Standing up off the back of the buggy and turning that way, David saw Eric and his two hangers-on arriving for their rest break. He must’ve been wool-gathering far longer than he’d realized. Or Eric and his friends hadn’t done the job.
“David!”
Eric had his hoe propped on his shoulder, then started swinging it about aimlessly, and the others followed suit. David stared at them. He wondered if they had any idea just how dangerous that kind of tomfoolery could be. He headed in their direction to give them warning.
Eric stopped, swinging the point of his hoe down to the ground as David approached. Stan stepped forward, resting his spade over his shoulder again. “Look here—it’s not right that a freshman like you gets to be in charge. Ordering us seniors around.”
“You’re juniors, not seniors. FedU’s only been going for three years. There are no seniors.” David was beginning to think that a pack of wolves might be the more apt analogy. There were wolves on the mountains.
“Pedantic snot. We’re your seniors.”
David stood firm. “Regardless, I’ve been placed in charge. If you have a problem with that, I suggest you take it up with my boss.”
Stan started what looked to be a snide reply, but Eric waved him back down. “Listen, we can make an arrangement just between us. Let your boss believe you’re running things if you want. But we should be giving the orders.”
David started shaking his head while Eric was still speaking. That way would be a complete disaster. “You don’t yet know the job, what you’re doing. And this is important work.”
Eric stretched his lips thin. “Oh, I think we’ve got the hang of things now.”
David stood there, staring at the three of them for a while, wondering if they could really be serious about such nonsense. Then he heard the whine of a cart approaching. Eric and his cohorts glanced over David’s shoulder, then started toward the water keg.
Turning around, David saw Ken driving a buggy into the base camp, with an unfamiliar officer in the seat beside him and Sgt. Rossiter hanging onto the back bench. He sighed. This only postponed a confrontation with Eric and his friends. Though maybe he wouldn’t be as tired when that time finally came.
Ken parked the cart, and all three climbed out and headed straight for David. Ken waved his hand around. “David, this is Lt. Henson. Lieutenant, this is one of my best men, David Belue. He’s one of the FURC students and he’s supervising here.”
David nodded at Ken. “Boss.” He ignored Rossiter but nodded at Henson, who looked intelligent, and sharp in his uniform. “Lieutenant.”
Ken continued the introduction. “Lt. Henson is Colonel Gray’s representative. He’s been charged with overseeing the defenses.” While Gray sat in his air-conditioned office twiddling his thumbs was the implication. David was familiar with Ken’s opinion of the man.
He thought the lieutenant seemed nice enough, though, even offering to shake hands, which David accepted.
“Good to meet you, Mr. Belue.” Henson spoke with a slight British accent and a twinkle in his eye. Then the man turned back to Ken. “I need to have a word with Sgt. Rossiter.” He waved to the sergeant and strolled off toward the security fence. Rossiter followed. David wondered how much the lieutenant knew about the situation out here.
“How are things going?” Ken asked.
David was tempted to keep his problems to himself, offer some vague assurances—but he needed to be forthright with his boss. “It’s much slower going than I’d hoped. The recruits are taking their sweet time and still having trouble with the work, and I don’t know how to motivate them.”
Ken scratched his bare upper lip. “I’m confident you can manage.”
“Why don’t you just put Jeffrey in charge? Let me get back in the trenches and do what I do best.” And maybe this vital work that so urgently needs doing will be done in time.
There was a hard glint in Ken’s eye as he looked at David. “This is where I want you. You know the work, and you know how to get it done right. Show these recruits.” His boss cleared his throat and continued, “Your promotion’s not a test, you know. It’s not a temporary trial to see if you can measure up. I know you can. So stick with it.”
David felt his heart sink into his stomach as his mind filled with images of doing this job for the rest of his life. It was always supposed to be temporary, part-time. Bad enough the crisis had turned it full-time, now the situation had somehow made the job permanent. He liked and respected his boss, but he didn’t want to become Ken.
