“Guys, this is Henry. He set the marker for us and will guide us to their camp. Henry, this is Hirotomi, Clauson, and Menard.”
“Thanks for coming gentlemen. Help me disguise the remains of this fire so that it is not too obvious, and then we can get going. It’s only about three hours to the weather station. We’ll rest there during the day, and then set off tonight. I hope you brought plenty of explosives with you.”
“I don’t think the Gengon have anything I can’t demolish,” said Clawson, patting his backpack.
None of the men mentioned that four well-filled barf bags had hit the ground somewhere in the vicinity.
Heinrich Largos, Chad DeForrest and Sara Young had been cooped up in Largos’ conference room for ten hours without a break. Largos’ aid had brought up a plate of sandwiches from the mess hall, but they remained untouched at the end of the table. Their full attention was locked into key printouts that they had arranged around the table like markers on a game board.
Sara was organizing the intercepted IR messages, which were primarily from ground units. “That information they sent back from T12 about the interrogation of the outlaw helps me understand a lot of this traffic. It looks to me that the Gengon city boys under Benjamin Fowler have been getting ready to attack his brother Abraham’ mountain men. In fact, two of these messages sound like several attacks have already happened. So much for brotherly love.”
“So those attacks by the Greens on families like Jacques’ were not the primary objective?” Chad had a few reports on the attacks that they had documented.
“Not as far as I can tell. I’m just guessing, but I suspect the outlaws in the woods were just too big a threat to Benjamin Fowler and his Northern Council, so they decided to quietly eliminate as many of the outlaws as possible. Jacques’ family was killed because his parents had worked in the factory in Trintney they call the ‘brewery’. That may have been an exception to their normal patterns.”
Largos looked up. “I have assembled all that we know about the brewery in this stack. All of the evidence, including the reports from an operative we have in Trintney, are consistent with their being some form of biological weapons plant in that factory. The thing I can’t understand is the scale of it. Biological weapons are so lethal that you would only need a small amount to wipe out whole cities. The size of the factory, combined with the amount of grain they seem to be shipping in each week, add up to something 100 times what they would require for weapons. What are they doing in there?”
Sara thought back to playing chess. To predict your opponent’s next move, you needed to look at the board from their position.
“Let’s say, God forbid, that we decided to use biological weapons against the Gengon. How would we do it?”
Chad thought about Sara’s question, and then gave his tactics. “The problem with biological weapons is blow-back. They tend to harm your forces as much as the enemy’s. I would want to get my own forces protected before attacking.”
Largos smiled. “Such a simple explanation. If the Gengon think like you do, wouldn’t they want to create a large store of antidote or vaccine for themselves? It would take much more vaccine than the live bacteria or virus, which explains why the factory is so large. They must be creating both the disease agent and the cure in the same location.”
Chad nodded. “That is logical from another perspective too. Vaccines are usually either de-activated virus particles, or synthesized proteins that mimic the outer shell of the virus or bacteria. If you inject either into someone in small doses, their body creates antibodies to the proteins. That is what gives you immunity. They are probably using modified yeast to synthesize both the active agent and the vaccine, and it would be much easier to do both at the same location.”
Sara looked at Chad. “So you are a biologist too?”
“Actually a biochemist. I finished school, but never got to use what I learned. Somehow I ended up a spook instead.”
Largos was ignoring them. His jowls moved as he thought, while the fingers of both hands drummed quietly on his huge waist. After several minutes he cleared his throat.
“I believe the information we have gleaned can form the nucleus of a counterattack strategy. If we can make it look like the Gengon outlaws from the hills were the ones to attack the factory, then the two Gengon factions should attack each other rather than us. We might be able to neutralize the biological weapons and weaken the two halves of the Gengon forces in one action.”
“I’m right with you Sir,” said Chad. “Besides making our forces look like outlaws when they attack the factory, we can mount a disinformation campaign from here. Sara can make false messages for transmission, and I can keep using channel Hanna left open to put other information out via fresh chips with more bogus data. We can make both sets of information look consistent, so the Gengon spooks will think they have confirmed the data from two sources.”
Sara smiled at Chad. “You’re such a clever bastard, you know that?”
“The highest form of flattery from someone in my profession Sara.”
Largos raised his huge bulk with some difficulty. “I need to get the outline of this plan relayed to the troops on T12 before they leave tonight. You two work out the content of the false messages, and the sequence of when and where they should be sent.”
“Yes Sir.” Chad and Sara nibbled from the sandwiches as they went back to work.
* * *
It was late afternoon at the weather station. Eric, Claude, Anne-Marie and Dog had returned several hours before Henry and Mark Kauf’s squad showed up. It was dawn before they all tried to get some sleep, leaving Clauson for the first watch. Eric had made a lengthy transmission following Shahkar’s weather data, summarizing what they had learned from the outlaw that had kidnapped Anne-Marie. Eric also reported that the squad had arrived safely. The only message back was to make sure that the squad waited for instructions before departing.
