The Life We Lead: Ascending (31 page)

The live band that had been playing fell
silent, as did the other patrons in the bar, but the bald man and
his friends roared with laughter.

James could not see what his group was doing
behind him, but he heard the scrape of several chairs and the sound
of men getting to their feet.

The friends of the man who had just dumped
the beer stopped laughing. James turned his head visibly to the
left, but not so far that he could see his companions. He paused a
moment, then turned back to face the man.

The major sat down. After a moment’s
hesitation, the other guys followed his lead.

The bald man let out a great burst of
laughter. “Looks like your little friends know what’s good for
them, too. They wouldn’t be able to protect you from us,
asshole.”

He and his friend laughed again, and so did
James.

“Getting your ass kicked funny to you, boy?”
the man said, spurring on the laughter of the others.

James shook his head, spraying beer
everywhere but the bald man somehow ignored this shower. “No, but
the fact that you think they stood up to help me is funny. Truth
is, they stood up to protect you and your friends from me.”

A moment passed in which the energy of the
room shifted. James was taking control almost through sheer
willpower.

The bald man and his friends laughed. The
sound was defiant, overly confident, a mix of surprise and
trepidation. This response clearly was unexpected by all, but
especially by the bald man, who had five inches on James and more
than a hundred pounds.

James shifted his left foot behind him and
said, “I think we’re going to call it a night so no one gets hurt.”
He turned abruptly, as if to leave, but the bald man grabbed his
left shoulder with his right hand.

Idiot.

James let a small grin appear. At moments
like this, time seemed to slow down. In reality, and James knew it,
his focus was so sharp that he reacted as if he were seeing
everything a move ahead. This just made more things happen in a
smaller space of time.

Given his would be attacker’s position, James
had deliberately placed his weight on his left foot so he’d have
better pivot control. As the bald man pulled him around, he brought
his right arm up and around the bald man’s arm to break the
shoulder grab and secure the offending appendage.

He followed that with a swift turning kick
with his right leg to the man’s diaphragm, causing him to double
over. Still holding the bald man’s right arm, he used his right leg
to kick the man’s right knee before releasing his arm. He then
quickly stepped in with his left arm and grabbed the man’s head. He
banged it into the bar rail, allowing his own hand to follow
through the motion.

In the highly polished brass, he saw two of
the man’s friends coming toward them. The one on James’s left was
slightly closer. As James turned to the left, he grabbed his water
glass with his right hand.

Swinging around, he blocked the hand of the
closer man with a wide sweeping left forearm block, while throwing
the water in the other would-be attacker’s face. He continued
turning, smashing the empty glass into the left temple of the dry
attacker and knocking him out.

The wet attacker didn’t stop but he did
hesitate slightly, giving James the time he needed to hit the first
man with the glass and gain a better position. The position change
forced the wet attacker to throw a wild swing with his right
arm.

James promptly blocked it with his own right
arm and kicked him in the stomach with his right leg. Turning into
the man’s arm that he still held in his right hand, James crushed
it with his left elbow, causing the man to suffer a major
hyperextension.

James then slid under the attacker’s arm and
stood up while bringing the injured man’s arm down hard onto his
own shoulder. The man’s shoulder dislocated. When James saw a knife
fall from his hand, he finished him off with a leg sweep and a
stomp to the chest.

James prepared for the man’s other friends,
but they were moving away, not attacking. The room was so quiet you
could hear the ceiling fans above and the grunts of the man who had
taken a foot to the ribs. The other two men were still unconscious.
The whole fight was over in seconds.

The major walked up behind James and said,
“Time to go, I believe.”

“Right.” James turned to the bartender and
handed him twenty bucks. “That’s for the beer, glass, and mess. I
suggest calling at least two ambulances.” He gestured. “These two
have concussions, these two have broken ribs, he has a knee out of
place, and he has a shoulder out of place. Maybe an elbow, too, not
really sure. This is my number if the cops want to talk.” He wrote
down his number and handed it to the barman.

