“I’m family too,” Eoin said. “Aren’t I?”
Cian nodded despite himself. He shooed Eoin into the house. He had just reached the kitchen door, when he heard John yelling at someone in fast Ulster Gaelic, the language of the Belfast slums. Cian ran to the front hall to find John arguing with Eimilie Kelly, the woman John had been forced to marry when he was a teenager. Cian was about to intervene when Max put his hand on Cian’s arm.
“I’ve got this,” Max said.
FFFFFF
Friday morning
December 25 – 5:07 a.m. MST
H-29 decommissioned ICBM site, South of Brockett, ND
With Joseph and Matthew at her side, Alex walked with the commander of the 91st Maintenance Group to the decommissioned ICBM site. Even wearing her Fey winter gear with her scarf around her neck and head, the bitter wind and cold penetrated her bones. They made slow deliberate progress across the site. As far as anyone could tell, the ICBM launch site had been destroyed. Raz and Troy were able to follow the GPS signal to an antenna and confirmed that someone had hooked Larry’s GPS to this antenna.
But who? And why?
The commander of the Maintenance Group was certain this was a wild goose chase. The site had been decommissioned, he reasoned. There could be no missing soldiers here, he assured them. His statements were rational, thoughtful, and accurate.
But the moment Alex’s feet hit the ground at H-29, she knew the soldiers were there. Somewhere.
“Any ideas on how anyone could get into the LEB?” Alex asked Sergeant Dusty’s uncle Don.
“I’ve been thinking about that since Dusty called,” Don said. “I think…”
Don stopped talking when a Black Hawk landed nearby. The 91st Security Forces Group hopped out of the helicopter and made their way to their location. The Delta Team shifted to cover the Fey Team.
“Can you go with Captain Ramirez to show him what you think?” Alex asked. “Trece, take Pete and Bill. The entrance is likely to be booby trapped. Bill is explosive trained.”
Nodding, Trece led Don away from the group. After listening to Don, Pete sent Bill out across the field. Trece whistled and waved. Vince, Leena and two Delta team members ran to them. The group followed Bill.
“Margaret,” Alex said. “This information about the science fair project and the best friend – was that in his file?”
“No sir,” Margaret said. “His mother mentioned it to me when I spoke with her. He lived with his father during the school year. I wasn’t able to confirm the science award and best friend until I spoke to his father.”
“So it’s just a coincidence that Larry’s here with someone who knows these sites?” Raz asked. “How is that possible?”
“We won’t know until we find them,” Alex said.
“You still believe there are men here?” the commander from the 91st Maintenance Group asked.
“If you were lost, wouldn’t you want us to be absolutely certain you weren’t here before we left?” Joseph asked.
The commander gave Joseph a long look as he appeared to suck on his teeth. He nodded.
“We stay until we’re sure,” Alex said.
As if to accentuate his words, the storm clouds unleashed tiny pebbles of ice onto them. Alex looked up at the clouds. The storm was moving in. Another Pave Hawk landed in the field nearby. Pointing, she nodded to Zack and Cliff. They jogged to Zack’s favorite air vehicle. Alex had ordered a Pave Hawk, the US Air Force version of a Black Hawk, so that if anything happened, they could get out fast.
Alex’s attention jerked to Bill’s sharp bark. The dog was pointing at a spot in the field. Pete whistled and Bill trotted to him. Trece, Vince, Leena and Don ran to the area he indicated.
“What do you want to do?” Joseph asked.
“We go in,” Alex said. “You?”
“We send the dog after the explosives?” Joseph asked.
“We send the explosive guys after the explosives,” Alex said. “There’s got to be one or twelve of them bored on Christmas and looking for action. Matthew?”
“On it,” Matthew said.
Just as Alex nodded, the snow began. They had less than three hours until dawn and Blizzard Albert struck.
