by Anne Fox
“So how did you die?” Voice asked.
“I volunteered to be deployed to Afghanistan and died in a helicopter crash.”
Spud got a questioning look. “How did they explain the crew not dying?”
“The crew did die,” Doc Rich said. “It was a real helicopter crash. I’m the only one who survived.”
Everyone stared at her.
“Those doctors who work on the front lines are amazing,” she said. “I was pretty bad when they got to me. A bunch of broken ribs, a pneumothorax... I truly thought I’d had it. While I was in the hospital after being medevac’ed to Landstuhl, I got a visit. Seems the unit felt they needed an orthopedic surgeon, too. And after seeing how the guys at the front line worked, and the amount of expertise they had to have to take care of all the casualties, I felt the unit would challenge me more than going back to a medcen and doing nothing but orthopedics. So I ‘disappeared’ from Landstuhl, and they sent a ‘messy corpse’ back home in a metal casket. I’m buried at the national cemetery there at Fort Bliss.” She looked at Hank. “Pretty much what happened to you, Hank – only a little more realistic. But in my case, I just got a new identity, and I continue to live above deck.”
“But you’re Support,” Hank said. “Why did you die and disappear?”
Doc Rich laughed. “You might as easily ask, ‘Why did you volunteer to go to Afghanistan?’” Doc Rich’s expression turned sad. “I was married and in an abusive relationship. It was bad. The broken ribs I got in Afghanistan weren’t the first. I was fed up, but you can’t very well escape someone when the Army has you tied to a place for three or four years at a time. He’d keep showing up, crying how he was so sorry and how he’d changed. And I guess even people with a medical degree can be really stupid, because I’d keep letting him back into my life. So, when they needed someone for Afghanistan, I raised my hand. Which, I guess, tells you how bad my marriage was, that I was willing to go to a warfront rather than stay home with the man who was abusing me. And when the unit approached me, I thought, ‘Even better.’ I asked them if they could make me disappear, we talked a bit about it and I explained my situation, and they said, ‘Sure.’ I became Lois Richardson, got moved far away from the bastard, and have never looked back. He doesn’t know where I am, I don’t know where he is, and I don’t care to know.
“Since then, it’s been a whole new learning curve and a whole different set of challenges. Ones I enjoy, with people I can respect the same way I respected the men and women in the Army.
“You know, Spud, when Hank showed up one day with a big bruise on her leg and I saw on the biometrics that the two of you had been together, I thought I was seeing the same thing I’d gone through. And if it had been, I can guarantee you, I’d have booted you into Leavenworth faster than you could have said, ‘What the?’ And the former fraternization rule would have made it all too easy. Doc Andy had to explain it to me.
“Since the rule change, all of us in Medical have noticed how the relationship between the two of you affects the team for the better. I’ll admit, it’s affected me for the better as well. I think of you like my daughter, Hank. The one I never had.”
“So, there weren’t any children involved,” Hank said.
“No. I had a tubal ligation – just like you, only the old-fashioned way. I didn’t want to risk bringing a child into that relationship. So, I made damned sure I wouldn’t. But I hope one day, after the two of you are all done with the unit, that you’ll take me up on what we discussed.”
“What was that?” Crow asked.
Doc Rich looked at Hank, then Spud, then Hank and Spud looked at each other. The two of them smiled. “Should we tell them?” Hank asked.
“They’re our brothers. I think it’s ok if they know,” Spud answered.
“Doc Rich told us that it’s possible for the two of us to have a baby if we want one. Once we’re out of the unit, of course.”
“How? You’ve both been sterilized, haven’t you?” Amigo asked. “Isn’t that one of the conditions of being a ‘spousal unit,’ as the reg calls it?”
“It is, and we were,” Hank said. “But Doc Rich explained that we both continue to produce what’s needed – they just can’t get together. But we could have in vitro fertilization done later, after we leave. My egg, Spud’s sperm, our baby.”
“My grandchild,” Doc Rich said, smiling.
The faces of the other team members all held excited grins. “We could all be uncles!” Amigo exclaimed.
