“The fact that they even fired a round tells me they don’t know anything about our rig,” Andrews said, looking at Mulligan.
“It’s a shell game, Captain. They’ll figure it out eventually. Maybe some of Buchek’s teams will be taken down, and one of the survivors will tell them. Remember, there’s a lot going on here that we can’t control,” Mulligan said. “It might already be too late to bug out, but I’m also a little worried about what’s going to happen further down the road.”
“Well, Sherwood’s going to get attacked,” Andrews said.
“That’s a given, but that’s not what I’m thinking about. I’m thinking about SCEV Five rolling in. I’m sure Laird has an idea something’s up by now, and he’s probably pulling out the stops to get his team up here. But he doesn’t know where we are, and if he comes in emitting radar energy and trying to establish commo with us, then the OPFOR’s going to be able to pick him up pretty quickly.”
“But Sarmajor, it could work the other way around, right?” KC asked. “I mean, look at the lieutenant’s displays. These guys are a chatty bunch, and they’re saturating the area with millimeter wave energy from the drone. Captain Laird will be able to pick that stuff up too.”
“That’s why we need to warn him,” Andrews said.
Mulligan frowned. “And how are we going to do that? Does Sherwood have an operating post office, or something?”
Andrews pointed at the date and time display over the door that led to the cockpit. “Let’s assume Jim and his guys have figured things out on their end, and they’re expediting their departure. They can have their rig ready for the field in a month if they really work hard at it, and say what you will about Jim, he’s definitely the kind of guy to get motivated to do that if he thinks we’re possibly in a tight spot. So we’ve been here about two and a half weeks. He’ll still have to determine the best route to the rendezvous site, but we know ourselves it’s not that hard. So we can reasonably expect SCEV Five to be in the area in another two weeks.”
“Roger that. Which is another reason we should consider making some apologies to Buchek before bugging out. We can link up with Five and prosecute the fight against the OPFOR at that time,” Mulligan said.
“Scott, I don’t think we’re going to be able to get out of here,” Andrews said. “It’s a big risk moving the rig right now, and we’d still need Buchek’s people to open up one of the exits for us to leave. He might refuse, and to tell the truth? Going off my last conversation with the guy, he’s getting kind of frustrated with us not being able to influence things in Sherwood’s favor.”
“We don’t go soon, we’re going to get stuck here,” Mulligan said.
“I kind of think we already are,” Andrews replied. “I don’t think we could reasonably expect to be able to jump out in the rig and not be detected. Sure, we might be able to avoid a direct engagement, but we’d have to stay local to a degree. Either to support Sherwood, or to wait for Five. Either way, we can’t really withdraw entirely. Right?”
Mulligan chuckled. “Wrong—we could make tracks back to the replenishment site and hook up with Laird while his team is still there. We already know the course.”
“You can’t mean we just abandon Sherwood,” Leona said. She still looked at her displays.
“I mean exactly that,” Mulligan said. “We’re no good to anyone if we get killed out here, and if Laird gets killed too, then that’s just us being double stupid. Sure, Harmony will send another team up to investigate, but what if the OPFOR’s still in the zone? Then that rig gets torched too, maybe.”
Leona turned in her seat finally and glared up at the tall NCO. “You want to run from a fight even if it means a lot of good people will get killed?”
Andrews held up his hands and raised his voice as Mulligan wound up to reply. “Guys, decision’s been made. SCEV Four will remain in place. But tonight, one of us will go over the wall and hike to the rendezvous site and wait for SCEV Five. However long it takes for them to get up here.”
Leona turned her head away from Mulligan and looked at him. KC and Mulligan joined her. For a moment, no one spoke.
“Well, look who’s suddenly acting like a hard-ass company grade officer,” Mulligan said finally. “Okay. I’ll gear up.”
“No, Sarmajor—we need a certified warfighter here, especially if the OPFOR leader is another Green Beret. So not you. Or KC, we need her to keep this rig operational.” Andrews looked at Leona. “It’s either me or the lieutenant.”
