by R. K. Sidler
Keith was what they referred to as an ‘operator.’ He volunteered for any opportunity to go in the field, and opportunities came around more often than not lately. This was one reason why he was surprised by his new assignment to the 10th Special Forces Group. He did not request the transfer, and it had come through six months before one was due.
His first two months with the 10th SFG went smoothly. He knew a few of the men in the unit, and his commanding officer was one of the ‘good guys.’ Although he had put in for three separate missions, he was not selected for any of them. He had mixed thoughts about that. On the one hand, other guys may have gotten the go ahead since they had been working together longer. On the other, he didn’t know anyone as enthusiastic about an assignment as he was. He decided he would bide his time and just keep putting in requests until something came up. If nothing else, it kept his wife happy with him being around more often.
He had only been in the house five minutes when the phone rang, “Captain Bishop,” he answered on the second ring.
“Son,” an older yet refined voice stated.
“Yeah dad, what’s up?”
After a short hesitation as if gathering his thoughts he said, “I’d like you and Terri to come by and have lunch with me. I’ll throw in a tour as well. Friday, 11:30; I’ll send a car,” he said leaving little room for being turned down.
“I don’t know dad. I’m not sure what the Colonel has in store for us, and I think Terri has duty at the hospital that morning.”
There was another pause as if his father was considering his words. These short moments were a source of anxiety for Keith, as he knew his father was used to getting his way, but would not show any disappointment in him if he did not. Keith did his fair share of things through the years to upset his father, and many times on purpose, but they always had a close, if not demonstrative, affection for one another.
“I ah… already talked to Colonel Williams and he said it would be no problem. Maybe you could ask if Terri can work something out. It would really mean a lot to me Keith.”
As he was about to get upset with his father, the General, calling to get some special time off for his son, he recognized there was something to this request beyond what was being said. And knowing his father, he would not know what it was until his father wanted him to.
“Okay dad, I’ll ask her when she gets home,” he said.
“Good. I’ll have a car at your door Friday 10:45am.”
“I know how to find the mountain dad.”
“I figured you could. But it would get you through security much quicker if my aide brings you,” he replied.
“Okay dad. I’ll see you Friday.”
―
Tuesday 3:35pm
When he saw her car pull up to the front of the house, he walked to the back patio and fired up the grill. He had burgers sitting on the counter, and the zucchini slices in a marinade. He only cooked on occasion, but whenever he did, it was on the grill. When he walked back inside, beer in hand, she was coming through the front door with an irritated look on her face. He knew it did not involve him.
“If that witch tells me one more time how to do my rounds, I’ll stick her broomstick up her ass,” Terri said as she walked in and tossed her purse on the couch.
“My, my,” he said while shaking his head disapprovingly. “Attached to such a pretty face is such a foul mouth,” he finished.
She stopped, looked at him as if he was really there, and not just something to talk to, and took a step forward, smiled, and kissed him. “I’m glad your home,” she said.
“Bad day, huh?”
“Everything else is great there. I really like everyone except for nurse ‘Ratched.’ Can you get me one of those while I go change,” she said pointing to his beer while walking out of the room.
One of the things he loved about his wife was her somewhat melodramatic way. She could make a simple trip to the store sound like a two-hour adventure movie. Plus, she could only hold onto a grudge, or be mad at someone, for the length of time it took an ice cube to melt in a closed fist. With that in mind, he knew she could handle anything in relation to her job. Even with him. She was a peacemaker and a nurturer at heart. It helped their relationship considerably because of the time he spent away and the work he did. She only ever wanted to know enough, but never too much, about what he did in any detail. That would have made it more difficult between them. But as it was, they really had a fine marriage.
When she reappeared, her long blonde hair was in a ponytail; she wore white pocketed shorts, a US ARMY T-shirt, and slip on sandals. Even in such simple attire, she was a beauty.
“Here you go babe,” he said handing her a beer.
She took a long sip, smacked her lips in satisfaction then set the bottle down. He knew he would either end up finishing it, or throwing it out. She seldom drank much, and that was good. She was so high strung and excitable that the few times she did have a couple of drinks, she went into overdrive. It could be quite entertaining, but she always suffered the next day.
“Mmmm… I’m starving, “she said as she walked up behind him placing her hands on his shoulders looking at the grill.
“Should be ready soon…. Dad called today,” he said.
“The General,” she asked turning her gaze from the food to him.
“Yeah. He wants to have us to lunch on Friday and give us a tour of the mountain. He is sending his driver to collect us.”
“Okay. Sounds like fun.”
“Don’t you have to work Friday afternoon?”
“No problem. I’ll just trade with Brenda. She owes me…. It’s about time you get to see him; once a year isn‘t exactly what you call close nit. If my family was here, you couldn’t get them out of the house.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” he said, which was quickly followed by a sharp poke in his ribs.
