Chapter 5-Command and Control

Chapter 5

Command and Control

Crash Site Designate “Clemens”, Venezuela

He had to give them credit, they worked hard and they worked fast.  Within an hour and a half they had done the grim job of cataloguing all the anonymous body fragments that had been found.  Within three hours all of the machine parts had been rounded up too.

            They worked quietly, their morale wasn’t as high as he’d hoped it would remain.  He knew that they needed a kind word, a bit of encouragement but right now he needed results.  He also worried about the rebel in his ranks.  Captain Barrow would only put up with being on the leash for so long and eventually Dalton knew that he’d have to let the young Captain figure out where his missing man had gotten to.

            It had been a simple logical decision to make.  Men on foot could never hope to round down another fleeing man in this countryside.  Without a helicopter, they could just as easily trip over him as find him.  Of course now that daylight was up, that would help him too.  The maps showed they were nearly twelve miles from the nearest civilization; they were on their own with this issue.

            Captain Dietz walked away from the others, largely working in twos and stood at Dalton’s side.
“You ok boss?” he asked.  Dalton raised an eyebrow.

“I’m fine Roman.  How’s it going out there?”

“Slow but steady.  We’ll have everything in place by about oh-seven-hundred hours.  Give or take.” Said Roman.  He let out a long sigh afterwards.

“I hope you’re not working too hard here.” Said Dalton, concern in his voice.

“Luckily my rank saves me from the really heavy lifting.”  Said Dietz.  “Speaking of which, Jones is barely doing anything at all.  He’s even more sulky than usual.”

“Try to give him things to do, keep him task orientated.” Suggested Dalton.

“Good call.”   Dietz looked around the crash site.

“What’s on your mind Roman?”

“Nothing much.   You sure you’re ok boss?”

“Of course.” Replied Dalton.  “Let’s get a move on shall we?”

“Sounds like a plan”. Replied Dietz.

            The two of them got back to work.  Dalton looked over at Sergeant Jones, sat down, a sour look on his face.  Dietz knelt next to him and spoke.  Jones nodded briskly and began to sort out a pile of rubble.  Dietz walked away to let him work.

A radio call came through from Newman, back on the helicopter.

“I got a call from the net for you Major.  They asked for you.”

“Put it through.”  A voice began speaking in Dalton’s ear.

“Major, are you receiving me?” asked a thin voice.

“Yes sir, though the transmission is weak.”

“Can anyone overhear what you’re saying?” asked the other voice.  Dalton felt surprise surface on his face briefly and then dismissed it.

“I’ll move away for a bit.”  He walked about a hundred meters away from the others.

“Ok you can talk now sir.”

“What’s the sit rep?”

“We’ve secured the crash site.  No sign of a ground to air or air to air attack.  It looks like pilot error at the moment.” Said Dalton, sticking to what he saw as the facts.

“We have reason to believe that the crash may have been caused from the inside.” Replied the thin, whispery voice.

“Yes sir.” Replied Dalton.

“Have you seen anything that would help to corroborate that theory?” asked the voice.

“A few things sir.  Is there information that might be useful to me or my team sir?”

“No.” Came the reply.

“Yes sir.” Dalton felt the familiar burn of being sold a lie.  Another bright shining lie.  It was obvious to Dalton; he hoped he could disguise it to his men.

“Did you recover the cargo?”

“No sir.  There are broken crates but we couldn’t locate any cargo, beyond the normal contents of this sort of plane.” Replied Dalton.

“The cargo was biological I’m told.  Shipped up from a base to the South.  You need to find it.  The op that was called to extract it did not have clearance to do so. An officer has exceeded his brief on this.”

Dalton did not reply this time.

“Major Dalton, Pete.  This is a chance for you to redeem yourself with the brass.  If you can locate this cargo, we can make this illegal op go away.  You can be sure that you’ll get your eagle.” Said the general.

“Yes sir.” Replied Dalton.  He remembered the voice of General Pays and his cliché.

“Don’t rock the boat Peter.”

