by Eric Vall
“Oh, before you go,” Hammer said as we were about to walk out the door. “I almost forgot.”
The SEAL picked up a stack of papers from on top of a small table and walked them over to me.
“Here,” he said. “We found these earlier. I figured you’d want to have Minji look them over. It seems like there’s some orders in there.”
“Oh, great.” I grinned and took the papers. “We tried looking in the Captain’s quarters earlier but didn’t find anything. I’m surprised to see they left them somewhere so easily found.”
“They probably weren’t planning on their ship being stolen anytime soon,” Hammer laughed.
“No, I guess not,” I agreed. “Thanks.”
“Of course.” The SEAL nodded. “I’ll pass along anything else we find, too.”
I nodded and led the girls back outside and down the stairs to the deck.
“Should I go over those while we do inventory?” Minji asked.
“That would be great,” I told her with a smile. “The sooner we know exactly what they’re up to, the better.”
“If there’s anything like that in there,” Paige said, and she pursed her lips. “That’s one thing I hate about this language barrier. Something could look important and just say, like, ‘need more cigarettes’ or something. It drives me crazy.”
“Probably because you want to know right away,” I chuckled. “You’re used to always knowing the answer, but unless you know the language, you won’t know the answer until you can figure it out.”
“It’s annoying,” the brunette huffed.
“Don’t worry,” Minji said with a smile as she grabbed the papers I held out for her. “I’m an expert with this stuff. I’ll have them all read in a jif.”
We made it down to the hold, and Paige and I started to go through all the equipment and supplies and separate them into categories. I wanted to just start tallying everything and add it all together at the end, but Paige said that could cause errors, and since she was the expert, I just went along with what she said.
Paige and I had started tallying plasma guns when Minji gasped, and both of our heads whipped toward the Korean woman.
“What is it?” Paige asked quickly as she rushed over to Minji.
“I’ve found some orders that outline their plan,” Minji said, and her face looked paler than usual.
“What do they say?” I asked seriously as I peered over her shoulder to look at the paper. It had a nice letterhead on it, and the NK flag as a seal at the top. It definitely looked legitimate.
“It says the West Coast was successfully taken,” Minji said, and she looked up at me with eyes glassy from being near tears.
“It’s okay,” I told her softly. “We’ll get it back.”
“I’m sorry,” she sniffled, and she wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. “I mean, I knew… I figured they’d taken it over, but just to see it declared so officially.”
“It’s sad,” Paige agreed. “But it’s good we found these.”
“It is.” I nodded. “What else do they say?”
“Right,” Minji said, and she took a deep breath and went to continue reading.
“Wait,” Paige said suddenly. “Should we call the girls down here? Don’t you think they should hear this?”
“You’re right,” I told her, and I grabbed my walkie from my waist and held it up to my mouth. “Anna, come in.”
“Anna’s still sick,” Bailey answered after a few seconds. “I don’t think she can talk.”
“Alright,” I said. “Grab her and Tara and meet us down in the hold.”
“Is everything okay?” Bailey asked.
“It’s fine,” I assured her. “There’s just something I want you to hear.”
“We’ll be right there,” the sniper promised. “Do I have to say over and out?”
“That’s okay,” I chuckled. “Just get down here.”
“Okay,” the blonde replied.
“I really appreciate you doing this for us,” I told Minji after I hung my walkie back on my hip.
“It’s my job,” she told me with a soft smile.
“Yeah, but you could have had any job you wanted,” I told her. “And you chose this one. I respect that. And I appreciate that you stayed to help out when a lot of soldiers fled once shit hit the fan. You’re very brave.”
“Oh, I… Thank you,” Minji nodded.
“Of course,” I told her. I’d meant what I said, and I felt like she could use a reminder of why she did this. Having to read those documents wasn’t going to be the easiest thing for her, I knew that, so I thought I’d try to help however I could.
After a few minutes, Tara came down the ladder to where we were at, and Bailey was right behind her.
Once Bailey was down, she stopped to help Anna, who was clearly still seasick.
The redhead breathed through her mouth, and her eyes were heavy as she walked over to us with her arm over Bailey’s shoulder.
“What’s going on?” Tara asked.
“Hammer gave us some documents to look through earlier,” I explained. “Minji translated them, and they have orders that detail the NKs’ plan.”
“Oh, shit,” the platinum-blonde said, and she sat down cross-legged on the floor. “What do they say?”
“Do they detail the whole plan?” Anna asked through labored breaths. “Or just from their current position?”
“We haven’t got that far,” Paige answered. “We wanted to call you all down here before we read any more.”
“Well, let’s get to it, then,” Tara said, and she bounced up and down slightly. “Once we know what these fuckers have planned, then we can totally take them all out super easy.”
“I wouldn’t say super easy,” I chuckled. “We still have to do all the work.”
“Yeah, but knowing what your opponent’s plan is?” Tara asked rhetorically. “That’s gold right there.”
The platinum-blonde wasn’t wrong. The details in these orders would be a huge advantage for us.
“Alright,” I said, and I turned to Minji. “Let’s hear it.”