“Seriously, you need to spend some more time together. It isn’t always going to be like this with the two of you being this close to one another.”
“You’re right,” he said, meaning it, “I think I’m actually looking forward to it.”
―
Thursday
Reports of absent politicians, socialites, and other well-known figures were being made in earnest now. What started the week in mild commentary and humor about how Washington was running “much more smoothly now with everyone gone” had turned into a cause of serious curiosity, if not concern. Congressional representatives could not be reached, political aides were giving the ‘run a round’ to any inquiries, and socialites were just not being seen or heard from. Congress was two months away from recess, and it was reasoned that not every important person could be on vacation at the same time, although, the resorts and popular vacation locations were being scrutinized by some of the more inquisitive reporters. All of the major businesses were running as usual sans their CEO’s. Social services remained uninterrupted, and stores and banks remained open for business.
After four days of constant attention, and a few anonymous reports, the major media networks moved from their normal under-whelming efforts, to ramping up their investigations. This event was not just endemic to the U.S.; it was being reported around the world. “Where Are They?” headlined the International Herald Tribune. What took four days to manifest serious attention in the mainstream media was already boiling over with conspiracy theorists on the blogosphere. Everything from alien abductions, to mass suicides was being reported by the alternative news sites. The one thing they all had in common was that no one really knew what was going on, and there were just not any verifiable leads.
―
Friday 10:45am
As he called to his wife from the living room for the third time, “Terri, let’s go. We’re gonna be late,”, Keith saw the blue Air Force staff car pull to the curb. A young captain got out of the car and walked toward the house. Keith made a quick study of the man. He looked like your typical paper pusher and canapé passer, but he was a well p
ut together individual. Keith’s opinion of ‘desk jockeys’ was standard among his kind, but he also knew that his father suffered no fools, nor tolerated incompetence, so if he had been working for his father for any length of time, he must be all right. Opening the door, he stepped onto the porch.
“Captain Bishop, I’m Captain Lucas…Brian,” he said as he offered his hand.
“Good to meet you Brian. We can be on our way as soon as my wife finishes up. She’s only been getting herself presentable for the last few hours or so,” he said with a smile, which was reciprocated in a manner of understanding.
“I heard that,” his wife said as she came into the room still making adjustments in arranging her clothing. While she bypassed her husband, sticking her tongue out at him as she did so, she offered her hand to the Air Force captain, “Hi, I’m Terri. And if he hasn’t told you, his name is Keith.”
“Nice to meet you ma’am,” he said.
“Please call me Terri.”
“Okay Terri… If you two are ready, we’ll go. Things are a little hectic at the mountain right now. They have been for the last two weeks, so it takes a little more time to navigate our way through the traffic.”
As they all walked to the car, Keith asked him, “Why so busy, or is that a secret,” he said trying to be amusing.
“No secret. We have a joint civilian and military exercise taking place; has been for the past ten days. ‘Safe Harbor’ it’s called. We’ve never had one like it before. It’s been absolutely crazy around there.”
Keith liked the easygoing nature of his father’s aide. When he spoke, he was genuine. He had the kind of face where expressions just could not hide what he was thinking. He was an open book. No doubt, he thought, one of the reasons why his father had him on his staff. It was a beautiful sunny day, with only a few clouds perched above the mountaintop to provide some patches of shade in the outlying areas. Even though he was in his dress uniform, it was pleasant enough just to have the windows open for the short ride. As they came closer to their turnoff, traffic was bumper to bumper. Thinking it was going to take forever to get to the mountain complex, Keith was about to say something when Captain Lucas pulled into the center lane and continued past the traffic jam.
“Is all of this involved with your drill,” Keith asked.
“Yeah, I told you it was crazy.”
“How is it we get to go through?”
Captain Lucas reached onto the front dashboard, grabbed a white plastic card with a bright red number one on it and passed it back to Keith. “This means we have priority. Every vehicle coming through here has a similar placard. Once they get onto NORAD road, there is a kind of marshaling area where vehicles move ahead based on priority. I’d hate to have that job,” he finished.
Keith handed the sign back, “Yeah. It doesn’t exactly sound like a lot of fun. You said they have been doing this for the last ten days. Has it been like this the whole time?”
“Pretty much. Today and yesterday have been the only exceptions. Along with all the packages, equipment, and other supplies they’ve been bringing in, they started bussing people in thirty to forty at a time; businessmen, medical people, tradesmen, and military. At last count there were more than 4000 additional people in the complex.”
“Wow,” Terri spoke for the first time since they had left. “Is it really that big? Do they have enough bathrooms for all those people?”
Keith smiled at his wife knowing both the sincerity of the question, and the fact that it was the first she asked.
Captain Lucas chuckled. “Yeah, it is that big. In fact, it can accommodate many more than that if necessary, especially if they go down to the lower levels. I’ve been there for over a year and I still haven’t seen everything yet,” he finished.
