“I see where you are coming from, First Sergeant, and appreciate your candor. But this team, as you call them, are civilians. I cannot order them to stay,” the General remarked.
I spoke up at this point. “Gentlemen, we pretty much fell into this situation and did the best we could. We have passed over everything we know and now we are going to follow through on our promises to others. But I’m sure Kuppers will agree that these men and woman have a choice to do what they want. If they chose to join you, we would not stand in the way. But we have fought side by side through the worst imaginable battles between the dead and now the living. We are more a family now than ever before. What happens after we have fulfilled our promises has yet to be determined. Some, or all of us, may return to fight by your side.” I patted Hinton on the back.
“I think it’s safe that Dan here has spoken for all of us,” Kuppers spoke up. He then turned to the team and offered, “If any of you believe you should stay, speak up now. None of us will hold anything against you.”
Apache was the first to speak up after a minute of silence passed. “I may return after we are done, but until then, I think we will all answer the same.” The rest of the team nodded their heads with an agreement of her words.
“That is more than fair, as I am sure we will all agree. But we will be sending you off with two radios, encrypted and set to our frequencies. If you change your mind, find more information, or just plain need help, call us.” The General informed, then turned his head and yelled at someone on his staff. “Corporal Jiménez, bring those radios and the packet I had you make up.”
A young Mexican man came running up holding a small crate of communication equipment, extra batteries, and an enclosed plastic folder with the name Hondo embossed on it. He handed the crate to Vic, saluted, and made his way back to his station. “Why the name Hondo?” Vic asked.
The General chuckled. “It was one of my favorite characters on the TV show SWAT from the late 70’s. I thought it fit nicely for a former SWAT Team.”
“I enjoyed that show, too, General. Thank you, and if you don’t mind, can we maybe procure some supplies and fuel?” Kuppers asked.
“First Sergeant, see to it these men get anything and everything they request. After fighting like demons for us, we should be able to find it in our hearts to help.” The General snapped off a salute at the team. What surprised me the most is that the team, including myself and Angel, saluted back. I hadn’t even thought about it; I just did it. The General chuckled again and shook each one of our hands, thanking us for all our help and walked away to deal with his staff and duties requiring his attention.
“Just give me a list of what you need and I will see what we can do. But with a General in your back pocket, I’m sure anything you need within reason I’ll be able to get it for you,” Hinton informed us as he pointed to a computer station nearby. “That’s my desk. I will be there a lot since I have a bum leg. If I am not, my aide will be.”
“Doc, you know what we got and what we need, so get to it. Cupcake, you know what the Beast needs. Make a list and get it to First Sergeant ASAP. We will be leaving at first light tomorrow,” Kuppers ordered and then turned and abruptly left with Vic in tow.
“So what do we do in the mean time?” I asked Apache.
“You, Senshi, and Angel will go spend time healing in our new bunk tent. Brian, do you mind taking them over there and getting them settled in?” Brian shook his head no and motioned for us to follow him out. “I’ll be by in a bit. I need to look into some things.”
Brian walked us across the new Fort and over to the rear of the cafeteria. I could see a nice grey tent with the Beast parked next to it. Brian rushed up and pulled back the main flaps allowing us entry. Inside we found a hallway running down the middle of the tent with small rooms lining each side. The rooms were big enough for two people to occupy. Inside were placed two Army cots, each with their own foot locker. Angel unzipped and entered one of the rooms. “I get to share mine with Apache. She likes to play cards and is totally awesome. I’m gonna go lay down. I’m tired.” She then ran back out and hugged my waist tight. “I’m very happy you are ok. Goodnight,” she said and ran back into her room.
Brian showed Senshi to his room, which he would be sharing with Doc. “Excellent. He doesn’t snore like Cupcake. I am tired and am going to take my medicine and pass out now. Wake me for food.” He closed the flap to his room and soon could be heard climbing onto his cot.
