Friends and Enemies

Friends and Enemies

David E. had often mentioned his regret at not having seen the sights of the Historic Triangle of Williamsburg, Virginia while living with Debbie and Shewuma. Wisty revealed her surprise to him. Three days retracing the footsteps of early America. Just the two of them. As she rounded a sweeping curve on Rochambeau Road she said. “D.E. I have another surprise for you.”

           They drove past an enormous wolf head with WELCOME splayed across the top. David E. blurted out, “The Great Wolf Lodge,” and leaned up in his seat straining to see ahead. “Wisty, Baby. Barbecue, mini golf, an indoor water park.” He was ecstatic.

           Wisty knew she did good and grinned broadly, soaking up his excitement. “So D.E.,” she said getting his attention. “We have three days before we have to go to work.”

           “I love you,” he beamed.

           “I know.”

           She parked and they opened the trunk of the standard Crown Victoria LX issued by the United States Space Force to special agents. Their luggage barely fit in the trunk which was fully stocked for any mission including a highly advanced Predator C Drone. David E. went for both suitcases, but Wisty took hers first with her new prosthetic. A glossy white veneered robotic left hand that went up to her elbow. “That’s the heaviest one,” David E. pointed out, “let me get it.”

           Wisty said cheerfully, “Forget it Honey. You know this arm is state of the art. It’s twice as strong as yours.”

           He relented. “Okay. You know I’m still surprised that you didn’t get the one with the fake skin. They look real.”

           With a hint of affront, she snapped, “I’m not trying to fool anybody. It’s a tool, nothing more.”

           He realized that he had struck a nerve. Touching her shoulder he said, “Easy Babe, I didn’t mean anything.”

           “I know, sorry.”

           “Something on your mind?”

           “No,” she lied. “Let’s go register. I’m hungry.”

           On the way in, David E. made a suggestion. “Why don’t we go to Debbie’s today and then we are clear to play until Sunday.”

           “But I have it planned to go there last thing before we leave.”

           “No. Let’s do it first. Then we don’t have to worry about it and can really enjoy ourselves.”

           They debated across the expansive parking lot.

           Seeing that he was wasn’t going to budge, Wisty said as they entered the building, “Let me think about it. Go register us. I have to use the bathroom… And get a suite.” She called after him.

           “A suite. Nice.” He murmured as he headed to one of the girls at the never ending oval registration desk.

           In the ladies room, Wisty went in a stall and pressed the bud in her ear. “727, code X. Shark?”

           A voice answered, “Copy.”

           “Need a change of time table. How soon could you be ready?”

           “Two hours.”

           Wisty was surprised. But he was supposed to be the best. “Make it three.”

           “10-4. Out”

           Wisty walked up beside David E. at the check in. He asked her, “So?”

           “Let’s do it today,” she sighed.

           He kissed her cheek. “Great.”

           So much for the vacation, she thought.

           Bent over the bed, Wisty opened her suitcase and started unpacking. From behind her, David E. asked, “How flexible is our schedule?”

           She looked back and saw him watching her butt as she separated her clothes. With a playful wiggle she quipped, “I can spare a half hour handsome.” She figured it was the least she could do. Soon things would become complicated, maybe even turn ugly.

           After their quick but intense tryst, Wisty brought up lunch. David E. asked her if she wanted to eat in the room. “Yes. I would like that D.E.”

           “I’m on it.” He enthusiastically picked up his cane and headed for the door. Then he stopped and said. “I’ll order barbeque sandwiches with coleslaw and baked beans. Good?”

           “Good.”

           “And while I’m waiting for the food, I can check out the indoor water park.”

           Wisty blew him a kiss. “I’ll be here.” She watched him through the barely opened door until he entered the elevator. Then she went down the exit stairs and to the car to deploy the Predator C. David E. thought they didn’t need it. Even if everything went perfect, the drone would be the easiest part to explain.

           The Crown Victoria turned from the state highway on to Burbank Cross and the world became a forest. Admiring the scenery Wisty said, “Wow. I love that you can’t see the houses from the road.”

