Evulsion

By David Bergsland

New Mexico has been invaded, cut off from the East, held by traitors, insidious enemies, and worse
Stones finds herself in the middle of the battle, but it’s like she never saw before. Her parents turn out to be the power of intervention. She’s been working for them and never knew it. But what can they do?
The President has accepted the invasion as fact and Aztlan, the new nation, as reality. It’s disheartening to discover that the enemy is at least being helped by the Base Commander of Fort Bliss in El Paso and the Commander of the Pacific Fleet. No one seems to know where the power center is. It can’t be that cartel thug in Chihuahua, can it?
But the key seems to be in New Mexico and her US presidential candidate, Sen. Daniel Aragón. The Lord is building a team, and He has a plan. Can they hear Him well enough to be used?

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Bergsland
• Release date: May 5, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370963744

David Bergsland

For me, my early life culminated with the great rebellion of the sixties. Ending up as a fine artist and heavy user of pot and acid, I needed help. I met Jesus in 1974, and my life began, for real. The Lord gave me an amazing Godly woman for my wife in 1976. I became a graphic designer, font designer, and desktop publisher. In 1991, I began teaching printing and digital publishing. That resulted in writing dozens of books and booklets about the practical processes, using InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. In 2009, I began the transformation into an author of fiction. By the end of 2022, I had 17 novels in five series, as I have developed my craft. This book is #20, and is the third book of the sixth series. I’m using Christian contemporary speculative fiction with some Biblical romance to share stories about the reality of how Jesus touches our day-to-day lives, while being strongly focused upon Biblical truth. I put the stereotypical Bible quoters in the same category as robo-callers. I attempt to reveal Jesus within a realistic world sharing my experiences. The goal is to reveal Jesus as a loving Creator building people into what they are designed to be. I currently assume time is running short, and the final harvest is here.

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Evulsion

Book 2: Mighty Men Trilogy

David Bergsland

Published by Radiqx Press

These materials were written by David Bergsland ©2017 Designed & formatted by Radiqx Press • All rights reserved

http://www.radiqx.com • [e-mail]

314 Van Brunt Street, Mankato, Minnesota 56001

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, locales or events is entirely coincidental, or used in a purely fictitious way.

Coping with the rage

Monday, the Sixth of May: 9:03 pm Local Time, Stones’ Room, Jackson Hacienda

Deborah Stones Jackson was almost beyond rage. She was deeply embarrassed that she had lost it earlier and stormed out of the meeting.

She had been in the meeting with her mother and step-father, Jacob and Rachael Jackson, fleshing out a five-pronged response to the invasion. Denzell Lee was there. He was Jakob’s wrench and mechanical engineer. And Bebe was there—he was the problem! That injun hacker was more trouble than he was worth. Wait! That’s a road too far, girl. She blinked and shook herself. That Navajo Apache was one of the best men she knew. Bebe Begay was an honorable man who took seriously his big brother role to her. A prankster, certainly—but mean-spirited, never. So, why had she reacted so strongly?

He had noticed that she couldn’t keep her eyes off the newcomer, Major Warren Jenson. The warrior had made his way down from the Base yesterday morning—after the invasion. Her first sight of him, dirty, bloody, disheveled, yet strong, and very confident—silhouetted in the open front door of her parents’ home, had shook her. Then, this man had walked into their lives—and now belonged. How had that happened?

Of course, he was second in command of an anti-terrorist operation headed up by her former boss, Ralph Conratty. Ralph was the Assistant Deputy of Internal Defense for Homeland Security. But she’d been learning that most of what he did was black. She’d had no idea of Ralph’s reach, and certainly no idea he worked for her mother—the pastor!

Major was supposedly retired from the military, focusing on strategic and tactical planning for Ralph’s covert anti-terrorism units in the US. Talk about a minefield! Stones had never been involved with anything in-country. The sheer legal gymnastics boggled the mind.

But that wasn’t the problem. She hadn’t looked at a man, and certainly not been attracted to one since Edmund had been murdered in front of her eyes in Paris in 2015. Since then it had been one macho schmuck after another hitting on her. She’d expected that from Major. He was obviously interested. But he’d been a perfect gentleman.