The barman shook his head with a grin. “I’m
ninety-nine percent certain they won’t need to talk to you. My
cousin-in-law is the sheriff, and this is self-defense if I ever
saw it, plus it’s all on tape.”

James shook hands with the bartender and
walked out with the group behind them.

“Dude!” Rocker said as James walked by.

“Does he ever shut up?” James asked,
grinning. Everyone laughed.

James felt rather good. It had been a while
since he’d had a rush like that, and he felt lighter. Reflecting,
he had to admit it had been a great release. He did feel slightly
guilty for causing so much damage, but it was nothing
life-threatening, and hopefully those guys wouldn’t be such idiots
again.

Just before James turned in for the evening,
the major came into his room.

He let out a deep sigh as if he was going to
give a speech, then said, “Well, that had to be the most unique way
of building the team’s confidence I’ve ever seen. Paul was all
about getting up to help you; I had to order him to stay seated.
Afterwards, he was saying they should start calling you
Leonidas.”

James laughed. “That’s an entirely inaccurate
analogy. Now, if I’d …”

“Not the point, you nerd,” said the major in
an elevated voice.

James squinted and shook a playful fist at
his friend.

“It was impressive, but I can still kick your
ass.” The major winked and walked out.

***

The next morning, having thought it over,
James decided to tell the group their objectives. He started with
the list he and the major had discussed, and then told the group
the story of his and Tim’s trip and the discovery of the children.
He did not disclose why he and Tim had gone, but merely said they’d
gone to secure intel. The men didn’t question this, but they did
ask other questions.

Paul was first to raise his hand. “Why are
they out so far in the middle of nothing? How can they get
customers way out there?”

“Customers? Really? Customers?” Ben
challenged this choice of words, clearly angry.

“Well, what do you want to call them?
Visitors?” Paul said defensively.

“I think the term you be looking for is
deranged sickos,” Keegan said, which was immediately followed by a
“Mhmm,” from Haiden. The two cousins did this almost every time the
other spoke.

James took command of the room. “The children
are valuable. Location isn’t an issue. In fact, it’s a fortress
we’re attacking and bringing down.”

Ben stood up with a determined look on his
face. Everyone looked at him as he stood there. Finally, he spoke.
“How many?”

“At least thirty-five when I was there six
months ago. Not really sure now, and not sure how many adults are
former abused kids that want out, too,” James said.

Ben paused, every inch of his face showing
hatred as sweat began to roll off him. “I was abused as a kid. No
kid dies, and we never speak of this. Ever. Sorry, Major, but
James, you have full command,” he said through gritted teeth.

As he sat down, all of the other guys stomped
their left foot, then right foot, and clamped their hands once,
including the major. Later, he explained to James that was the way
they sealed a pact.

For the next few hours, James walked them
through the potential plans and they listened. They didn’t speak
unless James paused and asked if they had suggestions or questions.
The answer was always the same: “Not today, sir!”

The next two days, they ran through scenarios
and made modifications. James was the leader now, but he recognized
he should follow each individual’s expertise and suggestions. He
particularly liked the stick bombs Paul had brought. Essentially a
spear on one end and sticky material on the other, the weapons
allowed for bomb placement just about anywhere. A timer or
detonator set them off.

Ben was training with James on some
additional hand combat. Ben and Matt decided Matt would play sniper
from a distance. Matt and James had a very specific discussion on
Matt’s ability to take out individuals, and Matt laughed.

“Please, I can take the weapon right out of
their hands at three hundred yards without scratching them. That
isn’t a problem,” Matt said, chewing on a toothpick. It reminded
James of Val Kilmer in
Top Gun
, and James hated that
character in the movie. On impulse, he ripped the toothpick out of
Matt’s mouth.

“Good thing that one was dead and I have
more,” Matt said, undisturbed, as James walked away, shaking his
head and chuckling.