“Yes sir, I’ll locate the cargo.  I need to know what it is if I’m to find it.” Said Dalton.

“We’re not sure what it is I’m afraid. Only that it’s valuable and possibly some kind of biological find.  It is US property.  Recovering it should be your highest priority.”

“Yes sir.” Said Dalton.

“Good man.  I knew you could get this done.”

“Yes sir.” Said Dalton, gritting his teeth.

“Signing off here.  If asked, you’ll tell them that this was just a sit rep with the brass.”

“Yes I will sir.” Said Dalton.

            He walked around alone for a few minutes thinking it through.  The mission had never sat right with him, he’d never felt comfortable with it.  Now he knew he was right.  Someone had gone off the reservation and he was being asked to clean it up.  There was some sort of lost or even stolen cargo.

            But who in his team could he trust to ask about it?  He wasn’t sure.  Beyond Dietz, his old faithful lieutenant, he wasn’t sure of the others.  Lt Ching was a bright boy and looked up to him but he also had a whole career ahead of him.  No, Dalton supposed that he was on his own on this one.

            He walked back over to the men but he heard raised voices.  He picked up the pace.  By the time he reached his men, he saw that the co-pilot, Wharton, had been shoved roughly by Roburn.  Dalton shouted out.

“Roburn, stand down!”  Roburn turned to look at him.

“Sir, this fucker aint what he says he is.”

Wharton looked around at the rest of the team but was greeted by silence from them.  It was Chung that looked the most intently at him.

“Explain yourself Roburn.”

“I better do this Sir” Said Chung.  “I was talking to Wharton about the op, the air force base and the air force in general.  Simply put, he isn’t an air force man.  He isn’t who he says he is.”

Dalton looked at Wharton. 

“Care to explain Lieutenant?”

“I think Lt Chung’s just gotten a little over excited here and gotten the wrong end of the stick. Then your man here has gotten out of hand.”

“Everyone else get back to work.  Dietz, Chung, stay here.” Said Dalton.  The others moved away, Roburn and Storm keeping an eye on Wharton as they walked away.

“Who are you Lt Wharton?” asked Dalton.

“I’m Lieutenant Chris Wharton, Raleigh North Carolina.” Said Wharton.

“When was your birthday?” asked Dietz.  “You look a little long in the tooth to be a co pilot and a lieutenant.”

“I could say the same about you Captain.” Said Wharton.

“Enough out of you.  You’ll answer the questions you’re given to answer.” Snapped Dalton.  Wharton did not look nervous, he did not look worried.  He was not a service man.

“Who are you really?” asked Dalton.

“If I tell you, you can’t dismiss me from this crash site.” He said back.  Dalton felt his heart sink a little.

“Who are you?”

“Special agent Chris Wharton, homeland security.” Said Wharton.  He drew a badge out of his uniform.

“Son of a bitch.” Said Chung.

“He’s a Fed.” Said Dietz with a rueful smile.

“We’ve got reason to believe that there may be a dangerous element to this cargo and we need to make sure it doesn’t fall into the hands of extremists.” Said Wharton.

“You should have asked to be part of the mission.” Said Dietz.  “We’ve always been willing to accommodate the agency.”

“We couldn’t risk that.  We think that there may have been an inside man on this operation.”
Yes, thought Dalton, so do I.

“Wharton, you’ve compromised my mission and if you do anything to risk the safety of my team, I’ll make sure you get buried in Washington.”

“I understand but we’re on the same side out here Major.” Said Wharton, putting the emphasis on the word Major.

“You need to tell me what you know.” Said Dalton.

“Ok, but first of all they need to walk away.” Said Wharton.

“I don’t keep secrets from Dietz.  Lt Chung, supervise the men.” Chung looked very disappointed but snapped to.

“Ok, tell me what I want to know.” Said Dalton.

“We intercepted some radio chatter about a possible illegal army operation.  Some sort of experimental cargo was to be moved, without clearance back to the US.  What for, we’re not sure but we did detect several code-words that we’re not too keen on.”
“Like what?” asked Dietz.

