Echoes of War

by Cheryl Campbell

  She yawned as she and Mary walked the last hundred yards to the MP barracks, where they were to meet the CNA supply officer and receive their new fatigues, winter camo, and the last of their gear before leaving for Portland.

  “Late night with Gavin?” Mary asked.

  “Nah. I didn’t sleep well is all. Besides, I never know when I’ll run into him anymore. Sometimes we’re around each other constantly, and he spends the night … then I don’t see him for days and we don’t speak. I don’t know what that means for whatever the hell it is we have going on.”

  “Don’t overthink it. You care about each other. Go with that.”

  Dani shrugged. She was too tired to think much about anything this morning.

  They walked into the supply depot—and, unexpectedly, found Gavin there waiting for them. Several tables were set out in a row with identical sets of packs, gear, and uniforms grouped neatly together. Gavin, clad in a crisp set of fatigues, waved them over. As they approached, Dani noticed that the left, upper part of his uniform had a name on it: Marcus. Last names had been so unimportant to her, she’d never thought to ask his. She’d known him for years and had never known his surname until now. Of course, she hadn’t known her own until recently, either. She glanced at Mary and wondered about her last name too.

  “These are the saboteur packs,” Gavin said. “Go through them before you leave and memorize the contents and the order in which they’re packed. These are your skins: winter camo and regular.” He placed his palm on a stack of two, folded sets of clothes. “They will automatically adapt to your surrounding environments’ lighting conditions to help conceal you, but your stealth is what will keep you alive. Remember that.” He took one side step and placed his hand on a folded, thin, black set of clothing that included a pair of socks. “This is the CNA’s newest armor. Body size and type doesn’t matter too much with this gear. It’ll conform to the wearer. Thin, lightweight, and it will thermoregulate for you. The socks will also keep your feet warm, even if wet. Put these on first, then put on your fatigues.”

  Gavin tossed the armor to Mary, then handed her a set of fatigues. “Change behind the doors over there to make sure everything fits well, though I expect it will,” he said with a wave of his hand toward the side of the room. Mary headed for the line of bi-fold doors with her items. “This is your set.” Gavin picked up a set of fatigues with two sets of armor on top and handed them to her.

  “Why the extra armor?” Dani asked.

  “Just put it on and wear it under your uniform at all times.”

  “Only one set of socks?”

  “There’s another pair in your pack.”

  “We’re only issued two pairs?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can I get a spare?”

  Gavin sighed and left the table to dig in a tote on the floor. He returned with another pair of socks and put them inside her pack. “Happy?”

  Dani rolled her eyes. “So today is all business again?”

  “Dani.” Gavin lowered his voice. “There’s a lot going on, and a shitload of work left before we leave tomorrow.”

  “I get that; I do. But you confuse me when you spend the night and then disappear.”

  “That’s not my intent. I specifically relieved the supply master this morning so I could see you.”

  “To give me my new uniform in person? Great.” She sighed and followed Mary to the changing area.

  Once behind the bifold doors, she stripped and pulled on the first set of armor. The second set slid over the first layer with ease. She dressed in her new fatigues and passed her fingers over the patch embroidered with her name on the left side of her chest.

  She and Mary emerged from the changing area to return to the tables. Dani read the name on Mary’s uniform.

  “Smith?” she asked. “Really? Mary Smith?”

  Mary chuckled. “No, but it’s easier to pronounce than my real one. Mary Smith or Marella Sigursveinnsdottir?”

  “That’s a mouthful.”

  “Yeah. Icelandic. Not sure they could even make a name patch that long, so I just told them it was Smith.” She glanced at Dani’s patch. “I see you didn’t bother with a last name.”

  “I wouldn’t answer to anything other than Dani anyway,” she said.

  “You ladies done chatting?” Gavin asked. He didn’t wait for an answer before he began giving them their helmets and the rest of their gear, including exterior armor.

  By the time they left with their seventy-pound packs, Dani was also laden with a second, smaller pack of things for Brody. The dog had his own body armor, winter equipment, and food. She loved the gear, but left the supply depot far more irritated with Gavin than she’d been when she arrived.

