“There are some biohazard concerns,” Andrews said. “We don’t know what kind of bugs you folks might be carrying. You’ve been out here in the wild for some time. You might have something that’s harmless to you, but it could kill us pretty easily.”
Buchek spread his hands. “We’ve already shaken hands, Captain. And realistically, if you’re worried about something epidemiological, then you guys are gonna die no matter what.”
“That’s not exactly for certain,” Mulligan said.
Buchek rapped his knuckles against the closed airlock door. “Andrews, I have to know what’s inside.”
Andrews regarded Buchek for a long moment. The guy had a point. For all he knew, there was a twenty-man assault team inside ready to spring into action and take everything his people had. But the thought of strangers entering his rig made him very uneasy. It was perhaps wasted emotion, as so far the encounter had been outright cordial. And it was important that Buchek be made to feel as comfortable as possible if things were going to proceed.
But still ...
He looked over at Mulligan. “What do you think, Sarmajor?”
“I think it’s exactly the wrong thing to do to allow these people direct access to the rig, Captain. We’ve barely begun the vetting process. But I can see Stan’s point of view.”
“So what are you telling us here?” Buchek asked.
“I’m saying it’s probably an acceptable risk. If things go sideways, we’ll figure it out from there.” Mulligan nodded to Andrews. “Let’s give them a full tour, sir.”
“All right.” Andrews turned to Buchek and Amanda. “Drop all your gear, including weapons. Once that’s been done, I’ll search you, and Sarmajor Mulligan will cover me. Lee, you reading me out here?”
“Been listening in as well as we can,” Leona responded. “If these people are coming aboard, KC and I need to be armed.”
“Roger, that’s what I wanted to pass on to you. Give me a pulse on the rest of their party?” As he spoke, he kept his eyes locked on Buchek. The man returned the gaze for a moment, then slowly unslung his rifle and leaned it against one of the SCEV’s tall tires. Amanda watched him silently, but made no move to mimic his movements. Mulligan slowly reoriented his stance, moving into a better firing position in case she did something stupid.
“They’re still in place. No additional radar contacts around us aside from those. We could launch the drone and make a more detailed surveillance flight.”
“Let’s do that. You go ahead and program a course, but don’t launch until I give the word.”
“Roger that. We’ll need a couple of minutes.”
“You’ll have them,” Andrews said.
Buchek looked at Andrews, his bushy eyebrows knitted. “What are you going to launch, Captain?”
“A drone,” Andrews said. “We want a better look at your folks up the road, and we want to do a quick recon of the immediate area for security purposes.”
Buchek snorted. “You think our people are going to attack your vehicle while we’re inside it?” He turned to Amanda. “Well, I guess everyone would move up a couple of notches if we got killed, huh?”
“Not funny,” the woman said.
“What we want to do isn’t as insidious as it might sound,” Mulligan said. “As a matter of fact, we should have sent the drone out last night once the weather cleared, but Captain Andrews decided against it. He didn’t want to press the issue after we met your daughter last night. But now that you’re asking to come into our inner sanctum, we need to be a little diligent about our security posture.”
“I get it,” Buchek said. “You want to know if we have more people out there than your radar system can see. Makes sense, your vehicle would be damned valuable to just about anyone who could take it. Do you mind if I pass on that you’re about to launch a UAV and that we shouldn’t shoot it down?”
“I’m good with that,” Andrews said.
Buchek reached into his ghillie suit and pulled out a small walkie-talkie handset. He brought it to his mouth and pressed the transmit button. The little unit made a quick chirp. “Griff Two, we’re getting ready to go inside the vehicle for a look-see. The commander here has informed me he’s going to send up a drone for a quick reconnaissance flight. Don’t interfere with it. Let it look at whatever it needs to see. Understood?”
“Roger, we’ll stay put,” came a voice from the walkie-talkie.
“If anyone’s out of position, bring them back to where they’re supposed to be,” Buchek said. “We don’t want to send any wrong signals here.”
“Got that. We’re all where we’re supposed to be. This drone, is it armed?”
Buchek looked Andrews, who shook his head.
