Desert Strike

by Leo Nix

  “Fat Boy, I've killed more terrorists than anyone else on this station. Each soul I send to paradise I get to read their mind before they go. I just know because Sundown blessed me with a demon of me own,” Halo rambled on. He'd just had his beer renewed but had no memory of how it got into his hand.

  “You're a first-class boofhead if ever there was one, Halo,” Fat Boy said. He loved these commandos, and even though he stirred them at every opportunity, he would rather die himself than see them hurt. But he was drunker than a skunk and he needed a drink and a head or two to bash in.

  “So… best buddy of mine… how many terrorists have… have you sent to paradise? Huh?” taunted Halo, trying to steady himself before he fell out of his chair.

  Fat Boy, an ex-Tajna Sluzba like his sister, went silent. There was a line he kept and this was it. There were two things his father drummed into his beloved son's head; a real man never boasts of the men he's beaten or the women he's had. A simple rule and Fat Boy kept it reverently in honour of his father.

  “Well my beautiful man?… how… many of… those bastards… have you sent to hell…?” said Halo again but he was way past the point of no return and he keeled over unconscious. The party was over, once Halo went, so did the entertainment.

  “OK boys, time for bed,” called Pellino, who'd been watching to make sure the troops stayed within the bounds of good behaviour. It was an old habit from his many years working in the Northern Territory prison service. He couldn't get it out of his system; always be ready to step in to settle things down and to rescue a mate. As one of the original Sundown's Commandos, Pellino, a solid man in his mid sixties, was a gruff authoritarian when he needed to be. He was always conscious of how important it was for the older crew to help mentor and manage the young lads.

  He helped Fat Boy carry Halo down the stairs and placed him in his bed. It wasn't the first time he'd done this and he was thinking he might mention the boy's drinking at the next committee meeting. He'd spoken to Tricia, or rather, she'd spoken to him and it might be time they set a curfew and a drink limit.

  They understood it was the apocalypse and all but still, drinking oneself to oblivion when you might be called upon to fight off a hoard of terrorists the next morning just wasn't on.

  Pellino called a committee meeting the next day. Halo and some of the other soldiers were up and about bleary-eyed and moody. It didn't sit well with a lot of the Commando and Pellino was keen to do something to stop the binge drinking.

  “I think there's a few strategies we can put in place, Pellino,” said Tricia. “We could set up an alcohol bar and that's the only place they get a drink from; a curfew so that the drinking only starts after sunset, except for special occasions. Then we make everyone responsible for their mates - if your mate's drunk you send him to bed or stop giving him alcohol.”

  “I think they'll argue that they work hard and deserve a drink. I'd like to see them kept better occupied though. More training patrols, alcohol-free days, that sort of thing,” piped up Pinkie. “When they have nothing to do, they just get drunk.”

  Andrew shifted uncomfortably in his seat then finally spoke. “It's not just the boys, has anyone noticed Blondie lately? She's been hitting the bottle real hard and I'm worried about her.”

  “Yes, I've seen that too,” said Captain 'Johnny' Walker. “Interesting woman that one, can't say I can get very close to her. She's like a brick wall with me.”

  “She's had a hell of a life, Johnny, a lot of men have done bad things to her and she's done a lot of bad things herself.” Tricia turned to Pinkie. “Pinkie, darl, do you think you and the girls can pick it up a bit with her. You know, get her involved with running the place.”

  Pinkie thought for a moment. “Fat Boy likes cooking but I've never seen Blondie show any interest in cooking at all. I don't think I've even seen her in the kitchen. But yes, I'll talk to Jenny and Jeda, they might have an idea or two. They all get along pretty well.”

  Pellino was listening keenly, waiting for his opportunity to speak. He did now. “What you've said is what I've been thinking. A curfew and a set bar with bar staff to police it. I like that idea. We start a habit of drinking in one set place at one set time and everyone watches out for everyone else.” He looked across at Captain Johnny Walker and asked, “Do you have a sergeant major type who can organise it? I know Hassam did that before the Mount Isa battle knocked him around, but is there someone else you can appoint? We need a few strong reliable types who can manage the boys without getting their backs up.”