The answer didn’t come.  Chung ran back over to the three of them.

“What is it Lieutenant?” snapped Dalton.

“Sir, Captain Barrow.”
“What about him?” asked Dalton.

“He’s gone.  He’s taken off.  He’s looking for his missing man.”

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.

Chapter 3- Roof Of the World

Chapter 3

Roof of the World

The Andes, Near Venezuela

The helicopter set down with a rumble and snow and dust blew in all directions around it.  The twin rotors began to slow down and a hatch opened on the side.  A light streamed down, illuminating the darkness.

            Two air force men with flashlights and side arms walked down the ramp.  Both were attentive, alert.  The taller one of the two walked quickly, legs bent as if hunting roe dear.  The other one, smaller and wiry, stood loosely, as if walking in a dangerous neighborhood.

“It’s all clear out here.” Said Roburn, the taller of the two men.

“Confirm.” Came a voice over the radio.

“Yeah I confirm that one.” Said Storm, the smaller of the two.  Storm smiled back at Roburn and the two fanned out, taking up covering positions.  The rest of the team began to walk down the ramp quickly.  Major Dalton took the lead, no weapon drawn.

“Allright, let’s get a move on.  We need to have eyes on the crash site in less than thirty minutes.”

“Can do sir.” Said Wooderson.

“Lt Chung, you’ll take Jones and Hunter ahead and find the crash site.  Secure the site but do not, repeat, do not take any other action.  We’ll catch up with the heavy equipment.”

“Permission to tag along with the Lieutenant.” Asked Captain Barrow.

Major Dalton looked over at the army Captain for a moment.  “Ok, but the lieutenant calls the shots.”

“No sweat.” Said Captain Barrow.  “Ok Lieutenant, lead the way.”

Lieuteant Chung nodded and began to move quickly through the darkness.  The two non-coms shrugged and began to follow him.  Within seconds they were swallowed up by the darkness.

“Captain Ostrow, keep the bird warmed up and secure.  I’m not expecting any trouble but better safe than sorry.” Radioed Major Dalton.

“Roger that.” Came the reply.

“Permission to join you guys.” Came the voice of the co-pilot.

“Keen aint he?” muttered Sergeant Harrison.

“Permission granted.  Newman, you stay aboard and run comms from the bird.  Ok let’s get moving.” Said Major Dalton.  He looked over to Captain Dietz who nodded back at him.

“Ok people, they aint paying us by the hour.” Hollered Sergeant Harrison.  “Let’s pick up the pace.”

            A knot of humanity tightened and then began the long trek up the side of a mountain.  The lights of the waiting helicopter already receding behind them.

“Jesus Christ it’s cold out here.” Said Lt McPherson.

“What did you expect?  We’re on a mountain top in the middle of the night.” Came the snappy retort from Wooderson.

“I expected it Sarge.  I just don’t like it very much.” Fired back McPherson.

“Should have brought yourself a fur coat.”

“Fur is murder Sarge.”

“Pipe down you two.” Said Dalton.

McPherson smiled in spite of herself.  She kept up the fast pace.  She didn’t tend to over estimate her own physical condition, she was a scientist as much as an air force officer.  But she was quietly confident in terms of pure cardio, she was ahead of the pack here.

            Dalton kept it steady and was in good shape himself.  He did everything with a slow precision and so far he had lived up to what Marcus had said about him.  She was less impressed with Dalton’s long time ally and partner, Captain Dietz.  He seemed too small, he truly seemed to be an old man amongst the youngsters.

            Captain Barrow had been more fun than she had expected but she had found herself shy around him and wasn’t sure why.  She supposed it was because he was from the army, where women were still regarded as an entertaining luxury.  Hannah had worked hard to get accepted here in the air force and, so far, she’d only managed it here and there.

            Sergeant Harrison, for example, still regarded her with some mistrust.  He tended to follow her orders but often would stand still on orders for a second or two, testing her will.  He would never be out and out insubordinate, she knew he was a career non-com with twenty years in the air force.  But at the same time, he regarded her as an inconvieance and a potentially dangerous one at that.

