They teleported to the file room and looked at each page in all the files there and then returned to the lake.
At 10:30 they all had their assignments and proceeded to quietly take out the communications. They then followed the same pattern as the previous night and had all of the persons at the compound teleported to their new homes within an hour. Again all goods were removed including records and even more cash than the previous evening. They also found considerable information and payment records of bribes. The more egregious of these were also deposited with sufficient evidence to put them away for a while. In a nearby cave they found 8 tanks and some heavy artillery. All of this was transferred as previously. At 12:30 the empty compound was destroyed using the same method as the previous night. Gus, Barb, Ed and Janie did the honors. This time the radius of destruction was even greater. Nothing was left standing.
They then decided to take out the number 3 compound on the list and took even less time. The surprise this time was that there was a subbasement under the main building that was essentially a vault. In addition to the massive amount of cash found, there were some very advanced weapons found. They appeared to be portable rail guns stolen from the United States. There were four crates with two guns per crate. These were moved to a cavern near Juneau so the group could decide what to do with them. After everyone was removed and all the things that were to be removed were relocated, Andy, Pat, Jeff and Judy did the compound destruction using the same solar energy absorption used previously. Since the location was somewhat remote they toasted the whole thing. The scene looked like a pool of magma. There was nothing further left to recover.
Between the two compounds, there were 22 persons being held. Four of these were members of other cartels and had obviously been tortured. The rest were being held as leverage against public officials or for ransom.
The group then went looking for the offsite Sicarios and Halcones. By dawn 4,051 more were in custody at Isla Maria Madre including public officials who were charged with bribery. The place was getting crowded.
# Day Eight at Turner Lake #
# Saturday, June 18 #
The weather had shifted overnight and there was a persistent drizzle as often happens in Juneau. It was not a pleasant day to be on the lake. All were gathered in the ship to become more familiar with the equipment available there. Ed and Janie were operating a viewer and had selected General Gomez's base as a practice site. As they were watching, they saw an armored car crash the gate heading in the direction of the General's office. Ed sent him a message as there was trouble on the way and they would be there shortly. Everyone immediately suited up and teleported to the base just as the armored car arrived at the front of the General's building. They remained invisible. There were six attackers in the vehicle. As each exited the armored car, he was disarmed and restrained on the lawn in front of the building. Bystanders were scrambling for cover. Nikolay found a sniper about a half mile away preparing to take a shot at the General if he came out of the building. Anya a second and Judy found a third. All were given similar treatment with their weapons disabled and the sniper’s right hands broken but still in the trigger housing. Each was also unconscious.
Thinking there might be more snipers hiding, George, who was about the same height as the General, went to his office and asked if the General had another uniform he could borrow. He wanted to see if he could draw fire from any additional snipers that might be out there. He did. George put on the uniform and adopted a face that looked similar to the General. He then went outside. Before he took three steps, he was fired on twice. He took another step and was fired at twice more. The additional four snipers were captured and rendered unconscious. Ed Carter's mother, Julia was a Medical Doctor and she had a hunch. She checked the mouths of each of the snipers and asked mentally for a pair of pliers quickly. She said, <I never thought I would see one of these in real life.> When she had the pliers, she proceeded to pull one or two molars out of each mouth explaining, <These molars each contain poison, probably cyanide. Biting down hard on the molar would have released the cyanide liquid in the tooth pretty quickly. Pretty nasty way to go. These folks are going to have to be pretty careful with these. We need a container to put them in and seal. Also these seven will need a thorough interrogation. Why are they so intent on taking out the General? I have never heard of so many snipers for one person before. How do we protect him? Hey look here, these two have tattoos that link them to our assignment for this evening. Keep this group sedated and stored somewhere else. Lets drop off the first batch of six at the normal drop. >
Andy said, <This is a revolting development, Jim, George, Pat, lets go chat with the General.>
When they arrived at the General's office, George said, <General, my apologies. Those snipers did damage your uniform. I was hoping I was wrong and the first three were all. But that was not the case as you can see.>
Andy chuckled but continued, <I apologize. I have placed your life in jeopardy. We are now trying to figure how we can restore your life expectancy.>
Aston interrupted, <I can help you there. I have conducted a brain and personality scan and he is what he appears to be. He is the honest altruist we believed him to be. I believe that he should be considered for an offer of the secondary implant. He would be a perfect agent for us in Mexico. >
<You are absolutely correct. Lets see if he is willing.>
<Ah, General, our ship has reminded me of something that I should have thought of myself. My only excuse is that we have been a little bit busy and distracted the last few days. I have some things to tell you that are extremely sensitive and secret so I need to hear you agree to keep what you hear now to yourself.>
<But for you and the 'Solarans' I would not still be here. Of course, any secret you share with me will remain secret, on my life.>
<Ok here goes.> Andy then described for him how they had received their powers, how they were selected, and the purpose behind it all. He explained that they had received this gift less than a week previously and were essentially in training. He noted that part of what they were doing was building a team to not only address the pending invasion from space but to help make the world a better place. <General Gomez, the point is that we would like you to join us in this effort. You would be in constant communication with us and would continue to serve where you are now. This is not to spy on your government, but rather to take the kind of action that we have already done. Since you would receive the secondary implant to do this, your safety would be assured.> Andy then explained the ramifications and duties inherent in the secondary implant. It was noted that this was not something that they wished to advertise so he would have to hide or disguise his use of the enhancements from the implants. <If you accept the enhancement, it will mean you will have to visit our ship for about a half hour. The protection is not visible and will essentially be built into your gene structure. You also have another problem that I am sure you recognize by now. One of your commanders is or has been corrupted. I have never heard of so focused an effort to eliminate one person. The timing suggests that someone alerted these criminals in the past 36 hours. I suspect that your house may have been mined. We will check on that before we leave. Would you care to join us and have us apply the enhancements? I believe you very well understand the duty this infers.>
<You would have me amongst you, Yes, I would very much like to do that. I would like to complete what we have started. I like your primary motivation for all of this and would really like to contribute what I can in that effort. I also note that these criminal organizations have secondary sites where munitions, equipment and cash have been stored. We think we have identified all of the rest of these locations. If we can stop the flow of funds, essentially bankrupt them, these criminals will certainly have less influence. I am ready when you are.> They teleported the General to the ship where Aston installed the implant.
