It seemed eerie that the only other vehicles they saw so far were ones abandoned on the side of the road. Had that many people either died or went to the camps to cause the area to be this empty? The thought made Will’s blood boil. He pushed the thought away. He didn’t want to be fuming the whole time. He also didn’t want to drop into one of his dark, depressing moods.
As they could start to see the white canvas in the distance that was typical of refugee camps, Will began to wonder what Marcus’s plan was. He had said that he had one, but he definitely hadn’t told him yet.
“So, Marcus,” Will began, “you never did say what the plan to get into this camp and get transportation was.”
“We are going to walk right in like we own the place,” Marcus said.
Will waited for more of the plan. He eventually raised an eyebrow when one didn’t seem to be coming.
“That...that’s it?” Will asked.
“Basically,” Marcus said. “I’ve had a successful career talking my way into things and places I don’t really belong. You have to do that to make it in the media. If you are a young investigative reporter and you let another network get the exclusive interview or break some big story before you, that very well could be the end of your career. Just follow my lead. Leave the talking to me.”
Will suddenly lost some of his confidence in Marcus. He wondered if the plan to get into Cheyenne Mountain was as solid as he thought. They turned onto the dirt road that led up to the entrance of the camp. Will couldn’t believe the size of the camp. It was massive. Looking to his left and right, it stretched to the horizon all around him.
“Are all of these camps around the country this huge?” Will asked.
“All the ones I’ve seen are,” Marcus said.
Will shook his head. “I guess they would need this many people to rebuild the entire country after the destruction they caused.”
Marcus didn’t comment any further. He reached out his hand and tapped it on Will’s arm. “Remember, let me do the talking.”
They had reached the entrance and two CMA security guards stepped up to the truck.
“Are you two here to seek refuge...” the guard had paused. He had just noticed Marcus. “Are you...are you Marcus Braden?”
“Yes,” Marcus said. “What seems to be the problem?”
“It’s all over the news that you are dead. Died in a plane crash in the Nevada desert,” the guard said. He still had a surprised and confused look on his face.
“Yep, that’s what happened,” Marcus said jokingly. “In all seriousness, as far as you know, the story you’ve heard is what happened.” Marcus’s face turned serious quickly.
“I...think I understand,” the guard said.
“No, I don’t want you to think you understand. I need you to understand,” Marcus said. He dipped his chin and kept his gaze steady on the guard just outside his open window. “If you have trouble understanding, I’ll make sure Mara hears about this. If you know her at all, you know that she is very keen on re-education.” Marcus didn’t know if that was true or not. He had only briefly talked with Mara during the last big meeting he was in. “Now, if there’s nothing else you two need, Mara has an assignment for me to complete.”
“Where’s your camera?” the other security guard said. He stood outside Will’s open window. He had remained quiet up until then. He appeared quite serious. He also appeared to be eyeing the pistol on Will’s side.
Before Marcus could come up with an excuse, Will decided to give it a go. “Not all tasks that we complete have to do with what shows up on t.v., if you catch my drift.”
The guard looked back and forth between Will and Marcus. Will had had a boost of confidence when he decided to give the storytelling a try, but now the piercing silence and the steady look on the guard’s face was causing that confidence to drain.
“Look, sir,” Will said, “you’ve seen on the news that he is dead.” He jabbed his thumb in Marcus’s direction. “There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes that not every single person knows about. Mara has us on a tight schedule and we need to get going.”
The guard nodded. “I was just making small talk. I’ve never talked to a dead man before.” A slight grin formed on his face. “You can proceed.”
Will smiled back. “Thank you, sir.”
As they pulled away, Will could see in his mirror that the guard still looked a little suspicious of them.
“What was that?” Marcus asked. He kept facing forward to not alarm the two guards. They were still watching them drive into the camp.
“I thought it seemed legitimate,” Will said. “It seemed like you needed a little help.”
Marcus finally turned towards Will as they were a good distance from the gate. He dipped his chin and raised a single eyebrow at Will.
“You think I needed help?” Marcus asked.
Will laughed. “We are in, aren’t we?”
Marcus responded, “Stick with the plan.”
Will still chuckled for another minute. After he regained his composure he asked, “So, where am I driving to?”
“Glad you could rejoin me,” Marcus said with a hint of sarcasm. “It looked like the aviation area of the camp was on the opposite side.” He pointed straight ahead. “Just keep on this pathway all the way across.”
After a few more minutes of driving, they arrived on the opposite side of the camp. Marcus had been right. This side of the camp was littered with helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft as well. Marcus noticed that this camp had the luxury of having a runway on site. It wasn’t a runway in the usual meaning of the word. They had simply flattened out the farm fields to accommodate the smaller fixed-wing airplanes that were parked all over.
Marcus explained this portion of the plan to Will. They were going to be borrowing one of these aircraft and flying to Colorado Springs.
“Are you a pilot?” Will asked.
“Just became one this week,” Marcus said. “Didn’t you see my landing?”