“Like I said before,” the Korean woman started. “It says they’ve secured the west coast, as well as the plains.”
“Jesus,” Anna breathed, and her eyes were wide when they caught mine.
I smiled softly at the redhead, then I nodded to Minji to keep going. It was difficult to hear, I knew. The United States was the most powerful country in the world, and to think the majority of it had been taken over, that was unimaginable. But, we needed to hear it.
“It appears that’s where most of the troops were,” Minji said, and her eyes narrowed as she scanned the document. “They must have invaded from the west and planned to move east, but they’ve met resistance.”
“Where at?” Paige asked quickly.
“It says at the Appalachian Foothills north of Atlanta,” Minji read, then she looked up at me. “Aren’t Rangers trained in Georgia?”
“They are.” I nodded.
“If the majority of the troops came from the west, then the guys we took out here and the ones in Boston must be reinforcements, yeah?” Anna asked as she took a seat on the floor next to Tara.
“It refers to them as expeditionary forces,” Minji said.
“What does that mean?” Tara asked.
“It can mean a lot of different things,” I explained. “But it’s always a group sent to accomplish a specific task on foreign soil.”
“So what was their task?” Bailey asked.
“They were probably sent to take out as much of the eastern shore as they could,” I said. “That way they could surround the American troops in Georgia.”
“You thought they’d met resistance down south somewhere,” Bailey said. “You were right.”
“Yeah,” I sighed. I didn’t want to be right, but at least we had confirmation of where our boys were.
“What else does it say?” Tara asked.
“Oh, here,” M
inji said, and she pointed to the paper even though nobody else could read it. “It says the expeditionary forces were to take Washington D.C., then make their way down to Georgia to assist with the attack on the American resistance.”
“That means these orders are at least fairly recent, right?” Anna asked. “So, the American resistance still has to be there, right?”
“The Boston troops were moving out.” Paige nodded. “I’d say the orders still stand.”
“Which means we have to take out the Boston troops as soon as we get the chance,” I said. “Then we need to make our way to Atlanta. That’s where the real war is.”
“If we can get all these plasma weapons to the American troops already there, I bet that would help a lot,” Bailey said.
“No doubt.” I nodded.
“You don’t think they already have some?” Paige asked.
“Maybe a couple,” Anna said. “But nothing like what we have.”
“Yeah, the Navy guys didn’t even have plasma weapons before we got here,” Tara said, then she realized Minji was in the room still, and she smiled at the Korean woman. “No offense.”
“None taken,” Minji said seriously. “You’re right. You all have accomplished in days what we failed to accomplish in months. I have no doubt once we get down to Atlanta, you’ll do the same.”
“I appreciate that,” I told her. “But first we have to take out the Boston troops.”
“Right.” Anna nodded.
“How’s things going up there on deck?” I asked the girls.
“It’s getting pretty clean,” Bailey told me. “But it’s already mid-afternoon.”
“Shit,” I breathed and ran a hand through my hair. I hadn’t realized how late it was already. Between going through the training to steer the ship and sorting and tallying the cargo, time had flown by. And we hadn’t even gotten all the supplies tallied yet.
I didn’t want to stay out past dark, though, so I figured it was about time to head home. I’d post a few guys to keep watch on the ship, but the rest of us needed to get back to camp. After what happened the night before, I didn’t want to risk having our jeeps over there and a bunch of people on board, just in case there were more foot soldiers watching us.
I doubted there were, but I prefered to be extra careful in times like this. This wasn’t just one short mission we were going on that would be over in a day, this was an extended trip, and we were in new territory. Caution was our best bet.
I gave the order for everyone to head back in for the day, and based on Hammer’s recommendation, I posted Rivers, McDonald, Pike, and Smith aboard the ship for the evening.
The next day we’d finish cleaning up the bodies and tallying all the supplies, but the sun was beginning to sink below the horizon, and I wanted to be back at camp before dark.
As we drove to our temporary home, I thought how the day had flown by. The morning had been spent going over how to control the ship, and the afternoon was spent down in the hold sorting things and beginning the tally.
It got dark so early with the impending winter that it was probably only four-thirty or five o’clock, but darkness was dangerous, especially when there could still be NK soldiers around who knew the area.
Once we got back home, I got a fire going, and we all sat around and warmed our hands and feet. It was chilly out, and the heat from the flames felt great.
“I was thinking,” Anna said after a few minutes, and I was glad to see she seemed like she was feeling better after her bout of seasickness earlier.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“You think the Boston troops will try to radio in?” the redhead asked. “I mean, there’s a radio on the ship, right?”
“There is.” I nodded. “And I think they probably will.”
“They’d have to be in range, though,” Paige pointed out. “The radio on the ship will have a lot longer range than the walkies we have, but it’s not infinite. The Boston troops will still have to be within a certain distance.”
“Probably five-hundred miles or so,” I agreed. “And that’s if they are using satellites, otherwise much shorter.”
“If they do try and reach us, then we’ll know a general distance at least,” Paige said.
