Thumper (The Mandarin Connection Book 8) Read online

  We make it to where Bea’s father and the other Alpha’s have cornered a State Trooper.

  They found him in the men’s room, stunned.

  He explains that the other two ‘troopers’ must have hit him and left him there.

  Travis and Derek start talking at once, into their radios.

  The give the rest of the team a sitrep, and then fan out to find the sniper.

  The Governor’s detail has whisked him out of the stadium, and now the place is crawling with LEO’s.

  Walt shows them something, and, like magic, we are left alone.

  The troopers and other cops start getting the crowd back under control, and directed to the exits.

  “They’ve taken Bea! We’ve got to get some video or audio to find her!” the Lt. Colonel shouts.

  He hears something on the radio.

  “The sniper is gone. They found the weapon, a suppressed AR, in an odd caliber. Not .223 or .308. Some wildcat cartridge. Expertly cleaned, no serial numbers, probably custom built just for this one job,” he tells us.

  “What, to shoot some kid playing football?” Travis asks.

  The sight of the Frenchman’s dead eyes come to me, unbidden.

  I shudder.

  —————

  BEA

  I don’t know where I am being driven, but I can hear the sounds of a jet engine outside.

  The airport?

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  THUMPER

  We exit the stadium, and get into a Jeep.

  Travis jumps into the driver’s seat.

  Bea’s father is in the passenger seat.

  “Drive to rendezvous point four, Travis! And step on it!” he orders.

  We take off in a squeal of tires and rubber smoke.

  “Om! We are heading your way! Get ready to join up, they captured Bea! I know, I know… yes, I am aware I was the target, goddammit! Yeah, right again!” he shouted.

  Stinger and I look at each other, worried.

  “Just be ready!” he yells.

  For some reason, I reach out my hand to my brother.

  He looks at me, and grasps it.

  I think he’s just feeling the same things I am…but suddenly, we Meld.

  It’s just the same as when we were with Bea, but a bit different.

  We are inside her head. We can smell through her nose, hear through her ears…

  I hear airplanes. Jets. A helicopter.

  People talking.

  It’s those fake troopers!

  “Get the plane prepped! We’ll be there in five minutes!” says one of them.

  Then, I am out of the zone!

  I stare at Stinger.

  “Did you…just…”? I stammer at him.

  “Yes! Holy shit! Dad! Give me the mike!” he yells.

  —————

  STINGER

  “Om! I think I know where they are taking her!” I shout.

  “How the fuck can the kid know that?” Randy yells.

  He is on the channel, so he doesn’t know that Thumper and I just Melded.

  “They are going to the airport, and boarding a private jet. It’s licensed to someone named Walter Reighland!” I tell them. I don’t know how I know this…

  “Reighland! What the hell does he have to do with Mandarin?” Om shouts.

  I shrug.

  “Just telling you what we…uh…saw,” I say.

  “Wait. You Melded! How long have you been able to do that?” Om demands.

  Thumper and I look at each other.

  He shakes his head slightly.

  “They need to know, Thump,” I say, quietly.

  —————

  “We made love. All of us. Together. It’s how we know what is happening. And where,” I said.

  I had no fear, no shame.

  I was simply telling the truth.

  “Is this possible? Could the OCTAVIUS effect actually be transmissible?” asked Travis.

  “OCTAVIUS?” I asked, befuddled.

  “What the fuck is that?” I said.

  The two men shook their heads looking in my direction.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  STINGER

  We are flying on a helicopter, to some remote location.

  It’s a place I’ve seen only in my imagination, or a dream.

  The others are polishing weapons, or donning body armor.

  Thumper and Bea’s father are quietly speaking, with Om Jaeger listening to them.

  “Do you want to call Wernher?” says Buck Rodgers.

  “I don’t think we will need his talents, this time,” Om responds.

  The Marine looks relieved, almost.

  “Thank God. I really have a problem with his, ‘methods,’” he says.

  Om smiles grimly.

  —————

  The chopper set down at an airbase. I remember seeing it when we Melded.

  A matronly yet beautiful woman runs up to Om, and hugs him tightly.

  He kisses her on the lips.

  “How are the boys?” he asks.

  “Oh, you know. Being boys! Stephan is reading. Books about business, can you imagine! At his age! Karl is out rough-housing with his friends. And, Drake just was breast-fed lunch,” she smiled. She was radiant.

