Guardian Program Ch. 30

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Guardian Program Ch. 30

A novel by R.C.PeterGabriel, all rights reserved.

Slightly over an hour later, several members of the yacht club greeted us by cursing at our pilot before we even reached the dock. It was obvious they wanted him to slow down because we were in a no-wake zone, but he only did so to a small degree.

He was forced to throw the boat into a hard reverse to keep from plowing into the dock, but he expertly swung our stern around and stopped port side to the dock, with only the slightest kiss on the bumpers.

Sam jumped onto the dock without any difficulty, so I followed her with the bag. dropping our life vests on the dock, we ran to our waiting cab, all the while listening to the yacht club members shouting at the pilot.

I had Hal run through the pre-flight while we rode to the airport, so the plane was ready for takeoff the moment we stepped on board. When we arrived, I slapped the control to retract the stairs and ordered Hal to begin taxiing for takeoff before the hatch was sealed.

Sam and I headed for the lounge, where I could access a view screen, while Hal flew the plane. I sat down only to realize I was trembling uncontrollably. I was beyond terrified with worry for Toni and Jessie, and my body was running on adrenalin overload.

"Make us a shake, please." I requested, then noticed that she too was trembling but only slightly. It could be the adrenalin for her also, but the expression on her face told me that she was as worried as I was, so I retracted my request. "Never mind, just sit."

I got back up and stepped over to the galley, while Sam sat down. She stared off into space for several moments, before pulling her feet up into the seat and hugging her legs. She shifted her eyes to me and tried to give me a brave face, but her exhaustion, and fear leaked through.

I mixed the shakes while I tried to think, but I just couldn't concentrate. As I was rinsing the mixer the plane made a tight port side turn with the engines spooling up, and I knew we were about to take off, so I quickly secured the mixer body back on the stand, grabbed the shakes, and rushed for my seat.

I managed to get within a giant step of my seat when the acceleration kicked in. My feet in contact with the plane floor decided to move forward as the rest of me continued aft. I found myself in a headlong dive into the bunk room with both hands full.

As Sam screamed, I thanked God that the door was open. I landed hard on my chest about halfway through and had the wind knocked out of me. I did manage not to dump more than about a quarter of one of the shakes. But that was only because the contents shot straight up out of the glass and when it came back down the glass was no longer under it.

I was fine but Sam didn't know that, and I was afraid she would get up to try and help me. In an attempt to make sure she stayed put, I tried to say just that, but it came out as a gasp, as I attempted to re-inflate my lungs.

Knowing my gasp would be misinterpreted, I mouthed for Hal to tell Sam to stay seated. Sam was uncurling from her seat when using the cabin speakers, he said, "Samantha Smith remain seated."

"Robert, are you okay?" she asked desperately.

She had to repeat the question before I was able to respond. "I'm fine," I gasped, as I started to climb to my feet, which was a little awkward because I was now facing downhill. "Just got the wind knocked out of me."

I walked uphill to where Sam was seated and handed her the shakes. "Drink one. I'll be right back." I returned to the bunk room and got a towel out of the dresser. I used it to clean up the spill, then took it to the galley and left it with the service linen.

Returning to my seat, I took the offered shake and we drank in silence for several minutes. "You scared me to death. Are you sure you're okay?" Sam asked with concern in her voice.

I gave her the best smile I could muster, and reassured her, "I'm sure. I didn't mean to scare you."

She studied me for a moment, then began to shrink me, "Robert, you move like a dancer, all power and grace. When we boarded, you were trembling, and then you fell, it more than scared me. I've only seen you like that one other time when you thought I was leaving you."

I wasn't sure what to say to that, so I waited to see where she was going with what she said.

After studying me a few moments longer, she continued. "I know that a lot of your reactions are physiological responses to the stress. And you of all people, are under a huge amount of pressure, with all of the corporations you run, and the Guardian Program, not to mention our current situation. You deserve to be reacting. I would be even more worried if you weren't having one.

"However, I think you're on the road to a complete breakdown. You need to slow down and think this through. Try not to have any emotions color your responses. If you do, your emotions will snowball, until you either have a psychotic break or you start killing people using Hal ... or both.

"Neither situation is healthy for any of us."

I gazed into the most beautiful eyes I could ever imagine and tried to burn the image into my being. "I told you on the boat that I needed you to help me hold it together. Please stay close and keep me from ... doing anything I will regret. I feel like half of me is missing ..."

I reached out for Sam's hand and when we touched I felt part of myself return, but I knew a big chunk was still missing.

