Sarah also insisted on helping out in the kitchen. Suddenly, we were finding exotic things on the menu such as potato knishes, latke, kibbeh, and sweet rugelach. We were excited to find Simon spoke Hebrew fluently and was willing to teach, so we added Hebrew to our school curriculum. Simon also found a friend in Father Dan. The two men would sit for hours in the evenings debating the Old Testament, and just listening to them was both educational and entertaining.
We made a conscious decision to back off some on our support of the community at Whispering Willows. The community had grown enough that the residents there were doing great fixing up houses and settling new residents. Now that the community was beginning to stabilize, they were working on the little strip mall across the street from the school and hoped that by late summer they would be able to set up trade fairs so people could barter for needed items. We agreed to attend the trade fairs, especially now that the kitchen crew learned how to make some really tasty cheeses. We knew the cheese and some of our baked goods would go over well at the community since they did not yet have much in the way of farm animals.
Mark kept us up to date on what was going on at the new base in Riverdale. They were now getting planes and helicopters in on a fairly regular basis, and the base was growing quickly. I missed seeing Carter around the farm, but Mark told us he had his hands full overseeing the activities of his troops. There was not much new on the front lines. It seemed that we were at an impasse in Virginia with the Homeland troops. The Patriot troops repelled several attempted invasions, and Homeland was constantly shifting its troops around along the border. As a result, our troops were also needing to frequently adjust their positions to keep Homeland from finding a weak spot to attempt to break through. The situation in California had not changed particularly except there was an exodus of people trying to leave the state. Homeland and the Chinese UN troops did their best to keep them from leaving, but the Patriot troops on the borders were able to assist many people to escape.
While I wouldn’t exactly call the end of June the lazy days of summer, the days were certainly a lot less crazy than they were when we were trying to get apartments built and adequate stores in place. Frank and Bill kept on us, though, reminding us we could not get lax with our security or our training. It was hard to get people to find the motivation to show up to drill every day because most of us were tired. We had our adrenalin running for months on end, and now that it was reasonably quiet, people wanted to rest and relax.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
We decided to make a big deal out of the Fourth of July and planned a cookout. We had butchered a cow in late June and intentionally ground a lot of meat to make hamburgers. The kitchen crew baked buns, and we had enough potatoes to make a vat of potato salad. Although we wouldn’t have a parade or fireworks, we decided we would play baseball on the front lawn and follow it with burgers. If only we had enough apples to make apple pie! It doesn’t get much more American than burgers, baseball and apple pie, right? Everyone was excited because we also decided only absolutely essential work would be done that day so everyone could relax. Mark’s troops took over security for the day so our people could all participate in the fun. The troops that were not on security duty, though, came over and played baseball with us. We had a wonderful time watching everyone play. The younger kids decided to be the cheerleaders and cheered every time someone actually hit the ball, no matter which team it was. By the end of nine innings, the score was tied and all the players just shook hands and decided to just call it a tie. We sat on blankets on the front lawn and ate our burgers with homemade kosher dill pickles and potato salad. Everywhere I looked, I saw people laughing and having a good time. Tom was sitting next to me and watching me watch everyone else.
“What are you looking at?” he asked.
“I am just watching everyone smiling, being happy, acting like it is not the end of the world as we knew it. . . having a good time. I’m watching our kids playing and acting like kids instead of pulling security shifts or working as hard as the adults. I’m watching our soldiers acting like young men and women instead of fighting machines. It’s good to see everyone getting along and having fun.”
Tom looked around at all of our extended family, enjoying the day. “Isn’t that the reason why we were preppers? So that if something happened, we would still be able to have this kind of quality in our lives?”
“You’re absolutely right. It was hard, but I am so glad we did everything we did. I don’t know how we would have been able to survive if we were not so prepared. We need to stay prepared, though. I’m worried that it is not over yet, and it will be winter before we know it. We’re not ready yet to be able to feed everyone, and I worry about the things we are running low on that we can’t replace.”
Tom just shook his head. “I wish you would just relax a little. The gardens are doing great, we’ve got a few hunts planned later this summer to get a few deer, and our animals are all healthy and doing great thanks to Clark and the girls. The field crops are growing, and we will be fine. Besides, I haven’t heard that we are running low on anything.”
“I worry that we are going to run low on things like soap, and what about medicine?”
“We can make soap, and Samantha and James have been working on botanical treatments to replace the chemical medications as they run out. Please stop worrying, at least for today!”
I turned to Tom and smiled. “I’m sorry, you know it is hard for me to not worry. But you’re right. We need to just enjoy the day.”
We sat on the lawn until the sun went down. Once it got dark, the lightening bugs came out and the kids had a blast catching them and letting them go. As we got up to go inside, I folded the blanket on which we were sitting. Tom took me by the hand and leaned over to whisper in my ear. “Instead of taking that blanket into the house, why don’t we go down by the pond and sit and watch the stars come out?”