            This was quite unlike Sergeant Wooderson.  The two had built up a good working relationship, sprinkled with a lot of witty banter and chat.  One of her fellow female officers had suggested that she was flirting with him and Hannah was mortified to think that she might have been.  Sergeant Wooderson was at least fifteen years older than her and a non-com too.  But they had a good, friendly working relationship and a little flirting here and there seemed to keep it moving along nicely.

            Of course Captain Ostrow was a pilot so he liked her.  He was quite flirty, in a brash cocky pilot style and Hannah found herself warming to him, despite her better judgement.  His quiet co-pilot, Wharton, was a mystery to her but she’d gained a bit of respect for him when he offered to follow them up the mountain.  On the other hand, he was already lagging behind.

            Roburn and Hunter were both your run of the mill air force security and ops personnel.  As long as they had direction and a little bit of encouragement they were ok.  The occasional sexist response aside, Hannah had no problem with either of them.  Sergeant Jones, on the other hand, didn’t like Hannah at all.  It wasn’t anything as easy to understand as simple mistrust of a young officer.  No, Jones seemed to take a personal dislike of her.

            Finally there was Newman and Storm.  A bit of a strange double act, Storm liked to pretend to be a dumb Southern caricature but was quite deft and had a wicked sense of humor.  Hannah had gotten to like him and relied on him for difficult tasks,  Newman was a technical whizz who didn’t like to be micro-managed.

            Hannah dropped back briefly, watched by Wooderson as she went.  “You ok Lieutenant?” she asked.  Wharton looked up from his reverie and she saw a look of surprise on his rounded face.

“Me?  Oh yeah I’m fine.  Thanks.”

“You look short of breath.  They cooping you up in hangars too often?” she ventured.

“Yeah, something like that.”

She looked on at the distance and saw it, lights ahead.  “See that?” she said to Wharton.

“Yeah, fires burning.”

“That’s a crash site.” She said, the excitement ringing in her voice.

“This is your first real crash site investigation isn’t it?” he asked her, his smile showing he already knew the answer.

“Yes it is.” She said bashfully.  But it isn’t yours, she thought.

“Ok team, hustle up.  We gotta get a move on.” Said Dalton.  He paused to speak on his radio communicator.

“Lieutenant Chung, report your sit-rep please.”

            The rest of the team formed up around the Major.  Dietz dropping into his familiar place, just to the right of the Major.  Harrison and Wooderson took up the flanks.  Hunter and Storm moved slightly ahead.  Storm had drawn his side-arm.  Wharton and McPherson stood behind.  McPherson turned and watched behind them.

“Lieutenant Chung, report your sit-rep over.”

There was a crackle and then a response.

“Repeat your last, over.” Said Major Dalton.  Hannah felt her heartbeat pick up.  Something wasn’t quite right.

“This is Lieutenant Chung here.  We’ve secured the crash site  but, well.  It’s secure.  No survivors at the site.  Over.”

“What’s going on?” asked Major Dalton.

“We’ve had some problems here.  The weather and the storm, we’ve lost Jones.”

“Damn it.” Said Dalton.  “Ok we’re on our way down.”
“This is Captain Barrow here, he cant have gone far there is a sheer cliff to the north.”
“Belay any attempt to find him.  We need the secure the crash site.” Replied Dalton.

“Copy that.” Came Barrow’s response.

“Ok people let’s get down there.  Harrison, best break out the first aid.”

“Yes sir.” Said Sergeant Harrison.  The team moved down the mountain-side towards the crashed army transport plane.

            Pieces of burning metal were scattered in all directions but the largest pieces of wreckage were huge.  The transport had broken up and scattered itself into a familiar pattern, a long groove cut into the mountain-side.

            Captain Barrow and Hunter were stood near a huge chunk of metal, steam and smoke was rising from it.  As Hannah moved down the mountain side, she felt the heat from the burning plane and looked around.

“Oh fuck me.” She said out loud.

