by Leo Nix
“We're running our checks tomorrow and will most probably head out in two days - we've been unwell and need some time to recover. What news do you have for us, and… is there anything from QE3? Over.”
“Nothing new, just make sure you keep me connected so I can run my own checks on your software and hardware. Those components I gave you can be fine-tuned from my end…”
Samuels broke in, “Goldmine, I'm not comfortable with you doing that. These machines are already fine-tuned masterpieces, any tinkering should only be done by the experts who made them.”
Bluey went quiet, everyone waited for him to explode. “Samuels, you are such an arse! Who the hell do you think helped test and write the code for these bloody systems?” There was silence again, they could hear Bluey breathing, waiting for Samuels' reply.
“Yeah, I guess I can trust you then…”
Again there came Bluey's explosive interruption. “I assembled the damn parts so don't you think I know what the hell I'm doing?” There came a short pause as they heard noises in the background which sounded like the little genius knocked a chair over, probably as he stood up to rant some more. “You damn yanks think you bloody know everything! Us Aussies invented the rotary motor, the Hills Hoist clothes-line and the Victa lawn mower, we even had corrugated iron before you lot did! I write code, I read code, I dream code and I hallucinate code! If there's anyone on this damned planet that can get your system running better than it ever has before, it's ME!”
Amid the quiet chuckles of his audience, Samuels spoke calmly. “OK, Bluey, settle down, I said it's fine. I'll keep our system on for you to check and run your tests.” There continued the sound of muttering and expletives but Bluey eventually settled.
“Maverick,” said Bluey calmly, professionally. “I do have a message from QE3. She said to drop the SEAL boys just outside Darwin. There are a few people she wants to get in touch with. I've got a few data files I'll send you… now…” there was the sound of a mouse clicking in the background, “there, done. She wants you to read it and digest it. Queen Elizabeth the Third wants Murphy to send a reply and any questions to me and I'll forward it on to her.”
“Got it Goldmine, we'll reply as soon as Murphy has had a chance to go through it. What's the score on having a chat with QE3 now?” Samuels knew he had no chance of talking to Sue-Ellen but he never missed an opportunity to ask.
There came a muffled expletive from Bluey, it sounded like he was off-stage, busy moving something. “Damn it cat!” they heard the little man trying to be angry. Piggy was in strife again. “Get off me bloody keyboard. How am I supposed to look after these bloody soldiers with you walking all over me bloody computer and knocking bloody things over all the time?” It sounded as though it hadn't registered to Bluey that he was live on-air.
“I'm… I'm sorry about that fella's. Little Miss Piggy here wanted to have a chat with you as well. Major, about that QE3 communique… you've got none and Buckley's. I'm not letting you anywhere near Pine Gap - it's verboten. Each satellite is coded differently and if you get in there you'll announce to every bastard terrorist that we have control. The current situation is that the terrorists think my Trojan is either a virus or it's a systems error, they're trying to correct it. Idiots… I'll catch you soon, out.”
Samuels studied the data files then called Murphy in to examine them. Commander Sue-Ellen Cullen, head of the Pine Gap Intelligence Facility, wanted Murphy and Pipeline to meet up with her spy in Darwin - it was her son, Tanner. Hopefully, it would be a simple drop-in, shake hands, smile, then get the hell out.
That night the aircrew's digestive and eliminative systems had settled and they had the best sleep they'd had in a week. The following day BB ran his tests and communicated with Bluey on several matters. They brought the motors up to speed and did a test run in the afternoon. When they were back on the ground they received another data package from QE3. Sue-Ellen had answered Murphy's questions.
The crew, sufficiently recovered from their gastric-diarrhoea, were now ready for lift-off.
Chapter 15 – Sue-Ellen's Secret
The following morning the exhausted mix of police and special operatives had barely gone twenty kilometres when they came across a lone figure walking along the dusty, dry track towards Pine Gap. The man turned when he heard the vehicle approaching then sat down to wait for them.
“Who are you?” the man asked, his eyes were wide and his face tense, Danielle could see that he was clearly afraid.
“We're police, who are you?” Danielle replied.
