CODE X:Episode 1 (6 page)

“Great! Suppose you get killed?” He won’t
let go.

“Looks like Vicki needs me a lot worse than
they do. End of story Parks.” She walks down the hallway. “Kids,
get in here.” She goes back into the living room.

Her kids: 17, 16 and 13 rush into the
room.

“You’re one tough woman,” admires Jenna.

“I wouldn’t want her after my ass,” chimes
in Simon.

Her kids sense a mission coming up. They
hang on her, the youngest hugs her.

“Some real bad guys took Vicki. I’m going to
help get her back. We’ve got to keep this a family secret,
okay?”

“Yes momma.”

“You older ones, that’s why I made you
emancipated minors for when I have to leave. You know to do the
right thing. You are as responsible as a soldier. If anyone asks if
you saw this guy,…she grabs Parks and pulls him forward,…him, you
tell them no. Tell them I’m out of town. Don’t tell anybody, the
police, your friends, especially strangers where I went. Kid’s,
your momma’s mission depends on absolute secrecy. I’ve drafted you
guys as part of this operation. Let’s make it a successful family
mission, so I can get back home safely. Now, give me a
salute-that’s an order!”

They salute her.

“Now give me hugs and kisses.”

They jump back into her outstretched
arms.

Chapter 15

Unknown Airfield

Inside an airplane hangar, Parks waits
nervously beside a twin engine plane while Biggins exudes calm.

Parks breaks the silence, “Where is he?”

“Dubrowski’s always late.”

Just then, a man in his mid-30s, slender,
with a full long beard, in bib overalls, slips into the hangar.

Biggins announces, “This is Dubrowski.”

Parks takes notice of the opposite looking
match of his companion; a very young, hot looking woman, like she
just came from a Playboy shoot, with a sweater pulled tight over
her abundant bosom, follows behind him.

“Biggins, you fightin bitch from hell, you
talking shit about me again?”

Biggins drops her rucksack and throws her
arms around him. “Man, it’s good to see you again.”

“This is my honey, Cindy,” Dubrowski sweeps
his arm towards her.

Biggins, “Hi Cindy.”

Parks is taken aback. Stammers, “Hello.”

“Always call on me to fly you out of
trouble, don’t you girl?”

“I want you to meet...” Biggins moves to
introduce Parks.

“No need. I recognize him. Your face has
been on the news so much, folks are starting to forget about the
war. Looks like you’re wanting me to fly you into trouble this
time.”

“He didn’t do it.”

“Hell, I know he didn’t do it. I don’t
believe any shit the government or the TV says.” Dubrowski opens
the plane’s door and tosses his flight bag in.

“I need you to take us out of here. I’ll
give you the final destination when we’re airborne”

Dubrowski can’t hide his glee. “Whooeee!
Sounds like fun. Tree topping is my kind of ride. Let’s go.”

Dubrowski rounds the plane to the pilot’s
side. His girlfriend kisses him with unbridled passion good bye.
Parks pulls Biggins aside. “You sure this guy knows what he’s
doing? He looks like farmer Brown.”

“Let’s say he’s your first training
lesson.”

The plane is flying low below radar into the
night. Inside the cabin, Biggins announces, “We’re heading to Eddie
Macon’s mercenary camp in Mexico.”

“No need, figured that’s where you were
heading; I already set the controls to that destination,” Dubrowski
answers.

The plane is dark except for the instrument
panel emitting its glow. Dubrowski flies 30 feet above the highway.
A curve in the road approaches. A large electrical tower looms
ahead at the curve. He snaps the wheel hard right. The plane flies
through the tower sideways, with Parks’ face smashed against the
side window.

Dubrowski asks in disbelief, “He really
didn’t think I could fly? Trees ahead Parks.”

The plane snaps up over the trees. The
leaves swoosh hard from the closeness of the plane. He moves the
plane back down a few feet above the desert.

Parks, in the back seat, pukes into his air
sickness bag.

Chapter 16

Dr. Landau sits
beside Vicki on a sofa. She keeps going over and over in her mind
that, it’s impossible; Nick can’t be dead. She looks around the
swank living room, clearly a very rich housing unit. The doctor
says it’s hers to stay safe in. Vicki looks up at the nurse doting
around her, and thinks to herself, “God, I appear like a basket
case to everyone.”