She’d been the schmuck. She hadn’t been able to keep her eyes off him. She thought she’d been surreptitious enough to escape notice—though she’d stumbled a bit in the discussion.

But then, Bebe had seen her repeatedly looking at Major, and gave her a wink! She’d lost it—cursing him out, shouting, making a fool of herself—until she finally ran from the room. Now she was sitting in her comfortable old bedroom, where she had lived through high school, and was unsuccessfully dealing with the embarrassment of it all.

She heard a soft knock at her door. It was probably her mother. She didn’t want to talk with her. But she might as well face the music. She got up, trudged over, and opened the door—slightly.

It was Bebe. Forgive me, sister? His quiet voice took all the sting out of her.

She opened the door and flung her arms around his neck. How can I face them, Bebe? Her plaintive voice escaped the soft cotton of his shirt, inside his leather vest.

Hey, hey. I smoothed it over. I told them I’d been teasing you pretty heavy—and that I’d pushed it too hard. I’m pretty sure they bought it—except for your mother, of course. He gave her a hug, picked her up and took her over, dropping her on her bed.

She started laughing, and they talked it out the rest of the way. Finally, they went back out to join their friends

Dealing with the Chinese

Monday, The sixth of May: 8:30 pm Local time, Aztlan’s Naval Command, San Diego

Admiral Harold (Cabot) Gomez was not happy. Chou Wei had no idea how much protection the phone lines were giving him right now. Wei was getting real pushy. Maybe he’d have to show ol’slant-eyes who was really in charge.

Wei had promised him the help needed in Northern California. And he had delivered. The problem was the assurances that these Chinese goons would be under Aztecatl control. More and more it had become obvious that they were under Chou’s control and that could not stand. That was a battle the Chinaman would not win. That was true of his California troops as well.

He did have the Nimitz group headed south for a show of strength. But he was keeping the Ronald Reagan Group close at hand. The John C. Stennis was in place off the coast of Monterey, California. He had the best control of the Stennis group. They would take over from those damn Chinese—whether they liked it or not—survived or not.

The Reagan group was under control, but they had over a thousand hostages to deal with, on the carrier alone. A few ships in the group could not be counted upon at all. In fact, he might have to sink at least three of them. What he could not tell Chou was that the Nimitz group was fighting for survival as an Aztlan group. He was almost sure that he would retain the group. However, group command had orders to scuttle all the ships if necessary. At this point, that was up in the air.

Harold racketed it up a notch, Chou, you will back off in the Bay. Your men did a wonderful job up North, but now they need to remember who’s in control here. If they don’t, I’ll have to take them down. That could sink our whole cause. I am sending in two thousand Marines to take charge of the Northern California operations. I expect your men to hand over full control as soon as we arrive. I will be backing them with the planes from the Stennis.

That sounds like an excellent plan, Admiral. The slick, cultured Chinese held no apparent condescension, but Gomez knew that was just under the surface. The problem, of course, is that the people in the northern valley are not cooperating very well. We’ve had to kill several men and women. The good news is that we have killed every witness. The bad news is that we are barely hanging on in some places up there.

That was a slap in the face. Gomez had not been told it was that bad. Fortunately, his plans were in place. He’d just have to move it ahead to tonight—early. You’ll have help tonight. Tell your men to let me know what they need and where they need it. Are you ready in Panama?

It’s getting tough down there also. We have caught a team reconnoitering the Pacific end of the canal near the Miraflores Locks. If necessary, we will simply push the button.

Good, good, Gomez muttered. Baca De Chavez told me this morning that Worley has capitulated as we hoped. If we can hang on for another week, it’s a done deal.

That should be easy for you, Admiral. You have the ships and weapons, plus control of the sky.

"At this point, we have produced over 30,000 trucks. 50% have the new 8-up HP-9 systems. Dominguez tells me that the eastern border is sealed."

I hope that’s true, Wei. El Patron isn’t known for truthfulness.

We are helping him. He is telling the truth this time. We’ll talk tomorrow? Chou asked.

Same time. Gomez acknowledged and hung up the phone. I don’t trust that slant-eyed weasel. He thought as he swiveled his chair to look out across Coronado Island to San Diego Bay.