“Captain, you know this is something I’m best suited for,” Mulligan said.
Andrews glared at him. “I said not you, Mulligan. This isn’t a debate.”
Again, Mulligan looked at Andrews for a few moments of silence. A vague smile touched his lips. “Just as well. A lot of people are out there who need some killing. Happy to stay, sir.”
“Mike, I’ll go,” Leona said. “This is your command, you can’t really abandon it. It should be me.”
“Not necessarily, Lee,” Andrews said, even though he knew it was the best course of action. Leona knew the tactical picture as well as anyone, and the truth of the matter was her skillset would be extremely handy aboard SCEV Five. She was better at intel operations than Kelly Jordello, and she wasn’t as averse to risk. And in accordance with regulations, Andrews couldn’t be compelled to relinquish his command. SCEV Four was still his rig.
“Yes, necessarily—I should be the one, for all the reasons you mentioned. KC can’t go because she has absolutely zero field experience. Mulligan can’t go because he’s a treasure trove of tactics and experience. You can’t go because this is your command, and if you suddenly go missing after being made, then our friends are going to get curious about that.” Leona tapped a button on one of the displays and called up a map. “I’ve already identified the route to take. Due north six miles, then hook east for another six. Then turn northeasterly until I get in the area of the rendezvous. There’s a fair amount of cover offsite, lots of forestland and some elevated features I could use for visual surveillance. As long as I lie low and don’t do anything stupid, a single person could go undetected out there for months.”
“And what if it does take months?” Mulligan asked. “What if we get sacked? What if Five gets killed during its advance?”
Leona smiled at him and tapped the display. “You’re not even going to check my navigation, Sergeant Major?”
Mulligan gave the screen an extremely cursory glance. “Yes, it looks fantastic. Great work. Now to my question?”
“If Harmony hasn’t launched more rigs in two months, then they’re not coming for us,” Leona said. “If I can find suitable transportation, I’ll make for the replenishment site—I’d never survive trying to make it back to Harmony. And if I can’t get to the replenishment site, then I’ll die up here.” She shrugged. “What else do you expect?”
“Wow, this is getting really depressing,” KC said.
“Just the usual bag of dicks, Winters,” Mulligan said. “So, Lieutenant, you really think you can get to the rendezvous and hang out waiting for Five?”
“Is it really that difficult, walking twenty miles or so over the course of a couple of weeks?” Leona asked.
“You’d be surprised how tough overland travel can be when you’re not using an SCEV.”
Leona shrugged and looked back at Andrews. “Yeah, so, it’s me. Right?”
Andrews found it was difficult to make the decision. “We don’t have to decide right this instant,” he said, kicking the can.
Mulligan glared at him. “The hell we can’t.”
“I’m with him on that.” Leona nodded toward the big NCO.
“Listen, I’m willing to try,” KC said suddenly. “The rig, it’s as bulletproof as it’ll ever be, so—”
“Oh, Winters. Stop talking,” Mulligan said. “You’ve got the heart, but not the skills. You’re staying here.”
“Right,” Andrews said. “Lee, I—”
Leona cut him off easi
ly. “You think anyone around here is going to listen to me, Mike? You think they have the same confidence in me that they have in you? These are mostly corn-fed white people. They’re not going to listen to a mixed girl who tries to tell them how to fight an armored force supported by infantry. It doesn’t matter if I’m trained and experienced, they automatically turn to guys like you or Mulligan. Nothing against them or anything, but I can tell you I’d have a tougher time shaping the battlespace than you would, which means our responses are going to be slower. And that gives the OPFOR an advantage. They’ve already got a pretty full deck, I don’t see any sense in stacking it even further in their favor. Do you?”
“And you’re our resident expert on signals intelligence gathering,” Andrews said. “We lose that, then they get a stacked deck as well, right?”
“Let her go, sir,” Mulligan said.