  “Lucky little bastard!” Om says. He looks greedily at his wife’s breasts.

  Even I can see that…

  We follow the Marine into an outbuilding.

  Inside, there is an elevator that takes us down several floors.

  “You can all get cleaned up in here, then we will meet for debriefing in an hour. Make it 2200 hours. I want to know what went wrong!” the Lt. Colonel orders.

  The Alpha Team grumbles and goes off to the showers.

  Leaving us alone with Dad.

  “Why did you score the winning touchdown? That wasn’t the plan, David!” he says, slamming a fist on the table.

  “I couldn’t help it! It was just right there! There wasn’t any easy way to fudge it, so I guess I made the call! You weren’t there,” he said, sullenly.

  “I sure as shit was there, son!” the Marine stood.

  He was angry, but not at Thumper, or me, I could tell.

  “Why didn’t you tell us sooner about the Meld?” he asked, sitting down.

  “Is that what it’s called?” Thumper asked.

  He seemed calmer.

  “It didn’t seem to be anybody else’s business,” I offered.

  I could see him counting silently, trying to maintain control.

  “We…uh…Melded in somewhat intimate conditions. Embarrassing and private. You know? Like, when you are jerking off and Mom comes in…” Thumper begins.

  I cut him off with a look.

  “Bro! Really? Cool it!” I say.

  The Marine wiped a hand over his face.

  “Look. I don’t really care…well, I do care. This isn’t easy for me, understand? You boys had sex with my daughter, your stepsister, at the same time…” he said, trying to get a grip on the situation.

  “For your information, Sir, and with all due respect, we are all adults, here,” I said, somewhat smugly.

  “Look. It’s not about you all fucking. Except, maybe it is. How is it you melded?” he blurted.

  “Is that something we are supposed to know?” Thumper responded.

  “Because we sure as fuck…uh…sorry… don’t. It just happened,” he added.

  I nodded.

  “Om Melded with me, uh, Dad,” Thumper said.

  “Not with Stinger. Or Bea,” he remembered.

  “No, but he did touch Bea, and you as well. On the shoulder? Maybe he shook your hand?” he said looking at me.

  He struggled with the concept, and finally admitted he had no idea either.

  “In any event, you guys can Meld. And, that makes everything very much more dangerous. This needs to be communicated to top men,” he said.

  He walked over to the desk, where there were several phones.

&nbs
p; He picked up the handset of a red phone.

  It had the words “White House” on the base.

  “Top men,” he repeated, as he dialed.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  THUMPER

  The Alpha Team were in the room, now.

  Travis and Randy were sharing some personal joke, because the two of them were smiling and chuckling together.

  Al, Mike and Mike 2, Walt, and some other men I didn’t recognize were sitting at various chairs.

  Derek came in, followed by Admiral Decker, our Dad, and Om.

  “Boys, come here a moment, okay?” Om asked.

  Stinger and I stared at each other.

  “Are we in trouble, sir?” Stinger asked.

  “Do you think you should be?” Om responded, deadpan.

  We walked over to him, silently.

  “Sit down there, please,” Om said, indicating where he wanted us to sit.

  We sat down.

  There was an empty seat between us.

  “Okay, send her in,” the Admiral said into an intercom.

  Barbara Jaeger entered.

  “Hello, boys. Relax. This won’t hurt at all,” she smiled, sitting in the empty chair in the middle.

  —————

  “Okay, let me hold your hands, please,” Barbara began.

  My brother and I gave her our hands.

  “Now, I want you to remember, and concentrate. Think of your stepsister, Bea, please! And, don’t be afraid! Above all, try to think of her as you did when you last Melded,” she recited.

  We sat there for a few minutes.

  Nothing happened.

  “Om, would you mind, darling?” she asked.

  She and Om switched places.

  “Gentlemen, please, let’s continue,” he said, with his hands outstretched.

  We each grabbed hold.

  Nothing happened.

  Barbara went to Om, and laid her hands on either side of his head.

  Nothing.

  “Boys, please hold each other’s hands,” said Barbara.

  Some Alpha Team members chuckled.

  “That will be enough of that,” Barbara said sternly, looking archly around the room.

  The men all became silent.

  “Much better. Thank you!” she said.

  I held my brother’s hand.

  “Wait for it…” she commanded.

  “Think of Bea,” she intoned.

