Chapter 13 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Myles was deep in a dream, standing on the steel roof, looking at the western sky. Luckily, it's clear, he thought. There was a slight haze that would limit visibility to four or five miles, but that was more than enough. Attacking aircraft of the type likely to be used would be within two miles before launching any missiles, closer if using their guns. He looked over that the headquarters building, slightly higher, but he could see Sir Walter standing there. A cool wind was coming in from the north, damp enough to fog his glasses. He took them off - it wasn't sunny enough to need sunglasses, but having something over his eyes made him feel better. Other protection was limited to a flak jacket and helmet - mobility was important. As he looked back to the west, he saw it. First just a black dot, then another, growing in size. Two more soon appeared, as those in the lead became near enough to see. The two in the lead began to look like AH-series gunships - crew of two with nose-mounted rotary cannon and missiles on the short wings on either side. The two behind them looked bigger - they looked like the big GH types, used for landing troops. As he watched, one of the lead choppers seemed to be flying straight at him. He imagined the pilot seeing him on the roof, deciding to take him out. As in his earlier dream, a halo of smoke and flame appeared on one side - a missile launch. He instinctively ran towards the small semicircular bunker nearby, tripped, fell, heard the ripping sound of an aircraft cannon... Someone was knocking on the door. He woke, feeling sluggish and disoriented as he tried to sit up. Sarah and Tanya were also awake, sitting up, looking at him, then at the door. "Quickly," he said. "Get dressed, be ready to move." He shouted towards the door "Be right there" and began dressing. He had been keeping a full combat wardrobe in the bedroom, and as soon as he had his trousers on he went to the door. Two men were there, both battle ready, including their rifles. "This is it, Sir," said one of them. "Sir Walter is waiting downstairs." "Be right with you," Myles replied. "Can someone get them into the shelter?" "We've got a couple of men on the way, they'll take care of them. We'll wait outside." "Thanks" said Myles, "I'll be finished in a couple of minutes." He turned to see Sarah and Tanya already dressed, as they too had kept some clothing that was easy to get into in the bedroom. Both were in sweatshirts and jeans, with suede, fur-lined moccasins. He quickly finished his preparations, gave them each a quick kiss and headed for the door. "Someone will be here shortly to get you to a safe place" he said. "You can trust them completely - just do whatever they tell you to and you'll be all right. See you soon." Wishing he believed what he had said, he went to the door. On the ground floor, they headed over to the headquarters building. Sir Walter was still on the ground as well. "It looks like this is it" he said. "We have reports of a group of helicopters headed this way - based on the last report they have an ETA of about ten to fifteen minutes. The ground forces must be on the way in, but none of our scouts have seen anything." "They may be disguised" said Myles. "Remember the concealed personnel in what looked like delivery trucks in the Solomon's Creed affair." "I have them looking for anything that can carry personnel" said Sir Walter. "Trucks, buses, or anything that doesn't belong on the road this early" Sir Walter's radio emitted a burst of static, followed by words. "Whiskey Two to Bravo Charlie. Two large RVs just left the main road and are headed down 59. They don't look right" State highway 59 was a lightly traveled road that passed by the road to the main gate. "That may be it" said Myles. "They still have to cover about a half mile once they leave 59 - they can't be foolish enough to expose themselves that way." "There must be another piece to the puzzle" said Sir Walter. As he spoke, another voice came over the radio. "Whiskey Three here - we've got some activity in the woods over by Peterson's lake. Looks like vehicles moving through the trees." Peterson's lake was on the other side of Highway 59. Beyond the lake, a large forested area stretched for miles to a nearby line of low hills. Had they concealed their armor in the forest, Myles wondered. Almost like they learned something from us at the Penn Creek operation. "Whiskey Three to Bravo Charlie, we've got what look like armored vehicles coming out of the woods and around the lake. Black, but military. Looks like some Rhinos and some bigger stuff behind." "We read you, Whiskey Three" said Sir Walter. "Keep us updated. Whiskey Two, where are those trucks?" "They're headed from the highway" came the reply. "Three or four minutes" said Sir Walter. "The choppers will be here just before them. Battle stations!" Myles turned and jogged toward Building 12. Sir Walter headed inside to go up to the roof. The elevator ride up three floors took a