Brian walked down to the end and opened a flap. “We get to share a room. I made sure of it. Since I am so damn big I get to sleep on the floor ‘cause these damn cots are made for little guys like you. By the way I was able to find some extra padding for you. I know you must be hurting, man. I saw your bruises; they cover your entire back.”
“Thank you, sweetie, but Brian didn’t I tell you I don’t swing that way?” I ribbed him and slowly lowered myself onto my cot, wincing at the pain in my back and arm.
“Funny. Anyway, I told you I like men not little boys,” he said seriously, giving me a death stare. He then smiled and opened his hands. “Need help getting that armor off so you can lay down boss?”
“No, not yet. I think I want food. I feel famished. Maybe a cup of coffee, if they have the stuff? Then I’ll take some pain medicine and pass out. Thank you for taking care of me, brother. I appreciate it.” I tried to convey seriousness about my appreciation.
“Come on, then. Take my hand, and I’ll help you up. Then we can go get some sustenance.” He reached out, taking my right hand and helped me to my feet. “You don’t need to thank me. I told you I felt like you were my brother, and when you went down I felt like I lost my one and only remaining family member. I will be by your side, man, ‘till we both go down or die of old age.”
“My very own Sasquatch. Sweet, I’ll be the hit of the neighborhood,” I ribbed him. He faked roared, quietly so as not to wake Senshi or Angel, and lead me outside toward the cafeteria.
As we walked, I would occasionally look up and see helicopters flittering around in the waning light of the evening. “Wow, they are still bringing in supplies?”
“Not always, mostly rescued civilians or patrols out looking for abandoned military units or Ridder patrols or camps. I asked why they weren’t using the satellites, and they said that every single one they tried to use was denying their access. I smell Ridder in all this,” Brian informed me.
“What about drones? They must have access to some,” I suggested.
“I brought that up, too, and was told that the drones worked off of said satellites.” He shot down my thinking. We walked for a couple of minutes when I stopped in mid-stride and stared out into space for a bit. “I know that look. You know something, huh?”
“I know a lot of things, but I just remembered reading an article from Boeing when we were working on a project they brought us in on. We actually were streamlining some processes and procedures outlining how they found a way of controlling most drones locally. If I remember correctly, they put their gear on a C-130 and were able to control six drones at a time with an operational distance of 300 miles around the aircraft.” I surprised myself, remembering the details from that project.
“Let’s swing by the air operations tent and see if we can’t get a quick meeting with Colonel Phillips. Can your stomach wait a little longer for that food and coffee?” Brian asked. I nodded my head yes and we detoured our way to the operations tent. We must’ve been lucky, for as we made entrance Colonel Phillips was making his way out. Brian stopped him. “Can we borrow you for a second?”
“If you don’t mind talking while chowing, you can have an hour of my time,” the Colonel offered.
“Perfect. We were heading there after talking to you anyway,” I said while following him toward the cafeteria. We made our way past the guards at the door and up to the line of food and cooks. We gathered some food that looked like it should taste better than those MREs we had been eating. Brian became a great help by carrying my tray for me. I went over to get some coffee and was stopped by a young man wearing an apron.
“You’re Dan right? With that SWAT team?” he asked, seemingly fidgety. I nodded affirmative, expecting some issues. “Sir, you don’t have to drink that swill. I have my own gourmet coffee in the back. I’ll bring you a cup.”
“Why would you do that?” I mumbled.
“The soldier you saved yesterday with the belly wound is my cousin. Think of this as my small way of saying thank you.” He then snapped off a salute and walked into the back.
I stood there for a minute trying to figure out what just happened. Brian whistled out to get my attention and motioned for me to come and sit with them. I turned on my heel and made my way over to their private table. Brian pushed a chair out with his foot and pointed to it. “Park it there, Boss.”