  Johnny nodded and looked at Pellino. “Yeah, Louie and I have already been thinking about this. We had civilians in Alice Springs running the military police but you heard what Sundown did to them.” Everyone nodded, recalling the news of John and the knife fight on the Todd River. That was the night Sundown was made second in command of the entire Australian Defense Force and Pinkie saved the day by finding Sergeant Tobi to help sort out the mess for them.

  “Consider it done, Pellino,” said Johnny. “I'll pull the boys in and give them a talking to. Nulla and Wiram are my choice to take on discipline, the boys all respect them. I'll up the training and perhaps, Pellino, you'd like to run the bar?” Pellino looked up in surprise then nodded his acceptance.

  “The home brew situation has been interesting. Your thoughts, Andy, since you're our expert?” Captain Johnny Walker winked at the old man.

  “Ha ha, yeah right Johnny. All they ever do is drink the damn stuff. No one really appreciates the hard work and skill that goes into that brew of mine. Hours of toiling to collect the freshest wild herbs from the bush and testing each brew to make sure it's acceptable. Scrounging sugar, malt and starch of any kind is almost impossible these days. But now there's another brewer and there's talk that each armoured crew have their own brewery. The've even started organising a beer competition,” said Andrew flatly. “But yeah, competition is good and we'll just need to make it hard for the brewers to get their sugar and starches. I'll just let Fat Boy know and he'll bop a few heads if they try to steal his kitchen supplies.”

  Tricia was restless and waited for Andrew to finish, then said, “I'm worried about Halo. In fact most of the boys who've been fighting since the apocalypse are showing signs of stress. We all are. Sundown took McFly off active duty because he was breaking. I'd like to see Halo off patrols and on to full time training.” She turned to Captain Johnny Walker. “He was once our weapons master. Can you reinstate him, Johnny?”

  “Halo's our hero, Tricia. We all love him so that's probably a great idea. I'll tell him he's off patrols for a few months because we need to train up the new boys. He'll like that.” Johnny looked around at the faces of the management team. “What about you lot, how are you doing?”

  Before anyone could answer, Wiram walked in. His shoulders stooped and his face fatigued. He saw everyone looking at him.

  “Hi, I'm sorry to tell you this but the boys got there too late. The poor old fella died before Riley and the scouts made it to Birdsville.” He sat down heavily and reached for the tea pot, poured a cup of warm tea and drank it down.

  “What's the news Wirrie? What's Louie thinking of doing about the Flinders Ranges situation?” Captain Johnny Walker shifted his weight and eased himself onto his elbows waiting for a reply.

  Wiram refilled his cup. “Louie said the old man was one of Riley's neighbours. Before he passed away he said the Wilsons' were burning down every homestead they could find and grabbing people for their prison farms. Apparently, the Revelationists are up to their old tricks too. The Deaths Heads have been resurrected and doing most of the dirty work and they've started recruiting more soldiers to make up another few battalions.”

  Pedro looked up quickly. “Wiram, you're not letting our scouts go back to the Flinders, are ya? That'd be suicide.”

  “No way and they know it. Riley's upset but Louie spoke to him and explained we're not in a position to take on the Stosstruppen plus the Deaths Heads right now. They're on their
way back as we speak. They want to talk to Sundown when he gets back,” said Wiram.

  Pedro nodded, satisfied. “I think we really need to put our boys on a horse or a camel's back and send 'em away for a whiles. I know Sundown's been thinking about it. Our originals are just worn out.”

  “And worn out soldiers make mistakes. I'll speak to Halo and Assassin and get them to talk to the scouts. I'd like Nulla to talk to the boys too, all of them. He's got a special bond with them,” added Tricia.

  “I'll get onto Louie and Sundown and find out what's cooking. If this means we have to run long distance patrols deep into enemy territory, we might come unstuck. We're still not ready for extending ourselves in that direction. Especially if they've resurrected the Deaths Heads.” Johnny stood up and pushed his chair in. “I'd better run. Pinkie, if you could fill me in on anything I miss? Thanks.”

