Solar Storm: Homeward Bound

by Vincent Keith

  "We're undersized for a company. Third and Fourth Platoons are the most experienced and have more men, so they get stuck with detached commands. Once we've established a base, we'll start our area recon, at which point Charlie will move on to Idaho. It's damn thin coverage, but it's what we've got. I wish the general had been able to detach a full company for each area, but we just couldn't swing it."

  “So are we under martial law now?”

  "Nope. Things went to hell so fast there just isn't any civilian oversight. Congress just disappeared. Some went into shelters, and some headed back to their families. They had Air Force and Marine units scattered all over hell and gone trying to cover their asses. We've lost contact with a lot of our assets back east. I'm not sure who's still operational. Communications are sporadic at best."

  “Why am I not surprised?”

  "The General got a call from some brass back East, and rumor is, he told them to go fuck themselves. He wasn't going to follow illegal orders. Some of the brass at the Pentagon were thinking of military takeover without civilian oversight. I doubt they're still talking about it. The last thing I heard was that none of the base commanders, at least the ones who still had bases, were going along with it."

  “I’d heard something about some bases being furloughed for lack of supplies.”

  "Well, that and desertion. But the desertion was in response to the lack of supplies. It's difficult to maintain a base when the food is gone. I think the base commanders were hoping for resupply and orders."

  “So, Lewis-McChord is still operational?”

  "Yeah, we were in the process of moving a lot of supplies to South Korea. The guys on the McChord side can't get any of the big cargo planes in the air. Fourth Airlift is on alert in case we get more trouble with China, but they are part of the nuclear arsenal, and I hope to God those planes stay on the ground. Guys from the Seventh and Eighth Airlift Wings are trying like hell to get some more planes in the air. I know the first few got transferred, but I don't have any idea where. We did get a pair of RC-135s out of Offutt for air recon, and we're in contact with them. We also got a couple of tankers out of Fairchild before they sent the rest back east."

  “I’m almost afraid to ask, but what happened to the planes in the air when we got hit.”

  "We lost a lot of commercial aircraft. A lot of the fires in the major cities were from jets crashing. As far as I know, all of our radio and GPS navigation is down. I suspect we lost quite a few military planes. The fighter wings seem to be solid as is air reconnaissance. It's the old workhorse birds that are grounded. We have a serious lack of pilots, but we've got enough unless we get attacked by a foreign power. "

  “Dear God, I…I knew there’d been arson, but…I…God, all those people…” Jack leaned forward and rested his head on the table while the news sunk in. He sighed and sat up. “There must have been hundreds of jets in the air. It could have been a quarter million people in the air. Maybe double that, or more.”

  “There’s nothing we could do about it. It’s just too big.”

  They sat in silence for a minute, each lost in his own thoughts. Finally, Jack spoke up.

  "Hey, I'm still trying to figure something out, maybe you've heard. Did we get hit by an EMP from a nuclear device?"

  "I can't comment on that—Ah hell, I honestly don't know." said Brian, shaking his head.

  "Okay. Did anything else go wrong that I didn't think of?" asked Jack.

  Brian sighed. "Yeah, none of it is classified so I can tell you what I know. Let's see—the rail lines turned into massive conductors or magnets or something, it's not clear to me, but the trains are useless. We had or maybe still have a couple of significant toxic fires from derailed tanker cars. No estimate on the area of damage other than hundreds if not thousands of square miles. There's no way to contain them, so they burned until there was nothing left to burn. Or they're still burning. Also, several pipelines of various sorts blew. I think they've got most of them shut down, or maybe they just stopped gushing when the pumps died.

  "Some egghead from the Space Wing in Colorado—the 406th or the 460th? One of those…anyway, they said the solar flare made the Carrington event look like a sparkler. From what I understand this has happened before but never this big."

  “Yeah, The Carrington event back in 1859. There have been a few big ones more recently, but the effects were mostly regional, which means they were significantly less energetic.”

  “Figures you’d know what he was talking about. So spill.”

  Jack took a moment to bring Brian up to speed on the history of geomagnetic storms and their effects, filling in holes in his second-hand briefing.

  “I’ll be damned. Well, most of our stuff survived the first blast, but things went downhill fast after that. They say we got hit by two separate…things. Whatever it was that the sun spat out at us.”

  "Coronal Mass Ejections, CME for short, is essentially a cloud of charged plasma from the surface of the sun."

  “Jeez, why didn’t that just fry us?”

  "It did in a way, but by the time it gets here, it's not the temperature that matters so much. It's the charged particles that shred the magnetosphere. We probably got some extra radiation…not my area, so…" Jack shrugged.

  “Yeah okay. So, two of the big ones hit us. Apparently, they spread out, something about different speeds. I guess the last two were small, whatever that means.”

  "Well, that explains a few things."

  "I'm glad you think so," said Brian.

  Jack chuckled and leaned back in the recliner to take the pressure off his leg.

  "Hey, I know it may be classified, but did a bunch of idiot countries exchange nukes? It's important for these folks to know if they need to take precautions with their crops and soil from the fallout. I've had nothing to work with but rumor. I've got a meter I've been checking with once a day. No signs yet."

