Dark as Daylight Ch. 11

"They want $2400 for that thing, Katherine. You should be saving that money for college. That's one year of books, fees, food program, and part of your room expenses. You're throwing that money away, on something that flies and takes pictures?"

"Yes, but this is what I wanted. I told my parents I wanted it for Christmas, and would keep my old computer. They ignored me, and bought me a new laptop instead. Now I have two computers that work, and I can only use one at a time. I'm spending my money on something I wanted 10 months ago."

"Absolutely not, I will not let you buy that THING!"

Kathy shouted. "Grandma, you are not buying me that THING, I am. It is my money, and I am paying for it myself. All you are doing is writing a check for it. I am giving you the money in cash, when we get home. If you don't want to do it that way, take me home. I will get on my bicycle and get down here that way. I will purchase this myself, and ride home with it attached to my back. One way or the other this 'THING' is going to be in our house tonight, and I will be flying it in the morning."

"Why did you have to be just like your mother; headstrong, and unyielding. If you weren't so damn smart, I would put you up for adoption."

"In two years, I will be 16 years old. I can apply to the courts to be ruled as an adult. I can get a job, with any computer firm, and live on my own. I can cook for myself, and clean my own apartment. I don't need any of you berating me anymore."

Sabrina looked around and saw they drew the looks of everyone around them.

She said, "I'm sorry to have disrupted your day. We are having a little family disagreement, as you've heard. I apologize for making it public. I will try to control my granddaughter's mouth, as well as my own. Please forgive us."

The crowd dispersed, and Kathy noticed two men, who stayed a little longer than the rest of the crowd, and watch them more intently.

"Grandma, I am buying that Quadracopter. Are you going to help me or not?"

"Yes, I will put it on my credit card, and you can pay me, when the bill comes due."

Kathy jumped up and down, and squealed in delight. She grabbed Sabrina, and yelled, "Thank you, grandma, thank you so much. I love you, even though I'm a pain in the behind."

"Thank you for not saying the other word. Maybe my moving in with you was not the worst decision in my life. Maybe it was only the second worst decision in my life."

"If moving in with us was only the second worst decision in your life, what was the first?"

"Having children."

"That's mean grandma. If you didn't have children, you wouldn't have enjoyed raising my mother. My mother would not have had the joy of raising me. That's how God gets even for having children. You tormented your parents. Your children torment you. Your children's children torment them. I'm going to end that cycle, by not having children. I'm going to have my tubes tied, as soon as I become of legal age. No man is going to touch me, until that happens."

"Katherine have you ever heard of the saying 'The best laid plans of mice and men..."

"Yes."

"When we get home, I want you to write in your diary today's date, and what you said to me just now. Put some sort of a marker on that page for easy reference. When you have your second, third, or fourth child, I want you to refer to that page, and think of me laughing at you, from beyond the stars."

"Can I buy my copter now?"

"Yes you may."

Apparently, the last conversation, between the two of them, convinced the men they were truly related, and not part of some scheme to throw them off the trail of something bigger.

Had they truly caught Stephano and Patricia Valentino off guard? Was there no force here to protect them? There were only two cars in the driveway, but there was that five car garage they couldn't see into, and was never open. They knew Robert was in Maryland, Anna was in South Carolina, and Laura was on the Good Luck 1 spacecraft. That left these two women in the household, alone, as far as they knew. They could get to the computers in the basement, and download all the information they needed, without any problems, or loss of life.

If they did have some support, it really didn't matter. How many men, and how much armament could they put into five cars? Tonight should be very quick and painless, if everyone stuck to the plan. They had to report back to the base, and advise them of what they saw the two women doing. The video they took of the encounter would backup their report.

*****************

As Sabrina pulled the car into her parking place, a limousine pulled up into the driveway behind them.

"Colonel, we have company."

"Stations everyone; women to the safe room now."

Everyone scattered to the four corners of the house, without a word being said.

Lucius thought, "Why can't women do this, every time you talk to them?"

As he peered through the front windows, he shook his head in disbelief.