  Chapter 7 - The Conundrum

  Lieutenant Colonel Vic Thompson was in a muddle. For twelve months he'd sent his staff to the Pine Gap intelligence facility every week offering to join forces and share resources. Each time he was told to 'bugger off'. Now, only a few months after Sundown took command of the Australian Third Army, their commanding officer, US Navy Commander Sue-Ellen Cullen, wanted to talk. Vic was stumped. Why now? Was it because Sundown was in command?

  Before he flew out for Alice Springs, Sundown's last word to his management team was to get the troops up to speed with their camels. No contacts, not until he was back. Just run training exercises, that's all he wanted, training. He'd spoken to Captain Walker separately, asking him to get his Girl Guards up to speed with their guard dogs. He wanted to start them patrolling the house paddocks and palace grounds on their horses too. They'd given up trying to train the donkeys but Halo and Shrek insisted they be kept as pets. Sundown had then called Nulla to join them.

  “Sergeant Nulla, I know you love those girls of yours but I need them up to speed as part of our camel and horse patrols. Not long range patrolling, just around the house and yards will do for now. Can you and Johnny here work on that while I'm gone?”

  Nulla frowned. He knew Sundown was up to something but he wasn't quite sure what it was. “Yeah, of course, but that's just a couple of guards. What about the rest? I've already given Johnny a hand to sort out another dozen troops to train as home guards… so what's brewing inside that head of yours Sundown?” he asked bluntly.

  Sundown smiled and scratched at the stubble on his chin. “Smart bastard, aren't you, Nulla. You and Andy would make a good team. Both of you read my bloody mind like a book. OK, I want this kept secret, got it?” Both Captain Johnny Walker and Sergeant Nulla nodded in assent.

  “I've asked Blondie to get some of the girls up to speed, they're going to cross the desert and slip into Darwin. I've a feeling we might be able to upset the terrorist network there. Vic's intelligence says the Revelationists in Darwin are fractured and back to terrorising the civilians and now they've turned on each other. We might be able to organise a resistance in preparation for our push up north. I need intelligence and Blondie is the girl for that.”

  Nulla nodded, he suspected as such. Johnny Walker looked into Sundown's eyes and said, “Sundown, if we send the girls in, they might, you know, get hurt. If any of them get hurt, I'll be more than pissed off.” His face was drawn and he looked pissed off already.

  “Johnny, this is war and people get hurt, you know that. Blondie assures me they'll be safe with her. She has a lot of supporters in Darwin, as have we. She and Fat Boy lived there for quite a few years and know a lot of survivors. She said the bikies up there will support and protect them. We need this, the people we are sworn to protect need this.”

  He stopped and scratched at his whiskers again. “In particular I want Blondie, Lucy, Heidi and Jaina trained up and patrolling on the camels and horses. They've got to be able to manage on their own if they have to. We'll send Fat Boy by bike up to Darwin before we send the girls in. He'll set things up and do some work behind the scenes, like he and Blondie did at Mount Isa.” He stopped because he could see Nulla wanted to ask a question.

  “Sundown, there's more to this isn't there. What is it?” he said quietly, his face showed his concern. He too was fond of his girls.

  “Damn it, Nulla! I didn't want to tell you everything right now but I guess I'll have to finish it. You'll be training them, you, Shadow and Johnny. This has to be kept 'top secret'.” He paused long enough to gather his courage. “I'm sending them in to do an assassination, or three.” Sundown then grabbed the bag Pinkie packed for his flight to Alice Springs and left the room.

  Johnny Walker looked at Nulla nodding his head slowly. “War is hell, ain't it,” he murmured.

  Nulla seemed to be in a trance. “If I'd known what he was going to say, I wouldn't have come to this damn meeting.”

  The captain slapped Nulla on the shoulder lightly as he stood up. “Sergeant, if Sundown thinks it can be done, then we need to support him. I've watched our boys sitting on their arses for most of the year, biting their nails in frustration while those terrorist bastards drove our world to hell. I'll not stand by another second, afraid to act against them. You teach the girls how to ride, I'll teach them how to kill.” Together they walked out into the midday sun. Their minds reeling with both elation and dread.

  Bill flew into Alice Springs in the late afternoon and taxied over to the hangers. Lt Colonel Vic Thompson was there to greet the small group. Tricia was whisked away to the hospital while Sundown, with McFly in tow, went with Vic to his headquarters.

