A New World 10 - Storm (10 page)

“All right, Gonzalez. You’re right. You apparently get to be my conscience for the moment. I’ll suggest it, but just so you know, I’m not overly comfy with it. I just wish we had the Spooky with us.”

“We could go get it, sir.”

“No, there’s no time. Once we get back home, we’ll be up to our armpits in a mess,” I comment.

“Well, if they’re your armpits, sir, then whatever mess is there will run away screaming,” she says with a smile.

“Oh, you’re funny. Lynn is just going to love this when I radio her,” I state, sighing as I think about that conversation.

“No offense, sir, but you could always not tell her.”

I burst into laughter. That has to be close to the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.

“If she finds out, and she will, and knows I didn’t tell her, well, I might as well just take out my knife and start peeling my skin off now.”

She chuckles and we adjourn back inside the room where we present our proposal. As we discuss the option, tossing ideas back and forth, Jason turns to me suddenly.

“Jack, I was thinking about the people who brought this about and meant to ask. What about Harold? He was full of these ideas.”

“Oh, I guess I didn’t mention him specifically while telling the story. He’s the one who actually put the pieces together and figured the whole thing out. He’s back at the bunker working on a solution,” I respond.

“Well, I’ll be damned. I thought he was just a conspiracy nut, but it turns out he was right all along. I wonder how things would have been different if we’d listened to him earlier,” Jason ponders.

“I doubt it would have changed anything, to be honest,” I reply.

“That’s probably true.”

“If it’s all the same with you, I think we need to get together with those I brought and do some planning,” I state. “If it’s feasible, we’ll help. Be prepared for the answer that it’s too great a risk, though. You’ll need to have a plan as to what you’re going to do should that be the case. My suggestion is get everyone ready to come with us.”

“Okay. I’ll inform everyone of the plan and potential that we’ll need to leave. Is there anything I can do? Is there anything that you need?” Jason asks.

“At the moment, I think we’re fine, but we’ll brief you on what we come up with,” I say, rising.

Heading outside to the hangar once again, I gather the soldiers and Blue Team together. I’m sure the soldiers are tired of sitting on concrete floors, having done so for the past day and a half. I’m also sure they are tired of being kept under guard. I notice that some from Jason’s camp have supplied water for them, so at least they don’t have to add being parched to the list of discomforts. With everyone assembled in a semicircle, I remember Montore’s words about the soldiers needing to find something else they could believe in. Hopefully this can be a catalyst for that very thing.

Keeping it as short as I can, I brief them on the situation of the group holed up on base, and that we are going to attempt to help them.

“I apologize for the inconvenience you’ve been put through to this point. However, in the words of a wise woman, trust has to start somewhere. So, I’m going to make a leap in that direction. We’re going to offload the weapons and ammo, and arm you. For now, you’ll fold in under my command, but later be released to the man in charge here. I’ll be in continual contact with this facility, monitoring things. Over time, it’s my hope that we’ll be able to fully establish trust on both sides. I’m not exactly sure as yet what action we’ll be taking here, if any. While you’re offloading the gear, we’re going to plan the op. You’ll be briefed and assigned into teams once we complete that. If you have any questions, now is the time to ask,” I state, finishing the brief.

One soldier raises his hand. “Sir, we haven’t been given any chance to find out about our families. We were kept under a strict communications blackout. Will we be allowed to do so now? I mean…after we finish the mission?”

That is something I hadn’t thought about. I would like to say that I assumed they would know about their families, but the honest truth is it hadn’t even crossed my mind. The odds of finding anyone alive at this point are next to nothing, but I feel like we owe them the same chance we offered those in our own teams. I didn’t brief about the condition of the world with regards to exclusion zones, but will do so before heading back to base.

“The answer is yes, we will offer whatever resources we have at our disposal. Keep in mind that we are allocating those resources to other priorities, but each of you will be given the opportunity to use them at some point. We’ll cover the details when we finish here,” I answer.

“Fair enough, sir,” the soldier responds.

Another hand shoots into the air. “Sir, if I heard this all right. We are to stay here with this group following the mission. Is that correct?”

“That’s right. The fifty of you will be reassigned to this base to help the group here,” I reply.

“What about travel and leave time? Will we be allowed to leave?” the soldier queries.

“That will be up to the commander here. We don’t have much time remaining until the fuel goes bad, so I can’t imagine you’ll get the chance to travel far. Unfortunately, what you see is kind of what you get,” I answer. “Any other questions?”

No one else raises their hand, although there is a bit of low murmuring as they talk amongst themselves. “Okay, if there’s nothing else, I’ll leave you to offload the 130. You can store and break down the equipment in the hangar here. Blue Team,” I say, introducing each member, “will be in charge. We’ll reassemble once we have a plan in place.”

Departing with Robert, Bri, Gonzalez, and Horace, we adjourn back to the room. Spreading the atlas and ground chart on the table, I mark the location where we found the marauders and detail the routes where we found the fresh tracks.

“Okay, let’s start this off. First, the number of vehicles in the lot indicate that there are potentially way more than the fifty that Jason mentioned. I would guess their numbers to actually be closer to a hundred. There could be more or less, as we didn’t see a single person, but we’ll assume that we are going into this outnumbered. Even though I’m sure we are better trained, that pretty much leaves out a direct assault. From what Jason said, we will also have to go with the assumption that we are both equally armed. With that in mind, I’m open to ideas,” I brief.

“We could set up an ambush or hit them at the building when they leave,” Horace suggests.

“If we set up either option, it seems to me that we’ll be out in the open with no exit. With an ambush, whether on the road or at the facility, we’ll have to leave any vehicles behind and proceed into position on foot. They’ll have vehicles that could outmaneuver us. Our asses will be hanging in the breeze,” Gonzalez responds. “And, they’ll see us coming a mile away, even if they don’t have spotters stationed around the area.”