Although everyone was exhausted, it was impossible to sleep. Kami went about fixing a huge meal, as there were ten of them on the mountaintop, counting Henry and Mark Kauf’s squad of four. Hirotomi and Menard worked at redistributing the load on the mules to include their supplies, after removing a good deal of food for Kami and Shahkar. Henry and Mark were hunched over a map Mark had brought along, going over the safest way back to Trinity. It would only be a two-day hike under normal conditions, but they had to be careful not to be detected, so it would probably take three. There was also the issue of what to do with Henry’s mule train. The best plan seemed to be to take the mules with them, as Henry was known to everyone as the mule driver and would look suspicious without them. It was also just plain easier to let the mules carry the explosives and food.
Eric went over to Shahkar. “Did you happen to find a communication unit in the packs that we recovered from those three soldiers?”
“I’m not sure what I’m seeing Eric, but I put everything except the food back into one pack. It’s the one against the wall over there.”
Eric opened up the pack and looked at their tiny spoils of war. Sure enough, there was an IR communications unit and an extra set of batteries. The set was different from the ones he was familiar with, but the operation looked simple enough.
“I found it. Thanks.” Eric walked back outside and handed to unit and batteries to Mark Kauf.
“I’m not sure why, but in our last transmission they asked me to recover any Gengon communications equipment, and to make sure you packed it. I’ll bet they are planning something sneaky.”
“OK, I’ll put it in my pack. When are you doing the next communication? We are almost set to leave.”
“I’m about to walk up the hill with Shahkar for the next one. Why don’t you and Henry come along and listen in?”
“Thanks. We’ll do that.”
As they turned, Claude was walking towards them, followed by Dog.
“I would like to go with you to Trinity.”
Eric had been having the same thou
ght himself, so he was not surprised by Claude’s request. The truth was, Claude would be a lot more use to the men than Eric. In addition, Eric would be disobeying orders to leave, since he was expected to maintain his location at T12 for communications.
Eric made up his mind and turned towards Mark Kauf. “Claude is a remarkable shot, and knows this area better than anyone. He saved my life. You should have him join your team.”
Mark did not know the boy, but having another good shot along felt right. “OK. I hope you can bring that dog of yours along too. I hear he is quite a fighter.”
Claude smiled. “I don’t think we could keep Dog from joining us.”
* * *
Three of the pilots were standing together on the takeoff line at Outpost Base, putting on their chutes. Lieutenant Lawson was the agitated, and the normally quiet Lieutenant Kim was not looking at all pleased. Lawson finally blurted it out.
“These are the stupidest orders I have every seen. We are supposed to fly to some spot miles from anywhere, and then send a signal by radio that makes not sense at all, but which will give away our position. It’s like the ducks using a duck call to make sure the hunters can find them.”
Hermandez countered. “They are stupid orders, but I think I know a way to make them work in our favor. Remember the way that Joe Callanto was killed last week? The bandits hid in the clouds and waited for him to pass, and then jumped him. We could do the same thing here, using the radio call to bring the bandits to us.”
Kim smiled. “I like the idea, but who get’s to be the bait?”
“I’ll do that,” said Hermandez. I’ve got the second Y class plane, which can out-turn anything the Gengon have. We just need to find a cloud near the transmission spot for you two to hide in. I’ll do a second radio transmission if I see a bandit approaching, so that you know when to brake cover.”
Kim and Lawson knew that Hermandez was taking all the risk on himself, but the plan was sound.
“OK, let’s do it.”
* * *
The afternoon transmission at the weather station was well attended. Shahkar operated the equipment while Eric Young, Henry Silva, and Mark Kauf listened and commented. The objective was unchanged: Get into Trintney undetected and demolish the factory, doing everything possible to minimize the leakage of bio-agents. Mark was told that they expected the factory to have two sections, the smaller section being for bio-weapons production and the larger for vaccines. Both were targets, but the bio-weapons area was the most critical.
In addition the troops were asked to make it look as if they were outlaws from the countryside rather than Madrin soldiers. They were also asked to use the captured Gengon communications gear to send two signals in two different directions at a specific time. The signals were short, but were made of completely random digits. No explanation was given, but the two random messages were triple-checked before Outpost Base ended the communication.
“You know that you will be killed as spies rather than captured as soldiers if you are not wearing your uniforms.” Henry was warning Mark of a decision that Henry himself had faced many years ago.
“We’ll be dead either way if we are captured, so I don’t think it matters. Where are we supposed to get clothing like that?”
“Come with me Mark. Didn’t you wonder what all the sacks on the mules contained besides food?”
Henry had more than enough cloth and animal skin clothing to outfit each of the squad as an outlaw. The change of clothing was fine, but the men hated giving up their custom fitted packs. The mules would be doing most of the carrying, so it was not as critical as if they were walking. Their weapons were also Madrin army issue, but might be assumed to have been captured or stolen by the outlaws. The only thing missing was a layer of filth on their faces, which was sure to be supplied by a three-day hike in the company of dusty mules.
Claude hugged his sister goodbye, and thanked Shahkar and Kami for their hospitality. He took Eric aside momentarily.
