A PALE HORSE

Sam crouched low next to one of the many old cypress trees that lined the secondary access road out of the airport. Since the remodel of the airport, the contractors decided it was too difficult to get their heavy equipment in and out using this road, so they built a larger, paved road to service Lakeside Airport. This one sat forgotten, wearing its age and antiquated utility like a badge of shame. A few locals still traveled the road, but it was also very popular with, it would seem, smugglers. Sam smiled to himself when he heard, for what seemed like the hundredth time since they arrived out here, a smack, followed by a lot of mumbling from Abe.

“Why don’t these damn things eat you like they do me?” Abe complained in a whisper to Sam.

“I guess they only like dark meat,” he said with a chuckle.

“Funny! What do you do for an encore?” Abe asked him with a smirk.

“Hey, guys!” came a squawk over the radio. “There’s a truck coming up the road. Is this them?” Peter was stationed a little up the road from them and had obviously been paying more attention than Sam and Abe. Sam looked around him. He couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched, and it annoyed him. He wasn’t a paranoid person, and rarely if ever worried about something he couldn’t handle or take down, but with Abe and Peter to look after, he had his head on a swivel.

He shook his head and said into the radio, “That should be them. Are you ready?” Sam asked Peter.

“Absolutely!” came the reply. “It will be nice to know exactly what these suits can do. I’m recording everything onboard for any improvements my team can make to the armor’s performance,” Peter said in a rush.

Sam’s voice came over the com, “Whatever you need to do, homes. Just make sure you’re where you need to be when I need you, copy?”

“Yeah, I got it.” Peter was excited at the prospect of using the high-tech armor he had created in a real situation. He had run many field trials so he knew that the suits would function the way they were intended, but to have a battle, or at least situational-proven unit… that was beyond his hopes for these machines. The thought had occurred to him, more than once, actually, that his creations would be very easy to mass-produce as adjuncts to the current military armament available, but he was no arms dealer or warmonger. No, he thought, these are just for play… and for me to help my friends right now. While Peter was thinking, he failed to notice the wisp of golden, smokey ozone appearing behind him. Michael had heard, as he was very nearby, Peter’s plan to record their encounter, and, as much as he hated to do it, he was about to put the kibosh on that plan.

Sorry, Peter, thought Michael, can’t have the possibility of any footage being hacked from your machine, even if it could help us. While Peter observed from his perch in his metal and carbon fiber creation, he heard a slightly audible Zap! and then smelled ozone. He looked up to his left inside the structure and noticed a fizzle and sparks.

“Sam! Something’s happened to the OCU! I need to see if I can fix it!” OCU was onboard chronicling unit, just a fancy way of saying Go-Pro with an expanded chip and enhanced capabilities. Peter loved acronyms, and he used them whenever he could in his inventions.

“No time- stick to the plan”, came the reply. “Sorry, kid. No footage this time.” Michael felt a little guilty about overloading Peter’s video system, but he couldn’t risk any video of this operation getting out. He knew that, with what they would be dealing with, proof floating around, readily available, would be very bad, indeed.

“Here they come! Hold up the gun like you mean to use it!” Sam told him. “This will only work if it’s completely believable!” Sam said to Peter.