The General did not even know that it had happened. They explained that the armor would be effective in about an hour and that the rest of the enhancements would be available for use over the next 24 to 36 hours.
When they teleported the General back to his office, Andy noted, <General, we explained the features that go with the implant. You need to practice these features. Relax to the extent that you can. Aston will provide with a secure portal to the ship that you alone can use. You will want to hide the capabilities you have to avoid escalation by your enemies. I would also suggest that you might want a different location to live. If you like the Zihuatanejo/ Petatlan area, we can provide you with a secure villa there to use as a base of operations. Anyone not authorized to enter that location would be in for a nasty surprise. That would be an easy teleport and it would be yours but will not be traceable to you. That location will be a fortress that merely looks like a middle class residence of someone that likes to keep to themselves. When you go out, you should not appear in uniform or recognizable military attire. When the doorbell rings in your base housing it will also ring in your new place along with a video feed so you will know who is calling and you can teleport back to respond. We would suggest you move memorabilia and prized possessions to that location and maintain duplicates at your present quarters for appearances. If you teleport from your quarters, do so from a dark closet or darkened room so no one will know that you are not there. I know this sounds like paranoia but just because you act paranoid does not mean that someone isn't out to get you. You should also know that these gifts can be revoked if you abuse them. There is great temptation when one can wield such capabilities. The capabilities you have are the same as those of all adult Solarans and their watchdog is the ship. Welcome to the Solarans.>
<This is all a bit staggering, but I agree with everything you have said. I must be even more security conscious. I also believe I know who set this up so I will devise a trap for him and very soon. I believe it may have been the commander of the Isla Maria Madre unit, Colonel Julio Mendoza. The area you suggest is indeed a beautiful area and it sounds very attractive. I believe that I would like to do just that. What do I need to do next?>
<Gracias, see you tomorrow.>
# Back at the ship #
Gus exclaimed, "Wow, whoever is after the General is a truly serious dude. I'm ready for some daytime work. Should be no real difficulty since we are invisible. I am really ready for some day work."
Andy said, "Does anybody need a rest, and who would like to take a stab at number 4 rather than wait until tonight?" Everybody was ready and eager to go. "OK same process as before. Capos and Lugartenientes first, with anyone in the house. Take those not readily visible first then we start outside. Clean off the property first. Then clean it out and burn what is left. Gus, Barb, Ed and Janie have the honors on this one. Then we do the same for number 5 where Jeff, Judy, Nik and Anya do the burn."
They were done with compounds 4 and 5 by 2 p.m. in the afternoon. Jim said, "Let’s finish this. Let’s do compounds 6 and 7 and we can go hunting for the offsite folks after that. They wont have a base to go back to."
Andy said, "I agree. I doubt they will be expecting us until tomorrow. Burn for number 6 will be Ed, Janie, Pat and me and number 7 will be Gus, Barb, Nik and Anya."
By this time they had the drill down to a science. They were getting faster and more efficient. In three hours the remaining compounds were gone.
In one of the records of the fourth cartel files they found a hit order and payment to Colonel Julio Mendoza. So Andy and Pat went to Isla Maria Madre and confronted him. When he was shown the evidence, he looked like a balloon that someone was slowly letting out the air. They disarmed him in front of his adjutant and teleported him to the General. The General looked at him and the evidence. He said, "Julio, why would you do such a thing?"