  Oliver and Miles were waiting for Dani and Mary back at Hattie’s. Oliver took Brody for a walk while Dani, Mary, and Miles sat in the dining area to eat and relax.

  “I think he’s going to miss Brody more than he’ll miss me,” Miles said.

  “Yeah.” Dani smiled. “The damn dog has a way of making you fall in love with him.”

  Miles nodded and stared at her. Dani’s face felt hot, and she smiled at the sight of one of Hattie’s young men carrying three mugs of ale in for them.

  “Aunt Hattie says this round is on her because you’re leaving tomorrow, but you’re buying your own after this,” the man said.

  “Fair enough,” Dani said and took a sip from her mug. “Wow.” She placed the mug back on the table. “This has that extra stuff in it. What did you call it?” She tilted her chin at Mary.

  “Courage,” Mary said with a smile. “Drink it slowly, Dani. Remember what happened last time.”

  Dani grinned and took another sip.

  “What happened before?” Miles asked.

  “She’s a cheap date,” Mary said. “Less than one mug in, and she doesn’t mind making out with you.”

  “That’s not true … well, the first part is.”

  Mary’s eyebrows went up.

  Dani took another sip, then set the mug aside. “Okay, fine, it’s all true.”

  Miles leaned forward. “You and Dani?” he asked.

  Mary grinned and nodded. “It was unfortunately cut short when she panicked.”

  “I didn’t panic … much. This shit just makes my brain fuzzy. Oh!” Dani pulled the pair of socks from her pocket and handed them to Miles. “I mooched these for you as a spare set in case your other two pairs get wet. I know you hate wet socks.”

  “Thanks,” Miles said, looking puzzled. “How did you know?”

  “Oh, uh …” Dani made a grunting sound, shrugged, and reached for her mug.

  Mary caught her hand. “Not so fast. Answer his question.”

  “I’ve been able to remember a few things here and there,” Dani said. She frowned at her friend when she still wouldn’t let her pick up the mug.

  “Like what?” Miles asked.

  “Well …” Dani reddened. “Do you have a nasty scar on your right shoulder that extends down to the right side of your chest?”

  “Yeah,” he said.

  “From a fight with the Wardens soon after you joined the MPs, right?” That part of the memory had just resurfaced in the last few seconds, and it startled her. She pushed Mary’s hand away, snatched her mug from the table, and took a long drink. She clutched the mug with both hands to keep them from shaking.

  Miles nodded. “So your memories are back?”

  “A few,” Dani said.

  “That’s good, right?” Mary asked.

  “No. They kinda show up unexpectedly—like seeing Miles in my bed when it’s actually Gavin. Well, I mean, not always when we’re having sex. Sometimes it’s after. Christ, what’s wrong with me? It’s like I can’t shut up.” Dani placed the mug on the table and pushed it away from her. “This shit messes with my head. I’m sorry,” she said to Miles. She pushed her chair back from the table, and Miles caught her chair to prevent her escape.

  “Dani, relax,” he said.

/>   “Please don’t tell Gavin what I said.”

  “We won’t say anything to him,” Mary said. “You really need to calm down.”

  “It’s understandable that these memories would startle you,” Miles said. “Hell, they would freak out anyone who was in your place.”

  Dani shook her head. “I don’t know what to do. What if they pop up when I’m trying to set explosives?”

  “First, stop panicking,” Mary said. “You have three prior lifetimes of memories stuck somewhere in your head. When they come back, don’t freak out. Just let them come, and sort through them later. You don’t always have to figure everything out right away.”

  Miles nodded. “We’re here if you want to talk about them. If you’re uncomfortable talking to me, go to Mary. Neither of us will mind, and we won’t ever tell anyone else about them.”

  Dani nodded and stared at the table.

  “I’m glad you’ve had a few memories return,” Miles said.

  Mary excused herself for a moment and returned with two mugs that she set before Dani. “Water—to dilute the other stuff—and plain ale. Food is coming.” She took Dani’s first mug and finished it. “I’ve never seen someone get shitfaced as easily as you.”

