Chapter 17

Monday

My com’s alarm woke me at 0430 so I could join the troops in the mess hall by 0530. After showering with Idania, I made sure to check my boots before putting them on. We woke the rest of the women, warning them to check their shoes, even though I had already scanned them. Gina and Jackie both squealed in fright and jumped back on the bed, even though my mental check of their shoes turned up nothing. I gave everyone a kiss goodbye. “Work with Idania on her English,” I reminded the girls, probably unnecessarily.

“The base commander told us yesterday that we could eat in the mess and invited us back whenever we wanted to come,” Sally said proudly.

“But we’re going to be rather busy starting the Lucky J, unless you find us another wife we need to come interview,” Dijonae added, giggling when she commented about finding another wife.

They were still getting dressed when I left for the mess hall. I met Cooper and the others coming out of the barracks on the way to the mess hall. “I didn’t expect to see you up this early,” he kidded me.

“They were gentle last night,” I retorted, making everyone around us laugh.

My wives arrived for breakfast just as we were leaving. The entire team watched as a dozen women made their way past me, each stopping to give me a hug and kiss. “Dijonae and I are going to hurry home so we can be there when the construction crews arrive,” Sally said. “The others will each sling one of the horses beneath their sleds. The rest are going to stop at the ship again to get more grain. I’m sure we can plant some of it. We can even give some to local charities or to the people living in Tensas Parish.”

“That’s going to make for a long day,” I warned.

“We know, but it should be worth it,” she replied, giving me a quick kiss and a swat on the butt. The entire team was laughing at me as the girls headed for the serving lines.

“You have some very capable wives,” Torres commented.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” I replied, grinning.

We headed for the briefing room again, but it was a quick visit. The base commander told us that twenty-three messengers had left during the night, and they tracked them all. So far this morning, they’d captured eleven groups totaling almost fifteen hundred rebels. They were currently engaged with one group, and were preparing to attack six more groups. The remaining five groups of rebels were those farthest from the entrances. They hadn’t left their locations yet.

“The army has no use for the 528 horses and mules they rode or had pulling farm wagons hiding the rebel troops, so they’re yours if you want them. A few of the troops who know horses say they’re excellent animals,” the commander told me.

“I’d love to have them but getting that many horses home will be a problem. The seven we captured yesterday will take a good ten hours to get home,” I replied.

“I have a feeling that we’re about to break the back of the rebellion here. If so, I’ll make sure they get back. The cost of flying a cargo plane here and back is much less than what we spend a day just at this base,” he offered.

“Thanks, I’ll kick in money for the hay, oats, straw, and anything else they need,” I promised, glad that I’d brought a wad of cash with me. The $2,800 G3s I’d made--betting that I’d finish the courses in the allotted time my first day--would come in handy.

Lt. Commander Ferguson took a turn, telling us that we’d be clearing the remaining tunnels today. He wanted me to do another inspection of the tunnels from the air to make sure there were no nasty surprises waiting for us. Then he’d have Blue Squad secure the tunnels and confiscate everything they found. He wanted four fire teams from Red Squad to help any of the Army units engaging the rebels, one fire team for each engagement.

“With the sleds, you should be able to end the firefight quickly,” he said. “I want the fifth fire team with Jim so we can immediately respond to anything he finds. Any questions?”

“Should we gather confiscated weapons and such in one location, bring them back here, or set up holding points in several spots?” Cooper asked.

Ferguson looked questioningly at the base commander. “Collect them here and here,” he said, pointing to locations near the western and southern exits of the eastern tunnel complex. “Choose a location where one or two choppers can land safely and load easily. Mark the location with a locator beacon and com me with the radio frequency to activate it. If you think someone might show up trying to get the weapons back, have a fire team stay with them. If the location is someplace secure, go ahead and leave them unguarded.”

“What about the troops Jim said were in the tunnels?” someone else asked. Ferguson looked at me. I held up a finger indication to wait a minute and closed my eyes.

“I think they’re still in the same location as last night, although I’m not sure what they’re doing right now. I’ll keep you updated. We should reach the entrances before they do, no matter which one they use,” I replied several seconds later.

We were dismissed and performed the perfunctory salutes. The base commander walked over to me. “Can I ask how you do whatever it is that you do?” he queried.

“It’s an old Algonquin ceremony that only the most promising hunters went through. My uncle went through it when he was a boy and performed the ceremony with me. It taught me how to expand my consciousness to let me see things as if I were outside my own body. I can zoom in on something so close it’s like having a magnifying glass. By using it all the time, I can use it while I have my eyes open. When I went through the minefield obstacle course, I could see the booby traps and mines before I even reached the beginning of the course.

“The more I use the ability, the stronger I get with it. I can reach out more than half a klick to see things now, but only get general impressions beyond that. Since the tunnels are less than half a klick below the mountain’s surface, I can even see into the tunnels through the dirt and rock. That’s what I just did a minute ago, even though they’re much farther than half a klick. All I got was a general impression that they weren’t alarmed. Cooper says that I close my eyes and tilt my head when I’m concentrating on something. I guess that closing my eyes is more of a habit than a necessity, although it lets me concentrate better.”