“I'm Jake,” he jerked his thumb in the direction Danielle had just come from. “I escaped the prison farm back that way. I'm trying to get to a township and tell the police. I was the tour bus driver when the apocalypse hit. Those bikers captured everyone they could find: old people on their grey-nomad adventures; people on outback tours like those nice people on my bus. They even went and collected any locals they could find.”
The man had a bag beside him, he put his hand inside and pulled out an empty water bottle. “Do you think you could give me some water before you leave?”
Gary Fortune had already exited his vehicle and now held his own water bottle out to the man. “Here, drink this. Grab your gear and jump in with us, it's not safe to be walking in this heat.”
When the small group arrived at Pine Gap, Commander Sue-Ellen Cullen immediately called for Obi-Wan to discuss security. There was a lot to talk about.
The attractive, middle-aged blond, interviewed all four survivors on their arrival. They had been out in a world that no-one else in the secret facility had experienced. The news they carried was vital for Sue-Ellen to take in and process. Importantly, and noticed by Obi-Wan and Fortune, she didn't include her second in command, Major Will Binks.
The news of Skip and Burger's deaths upset her, she had a special fondness for her specialists. She knew that their occupation made life tenuous at the best of times but when they didn't return from an operation she grieved.
She assigned Danielle to security and complimented her on her performance. Corporal Gary Fortune was given leave - but it was to covertly keep on eye on certain individuals.
Jake was invited to help in the kitchen until someone found a driving job for him. Hooky was interested in joining Danielle in base security but his injury required treatment before Sue-Ellen decided what to do with him.
The evening following their return Sue-Ellen sat with Obi-Wan over dinner.
They had finished eating when Obi-Wan asked for a 'cup of tea'. He explained that having nothing else to drink he had grown used to its horrible taste, he now preferred tea to his usual black coffee.
“Obi,” said Sue-Ellen, “I know who the spy is. I know what to do with him too. There may be sleepers but at this moment I'm satisfied I've got the snake by the neck.” She watched her friend curiously.
The Ranger staff sergeant's eyes opened wide as he listened to his commander's disclosure, but he didn't say anything. He hadn't been very communicative since Skip was killed, he was still coming to terms with his loss. It seemed to open a hole that he had tried to keep a lid on since the apocalypse. But now the lid was off and the demons crept out when he least expected it.
“You don't need to say anything I'll just walk you through it, OK?” Sue-Ellen saw that her old friend was struggling. He had a wife and children in the states and there was little chance of him ever seeing them again. She also knew that he had held his best friend in his arms as he died. She knew he was struggling but she also knew that he would come back, stronger than before. If there was one thing she knew about this man it was his resilience and his personal code of ethics to be the best.
Obi-Wan listened and nodded when he could bring himself back to the moment and hear her words. But for most of the time his mind was elsewhere, sitting in the back seat of the vehicle nursing Skip; at home with his wife and kids; memories of his courting days before he was married to the most beautiful woman in the world; all the opportu
nities he had to tell her he loved her but didn't… the memories and thoughts floated around inside his head and he couldn't stop them.
“Obi? Ben, are you still with me?” he heard his commander ask, softly.
Staff Sergeant Ben Kennedy, 'Obi-Wan' even to his commander, looked up and saw the worry and what he recognised as fear in Sue-Ellen's eyes, he looked back at the floor.
“I'm here now, but I've been to hell and back,” he paused and looked again at her. It was late evening and his cup of tea was cold. “How long have I been sitting here?” he asked.
Sue-Ellen put her hand on his. “Ben, you've been sitting like that for three hours. I think you'd better sleep in here with me tonight. I'll get the girls to make up a bed for you on the floor.” She was about to get up and call her secretary when Ben put his hand on her arm.
“Sue-Ellen, you don't need to do that. In that place I just went, I remembered something that has always been very important to me: 'Rangers Lead The Way'.”
Sue-Ellen baulked and sat back down.