            A severed human hand was lying in her path.  She gingerly stepped around it as she went.  Wooderson looked over at her but said nothing.  As they approached closer, it became clear that it was highly unlikely anyone could have survived such a severe crash.

“Ok, where’s Chung?” asked Major Dalton.

“I’m here sir.” Said the young Lieutenant.  He was breathing harshly but seemed more exitable than scared.  “Cant find Sergeant Jones at the moment but we’ve got the crash site secured, just like you asked.”

“Ok good.  Let’s all take a moment and then get to work.”

“I found something odd though sir.” Said Lieutenant Chung.  “Tracks that lead away from the crash site.  Someone survived.”

Chapter 2-

Chapter 2

Complex Personalities

Somewhere In the Air, Above South America

Henry Barrow took a deep breath and let it out.  He hated to fly, he really hated it.  He looked around the copter’s cargo bay at the other members of this team. They all looked very relaxed, smiling and laughing.  Of course they were, they were all air force crew.

            Barrow’s mentor, Colonel Lennox, had once said to him that “If you wanted to take it easy, you should have joined the Air Force.”  The Air Force had all the toys and none of the guts.  Barrow had joined the army because he wanted to do the real work.

            He looked at the commander of the little team, an air force Major in his late thirties.  He wasn’t a career officer, that was obvious.  He had the air of a distracted college professor and was busy chatting to one of the younger officers.  Henry did notice the impeccable uniform and the shine from his belt buckles and shoes.  He was certainly “strack”.

“Don’t like to fly?” asked the man sat next to Barrow.  Barrow glanced to the side and said nothing.

“Don’t like to talk neither then Captain?” said the same voice.

“In the army, a senior non com would still address me as sir.” Said Barrow. “Then again in the army, you guys would have flunked out in basic wouldn’t you?”  The air force sergeant laughed, it was a genuine laugh and Barrow felt himself loosen up a little bit.

“You got me there Captain, sir.  I’d never have made it in the army.  But here in the Air Force I make the grade.  May even excel every now and again.  I’m Sergeant Wooderson sir.”

“Captain Henry Barrow, US army.”

“So you’re the army liaison on this op then?” asked the Sergeant.

“Don’t remind me” Said Barrow sourly.  It reminded him of the meeting with Colonel Adams and the orders.  He was indeed the army liaison but it was clear that the Air Force regarded carrying him as the extent of their courtesy.  He was merely there to observe.  Major Dalton had full command and Captain Barrow was just to observe and advise.

“Observe and advise, that’s my brief.”  Said Barrow.

“Good luck with that one Captain sir.” Said Wooderson.  “No disrespect Captain sir but you ever worked with Major Dalton before?”

“Nope.  Never worked on an op like this with Zoomies before.”

“Well he’ll listen to everyone who can play at his level, don’t matter the color of his uniform or the rank.  But he don’t like to play games.  If you don’t make sense to him, he’ll just ignore every word you say.”

“Thanks.  Thanks for that advice” Said Barrow.

“No sweat Captain sir.  “Wooderson chuckled to himself.

            Barrow adjusted the safety straps again and tried not to think about the altitude, the speed or anything like it.  It didn’t seem to help very much.  Barrow felt his head swimming a little bit.

“How long have you known the Major then?” asked Dalton.

“A few years I guess.” Said Wooderson.

“Is he a good man?  I assume he must be to get this command?”
“Yeah he a good man sir.  I mean, for an officer anyway.”

“I assume that was meant with all due respect?” asked Barrow.

“Well of course it was Captain sir.”

“Yeah I thought as much.  What’s your field then?  If you’ve done air frame investigation before?”

“Metallurgy, I’m an air force engineer sir.  I do a bit of logistics too though.” Said Wooderson with a smile.

“Metallurgy?  You got a degree in that?” asked Barrow.

“Yeah but only from community college in Mobile.  Nothing special.”

“You didn’t want to be an officer then?” asked Barrow.

“Nah, nah sir.  I decided that I’m a digger, not a dreamer.” Replied Wooderson.

