Chapter 12

“Okay, so that’s the basic operations plan for the southern swing,” said Laurel as her part of the briefing ended. “Jenny, will now fill you in on the overall objectives for this mission and the load out and order of movement. Jenny?”

“Thanks Laurel,” Jenny said as she took over the briefing. “The overall objective is pretty simple, really. Get Erin down to the Standing Stones for Beltane and back in one piece.” This bit of understatement was met with chuckles from the members of Erin’s security detail. “It’s pretty straightforward, really. We expect the bad guys to try something. I, for one, would be sorely disappointed if they didn’t, and you don’t want me disappointed now, do you?” Again more laughter.

“So the load out will be per normal. Everyone except for Anna and Her Highness will be armed with their normal load. Anna will have her little pop gun, but she is NOT to fire unless this has totally gone to shit, is that clear?” Again there was a murmur of laughter from the detail. Most all the members had seen Anna fire on the range, and the phrase running through most minds had something to do with the broadside of a barn. “Make sure you have enough ammunition for an extended patrol, but we will NOT have enough firepower, even with the added troops the King will give us as escort, for more than a running battle. If we get pinned down, it could get hairy. I only want us to ‘shoot and scoot’, no John Wayne action, understood?” Heads nodded as notes were made in briefing books. “Also, I want each of you to have your primary and secondary reloads with you in the vehicles. We will have an ammo mule, but I do NOT want all our eggs in one basket. Murphy loves these kinds of deals! I don’t know about the rest of you, but I get twitchy if I don’t have my weapons with me on the road.”

“The order of travel is Hannah, Kundri and Anna in Echo Two, Kundri you are driving. Laurel, Debi, Her Highness and me in Echo One, Debi you are driving. The ammo mule will follow at a distance and cover our rear. It’s being driven by some of the King’s men, so keep an eye on them Debi, as they haven’t worked with us before. We will have approximately a dozen outriders to do the scouting and flank security. We will also have a small detail in one of the King’s Hummers, and they will take the lead on this one. The details call sign will be Tango One, the ammo mule will be Tango Two, with the outriders as Zulu one through twelve or so. In case we have to bug out, I want Echo Two closest to any threat and regardless of what, Echo One does not stop for anything! Is that clear?”

Laurel stepped to the front of the room and said, “Are there any questions?” Taking a moment to meet everyone in the eye, Laurel said, “Well then, let me add this to what Jenny said. I expect each of you to do your job and be professional. I have a bad feeling about this trip, and nothing I have seen has dissuaded me from that bad feeling. We will be a long way from relief and in the middle of nowhere most of the time. If we have to bug out, we will, by the Gods, bug out. No heroics that are not directly related to the care of the Princess, understood? Okay, then get a good night’s rest and make sure you are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow morning. Roll out is at 11:00 hours.”

Laurel was making a final sweep of the house before turning the duty over to Debi. Normally, the house was pretty quiet at night, and tonight was no exception. Erin and her maids had finished packing for the two days they were to be in the south lands, and even for a royal visit they had done a remarkable job of getting everything to fit in only four suitcases! Something of a minor miracle where Erin was concerned.

So the sound of a door opening, even quietly, was relatively unexpected. As Laurel rounded the corner to the main hallway, she saw Hannah quietly exiting Anna’s suite. Curious, but not too curious, Laurel pulled back and watched as Hannah straightened out her blouse with a final tug and then walked purposefully toward the end of the house where the security detail was housed.

“Hmmm”, thought Laurel, “As long as it doesn’t get in the way of her duties, I guess it really doesn’t matter who she sleeps with. I will have to keep an eye on this, though...”