by Td Barnes
Bradley returned to the Command Center at the entrance realizing that the lieutenant’s logic that prompted the immediate relocation of the mess hall and nonessential personnel still lingered in his mind. He felt another of his premonitions staying in his thoughts. Something did not seem right, but he could not place his finger on it. He arrived at the guard desk to analyze the feasibility of the enemy breaching the door. The berm and moat protected his military defenders. However, his shift officer and the security guards did not have this protection.
“Sergeant Major,” he called. “Move everyone except the gun crew back behind the fallback squad. You too, Lieutenant,” he said to the shift officer. “Tell your CO that I gave you the order.” “Everyone,” he called out. “Consider this area a war zone and field of fire should we be overrun. You may set up shop at the monitors in the mess hall. We know that they have taken out the outside cameras and motion detectors, but have the camera control station moved and set up anyway. We are moving the mess hall to mess number two.”
“Yes, sir.”
Bradley heard the first grenade explode in the air vent duct, sounding more like a muffled bang on metal, but he recognized the sound. He and the others listened to the sound repeating with the explosion of the second, third, and fourth grenades. Bradley heard the explosions and raced to the fallback point with Sarge running ten yards in front of him. The explosion sounds continued for another five minutes and stopped, leaving everyone breathlessly waiting for what the attackers planned to do next.
An abrupt change occurred in the sound of the air rushing through the air ducts immediately afterward, the sound of moving air ceasing for near 60 seconds before resuming.
Everyone stopped their activity and stared at the silenced air ducts, wondering what caused the change in airflow and what to expect next. Each removed their gas mask from their belt and held it ready to slip over their face. A middle-aged man wearing a Kevlar stepped out of the rad-safe station and ran up to Bradley and the others.
“Sir, I am Harry Angle, one of the structural engineers for DOD. I worked in the tunnel for the nuclear waste repository. I collaborated with the air system. They are wasting their time trying to blow the intake or exhaust. We designed them to fend off this very thing with terrorists in mind at the time. The ducts contain grates at multiple levels with design to deflect any explosions. They also have biological detectors that will detect and activate diversion of any gasses that someone attempts to introduce into the mountain. That is what stopped the airflow. The gas detectors whiffed some bad stuff and rerouted it with the air back to the surface to carry out anything injected into the intake.”
“Thanks, Harry. Early on, someone briefing me on the security of the mountain mentioned the air system being blast proof, but I did not know these details.”
Angle pointed to a significant feature of the air duct system above them. “The detectors over there will activate some air gates above us to divert some of the incoming air to push the gas back through the door should someone try to pump biological gasses through the entrance. Each of the vent pipes is equipped with an explosive should they try to cap the intake or vent. Don’t worry about the vents — they are tamper proof.”
Angle led Bradley and the growing entourage back into the tunnel to a point near the entrance to the Command Center. “We can seal the tunnel by another safety measure that we installed should the front door be breached. Above us are several tons of rock that will drop to seal the tunnel if we activate the ignition circuit inside those boxes on either side of the tunnel. Either of them will trigger a small explosion to release the rocks. There is a box farther in that contains remote control that will also trigger the rock release.”
“Sir,” the shift officer said. “I will instruct the shift officers and noncoms for the event they do breach the entrance if you want. We will ensure the evacuation of our defenders, and we will activate the rock release if needed.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant.” Bradley sounded calm, but inside he felt fury at not knowing until now of these defense mechanisms.
Two hours passed without any further indication of what those outside planned to do next. Bradley saw the waiting getting to them. He addressed the group. “I see no point in allowing the misfits out there holding the mountain hostage. The military and those essential to our safety will remain on alert, but I am lowering the alert status for the rest of the mountain. It could last for weeks if we are under siege. Carry on.” He reached down to pet Sarge. “Come on, Sarge.”
Bradley left the front line and headed into the depths of the tunnel towards the center mess hall. He heard Sammie’s Maori class chanting Ka ora, Ka ora, meaning this is life — this is life when he passed the entertainment alcove. Peering inside, he saw Sammie and Arana Rajan, the soldier of Maori heritage with the children practicing the haka dance repertoire where the boys lined up in front and girls lent vocal support from the back.
Bradley laughed at the children practicing the intimidating ritual that he remembered from watching New Zealand rugby games. The children performed the ceremony that included loud chanting, aggressive flailing of arms, stomping of feet, fierce looks and, in the end, an angry sticking out of tongues. A cute little blonde haired girl wearing a ponytail stole the show.
He walked in smiling broadly. This, he thought may maintain confidence and reduce the stress of those inside the mountain worrying about the siege. He clapped his hands at the children while approaching them. “Specialist,” he said, looking at the soldier and Sammie. He reached over to pat the head of one of the children staring at his facial scars and the one on his throat. “This is beautiful. I wonder if this would work with my soldiers against those pukes banging on our door.”