FFFFFF
Friday morning
December 25 – 6:07 a.m. MST
Denver, CO
“You were going to tell me when?” John asked Max in a low voice. He grabbed a stack of blankets from the cabinet and gave them to Fey Special Forces Team member, Scott’s wife, Andi. She smiled and took them to her children.
The Fey wives and Fey Special Forces Wives and their children were getting settled in the basement. While the overall spirit was jovial, the tension was unmistakable. Cian had most of the Irish siblings laughing and working in the kitchen with him. Their elder and rounder brother, Eamonn, was collecting all the children’s presents for his appearance as Father Christmas.
“We thought you might be angry,” Max passed an extra blanket to Greta, Fey Special Forces Team member Paul’s girlfriend.
“Can I have two?” Greta asked.
“Sure,” Max gave her another one.
“This is really fun,” Greta smiled. “The Irish people make it festive.”
“They’re a little more used to this kind of drama,” Max smiled.
She nodded and went to the room she was sharing with her two children.
“You were right,” John said to Max. “I’m angry.”
“Do you have an extra pillow?” Paige, Fey Special Forces Team member Tommy’s wife asked.
“You bet,” John reached into the cabinet to grab another pillow. She smiled her thanks. “When did we get so many blankets and pillows?”
“When you said we should be prepared for all of the families to move in,” Max gave a stack of sheets to Quanshay, Royce’s wife. He said to Quanshay, “Settling in?”
“This is the best Christmas we’ve ever had,” Quanshay said. “I don’t have to cook or clean or deal with the kids screaming ‘When’s Daddy gonna get here?’ Honey, this is heaven. I may never leave.”
“Can you get a pillow for me?” Luz, Trece’s wife, yelled to Quanshay. She nodded and took the pillow Max gave her.
“Thanks,” Quanshay walked to Luz then into the room she and her children were staying in.
“How did you think the…” Max leaned into John. “…For the Friendless thing started?”
“Are you taking the piss?” John asked.
“No British slang,” Max pointed at John. He gave an irritated shake of his head and Max laughed.
“What?” John asked. “I’m a fool for thinking Eimilie went away?”
“What do you have in there?” Nancy, Joseph’s wife, asked.
“Sheets, blankets, stuff like that,” John said.
“We brought ours from home,” Nancy said. “You don’t think Alex would mind if we used her laundry, do you?”
“Go ahead,” Max said.
“She won’t mind,” John said. “The door on the left off the main area.”
“Got it,” Nancy opened the laundry room door and a general cheer went up among the women.
“What was Alex supposed to do?” Max asked. “Let Eimilie’s children starve?”
“There’s an idea,” John said.
“You don’t mean that,” Max said. Hermes gave a squealing laugh as Samantha set him down where the other children were playing. “You didn’t let Dahlia’s children starve.”
John glared. Max gave him a bright smile.
“Who’s responsible for the hottie that’s helping Roger with our belongings?” Sergeant Dusty’s wife, Peggy, the Admiral’s daughter, yelled from the landing of the basement stairs.
“Max,” John yelled to her. A few of the women applauded.
“Holy Crap, he’s gorgeous,” Peggy said.
“And so kind,” Paige said. “The baby was sleeping. He carried him in and got him settled.”
“Amelia’s in love,” Emily, Vince Lamberton�
��s wife said.
“I am too!” MJ’s sister giggled.
The women laughed.
“A round of applause for Max,” Luz, Trece’s wife, said.
The women applauded. Max looked like he was going to melt into the floor with embarrassment. John touched his sleeve.
“All right,” John said. “I understand. Because we cleared up the fact that I’m not, and have never been, married to that woman, she lost almost all of her government support. So you and Alex started For the Friendless to help her out.”
“We didn’t call it that at first,” Max said.
“Right,” John said. “And you’re correct. I don’t want her children to jolly well starve. And, before you say it, I did know the first recipient lived in Shankill. I’ve actually followed her case with keen interest. It’s nice to see someone from home succeed.”