He looked at the man he admired and found he couldn’t bring himself to say any of that—not here and now. “What if I mess everything up?”
Ken grunted. “You know what I always say, or you should by now. Do what’s right, do your best—”
“And blank the consequences.”
Ken smiled wide. “Keep at this job long enough and you’ll start swearing proper.”
David glanced at his watch. “The big cart will be here soon to pick up the crew, and they’ll be done for the day. Jeffrey and I may work a bit longer.”
Ken nodded and turned to Lt. Henson who had come back without the sergeant, then looked back at David. “Well, let me know if you need anything.”
The lieutenant glanced at David, and then started scratching his nose. “Why don’t you go on ahead, Mr. Cameron? I’m not quite finished here.”
David’s boss shrugged and climbed in the cart. David and the lieutenant watched Ken turn the cart around and trundle off all on his own.
Lt. Henson caught David’s eye and gestured out toward the security fence on the far side of the base camp. There stood one of the men who’d supposedly been guarding the crew, scanning the forest beyond with his rifle held firmly in his hands.
“I had a strong word with Sgt. Rossiter—about keeping your men safe. He should be taking care of the other guard right now.”
David sighed. The day was already almost over, and there would probably be new guards tomorrow. Hopefully Rossiter would make sure they did their jobs, too, but he’d probably think David had gone over his head. The sergeant looked the type to cause trouble over something like that.
Still, David was grateful to Henson and wanted him to know. “Thank you for taking care of that.”
Henson shrugged. “Sometimes you have to take a hard line, but you don’t earn your men’s respect by letting them walk all over you. So I chewed out the sergeant. Rossiter is responsible for those men, and I reminded him of the fact.”
If only it were that easy. “I wish I could have the same effect on my crew.” David tried to smile. “But they won’t take the situation seriously, and the work is going far too slow. How long will it take to finish preparations? If an attack does come, it could come at any time, and we’re nowhere near ready.”
The lieutenant shook his head. “I wouldn’t worry about that, if I were you.”
“Don’t worry?”
“These preparations would all be well and good if you were expecting to have to repel a biker gang, or a horde of ravenous zombies.” Henson chuckled to himself.
David found himself glaring at his new friend. “It’s not really a subject for levity.”
“No, it’s no joke. I served with the British military for a few years. Their government actually had plans for both. Soccer hooligans rather than bikers, but we’d be better off dealing with the biker gangs.”
“But what kind of attack might we have to deal with then?” No one had yet said. Not it any detail.
“If an attack comes, it’ll likely be an assault by the National Guard. A full-on military strike. These are highly trained soldiers with a complete arsenal. You know the governor’s been using them to impose martial law, but what you’ll have seen doesn’t begin to show what they’re capable of.”
David must have let himself get dehydrated. He felt dizzy and was having a hard time taking in what the lieutenant was saying. “Even more reason to try and get the defenses up as fast as possible.”
/>
But Henson was shaking his head. “If it comes down to a fight, we’re not going to stand much of a chance anyway. Best hope for a political solution.” The man smiled kindly at David. “That’s no excuse not to do the best you can, though.”
The lieutenant nodded and walked off. Headed to find Ken, probably, but David wasn’t paying any attention. He was considering the circumstances, the threat against them, the dire situation they were facing, and the role he was playing. It was impossible. But he’d do what was right, which was the best job he could.
There was something much more important he needed to be doing, though. He needed to pray.
Chapter 4
A Hard Day’s Night
5:45 p.m. Thursday, November 28th
KAT bounded down the wide marble stairs, almost charging right into the middle of a brawl. She’d just changed for work and was tempted to skirt around them and hurry on so she wouldn’t be late, but she couldn’t do that. She had a responsibility—as a security officer, and she was wearing her cap, and also as the daughter of the director. She had a duty that superseded the clock.