That surprised Andrews. He looked at Mulligan and crossed his arms over his chest. “No shit?”
Mulligan shook his head. “No shit. Listen, it’s like what I just said: it’s a bag of dicks, and there’s no easy way around it. We send someone out into the field, we lose that individual’s resources. Winters is a no-go, and I understand why you want to keep me around. But Eklund’s right, Buchek and Master Guns are going to want to see you among their people. You’ve been the face of Harmony here, and if you step out into Indian Country they’re not going to be as accepting of the lieutenant. She just hasn’t been in front of them for as long as you have. These people trust you, and through you, they trust the rest of us. Not sure we’d manage to keep that trust in place if you go over the fence.”
Andrews sagged against the side of the airlock. “Well, fuck.”
“No one ever said command was easy, sir. That’s why delegation isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. You can pass off the dirty work, but you still have the responsibility and accountability,” Mulligan said.
Andrews looked across the rig at Leona. She met his gaze without any real emotion in her eyes. “Fuck, Lee.”
She nodded to Mulligan. “That’s his job. Besides, you’re married.”
“You know, your attempts at levity are not making this any easier,” Mulligan said.
No shit. “You just make another attempt at humor, Eklund?”
“Trying to learn, sir.”
“Stop it. You might get good at it.”
Leona smiled thinly. “I’m not Spencer. I’m not Choi. I know what I’m getting into here, and you’re not sending me out to my death. You’re sending me out to meet Jim Laird. And while he alternates between being a hard ass and a goofball, he’s pretty good people. It’s not that tough of a mission.”
“It’s not like there’s no danger out there, Lieutenant,” Andrews said.
“The OPFOR just blew up a house we could have been in. You ask me, there’s plenty of danger staying right here in Sherwood, Captain.”
“Hmm. Touché.” Andrews rubbed his face. “Okay. You’ll need to leave tonight. I need to talk to Buchek about getting you an escort, and maybe one of those electric ATVs they have. I’d actually like you to jump out sooner, but daylight isn’t our friend right now. I’m certain these guys have night vision, but they haven’t tightened up the noose yet. I think it’s safe to assume they’ll be pulling in tight over the next couple of days, and they’d prefer to keep their movements to daylight hours. Sarmajor, you agree?”
“Completely,” Mulligan said. “Eklund and her party should move exclusively at night to reduce detection.”
“I’d like you to pull her gear and assemble her kit,” Andrews said. “Do you mind doing that for me, Sarmajor?”
“I have a list—” Leona turned back to her station and called up a document on one of the displays. Mulligan waved the suggestion away.
“I never mind making sure a soldier of the United States Army gets the best tools for the mission at hand, sir.”
Leona smiled at him. “So that must mean you’re coming with me?”
Mulligan’s expression was as animated as those on Mount Rushmore. “Really, this jocular tone of yours isn’t helping. At all.”
Leona didn’t react to that, but the smile remained.
“Guys—sir—why don’t we all just leave,” KC said. “Take the rig and roll out to the rendezvous. Or squirt down south and link up with Five, then we come back together and get all this settled out.”
“We can’t abandon the people we’ve just spent two weeks convincing we’re here to save,” Mulligan said, tearing his eyes away from Leona. “That’s a complete non-starter from my position. We need to demonstrate a little something called resolve.”
“The sarmajor’s right, as always,” Andrews said. “And while the lieutenant might be able to steal away unnoticed, there’s not a chance the rig could. And Sherwood needs what’s in the missile pod.” He pointed to the top rear of the rig, indicating where the SCEV’s Hellfire missiles were stowed.
KC looked unhappy with the answer. “Okay,” she said. “I’m not afraid to stay, or anything like that. I just don’t want the lieutenant to get separated from us. If something happens to her, we’ll never know it.” She looked at the others. “Sorry if it’s not okay to say that out loud, but it’s on my mind.”
