3.13
The three men stood staring at each other; Tom with disbelief, Toby with surprise and Chris with amusement. After several breaths, the older man looked down and spoke in an almost ritual manner. “Forgive me, Shepherd. I have forgotten my place and lost the Way.”
Tom stepped forward and embraced the older man. Pulling back, he kept his hands on Chris's shoulders while he replied. “There is nothing to forgive, teacher-mine.” He smiled. “And if you have lost the Way, there's no hope for the rest of us.”
Toby broke the silence with a dry question. “You know each other?”
Tom laughed and Chris chuckled. Turning to Toby, Tom gestured to Chris and said, “This is Chris Farr. He was one of my instructors and-” he caught himself before continuing. “And an influential member of his community. At least he was when last I saw him.” This last he said while looking back to Chris. Something's not right, Tom thought. What could have made him leave New Mont?
Before Tom could give voice to his concern, Chris spoke. “While it seems ideal, this place isn't safe. Another group is in the area and they're likely to take up inside-”
“What kind of group?” Toby asked, distrust plain in his tone.
The older man frowned. “One that has us out manned and outgunned. So, not the kind we want to tangle with. Not unless we can dictate all the terms of the engagement. Even then, it's still risky.”
Toby seemed doubtful. Looking at Tom, he said, “Shouldn't we be decidin' for ourselves what's 'too risky' for us?”
The Shepherd was frank in his reply. “Chris has been in the business of survival and threat analysis longer than either of us have been alive. If he says it's too much to manage, than it's too much to manage.” Before the other young man could respond, the Shepherd turned to his former instructor.
“You have another place in mind? Somewhere to hole up and wait them out, at least?”
Chris nodded. “There's a rise not far from here, provides vantage on most of the building and surrounding area. I've already set it up. We can be there before night fall, if we push.”
Tom thought a moment. “We've got some gear to collect and a couple folk to bring out. Mind standing watch while we get them? Three minutes, maybe five.”
The older man looked puzzled. “One of them is a kid,” Tom offered by way of explanation.
Chris made a face, then smiled wanly. “Ah,” he said. “I'll keep an eye on things out here, then.”
Tom looked back to Toby. “Shall we?”
Janessa's brother snorted. “Like I got a choice?” Despite his disdain, he fell in behind Tom and entered the fire station nevertheless.
Half a minute of navigating short, darkened halls saw them inside the small office space. Toby muttered and grumbled every step of the way. Tom didn't catch most of it, but completely understood the other young man when he said, “This is bullshit.”
Putting his hand on the knob of the door that led to the vehicle bay, Tom stopped and turned around. Even in the deeply shadowed hallway, the look of challenge on Toby's face was unmistakable. The Shepherd said, “You're right: this is bullshit.”
Toby looked surprised as he continued. “It's bullshit you haven't thanked your sister for being allowed to accompany us and it's bullshit that despite others acting in the best interests of your continued survival, you insist on posturing and being contrary. I don't envy you your position, but if I were you, I'd accept my place in this. You weren't top dog where you came from, and you're not top dog here.”
Silence was thick between them as they both considered the truth of the words. Toby seemed torn between saying nothing and knowing that anything he wanted to say would only further aggravate the situation. The Shepherd finished what needed to be said. “Ben's safety is paramount to me, so that means we're going with Chris. When the boy is no longer in danger from this threat, if you want to go your own way, I won't stop you. Until then, we're together.”
His tone brooked no dispute and Toby understood it. Instead, he nodded and said, “Alright. But maybe I bounce after that.”
“Fine.” Tom opened the door.
He and Toby entered the large room and found Janessa and Ben largely unmoved. Janessa looked at the door when she heard it open, watched the young men return. She saw the expressions on their faces and knew something was going on. “What's wrong?”
As one, Tom and Toby crossed to where they had left their packs. Gathering up the bags, Tom told her. “Friend of mine found us, told me this place isn't safe.” Grabbing his pack, Tom watched Janessa's face fill with the same confusion her brother was no doubt feeling.
“So, we're leaving?” Shock in her voice. “We just got here. What about-”
Tom shook his head. “I'm sorry, Janessa.” And he was. “We can't stay. We can watch this place from where we're going, so we'll see if anyone approaches it.”
She seemed unconvinced, and not just by Tom's words: the child in her arms was still pressed tightly to her and visibly shaking. Janessa looked down at the top of Ben's head, then back at the Shepherd. “What about him?” Her voice was quiet but insistent.
Tom walked to the figures in the middle of the concrete floor. Crouching beside them, he put a hand on Ben's shoulder and squeezed gently. “We can't stay here, Ben. Not right now, anyway.”
