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Radio Coyote |
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Face and Luis walked for at least five miles by
Face's estimate, before they found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
That is, the payphone at the end of the trail of telephone poles. It stood outside a long-closed and deserted gas
station, in a rain-streaked glass booth. Luis pulled open the door and Face
stepped inside. There was a phone there – good start. Heart in his mouth,
Face picked up the receiver and held it to his ear. The sound of the dial
tone was like angels playing their harps. He could swear he heard an
hallelujah somewhere. One problem - neither of them had any money.
Face tried giving the phone a couple of carefully placed thumps, hoping it
would cough up a dime into the change tray. But his luck wasn't extending
that far tonight, and he didn't dare smack the phone too hard in case he
broke it. For all he knew it was empty, anyway. Nobody might have used it
since the last time the phone company came to check it. Collect then. He tried the van first, suspecting
that it might not be far away in any case, but after the phone rang many
times the operator came back on the line to say there was no answer. Face
asked her to put him through to the radio station. That phone rang only a
couple of times before Eleanor answered and he heard the operator asking if
she'd accept a collect call from a Mr Peck. When she said 'yes', Face sagged
with relief against the side of the booth as the operator connected them. "Mr Peck? Are you okay?" "I'm fine. Is Hannibal there?" "No, the team went to rescue you... Ah,
they haven't rescued you? Where are you?" "I escaped. I have to get in touch with
them, but they aren't answering in the van, and I don't have a radio." "You need my dad." "Yes, please." If anyone could find a
way through to the team's radios, it would be Arthur. "Hold on." Face heard the clunk as she
laid the receiver down and, distantly, the sound of a door opening and
closing. Arthur must be in bed, or at least in the house. He waited,
impatient, searching the sky for that helicopter that had flown over earlier.
Had Hannibal launched a raid? The sound of
gunfire or explosions would carry for miles in the stillness of the night,
but they heard only the sound of animals in the trees. Rustling, yips,
screeches and howls. Luis didn't like the noises, especially the howls. Face
gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. We're nearly home." Don't jinx it, he warned himself. Next he'd be
talking about cake and only Hannibal got away with that. "Lieutenant Peck?" Arthur's voice came
on the line. Not even a little fuzzy with sleep, but sharp and alert.
"What do you need?" Face gave a small sigh of relief that Arthur was
a military man. He didn't waste time asking silly questions about whether
Face was okay and how he'd escaped. "I need you to contact Hannibal. Tell him
to abort the rescue mission. I've tried the van's mobile phone, but no
answer. Is there any way you can get through to them on their
walkie-talkies?" "At this distance?" The tiniest of pauses, and Face feared a
"no", leaving the only option to go back to the compound and try to
intercept the rest of the team. But after a moment's thought, Arthur went on. "Sergeant Baracus has a radio booster in
the van. It's possible I could contact them via that, using our transmitter
here." "You think you can do it?" "If I can't get the colonel I'll try
Captain Murdock in the helicopter." "That is
Murdock?" "My daughter will tell you about that in a
moment. What's your message if I get through?" "Tell him to abort the rescue mission then
I need pickup and have a civilian with me. I'm at an old gas station
on..." He looked at an engraved plate on the phone. "Canyon Creek
Road." "I know it. Any enemy in the area? Are you
in any immediate danger?" "No, we're fine. Just need you to stop the
team before they're the ones in immediate danger." "I'll get to work now." "Good luck," Face said, but Arthur was
already gone. Eleanor came on the line. "Hello, Mr Peck. It's me again." "Tell me about this helicopter." "Oh, Colonel Smith sent Murdock and Amy to
an airfield to get a helicopter. Amy was supposed to drive back here after
that, but she hasn't arrived yet." Probably wouldn't, Face thought. If he knew Amy,
she was in that chopper with Murdock, whatever Hannibal had told her to do. "Okay, while we wait for your dad, just
fill me in on everything." ~~~ "Aren't these guys ever gonna get
tired?" BA demanded. Hannibal and BA lurked near the compound's
fence. Hannibal had wanted to wait until things quieted down inside, but
there was no sign that would happen any time soon. For hours now they'd
watched men rushing around, their voices loud and excited. No sign of Face.
He could already be dead, Hannibal knew. Or he could be alive and waiting for
them to come get him. They were so close, but all this activity made it
impossible to sneak in. Aw, hell. Forget waiting. Use the activity. Use the chaos. Add to it. He'd been planning to
use Murdock only after they'd secured Face, to slow down pursuit and cover
their escape. But the new plan meant sending him in right now to increase the
chaos and distract the enemy. Meanwhile Hannibal and BA would go in fast and
find Face. Murdock was waiting a couple of miles back,
where he'd landed the helicopter, to wait for Hannibal's order to attack. It
would take him only a few minutes to come sweeping in to attack. "Time for plan B," Hannibal said. BA
nodded and moved into a ready posture. Hannibal raised his walkie-talkie.
