Dark Grid (Book 1)

by David C. Waldron

  “I authenticate Big Fat Bleeding Goose Egg Back of Head. Be advised; never drink nine year old whiskey in a tree. By the way, that’s not nearly as funny when stopping to think about it, made my head want to split open and the world is spinning, and I think I’m gonna throw up, and Sheri’s gone, over.”

  “It’s him,” Morris said to the others in the tent. “We read you Lima Charlie. We have two medics inbound. How bad is the head? over.”

  “I don’t know for sure, but you did catch the part about the big fat bleeding goose egg, right? I can’t look around too quick either or everything goes tilted like the old Batman TV show and I feel like I’m spinning. I feel like I was too close to an Abrahms when it let loose and I forgot to open my mouth and cover my ears. Did I mention Sheri’s gone?” Keeler swore. “I knew we shouldn’t have brought civilians along on these things. Over.”

  “Keeler, knock it off,” Mallory broke in. She’d put on another set of headphones in order to have a microphone to herself. “We couldn’t be meeting with groups of civilians without a civilian present, and we really couldn’t meet with them with fewer than equal numbers of military and civilian representatives on our side. Everyone who has gone has been a volunteer, and it’s something that’s been discussed before--every single trip out. Don’t beat yourself up over something that you couldn’t have done anything about. Over.”

  “Yes, First Sergeant, I know all that, I understand, I’ll do my best, but it’ll be hard knowing that we lost the first person on my watch. I’m not saying I won’t get over it, especially once we get her back. It just sucks is all, and I’m not too good at suck. Over.”

  “Roger that Keeler, major suck. For now, though, try to stay upright until the medics get there and let’s get your head patched up. Over”

  “Roger. Whoever did it didn’t take my sidearm, and as long as I’m conscious I’d like to think they won’t get the drop on me. Out.”

  To KB she said, “Please request that Jackson and Ramirez accompany you to the command tent. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.” Mallory shook her head, “We’ve had it too easy for too long; I’m afraid this won’t be the last time someone tries something like this unless we change our tactics.”

  “I concur, Top, but like you said, we have had it fairly easy as far as bringing other groups in. I’ll be right back, by your leave.” KB ducked out and went to find the other Sergeants.

  “Morris, come with me. Pine, you cooled off enough to man the radio yet or do I need to dump a cooler of ice over your head?” Mallory asked.

  “Sorry Top, I’m fine. Absolutely no excuse,” Pine said.

  “Go ahead and take the radio then, and if anyone comes asking send them to me please.” Mallory said.

  “Right away,” Pine agreed.

  When Mallory walked into the command tent, all three Sergeants were already there. “Who are we gonna go kill?” Jackson asked. “And no, KB didn’t say anything. It’s just that I’ve known him long enough that I can read the look on his face. He’s gonna disassemble something and there’s a good chance it’s a biological.”

  “Well, good call then. Hold on a second and let me play something for you.” She picked up the radio in the command tent and called over to Corporal Pine, “Pine, send the recording we’ve been discussing recently to this handset please.” A few seconds later they were listening to Sheri and Pete; some for the first time, others once again.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  When the recording was over, Mallory thanked Pine, cleared the channel, and looked at her present cadre. “Ok, protocol is suspended, advice?”

  Ramirez didn’t even hesitate a full heartbeat, “Personally, I’m this close to sending a Humvee out after this worthless meat-sack right now to prune the friggin’ helix!” The string of creative uses for a human body that followed would later be referred to by those present or who overheard it as ‘something that had to be experienced to be truly appreciated’; ‘the reason I got into the military in the first place’; ‘the funniest thing I’ve ever heard’, and ‘the single biggest reason that not a single teen pregnancy has ever been reported on base’.

  “I can’t fault your analysis or disagree with the general direction of your approach to dealing with the matter. I’m not, however, sure that some of those things you said are physically possible, dead or alive.”

  “If the body was still warm it would probably still bend that far, at least at first,” KB interjected, and he didn’t smile when he said it.

