The Threat from Within: Defeated

By Charles F. Lee

Mary Ann Morgan and her six high school classmates
help defeat the Eastern Romanian arch-villains
plan for the destruction of the American teenagers
brain......in the rest of the story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 26, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493184392

Book preview

1

Nellie Creek, Uncompahgre Wilderness, Colorado

B ob Everett was the first to arrive at the place where Mary Ann Morgan knelt beside the dead body of the fugitive. He said nothing as his only thoughts were concerned with Mary Ann’s well-being.

Mary Ann quickly acknowledged Bob’s arrival at her side with a quick glance and a slight nod of her head. Then she turned back to look into the face of the man who almost killed her classmate and neighbor.

Within a matter of minutes, Colonel Morris showed up with Shirley Gordon, James Baker, Susan Baxter, John K. Clayton, and Carla Dickens in tow. Neither Colonel Morris nor any of Mary Ann’s classmates said a word. Each member of the colonel’s group looked down at Mary Ann kneeling by the dead fugitive and said a silent prayer that it was the escaped prisoner that was lying sprawled across the pile of rocks by Nellie Creek and not Mary Ann.

Shortly after Colonel Morris and his charge showed up at Mary Ann’s side, the platoon sergeant and his men appeared on the scene. Motioning his men to stand back, the platoon sergeant inched forward until he could look down at Mary Ann Morgan.

With a sigh of relief, the platoon sergeant said, I don’t know what you did, young lady. But me and my men are awfully glad you came with us today, to help us track down this killer.

Not wanting the sergeant or any of his men to believe she had anything at all to do with the death of the fugitive, Mary Ann looked up at the sergeant and said, I didn’t do anything to cause this man’s death. I believe he stepped too close to the edge of the high creek bank. I saw him standing at the very edge of the dirt bank when I entered the clearing right here by Nellie Creek. The next thing I remember is the man falling and landing on this pile of rocks.

Interceding on Mary Ann’s behalf before the sergeant could think of the circumstances of the fugitive’s death, Colonel Morris said, Sergeant, you and your men take the fugitive’s body back to your Lake City encampment and turn it over to Major Baker. He will know what to do with it.

Yes, sir.

When you and your men have left the area with the deceased fugitive, I will take my group, and we will look for the fugitive’s hideout. I suspect it will be a cave somewhere along the Nellie Creek trailhead to Uncompahgre Peak. Whatever personal effects we recover, I will turn over to Major Baker. That’s all, Sergeant. Now be on your way with your men and the fugitive’s body, Colonel Morris ordered. Then he turned his attention to Mary Ann Morgan.

Mary Ann, you have done what you could for this man who has killed a number of our soldiers. So don’t waste any more sympathy on him. But Colonel Morris knew subconsciously that Mary Ann was probably the cause of the escaped prisoner’s fall from the high creek bank and breaking his back. He also suspected all of Mary Ann’s classmates knew it too. But he knew none of them would ever say a word contrary to what Mary Ann told the platoon sergeant.

Later, as Major Baker was seated at the portable desk inside his headquarters tent, detailing a report concerning the arrival of Colonel Morris and the seven kids who supposedly aided his men in tracking and capturing the escaped fugitive, he wrote using many words how he strongly objected exposing civilians to the danger of tracking down the escaped fugitive.,

Major Baker looked up sharply as the entrance flap to his tent suddenly opened and his platoon sergeant entered.

We got the bastard, Major.

Dead or alive?

Dead.

How?

Well, Major. I don’t exactly know how, the platoon sergeant said, acting a tad nervous.

Whatcha mean you don’t know how, Sergeant? the major said, twisting the pencil in his hands as he glared at his platoon sergeant.

Well, sir. He was already dead when me and my men got to him. The bastard was sprawled on his back over a bunch of stones alongside Nellie Creek. There was this young girl kneeling down by the fugitive’s side. You remember, Major. It was one of those kids that came with that air force colonel.

So.

I swear, Major, when I asked her what happened, she told me the bastard had stepped too close to the edge of the high dirt bank bordering the creek. She said the ground must have crumbled beneath his feet, and he fell onto the pile of rocks and broke his back.

Did you believe her, Sergeant?

I don’t know, Major. How the bastard could have fallen from the cliff and broke his back on some rocks seemed a bit fishy to me, sir. But before I could question the young girl any longer, the air force colonel ordered me to report back to you with my men and the dead fugitive.

Then what did the colonel do or say, Sergeant?

Shifting from one foot to another, the platoon sergeant said, The colonel told me after we left with the fugitive’s body he would take his group and search for the fugitive’s hideout. He said whatever personal effects they found, he would see to it they were turned over to the proper authorities. Sir, I have a hunch that didn’t mean us.