Now it was Will’s turn for the piercing stare at Marcus. Marcus explained that they’d be borrowing a pilot. He would do this all the time at the camp he was at in the northeast. They would have to keep up the story of his death being faked and that they had much more important and secretive work to do for the CMA. Marcus also warned Will that they should keep quiet during the flight. They didn’t want to slip up by discussing any of their plans and have the pilot pass the information on ahead of their arrival.
They pulled up near a tent that sat apart from the rest of the tents in the camp. It was surrounded by helicopters so they assumed it was acting as the hub for aviation in the camp. Marcus pulled a credentials badge out of his pocket and wrapped the lanyard around his neck.
“Don’t know why I didn’t think of this for when we tried to enter the camp,” Marcus said.
They walked around to the tent’s entrance. As they entered, they felt a wave of cool air. There was a swamp cooler on the opposite side of the tent blasting cool air all the way across the tent. The inside of this tent was nothing like any of the tents Marcus had been in at the camp he lived at. It was mostly empty. A few workbenches lined the edge. It smelled of oil and grease and burning electricity. This had to be what was acting as the maintenance hanger.
They spotted a man to their left in the corner of the tent. He had his legs propped up on a desk and he looked to be reading a magazine. For a brief moment as they walked over to the man, Marcus wondered if this might be the pilot that pointed him westward in the King Air and then jumped. They approached him and Marcus cleared his throat. The man laid the magazine down on his chest and looked over at the two men that had just approached him. He noticed Marcus’s credential badge first and stood fairly quickly. He then shifted his gaze to Marcus’s face. It took the man a moment to register who he was seeing and then his eyes widened and he took a step back. Marcus was relieved that it didn’t appear to be the same pilot.
“Yes, yes, yes,” Marcus said, “you�
�ve seen the news that I’m dead. Big surprise, I’m here. And, I’m not dead. What’s your name, son?”
“Uh...Jay,” he said in an unsure tone.
“Is that a question?” Marcus asked.
“No...my name is Jay.” he said more confidently.
“Jay,” Marcus said, “there is something you need to understand. As far as anyone is concerned, including yourself, you never saw me or him.” He pointed to Will. “Do you understand?”
Jay nodded.
“Are you a pilot?” Marcus asked.
“Yes, sir,” Jay said. “For both rotor and fixed-wing. Pretty much everything we have here at the camp.”
“Good,” Marcus said. “Mara has an important task for my friend and I. We need your assistance. Why don’t you go get an airplane ready? You’ll be taking us to Colorado Springs.”
“Yes, sir,” Jay said. He ran behind the desk and grabbed a bag. He took a pen from the desktop and was about to write on a clipboard.
“Oh, no,” Marcus said waving his hands from side to side. “This is a level one security operation. No records on documents from your security level.”
Jay had a growing look of concern on his face but he continued to go along with whatever Marcus was telling him. He placed the pen down and nodded. He took the bag and started for the exit.
“I’ll get the plane pre-flighted,” Jay said. “You can come with me now and wait in the plane or wait for me to be done. It shouldn’t take too long.”
“We can come with you now,” Marcus said.
Marcus had the slight worry that this young guy might try to call someone above Marcus’s head to verify that he should be doing this flight. They walked around the tent and when Marcus saw the airplane his stomach sank. It was a King Air, identical to the one he flew into the ground.
“Figures,” he muttered to himself under his breath.
Marcus did his best to hide his growing anxiety but he was pretty sure that Will could pick up on it. Marcus and Will got settled in their seats while Jay walked around the aircraft. Marcus kept an eye on him as best as he could through the small, round windows.
Jay reentered the aircraft and closed up the door. He picked up a small cooler that had been sitting on the floor.
“There are some drinks in here. They should still be cold.” He pointed to a bag that also sat on the floor. “There are some snacks in there. Give me about ten minutes to do the flight planning and we should be on our way.” He grabbed a tablet computer out of the bag on his shoulder and went to sit in the pilot’s seat.
Marcus eyed the cooler. He wondered if it had any more off-brand soda cans.
Jay turned after a minute. “Mr. Braden, sir?”
“Yes?” Marcus said.
“I just wanted to double-check,” Jay said. “Am I filing a flight plan for this flight? The CMA likes it that way for all flights.”
“This isn’t all flights,” Marcus said. “No flight plan.”
“I’ll still have to talk to air traffic control in some of the areas we’ll be flying.”
“That’s fine,” Marcus said. “Just remember, I’m not here and neither is he.”
Jay nodded and returned to his flight planning. After a few minutes more, Jay turned back again.”
“Strap in tight,” Jay said. “Looks like it’s a bumpy day over the Rockies.”
The announcement made Marcus slump in his seat and let out a deep sigh.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Marcus and Will unbuckled as the plane came to a stop on the ramp. Sweat lined Marcus’s forehead. He stood and put on his suit jacket. He wanted to cover any sweat stains that might be present on his shirt after the turbulent flight. Turbulence and flying didn’t normally bother him, but after having crashed in the same type airplane he was riding in again, his thoughts on flying were beginning to change.
Marcus looked to Will. He was yawning. He slept the entire flight. Marcus shook his head. He hoped he wasn’t getting this young guy into more than they could handle. Marcus stopped at the cockpit as they were about to exit.