           “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I miss this place.” David E. smiled with nostalgia. Fall weather had turned the leaves into a stunning display of orange, red, yellow and purple, while a stiff wind blew them from the trees like falling snow. David E. lowered his window to take in some fresh air and the smell of pine. “I’m feeling funny about this Wisty.” He confessed to his fiancé.

           “You’re not doing anything wrong D.E. It’s our job. Nobody else could have gotten into this compound but us anyway and you know it.”

           “Compound.” He bit the word. “When they took me in it was a home.”

            “Well. You’ve seen the satellite photos same as me. It’s definitely a compound now.”

           He restarted their same argument from earlier. “Even if they are here, Debbie won’t give them up.”

           “I know. No one expects her to give anybody up. We just need to confirm whether or not they’re here.”

           Pulling up to the turn into Debbie and Shewuma’s property required David E. to update his memories. The simple entrance with the two brick columns topped by antique lamps, had changed into a high security access point. Wisty pulled up to the speaker box on the pole and pushed the black button.

           A happy familiar voice answered. “Wisty, David E. Hey guys.”

           “Dermott,” Wisty answered “Is that you?”

           “You bet,” he gushed. “Come on in.”

           As she drove the car through the encroaching trees, she said uncomfortably, “I feel eyes on us. We’re being watched.”

           “You sound surprised.” David E. chuckled. “Did you already forget who we came to see?”

           Wisty wasn’t amused. She retrieved a freezer bag from under the seat and pulled out two covid face masks. She put on one and handed the other to David E. He took it and tossed it on the dashboard. “You know I don’t wear these, and neither do you. So what’s going on?”

           “New protocols D.E. Order comes straight from the COS at the Pentagon.”

           David E. raised his left eye brow. “Since when does the USSF take orders from a DOD supervisor? I’m not wearing it.”

           She looked at her watch and stopped the car. “D.E. don’t make me pull rank. Put it on right now.” An error message flashed on the dash board screen. Wisty hit the reset button. Then the screen went blank.

           “Wisty. What was that?”

           “We lost the drone signal.”

           She took off her mask and dropped it on the console. “The mask is pointless…” She caught herself before finishing the sentence with the word now.

           David E. glowered. “You said we weren’t going to deploy the drone.”

           “Standard procedure. You know that.”

           “Wisty, it’s Debbie and Shewuma. Not enemies of the state for Christ sake. And when could you have done it?”

           “While you were getting our lunch.”

           “So every time I leave for 20 minutes, you’re doing things behind my back?”

           “Stay focused D.E. It’s just business.”

           “Wisty. You know that lying is the one thing I cannot take.”

           She drove on. “You’re over reacting. Are you with me or not?”

           Contemplative he answered, “I’m always with you. But you have to have some boundaries.”

           Wisty parked in a back space by the trees and checked her hair in the rear view mirror. David E. took his .38 derringer out of his suit coat pocket and stashed it in the middle console compartment.

           Wisty sounded concerned. “You’re not taking it with you? You’re packing something, right?”

           “I have my cane. But why would I need to be armed here. Did you know that Debbie and Shewuma gave me that gun? And me and Shewuma remodeled this sword cane together. Hell even if I wanted to, I couldn’t shoot them.”

           “I get that. It would be like shooting you’re family.”

           “No. I mean if I shot Shewuma it would just piss her off. And it would be pure luck to hit Debbie. You know that. Remember the night you met them in Covington?” His heart suddenly felt weary and he leaned back in the seat. “What are we doing here Wisty?”

           Unknown to D.E, Wisty’s covert plan was unraveling but there was still a chance to salvage it and them. She touched his hand. “We’re doing a job is all, D.E. This won’t take long and then we’ll go have some fun. Okay?” She forced a smile. He looked over at her and felt better. Wisty checked her mental defenses. Keeping Debbie out of her thoughts would be tricky.