minute or so, and as Myles climbed through the hatch on to the roof, he immediately turned to look west. Reliving the dream he had had minutes ago, he thought, but the dreams had always been interrupted. He checked the channel setting on his radio - one of a set used by the commanders - then clipped it to his vest. As he looked up, he saw the first of the black dots in the sky. Incoming choppers, quickly confirmed by his radio. "Victor Two to Bravo Charlie, incoming choppers." "Take them out, now" called Sir Walter. Myles raised his field glasses to examine them, hoping they wouldn't be there long enough to see. There was the narrow fuselage with tandem seating for the crew of two, the rotary cannon under the nose, the short wings with missiles under them. In his peripheral vision he saw a bright flash, originating on the ground to his left. A long trail of smoke and flame reached out to one of the helicopters, followed by a huge explosion of flame and smoke. As he watched another missile was launched from his right, and seconds later the other helicopter experienced the same fate as the first. He could see two more behind them, wondered if they would react in time to take evasive action. One did not, and he could see the missile impact the engine, just behind the cabin and under the main rotor. The helicopter disintegrated and scattered parts over a wide area, with several small fires burning in the field below. The other attempted evasive action, but its hard turn took it over the positions of some of the missile launch sites. The Russian missiles were fired from launchers with four positions, so there was no need to prepare for a second shot. As soon as the helicopter passed over, the operators fired another missile. Firing from directly behind, the operator would most likely have switched the missile to infrared mode, tracking the hot exhaust of the engines. Myles saw the trail of fire and smoke closing in, followed by the explosion and parts raining down on the field. He quickly looked back to the west, saw two more aircraft approaching. They were larger and moving more slowly - troop carriers, he thought. Are they hesitating because they saw the attack helicopters go down, he wondered. Apparently they did, as they both descended, either landing or in a low hover. He could see the armored vehicles coming now, and from the other direction a pair of large motor homes. Probably gutted and set up for maximum personnel capacity, he thought. None of them seemed aware of what had happened, as they came on at full speed, the two APCs in front headed for the main gate, left open for them. As they cleared the gate, they left the main road and drove along a path through a grove of trees. Avoiding the main road, Myles thought. They've been told it's mined. He could see four Rhinos leaving the main road and following a similar path on the other side. As they did, the first APC hit the mine prepared for it. The twelve-ton vehicle was lifted completely off the ground and landed upside down, the bottom blown out and on fire. The second one stopped, making it an easy mark for the rocket crews less than a hundred yards away. Before turning to look at the Rhinos on the other path, he saw several impacts turn in into a flaming wreck. The first Rhino in the line also hit the mine, and little was left of it. The other three tried to go around, but the path was rather narrow and the trees too big for the small vehicles to get through. Myles saw the streaks of fire coming from the hidden rocket launchers just beyond them. Meanwhile, the two motor homes had stopped, one just inside the main gate and the other outside. A large group of heavily armed men had surrounded them and there were probably more guns pointed at the vehicles than were available to the personnel inside. That looked to be under control. There was no sign of the other helicopters, and Myles scanned the area where he had seen them go down. The flat black machines, on the ground, were difficult to see - but as he watched they both lifted off and turned back the way they had come, soon disappearing over the forest. The radio came to life suddenly. "Secure all hostile assets" said Sir Walter. "Myles, meet me downstairs. Jerry, Alan - meet us in front of HQ." There were no responses. If they were alive and functioning, they would be there without need for words. Myles quickly descended to ground level and ran to await Sir Walter's arrival. He saw Jerry Randall and Alan West, two of Sir Walter's deputies, running in his direction. Sir Walter soon arrived and began issuing orders. "Jerry, I want your and Alan to secure those vehicles" pointing to the motor homes. "They will almost certainly have the command personnel in there. We managed to get on their frequency as they arrived - once they saw their attack choppers go down and were surrounded, they ordered the other two helicopters to withdraw. I don't know where they went, but would probably return to base to avoid running out of fuel. If there are any survivors in the armored crews, they'll