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Growing up as one of seven children in small-town Ontario, I was accustomed to hearing and sharing stories. My only connection with the big wide world was through my very devout mother, who sent multiple packages of clothing and other goods to the Congo. I had to assure her I was not a missionary, but sought her prayers. The Congo at that time was recovering from a nasty civil war, which whetted my appetite for adventure.

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OPEN BORDER, PATH TO TERROR

By GARRY NEWTON

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2010 Garry Newton
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4520-5287-8

Chapter One

It was a home invasion. Four men had entered the home with the intent to rob and kill the occupants of the house. Sam was sitting in the chair, discreetly glancing at the open pages of the newspaper lying on the nearby table, knowing there was a loaded handgun hidden under the newspaper. The nearest killer was about five feet away, directly across the table from Sam. The man was turned slightly to the right, facing in the direction of the three other men that were clumped together halfway across the room.

Sam heard a subtle buzzing sound and knew the time was right to act. With one fluid motion, the gun seemed to fly into Sam's hand as if by magic. With two quick and effortless motions of the index finger, twin bullets entered the head of the closest man. Sam sprang to cover while putting another quick double-tap into the chest of the second man, not bothering to stop and observe the effects of the deadly 9mm Luger rounds. Using cover, Sam "sliced the pie," engaging the next two men with two rounds each while simultaneously making sure not to shoot the innocent woman standing near the gunmen.

It was all over in less than six seconds. A total of eight 147-grain, 9mm Luger bullets had left the gun and each had found its mark. Sam knew all the threats had been neutralized and the woman unharmed. It was now time for the paperwork that always followed this kind of shooting.

Chapter Two

Taking a deep breath, Sam thumbed the extended magazine release on the Glock 34, dropping the magazine out of the handgun. Putting the magazine in the left vest pocket, Sam quickly pulled the slide back on the Glock, and racked it forcefully. The remaining bullet flew out of the gun in a graceful arch, enabling Sam to catch the round in mid-air. The slide was then pulled back once again and held open to show the Safety Officer (SO) standing behind Sam that the weapon was cleared of all bullets. The gun was empty and determined to be safe. Upon instructions from the SO, the slide was released, the trigger pulled while the gun was pointed at the berm, and the empty gun then placed in the holster on Sam's right hip.

The "home invasion" had not been real, but rather an International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) scenario where the threats and non-threats were simply cardboard targets and not real, live humans.

When it had been Sam's turn to shoot the fictional, deadly scenario, the SO had given the order to, "Load and make ready." Sam had loaded the Glock according to IDPA rules and had placed it safely on the table with the muzzle facing downrange, covering it with the newspaper provided. Sam had then sat down in the chair provided as a part of the scenario and indicated "ready" to the SO. Sam had waited, listening intently for the first beginnings of a buzz from the competition timer held by the SO behind and to the right of Sam's ear. Hearing the sound that started the scenario, Sam had retrieved the Glock and had shot the Course of Fire, following instructions the shooters had been given during their preliminary walk-through.

A smile lit across Sam's face as the SO called out the time on the timer and then scored the Course of Fire as "one down." This meant three of the cardboard target threats had been shot perfectly with all rounds going into "0 down" scoring areas. The last target had one perfect scored round and one round that went slightly out of the center mass of the target. For a local IDPA match this was an excellent run.

Sam, a nickname for Samantha, was 17 years old and a purebred Texas female to the core. She looked over at her dad and saw that he was smiling. Sam knew he was proud of her. She then looked over at her friends Cisco, Duke, Butch, and the others that had also been watching her shoot. She could tell from their expressions that she was doing very well.

Cisco walked over to her, put his big arm around her shoulder, leaned over, and whispered in her ear, "Good going, Gorgeous." "Thanks, Teddy Bear," she whispered back.

Chapter Three

Her father had taught her gun safety starting at the tender age of seven. Her first gun was a Daisy BB rifle. As she gained proficiency and proved she could handle guns safely, she "upgraded" to a .22 caliber bolt-action rifle. By the time she was 10 years old, Sam was safely shooting larger caliber rifles, including her father's AR-15. She had begun seriously shooting a handgun at the age of 11 and started competing in IDPA handgun competitions at the age of 12.

Sam really enjoyed shooting the scenarios at all levels of the IDPA matches. The threats (or bad guys) shot in the IDPA scenarios were made of cardboard, but the litmus test for any IDPA scenario was "could this really happen in real life?" The Course of Fire she had just shot was a fictional home invasion scenario where four bad guys had entered a home and the shooter had to defend not only himself but a loved one as well. The bad guys were not only planning to rob the home but were also intent on killing its occupants.

By the age of 16, Sam had competed in multiple Regional, State, and National IDPA events. Currently her best performances included placing 9th at the 2006 IDPA Nationals in the Enhanced Service Pistol (ESP) Marksman Division beating 22 other competitors and winning the ESP Marksman Division at the Smith & Wesson 2007 IDPA Winter Championship, beating 43 other competitors, including 17 Sharpshooters and 9 Experts. With this prestigious win, her IDPA ranking rose to Sharpshooter. Those had only been her second IDPA National and her first S&W Winter Championship competitions.

In IDPA, shooters compete against others in their Division and Classification independent of age or gender. Sam had performed exceptionally well both times, much to the good-natured chagrin of other competitors who were much older and possessed a hell of lot more testosterone. At the local IDPA matches Sam frequently competed against and beat many of those in her classification or higher. She was especially proud of the times when she came close to or sometimes even beat the scores of her Dad, an IDPA Master-rated shooter. The local IDPA club where Sam shot for practice and competition consisted of a handful of other young shooters her age and only a few women with the majority of the shooters being men ranging in age from their early 20's to their mid-70's. Cisco, Duke, Butch, and her other shooting friends were mostly her father's age, and of course she thought he was older than dirt.

Sam was born a squalling pink bundle of pure determination. As a youngster, she would play on the swing and flip her long blonde hair, showing the world the determined glint in her eyes. The first time her dad really understood the depth of this determination came when Sam was learning to ride her bike without training wheels. His heart would break a little every time she fell to the pavement. Yet each time she got up, her knees bleeding and her eyes watering, she would refocus her sights on the task at hand and continue onward. She did not and would not give up until her task had been accomplished.

Off she would go, trying again and again. Then, right before his eyes, she not only rode past him, but she did so using only one hand, the other hand waving in triumph. Little did he know just how much she would need that determination one day to save not only her life but also the lives of other loved ones.

Chapter Four

Manuel put...