Heavier Than Air

by T. E. Vario (t_e_vario@yahoo. com)

  “Fine. It will only take me about two hours. Abort the mission if I don’t show up by dusk.”

  “I have faith in you Henry. See you in two hours.”

  * * *

  Back at the weather station, Eric had been busy. Clauson had left two bags off anti-personnel equipment. This was part of the material in the bag Clauson had thrown out in front of him when he parachuted. Eric knew almost nothing about these devices, but in the classic Army tradition, all of the devices came with detailed instructions.

  One bag contained spring-loaded booby traps. These were tubes an inch in diameter and about six inches tall. Each tube was filled with explosive at the top, and ball bearings in the bottom. They were attached to small steel rods holding a spring, and with sharp end a the bottom that could be inserted into the ground or soft wood. A fine black thread was attached to the release at the bottom of the tube. The idea was that someone would trip the thread, which would spring the tube into the air. It was set to explode about 25 feet in the air, sending a rain of supersonic ball bearings flying downward in a conical pattern. You did not want to be underneath. These were called “bouncers.”

  The second bag contained a similar device, except these fired directionally. Each device shot a spray of ball bearings in an arc about 90 degrees wide. The idea was to place this at locations where men were likely to be moving in a confined area, such as along a path or in a streambed. You then pulled the thread to fire the weapon. When detonated it was like 100 rifles firing simultaneously for one quick burst. These had the frightening name of “rippers.” Eric could imagine what they did to a human body, which was undoubtedly how they got their name.

  Eric’s problem was that he did not Dog to set off explosives when Claude came back, or have one of the mules or soldiers set one off as they returned up the trail. He decided to place the bouncers on the back and steep sections of the mountain, about 100 feet below the level of the cabin. He put the firing threads about three feet in the air so that Dog or any other small animal would not set them off. He was initially worried that this would make the thread easy to spot, but the mottled light filtering through the trees disguised the threads perfectly. His main problem was not setting them off himself.

  Once the bouncers were in place Eric concentrated on the rippers. To be effective the rippers needed to be aimed where soldiers might approach for an attack, yet be close to a lookout point from which he could observe and pull the strings. Anne-Marie helped Eric set up the rippers. They decided that they would set up two positions from which they could operate two groups of strings. One location faced southwest, and overlooked the trail. They put 10 of the rippers in locations that fired either directly on the trail or along the slope above and below the trail. They tied each of the strings to a small stick at the observation point, and tied cloth strips with numbers to each strip. Eric made a crude map of the path, and marked the location of each ripper and its firing zone with the matching number.

  The second location faced north. Anne-Marie looked over the terrain, and suggested logical locations where men might try to ascend, if the trail were blocked. That side of the mountain was steep enough that men without climbing gear would be forced to go up in a few channels that offered footholds. They arranged another 10 rippers firing into each of these channels and secured the threads to sticks at the second lookout point.

  That left 5 rippers. The decided that there last ditch defense would be to back up the last bit of trail that led to the peak where the IR transmitter was mounted. They set the last five rippers in positions that would allow them to fall back, and then fire back down the trail at anyone following them.

  Eric pointed out the locations where he had placed the bouncers, and talked over strategy with Anne-Marie. They agreed that Anne-Marie would take the north position, and would bring Shahkar and Kami to that location, rather than having them in the cabin. Shahkar would probably be of some use with the machine gun, but the suspected that Kami would be too frightened to function. Eric would cover the trail and would fall back to their position if it looked like they were being overrun. They could then back up the hill together.

  Eric realized as they worked out the details that he was talking to at least his equal in military strategy. Anne-Marie was an amazing girl. His mind then flashed to the glimpse he had seen of her tied on the ground naked. Why was he thinking of her as a girl? She was a woman.

  “How old are you Anne-Marie?”

  “I’m seventeen. How about you?”

  “I’m twenty.”

  Just three years difference. Eric suddenly saw Anne-Marie in a completely different light.

  * * *

  John Young met up with Sara in the mess hall. They had a quiet breakfast together, catching up on each other’s love life. John told Sara all about Barbara, how they had known each other when Amy had been alive, how Barbara had invited him to dinner, and how great she was to be around. Sara had trouble reciprocating with information about Chad. Part of the problem was that she could not bring up anything about Hanna, who had been the catalyst for their meeting. The other problem was that she knew very little about Chad. So she had fallen for a spook. It was to be expected.

  “You should meet Chad in a few minutes. We are working together on the information that we need your help on.”

  “That’s great. Why don’t we get to work?”

  They went by Heinrich Largos’ office so that John could let him know he had arrived, and then went into the conference room to get started. Chad was already there.

  “Dad, this is Chad DeForrest. Chad this is my father, Captain John Young.”

  Chad saluted John and then shook his hand. “Sara has told me a lot about you Sir. It is an honor to meet you.”

  “Sara told me a bit about you this morning, and I must return the complement. Now, what is it that you want me to look at?”

