Missy's First Mission

by P. G. Allison

  The cave had been enlarged, with reinforcing beams positioned at several points, and went back into the mountain for over a hundred feet. Inside, beyond the camouflaged entrance, the ceiling rose to almost twenty feet. The cave was wide enough, once past the entrance, that vehicles could be parked two abreast. She counted thirteen vehicles inside, eleven trucks and two jeeps.

  As she went back outside, the wind shifted and she scented several horses and mules further down the valley. She scouted ahead, but avoided getting close enough where the animals might scent her. She knew they’d be terrified and would raise an alarm, waking up whatever human caretakers might be nearby. She soon was able to locate the large corral where these animals were all being kept, along with a small dwelling which was occupied by humans, based on the smoke coming out from its chimney.

  There also was a large barn nearby which contained several wagons. She knew these were probably being used to haul whatever had been brought in by the vehicles up to somewhere in the mountain. She had already scented some empty fuel barrels back in a few of those trucks. Yes, she was pretty sure she had located the new base. She went back to search for possible roadways up the mountain side.

  -----

  Dec 29, 2018

  Les was on the phone, talking to Drew Martinson who had just joined the group sitting around the speaker phone back at “P” Branch Headquarters. “Yeah, Drew, she’s following a well used pathway up the mountain and has just sighted what must be an outpost of some sort. There are two guards there, awake and obviously on duty, watching the roadway. She says she can sense there’s a lot more humans, further ahead, up on the mountain. Definitely, there must be some caves up there. This outpost is a couple hundred meters away from what’s probably the entrance. She’s going to have to circle around up above, which is somewhat tricky with all the ice and snow on those rocks so it may take a while.”

  Drew said, “This pathway … she says it’s covered with camouflage netting in most places?” He was staring at the map which had been marked up with what Missy had reported finding so far. “There’s nothing visible on that mountain, from all the satellite photos and surveillance films those drones have sent back. We’ve just reviewed all the stuff from the last few months. If that’s where the mystery base is, it’s really well hidden.”

  “Yes, and it’s the extent that everything seems to be camouflaged and hidden that’s making her feel certain this must be the base we were concerned about. That, plus the lack of any traffic by vehicles going further down into the valley. There’s something up there and now that she’s spotted guards on watch? This clearly is what all those rumors were about.”

  “Okay. Great. And, she knows to stay right there and report whatever she can learn about this base? She’s not planning to leave and go exploring anything else, at least not right away. Right?”

  Les said, “Mike told us she’s definitely staying right there. He’s actually worried. Now that she’s found guys actually standing around with guns … somehow, this whole recon thing has just become a lot more than her merely running around out there in the snow.”

  “Well, she knows we’ve only asked her to watch and report back what she can see. Strictly observation. Let’s see what she can tell us about all this over the next few days. It will be dawn over there in another hour. I’m sure she’ll be finding herself a nice hiding spot where she can hang out for a while. This is good news, Les. Great job by everyone involved.”

  -----

  Missy was hungry but ignored that. She was now high in a tree where she’d been watching the large cave entrance for a few hours. From what she’d seen and heard, and from all the scents she’d managed to pick up, there definitely was a lot happening deep inside the mountain. There had to be a significant cave complex going way back, once past that entrance.

  Earlier, she had explored the mountain side higher up, well above this entrance, and had found several ventilation shafts. These had all been camouflaged to prevent both heat and light signatures from being evident to overhead spy cameras, but with her sensitive nose, she had not had any difficulty in finding them.

  She had also found three additional openings, large enough for personnel, much higher up than the main entrance; these had barely accessible footpaths down to the main roadway but also had trails going back up into the mountains. While personnel might be able to access these, they wouldn’t be of much use for bringing in any supplies. They also did not appear to be getting much use, as there were no tracks in the snow. These looked more like escape exits than anything else.

  The guards kept changing every four hours. In addition to the two at the outpost back down the road, there were two more soldiers right near the main entrance. And, although she didn’t understand the language, she could hear frequent radio transmissions. She suspected there were other guards stationed in the area where they could report on anything that might be approaching from the road or from the air.

  There had been a patrol that had gone out that morning, evidently on some sort of training mission. But, no wagons had shown up yet. She was guessing this base had probably stored enough provisions that they wouldn’t need to be resupplied that much during the bad weather. And, it had been snowing off and on for a few days now. The training patrol had just returned. She planned to recon the areas they’d been to, once it got dark again. She also planned to find herself a meal. Then, maybe she’d see if she could somehow sneak inside that cave complex, using one of those openings higher up.

  Although those higher openings apparently weren’t being guarded, she knew there might be some sort of electronic surveillance. So, during her earlier explorations that morning, she had purposely gone right up close to the highest opening, leaving plenty of her cat tracks in the snow. She now planned on returning to see if anyone had come outside, checking for what might have tripped whatever sensors might be up there.

