by Robert Boren
“Any difference?” Jerry asked.
“Not that I can see,” he said.
“Should you have all of the others in that lead box?” Jasmine asked.
“You know, you’re right,” Frank said. He put the Simon Orr chip back into the bag, grabbed one of the graveyard bags, and then picked up the three others and put them into the lead box.
“Wonder if they enemy can see these from very far off,” Jane said.
“I’m going to say yes,” Frank said, “but they might be passive, not active.”
“Passive?” she asked.
“Meaning that they would need to have at least an idea where they were. They would paint the area with a signal and look for replies from the chips, instead of just looking for signals from the chips.”
“Any difference with that one?” Jasmine asked.
“Nope,” Frank said. He put it into the bag and then into the lead box. He made sure that the lid was tight and pushed it to the middle of the table.
“Mary forgot to check the privates for chips,” Jerry said.
“Oh, yeah,” Jane said. “Looks like they’re almost done eating. I’ll go talk to her.” She got up and went over to Mary. Then they both walked up to the men and talked to them. The men stood up and removed their shirts. Mary checked them all, and then they put their shirts back on. Jane walked back over with Mary.
“Clean?” asked Jerry.
“Yes,” Mary said.
“Good,” Frank said, looking relieved. Mary walked back over to Hilda and Rosie.
Charlie trotted back into the clubhouse and walked quickly over to Jerry.
“I need your tracking expertise,” he said, out of breath.
“Uh oh, what did you find?” Jerry asked.
“A backpack full of grenades, along with some ammo and a few pistols. There were also some RPGs.”
“RPGs, huh,” Jerry said. “Single use or reloadable?”
“I don’t know. They all look loaded to me, and we didn’t find any other rockets with this stuff.”
“What do you want me to track?” Jerry asked.
“I want you to see if the tracks we see around this stuff are from Simon Orr’s group or somebody else.”
“Alright, let’s go,” Jerry said.
“I’m going too,” Jasmine said. “Maybe you can teach me how to track.”
“Not a bad idea. C’mon.” They left with Charlie.
Frank shot Jane a worried glance.
“What?” she whispered.
“I hope that stuff is from Simon Orr, and not from our guests,” Frank whispered back.
“You don’t think they’re bad guys, do you?”
“I hope not, but look at how many times we’ve been fooled before.”
They sat there looking at each other silently as Gabe walked over with Kurt.
“Find anything out?” Kurt asked.
“Only that they’re all the same kind of device,” Frank said. “At least on the exterior.”
“Lead box working out alright?” Gabe asked.
“Perfect,” Frank said. “You’re a handy guy.”
“For low tech stuff, yeah,” Gabe said.
“What’s next?” Kurt asked.
“I’ll try to figure out if these are actively transmitting, or if they need to be bombarded with something to light up,” Frank said. “Trial and error. We probably don’t have everything we need here to pull that off, so I suspect we’ll be going to that store in town to mingle with the ‘propeller heads’”, Frank said, chuckling.
“Well say the word, and I’ll take you there,” Gabe said.
Private Peterson walked up. “Gabe, do you have a place where we can get some shuteye? We want to get on the road tonight.”
“You’re leaving that soon?”
“Yeah, this is a place that the enemy may know about,” he said, “or the Army. It would be better for us and for you we took a powder.”
“Alright,” Gabe said. “Follow me. I’ve got a couple of rental trailers towards the back of the park that you can use.”
“Thanks, Gabe,” he said. The two walked over to the door, and were joined by the other three Privates.
“Did you guys want to tell me something when you walked over?” Frank asked Kurt.
“Yeah, we had some ideas about the moat and bridge,” Kurt said, “but I’ll wait until Gabe gets back here.”
Jerry and Charlie came back in.
“Well?” asked Frank.
“Definitely Simon Orr and his creeps,” Jerry said. “The shoe prints are right, compared to what I see over by the smokehouse.”
“You know what that means?” Kurt asked.
“Yeah, they didn’t know much about us. They thought they were going to have to make a full on assault.”
“Or they thought they were going to have to fight their way out of here after they did us in,” Jerry said. “Maybe they thought there was more army involvement.”
“What about the stuff?” Frank asked.
“The RPGs are el cheapo single use, but we should keep them. They won’t take out an M-1 tank, but they’d splatter a Humvee or a transport truck all over the place.”
“Why would they leave pistols out there?” Jane asked. “I could see the heavy stuff.”
“Maybe there’s not a good place to wear a side arm when you’re in your pajamas,” Jerry said, laughing.
“No, Jane’s right,” Frank said. “Something odd there. Any other tracks around?”
“There are a lot of tracks, but they are consistent with the time and the size of that attack last night.”
“What kind of pistols?”
“El cheapo, again,” Jerry said. “Lousy imitation Glocks, 9mm. No extra ammo for those either. Only some ammo for AKs.”
“Maybe that tells us something about our enemy’s weapons, at least,” Jane said.
“If I had to guess, I’d say those pistols came from South America,” Jerry said.
“Venezuela?” Charlie asked.
“Maybe. I wouldn’t want to rely on those things.”
