by C. R. Daems
"Where do you Tasmanians think we should go?" I asked, although not expecting any meaningful answers.
"Not into any tunnels. What good is a sniper in a tunnel?" Bulldog said to nodding heads.
"Communications don't work underground," Wolf said.
"And you said we couldn't use explosives in the tunnels," Smitty said with a smile.
"I agree," I said to open-mouth stares. "Which is why you're lucky to be with a woman who doesn't like getting dirty and smelly."
That elicited snorts and hoots.
"I'm hurt that you think I do." I squeezed my eyes like I wanted to cry, then smiled. "Smitty, get out a map of this island. I would like to find a nice place to swim while the company is imitating moles. So, find a place where we can get to the coastline without having to climb a mountain."
"You're serious?" he asked then shook his head and searched his backpack until he found the map.
"The island runs north and south. Blackspar is on the west side while Redmier is on the east side," I said, looking at the map. "Therefore, everyone will be watching the east side. So, I'd like to swim on the west side where no one is watching." When I looked up, everyone was frowning.
"Why?" was the immediate and spontaneous reply from everyone.
"Because, we don’t have to kill all the soldiers to end this debacle. We just have to stop the miners' output from leaving Bystone. Therefore, if we find how they are getting the material off the island and probably getting supplies, we can go home without sampling the island's millipedes and spiders."
* * *
"You're never just wandering, are you, Jolie?" Smitty asked as we began heading for what looked like a break in between two mountains towards the southern end of the island.
"No. Ready, in an engagement, should start with looking to identify the enemy's potential weakness or their objective. In this case, it's stealing as much heavy metal material before they are forced to share it with Blackspar. That means it can't be still sitting on the island when they are forced to capitulate."
"And since they can't bring in a shuttle to move it with us and the Blackspar military watching, they would have to use a boat or submarine," Smitty said, thoughtfully.
"That's my working theory. Of course, we may find I'm wrong, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," I said while looking toward the south, which appeared as relatively flat land culminating in a continuous chain of varying sized mountains. The approximate spot where the break should appear looked to be about a klick away. "Well, scouts, how should we proceed? I want to go there." I pointed to where I thought the break should be.
"Two scouts, one hundred meters apart and ahead of the main group," Mamba said. After seeing nods of agreement, I nodded, and Bulldog and Wolf started moving at a walk, separating and slowing as the distance from us increased. When they looked to be a hundred meters in front of us, Taipan waved for us to begin walking. I idly wondered if it would be as easy leading another squad–I doubted it. I guess it was a marriage of convenience. I made the decisions which I didn't mind, and they did all the work, which avoided them the responsibility of having to make the decisions.
"We had been walking at a snail's pace for over an hour when shots rang out, and I saw Wolf dive for cover, or at least I hoped that's what he did rather than from being shot. Almost simultaneously, Bulldog hit the ground and was firing. I assumed it was to support Wolf who was scrambling backward. At the same time, Taipan and Panther began moving forward as they unslung their CheyTac rifles. As they did, my TCom buzzed and Wolf spoke.
"We have several soldiers firing at us from a trench. They're lousy shots," he said to my relief, as it meant he hadn't been hit.
"You have Pete and Jafar coming up to support you," I said into the open channel.
"They will have to hurry. Bulldog is popping heads like he is at a shooting range. Those trenches aren't much protection against a CheyTac rifle. If he can see your hair, you're dead." Wolf's voice was full of amusement. Suddenly, there was silence. I rose along with the rest of the team and ran at a crouch to Wolf's position.
"Wait here, Fox. I'll check it out. I should be safe with five snipers covering me." He laughed and proceeded forward at my nod. I laid down with my CheyTac and scanned the area through my scope. Nothing appeared to be moving. A minute later, Wolf waved and announced, "All clear."
The trench looked to be thirty meters long and all but invisible from only fifteen steps away. The trench had a meter-high platform for shooters to stand and a two-meter-wide walkway. Six men lay in the walkway with half their heads missing. The trench led to a two-man-sized hole that disappeared into the earth. I nudged Smitty who was standing next to me.