“Got it!” Peter said, still annoyed at his camera’s untimely demise. “You guys just be ready to move because you won’t have a lot of time to act when they figure out the gun doesn’t actually shoot!” Peter told him. “As soon as I draw them out you need to get the girls and get out,” he told them emphatically. “I only hope to hold them off long enough to let you guys get away.” They could all hear the truck getting closer and instinctively crouched lower to avoid being seen. Sam watched as Peter stepped into the road in his mech suit and had to give props to the kid again for his ingenuity. It definitely looked the part, from what Sam had seen. The suit Peter had created really did look as if it had stepped out of a video game. Peter had said it was his prototype, but to Sam it looked real enough. It was seven feet of metal that allowed for anyone between 5’7” and 6’5” inches to control it. It was fitted with a sword which, at the present, was ensheathed at the back of the unit, and what appeared to be a mini-gun, which Peter was currently holding in order to get the truck to stop. The old access road was buffeted on either side by cypress trees, mangroves and brackish, mucky water, so it didn’t allow for a truck to turn around, only to go in and out. Perfect ambush spot. The truck driver must have known this because the truck had come to a stop and Sam was expecting men to come flooding out of the back. When no one emerged, Sam nudged Abe and the two snuck around the cypresses and made their way, Sam sprinting and Abe sort of speed-walking quickly behind him, as quietly as possible to the back of the truck. The two worked silently as only well-trained soldiers could. Sam snuck a quick look into the back of the truck, searching for any support troops for the traffickers, but found no one. Strange, he thought. He knew that he would never move any cargo out in the open without backup, but maybe these guys weren’t as smart as him. He motioned for Abe to wait while he jumped up into the back of the truck and made a beeline for the door to the crate. The lock was still on the door and Sam motioned for Abe to come and pick the lock. Abe sprang to the padlock and worked deftly and quickly. Sam wasn’t really sure where Abe had picked up this particular gift but he had assumed it was a parting gift from his childhood. The lock clicked easily. As quietly as possible, Sam opened the door to the girls in the back of the truck. He motioned for them to be quiet and beckoned them out of the back of the truck. Abe had jumped down out of the back of the truck, ready to assist the children that Sam and had started to hand down to the road one by one. Sam was simultaneously trying to keep an eye on the girl’s progress and on Peter who had not given ground or moved in the last five minutes, he kept repeating the phrase, “You are trespassing on airport property… The authorities have been notified… You will remain in your vehicle.” Sam was just thinking again how it all seemed too easy when, from out of the cab of the truck, he heard a shrill whistle. Backup?, he thought. From the trees, including the one from which he and Abe had just come, came an abundance of what looked like small men on furry little goat legs, red eyes and rather pasty complexions.

“What the hell? No!” Sam heard Abe say. He looked at the terror on Abe’s face and knew without asking that Abe was familiar with these creatures. The goat-men-dwarves made their way towards Peter’s mechanical suit.

Not good... they will tear that thing apart, and then they will do the same to the kid, Sam thought. He noticed a machete laying near the tailgate of the truck and picked it up. “This may come in handy,” he said, watching as Abe lowered the last of the girls to the ground. The rest of them were crouching in a ditch on the other side of the street waiting anxiously for Sam and Abe. Sam was just getting ready to signal Peter they were finished when the last little girl looked over at the creatures that had exited the swamp on the other side of the street, and gave a great scream. The creatures turned and looked at the girl as Sam grabbed her up quickly, jumped the ditch in one colossal bound and ran into the swamp away from the truck. Peter watched Sam and Abe as they slipped behind the truck to retrieve the girls. He took stock of the situation. Peter had not moved at all since he had stepped into the road. He needed to give Sam and Abe as much time as possible to get the girls off the back of the truck and into the surrounding swamp. The men in the cab of the truck looked at each other, then to the man on the left. He must be the brains, thought Peter. Peter looked into the cab and, with the lights on his helmet, he could just make out a man with a beak-shaped nose and very dark eyes in the interior of the truck. The man leaned out the window a little and whistled.