  "Yes, it's classified, but the answer is yes. The Middle East is a mess, so are Pakistan and India, and parts of China and Russia. Europe, as far as I know, is okay. Well, not okay, but no nuclear exchanges. We've had numerous reports of all-out war in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, and Greece."

  “Islam?”

  "Seems likely. I suppose it could just be massive riots."

  “Yeah.” Jack sighed.

  "We are tracking the fallout, and last I heard we'll get some, but they don't think it'll be too severe inland. They expect the coastal regions will get hit the hardest. I don't know what that means in practical terms."

  “Well, everyone we’ve been in contact with is expecting some and taking at least some precautions. It’s just stupid to keep it a secret. Are they going to wait until it’s too late for people to take any action, then tell them? Stupid damn bureaucrats.”

  “I’ll talk to the boss, make what case I can, but it’s not my area of expertise.”

  “Tell you what, have someone talk to Henry about it, and they should talk to Frank Novak down in Adin too. There should be people at McChord who know too. They need to think about it from a civilian perspective rather than a military one. If they don’t, we will lose a lot more people for no damn reason.”

  “Right.” Brian made a note in a small notebook he carried. “I know Henry’s been in radio contact, but I don’t think we’ve heard from anyone named Frank.”

  “He probably can’t get a signal to bounce right. He might have better luck working with a base in California if you have anything around Redding? If not, Henry can relay, and that might be faster than trying to send someone.”

  “I’ll forward it but…”

  “Got it, not part of your mission. It’s okay, I’ll get Lexi to bug Henry, and he can bug your guys. Sooner or later something should shake loose.”

  “Just don’t mention any confirmation from me.”

  “Why not?” asked Lexi.

  Brian spun in his seat.

  “How long have you been standing there?” he asked.

  "Just wait
ing for you guys to stop long enough for tea. I won't say anything. I'm just curious why?"

  “Lexi, this is Captain Brian O’Neil. Do you remember we went to find Denny and Judy? Well, this is Denny’s son.”

  “Oh…sorry about your house.”

  “Thanks. Look Lexi, here’s the thing, I shouldn’t have said anything about the nukes. I’ve known Jack for almost twelve years now, and I know why he asked, but…still.”

  "I get it. Henry and I talk about it every contact. I'll just tell him to talk with the Army. It's not like it's news to us, we've been discussing it for weeks now. I mean, you're here, so we know you guys are still around. Asking about it would be logical right? I'll just tell him you're too busy to ask so maybe he should ask them."

  “Outstanding. Oh, and thanks for the tea.”

  “No problem. Are you going to have someone down here on this side of the mountains?” asked Lexi.

  "Yes, Lieutenant Morgan will take a team south when we're finished here. We heard you might have had some trouble between here and Burns."

  “Oh yeah, there are a couple spots where they shot at us.”

  “Jack?”

  "There's a small town up the road. They were shooting at us as we headed out of town if it even was a town. We rolled through moving fast, so they didn't have much opportunity. Another spot, just this side of Burns, someone had the beginnings of a roadblock set up. It was unmanned when we went through it at speed. Caught them off guard, I guess. I saw them running toward the road with guns but they didn't fire."

  “Right, we’ll look into it.”

  “There was also some activity north of Lakeview. We dodged some trouble on the road in a couple of spots, but I don’t think they were local. They weren’t dressed right for a local. I’m also not sure what’s going on in Lakeview, last I heard there was a battle there. After things cooled down, they elected a town Constable. If it’s true, then I’d view holding an election as an excellent sign.”

  “I’ll need Lieutenant Morgan to sit down with you and debrief.”

  “He might do better with Lexi, she’s been in contact with Adin and Burns, and she has more current information…” Jack cocked an eyebrow in Lexi’s direction.

  “Sure, it’s all in my notebook. Dates, times, contacts and what we talked about.”

  “That’s excellent. You have contact information for everyone you’ve talked with then?”

  "Sure, Deputy Travis has spoken with the folks in Alturas, and all the way up to Lakeview, and as far west as Mendocino, on the coast. Oh, Mr. Chesney found someone in Burns with a working radio. David and I have talked a few times.”

  Jack glanced at her, something about the sound of her voice, the slightly dreamy look. It sounds like she’s going to get her first experience with a long distance relationship, he thought.

  “Are you planning to take your whole team south?” asked Jack.

  “Depends on what intel I can get. At this point we’ll stay together until we eliminate the known problems, then I need to get back north and link up with the Guard unit at Coulee.”

  “But you’re going to help Mr. Jackson while you’re here?” asked Lexi.

  “Definitely. The Colonel was very explicit about that. He doesn’t want any tinpot dictators slowing recovery.”

  “Slowing recovery? Optimistic, this Colonel of yours,” said Jack

  Brian laughed. “Not so much optimistic as very determined.”

  “Determined is good. As long the Colonel recognizes that he’s dealing with civilians, not soldiers.”

  “He does. Most of the guys who had family anywhere near the base are on furlough. He persuaded the General to send them home and told them to help keep their neighborhoods safe. I know he sent teams with a few that had family in gang areas.”

  “Good. So, what’s your ROE?”

