Resistance: The Gathering Storm

CHAPTER SEVEN Things That Go Boom!

Near Valentine, Nebraska

Friday, November 23, 1951

“Report to my office at 0900 hours 11/23/51.” Signed, “Maj. Richard Blake.”

The message was waiting in Hale’s SRPAnet inbox when he returned to Base 027 and went online. The meeting could be about anything of course, but the brevity of it and Hale’s guilty conscience combined to make him uneasy.

Blake’s office was located on the admin deck a few doors down from the briefing room in which the officer spent so much of his time. His door was open, and Hale could see him sitting within, but knew better than to enter without an invitation. His knuckles made a rapping sound as he knocked three times.

“Come.”

As Hale took the prescribed three steps forward, he could feel the tension in the air. His boots thumped as he came to attention, his eyes were fixed on the wall over Blake’s head, his back was ramrod straight, and his thumbs were aligned with the seams on his carefully pressed trousers. “Lieutenant Hale, reporting as ordered, sir!”

There was a series of rapid clicking sounds as Blake completed an email message and hit send. Then he swiveled his chair around to face Hale and made eye contact. It was like looking down a couple of gun barrels. No “At ease,” or invitation to have a seat.

“Well,” Blake said flatly, “how was your three-day pass? Did you have fun?”

Hale’s mouth felt dry, so he did what he could to muster some saliva, and then swallowed. All he could do was let the situation play itself out.

“Sir, yes, sir.”

“That’s good,” Blake growled. “That’s real good… Because your little vacation cost a great deal of money. First there’s a full load of Avgas for the VTOL you rode in, then there’s the Fareye you took with you, but failed to return, plus three grenades and various other pieces of government property. All of which are going to be deducted from your pay. Do you read me, Lieutenant?”

Hale’s eyes remained focused on the spot directly above Blake’s head.

“Sir! Yes, sir.”

“I guess you think we’re stupid,” Blake continued. “And maybe your plan would have worked, except I sent people to find you, and guess what? You weren’t in your quarters, and you hadn’t checked out through the main gate, which meant you had left some other way. Aboard the Party Girl as it happens.”

Blake paused, and made a point of taking a document from a stack of papers and studying it silently. “By the way, Hale,” he added ominously, “you might find it interesting to know that Lieutenant Purvis will be flying every shit detail his CO can come up with for the next thirty days. So you might want to avoid him. I don’t imagine he’ll be pleased.” He returned the document to its stack.

“Now,” Blake continued, as he leaned back in his chair, “enough about Purvis… Let’s talk about you. I could have your bars, but court-martials involve a lot of paperwork, and I hate paperwork. And why bother? Because I have a rather challenging mission lined up for you—and the odds are you won’t make it back. That will save me a lot of aggravation. So be in the briefing room at 1100 hours, and see if you can avoid getting lost along the way.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” Hale responded, his face wooden.

Blake nodded. “Dismissed.”

Hale did a neat about-face, took two steps, and was almost out the door.

“And Hale…”

Hale paused to look back. “Sir?”

There was something like sympathy in the major’s eyes. “I’m sorry about your family.”

Hale nodded. “Thank you, sir. They were good people.”

And with that he left.

The briefing room was packed when Hale arrived at 1050 hours. A sure sign that something big was in the offing. Senior officers and SRPA officials were seated toward the front of the rectangular room leaving captains, lieutenants, and half a dozen NCOs to find chairs farther back. Which was fine with Hale.

All the doughnuts were gone, but there was plenty of coffee, so Hale filled a mug and took it back to a seat located between a portly supply officer and a square-jawed sergeant major. Both could see his nametag—not to mention the color of his eyes.

Hale was worried that he might have to make conversation with one or both of the men, but he was granted a reprieve when Blake called the meeting to order.

“Good morning… And welcome to Operation Iron Fist. We’ve been taking a lot of shit from the Chimera lately, and this will be an opportunity to hit back.

“Iron Fist will be a combined forces operation involving the 5th Ranger Battalion, under Lieutenant Colonel Jack Hawkins”—he nodded in the direction of a man in the front row—“and a Sentinel SAR team, under the command of Lieutenant Nathan Hale.” He acknowledged Hale with a similar gesture. “Besides killing as many freaks as we can, the objective of this little outing will be to locate and retrieve what could be some very important tech.”

Hale felt a combination of pride, embarrassment, and fear. The sergeant major grinned knowingly. “The good news is you’ll be in command of a team,” he whispered. “And the bad news is that you’ll be in command of a team!”

Hale smiled. That was the strange thing about being an officer. The simultaneous desire to be in command and the fear of what might happen as a result of a lack of preparation, poor judgment, or bad luck.

