander anywhere either. Unless we can hit all four at once I do not want any attempts to kill one. They might retaliate against the hostages.”
    With that, Jake turned and headed back to the main facility door, going wide while attempting to avoid inciting any activity from the vehicle park. Once inside the facility proper, he removed his helmet and, tucking it under his arm, headed to the command center where he expected to find whoever was backing up Sharon.
    Entering through the double doors and setting his helmet on the nearest console counter, he looked around. He noticed there were actually far more people working here than he expected. It was the standard oval shaped, two-tier room typical to all the ALICE facilities. Surprisingly a young man, about 22 by Jake’s guess, approached and introduced himself. With the staffing ratios running two or three to one to the female side, Jake was always surprised to see a man around the command centers as most of the males pushed for combat rolls.
    “Major, I’m Hector, Lieutenant Sharon’s second here,” he proclaimed.
    “Hector,” Jake repeated, acknowledging him, “how is Sharon?”
    “She is still in surgery, as are the other three,” he replied, “we were fortunate in that we got them out of harm’s way quickly as the intruders retreated.”
    “Who are the other wounded?” Jake asked, unaware that there were more wounded. This was turning into an outright disaster.
    “One unsuited staff member and two of the new recruits. All caught in the crossfire. Actually, I hate using that term, as we never returned fire once they started shooting, there were too many non-combatants in the line of fire. Unfortunately as you saw, there are three un-retrievable dead.”
    Blocking out the memory of the three bodies on the hangar floor, Jake replied, “I’ve asked ALICE-4 to redirect assets back to, Republic was it? I want to see if they can dig up anything on these four,” he finished.
    “Yes sir,” Hector replied, “I heard. They are on the ground there now, and I will make sure you have whatever they discover once they report in.”
    “Can we get eyes on these four now?” Jake asked.
    “No sir,” he replied, “I have had ALICE checking every camera but there is no clear view. This is the best we can do.” At that, Hector indicated for one of the staff operating the consoles to activate the display. A hologram appeared in the center of the room, and it displayed the hangar floor area where the heavy vehicles sat parked. The camera angle was such that the area behind the vehicles had the bodies clearly visible.
    Jake let that roll through his mind and then as if some fleeting memory passed through his head he asked, “Hector, have we meet before?”
    “Yes sir, though not officially, I was recruited in Texas. I am part of Robert’s original group from Fort Hood. We all gathered in the dining hall and you addressed us there. I was the squadron commander for the Jolly Rogers until Lieutenant Sharon asked me to back her up as her second in command,” he finished.
    Robert Jacobson was leader of a group Bonnie had recruited in Texas. Bonnie was commander of the ALICE Texas location, also known as Dallas, although it was nowhere near that city. Bonnie Sullivan was also one of the original six recruits, mother to Jake’s daughter Julie, and Sara’s sister. Robert and his group had been quite a find, and he was currently acting as Jake’s logistics officer. His job was chasing down materials and precious metals for the ALICEs manufacturing needs and Jake’s bartering capitol.
    The thought of Bonnie gave Jake the answer to his current dilemma. Not Bonnie herself, rather a trick she used when