“Shit.” Frank took a deep breath. “They can’t be that smart. That would take massive amounts of planning and watching us from a distance. Dad, they’re Savages.”
“They were once functioning human beings. All right, Master of Security, what’s the plan?”
“Now, barring the fact that I’m temporarily mentally disabled, here’s what I have in mind.”
“Shoot.”
Frank held up his hand. “Robbie’s plane should be ready. I want surveillance for Savage camps. He has to get fuel priority. He has to fan out. Besides checking out Society bases, he has to look for other large Savage camps and map them.”
Joe nodded “He’ll get it.”
“Next, Hal’s men have to be kept as soldiers. We have man power so I’ll transfer him some extra. I want full force, around the clock security in Beginnings and New Bowman. We must do hourly tracking checks, no matter how much of a pain it is, along with hourly gate checks. Tracking or no tracking, we will get back to setting traps around the whole perimeter. Frank and Robbie traps.” Frank nodded. “I also want Henry and Mechanics on extra perimeter beams. I want those beams placed on every underground, tunnel, or sewer entrance into New Bowman or Beginnings.”
“You got it. Anything else?”
“Yeah . . . by the numbers Hal said came into his camp and the ones that fled . . .” Frank walked back over and sat down in his chair. “And knowing what we’re up against with the Society, we need more men.”
“We’re close to a thousand strong.”
“Yeah, but . . . think about it. The bigger we get Dad . . . the more space we need. The more space we use . . . the more vulnerable we become.”
Joe slowly nodded, temporarily mentally disabled or not, Frank had a valid point.
Bowman, North Dakota
The clank of the arrow head hitting the tin basin was the only sound in the small operating room. Hal lay still, wide awake and quiet.
“You all right?” Ellen asked as she cleaned the wound.
Hal nodded.
“Last one.” Ellen reached for the sutures. “We could have been done sooner had I not had to stop . . . Captain . . . to check on your men in Beginnings.”
“I . . . needed to know.”
“I’m so worried about infection, Hal. Dean’s sending something very strong down. I have to put you on intravenous for three days so . . .”
“No.”
“Hal.” Ellen held off stitching the final arrow gash. She laid down her things and moved to the head of the table. “These arrows were dirty. They were in you for hours. Please.”
“I have a camp to run.”
“You can’t run it if you are dead,” Ellen insisted.
“I’d say yes, but my right hand man is down.”
“Don’t you have a left hand one?”
The first smile cracked on Hal’s face. “I guess.”
“Then stay in bed, let the anti-infection work, and bark orders to him.”
“How long . . . how long until Elliott’s well?” Hal asked.
“What? You want to wait until then?”
“No, I’m curious.”
“It will be awhile. He won’t fight for a long time. He’s bad, Hal.”
Hal quickly shifted his eyes to her. “Is he going to die?”
“No,” Ellen answered without hesitation. “No, Dean says he’ll live. He’ll take some time to recuperate.”
“So he made it through the surgery?”
Her slowly released breath hit against Hal’s face. “Not yet. Dean will be in with him at least until dawn.”
Hal closed his eyes. “What did I allow, Ellen?”
“Hal.”
“I put these men at risk. I didn’t see the attack coming.”
“Of course you didn’t.” Ellen lowered her face to his. “This place was guarded. How did you know they’d come up from the sewers? You didn’t so no blame, Captain Slagel. Don’t. If you keep it up, I’ll have to start calling you Frank with all these body scars.”
“Pretty bad, huh?”
“Nah, I’ve seen worse.” She winked and laid her hand on his face. “It’ll be fine. We just have to get you better and strong for the move.” She started to lift up and Hal stopped her.
“Tell me.” He gripped her hand. “Tell me honestly. Does this sudden move of my town make it look as though I’m running for protection?”
“What?” Ellen laughed. “Are you kidding me? You’re five hundred strong. You aren’t rushing to New Bowman in the wake of this Savage thing for Beginnings’ protection. You’re rushing to New Bowman to help protect Beginnings.”
