by Robert Boren
“Okay, maybe you’re right.”
“Here’s what I think we should do. Let’s take our stuff into town, and do the test there, just for a second or two. Only long enough to see if it’s LTE we need to generate. Then let’s get a signal generator capable of LTE at the electronics store.
“We’ll need to make another lead box, with antennas for the LTE transmit and receive inside, so when the chip starts to transmit, it’ll only send the message to our closed loop system.”
“Yeah,” Frank said. “This is going to be complicated.”
“There is an alternative to messing around with a lead box, and risking that a stray file gets out, you know.”
“What’s that?” Frank asked.
“We take one of the motorhomes way out in the boonies, where there’s no cell reception at all. Then we can excite these things to our heart’s content and pick up the chip’s transmissions, without the worry of the message getting to the enemy.”
“You’re right, Jerry. Great idea. We just cruise out until we get no service. It would be perfect. We’ve got the generator in the RV for power, too.”
“Let’s put these things back in the safe,” Jerry said.
The two men walked over to Gabe and talked to him for a few minutes. Then they went into the office with the lead box. They came out a minute or two later. Jerry and Frank walked over to Jasmine and Jane.
“That was fast,” Jane said, putting her arm around Frank’s waist as he got next to her.
“We decided we’d better not excite one of those chips here…because it might dump its payload back through our phones and onto the internet. It might be addressed right to the bad guys.”
“Hey, Dobie,” Gabe said, as his cousin walked in the door. Dobie was short and chubby, middle aged, with a mustache and kind of a goofy smile. He had hair turning gray and receding, and looked a little bit shy.
“Hey, Gabe,” he said. Gabe walked over and started introducing him to people around the room.
“I expected a big mountain man type,” Jerry said, laughing.
“What’s that I smell?” Jane asked. “It’s making me hungry.”
“Venison, probably,” Jerry said. “Somebody knows how to cook it. It doesn’t smell gamey.”
“Rosie and Hilda,” Jasmine said. “They’ve been in there for quite a while with Jeb and Mary.
Gabe walked over with Dobie.
“Folks, this is my cousin Dobie. Dobie, this is Frank, Jane, Jerry, and Jasmine.”
“Great to meet you, Dobie,” Frank said, shaking hands. Dobie had a damp palm. He was nervous, but smiled warmly. He shook hands with Jane and Jasmine, and then Jerry.
“Gabe’s told me a lot about you and your group,” Dobie said. “I’m very impressed.”
“Thanks,” Frank said. “We’re impressed with Gabe. He’s been real good to us, and he’s just full of ideas, too.”
Dobie cracked up. “Yeah, Gabe’s always been the most resourceful member of the family, that’s for sure. I think he’s hit a new level with the moat and drawbridge.”
“You been doing dog training for long, Dobie?” asked Jerry.
“Quite a while, actually, but I’ve only been in my own business for a little while. Of course I had to start right before things went nuts.”
“Where’d you work with dogs before that?” Frank asked.
“Salt Lake City PD, mostly,” he said. “I trained all of their K-9 units, both the officers and the dogs. I would have stayed there, if it wasn’t for mom’s passing. It was a good job.”
“Dobie and I are about all that’s left of our family,” Gabe said. “All of my immediate family are gone now. So are his, after Gwen’s passing.”
“Sorry for your loss,” Jane said. Dobie nodded and smiled.
“I inherited my mom’s house in town, along with some commercial space next to it. Was hoping to build up the business there.”
“Someday you will, when this mess is over,” Gabe said. “You’re welcome to be here as long as you want though, of course.”
“Yeah, I’d rather stay here for the time being,’ he said. “I don’t think it’s safe in town.”
“Why?” Frank asked.
“Now that the military base is gone, we’ve had some bad road people coming through, pushing people around, shoplifting, doing robbery and burglary.”
“I was afraid of that,” Gabe said.
“People are disappearing at night, too,” Dobie continued. “Especially women. Some folks are starting to leave town because of it.”
“Seeing any militia folks, or Islamists?” Jerry asked.
