Chapter 53

Present - Ben and Destiny - At the cabin in the bunker

With the fucking drone eliminated by my GPS jammer, I knew we had all of today to work on my guerilla tactics without having to worry about the drone giving us shit. The first thing I need to do is to implement spectrum warfare and jam the hell out of the greenies communications. I connect my electronic warfare module using the same perimeter wires as an antenna, turn the unit on and wait for the boot up procedure.

Destiny is watching and comments, "Ben, it seems to take about as long as a computer to start."

I realize how astute she is and answer, "That's because it is a computer. It's actually a communications computer which will constantly scan for signals and then block them." I look at her and remark, "Let's see if I got my money's worth."

I flip the switch to activate the electronic warfare module, the light switches to green and the communications channels we were listening to go totally dead.

I pull out my burner cell phone, look at it and verify I have no signal. I ask Destiny, "Do you have a mobile phone?"

She appears to enter one of her trances, returns to our bunker reality and answers, "Ben, I do not need to check my mobile phone and all communications are disabled, even satellite."

Hell, she's more of an asset than I ever dreamed she would be. I look at her and say, "Well, now that they can't communicate, it's time for us to 'cry havoc and slip the dogs of war.'"

Destiny laughs and replies...

Ben uses one of my favorite quotes. I wonder where he heard it so I ask him, "Do you know that quote from Shakespeare or Star Trek?"

Ben smiles at me and answers, "Both of course: Marc Anthony uttered it in Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, act three - scene one to encourage revenge on the assassins of Caesar when he said:

Cry 'Havoc, ' and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial."

I can tell he's not finished so I wait and he continues, "And it was used in Star Trek VI when General Chang said, 'Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war'."

I am surprised since I assumed he recognized it from Star Trek so I comment, "I did not know Marines were so well read."

He smiles at me and replies, "There are many things about the Marines most people do not understand."

I smile and use another of my favorites, "Understanding is the beginning of wisdom."

Ben glares at me and corrects my usage. "If you are going to use quotes, especially from the Bible, use them correctly. You should have said, 'the fear of the Lord is where wisdom begins'. This is from Proverbs 9:10."

I am shocked at his level of knowledge and he is certainly not the 'jarhead' I believed him to be. I stand corrected and confess, "Sorry Ben, next time I will not use an incorrect quote. So what's on the agenda for today?"

He continues working on something with our little tabasco bottles from last night and this morning then he answers. Once he described his plans I wished I had not asked...

Present - Mike - At the cabin

I get my two new wheelchairs set up to my liking (however not perfectly) and head to Ben's cabin site. I was pissed as hell because last night's operation ended up being a huge Mongolian Cluster Fuck. The fucking drone didn't track Ben and his mystery accomplice leaving the area, it tracked Stacy Summers and Samantha Stevens. I guess one of them decided it wasn't safe to sleep in their tents in the compound so they decided to spend the night under the stars - this smacked of Ben's training so I was sure it was Stacy's decision. I planned on interviewing the hell out of her today.

The Chinook approaches the cabin and the pilot complains, "Shit! We've lost the GPS signal!"

Like that's any big fucking deal so I state the obvious, "Well you sure the fuck don't need that to land do you?"

He replies, "Of course not since I can still use compass headings to guide us to the LZ."

I get a phone call, look at the number and note it's the commander from Creech. I answer, "Commander, please tell me you have some good news."

He complains like a little girl, "Fuck no it's not good news! We lost the GPS signal and because of that the drone crashed!"

I am angry as hell and yell, "What the fuck! You're telling me your drone needs a GPS signal to be able to fly and that something disrupted that signal and caused your drone to crash? What sort of piece of shit equipment is it that needs a GSP signal to survive?"

The commander pulls some security bullshit on me and says, "Sir, this technology cannot be discussed over the phone lines. Perhaps you would like to setup a secure communications channel with us. However unless the GPS signal is restored to the area, we will not be able to provide drone support of your mission."

The pilot heard my half of the conversation and was able to interpolate what transpired with the drone. He derisively laughs and remarks, "Hell those fucking PFYs running the drones keep telling us real pilots how they are going to replace us. There's no way in hell that will ever happen. Just think Sir, if you were in a drone helicopter it would have crashed with you onboard."

I agree with him, drones will never totally replace pilots but he used a term I didn't recognize so I comment and then ask a question, "I agree with you, there will always be a need for real pilots. But what the hell is a PFY?"

The Chinook pilot laughs and replies, "Hell I guess you've never been in the Creech 'pilot' (and I use the term pilot very loosely) room. They have a bunch of wet behind the ears PFYs - Pimply Faced Youths 'flying' and again I use the term flying very loosely. Hell to them it's a big fucking government video game and to be truthful with you the resolution is so poor on the drone's cameras they can't really see shit on them. Hell more than half the time when they take out a target they really aren't sure it's the right damn target."