Learning the New Weapons

Tuesday, The seventh of May: 4:30 am Local time, The Manzanos slope in back of the Jackson Hacienda

Major could hear Denzell panting slightly as they climbed up the slope in back of the house. It was a steep climb through the cedar, juniper, and Piñon pine trees. Denzell was leading, with Stones in between the two men on the trail. Major was keeping his eyes on the trail, though the view ahead was much better. Deborah was driving him crazy. He couldn’t get her image out of his mind—the smooth bulging curve of her butt, the narrow waist, the soft mounds of her breasts, the smooth red of her lips, the vivid green of her eyes… Stop it, you fool!

He forced himself to think of the task at hand. He certainly couldn’t look at the back end of the ravishing woman ahead of him as it swung back and forth up the trail. He’d never seen anyone before who looked good in the green of night vision.

So, Major, what are you doing in civvies on the base? Did you get injured? Deborah’s voice came through the comm link smooth, strong, and sweet.

Major took a second to answer. "No, not really. I mean I did get shot. A 9mm hollow point took a large chunk out of my side, but nothing vital was hit. I’ve just got the normal aches and pains— part of the job of a man who’s been beating on his body since high school.

I quit fighting because I was tired of seeing living men and women become raw meat before my eyes. No, I didn’t say that right. Understand, I don’t doubt the necessity of what I had to do. However, I was becoming too accustomed to it. It was just becoming a job. There was no real thought about the people’s lives I was ending. I was getting cold, hard, and ruthless. When I started seeing execution as a real solution to drunk drivers—I knew that the time had come for me to get out of wetwork.

Stones gave a little chuckle, "I don’t know about that. I tend to agree with you. Denz and I have discussed building a couple cars for the state with RPGs firing out of the top of the fenders. People would be hired by the state with a license to eliminate any drunk driver they saw with no warning what so ever. The only debate is that I think it would have to be an ongoing program. Denzell is convinced we’d only have to wipe out a couple drunks and let them think the program remained active."

Major laughed, Sorry, Denzell, I’ll have to agree with Deborah. Drunks are incorrigible. I do have to agree the plan would probably work, but I am not sure two vehicles are enough.

The three of them came around a corner, over the shoulder of the rise, and arrived in a little pocket on the slope of the mountain facing south. From here, none of the lights of the valley were visible. This time in the morning, the heat from the rocks was nearly gone and the little pocket looked almost completely black in night vision. Major saw a couple of mice at the far end, maybe a hundred yards to the southwest. He knew it was southwest by the display on his visor. Other than that, he could see almost nothing except the vague shapes of the trees and rocks on the slopes.

Denzell broke the silence. Stones, come over here. Like all comm links it was a little disorienting because the sound had no localization. There was no way to tell where it was coming from.

Major looked to his left and saw Deborah moving over to Denzell. He was standing in front of a console that was warming up before his eyes. Denz pushed four buttons at the top of the console and the flat sandy wash that lined the bottom of the pocket glowed softly in the wash of dim infrared floods. Two of the little floods shed their light from behind a couple small boulders spaced up the wash.

Major could see where the arroyo coming down the mountain had filled this pocket with sand over the years. There wasn’t enough rain to grow much vegetation. There was just the normal scattering of short tufts of water-starved buffalo grass and blue fescue. The edges were lined with old piñon pines that stood nearly twelve feet tall with eighteen-inch trunks that had twisted over the decades into magnificent sculptures.

The western end, just to the right of where they were standing was a natural dam of tree trunks, rocks and gravel. It must make a wonderful waterfall for anyone stupid enough to be out here during a rainstorm dodging lightning bolts. Major knew better. The lightning strikes around here were commonly lethal. The eastern end climbed rapidly through a deep arroyo lined with many large boulders up the side of the mountain.

Suddenly, Major saw a man sliding out his head and peering around one of the boulders at the foot of the wash. Instantly his H&K was in his hand in front of him.

Watch out! he whispered as he crouched—looked for cover.