"This cannot be happening to me. William will tear my toenails out through my mouth if anything happens now. What the hell are they doing here? They are supposed to be in Lithuania."

Patty and Stephano exited the limousine, and were immediately hugged by Sabrina and Kathy.

As Kathy was holding on to Stephano, she said to him, "Pick me up and make believe I am the apple of your eye. We are being watched, make it look good."

Sabrina was giving the same message to Patty as they were hugging.

Patty asked, "What is a baby doing here?"

"Dynamite comes in small packages. She's 22 years old and looks 14. You should see the guy she's married to; you won't believe it. Let's switch, her name is Kathy."

"Hello Aunt Patty, did you enjoy your adventure?"

"Come here you little imp, where is my kiss?"

The limousine driver brought all the luggage to the front door, but he found it locked. He returned to Stephano and asked him to unlock it.

Sabrina said, "Please leave the bags outside. I'm not sure if the floors are completely dry. We will bring them in ourselves."

"That will be fine ma'am."

Stephano reached into his pocket, removed his billfold and gave the driver $1000.00.

The driver was speechless, because the limousine was paid for in advance. He kept saying thank you all the way back to the limousine.

Kathy said, "Aunt Patty would you like to see what I bought with my confirmation money?"

Patty said, "What would you do if I said no?"

"I would show it to you anyhow."

"Well, let me see it."

Kathy took it out of the backseat of the car, and presented it to Patty.

"Oh, is the exact model Stephano has in his closet. Of course, it's gathering dust, because he never uses it. He wanted it, so he went out and bought it. It made him happy for 30 seconds, and he put it away. Men are still boys at heart."

"Aunt Patty, I don't think I'm a boy; I don't have the external equipment."

"I used to change your diapers. I would've noticed if you did. Let's go inside, I want to get this traveled dust off me, and eat a wonderful meal made by the best cook in the Western Hemisphere. I want to see the news, so I know what's been happening, while I was away."

Sabrina said, "So you are finally admitting that I am the best cook in the Western Hemisphere?"

"No, I am making dinner, because I am the best cook in the Western Hemisphere."

"You bitch; I'll get you for that one."

"I knew you would fall for it. I've been away from my kitchen too long, and none of these so-called expert chefs could put a candle to you or me."

"Thank you for putting me first."

"Inside everyone, let's check the floors first, the hell with the luggage."

Stephano said, "Why do I have a feeling I'm going to bring all the luggage inside?"

"Because you are a man, and men are good for one thing, and one thing only."

"Pray tell, what is that one thing?"

"Obeying their wives."

"Boy did I walk into that one."

****************

As soon as the door closed, and the all clear was given, the Colonel walked out of the kitchen with a full head of steam behind him. He was about to scream, when Patty cut him off.

"Hello Lucius, happy to see me?"

"If William wasn't your father, I'd have you over my knee, and I'd be tanning your hide right now. What the hell are you doing home Patricia?"

"Listen to me old man, I was here the last time someone invaded my home. 12 of your men and women died, because of me that night. I was not going to be any place else but here, if that was going to happen again. If they want me so badly, let them come and get me. I'll stand out front and shine a light on my face, if that's what they need. No one is getting killed defending me, and my friends, while I'm hiding somewhere else."

Lucius didn't have a quick reply, as he usually did, so he thought for a moment. The he heard his conscious speaking.

"Go ahead Lucius, I want to hear your answer to that one."

"Shut up Jemma, its' just what I need right now, to be surrounded by women."

Jemma snuggled up behind him, and bit his ear.

"Not just women Lucius, very strong women. Women who can stand up to a very strong man like you, Stephano, and that little guy I'm married to. What was his name again, oh yes, William."

"That's right mom, absence does make the heart grow fonder."

"Be nice to us older people, Patricia; we've been known to lose our temper's."

"That's right, I forgot, you are seven months older than I am, mom."

"Let's not confuse Gwen, she might have the baby too soon."

"Don't worry about it you two. After being around Patrick, and my husband, I am immuned to being confused."

"Stephano, how did you let her convince you to let her to come back here?"

