by Chris Hechtl
“We'll need paper,” she said. “Books, materials...”
“Well, books we can get you. But paper,” Jayne looked at Shane. He shrugged.
“What we want to do is move from a paper standard to an electronic one,” he explained, leaning forward as he pulled his tablet out and set it in front of him.
“Electronic?” she asked, wrinkling her nose. “I'm... we had discussed that before but the budget...”
“Doesn't really matter,” Shane said with a shrug and a smile. “We're past financial budgets right now. At least for the interim. If you want something we'll check inventory and our goals and then try to get you it. Sometimes not all of what you want. There are no guarantees.”
“Why...”
“Why not paper?” Jayne asked smiling. “Because we've got a finite supply. No one is cutting trees or shipping paper products to us. What we have on hand is it. We've got plenty for now, but eventually it will run out. When it does we're SOL. So its better to make the transition now when you’re first setting up over trying to dislocate everything later,” she explained patiently.
“Ah,” Lorraine said, nodding. “That sounds logical.”
“Don't even get me started on toilet paper,” Bob said darkly. The others winced.
“Yeah,” Tamara said, patting his hand. “Let's not go there.”
“But we will have to face it eventually,” Jen sighed. “I'm trying to get people to start using wash cloths. I'm not really getting anywhere though.”
“About the tablets...” Miss Dagget said steering them back on topic.
“Its... we also have a finite number of electronic devices. Which is also a problem. But Gabe has plenty of servers and net space. Bandwidth is a bit touchy in some spots, but for doing stuff off the net your students don't need it. The kids will need to be careful with what they've got. Anyone who breaks one is out in the cold,” Jen explained. Lorraine winced but nodded.
“We're working on it,” Shane said sighing softly. “Work in progress. All of this. Now, before we end this, does anyone have any issues that need to be brought up?” he asked. The others shook their heads. He nodded after a moment. “Okay then, Wayne, I'll meet you in the motor pool in fifteen. Ladies, Gentlemen,” he said getting up. The others followed suit. “Have a good day,” he said.
The others murmured similar things as they filed out.
Chapter 25
“We've got some news,” Bob said as the council sat. Shane grunted. He wanted to get out the door fast. The last council meeting yesterday morning had eaten up an hour. An hour he could have spent out in the field with his team. Playing politics was increasingly getting in the way of killing and breaking things. He was starting to dread some of these meetings.
“Good news I hope,” Shane sighed as he set his cup of coffee down.
“Yeah, it turns out that those apartments on the corner of Day and Eucalyptus are occupied. And getting more and more occupied every day. By people.”
“Really?”
“I must have missed them when I checked Edgemont,” Wayne said.
“Not your area actually. They are also keeping a low profile. Or were. We've done some diplomacy with them and when they saw that we had the cement plant back up and running they took an interest in coming out and doing some work of their own. Besides, you got distracted picking up Kyle and Jolie,” Jen said with a smile.
“True.”
“They are turning the place into a fortress. We're working with them to secure that corner and section of the street. They are keeping their intent to themselves. I don't know if they have the resources or the fire power... or the manpower for that matter but they are pretty determined to hold out as independents.”
“Good.”
“I'm issuing new equipment now,” Jen said as Shane started to get up. “So there is a hold on all field ops for a little while. An hour or two at the most.”
“Jen...” he sighed.
“Helmets, body armor, and pads. I'm getting any helmet I can into the hands of as many people as I can.”
“Do we need to do this now?” he asked plaintively. Seriously, couldn't she have done this at night?
“Yes,” she said tightly, eyes narrowing.
“I put her up to it actually,” Ross said.
“Well, you and me both,” Doctor Niederman said with a raised hand. “We've had several head injuries come in. It seems reckless to send people out into combat without head protection. We've got some helmets, why not use them?” he asked.
“Okay...”
“It's only a couple of hours. Let them go through their gear and start thinking about safety. We really should have thought of this before.”