  Chad explained the system they had devised in sorting the decrypted messages, and gave John the stack that they thought were intercepted communications from aircraft. Chad and John went through them together, while Sara got to work on decrypting the latest traffic that had come in during the night.

  After about an hour Chad excused himself. “I have that data chip drop to do Sara. I should be back in an hour.”

  “OK, we’ve got plenty to keep us busy.”

  Sara had no way of knowing that she would never see Chad again.

  * * *

  Chad set off to do the next drop of a chip containing false data. He wanted to keep Hanna’s channel open. What Hanna had never told him was that the drop protocol contained a fail-safe. Besides dropping the chip off, Hanna made a small mark on a brick wall with a chalk after each drop. No mark meant something was wrong. Hanna had managed to keep this information locked in her head throughout the interrogation.

  Chad followed standard approach protocol. He made two passes at the restaurant, looking for people lingering outside, or anyone killing time inside. The breakfast hour had passed, so the place was empty, and he did not see anyone loitering in the area.

  Chad’s next step was to sit at the designated table and order breakfast. He did his best to concentrate on a newspaper. At one point he went to the toilet and hid the chip behind the water tank. He glanced back there and did not find any message for Hanna, so he went back to his table. He took his time eating breakfast, paid, and then walked out the door. Everything looked in order.

  The sniper was across the street on the roof of a small office building. She had chosen this position because it overlooked the door of the restaurant, and because there was an ornamental grill on the extended false front of the building that she could aim through.

  The bullet went through the back of Chad’s head on the right side. He was conscious of the ground coming up at him from the left, and felt himself fall. His brain stopped functioning as his skull hit the pavement.

  * * *

  Sara started wondering where Chad was after two hours. She did not give it too much thought.
John had made some progress on understanding the bits of air traffic. The latest messages suggested that the Gengon pilots were changing their tactics because of mounting losses. That made John feel pretty darned good, although he had no idea what the new tactics would be. He decided to organize the messages on a rough map, to see if there was any similarity between messages from different locations. He had over 500 messages to deal with, so it took some time.

  Sara sat back from the computer workstation. “SHIT. The bastards know we are coming.”

  “What? Go over that again Sara?”

  “We have a team headed towards Trintney to blow up a bio-weapons plant there. The Gengon are expecting it. Something has gone very wrong. We’ve got to tell Largos.”

  Sara got up and went next door. Heinrich Largos was sitting with Chad’s boss, Captain Anne Giovani. Sara excused herself for interrupting, but went right ahead and explained what she had found. The squad heading for the Trintney bio-weapons plant was expected. The mission was blown.

  She then waited for a response, but both Largos and Giovani seemed to be staring at her.

  “I’m afraid I have some very bad news Sara,” said Giovani. Chad DeForrest was just killed an hour ago.

  Sara felt her mind go numb. Time slowed down as she placed her hands on Largos’ desk to steady herself, and focussed on a pencil that was lying in front of her. Chad was dead. Her Chad - the man she loved, who had slept with her that night, who had been with her a few hours ago. He was dead.

  Sara was not conscious of being guided to a chair, of Largos leaving to retrieve her father, or of her father entering the room. She looked up and there was her father’s face, looking at her eyes. She leaned over and hugged him. Only then did she begin to cry.

  After a few minutes John lead her back to the conference room where they could be alone. He waited for her to feel like talking.

  “I’m sorry Daddy. I wish you didn’t have to be drug into this.”

  “I’m your father Sara. I want to be here.”

  “I was in love with him, you know that?”

  “Yes I know. And he was deeply in love with you. Anyone could tell that just watching you to work together.”

  “Really? He never told me he loved me. I guess I never said those words to him either.”

  “Words are useless to convey what you feel. He knew you loved him. You can be sure of that.”

  “I’m not going to break down over this Daddy. I’m going to help get his killer and make sure that they are killed or rot in prison. I want to end this.”

  “OK. I’ll help you. I’ve seen a lot of people killed in the last eight years, and watched their loved ones deal with it. Continuing to work is the right thing to do now, but at some point you will have to take the time to grieve for Chad. I’ll be there for you when that time comes.

  “I know you will Daddy. I know you will.”

  * * *

  “OK, we need to assess the damages.” Largos had gathered Sara, John, and Captain Giovani in his office.

  “We know Hanna’s capture is out. I’ve set teams to go collect everyone she identified in the area. The microchip data is obviously suspect to the Gengon now, so our campaign of deception has been blown.”

  “What about our being able to break their code. Has that been compromised.”

  Sara cleared her throat. Her eyes and nose were red, but she was fighting. “Not as far as I can tell. The microchip data was stored in plain text, so encryption was not involved. We’ve been getting a normal amount of traffic all day, and I have been able to break everything. It looks like that secret is holding for now.”

  “And you feel that the attack mission has been compromised.”

  “Yes Sir. I have two messages referring to the mule team and Henry Silva in the same context with defense of the brewery. That plan is blown.”

  John spoke up. “Is there any way for us to get a message to the squad before they get into Trintney?”

