by Ira Tabankin
“Admiral, it looks like one is going to make it through, we’re the target.”
“Try to take it out with the 5 inches and the CWIS, put Marines on deck firing their personal weapons.”
“Sir, there’s no time for the Marines, that boat is doing over 60 knots.”
“Get the crew inside the ship, who knows what she’s loaded with.”
Admiral Jefferson is interrupted by two bright white flashes on the horizon, “Find out which ships were hit.”
“Yes, sir.”
The men’s discussion is drowned out by the Missouri’s loud speaker, “Attention, collision alert. Damage control parties assume positions.”
Admiral Jefferson looks through his binoculars at the six small boats heading towards the Missouri, he knows these boats are loaded with explosives. “Combat, Admiral, launch torpedoes down the track of the incoming boats, set the fish for command detonation, maybe we can give them something to think about.”
“Aye, sir.”
Three advanced torpedoes are launched from their launcher, they hit the water accelerating to 50 knots. When the outgoing fish reach a point where they were in front of the incoming small boats the three fish are exploded, the shock wave strikes four of the incoming boats, overturning them, two explode in a blinding flash.”
“That cut them down, now fill the ocean in front of them with steel and lead.”
The CIWS, small 20mm Gatling guns, originally designed as a last ditch anti-missile weapon have been updated with new software to enable them to track and attack small surface targets. The two port side weapons fire a stream of hundreds of 20mm depleted uranium rounds which tear the two remaining boats apart, exploding their packed IEDs. The two boats disappear in bright white flashes, the sound of their explosion flows over the battleship. People cover their ears from the pressure and sound.
“Combat, Admiral, get some AWACS support, I don’t like surprises.”
“Aye, sir.”
The Admiral thinks to himself, I wish the damn President would have removed our handcuffs either we should have been allowed to attack with everything we have or withdraw, this half assed fighting isn’t doing anything for either side. He doesn’t realize this isn’t something he can issue a press release on and forget about.
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Captain Black reviews the images from the GPR taken when they were looking for mines. He’s sitting in the castle’s dining room sipping a cup of very hot coffee, he looks at the sergeant sitting in front of him.
“Sarge, I don’t know why we didn’t review these scans when we got them.”
“Sir, we were looking for mines, not a buried structure.”
“There’s clearly something buried under the fields. Let’s get the GPR crew searching in the area these images show. I want to see if we can figure out the size and shape of what’s under our feet. It appears they built a huge shelter under their fields.”
“I’ve told the GPR team to be in the field at 0800.”
“Make sure they have anti-mine support. Remind the support staff that the mines may not look like what they’re used to. Tell them to be careful, remind them they’re looking for IEDs. We know they also buried hunting traps and God knows what else.”
“Sir, IEDs here in Tennessee?”
“Yes, whoever owns this property set about being ready to defend it, based on the collected brass, we have proof there was a large battle here, We’ve found a number of punji pits, I know we’re going to find IEDs and tell the explosives squad to be very careful with them, my gut is telling me this SOB is a sneaky bastard, I bet he’s booby trapped them to blow if moved.”
Sergeant Walters shakes his head. “Damn, this isn’t what I signed up for. IEDs in the middle of the heartland, what next? WMDs?”
“Sarge, I heard that. It wouldn’t surprise me to find WMDs.”
“Sir, are we home or in the middle of the Twilight Zone?”
“Sarge, today they are the same.”
“Yes, sir.”
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“Doctor Basco, what’s his real condition? When is he going to wake up? I really need to know.” Pleaded Lacy.
“Lacy, sit, let’s talk.”
“NO! Whenever a doctor says, please sit, it's bad news. I won’t accept bad news. All I want is Jay back.”
“Lacy, believe me, that’s all any of us wants. Let’s start with his current condition, he’s resting, I placed him in a mild drug-induced coma to give his body some time to recover. I replaced his pacemaker.”
“So why isn’t he up? When they put his pacemaker in, he was a different man within an hour. His color instantly changed. He went from being gray to pink in less than an hour.”
“Lacy, you’re stressed out. You’re not processing the information I’m telling you. His pacemaker was the least of his issues. The bullets that hit him broke up inside his body, many small fragments of the bullets struck his organs. I got most of them, he lost a lot of blood and almost every organ was damaged to some extent. He still has some internal bleeding, I wanted him to get a little stronger before I went back in to check where the bleeding is coming from.”
“Once you find it, he’ll be back to his old self?”