A shudder of emotions escaped Hal in his self blame and instead of letting Ellen leave, instead of saying words, he braved it without permission. He pulled her down to him and reached for her. Ellen followed the lead and whole heartedly embraced him with her upper body and arms as he lay on that table. She felt what he searched for. Pausing before returning to care for Hal’s external wounds, Ellen took time out to care for his emotional ones.
INDISCRETIONAL WARS
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
New Bowman, Montana
October 12
The rush of speed, the beauty of the red sky at the crack of dawn, inferred cameras with a vision of things normally not seen in the darkened sky, the noise of the aircraft, yet the silence of being alone all brought back the same feelings Robbie used to get when he flew in the old world for the United States Army. So many times in the past Robbie had the feeling that he was all alone in the world. The billions of people below him were no longer there. Never did he imagine as he flew, that one day, all those feelings would suddenly be reality.
He landed the plane on the newly designated airstrip a half a mile outside of the main sector of New Bowman, an area still within the protective range of tracking. Robbie announced his landing ahead of time so as not to send the Trackers of New Bowman or Mark in Beginnings into another frenzy when Robbie zoomed through the tracking signal. He heard about it two days earlier from his father when Mark and the New Bowman man sent Security into an uproar.
He stepped from his plane and secured the small tape in the inside pocket of his leather jacket. He closed the plane up tightly and headed into New Bowman. He still carried the feeling of ‘great’ he received from flying that plane. With his hands in his pockets and his leather flight book under his arm, he moved quickly to New Bowman where he would pick up a Jeep and head home.
First . . . food.
Robbie knew Hal’s Mess Hall men worked as early for Hal as the Mess Hall staff worked for the United States Army. The smell of coffee and eggs hit Robbie before he even opened the door. It was a welcoming warm smell and it made his stomach growl. Every time he went there, he loved Hal’s Mess Hall more. It was the single ‘domestically-insufficient’ guy’s paradise to Robbie.
Robbie didn’t expect many men to be in the Mess Hall at this early hour but he wasn’t surprised to see his brother. Hal never hunched over his coffee. He always brought the mug to his lips as he sat up straight with a breakfast tray in front of him and a copy of Beginnings Times in his hands.
“Hey.” Robbie gave his announcement with a hand to Hal’s back.
“Hey, little brother.” Hal set down his coffee. “Grab some grub.”
“Thanks, I will.” Laying his keys and leather book on the table, then taking off his coat and placing it on the bench, Robbie walked to the chow line. He was greeted by the two men who worked the line with respect and unnecessary ‘sirs’ that Robbie did kind of like. He didn’t take much. He planned to eat later. He had too. He didn’t want to disappoint Andrea when she fixed him up a plate of whatever she prepared for breakfast and set it aside for Robbie to indulge in when he had a chance in his busy schedule. “Danny made me leave that on your door when I came for the plane this morning.” Robbie said of the newspaper as he sat across from Hal.
“Tell Danny I appreciate it.” Hal coughed violently.
“Still congest
ed?”
“Ellen says I will be but . . . the infection’s clearing.”
“Cut back on smoking?” Robbie asked.
“Um . . . yeah.” Hal smiled and shook his head.
“Is there anything good in there?” Robbie pointed with his fork.
“Oh . . . not really, and yeah.” Hal set down the paper when he saw Robbie snicker. “I mean, when isn’t it good? It never is a hundred percent honest unless it’s factual news, but it’s always entertaining. They did list events for Beginnings Day today and . . . the series of upcoming Neville competition events. Did you know . . .” Hal folded his hands. “That Bowman’s football team and Beginnings’ football team will play a game of tackle football with no protective equipment? And . . . mind you, all the members of the winning team get Neville points.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“No?” Hal sat up straight. “I didn’t even know I had a football team.”
Robbie laughed. “You better get one together.”
“I’d better.” Hal held back laughing, and it made him cough.
“So how’s the settling in going?” Robbie asked.