  As they settled down to a whiskey to wash the dust from their throats, they discussed local events and how to approach this request by Commander Cullen.

  “Vic, first off, what's the news from Darwin? I've told Nulla and Johnny about our plan and they've expressed their fears for the girls. I need to be sure we're doing the right thing.” Sundown sat heavily in the previous general's chair. He wrestled with the lever trying to adjust its height. He didn't succeed.

  Vic flicked through the papers on his desk. “McFly, can you ask the duty girl to find my spreadsheets? The ones on the refugees for the past month. Thanks.”

  Vic waited for McFly to return before continuing. “We've settled another hundred or so refugees from up north, mostly from around Darwin. The news is not bright. The terrorists have gone wild killing, it's like nothing we've seen since the days of the apocalypse.” He pulled out another sheaf of papers from inside his desk.

  “These reports came from civilians who worked in the terrorist headquarters. They say there's a power struggle happening and each side is executing members of the other factions. There's three factions up north: Reverend Albert, who's head of the southern hemisphere Revelationists, he's at the top. Then there's Reverend Thomas and Reverend Mark. These two are locals who've been pushing for control of the church since the apocalypse. They're each as nasty as the other. So far it has remained reasonably tame and covert but when it breaks out into a full scale fight, they'll no doubt halve their numbers. We hope so anyway, we need to speed that up a bit.”

  Vic looked up from his papers. “From our intelligence reports, we expect things to go to pieces just before or around the time of their annual conference. That's in a few months. We'll have enough time to get Blondie's team trained and into place but a camel ride from here to Darwin is going to be hell on earth and would take about four months. It's a long walk but there's a few station helicopters around, they're well hidden. We could use them for transport.”

  McFly looked blankly at Lt Colonel Vic Thompson so he explained further. “Them little things they use to chase cattle with, helicopters, we might use them to transport the team to Darwin. But getting home might mean they come back by other means, camel or horse or even walk if they have to. We could go in through their front door but Reverend Albert knows Blondie and tried to kill her once so that's probably out.”

  Vic looked outside at the swirling willy-willys. “I'm thinking either helicopter or even Bill
's plane could get them there fast. But that trip home is not so simple. There's still the logistics to sort out.”

  “So that's our plan, Matty,” Sundown said to his adjutant. “I've asked Blondie to take some of our girls into Darwin. She'll make contact with her friends in the bike gang and from there, into the halls of power. She was once Reverend Albert's consort but that's between us three here.” Captain McFly wasn't taking notes like he usually did, he just sat with his mouth open. This was all new to him. “McFly, your mouth is open, behaviour unbecoming of an officer, I believe,” said Sundown. Vic smiled, he enjoyed his new-found friends, they were so un-military.

  “Oh, sorry. Umm, you're not going to send Shadow, are you?” His left cheek twitched nervously.

  “No, not at all. I need her to help train the volunteers though. Shadow's already started the girls training and she's kept it quiet, even from her husband.” Sundown stood up and began pacing the room while he continued to talk.

  “I've worked on this for the past month. I've spoken with Vic and Louie. I've brought in Fat Boy and Blondie and talked at length about which is the best way to go about setting each faction on fire. I've spoken to the volunteers, Heidi, Lucy and Jaina. They're brave girls. They've each had their share of hardship and want to strike back. Make no mistake, they are our best weapons for this task.” Sundown stopped pacing. “We've not left a stone unturned, mate. I'm even going to make sure everyone has a holiday before we begin.”

  “Holiday? Soldiers don't take holidays in the middle of a war, do they, Vic?” asked McFly, his face was brighter than it was a moment ago and his joy was evident now that he knew his wife wasn't part of this suicide mission.

  “I think Sundown means he's taking a few of his old commando into the bush to get everyone together again. It's a bonding exercise before we begin the big push. This excursion into Darwin is an assassination, covert and dangerous. The girls know that. Sundown wants to make the most of the time we have before they leave on their mission.” Vic stopped and eased himself back into his chair. He hadn't realised how tense he was. Talking about a mission as sensitive as this and where the lives of some of his friends were at stake put him on edge.