  “Oookay, how about we move along then?” It wasn’t often that you could make Top shiver. Going with her gut and getting these three together for this was probably the right move, but that didn’t make it any less scary.

  “I want to watch the vehicle, and try to follow whoever comes back to it, assuming someone comes back to it. Suggestions,” Mallory continued.

  “It needs to look like we simply showed up when our people didn’t radio in and decided getting our wounded back was more important than getting the vehicle back. What did we have on the Humvee other than the .50, ammo, and the radio?” Jackson asked.

  Ramirez responded to this, as Sergeant Keeler was in his squad. “Actually, we didn’t send out a .50 on this trip because there wasn’t a dedicated gunner. So we don’t have to worry about that or ammo. There are two M-16s and ammo for them, but they’d be locked, and it’s a combination lock, so we don’t have to worry about someone losing a key. The medics will pick those up when they get there as part of SOP. The only thing they would get is a sweet ride and a radio, and all we have to do is have them pull the encryption circuit, again, SOP. At that point all they’ve got is a CB/shortwave combo unit.”

  “Ok, good to hear. What else?” Mallory asked.

  “Just standard fare, five days of supplies for two people in two rucksacks, first-aid kit, tube tent, flare gun, etc. They weren’t that far away and with the radio in the truck and two handhelds we were pretty sure they would have been able to get back in touch with us if necessary. It’s actually only a two day hike from where they were, even under really bad conditions.”

  “So what are we going to do to get Sheri back? Somehow I don’t get the feeling that Pete’s the ransom kind of guy. KB, you mentioned that this struck you as a ‘crime of opportunity’, any more, well…ideas since I hesitate to use the word insight?”

  “I appreciate that, I think.” KB snorted. “Like I said, from what we overheard it didn’t sound like grabbing her was the endgame of this little drama. It felt like it was designed to see how we would respond and possibly to set up another meeting and hopefully take more of our people and equipment at that point. Nabbing Sheri was a spur of the moment decision and it was done because he couldn’t be sure she would be there next time. I do wonder if we’ll hear from the group again and they’ll deny that they had any involvement.”

  “Come to think of it, I’m almost sure we will,” KB continued. Then his gaze snapped to Mallory, “We need to get three units out NOW. Far enough out that we can triangulate their position when they broadcast next time. We have no idea how long it will be before they contact us again and we don’t have any time to waste. We need to make sure they are large enough to protect themselves, but small enough not to attract too much attention, and they need to leave literally as soon as possible.”

  “From here, let’s see, they’re going to need to be…” his voice trailed off for a few seconds as he muttered to himself and the fingers of his right hand flipped like he was typing and then, “four units would be better, put us at the center of a square twenty-one miles on a side. That way, no matter where they are coming from, we would have them surrounded geographically and should be able to triangulate almost perfectly, to within no more than half a klick.”

  “Nice.” Jackson replied. “You really can set up a long wire in your sleep, can’t you?”

  “Not really, I think in feet in my sleep, not meters. Screws up the math.” KB replied with a grin. “And no, I can’t actually use th
e prosthetic for a resistor; the carbon fiber is way too conductive!”

  “And we wouldn’t have to watch the site either, no chance of being seen because we simply won’t be there. If they take my truck and mess it up though I’m gonna be so pissed.” Mallory was pragmatic about most things, but she loved her people and her equipment. She took them both personally and the thought of someone screwing around with either one made her blood boil. She was keeping her temper in check about Keeler right now but if she ever got her hands on Pete, he was not going to be a happy camper. You did not want to be the one who had clocked one of her boys on the back of the head.

  “Next question, how do we break the news because not breaking the news is not the question?” This was one of the things that had endeared Mallory to her troops; she didn’t hold back information, good or bad. “One, I’m sure a bunch of people either saw the medics leave or heard you send them off--or both. Two, Sergeant Keeler and Sheri should be back in about twenty minutes either way, but won’t. Three, Keeler will be back in the company of medics in about forty-five minutes…without Sheri.

