by Robert Boren
The folks in the room nodded, and pulled out their phones. Frank watched the readout as the phones were being shut down. He turned his off as well. The readout went down to a very low level of signal.
“Shouldn’t that be zero now?” Jane asked.
“No, almost anything can generate some RF signal,” Frank said. “This is about normal for a place that has electronic devices around.” He put the antenna right next to the lead box. No change in the readout. Then he opened the box and pulled one of the chips out. He put the antenna right next to it. No change. He removed the device from its bag and put it on the table. No change.
“What does that mean?” Jane asked.
“That means that these aren’t actively transmitting. We’ll need to bombard them with a signal to get them to transmit.”
“Oh,” she said. “Do we have the equipment to do that?”
“I don’t see it here,” he replied. “We’ll have to sneak into town tomorrow. We need a couple of signal generators. An RF and Microwave Signal Generator, and a Vector Signal Generator. Then we can bombard the chips and see if they return a signal.”
“That will allow you to crack these things?” Jane asked.
“No, that will just open the door for us. Then we need to make sense of the message that these things send out. That’s going to be encrypted somehow. Finding the signal is the easy part.” He put the chip back into its bag and put it into the lead box.
Jerry and Gabe walked back into the room, carrying the radios. They made their way towards the office door, which was a few feet to the right of the kitchen door. Gabe switched on the light as they entered. Frank walked over. “Should we lock the chips up in there too?” he asked.
“I think so,” Jerry said.
“I’ll go get them.”
Frank went back to the table to pick up the lead box. He returned to see Gabe kneeling on the floor.
“Shut the door,” Gabe said. Frank nodded and closed it behind him. Then Gabe pulled a section of the wood floor up. Under it was a large safe, about three feet square. He turned the large dial back and forth a few times, and then moved the large handle. There was a click, and then he opened the door up. Money and coin bags sat in the bottom, but they only took up about a quarter of the space. Jerry handed the radios down to Gabe and he put them in. Then he turned to Frank, who handed over the lead box. He carefully put it in, then closed the door, spun the dial, and put the floor panel back in place.
“Wow, I wouldn’t have found that,” Jerry said.
“That’s the idea,” Gabe said, laughing. He sat at his desk and picked up a small pad of paper, wrote something on two pieces, and handed them to Jerry and Frank.
“What’s this?” Jerry asked.
“The combo, of course,” Gabe said.
“You don’t have to give us that,” Jerry said.
“Yes I do,” Gabe said. “If I get shot, we’re in trouble. This safe is set in cement under the floor. You could put enough dynamite around it to blow up the whole building, and it wouldn’t even make a dent in this baby. I just ask that you keep it safe, and don’t let anybody know you have it.”
“Agreed,” Frank said.
“You find anything out about the chips?” Jerry asked.
“Yeah, I found out that they aren’t transmitting, so we need to bombard them with a signal.”
“I smell a road trip,” Jerry said. “I don’t have a signal generator.”
“Right,” Frank said. “We should go in the morning. I need an RF Microwave generator, and a Vector Generator.”
“Those are expensive,” Jerry said.
“I know,” Frank said. “We’ll scrape up what we need.”
“All Greek to me, but I’ll take you to the electronics store tomorrow,” Gabe said. “How much chance is there that the enemy knows what you two look like?”
“That’s a good question,” Jerry said. “I can’t think of any enemy folks that survived seeing us in the flesh.”
“Me neither,” Frank said, “but if you search the net for my name, there are pictures.”
“Maybe a disguise?” Gabe asked.
“Actually, it might not be as bad as we think,” Jerry said. “I remember seeing your pictures out there. The ones I remember had you with a beard.”
“True,” Frank said. “Shaved it off after I retired. I’m not 100% positive that I wasn’t picked up by that security system at Hilda’s park, though. I wasn’t careful about that, and they had access to the DVR.”
“Maybe you should give us a shopping list and stay home,” Jerry said.
“Yeah,” Gabe said. “You aren’t a celeb, are you, Jerry?”