“When is this exercise supposed to be finished,” Keith asked.
“Actually, in a few hours, at least this part of it. I’m not sure what phase two is yet. We won’t be briefed on that until after phase one is completed.”
“If they can get all of what we just passed moved in the next few hours, I’ll be impressed.”
“Never underestimate the Air Force captain,” Lucas replied while smiling into the rearview mirror. Bishop just smiled in return.
The remainder of their ride was quiet as they looked at the many vehicles slowly making their way. He turned the sedan off highway 115 and onto the facility-named-road. Not long afterwards, they came to their first traffic control point. It was manned by an Air Force 1st lieutenant. When they pulled up to the temporary gatehouse, Captain Lucas rolled down the window and extended his credentials. “Guests of General Bishop; they should be on your roster.”
As the lieutenant quickly scanned the sheets, he saw the red mark by the entry made for an army captain and wife―Bishop, M. Gen. “Yes sir,” he said as he saluted and waved them through. As they continued to drive past the long line of vehicles, the first thing that entered Keith’s mind was what this little parade was costing and if it was really accomplishing anything.
Having made it to the tunnel’s entrance, they were stopped once more. This time the officer in charge was a full bird Colonel. Once he had gone through the same routine, they were allowed to pass into the shadow of the famed mountain facility.
―
Friday 11:30am
As they made their way into the interior of the mountain itself, they were distracted by all of the commotion. Both military and civilian personnel were giving directions sounding and seeming to be little more than organized chaos. What was happening outside was mild in comparison. The corridors were lined with conduits, encased lighting fixtures, and signs signaling where they were, and what was to be found further along each passageway. It appeared to be very clean and orderly, aside from the present events. They finally arrived at the Generals’ outer office. Captain Lucas offered them a seat while he went behind his desk and pushed a button on his phone. “We’re here sir,” he announced. “Yes sir. No sir. Yes sir,” he said before hanging up.
“Let me guess,” Keith said from his chair, “The General has another engagement and he regrets to inform us we won’t get our bologna sandwiches today.”
“Keith,” Terri said in an exasperated voice, “Will you stop it.”
Captain Lucas smiled at the couple. “Something did come up, so I am going to give you the grand tour and have you back here by 2:45pm for your luncheon.”
“Super. Do you know if we still get the bologna sandwiches?”
“You’re not as funny as you think you are,” Terri said before adding, “Try to behave. We’re only here for a few hours.”
Captain Lucas handed both visitors a plastic badge to hang around their neck. “Why don’t we start at the bottom? We’ll go to the lowest level your ‘general visitor’ security clearance will allow, then work our way back here. It should take us about that much time until the General expects you.”
―
Friday 2:35pm
General Bishop, third in line at USNORTHCOM, but the senior ranking member on site, picked up his phone after the first ring without looking at it. “General Bishop,” he said into the receiver while still concentrating on the report before him.
“Colonel Forrest, sir. Sir, we still have over fifty vehicles to process. There is nothing holding us up, but I just don’t think we will make the 4:00pm deadline.”
The General looked up from his report, but at nothing specific while saying, “The deadline will be met Colonel. I’ll leave it up to your discretion as to how that gets accomplished. If you need to start retaining the vehicles inside without unloading the cargo, do it. If a vehicle has a trailer, then leave it, and release the tractor. Keep a civilian bus outside to transport anyone who is not remaining with us. We can work on relocating everything afterwards,” he ordered.
“That’s gonna piss a lot of people off Frank,” the colonel replied. James Forrest and Frank Bishop had been both classmates and close friends from their first year together at the academy.
“I know Jim, but that’s the way it’s gotta be. I’ll expect to hear from you again after the mountain is sealed, and the perimeter is secure. Make sure the officer in charge places the outside security detail on ‘stand to’ alert until further notice. Do whatever is necessary, with my authority, to make it happen.”
“Yes sir,” the Colonel said as he hung up the phone wondering if it was really worth upsetting all of the people they were going to upset just to reach a deadline for an exercise. Putting the troops on heightened alert without an explanation was one thing. Treating the civilians as if they were in the military was quite another.
―
Friday 2:45pm
After they had witnessed the fortified design of the facility, and were briefed on the many functions therein, they were truly impressed. It was much more than they anticipated and nothing like they imagined. The lower levels were still clean and well maintained, but they were more in line with what one expected to see in such a structure. Not all of the walls were covered by man-made materials, and none of the people who worked there wore fancy attire. The floors were a mixture of concrete and crushed stone. On the upper levels, everything was painted metal, glass, and concrete. It was a sterile environment. To Keith’s surprise, his father was waiting for him when they walked into the outer office.
“It’s good to see you,” he said as he extended his hand to his son, “You’re looking good Terri,” he said as he briefly embraced her. “So what do you think of our little operation here?” he said as he turned and escorted them into his office.
