Chapter 20

Seal Team 2’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Fitz Morrison, said, “I just finished talking on the radio with Captain Charles. He directed us to deploy to Blocking Post 4 tomorrow.”

Ensign Kenneth Bilart said, “Yep. When you received the written orders for Troop 2 to prepare to deploy to Post 4, we knew you and Sam would be leaving soon.”

Ensign Samuel Burr said, “My time here at the Inn has been nice, guys. But, we no sooner get everything set up real nice, and I have to leave. I’m going to miss it.”

“Sam,” Fitz said, “from what I hear Lieutenant Bennet’s people also have a nice setup at Post 4, so we won’t need to start from scratch.

“Besides, I’m the one who is going to have to commute between the two locations.”

Ken said, “That’ll be tough on your Bond Group, Fitz. Have you decided where you want to have them set up?”

“No, I haven’t. My ladies and I have talked about that. We decided to wait until Troop 2 has settled in at Post 4. Once that happens, I’ll know the advantages and disadvantages of both locations, and we’ll make a decision then.”

Ken asked, “What does Ciara have to say about where your Bond Group should live?”

“She and my other ladies have mixed feelings about that, Ken. Ciara thinks we should split up with two of my Bond Mates at each location. Lyla is in favor of living here at Post 1. Alicia doesn’t like it here, so she would opt for Teichert or the Ark. Josephine is happy in the Ark, but she also wants to be with me and the rest of our Bond Mates. Overall, we want to be together, but there is no single place that will satisfy all of us.”

Sam said, “I sort of know what you mean, Fitz. My women want to be with me, but they also want to stay in the Ark. I think they’re worried that it won’t be safe for the two of them outside the Ark.”

Ken said, “I can understand that, Sam. If you stop and really think about it, the Ark is a lot safer and more comfortable place to be than here or any of the Blocking Posts and SCCs. Living in the Ark is sort of a security blanket. After all, the four Blocking Posts are the most likely locations to be attacked if a hostile force is headed our way.”

Fitz said, “That’s true, Ken. I’ve given that a bit of thought since we first arrived, and I’m not very happy with locating my Bond Group near us in Applegate. We don’t want to locate them to the north of the Inn and the only locations south of the Inn don’t seem like safe locations for our Bond Groups. If they are east of the highway, there is only one evacuation route, and if an aggressor force were to move in south of them they would be trapped. It’s a similar situation with them west of the highway if an aggressor force came at us from the west along Meadow Gate Road.

“Ken, when we set up housing for Troop 1’s Bond Groups, we need to locate them further south than Applegate. We can discuss exactly where later.”

“Okay, Fitz. I never thought about evacuation routes in this area, but now that you pointed it out, I can see the problems that might cause.”

Fitz said, “I also think we need to wait before we start setting up our homes. The Abandoned Property issue hasn’t been settled. There is talk of the Ark creating government issued homes for the Army, and that may be a better solution than buying a home and then getting reassigned.

“The last time I was in the Ark, I listened to one of Jon’s evening broadcasts. I’ve also heard the Legal Department ruled there are no laws that would stop the Advisory Council from claiming all of the Abandoned Property in the Auburn area. Jon is having the Legal Department write a few laws to address mismanagement of the property the Ark claims and to address what is to be done with the Abandoned Property the Ark doesn’t claim.”

Sam said, “That doesn’t make a lot of sense, Fitz. You’re saying The Ark is going to claim everything and then it is going to abandon part of what it claims. Why claim it and then abandon it?”

Ken said, “I know, Sam. My Bond Mate Emily really wants to join us here, so she is following that situation. She told me that the Advisory Council considered having the Habitation Department be responsible for managing the effort to claim the Abandoned Property. Emily says they woke up to the fact that it will become a major effort with a very large staff. So, now it is going to be a brand new department.

“The Habitation Department no longer needs two Vice-Presidents. Mistress Samantha Reppa will give up her current co-Vice President position with the Habitation Department and become the Vice President of the new Property Department. From what Emily said, claiming everything was done so someone would have ownership of property that had no owners, but the Ark then realized it had no need for a lot of what it claimed. Mistress Reppa’s new department will sort through everything the Ark claims, and decide what to keep and what the Ark doesn’t need.”

Fitz said, “That’s all interesting and I hope they get things settled so all of us can have our Bond Groups join us out here. Sam, you need to go inform your Chiefs that we’re moving tomorrow, so they can get packed up.”