Denzell and Stones chuckled quietly. The man disappeared like a light being turned off—which in fact it was. Denzell said, Sorry Major, I should have warned you. But at least you know now that it’s a pretty realistic shooting range—in the dark. Here, let me show you again. He twisted a dial and the lit image of a man slid out from behind the rock—looking exactly like a man sneaking a look. Suddenly the red line of a laser shot out from below the man, scanning across an area of the sand. Obviously, if you are hit by the laser, you die. This range bites back. Here, Stones, look how I ramped this up. See how the dials are connected with thin red lines to the image of the boulder or tree in this range? This pale blue fan is the arc covered by the lasers. Several of the lasers have three or four tracks that you can choose from. Your goal is to hit Major with a laser. His goal is to kill the tangos in the rocks. If his rounds hit the target, it flares orange on the console. Then you punch the dial and it will shut off the lights on the target. I put little exploding rounds in his gun that will give a red puff of infrared when they explode. You got it?

I sure do. This is remarkable, Denz. How long did it take you to put this together?

Your father had the idea waiting for me when I first came up here. After he explained what he needed, I made up the animations. It took about two years to get everything in shape and working well. Right now it is pretty fool proof. We’ve been using it for several years though you two are the most skilled warriors to ever use it. Just make sure you shut it down—here. Double-check that the lid is closed and latched before you leave. The electronics are pretty sturdy, but the sun, wind, and rain would make short work of them.

No, problem. It looks obvious.

Good, I’ll head back down to the shop then. Jakob’s got a list so long I haven’t even seen the end of it yet.

We’ll see you, latter. They both said in unison.

OK, Major, let’s get to work. How’d you want to do this?

I’ll stay over here. I don’t want to see the board and have any idea what is out there. I just go up the wash, checking it out. You try to get me and I’ll try to get you. Remember, they can’t see me unless they are lit—I have to have some help here.

Stones laughed. You worried, Major?

Not a chance, Deborah. Let’s do it.

Debbie was distracted for a second or two. No one had ever called her Deborah before except her mother when she was angry. It really pleased her, though. But then, most of what he did pleased her. Focusing on the task at hand, OK, let’s go.

An hour of vigorous warfare followed with neither of them able to gain the upper hand. Debbie nailed Major twice. Major killed three tangos. They switched roles and Debbie quickly killed a half-dozen tangos. Major couldn’t get close to her. They were both jacked up on adrenalin by the end of it and lovin’ it. They finally had to quit as the light began to light up the eastern sky over the top of the mountain range. Major stopped it. Hey, Deborah, let’s call it quits. The light is overwhelming my night vision and I can’t see the targets unless they are lit by the infrared. I love this heads up fire control. Denzell and your father make great equipment.

Yes, they do. I had no idea about these weapons. I wish I’d had them in Pakistan. But, I’ve been driving cars fixed up by Denzell for years. He’s an amazing builder and mechanic.

Stones had been so into the game that she hadn’t really even noticed how cleverly it was built. Now that she could see the controls in the morning light, the craftsmanship was obvious. You ought to see this control board.

I did and I’m impressed. However, you really made the course a challenge. Good work.

I was just having fun. I played a few video games in high school. This was a lot more fun though.

I appreciate the self-deprecation, but I meant the compliment. You handle yourself like a pro. You have an excellent mind for strategy. I haven’t had such a workout since I quit wetwork. All the simulation courses are predictable after a little while. You kept me guessing and working hard. If this had been a real assault, I would have been injured for sure—or worse.

That quieted Stones for a while. She had forgotten that this was not a game. This was survival training.

Ah, struck by reality. Sucks, don’t it? Major’s voice carried the smile on his face. Actually that isn’t a normal realization and that again shows me that you have an exceptional mind. Most warriors don’t realize the reality until the bullets start flying. Often it is too late then. In Pakistan, you were workin’ for Ralph, right?

Yup. We had a lead on Osama, but it was a trap. I got shot up pretty bad. For quite a while, I didn’t know if I would ever be able to get back in shape. How did you survive, Major?

Years of constant training, impeccable planning, and luck—I think luck had more to do with it that anything.

"My father says there is no such thing as luck. He believes that all these things are spiritually determined. I’m not sure what I believe, but I’m pretty sure luck had little