by gerald hall
A long line of people at the entrance to the evacuation center waited as the line slowly worked its way through several layers of security. The people operating the center modeled their security measures after those used by the Israeli national airline El Al. Everyone not only went through the typical physical security measures of having their persons and baggage scanned for weapons and other contraband, they also went through several interviews by specially trained security officers.
These security officials knew the telltale indicators of a person who was nervous about something other than ordinary fear of flight jitters. After the first hint of something wrong, a suspect passenger went through additional interviews to smoke out possible terrorists or Islamist infiltrators while a much more in-depth investigation occurred offline at the same time. Once the security officials were completely comfortable with the person attempting to gain entry to the evacuation center, only then would the inner gate be opened for them to enter.
A man in his early thirties wearing the camouflage field uniform of the North Carolina Army National Guard and towing a younger blonde-haired civilian-clad woman in his wake quickly walked up to the desk. They had already spent a grueling five hours in lines and interviews before being allowed within the secure area of the center.
“Excuse me, Sir. I was ordered to come here and report to the evacuation center with my dependents. Could you help me, please?”
“Certainly, Sir. What is your name?” Tobias answered politely.
“Major Nathan Marcum. This is my fiancé, Terri Barbee. I hope that she qualifies as a dependent because I won’t leave her without her.”
“Alright, Colonel. Let me look you up here on my database.” Tobias said while typing in the name on the computer keyboard. When the results came up, his eyes widened slightly in surprise. The seat allocations had been made specifically by name. The highest authorities at Hebes Chasma had made the request too. Tobias had only seen this happen for a mere handful of cases in the last couple of months.
“I have you here on my list, Major. You and your dependent here both have priority allocations for space aboard the next evacuation shuttle to Hebes Chasma. Now, you will still be subject to mass and volume limitations on the amount of personal belongings that you can bring aboard the shuttle, Sir.” Tobias explained in a most professional manner.
“Thank you, Sir.” A shocked Nathan replied.
“You are very welcome, Sir. If I am not totally mistaken, your sister is here also. Her name is Nancy, correct?”
“Yes, it is.” A surprised Nathan acknowledged.
“Well, I’m sure that she and her family are somewhere in the area of the evacuation center.” Tobias said with a twinkle in his eye and a smile.
“Thank you very much, Sir. I just have one question. Do you know when the next shuttle is due to arrive?”
“I don’t know the exact time for security reasons, Colonel. Our gravity shuttles have been very heavily tasked, especially after the last of the Stratolaunch and Skylon air-launch vehicles were either shot down or otherwise rendered unable to fly. It may be months before we have a shuttle here, I’m afraid. You and your fiancé better go find something to eat and a place to sleep at for the time being. We will let everyone know when it is time. Of course, you will probably know yourselves when you see a great big, grey-colored ‘egg’ come floating down from the sky and hear a great big cheering sound from all around here.”
“I understand, Sir. Just point us in the right direction and we will get out of your hair right away.” Nathan quickly said.
“There is a dining facility about four hundred meters from here.” Tobias said.
Nathan suddenly realized that Tobias had to be one of the refugees from the UK because of the latter’s English accent.
“Thank you, Sir. I hope that everyone here is treating you well. I’m sure that it has to be difficult for you to have had to leave your home.”
“Your people have all treated my family and me very well. It truly means a tremendous amount to me that your people are fighting to save us too.” Tobias replied, fighting back the tears welling in his eyes.
Nathan didn’t say a thing. He simply nodded his head in acknowledgement before turning and walking towards the center’s dining facility.
Nathan and Terri were about to get in line for food when he suddenly heard a familiar voice call out.
“Hey, Nathan. It’s about time that you showed up here.”
Nathan looked over to see his twin sister Nancy standing by one of the dining tables along with another familiar face with an ear to ear smile on it. His younger sister Suzanne was standing there next to Nancy waving her hands wildly. Nancy’s husband Doug and their daughter Mary were standing nearby as well. Nathan and Terri quickly got out of line and hurried over to where his sisters stood.
“Well, I got here as quickly as I could. They didn’t tell me that both of you were here though.” Nathan said as he quickly gave joyful hugs to both of his sisters.
“Thank God that you were able to make it. I was afraid that you were going to get called up to go fight on the front lines.”
“No. I’ve been ready to go to the front lines ever since the Caliphate took over the Western Republic in that unexpected coup d’état of theirs. But I’ve mostly been involved in training new troops, especially from the refugees that came over from Europe and the UK. It seems like forever though since I was a young lieutenant playing around with those little scout tanks from the First Event.”
“Are you leaving the military now, Nathan?” Nancy asked.
“No. I was told that I am being officially reassigned to the Mars Security Detachment. That should be very interesting. But I do hate leaving my troops behind. I wonder who was behind our being selected for evacuation to Mars. The slots to go there are very hard to come by, I know.”
“Maybe it was Deborah? You know that she is a member of the government there at the colony on Mars.”
“Perhaps. But that would be like her to pull strings like that, even for family. Deborah would be scared to death of being accused of favoritism in the selection process. That much, I do know about our sister.”