“That’s the other thing,” Dobie said.
Chapter 02 – The Big Ear
“You’re seeing militia and Islamist folks in town?” Frank asked.
“Not exactly. I’ve seen them going by the town, heading east,” Dobie said.
“How?” asked Jerry.
“I’d been taking some patrol jobs with my dogs,” Dobie said. “It was all I could get for my business after everything went to hell in a hand basket. One of my clients had a place right next to I-70. I’ve seen trucks going by in the middle of the night. Some have had people in Islamist garb sitting in the back.”
“Was this before or after the military base got destroyed?” Jane asked.
“After,” Dobie said.
“Wait a minute, you’re a security guard?” Jerry asked. “You carry a gun when you do that?”
“Don’t let Dobie’s looks and gentle demeanor fool you, Jerry,” Gabe said. “He’s a champion combat pistol shooter.”
“Really,” Jerry replied. “Impressive.”
“I’m a little rusty these days,” Dobie said.
“You don’t lose that ability,” Jerry said. “It’s like riding a bicycle. You bring any hardware with you?”
“Yeah, I brought all of my pistols. Don’t have any rifles.”
“What’s your gun of choice?”
“Glock 17,” he said.
“You still use 9mm?” Jerry asked. “Not much stopping power. Why not something that fires .40 S&W or .45 ACP?”
“Why deal with the recoil?” Dobie said. His eyes were lighting up. “The .45 is a great round, but none of the guns have a big magazine.”
“You can get a big magazine for .40 S&W,” Jerry said.
“True, but I like the feel of the 9mm better,” Dobie said. “As for killing power…I’ll put anybody down with a 9mm just as well as a larger round. It’s all about the placement.”
“Sounds like you should have been an officer instead of a dog trainer,” Frank said.
“Too short and too fat,” he said, chuckling. “Besides, the dogs are more interesting to me. I like pistols a lot, but I love my dogs.”
“Getting back to the problems in town,” Frank said. “How many times did you see these enemy forces heading east?”
“For the last week, almost every night,” Dobie replied. “Something bad is going to happen in Denver or beyond. I thought getting off of the radar would be a good idea. This whole area is liable to get hot.”
“You didn’t see any of these folks get off in town?” Frank asked.
“No, but I was just past the last off ramp to the east. If they made any stops, it was before I saw them.”
“What’s left in town in terms of people and supplies?” Jerry asked.
“Well, like I said, some folks are starting to take off. The big chain stores are still open, but they’re under-staffed. A lot of the mom and pop places are boarded up now - including my place.”
“How about the electronics store?” Frank asked.
Dobie laughed. “Old Jake isn’t going anywhere. I just talked to him before I left. He’s sleeping on a cot in the back of his store.”
“He’s still open?” Jerry asked.
“He was as of this morning,” Dobie said. “Why do you ask? Need something from there?”
“Yeah,” Frank said.
“Well, when you want to go, l
et me know and I’ll go along. He’ll be less nervous.”
“That’d be great, Dobie,” Frank said.
“Well, let’s go finish the introductions,” Gabe said. “Talk to you guys later.”
“Nice meeting you,” Dobie said, as they walked away.
“Well, what do you think?” Frank asked.
“I like him,” Jerry said.
“He’s a damaged guy,” Jane said. “You can see it in his eyes.”
“I picked up on that too, but I’m not getting a bad feeling about him,” Frank said. “I think he has some personal demons that he’s fighting.”
Jeb walked over.
“Hi, folks,” he said. “What’s cookin? I see you met our new person.”
“Yeah, we did,” Jerry said. “You?”
“He came into the kitchen and met us,” Jeb said. “Nice guy.”
“Smells good,” Jasmine said.
“Rosie and Hilda make a good team,” Jeb said, cracking a smile. “They know what they’re doing. Same with Mary.”
“Good, I’m really hungry,” Jasmine said.
“I had a thought,” Jeb said. “I’ve got an extra big screen TV in my rig. I took it out to put in a cabinet in the bedroom. How about if I bring it in here? We could put it over by the surveillance system.”