  Chapter Ten

  Dec 29, 2018

  Mike explained, again, what Missy had just told him. “She’s going in. There was no scent of anyone bothering to go anywhere near that opening up top where she’d left her tracks earlier … she’s pretty certain she can get inside and explore whatever caves are there. She should be able to scent whether anyone is approaching and, since those probably are just a lot of natural caves that have been excavated and reinforced, she’s figuring there should be plenty of hiding places.”

  Marsha said, “But, that’s not necessary, Mike. That’s much too risky!” She looked at Les, who was also as concerned as she was. “This is only supposed to be recon. Missy knows that. We talked about this …”

  “Actually, now that I think back, Missy never actually said that much or gave us any assurances about what she would or wouldn’t do. While we were all busy telling her about these various scenarios, assuring her how we wanted to limit the risks, she was merely listening.” Les looked at Mike and asked, “Do you recall her saying anything about risks, either way?”

  “No, she only listened when you guys were explaining things in that conference room. You all were pretty busy briefing the two of us about everything … all those details you knew about along with those things you could merely guess at. She only asked a few questions when she needed clarification. Then, she told you she was in.” Mike smiled. “We both understood what you guys were really asking for.”

  Marsha sputtered, “But … but, going inside the base? She has to know that’s not what we were asking for. We kept telling her how this was supposed to just be a firsthand look, which only a mountain lion could possibly manage. Especially this time of year. And, she’s now found the base, which is a huge accomplishment. There was no mention of her going into any of the places she’d be locating for us. We assumed that was a given. She even told me she’d be naming possible landing zones, in case we wanted to send in that Special Forces team we have on standby.”

  “Well, yes, but she’s been doing that. See?” Mike pointed to their map, where they’d marked the latest landing zone
as Hancock. She’d been using names of various U.S. Presidents for each one. “But, there’s certainly no reason to send anyone in there as yet. She knows that. Only if there’s a chance for an actual rescue operation, with minimal risk, right? I’m sure she figures the worst that could happen is they’ll think some wild cat wandered in. She won’t let herself get trapped in there. Missy really wants to find those kidnapped engineers.”

  -----

  Missy was impressed. There were dozens of natural caves and a lot of work had been done, connecting them and excavating them into larger sizes. There were reinforcing timbers everywhere. She had been working her way, gradually moving down to the lower levels, and her enhanced senses were all in overdrive. She’d had no difficulty in avoiding being seen, so far. The upper levels were primarily where soldiers were bunking and almost everyone had been sleeping soundly.

  She had detected two persons getting up, but they had only needed to use the latrine. She’d remained hidden until they each had returned to their bunk and then she’d quietly slipped past. Those areas which had been made into sleeping quarters were typically caves about six to ten feet wide by twelve to twenty feet deep and had five to seven feet of headroom. A lot of smaller caves were being used for storage. From the scent of the boxes and crates, the storage in the upper levels was mostly for ammunition. And, use of electricity was minimal up there, with most of the lighting being provided by oil lamps placed at infrequent locations. The connecting corridors and tunnels twisted and turned so there were a lot of darkened areas. The men who’d gotten up had used flashlights to find their way back and forth. She was having no problem, of course, as there was plenty of light for her to see things by, thanks to her enhanced vision. And, there were plenty of adequate hiding places along the way, in the smaller cavities where supplies and ammo were being stored. She couldn’t have hoped for things to be any better.

  Once she’d gotten down to the lower levels, there had been fewer sleeping areas. The corridors were larger and there was more lighting. As she explored each new cave area, with no one being up and about, she was able to move more quickly. She’d been inside for six hours and she knew all the descriptions she’d been sending back to Mike ought to provide “P” Branch with enough for some fairly accurate mapping and floorplans.

  Mike had gotten rather excited, about twenty minutes after she’d gone inside, but after she’d asked him a few questions she’d soon managed to determine what his concern was. Her GPS signals were no longer being received. Fortunately, whatever energy was allowing her to communicate with Mike and experience his emotions was not being affected. Yea, mating bond!

  She had just finished checking out a second classroom, this one equipped with computers and various high tech electronic equipment, when she heard two men approaching from further down the corridor. She waited several minutes after they’d gone by and then she continued her exploring. So much to see and do!

  -----

  Dec 30, 2018

  Drew Martinson was sitting quietly while the eighteen others in the conference room continued to delve through his latest report, which included three dimensional floor plans and cutaway cross section diagrams which his office had used computers to generate, based on all the detailed measurements that Missy had provided.

  She had worked her way down from the top level to the lowest level, describing everything with an incredible amount of detail, all things considered. In addition to all the sleeping areas, plus the stores of supplies and ammo, she had found a number of interesting areas. The maze of interconnecting caves made quite a labyrinth.