“Just as long as they don't expect armor from Halo or something.” He was really afraid of some of his crew running into problems with weight, movement and visibility. They'd have to adjust in the field in combat conditions, not a good thing.
“Perish the thought. But even you grunts in the military had to have something to protect what little brains you have,” Jen said with a bite in her voice.
“Yes ma'am,” he sighed, knowing when he'd been outvoted and out ranked.
“And don't you forget it,” she murmured. Jerry shot her an amused look. She shrugged it off.
Ross nodded. “Since we've got you for a little while longer we wanted to go over the projections one more time and work on this new defensive plan. We're extending the perimeter and you said you want interlocking fields and zones... What we'd like to do...”
...*...*...*...*...
“What's the deal?” Bobby asked as the men and women of his team milled about.
They looked up and flashed him a smile or nod. His team had come a long way in the couple of weeks since the invasion. They still had a long way to go however.
“Apparently they want us to wear helmets. And we're hitting construction sites today.” There was a grimace over that. At least the sites were mostly outdoors so there was less risk of a jack in the box. Well, for the out in the open stuff. But the damn aliens had a way of getting in under stuff. He was losing one or two people a day as casualties, and another two or three from people who just couldn't hack the constant threat and gave up. So far his team hadn't had a suicide and he wanted to keep it that way.
“Oh?” Bobby asked. He flexed his shoulder. His arm hurt, but it wasn't bad. The cuts would heal in a week or so. The head wound sucked, but as long as he didn't make faces or touch it with anything he was good.
“Yeah, should you be up and about? You look like shit,” Torres said giving him a look as she came over.
“Thanks, love you too honey bunch,” he said shaking his head. She gave him a cool look. He flashed a boyish smile and ignored her.
“So what's the hold up?”
“Boss man is busy. We're supposed to get stuff from the construction sites.”
“Yeah, I gathered that.”
“You can't um...”
“I'm not going to heft, but I can drive just fine thanks,” Bobby said.
“Oh, okay,” Tater said with a nod. “Boss man is stuck; they want to expand bad since we've been swamped. I dunno...” He shrugged as Torres whistled and waved her team into motion.
“Well, we can't sit on our asses all day. Anyone got a map of where we need to go?” Bobby asked.
“No, that's the other problem. Well, one of them anyway,” Tater said. He nodded his chin to the sound of carts behind them. Bobby turned and watched a push pull dump a load of what looked like helmets of all sorts all over the place.
“Someone, damn it someone give me a hand here will you?” the driver said, sounding more than a little exasperated. Bobby couldn't help himself, he clapped. After a moment the others joined in.
The guy looked up in surprise and then flicked them an annoyed look and the finger with both hands. Bobby smirked and hobbled over. “What's going on?” he asked.
“This is the shit you've been waiting on,” the guy said handing him a footb
all helmet.
“Um...”
“That's the third thing. Miss Safety conscious decreed we all wear helmets.”
“Um... Torres...”
“She'll get hers later,” a female voice said in the entryway. He turned to see Jen squinting as she stepped out into the light. Instinctively Bobby straightened.
“Ma'am,” Tater said with a nod.
“Knock it off Tater, kiss ass later,” Jen growled as she went over to a truck. The boys shot each other an amused look. “Listen up!” she said raising her voice as Tater blinked in surprise and Bobby smirked at him. “I said listen up!” she yelled, looking around the group. After a moment they stopped talking or prepping gear and turned their attention to her.
“We've got a new mission for you; you're going to hit the construction sites. My husband is busy coordinating the move so you're on your own. It shouldn't be that hard. Find a site, pick it clean and move onto the next. Got that?” she asked, hands on her hips.
“Damn,” Tater said softly.
“Quit drooling, the woman's taken,” Bobby said elbowing him in the ribs. Tater wiped at his mouth and snorted. “What's on the shopping list?” Bobby asked, raising his voice.