"Throw a couple of flashbangs into the tunnel. I'd like to a take peek inside," I said, interested in the way they were constructed. He nodded and walked to the beginning of the tunnel then threw one flashbang in then another before covering his ears as he moved past the tunnel entrance. I turned away and covered my ears. When I saw the second flash, I turned, jumped into the trench, and made my way to the tunnel entrance. There I cautiously entered with my Tavor at the ready, aware that two of my team had entered with me. About five steps into the tunnel, it began a fifteen percent descent into darkness. From what I could see from the light outside and my flashlight, the floor, walls, and ceiling appeared to be a clay soil mixed with particles of weathered rock. The ceiling was supported every ten meters by an eight-by-eight wooden frame. I concluded it wouldn't take much of an explosive charge to collapse the ceiling and walls, which would take days to repair. I saw no wires for lighting and assumed they used portable lighting to move around or maybe helmet lights. It would be interesting to explore the tunnel to see if it went directly into a mine, or connected to other tunnels, or both, and where they led. But that could take months and wasn't part of our mission.
"Let's move on before they send reinforcements," I said as I emerged from the tunnel. I noticed Panther and Taipan had replaced Bulldog and Wolf as the lead scouts, and we were all moving in under ten minutes. Before we did, I threw two grenades just inside the entrance and was satisfied it would take hours to open if not a day to repair. In any case, it would give us time to get out of the area. The soldiers might leave their trenches if they saw an advantage, but I doubted they would leave them to chase us.
Three hours later, we arrived at the spot on the map that looked like a passage between the two mountains; however, it was a narrow path that wound between the two mountains, rose several stories, and disappeared around the back of one. A handful of men could hold that path against hundreds. "Tarantula, Spiderman," I laughed at my subconscious choices, "take a look at that path and see if it's safe for me to go swimming," I said, not having any other plausible breaks in the mountains that went where I wanted to go. They trotted off and fifteen minutes later were out of sight. This was the reason no Tasmanian in his right mind wanted to be a leader–make a decision, select the men, then wait to see if you made a good or bad decision, and the cost of a bad one. I hated waiting. Like getting tested for an incurable disease and having to wait days for the result. Once you knew the result, you could deal with it, but there was no way to deal with the waiting.
"Fox, Tarantula is waving; it's safe to go," Peppermint said. The pressure in my chest eased and a wave of relief washed over me as the men inside my heart stopped playing racket ball. I entered the path with my team following. The path was narrow and looked to have been an animal trail that had been widened and excavated for human travel. As I rounded a large rock face, I saw the water and assumed the landmass off in the distance was Blackspar. To the north lay the ocean. Now I had a choice: south or north. I thought using the ocean to approach the western side of Bystone the most logical; however, if Redmier was using the bay, which shared a border with Blackspar, to approach Bystone, I would lose several days having to backtrack the entire length of the island. On the other hand, it would only take a half a day to explore the southern tip.
"South," I said
noting the separation between mountains and water was less than a hundred meters at the widest point I could see. "Single file?"
Mamba nodded, scanned the group, and a line formed with Josh in the lead. We didn't start moving until he was several minutes ahead. Over the next hour, we found two trenches, but they ran parallel to the water and were obviously intended to repel boats approaching from Blackspar and looked old and unused. Probably from the days before combat shuttles. Neither of the trenches appeared to go into the mountain on close examination. When we reached the southern tip of the island, I decided to turn back.
"That's far enough," I said to Spiderman who was currently the lead scout. "I've recalled Art. I think this is far enough if I'm right and both Blackspar and the Tasmanians are watching Redmier's potential approach to Bystone's eastern coast. Same single file for now, although it's probably not necessary until we reach the pass." I had no sooner finished talking when Salamander took off north at a fast walk.
"Gather around," I said when we reached the pass. "It will be dark in a little over three hours. Would it be to our advantage to travel by night or day?"