I believe you’re right, Sergeant.

Major Baker hesitated a moment and then said, We have the fugitive, so our mission here at Lake City is over, Sergeant.

Yes, sir.

Have your men disassemble this encampment and load the vehicles for our return to Fort Carson.

I’ll see to it right away, sir.

Good. While you’re at it Sergeant, I’ll say our good-byes to Ann Mills, the mayor of the Town of Lake City.

Very good, Major. I’m sure the mayor will appreciate your stopping by to see her before we leave, the platoon sergeant said as he rendered a salute to Major Baker before they both exited the headquarters tent and went their separate ways, each intent on carrying out his intended duties.

The mayor of the Town of Lake City, Ann Mills, was seated behind her desk, reading the plans for the November 21 annual turkey trot. The three-mile walk/ run or turkey trot is sponsored each year by the Hinsdale County Sheriff’s Office in cooperation with the Hinsdale County Historical Society, and it benefits Toys for Tots.

Ann Mills had a huge smile on her face when she heard a knock on her office door. Mayor Mills looked up sharply from the report she held in her hands and said Come in to whoever was behind her office door.

The door opened, and Ann Mills’s secretary stuck her head into the room and said, There is a Major Baker here to see you, Mayor Mills.

Send him in right away, Ruth. I can finish reading this turkey trot planning report later. But before you do, Ruth, please give me a minute to check my hair.

Mayor Mills’s secretary took her time backing away from the open door, giving her boss time to check her hair. Then she promptly ushered Major Baker into the mayor’s office.

Good to see you again, Major. By your presence in my office this morning, I believe your mission here at Lake City is over. Am I correct?

Yes, Mayor Mills.

You and your men have been a bonus to this community. And I speak for everyone living here. We’re sorry that you and your men had to leave to return to your army base, Mayor Mills said in a polite and friendly voice.

Thank you, Mayor Mills, for your kind words. I shall pass on what you said about us to my men. They will be glad to know they behaved themselves while going about their duties. And I am very glad we are not leaving under a cloud of distrust.

Certainly not, Major. Good-bye, and have a safe journey back to your army base.

With a final handshake, Major Baker spun on his heels and quickly exited Mayor Mills’s office. After the major left her office and quietly closed the door, Mayor Mills sat down and returned to reading about the planned annual community turkey trot.

Meanwhile, Colonel Morris gathered his seven teenage charges around him and said, Mary Ann, I don’t know if the sergeant believed your story. But rest assured my official report will report exactly what you told the sergeant. The escaped fugitive stepped too close to the edge of a high dirt bank. Then the dirt bank crumbled under his feet, and he fell, breaking his back on a pile of rocks and died. End of story.

Looking Colonel Morris straight in the eye, Mary Ann Morgan said, Thank you, sir. She knew then that the truth about the fugitive’s fall would never be known.

It’s getting late, so we must be on our way. I intend to follow the fugitive’s trail along Nellie Creek to the Mount Uncompahgre trailhead. I suspect that’s where we will find the escaped prisoner’s hideout. We will stay on this side of Nellie Creek and not use the old Nellie Creek road on the other side of the creek. I don’t believe the escaped prisoner would have used this road while looking for a permanent shelter, Colonel Morris said as he began leading his group of teenagers alongside Nellie Creek in the direction of Mount Uncompahgre. Bob Everett, Mary Ann Morgan, Shirley Gordon, James Baker, Susan Baxter, John K. Clayton, and Carla Dickens lined up in single file behind Colonel Morris. The troop started walking toward the distant mountain peak, mindful of what lay ahead.

On the way, the air force colonel and his group of seven teenage classmates passed by Nellie Creek’s two-tier waterfall. As the Midwestern City high school classmates passed by the waterfall, Carla Dickens called out, What a gorgeous waterfall! The other teenagers simply nodded their heads in agreement and marched on, keeping close to their air force leader.

Before reaching the Uncompahgre trailhead, Colonel Morris spotted the entrance to a rather large cave. Pointing to the cave entrance, Colonel Morris said, That’s probably it, kids. Unless I am badly mistaken, that cave is where the escaped prisoner chose to hide out.

When Colonel Morris, followed by the seven youngsters, reached the cave entrance, he held up his right hand and halted further movement into the cave and said, I don’t know what may be lurking in this cave. So stay behind me and stop moving forward when I raise my right arm. The odor I smell tells me a bear once occupied this cave and not that long ago.