  “On top of all of that, we have no idea if Pete is going to start broadcasting, not as part of this group they went out to see, but all on his own, to help prove his ‘power and greatness’. After all, he just ambushed the U.S. Army all by his lonesome and made off with a hostage, did he not? He must be really brave and all that. You know, I’m developing a real distaste for this guy.”

  Jackson, having been SFC for a long time, piped up first with an oft-repeated axiom. “Seeing as how rumor is the only known phenomenon to consistently travel faster than light, we could probably just tell a couple of people and then tell them ‘not to tell anyone else’. By the time we hit the third or fourth person, they’d be asking us to corroborate the story. The biggest downside to that is that by then we’d be wasting time correcting misinformation.”

  “Good points both. No, unfortunately we probably need to hit this one squarely. I think this is where Karen’s “block moms” might come in handy. Kyle, could you please find Eric and Karen?”

  “Absolutely, be right back.” Ramirez replied. He also thought to himself, and only to himself, that she’d called him Kyle, not Ramirez. She hadn’t done that, even with protocol suspended, since they’d both gotten falling down drunk the night his father passed away nine years ago.

  “KB, organize the communications teams and get them on the road. I want them moving in thirty minutes or less. You will not be going, I need you here.”

  “Understood, they’ll be on their way as soon as physically possible, sooner in some cases. I may need my other foot.” With that, he was gone out of the tent, not that they couldn’t hear him bark to one of the men in his squad.

  It was almost five minutes before Ramirez came back with both Karen and Eric, as Eric had been both a little harder to find since he’d been on patrol and then he’d insisted on cleaning up. “Sorry it took so long, Mallory, Eric here didn’t think he was clean enough for your presence apparently. He comes to bed without a shower but won’t come to the command tent without changing clothes.” Karen elbowed Eric in the side, but winked at Mallory.

  “Tell you what, I’ll order him to the command tent every night at about 9:30, maybe then you’ll get a clean boyfriend in bed from now on.”

  “Deal!”

  Eric was rolling his eyes in Ramirez’s direction when he realized that nobody else in the room was really getting into the ribbing. “Ok, what’s up? If Morris’ jaw clenches any tighter he’s gonna need new molars.”

  Morris made a concerted effort to relax is mouth, and commented that ‘there was a reason he hadn’t gone into intelligence’, something about wearing his heart on his sleeve and his emotions too openly.

  Mallory called over to Corporal Pine in the communications tent again and had him replay the recording for Karen and Eric. Hearing it again didn’t do anything for anyone’s mood, and Karen looked like she wanted to act out several of the more inventive ideas that Ramirez had come up with.

  “Karen, take a breath. If you pass out, I will dunk your head in a bucket of ice water,” Mallory said matter of factly. “Better. Now, this happened about fifteen minutes ago, and we need to address it, soonest. We aren’t going to hide it and we aren’t going to sugar-coat it. A bunch of folks out there had heard of Pete before they joined up with us, some even joined because of him. Everybody has heard of him since they came in.

  “Word will get out no matter what, and we don’t want to look like we’re hiding anything because we aren’t. What do you think of using the ‘block moms’, Karen?”

  “That was actually going to be my suggestion once you got me thinking instead of reacting. We don’t have phones, and we still haven’t set up a radio station yet, so that was one of the things we figured they could be responsible for--passing on information reliably.”

  “Alright then, that’s settled. Let’s get to writing it.”

  …

  Once the statement was finished and typed up, it was printed out and distributed. They had decided they would go ahead and continue to use laptop computers and inkjet printers as they both consumed less power than their desktop and laser counterparts. The statement was very simple:

  “Today, July 28th, at approximately 15:19, or 3:19 pm, Sergeant Keeler and Ms. Sheri Hines, after meeting with a group claiming to have a desire to join the Natchez Trace Guardianship, were ambushed. At present, the following information is known or assumed:

  · There appeared to be a single assailant who waited until after the meeting was over.