He then called in the legal officer and a security detail. Andy and Pat remained in invisible mode. When they arrived, he formally charged the Colonel with treason and attempted murder. Other charges were to be determined. As the guards placed restraints on him and started for the door, the Colonel collapsed. He said, "If I tell you anything, my family dies." In moments he was in convulsions and died. There was a faint almond scent coming from his mouth. The General muttered in disgust, "Cyanide. Get our coroner over here now so we can get that traitor out of here." Mentally he continued, <Can we talk some more when this mess settles down?>
<Agreed General, besides we still have some Sicarios and Halcones to find.>
<Aston, tag his family with a protection setting until we can get this figured out.>
They continued to round up the Sicarios and Halcones from the four criminal organizations taken down that day. By evening they had located another 2,445 of the worst and transported them. They had also located an additional six sites with equipment, munitions, drugs and mountains of cash. These sites were emptied and destroyed, essentially bankrupting the seven leading cartels in Mexico. At about 8 pm, the General asked if they could chat for a few minutes.
Andy, Pat Jim and Maria went to visit with the General at his office. <Well General, you have certainly had a momentous day, if a bit scary. I have never heard of so many snipers after a single target before. That tells us that the bad guys were REALLY concerned. Now we know that they can’t really touch you, we are a lot happier. We have a few things to tell you that might make things easier for you. First is a kind of progress report. We took out the last of the seven on your list this evening. All of the Capos, Lugartenientes, and on site Sicarios and Halcones for the seven organizations on your list are in custody. We are still gathering up those that were not on site. By tomorrow, I expect that most of those will also be in your custody. Those 7 are essentially bankrupt at least from a ready cash viewpoint. We believe we have identified all of the offshore accounts for the seven organizations and those funds will all be transferred to the treasury of the Republic of Mexico in the next 24 hours. Those accounts amount to about 850 billion dollars. Hopefully they can use some of those funds to build a world-class facility on Isla Maria Magdalena. It will need a water purification facility that should be able to handle a population of 100,000. >
<One thing we have noticed is that a lot of people on your wanted lists cannot be located in Mexico. We suspect that quite a number have migrated illegally to Southern parts of the United States, particularly, California. As we find them they will be deposited at Isla Maria Madre for processing. In the meantime, the pressure from the big boys is off. You should be able to take out the smaller operations with some ease. Some businesses are going to be hurting in a big way since their more extravagant customers are gone but so are the protection racket operators. Your police should be able to start doing their jobs again. I think for the most part, you are well on the way to having your country back again.>
The General responded, <That is pretty much true. We still have a lot of cleaning up to do but this is a tremendous boost. We still have to address the drugs, guns and terrorists coming in.>
Chapter 6 – A Bigger Problem
# More Day Eight at Turner Lake #
Jim said, <Now for the really important news. Aston has been reviewing the captured records from the exercises of the past week. It appears that our timing could not have been better and we are now in a position to prevent a major disaster for both Mexico and the United States. Aston has compiled a list of all ships currently underway to Mexico that have illicit cargo along with their destination ports. There are six containerships on the way to M
exico that give us cause for concern. These two vessels here and here each have a cargo capacity of 8,000 TEU, That means Twenty foot Equivalent Units. That translates to a capacity of 4,000 forty-foot containers. It appears, from what we can determine from the various cartel records, that the largest shipment of illicit cargo ever will arrive at Altamira in five days. The lions share of the problem is the contents of those two ships. On this voyage, each of 1,000 of the 40-foot containers have been redesigned to hold 20 people with supplies, weapons, RPGs. That is 500 containers per ship with hostiles aboard. The remaining containers contain equipment, trucks, armored personnel carriers and light tanks. That's an army. That's an invasion. So we have an army of 20,000 plus equipment for a full invasion about to hit your shores and I think it is time to ask for some help. Whether this force is aimed at Mexico or at the US is irrelevant. It has to be stopped cold and convincingly. To add fuel to the fire, we believe that several of the containers have the makings of a dirty non-fission nuclear bombs. When we find those, they will be on a one-way trip to Mercury. >
Andy continued, <The plan of action we would suggest is to see if we can convince your El Presidente to agree to a plan that involves collaboration with forces from both countries. If he does then we need to convince the US to support your actions. Make it a joint effort. Mexico withdrew from the Rio Mutual Defense Treaty in 2002, but these are circumstances where that decision may need to be reconsidered. If these ships are halted within your 12-mile territorial limit then we can dismantle this invasion at our leisure. If we wait for them to land we endanger the port of Altamira and its natural gas facilities, that could easily be a disaster. We would much rather deal with this threat in an isolated location. One place that occurs to us is in the Sonoran Desert about 25 miles South of the US/Mexico border. There is a group of volcanic peaks and cinder cones in that area some of which are ideal for what we have in mind. One of these is a double cone with a floor that is 800 feet across by 2200 feet long and is fairly flat. The lip of the first rim above the crater floor is about 250 feet above the crater floor. That lip is about 500 feet wide and relatively flat. Those wall are very difficult to climb because they are volcanic cinder that is very abrasive and sharp. It can shred the skin off your hands and shred you clothes in a heartbeat. That lip has a natural path to it that a tracked vehicle can easily navigate. It will be an easy matter to place troops around that rim to control those at the bottom.>