He looked at Sammie. “I would like for the two of you to take this show on the road. Rig up the handcar with a sound system for you to take a tour of the tunnel with some of the children doing this dance for everyone at the mountain. Get with your mom and organize a special presentation in the entertainment alcove. Include the children and plan to perform for everyone in the tunnel. If this does not get everyone’s patriotic heart pumping, I do not know what will.”
Bradley did his best imitation of the Maori dance for the kids, including the tongue out a bit, causing the children to giggle and laugh heartily. He did not realize how mean he looked with his facial scars combining with the fierce look. He performed one last beating of his chest in conjunction with a raspy sounding Tarzan yell while walking away saying, “Come on, Sarge, we have a war to fight.”
He arrived at the Command Center where he found his son, Jerry waiting. “Hi, son. Are you here to tell me that you and Jamie have set a date to get hitched?”
“That depends on.” Jerry grinned mysteriously.
“Uh oh! I am afraid to ask what.”
“I realize that with us under attack, my timing could be a bit off kilter. We both want to enlist in the Army.”
That caught Bradley entirely off guard, and he showed it. He frowned and then stared away in thought. “You are right. You're hitting me with this while the Huns are banging at the gate. It Is a bit out of sync.”
He glanced towards the entrance to the troops still rushing to retreat everything to the fallback zone. He could not see the entry because of the curvature of the tunnel but could hear their activity. “Jez, I must give this some thought.”
“Dad, we are only a few credits away from having our degrees. We should qualify. The US Army Medical Corps chose the caduceus for its symbol in 1902. I want to wear the caduceus. We will need new doctors, and I believe I would make a good one. I’ve been volunteering in the clinics and would like to go into full-scale training there as a member of the Army.”
“Hell. I do not even know if there is still the United States, much less an Army. I need to confer with my officer staff on this. Son, you have made me very proud by your even asking. We will damn sure need to train new doctors in any case. I will get back to you.”
After
Jerry had left, Bradley and his dog, Sarge walked to the portal entrance to put his mind at ease about everything being stable there. It pleased him to see his sergeant major there with the first line of defense. “It is quiet here, sir. The men are ready and prepared for battle. The platoon leaders and NCOs are doing a great job. Their CO knows his stuff.”
“I do not doubt that Sergeant Major,” he said. “I’ve been spending too much time on the front line if we want to call it that. I am backing off to let our junior officers do their job. They are green, so I would appreciate it if you will babysit them.”
The sergeant major agreed to look out for the officers and the men under their command. He and Bradley walked to the door and listened for any sound from the outside. They noted the radiation level remaining steady and lethal. With the exterior cameras taken out on the outside, they could only assume it still being hazy and miserable.
Bradley and Sarge walked back to the new guard and shift officer station. “Lieutenant,” he said to the shift officer. “I am headed to the south portal to hook up with your CO. Do not hesitate to ask or confide with the sergeant major should you have any questions or problems. Do not hesitate to take the lead of your more experienced noncoms. I do it all the time. Surrounding yourself with good soldiers and relying on their skills is the sign of a good commander. I may be reached on the intercom if needed.”
“Understood, sir,” the lieutenant said.
Bradley continued his delegation of authority to make his leaders less dependent upon him for their decisions.
“Sergeant Major, holler at the staff officers in the Command Center, should you need them” referring to the normal TO&E of staff officers that his command needed once they became an acting military unit outside the mountain.
His S-1, S-2, S-3, S-4, and adjutant served no real purpose, so he treated them like advisors to the mountain operations. This kept them out of the chain of command of day-to-day military activities. A battalion size staff for a less than company size contingent made it a unit of all chiefs and no Indians. This excluded the S-3 training officer deeply involved in the overall training programs of the colony.
Bradley arrived back in the entertainment alcove in time to find Sammie with some of the better Maori dancers loaded on the handcar and ready to entertain. The children are seeing him arriving giggled and made room for Sarge and him. “What the heck?” he thought. “They are going my way, and this could be fun for all.” Specialist Rajan and Sammie climbed aboard, and the first musical troupe at the mountain started to roll.
The sight of the commander of the mountain approaching on a handcar full of children screaming a different chant and performing the war dance of the New Zealand Maori startled the residents at first, stopping all activity so they could watch. This developed into the first time for many since entering the mountain that they felt like laughing.
The happiness of the children proved to be infectious. Soon those having nothing to do followed the handcar from alcove to alcove to watch the children perform. Soon even the followers picked up the chant and became part of the act. An outsider might think the residents of the mountain has gone nuts.
Beatty rancher, Don Pierce stopped working with the goats when he saw the handcar approaching. Even at the mountain, he seldom removed his western hat except when asleep, but he did so while the children passed by. His hearty laugh roared more infectiously to that watching than did the performance.