  “It’s embarrassing,” Dani said and drank her water.

  “It is.” Mary smiled. “Can’t take you out drinking, you freakin’ lightweight.”

  Dani snorted a laugh. She took a deep breath, relieved that Miles didn’t seem to mind her awkward confession about mixing up him and Gavin. She doubted Gavin would be as forgiving. Maybe it was a good thing he was too busy to spend time with her now.

  CHAPTER

  41

  Dani’s form almost disappeared in the mounting snow drift at the base of the air traffic tower. Wind gusts whipped snow around her body, and the driving snow stung her face. As expected, the Wardens had opted for shelter instead of standing out in the weather at their posts. This was making it much easier for Bravo to move around the base. She checked her watch: 2150. Alpha Company would start its assault on the Promenades and other targets in ten minutes. Houston’s troops at the power plant and Alpha had an hour to secure their positions before Dani and Mary started the fireworks.

  At 2210, Dani needed to be underground with her fireteam to meet with Javi and the rest of her platoon to take the fixed-wing jets on the river side of the north-south runway 740 yards away. At the same time, another platoon on the far north end of the same runway was assigned to secure the fixed-wing transport planes and helos in their hangars.

  That left Javi’s platoon with thirty minutes to take the birds, leaving enough time for Dani and Mary to get in position to detonate their bombs. Dani was due to blow the air traffic tower and the cannon on it at 2300; Mary was to destroy the real comm tower, tucked tightly in the corner of the Warden base’s main building between the west and north wings, at the same time.

  Following the start of the war, the Commonwealth had taken the former airport’s main building, terminals, and parking garage and converted the three structures into one sprawling, five-story base, including barracks. When they’d abandoned the base to the invading Wardens fifteen years ago, the Wardens had expanded the base’s buildings and operations. The new comm tower was flanked by the two wings of the base, each of which had a cannon. Mary and her fireteam had the more difficult task: accessing the real tower. Dani hoped her friend was successful.

  The foul weather hindered their progress, but it also shielded her and the rest of the volunteers from the Wardens’ view. Dani wiped snow from her eyelashes and turned her body to better protect her face from the blizzard’s wrath and bitter wind chill.

  Her helmet would have shielded her face from the wind and snow, but she could see better without it. She placed the last of the explosive charges at the base of the air traffic tower and pushed a mound of snow over the devices. A thumping noise from within the tower caused her eyes to widen. She was near the tower’s external stairwell door, and someone on the inside was jogging down the stairs.

  She flattened her back against the tower and sank into the drift. She pulled her knife from her belt and waited. The door opened, and a gust of wind jerked the door so it clanged noisily against the hinges. The Warden cursed and wrestled with the door. When he finally slammed it shut, he sprinted toward the barracks. Dani sent a mental “thank you” to Houston for the winter camouflage. The Warden never saw her, though she was inches from the door.

  A harsh shiver shook her body, and she wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or nerves. She rushed back to the open manhole five yards away and dropped through it. Miles helped her down, then slid the cover over the hole to seal it.

  “What was that banging noise?” Rosen asked.

  “A Warden coming out of the tower. Gave me a good scare, but he didn’t see me.” Dani pulled her gloves on and yanked her knit hat down so it covered her ears.

  “Charges set?” Miles asked.

  “Yeah. We’re good. Where’s Mary?”

  “Her team hasn’t finished yet.”

  “Should we assist?” Dani asked.

  “No. Javi’s been in my ear for us to get our asses back to the river. Mary will be fine. Go.”

  Dani checked her watch: 2202. The first wave of coordinated attacks on the Promenade had started.

  The half-mile sprint through the sewers warmed Dani’s chilled face and fingers. Her group passed through the CNA ground troops’ line along the north-south runway before exiting the large drainpipe protruding from the side of the river bank and scrambling along the ice and up the embankment to join the three other fireteams that were gathered behind the hangar closest to the river.