Six days
before they were due to set off, Calvin and Raymond called. They
exchanged hellos quickly before Calvin dived in.

“So, we think we have a way to maybe solve
the problem,” he said excitedly.

Raymond jumped in. “Yeah, we went back
through the tapes and watched most of what Yan did. Parts were out
of frame, but we think we figured it out.”

“How are you managing that?” James asked.

“Well, it’s quite brilliant, if I say so
myself. We went back and looked at old invoices that led us to look
at old power consumptions. We put it together from there.”

James wasn’t sure who had just answered him
because they sounded alike, but it didn’t matter. “So how do I take
it down?”

“Well, we aren’t exactly sure, mind.”

“Right, but we do think we can.”

“Guys, how?” James asked firmly.

“Um, right, well, we need to run a test to
make sure we’re right.”

James took a short breath before saying,
“Then run it and get back to me.”

“Has to be a field test,” they both said,
extremely fast.

“No,” James said. “Just tell me what the test
is and how to read the results.”

“Can’t, mate. You had trouble understanding
some of the math with me walking you through it. You won’t get it
in time,” Calvin said.

“This is not a joke or a vacation. This is a
serious operation that may cost some people their lives. You have
no idea what’s out there, nor do you have the skills needed for
this. I can’t risk your lives,” James said, frustrated. The truth
was, he needed that information and had no recourse if they pushed
the issue.

“What do you think, Raymond?” Calvin
asked.

“I think he needs us. We have the answers he
needs. Besides, we don’t have to actually enter into whatever all
this is about. In fact, we can be of use. We can be eyes and ears
if you guys wear cameras, unless you have that worked out. What
exactly are you doing?” Raymond said.

This idea intrigued James. “What about
accessing a closed system monitoring on the compound?” he
asked.

“Easy, just need to splice in and we can see
everything,” replied Raymond.

James processed this quickly, but thoroughly
before consenting. He gave them a breakdown on the basics and what
to bring. He arranged for their flights and told them how to get
their equipment to a safe point.

James would fly commercially, as he’d given
Noi his itinerary for the whole trip, but the twins would finish
the journey with the major’s team, joining them in Istanbul. This
would give them six hours with James and the rest of the team
before James left.

The major was not happy when he learned of
the addition of the twins. The discussion went on for over an hour
and resulted in James playing a card the major usually dealt.

“What’s the alternative? If you know how to
take down that EMP force field and get the kids out, let me know
and I’ll cancel their tickets.”

The major scowled and walked away, saying,
“Son of a bitch.”

Introducing the twins in Istanbul did not go
smoothly. In many ways, it was like introducing two hyper dogs to
an old folks’ home made up of veterans who jump at loud noises.
James hadn’t seen the twins act this excitedly or talk so much
before, and he assumed they were nervous. He actually wished their
girlfriends were there to occupy them.

After about the third hour, Ben was starting
to lose his patience with them. This was brought to James’s
attention by Keegan and Haiden.

Keegan tapped James on the shoulder and said,
“I think Ben is going to go all rice crispy on your boys.”

“Mhmm,” said Haiden with a vigorous nodding
that reminded James of Byron.

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, Ben is about to
snap
and we are
going to hear some bones
crack
as he
pops
‘em,” said
Haiden, followed up by Keegan’s “Mhmm.”

James got it. He walked over to where Calvin
and Raymond were jabbering at some of the guys.

“Dude, seriously, can you stop talking for
five minutes?” Ben was asking Calvin, who had just been explaining
to an uninterested Rocker how the magnetic poles have changed over
time.

“But it’s important, and it’s relative to the
situation. We believe that the …” Calvin had shifted his attention
to Ben.

Ben looked at Calvin and clearly stated,
“Raymond, I don’t care.”

“I’m Raymond,” Raymond said.

“Right, I’m Calvin,” said Calvin.