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.”