“What I wouldn’t do for one or two more men with your ability,” he sighed.

I quickly joined the team as they donned their armor and pulled their weapons and extra ammo. Everyone made sure their weapons were loaded. While they did that, I stripped and cleaned my 10 mm since I’d been remiss in doing so yesterday. Then I pulled a case of tranq darts and reloaded it.

We were in the air by 0615. “The rebel patrol in the center tunnel complex headed north. They’ll reach the exit about the same time we do, but they have to stash their grav sleds,” I warned Cooper. He commed each of his fire teams and updated them, telling them to let the sleds with the tranq rounds surround and then take down the group after they were away from the exit. Evidently, the Army had gotten confirmation yesterday from several of the rebel troops that had been forced to fight about everything I had learned and surmised about the tunnel system so far.

The door to the north tunnel entrance opened and the rebels emerged a few minutes after Cooper got our troops set up. Once the door closed, the rebels moved quietly through the jungle in a single file. They were headed for one of the towns of indigenous Mayangna people, just like the group that attacked Idania’s village. Cooper let them get about two klicks away from the entrance before hitting them. The five sleds with tranq rounds made quick, nearly silent work of downing the rebels. Any sounds were covered by the noise of the jungle behind them or blocked by the closed cave door.

Just like the group that went to Idania’s village Saturday, only part of the troops came out of the tunnel. The rest were probably awaiting their return, ready to go looking for them if they didn’t. Cooper gave the five sleds time to reload and had them head for the tunnel entrance. The rebel troops inside were relaxing, not expecting any trouble. They did have their weapons close, but with no sounds of a firefight, they were resting or playing cards. Several even had their weapons disassembled, cleaning them.

Just outside the entrance, I faced the door and spread my arms in a narrow V to show the riders of the five sleds where the rebel troops were positioned. The first rider would enter and spray tranq rounds to the right side of the tunnel. The second sled would follow right on his tail and target the left side. The third sled would enter and carefully target any individuals still standing on the right while the fourth sled targeted individuals on the left. I confirmed that they had their shielding up and then I stood at the door.

When Cooper nodded, I yanked the door open, to the surprise of the rebels inside. Three or four seconds elapsed while they just looked at the door, expecting it to be one of their men coming back inside. By the time they reacted, nearly half of their number were already down. The rebels managed to get off maybe twenty shots before the last one fell. Cooper quickly hollered for a sitrep and heaved a sigh of relief that none of his people had been hit.

They’d been ducked down behind the nose and windscreen of their sleds. That way, even if the shielding failed, the grav sled would take the hits, not them. The composite on the grav sleds was tough enough to handle anything the rebels were armed with. When we checked the sleds carefully and found no scuff marks or impact points indicating that any of the rebels’ rounds had impacted the sleds. Don’s work would appreciate that info.

While the troops gathered the rebel weapons and made sure the rebels were securely shackled, I began the process of identifying the rebels who were here involuntarily. I’d look at each man and assign a “threat index” number to them. Weaponless, shackled, and unconscious, the actual rebels rated about ten to fifteen out of a hundred. The ones who had been forced to fight for the rebels rated a one. Most rated from one to three. I wrote each of their threat index numbers on their forehead and the backs of both hands with a permanent marker.

I explained my system to Lt. Grant, suggesting that they determine why those with a three were slightly higher than the ones and twos before releasing them. Four of the men rated between twelve and fifteen. I suspected they were officers in the rebel forces.

While Blue Squad finished dealing with the rebels and their gear, I made a flight above the mountain, scanning the tunnels to confirm that they were deserted, and that no ugly surprises awaited us. I took my time, first scanning the known tunnels. Once I did that, I scanned deeper in the rock of the mountain. It’s difficult to explain what I see doing that. If there is an air pocket like a cave or a tunnel, I can see inside the pocket, even in complete darkness.

Without the air pocket, scanning through rock just yields a view of darkness. I can’t see layers in the rock or any other details like that. Occasionally, as with the deposits of ore I spotted yesterday, I see a hazy cloud-like area that I think of as an aura. I have no idea why I can see the auras of certain minerals, but not of things like granite and other types of rocks. Scanning the area around the central tunnel complex, I saw a large area with the reddish color I associate with copper. There were small pockets of gold and silver, but they seemed too deep and too small to make commercial mining profitable.

I did see a large area with an aura but had no idea what the light gray color indicated. It was similar to the aura of silver but was different enough that I didn’t think it was silver, and it wasn’t platinum. Cooper commed me to let me know they were almost finished. He was ready to release some of the fire teams. I assured him that the tunnels in the center tunnel complex appeared safe. There were twice as many weapons in the armory near the center of the complex than we had found in the western tunnel complex.

When Lt. Commander Ferguson commed to let me know that all the groups of rebel reinforcements had been captured or killed, I gave him the same report about the tunnels and he sent Red squad to help check the remaining tunnels in the central complex, as well as to help remove the rebel’s weapons. When Cooper heard that, he brought his fire team and one other to accompany me while I scouted the eastern tunnel complex again.