“It’s currently configured for surveillance only,” Andrews told him.
Buchek passed that on, then ended the communication. He returned the walkie-talkie to its resting place in his suit’s pocket. “Okay. Good to go when you are, Captain.”
“Leona, you can launch the drone when ready,” Andrews said into his headset microphone.
“On its way.” A moment later, those standing outside the SCEV heard the UAV’s pod door open up. The drone was extended into the air on a small cradle, and the device’s eight, spindly booms extended outward from its boxy body. The rotors at the end of each boom spun up, and a moment later, the unmanned aerial vehicle leaped into the air and zoomed off.
“Damn thing’s louder than a chainsaw,” Buchek said, watching the drone zip away. “Mighty fast, though.”
“If it was up at a thousand feet, you wouldn’t be able to hear it,” Andrews said.
“I’ll bet. So, we going to stand around and wait?”
“Just for a bit,” Andrews told him.
Buchek looked up into the sky. “Cloud cover might break today for a couple of hours,” he said. “It gets pretty strong. You guys would be wise to either cover up or slather on a ton of your favorite sunscreen.” He sniffed and unzipped his ghillie suit. He shrugged out of it and folded it up, then set it on the ground beside his rifle. Beneath the bulky overgarment, he wore a faded blue denim shirt and well-worn woodland-pattern trousers. A blue-steel pistol was in a holster on his belt. He pulled the weapon free and tossed it on top of the ghillie.
“Amanda?” he prompted.
Amanda looked at him and slowly shook her head. “This is stupid, Dad.”
“If they wanted us dead, hon, they could have saved themselves a ton of trouble by doing it last night,” Buchek told her. “Come on. We’re going to have to trust some people sometime. Drop your gear.”
Amanda released a long, heavy sigh. Reluctantly, she parted with her rifle, leaning it against the tire by Buchek’s M1. She threw back the hood of her ghillie suit, revealing long brown hair tied back in a ponytail. When she pulled down her balaclava, Andrews was surprised to find she was actually quite attractive. She was no alabaster goddess, but her beauty was natural and apparently effortless, as he presumed makeovers weren’t a part of her present. He and Mulligan looked at each other. Mulligan shrugged.
“What is it?” she snapped, looking at them suspiciously.
“He said you’d look like Freddie Mercury under that thing,” Andrews said.
Buchek laughed dryly. “Oh he did, did he?”
Amanda unzipped her ghillie suit, looking both angry and unhappy. “Who the fuck is Freddie Mercury?” she snapped.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The UAV discovered nothing extraordinary during its orbit of the area. The clutch of people up the road were well armed, and they had in fact driven to the area in an old, muddy M949 five-ton truck that was the size of a small house. The drone’s sensors revealed no hidden ambushes, though several hide sites were discovered during the brief flight. The sites would have been invisible from the road, which they were positioned to cover, but from the air Leona reported they were clearly visible. No one was occupying them.
Out of an abundance of caution, Andrews ordered Leona to keep the drone
in the air for a while longer. It was fully charged and the weather was fair with calm winds, so it had a flight time of over an hour, and even if Buchek’s people weren’t openly hostile, they’d have to get used to the team from Harmony taking a look around. Andrews wasn’t going to make doing things off the cuff a lifelong habit. He learned his lessons in San Jose.
Andrews went in first. The interferometers inside the airlock didn’t read any radiation, so he skipped the decon other than a quick antiseptic burst from the overhead dispenser. The fluid it emitted dried within seconds. He entered the SCEV itself and found both Leona and KC were armed with pistols. Leona was stationed before the entrance to the cockpit, and KC was at the rear, just inside the pressure door that led to the third compartment.
“Here’s how it’ll go down,” Andrews said. “The man and the woman outside will come in next. They should go through a full decon, so break out some of the spare uniforms for them. Mulligan will follow them in after ensuring the perimeter is clear. Lee, once they’re in the airlock, move us into active defense mode. Ensure Mulligan is still excluded, okay?”
“Oh, he will be,” she said.