“Good. The Mess Hall is still working with half equipment, but Canning and Food Preservation from Beginnings sent some pre-made items to make it easier. We’re still far from unpacked but we’ll get there. An inventory of our food stock and weapons needs to be done. We did get our greenhouse contents up to yours, however I think it probably looks minuscule and pitiful in comparison to what you guys have.”
“Nah.” Robbie shook his head. “How’s Dad with you? Is he putting the rush on you yet?”
“Dad? No. He said, and his very words were, ‘no rush’. He wants us to enjoy without hassle our first ever Beginnings Day today, get settled, and then . . . we get back to business.”
“Oh, yeah, when?”
“Tomorrow.” Hal chuckled and coughed. “He’ll be here first thing. He wants to run down governing, distribution of man power, and so forth.”
“No rush.”
“No rush.”
“Dad.”
Hal tilted his head with a crooked smile. “Got to love him. So . . . how was the flight.”
“Beautiful.”
“Aside from that.”
“Informative.” Robbie dropped the fork he held. “You coming in for the meeting?”
“If I say ‘yes’ are you not going to tell me?”
“Hell, no.” Robbie said. “I’ll tell you.”
“I’m there.”
“O.K., act like I didn’t tell you,” Robbie winked. “I’ve got work for your guys, well your scout teams. I found a colony up near Manitoba and . . .”
“What the hell are you doing flying up there? I thought it was southeast today.”
“Hush-hush.” Robbie held up his hand. “I felt like going north while the weather was still good. Anyhow, I spotted a colony. It was non-divisional, meaning they didn’t look Society and they definitely weren’t Savage. We’ll have to view the inferred tape to get a count. It was still dark so there could be more then what was picked up. And . . . most importantly, I have good news and bad news but it’s all one news. I can’t determine which it is.”
“Robbie,” Hal said his name with a snicker. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“All right. I’ll tell you what it is and you can determine if it’s good news or bad news.”
“Go on.”
Robbie leaned closer across the table to Hal. “I got the end results on tape. It seems we aren’t the only ones with the Savage problem . . . the Society isn’t immune from Savage prejudice.”
“East?”
“Northeast.”
“Shit.”
“Good or bad?”
“Actually . . .” Hal said as he peered at his little brother wearing a half-shitty grin. “Both.”
Beginnings, Montana
Frank sniffed the aroma of the contents of the bowl even though the steam from the heating had ceased somewhere in his trip to his Security office. A pleasant smile not often seen on Frank’s face appeared as he took another whiff. He unwrapped the thick sliced bread he had in a cloth and held it in one hand while he gripped a fork in the other. As he readied to devour, Frank drifted into ‘Frank’ thoughts and stopped because he amused himself.
Jess the cook?
Chef Jess?
Jess Chef?
Frank grinned widely and nodded, ‘Jess Brocket.’ He liked his new chosen name for Robbie’s roommate. Never had Frank met a man that could cook as well as Jess. Frank figured that was why a bunch of already taken Beginnings women wanted him. Frank was glad Ellen hadn’t jumped on the ‘I love Jess’ bandwagon. It was bad enough that his ‘just about’ ex-daughter-in-law wanted Jess. Frank liked Denise. He thought she was a nice girl, timid and a bit boring, but the extra conversations she seemed to have with him got on Frank’s nerves. They started about one thing and ended with Jess. Denise, like the other women, seemed to think that just because Frank ran Security and Jess was in Security, that Frank had the magic Jess link. Frank didn’t nor did he care. Actually Frank wanted these women to knock it off. They were already involved with three of his other Security men and the last thing he needed at a tense moment was relationship ripples. Of course Frank was grateful Jess was such a nice guy and wouldn’t dream of interfering in already established relationships . . . he hoped.
Jess.
Eggs.
Hunger.
Frank shoved the fork into the eggs, smiling with each morsel he laid on the bread. He pictured Dean opening the fridge to get the eggs Jess made and seeing only the note Frank left.