“Alright, Fitz. I talked to my CPOs two days ago. According to them, almost all the Troop’s equipment is packed and ready to go. We were expecting the order to deploy would be given within a day or two of us receiving the written orders, so all my men need to do is throw their personal gear into their packs, and they will be ready to go. Chief King says we could easily be ready to move out with a four-hour notice.”

“Okay, Sam. Go ahead and put the word out that it is official. Your men may have a few last minute things to do.”

After Sam left the Headquarters’ office, Fitz said, “Ken, I’ll be at Post 4 until we have the situation there under control. Then I’ll be moving back and forth between the two Posts at weekly intervals. I think we discussed everything, but do you have any last minute questions or concerns?”

“Nope. Nothing comes to mind, Fitz. My men and I will just sit here fat, dumb, and happy until something comes up and then we’ll handle whatever that something is.

“Our foraging parties will be smaller, but that shouldn’t be a problem for we know the Colfax area, and except for a few of the survivors who chose to live in Colfax, everyone was evacuated to Auburn. The few people remaining in the city know us and they know we aren’t a threat to them, since we aren’t scavenging food from their city. Overall we have an amiable relationship with them.

“We basically scavenge food and other critical resources from the empty homes and stores on each side of the highway between Colfax and here. So far, when the Platoon on scavenging duty ran into survivors, we outnumbered them and had more firepower. But so far, all the survivors we encountered were happy to join us and we sent them to Auburn. If the survivors had been strong enough to be a threat to the Platoon, then we would have pulled back to a safe position, and notified you. You would have deployed our backup and called in the Quick Reaction Force, which you would have sent to our location.”

“With our reduced manpower, I’ll still be sending out a full Seal Platoon instead of a Seal Troop for scavenging duty, so that part hasn’t really changed very much. The only change will be here at the Inn. When the scavenging party goes out, the other Platoon will be here. If our scavenging party runs into trouble, I will call Seal Team 1 for the Quick Reaction Force to back us up. Once I know they are on the way, I’ll take the Platoon that is at the Inn and go support the scavenging party.”

“That will leave the post unmanned, Ken. What if a hostile group moves in and takes over the Blocking Post?”

“I don’t think that is likely, Fitz. Seal Team 1’s people will be here in less than twenty minutes after I leave with the second Platoon. If I’m wrong, Seal Team 1 will get here before the hostile force can get organized and Seal Team 1 will probably put down the hostile force. If necessary, additional units will be deployed to help Seal Team 1 wipe them out and retake the Blocking Post.”

“Yes, that will work; but the Quick Reaction Force will have to leave some people at the Inn, when they continue on to support the Troop.

“What are you going to do if a hostile force attacks you while the scavenging party is gone?”

“Heck, Fitz, we both know that at the first sign of a large party coming at us, even if it doesn’t seem hostile, I’ll call for backup, and before you ask, I call for backup if the group has more than twenty people or if the group has more than five armed people.”

“Good. We’ve both read the new policy regarding calling Seal Team 1, Sam. I don’t like the idea of calling for backup, unless I think I’m going to have a problem I can’t handle. Personally, I don’t see how twenty unarmed people would be a problem for us. But as Captain Charles pointed out, twenty apparently unarmed people whose weapons are out of sight can suddenly turn into twenty people armed with automatic weapons who are shooting at you and you will need immediate backup if that happens.”

“I agree with you, Fitz. I’ve got a Troop of thirty heavily armed Seals, and I doubt we would ever have a group of people come at us that we couldn’t handle; especially with us behind the barricade. However, I can picture some asshole infiltrating his people through the forest and taking up firing positions along the tree line. Since that is a possibility, I would feel more comfortable if I knew a Troop from Seal Team 1 was headed in our direction. You can believe me that I’ll be more than willing to scream for help if there is even the hint of a fire-fight.”

That evening Fitz Morrison, Sam Burr, and the men of Troop 2 packed their remaining belongings in preparation for their deployment to Blocking Post 4.

The next morning, Troop 2 drove through the open gate of the barricade and headed south on Highway 80.

“Ark 4, Seal 2. Over”

“Go Seal 2. Over.”

“Troop 2 is deploying to Blocking Post 4. Over.”

“Roger, Seal 2. Ark 4 out.”