“Before we review the details of the mission, Dr. Linda Barrie will provide you with some important background information,” Blake continued. “For those of you who haven’t met her, Dr. Barrie is a graduate of MIT and a member of SRPA’s technology assessment team. They’re the folks who study the items the SAR teams bring back, assess their potential, and tell us how to exploit them. Dr. Barrie?”

Barrie was one of only three women in the room, which by itself was enough to make her stand out, but the fact that she was stunningly beautiful guaranteed that every eye was on her as she took the podium. Her black hair was short and straight, her brown eyes were partially hidden by bangs, and her lips displayed only a trace of red lipstick. She wore a plain leather jacket and khaki pants that couldn’t be considered glamorous. She cleared her throat and began to speak.

“Thank you, Major. As a result of missions like the one Captain Anton Nash led a few days ago, SRPA has been able to reverse-engineer technology developed by the Chimera, and make incredible advances in a relatively short period of time. And now, because of an artifact recovered by Captain Nash and his men, we have what may be an opportunity to take another leap forward.”

At that point Barrie removed a remote from the podium and aimed it at the wall screen. Video swirled and locked up into an image that Hale recognized right away. Thousands of lights glittered deep within the gelatinous cube, and as the camera zoomed in, Hale could see tiny sparks jumping the gaps between them. It wasn’t doing that before, he mused silently. They must have figured out how to turn it on…

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Barrie inquired of no one in particular. “But this is beauty with a purpose. What you’re looking at is an optical computer… Meaning that it uses photons rather than electrons to store and manipulate information. We’re still in the process of figuring out how to replicate it, but we’ve been able to retrieve a great deal of data from it, and screen that information for importance.

“The best way to think of the cube is as a filing cabinet,” Barrie added, as she turned back toward the audience. “And, like most filing cabinets, it’s stuffed with all manner of things, some of which are useful and some of which are not. One of the items that is of value could be described as a fuel inventory. And by fuel I don’t mean gasoline.” She leaned forward for emphasis.

“I mean nuclear fuel, like the plutonium that was recovered from Great Britain and taken to our research facility in New Mexico. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to get the necessary yields out of the plutonium, and at the rate things are going, it could be years before we have nuclear weapons that can be used against the Chimera.”

That comment elicited a rumble of conversation because if there was one thing the men and women in the briefing room knew, it was that the United States was running out of time.

Barrie nodded, and continued. “According to the fuel inventory we’ve deciphered, the stinks are storing nuclear fuel in a recently completed base near the town of Hot Springs, South Dakota. So we’re going to attack in force, draw most of the defenders into a pitched battle, and send a SAR team in to snatch what we need. Once the people in New Mexico have a chance to analyze it, there’s a very good chance that they’ll be able to achieve the necessary breakthrough, and produce the nuclear weaponry we need.

“I guess that’s about it,” she concluded. “Thank you.”

As Barrie returned to her seat, Hale already was thinking about the mission ahead. Nash had been correct, the storage cube was important, and Hale wished that he had lived long enough to learn how important.

The familiar emptiness began to form in the pit of his stomach as he considered the coming battle. Clearly, the 5th Ranger Battalion would have a major role to play, but it would be up to his team to recover the fuel, and that—Hale realized—made him understand what he and Nash had in common.

A fear of failure.

Operation Iron Fist was going to involve nearly two thousand people, including support personnel, all of whom had to be pre-positioned, equipped for the mission at hand, and in some cases trained for specific tasks. So once the larger briefing was complete, the participants were directed to various conference rooms where topics such as logistics, matériel, and tactics would be discussed.

Hale was directed to a door with a “Command” placard on it.

Once inside, he saw that dozens of aerial photos had been taped to one wall while a detailed map of South Dakota took up most of another. As a former NCO only recently promoted to second lieutenant, he found himself nervous at being included in a meeting attended by the likes of Lieutenant Colonel Hawkins, his XO, Major Murphy, and a half-dozen other people, including Dr. Barrie. The glasses had disappeared for the moment, and as the two of them shook hands he was struck by how serene her eyes were. When Barrie smiled, Hale saw that a gap separated her two front teeth. A tiny imperfection that was endearing somehow—although he wasn’t sure why.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant,” Barrie said coolly. “Shouldn’t you give my hand back?”

“Sorry,” he mumbled as he let go, and hurried to escape as Major Blake brought another officer over to meet the scientist.

Having made a fool of himself, Hale was glad to take his place at the long conference table, only to discover that the same sergeant major was seated next to him.

“The name’s Guthrie, sir,” the noncom said genially. “It’s nice to know that the SAR team will be led by a Ranger. Even if he is wearing a funny-looking uniform.”

Hale laughed, and felt better now that he had a sergeant to protect his right flank. The two of them continued to chat until the meeting began.