“Naw,” he replied. “I don’t think I was close enough to any of the cameras at Hilda’s park to get picked up that well, either.”
“Okay, then I’ll make up the shopping list,” Frank said.
“You’d better go get your coaches blacked out,” Gabe said. “It’s almost dark.” He reached over to a metal switchbox on the wall behind the desk and lifted the door. He shut down several switches.
“What was that?” Frank asked.
“All of the exterior lights at the park,” he said. “We’ll close the blinds in the clubhouse too. That way we should be able to have lights on in here for a while without a big risk. It’s a good idea either way, actually, since a bunch of the windows got shot out.”
“Yeah, and the roof over the veranda ought to help with that, too,” Jerry said.
“I’ve got a bunch of frozen lasagna in the freezer. I’ll fire up the ovens and get that going,” Gabe said.
“Sounds great,” Jerry said. “I could eat a horse.”
The three men left the office. Gabe switched off the light and locked the door behind them. They joined the women as Charlie came in through the door.
“We’ve got all of the coaches blacked out except yours and our snipers,” Charlie said, looking at Frank and Jerry. “You guys should go get on that. We’re running out of daylight.”
“How’d you black them out?” asked Frank.
“We taped aluminum foil on the inside, over the roof openings. People who didn’t have good blackout shades in the front put it on the inside their windshields, too. It’s a pain in the neck, but worth it.”
Frank looked at Jane. “Okay, let’s go get our coaches blacked out,” he said.
“Yeah,” Jerry said, looking at Jasmine.
The two couples walked out the door, into the soft dusk. Lucy followed Frank and Jane, tail wagging.
“Smells good here,” Jane said as she walked with Frank. “The trees.”
“Yeah, this place has its disadvantages, but looks-wise, it’s the nicest we’ve been too. Going to be a pain moving the coach to dump our tanks, though.”
“How about the slides?”
“I think we’d better leave them in tonight, in case they bleed light,” Frank said. “We can put them out and cover them tomorrow.”
“You think we’ll be able to stay here for a while?”
“Yeah, honey, I think so. The only thing scaring me a little is the radio broadcast. I’m afraid that whoever was on the other side of that conversation wants us to think they don’t know where we are, so we won’t take off.”
“Thanks for that,” Jane said, rolling her eyes. “So much for sleeping tonight.”
“I’ve been on edge since we started this adventure,” Frank said, “but I still seem to sleep okay. I’m pretty tired now…I think I’m going to sleep like a rock.”
They got to their coach and Frank opened the door. Lucy bounded in.
As Jane fed the animals, he went to the pantry and pulled out the aluminum foil. He put it on the counter. “I’m going out to the storage compartment to get the duct tape.”
Frank looked at the park as he stepped out of the coach. It was getting dark fast. He could see the glow of lights coming from the clubhouse. It was nice that there was a covered veranda around the front. He saw sections of the widows going da
rk as Gabe closed the blinds. Soon he could only see cracks of light….not enough to shine on the ground that wasn’t under the veranda roof.
Jane put her head out the door. “Wouldn’t it be easier to see light leaking out from the slides if we put them out tonight?” she asked.
“You really want to put those out, don’t you?” Frank said, chuckling. “Okay, but level her out first. The keys are on the dash.”
“Thanks, honey,” she said.
Frank heard the coach engine start, and the whir of the hydraulic pump as the leveling system started. He opened the storage compartment and grabbed the tape. Then he stood back and watched as the coach lurched its way to level. When it was done, he went back up the steps. Jane was putting out the slides. Frank pulled a piece of foil off of the roll. He held it up to the skylight over the kitchen and taped it to the ceiling. It took two pieces of foil to cover the opening. He did the same in the bathroom, both on the vent over the toilet and skylight over the shower.
“I’m going to go onto the roof and check the slides,” Frank said. “Turn on all the lights, okay, honey?”
“You don’t need the foil?”