It surprised Lt Col Barlow more than anyone else when Captain Callahan and she saw and heard the children and their followers approaching. Seeing the commander of the mountain on board with his dog became priceless when seeing the stress melt away on the soldiers defending the south portal. They maintained their readiness, but now with a happy smile or grin. They hoped that whoever waited outside their mountain could hear the children, the sound of the future that those at the mountain would protect at all costs.
****
Hathcock lowered his binoculars. Five hours since the grenade attack and he saw no signs that the grenades accomplished any more than possibly making a racket at the mountain.
He knew his men felt tired of the cooped vans and awaited his next command. He realized now they're failing to take out the air circulation to force the occupants out of the mountain.
This obviously meant his taking the mountain would not be easy. The necessity of doing so without causing collateral damage to the food stock and the mountain itself complicated things. Now he must come up with another method of killing those who occupied the mountain. He could no longer avoid physical contact with the defenders.
“Take out the door,” he ordered his second in command. “Use our most qualified demolition team. Prepare to follow up with grenade launchers.”
The demolition team walked up to the door twenty minutes later without fear of surveillance cameras where the leader surveyed the door for the most favorable spot to place the blocks of C-4 explosive. The soldier carrying the bomb in a canvas bag with straps over his shoulder carefully removed the explosives and then the blasting caps. They finished placing the explosive in ten minutes. The team backed away while stringing the wire for detonating the charge.
After stringing the wire to a location behind one of the guard bunkers and connecting the wire to the detonator, he signaled the completion of the installation to MSGT Hathcock. Hathcock, for the first time, dismounted from his vehicle while motioning to his army for them to likewise dismount from the vans in preparation for breaching the mountain.
The invading soldiers exited the vehicles and raced with their weapons at ready to the backside of the guard bunkers where they hunkered down to await the explosion that would take out the door and allow them into the mountain. Five of his soldiers took a position with their grenade launchers to take out any defenders of the entrance once they breached the door. Their movement identified them being professionally trained soldiers.
With a twist of the detonator, a voltage transmitted to the C-4, igniting it in a massive explosion that sounded like the detonation of an enormous bomb. A flash of light turned into a great cloud of dust followed by the noise of a rockslide down the mountain.
The soldiers peered through the dust to see if the blast proved successful. The massive steel door remained standing when the dust settled.
The soldiers stood up, and one by one abandoned their shield from the blast and stared at the portal in disbelief and frustration. One of the soldiers raised his rifle and shot a burst at the door. Others soon followed. Two of them fired their grenade launcher at the mountain.
While the outburst of firepower did nothing more than making the loud sounds of battle, it made the soldiers feel that they accomplished something. They still wanted to fight though they failed to gain entrance into the mountain.
They turned their anger on the building infrastructure outside the mountain. After ransacking the former rad-safe office and setting it afire, some turned their attention onto the trailer houses previously providing habitat for the workers on the tunnel, burning two of them before realizing the value of the trailers for their protection from the elements while settling in for a siege.
No-one wanted to return to the cramped vehicles protecting them from the radiation thus far. They felt safe from the radiation outside while wearing the dosimeters. The trailers would provide them comfort.
MSGT Hathcock ordered distribution of the two-week supply of MREs brought with them for this mission. He surveyed the damage to the door at the portal and looked for a weakness that he might exploit in a new plan of attack while his army settled in.
Bradley did not hear at the south portal the explosion and sounds of ordnance striking the door to the north portal. The children completed their little Maori skit and dismounted to pet the goats and watch the chickens. Sarge joined the children and three protocol offenders, playing with them, smelling of the goats, but staying away from the noisy chickens, and the deafening screeches and laughter of the children playing with the animals
.
The feedlot smell of the animal kingdom emissions of nitrous oxide, methane, and carbon dioxide had at one time extended close to a mile into the tunnel.
Engineers from closer in the colony had modified the airflow system to blow enough air directly towards the animal pens to force the smell to the vent near the south portal.
Now the smell of animal waste, the animals, their feed, including hay, gave this region of the tunnel the smell of a county fair. The traffic of visitors is spending time petting the animals made it resemble a fair even more. Now with the Maori skit, there existed a carnival atmosphere missing only some hot dog stands and cotton candy.
Bradley took the XO aside where they could talk. He updated her on the changes made at the north portal and the attack on the air ducts. It occurred to him while they talked that the vents discharging the odor of the animal habitat would be a give away of its existence to anyone on the outside. He pointed this concern out to his XO and cautioned her to keep the defenders extra vigilant.
Bradley, having other concerns on his mind besides the siege, focused his thoughts on the future of the colony. “XO, I need your advice concerning my son, Jerry and his fiancée. They want to join the Army. Hell, we do not know if we even have an army any longer.” He sounded unusually despaired. “I am sure there are other survivors like us, but I doubt if there exists the chain of command or any military services of three months ago. What are your thoughts on this?”