She can’t help herself. Her life as she
knows it was destroyed. She was so happy with her Nicholas. Between
sniffles she appears to be regaining control of her thoughts. It’s
time to start functioning again.

“Doctor, I don’t understand why they would
want to kill Nick. What reason could they have?”

“It has to be because of your work, Dr.
Collins. The only way an unscrupulous company could get to you was
through him. If they could jeopardize your relationship, it would
make it easier to obtain your services. They would not have stopped
at kidnapping you or worse. That’s why I brought you here, to
Alomet research headquarters. It is a hidden facility, but, it has
its own city with a normal lifestyle and experience for all the
employees. No cost was spared for making it comfortable and to make
working here a real home family experience. The security is,
itself, the best in the world. That is my number one priority
concerning you…your safety.”

“But couldn’t I be protected in my own home?
You uprooted me from everything that was ours, Nick’s and mine. My
memories are back at our home.”

“Your fiancé put up one hell of a fight
protecting you.”

Vicki starts weeping again.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to upset you. But,
you are safer here, off the grid. It’s better than what the U.S.
Marshal’s witness protection could provide; where you would be kept
under lock and key, a prisoner. Even the NSA agreed its better here
in total secrecy. Alomet set this facility up, meant to be a safe
haven for medical research. The government doesn’t even know where
we are. It is a privately funded project, with no government
supervision. The company poured over a billion dollars into this
project.”

Vicki ponders the words she hears. She tries
to make sense out of what she’s hearing. She asks him, “But how did
Nick stop their attempt? I was not hidden or kept under cover.
Anybody could have grabbed me.”

“From what law enforcement could piece
together, Nick was approached to convince you to join them. They
knew you were a package deal. He obviously knew they were not
telling the truth. He had defensive wounds on him. He saved your
life. He bought us time by screwing up their plans to get you.
That’s why the police beat them to your residence. Parks dialed
911.”

Chapter 17

Dubrowski lands
the plane on a remote airstrip in the jungle. Eddie Macon stands at
the end of the runway to greet them. He fits the description of a
typical military, special operator, with his tats and lean build,
piercing blue eyes and a commander’s air of leadership.

“Welcome to my home away from home. Biggins,
what you got there, another stray dog project?”

“Eddie, I brought my work with me, for some
of that good old fashioned kick-ass black ops training you offer
here. Parks, Eddie and I served together on my first two tours of
duty. He was the commanding officer in my unit, until he retired to
the rich life of a contract for hire provider.”

“I recognize him from the news. Parks,
weren’t you on a fast track to be the next MMA challenger? Kung Fu
was your specialty.”

Biggins speaks up. “Was is the word. He’s
gonna get in fighting shape again. I’ll make sure of that,”

“C’mon, let me show you your bunks.”

Dubrowski interrupts, “Here Biggins. Call me
when you need me to pick you up.” He tosses her a cell phone. Press
1, it’s preprogrammed.”

“Thanks.”

It’s morning; with the sun starting to break
the horizon as Parks snoozes away on his cot. A bucket of cold
water dowses him, thanks to Biggins.

Parks jumps out of bed in shock.

“Are you crazy?”

“No! You might have been a pro athlete
before, but this is war! You sleep with one eye open. You are going
to train night and day to become a killing machine. Every thought,
every strike is going to be for your survival. The only rules in
this ring of combat are your rules, and that means the destruction
of your opponent. You are targeted for elimination. Vicki is gone
and we are the only ones who know who has her.”

Eddie has a tent with camouflage netting
over it that has a universal workout machine set up. Parks strains
to do sit-ups. He’s spent.

Biggins coaches him hard. “Come on Parks,
two more, just two fucking more makes 50! Don’t quit.”

Parks barely makes 49. Every vein, every
muscle tells him to quit. But he’s going to make the last one if it
kills him. “Fuck it. I…will…do it.” He hisses to himself with every
ounce of will left.

Eddie enters and gives the thumbs up to
Biggins.

“Okay Parks. We’ve got a special assignment
for you, after you recover.” Eddie signals Parks to come
outside.