“Eimilie brought the last payment today,” Max said. “She did well at nursing school and got a job right away. They’re living in a nice flat. She’s off government assistance and is doing well. All of her kids are in school. One is going to Queen’s Uni.”
“Right,” John grabbed a running three-year-old, turned him around, and sent him back to his mother.
“Why are you mad?” Max asked.
“I don’t like her,” John whined.
Max laughed.
“This is fun,” Maria, Jesse’s wife, said as she approached them. “I would never have thought this would be so much fun but with Cian cooking and all the Irish people, it’s like a true village. My kids are happy. The little ones were dressed and waiting at the door for us.”
“Why?”
“Doughnuts,” Maria laughed. “Eoin makes a special little doughnut for Delores – chocolate frosting with chocolate cake. They’re like heroin. She loves them.”
“I haven’t tried those,” John said.
“Oh no,” Maria put her hands on her hips. “You’re not getting my baby’s doughnuts from her.”
John and Max laughed.
“You know,” Maria said. “I see everyone except Colin’s wife, Julie. She’s never really gotten into the whole ‘Fey wife thing.’ I saw them at church last night. Julie and Colin left together. I assumed they went to get Paddie, but…”
“No Julie?” Max asked.
“No one’s heard from her,” Maria said. “She’s the only one who lives out on Lowry so she’s not near to anyone to arrange car pooling. And…”
“And?” John asked.
“I hate to say this but I have a bad feeling about her.”
“I’ll find Nancy,” Max touched Maria’s arm. “Thanks.”
John watched Max walk away.
“She’s in trouble,” Maria said. “I just know it.”
John and Maria turned to look toward an outburst of laughter in the main basement room. Maggie gave a joyous bark.
“She’s in trouble. I just know it,” she repeated.
FFFFFF
Friday morning
December 25 – 6:07 a.m. MST
H-29 decommissioned ICBM site, South of Brockett, ND
There was a pop and then another before the explosives team gave the all clear. While his team worked, the commander of the explosives team suggested Bill found something left over from when the site was decommissioned. His second-in-command suggested that some boys playing in the field had left them. Either way, if someone was going to kill them, they weren’t going to do it with explosives.
From his knowledge of the site, Sergeant Dusty’s Uncle Don had come up with four potential ways someone could get into the decommissioned site – through some remnant of the equipment tunnel, the blast valve on the top of the LEB, a retrofitted drainage tunnel, or the blast valve on the side of the LEB. The equipment tunnel, like the personnel tunnel, had been destroyed when the launch site was destroyed. The top blast valve was sealed shut. Bill had found explosives near the entrance to the drainage tunnel. But Raz’s scans showed the tunnel had been destroyed, most likely from the explosives similar to the ones Bill found.
Alex’s eyes were on the growing storm but her heart was set on finding the missing soldiers. Twelve men went with Larry on what they thought was a mission for their country. Through luck or fate, they wound up in this field. She just knew it.
Alex closed her eyes for a moment. She had to press out the cold, her anxiety over the coming blizzard, the pressure from all eyes on her, and the strain of Christmas to listen to her instinct. Deep inside, there was a still voice that had never led her astray.
Why did Eniac lead her here?
Was this a wild goose chase as the Northern Irish contingent proposed?
Was everyone she loved going to be killed?
Alex felt a rising wave of nausea. She opened her eyes for a moment. She’d be damned if she threw up in front of all of these smug men. Raz stood just behind her. She turned so that she faced him. Closing her eyes again, she forced her mind to clear. In the silence, she listened.
Raz touched her shoulder and she opened her eyes.
“They’ve found an air outlet,” Raz said. “Side blast valve tunnel seems intact. There’s enough space for a man to crawl.”
“These men are supposed to be dead,” Alex said.
Raz touched her face and she looked up at him.
“That’s what the wild goose chase is about,” Alex said. “Suffocated in the LEB.”
“And?”
“They’re alive,” Alex said. “Or more alive than dead. But we need to get to them soon.”
Alex’s head jerked up when Trece whistled twice.