With a snicker and a bite, Frank shoved the egg sandwich in his mouth. He happily chewed, swallowed, and took another bite. About the third bite into his sandwich, which was nearly the end, Frank felt something in his mouth. He swished it to the left and then to the right. Chew. Stop. Chew. Stop. It was hard and didn’t taste like eggs. Using mouth maneuvers, he separated what he knew was food from the foreign object in his mouth. He swallowed the good part and spit the other on his desk.
“Huh?” Frank spoke out loud and scratched his head when he saw the inch long white object. It was paper, rolled up tightly and tied with a little string. Frank’s big fingers fumbled it, pulled off the string, and then unrolled the paper. It opened out three inches and Frank undid the single fold. “Fuck.” He shook his head and slammed his hand. “Fuck.” He picked up the phone and began to dial.
Two rings.
Dean answered. “Yeah.”
“Dino.”
Bang. The rattle of the dropped phone carried to Frank.
Frank pulled the phone away from his ear and looked oddly at it. He listened. Nothing. “Hello?”
“Oh my God.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Frank,” Dean stated his name with a hint of shock. “Why did you call me that?”
“What?”
“Dino.”
“I don’t know.” Frank shrugged. “I really don’t know. I’m supposed to be better tomorrow. Maybe I’ll know then.”
“No one has called me that since my father. Odd.”
“Yeah.”
“Especially since today is his birthday.”
Frank dropped the phone, spun quickly around in his chair, and looked about.
“Frank?”
Frank lifted the phone. “Safe.”
“Safe from what?”
“I thought your dad’s ghost might be here possessing my mind or something. I have problems with ghosts. I saw my dead brother, you know.”
“God,” Dean huffed. “Frank, why are you calling me?”
“Oh. Check this out, asshole. I’m dead.” Frank pulled the phone from his ear when Dean shrieked. “Yeah, you poisoned me, you wimp.”
“Wimp? I did it, didn’t I?”
“Bet me you can’t do it again only this time in a more physical way.”
“I’ll bet you. What?”
�
�If in three weeks . . .” Frank tapped his hand on his desk. “If you can kill me in two weeks . . .”
“I thought you said three?”
“Shut the fuck up. If you can kill me in two weeks, I’ll move out. But . . . if you don’t kill me, you sleep on the couch for a month.”
Dean laughed. “Wait. Where will you be?”
“In my own bed in Josh’s room. The couch and my moving for my death?”
“You’re on.”
“Thanks.” Frank hung up the phone. He looked at the rest of his sandwich and eggs in the bowl. Figuring he was dead anyway, Frank finished his breakfast.
Dean was laughing when he hung up the phone in his lab..
“My Dad?” Johnny asked.
“Yeah.” Dean laid down his phone and drew up a thinking look. “It seems he ate the eggs. He’s dead.”
“Bet he’s pissed.” Johnny stood before the centrifuge.
“Not really. He wants me to try to kill him again.” Still thinking, Dean reached for his coffee. “In a more physical way.”
“Oh, you can do that,” Johnny said.
“Yeah, I have a few ideas.”
“What are they?”
Dean paused in bringing the cup up to his lips. He stared at Johnny for a second. “You won’t tell, will you?”
“No.”
“All right.” Dean grinned. “I’ll tell you before I go down to the lab. Some of them are great.” Filled with the excitement of a kid, he hurried across the lab, pulled up a stool, and sat down next to Johnny.
Then Dean made a huge mistake . . . he spilled his guts.
^^^^
At first Bev thought it would bother her to walk to the clinic across the oddly crowded streets of Beginnings but no one seemed to notice her. They were all too busy setting up for Beginnings Day, an event that reminded Bev of a neighborhood carnival. As she neared the clinic, she saw him off to the right. He knelt before a tall plastic case, securing it with some kind of bolts. Before her clinic stop, Bev made her way to Henry.
The Next Ten: Beginnings Series Books 11 - 20 Page 58