I giggled and agreed, but only if we could slip away without people seeing us. At the moment, I was glad for the EMP that kept us from having lots of lights on in the yard as we crept away. I just did not feel like putting up with the teasing that I knew would come our way if people saw us sneaking off in the dark.
The pond was not very large and grass grew all the way to the edge. The kids had been keeping the grass cut here so they could go fishing. We found a level place and spread the blanket out. Tom got up and said he would be right back. I couldn’t see where he was going, so I laid back on the blanket and just admired the night sky. The stars were especially bright tonight. I guess that was another good thing about the EMP; there was no light coming from town or nearby cities, and so the stars could shine really bright. About five minutes later, Tom came back with a plastic bag. Opening the bag, he pulled out a bottle of wine and two glasses.
“Where in the world did you get that?” I asked.
“I’ve been saving it for a special occasion. I figured this holiday is a special occasion, especially since I got you to slow down and spend time with me.” He opened the bottle and poured us each a glass. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was cool. I looked at Tom and he explained he had put it in the water at the edge of the pond to get it cool.
We sat there in the starlight drinking the wine, and I felt a sense of peace I hadn’t felt in a long time. Maybe things were going to work out all right. Tom put his arm around me and I felt so safe and protected.
We spent about an hour just lying on the blanket and watching the stars. After a while, though, I began to feel a familiar feeling in the back of my head. I sat up quickly and looked around. Tom sat up, too and asked me what was wrong.
“I don’t know. I just have this feeling again. I can’t explain it. I haven’t felt this since the night of the nuke. I think something is going to happen, but I don’t know what.”
“Do you want to go back to the house?”
“No, because I am really enjoying being out here with you. I just…I can’t explain. I haven’t had any nightmares in a
long time. There’s nothing going on that I know about, but I still have that awful feeling.” I laid back down on the blanket. “Let’s just stay out here for a little while longer. Maybe it will go away.”
Tom agreed, and he laid down next to me. We went back to watching the stars, but I felt very distracted. As I was watching the stars, I noticed tiny black shapes floating through the air. I pointed them out to Tom, and suddenly realized what I was seeing.
“Tom, we need to get back to the house right away.”
Tom was still trying to see the little black shapes. “Why, what do you see?”
“Those are paratroopers. I think we are being invaded.” Suddenly, we heard the alarm bell ringing back at the house. We grabbed the blanket, tossed the wine bottle and glasses back into the plastic bag, and ran back to the house. When we arrived, there was a flurry of activity on the front porch. Frank was busy giving directions, and people were headed in all directions.
I was out of breath when I reached the porch. “What’s going on?” I asked.
Frank answered that he just received a radio message from Mark, who reported paratroopers were landing somewhere between the airport and here. “Mark told us to assemble the militia and to get our kids to safety. He thinks they are headed towards the airport, but we don’t want to take any chances. I am sending all of the young kids and non-militia adults to the basement. Mark has extra soldiers on the outer berm, and Chris and Jon are in the OP.”
I thanked Frank for the quick report and told him, “We saw the paratroopers jumping. It must have been a high altitude jump because we did not see or even hear any aircraft.”
Tom jumped in and suggested we both change out of shorts and sandals, as it looked like it was going to be a long night.
A half an hour later, Tom and I were both back, dressed in our cammies and sturdy boots and well-armed. The two of us headed over to the barracks area to find Mark and see what needed to be done. We found him in the middle of a briefing to his troops. We edged closer so we could listen. Mark nodded to us and continued talking.
“I just got a call from Carter in Riverdale. There are several hundred paratroopers landing somewhere between here and the new base. The community at Whispering Pines has its militia standing ready to repel anyone that attempts to enter the town. In addition, the Ranger instructors and twelve of our soldiers are there to provide added support.” He turned to the non-commissioned officer in charge of the Marine squad. “Gunny, I want you to take your squad and find these guys. Make sure they are not coming our way and follow them. I’m sure they are headed to the base, but if it looks like they are coming near us, you need to let us know.”
The Gunny saluted and gathered his men. Before they left, he turned back to Mark and asked about the rules of engagement. Mark answered, “Do not fire unless fired on or if you need to protect American citizens. Check in frequently and keep us appraised on what you are seeing.” He turned to everyone else. “The same rules of engagement apply to everyone. We won’t start anything, but we sure will finish whatever they start.”
Mark continued to give direction to his troops, establishing additional surveillance on the outer berm and placing several mortar teams just behind the outer berm. He then instructed us to tell Frank to position the militia around the inner berm. He suggested we make sure everyone had extra ammunition, and that we had people positioned to refill magazines as necessary. He also suggested we make sure everyone had extra water, as it would probably be a long wait. Finally, he told us that if we heard blasts of the air horn, we should be sure everyone was taking cover, as he would only blast the horn if enemy engagement was imminent.
Tom and I hurried back to Frank and relayed all of Mark’s directions. The three of us then helped get everyone into position, and made sure each person had water, food, and extra ammunition. We then headed to our battle stations on the front porch and began to wait.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
General McPherson was meeting with several of his commanders when he received an urgent radio message from the Airport Tower informing him the radar operators were picking up a large number of planes headed towards Riverdale at high altitude. “We can’t say for sure that they are coming here, but if they are not headed here, they will still fly directly over us.”