Turning to Chief Woodard, Ensign Bilart said, “Close the gate, Chief. When you’re done with that, I want you to find Chief Kaner and the two of you come see me in the office.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Ten minutes later, Ensign Bilart and Chiefs Kaner and Woodard were seated around a table in the Inn’s office.

“Gentlemen, it’s beginning to look like we are going to be here for a long time. Yesterday I asked you to think about the way we have been doing things, and how we should go about doing the same things with fewer people.”

Looking at Chief Kaner, Burr said, “What are your thoughts on the new guard arrangements, Chief?”

“Well, the shifts are half the size, but minimally adequate. Chief Woodard and I decided we would do the administrative effort during the day. We also decided we would split our Platoons into two details and we would put our Petty Officers in charge of the details. That gives us four seven-man details.

“We set the guard duty up as one person in each gun truck and four one-man guard positions. The Senior PO of the guard detail will function as a roaming guard who checks the guard positions in addition to checking everything between the barricade and the tree line.”

Chief Woodard said, “We should be okay there, Sir. My main concern is the foraging parties. A fourteen-man patrol is okay for close-in scavenging. However with only half the people here at the Inn, we need to rethink how we operate when we’re in Colfax.

“Up to now, we haven’t worried about someone approaching us for a Seal Troup is too large of a group for a small group to attack and we would be able to spot any large group in the area. We also knew that if we were attacked, we would quickly be reinforced. Once I got to thinking about that, I realized we had overlooked the possibility of a large group moving in before we got into town and ambushing us. We got lucky for something like that might have gotten us into serious trouble in the past.

“I think that from now on we need to reconnoiter any town we go into before we start scavenging. When we know the town is clear, we should set up guard posts on all of the approaches into town.”

Ensign Bilart said, “I agree, Chief. In retrospect, Ensign Burr and I were too eager to get our Troops into town, find what we needed, and get home. From now on, we’ll make reconnoitering a town and setting up guard posts our Standard Operating Procedure. Brief your POs on our new SOP. What will the scavenging party do if it is attacked?”

Chief King said, “Not a problem, Sir. Chief Woodard and I think that at the first indications of hostility, our scavenging team should break contact and pull back toward the Inn. You said you would be bringing the other Platoon to support the scavenging Platoon’s withdrawal. If we need it, Seal Team 1 will be additional backup. Our two Seal Platoons should be strong enough to counterattack and deal with any hostiles we find with no problems, but we will have Seal Team 1’s support also.”

“Sounds good to me, Chief.”

Turning to Chief Woodard, he asked, “Anything to add, Chief?”

“No, Sir. Chief Kaner and I agreed on the approach last night.”

Ensign Bilart said, “I want to make a change to our work parties. We have more than enough firewood to see us through the winter.

“I had been thinking of working on the homes our Bond Groups would need when we relocated them to here. The Lieutenant told me that he has changed his mind about bringing our Bond Groups to Applegate; he thinks they might be in danger if we were to be attacked. The way he explained it, I have to agree with him. He thinks we should locate them further south, but should wait to see if the Ark will provide military housing.

“Since my plan has been blown out of the water, I think we should put the men to work improving our living quarters here at the Inn. We may also want to improve our defensive position, but I don’t have anything in mind right now.”

Kaner said, “The thought of moving our families into this area gave me an uncomfortable nagging feeling, Sir. I sort of look at this entire area as a combat zone and I don’t want my family anywhere near here if we get into a firefight with bullets flying in every direction. There are very few roads heading south, so that could be a problem if they had to quickly evacuate from this area.

“Back before the meteoroids, my wife and I made friends with a couple that lived just north of Bowman. There are a lot of real nice three thousand plus square foot homes where they lived, and you could evacuate in almost any direction.”

Woodard added, “I think he’s talking about that area to the northeast of the airport. If so, that is a really nice area, Sir. Before we moved up here from San Diego, my wife and I were thinking of buying a home in the area. That area was one of our preferred areas, but we couldn’t afford the payments. Then, we found out about the reality of the meteoroids and we were more than happy to move into the Ark.”

Ensign Bilart said, “I’m not familiar with the area around the airport, but I’ll take your word for it being a suitable area to live in; especially if the Ark is willing to turn it into military housing. That area is about six miles from here. I’m not sure if Lieutenant Morrison and Captain Charles will find our people’s response time acceptable. However, Seal Team 1 will be about eight miles from here and they should be able to get here before the on-duty guard shift is overrun.