be easily handled. Stay on channel two and I'll get back with you in a few minutes. Myles, come with me." They went first to check on the APCs. There were no survivors from the lead vehicle, and only four from the second. "Out of how many?" asked Sir Walter. The squad leader looked at one of the prisoners. "There were twenty-two men plus a driver and co-driver in each vehicle" the prisoner replied. "Are you regular Army?" asked Sir Walter. "Yes. Sir." replied the soldier. "Are any of you wounded?" Sir Walter asked. "Nothing serious." the soldier replied. "All right" said Sir Walter. "Bruce, get these men into the facility, get some medical assistance. There may be some incoming from the other crew. "Myles, let's check the other side." They walked to the other side of the main road, onto the grassy area alongside it, and into a large stand of trees. The undergrowth was kept cleared and there was a small amount of grass growing under the trees. Emerging onto the road that had been set as a trap, they viewed the mangled vehicles. The fires were out but they were still smoking. The men that had destroyed them had extricated the survivors and were administering first aid. The two squad leaders came up and reported to Sir Walter. "Sir, they had forty men - ten per vehicle. We have eleven survivors, two of them are not looking so good. The others will be all right, physically." "Call for transport" said Sir Walter. "Get the bad ones there, if the others can walk, let them." The squad leader's remark had not been gratuitous commentary - the prisoners were almost in shock. They waited for the improvised ambulances to arrive, then the other prisoners were escorted away. The medical facility wasn't far away, just behind the headquarters. It had been prepared for the worst, but it seemed they had been quite fortunate this day - the only patients would be captured enemies. "I guess it's time to deal with the bosses" said Sir Walter. "Let's go." They began walking toward the main gate, but before they emerged from the trees, Sir Walter stopped. He turned to Myles and asked "Do you have any cigarettes?" Myles did, of course. He couldn't remember ever seeing Sir Walter smoke anything other than cigars, he thought, as he unzipped his flak jacket and extricated the pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket. "The may be a little squashed" he said, handing it to Sir Walter. "Not a problem" said Sir Walter with a slight smile. "If that's the worst thing that happened today we're in pretty good shape." Myles reached for his lighter, but Sir Walter had one. He lit up and Myles suddenly realized he wanted one. He lit one and they stood silently, in the dim light under the trees. "Suddenly, I am quite tired" said Sir Walter. "This is where the doubts begin, wondering if I'll be able to finish this. You must be prepared to, if I am unable. We've started something big, probably the biggest thing in the past two or three centuries, outside of the two world wars. Before this is over, even the two civil wars may be eclipsed. "Well, we'd best check on our guests. I'm sure by now their masters are trying to figure out a way to extricate them, and punish us. This is where we make them understand that they can't." Finishing their cigarettes, they ground them out on the damp ground and began to walk toward the gate. A couple of squads were guarding the vehicles. The fifty or so rifles pointed at them seemed to be keeping the occupants calm. The squad leaders reported and Sir Walter gave them their orders. "Bring the occupants of the first vehicle out, one at a time, and be sure they are unarmed." he instructed. Form them in lines of five, two arms lengths apart." He didn't need to tell them to keep them covered - they would take no chances. One by one they exited the lead vehicle, eventually forming a group of twenty-two. All wore black nylon jackets with large yellow letters on the back. SOG. Myles had heard of the Special Operations Group. It appeared to be not so much a formal agency but a designation for ad hoc units formed for an operation. They would probably have been members of various other agencies, assembled for this task. They were ordered to take the jackets off, to prevent concealment of small weapons. The second vehicle was also emptied and another twenty joined the group. A couple of the squad members inspected the insides and pronounced them clear of personnel. Sir Walter and Myles boarded on and looked around. As they has suspected, the large motor homes had been gutted and had seats installed, with storage space for gear, which in this case included rifles, submachine guns, grenades and other weaponry. It was a short walk to the detention center, so the group, their weapons and body armor left behind, make the trip on foot. Inside the large building, a general-purpose storage and work area. The new arrivals joined the those who had arrived earlier. The two sent for medical attention had not returned, so they began to sort out the fifty-four who were present. Sir Walter left