Chapter 4 -Cordon

Chapter 4

Cordon

Crash Site Designate “Clemens”, Venezuela

Captain Barrow stood back and watched the Major at work.  The crash site was much as Barrow had expected, rubble burning and strewn across a near kilometer long area.  The horror of scattered body parts was stomach churning but nothing less than Barrow had expected.  He’d seen men die in action before and felt prepared for that.

            What he hadn’t been prepared for was some of the signs he was reading around the crash site.  As he was only there to observe, so far that was all he had done.  He had hoped that the Major would prove to be as smart as Chung had said he was.  So far, he wasn’t disappointed

“First action, we need to locate Sergeant Jones.  Wooderson and Hunter, start looking for him.  Create a permiter and broaden the search as and when you need to.  Next, Lt Chung, you show me these tracks.  The rest of you, begin searching the crash site.  Let’s see if we cant locate the black box too.”

            The team broke up into its separate assignments and began searching the crash site.  Captain Barrow walked slowly behind the Major as he followed the young Lieutenant to the edge of the crash site.  When they reached the edge, the Lieutenant pointed to the ground with his flash-light.  Major Dalton knelt and Captain Barrow looked over his shoulder.

“Yep, those are army boots.” Said Major Dalton.  “Somebody walked away from this crash.”

“Hardly seems possible but there it is.” Said Lt Chung.

“There’s bloodstains on at least two of those prints.  This guy was wounded.” Said Barrow.

“I’m not surprised.  What is a surprise is that someone was able to walk away from the crash site.” Said Dalton.

“Well we’ve got to locate this guy.” Said Barrow, his hands at his hips.  Dalton turned slowly but didn’t come up from his knee.

“It’s not a priority.  We’ll call in a rescue bird for that anyway.”
“I’d like to find this guy Major, he’s one of ours.”

“I understand Captain, if he was one of my men I’d want to find him too.  But I’m not convinced that this is an efficient use of our time.  We’re not a medical rescue team anyway.”

Barrow thought about saying something else but remembered his own status as an observer.  “Ok Major.  Permission to go and look for the guy on my own.”

“Not yet.  I’d like your take on the crash site.  Later maybe.  As I said, I want a rescue bird for this.  Lt Chung, radio back for a rescue bird.  Make sure they put a medic or two onboard.  A trauma kit might make sense.”

“Yes sir.” Said Lt Chung, already unslinging his radio and making the call.  The other two officers walked back across the broken field, fires still lighting them with a flickering glow.
“The temperature is up.” Said Dalton. “Must be a few degrees higher than expected.”

“Burning fuel.” Said Barrow flatly.

“You seen action before?” asked Dalton.

“Sort of.  I did my share in the Five and Dime.” Said Barrow, trying not to think about it.

“Good man.  What do you make of this?” asked the Major.

Barrow looked at him and then looked around.  He tried to take it in as best as he could but it didn’t sit right with him at all.

“I don’t like it very much, that’s my first impression.  They crashed in good visibility.  Whilst it was a night flight, that’s still no cause for a crash.  There’s no sign they were fired upon or sabotaged.  Pilot error I guess.”

“And what else?” asked Dalton.  Barrow grimaced.

“The fragments, the fragments we’re finding don’t make sense to me.”

“Show me.” Said Dalton.

            The two of them walked quickly to a piece of burning metal the size of a rocking chair.  Barrow remembered there being a “fore-arm” lying here and he knelt, his flash light out.

“Look at this.  Severed at the elbow and then again at the wrist.  That’s not that unusual.”

“No it’s not.” Said Dalton, impressing Barrow with his nerves.

“What is unusual is this.” He turned the half limb around with the tip of his flashlight to show the tip of the wrist.  The skin was blackened, as if by fire but also had taken an odd cast about it.

“It looks burned.” Said Dalton.

“No, not burned.  Corroded.  Like something burned it.  Not a fire.”

“Then what?” asked Dalton

“I’m not a medical officer but in my professional opinion, somebody here got exposed to some kind of acid.  Or something that acts an awful lot like one.”