“What if we try to reach them?” Bailey asked. “Just in case they aren’t trying to contact us, but they’re in range?”
“That’s not a bad idea,” I said.
“We’d have to rely on Minji, though,” Paige said.
“Am I not reliable?” Minji asked with a serious face.
“Oh, no, I didn’t mean--” Paige backtracked.
“I’m teasing you, Paige,” Minji chuckled.
“Oh.” The brunette smiled with relief.
“I’m more than happy to help however I can,” Minji said seriously.
“That would mean you’d probably have to stay on the ship all the time,” Anna pointed out.
“I understand.” Minji nodded. “Those documents will make a great resource for communication as well. They give away some of the phrases they use, so I doubt I’ll have any trouble fooling them.”
“Weeeeelllll,” Tara said, and she pulled her lips back to expose her teeth in a sort of grimace. “There is one other thing.”
“What?” Minji asked, and her eyebrows furrowed together with confusion.
“Your voice,” Tara said.
“My voice?” Minji asked.
“You’re a woman,” the platinum-blonde pointed out.
“Oh,” Minji said as realization dawned on her face.
“Yeah,” Tara said. “I mean, did anybody see a single female soldier?”
“I’ve definitely seen female soldiers before,” Paige said. “But not on the boat.”
“You’ve seen girls?” Tara asked. “Really?”
“Yeah, me, too,” Anna agreed.
“What?” the platinum-blonde asked.
“To be honest, I don’t really look whether they’re male or female,” Bailey said. “So I have no idea if I’ve seen any or not.”
“You know, in NK all women are required to serve at least seven years in the military after they turn eighteen,” Paige said.
“Yes.” Minji nodded. “And men are required to serve ten.”
“It’s the longest required military service anywhere in the world,” I added.
“That’s insane,” Tara said. “How are they forcing people to be in the military for so long? Isn’t it only, like, two years in America?”
“It’s depends, and it’s voluntary,” I stated. “And you can choose to continue after that.”
“You just reenlist,” Minji agreed.
“Ten years,” Tara said with a shake of her head.
“Things are much different there than they are here,” the Korean woman said in a low voice, and she started into the fire and took a deep breath.
“Yeah, we’re called the land of the free for a reason,” Anna said.
“I guess I forget that not everywhere has the freedoms we do,” Tara said quietly.
“It’s easy to forget when it’s so normal to us.” Paige nodded.
“It is,” Minji said with a small smile.
“You should stay here tonight,” I told Minji. “We’ll get you set up to stay on the ship tomorrow.”
“That’s fine with me,” she agreed.
“How about something to eat, then?” Tara asked. “I’m starved.”
“Whoa, now,” Anna teased. “You’re starting to sound like Paige.”
“Hey!” Paige said, and she swatted Anna playfully.
“I don’t know if you’re saying Paige sounds like a pregnant lady, or…” Tara thought for a moment. “No, I feel like that’s pretty much what you’re saying.”
Paige glared at her, but Tara just smiled, blew her a kiss, and headed to gather some supplies for dinner.
“She’s not gonna be laughing when she’s the one with the giant belly,” Paige grumbled after Tara had walked away.
“I hear
d that!” the platinum-blonde called.
“She’s like a frickin’ bat,” Paige said, and she threw her hands up in exasperation.
“A bat?” Bailey asked.
“Yeah, they have really good hearing,” Paige explained.
“Right, right,” Bailey said, and she nodded and looked back toward the fire.
“It’s a thing,” Paige said. “They have good hearing!”
“Nobody’s arguing with you,” Anna said.
It was clear Bailey and Anna were messing around with her at that point, but Paige only fed into it by spouting off several more bat facts before Bailey and Anna started cracking up laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Tara asked as she walked back over to the fire.
“Your friends seem to be picking on Paige,” Minji chuckled.
“Oooh, fun,” the platinum-blonde said with a grin.
“I’m done with all of you for the night,” Paige joked.
“Fine, then no dinner for you,” Tara teased back.
The girls continued to tease each other as Tara opened several cans of vegetables and put them all in a large pot, then she tossed in some seasonings and set it on the fire.
It wasn’t long before the wonderful aroma of Tara’s cooking filled the air, and I felt my stomach grumble in response. Once again, we’d forgotten to eat lunch that day, and I inwardly scolded myself for not reminding everyone to eat.
It was important to keep our strength up, and at the very least we all needed to be drinking plenty of water, especially Tara. The platinum-blonde shouldn’t be skipping meals at all, and I made a mental note to have her pack extra food in her go bag so she could snack whenever she felt like it. We had plenty of supplies, and my first and foremost priority right then was making sure she and the baby were okay.
Once dinner was finished, I ate my stew quickly, then I headed to the tent to get ready for bed. We hadn’t gotten as much done that day as I’d hoped, and tomorrow wasn’t going to be the same way. I wanted a full tally of all our supplies, the ship completely clean, and our plan underway. We had information on Boston troops, now all we had to do was use it.
I woke the next morning before dawn, got a fire going, and gathered the supplies to make some coffee.