“Naw, I think the duct table will cover anything I see,” Frank said. He walked outside and climbed the ladder to get onto the roof. The vents and skylight were covered well. No light was coming through. He looked at the slides next. Two of them were tight…no light coming out. The passenger side one was bleeding a little bit in one spot. He pulled a tissue out of his back pocket and cleaned the surface, then put the tape on it. Now there was no light coming out anywhere. He climbed of the roof.
“We’re good,” he said, coming back into the coach. Jane had brought down all of the shades. Mr. Wonderful was sitting on the engine cover in the front, doing his post-meal grooming. Lucy was lying in her bed. She looked up at Frank as he walked by, but then put her head back down and closed her eyes.
“Lucy’s pretty worn out. Maybe we should leave her here when we go get dinner,” Jane said.
“I say we let her doze a little and take her,” Frank said. “Maybe we should carry her bed over there. If anybody sneaks up on us in that clubhouse, I want her ears there.”
“Okay, if you think that’s best,” Jane said. She slid onto one of the dinette benches with a glass of ice water. Frank slid in across the table from her.
“You doing okay?” Frank asked. She looked like she was going to cry. He reached out and took her hand.
“Oh, I’m alright,” she sniffed. “I’m just tired, and a little scared. I feel like I can’t let my guard down, even for a minute.”
“I know, I feel the same way,” Frank said. “Stress does take its toll.”
“How do we end up finding such nice people everywhere?” Jane asked. “Gabe is such a sweetheart. Kurt and Mary too.”
“I know, they feel like family,” Frank said. “Remember what we thought of Jerry when we first met him?”
Jane laughed. “Yeah, we thought he was a boorish fool, as I remember.”
“Now I think of him as a brother,” Frank said. He felt himself choking up. “I’d put my life in his hands and not give it a second thought.”
“It’s going to be so hard if one of the group gets killed,” Jane said. “It was bad enough with Chester, and I really didn’t know him very well.”
“I know,” Frank said. “Losing Major Hobbs was the hardest one for me. I really liked him.”
“We’d better stop this, or we’ll both be blubbering,” Jane said, forcing a smile on her face.
Frank nodded. “I know.”
“I may need a little attention from you tonight, Frank.”
“Me too.”
“You ready to go to the clubhouse?”
“Sure,” Frank replied. “You want to take Lucy’s bed?”
“Let’s just take her blanket,” Jane said. “She’ll sleep on that if she’s tired enough.”
“Sounds good.” He got up and grabbed the leash. The sound woke Lucy up, and she stood up, stretching, and wagging her tail. The three left the coach and walked over to the clubhouse. The smell of lasagna and garlic bread hit them as they entered. Jeb was already eating, wolfing his food down fast.
“Looks like you like that,” Jane said to him.
“Sure do,” Jeb said, the words slightly garbled with food.
Rosie came over Jeb’s table, with a little help from Jasmine. She sat down next to him and Jasmine put her plate in front of her.
Frank and Jane both got plates full of food, and sat down at a nearby table. Jerry and Jasmine joined them.
“This tastes great,” Jerry said.
Frank nodded as he took his first bite.
“Rosie spending the night with Jeb again?” Jane asked quietly, snickering.
“Don’t encourage her,” Jasmine said, looking embarrassed.
“Aw, honey, don’t worry about that, really,” Jerry said. “It’s good for both of them to have each other. I’d be okay with it if she moved in with him.”
“I wouldn’t suggest that,” Frank said.
“Why not?” Jane asked.
“Oh, I’m no prude, you know that,” Frank said. “It’s just that Rosie needs a lot of help. Jeb could help her, but it will lessen his focus on the safety of our little group. If things were less crazy, I’d be the first to say they should do it if they want to, but you guys know how things have been.”
“That’s a really good point,” Jerry said. “I didn’t think about that.”
Charlie and Hilda walked over, with Kurt and Mary following them.
“Hey, folks, mind if we join you?” Charlie asked.
“Of course not,” Frank said. The Sheriff and Terry came over too, followed by Earl, Jackson, and Gabe.
“The gangs all here,” Jerry said. “Except for the lovebirds over there.”