"Lucius, the last time I won the argument with her was the day I had her say 'I do.' After that, it's been all downhill."

"I understand. Patricia, here are the rules, you will either abide by them willingly, or you will abide by them with my men throwing you into the safe room. You have no other choices.

Rule number 1. When I say something, you will do it without question.

Rule number 2. Rule number 1 supersedes all other rules. Therefore, there are no other rules. Do we understand each other Patricia?"

"Yes I think I understand those two rules."

"Good, let me introduce you to the enforcer of rule number 1. Andy come here please."

Andy ducked under the entry way of the kitchen, with a foot-long sandwich in his hand.

Patty shuddered. "Did your mother survive your birth?"

"Yes, I was a very small baby."

"Whatever she had in her breast milk, sure made up for it."

"Andy, you now have three priority women. Jemma is 1, Gwen is 2, and Patricia is 3. We want all of them to survive, but if it can't happen, those are your priorities."

"Don't worry about us Andy. There is something downstairs that no one knows about but me, my husband, two of my children, the builder, and one other person. If they did drop a nuclear bomb, and got by the radiation to get inside to us, we would still be just fine."

"Lucius looked at her, with wonder in his eyes. "What did you invent now, Patty?"

"I haven't patented it yet, because it's not fully tested. When I'm ready, the world will know about it."

Lucius looked up to the heavens and asked, "William, what did you do to this world?"

"Only good things Lucius, I promise you, only good things."

"Kathy is the Quadracopter ready to go?"

"Yes Colonel, the battery is half charged, so I have about 6 or 7 minutes of flight time. The other battery is being charged now."

"Stephano, go outside with Kathy and make a big show of telling her how to fly that thing around. Then back off and let her do it by herself. Bring the bags in, and put them just inside the door. We will put them into your bedroom. Stay outside with Kathy, and supervise, until she runs out of battery power."

"Kathy, when you run out of battery power make a scene. Yell that this is such a gyp that you paid so much money, and you get only a few minutes of flight time for it. It's just not fair. If the Op-Force is using a parabolic microphone, we want them to hear it."

"You have it colonel."

************************

In the pristine 7000-acre woodland preserve that bordered the East side of the street where the Valentino residence was, the trees not only had a parabolic microphone, but long-range video lenses that picked up every movement on the property during daylight hours. They had 'Starlight Lenses' that were able to pick up movement as dusk approached. However, as with most video equipment, it did not have infrared capability, so they became useless at night.

As they watched the interplay between Stephano and Kathy, and listened to the instructions issued by the older man to the young child, it all sounded authentic.

As they backed away from the copter, he could be heard saying, "Lift it off the ground slowly, and get the feel of the controls first. They won't take it back if it's broken."

"I got it uncle Steph. Let me do it, let me do it myself."

Purposely, Kathy lifted off the ground a little more than 4 feet, flipped it over onto its back, and crashed it.

Stephano said, "That was great Kathy, you handled the controls just fine."

"Okay, would you help me this time?"

"Only if you say please."

"Uncle Steph would you please help me."

"I think I can help you. Let's both keep our hands on the controls, and once I think you have it, I'll just move my hands off yours, and let you fly it. Make sure the camera lens is covered, we don't want it to get it scratched up if it crashes again. We are not going to be recording anything anyhow, so that doesn't matter."

"I never took the lens cover off."

"Okay, let's fly. We have to get it above the telephone and electrical wires, before we let it leave the property. We are never going to lose sight of it. I am not traipsing all over the woods to find it."

"I paid $2500 of my money for this Quadracopter. I'll look through the woods for the next month to find it."

"Your grandmother allowed you to spend $2500 on a toy?"

"Can I play with my toy, before it gets dark. We will discuss the money later?"

"You're damn right we'll talk about the money later. We'll talk about the money you spent, a lot later."

It flew straight up into the air, and then started doing small circles, and turns to the left and right.

Stephano said, "Climb another 100 feet, and you will be above all the wires. Then, you can take it for a ride. Keep it in sight, because we don't have any video, or a lot of time."