  · Sergeant Keeler was struck in the head and rendered unconscious at the scene.

  · Ms. Hines was abducted by the single assailant.

  · Ms. Hines was able to transmit her conversation with her abductor.

  · Ms. Hines tentatively identified her abductor as the individual calling himself ‘Peter the Great’.

  · Ms. Hines may have also been struck by the assailant, but that is not known for certain at this time.

  · Sergeant Keeler was left at the scene by the assailant when he abducted Ms. Hines.

  · Sergeant Keeler regained consciousness a short time later and radioed in, corroborating a brief portion of events. He has been treated by medics, and is being transported back.

  · Everything possible at this time is being done, and more is being planned and will be done, to rescue Ms. Hines.

  As soon as any additional information is known, it will be made available.”

  The reactions ranged from fear and anger to despair. Some feared for Sheri, while others feared for themselves. Some were angry at Peter, while others were angry at the Guardsmen who had failed to protect her, and in their own minds, themselves.

  Some reactions were a bit deeper than those. One reaction in particular couldn’t actually be classified. Chuck had helped organize the “block moms” when Karen first had the idea, and as more groups joined them they had proven their value a number of times. He’d seen Paula, one of the original “block moms”, waving the red and white checked flag-- that he was still sure had come from a tablecloth--so he headed over to the gathering group to hear what she had to say. It was amazing how quickly they could pass information without phones or a radio station when they needed to.

  Then he’d heard about the ambush, about Keeler, Sheri getting hit by Pete. He was sure Sheri’d said something and he’d hit her, just as he was sure it was in fact Pete, and it was like a switch had tripped inside. Different people describe it different ways; for some, it’s a physical sensation, and for others it’s purely mental. Some people describe it as ice water running down their spine, or over every square inch of their body. Others say it’s like an electric shock. Some people feel like every nerve is exposed or on fire. Some people say it’s an incredible calm, and everything takes on an unnatural clarity, like the first time they saw an HD movie. Still others claim that they have a heightened sense of awareness, almost a fifth sense.

&nb
sp; What is that ubiquitous ‘it’ that people talk about? Sometimes ‘it’ meant snapping, going over the edge, or losing ‘it’--being the guy in the bell-tower, so to speak. Sometimes ‘it’ meant being in the zone; you could do anything, mothers lifting cars off of their children, or athletes becoming unstoppable on the basketball court for just one game. Chuck both lost ‘it’ and ‘got in the zone’ at the same time, in an instant. In the future, when he really thought about it, he would swear he heard a click and felt a rush of heat course throughout his body. He’d been pretty sure that was just adrenaline keeping his heart from stopping.

  But the world slowed down at that point too, and unlike some people’s experience, while edges were much sharper, colors were dull. And, oh yeah, he was furious; in a seething, white-hot rage. He had heard the term before, but never understood it until now. He’d been pissed before, plenty of times, but never so mad, so furious, so over the top that it threatened to take him over completely.

  “ERIC!” Chuck called to get Eric’s attention over by the Army command tent. When Eric turned around and saw Chuck he held up his hand to wait a minute, finished a brief conversation, and then came trotting over.

  “Chuck, I’m so sorry, I was actually one of the last to know before they typed up the ‘Press Release’.”

  “Man, I’m not mad at you, I just want to know if there is anything, and I mean anything I can do, right now, or later, here, there, over there, way over there, whatever, to get Sheri back. I don’t want this to go on long. And if you can tell me anything to keep me from going off half cocked, please do Eric, because right now I’m wound about as tight as a cheap watch, and I’ve known for all of thirty seconds.”

  “Chuck, I don’t know anything for sure, honest I don’t. We really don’t know where Sheri is, nobody does yet. But if I were you, I’d get a hold of a grid map and a radio, and listen in on CB19 and SAT46 so you at least know what’s going on. What are you packing?”

  “Taurus .45 1911, 8+1, Ranger SXTs, why?”