A little guy, Marco, almost a foot shorter
than parks, of Spanish descent in cut off fatigues, stands inside a
circle ringed by mercs.

“This is a test of your readiness Parks. We
want you to put Marco down. This is real, because he will try to
take your head off. These guys are pros we will be going up
against, military contractors. They’re all ex special forces,
SEALs, and psychos, a collection of all the bad apples the military
kicked out.” Biggins shoves Parks into the circle. “Now, show us
what you got.”

The men start cheering. Marco circles
Parks.

“I’m not going to fight him, I got him by
almost a hundred pounds,” Parks protests to Biggins.

Marco slaps a perfectly planted side kick
against Parks’ head. Then kicks his nuts, and finishes with three
speed punches to his face.

Parks is knocked loopy and slow motion falls
onto the ground as he kisses it hello. Marco raises his arms in
triumph. The men cheer.

“Yeah right. We should have tied a leg and
an arm together to make it fair,” Biggins deadpans.

Out in the jungle, Parks and Biggins run
together down a well-worn trail. Parks is drenched in sweat. He
looks like he’s run 100 miles. She runs circles around him to taunt
him. He stumbles. She backpedals in front of him.

“It’s been only three miles. Don’t quit.”
She pulls her canteen, dowses him with water.

Parks, “What’s next?”

“Time to relax. I’m going to take you on the
river walk.”

Chapter 18

The River Walk

Parks follows Biggins down a trail, where
the sound of a roaring, rushing sound of water gets louder with
each step. They walk up a slight rise and as they come over the
top, Parks sees a white water river. The river gushes with such
speed on its race to the end; it roils and foams because of the
downward slope.

“This is your river walk?”

“Yes. You are going to take a walk in the
river with me Parks. This will be your measure of where you are in
readiness.”

“Hell, I know I’m not in shape. What’s this
going to tell me? I’m ready to kill myself trying to tell me what I
already know?”

“Don’t worry Parks, I got your back.”

Parks and Biggins stand on the edge of the
bank of the river wearing two body harnesses. Their connecting
lines are tied to a tree 50 yards upriver. The water’s calm for
approximately 20 feet upriver before it falls over a 100 foot
whitewater drop to where they stand.

She latches herself. “Pull yourself up.
Water doesn’t give a rat’s ass if you tire, or want to quit. It
just keeps coming.”

“What about helmets, life jackets?”

“Gee, let’s call time-out during a firefight
so Parks can run home and get his helmet. Every move we make down
the road could put our lives on the line. You gotta dance with the
devil to learn his steps. Watch.”

She jumps off. All 135 pounds of her bounces
like a cork. The river tosses her side to side. She keeps pulling.
Her sinewy arms bulge as she reels herself through the water like a
hooked fish. She disappears in an undertow.

Seconds pass. Her hand shoots out of the
water on a taut line. Her other hand comes up. Hand over hand, she
reels herself up like she’s landing an easy fish she caught. She
makes it through the last waterfall as every vein in her body
bulges.

Finally, she stands near the bank in calm
waters. She waves him on.

Parks jumps in. The river pounds him like a
piece of balsa wood on a stormy ocean. He only gets two overhand
pulls before the water rips his hands off the rope.

The line snaps taut as he rushes down midway
over the falls. Water pounds his head. He half drowns before he
pulls himself upright. He only manages one overhand before he’s
torn loose. Again, he struggles one pull, two -- no use.

His line snaps tight, stretches out like a
steel rod, then breaks! He free falls down the roaring river.

He goes head over heels, slams off rocks
like a lost bobber. He heads for a huge waterfall. The water shoots
him out over a 60 foot drop off. Down he goes into the deep water
pool below and disappears. After what seems like minutes...he pops
back up gasping big gulps of air.

A few minutes later, a winded Parks sits
beside a very fresh Biggins

“When you can make it through the river
walk, Parks, you’re ready.”

Chapter 19

Henry sits across
from Dr. Landau who paces back and forth behind his desk. “It’s
been over three days and no sight or sound of Parks. Henry, don’t
try to tell me one man can evade all of law enforcement, NSA, FBI
and please choose any other useless three letter agency.”