Van was not happy but understood Dick’s decision. He nodded for Barbara to resume.
“Continuing,” Barbara said, frowning, “we believe that arms from Meier, in addition to arms stolen from the Muammar Gaddafi regime, are still in the region between Benghazi and Derna. Suspicion is that some are likely in the port city of Derna itself to the east and in the Jebel Akhdar Mountains slightly to the south and west of Derna. It was in the latter heavily forested mountainous region that Libyan patriot Omar Mukhtar resisted the Italian military occupation of Libya for more than twenty years. An area chosen by Mukhtar because of its ease of defense.
“If we hit the arms caches and perhaps capture Rehman, we’ll be doing multiple good deeds for ourselves and others.”
“You’re right, of course,” Van said to Barbara and Dick, “but we’re starting out with much less intelligence than before. So I guess we need to develop a surveillance plan to pin down Rehman, his habits, and the size and makeup of his entourage. In addition, it seems to me that any effort to snatch Rehman should be timed close to the elimination of the weapons caches so nobody has a chance to move or reinforce them. Comments from anyone?” Van always liked a variety of thinking.
“We’ve already talked about this here at the Carson Group and think it’s a win-win proposition if we can pull this off. I agree, however, that we will need good intelligence to give Brice’s team the best chance of success. Barbara here has already laid the groundwork, so what I think we need now is some of Harry’s fancy work,” said Dick.
“I agree, Dick. Give Harry and me some time to work out the details.”
“Good enough. We’ll talk with you again soon.” Dick concluded the call.
“Well, now that we’re in private, what do you think, Harry?”
“I think this is very doable, Commander,” replied Harry. “We can deploy the Enterprise remotely as we did the Truman in the Las Vegas test. We can establish a collection network using the Enterprise, drones, fireflies, and Big Brother. At some point you, and maybe others, may have to see the area for yourselves.”
“True,” Van said. “This could be a real test of our remote capabilities and the Ops Center. But I haven’t had much of a chance to fly the Enterprise, and I really want to. I’ll fly the initial route to Libya and observe the area firsthand. Later we may deploy the Truman to relieve the Enterprise and I might return.” The pilot in Van was coming out, but he also believed a commander needed hands-on experience, especially with new equipment and technology. “When can you be ready?”
“I have already been monitoring activities in Benghazi, Derna, and the Jebel Akhdar mountain area, Commander,” Harry said. “There is a great deal of tension in the cities, but the mountains are relatively quiet. I suggest we wait for another day to collect more data via satellites and then plan to leave for a closer look in Libya if that is still your wish.”
Waiting was not what Van had in mind. He wanted to get on with things. On reflection, however, he realized Harry was probably right to wait. The goal here was not only to get intel but also, as he remembered from his earliest talks with Harry, to effectively experience the technology available to him so he could use it better in the future. He would wait.
After a few moments, Van said, “Sounds like a plan.”
CHAPTER 25
Harry and Van launched from Site R on the reconnaissance mission the next day. As a precaution, they loaded weapons and suits for Brice’s team just in case. They also took some portable lights, a generator, food, and water. They executed a planned suborbital trip to keep away from any normal air traffic and kept the path over water as much as possible. The route went over the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic. To minimize any possible detection at landfall, their route plan crossed into Africa over the Western Sahara, then over northern Mauritania and southern Algeria before reaching Libya. Once inside Libya, they would proceed to a point just south of Murus and then turn north toward Benghazi.
Van had chosen to take a seat in the cockpit even though the flight was preplanned and the shuttle could fly the whole trip on autopilot. The pilot in him demanded that he be at the controls in case anything went wrong or when he just wanted stick time. Besides, sitting in the cargo area was just plain boring.
At first as a naval flight student, he had hated night flights. On his inaugural flight, he had flown a circular route at night from Milton, Florida, to Brewton, Alabama, and back over and over. Just going in big circles for over an hour in an old T-28 Trojan. It had been so boring that he remembered eating peanut butter crackers and slapping himself in the face just to stay awake. Years later, flying at night had become pleasant, especially when there were lights to look at. This night, the view was spectacular. He could trace the outline of the US by the coastal city lights. Florida was easy to see, given its land mass jutting into the Gulf, the Atlantic, and just above the Caribbean. He could look up the East Coast and see the lights of Savannah, Charleston, Norfolk, DC, and all the Eastern Seaboard. What a sight. He had seen city lights before, but never this many and in so spectacular a fashion.
With this technology, Van thought at some point he wanted to take a trip into near space and see the whole planet lighted up. But now he had a job to do. Soon, with the US and South America behind him, there was only darkness. Eventually, however, the lights of southern Europe and northern Africa would start to glow.
The distance from Arizona to the Western Sahara was just over 6,000 miles, and the Enterprise did that in just two hours. It could have been done faster, but the potential IR and Doppler signatures would have been too great to hide. From the Western Sahara to Mursuq, the distance was right at 2,700 miles and then another 492 miles to Benghazi. A little over an hour of additional flight time. Given about a nine-hour time difference, the Enterprise’s arrival time in the Benghazi area would be about 10:45 a.m. local time.
