Dinosaur Wars: Earthfall
Page 22
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“General Davis?” Holly Lewis shook his shoulder lightly to wake him. “Sir?”
He’d been asleep on his couch with his coat pulled over him for a little warmth in the air-conditioned cool of his office. He sat up and Lewis snapped him a crisp salute. He liked her early-morning spunk but lacked any of his own. Waving a perfunctory salute in return, he took the mug of coffee she offered him and motioned her to a chair. She sat tall with a resolute look on her face. Her uniform was less wrinkled than his own, even after what must have been a longer night than he had just been through. She had combed her short-cropped brown hair and there was even a hint of makeup on her face. She understood that appearances mattered in times of stress. “Nearly 7 am, sir. I let you sleep a little longer than you asked. You looked like you needed it.”
“If you can call it sleep.” He took a long sip of coffee. There was a nagging ache behind his eyes. He closed his eyelids and rubbed them. “What’s new? Any contact with chain of command?”
“Nothing concrete, just bits and pieces. The White House is still silent but we got a report relayed from D.C., over about a dozen intermediate local units. They say the White House and the President are alright. Only the communications outbuilding was hit.”
“That’s good news.”
“I sent a response back informing the President we’re still here, but the network is pretty unreliable. No response from him and I don’t know if he got our message.”
“Any way to get better reliability?”
“I’m open to suggestion. We’ve had a team of three volunteers with a field radio on top of the mountain ever since the moon set last night but nothing they send or receive is coded and there’s precious little to be heard out there anyway. We’ve been able to listen and broadcast for almost twelve hours but the team’s got to bring the transmitter inside before the moon rises.”
Davis stared through the window that overlooked the cavernous space of NORAD’s underground command center. The place was deserted except one man working at one of the many computer screens. Lewis saw Davis looking.
“It’s been a long night of mostly futile efforts to gather information, sir. With news coming in that slowly, I ordered people to catch a few minutes of sleep.”
“The joint chiefs,” Davis mumbled as the caffeine began to take effect. “They still haven’t materialized out of the air they vanished into on their way here?”
“No, sir. And given the beam’s ability to find and destroy aircraft, I don’t think we should expect them. None of the reports so far have turned up a higher-ranking officer than you.”
“So I’m still it, as far as we know.”
“That’s right sir.”
He sighed. “I take that fact very personally. It feels like America’s salvation rests squarely on my shoulders.”
“And mine, sir.”
“Yes, of course, Holly. Thanks. Please call me Matt.”
“Yes sir, Matt.”
“You know,” he said after a moment. “I see one ray of hope. As bad as things are, that beam isn’t demolishing everything it could.”
“Definitely true, Matt. It has the capability to destroy every building and structure in its path, but so far things are pretty limited to communications, power, and weaponry.”
“That suggests to me,” Davis explained, “that, as capable as the beam weapon is, it must have its limits. For instance, maybe there’s a limit to the amount of power being supplied to it, in which case it may be working as fast as it can, but it has to prioritize. If it were me up there and I had limitations, I’d do what they’re doing. Hit communications and major weapon systems first and get to everything else later.”
“And when they get to everything else later, Matt, what do you think will be on their list?”
“I don’t like to think about it.”
An orderly came in and handed Lewis two sheets of paper. Davis could see the news was bad by the way the corners of her mouth turned down as she read the first.
“New landings, Matt, this time on the Louisiana coast. Nine gliders moving ashore.”
“Sounds like they’re opening a second front,” he muttered. “First Montana, now Louisiana. They’ll cut the country in half if they link up. What else you got?”
“Hmm. Second one’s a relay from that National Guard chopper you ordered to Montana. Have a look.”
She handed the sheet to him and Davis read the brief message. “Enemy installation under construction coordinates 45°27’14” N, 109°30’55” W. Tunnels under Sandstone Mountain.”
He stood up, his heartbeat accelerating with adrenaline. “I knew there was more going on in Montana than met the eye. Sounds like they’re building a base of operations. Maybe they’re taking a lesson from us, getting underground.”
Lewis nodded. “But why there?”
“Darned if I know.” Davis had begun pacing his office with a sudden excess of energy but now he stopped and stared at the last two words on the sheet.
“What the devil is Sandstone Mountain?”
“Don’t know, Matt.”
“Is there some way to move a ground unit in to take a look?”
“There isn’t much in the area. A few National Guard people and some police, the ones who relayed the helicopter report, but nothing like a real reconnaissance force.”
“I’ll take what I can get,” Davis replied. “I need detailed information, quickly. There’s got to be a reason why they’re concentrating on Montana. Scare up some people and equipment to get a close look at this Sandstone Mountain. I’ve got a feeling it’s the key to turning the tide if we can figure out what they’re up to. But I can’t do anything without more information. Make it your highest priority. Either we find out what they’re doing in Montana and locate a force that can oppose them, or they’ll be on their way down here before you know it.”
She nodded silently as if feeling the weight of her responsibility, but Davis saw a resolve in her hazel eyes that gave him confidence. He settled down into his desk chair, feeling refreshed and ready to start the second day of the war. “You’d better get back to your station,” he told her. “Inform me immediately of developments at Sandstone Mountain and holler quick if you find us any kind of fighting force.”
“Yes sir, Matt.” She rose, saluted, walked out into the command center and began chatting with some of the staff who had returned to their duty stations.
It was the start of another day of watching, waiting and planning. But for what? Davis’s mind was a welter of questions and half-formed thoughts.