“Maybe you should have joined the army after all.” Said Barrow.

“I’ll try to take that as a compliment Captain sir.” Said Wooderson.

            There was one female officer on the helicopter.  Barrow noticed her early on.  She had a fresh face and short auburn hair.  “Perhaps the air force isn’t all bad” he thought to himself.  He got up to go and talk to her but was intercepted en-route.

“Probably shouldn’t move around during the flight Captain.” Said the other man.

“I don’t think we’ve met Captain.” Said Barrow back, trying to keep things light.

“No, we’ve not.  I’m Captain Dietz, Air Force.”

“Captain Henry Barrow, US Army.”

“I can tell you are from the army Captain.  It’s fairly obvious. But don’t worry, we’ve been moving you guys around for fifty years.”

“Lucky you’ve got us to do the fighting for you.” Said Barrow.  Dietz smiled and Barrow felt himself relax a little bit.  The two officers sat back down.

“The op is a strange one Captain.  Do you think that’s why the air force got preference over the army?” asked Dietz.  Barrow bit his lip for a second, an involuntary tell.

“I don’t know why the call was made.  I just know that those are, or were, army personnel on that plane.”

“Did you know any of them?” asked Dietz

“No, it’s a big army.” Replied Barrow.  He wondered what it was about the other branches of service that made them think that all army personnel knew each other.

“Well, we’ve got the ball now, that’s you included.”

“I hear that the Major doesn’t suffer fools.” Said Barrow.  Dietz’s expression changed almost imperceptibly.

“No, no he doesn’t.  But if you’re not a fool then you needn’t worry.” Replied Dietz.

“He’s a friend of yours?” asked Barrow, putting the pieces together.  They were probably of an age, more or less.  Yes of course they were friends.  Barrow cursed himself for his lack of tact.

“Yes he is.  We’ve worked together many times before.  If you’ve got a working brain and mouth and understand which to use and when, you’ll be fine.  The color of your uniform wont interest the Major.  Just the shade of your intellect.”

“I’ll be able to manage.” Said Barrow.

“I don’t doubt it.” Replied Dietz.

            A little later and they were discussing the operation, what the likely cause of the plane crash was, the likelihood of their being survivors and what they might be required to do. They also briefly discussed what the secret cargo might be.

“There’s no real sense in speculation” Said Dietz.  “We’ve got a job to do.  We’ll find out what this cargo is soon enough when we get there.”

“We might not.” Said Lt Chung.

“Why not?” asked Barrow, curious about the other young officer.

“A lot can happen to enescorted cargo once a plane has gone down.” Said Chung

“True but I doubt anyone will have been able to get up the mountain before us.”
“Unless they were already there.” Said Chung

“A suspicious mind”  noted Dietz.

“Yes indeed.  So you think the plane may have been brought down and the cargo stolen?”

“It’s a possibility” replied Chung, looking pleased with himself.

“In which case we’ll be required to try and recover it.” Said Barrow.

“You ever done a covert rescue operation?” asked Dietz.

Chung looked worried. “No sir.  I don’t know.”
“Well some on the job training might be coming up then.” Said Barrow, smiling.

“We’re not really equipped for that.” Said Chung, his tone much boyish than before.

“Aw Lieutenant, don’t worry.  We’ve got you covered.” Said one of the NCO’s.

Chung looked around at the wry smiles and then smiled and shook his head.

The kid can take a joke, thought Barrow.  There’s hope for him for sure.  He looked over at Major Dalton and read a stony expression.  But maybe he cant, thought Barrow.

Barrow had now spoken to all of the officers aboard, even the flyboy pilot Captain Ostrow and his strange, quiet co-pilot Wharton.

            The female officer had turned out to be a greener than grass Lieutenant, Hannah McPherson.  She’d seemed very nervous indeed and yet he figured she was a smart girl. The air force, to give its due, generally got the smart ones.

            There was a series of heavy bumps and Barrow looked around wildly.

“Dontcha worry none Captain.” Said another NCO, Sergeant Harrison.  “This bird’s just refueling.  It was a long flight!”