a couple of the senior command staff to supervise the operation and took the others to a conference room on the ground floor of the headquarters building. Inside, he took off his flak vest and helmet, and Myles did the same. The others remained suited for battle. Sir Walter sat down in a chair at the large table and looked at the others for a few minutes, saying nothing. As Myles' questioning look became one of concern, he raised his right hand - "I'm all right," he said. "This has been a rather tiring, for old men anyway." He gave one of his usual slight smiles, and Myles relaxed. Sir Walter was certainly not young, and even Myles was still recovering from the sudden burst of physical and mental stress. "We have a few minutes to rest," Sir Walter continued, "and they we need to begin sorting our catch. We want to identify the leaders, separate them, and then see what we have. Jerry, I'd like you and Alan to go over and get that started. Bring me a report when you're finished." After the two men left, Sir Walter got up. "Let's go up to my office for a few minutes" he said to Myles. They walked to the elevator and went up in silence, which continued as they went to the office. Once inside, Sir Walter went over to the bar and produced glasses. "Brandy OK?" he asked. Myles nodded, and he poured two glasses. He opened the doors to the balcony and they went out. From the back of the building they could not see the destruction, but Myles had not forgotten. There were a number of bodies in the wrecked vehicles, and a search would be necessary for any remains of the helicopter crews. As was so often the case, Sir Walter seemed to be reading his mind. "As soon as they get the prisoners sorted out, they'll detail a few of them to recover the bodies. It will keep them busy and out of mischief." He sipped his brandy. "Do you have your cigarettes?" he asked. Myles fished out the pack, shook one partly out and extended it. Sir Walter grinned. "Two cigarettes in one day. Good thing I'm too old for them to kill me." He lit it, took a puff, then finished his brandy. Myles decided to have one as well, and they silently finished them and, lacking an ashtray, put them out in the brandy glasses. "We'd better get back downstairs" he said. As they exited the elevator they saw Jerry and Alan returning. Back in the conference room, Jerry gave them the report. "Out of the fifty-four detainees, we've got, as near as I can tell, forty-nine general-purpose thugs. Most of the, probably all, look like military personnel. On military ID, just a mix of special agent this or that, some specifically FBI, others are just Justice Department IDs, no sub-department shown. The ID cards and folders all look new, as if they were issued for the occasion, much like their owners. I suspect they are either military personnel on loan for the operation, or perhaps recently discharged. "The remaining nine appear to be legitimately what their identification indicates, a handful of mid-and-upper-level bureaucrats, probably some of they have had experience at this sort of thing. The big one, though, is a guy named Robert Molina. He's supposed to be the lead attorney in a counter-terrorism at Justice. And second in rank to him is Arthur Weinmann, same department." Of the others, there are three more with FBI IDs, and the other four seem to be with the Secret Service, but their IDs seem fabricated as well - brand new and the photos look exactly like the carrier." "Not surprising" said Sir Walter. "They've gotten away with so much for so long they don't seem to see a need for truly effective deception. This operation looks to have been planned in a rather casual manner - bringing in what they believed was sufficient equipment and personnel to crush another small dissident group." After a moment he continued. "Go ahead and put them in separate cells, keep a close watch on them. At least four men per cell. We should have sufficient space to avoid having them in adjacent cells, not that they could communicate anyway. If I had to guess, I'd say they don't know any covert communications methods. As you know, handle as gently as possible and don't engage in conversation. I take it surveillance is set up?" "Yes, sir." both said at once. A makeshift detention center had been set up, and recording equipment installed for just such an event. Even being able to watch the prisoners would provide useful information for the interrogation process. "Excellent" Sir Walter said. "Have them take some of the regular prisoners, as many as needed but not too many, start collecting the casualties. If they didn't bring any body bags for us, we'll have to provide something. We certainly have a sufficient stock of tarpaulins to find some of the right size. I'll have their chief communicate a message to have them removed as soon as possible. Once that operation is underway, bring Molina to the interrogation facility." "Let's go," he said to Myles as the two men departed. "We need to get something going quickly, in order to prevent another imprudent action."