"If they have night vision goggles, we will be more noticeable at night than in the day. But if you are right, they will be more likely to be smuggling the material out at night and easier to detect," Jafar said. I agreed with him as did the others.
"Alright, let's rest here until it's dark and then proceed north along the coastline," I said. "One guard on two-hour shifts. As Panther has pointed out, anyone approaching should be easily to see with night vision goggles."
* * *
We moved slowly, assuming the Redmier soldiers would have night vision goggles and be alert if in the process of smuggling the day's mining material. We found an empty trench that had a shaft into the mountain, but it appeared abandoned. Again, the trench ran parallel to the coast and appeared intended to repel Blackspar troops landing on Bystone.
"Smitty, Joshua, rig an explosive trap somewhere in the shaft," I said, after frowning at the tunnel for several minutes. "Just in case we're wrong or the tunnel provides access to soldiers. Besides, an explosion would provide us with an alarm and hinder whatever the other side is attempting."
A half hour later, we found a second trench and another mine shaft. A little exploration determined the tunnel looked to provide access to the first tunnel we had discovered and another that went north.
"This looks like a network of tunnels to get soldiers safely to the trenches in anticipation of a Blackspar invasion by water. But it doesn't appear to have been used recently," Wolf said after spending an hour investigating the tunnels.
We rigged another explosive before leaving. The night proved unproductive as we had found nothing of interest. I estimated we had only covered a third of the west side of Bystone when we stopped at daybreak.
"I'd like to continue our search in about eight hours," I said as we were eating. "I don't think Redmier would be active this far into Blackspar waters. It's more likely they are approaching from the ocean and are using the area just west of the northern tip of the island. So, beginning our search in eight hours should put us close to that area by sunset. I'll take the first watch." I looked around and decided I could watch both directions if I climbed twenty or thirty meters up the mountain behind us. From where we had stopped, it wasn't a difficult climb. Twenty minutes later, I found several large rocks to sit and had an unobstructed view to the north and south coastlines for a couple of hundred meters. I had been there less than an hour when I had a message from Howard.
Luan, where are you? Howard.
On the island with you, I mused, but thought I shouldn't mention that.
Howard, we are on the other side of the mountains on the west. So far, no activity. Luan.
Howard responded immediately.
Luan, I would think the activity would be on the Redmier side, since they are occupying the island. Howard.
That side was already crowded, I mused, as I typed my response.
Howard, consequently everyone is watching that side. Luan.
Howard's response was slower coming this time.
Luan, point taken. We have encountered three groups of soldiers: two on the Redmier side and one on the Blackspar side of the mountains. They entered the tunnels after only token resistance. We followed them into the last one we encountered. Fighting in the tunnels negates most of our training advantage. they set traps that killed several Tasmanians and cut off six more from the outside. It's required seven hours to rescue them. Any ideas? Howard.
Stay out of tunnels, I mused, but thought better of mentioning that.
howard, no except to keep looking. Luan.
I saw Jafar climbing in my direction shortly after my last exchange with Howard.
"I'm your relief," he said when he neared my position.
* * *
"Shouldn't we be investigating those tunnels?" Smitty asked as we stopped for a rest and to eat just as the sun was setting. We had found another trench and had just finished setting explosive traps inside what appeared to be another abandoned mine shaft. This was the second one we had discovered today.
"Why?" I asked as I took another bite of my energy bar.
"To evict the squatters."
"We'd get all sweaty and dirty," I quipped.
"That's why they pay us," Cedric said to nodding heads. I knew they all wanted some action and thought the tunnels might provide some.
"I modified my enlistment contract and took out all the dirty and sweaty clauses," I said. "But I have to admit it has been a bit boring. Don't give up, the night is young."
We slowed down as the night darkened the sky and let the lead scout get over a hundred meters ahead. If I were right, I thought this the most likely area to smuggle the material the day's mining had produced off the island. Otherwise, what was the point of continuing to mine as half would belong to Blackspar?