Who is he calling to?, thought Peter. Peter knew that there had been no one in the rear of the truck, and the recon that Sam had done prior to staging the suit had made certain that the surrounding swamp contained no soldiers or backup. Then he saw them. Men… no, not men- things! Oh my God- the grunch! Peter grew up in New Orleans and knew what the grunch were. These beings answering the whistle were right out of the stories that his father used to tell him when he was a kid. Standing about four feet high, some were walking upright like a man and others were running on all fours like a goat. They were spectre pale and had the eeriest red eyes. Peter shivered and took a quick look at Sam who was standing at the back of the truck watching the creatures approach Peter. Peter shifted his stance and decided that he may better off with the sword. Peter reached back with the gun and hooked it into position and quickly unhooked the sword and swung it free. He locked the hand in the closed position and brought the sword before him in a defensive gesture just as he heard a scream from one of the little girls. Peter looked over and saw her. She was a grubby-looking, dark-haired girl with big brown eyes, maybe twelve years old, standing at the edge of the truck looking at the grunch and Peter with a look of pure terror. He imagined that the sight of a seven foot robot with a sword and small demonic-looking hairy goat men would be enough to frighten any child. I know a great shrink, thought Peter, sardonically. He watched as the grunch turned to look back at the girl and saw Sam swoop in and snatch the girl up into his arms and disappear with her into the woods. The grunch looked back at the truck as if for instruction, and, with a flick of his wrist, the mystery man sent about half chasing after the girls. Peter took a step to go after them when the rest of the pack of grunch fell on him en masse. Peter swung the great sword with all his might at the first of the creatures and heard the metal clang off its skull. It went sprawling to the ground about twenty feet away from Peter and the rest stopped to watch the downed member. It struggled for a moment before it fell back to the ground. Peter couldn’t tell if it was unconscious or dead until the others let out an ungodly screech and advanced on him in earnest. Peter cried out for Michael as he flailed with his sword, over and over. He managed to knock away another of the beasts and saw three more coming in fast. Another set of lights came out of the darkness behind him. He didn’t know who was there, but before he could turn around, he saw four of the creatures go down and heard the rest howl in response. A great boom caused the remaining contingent to scatter, giving the truck a long last look before fleeing back into the swamp from where they had emerged earlier. Peter looked to the truck and saw the occupants vacating the cab and running for the back. The one with the nose was leading the others and Peter saw him stop at the back of the truck briefly and watch as Peter was surrounded by a group of people with guns drawn and swarming toward the truck. Peter took a step towards the back of the truck as if to pursue, but the leader decided to cut bait and run. He disappeared in the time it took Peter to blink. What? Where the hell did he go?, he thought. He swiveled around to look for him but his attention was quickly occupied by the cavalry he didn’t remember calling. The largest of the group broke off from the others and came up to Peter.

He knocked gingerly on the exterior of the suit and said in a loud voice, “These come in red?”

Peter pushed the control that raised the helmeted portion of the suit and said, surprised, “Yeah. Yellow, blue, and black as well. This was just a prototype so it resides in primer. Who are you? Thanks, by the way.”

The man smiled at Peter and said “My name is Joshua. Special Agent Joshua Sargent. I’m with the FBI. Our bureau chief sent me... you may know him, Michaels? He sent us to help an operative in the field.” He told Peter stressing the Michaels name. Peter caught on quickly.

“Thanks again for your assistance!”

“Where’s the rest of your team?” Sargent asked, looking around.

“My team…? The rest of my team took the payload from the truck into the swamp heading in that direction.” Peter pointed in the direction Sam and Abe took the girls, using the hand that still held the big sword.

Joshua ducked quickly and said “Whoa, there big fella! Maybe you want to put that thing away now?” Peter, slightly cowed, returned the sword to the mech’s back, and exited the cockpit. Jumping down, Peter could see that agent Sargent was, indeed, a large man.

“I don’t think you’re going to fit in one of these, agent. What are you, 6’6”?”, Peter asked, marveling at the man’s height.

“Yeah, about that. And call me Joshua.” He quickly turned to bark some orders, rapid-fire, to a couple of lingering agents, then turned back to address Peter, more authoritative now. “Peter, your team should be meeting up with the team we have coming in from the other side. Right about.. now.” Joshua reached inside his coat pocket as the radio went off and the agent on the other end told him that they had Abe and the children about a mile and a half up the road and had watched as a glowing pilot with a machete dealt with a large number of wild goat-dog-men before they ran off, then the glowing pilot just disappeared. “Jokes, Smith? Inappropriate right now, don’t you think? Glowing pilot?” Joshua said with a wink in Peter’s direction. “Ten-four; meet you back at the hangar.” He smiled over at Peter, “See? No worries! Let’s go meet your friends. Bring your toy,” Joshua said, slapping the side of the mech unit like it was Peter’s shoulder. Peter nodded to Joshua.