“I'm a Ranger, I earned the right to call myself a Ranger. I lead by example, I give more than a hundred percent, surrender is not a word in my language. I volunteered as a Ranger, fully knowing the hazards of my profession.” Obi-Wan picked up his cold cup of tea and finished it. He then stood at attention in front of his commanding officer. “Commander Cullen, Staff Sergeant Ben Kennedy, ready for duty.” He smiled, his first for a very long time, then he relaxed his stance and said, “I've been gone for a while but now I'm back. I'll see you at 0600, I believe you and I have work to do.” Without another word he turned and exited the office.
Sue-Ellen sat quietly for a few moments then smiled to herself. 'That's why I like the guy, he's the best of the best and probably the only person on this planet I trust more than my son, Tanner.' Stretching her legs she finished her martini, sorted out her papers for tomorrow's meeting, then crawled into the blankets that lay like a pile of rags on the couch behind her desk. 'Now that Obi-Wan's back it looks like I'll finally put that scum-bag spy where he belongs.'
“It's in there, Obi, it's in the background check they did when he was after ultra-security clearance.” Sue-Ellen held a cigarette to her lips and drew smoke deeply into her lungs, “pretty good, huh?” She smiled at her chief crypto-analyst, someone who could put Sherlock Holmes to shame.
“Yeah, now I can see it,”beeprep“, how simple, the Boy Scouts motto, 'Be Prepared'. I was never a scout, never had time for playing games either. So he was an Eagle Scout too, did you discover this yourself? You're a clever young lady, I might find a suitable job for you if you keep this up.” Once again Obi-Wan smiled, but then it was back to business. “Right, so what have you been doing with him since you discovered this?”
“Guess, smart-ass,” she said, her face animated and lively, she hadn't had fun like this for so long she couldn't remember. Sue-Ellen took another drag on her cigarette then stubbed it out in her ash-tray. “Slowpoke, he's mine now. I'm going to feed him and keep him closer to me than anyone else on the base.”
Although Obi-Wan was never going to be his old self again he did see the joy in his commander's, no, his friend's face, and he liked it.
“Sue-Ellen, if Reece were here today he'd jump for joy and we'd all drink to it, maybe even get a little drunk.” Obi-Wan smiled a second time that day. “But there's just you and me and we can cook this grub like a frog in warm water.” Obi-Wan put his head down again.
When she saw him do that Sue-Ellen felt fear, the fear that she was alone, fighting the world to right the insurmountable wrongs all by herself. It was a loneliness she had fought since Reece was killed doing what he loved, flying Navy planes.
Obi-Wan looked up and saw, and he knew, he'd seen it many times, those moments when Sue-Ellen let her guard down. He well knew her vulnerabilities, knew of her undying love for her husband. He and her son Tanner were the only ones who were allowed, privileged, to see beneath her veil of self-control.
“Hey, I'm sorry Sue-Ellen, I'm back. I won't scare you like that again, I promise. I was just thinking, that's all,” he assured her. Sue-Ellen flashed a smile and waited. “That Major Daniels in Adelaide, he's on your payroll too, does he know that you know?”
“Daniels, that predatory sleaze-bag? No way, he has no idea we're on to his spy here. Bluey has kept everything to himself, only you and I know. I need to feed Daniels and Will the same news, and that means you and I will be spending time together monitoring their communications, developing strategies to manage them both,” she replied firmly.
“Copy that, Commander,” Obi-Wan said absently. Already his mind was racing through possibilities. “And Bluey, what else did he have to say? I've seen his set up in the middle of the desert. He lives under the ground, it's like a bunker. So he's running the entire military satellite system by himself, is he? He's has his hand in so many pockets I just wonder what else he's up to.”
“Bluey worked with Reece many years ago, Obi, he was a whizz kid way back then. Reece found out about him and invited him to work with us. He came to us via Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Signals Directorate, he was then co-opted to work with our Navy intelligence. Reece was basically Bluey's keeper for a while. Bluey and I did a lot of work together too. I gave him jobs and he completed them. He was, and looks like he still is, the most competent communications whizz on the planet. He's forwarded Dr Tantoni information on how to take command of the supply carrier so the astronauts can return safely to earth. Apparently they've had a supply ship docked there since the apocalypse. The Russians sent it up and when the apocalypse hit Dr Tantoni and the crew refused to release it. No one complained because the Russian base was knocked out by terrorists only a few days later.”