“Sir, we could just forgo an attack and use the soldiers as protection for the people heading out to the farms. Seeing fifty armed soldiers would certainly cause them to hesitate,” Horace adds.

“I’m not arguing with that solution, but it seems to me that the situation would degenerate to a battle of attrition. It wouldn’t really take care of things, just change them temporarily,” Gonzalez states.

“I think you’re right about that. It might keep the fight going and who knows what it would lead to in terms of casualties. The scales would be tipped in the marauders' favor, as they could pick the time and place for an attack. They could set up ambushes along the way and we’d be stuck in a defensive role,” I comment.

“Sir, I feel I have to mention that there is the option where we don’t do anything. Tell Jason we looked at it and found it too risky. Load them up and deal with the bandits later, if at all,” Horace says. “I’m not saying it’s the best choice, but it is one.”

“That solution has been mentioned,” I say, looking at Gonzalez. “For now, let’s hash through this and see if we can come up with a plan that doesn’t have our certain deaths written all over it.”

Horace is right. But so is Gonzalez. We need to help Jason and the group of survivors, but perhaps the best help we can offer is to lift them out of here. I’d like nothing more than to take out the marauders. They could cause trouble and bring more harm for others down the road. There is the choice of just clearing out and leaving them for later. But, we’re here and we might as well give it our best look.

For more than an hour, we hash through plan after plan, discarding each one as being too risky for the soldiers on the ground. If we had a few Strykers or a Spooky, it would be a different story, but as we sit, we would become engaged in a firefight with a group that potentially outnumbers us and would have the ability to maneuver better than us, even if we had Robert in the 130 keeping an eye out above us. The closest we come to a viable solution is to get into positions by the facility just before dawn and hit them when they emerge. However, all they have to do is withdraw into the building and wait us out. The countryside around the school is mostly barren, so the chance of night runner interference is minimal, but it’s still a risky proposition.

Looking at the maps, no closer to a solution than when we started, I become frustrated. I’ve always been able to figure out a workable solution in the past, but now I can’t seem to see through to something viable. Perhaps I’m just tired and not looking at it right. Staring at it isn’t yielding anything. If anything, the harder I concentrate, the less I see.

“You know what? Fuck it!” I state, my frustration rising to the surface. “We’re getting nowhere with this. As a matter of fact, we’re doing nothing more here than wasting time, which is something we don’t have a lot of. I’m tired of beating my head against the wall. If we’re going to do this, we need to do it right and with the equipment that will get the job done. I was being lazy and trying to do it with what we have on hand. That’s clearly not going to work. If we’re going to help these people out, we’re going to do it the right way.”

Gonzalez looks up from the map. "Spooky, sir?”

“Damn straight. We’re just a little over an hour from home. We’ll head up there, pick it up, and return. The soldiers will remain here. Robert, Bri, and Gonzalez, you’ll be going with me, along with Craig. Robert, Craig and Bri will pilot the 130 back. Gonzalez and I will be in the Spooky and we’ll all return after dark. Horace, you’re in charge until we get back,” I brief.

“Why do we need the 130?” Robert asks. “Couldn’t we all come back in the gunship?”

“We still need the 130 to transport everyone from the bunker, and there isn’t enough room in the Spooky. I don’t want to waste the time it will take returning to the compound just to head back east.”

“I gotcha…makes sense,” Robert responds.

“Okay. Let’s not waste any more time here. I’ll brief Jason; Horace, you brief the soldiers. While we wait at Cabela’s for evening to fall, we’ll re-plan this shit correctly. We’ll still need boots on the ground but the gunship will be doing most of the work. Robert, you and Bri go get the 130 ready. I want us airborne inside of thirty minutes,” I say, not relishing the upcoming radio conversation with Lynn.

After briefing Jason, we are airborne in short order, heading to the northwest. I cringe with each turn of the knob as I dial in the frequency to contact the bunker. It takes only a minute or two until Lynn is on the line.

“Are you on the way back?” Lynn asks.

“I might be a little late,” I answer.

“What have you gotten yourself into this time?” I can almost hear the sigh on the other end and picture her shaking her head.

“I’ll explain it later. Suffice it to say that there’s a rat nest here that needs taking care of,” I say.

“Jack, you know I hate your cryptic fucking messages. For once, just tell me what in the fuck you mean,” she responds, this time the disgust and frustration shining through in full force.

As we’re communicating via satellite and our messages are coded, I’m not overly concerned that we’ll be overheard. I proceed to give her an update on the situation, including that we’re on our way to the compound to pick up the Spooky.

There’s a long pause on the other end after I finish. “When will you be returning, then?”

“I figure we’ll strike in the morning and should be back to the bunker by early afternoon,” I answer.

“You only have Blue and Red Teams with you. Are you sure that will be enough?” she asks.

“I think so. We’ll have the gunship, so that will more than make up for the lack of numbers. Plus, we’ll use the soldiers we brought with us.”

“Do you need anything from this end? Harold could task a satellite and upload the feed to you,” she comments.

I could tell she wanted to ask about using the soldiers, but left it up to me. Having spent a lot of time in combat zones across the world, she knows the on-scene commander has the best grasp of a situation and it’s not up to folks removed from the field to second-guess them. That is, unless it becomes obvious that the commander has lost all awareness of the situation. I’m quite sure Lynn frequently thinks that’s the case with me.

“No, I don’t think that will be necessary. There’s no need to waste the fuel and we’ll have the Spooky for situational awareness. But, thanks.”

“Okay, Jack. Be careful and let me know how it goes. Say hi to Frank and Bannerman for me,” she replies. “I’ll see you when you get here.”