We hadn't gone fifteen minutes from the last tunnel when we heard an explosion from behind us. When I look around, a cloud of debris appeared to be coming from the vicinity of the last tunnel. Simultaneously, my TCom buzzed with an urgent message.
Luan, thirty plus troops heading toward you. Bulldog
I pointed at the mountain, which was only fifty meters from where we stood, and gave a double pump of my arm to indicate it was urgent. Bulldog joined us as we climbed. We managed to get a couple of stories high and find good cover before the soldiers came into view. They were coming along the beach at a walk, rifles swinging back and forth as if searching for someone. I couldn't help a crooked smile. Their proposed ambush would have been reasonably good if the enemy hadn't mined the tunnel giving them warning, precluding the additional troops needed to block their retreat, and providing the overwhelming numbers to crush them.
"Hold your fire until they are in front of us," I said quietly into my TCom on an open channel. From what I could see of the advancing soldiers, their focus was on the beach ahead and not on traces of activity on the ground or the mountain. My concern was that they outnumbered us three to one and that they were somewhat bunched together. Consequently, many of us would be shooting at the same people, which would diminish our kill ratio, thus making the numbers more of a problem. "Team," I said quietly into an open TCom channel, "your initial area of responsibility will be based on your position in our last scouting formation." I just hoped everyone understood what I was suggesting.
Ten minutes later, the soldiers came walking into our area appearing more focused further ahead. I waited unit the two in the lead were even with my position, then I clicked on the icon to begin firing. It appeared that as many as seven dropped on the first volley. Not too bad as they had been bunched together. Half dove for cover while half stood, weapons swiveling back and forth. Six more went down. The men on the ground were returning fire. Unfortunately for them, most were firing blind and had no cover. Six more died. Now most were panicking and began running. None survived.
"We need to hurry," I said, thin
king we may have interrupted a shipment and hoped we could arrive before they could leave. I worried that the soldiers at the tunnel where the explosion occurred would be coming along at some point. My team seemed to form back into its former line and began moving at double-time. Fifteen minutes later, we saw a line of men carrying bags toward the water where several rigid inflatable boats were sitting half out of the water. The men didn't look like soldiers and dropped their bags when they saw us coming toward them.
"Shoot to kill and the boats are not to leave the beach," I shouted. I hated to kill the miners, but it may save lives if the others realized the danger they were in. The soldiers would follow the officers' orders, but I doubted the miners would, and without the miners, this stalemate would be over.
The scene was chaos. Several men in black, skintight wet suits were trying to push the boats back into the water. I knelt and shot one after another until the last five raised their hands. Most of the men carrying bags dropped them and ran for the tunnel. My team let all go except for those with weapons. The ones who didn't run dropped onto the beach with their hands over their heads. Now all that could be heard was the sound of the small waves lapping onto the beach. I walked over to the boats as Smitty supervised getting the prisoners restrained and collected together. The first boat had four bags laying in the back. I cut each open. The bags contained rocks ranging in size from one to seven centimeters. The rocks looked black with red and orange particles imbedded. The second boat only had one bag of similar looking rocks. The third and fourth boats had bags that contained food supplies. I walked up the beach and opened each of the bags the men had dropped. It was more of the same: rocks and food.
"Simple operation. Each night the boats land here delivering food and getting a load of rocks to return to Redmier for processing," I said to the three Tasmanians who were following me. "Salamander, can you do something to ensure those boats are no longer functional?"
"Sure thing, Fox. Do you want the rocks and food removed?"
"Yes. I assume the rocks are worth a lot of money, and we can use the food since I guess we should stay here until the residents are removed," I said and walked over to where the prisoners were being held. "Who would like to give me a tutorial on the tunnels? This one specifically," I asked looking at the group of five who were dressed in work clothes. When no one answered, I continued. "The standoff is over, so the tunnels are no longer a secret. Certainly, nothing worth dying over," I added as an incentive as I pointed my Tavor in their direction.