He clambered back into the cockpit and said in a loud voice, “Try to keep up!” He closed the suit’s canopy again and, after making a few adjustments, turned back towards the direction of the hangar. Leaving a very impressed agent behind, Peter engaged the mech and took off at a run. Peter did not build this feature into the units he was releasing to the public, but this one was his, designed to specifically flex its muscle and test future capabilities. He had added a few perks for himself, as well. This unit would top out at thirty-eight miles an hour, but to Peter it was no different than running in the park. The agents had to back the truck down the road because, on the small access road, there wasn’t a way to turn around. Peter was thinking to himself that the suit could cover more ground quicker if he counterbalanced the servo motors, when the rear end of the truck entered his peripheral vision, startling him. Soon the cab of the truck drew even with the mech’s position, and Peter turned to see the agent. Joshua was in the truck and caught up to Peter going backwards! Peter was impressed by Joshua’s driving skills, and thought if anyone could handle Peter’s armor suits it would be this guy. He would have to see about making a model better-suited to someone as tall as Joshua. They made quick work of the mile and a half of access road and in no time they were stopping in front of Abe’s hangar. Peter walked the unit into the building and back to the specialized storage container that housed it. The box would be moved back to his warehouse on the other side of the city later. He hopped down out of the suit and made his way back to the group waiting for him at the entrance. He could hear them discussing the mission as he walked up. “Abe, did you meet Agent Joshua Sargent?” Peter asked Abe, questioning him silently about the absence of Sam. Abe shook his head, and Peter could tell it was in answer to both questions. Peter wondered why Sam had decided to disappear from this meeting.

“SPECIAL Agent Sargent.” Joshua gave Peter a sidelong glance, and then winked. “It’s Joshua. Pleased to meet you, Abe.” Abe grinned at the cowed look on Peter’s face, and turned back to the large man.

“Pleasure to meet you. Thanks for having our six out there!” Abe said stretching out his hand. He gestured with his free hand and said, “Welcome to my place, such as it is.”

“No worries,” he said. “You live here, Abe? In the hangar?” Joshua asked with raised brows.

“Yeah, I have a small place upstairs,” he told them. “You are welcome to come up for some coffee, unless you would rather talk here. I personally could use some Advil, a beer, and a change of shorts.” Peter and Joshua laughed at the joke- Peter nervously, but Joshua a little more heartily.

“That would be great. Let me just make sure that the others have their marching orders.” The tall man turned and walked up to a female Hispanic agent. They spoke briefly, and she looked over at Peter and Abe, then back at her boss. She nodded her head, and Joshua, apparently satisfied that she understood, dismissed her, walking back to the men. “Agent Sanchez is setting up accommodations for the girls for tonight and-”

He was interrupted by a loud, “YOU BETTER GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME UNLESS YOU WANT TO LOSE THEM! THIS IS MY HANGAR!!” Abe’s attention swung instantly to an agent trying to keep a very indignant Naomi from gaining access to their group.

“You may want to tell your people to let that one through. I can’t guarantee their safety if they don’t!” Abe chuckled and Joshua smiled. “My niece is… spirited,” he told them with a grin.

“O’Brien!” Joshua yelled and O’Brien swung his body, still fending off Naomi in the direction of Joshua and he continued, “let her through.” Relieved, O’Brien released Naomi and stepped back quickly. Naomi stuck her tongue out at him and bolted past, sprinting the last of the distance, and threw her arms around her uncle.

“Uncle Abe, are you alright? What the hell is going on?” She asked him in a rush, glaring first at Peter and then at the large, older FBI agent.

Abe patted her on the back and told her, “I’m fine, but you have to calm down! I will tell you, but you keep yapping and nobody will be able to tell you anything!” he said.

Joshua jumped in and said, “My name is Special Agent Joshua Sargent, but please call me Joshua. Your uncle, and his friend Peter here, are heroes,” he told her. “They helped us stop some bad guys tonight.” Naomi’s eyes had gone really wide and she looked back and forth from Abe to Peter.

