Read Invasion: Alaska for Free Online

hesitated, gripping the envelope, obviously thinking about handing it back, but dearly needing the money.
    Paul sighed. She’d never understood his stint with the Marines and had positively hated Marine Recon. The funny thing was it had been their best time together, especially with the crazy action in Quebec when his battalion and a few others had been on loan to the Canadian Government. It had been the best because he’d been gone and they’d written emails and texted. She’d been pregnant then, too, and that might have helped.
    “You’ve been watching the news about the oilrig?” he asked.
    “The one that exploded?”
    “Yeah.”
    “It’s screwing up the coast,” she said, “killing seals and otters.”
    “Well, it didn’t just explode,” he said.
    “Terrorists?” she asked.
    “People are saying there are three candidates. Al-Qaeda, Iran or the Aztlan separatists.”
    “Aztlan? You mean the Aztec people?”
    “Yeah, them,” he said. Aztlan separatists were still big in L.A. Too many places here had huge graffiti signs showing their support. However, since the civil war in Mexico had ended, the big Mexican separatist movement in the southwestern U.S. had died down. Fortunately for California, it had never gotten as bad here as it had with the French-speaking separatists in Canada. That had been full-blown combat, the start of civil war in their northern neighbor.
    “The Aztecs blew up the oilrig?” Cheri asked.
    “No one’s claiming responsibility. They’re just one of the suspects. The thing is, most commentators doubt they would have caused such environmental damage to their own coast. Whoever it was must have used some pretty sophisticated equipment.”
    “What does any of this have to do with you?” Cheri asked.
    “Security,” he said.
    “You better not be thinking of doing something crazy.”
    Paul shook Mikey’s shoulder and pointed at a candy wagon about thirty feet away. As he dug out his wallet and took out a five, he said, “Why don’t you ask that old lady by the wagon to get you some gummy bears?”
    “Yeah!” said Mikey, speaking the word with the same inflection Paul would have used. Mikey snatched the five and ran to the candy wagon.
    Paul kept his eye on Mikey as he spoke to Cheri. “Blacksand runs security for most of the Western oil companies. The blogs say they lost some people in the explosion.”
    “You can’t work for Blacksand,” Cheri said. “I remember when you wanted to work for them before. Blacksand demands a clean record.”
    “Right, normally a dishonorable would stop them from hiring a real soldier. But there are two reasons why they’re willing to take me on a provisional basis now.”
    “What are they?”
    Paul still watched his son. Mikey was explaining it to the old lady with a dress that went all the way to the floor. His boy pointed back at him. The old woman looked over. She was wearing dark sunglasses. Was she blind? Paul waved. The old woman smiled and waved back. Then she bent down to Mikey, spoke to him, accepted the five-dollar bill and examined the candy wagon.
    “With this latest terrorist act,” Paul said, “working security on an oilrig has turned into hazardous duty. That means more than a few people who would normally do it are getting jittery. That’s good, though, because Blacksand just raised their rates. The oil companies want beefed security on all their rigs. They don’t want this happening again.”
    “There must be tons of people eager for security work,” Cheri said, “especially if it pays well.”
    “So why hire an ace like me?” Paul asked. “Is that what you’re saying?”
    “You know that isn’t what I mean.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Paul, I don’t want you to die.”
    “…me neither,” he said after a moment.
    “What’s the second reason?” Cheri asked. “The real reason Blacksand is willing to overlook your discharge?”
    “That’s the funny thing, the kicker. They want a snow-weather