Their Benghazi target arrival area was a relatively open area free of buildings outside the fifth ring road circling the city and northwest of the Benghazi airport. Here they were able to land, and Van stepped out of the rear cargo door. Quickly he released several hundred fireflies targeted for the airport, the seaport, and the Al-Quwarsha administrative district. He stepped back into the Enterprise, closed the ramp door, and departed.
“You know, Commander, you don’t have to go outside the Enterprise to release fireflies. We can do that internally.”
“I know, Harry, but after the long flight, I just wanted to step outside, stretch my legs, and see what the local territory was like for myself.”
Next stop was Derna, 156 miles to the northeast along the coast. This time Van instructed the Enterprise to hover in its stealth mode over the small triangular port area. The shuttle’s internal distribution system scattered several hundred more fireflies along the highway following the Wadi Darnah from the port down to the southwest. In addition, some were sent to Martubah Airport to the southeast, and more were sent to an area southwest of the city along Emilia Boulevard. This latter area was on the second 90-degree turn the road made when leaving the coast. It consisted of an open square paved area about the size of two football fields. On the north side were two one-story cement storage buildings, and in the southeast corner was a large building resembling an aircraft hangar. Across the street to the south were three two-story U-shaped buildings that looked like living quarters or perhaps barracks. Both the square and the living quarters were surrounded by a high concrete wall. All of these were targeted for fireflies. The area looked suspiciously like a barracks and training area. A place to look at again.
The final stop of the day was the Jebel Akhdar Mountains between Benghazi and Derna. Unlike the arid climate of the cities and areas just visited, the mountains were green and covered in pines and chammari trees. Though not as high as many mountain regions, the Jebel Akhdar Mountains ranged from roughly 1,600 feet to a high of nearly 3,000 feet. It was the area in Libya that received the most rainfall. It even snowed there in the winter. It wa
s also the most difficult region to surveil. The Enterprise flew slowly in stealth mode, disbursing more fireflies along the mountain range from west to east along Abraq Road between Al Marj and Al Qubah. More were spread around the city of Al Bayda, more or less in the middle of the road segment of interest. Al Bayda is the fourth largest city in Libya and home to many prominent commercial and banking enterprises.
In all, the Enterprise had covered a mountain area of about two hundred miles in length and forty miles in width. A lot to do in one day. But there remained more. While Harry collected data from all deployed sources, the Enterprise increased altitude and loitered over the mountains through the night and released a D2 drone to assist Harry in his work. The object was to map out IR signatures on and off roads. Van took the opportunity to get some sleep in the cargo bay.
The next day, Van and Harry took advantage of the fireflies in Benghazi and began closely monitoring several of them. They could see that the area was an odd mix of modern and old houses, markets, and even a few shiny office buildings. What stood out, however, were the numerous mounds of rubble or partially destroyed buildings that dotted the landscape. These were the results of both the Libyan Civil War and the continued clashes between elements of Ansar al-Sharia and Libyan government forces. It was not uncommon during the day or night to hear sporadic bouts of gunfire or spot the occasional column of smoke.
People were out and about shopping at the markets and traveling either to or from work. But their pace was quicker than might seem normal, as though they wanted to minimize their time in the open. Harry had vectored several of the fireflies to some coffee shops in the hopes of hearing and seeing something of value. In the first coffee shop, Van was surprised to see it nearly full of young people, most of whom were wearing T-shirts with a variety of messages. Apparently, this was a new trend in the city, and the shirt messages ranged from traditional Libyan sayings like “Grab what is new before it becomes old” to more relevant messages like “Better the devil you know” with the drawing of a knife.
There was a concerted attempt by these young people to enjoy the time and each other, but each one gave frequent furtive looks at the windows looking onto the street.
Later, Harry switched to another coffee shop, which was less cosmopolitan than the one before. This one was filled with men either talking to or shouting at each other. There were conversations of every kind, but one caught Van’s and Harry’s attention. They heard Rehman’s name mentioned. Concentrating closely, they gathered from the conversation that when Rehman returned from Derna, there would be another expansion of the area in which sharia law would be enforced. The time frame was in the next week, though a precise day was not mentioned. Hearing nothing more, they abandoned listening to the fireflies in coffee shops and began digesting what they heard. The day was a success.
“Harry, what have we learned so far?” asked Van. Coordinating and collating their gathered intelligence would give him a better read of the situation overall, and Van realized he was beginning to enjoy the collaboration with the alien AI.
“Well, Commander, as you might have guessed, there is no apparent sign of Rehman anywhere in the Benghazi area. Based on the conversations we overheard in Benghazi, I have relocated many of our fireflies to Derna, targeting the areas we suspect might be weapons storage and training areas in the west of town.
“I am developing a very complete database of the roadways being used in the mountains, both visually by day and via IR at night. There are a few areas that seem to get more traffic than they should, so I have reassigned the D2 drone and deployed additional fireflies to look more closely at those spots. I believe that by the end of tomorrow night we may have collected enough information to identify highly likely areas for weapons storage and other suspicious activity.