I finished my shake and handed the glass to Sam, then sat on the deck, closed my eyes, and started doing some deep breathing exercises. After about ten minutes, I felt much calmer and opened my eyes. I'm sure part of it was meditation, the other was Hal rebalancing my endocrine system.

Sam had returned the glasses to the galley and was sitting very close looking at me. She smiled when I opened my eyes. "Better?" She asked.

"Somewhat. At least, I think I can concentrate now."

When we stood Sam asked, "May I kiss you?"

"Only if you want me to be unable to concentrate again."

"Robert, this is important. You need to know I'm real. You may be finding out some very painful things in the next few hours. You may be required to kill someone on purpose. Someone you have spoken to. Someone you know. If, and I hope this isn't so, but if you ... if we've lost Toni and Jessie. You need to know that I'm still here."

I leaned down and as if orchestrated we touched each other's faces, then kissed. It wasn't sexual in the least, but it was every bit as intimate. Bonding. She would be my anchor in the tempest ahead. We broke the kiss as one and moved to the table.

I had to tell Sam to move to the couch so she could see the screen better. I wanted her to watch every detail and look for things I might miss.

I started by pulling up the equivalent of a live satellite image of the house. I could see the property and a little beyond but had a three-hundred-foot black dot centered on most of the screen I asked Hal to rescind the privacy protection, and was given an unobstructed view.

There were three members of Bravo Team in position around the house, one in the boat house, one in the response van, and two standing next to Shepherd and Scott. The four were standing on my front porch. They had a police officer in handcuffs laying on the walk, in front of them. They also had two officers in a standoff, about fifteen feet up the walk, as well as three sheriff deputies with weapons out crouched behind their cars further up the driveway.

I could also see that several members of Charlie Team had flanked the officers and would drop them all at the first shot fired.

In other words, the situation was extremely tense.

"Hal," I commanded urgently. "Conference call every shoulder mic or earpiece in a three hundred foot radius around Scott. Prevent transmission outside the conference call."

I watched as the officers fidgeted for a moment then started answering without lowering their weapons. It took them several more moments to figure out that they were hearing each other. I raised my voice slightly so that I would be heard over the confused acknowledgments.

"Attention, please! My name is Robert Smith. I am the owner of the house you are standing around. I want no bloodshed."

When I said this, one of the sheriff's deputies interrupted me to say. "Then have your men drop their weapons, they're all under arrest!"

"One moment deputy," I began. "Hal, identify the person who spoke to me." He did so.

"Deputy Seckman, I don't believe you understand your situation. I'm not trying to threaten you but inform you, that you're flanked by five highly trained persons, with high-powered assault rifles loaded with armor-piercing rounds. Now the men in front of you are going to lower their weapons and assist the officer that has been detained to his feet. Then they're going to allow him to rejoin his fellow officers. When he does, you and the other deputies are going to step out around your cars and move to join your friends on the sidewalk.

"Once you do, everyone will sling or holster their weapons. That includes you and the other officers. Bravo Team, show our guests some good faith."

Sam and I watched as the four men on my porch lowered their weapons, slowly but smoothly and without hesitation. Then Shepherd nodded, and his men moved forward and using one hand each, assisted the prone officer to his feet, and allowed him to join the others.

"Now, we've shown good faith to you Deputy Seckman. Don't you think de-escalating this situation would be to everyone's benefit?"

"How do we know you won't have us shot the second we lower our weapons?" He asked.

"Deputy, don't you think that it would look better on the autopsy report for you to have been holding your weapon out in what we could describe as a threatening manner, rather than with your weapons in their holsters? If I wanted you dead I could have had them shoot you without you even knowing you were flanked. Now everyone use level heads here so that no one gets dead, okay."

The oldest of both the sheriffs and police officers were able to see the truth in the statements and holstered their weapons. The others followed with obvious hesitation. Once the police and deputies had gathered on the sidewalk, I continued. "Very good. Now, I'm going to disconnect for a few minutes, so I can have someone you will recognize as being in authority, call you to discuss the situation.

"All of you should hear something from your respective department heads within the next fifteen to twenty minutes. In the meantime, I'll have my head of security explain why they're running around the neighborhood with military weapons."

"Um, before you go," requested one of the police officers.

"Can you please have your men remove the handcuffs? There isn't even a place for a key on them."

"No problem, officer. Scott, please retrieve your cuffs." With that, I signed off and told Hal to connect me with the Secretary of Defense.

Lieber answered on the second ring. "I'm in a meeting, can this wait?"

"No, Mr. Secretary, this cannot wait. You will listen to what I have to say and then you will do what I said for you to do."

"You can't just call whenever you wish and make demands of me, Smith!"