“One big, happy, not-always-dysfunctional family,” Edge said.
“We’ll see if that holds true tomorrow,” Cloud said. “Because either Amigo and Hank will kill all the rest of us off in the training exercise, or we’ll apprehend them. Or kill them first.”
“I’m continually amazed by the people in this unit,” Hank said.
“Me, too,” Doc Rich said. “But right now, I’m hungry. Heat that stuff up, Hank. I’m starving!”
7
Hank and Amigo made their way with their gear up through an arroyo and then over rocks and through mesquites and creosote bushes. Picking through the terrain, they found what they considered to be a defendable position and settled into setting up to engage the other unit members as they pursued them.
“The key here is going to be to keep moving,” Hank said. “We don’t know what they’re prepared to use. For all we know, they’ve already tracked us with drones.”
“I’m hoping they won’t deploy drones until they get closer to us,” Amigo said. “We left a pretty obvious trail of footsteps up the arroyo. If they follow them, then we can pick at least one of them off as they follow the route. If they don’t figure out that we’ve led them into a trap, maybe we can get another before they get savvy.”
Hank looked around. “We should plan which way we’re going to bug out.” Looking up the hillside, she noted a cedar. “Right there. When it’s time to bug, that’s where we’ll go. Then you find us another spot to hunker down and engage them, and I’ll keep them busy ducking.” She checked her gear. “At some point, I figure we’re going to have to go to .308, and maybe even handguns. But I want to start out with as much distance between them and us as I can, so I’ll start with long-distance shots with the .338 Lapua mag. But at some point, I’m going to want to rebarrel the Sako, too.”
“You can get that done fast enough?”
Hank laughed. “I’ve been hiding down in the Level 9 utility area and practicing it ever since we finalized that we’d be doing a ‘sniper versus snooper’ instead of a ‘hound and hare’.”
“Well, now we just wait.”
Hank laid draped over her rifle, binoculars in hand, scanning the arroyo and the areas around it. Amigo laid slightly to the side and behind, watching through binoculars as well.
“Movement,” Amigo said.
Hank saw it as well: two of the other five team members making their way carefully up the arroyo, trying to maintain as much concealment and cover as possible.
“Good boys,” Hank whispered. “They’re wary. They figure it’s a trap.”
“Where are the others?” Amigo muttered. “All I see are Crow and Cloud.”
Hank had the same thought, and was scanning the areas to either side of the arroyo. “Just like us, they can communicate among themselves,” she said. “The others are probably well behind, or off to either side. And keep in mind: they have Hal. For this exercise, we don’t. All we have is biometrics between us – and that’s just a safety precaution.”
She settled on her rifle and aimed in on the arroyo ahead of where they had last seen Crow and Cloud. “Give me a distance, Amigo,” she whispered.
“Seven hundred fifty yards.”
Seeing the top of Crow’s head, she tracked him with her rifle. When she could see the side of his face, she said, “Sending.”
The equipment created a pop nearly identical to the sound an actual round would make leaving the suppressed barrel of her Sako. She watched as Crow’s head disapp
eared. “And we don’t get to know if he just heard the round and ducked or if that was a fatal hit,” she murmured to Amigo. “The only way we’ll know is if we don’t see him following us anymore.”
In his earpiece, Crow heard a tone, followed by Hal saying, “Fatal hit recorded. Team member eliminated.”
“Shit.” He dropped to the ground and laid there.
Cloud dropped to the dirt in the bottom of the arroyo and crawled over to Crow. At the same time, a flashing icon appeared on the other members of the “snooper” team, showing the location of their fallen team member. As Cloud approached Crow, he saw a flashing red light showing just below the edge of Crow’s helmet on the fabric. “Got you with a head shot,” he told Crow. Being “dead,” Crow could make no response.
“Go, go, go,” Hank whispered to Amigo, setting out for the chosen cedar tree. “It’s for certain they’ll be using Hal to figure out where the shot came from.”
True to Hank’s prediction, Cloud said, “Hal, determine location of shot origin.” On the pursuit team’s watches, a flashing blue dot appeared.