“Caring about people’s never a problem, KC,” Andrews said. He pointed at Leona. “Even the Ice Queen of the field teams.”
“I worked damned hard to cultivate that image,” Leona replied.
“I’m not convinced it’s just an image. More like a verifiable foundation,” Mulligan said.
Leona smiled again. “Do I have to tell you I love you?”
Mulligan raised his eyebrows so suddenly Andrews was afraid they’d pop off his head. “Uh, well ... uh ...”
“Don’t sweat it. I love you too, Sarmajor,” Andrews said, laughing.
Mulligan recovered his composure and his general, all-purpose scowl. “The latrine’s not big enough for both of us, Andrews. So I’m sorry, we won’t be taking long hot showers while holding hands.”
“I’m happy to hear that, Sarmajor. So some things before we start moving with a purpose—any idea who this ‘colonel’ could be the little cocksucker mentioned in front of the container wall?”
“No sir, no idea whatsoever,” Mulligan said. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m presuming he’s the dude who was wearing the SF patch,” Andrews said. “Someone gave those guys some initial training. Their formation was correct, just like you taught us for platoon ops.”
“That’s not Special Forces training, sir. That’s just standard infantry formations,” Mulligan told him. “I mean, nowhere in any field manuals I’ve read is it indicated that you should stand up a third of your platoon in front of an enemy formation and taunt said enemy. These guys might have had some initial training, as you said, but they’re also a barrel full of crazy. They were standing down enough firepower to get wiped out in about five seconds, and that’s without you and me even putting a booger-hook on a bang switch.”
“What happened at the wall, exactly?” Leona asked. She glanced back at her displays.
Andrews gave her the abbreviated version of the conversation between Buchek and the armed marauders standing outside the wire, including the attack on Sherwood and the misinformation that had intentionally been conveyed. He also noted the deaths, and recounted his observation of a child’s severed arm lying in the grass near the burning cabin. Leona listened to it all thoughtfully, cutting her eyes from Andrews to Mulligan and back again.
“PSYOPS,” she said.
“The OPFOR is definitely psychological,” Mulligan affirmed.
“Is that something you would do?” she asked.
Mulligan considered that for a long moment. “Battlefield deception is part of the game,” he said finally. “I don’t know if I would make a timed threat and then deviate from the timeline just for shits and giggles. I mean, I know why they did it, they want to spread fear and terror. But I’d only engage the enemy in dialogue if I really
wanted something in the first place. Trying to negotiate a settlement and then doing something destructive right out of the gate kind of undermines the entire negotiation process.”
“Sounds like they do want something here, Sarmajor,” KC said.
“What’s that?”
KC shrugged her small shoulders. “Seems pretty simple to me. They want everyone in Sherwood to lose their shit and worry about whose house is gonna blow up next. Everyone’s going to be amped up for the next few days, and these guys will love that, right? No one’s sleeping, everyone’s trying to figure out what the next steps are, when the next attack is going to happen, and how they’re going to fight it.”
Mulligan nodded. “And out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength,” he said. “You’re sharp, Winters. Very much unlike your predecessor, I have to say. I kinda like that.”
“Todd Spencer was an ace, Sarmajor,” KC said.
Mulligan inclined his head. “Yeah, actually. He was.” To Andrews: “Let’s send up the drone tonight and make some high-altitude passes around the area. We’ve already got some recce tracks laid in. Let’s use them.”
“Agreed. We can’t keep it locked down forever, and if we recon the route Lee needs to take, we can get some idea of how tough it will be for her to get out of here. Thing is, these guys are probably already moving in.”
“So the sooner I go over the wall, the better,” Leona said. “But we need a contingency plan.”
“Contingency plan?” Andrews asked, even though he already knew the answer.
“I could get captured, Mike.” Leona spelled it out for him.
“That’s easy,” Andrews said. “You get captured, we fire up and start shooting.”
Earthfall (Book 2): Earthfall 2 [The Mission Continues] Page 33