"I'm going to call Murdock and –" He almost dropped the radio, when
a voice came through before he could open the channel himself. It was crackly
and he couldn't recognise the voice, but heard his own name through the
static. "Come in, Colonel Smith. Come in, Sergeant
Baracus. Do you copy?" The same voice came through BA's radio. As the
words repeated, the crackling faded, the reception cleared up a little. "Arthur?" Hannibal said, recognising
the voice now. "How the hell are you talking to us? Where are you?" "At the radio station. Colonel Smith,
Lieutenant Peck escaped. You can abort your rescue mission." "Consider it done," Hannibal said. He
sighed, unable to deny his relief. Even he hadn't rated their chances very
highly. "Where's Face now?" He briefly imagined Face eating a
hearty breakfast, with a pot of coffee at his elbow and waited on by
well-endowed waitresses. "At a closed gas station. I have the map
reference here." "Great." Hannibal dug out a stubby
pencil to take that down. He could send Murdock to pick Face up - he'd get
there quicker - but Hannibal wanted to see Face for himself. Make sure he was
okay. Then kick him up and down the valley a couple of times. If he'd come
out when he was supposed to... "Thanks, Arthur. Anything else I need to
know?" "He said he's in no immediate danger and
that he has a civilian with him." "Really?" Hannibal grinned.
"Blonde or brunette?" ~~~ "Someone's coming!" Luis grabbed
Face's arm. "Should we hide?" They scrambled up from where they'd been sitting
on the grass that had grown over the derelict gas station's parking lot. Face
cocked an ear, listening out for what Luis's younger ears had heard already.
A second later he smiled. "It's okay," Face said. "It's my
friends." "How can you tell?" "I'd recognise that purr anywhere." He
recognised the lights too as they emerged over the brow of a rise in the
road. Though cold, aching, tired and hungry, Face still grinned at the sight.
He stuck his thumb out. The van stopped and Hannibal leaned out of the
passenger window, grinning back at him. "Sorry," he said. "We don't pick
up hitchhikers unless they're really cute." "You're implying I'm not cute?" "You're not my type. Who's your
friend?" "Colonel, this is Luis. He helped me
escape. Luis, this is Hannibal Smith." Hannibal nodded at Luis. "Thanks for your
help, Luis. The A-Team is in your debt." He scowled briefly, not at
Luis, but at the collar round his neck. But he made no comment and slid open
the side door. "All aboard." Face smiled at the baffled looking Luis. Had he
even heard of the A-Team? Probably not. He gestured to Luis to get into the
van and followed him inside. BA drove off fast. Face climbed through to the
back and started rummaging in the equipment boxes. "Face, I need a report. What the heck are
you looking for back there?" "Just something that's been on my
mind." He gave his report while he searched the boxes, running through
it all fast, from his cover being blown up to his escape. "You've seen
the compound more recently than me," he finished with. "So you know
better than I do right now how many men are still there." Ah, found
them. He climbed back through to the seats, carrying the bolt cutters. His
hands were still too swollen and clumsy for his picks. "Come here, Luis." The boy looked
alarmed for a second, but then realised what Face intended. He steadied the
padlock on the dog collar, and Face positioned the bolt cutters. One snip cut
through the hasp and Luis dropped the padlock to the floor, quickly followed
by the collar. "That's a relief," Face said.
"Damn thing was really getting on my nerves." "Thank you, Mr Face." "My pleasure." Hannibal watched all this without speaking. When
Face gave him a small nod to indicate they were done, Hannibal spoke again. "Wanna hand me the first aid kit?" Hannibal got busy cleaning Face's cuts and
grazes. Luis had a few minor scratches too, picked up during the escape.
Hannibal had almost finished dressing the last of their wounds when BA spoke
up. "Fool's on the radio. Putting him on the
speaker." "Colonel." Murdock's voice came
sounding tinny. "We may have a problem. Oh, hi, Face, if you're
there." "Hi, Murdock." He refrained from
adding, Hi, Amy, if you're there. "What's the problem, Murdock?"