After entering the cave and while it was still light enough outside, the group led by Colonel Morris stumbled on Boian the Warrior’s stash of survival gear, including the remains of the giant grizzly bear he killed to take possession of the cave.

Pawing through Boian’s survival gear, the seven teenagers were amazed at how much stuff the fugitive was able to carry to his cave hideout. John K. Clayton gave out a low whistle when he came across the thick hide of the grizzly bear Boian managed to kill before the bear killed him. Hefting the heavy bear hide, he thought, It must have been brain versus brute strength, and brain won.

Sifting through Boian’s survival gear for a while, the colonel checked his watch and said, Gather up as much of this stuff as we can carry among all of us. It’s getting late, and we need to be on our way.

What about this bear skin? John K. Clayton asked.

Leave it, John. There are more important items we need to take with us, Colonel Morris said. Then pointing to Bob Everett standing nearby, he spoke out, Like that missing M-16 Bob Everett is holding in his hand. That weapon must be turned over to the proper authorities along with any remaining spare magazines any of you comes across.

Yes, sir, John K. Clayton replied, feeling slightly rebuked. He thought the bear skin would look good lying in front of the fireplace in his home.

Gathering up as much of Boian’s survival gear as each of the eight members of the search party could carry, the colonel ushered the high school classmates out of the cave for the return to Lake City. Once the group arrived back in Lake City, Colonel Morris would call for a pickup by Blackhawk helicopters.

Henry Morgan, the director of the United States Department of Homeland Security, was seated behind his desk, reading the morning briefing paper. His deputy had walked in a moment ago with the briefing paper for his boss and now stood with hands clasped behind his back. He stood like a man with a stiff upper back, waiting for his boss to speak.

Glancing up from the briefing paper Hank Morgan looked his deputy straight in the eyes and said, This paper says Major Baker returned to Fort Carson with the body of the dead fugitive. You know the mad man that has been running wild in Western Colorado, killing our soldiers.

Yes, sir, he did, the deputy director replied.

Interrupting his deputy before he could elaborate on the briefing paper the boss held in his hands, Hank Morgan said, It also says in this paper that when the platoon sergeant came upon the scene, he thinks he was given a cock-and-bull story by an air force Colonel and ordered to return with his men and the fugitive’s body and report to Major Baker. So he never had a chance to question the young girl he saw kneeling by the dead man’s side.

Looking down at the briefing paper he held in his hands and then glancing up to look his deputy square in the eyes, Hank Morgan said bluntly, Is this true?

I’m afraid so, Director.

This army sergeant said that when he arrived on the scene, a young girl was kneeling down beside the dead fugitive. And when he asked the girl—Mary Ann Morgan is her name, as recorded in the briefing paper—she told him the dead fugitive had stepped too close to the edge of a high dirt bank. The young girl then told the sergeant the earth under the fugitive’s feet crumbled, and he toppled to his death. It says in this paper he thought the fugitive was far too experienced to ever let what the young girl said to happen the way she described the incident. This paper goes on to mention that before he could question Mary Ann in more detail, the air force colonel told him to be on his way with the dead man and his men. He was to report to his commanding officer and not concern himself with a more detailed investigation. What do you make of this report, Deputy?

I really don’t know what to make of the sergeant’s report, sir, the deputy replied, hoping to escape the director’s office before the crap hit the fan.

Poppycock! That’s what this briefing paper is all about, poppycock. We send a platoon of soldiers to capture a notorious escaped terrorist killer. But no, the leader of the platoon finds a young girl kneeling beside the body of the man who, until then, was running around the wilds of Western Colorado, killing our soldiers. What in the world are we paying a whole platoon of soldiers for when a single young unarmed teenage girl may be responsible for causing the death of the fugitive?

I see your point, Director.

Oh, you do, Deputy. Then contact the base commander at Peterson Field in Colorado. Politely request he have a C-130 aircraft standing by to transport the body of the escaped fugitive to Dugway Proving Ground, where he was supposed to be delivered alive for deep interrogation.

Yes, sir. I’ll get right on it.

And, Deputy, ask the base commander to leave plenty of room to transport one air force colonel and seven teenagers. Somebody really needs to talk to these teenagers, especially the girl Mary Ann Morgan. She may know more than she told the sergeant when he arrived on the scene of the fugitive terrorist’s demise.

Without waiting for more ranting from his boss, the deputy quickly left the room to carry out the director’s orders.