She turned on Peter and started to yell “WHAT DID YOU GET MY UNCLE INTO? HE JUST DOESN’T… WHO ARE YOU?” she started when Abe barked sharply.

“NAOMI!” She stopped yelling and looked at her uncle. “Apologize to Peter. This was MY idea, not his, and you will apologize to me for being disrespectful,” he finished in a no-nonsense tone, and a glare to match. Naomi looked to Peter like a fiery angel. She was dressed for a night on the town, clad in a well-fitting black and gold dress and high heels, but she looked ready to battle anyone on behalf of her uncle.

Peter spoke to Abe quickly, “She was just concerned for you, Abe. It’s understandable.” He smiled at Naomi who was glaring at him in response to his chivalry. Lessening the intensity of the glare somewhat, she softened slightly.

“No, no, he’s right. I apologize for the assumption, Peter. Obviously, my uncle thinks that he is invincible and has decided to try to give me a heart attack, but let ME just apologize for not getting all the facts before showing concern,” she finished, rolling her eyes at the absurdity of it. Peter was impressed at her spunk and awed by her beauty.

“In your situation, I think I would do the same thing... very glad to meet you, Naomi.” Her ire cooled at his sincerity, and she smiled tentatively, saying, “Likewise. Now, what IS all of this about?”

Abe frowned at her and said, “I’m sorry you were worried. I’m also sorry that you felt that I could not handle myself. I’m ALSO sorry that you couldn’t take a minute to assess the situation before losing your damn mind. If you would take a minute to look around you, you would see a bunch of very frightened children and your bellowing probably frightened them even further,” Abe said. Peter watched as Naomi looked around her and noticed for the first time the little girls that were huddled together, crying and holding each other. They looked over at her with fear, and her countenance changed from annoyance to maternal concern. She is possibly the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen… how come I can talk to her? Peter searched his brain wildly for an answer to his thought, but had nothing. Adrenaline? Don’t know… While he pondered, she turned back to her uncle and she spoke quickly. “Again, I’m sorry...really this time. I should trust you know what you’re doing, but all of this was sudden and it scared me.” She gave her uncle a quick hug, and, turning to the very tall agent, looked up at him while removing her shoes.

She definitely means business… good! he thought. We can use her help.

“Give me something to do,” she told Joshua.

Abe smiled and patted her on the shoulder, “That’s my girl!” he said with obvious pride.

Good, Peter thought. You should be proud, Abe! Not only is she beautiful and fiery, but compassionate and caring. Peter didn’t care for most people his age. At the very least, he didn’t care for their self-centeredness. While Peter had only known Naomi for the last three or so minutes, he knew that he would be fine with her. In the same way that Abe had skewered his view of him when he stuck up for Peter with Sam, Peter knew that Naomi was very much her uncle’s niece when she displayed such concern on the heels of her tirade. This could get very interesting, he thought.

Josh looked at Naomi and said, “These girls will need a place to stay tonight while we begin the process of getting them back to their families. Some of the parents have already been contacted, and they will be flying into the airport, so someplace close would be ideal.”

“You can put them up here,” offered Abe. “I’m sorry it isn’t bigger than it is, but I have two bedrooms, and the sofa makes into a bed as well. There are plenty of pillows, and I think in one of these shipping containers there are emergency supplies like cots and blankets. We could set them up in the living room or even here in the hangar. Naomi, could you stay and help the agents with the girls? I’m sure after all they have been through, a woman’s presence would be preferable to a man’s.” Abe turned to Peter and asked, “Do you have an extra room for me?” he asked Peter.

“Sure, no problem. You’re welcome as well,” he turned to Joshua. “Matter of fact, I only live about twenty minutes from here in the quarter... your agents are welcome to stay as well,” Peter offered.

“We have accomodations in the city, but you are right about the female agents. We will post a few guards on the doors, and the rest will go back to their assigned quarters,” Joshua told him. “If you don’t mind, I will accompany you and Abe. There’s a few things we should discuss.”