“They found the entrance to the side blast valve,” Joseph yelled over the wind.
“We were supposed to find it,” Alex said. “We should be able to easily retrieve the team.”
“They’re supposed to be dead,” Raz said.
Alex nodded.
“We’re going in?”
“We’re going in,” Alex’s eyes scanned the horizon.
F
CHAPTER THIRTY
Friday morning
December 25 – 6:37 a.m. MST
Denver, CO
“Anything?” John asked Nancy.
“Nothing,” Nancy said.
“And the police?” John asked.
“They went by the house to do a wellness check,” Nancy said. “A man answered the door. He said he was Julie’s brother in for the holiday. He said Julie and Paddie were out dropping off presents to his little friend Katy.”
“I am running a picture of the man from the DPD video,” Max said. “Nothing so far.”
“Does Julie have a brother?” Nancy asked.
“Not on record,” Max said. “She and Colin have been separated for more than a year. He could be a boyfriend.”
“She was very… touchy with Colin last night,” Nancy said.
Shrugging, Max shook his head.
“I checked with Katy’s family,” John said. “No one’s seen Julie and Paddie since after Mass last night.”
“The patrolmen found nothing amiss so they left,” Nancy said. “They can’t go in without probable cause. There’s really nothing they can do.”
“So we wait,” John said.
“That’s all we can do,” Nancy said.
FFFFFF
Friday morning
December 25 – 5:47 a.m. MST
H-29 decommissioned ICBM site, South of Brockett, ND
“What is it?” Alex yelled over the wind into Pete’s ear.
“Body,” Pete yelled.
They were standing over the open two-and-a-half-foot-wide air duct from the side blast valve. They had lowered Bill down the vertical portion of the blast valve duct and he’d gone toward the LEB. He had a dog night-vision image intensifier lens and an infrared thermographic camera attached to his helmet. They were watching his video stream. He had barked twice indicating the body.
“Explosives?” Joseph yelled.
Pete shook his head.
“Body,” Pete repeate
d.
“Can you have him go on?” Alex yelled.
Pete tried to give Bill the audio command. Pete shook his head. Bill’s audio feed was out of range in the concrete covered steel pipe.
“Call him back,” Alex said to Pete. Pete whistled for Bill. Turning to the team assembled around her, she yelled, “We’re going in.”
She looked out across the field. Visibility was down to less than a quarter of a mile. Through the snow, she saw the civilian emergency fire trucks and ambulances line the road. The storm had grounded the Chinook. Zack was still in the air and swore he’d stay aloft through the storm. But Sergeant Dusty had already arranged for alternate ground transportation.
The intact duct was connected to the blast valve and the intake fan. The blast valve was designed to stabilize the LEB from the negative pressure waves after a nuclear blast. Sergeant Dusty’s Uncle Don believed a lot of the blast valves were left in place. Considered solid gold on the bomb shelter forums, he was certain someone had harvested this blast valve and exhaust fan. In order to do that, they would have to have created access to the LEB.
“If the duct’s in place, someone’s been down there to get the valve.” Or so Don said.
So far, his predictions had been right. Under the snow and ice, Trece and White Boy found heavy vehicle tire tracks. The welding on the vertical intact duct had been broken and foot hold pegs lined the pipe. Margaret and MJ had woken the owner of the neighboring farm. He and his wife said they’d seen activity on this site about a month ago. The trucks drove off before he arrived to see what was going on. Their sixteen-year-old son said he’d seen lights here a few times when he was coming home late from his job delivering pizza in town. He figured some military person used H-29 as his private party spot.
Something was definitely going on at H-29. But what?
She hated going in blind. Their usual radar and heat scans couldn’t penetrate the concrete and steel of the LEB. The original surveillance equipment had been salvaged when the site was decommissioned. There was no way to know what they would find inside the LEB. Thanks to Bill, they knew they wouldn’t find explosives and they would find a body. Bill barked from the bottom of the pipe.
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