“Time to get down to business,” Blake said from the head of the table. “Now that all of you are aware of the general outlines of what we’re going to do, it’s time to review the specifics. Colonel Hawkins…”

Hawkins was tall and lanky, so when he stood it took a while, and two steps were sufficient to carry him to the map. He had a collapsible pointer which made a series of clicking sounds when he extended it. Hawkins had brown hair that was starting to gray, a deeply lined face, and an eternally downturned mouth.

“We’re here,” he said brusquely, as the end of the pointer tapped the town of Valentine, Nebraska. “And the assembly point will be here.”

Hale followed the pointer to Chadron, Nebraska, which looked to be forty or fifty miles south of Hot Springs, South Dakota. “The plan calls for us to send a tank company north along the main highway,” Hawkins continued. “They will be supported by Lynx All-Purpose Vehicles, and by two infantry companies.

“That should bring most of the freaks out of the woodwork. Then, as they stream south to meet us, we’ll engage them from the east and west using troops dropped into position by VTOLs. And that’s when the fist will close,” he said grimly. “With any luck at all, we’ll kill at least a thousand of the bastards.”

Although Hawkins was technically senior to Blake, the Sentinel officer was part of the SRPA leadership team, which was responsible for the SAR aspect of the operation. So no one thought it strange when Blake spoke approvingly. “I think all of you will agree that it’s a good plan,” he said, “and one that’s likely to catch the stinks by surprise.

“However, as important as the conventional part of the operation may be,” Blake added tactfully, “the primary reason for pulling the enemy forces south is so that Dr. Barrie and Lieutenant Hale will be able to successfully penetrate the Chimera base near Hot Springs. And more than that, to find a fuel cell, and bring it out. Dr. Barrie?”

Hale was startled to discover that the civilian would accompany the SAR team, and the announcement set off alarm bells he needed to squelch. Having accompanied Captain Nash to the crash site on Bear Butte, he knew why Barrie was being sent. Still, the prospect of entering a heavily defended Chimeran complex with a female civilian in tow didn’t sit well.

Barrie was on her feet, glasses back in place, standing next to the montage of aerial photos. “This is the complex where the fuel is stored,” she said evenly, and pointed her pen at a cluster of cylindrical constructs, all viewed from above. “These pictures were taken by the pilot of a specially equipped Sabre Jet on a clear day before we made the find on Bear Butte. So things may have changed a bit since then. The complex was built to exploit energy from a geothermal tap. It’s fed to a standard tower over here—and from that location to a hub tower located near Rapid City.”

Having dealt with the system of Chimeran towers in England, Hale knew that they were often located near sources of geothermal energy, and were used to funnel the power to larger hub towers via physical conduits. Where, if scientists were correct, the energy was used to cool the Earth’s atmosphere, and for some other purpose that was still being studied.

“The tower complex near Hot Springs has another function as well,” she said. “The structure next to the geothermal tap, and adjacent to a building about which we have very little information, is almost certainly used to store nuclear fuel. Because only thirty feet of the facility extends aboveground, we assume that most of the fuel cores are located deep below, where they are safe from air attacks.” Then she paused. “Any questions so far?”

There was a brief moment of silence before Hale raised his hand. “Yes, ma’am… I notice that there appear to be four small structures positioned on those roofs. What are they?”

“You have a good eye,” Barrie said, as she touched each of the tiny blocks with the tip of her pen. “Those are antiaircraft weapons. Some fire missiles, others fire explosive projectiles, and all of them are dangerous.”

Hale didn’t like the sound of that. Not if he and his team were slated to arrive in a VTOL. But rather than voice his misgivings then and there, he decided to hold back and give the matter some thought.

The meeting—which was to be the first of many—came to an end shortly thereafter. Lieutenant Colonel Hawkins, Major Murphy, and Sergeant Major Guthrie left the room in order of rank. And as Hale rose to follow them, Barrie appeared at his side. The glasses had disappeared again. “Lieutenant Hale, do you have a moment?”

“Sure,” Hale replied. “What can I do for you?”

“You frowned when Blake announced that I’ll be coming with you,” Barrie said seriously. “You’re unhappy with that decision, aren’t you?”

Hale shrugged.

“No offense, Doctor, but it would help if you were a soldier.”

Barrie’s brown eyes locked with Hale’s yellow ones. “Like Captain Nash?”

“Yes,” Hale answered honestly. “Like Captain Nash.”

“You were with him when he was killed?”

“Yes,” Hale replied soberly. “I was there.”

“And he died bravely?”

It was a strange question, or so it seemed to Hale, and his eyebrows rose.

“Yes, very bravely.”

“That would have pleased him,” Barrie said evenly.

“I suppose it would,” Hale agreed. “Why do you ask?”

“We were engaged,” Barrie answered simply. “Don’t worry, Lieutenant… I may be female, and I may be a civilian, but I’m not helpless.”

And with that she was gone.