“You’ve done good Jay,” Marcus said. “Now get this plane back to your camp. Remember, don’t say a peep about us. If anyone asks, you were doing a special level one security job for Mara. You know Mara, right?”
Jay nodded his head. “Fuel truck just started loading me up for the trip home.”
“Good,” Marcus said.
Marcus leaned forward to shake Jay’s hand and must have lost his balance and toppled down in between the two pilot seats. Will was right behind him and helped him up. Jay helped as best as he could from his confined seating area by allowing Marcus to hold on to his arm.
“Whoops,” Marcus said. “I’m alright, guys. Thanks for the help.”
He extended his hand again and Jay took it. Marcus and Will stepped onto the ramp. Jay closed the door up behind them. They walked around the plane and towards a small terminal building.
“You okay?” Will asked. “That had to have been killer on your ribs.”
“Not to worry, my young student,” Marcus said. “I’m getting quite a bit better at this spy game.” He pulled a phone from his pocket. He quickly glanced back to ensure that the King Air was taxiing back out. The fuel truck had just pulled away and the propellers were starting to rotate.
“Looks like a phone,” Will said. “It probably doesn’t work. We lost all service the day the CMA pulled the country into the gutter.”
“This is no ordinary phone,” Marcus said with a sly grin. “This is a CMA satellite phone. All of their phones still work.”
“If you’ve had that this whole time, why didn’t you use it?” Will asked with a puzzled look on his face.
“My fall in there was controlled,” Marcus said. “I saw Jay check the time on this thing about every twenty minutes for the entire flight. I could tell it was a CMA phone. They made me start carrying one like the day after they took over everything. I knew I had to snatch it from him. Luckily he had dropped it on the floor while landing. He’ll probably assume it slid back somewhere and will have to look for it once he gets back home.”
“Sneaky sneaky,” Will said as a smile grew on his face. “But, who are you going to call? Isn’t it just CMA phones that work?”
“Thomas from the ARF must have had a sat phone as well,” Marcus said. “Before we had to start using more clandestine methods of communicating, we still used phones. In fact, my personal phone had still worked. I wonder if they shut down communications by location rather than a blanket across the whole country. Anyway, I need to try to get a hold of Thomas and also one other person.”
“Who?” Will asked.
“My brother,” Marcus said.
*****
“General here,” the gravelly voice answered. He sounded annoyed.
“Now don’t go promoting yourself Private Ray,” Marcus said.
“Talking Head!? Is that you!?” Ray said.
“Yes, sir,” Marcus said.
Will had leaned in as close as he could to Marcus to try to hear the conversation over the phone. Private? Talking Head? Were these code words?
“How is that possible?” Ray said. “The news played a memorial for you.”
“Wow,” Marcus said. “That would’ve been interesting to see. Listen, Private, keep up the nicknames. I’m on a CMA phone.”
“You called me on a CMA phone? What the-”
Marcus cut him off. “Just keep to the nicknames. I’m pretty sure they won’t care about this number. Also, I think the CMA is way too busy right now. I think they are about to ramp up something terrible.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard,” Ray said grimly.
“I’m curious what you’ve heard from the military perspective,” Marcus said.
“What do you mean?” Ray said. “I’ve heard everything you told the dog unit.”
“The dog unit?” Marcus asked.
“Yeah,” Ray said. “You know, ‘arf?’” He sounded it out like a dog’s bark rather t
han saying the three letters Marcus always referred to it as, ARF.
“You’re working with Thomas?” Marcus was perplexed.
“Yeah,” Ray said, “didn’t he ever tell you? I was the one that suggested he contact you. Man, you are pretty dumb for a giant talking head.” He laughed.
“Ha ha,” Marcus said slowly in a sarcastic tone. “He never told me. Anyway, I’ve got a plan and I need your help. Do you have a way to move around the country?”
“Affirmative, Head,” Ray said.
“Good,” Marcus said. “Do you remember the place that Dad took us camping and hiking when we were teenagers?”
“Affirmative,” Ray said. “I’m already here.”
It turned out that another contact at Marcus’s home camp had passed on to the ARF where all the big-wigs of the CMA were headed. Marcus knew it had to be Blake. Marcus made arrangements with his brother to get picked up.
Once Will and Marcus stepped into the small terminal where the private planes would park, Marcus immediately went to the small shopping area. He grabbed a hat and sunglasses to help disguise himself. He noted in a mirror as he adjusted the hat that he was looking quite scruffy. This was probably the longest he had gone without shaving since he was a pubescent-thirteen-year old. His line of work was all about appearance.
“I think you’ll be able to pass,” Will said. “You kinda look like a homeless person.”
“Hey!” Marcus said. “Pretty harsh.”
Will laughed to indicate he was kidding with him. “Nice choice of a hat, by the way.”
Marcus looked in the mirror again. He had grabbed the items without caring what they said. He hadn’t realized that the small terminal also doubled as a school for beginning pilots. The face of the hat read, ‘MAY YOUR LANDINGS ALWAYS EQUAL YOUR TAKEOFFS.’
Marcus shook his head. “Just perfect.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
From Within Page 22