  “Where the hell is Tamu’s fireteam?” Javi asked Miles. “They stop for a picnic?”

  “They’ll be here,” Miles said. “If they’d been detected, this place would be going bonkers.”

  “We can’t wait. We’re already running behind. We have two fixed-wings in this hangar behind us that can launch vertically. The four fixed-wings in the open area need the runway, so they should be iced in, but we need to make sure they’re disabled. Miles, take your team and Tamu’s team, if Mary ever finishes setting her charges, and take the east armory opposite the fixed-wings on the tarmac.”

  “Got it,” Miles said.

  “Patel, your team will set charges on the four jets if they’re not iced in. I don’t want to lose those birds, but we’ll blow them if we need to.” Patel nodded, and Javi continued. “At 2255, we’ll use a plow to clear snow and hopefully get the two birds from this hangar in the air just after the air traffic and comm towers blow. This weather is worse than we expected.”

  “Welcome to Maine,” Dani said, and Javi chuckled. She hadn’t intended for her comment to be heard, but she was glad some of the tension around the attack had eased a little.

  Movement close by made her and Rosen raise their weapons. Dani squinted; five people were coming toward them through the snow. She smiled and touched Rosen’s arm. “They’re ours.”

  “How do you know?” Rosen asked.

  “The smallest one is Mary. Weaver is the tallest, Tamu is next tallest, Jens is built like a truck, and Zykov walks like he’s been riding a horse for a hundred years.”

  Rosen grinned and lowered her rifle. “Zykov does walk like that.”

  “Glad you finally made it,” Javi said to the arriving fireteam. “Miles, fill them in as you head out. We don’t have time to re-review.”

  Dani walked with Mary as the two fireteams left the rear of the hangar to move toward the east armory, just over three hundred yards away. “Any problems?” she asked her.

  “Nothing Jens couldn’t handle,” Mary said. “We left a dead Warden in the sewers below the base. You?”

  Dani shook her head.

  They continued in silence, Dani and Mary at the rear of their teams. As they neared the armory, Miles and Tamu signaled the teams with hand gestures, and Rosen and Jens left the group. Dani soon lost sight of them
in the blowing snow.

  She hated waiting. Miles, Marcic, and Elmore always looked calm, but she felt like she had a hamster on a wheel inside her chest. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself, and a moment later Rosen and Jens returned carrying a body. The dead Warden was clothed in heavy, black body armor and wore a helmet.

  Miles glanced over the body. “Dani,” he said to them.

  They dropped the body on the ground in front of Dani. She couldn’t tell if the small-framed Warden was a man or woman. The body glowed blue under the heavy body armor, and Rosen jerked the Warden’s head to the side. The sickening crunch of cervical bones snapping turned Dani’s stomach. The glow stopped.

  “That never gets old,” Rosen said with a grin.

  Christ, Rosen’s a genuine fucking psychopath.

  “Strip the body and put the gear on, Dani,” Miles said. “I need someone on the inside, and you’re closest to this Warden’s size.”

  Dani shrugged out of her pack, unfastened her belt and pistol holster, and peeled off her winter camo layer as Mary and Elmore stripped the corpse. She tried not to look at the dead Echo. She stuffed her hat into a pocket in her fatigues before pulling them off too. The dual layers of CNA armor she was wearing helped keep her warm, but not warm enough. As she put the Warden armor on, her ears and face grew numb from the cold.

  When she reached for her pistol and belt, Miles took them. “You’re a Warden now, and you need to look just like this one. Use his.”

  Dani did as she was told and also traded gloves with the dead man. Miles didn’t argue when she moved her knives from her old belt to the Warden’s. As she slipped the Warden’s weapon, a far newer plasma pistol than her own, into the holster at her upper thigh, she made a mental note that she’d have to remember to reach lower to pull the weapon, since she typically wore her gun on her hip.

  She slipped the helmet on, gasped, and pulled it off. “Wow.” She put the helmet back on. “I can see everything out here like it’s in the daytime. You guys have to get one of these.”

  “Marvel over it later,” Miles said. “Get inside.”