“It’s going to be quite an adventure going to Mars.” Suzanne remarked. She had recently gotten a degrees in Geology with a minor in Materials Engineering from the University of Akron.
“Yes, it will be, especially for the kids. I do worry that they will become very restless after living in confined spaces for a while.”
“The new domes that the Martians are building for agriculture will give everyone a chance to see the sky though.” Suzanne remarked with an air of excitement in her voice.
“Well, we better go get something to eat and find out more about when we are leaving. You know how impatient kids can be concerning an upcoming trip.” Nancy wryly noted while the rest of her family there laughed.
“Yes, food is important. You never know when your next meal will be. I learned that the hard way while in the Army. You have no idea how many meals that I have missed while on duty.” Nathan laughed as he put his arm around Terri as they joined the others at the end of the serving line.
“Do you know if the Martians have asked for anyone else from Ashley to be given seats to go to Mars?” Nancy asked.
“No one has told me anything about it. In fact, I wasn’t even aware that you and Suzanne were going to be here until the clerk over there mentioned about you. I figured that perhaps I was asked because I am an intelligence officer. Lord knows that there are few enough good intel officers in the military at any given time.
I worry a lot about Mom and Dad back there in Ashley. They are going to be on the bleeding edge of the front lines before very long, I’m afraid. I’m sure that they got the same offer. But I’m not sure that they will accept it.”
“I worry about them too. We left a lot of friends back there. I just don’t know how long they have now.” Doug interjected, the worried lines on his face adding at least a decade to his appeara
nce.
“We will have to keep them in prayer. One way or another, the Lord will take care of them. I have to have faith in that.” Nancy reminded.
“Selah…. For now, we have a lot to do before that Martian shuttle gets here to whisk us away to our new home.
Are you ready to go to a new world, Mary?” Nathan said to his young niece, a smile of delight on both their faces. Very quickly, Nancy and all of the others of Nathan’s family joined in the laughter as they slowly walked towards the dining facility. None of them knew just how long they would end up living there at the camp though.
Chapter Thirty One:
Ohio 14th Militia Company
Western Defensive Perimeter
Ashley, Ohio
May 4, 2048
“I don’t know which is worse, being in battle or the waiting before the fighting begins, Marilyn.” Steven Quall commented as the two of them watched towards the west from inside one of the hastily built bunkers that lined the edge of Ashley.
Jeff Knox and many of the militia members had taken dozens of concrete culverts, put them on their sides in shallow trenches and partially buried them. The militia left a small opening in the ad hoc bunker towards the likely direction of approach to town, but with the rear of each culvert wide open to facilitate easy entry and escape for the people manning the bunkers.
“It’s been a long time. But I was in an armed fight with several men before. Trust me when I say that the fight itself is a lot worse, especially once you witness the aftermath of seeing someone being shot and maimed. It doesn’t matter if that person is the enemy or one of your friends, battle or whatever form of combat that you face, taking someone’s life forever changes you. I’ve known this for a very long time, trust me.” Marilyn Barnes solemnly explained.
A few minutes later, the sound of high-speed rotors could be heard coming from the East. They caught Jeff’s attention because it wasn’t the familiar sound of any of the friendly helicopters that he had been familiar with. Then he saw in the distance an approaching aircraft with two huge propellers at its wingtips rapidly approaching at treetop level. Occasionally, the aircraft would bob up and down briefly to dodge powerlines
A few seconds later, Jeff could see that the distant aircraft was a camouflaged US Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor. Just east of the edge of Ashley proper, the increasingly rare tiltrotor transport suddenly flared while orienting its rotors upwards. It hovered in the air a few meters off the ground for about fifteen seconds before finally landing vertically like a helicopter. The cargo ramp at the rear of the aircraft was already open when the Osprey touched down.
Half a dozen uniformed and armed Marines poured out of the back of the tiltrotor, following by a female Marine wearing major’s insignia.
She walked clear of the Osprey and headed towards what was left of town along with several of the Marine security team.
“I’m going out there to see what is going on back there, Steven. You keep an eye out for the bad guys while I am gone.” Marilyn said as she started to crawl out of the bunker.
“Alright. Hopefully, those Marines have come here with some good news.” Her battle buddy replied.
Marilyn continued walking eastward until she got within shouting distance of the incoming Marines.
“Hello, there! My name is Marilyn Barnes. We are really glad to see you folks. How can we help you?”
“I’m Major Kira Norris. To start with, I’m looking for a Jeff Knox. He’s supposed to be the leader of the Ashley militia here according to my information.”
“He left for a short while to talk with one of the neighboring militias. But Jeff should be back shortly.”
“Thank you, Ma’am. We’re here for a couple of reasons. First, we’ve brought you some equipment that you might find useful when the Islamists reach here.” Major Norris said while she pointed back towards the Osprey.
Several of the Marines could be seen offloading a number of large crates. Marilyn guessed that they either contained weapons, ammunition or a combination of the two.