Earl and Jackson walked back in with the towels and glass cleaner.
“Take a look now,” Jackson said. “Should be getting a better picture. Oh, and we brought the enemy stuff over. It’s on the veranda next to the door.”
“Thanks, guys,” Charlie said.
Frank got up and opened the doors of the camera system cabinet. The exterior pictures were now crystal clear on the monitor. “Looks great, guys. Thanks!”
“By the way, there’s a deer blind out there in the trees next to the creek,” Earl said. “It would be a good forward post. The trees are really thick in there….it would be tough to see us in there.”
“Any booze or magazines?” Jerry asked, laughing.
“No, sorry,” Earl said sheepishly.
“Perhaps that would be a good place for the RPGs,” Frank said.
“Now that’s a hell of a good idea, Frank,” Jackson said. “You can see the road coming in right along there. You could take out a vehicle from there with no problem.”
“Good, then let’s do that,” Charlie said. Earl and Jackson nodded, and went back out, just as Gabe was walking back in. He came to the back.
“Our guests tucked in?” Kurt asked.
“Yeah, they seem pretty nervous to me, though. I’d be surprised if they sleep much.”
“I’m glad they’re leaving,” Jasmine said. “I don’t feel as safe with them here.”
“Me neither,” Frank said.
Suddenly there was the sound of a distant explosion. Frank and Jerry looked at each other, and ran for the door. The others followed.
“Jeb, see anything?” Frank yelled.
“Yeah, something blew up north of town,” he shouted.
“The supply base,” Jerry said.
“Yeah, probably,” Jeb replied. “I can hear small arms fire now, but just barely.”
Private Brown came running over, followed by the other Privat
es.
“So much for your nap, I guess,” Jerry said as they got next to them.
“Where’s that coming from?” Private Brown asked.
“Looks like north of Eagle, where the supply base is,” Frank said.
“Shit. My dad was right, but it happened sooner than we expected. We need to get out of here now.”
“Need a vehicle?” Gabe asked.
“Sure, you got one?”
“I’ve got an old Delta 88. It runs, and it’s full of gas. Don’t look like much. It was my wife’s.”
“Thanks,” Private Peterson said. “We don’t have anything to pay you with.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Gabe said. “Let’s go. I’m probably going to have to jumpstart it for you, but the battery is pretty good….it’ll charge up fine after you drive it a little.”
The four men followed Gabe back to the area next to the barn.
“Jets!” Jeb said.
“Coming this way?” Frank asked.
“No, they’re coming from the east, heading towards the base. Shoot, they just took something out in midair. It was small, but it blew up big time when they hit it.”
“Drones,” Jerry said. “If the enemy took over that base, they might be able to use the drones to find us.”
“They just got two more,” Jeb said. “And you’re right, they were drones. Caught a glimpse of one of them with my binos.”
There was a louder jet sound now.
“What’s that?” Jerry yelled.
“Bigger plane,” Jeb shouted. “Heading for the base, from the looks of it. Dropping bombs! Get ready to hold your ears.”
There was a low rumble that seemed to go on and on.
“Wow, wish I could see more,” Jeb shouted. “Damn mountains in the way. I see smoke coming up, though.”
The rumble started to subside, and then there was silence.
“Jets just split back towards the east,” Jeb shouted.
“Keep your eyes peeled for drones,” Jerry shouted back.
The Delta 88 drove up in front of the veranda. Gabe got out of the driver’s seat, letting it idle.
“Didn’t even have to jump her,” he said. “I’m going to put some food and water in the trunk for them. The boys are back at the rental unit changing their clothes.”
“I’ll give you a hand,” Charlie said. Kurt followed them into the clubhouse.
“There’s quite a fire going on over there,” Jeb said. “Look at that smoke.”
“Wow, we can even see it from the ground,” Frank said. Jackson and Earl came back from the meadow.
“The RPGs are in the blind, ready to go,” Jackson said.
“What the hell just happened?” Earl asked.
“Looks like an attack on the supply base,” Frank said.
“Crap,” he replied. “There goes our early warning system.”
“Seriously,” Jerry said. “We’re going to have to keep alert.”
The privates walked up to the car with their backpacks as Gabe, Kurt, and Charlie carried boxes of supplies out and put them in the trunk.
“Oh, you didn’t have to do that,” Private Brown said.
“I just wanted to help you guys out a little,” Gabe said. “It’s my pleasure.”
“Well, thanks,” Private Brown said. “We’ll be on our way, if that’s okay with you.”
“Sure, whenever you’re ready.”
“Good luck, men,” Charlie said.
“Yeah, take care of yourselves, and say hi to General Hogan for us,” Frank said.
The men nodded, put their backpacks in the trunk, and got into the car. They drove off slowly.
“Do we need to re-assess if we want to stay here or not?” Jane asked.
“We might want to talk about it,” Frank said.
“Yeah, I agree, as hard as it is to say,” Gabe said. “Being here without our eye in the sky is quite a bit more dangerous.”
“Let’s not get too hasty,” Charlie said. “If that base is destroyed, the enemy may decide this area isn’t worth fooling with, and if they don’t know where we are, we might be in good shape for a while.”