Naomi had been following the conversation and piped up, “I still want to know what is going on. What it is you are keeping from me?” Peter could tell that she knew there was more to the story than they were letting on.

Abe changed the subject by turning to Sargent and saying, “If any of these girls needs transportation to their home states, Naomi is a pilot and she can use one of my planes to take them home. Just say the word, no charge.” Abe told him.

“Thanks, Abe! We will gladly use your planes but the government will pay to take the girls home.”

“Naomi, would you please go see about getting the hangar loft ready for the girls, and see if there is anything you can throw together for them to eat? The boys and I will see about those cots.” Naomi looked as if she was going to argue but at that moment one of the little girls came up to Abe and yanked on his arm.

“Mister Abe?” she questioned, “I’m Sarah. This afternoon, Sam came to tell us you all were going to set us free. Where did he go? Where is Sam?” Naomi looked at the girl, who she figured was around eleven or twelve, then over at her uncle.

She saw him wince a little. Joshua bent to address her, “Who is Sam, Sarah? What can you tell us about him?” She looked at all of the adults in turn, and she appeared to be taken with Naomi, so she addressed the lady directly instead of the huge agent.

“Sam’s my guardian angel. He rescued us from the truck tonight, and then again from those things.” She shivered and Namoi knelt down and grabbed her in a hug. Peter saw that the girl had started to cry and held on tight to Naomi. Abe looked over at Peter and shrugged. Joshua watched the exchange and Peter figured he thought they didn’t know who Sam was.

“Can you describe Sam to us?” Joshua asked her in a soft voice. She looked at him over Naomi’s shoulder and let her go enough to be heard by all of them.

She nodded her head and said, “He was with me out in the swamp, I screamed when I saw the things with the red eyes.” Peter could see the strength in her and noticed that she wasn’t flinching.

This girl is something, he thought. She’s not afraid!

“I was surprised at how fast they were, because they were shorter than me, and didn’t look like they could run. They got on us pretty quickly,” she continued, matter-of-factly.

The agent kept up the softer tone. “Then what happened?”

She looked at Joshua and said, “Sam grabbed my hand and started running through the swamp. We ran and those things started to chase us. He let my hand go and told me to run after the other girls, that he would keep the things busy. Then he turned around and swung his big knife at the creatures. He started to glow and the things were afraid of him. They circled around him and I ran…” she trailed off, staring at Peter and Joshua, not at all phased by her description of a glowing person with a knife. “I haven’t seen him since, but I think he is probably fine. He looked like he was handling the things. The policeman found us then and I told him about Sam. He ran off to find him, but I don’t think he did because Sam isn’t here. I have a feeling he got away, though.” Sarah looked exhausted. Naomi put her arm around the girl and they went up into the apartment. Peter watched her ascend the metal stairs, the young girl close to her side.

What a person she must be!, Peter thought. I hope I can spend more time with her. Abe watched as Peter stared after his niece and knew what he must be thinking.

You better watch yourself, Peter! She’s as likely to break your legs as your heart! he thought. “I’m going to run upstairs and grab my gear. Don’t leave without me,” Abe said as he trotted after his niece. While he was gone, Peter took the opportunity to step away, get some fresh air, and think. He excused himself to the agent and walked to the front of the hangar to catch the faint breeze. Peter figured that Sam didn’t want any attention and that is why he chose to disappear. He also figured that when he was ready he would reappear. At least Peter hoped he would reappear. He needed Sam to get him to Russia. He turned to stroll back to where the agents set about finding cots for the girls. He joined in pulling the stuff out of the supply crates, and when they had them all settled for the night, Abe, Joshua and Peter left together in Abe’s old truck for the city. Peter let the night wind whip at his face, surveying the hangar behind him in the side view mirror when he noticed two things: a pale, ghostlike figure melt into the woods outside the hangar, and Sam smiling at him from right behind him from under a tarp in the bed of the truck.