The Sacrifice Area

by Peter Idone

  “Not at all. I was simply curious. Do you realize if Henry hadn’t cornered me at Town Hall, we would never have met?”

  “Not until you just mentioned it. How fortuitous. Avoid Henry for now, and let’s stop talking about him.” Somewhat distracted, Natalie turned to the maps again and traced a finger over some borderline or another.

  “So what direction are we going to attempt entry, and by what means are we going to do it? I expected you to bring some maps of your own.”

  “Did you? Well, that’s out of the question. The last thing I’d want is to be driving around and then stopped for one reason or another and be found with maps or any kind of information detailing a sensitive area. You should do the same.”

  “I thought we were planning this thing out.”

  “It’s already planned. Direction, method, timing. Infiltration and exfiltration points. I had second thoughts about laying it all out for you. I have to maintain some kind of security. You will be briefed when the time comes.”

  Logan was astounded by this remark. If this was true, then what did they need to plan? he wondered. “Don’t you trust me?”

  “Don’t be that way, Joe. Trust is not the issue. We have to approach this safely. Until this little project of ours is completed, I want you to keep a very low profile. Don’t use your mobile. You can be tracked even when the thing isn’t turned on. Be careful about what you look at on the Internet. Are you hooked into any social networking?”

  “No. My wife was more into it than I ever was. When we split up, I haven’t bothered. They were all her friends anyhow.”

  “Good. We don’t want to drop any hints about what we’re up to. You’d be surprised how people like to talk about their shit. It’s human nature. The less contact you have, the better. Is there anything else?”

  “Yeah, there is,” Logan said, not trying to hide his annoyance. Natalie was behaving as off-putting as when he’d first met her, this amalgam of bratty arrogance. “I think, no matter what route you’ve decided to take into the estate, that you prepare yourself mentally to spend a couple of days if necessary.”

  “A couple of days? What are you talking about?”

  “Do you really expect to waltz in and out of an exclusion zone strictly on your timetable? No. That is not going to happen. We will be scooped up a dozen yards after breaching the fence. We might be forced to move very slowly. It could turn out to be a game of hide and wait.”

  Natalie tried to appear calm about the idea of having to spend more time than she was willing to invest on Pine Haven property. The thought had kindled something in her mind, and Logan knew what it could be. He had thrown a wrench into a program that seemed well-thought-out between herself and Glass. He was causing her to think things through a little deeper, a little harder.

  “Anything else?” she asked.

  “Yes, there is. We make our move when the weather is bad. The more miserable, the better for us. Bad weather sucks when out on patrol. There will be vehicles on and off road, but not too many gung-ho squads making a sweep on foot. If there is a strong wind along with the rain, then that will be to our advantage. It will affect the sensors, thus increasing our chances of success. The Tacticals won’t investigate every motion sensor that’s tripped or anomaly that might occur. In fact they just might shut down an entire sector and rely on vehicle patrols to keep an eye on things. That’s where we will have the edge if we proceed cautiously and without any hurry. While we’re on the subject of sensors, how do you plan to get around them?”

  “I have that covered. Where there is original fencing, the motion detectors are from when the Air Force had the place. The technology is old and weathered. That’s why Creech is always out and about fixing the stuff that won’t work and trying to get the system integrated. Haven’t we spoken of this? No matter. I have a couple of tools in my arsenal that will come in rather handy.”

  “Like what?”

  “I’ll let you know when it gets close to zero hour.”

  “How do you know it will work?”

  “Because I got it from Creech, that’s why, and he hasn’t steered me wrong yet. Besides, there are glitches all the time. If anyone will be sent over to check it out, a technical malfunction, it will be Creech or one of the other techs on-site.”

  “Unless a patrol happens to go with him.”

  “There’s always the possibility. Do you really believe we might be stuck there for a couple of days?”

  “What I’m trying to impress upon you is to prepare yourself mentally. It could happen and it may not. Think of it as a remote possibility. With something this strategic, you have to make sure your headgear is functioning at optimum. Those guys have guns, and most are combat vets. They’ve seen a lot of action over the years. Some of them are itching to make a kill. You can make book on it. I guarantee.”

  “Trust me, that won’t happen. I’ve spoken to some of those guys, remember. At the X. There are clear-cut procedures. The ones I’ve talked to don’t want to be responsible for wasting some teenager in junior high scaling the wire on a dare. Put those away for now,” Natalie said, indicating the maps and photographs. She seemed to think the planning session was a success, that they had covered a lot of ground.

  Logan wasn’t so sure. He still had a few details that needed clarifying and didn’t like being left out of the loop until the very last minute. This woman’s got my life in her hands, he thought, and wondered if he was going to have any regrets. There was a strong possibility he would.

  Natalie slid on her coat and prepared to leave. “I’ll update you with any long-range weather forecasts, so be prepared to go at a moment’s notice. Should the weather not to be to our liking anytime soon, I’ll have to give the go-ahead. The longer we wait, the more secure the perimeter becomes. Impenetrable.”

  “What about Glass? This still is his show, isn’t it? I’m still an unknown entity he’s still not aware of.”

  “What about him? I’m going to lay it all out for him. About you and me.”