“Can you tell what kind of planes, and how far away?” asked the general.
“We think they are C-17s. It looks like there are about ten or eleven of them, and they are about 30 minutes out from here,” answered the person in the tower.
“Sound the alarm and send Sammy and Carter over here,” he instructed. Less than a minute later, the sirens began to wail. Two minutes later, Sammy, Carter, and Kevin Halvorson came running into the conference area. The general told them what was going on.
“Get this base buttoned down quickly,” he instructed. Sammy got on his radio and began issuing instructions to his troops. Carter, meanwhile, turned to the general. “If they really are C-17s, they could be dropping troops to surprise us. Let me get a couple of Ranger companies out there to be ready for them when they land. We’ve also got some huge spotlights sitting on the short runway. If the tower sees paratroopers, we can have them light them up – that would take them by surprise and help our guys know exactly where they are. Hopefully, we can avoid battle if we can get these guys peacefully. If not, though, they will be easier to overcome if the element of surprise is gone.”
The general looked hard at Carter and gave a one-word order: “Go.” Carter took off to get his Rangers and special ops troops placed, and Kevin got on the radio to get some airmen to move the spotlights and start the massive generator that powered the lights. Within minutes, the base was swarming with activity as troops took up various battle stations. Calls were made to the Joint Chiefs to let them know what was happening, and the community at Whispering Willows was also notified. In less than ten minutes, the base was as ready as it was going to get. The general got on the radio and let everyone know not to fire until the enemy opened fire.
With about five minutes left until the planes would arrive, there was little left to do but wait. General McPherson listened to the flurry of instructions being issued over the radio. Suddenly, the spotlights on the runway came on. The three men hurried outdoors to see the distant tiny shapes of paratroopers. Suddenly, the shower of soldiers stopped. The tower notified the general that the planes were turning rapidly away.
“Any idea of how many jumpers?” he asked the tower.
“Negative, General, but if there were paratroopers on all the planes, it does not look like all of them jumped. I’m going to guess maybe three or four planes worth.”
“Thanks,” the general answered. He looked at Sammy. “That would be around three or four hundred if the planes were full. Heck, a company of Rangers ought to be able to take care of that.” Sammy smiled, but looked worried. He continued to listen to the traffic on the radio.
Carter raced with his Rangers to the area where he anticipated Homeland troops would land. He warned his troops not to fire first, and to try to take as many as possible captive. As his men faded into the forest, he pulled out a bullhorn.
“Attention Homeland Soldiers. If you throw down your weapons and surrender, you will not be harmed. Your leaders have deserted you. You must have seen all of your planes turn around and run when we put spotlights on all of you. You are surrounded by Rangers and Special Forces troops. We do not want to harm fellow Americans. Your war is over. Throw down your weapons and surrender and you will not be harmed.” He waited a few minutes and then repeated the message. Suddenly, through the forest, he saw several of his troops escorting a group of paratroopers. They brought them into a clearing and sat the men down. A few minutes later, another large group of prisoners were marched into the clearing. Carter heard a radio message from one of his teams to the medical tent requesting assistance. Carter interrupted the message to ask who was hurt. The ranger answered, “There are a bunch of these guys here back in the trees that did not
know what they were doing and got all tangled up. We’ve got a number of broken bones and a couple of them that didn’t make it.”
Carter called back, “we can send some trucks to get the injured when we’ve rounded everyone up.” Carter looked at the rapidly expanding number of prisoners sitting in neat rows and began to wander among them. He noticed that not all were Americans; there were a number of UN troops interspersed among them. For the most part, the captured troops were docile and followed the directions of their captors. There was one group, though, that seemed very defiant, requiring additional troop supervision. Carter walked closer to the group and recognized the ringleader of the group. “Lester Barnes, what are you doing here? I thought you would still be in jail?”
“Homeland let me out of jail, and I am here to kill you and your precious general,” Barnes answered with a snarl.
Carter addressed the troops guarding Barnes and his group. “Barnes was one of my Rangers in Afghanistan until he was caught torturing and murdering villagers. He was dishonorably discharged from the Army and sent to jail.”
Carter’s troops shook their heads and looked at Barnes distastefully. Suddenly, Barnes said, “Now” and the five men with him jumped up and lunged at Carter. The troops guarding them shot each one before they reached Carter. Carter looked down at the bodies in front of him. “Somebody take out the trash when you have time,” he said, turning around and walking away.
The group of captive soldiers were ferried back to the college campus adjoining the base. Several classrooms were being used to hold the large group of men. A number of officers were identified among them, and they were segregated from the other prisoners. One at a time, they were brought to one of the small offices next to the classrooms and interrogated. Carter took the highest-ranking prisoner, a full bird colonel, to interrogate.
Premonitions: Book 2: War Page 15