The child said nothing, his only reply the soft, unbroken sobs he offered wetly to Janessa's shirt. This prompted Tom to move his hand and cup the back of Ben's head. Applying gentle but firm pressure brought the boy's face away from Janessa's chest and turned it toward Tom. He struggled to find words to put the child's mind at ease and convince him of the wisdom of this course, but it turned out none were necessary.
Tom had no more than met Ben's gaze when every trace of sadness and reluctance fairly evaporated from the boy's face. Pulling free of Janessa's arms, the child raced across the garage toward the door to the offices. As the young man turned to follow the boy's course, he heard the child call out.
“Caleb!”
He saw Chris stepping through the doorway and noticed several things. First, the older man's hands were on his head. Secondly, his rifle was no longer over his shoulder. Lastly, where Tom thought that Chris should have been puzzled by the boy latched on to his leg, his instructor instead had an expression of relief. The older man stood clear of the door before crouching to embrace the boy tightly.
“I knew you wouldn't leave me,” Ben said.
Seeing what he could only consider a reunion of sorts, the Shepherd kept Chris and Ben in his peripheral vision. His focus was taken up by watching the other figures sweep into the vehicle bay. Three men slipped into the room, moving with ease that spoke of training, practice and experience. All wore the same digital forest camouflage, load-bearing equipment and armored vests. Two of them carried carbines, while the third had a shotgun. All three had their weapons held ready, but none were pointed at Tom or his companions. He watched them and thought, First man left along the wall, second man right, third to the center of the room. The men did exactly that. He knew because that was how he had been trained to enter a room with a similar team. Trained by the man crouching at Ben's side, holding the boy close.
The Shepherd's jaw worked as he ground his teeth. He felt Janessa shift and in case she was thinking to retrieve her rifle, Tom grabbed her forearm and squeezed it while shaking his head. He looked at Toby, who seemed anxious but watched Tom, ready to take his cue from the Shepherd. Tom's opinion of Janessa's brother changed immediately and for the better.
“Don't,” he called to the other young man. “See the grenades on their LBE's? If they wanted us dead, we'd be that way already.”
They waited only a few seconds more before two more men entered the garage. Both were dressed identically to the first and similarly equipped. The last man in stopped at the door and remained there, facing the hall from which they had come, weapon trained down the shadowed passage. The figure that preceded him strode to the center of the room and stood beside the man with the shotgun.
These two men were only a couple of yards from where Tom and Janessa still knelt on the concrete, so it was easy for the Shepherd to take information from their uniforms.
The man with the shotgun had enough stripes on his sleeve to be a sergeant, and it was this man who had Chris's .30-06 across his back. The sergeant was a tall man with dark stubble on his broad, pale face. The other man had no patches below his shoulders, so Tom searched the collar for some indicator of rank. He found it: a patch in the shape of a leaf. Looking at the officers face, he gauged the darkened complexion to be about Chris's age, so he would err on the side of higher rank. Though this man was possibly an enemy, he would not offer insult unnecessarily. “What can we do for you, Colonel?”
“Major,” he corrected Tom. “Major Joseph Vargas, NATO-led ISAF, Third Marine Recovery Division. It isn't what you can do for me that's brought us out here. I'm hoping it's what we can do for you.”
Tom arched an eyebrow at the officer and looked pointedly at the other members of the major's squad. “And what might that be? 'Cause from where I'm sitting, it looks like what you can do for us involves something we don't want done.”
The major smiled. “I can see where it might seem that way.” He paused. “These men are here for your protection. As far as their number is concerned... You know how dangerous this area is. Even with our training, experience and equipment, we wanted to err on the side of caution. Better safe than sorry, especially where your well-being is concerned.”
Tom again noted how the soldiers had their weapons ready, but not pointed at any member of his group. They were spread out in a fashion that would allow them to control the room, but had made no overture toward such an action. Still doubtful, he posed another question. “Forgive me for asking, major: but what's our well-being to you?”
“You have been designated a VIP and as such, granted high-priority return status. This team was closest when the call went out, so we were given the assignment.”
Tom felt a sense of unease. “What assignment is that, then?”
Vargas frowned. “Our objective is the safe return of you and those in your company to an internationally recognized point of civilization. We're here to bring you home, son.”
Table of Contents
A Shepherd Cometh
Disclaimer
Dedication
Prayer for the Way
Prologue
Book I: An Autumn Afternoon
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
1.10
1.11
1.12
Book II: Holding
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
Book III: Chaff In The Wind
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
3.10
3.11
3.12
3.13
What Comes After (Book 1): A Shepherd Cometh Page 21
