Revenge of the Falcon

The darkness of the night seemed to swallow the lights emanating from the boat waiting off shore at the Muscle Shoals region of Alabama. The boat bobbed and heaved in the gurgling water while waiting to disgorge its cargo somewhere in the ebony black of the night. The cargo, six illegal immigrants never before out in the open sea, grew greener with each pitch of the waves. Small lights could be seen toward the shoreline of the Shoals, but these lights, not unlike fireflies in the southern night, beamed on and off against the pitch of the inlets. This area of the country was pocked full of little inlet coves and swamps providing some great and out of the way fishing spots. But this evening the Shoals were being used for something other than fishing, that being the transportation of illegal aliens into the United States. The Shoals had a history of swallowing up even the most experienced boater and tonight was to be no different! The boat’s motor sputtered one last time, then stopped, allowing the transfer of people to the smaller and more maneuverable airboats, which drifted along side the larger fishing boat. Two of the transients desperately wanting to get ashore were transferred into first airboat, while the other four ambled into the other. The fans of the powerful airboats whirled into action and the two boats took off headed for the inland area of the shoals. The four members of the lead boat, a mother, father, and their two adult children, rode the waves hard and grew sicker as the boat they were in bounced hard on the coastal waves. The second airboat became separated from the first almost immediately due to the blackness of the night. It moved more toward a westerly route away from the first boat as the more experienced airboat driver cursed for not taking the lead from the first boat. The two men, looking much more prepared than the family in the first boat, held onto the side of the speeding airboat. They checked their gear and waited for dry land to rescue them from the rough ride. The boat ripped through the Gulf of Mexico’s blue waters until it hit the murkier water of the inland shoal area. The driver of the airboat, as if guided by Mother Nature, gently nudged the boat into a slower speed and stood up to gain his bearing. Recognizing the giant weeping willow tree he used for years to aid in his navigation of the Shoals area, he cut his engine and the boat slid on the now smooth water toward the shore. The boat hit the landing site and bounced up on dry land. The two men vaulted out of the airboat, their gear strapped to their backs. They disappeared into the darkness of the Alabama countryside without even the slightest of sounds. The driver of the airboat, not even slightly concerned over who he just dropped onto American soil, slid his boat back into the channel and nudged the engine to start its purring. He engaged the throttle and the airboat eased up the channel toward home. He was done for this evening, his fee for the “trip” being paid in cash. He would celebrate, as he normally did, very hard. The money wouldn’t last, but he didn’t care. He knew there would be more where that came from! The first airboat, having been lost from the second, struggled to maintain its balance through the rough water near the shore. The driver of this boat was a little less familiar with the territory than the other driver. His passengers were nearing the stage of panic and he knew he had to find an inlet soon, lest he lose them to sickness. The girl, Shalia, who was in her early twenties, leaned toward him and seemed to beg for a miracle to the driver. He could barely see her in the dark but knew she was green with seasickness. He shoved the stick forward and the boat sped ahead. The driver viewed in the distance what he thought was their signal light. Seeing the light, the passengers grew more excited. They knew someone was supposed to meet them at a pre-assigned location and hopefully this was the site. Their bodies seemed to react more positively as the boat edged closer to the light. The airboat driver slowed the boat and eased it toward a small dock. The light, now finally recognizable, was from a nearby house. The airboat driver immediately knew he was not in the right location but he didn’t care. He just wanted to dump his cargo and get the hell out of the area. He bounced the boat off the dock and ran forward to tie it off. He quickly looped the rope onto the pier and tied it off. His passengers stood up and fought for their equilibrium, failing miserably. They all fell in a heap! The driver leaped back onto the boat and helped each one out of the boat and pointed to the light of the house. The girl smiled her approval and nodded her thanks. The young man, Shalia’s brother Renauli, clutched a small leather bag and ran down the small dock and headed for the house He couldn’t care less if this was the pre-arranged pickup point or not. He just wanted off the boat. The airboat driver, seeing that his task was complete, jumped quickly back into this boat and took off. He fondled the money in his pocket and smiled. This was more money than he had ever seen before. He never looked back! Shalia and her parents, barely able to walk after their long sea journey, wandered after Renauli. Renauli was always very impetuous and had a mind of his own. He had his own agenda, unknown to Shalia and her parents. Shalia on the other hand cared for her parents. She helped them toward the safety of dry land and a new future. If she had only known what lay ahead for her and her family. Their adventure had only just started!

The explosion ripped through the electrical power relay transformer station just as the morning light exposed itself from the night. The blast was powerful enough to be heard and felt up to five miles away. The small relay station, on the outskirts of Dora Linda, New Mexico, supplied electricity to the city of Dora Linda and to the adjoining air force base. The air force base itself had many a time when seemingly strange surges of power and energy would awaken the small town and its inhabitants. The city was just awakening and this jolt went virtually unnoticed for most of life around the county. But life in this corner of New Mexico was unaware of the things to come. For life in this part of Americana was about to change forever.