By the time the central complex had been cleared of weapons and supplies and the beacons had been planted, I had thoroughly surveyed the eastern tunnel complex, and had also determined that there were no other tunnel complexes besides these three. There were three western exits from the eastern complex, although only one appeared to be used for traffic. The other two were dedicated to the electric wiring from the generators. While those two entrances and tunnels were big enough for sleds to use, the only outside trails from those tunnels were rugged foot paths that led down steep and rocky slopes to the hidden underwater generators.

The main east-west tunnel was the only tunnel exiting to the east. The northeast tunnel was the only tunnel exiting to the north, and there were three tunnels to the south with two branching off from the northeast-southeast tunnel. One of those two went southwest, and one due south.

I spent nearly an hour studying the main underground city and was surprised to find no rebel leaders there. I found them within minutes of beginning my study of the mining town. The nine leaders were in a deep discussion about what the absence of the outside reinforcements they had called for meant, especially with the gold delivery reported to be missing. Their scouts had done a thorough search this morning and found no signs of a struggle. The tracks for the horses and carts just stopped, as if they’d been abducted by a UFO. None of their spies in town had reported any U.S. troops in the area that might have stumbled upon the delivery and there were no tracks leading away from the trail.

The most disturbing thing to them was that the sentry above the main entrance was also missing, again with no sign of foul play. There was no blood found anywhere. They wondered if one of the nine rebel factions they had so carefully united was involved, despite making sure each faction had an equal voice in the leadership. They were questioning one of the leaders since his faction was the only one that didn’t have a driver or sentry last night. He was still protesting his innocence when Cooper commed me to let me know everyone else was headed back to the base.

I spent a few more minutes checking defensive positions and preparations at the mining town when I noticed what looked like an old electric school bell on the wall near their armory. Following the wires, I found one that went from the northeast entrance and then up to a switch inside a well-fortified, thoroughly camouflaged bunker high above the entrance. The bunker looked like a normal outcropping of rock and I couldn’t believe that I had missed it before and worried about what else I might have missed.

I followed a second wire from the “school bell” and found that it went south through the tunnel thirty-two klicks to the main underground village and a switch there. There was also a school bell near the switch there. After that, I made one last trip around the eastern tunnel complex. I performed a much more thorough search around the entrances until I was satisfied that I hadn’t missed any more sentry bunkers. I did find teams of troops just inside each entrance except the two with the electrical wires from the generators. I noticed that each of these groups had a radio, something I hadn’t seen from the rebels before; I wondered if the radios would even work in the tunnels.

“All done,” I commed Cooper.

“It must have been interesting,” he teased me.

“Oh yeah,” I replied.

As we neared our base, I noticed that a large, fenced area that had previously held pallets of what I thought were supplies for the base was now being populated with large tents. I pointed at the area and looked at Cooper questioningly.

“They’re setting up a compound to detain our prisoners and any future rebels we capture until we question them. Once you identify the dangerous ones, they’ll release the others. They’ll probably split it into two sections to keep the dangerous ones separate from the ones you haven’t checked,” he explained.

Everyone was waiting impatiently for us when we got back. There was a buffet style lunch laid out for us, even though it was early afternoon. Cooper steered me away from the food and toward Lt. Commander Ferguson. Seeing us headed that way, the base commander and Lieutenants Palmer and Grant joined us.

“Find something?” Ferguson asked me when he saw Cooper shepherding me his way.

“Several things,” I replied as I drew a quick, freehand sketch of the tunnel complex. “Very important is the hidden bunker above the northeast entrance. They have a warning bell to alert everyone in the two towns,” I explained as I showed where the two towns were.

“Second, the rebel leaders are in the mining town, not the main village like I would have expected. We can cut the head off the snake by entering one or both of these two tunnels,” I said, pointing to the two tunnels where the power entered for the main town. “If we cut the wire to the alarms, the towns are isolated and can’t warn the other if they see us, or when we begin the attack. We can even cut power to the main town if we want to.

“Build thick walls of ballistic gel here and here,” I said, motioning to where the two side tunnels for electricity intersected the main northeast tunnel. “That will block any noise of an attack on one town from reaching the other. It will also give our troops defensive positions in what I feel is the primary tunnel and prevent rebel troops from moving from one town to the other.

“The last thing is that the union between the nine different factions of the rebel forces may be starting to fray. They couldn’t find any blood or other signs of an attack on the gold delivery yesterday and none of their spies in town reported any U.S. troops in the area. They have no idea what happened to the gold delivery. They were grilling one of the faction leaders when I left.

“We need to move tonight to take advantage of this,” Ferguson said, looking at the base commander.

“If you can set up a defensible position where Jim suggested, we can feign an attack on one of the southern entrances to draw their troops that way.

“If you attack the southernmost entrance, they may try to flank you by sending troops out from the southeast and southwest entrances,” I warned.

“So, we should have drones covering every entrance and keep four forces in reserve, as well as helicopters to respond to any flanking attempt by rebel reinforcements,” the base commander replied, grinning.

“I put transmitters at each of the air intake and exhaust openings for both the main town and the capital. You can still introduce KJ-163 gas through the intake vents if necessary. They have gas masks, but they’re in the armory so they have to make it to the armory to get a gas mask.