“I suggest we take a closer look at the storage area in western Derna tonight or early tomorrow morning.”
“Just what I was thinking,” replied Van. “Let’s do it about 2:00 a.m. local time.”
At the appointed time, the Enterprise hovered in stealth mode over the unoccupied western side of the square Van and Harry had discovered earlier. This time, Van was wearing his armored suit complete with helmet and HUD visor. This HUD, unlike the ones issued to Brice and his team, was capable of a 360-degree view. It could display anything Harry and the Enterprise had to offer. In some respects, it was as if he were walking in broad daylight, and the suit gave him the stealth he wanted. In addition, he carried a knife, a silenced Glock 19 9mm pistol with five extra magazines, and an over-the-shoulder tool kit. No need for a flashlight.
Harry landed the Enterprise in a remote corner of the training area and Van got out. He walked steadily to the first of the two concrete single-story buildings and looked for a side door. It didn’t take long to find one, but it was locked with a sturdy padlock. Fortunately, his tool kit contained a Capital lock-pick gun and accessories that he quickly used to open the lock. After closing the door behind him, Van looked around for what he expected to be a massive supply of weapons. What he found was… nothing.
“Harry,” Van said, “there’s nothing here. I’m going to the next building.”
Van left the way he had entered and locked the door behind him. He then walked across the face of the building he’d just been in, and upon finding a similar door in the second building, unlocked it and entered. Again, nothing!
With growing frustration, he again locked the door he had just used and proceeded to the south side of the square where the largest building was located. Unlike the other two buildings, the access door on this one did not have a padlock. It had an electronic keypad! That was both good and bad—good because it meant this building may well have something of interest in it, and bad because it meant that the building had enhanced security. But Harry had prepared him. One of the chair sessions had taught Van how to use a common technician’s tool to access just such a security system. It was very twenty-first century and manufactured in the good old USA. All he had to do was place it next to the keypad and start it. It then used an electronic sensor and a simple algorithm to discover the correct keypad strokes and display them on an LED screen. It only took a few minutes, and the correct key code was entered and the door unlocked. That, however, was the easy part. Inside the building Van detected motion sensors as well as IR detectors located all over the building. Apparently those did not shut off when the door was opened. But Van did not need to go farther. What he saw was impressive.
“Pay dirt, Harry!”
“Yes, Commander, I can see with the camera in your helmet.”
What they both saw were stacks of metal ammunition cans, long plastic cases—which he suspected carried some sort of missiles—and several heavily armored vehicles like the M117 and more.
“No use going in, Harry. We found what we were looking for,” Van said as he turned around, exited, and closed the door, which locked automatically. “Now let’s find out about these U-shaped buildings next door.”
The square area he was in was surrounded by a tall cement wall with concertina wire on top. No climbing over. What he did find was an old rusty gate with a padlock. Out came the pick gun, and in short order the lock was open. Worried that the rusted gate would make noise when opened, Van moved it slowly until he realized that the hinges were apparently well oiled—and well used. He found a protected corner of the square’s wall but one that let him see all three of the U-shaped buildings. He was trying to figure out how best to see what was inside each when a simple idea struck him. Let what’s inside come outside. He took out his Glock and unscrewed the silencer. He pointed the weapon up in the air and fired off four shots, waited a few seconds, and fired off three more. Immediately the buildings came alive with lights and frantic voices. In what felt like only a minute or two, armed men started pouring out of all the buildings. They all carried assault rifles, most of which were AK-74s. They wore no uniforms but were dressed in dark clothing.
“Look at that, Harry. These are definite
ly barracks,” Van said. “Time to leave!”
Van woke up about noon local time that same day. He’d slept like a rock after the activities of yesterday and early that morning. They had found one weapons cache and learned that Rehman was likely in Derna, perhaps even in the compound that housed the weapons cache and barracks.
“Good afternoon, Harry. What do we know today?”
“Good afternoon, Commander. As you learned last night, we now know of at least one large weapons storage area. I have reallocated fireflies to that location and have begun flying them into all the buildings for a closer look. If Rehman is there, we will see and hear him.
“Meanwhile, I believe I have three suspect areas for us to investigate in the mountains. All three have traffic along dirt roads departing from Abraq Road. Each terminal location shows IR and vehicle activity where none should be. Again, I have reallocated fireflies to these three areas. These are targets I recommend looking into next.”
“OK, time to call Dick. Can you put me through to his Ops Center?”
“Done, Commander. Mr. Carson is on the line, but we have no visual contact for obvious reasons.”
After a moment, he heard the telltale click that said Dick was connected. “Dick, how are you this fine day?”
“We’re all doing well but still waiting to hear from you and Harry with more intelligence.”
“Well this is your lucky day, and Brice’s also. To get the very best intel we are, in fact, in Libya right now, and have or will have everything you and Brice will need.”
“Wait just one minute,” Barbara broke in. “You mean to say that you and Harry have gone intelligence gathering alone, in country?”
“Yes we did and yes we are.”
“Are you crazy? That’s a job for Brice and me. We’re trained for it but you aren’t.”
Future Discovered: Host Saga Book 1 Page 16