She considered the two combatants, neither of whom she recognized. The blond Nordic guy was taller and broader, but the short brown-haired kid looked scrappy. Both had athletic builds, but they weren’t really going after each other. Yet. They just glared and shoved each other roughly, swinging the occasional fist in a way that probably passed for a friendly pat among these macho types.
Still, unless Kat intervened the hostilities would likely escalate. A ragged ring of student onlookers had already formed around the edges to enjoy the show, and she scanned the crowd for possible assistance. She couldn’t find any, though she believed she’d discovered the cause of the confrontation. She tried to think of some way to diffuse the situation. She knew that the last thing she should do was step into the middle of that fight.
She stepped in between the two men, shoving a palm in each of their faces and pushing them back. “Now. If you two—”
Screaming pain.
Kat’s head was yanked back, and tears flooded her eyes. It felt like her hair was being torn from its roots, and it took her a second to realize that was exactly what was happening.
The moment she understood, Kat began backpedalling into the girl behind her, easing the pull on her scalp, and kept driving backward until she ran her assailant into the wall behind them. A sharp elbow to the woman’s midriff got Kat’s hair out of the woman’s fist, and pitched her attacker’s face forward over Kat’s shoulder. Kat reached back for a handful of hair herself and pulled as she dropped, lifting with her hip to throw the woman over and onto the floor in front of her.
The woman’s arms flailed wildly, claws searching for Kat’s face. Kat snatched one flying wrist and used it to twist the woman over onto her front, pushing the air and the fight out of her. She pulled a zip-tie out of her pocket and bound the woman’s hands. Then she checked for pulse and respiration. The girl seemed disoriented, her breath was rapid and ragged, but the pulse was strong and steady.
Kat rose to her feet and looked over to where the two idiots had stopped their altercation and stood staring at her, their mouths gaping open like landed trout. She took a couple steps toward the miserable creatures before she noticed her crumpled cap lying on the ground. She sighed and picked it up.
Ignoring her still smarting scalp, she focused on the two boys who were now trying to look like sheep. “Bloody morons.” Which wasn’t profanity, as she had noticed they did have some cuts and scrapes. And were clearly lacking in intelligence.
The girl who had seemingly sparked all this did start using some profanity. She must have become aware of her situation—or at least that trussed up on the floor as she was, she no longer looked like a prize to be fought over.
Kat glanced at the woman briefly before returning her attention to the would-be gladiators. “You two. Go, now. Get yourselves over to the clinic and seen to.” They started off, but Kat called them back. “As soon as the sisters let you go, try and do something useful with yourselves.”
The tall blond whined. “We’ve already finished work for the day.”
“What do you do? Who’s your supervisor?”
“We’re building the perimeter defense. You’re not going report us, are you?”
“Of course I’m going to file a report. But there are different ways to write this up. If you do what I told you to do, then maybe you won’t end up working for the janitorial staff.”
They took this for a final dismissal and trotted away. Kat frowned. She wondered if she’d let them off too easy, but only time would tell. She felt sure they weren’t being worked hard enough, though, if they still had energy at the end of the day to engage in this kind of buffoonery. Kat, certainly, should not have to be dealing with them.
And she shouldn’t be getting her hair pulled by some troublemaking tart, either. She’d heard the stories, but such a thing had never happened to her before. She needed to make sure it never happened again.
Kat went over to her catch and lifted the girl to her feet by the armpits. The subdued woman stuck to a sullen glare while she was being herded out of the building into the gathering dusk. Kat prodded her along as fast as she could without causing her to stumble and fall.
Thankfully, Security HQ was fairly close to the student dormitories—probably by design. She still ended up arriving a few minutes late. Pushing her charge ahead of her into the lobby, she found Lisa leaning on the duty desk, waiting.
Kat deposited her baggage on a far seat before crossing over to offer her colleague a weak grin. “I really did try to get here on time.” She felt the need to offer up some kind of an excuse. “Circumstances intervened.” She liked Lisa, the only other female officer, and she didn’t want their budding friendship to stall over this.