  Logan blanched. His face must have seemed comical.

  Natalie stifled a smile. “No, not about that, Logan. What we did was much-needed stress relief for both of us. Don’t breathe a word of anything to Glass and don’t give me any soulful looks with those bedroom eyes of yours.”

  “So does this mean we’re no longer an item in that department?”

  “It means business, Logan. That’s all it means. You and I have to stay on point. I don’t want anything to get in the way of what we have to do. Can you live with that?”

  “I’ll learn.”

  “I hope you’re a fast learner.”

  The planning session now over, there were a couple of details Natalie wanted to run by Logan before she left. There was equipment Logan would need to buy. She already had in her possession some of the more expensive items that Logan would not have to concern himself with. She would be taking along a camcorder with a modular night-vision system that would convert the display to take recordings in the dark. The same device could be mounted on the lens of a digital still camera with adapters. She also had a very expensive pair of night-vision binoculars. What Logan needed to buy were a number of different batteries for backup power to these cameras and systems. She used his computer to type out the size batteries needed, types, and other necessary supplies. These included military-type, right-angled flashlights with blue lenses to reduce light diffusion and be relatively unseen from a distance, as well as one or perhaps two halogen-bulb flashlights. Logan would need twelve- or fourteen-inch bolt cutters for the chain-link fence, Phillips and flat-head screwdrivers, a spool of tie wire, and pliers to turn and cut the wire to bind the fence closed after they’d cut it. How this operation was to be performed without tripping the vibration sensors was a detail Natalie admonished him not to worry over; she had it covered. A small crowbar or pry bar, no more than a foot in length, might come in handy as well, and Logan was to bring it along. Some of these tools he already owned, but he didn’t wa
nt to bring them along in case he had to ditch them during a quick escape.

  Natalie suggested he make these purchases at large outlets, off the highway, and as far from Essex as was possible. She told him to wear a hat or hooded sweatshirt to obscure his appearance. “I don’t want the sales clerk to remember you. Those places are videotaped.” He was to pay in cash only, and she gave him three hundred dollars. “If there’s any change, buy gas. You will be using your truck a lot for these errands.” He would have to go to an outdoor and camping supply store to buy a couple of sturdy daypacks roomy enough to haul their gear.

  He suggested that he buy some sport wash detergent, which would kill off some of the brightness of their clothes. Hunters used the wash to make themselves less visible to animals. It would decrease their UV signature should the Tacticals on-site be using NV optics. It wouldn’t make them disappear, but it could give them more of an edge at a distance. Natalie could bring the things she would be wearing to his house and he could do a load of laundry.

  “No thanks,” she said. “I’ll manage. Just give me the soap.”

  Logan thought to take along about twenty or thirty feet of parachute cord. He didn’t know what he would use it for, but it always came in handy. The remaining items consisted of water bottles and power bars to keep their energy up. Anything else Logan could think of that might be important he was to add to the list.

  “We’ll talk soon,” was all Natalie said as she left. She had yet to give Logan a phone number where she could be reached.

  15

  Logan was invited to the Hills for a “conference,” as Natalie had described it when she called. He was to come over between seven-thirty and eight o’clock in the evening, park at the rear of the house, and use the back door. Since their last meeting two days ago, he had spent the greater part of the time driving to and from any number of large hardware chains, camping supply outfitters, and retail outlets. He followed the interstate and got off at preselected exits, heading in a westerly direction and covering almost the entire breath of the valley. He stayed as far away as possible from Essex and the nearby towns. There was a bit more drama and intrigue to the chore than Logan could appreciate, but he took Natalie’s advice; better to err on the side of caution in the extreme than the alternative. And he did wear a hat, with the hood of his field jacket pulled over his head as well. He looked like any other underemployed laborer roaming about.

  When Natalie let him in at the back door, he turned over her share of the supplies inside the new daypack he had bought for her. “I think everything you asked for is in there, including that hunter’s UV soap.”

  “You didn’t waste time. Very good, Joe.” She dumped the bag in the laundry room at the rear of the house and brought him upstairs to the guest bedroom. He had no idea what the master bedroom looked like, but this one was bigger than his living room and had the feel of a hotel suite. It was carpeted and completely furnished, and a large drafting table had been set up with maps and pages of notes spread across the surface. Quite a number of digital photo prints had been pinned to the nearest wall. The king-size bed was low to the ground, and its framing and headboard were in keeping with the art-deco styling of the house: a rich, deep, honey-colored wood with dark-chocolate inlay in geometric patterns. Barefoot, lounging on the pearl-colored down comforter, and invoking a feigned insouciance was Glass. He wore the same paisley robe over a military jumpsuit with a multitude of zippers. The grip of an automatic pistol jutted from a thigh holster with Velcro straps. It completed the look of a slightly effete, possibly deranged warlord.

  “Natalie has enlisted you for our little project,” Glass said, forgoing a greeting. “I suppose I have very little to say in the matter. She did point out some of your ideas, and they’re quite sound. But I must insist that if this little caper is to be successful, security protocols must be followed to the letter.”

  “I think we’re doing OK in that department.”