Although Stephano was disregarding the VGA screen that came with the Quadracopter, the Bluetooth feed was being sent inside the house, and relayed to the laptop on the dining room table.

The Colonel, Paul, Kelly, Jack, and Heath were watching intently, as Kathy controlled the Quadracopter, with the jerky motions.

With constant input from Stephano, the listening devices used by the opposition force were certain that this was just a toy being used by a teenage girl, who used her money frivolously. They didn't realize how good the camera was, as it peered down through the trees, picking up their campsites, and counting their numbers.

Stephano said, "Okay Kathy, you have three minutes of battery life remaining. Why don't you take it out as far as you can see it? Then race it back here as fast as it can go. We will see on the meter how many feet per second it covers."

The speed run took them just to the north of the encampment, with the lens pointed at a position they had not seen before. There were more than 25 different vehicles in the staging area. They had everything: the front end of a Peterbilt truck, to a front loader, several dump trucks, a concrete mixer, GMC Yukon's, and assorted smaller vehicles.

The Colonel joked, "Several companies will open up tomorrow morning missing some very valuable equipment. How the hell did they get them in there, and how the hell are you going to get it out?"

"Here's your answer Sir. There's a fire road through the preserve. You can see it on the video, if you watch it in slow motion."

"Show me."

"Here it is Sir. It runs north to south through the preserve. It lets out 7 miles south of Dix Hills Road. They won't come out on the north side, because it's right by the fire station. It would be a little unseemly for all those trucks to come out there, and not draw attention to themselves. That is unless, of course, they start a fire on the other side of town."

"They wouldn't dare do that, would they Heath?"

"No sir, they don't get paid to think."

"Kelly smack him."

"Yes sir."

Smack.

He said, "Hey, you really hit me."

"Did you hear the Colonel give me an order?"

"Yes, but I didn't think you'd hit me."

"I guess you are wrong."

"Are you two finished now?"

In duet they said, "Yes sir."

"They are going to bring men in dump trucks, to the front of the house, with RPG's and 50 caliber machine guns. We don't have anything that will pierce that steel. So this is what we are going to do. When it gets pitch black outside, put our anti-tank mines in the street, in an S formation. We're not going to count on them running over them. We are going to wire them to proximity fuses. The heat from the engines will set them off. They'll be out of the fight, before they get started. It will block whatever they had coming in after them, including the front loader, and the concrete truck. An RPG will take out the Peterbuilt.

The remaining force, including all the small vehicles, will have to go onto the grass: so let's meet them with some Claymore's, and contact mines. It will knock their wheels off whatever they are coming with, and whoever is in them, is out of the fight. After that, our front should be secure. Only an idiot would try another frontal assault, after that carnage.

However, keep your 50s ready in the garage, and the windows in the front. There will make one more charge, because these are not soldiers, they are idiots. Someone is using them as cannon fodder. They wanted us to split our forces, and they have succeeded again. I am out of position one more time. I belong in South Carolina, leading the defense. Get some rest everyone, the attack will come after 2 AM."

"What about our flanks sir?"

"They will attack our flanks just as we predicted. They will run into our juggernaut, and if anyone survives, it will be a miracle. They wanted the front assault to work, because it worked the first time. I want their leader taken alive, not if possible, I want him alive. I have to know if the money that sent me to Antarctica, and separated me from my men, came from the 3 people in Switzerland. If it did, those people are mine. They just made it personal."

"Sabrina can I have one of your wonderful sandwiches please?"

"Are we still getting married?"

"You can count on it next time around."

Jemma screamed, "What is this bullshit? I thought you only wanted to marry me."

"I do, but the loves of my life always seem to be married to men I like and admire. Sabrina is not taken; so I've decided to marry her. Not only is she free of male entanglements, but she is also the best cook it has ever been my privilege to share a meal with."

Patty yelled, "Are you saying Sabrina is a better cook than I am?"

"I have never tasted your cooking, and in all honesty I want to keep it that way. It cannot cause an argument if I don't eat your cooking. I'm going to steal Sabrina from you, and she can live happily ever after with me."

"Colonel, we don't even know each other."

"I meant on the next time around Sabrina."