“I thought we were still lovebirds,” Jasmine said, a sly smile on her face.
Everybody laughed.
“What so funny over there?” Rosie asked, turning around.
“Oh, nothing, Mom,” Jasmine said. She giggled.
Suddenly Lucy started to growl.
“Dammit, couldn’t these guys have waited until we were done eating,” said Jeb. He got up and grabbed his gun, still chewing. The others stood up and grabbed their weapons too. Jeb made it to the door before the others. He cracked it open and looked outside, and then started laughing.
“Hey, Gabe, you got a big freezer?” he asked.
Chapter 14 – Grizzly!
Jeb peered out the crack in the door, still snickering. He looked like he was itching to pull the trigger.
“Freezer space?” Gabe asked. “Oh, crap, the deer are back, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, one was about to walk up on you veranda when I cracked the door open. If we’re low on meat, I could take one of ‘em.”
“You know how to dress them?” Gabe asked. Several of the group laughed. “What’s so funny?”
“Old mountain man there was probably born with a bowie knife in his hand,” Jerry said, cracking up.
“Oh, should have figured that I guess. Yeah, Jeb, I’ve got a big freezer with a lot of room in it, so go for it, just don’t shoot one on the veranda. I don’t want a big mess to clean up.”
Jeb looked over at him and nodded, then slipped quietly out the door. The group got back to their meals.
“Wonder what happened to all of the venison that he put in my freezer?” Hilda asked.
“Good question,” Charlie said. “I’m not sure that Muslims can eat it.”
“Actually, they can,” Jane said, “as long as it’s slaughtered according to their laws. I think the only meats they can’t eat are pork and reptile.”
“What, no fried gator?” Earl laughed. “That’s it. I’ll die rather than convert.”
There was a shot. Everybody jerked their heads around, but then went back to eating. Jeb burst through the door.
“Nice one! It’ll feed us for a while! Gabe, where’s the bes
t place to hang this puppy up for dressing?”
“My grandpa and dad used to be into hunting. They built a room in the back of the barn for dressing deer and bear, with a hoist and drain…all the stuff you need. Probably pretty dusty, though. I’m no hunter, so it hasn’t been used since the last time my dad hunted.”
“Great, thanks!” Jeb said. He looked like a kid in a candy store.
“Just remember that we need to watch the lights,” Gabe said. “There’s a light inside that room that should be pretty tight, but don’t turn on the lights in the main part of the barn. That old building bleeds light like crazy.”
“Gotcha,” Jeb said. He looked at Rosie. “Sorry, sweetie, I’ll be gone for a while.”
“You go clean meat,” she said, smiling at him. “I know how to cook. Tricky, but I can make good. I see you later.”
He smiled at her and left the room.
“That guy’s valuable to have around,” Gabe said.
“Yeah, he’s a good hunter,” Charlie said. “Kurt is too.”
“So are you, Charlie, and the Sheriff too,” Kurt said. “We all grew up hunting. It’s a dying art now, I’m afraid.”
“I should have remembered what happens when the lights are off at night around here,” Gabe said, chuckling. “Even when the park is empty, I turn on the lights. Otherwise everything I’ve planted gets chewed up by deer. You folks will have to keep an eye out for bears at night, too. Don’t leave any trash laying around outside your rigs.”
Everybody finished their meals and sat around for about an hour, talking. Jeb poked his head in the door.
“Gabe, do I need a code to get into the showers? I don’t think the shower in my rig is going to do very well for this.”
“Yeah, the code is 4321. Hard to remember, I know,” he said sheepishly. “How’s the meat?”
“Looks like good meat. I’ll let it age overnight, and then cut it up and freeze it tomorrow. Nice facilities you have there, by the way. Probably the best I've ever seen.” He left, closing the door behind him.
“How about putting on the TV, so we can watch the news for a few minutes?” Charlie asked.
“Sure, we can do that,” Gabe said. He walked over to a cabinet, opened it, and pulled out the TV remote. He switched it on, and put on CNN. There was video of Congress.