“Does an army bird carry that sort of thing?” asked Dalton.  It was a leading question.
“Not normally Major.  But they did have some sort of secret cargo.  Maybe something got spilled and killed the crew.  Also I’d swear that there was a piece over there that had at least one bullet wound.”

“That’s much more serious.” Said Dalton.

“Major!” came a loud voice.

“What?” asked Dalton.  Sergeant Harrison stood there, illuminated by the blaze behind him.  His entire aspect was somehow more warlike than before.

“We found the sealed mission plans.  We got em here.  Also, we think we found the blackbox.  Lt McPherson found shell cases.” Said Harrison.

“US issue shell cases?” asked Major Dalton.

“Yeah, looks like 9mm rounds.” Said Harrison.  “Probably a side-arm.”

“Great.” Said Dalton.  “Ok secure what you’ve found.  Get hold of Chung as well, I want word on that medical bird I asked for.”

Dalton picked up the sealed document bundle, burned and ripped but still more or less intact.  He looked at Barrow who intensively turned away.  Barrow looked around at the others working, clearing the rubble.

“Stranger and stranger.” Said Dalton

“So far I’ve founded about forty five rounds, nine millimeter discharged.  Also about ten five point five six mill.  Somebody was shooting on board the plane.” Said McPherson, her face pinched.

“That’s not small beer either.” Said Captain Dietz.  “Somebody really tried to light it up in there.”

“On a moving plane?  You’d have to be crazy.” Said Storm.

“Any other corroborating evidence?  Otherwise this just remains a theory.” Said Dalton.

“Angle of approach and speed weren’t as steep as first thought.” Said Harrison.

“No” Said McPherson.  “I’d agree with that.  The plane wasn’t going nearly fast enough to not come out of the dive.”

“There should have been fifteen personnel aboard this plane.  We’ve not been able to find any entire bodies so far have we?” asked Dalton.

“Not so far no.” Replied Dietz.  “But there was a survivor.”
“Apparent survivor yes.  But we don’t know where he is or in what state he remains.” Said Dalton.  Again, Barrow felt the tug in his chest, a missing man who was likely wounded.

“Apparently there’s no rescue bird available.” Said Dalton.  “So we’re on our own for now.  There’s no sign of any cargo either.  This is troubling in the extreme.”

“This is bullshit.” Said Roburn.

“Quiet!” hissed Harrison.

“Fan out, search the area again.  Daylight is coming up.”

            There were two figures in the distance who moved up quickly to the team.  Wooderson and Hunter were carrying Jones between them.  McPherson and Harrison moved to them quickly but Barrow saw Dalton’s posture relax a little bit.

“Yeah, you’ve found your missing man.  Now it’s my turn.” Thought Barrow.

“Where the hell did you get to?” asked Harrison as they laid Jones on the ground.

“Just fell, tripped down the fucking mountainside and fell.”
“He’s cracked his ankle but other than a few grazes and bruises, he’s in one piece.” Said Hunter.

“One heavy piece.” Breathed Wooderson, who bent over double.

“Fuck off Woods.” Snarled Jones.

“Charmer aint he?” said Wooderson with a smile.

“Can the chatter.  Jones, you know full well I just had to waste my men’s time in looking for you.  Next time you fall you best let us know where you fell to.” Said Dalton.  Jones glared up at him resentfully but said nothing.

“Next priority is the crash site.  We’ve got to get this site cleared up and sorted.  We’ve got a complex and clearly difficult mission to sort out.” Said Dalton.

“Wait a minute” said Barrow but Dietz put a hand on his shoulder.

“Leave it.”
“No, one of my men is missing out there.”
“He could well be dead by now.  But the simple fact remains that we don’t have the materials to properly look over such a wide area.  We could just as easily trip over him as find him again.” Said Dalton.

Barrow stood there, eye to eye with the Major but turned away.  “If he was wearing blue you guys would already be out there looking for him.”

            Dalton turned away with reply and began issuing instructions again.