“I've already e-mailed it to each of you. Construction material like cement is a biggy. Also damn heavy so use the forklifts if you can,” she said.
“Great,” Tater sighed. “What's with the helmets?” he asked, raising his own voice. Bobby checked the list. He pursed his lips. Just about everything not nailed down, hell okay; most everything even nailed down was on the list.
“From now on everyone is wearing a helmet.” She ignored the grumbling that brought. “I'm serious. The last thing you need is to be dropped by a piece of falling debris.” She gave Bobby a knowing look. He waved a hand in surrender.
“She's right,” Bobby said after a moment. He wasn't keen about the damn padding rubbing the wound though. It'd sting. Shit.
“We're not in construction,” someone protested.
“No, you're business is snatch and grab and destruction. Even military and SWAT wore helmets. I don't care what kind you wear but you will wear one. Face mask is optional. Capiche?” she growled.
“They get it. So do I. Took a knock to the noggin but I think we all can see its a good idea,” Bobby said with a wave, picking up a bicycle helmet that had fallen nearby. “Pink's not really my color though,” he tossed the child's bike helmet to Tater.
There was a sputter of laughter as Tater caught it and then looked it over. He shook his head and tossed it to the guy handing out helmets.
“Keep them clean and in good order. If we've got enough you can hang onto it with your kit and even personalize it later.”
“I want one with a Mohawk,” Tater said grinning.
“You would. I prefer horns myself,” another guy said picking up a motorcycle helmet. “Face shield, hmmm. Okay, this I like. Keep from getting splattered by a gusher,” he said putting the helmet on and flipping the visor closed. “Plus I don't like the idea of getting my eyes clawed out.”
“Exactly. It's the simple things that can help keep you alive to see another sunrise. The construction sites are mostly exposed so I hope you won’t have any problems with aliens. If you need support let us know.”
“Gotcha,” Bobby said picking out a bike helmet in black and purple and strapping it on. “Let's get loaded up and moving folks, we're burning daylight,” he said.
...*...*...*...*...
Bobby frowned as the cement truck came rumbling up. “Don't tell me,” he said.
“I dunno, I dunno...”
“Think there is anything in it?” Bob asked.
“Probably not. Hopefully not,” Miguel said with an amused look to his boss. “Dude did you ever see how they got it out on Mythbusters?”
“Yeah and no, you can't do that here,” Bob said not looking at him as he took his work gloves off and slapped them together. Dust flew everywhere. He nodded to the driver as he pulled up, also scattering dust. They didn't have the excess water to spray and keep the dang dust down.
“What's up?” he asked.
“Someone want a dump truck?” Bobby asked amused.
“Okay, I'll bite, what do I do with it?” Bob asked, climbing onto the step and reaching into shut the engine off.
“Easy there, watch the hands. I don't care what you do with it, I'm just dropping it off,” he said as Miguel walked around the big machine and climbed the back.
“Let me guess, its full?” Bob asked, looking up. One look at Miguel's face was all it took. The thumbs up was an afterthought. “Shit, its useless,” he said in disgust, stepping off the board.
“What?” Bobby asked, popping the door open and hopping out. “I thought...”
“Its useless man, just park it somewhere.”
“Hey boss, wait,” Miguel said, waving. “It ain't a complete loss. We could rip all the parts off for the other machines and well, bury it. Use it for back fill...”
Bobby didn't look at all happy about the idea. Bob didn't care. “Um...”
“We can't use it son, the concrete in the drum has solidified. Rock solid. Take a jackhammer a week or two to get it all out. Even then it'd be unbalanced.”
“Shit,” Bobby said, face falling.
“Not your fault, you obviously didn't know. I suppose Miguel is right, we can use the equipment. Probably what we'll do.”
“You could tack metal on it and use it as a moving gate wall. Like they did with the bus in that one Mad Max movie,” Bobby suggested.
“Um, now, that's not a bad idea.”