The sarcasm when he called them pilots and talked about them flying is more than obvious, it is blatant. Hell I guess I don't blame him, I'm sure the PFY's, as he called them, made sure to tell him how they were going to replace him someday. However the information about the quality of the video on the drones was news to me, especially since our president has been using them in his own private wars. It made me wonder if all the reports I'd heard about collateral damage from the drones were more accurate than the government lead us to believe.

Because we have a real pilot and don't need GPS to fly, we safely land. The next thing I know my cell phone goes dead. I look at it and see no signal. The Chinook pilot further complains, "Some fucker has jammed all the communications in this entire AO."

So far this pilot has been a wealth of information so I order, "Please elaborate."

The pilot replies, "Well sir, we have lost all GPS, all radio communications and probably even all satellite communications. Excuse me Sir, I don't know much about the tangos you are looking for but is one of them an EW expert?"

Shit Ben is resourceful but I hadn't thought he was an expert on Electronic Warfare so I further question, "Is there any way to override the jamming and get intel on this area?"

The pilot laughs and states, "Hey, I'm just a pilot so this is way beyond my pay grade. You really need to talk to your communications specialists and see if they have any ideas. All that I know is that any mission will be seriously hampered without the comms or GPS."

I was pissed as hell when I left the chopper. How in the hell did Ben plan for his reprieve from the drone and then how did he accomplish the jamming of the communications systems?

I note the captain already has the enemy combatants (Marines) out of the prison tent this morning. However things don't even look right with them so I roll toward the captain.

As I approach I realize what the problem is: The enemy combatants are moving as slow as hell. I roll up to the captain to inquire, however I am not prepared for what happens next...

Present - Jack - At the cabin

I see the bastard Mike get out of the Chinook as it lands. I wish to hell it had crashed like the fucking drone. How Banzai pulled off that piece of magic, I sure as hell don't know but if I survive this cluster fuck I plan on asking him about it. Killing a drone in such a spectacular manner is a real piece of work.

Masha seriously cautions me as I watch Mike taking too much of an interest in us. She says, "Jack my love, use your brain and remember the passive-aggressive techniques we mentioned."

I smile at Masha, hold her hand and promise, "Don't worry my love, I can bullshit with the best of them."

Mike begins to roll toward the captain. I strategically move to intercept the wheelchair and then Mike asks, "Captain, what the hell is wrong with the enemy combatants today?"

I make up a hell of a lie and reply, "Mike, all of us are stiff as hell. Shit what did you expect? We're old and the fucking tent was cold as hell last night." Then I added some more fuel to my lie, "Plus all we got to eat was cold MREs - you're fucking lucky no one died last night."

I want to throttle Mike when the bastard laughs his answer, "Too bad you all didn't die last night, you are just collateral damage as far as I'm concerned."

I make a move toward Mike but Masha restrains me and whispers in my ear, "Jack, I have a vocal recorder and captured his foolish statement. Please restrain yourself for our daughter."

Masha decides to deflect his question, "Mike, do you have any news about Ivan our son?"

Mike continues his retched abuse and states, "Hell, as far as I'm concerned he's collateral damage too and the sooner he dies the better."

It's my turn to restrain Masha then some 'friends' of ours run up...

Present - Stacy and Samantha - At the cabin

This has been a busy as hell morning and we haven't even had breakfast. We start by checking on the progress of getting access into the tunnels. The engineer assures us we should have access by sometime mid-morning. Then the damn drone that gave us shit last night loses control and crashes (thank God), next a Chinook helicopter lands. We see Mike exit it and head toward the prisoner Marines. I look at Samantha and state, "We need to get our asses over to the Marines ASAP."

We hightail it over there with our two security guards, get there and I can tell that both Jack and Masha have had a hell of a bad time - my assumption is from Mike.

I make sure my video glasses are operating, run up and announce, "Good news Jack and Masha, the engineer thinks we will have access into the tunnels by mid-morning."

Jack smiles and says, "Thanks Stacy I owe you one."

Masha adds, "Yes Stacy that's the best news I've heard this morning. With my pregnancy I had a terrible night last night and I couldn't get warm enough in our tent."

Samantha takes the opening and questions, "Masha, we didn't know you are pregnant." She turns toward Mike and questions, "Mike, what are you doing about this."

Mike dismissively waves his hand and states, "Masha is an enemy combatant so even though she's pregnant she will not get special treatment."

Then he gleefully rubs his hands together and continues, "So, you will have access to the tunnels soon. That's great news because we will take everyone in the tunnels into custody, especially Jennifer Donaldson because she is the ringleader of this band of terrorists."

Shit, this isn't what I planned for when I decided to rescue Jennifer from the tunnels. This really messes up my plan of becoming her 'friend' in hopes of getting close to Ben again. I am pissed as hell as I counter, "Mike, you know that the Marines and especially Jennifer Donaldson are not terrorists, so why do you continue to perpetrate this lie."

Mike ignores my question and then shocks me when he asks, "So just what were you and Samantha doing outside your compound last night?"

Samantha bails me out when she says...