Lisa smiled. It was weak and tired, but it was a genuine smile. “The first time you’re late, and only by a few minutes, and you’re already apologizing.” She swung the gate open for Kat. “I’m just glad you volunteered to extend your hours so I don’t have to work a full double.”
Kat glanced back at her prisoner, slumped forward in a hard plastic chair in the lobby. Lisa just shook her head. “Leave her. We’ll move her to the conference room before I go off shift, put her in with the others.”
Kat followed Lisa to the break room where they both sat and rested for a few moments. She thought about Lisa’s page-boy cut. It certainly looked good on Lisa, with her dirty blonde hair, and it was short.
Finally Kat had to ask. The whole point of shift change, after all, was to catch up on everything that was happening. “So, who’s in the conference room and why are we putting that creature in there with them?”
Lisa frowned. “It’s full of similar bad actors, so she’ll fit right in. Most of them we wouldn’t be turning over to the local sheriff, even if we could, which we obviously can’t now—” She paused for breath, “and we don’t have the facilities to hold them here, so we’re just keeping them comfortable until someone from Admin can find the time to come over and give them a stern talking to.”
Kat grinned despite what she was hearing. She loved talking to Lisa since she barely had to utter a single word herself. “A stern talking to? Please tell me that’s someone’s idea of a joke.”
“It’s a poor one if it is. They’re supposed to be sending the deputy director herself at least. That one’s not going to be all warm and fuzzy with these folk, you can tell just by looking at her.” Kat herself wished Ms. Belue were more charismatic, actually—perhaps then she would do a better job of defending the administration.
Anyway, she had relaxed enough to enjoy a cup of coffee. She got up and grabbed the pot and gestured with it to Lisa who shook her head. Kat asked, “What about—where’s Chief Nelson?” She’d almost said Tony, which wouldn’t have been professional, and she was determined to be professional.
“As usual our boss is out and about somewhere tending to business, or so he says. It
may be one of his girlfriends. I’m convinced he’s wooing them on the clock, since he doesn’t have the spare time anymore. So he’d about have to be, wouldn’t he?”
Kat sighed and sat down to sip her coffee. Lisa was one of those convinced that Tony was secretly a Latin lothario. Kat knew better, but she also knew the futility of saying so. “Other than a roomful of ruffians, all’s quiet on the battlefield?”
Lisa nodded and grabbed her purse as she stood. “Kat, you and I’ve been getting along okay, haven’t we? So please don’t take offense. But whose side is your mother on anyway?”
Kat took a big gulp of her rapidly cooling coffee before answering. She was surprised that Lisa knew Caroline was her mother—it wasn’t exactly a secret, but most people didn’t seem to be aware of the fact. Lots of people did know her as the daughter of the director though, which was bad enough.
She wasn’t surprised by Lisa’s opinion of Caroline, though. “I know she sounds like she’s always attacking us—” Her mother did bend over backward to make sure critics of the administration got their points made and then some, “but she’s just trying to do her job.”
Trying to help in her own inimitable way, like making sure everyone knew the supplies of beef and chocolate were running out. They hadn’t yet. But it was just a matter of time, and Caroline only made people anxious by always reminding them.
Lisa shook her head, but refrained from adding anything more. “I’ll help you move that woman, but then I’ve got to go before I fall on my face.”
“No, that’s alright, I can handle her. You go on home to your kid.” Over fourteen hours on the clock showed—Lisa was starting to run out of words.
Kat got up again and escorted Lisa through the lobby and out the door before turning to address her prisoner. She thought about giving the girl a stern talking to herself. But between late mornings working for her mother and ten-hour shifts for Security, she’d better start conserving her energy for where it would count.
Just as she was hauling the sleepy transgressor to her feet, three of the student recruits shuffled in through the front door. Two were brand new, but thankfully the other was the business-like Susan—probably because she was a business major.
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