"You will shut up!" I shouted and saw Sam flinch out of the corner of my eye, but she didn't attempt to stop me. "My wife and daughter are missing! I have every reason to believe they've been kidnapped or worse! I also have reason to believe that the government is involved, so if you don't wish me to cancel the Guardian Program at this very moment, I suggest you do as I say."

"I'm listening, but understand that whatever is going on, did not originate in my office. I gave explicit orders that no one was to move on you."

"You know that I'll find out the truth of that, Mr. Secretary. In the meantime, I need you to call the two numbers I have just texted you and explain to the Chief of Police and the Lake County Sheriff to call their men. Have them explain that Bridge Security will be running the investigation and that their men are to give their full cooperation.

"Then you're going to send some Feds, what flavor I don't care. Actually, send several branches, with orders that they will also provide backup to my men. Is that understood?"

"Yes. It will be done, but Smith, know that I will find out who did this."

"Don't bother. I'll find out." I disconnected and then looked at Sam, who looked worried. "Too much?" I asked.

A heartbeat or three went by before she answered with a question. "Robert, what would be the first thing that pops into your head, if asked what it is that you hate most in the world?"

"Bullies," I stated with no hesitation.

"If you hadn't been speaking out of passion, I would have said that, that is exactly what you sounded like."

I felt like she had gut-punched me. She slid off the couch and knelt at my feet.

"I know you were speaking out of desperation, and I'm also sure most people would interpret what you said in that light, but like I said earlier Robert. You have to act without emotion."

I stroked the top of her head and let my fingers run down to her chin. "I don't think ... I ... I just can't Sam."

"If you don't start, we may get them back, but lose you in the process." She turned her face so that she could kiss my palm.

"Then how do we proceed? I can't just sit here and do nothing!"

She rose onto her knees so that she was closer to being face to face, then asked. "Do you trust Mr. Scott and Mr. Shepherd?"

"Yes. I trust everyone at Bridge Security."

"Then let them do their jobs. If I'm not mistaken, they're all decorated ex-military or police or both. They know how to run an investigation. You've seen to it that they'll get all the backup they can use. Just trust them, Robert.

"So, I sit on my thumbs while Jessie and Toni could be dying as we speak?!?" I stood and swung my leg over Sam's head, then started pacing.

"No. You sit back down and you do what you do best. You use your technology and find out who is behind this. Once you do that, you should find our loved ones."

Her words suddenly struck me as strange. "Earlier you said, 'If we've lost Toni and Jessie', and just now you said 'our loved ones.' What did you mean by that?"

"I'm not sure what you mean by the question. They're my family now. I love them as I love all my family."

"Just like that?"

"Yes. Just like that. Robert, not everyone in the world had a bad childhood. Not everyone is without any relatives, except for the ones they refuse to acknowledge. Your parents knew you were special and had no idea how to handle it. They saw a boy who was smarter than both of them put together and who got into fights constantly.

"What were they to do, spank you? Take away your books? You didn't play with toys like other kids. They had no way to punish you for acting out except to withhold themselves from you.

"Now, don't get me wrong, that was not the healthy route to take, and it cost all of you a loving relationship, but that doesn't mean normal people can't love.

"I've watched Toni and Jessie for as long as I have you. I know they're important to you and you to them. I can't be your wife and not include them. I have a choice, either I choose to have them as part of my life, I choose to hate them or be jealous of them and make all of us miserable, or I can choose to walk away, which I know in my soul, I could never do.

"But, you claim to love them, not just tolerate or like them."

Sam sighed and stood up, then stared at me for several moments. "Robert, there are several different types of love; erotic, familial, brotherly, and divine. Some psychologists try to break it down to as many as fifteen types but in a healthy husband and wife relationship you should have elements of all four of the basic types."

"Aren't familial and brotherly the same thing?"

"How can you think ..." She turned her back and paused for so long I thought she was mad at me or something. Then she turned back with an expression that clearly said she had a way to explain.

"Your feelings for your grandfather, are an example of familial love, and your desire to heal the sick is an example of brotherly love.

"I'm sure I don't need to explain erotic love to you, and divine love is a deeper, complete ... all-consuming combination of familial and brotherly love on both a personal and universal level. It also contains that deep irrational need to be with someone, like you get with erotic love. It's how God feels about us. But, I think you already knew that too."

"Okay, I think I understand but quit distracting me."

Sam closed her eyes and sucked on a tooth for a moment with a slight smirk on her face then said, "Yes Sir," as she sat back on the couch.

End of chapter 30. I hope you enjoyed it and all my work.

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