Chapter 16

The following new character appears in this chapter and others:

Riordan O’Foghladh

President of Parthas, 5’-9’’ tall, 195 pounds, 54 years old, gray hair, gray eyes

Arriving at the Colonel’s office, we found Captain Roanoke already there on other business. We waited until he had finished.

“Have you found anything?” the Colonel asked turning to us.

“Yes sir, we have a better picture of the object, but it still isn’t a good picture. It is close enough though, that Eachna recognized what it is. The original colonists have had trouble with them also. It appears that the Army here is able to seal the units so that it isn’t possible to detect the scent of the explosives in it, but that also means that they are not that reliable since the working elements are also enclosed, according to her,” I told the Colonel.

“Also sir, O’Flannagain remembered that there was no sound of a Magic alarm when she cast her wards following the initial shots and the explosion,” I told her.

“All right. Record all of that in an interview and have it forwarded to the Admiral in a message for his information,” she told me. “Include the background information on the Magic alarm also,” she added.

“Is that why Clare didn’t detect the device?” Captain Roanoke asked.

“Yes, they developed them so our dogs couldn’t detect them,” Eachna told him.

“What can we do about them?” Roanoke asked.

“We keep wards around our people to counter them,” Eachna told him.

“That could present problems with the limited number of Magic users available,” Roanoke said expressing all of our feelings.

“We’ll just have to see how things develop. Get all of this information recorded and sent off with my signature,” the Colonel told us again.

I took O’Flannagain and Eachna over to the conference room and made a video of their testimony as well as explaining about the Magic alarms, and how they worked and were used. The video was then transmitted to the Franklin.

In the meantime, things here had settled down some. The assault vehicles had been returned to their parking spaces. One remained on alert beside building 3. Most of the Marines had stood down, and only one squad at a time was on patrol around our buildings, and the one that our employees would be staying in over night. The employees were all hard at work.

The Cougars of Team A-25 were also on patrol with Sergeants Moran and Dixon. Dixon was just happy to be working with Partners again. The Cougars checked the area around our buildings once an hour or so. Bob and Susie would relieve them in a couple of hours. Presently they were asleep after having a big meal. Clare was on the disabled list and wouldn’t be working for a while.

It was a couple of hours later when Sergeant Paco from Commo entered the S-3 where I was working with a message.

“Sir, the Franklin sent us a message. Admiral Stanfield will have an announcement in fifteen minutes or so. It will be directed to the Parthas Military and be on their headquarters frequency. We have been directed to listen in,” he told me.

“Can you put that through to the conference room?” I asked.

“Yes sir, we are set up to do that,” he assured me.

“I’ll alert the Colonel and the others. We’ll be up in the conference room shortly. Be sure to record everything that is said by the Admiral, and also any response from Parthas Military Headquarters,” I told him.

“Yes sir, that’s standard procedure,” he assured me before returning to Commo.

I went to alert the Colonel and all of the others on the staff as well as the Marine CO and his Lieutenants. Luther had been listening and went to alert the Team Leaders. Everyone arrived in the conference room in about 10 minutes. The Colonel had a few words to say before the transmission from the Franklin began.

“I believe this will be Admiral Stanfield’s findings on the attack. We should be prepared for any outcome of his decision,” she reminded us.

“Yes sir, my people are preparing to go to full alert when given the word,” Captain Roanoke assured her.

“All three Teams are also prepared to go active on a few minutes notice,” I assured her also.

“It sounds like we’re prepared. We’ll just have to see what the Admiral has decided,” she told us, just before we heard the Franklin open communications.

“Commander, Task-force Franklin, calling Parthas Military Headquarters. Come in. Over,” we heard from the speaker there in the room. The video screen showed a picture of the empty podium in the Franklin’s conference room.

“Commander, Task-force Franklin, this is Parthas Military Headquarters. Send your message. Over,” was heard about twenty seconds later. There was no video with the message.

“Parthas Military Headquarters, this is Franklin Commo. Do you have video capability? Over.”

“Franklin Commo, Parthas Military HQ Commo. We are able to transmit video if necessary, but do not do so for routine messages. Over.”

“Parthas Military HQ Commo, Admiral Stanfield, Commander Task-force Franklin, has an important announcement for the Commander of Parthas Military Forces, General McIntosh, and requests that you connect him to General McIntosh and institute video transmission. Over.”

“Franklin Commo, Parthas Military HQ Commo. General McIntosh is standing by, and we are initiating video transmission. Over,” was the reply, and General McIntosh appeared on the now split video screen. Admiral Stanfield’s face had replaced the view of the podium in the Franklin’s conference room.