  Suddenly, I was on the plane with Bea. It was a Gulfstream IV, flying over the Pacific Ocean.

  “I see her!” came Stinger’s voice.

  “Yes! The cockpit shows a heading of two seven eight, near Hawaii!” I said tonelessly.

  “Get a satellite track on that, find the flight plan, and the destination!” ordered the Admiral.

  “It’s definitely not headed to Ocaba Bien, is it?” Randy said.

  “No. That’s up near Maine,” replied Travis, absently. “Now, shush!”

  Randy gave Travis a look.

  “We can be there in a few hours. But we have to leave pretty soon!” said Admiral Decker.

  “This is a great opportunity, folks! We may actually find one of Mandarin’s hidden bases!” said Derek.

  Stinger and I sat quietly.

  Neither one of us had mentioned that we had also seen Michelle on the flight.

  And, it was because Bea had warned us to not reveal that fact to them!

  What the hell was she thinking?

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  BEA

  We’d landed on some weird little airfield, not far from the Big Island, from what I could overhear.

  Michelle glared at me almost the entire flight.

  “What’s your problem, girl?” I asked.

  “Your asshole buddies killed my lover. And, I am going to make them pay! Pierre should have killed you that night, not just your stupid parents!” she snarled.

  I lost it.

  I leaped across the aisle, and wrestled that bitch to the ground, smacking her head into the carpeted floor of the private jet.

  The pilot and co-pilot separated us, but not until they’d had some fun watching two snarling, spitting hellcats fight each other and try to claw each other’s eyes out!

  “Get up, you two, and stop the shit!” growled the pilot, a huge, brawny man with long blonde hair. He had muscles on his muscles, and a big knife on the side of his pants.

  “Off you go!” he said, tossing the two of us unceremoniously to the macadam.

  “Ouch! You oaf! I will rip your balls off for that!” Michelle yelled, but the big man just walked up to her and swatted her aside.

  “Yeah, yeah. You all say that…” he murmured.

  I smiled, and he caught me doing it and smiled back.

  “Your pretty feisty, kid. Good on you!” he said.

  He and the copilot walked to the hangar, while Michelle and I were escorted by a squad of gruff looking men, all armed heavily.

  Michelle was still hissing and making jerky motions, like she was going to go after the pilot, but one of the Mandarin goons grabbed her arm and she calmed down.

  We walked into the room, where there was an older gentleman sitting in a wheelchair, and another man standing by a desk.

  I also recognized Mr. Norton.

  “You son of a bitch!” I yelled.

  “You arranged for the accident that killed my parents, and almost killed me, too!” I shouted.

  The man in the wheelchair, an ugly, wizened old bastard with the face of a lizard, gazed at me with his horrible eyes.

  “Miss Sullivan, it seems we underestimated your importance to your father,” he said.

  I was momentarily confused.

  What did Frank have to do with this?

  Then, I put two and two together…he meant Buck Rodgers.

  “As soon as he finds out where I am, he’s going to kick your ass back to whatever hell you came from, you motherfucker!” I snarled.

  He looked at the other man.

  “Such language! And, from such a pretty girl,” he said, grinning his reptilian grin.

  “Whatever are we going to do, Jonathon?” he said.

  “I told you to call me Walter, you imbecile!” the man responded.

  His voice was cold, and sounded even more evil that the man in the wheelchair.

  “Bah! When are you going to give up this nonsense of using Walter’s identity? The fool is off donating to charity or whatever other useless tripe he gets up to these days!” he shouted at the other man.

  “The girl shouldn’t hear this…” the man called Walter said.

  “Why not? She’s not leaving this island, brother,” the wheelchair man hissed.

  His face showed no compassion as he nodded to Mr. Norton, and then I was taken to a cell.

  —————

  “Typically, I never get involved in this side of the business, I want you to know,” Norton explained.

  “Why? Don’t like getting your hands dirty, you bastard?” I spat.

  He chuckled.

  “No, it’s mainly because I haven’t the time to waste on little cunts like you. Frenchie fucked up, but I am going to make sure that you and your parents are reunited. I promise!” he said.

  My blood ran cold.

  “Sit down,” he ordered.

  I didn’t budge, so he grabbed me by the arms and forced me into a chair, then he quickly wrapped some tape around my waist.

  I fought him, but he was bigger than me.

  My eyes filled with hot tears of frustration when he finally stepped back to review his work.