“Mulligan, you hear that?” Andrews’s headset was still on voice-activated, so Mulligan should have been able to listen in without having to do a damn thing.
“Roger that. Probably best to preposition the clothing ahead of time, and consider sending them in one at a time. Have one of the ladies stand ready to assist Amanda if she needs it during the decon. These folks aren’t triggering my spider sense, so I think it’s going to be cool to have someone in the airlock. Over.”
Andrews looked at first Leona, then KC, but they both shrugged. No one knew what the hell the sergeant major was talking about. “Mulligan ... spider sense?”
“Antiquated terminology, Andrews ... sorry. I mean to say I don’t think they pose an outright security risk. Over.”
“Roger that.” Andrews looked at KC. “Kace, would you mind helping the woman through decon? I’ll take care of her father.”
“No problem, sir. Do I keep the sidearm?”
“You do not. Remember Mulligan’s hand-to-hand?”
KC snorted. “Gee, I don’t know. The concussions might have blanked it out.”
Andrews smiled at her. “You’re coming along nicely, girl. I’ll take that as a yes. If things get hairy, pop the inner airlock door and we’ll come in swinging.” He sobered a bit. “Watch out for her. I don’t get the danger vibe from her, but I think she’s seen some shit. If she tries anything, strike first.”
“Take it from me, bitch will be seeing stars,” KC said, and Andrews actually believed it. In that moment, he knew the rig’s crew chief was ready for what the world had to offer.
“Damn straight, girl,” he said. “Okay, Mulligan. Send them in. Buchek should be first. Explain the decon procedure to them.”
“Girl wants to be first in,” Mulligan replied immediately. “Doesn’t want her dad out of sight of friendlies. I agree with her. If he’s the man we need to talk to, let’s do what we can to preserve his security. Over.”
Andrews waved KC toward the airlock, and she pulled her pistol from its holster and handed it to him. At the same time, Leona opened a locker and rummaged through it. She pulled out first one, then a second set of uniforms. They were wrapped in plastic, and came in a full set of trousers, T-shirt, blouse, and underwear. She handed one to KC.
“Girl looks to be about my size, so this’ll do her,” she said.
“She’s shorter than you are, Lee,” Andrews said.
“Yeah, but she’s got shoulders like Laird. KC, you need to be ready to act right away if she gets crazy in there. No shit, all right? Like Andrews said, mess her up at the first sign she’s gonna turn.”
“I got it, LT. It’s a six by six room, and I ate up the close quarters combat training. She tries anything, she comes out of there with two broken collarbones,” KC said.
Leona nodded and faded back to the cockpit doorway. Andrews unloaded the grenade launcher and then secured his rifle in the weapons locker. He retained his pistol.
“Okay, are we ready?” he asked.
“Ready,” Leona said.
“Same,” KC echoed. “You want me in the airlock now?”
Andrews nodded. “Go ahead. You won’t be exposed for long, so don’t sweat it.” He opened the inner airlock, and KC stepped through. He shot her a thumbs-up, then sealed the inner door. Into his headset: “Mulligan, send Amanda through. KC is waiting for her.”
“Roger that.”
It took a good five minutes for the process to be completed. Amanda wasn’t combative, but she questioned each and every procedure, including the fact she was expected to strip naked and put on a uniform. KC handled it well, but from her terse responses she made it known that she wasn’t in the mood for a game of Twenty Questions. Amanda eventually figured everything out and emerged from the airlock smelling like disinfectant.
“Quite the process,” she said to Andrews as she stepped through the airlock.
“Be glad we’re not in a hot zone,” Andrews said. “Otherwise, you’d be scrubbing down with bleach and lots of hot water. That’s about a negative one on the fun scale.”
“Hmm.” Amanda stepped aside as KC pushed past her. Andrews saw that KC had shed her deferential reluctance completely. The shy engineer he had known at Harmony Base had either been supplanted, or was just hiding. She held out her hand, and Andrews passed her the pistol she’d given him. It went right back into its holster, and KC retreated to the doorway leading to the third compartment. Her right hand stayed on the butt of her firearm.