2

Dugway Proving Ground, Utah

T he big C-130 E touched down at the Dugway Proving Ground airfield under pristine weather conditions. When the aircraft turned off the active runway, it lined up behind an army jeep bearing a large Follow Me sign. The jeep, driven by a sergeant, led the four-engine aircraft to a designated parking apron. When the pilot switched off the engines, the four Allison T56-A-15 turboprops windmilled to a stop. The name Dugway comes from a technique of digging a trench into a hillside to create a flat surface along which a wagon can travel.

An army ambulance raced up to the lowered loading ramp, and the body of Boian the Warrior was taken away to an undisclosed location. At the same time, Colonel Morris and the seven Midwestern City high school classmates disembarked from the aircraft. Two six-passenger army sedans driven by sergeants were waiting for the colonel and his young charges. Once all eight of the arriving passengers were safely aboard both vehicles, they were driven to the base guest quarters.

After breakfast in the officers’ mess, Colonel Morris and the seven youngsters were directed to a conference room. The eight guests of the army had just settled themselves around a polished mahogany table when the door to the conference room burst open. A senior army officer rapidly entered the room and quickly strode to where Colonel Morris had risen from his chair to greet the officer.

Thrusting out his right hand and grasping Colonel Morris’s hand in gentlemen’s kind of greeting, the army officer said, I’m Colonel Stevens, and I welcome you all to Dugway.

I’m Colonel Morris, and I’m glad to finally meet the officer I intended to send the prisoner to.

Well, Colonel Morris, I wish the prisoner had arrived alive. But no matter. We now know enough about the terrorist to believe there may be a pocket of people where he came from that have the same Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon traits he has. But that is enough about the terrorist for the moment.

Whatever you say, Colonel Stevens, Colonel Morris said while remaining standing as long as Colonel Stevens hadn’t yet taken his place at the head of the conference table.

Now, Colonel Morris, would you please introduce me to your young charges before I sit down. I want to personally greet each of these youngsters you brought with you before taking my place to continue this meeting.

The young man’s name you are standing behind is Bob Everett.

Nice to meet you, Bob, Colonel Stevens said as he looked down on Bob’s upturned face.

The young lady’s name sitting next to Bob is Mary Ann Morgan.

Before Colonel Morris could continue introducing the other five members of the group in his custody, Colonel Stevens interrupted and said, Ah, Miss Morgan. I have read so much about you. I would like to have a talk with you in my office after this meeting if I may.

Upon hearing Colonel Stevens’s request Colonel Morris said abruptly, Colonel Stevens, I don’t want any of these youngsters in my custody exploited. Is that clear!

Certainly, Colonel Morris.

As Colonel Stevens continued moving around the conference table, Colonel Morris introduced Shirley Gordon, James Baker, Susan Baxter, John K. Clayton, and Carla Dickens to him in turn.

When the introductions were completed, Colonel Stevens took his place at the head of the conference table. From a briefcase he carried in his left hand when he entered the conference room, he removed a manila file and placed it on the table in front of him.

Opening the file and taking a moment or two before speaking, Colonel Stevens cleared his throat and said, I have read the report Major Baker’s platoon sergeant gave him when he returned to their Lake City encampment with the dead fugitive’s body. The platoon sergeant stated in his report that when he came upon the scene where the fugitive terrorist’s body lay broken on a pile of rocks, he saw young Mary Ann Morgan kneeling beside the deceased fugitive.

Then looking up sharply from the sheet of paper he quoted from, Colonel Stevens saw each of the seven teenagers staring straight ahead with blank expressions on all their faces. Colonel Morris didn’t say a word.

Shall I go on?

Please do, Colonel Morris said with a totally disinterested look on his face.

Shuffling several pages on the report in his hands, Colonel Stevens said, When asked by Major Baker what happened to cause the fugitive’s death, he was told the man had simply stood too close to the edge of the dirt bank bordering Nellie Creek. When the edge of the dirt bank crumbled beneath his feet, the man fell to his death.

After Colonel Stevens relayed what the platoon sergeant said to his commanding officer, he looked up quickly to catch changes in expression on any of the seven youngster’s faces. He saw none.

Seeing no visible response to what he just told the group sitting around the conference table, Colonel Stevens glanced down at a sheet of paper in his hand and said, The platoon sergeant further reported to his commanding officer that when he tried to question the young girl kneeling beside the body of the dead fugitive, he was ordered by Colonel Morris to take his men and the body of the fugitive and report back to Major Baker.

Lifting his eyes from the sheet of paper he held in his hands, Colonel Stevens looked directly at Colonel Morris and said, Is that true, Colonel?

Yes.

Why, Colonel Morris?

Because it was obvious what happened to cause the death of the escaped prisoner. Mary Ann just happened to be the first to reach the dying man when the sergeant showed up.

Is that so, Colonel Morris?