“He wants to bring the astronauts down to earth? In a supply ship? They're unmanned, they're not designed to carry people.” Obi-Wan looked at Sue-Ellen waiting for a reply.
“Bluey and Dr Tantoni said they can do it. So I guess they can. The other option is that they stay up there and die of starvation and radiation sickness. It's not very safe up there you know.”
“Yeah, they really have no choice, do they… Bluey's also got control of the military satellites? And that means the laser? Does Will know about the laser too?”
“Major Binks knows everything about the satellites, his problem is that he can no longer contact nor control them. He can't even track them. Bluey has locked him out with his own code which, according to Bluey, is unbreakable. Did you… want to have a crack at it?” Sue-Ellen teased her friend.
The two had worked together in intelligence for many years. Both of Obi-Wan's Pine Gap deployments were under Sue-Ellen's command. During his first deployment he worked closely with her husband, Reece, as well. The two men got along like a bush-fire. They shared a passion for Star Wars and Star Trek. Sue-Ellen was pleased to see her husband opening up to someone. Reece was a solitary man until the chief crypto-analyst, Staff Sergeant Ben Kennedy, came along.
“I think I'll trust Bluey on this one, he can keep his code. Is there any other news? What about Meekatharra and the SEALs, how are they all going?”
“The two SEALs and one of the girls have headed off to deliver the computer parts to the Four Musketeers. It seems the SEALs are doing well, some difficulties with the terrain, flat tyres and the usual hardships of driving in the desert, but they'll get there. As for the aircrew they're slowly running out of food and water. Major Samuels sent two of his crew to look for water and anyone who might help them. Even though they've done their survivalist training it's a desert out there and they're not bushmen. If Murphy and Pipeline don't get to them within the week we might have lost our one and only Stealth Black Hawk and it's crew,” replied Sue-Ellen. She took another cigarette from the packet on her desk and lit it. She noticed that her hands were shaking slightly, 'damn, this stress must be getting to me,' she thought.
“We should plan what to do with your boys when you all get back toget
her. I've lost half of my special operatives and the ones I have left I want to keep. How is Gary Fortune? He's gone quiet too, but then again he doesn't talk much, not like Skip.”
At the mention of their friend the room went cold. Sue-Ellen realised she didn't want to go there, Skip was her friend too. She knew she needed to be strong for Obi-Wan but realised she sometimes failed to be strong for herself.
“Yeah, Gary feels responsible for Skip's death. If anyone's responsible it's me. I got banged up and had to be helped out - that put Skip in the line of fire. But Fortune was close to Skip too. They did a lot of training together, gym and boxing, that sort of thing. I hope Murphy and Pipeline get back soon, that'll help.” Obi-Wan stopped, he'd said enough and didn't want to go back to the place in his mind that he'd finally managed to close off.
“What about your ribs, what did the doc say?” Sue-Ellen changed the subject, it was too soon and too raw. They'd get around to opening up about it, but not now. She held her cigarette in one hand while she lifted her mug of coffee to her lips. “You seem to have improved a lot.”
“Doc said they're not broken, they're cracked, which is just as bad, pain-wise. I have to take it steady. He said that I can do a lot of walking but little else.” Obi-Wan went across to Sue-Ellen's kitchenette and poured himself another cup of tea. It was time to get back to work.
Senior Constable Paul 'Hooky' Pan, of the Tactical Response Group, recovered well. By the time they'd made it to Pine Gap he had a plan. He'd known Constable Danielle Ahmet for over three years, they did some of their training together. Since he was posted to the Geraldton area he spent almost as much time with the WAPOL as he did with his own team.
But his big problem was confidence. He was always the gawky guy at school, the one with the big, boofy head and gangly legs. He was just one of those kids who had to grow into his body, and he did, but it took him nearly twenty years. He worked hard at maintaining his buff abs and broad shoulders but his legs stayed skinny. At six foot 2 inches, his mother always said that his skinny calves could be forgiven.