“Sorry gentlemen, I don’t mean to waste your time. So I was asking Brian here about why you are not using drones to cover more areas, and he suggested it’s because we can’t access the satellites. I then remembered a project we did for Boeing. One of the processes we wrote was for a C-130 to orbit at twenty-five thousand feet. And by using directional antennas, we were able to control all sorts of drones without the use of satellites. They could control six of them at a time out to a radial distance of three hundred miles,” I explained while transcribing the info onto a piece of paper that had appeared in front of me along with a pen.
The Colonel stared at the piece of paper and then at me while slowly shoveling food into his mouth. He stopped sat back in his seat and looked over my shoulder. “Looks like you made a friend.” He pointed behind me.
The young soldier had reappeared from the back carrying a serving tray with a carafe of coffee and three cups, including a cream pitcher and a plate of sugar cubes. He placed it on the table, set a cup in front of me and filled it. “Cream or milk, sir?”
“No, thank you. I like the taste of coffee,” I announced awkwardly.
“Very well, sir. Gentlemen, cream or sugar?” The Colonel motioned for two sugars and cream. Brian just motioned for one sugar cube. “Excellent gentlemen. If there is anything else you need, please just ask. I’ll bring some pie out when you are ready.” He turned and retreated back to the kitchen.
“Wow, you certainly did make some friends,” Brian joked, then tasted his coffee and almost collapsed off his chair. “Oh my God! That is the best coffee I have ever had!”
The Colonel next took a sip and his eyes shot open in surprise. “That certainly
is
the best coffee I have ever had while serving.”
I took a sip and enjoyed the fullness of the brew and aroma it gave off. “That is the closest I have ever come to my own personal blend. I am in heaven,” I announced before tearing into my food with the gusto of a starving man. I finished my cup and poured a second, sat back and enjoyed the first relaxing moment I’d had since that first day in my office so long ago. The coffee was so good I couldn’t even remember what I had just consumed for dinner.
The young soldier returned with another carafe of coffee and giant slices of pie for all three of us. “I hope you enjoyed your coffee, gentlemen.”
“Enjoyed is not a word I would describe this with. Maybe cherished or basked in its glory would be more to the truth. Thank you for sharing this.” The soldier blushed and beamed as he cleared the table.
“Thank you, sirs. Again, if you need anything let us know. We will be cleaning the kitchen and preparing tomorrow’s menu.” He left, with a spring in his step, back to the kitchen.
“I think I will talk to the General about promoting that man to head of the kitchen staff,” the Colonel mused. He took another sip of his coffee and a bite of his pie. “Back to your idea. While sitting here, I have been working on what I will need to make this work. I think I can actually have this happen within four hours if Travis Air Base is still operating. I don’t have any C-130s available, but I do have plenty of C-5s and pilots for them. Gentlemen, I am going to pour another cup and get back to my staff. I have a feeling I am going to be very busy over the next eight hours. Dan, thank you for your revelations and help.” He stood, poured himself another cup of coffee, and left quickly.
Brian and I finished the carafe of coffee between us, as well as our slices of pie. By the time we stood to leave, our friend was back and clearing our table. He carried a bag and handed it to me. “This should make things easier for you. Thank you again, sir, for your help with my cousin. We will not forget what you did for our family.” He held out his hand, but I pushed it away and gave him a brief hug.
“Glad I could help. Thank you for the coffee and kindness.” We turned and walked out of the cafeteria and outside before I glanced in the bag. When I saw what was inside, I almost passed out. Brian stopped and looked back at me.
“You ok, boss?” he inquired.
“He gave me two coffee presses and what looks to be five pounds of coffee already ground and vacuumed packed. The team is going to be spoiled over the next week or so.” I opened the bag so Brian could verify its contents.
“Holy cow, boss. You really made an impression on these guys,” Brian observed.
We walked back to our tent to find Kuppers and Vic sitting outside pouring over maps and files. Cupcake was sitting inside the engine bay of the Beast working on something. And Doc was digging through crates taking inventory of his supplies. As we walked up, Doc stopped what he was doing and motioned for us to come see him.