  “Don’t be too sure about that, Logan. For one, Natalie’s been to your house, in my car.”

  “She parks down the street. It may not matter.”

  “Everything matters. And now you’re here. There is now a link between you and the members of this household should anyone become interested. The minds of the Response Team are such that they will ask themselves why.”

  “They shouldn’t have to twist their brains too much.”

  “And how do you figure that without underestimating them?”

  “I witnessed a cryptozoological entity, followed by an unusual incident, the theft of my dead dog by masked figures in strange suits. A specialist in the field of UFOs and the paranormal just happens to live nearby. It would seem logical the two of us would talk.”

  “Do you always have an answer for everything? I’m being kept under surveillance.”

  “You don’t know that for certain, Glass,” Natalie jumped in, visibly irritated.

  “If I’m wrong, terrific. At least I will have erred on the side of caution.”

  “We are being very cautious Mr….Glass.”

  “Glad to hear it. Now, to get on with things. Our plan has been focused on navigating the exclusion zone with information made available by our friend, Tommy Creech. Until just recently, everything has been predicated on Creech getting Natalie, and now you, in and then out. There is always the possibility that he could be a no-show. Turner’s people might have him occupied with some last-minute chore. Natalie expects to see Creech one more time and try to wring out of him the locations of his access points. Creech has always been confident that he could come and go whenever he pleased, but that little incident with the ‘Testicals’ at the fuel depot has shattered some of my confidence. Whether Creech makes an appearance at the appointed time is of no consequence. We must act on our own should circumstances dictate. I have decided on a very specific objective for you and Natalie. A specific place I want you to visit inside the Pine Haven campus. All your energies will be focused on this sole task. Understood?”

  Logan glanced at Natalie. She definitely appeared surprised by this proclamation. “Tell us what it is” Logan said, “and then we will understand.”

  “Good. Consider this a briefing, as if you were in the military heading out on a mission.” Glass unfurled himself from the bed and went to stand at the drafting table. Logan and Natalie joined him. “Two years ago a file was released over one of the larger darknet communities here in the northeast that revealed certain elements of the Pine Haven project that had never been known before. It would be fair to theorize that ninety-nine percent of the articles regarding Pine Haven are pure rubbish; otherwise why would the mainstream Internet providers risk carrying it to begin with. This darknet file wasn’t very long, but it did contain a number of classified details that gave the authorities notice.”

  “I thought darknet users couldn’t be tracked,” Logan said.

  “Usually, under ideal conditions, they can’t,” Glass agreed. “But this particular community was too big, and outsiders through friends and friends of friends gained admittance. Plus the technology has changed, and the authorities are always hunting for Internet samizdat to crack down on. Now, to continue, shortly after its release, for no more than forty-eight hours, FBI and Air Force Office of Special Investigations launched an operation to take down and eradicate the file from the darknet and locate the persons responsible for having placed it online. They were somewhat successful in taking down the file, but eradication—no matter how thorough the controls are that have been put in place, once something is out there it remains out there. It may be hidden and hard to find, but it exists. As to who authored the information, that’s never been discovered. Air Force Cyber Command did a fairly good job in identifying a number of users, at least the computers involved which made up this darknet community. As for the person or persons responsible for sourcing this material, there were suspects, but no one emerged as the actual perpetrator. Having been a member and contributor of this community, I was interrogated at len
gth by Air Force OSI. It was a terribly unpleasant experience, to say the least. My colleagues on the website I operated at the time and Natalie, as well, were all questioned. My site was subject to virus attacks on a daily basis to the point at which I had to shut it down. I knew the authorities believed I was responsible but couldn’t prove it, so they did the next best thing. It was too aggravating and costly to try and continue. I know Cyber Command was behind it, but how can I prove it? Perhaps if I had a more seasoned IT or technical staff, we could have fought off the attacks, but I think it would have been a Pyrrhic victory, cost-wise. My interrogators managed to extract names from me. I’m not proud of it, but you must understand that the military and the feds are experts at applying very effective psychological and emotional pressure. I succumbed. I revealed some names of people who I knew were core contributors and shared files on the Net. They in turn were questioned and did the same, on and on until there was an avalanche effect.”

  “Someone was bound to print or save a copy of the file and hide it. There’s no way the Air Force can control all of it,” Logan offered.

  “True, but they can make it so it wouldn’t be worth the effort to disseminate. I printed and saved a copy and surrendered it to that uniformed Inquisition, as I’m sure others had done just the same. There was a lot of really good stuff circulating over that Net over the past few years. The authorities took notice and infiltrated it. Whoever alerted the feds about the Pine Haven file was a member. Either he was gotten to, or was set up with the original purpose of keeping tabs on what type of information was being disseminated. Darknets, freenets, peer-to-peer file sharing—they’re all being monitored. Internet control has been a part of full-spectrum dominance, war-fighting capability for over the past decade. The motivations and targets have only broadened—us, the users—and the control of information and its access. You can be sure that the military has some very sophisticated AI operating that is light-years ahead of educational institutions and some corporations that are not plugged into the complex. Certainly none of it is available to the ordinary consumer. All we get are little gadgets and techno-toys.”