“I suppose one way of looking at it is, our primary purpose here at the Inn is to alert the Ark to any hostile force moving toward Auburn. Calling for support will accomplish that purpose, so the Captain and General may be willing to live with an extended response time if we are willing to endure an attack for the time it takes to get our people back to the Inn. How do you think the men are going to feel about that?”

Chiefs Kaner and Woodard looked at each other and then Woodard said, “I can live with that, Sir, and I think the men will feel that way also. Personally, I doubt we will be attacked in the way everyone is worried about. Therefore, I would like to be able to go home to my Bond Group when my shift here at the Inn is over.”

Kaner said, “I agree with Chief Woodard, Sir. We will check with our people to see what they want to do, but I think they will agree with us that a full-scale attack by an overwhelming force is extremely unlikely.”

Ensign Bilart said, “Personally, I agree with the two of you and your rationale. I doubt we need to make a decision about moving our Bond Groups out of the Ark in the near future, so I’ll talk with Lieutenant Morrison when he gets back here.

“Seal 6, Seal 2. Over.”

“Go Seal 2. Over.”

“We will be arriving at your location in about fifteen minutes. Over.”

“Roger, Seal 2. We’ve been expecting you. I’ll let my people know you are almost here. Seal 6 out.”

Seal Team 6’s guard shift directed Troop 1 to make a left turn into the quarry. A pickup truck pulled out in front of them and it led them to the parking area. As Lieutenant Morrison exited his vehicle, he was met by Lieutenant Carlo Bennett and Ensigns Macey Yanetta and Isaac Nichols.

“Morning, Fitz. I see you found us. How was the trip?”

“Just a quiet Sunday drive, Carlo, if you discount a deer herd almost overrunning us while crossing the highway. Anything interesting here since we last talked?”

“Nah! Just the usual routine.”

Ensign Bilart joined them and Fitz said, “Carlo, I believe you and your Ensigns know Ensign Burr.”

“Yeah, we met once before we went into lockdown. He and your other Ensign were part of our opposition force during one of the field exercises we held. If I recall, they and my Ensigns went out drinking together when the exercise ended.”

“Yes, that was an interesting bit of training. I just hope things don’t go the way the exercise’s scenario did.”

“Fitz, let’s go to the office and talk over coffee. While we do that, Macey and Isaac can brief Ensign Burr on our defensive arrangements.”

“Sounds good to me, Carlo. Sam, tell the men to take a break and wait for us here. Then take Chiefs King and Cirque, and your POs with you on the tour. They may have a few questions about how things are done here.”

The Ensigns left on their tour and Carlo and Fitz headed for the office. Once they were settled with cups of coffee, Fitz said, “What were your plans for this Post, Carlo?”

“Do you recall the planning meetings we were in regarding setting up the Blocking Posts before lockdown, Fitz?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“My Ensigns and I gamed the threat to this Post by putting ourselves in the position of a hostile force’s commander. The way we saw it, a large force heading for Auburn from the coast or from Sacramento would be coming up Highway 80 or 193. A force from Stockton and from further south would be coming up 5 or 99 and then up 80. Those forces would not be coming through here.

“When we looked for the source of a force coming at us up 49, the most likely sources were from Reno and the Lake Tahoe areas. We felt a force from those areas would most likely settle in Placerville or somewhere between there and Sacramento. We felt any force heading for Auburn would stick to the major highways, but we also realized there was a possibility of them heading north on 49, so we prepared our defenses to intercept a large force, even though we expected a small force.

“Back then, Post 4 was to be a short-term blockade. According to the original schedule and plan, we would be finished with Stage 3 and in control of Placerville within two years and the Post would no longer be required. When we returned to the surface and learned that the start date of Stage 3 had taken a major hit, we had to change our plans.”

“Yeah, Carlo, I know what you mean. My people knew Post 1 was going to be a long-term proposition from the start, so we deployed with the intent of setting up a Post that would be occupied for more than thirty years. Your situation was very different.”

“Yeah, you can say that again. Anyway, the closest town to the south of us is Cool, where Highway 193 merges into 49; that intersection is only a mile down the highway. About a quarter of a mile to the south of where you turned off the highway, the highway makes a bend to the left. Our defenses are planned to stop a group of people before they can make their way through that quarter-mile section of highway.