“Please keep my sister safe. She is all that I have in this world.”
“I swear to you that I will Claude. Don’t take any more risks than you have to. I want to see you again.”
The shook hands, and then Claude and Dog walked off with Henry, leading the mules and Mark’s squad down the hill.
Clawson was the last to leave. He walked over to Eric.
“You may need to defend this place. I left some of my toys behind for you, just in case. They are all defensive weapons that we aren’t likely to use on our part of the mission.
“Thanks Clauson. I’ll put them to good use.”
Eric shook Clauson’s hand and watched the precession of men and mules work its way down the side of the mountain. Anne-Marie walked over and stood next to him as the last of the mules disappeared from sight. Eric knew she was wondering if she would ever see Claude again.
“He’ll be back Anne-Marie. I can feel it.”
She smiled at him, and then walked back to the cabin.
* * *
“And you called me a sneaky bastard. Look at what you are turning out!” Chad was looking over Sara’s handiwork.
“You are too kind Chad. I’ve got to say that creating disinformation is the most fun I’ve had in months. Those pilots should be sending that radio message any moment now, which will look to the Gengon like we are mapping that area from the air using radio echos.”
Sara picked up another two sheets of paper. “Here is the false data to load into the next chip for Hanna’s drop. The data will confirm that we are planning a big mission out to the east, and which will also suggest that we are hearing about the Geckos getting ready to attack an unknown target, possibly in the city of Eaka.”
“Eaka, not Trintney?”
“Right. I don’t want the Gengon putting a lot of extra security in Trintney before the squad gets there to attack the factory. Later, when they realize it was Trintney that was attacked they’ll just pass it off to the normal problems with intelligence. Hanna will have appeared to have given them advanced warning, but just did not know the right city.”
“Brilliant Sara. Having the data slightly wrong actually makes it look more credible, since no agent could get everything right.”
“Yup. Then we have the short coded messages that the squad should send tomorrow, which say that they came under attack from what looked like Gecos. They are only partial messages, and to short for them to get a directional fix on. It should look like someone under fire dashing out a message before they were shot. Our side has killed several teams of soldiers over the last week, so I’m hoping they will figure it was one of those teams. Who knows, they might even find the bodies some day.”
“Anything else Sara?”
“I’m pooped. It will take a few hours get these transmissions in motion and then maybe we can knock off for the rest of the night.”
“Got any ideas on how we my spend the night productively?”
“I thought you would never ask…”
* * *
Lieutenants Kim and Lawson were climbing up under one of the few clouds near the location where Hermandez was expected to make the radio transmission. The air was dry, and only the strongest updrafts were rising high enough to form a cloud. This updraft was a boomer, lifting the planes at over 800 feet each minute. The cloud base was approaching fast, so they used their IR units to communicate before the cloud shut off the link.
“Delta Niner will be in cloud in 30 seconds. OK to make your transmission any time. Don’t forget to use the radio again when you spot bandits.”
“Roger Delta Niner. Sitting duck will start quacking.”
Hermandex turned on his radio and broadcast the pre-recorded message. The message made no sense to him, but that didn’t matter. The main thing was to attract some hunters.
Hermandez was about two miles southwest of the cloud that Kim and Lawson were hiding in. He needed to stay about 2000 feet below them so that they could gain enough energy in the dive to overtake any bandits w
ho tried to jump him. He did not expect it to take long to attract a few, since they were only forty miles from the closest Gengon base. He kept circling, constantly scanning in all directions, paying particular attention towards the quadrant to the northwest, towards their base.
Nothing happened for over an hour. Hermandez had to keep finding new thermals, and then deliberately falling out of them to avoid flying too high. Suddenly he thought he saw something towards the sun. He strained his eyes to look as close to the sun as he dared, and realized that there were several planes coming right at him. The sun was too bright to make out the number, but they were close.
“Duck has several hunters. Heading to base.” Hermandez’ radio call was instantly heard by Kim and Lawson, as well as by the bandits. Kim and Lawson pulled up their flaps, pushed their joysticks forward, and accelerated to redline speed, heading southwest. They broke out of the cloud almost instantly and searched for Hermandez. They saw three bandits first, and then followed their trajectory a mile further through the air to find Hermandez’ plane. Hermandez was also speeding up, but the bandits would catch him in no time, well before Kim and Lawson got there. It suddenly did not seem like such a good idea to be bating the hunters.
Hermandez had his hands full. He could not dive in a straight line, because he would lose sight of the bandits in his blind spot directly behind his head. He also did not want to try to outrun them. His advantage was the tight turning radius of the Y class bird when he put the tip feathers out. He just had to live long enough to do that.
Hermandez could now see that it was three planes, all going at least 200 knots as they dove towards his position. Hermandez started an accelerated turn, and looked back to see Kim and Lawson diving towards him at the same time. Hermandez kept his speed up until the bandits were a few hundred yards away, but then pulled up and did a wing over to lose speed and start the chase. He opened the tip feathers and pulled the plane into a steep bank, making difficult target for the bandits.
Heavier Than Air Page 23