“General McIntosh, I am Admiral Stanfield, the Commander of Task-force Franklin, and currently the highest Unity Military Commander in the Parthas system. Earlier today, I received a report from the Commander of Special Operations First Mobile Headquarters Team that there was an unprovoked attack on a patrol sent out to scout the area for missing workers by a unit of your Ground Forces at approximately 1014 hours on this date.

“Any attack on Unity Military Forces, and especially an unprovoked attack, is cause for the Unity Government and Military to presume that a State of War exists between the Unity Military and the attacking forces and their government. You and your government have one hour to reply to the accusations that I have brought. If you DO NOT provide evidence that this was not the policy of your government and Military, you may presume that a State of War exists between our two Governments and Militaries. The Unity will bring to bear all forces necessary for a speedy conclusion of that State.

“You may reach me on this frequency when you have your response. Out,” the Admiral finished, and his picture vanished as the transmission was cut. General McIntosh stared into the camera with a look of shock on his face for a number of seconds before the screen went blank.

“FULL ALERT!” the Colonel immediately announced as soon as the screen went blank. “All personnel will go to full alert status. Two hours on, four hours off for the conceivable future. Changes will be made as necessary. Are there any questions?” she finished.

“What about meals?” I asked.

“We will try to coordinate meals with those changing shifts. I’ll need to confer with the Mess Sergeant,” she told us, as everyone prepared to alert their people to this new situation.

“The Marines have combat rations with us,” Captain Roanoke informed her.

“Yes, we do also, but let’s see if we can avoid using them until it’s really necessary. I think we can feed the people going on duty, and then those coming off duty in the mess hall for several meals at least,” the Colonel advised us, before having another thought.

“For now, let’s see if we can feed everyone in the next hour or so. The Parthas Government and Military were given an hour to answer the Admiral’s demands. I believe that gives us an hour to get everyone fed and still be ready to face their response. Have the second shift eat first, and they can relieve the first shift while they eat. The third shift could eat last. That will give the cooks time to prepare more food. We also need to feed our people and the Partners,” she reminded us. Captain Roanoke and I both agreed and sent messages to our people about the change in orders.

Luther and I, along with the Team Leaders, all hurried out to feed our Partners, and to ensure that they were ready to go on watch. We all ate following that.

Everyone had reassembled in the conference room before the end of the hour to hear the response of the Parthas Government and Military. The communication began with one minute to spare.

“Parthas Military Headquarters calling Commander Task-force Franklin, come in. Over,” was heard on the speakers while a picture of their conference room appeared on the video screen.

“Parthas Military Headquarters, Franklin commo. Standby for the Commander of Task-force Franklin,” was quickly returned, and a few seconds later, Admiral Stanfield appeared on the split screen of the monitor.

“What is your reply, General McIntosh?” he demanded. At the same time, an older man’s image appeared on the other side of the monitor.

“I am President Riordan O’Foghladh, Admiral. I am the Leader of the Parthas Government. We, that is the Parthas Government, totally refute your claim of an attack on your people. It was your Marines who launched an unprovoked attack on our roadblock. Our people only fired back in self-defense. It was also one of your ships that wiped-out that roadblock, and all of the people manning it, causing great destruction in the immediate area. We demand the immediate withdrawal of all of your forces, and compensation for our losses,” the President demanded. The Admiral’s face had turned more and more serious on listening to this.

“We have incontrovertible video evidence that it was those on your roadblock who were the ones to initiate the attack on our patrol, which only wished to speak to them about some of their missing employees. They only returned fire in self-defense.

“I DO NOT accept your accusations that it was our Marines who initiated the engagement. If you have no further evidence to offer, or a reasonable explication of what occurred, then I declare that a State of War exists between our two Governments. Furthermore, I give you fair warning that any attack on our forces will be met with return fire not only from them, but also fire from the nearest ship of my Task-force.

“Anytime that you wish to adapt a more reasonable approach to this problem, you may reach me by notifying Franklin commo. This discussion is closed for now,” he finished, and the video monitor went blank.

“All personnel will remain on Alert status. The same two hours on and four hours off schedule remains in effect until further notice,” the Colonel immediately informed everyone there.

“Sergeant Luther, I want the Eagles prepared for a patrol just before sundown. No more than a mile and a half from the headquarters however. They are to fly high enough to avoid any fire from the ground. If there are any aircraft in the area, they are to return immediately.”

“I need to see Captains Jensen and Roanoke before they leave,” she finished. The majority of those in the room hurried out to take care of their responsibilities.

“Jensen, Roanoke, I want outposts set up for tonight. If possible, I would like two Marines to go out with one of our Partners and their Human Partner. The Marines should maintain communications with their unit. You will need to decide how far out they can set up and remain in contact. Cleve, all of those who are fully enhanced are to be put on a watch list to receive any notification of an attack from those on the outposts. Put Kanisha and me on the roster also,” she finished.