America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 4: Demilitarized Zone Read Online Free Page B

trucks loading
and unloading plastic containers at the large tent. Inferred
imagery revealed a substantial heat source inside the tent. This
did not lend credence to the spider guard’s claim about it only
being a prehistoric dig. Even so, the spider guard brought Guido a
small flat rock that had the imprint of a winged arachnid-looking
creature on it. When General Kalipetsis was informed of the fossil,
he gave approval for a commando strike on the tent.
    Captain Lopez led a team of legionnaires
carrying explosives. They parachuted across the border at night and
approached the tent from the back side. They quietly slit the tent
canvas and entered undetected, finding large metal tanks connected
to long copper tubing. Sacks of sugar and ground corn were
everywhere. Despite the fans circulating the air, the heat and
smell of fermenting corn mash was oppressive.
    “This is not a fossil dig of any kind,”
commented Captain Lopez. “It’s some kind of chemical refinery.”
    “It’s a still,” said Corporal Williams. “In
fact, there are several stills. The spiders are making
moonshine.”
    “How do you know that?” asked Captain
Lopez.
    “I’m from Tennessee,” said Corporal Williams.
“I am an expert on such things.”
    Private John Iwo Jima Wayne, a spider
legionnaire, picked up a plastic bottle and took a swig. “It’s good
whiskey, too.”
    “Do not drink that,” ordered Corporal George
Rambo Washington, another spider legionnaire. “It could be
poisonous.”
    “Only to a teetotaler like you,” sneered
Private Wayne, taking another swig. “I say we load up as much as we
can and carry our spoils out of here.”
    “Knock it off!” ordered Captain Lopez. “No
more drinking! Set your charges. We are blowing the whole operation
up.”
    “That’s a damn crying shame,” complained
Corporal Williams, gulping a swig. “I’m taking some of this shine
back with me for evidence. Brew this good must be illegal.”
    “Why do we have to blow it up?” asked Private
Wayne. “It seems like such a waste. Besides, we might start a
war.”
    “My orders are to destroy everything in the
tent,” said Captain Lopez. “I did not jump out of a perfectly good
airplane, hike through the desert at night, and risk my life behind
enemy lines to not blow something up. Set the charges now.”
    An hour later, a huge mushroom fireball lit
up the sky on the spider side of New Gobi City. The spider
commander immediately made accusations of Legion treachery. I
denied involvement, suggesting that the explosion was accidental. I
mentioned all the secondary explosions and asked the commander what
was stored in the tent that was supposed to house only an
archeological dig. The commander just shook with anger and stormed
off, muttering about how I would be sorry I was ever hatched. The
border situation was tense for days, as both sides moved armor into
position.
    Guido finally defused the situation by
spreading rumors that the sabotage was a Mob hit. Guido explained
that New Memphis gangsters were upset about the moonshine
competition, and this was a stern warning that future bootlegging
operations would not be tolerated without a negotiated cut of the
profits.
    The spider commander thought this new
information to be plausible, and retracted his accusations against
the Legion. He did not even bother to send a report to the governor
or to the general staff. This was a local matter than need not
concern them. The spider commander swore vengeance on the New
Memphis Mafioso responsible for this latest outrage. The human
pestilence Mafioso that did this were going to get whacked.
     
    * * * * *
     
    NEWS RELEASE
     
    NEW MEMPHIS: Insurgents set off a truck bomb
today, destroying a brewery belonging to reputed Mafioso kingpin
Rudy “Johnny Walker” Juardo. A note left at a local New Memphis
radio station stated the blast was part of the ongoing insurgency
campaign to hit human pestilence economic targets. This is
newsworthy because it