“True, and this place is pretty defendable,” Earl said. “I had one other thought, too. We could take steps to hide our coaches so drones won’t be able to see them as easily.”
“How?” Frank asked.
“Simple….we gather up tree branches and other debris and put it on the roofs,” Jackson said. “If a drone gets close, it’s going to see us, but if they are doing a high altitude search over a wide area, they might not.”
“Jackson has something there, Frank,” Jerry said. “If we could have some time to work those chips without being bothered, it might be worth the risk.”
“I’ve got a bunch of leaves and tree branches in the back, from the last time I did trimming and cleanup,” Gabe said. “That would be a good start, just remember that it’s flammable as all get out.”
“Alright, we need to talk more about this when everybody is in the clubhouse,” Charlie said. “Let’s get back to work.”
“Jeb, Sheriff, you guys alright up there for a little while?” asked Frank.
“Yeah,” Jeb said. “We’ll come in when it’s dusk.”
“Good, we’ll have something hot to eat for you when you’re done.”
“And a drink or two?” Jeb asked.
“Sure, why not,” he said, chuckling. “I’ll even join you.”
The group filed into the clubhouse. Frank and Jerry went back over to their workspace, and Gabe joined Charlie and Kurt on the other side of the room. Jackson and Earl planted themselves in front of the security system monitor and watched. Mary and Hilda went to talk to Gabe, and then walked into the kitchen.
Suddenly there was a buzzy static sound coming from the army radio. It was sitting amongst the equipment that Jerry brought over. Frank and Jerry looked at each other, and Jerry reached over to turn up the volume.
Chapter 13 – Camp Blackout
The group gathered around the radio as Jerry turned it up. That created a loud hiss, with a scratchy voice trying to get through.
“The radio they’re calling from sounds like it’s damaged to me,” Jerry said.
“Frank? Come in please. Over.”
Jerry and Frank looked at each other and grinned.
“Interesting accent,” Frank whispered.
“Seriously,” Jerry said. He pushed the button on the handset.
“Sorry, no one here by that name. Over,” he said.
There was a pause with just the hissing sound.
“Who is speaking please? Over.”
Jerry got a wicked grin on his face.
“This is Officer Simmons. Over,” he said. Then he took his hand off the receiver and cracked up.
Now there was a little bit of chatter on the other end.
“Please state your position. Over.”
“They don’t know where we are,” Charlie said.
“So it would appear,” Frank added.
“Who is this speaking? Over.” Jerry said.
“This is Lieutenant Bailey. What is your position? We need to schedule a meeting. Over.”
“We are currently three clicks west of the North Pole. Over.” Jerry cracked up again.
“Maybe we shouldn’t be screwing with these folks,” Mary said.
“They can’t find our position from these radios, can they?” Jane asked.
“General direction, yes, but they already know that,” Jerry said. “Beyond that is difficult, but not completely impossible.”
“Should we turn off all of the radios?” Frank asked.
“To be one hundred percent safe? Yes.”
“Shut them down.”
“Okay, Frank,” Jerry said. He switched off the power. “I’ll go out and get the other ones shut down, and bring them all back in here. We should either lock them up or destroy them.”
“Gabe, you have anywhere secure that we could lock these up?” Frank asked.
“Yeah, I’ve got a pretty good sized safe. There should be room in there.”
“Why don’t you go with me,” Jerry said to Gabe. “That way you can help me carry them, too.”
“Sure, no problem,” he said. Jerry picked the radio up off the table, and they left the room.
“This is good news,” Charlie said. “We know they don’t know where we are.”
“Well, maybe good news,” Frank said. “They might want us to think that so we don’t split. We have to assume that there might still be somebody around who does know where we are.”
“They also may have taken over that base, and that wouldn’t be good, “Jackson said. “What if they figured out how to fly the drones? If they don’t know where we are, they might be able to find us with those.”
“Jackson has a good point,” Earl said. “We should black out the park tonight, and then get our butts in gear tomorrow. Camouflage the RVs, for instance, and hide anything that makes it look like there’s a sizeable group of people here.”
“Let’s go ask everybody to put foil over the skylights in their rigs,” Jackson said. “That will cut down most of the light bleeding out tonight. Quick and easy.”
“That’s an excellent idea,” Charlie said. “Let’s get on that now.”
“I’ll help,” Kurt said.
The four men got up and went out the door.
“Well, back to work,” Frank said.
“Anything I can help with?” Jasmine asked.
“Maybe,” Frank said. He surveyed the table full of equipment, and his eyes lit up. “Digital RF Detector! Perfect.”
“Oh, that’s what Jerry uses to detect bugs,” she said. “He was thinking about starting a side business consulting on surveillance detection.”
“Oh, really?” Frank asked. “There is…was good money to be made doing that.”
“What does that thing do?” Jane asked.
“It detects a variety of transmitted radio signals,” Frank said. “Very handy device. If the chips are active, this should pick up what they are transmitting.” He picked up the device and turned it on. It lit up right away.
“Everybody, turn off your cellphones for a minute, okay?”