Chapter 35: Planning

Pru, Lia, Maeve and Xing Lao-Tan met in the command post for a field-kitchen dinner. Surprisingly, it was excellent Chinese cooking. Pru looked up at Lia with raised eyebrows after her first mouthful.

Lia grinned. "I like good food, and when you consider how much OSG spends on ingredients, there's only one reason why military rations aren't healthy and tasty."

"And?" Pru lead her.

"Poor cooking, of course. So, I get the best cooks in OSG and then I send them out for additional training. I want my people to eat well. That way, they'll perform well, too."

"Helps the re-enlistment rate, too, I suppose."

"Right!"

When the bowls and chopsticks were cleared away, Pru took the lead. "I'm hoping we can clear this matter up tomorrow. We still have seven days before the general has an excuse to carry out his plan, but I want to end this successfully as soon as we can."

She looked at Lia, "What are the comNews channels saying?"

"I've had to make several appearances. You know I hate that. But, I've followed your suggestion and emphasized that OSG's mission is first, to get the hostages free, then, to bring the perpetrators to justice. Of course, because I can't give them anything concrete, they're all over me, and skeptical as hell, but I can deal with it. And General Lao is doing everything he can to make us look bad."

"Thank you, Lia. I'm sorry I can't take some of the flak, but you know why that is."

"Oh, I do. I hope you know how glad I am to have you here. I would have followed doctrine, and that would probably have played right into the general's plan."

"Well, thanks. But now, we've got to get those guys out of there. The sooner we do, the better it will look.

"I have a few questions. First, when we were at the site, none of the guards seemed to have IDs. Is that still true?" She looked around the table.

Xing spoke up. "We've had people on the scene ever since you were there — they're still there. They're monitoring for IDs all the time. Late this afternoon, we got a flash of an ID that belongs to one of the hostages."

"What do you mean, a flash?" Pru asked.

"I mean, we got about a thirty-second look at a med ID. The scout thinks that someone must have done something that made the ID detectable."

Pru asked, "You mean, they have a way of masking IDs?"

Xing nodded. "We know there are ways to do that. Usually it involves covering the site of the ID with a metal mesh that's grounded. They call it a Faraday cage. We think one of the guards must have removed the cage for some reason. Maybe he or she took off their pants to pee."

Maeve laughed and punched Xing's arm. "That's getting to the bottom of it, Lo-Tan." She almost giggled.

"So we have an ID," Pru observed. "Does it match with anything we already have?"

"Yes. It is one of the hostages' IDs."

Pru and Lia exchanged glances. Pru took a deep breath. "Okay, tell me what that means."

Lia spoke first. "My guess is all the guards are 'hostages'. By that, I mean there aren't any hostages; they're all in it together with General Lao."

Pru nodded. "Most likely. But, that leaves a big question: Who's going to get killed at the end of the month? And, who else is inside that field?"

Maeve nodded grimly. "General Lao's in there, and probably all 30 'hostages'."

"Can we assume there are others?" Pru asked.

"No evidence," said Xing, "either way."

"Best case, that's all," Lia said.

"Recommendations?"

Lia spoke first. "We have to get inside the field. That's the only way we can stun them all. I'm just not sure how we do that."

"I am sure they know that," Xing offered. "They must have prepared for that."

"How would you do that?" Pru pursued.

Maeve said, "We know about the tazer perimeter defenses. And, they only use the one portable portal generator. They're being very careful."

"I'll bet they have explosives in there," Lia concluded, "and I'll bet they're ready to set them off if we attack."

Pru nodded. "What's your guess on a deadman switch?"

Lia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Oh, shit." She looked at Pru. "You're saying he doesn't plan to survive this. It's a suicide mission."

"What about the hostages?" Xing asked.

Pru looked grim. "My guess is, they don't know he's going to kill them all. I think he has them convinced they're going to win, or that he'll somehow manage to get them out alive. I think he's always planned to kill them. It's the only way he can have a winning operation."