“If you have brought us weapons that we can use, we certainly do appreciate it.” Marilyn quickly replied with a weary smile.
“That we do have for you. We were able to fill some of your requests for munitions. We are incredibly short of munitions ourselves. Many of our factories that had been producing supplies for our forces have been either hit by enemy strikes or have been overrun by advancing Caliphate forces, I’m afraid. But we are also here for another reason. That’s why we need to speak with Commander Knox.”
“He should be back soon if you can hang around for a little while, Major.” Marilyn explained.
“We can stick around for a bit, but not too long. We could use a hand offloading some of this cargo and getting it away from my aircraft though.”
“I think that we can arrange to get you some help for that, Major.” Marilyn said with a smile before sending off Steven to the militia’s command bunker to gather up some people.
Most of the equipment had been unloaded from the Osprey and put into the back of a truck to be transported to a militia bunker when Jeff arrived. Jeff quickly walked up to the building on the edge of town where the Marine officer had been waiting.
“Hello, Major. How are you going? I’m Jeff Knox. I understand that you have a special message for me?”
“Yes, Sir. I do. We got a special request from the colonial government on Mars. There are apparently several people from your town that they have specifically offered an invitation to come emigrate to Mars. You and your family appear to be among those that the Martians specifically named also, Commander.”
“Well, there is no way that I am going to leave here. I need to stay here and lead the defense of my home.”
“I understand, Sir. But we do need to ask what all of the people on my list want to do in regards to this request. If any of them want to be evacuated, we will transport them East to one of the centers where the Martian shuttles will be picking them up from.”
“How long do we have to make a decision, Major? Jeff asked.
“I am prepared to take anyone back with me right now. I do understand that if you and the others need some time to decide. I need to fly back to my base within the hour. But I can come back tomorrow and quickly pick up anyone who needs transport, if necessary.”
“We will definitely need a day to talk to everyone on your list and find out what they want to do, Major.”
“Fair enough, Sir. I just hope that your people don’t wait too long to make their decision. I don’t know how much longer we will be able to operate our aviation assets this far to the West. The war in the air has quickly become a very nasty battle of attrition. Unfortunately, between all of the aircraft that the Caliphate got from the Chinese and other Asian nations, not to mention the aircraft that they have been refitting at the Boneyard, we are going to run out of aircraft a lot more quickly than the Caliphate and the Brotherhood will.”
“I understand completely. What if any of our people choose to remain, but later change their minds? Will they still be able to go to Mars?”
“As far as I know, this is a standing offer. Nothing was said at all about an expiration date.” Major Norris explained.
“That’s good. I don’t want any of my people to feel pressured into making a hasty decision about this. Granted, it is still the opportunity of a lifetime, especially with what we are facing just to the west of us. But, I can’t let my choices influence the others either.”
Jeff and Melanie met with their two children late that evening for dinner. In spite of everything that was going on, it was essentially a family tradition that the family still had supper together. At that time, Jeff told Melanie and the children about the message that Major Norris had delivered.
Christine and Andrew Knox were both in their late twenties and had gone to college. But after graduation, they went back home to Ashley to work at the family farm rather than leave to make a life elsewhere. They still had their own apartm
ents in town where they lived though. When their parents asked them to come to the family home to talk that evening, both siblings were extremely curious about what Jeff and Melanie wanted to talk to them about.
“Mars is the new frontier. I understand that they are even doing farming now. They have to farm in order to feed all of the people living there now.”
“But Mom and Dad, you should come with us. Life just wouldn’t be the same without you.”
Jeff had said early on that he was going to stay. Melanie had thought briefly about going to Mars, but in the end she also decided to stay because she loved the farm that she grew up on and just couldn’t see herself abandoning it without a fight.
“Perhaps so, but we have a life here that we need to defend. If you two stay here, you could either die here or spend the rest of your lives in a terrible world where your faith is going to be trampled upon very heavily by the Islamists. At least on Mars, you will still be free.”
Christine and Andrew were silent for a few moments, looked over at each other and nodded before looking back at their parents.
“We are both going to leave to go to Mars then. If our farm is just going to be ruined because of those people that have invaded, we would much rather go someplace where we know that our work will continue to feed others and that I can go to sleep knowing that we am free. I just wish that you and Mom would come with us.” Andrew said. The expression on Christine’s face confirmed that she was completely in agreement with her older brother.
“Well, kids. I’m going to feel a whole lot better knowing that both of you will be out of harm’s way. Your dad and I are going to make those bastard jihadists pay dearly for invading our land. I hate to admit this, but this is a fight that I have long expected to be a part of.”
There was a moment of silence in which all four people looked at each other and simply nodded in agreement. Then, they had a moment of prayer in which they said Grace and then began to eat supper together as a family for the last time. Afterwards, Christine and Andrew quickly began packing for the journey. Major Norris had provided a basic description of how much and what they could bring with them. One of the more unusual elements was the mention that the packing list could including one long gun and a sidearm. This was very unusual for civilians to be allowed to carry weapons while aboard a military aircraft. But these were very unusual times.