Hannibal asked. "I just did a last fly-over of the compound
and it's deserted. All the vehicles are gone. I think they've pulled
out." "Stand by, Murdock." Hannibal looked
at Face. "Think they've made a run for it?" "That'd be the smart thing to do,"
Face said. "But Trikken... well, I won't say he's not smart. But he's a
fanatic. He doesn't decide to do things based on what's the smartest
option." "What about his men?" "Some had already gone. But there were some
left. The ones as fanatical as him." "They musta pulled out just after we
did," BA said. Hannibal nodded at that and spoke to Murdock again. "You see any sign of them moving
around?" "Nothing. I'd offer to search, but I'm
getting low on fuel." "Okay. Head back to home base. We'll see
you there in a couple of hours." "I'll have the coffee ready and
waiting," Murdock said and signed off. "We could head straight to Laidler's,"
BA said. "He might know where they gone to." "No, we need to regroup first,"
Hannibal said. "Drop Luis off. Get some food. Figure out the next move.
Head for home, BA." ~~~ Though Hannibal had cleaned up the dried blood
and dressed the wounds, still the Coopers looked pretty shocked at Face's
appearance when the van arrived at the house in the very early morning. Had
any of them been to bed? Hannibal wondered. Murdock was back and everyone was
in the kitchen except Arthur, who was on air. "We'll get cleaned up, then eat,"
Hannibal said. "BA, give Luis something of yours to wear." Face and
Luis were both filthy and their clothes torn up from their trek through the
woods. And Luis's clothes had been rags before they'd started that trek. Though Hannibal didn't want to hang around too
long, he knew they had to take the time to eat and get cleaned up. Rest
unfortunately would have to wait. Face seemed convinced Trikken had something
in mind other than flight, so they had to find out what, before he put it
into effect. Once cleaned up and in fresh clothes, they came
back downstairs to the kitchen. Amy, Scott and Eleanor hurried around serving
them breakfast. "You get back without any trouble?"
Hannibal said to Amy as he sat. "Oh, yes. Absolutely," she said.
"Drove back from that airfield, just like you said. Coffee?" "But you..." Scott began, but was
interrupted when Murdock dropped his coffee cup on the floor. The cat,
lurking near Murdock's chair, yowled and shot out of the back door. Eleanor
grabbed a cloth to mop up the coffee, while Murdock apologised profusely. BA
muttered a half-hearted "Fool". "So what now, Hannibal?" Amy asked.
"What's the plan?" "We go see Laidler," Hannibal said.
"He's the one who'll know what Trikken's next move is." I hope, he added to himself. But he
sounded confident about it and the others looked happier to have a plan.
"Amy, you'll stay here." "But, Hannibal -" "No buts. After the shootout at the diner
the whole valley will be crawling with police. We need someone here who can
monitor what's going on." "Okay," she said with a sigh. "I
guess I pushed my luck far enough already," she added in a mutter,
though he didn't know what she meant by that and was too tired to ask. "And I'm sorry to impose another guest on
you," Hannibal said to the Coopers, "but Luis here needs a place to
stay until we get his situation sorted out." "Oh he's quite welcome," Eleanor said.
"Josh will take care of him, won't you?" "Sure," Josh said, smiling at the
other boy. "You like music, Luis?" "Yes, sir, Mr Josh." "Ah, just Josh is fine," Josh said,
looking startled. Hannibal frowned, wondering what Trikken and his people had
done to Luis to make him so servile. "Would you like some more eggs, Luis?"
Eleanor said. "You look like a boy with a hearty appetite." "Yes please, Mrs Cooper." Hannibal lost his frown. Whatever they'd done to
him, he was out of it now, and would be safe here. "Guys," he said. "Hurry up – we
have to go." He glanced at Face, at the dressings and bruises and the
dark circles under his eyes. The hands still clumsy. "Face..." "Hannibal, don't even suggest I stay
behind," Face said. "This is personal." ~~~ Amy watched the van drive off in the direction
of the Laidler ranch, then went back into the radio station. The whole family
was in there now. Scott and Eleanor were on air. Arthur was in the back room
workshop, fiddling with something technical. Josh was showing Luis around the
station. Even Ludwig the cat, still sulking about being splashed with coffee,
lurked around the reception area, still washing himself in a marked manner. How long would she get away with not telling
Hannibal she'd gone along on the chopper? Murdock couldn't drop cups of
coffee every time the subject came up. But there was no harm done, since they
hadn't gone into battle after all. She'd been both relieved and disappointed
about that, when the reality of playing with dynamite in the dark had started
to impress itself upon her. So often she did things with the team that seemed
like such a good idea at the time and she never really regretted them
afterwards. But in the middle of doing them, she did have a few tricky
moments. She wandered through to the back of the station
and looked out at the helicopter waiting in the open area at the back of the
house. They'd have to take it back eventually, but Hannibal wasn't ready to
do so until he knew they wouldn't need it again. A crash of glass and a yowl from the cat made
her jump. What the hell? She hurried back to reception, turning a corner. "What did you do?" she said to the
cat... which was nowhere in sight. Instead the reception area was filled with
a half dozen men carrying automatic rifles.
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© E Charles 2009