“Lacy, that’s the hardest question to answer. The truth is, I really don’t know. We lost him on the table, we brought him back, he’s very weak, any minor infection could be terminal for him, his wounds are likely to yield at least one infection, due to the internal fluids that have been washing his organs. To be perfectly honest with you, I don’t know when he will recover or even if he’ll recover.”
“What do you mean by that? Do you mean he may need a wheelchair or oxygen or something much worse?”
“Lacy, if he slips back into his survivor guilt and feels sorry for himself, he’ll lose his mental strength. He needs to want to live, he needs to fight his own inner demons, I can only do so much. He has a large say in his final answer of life or death. I’ve seen people who went through surgery with ease, only to die because they gave up and didn’t want to live. I’ve seen terminal cancer patients who should have died, live for years because they willed themselves to live. What I’m trying to say is, you have to find a way to get through to Jay, make him hear you and want to come back.”
Lacy looks at Doctor Basco, “How do I do that?”
Chapter 9
Captain Black carries a cup of coffee out the front door of the castle, standing in front of him are six men, two are holding the ground penetrating radar unit, three are holding mine detectors, one is a first aid tech in case a mine is set off. He looks over the men who look ready to go.
“Men, I believe there is an underground facility under the crops. Your assignment this morning is to locate the facility and map it. I’d like to know how large it is and where the entrance and exit tunnels are. Watch out for booby traps and land mines, my gut says the property is loaded with them. Any questions?”
“Captain, what are our orders if we find the entrance?”
“Call me, my guess is it’s not going to be as simple as knocking on the door and saying, hello, we’re the US Army, we’re here to help. If I were the owner, I’d toss a grenade out the door. I wouldn’t trust anyone.”
“Sir, how do we convince them we’re friendlies?”
“That depends on the owner and what he’ll accept as proof we’re friends. For now, find the facility, map it and see if you can locate the door, don’t go near the door, it’s most likely booby trapped. I don’t want to lose any of you.”
“Yes, sir.”
Captain Black watches the men with mine detectors start sweeping their scanners over the ground. The men don’t find anything around the main house or the pool. They slowly enter the fields of growing crops when the second man yells.
“Mine!”
His team leader yells back, “Mark it and don’t touch it.”
A minute later another yell, “Got one.”
“Mark it.”
The calls of “got on
e” and “mark it” ring out for over two hours when Captain Black yells, “Take ten.”
Sergeant Gray has been feeding the “got one” calls onto his map on his tablet he calls out, “Captain?”
“Sarge, what have you got?”
“Sir, look at the pattern of the mines and IEDs.”
Captain Black takes the tablet looking at the placement of the mines, he expands and shrinks the display studying the location of the mines. He hands the tablet back to the sergeant.
“We now know who ever laid the minefield was trained by us, he was or is one of us.”
“Yes, sir. The pattern is right out of our textbook.”
“Tell the men to dig up a couple of the mines. I’d like to see how they were made.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Sarge, instruct the men to be very careful, whoever planted them is a smart SOB.”
Thirty minutes later two men carry a homemade mine to the dining room where the captain is waiting.
“Sir, per your request, we have a mine for your review.”
“Thank you, I assume you’ve disarmed it?”
“Sir, of course, we did. You were right about the booby traps, we found two of them.”
Captain Black examines the mine with the Sergeant Major of the mine detection squad.
“Sergeant, what can you tell me about the mine?”
“Captain, very sophisticated and yet also very easy to assemble, I think they set up an assembly line and knocked these puppies out in the hundreds. It’s a simple design with a very elegant trigger, we removed the trigger to test it, it fired every time it was tripped. The mine could be set off by walking or driving on or by command. It was wired into a network of mines that were set on the 30-degree sector.”
“Would it do much damage?”
“Sir, it has enough explosive to rip a vehicle apart or vaporize a person. Mixed in with what I’m calling the heavy mine were homemade claymore-type mines. They’d set off one like this to take out a vehicle or a group of people when their attackers are distracted they set off the claymores cutting down any survivors. We also found a lot of punji pits dug in the lawn, I suggest you tell the men not to wander from the house or their tents, there’s a good chance they’d step in a pit or set off one of the mines. We also discovered trenches cut through the driveways, they are covered with a steel sheet which can be quickly pulled back exposing the trench. When the steel is pulled away from the trench, it pulls a thin camouflage sheet over the trench. Anyone coming up the driveway wouldn’t realize they were about to drive into it.”
“These people are either very paranoid or they’ve had to fight for their lives and think their future will be one of fighting for a long time.”
“Sir, the defenses remind me of a combination of Medieval, Vietnam era and Gulf War IEDs thrown in for good measure. The designer is very imaginative. They could have held off a large number of people with their defenses.”
