Danger Close by James Sumner (classic novels for teens txt) 📕

not your CO. You don’t need to sir me, okay? Jericho’s fine.”

Miller nodded. “Yes, sir… um, Jericho.”

Jericho smiled to himself, rolling his eyes at the irony of having been on the other end of that exact conversation yesterday.

“What’s Paluga like?” he asked.

Miller thought for a moment. “If you were here as a tourist, I’d say it was a nice place, honestly. Mid-afternoon gets a little hot. The air stifles like in Cyprus or Greece. But it’s a beautiful country. The sunsets along the coast are something else. Great seafood restaurants too.”

“Right. And given I’m not a tourist…”

Miller sighed. “This place is a barrel of gunpowder, and everyone has a box of matches.”

“Yeah. How many of our people are already in place?”

“I believe around a thousand. We have security checkpoints in most major regions now. We’re bringing in roughly two hundred men a day now, so by the end of the week, we should be up to full strength.”

“Any trouble so far?”

Miller shook his head. “No violence. I’ve personally seen a few protests, but they were peaceful. I’ve heard of minor rioting closer to the palace. Nothing we can’t handle.”

“Have the Palugan military been cooperative?”

“Honestly, they haven’t been involved. We’ve seen a few patrols. They have a presence in and around the palace, maybe five hundred soldiers. There are four bases—one in each corner of the island. Our recon shows they’re at capacity. They seem to be sitting tight.”

“Where have you been stationed so far?”

“Just outside Maville, in one of the local towns.”

“Maville. That’s the capital, right?”

Miller nodded. “One of only two major cities in the country. Most other populated regions are towns or villages.”

Jericho fell silent, allowing himself time to draw a picture in his head of what to expect.

“Okay,” he said finally. “From now on, you’re with me.”

Miller tried to hide his surprise and excitement, but the emotion slipped into his voice. “O-okay. Thanks! Thank you, sir. Jericho.”

“I apparently have a squad waiting that will answer directly to me, but Mr. Buchanan sent me here to oversee all our forces until this settles down. I’m going to split our forces into divisions and then split those into smaller squads, each with a specific area to cover. I will assign my squad to manage these divisions. You and your team are with me from now on.”

“And what will we be doing?”

“We’ll be standing next to the president every second he’s awake.”

Miller’s grip tightened on the wheel. Jericho noted how the color drained from his knuckles. He smiled to himself.

“It’ll be fine, Miller,” he said. “We’ve got the easy job.”

They turned off the coastal road and merged onto the main strip that led through the center of Maville. Local time was a little after seven a.m. Market stalls were setting up. Shutters on windows were opening to let the pale, early light of a new day shine in. People seemed to be going about their lives like normal.

But nothing was normal.

Jericho had read up on the political upset plaguing the country on his flight. Roads were quiet. People feared being caught in a protest that would leave them stuck in their vehicles for hours until the roads were cleared. People were divided. Half of Paluga simply wanted to get on with their lives. The other half wanted their voices to be heard, unhappy with the proposed changes to their way of life that their president had declared.

He wanted to remove some of the power the government had and give it back to the people. The democratic election he had won was just the first step. But the freedom and responsibility this gave the citizens of Paluga wasn’t welcome by everyone. Despite the tyranny the country had endured over the years, many people had grown accustomed to the security the dictatorship had brought. The uncertainty over what to do with so much control of their own lives had resulted in fear.

The polarization of the country wasn’t limited to its citizens. The military itself was torn, with one of the top-ranking generals publicly questioning his president’s leadership. Many soldiers were unsure whether their loyalty should lie with the country they served or their chain of command.

Miller had said the Palugan armed forces had mostly stayed away from GlobaTech since they arrived. Despite being outnumbered three-to-one, GlobaTech was respected as a military force and as designated peacekeepers of the United Nations. Whether the Palugan military agreed with their presence in the country or not, that wasn’t a fight anyone was rushing to pick.

For now, it was a waiting game.

Rooftops peaked and troughed like a chart against the sky as they drove through the business district. Although the entrance to the city was rural and underdeveloped, the center was modern and bustling with progress—at least comparative to the rest of the one- and two-story buildings that lined the streets of Maville. Skyscrapers towered over the streets, housing the offices of companies from all sectors of industry.

As the skyline cleared, the palace loomed proudly over its kingdom in the distance, standing alone atop a low hill to the northwest.

The road ahead splintered. West led to the palace. East led back to the coast. Both directions were blocked by a checkpoint—the Palugan military on the left and GlobaTech on the right.

“This looks cozy,” noted Jericho.

Miller smiled. “Honestly, there’s been no trouble. The people this close to the palace support President Herrera. They seem to understand that we all want the same thing here.”

“Let’s hope that professional courtesy lasts.” Jericho pointed to the right. “Pull over by our boys. I want to check in with them before heading to the palace.”

“You got it.”

Miller guided the Humvee to a stop, mounting the curb as he parked a few meters away from the checkpoint. Jericho climbed out and stretched, feeling the heat press against his face as if the air itself was tangible. He wore tan combat pants with two holsters strapped to his muscular thighs. One contained a tactical knife—an eight-inch serrated blade fixed to a carbon fiber