“That’s a great idea,” Frank said. “How big is it?”
“It’s a 40 inch. They overkilled with TVs in my pusher.”
“How old?” Jerry asked.
“Last year,” Jeb said. “Came new with the rig. One of you want to give me a hand? We can go get it now.”
“Sure, I’ll go,” Jerry said.
“I’ll go too,” Frank said.
The men walked out the door.
“There they go again,” Jasmine said. “Off to get another toy.”
“Tell me about it,” Jane said.
“I’m hoping that Jeb takes Rosie to his coach tonight,” Jasmine whispered. She giggled.
“Uh oh, what’s up? You going to be naughty?”
“Jerry got it into his head that having a baby is a good idea. I’m ovulating.”
“Oh, really,” Jane said, grinning. “You going to pass a hint to her?”
“No, I couldn’t do that,” Jasmine said.
“You probably won’t have to. I saw the way those two were looking at each other. It amazes me that your mom is able to…you know.”
“Her knees are screwed up, but other than that, she’s a lot stronger than she appears,” Jasmine said. “If I could get her to use a walker, she’d be all over this place. She’s too vain. Doesn’t want to look like an old lady.”
Both women cracked up. Hilda walked over, smiling.
“What’s going on here?” she asked.
“Oh, just talking about my mom and Jeb,” Jasmine said.
“I haven’t seen Jeb interested in a woman for years,” Hilda said. “Kudos to Rosie. I was watching them together in the kitchen. They can’t leave each other alone.”
“Good,” Jasmine said, giggling.
“Oh, you want some alone time, don’t you?” Hilda asked, grinning.
“Jerry and I are trying to make a baby,” she replied. “It’s a good time.”
“Ah, I get it,” Hilda said. “You sure you want to do that, with the way things are?”
“I know, seems stupid, right?” Jasmine said.
“I think there’s something in us that ramps up that instinct during times like this,” Jane said. “I’ve even had thoughts about it myself. Thank God I’m not able anymore.”
“Well, now that you mention it, those kind of thoughts have crept into my mind too,” Hilda said. “I just chalked it up to being a newlywed, but maybe it’s more than that.”
“Here they come,” Jane said. “Mum’s the word.” The three of them were giggling as the men carried in the TV.
“Uh oh, what are you three up to?” Frank asked, looking at them.
“Oh, nothing to concern yourself about,” Jane said.
“How about that short table over there?” Jerry said, pointing to a table down the wall that held a vase. “Hey, Gabe!”
Gabe walked over with Dobie.
“What’d you need, Jerry?” he asked.
“Mind if we slide that table down here so we can put the monitor on it?”
“No problem,” Gabe said, looking at the TV. “You guys going to hook the surveillance system up to that?”
“Yeah, Jeb had it in his rig, in storage,” Frank said. “It’ll make it easy to keep an eye on things.”
“So it will,” Gabe said. “Thanks, Jeb.”
“No problem,” Jeb said, smiling. “It was just taking up room in my storage compartment. I took it out of the bedroom. I never watch TV in there, and needed the space for a cabinet.”
Frank got the cable routed to the back of the camera system’s DVR module. He plugged the other end into the TV, while Jerry plugged the power cord in. Jeb fished the remote out of his pocket and turned on it on.
“There we go,” Frank said, as the TV showed the multi-camera view. “I can set it to show eight cameras instead of six. I think this monitor is big enough.”
“I’d leave it like this,” Jerry said. “It cycles pretty quickly, and we can see this clearly from across the room.”
“Okay, I’ll leave it alone,” Frank said. He shut the cabinet doors. Jeb put the remote up on top of the cabinet.
“Ain’t that purty,” Gabe said, laughing.
“I thought this system broke down,” Dobie said.
“It did. Frank fixed it for me,” he replied.
“Nice,” Dobie said. “What was wrong with it?”
“Squirrels,” Frank said, “they chewed through the wires coming out the wall. Easy fix.”