“I hope we find the owners alive, I really want to meet them. I admire their will to defend their homes.”
They are interrupted by an explosion and a scream coming from the fields. Their heads spin towards the smoke and scream. Troops begin running towards the wounded. Captain Black stands yelling, “STOP! HALT where you are.”
The troops look surprised they’re trained to instantly obey an order. They halt where they are mid step.
Captain Black says, “You’re in a mine field. Stop where you are until we figure out what happened and how to reach our wounded. They may have built IEDs our equipment can’t pick up. I don’t want anyone else hurt. Turn around, trace your footsteps in reverse. I promise you, we’ll tend to the wounded. Assume Threatcon Delta.”
The troops slowly turn around and retrace their footsteps. Captain Black turns to face the Sergeant, “Let's go find out what happened, bring a metal and explosive detector.”
“Captain, it's my fault, I didn’t think anyone would plant IEDs in their own crops. The crops have to be harvested, they could have killed their own people.”
“I would have mined the fields too. Anyone trying to steal their crops will get a nasty surprise, a few get blown up, the word spreads that these fields are deadly and they’re left alone. Scan for explosives in case they're packed in plastic or cardboard.”
“Yes, sir. We’re ready.”
“I’m coming with you. Medic join us.”
The three men slowly begin walking into the fields. The Sergeant says, “Shit, the field has a lot of IEDs. It must have been a miracle our men didn’t set others off.”
“I know we have a wounded man, but take it slow, make sure you know where you’re going to put your foot down. We don’t need anyone else being wounded.”
It takes the three men ten minutes to reach their wounded who has passed out from loss of blood and the pain of having his legs mangled. The medic bends down to begin working on the wounded soldier.
“Sir, I can save him. I’m not sure about his legs, but I can save his life.”
“Do it. We’ll carry him back to the house.”
“Not yet, I have to stabilize him first.”
“I want to get us out of these fields before they decide to command detonate them.”
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In the shelter, the exploding IED set off an invader alarm. John and Todd rush back into the security room to check the monitors, worried someone is moving against them, John says, “I hope to hell one of the soldiers didn’t step on one of our mines.”
“What do we do if they did? They may think we’re attacking them. We’re not their enemy.”
“I’ll talk to Tony, we’ll find a way to open communications with them.”
“Shit, John, we just blew up a soldier. He must have stepped on one of the mines.”
“Let me see. Shit, you’re right, they’re soldiers. Todd, place the rest of the mines on safety. We can’t afford to kill the very people who may be here to save us.”
“John, how do we know they aren’t a rogue unit planning on taking our homes?’
“We don’t. I still have faith in those who wear the uniform and took the oath. I don’t think we can wait for Jay to come around, I’m going to try to open communications with them.”
“Should you do that without talking to Jay or at least Tony?”
“How am I going to talk to Jay? Last I heard he was in a coma, didn’t you tell me the doc isn’t sure if he’s going to make it?”
“What about Tony?”
“He’ll be here any second.”
Tony slides into the room, asking,
“What’s going on? Who’s attacking us?”
John looks at Tony, “Sit down, look at the monitors. Tell me what you see.”
“I see army uniforms. My God, did we just kill a US Army soldier?”
“At least one is down. The mine field was set on automatic. We were rewiring the cameras when the Army arrived. We were reeling from the last attack, everyone’s depressed being back in the shelter. We turned our new defenses to automatic so we didn’t have to monitor the cameras as we were wiring the new ones into the system. We wanted to have time to help the grieving. There's only Todd and myself fully trained for security duty. We started training Franco, but he has a long way to go before he’s ready to hold down a shift in a high-stress period.”
“Turn the damn system off. Let’s see if we can communicate with them.”
Todd shakes his head, “Tony, how do we know these people are really loyal Army troops and here to help versus here to loot and kill? Will you know if they’re bullshitting us?”
“Todd, that’s a great question. John, you were in the military, will you be able to determine if they’re real troops?”
“I hope so.”
“So do I because we’re placing all of our lives in what you’re able to figure out.”
Todd points to the monitor, “Look, they’re leaving.”
They see a medic, identified by the Red Cross on his right arm, pick up the wounde
d soldier, they and the other troops turn around and leave in their footsteps.
John says, “They’ll be back. They’re going to review what they know, they will be back. My guess is either they will return to talk or fight.”
Chapter 10
“Jay, Jay, listen to what I’m asking you. I’m trying to help you. What are you doing?”
“I was trying to rest until you woke me.”