“Team, they took the high ground,” Cloud said. He looked at the bank of the arroyo, asking himself if he should climb over and head straight for the location Hal had determined. Thinking better of the idea, believing he’d be shot if he exposed himself, he continued up the arroyo, hunched over as he moved to avoid showing any of his profile.
Gaining their next location behind the cedar tree, Hank settled down again, wedging the barrel of the Sako between two boulders at the tree’s base and scanning with the rifle’s scope. Cloud is somewhere in the arroyo, where are the other three? Continuing to scan, she picked up movement below.
“Movement. To our left, off the arroyo, about one hundred and fifty yards from it.”
Amigo looked and grinned. “Distance approximately 550 yards,” he said. “And guess who?”
Hank grinned. “Spud.” She aimed in on him, choosing a hit location right over his heart. “Sorry, hon,” she said. “Sending.”
In his earpiece, Spud heard, “Nonfatal shot recorded. Team member incapacitated for ten minutes.”
“Shit.” He looked over his body and saw the laser gear recording the hit right over his heart. Lying down, he muttered, “Yeah, that would knock me down for a while, even if the vest does save my life.”
From her vantage point, Hank was readjusting her aim, setting her crosshairs on Spud’s throat. “And just so you don’t suffer, we’ll finish you while you’re unconscious,” she murmured. “Sending.”
In his earpiece, Spud heard, “Fatal hit recorded. Team member eliminated.” He stayed lying where he was. I’ll bet that was Amigo. Hank wouldn’t just finish me off like that.
“Which way?” Hank asked Amigo.
“You go right, I’ll go left,” Amigo said, unslinging his rifle. “They’ve spread out, so maybe if we split up we can get the rest of them without them getting both of us.” He pointed upward to a cluster of rocks and small trees. “There’s your spot. Good luck – from now on, we’re on our own.”
“Hal, determine origin of shot,” Cloud said, having seen the flashing red dot recording Spud’s elimination. He noted that it didn’t correspond to the last determined position.
“Team, they’re moving,” Cloud said.
“Team, that was predictable. Snipers are sneaky bastards,” Voice said. “Deploying dragonflies.” Voice took two of the tiny drones from a pocket in his tactical vest and activated them. Giving commands via Hal, he said, “Five hundred yards, thirty degrees right dragonfly one, thirty degrees left dragonfly two, hover, infrared, seek.”
The dragonflies sped off on their assigned paths while the pursuit team stayed where they were, watching the infrared images from the two drones on their watches. When the drones halted, the team watched as the images slowly rotated clockwise.
“Hal, suppress locations coinciding with team,” Voice said, continuing to direct the drones.
The drones identified two spots with blue dots.
“Team, we have them,” Voice said. “Hal, dragonfly one, tag north target. Dragonfly two, tag south target. Dragonfly one, dragonfly two, follow targets.” He watched as the two drones sped off in the direction of the two blue dots, a tiny flashing yellow dot showing their progress toward their respective prey.
Hank clamored over rocks and through scrub, feeling for certain Voice had already put the drones in pursuit. My only chance is to hide somewhere where the dragonflies can’t get an infrared readout from me. She jumped over a cluster of rocks and wedged herself behind a huge boulder.
Seeing the infrared tag disappear, Voice commanded, “Hal, pin location of last infrared signal dragonfly one.” A blue dot with a stem that looked like a pin appeared on his watch face. “Hal, continue pursuit, dragonfly two. Dragonfly one initiate grid search.” He watched as one of the dragonflies continued to follow a tagged infrared signature while the other flew first left, then advanced slightly forward, then flew right, repeating the pattern as it proceeded in the direction of the last tagged position of its infrared return.
“Team, I’ve got Amigo,” Edge said. Having noted he was closest to one of the infrared returns, he had made his way to intercept and had gained visual contact with Amigo. He made his way stealthily across to where Amigo was hunched down, scanning the area downhill with his binoculars. Coming up behind him, he grabbed him with an arm around his throat.
“Drop it,” Edge commanded.
Amigo decided to fight instead.