           As they exited the car, Debbie was waiting for them at the bottom of the front porch steps. She was spectacular in all white. Shapley and muscular, in Spandex pants, Shein sneakers, and a t-shirt that read, Kachinas Rock. Around her waist was a wide crystal-blue belt secured by a silver skull buckle. The now legendary Dragon Blade and a Roman Gradius short sword hung at her side. The front of her splendidly long white hair was pulled back to the center on both sides and held by a gleaming pearl barrette and the rest hung just past her waist. As they approached, the striking emerald green eyes showed genuine warmth. “Wisty,” Debbie said and kissed her cheek. Then with a squeal, “David E.!” She hugged his neck.

           Dropping from the roof, Shewuma appeared beside Debbie holding her bow. In a Buckskin mini dress, battle belt, moccasins, and a braid of long black hair, she looked exactly the same as the last time David E. had seen her. They hugged and David E. looked them both over. He beamed, “You both are so beautiful. It’s been too long. Congratulations, it's about time you two tied the knot.”

          Wu grinned and displayed her wedding band. “Not bad yourself,” said Wu. “You’re walking really strong.”

           “Yeah,” he said happily. “Got two new knees courtesy of the USSF. I only carry the cane now to be cool. “ He spun it around his fingers and the girls both laughed. They had missed him so much.

Shewuma turned serious. “So, Wisty. You know anything about a man wearing camouflage that was sneaking in through the woods?”

           Wisty was evasive. “What do mean?”

           “Pretty simple question,” said Debbie.

           Shewuma held out her clenched fist and opened it. “He had this in his ear.”

           “What is it?”

           David E. demanded, “Why are you pretending you don’t recognize it Wisty?” He took it from Wu and held it up studying it. “It’s a USSF ear bud communicator.”

           He showed it to Debbie but Wisty reached out and snatched it from his hand with her prosthetic. “That’s company property.”

           Debbie felt a wave of relief. She already knew from searching his mind that David E. was oblivious to whatever Wisty was up to. But now his mind revealed that he wasn’t condoning it either. He was still their same old David E.

           Wisty acquiesced. “Okay he's obviously an agent. But I didn’t know anything about this.”

           Debbie tried but couldn’t penetrate Wisty’s thoughts. Her psychic defenses were solid. David E. wasn’t buying it and said to Wisty, “So it’s coincidence that right when we show up, another operative sidles in the back door?”

           Cutting her eyes at him, Wisty said, “Drop it D.E. We’ll discuss it later.”

           “Discuss WHAT?” he was becoming angry. “This was a simple intel gather. Are they here or not. Now there are secret drones and Black Ops?”

           Wisty spoke directly into David E.’s mind. In the past he had made it very clear that he didn’t like that, so she hadn’t done it for quite a while. “Who’s side are you on Baby?”

           “Oh Yeah” said Shewuma, “speaking of drones, there’s one out by the front gate. You can pick it up on your way out. I’m not sure if it will ever fly again. I took the gas cannisters off. They’re being burned right now.”

           Wisty was feigning ignorance. Debbie asked her, “What was the gas, or what was the plan for that matter?”

           Wisty realized that she needed to change her tack. “It must have been some parallel operation. They sent us here as a diversion I’m guessing.”

           Debbie said to Wu’s mind, “It’s not true. Her heart rate is up, her pupils are dilating.”

           “I agree.” Wu thought back. “I smell fear. And her aura is darkening.” Wu stated openly to Wisty. “You’re lying your ass off.”

           Wisty insisted, “No!”

           “Give it up Wisty,” said Debbie. “We know that you’re lying.”

           Shewuma took a surgical mask from her belt and sniffed it. Then she said to Wisty, “He was wearing this. And I can smell the same thing on your face.”

           David E. thought back to the masks in the car and mumbled “What the Hell?”

           Shewuma handed the mask to Debbie who touched it to her tongue and said, “Naloxone.“ She looked at David E. “It counteracts fentanyl gas. And just for the record Wisty. The fentanyl wouldn’t have affected me or Wu. Dermott, however, is allergic to most painkillers. He would have died in minutes of inhaling it.”