“Excellent,” Dobie said. “I’ve got some acoustic gear in my truck. Maybe we ought to add that too.”
“Really?” Frank asked. “What do you have that for?”
“Jake talked me into it, to listen for the dogs, and general noises while out on patrol jobs. He thinks it’s even better to have than cameras.”
“Well, he’s got a point, for nighttime especially,” Jerry said.
“Dinner ready!” shouted Rosie from the kitchen area.
“I’d better go help,” Hilda said. She walked over to the kitchen, joining Rosie and Mary.
“Me too,” Jeb said. He walked quickly over to join the women.
Charlie, Kurt, the Sheriff, and the Deputy walked over and admired the TV screen. Earl and Jackson noticed the TV screen and followed them over.
“Looks pretty damn good,” Charlie said. “I’m surprised how well it picks up. Not much light out there now.”
“I think we did a good job cleaning those lenses out by the creek,” Earl said. “Look at that. Great picture.”
“With the dogs, and the moat, and this system, we shouldn’t have to sit up on that cold roof all the time,” Kurt said, smiling.
“We should get rigged up so we can get to the roofs in a hurry, though,” Jerry said. “From a protected angle, if possible.”
“Yeah, wouldn’t want to be caught with our pants down,” the Sheriff added.
“I’m hungry, Frank. Let’s go get into the food line.” Jane tugged at his sleeve.
“Okay, I’m hungry too,” Frank said. “Lead on.”
The rest of the folks followed them over, except for Gabe, who stood there watching the camera system cycle through, with a wide grin on his face. Maybe we’ll be alright, he thought to himself.
The line at the food table was already long by the time Frank and Jane got there. Rosie and Hilda were leaned against the wall next to the kitchen door, watching the crowd with amusement.
“I think they will like,” Rosie said.
“Hope so,” Hilda said. Charlie walked up to her and kissed her forehead.
“Looks like you girls did a nice job,” he said. “Hopefully Jeb didn’t get in the way too much.”
All of them laughed.<
br />
“Jeb get brownie points,” Rosie said. “I let him cash later.”
Jeb got an embarrassed look on his face as Rosie snuggled up against him.
Frank and Jane finally filled their plates, and walked over towards the back of the room, in sight of the new TV. Jerry and Jasmine joined them. The others trickled over.
“Hey, Gabe, going to get some food, or are you going to watch that TV all night?” Jerry asked, laughing.
“Oh, I guess I’ll eat. How is it?”
“Best venison I’ve ever had,” Jane said. “Top notch.”
“Sure is,” Frank said. He was almost finished with his meat. “Good side dishes too.”
“I’ve got all kinds of that stuff in the deep freeze.”
“Love the scalloped potatoes,” Jasmine said.
Gabe went over to get himself a plate.
“It feels so much more relaxed this afternoon,” Jane said. “Is it just me?”
“We’re getting pretty well set up here,” Jerry said. “Hopefully we aren’t just fooling ourselves.”
“Time will tell,” Frank said. “Shall I tell the girls our idea for working with the chips?”
“Sure,” Jerry said. “Why not.”
“Uh oh, what are you guys cooking up?” Jane asked.
“We were going to experiment earlier with exciting the chips using LTE from our cellphones,” Jerry said. “Then Frank realized that if we use our cell phones, we might bring on a transmission of the stub file through our phones and onto the internet. The enemy is probably set up to watch for that.”
“What’s a stub file?” Jane asked.
“It’s a file with an address that contains a very small amount of data…in this case it would be whatever information the enemy put on these chips, encrypted. If one of these gets out onto the internet, it will probably find its way out to the enemy.”
“That wouldn’t be good,” Jasmine said. “It would get them to the nearest cell tower. So what’s the idea?”
“Well, first we need to make sure that LTE is really the key to getting a transmission,” Frank said. “At this point, it’s just a very good educated guess that Jerry made this afternoon.”
“If LTE is the right frequency, then we need to be able to capture the transmission from the chip without it going out onto the net,” Jerry added.
Frank took a deep breath.