  “None that I know of,” said Largos. “ We have ways to get messages to some operatives in the city, but by then it will be too late.”

  I dawned on John that Eric was at the landing site where the squad had parachuted. Eric would probably not be on the mission, but his position would be compromised. John’s perfect day had gone to hell in a hand basket.

  Mark Kauf and his squad were travelling light, partly for speed and partly because they were using animal hide packs that held half as much as their army-issue packs. The clothing that Henry had provided them was of low quality and did not fit well. However, they figured that anyone seeing them from a distance would assume that they were outlaws of some sort, rather than soldiers from the south.

  The squad left Henry and the mule train and detoured east to the rendezvous point. Their course took them over higher ground, and they were close enough to see the edge of the city of Trintney. Windmills covered the slopes to the west of the city. They were turning slowly in the light breeze, pumping water into a reservoir 2000 feet higher than the level of the city. The water was then let down through turbines to generate the precious electricity needed by the town. It was a simple way to store the energy from the wind so that they could use power on even calm days. They got some extra power when rainfall added water to the reservoir.

  Mark and Clauson climbed to the top of a small hill and used the telescopic sight on Clauson’s rife to take a closer look at the city. The architecture was bland, consisting primarily of single story buildings with thick walls and small windows. Their target, the factory complex, stood out clearly. What appeared to be grain elevators were on the east side of the complex, towering above the smaller tanks and structures. The buildings were large wooden structures, several stories tall, with no windows. Everything checked out with the maps they had been given for the mission.

  Henry announced his arrival with two whistles, and then joined the squad. He pulled out his own well-worn map.

  “My suggestion is that we abandon our original plan of approaching from the south and detour around to the east here. We can then come back towards the city from the north this evening. I have a good contact on the north side of the city who should help us. We will need to make sure our tail is clear well before we get to the city.”

  Menard spoke up. “We will be going through a canyon in about a mile. Anyone following us will need to go through the same space. Why don’t two of us hold back for an hour and see if anyone passes. We can meet up again two hours from now.”

  “I’ll be the second man,” volunteered Hirotomi.

  “Thanks Hirotomi.” Mark never ceased being amazed at how well his squad worked together. “Henry, I think you are right about changing our route. No point in making it easy on the bastards if we have been compromised.”

  Clauson took point, followed by Henry and Mark. Menard and Hirotomi looked for places where they could leave the trail without leaving tracks, and then hid themselves in the bush. It was 10:00 and the sun was warming the forest floor. A few birds called to each other, but otherwise the area was incredibly quiet. They waited for someone to approach.

  It did not take long. Hirotomi heard footsteps before he could make out any motion. Peering through the underbrush he began to make out the shape of a soldier, walking along the side of the path, concentrating on the tracks. The soldier had a sniper rifle in his hands and was carrying a full pack. Hirotomi realized that the soldier was probably figuring out that there were only three tracks leading north, instead of the five he had been following.

  Hirotomi waited until soldier man had just passed him and then stood up and yelled: “Freeze or I’ll shoot!”

  The soldier stopped and waited, but did not say anything. Hirotomi could only see the man’s back.

  “Very slowly put your weapon on the ground, and then put your hands on your head. Now!”

  The soldier did as requested, and stood motionless. Hirotomi whistled for Menard, and waited for him to show up. Menard crossed the path and joined them, keeping his machinegun p
ointed at the soldier.

  “Cover him while I tie him up.” Hirotomi cut a short length of climbing rope and then approached the soldier from behind. “Slowly bring your hands behind you.”

  Hirotomi noticed that the soldier’s wrists were very slender as he bound them. He then turned the soldier around.

  “Shit. It’s a she, not a he.”

  Sure enough, their captive was a woman about 20 years old. She had short black hair and was strongly built. She looked tough. Hirotomi opened her pockets and looked for identification. There wasn’t any.

  “Who are you?”

  The soldier did not say anything, but she was sweating and her lower lip was trembling.

  “Now what are we going to do Menard? We can’t leave her here.”

  “We can either kill her here or take her with us.” Besides being the truth, Menard hoped the threat of death might loosen her tongue. Hirotomi picked up on the idea.

  “I say just kill her.” Hirotomi pulled his combat knife out of his scabbard in front of the woman, then grabbed her by the arm to lead her into the bushes.

  “OK, I’ll talk. Just put that knife away.”

  “Good choice,” said Hirotomi. He took his time putting the knife away and then started firing a series of questions at the woman. Her name was Wendy Choo. She was from the Gengon base on the west side of Trintney, and attached to their recognizance unit. She and three other members of her team had been placed at likely entry points on the south side of the city and given directions to track a team of Geckos heading towards town. She had picked their trail yesterday and had planned to communicate to her base as soon as she got within line-of-sight of the base receiver.

  “So much for the element of surprise,” said Menard.

  “You know we really should kill her.” Hirotomi said, standing right next to the woman.

  “I know, but I’m not going to. Let’s tie her behind one of these trees. If we make it back, we can release her as we leave. Otherwise she will either be found by someone else, or die of thirst.”