Barrow looked out the window and saw the copter was indeed refueling from a transport plane.  He shook his head and sat down.

“Air force has the coolest toys right?” Said Harrison.

“Yes it does.” Replied Barrow and then lapsed into nervous silence.

            A little later, another series of bumps and the chopper began it’s descent.  Major Dalton stood up at this point and took a microphone down from an overhead.

“Team, I’m Major Peter Dalton for those of you who don’t know me.  We’ve got a downed cargo bird.  Our job is to recover what we can from the crash site and then see if we cant figure out what caused her to go down.

            The brass says this is important and a secret, so no writing home about this one.  But if we all do our jobs properly, we’ll be out of there as soon as possible and have some vacation time coming to us when we get home.  Questions?”

“What are the odds of this being terrorist related?” asked Chung.

“Low but not out of the question.” Replied Dalton.

“So no action then?” asked Barrow.

“The odds are slim indeed.” Replied Dalton.

Chapter 1- Activated

Book 1

Airframe

Chapter 1        

Activated

Fairfax, Virginia, USA

A knock at the door, the dead of night.  Somewhere in his apartment a pager has been rattling away with a series of messages to phone command HQ.  A double bed lies empty, the covers scattered to one side and an air force uniform is hanging from a hanger over the back of the door.

            Somewhere else in this spacious apartment there is a shower that is drying, water already condensing on the mirrors.  Towels are neatly hung up on the racks, each one looking identical to the last one.  On the wash basin there is a razor back in its casing and the tell tale signs that a man has given himself a close shave already.

            Another knock at the door and then the silhouette of a man walks across the room.  He’s already half dressed in his uniform and is putting on a dress shirt over the top of a vest top that he had been wearing.  Fifty five minutes sleep had done him no favors at all.  On his way to the door he runs a hand through a smart haircut, his hair is thinning but still dark.

            The door opens and he puts a hand to his eyes to shield them against the glare, there are two air force issue hummers idling outside.  Their headlights illuminate him for the two air force non commissioned officers at his door.  Both had side-arms in holsters at their side and one of them has a sealed blue portfolio package.

“Major Dalton?” asks one of them.

“Yes” he replies.

“I’m sorry Major but we have orders to take you to the airstrip at Collville.  You need to leave right away.”

“Do I look ready to you Sergeant?” asks Dalton.

“No sir but…”
“Then give me a minute or two to grab my OD’s and we can all head off together.  You got written orders son?” asks the Major.

“Yes sir.  Countersigned right here sir.” Said the younger of the two NCO’s.

“Ok.” Major Dalton walks back into his apartment.  He leaves a note on his dresser, grabs his jacket and a shirt and walks out the door, locking the door behind him.  He gets into the first hummer and looks over at the driver, a senior NCO with two ten year badges on his uniform.  Career NCO’s, so this was something bad then.

            Of course it was, thought the Major.  You don’t get dragged out of your bed at two am if it’s good news.

            A short and quiet journey ended at a small airfield where an air force twin rotor helicopter was waiting, rotors already spinning.  Major Dalton looked around and saw that the copter was being loaded up.  Dalton saw men rushing around loading boxes of equipment.  A senior non-com was giving out orders but there was a barely restrained note of panic in the air.

            Dalton drew in a breath and let it out.  Almost unconsciously he straightened his uniform and put his air force cross pin back in place on his chest.  He looked around the air strip and saw there were other helicopters under their covers and a few other crew members standing around but it seemed like currently, his was the only game in town.

“Do you know what the op is Sergeant?” he asked.

“My end of it is just to get you here and then onto the bird sir.” Said one of the sergeants.

“Whose in command here?” asked Major Dalton.

“You are sir.” Said the youngest of the three NCO’s.

“I mean who gave this order.  I need some answers before I get aboard a bird to who knows where.” Asked Major Dalton.  He’d meant those words but was already walking towards the helicopter.  Of course he would go; he’d always go wherever they sent him.  But this mission was a total secret at the moment and he would feel better to know that someone was officially taking care of it.