Edge squeezed his arm tighter, grabbing Amigo’s rifle from him while he did so, and driving Amigo to his knees. He then lowered Amigo’s upper body to the ground and, planting a knee in his back, grabbed one of Amigo’s hands and handcuffed it, then yanked his other hand over and cuffed both hands behind Amigo’s back.
“And I’ll just relieve you of a few other things,” Edge said, grinning and taking Amigo’s handgun from him, followed by his knife.
“I didn’t hurt ya, did I?” Edge asked.
“Just my pride.”
“Team, suspect apprehended,” Edge announced to the two remaining pursuers.
“Team, one down, one to go,” Voice said. “Hal, dragonfly two, rendezvous with dragonfly one, initiate dual grid search.” He watched as the tiny yellow dot identifying the second drone flew toward the first.
Hank was still wedged behind the boulder, not daring to expose herself to the dragonfly drone. Let’s see how Voice did this search routine. Will the dragonfly just fly right over, or will it look behind itself? She silently hoped that Amigo had also managed to evade the drone she felt certain was following him. She stiffened, hearing the buzz of the drone as it neared her position. Sounds like it’s just on the other side of the boulder.
Deciding to chance it, she leapt up and, seeing the drone flying toward her, snatched it out of the air. “Gotcha,” she muttered, and shoved it into a Faraday box she carried in a cargo pocket.
Voice saw the drone’s icon disappear, followed by the second dragonfly enter into a hover. “Well, there’s something I’ve got to work on,” he muttered. “Hal, pin location of dragonfly one last signal.” Another blue pin appeared on his watch face. “Dragonfly two, proceed to pin. Initiate grid search.”
Hank turned and began to run back downhill. Bet you’re thinking I’ll just keep going up. She hunkered down and waited to see if there was a second drone tracking her. Seeing the second dragonfly arrive at her last position and then turn uphill, she chuckled and turned back downhill, dashing through brush and over rocks. Seeing a drop below her, she judged whether she could drop over it and not get hurt. Deciding she could, she dropped over the edge – and straight into Cloud, knocking him to the ground and ending up on the ground herself.
Cloud reached out and grabbed her by an ankle as she tried to scramble away from him. She rolled to expose her 1911 so she could train it on him, but as she did she noticed he already had his handgun trained on her.
“Let me see y
our hands,” Cloud commanded.
Lying on her back, she raised them over her head.
“Over on your stomach,” Cloud said, reholstering his handgun.
She rolled, but as she did so she got her knees underneath her and tried to scramble away again.
Reaching out and grabbing the waistband of her pants, Cloud dragged her toward him. “Stop resisting!” he said, grabbing a hand and pinning it to the small of her back while straddling her and sitting on her, pinning her to the ground.
She kicked up with a boot, catching him in the back. Rolling and kicking in an attempt to escape brought her face-to-face with Voice, who grabbed her and threw her back on her stomach, pinning her arm to the ground with his knee. Cloud then grabbed her other arm and pinned it to the small of her back, putting a handcuff on it. Voice then twisted her free arm back so the other wrist could be cuffed.
Still sitting on her, Cloud said, “Shit, Hank. You fight like a banshee.”
“So did at least half of the perps I dealt with when I was still in the FBI,” she replied.
“Team, second suspect apprehended,” Cloud said. “Hal, remove icon suppression.” The location of all seven team members showed on each person’s watch face.
“Team, rendezvous at the van,” Voice said. “Hal, Dragonfly two, return.” He watched as the dragonfly’s icon sped toward him.
They started walking downhill, back toward the arroyo they had initially followed.
“You going to take off the handcuffs?” Hank asked.
“Nope. You’ll run,” Cloud said. “Besides, it’s going to give me great pleasure to deliver you to Spud in handcuffs.”
Voice laughed. “That will likely give them some idea of what kind of play to engage in tonight,” he said, getting Cloud laughing as well.
“I can hear it now,” Cloud laughed. “Spud’s gonna say, ‘You know what we do to perps like you?’ And Hank’s gonna say, ‘No, oh, oh, OH!’”
Hank could feel her face flush red.
“Lookit her blush,” Cloud laughed, getting Voice joining him.