           “I didn’t know,” stammered Wisty.

           David E. addressed her harshly to her face. “So what? You planned to knock everyone out with gas so some assassin could kill Robert and Jubal Hazer? You’ve lied to me every step of the way. Used me to set up my family. Is anything you’ve ever told me the truth? Who are you?” He dropped his chin to his chest shaking his head.

           “No D.E.! He was just going to abduct Jubal. That’s all.”

           Shewuma interrupted her. “I don’t believe you. He had no sack, no wire, no rope, no cuffs. Hell, he wasn’t even wearing a belt. You don’t abduct someone with a tanto blade and a .45.

           Wisty could see that the jig was up and dropped all pretense. “They’re here, aren’t they? Robert and Jubal Hazer. You broke Robert out of Florence prison in Colorado.”

           “Why do you think they did it?” Asked David E.

           “Because no one else could have.”

           “I appreciate the vote of confidence,” said Debbie. “But even if they were here, I wouldn’t tell you. It’s America. They can be wherever they want.”

           “He’s a fugitive from justice,” Wisty countered.

           “That’s not strictly true,” said Debbie. “His original charges were bogus. Any descent lawyer would have had those charges thrown out. Unfortunately for Robert, the government confiscated all of his assets and he couldn’t afford a lawyer. He was assigned a public defender who just happened to be a retired USSF Command Officer. He had been hired as a Public defender 3 days earlier. Quite a coincidence, isn’t it? Regardless, he served his time and was released on parole. The last documents I could find on him showed that he was inexplicably picked up by the police and taken to Pueblo Asylum for observation. Which raises the question Wisteria Wix, how did he end up escaping from a maximum security federal penitentiary, if he was supposed to be in a psychiatric ward?”

           “That’s classified,” was Wisty’s stony faced response.

           “Convenient,” said Wu.

           Desperately trying to change the subject, Wisty asked Wu accusingly, “Where is the agent you captured?”

           “Oh, he’s dead.” Her eyes went cold and Wisty shuddered. She had seen that look from Wu before. “That body is disappearing as we speak.”

           “Dead? Are you people crazy?” She got loud. “He’s a career Naval Officer.”

           Debbie held up her hand. “WISTY ENOUGH!” She commanded. “Assassins don’t break into our home and then just walk out.”

           Wisty realized she had overplayed her hand. Pushing her thumb and ring finger together commenced the charge of 4 million volts that was available in her prosthetic for self-defense. Her adrenaline pumped while her mind raced. Research had shown that the stun would not hurt Debbie. But it should at least knock Shewuma off of her feet. And What of D.E. Would he run with her, would he fight, or had she lost him? She mentally prepared herself for a desperate and likely futile escape attempt.

           “Stand down Wisty,” Debbie said calmly. “We fought together once and you carry David E.’s child. We are not going to hurt you. But you have to leave now. And don’t ever come back.”

           Wisty looked at David E., her eyes pleading. He hung his head speechless and couldn’t look at her. She turned and headed unsteadily for the car, fighting back tears. A lifetime of devotion to duty and to her vows and for what? To be humiliated by Hybrids and lose the man she loved? The Crown Victoria backed up and peeled out grazing the big oak tree and bouncing across it’s exposed roots as she fled.

           A winsome howl from the Doberman Pinscher in the back yard pulled David E. from his gloomy trance. Wu said, “That’s Molly. She knows you’re here.”

           Feeling old and battered, he said, “I have to go.”

           Debbie took Wu’s hand and clasped it tightly. “Of course.” Debbie said gently. “Take the pickup. The keys are in the gas flap. This is your home David E. You and your child are always welcome here.”

           Not knowing what to say, he tried to smile but couldn’t. Then he turned and ran after Wisty. As they watched the pickup drive away, Wu said, “I hope we haven’t lost him.”

           Debbie kissed her hand. “So do I WuWu. So do I.”