  “My discretion.”

  “Wow.”

  “What’s an R-O-E?” asked Lexi.

  Jack looked to Brian, who just nodded.

  “Rules of engagement. Basically, it’s the rules for when soldiers can use their weapons.”

  “Well, you should just shoot them all and save everyone the trouble,” said Lexi.

  Brian choked on his tea.

  Jack smiled, "We've had some…issues along the way. It's a long story."

  “I look forward to it, but not tonight. I need to get back and check on the men. They’ll be setting up the Command Post, and then I’ll start debriefing the refugees from Pendleton.”

  “Right. We’ll swing by in the morning. I suspect you guys will be up and about long before we get there.”

  29

  PLANS

  Rachael slipped through the door as quietly as she could. It took a minute of fumbling around in the dark to find the side table where the candles and matches were stored. She struck the match and let it settle to an even flame while she used the light to find a candle. She dropped the match into the ashtray and shielding the candle with her hand as she turned to check on Jack and Lexi.

  A small squeak of surprise escaped her lips when she all but tripped over Jack, sound asleep on the recliner. She considered waking him to put him to bed, but he looked comfortable enough wrapped in a pair of blankets. His gun was on the side table within easy reach. She frowned, wondering if that was wise, but given the turn of events, she let it go. It wasn’t like she had to worry about Lexi picking it up. Lexi has her own gun. Rachael shook her head as that thought repeated itself. She replayed the thought again, marveling at how reasonable it sounded, and yet part of her wanted to scream—No, that’s not normal, that’s just wrong!

  Rachael rubbed her eyes, surprised to find them wet with tears. She was still uncomfortable with the idea when it caught her off guard. Years of believing guns were nothing but a problem and having that view reinforced by coworkers had set a particular pattern of thinking about them. It would take time to break old patterns of thought. Hell, I carry one now. Everyone I know carries one, she thought.

  She shrugged and turned down the hall toward the guest bedroom. Lexi slept with the door open so she could hear Jack if he needed help getting out of the chair. Rachael slipped across the room and set the candle down on the nightstand. Using the chair in the corner to unlace her boots, she got ready for bed. She blew out the candle and crawled in next to her daughter. Lexi rolled and mumbled something incoherent, without waking. Rachael snuggled up, one arm around Lexi and relaxed into the mattress. Consciousness fled, and the trials and tribulation that surrounded her life relented, at least until morning.

  THE FRONT DOOR closed and locked with a solid click. Rachael turned to catch up with Jack, who was moving slowly and carefully. With each step, he jabbed the stick through the snow ensuring the machined steel point wouldn't slip. Lexi stood waiting just past the mailbox surrounded by a sea of dog fur.

  Hoover wandered over to the post and lifted his leg. Jack often wondered if Hoover was marking his territory or simply relieving himself. Dusty sauntered back to the driveway and sat waiting for Jack. As they started down the road toward the newly created Command Post, Hoover marked another spot on the corner of Eli’s lot.

  “I think we’ve been here too long,” said Jack. “Hoover’s taken to marking territory.” Hoover had moved to the end of the yard and was marking the corner fence post.

  “Wonder why?” asked Lexi. “It’s not like there are any dogs dumb enough to challenge him.”

  Jack shrugged, “It’s what they do.”

  The dogs roamed around from one side of the road to the other, sniffing at this and that, like a person reading notices posted on telephone poles. Jack was moving better each day, but mornings were still the worst. He stopped to stretch, while Rachael stood beside him to keep a steadying hand on his shoulder.

  “Your range of motion is better. I think you’ll regain full use in another few weeks.”

  “I’m not sure we should wait for that to happen. I’ll check with Brian, but my suspicion is that he won’t allow
anyone to help with his mission. Sticking around is just going to cost everyone more.”

  “What? But…Why?” asked Rachael.

  “They’re professionals, and we’d just be one more complication. None of us could keep up anyway. And the longer we’re here, the more of the town's resources we use.”

  By the time the group arrived at the CP, Jack’s leg had warmed up, and most of the stiffness was gone. As they passed through the first checkpoint, he asked where to find the captain. A soldier standing nearby volunteered to lead them through the camp. Jack was impressed by how fast things had come together.

  It was a small post. Jack counted seven medium sized walled tents around the edge. There were also two large open tents, one near the front close to the vehicles, and another near the middle of the camp that looked like it might be the dining area. There was a smaller tent next to a six-wheeled truck, which had a tall radio tower connected to it and a couple of dish antennas on the roof.

  Next to the communications tent was a medium sized tent with a muted greenish-brown cross. Beyond that was a large house that served as a gathering spot for the refugees. There were a lot of people sitting around a campfire outside the house chatting and sipping from steaming cups.

  “Jack, why are all the men from Pendleton here?” asked Lexi.

  “My guess is that Brian’s intelligence team is interviewing them to get details of building layouts, streets, access points, who’s left, and what they’re up against.”

  Lexi nodded. She’d brought her logbook with her so Lieutenant Morgan could read it and copy down anything he found useful. Lost in thought, she bumped into Jack when he stopped abruptly. Jack reached back and grabbed her arm to steady her, just in case.