“Nice reception,” Amanda said, looking from KC to Leona. The body language of both women indicated they weren’t ready to be messed with. Alpha females, establishing their boundaries right off the bat.
“Welcome aboard SCEV Four,” Andrews said. “It’s not much, but it’s home in the field.”
Amanda took a long second to look around the trappings of the SCEV’s second compartment. She examined the dinette, the row of storage lockers, and the dinette setup along the left side of the chamber. From where she stood, she could likely catch only the barest glimpses of the cockpit and the sleeping compartment, but if she was at all impressed by what she saw, she kept it a close secret.
“Pretty nice,” she said.
“Have a seat,” Andrews offered, motioning to the dinette. “You want coffee? Tea?”
“I’m good,” she said, not moving.
“Okay. Well, anyway, you’ll need to move. Your dad and my sergeant major still need to come in, and you’re blocking the airlock.”
“Gee, sorry.” She looked at both Leona and KC again. “So this is all of you? Thought you said you carried eight,” she asked as she moved toward the dinette. She sat, almost grudgingly.
“We dropped off four team members to pull another vehicle out of a storage facility,” Andrews said. “They’ll be joining us up here in a month.”
“You in contact with them?”
Andrews shook his head. “No. Most of the radio and telecommunications infrastructure was destroyed in the war, along with pretty much all the satellites. And the ionosphere’s been altered, so we can’t bounce HF like we used to. Our radio ranges are maybe twenty-five miles, depending on the terrain.”
Amanda nodded and looked around the compartment. “Looks bigger on the outside.”
“Yeah, well, there’s not much to see in here.” Andrews indicated Leona and KC. “Amanda Buchek, this is First Lieutenant Eklund, rig executive officer. Behind you is Sergeant KC Winters, our crew chief.”
Amanda turned and looked back at KC for a moment, then faced Leona. The two women studied each other for a long moment.
“Is there a problem?” Leona asked.
“Just that you guys look like kids to me,” she said. “Even you, Andrews. I know you said you’ve iced a few people in your time, but it just doesn’t show. There’s no hardness to you people. At all.”
&nbs
p; Leona smiled. “Mike’s not the only one who’s killed folks on this crew,” she said. “We’ve done it up close, face to face. Don’t think that just because we didn’t have to live through what you did that we’re going to be pushovers.”
A chime sounded as the inner airlock door slid open. Stan Buchek stepped inside, dressed in a uniform. His dark hair was shot through with a liberal dose of gray, and for the first time, Andrews noticed he was clean-shaven. Not just beardless; the man had actually shaved before coming to meet the SCEV. His uniform was a bit baggy on him, but it mostly fit. Just like they did on everyone.
“You know, Andrews, that would’ve been more pleasant if I didn’t have Big Ugly here watching my every move,” Buchek said. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder, pointing into the airlock where Mulligan still stood. “I mean, did you guys expect me to pull an IED out of my ass?”
“Big Ugly?” Andrews smiled. “I hear a new nickname being born.”
“Process and procedure is what we live by, Stan,” Mulligan said.
“Typical big government types.” Buchek noticed Leona standing nearby and he nodded to her with a smile. “Well hello, young lady! Stan Buchek,” he said, extending his hand toward her.
Leona hesitated for a moment, then slowly peeled her right hand off the butt of her pistol to shake his hand. “Leona Eklund. Welcome aboard, sir.”
Andrews motioned toward the dinette. “Have a seat, sir. Can we get you anything? Coffee? It’s still early enough, right?”
Buchek’s face brightened. “You have coffee? Anything really bold?”
“Sure. It’s all we drink,” Andrews said. “Can’t vouch for the taste, but it’ll do you for the time being. Please have a seat, so Mulligan can step inside.”
“Oh, sure.” Buchek threaded his way past Andrews and sat down opposite his daughter. “You introduce yourself?”
“Andrews did that,” Amanda said.
Mulligan stepped into the compartment. “Sir, what do you want us to do with their clothes?” He pointed back into the airlock. “They’re in isolation bags in here.”
Earthfall (Book 2): Earthfall 2 [The Mission Continues] Page 19