“That’s a reasonable request.” Said a gruff voice.  Stood in the shadows was an air-force general.  “I’m Brigadier general Michael Kaufman. Whilst you’re in command of this operation, I gave authorization for it.”

“Yes general” said Dalton, snapping to attention.  “Anything you can tell me before we get underway?”

“Only that it’s a top secret mission, only your crew will be briefed on it.  We chose you Major, out of all available personnel we chose you.”
Peter Dalton smiled. Available; technically he wasn’t available at the moment.  He’d been put on a seventy two hour stand-down.  But the air force needed him so here he was none the less.

“In which case sir I’ll get the job done, whatever it is.  I’d like to request Captain Roman Dietz and Captain Michael Fryer are put onto this mission staff if available.”

“I figured you’d say that and we got Captain Dietz for you.  Captain Fryer is unavailable at this point so we got you a decent man to cover him.  I know you like to work with a regular crew but this isn’t a regular op.  Just get it done Major.”

“Yes sir.” Said Dalton.  He turned, grabbing a mission portfolio off a crew chief on his way.  The general watched them tensely from the ground and only began to relax after the chopper took off.

           

Peter Dalton sat down inside the helicopter and opened up the folder.  He ignored the other officers aboard the chopper, what could he tell them right now?  He didn’t know what they’d been called together for, he didn’t know where they were going.  No it was better to familiarize himself with the mission and then from there he could better brief them.

“Major?” said a plaintive voice.  Dalton dismissed the speaker with a wave of his hand from behind his briefing papers.

To Major P Dalton

An army air transport bringing an important cargo back from the Antarctic has crashed in the Andes, near Venezuela.  Your team are to investigate the crash, recover any survivors and material and return to the Marine base in Las Navas.  Any materials that cannot be recovered should be destroyed.

This mission is highly sensitive and all of its details are code-word cleared.

Yours

Brigadier General M Kaufman

Dalton took a moment to think about the mission, to think about what it might entail.  He re-read the technical read outs of the army transport that had gone down, a crew of nine missing or dead.  The cargo was in two large wooden crates and apparently posed no radioactive threat.  What was implied by the orders was that the cargo was of vital importance.

            Dalton finally looked up from the orders and saw the team, illuminated in the strange glow of the helicopter’s blood red internal light.  He recognized one face for sure, he’d worked with Roman Dietz a number of times before.  The others looked like there were almost all officers.  One of them, the one who had spoken to him before, looked and sounded very young indeed.  “Twenty two.” thought Dalton

“We’ve met haven’t we?” asked Major Dalton to the younger officer.  The lieutenant nodded and smiled back.

“Yes sir.  I’m Lieutenant Chung.  We worked together about two months ago.  You were the principal investigator, I was just another Louey in the background.”

“I’m terrible with names” said Dalton “so forgive me.  Well it’s good to have you aboard.”  He passed the mission profile over to the younger officer.  “Read that and tell me what you think.”

The young man’s brow furroughed as he read, as if he was trying to make sense of some ancient document or a complex code.  But it wasn’t the tell tale sign of stupidty, this was a better sign.  This was the sign of somebody who considered things carefully. 

“Permission to speak candidly sir.”  Asked the Lieutenant.  Dalton looked at him with a wry look on his face.

“Permission granted.”

“There isn’t much there.  We aren’t being given the whole story.  Not even a dust jacket.”
“No” said Dalton with a smile “We’re not being told nearly enough.”
“I wonder why” asked the Lieutenant.

“No sense in asking.” Replied the voice of experience.

Mere Anarchy

Hey folks

This blog will serve up a new chapter of my story I'm working on at the moment, more or less one a day.  I'm planning 5 chapters a week (and I've given myself a decent head start to get running).

Follow along here and back on Facebook.  This story is being written for myself and for whomever is reading, it's not meant for wider publication so no need to worry about that.  Constructive criticism is very welcome, as is honest praise

Anyway, story will commence in the next blog!  I hope your excited