  There was a hospital area, with not only an infirmary section but also a couple of rooms that probably could be used for surgeries, based on the equipment she had described being in there. Presently, only three men were in the infirmary but there were cots for at least twenty four. There were two male nurses. Missy hadn’t known how many doctors there might be, or where they were sleeping, but the nurses had bunks right near the infirmary area.

  There was a large mosque. There was a huge conference room. There were several large storage areas. And, there were two control rooms. The smaller control room, which was ten feet by fifteen feet, had most of the radio and telecommunications equipment. In the larger one, there were several flat screen monitors, but only one was turned on and displaying anything. It had looked like a map of the Mid-East but Missy hadn’t bothered to study it or make any attempt at guessing what that map meant.

  She had spent two additional hours checking out these lower level rooms, going slowly from one hiding place to the next, as there were personnel wide awake inside the smaller control room with others coming and going at odd intervals during the night. She’d been very quiet and careful and no one had noticed her prowling around.

  There was a large cave containing several generators. Two were operating while three more appeared capable of being run, with another two that were spares. There were five large fuel tanks, one for each of the operational units. In a nearby cave, fifty-five gallon barrels were stacked up, three high. There was a crane rail overhead. Sixty four of these barrels appeared to contain fuel while twenty two were empty. The empty barrels were positioned where it was obvious they’d be getting sent down the mountain for refill, probably once the weather conditions improved.

  There was a large kitchen area and an even larger mess area where the food was served with tables for seating over sixty all at once. Missy had provided an estimate, based on the eighty one men she’d counted so far and the layout of all these various areas, that perhaps as many as a hundred and twenty might currently be living there in this base. She had explained there were corridors leading to more upper levels that she’d not yet explored, which was where she figured the additional men were located. She also still hoped to find the kidnapped engineers, but so far she had not seen anywhere that prisoners were being held.

  Then, once morning had come and she had detected more and more activity with everyone rising and coming down to eat, she had hidden in the rear area of the kitchen behind several crates containing food. She had settled down to spend the day in there; it was a convenient hiding spot -- one of the smaller cave areas but with entrances from two separate corridors -- which was why she’d chosen to stay there. From the scent of those corridors, neither was being used very often and both corridors had other places she could quickly duck into if she needed to get out of where she was. She had settled down and had actually napped. Checking out the upper levels that she’d not yet visited would not be until evening, when everyone was sleeping once again.

  All of the information she had provided so far had gone into the report that Drew had just presented. His audience included top officials from the military, Homeland Security, the FBI and CIA, both houses of Congress, and high ranking cabinet members from the White House.

  Drew had explained that his “asset” was not finished in there yet but he believed the information his team had put together so far warranted his calling this meeting. It would be another day or two, perhaps, for the full report to be available. But, with so many people away over the New Year’s Holiday, the preliminary report he’d just given them was too important to postpone for any longer. If any orders needed to be given, cancelling vacations and bringing key personnel in over the holidays, those orders needed to be issued right away.

  Ted Hanson, the Deputy Secretary of State said, “While I can appreciate why our military folks might be interested in all of this -- assuming it’s accurate, which we really have no way of determining -- that doesn’t rise to where any actions are needed. At least, not right now. Or, am I missing something?”

  Lieutenant General Blake turned to the Secretary of Defense and asked, “We’ve agreed to your request to have one Special Forces A-Team standing by for a possible rescue over there. But, I agree … until we can verify what’s in this report, I don’t see anyone else in our forces taking any direct actions. Even then, I’m not clear what we’d want to do.” He was the Deputy
Commander for U.S. Central Command or CENTCOM, which was responsible for operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East. He had already been selected for promotion to four stars and would be replacing the current CENTCOM Commander in a few months. Any military actions would likely be executed by directives going down through U.S. Central Command.

  The Defense Secretary said, “Everyone in this room is aware that Drew and his team are getting this information from someone actually in those caves right now. His asset, as he likes to call this person, is not merely some psychic dreaming this stuff up. This is firsthand observation by one of those supernatural entities his branch monitors, so let’s stop questioning whether or not it’s accurate. Yes, it’s rather unbelievable that such observation is possible, but -- whoever or whatever this person or entity is -- they are there and this military base is there. No, we can’t publish any of this, either to our own military or to our allies. But, that was never the intent of this reconnaissance.”

  General Blake asked, “This report can never be issued as anything official?”

  “No,” said the Defense Secretary. “But, while the information is not official, it’s certainly good to know. I want to make appropriate use of all this knowledge. Now that we know what’s there, we can assure our military planning and resources are directed accordingly. It’s up to each of you to make that happen, without revealing what it is we now know. Yes, it will take time to validate all of this, in ways that don’t reveal we already knew about it or that “P” Branch was our source. But, knowing what we now know, I’m sure we can find ways to make most of this official, using other methods and without any reference to Drew’s report.”