...*...*...*...*...
Jerry nodded to the doctors as they moved through ward three. Ward three had some interesting patients. Unfortunately most of their records had been lost or weren't exactly complete. Some of the stories were quite frightening.
“He's out isn't he?” Doctor Thompkins asked coming up behind him. He set the chart back and turned to her, putting his hands in his pockets. She hadn't taken over when she'd arrived, preferring to handle her specialty. As a neurologist Thompkins was first rate.
“No, I don't... I'm not familiar with the case,” he said with a grimace.
She looked the patient over. “Not one of mine. Poison I believe.”
“Poison?” he asked.
“From a plant of all things. We got him from the high school people a week ago. They said he was sent to clear brush with his brother and the brother got stabbed.”
“Um... should we uh,” Niederman looked around uncertainly.
“No, not by us, he was stabbed by purple thorns. There are some differences on how it happened. One story is they wrapped around him and punctured him, a vine of some sort I guess. Another story is that they disturbed the plant and it launched the thorns.”
“Oh,” Niederman said. He'd dealt with a few cactus injuries but this was... hell all of it was a bit overwhelming.
“Apparently when his brother dropped they said he went nuts and started hacking at the plant. One of the men was hurt by a vine, I'm not sure how. he said it was cut off and it flew and wrapped around his leg. I'm not sure how it could.”
“Plants can move doc, I've seen them creep. Even Terran plants,” an orderly said looking up as he read through a chart.
“Thank you,” the doctor said pursing her lips.
“There is this one tree that drops seeds that flop around like worms for a while. I remember it from when I was a kid. Creepiest thing you ever saw.”
“Thank you,” Thompkins said and then shivered.
“Sorry,” he said moving off, looking down at his chart. Thompkins watched him go before clearing her throat. “I believe he was tested, I'm not sure...”
“Its not anything I've seen,” Niederman said picking up the chart. “You said the brother didn't survive the encounter?”
“No, and the boy who had the vine around his leg lost it. They had the questionable foresight of wrapping it with a tourniquet.”
Ni
ederman winced. He knew that was one of the worst things you could do with poison exposure.
“Actually, I think it saved his life if not his limb. We amputated at the knee when we saw the damage. I was called into consult. Its a slow acting neurotoxin. It attacks the nervous system I believe, though it does have some other qualities similar to snake poison. I've never seen the combination in an animal let alone a plant though!” she said shaking her head.
“I think we're all writing the book as we read it ma'am,” Jerry said with a sigh.
“Yeah, tell me about it. I'm worried about this lad. The punctures are in the chest and both arms.”
“Did anyone get a sample? We could send it to our botanist. Maybe create an antivenin.”
“Um, no, they didn't think to bring in a sample. I was told the needles were hypodermic, purple with a black base, and about as long as my pinky. I'm guessing four centimeters long from the description.”
“Oh lovely,” Jerry sighed, looking at the patient again. “Sepsis at least. No telling what was on the outside of the needles. Wounds were flushed...” He flipped through the papers and then looked at the patients vitals. He was asleep, but a restless sleep. According to the chart he hadn't woken yet. Not a good sign. Not at all.
“Well, we can take a look at the wounds, flush them again, and debride any necrotic tissue we find. I'll see if we can get samples and send them to our lab. It isn't much and I hesitate to think it can handle something this complex, but maybe we will get lucky. Or at least this poor fellow will.”
“Hopefully,” Thompkins sighed. “I'll lend you a hand.”
...*...*...*...*...
“What the hell are we doing? Move the shit out, move it back...”
“What for?” another guy asked as they steered a truck into the loading dock.
“We've run out of room. That's why,” Sheila said coming out onto the dock. “Any more stupid questions?” she asked, hands on her hips.
“Um no ah...” He took in the sight of the clip on ID with the gold star for command and shrugged.
“Are you guys staying here or at one of the other sites?” she asked.