Operation Metal Jacket II

[Dvokr chim Hok 0]

Operation Metal Jacket II

Undisclosed Location

Alberta, Canada, Earth

 

 

 

Undisclosed Location. Undisclosed, yes; secluded, yes; impenetrable, no, but damn well guarded, monitored, and defended.

 

Roughly fifty miles north of Mackenzie, Alberta, and not far from the shores of Williston Lake, the construction site was cold and wet, and the terrain almost beyond rugged: true wilderness, not exactly the place to take the family on a picnic, or even on a weekend away. The only thing you have is what you pack in, and if you forgot something it’s several days’ hike to get it, so don’t forget the milk. The campers that would occupy the place formed a SOG, a Special Operations Group, an elite protection/detection detail. JSOC wasn’t worried much about someone stumbling into it, like a backpacker or a hunter. They were more concerned with what might come out of the skies.

 

SOP would be a shield, a dampening field, or a force field, but they’d be detected and might draw attention to the area. Instead, they installed a state-of-the-art stealth sensor grid with direct line to HQ. We're not talking small change here, so they were definitely taking Morrison seriously. During planning, they’d kept Cass out of the loop on some things, which was understandable. She knew he was important, but how important and why was on a need-to-know basis: more secure. What you don’t know you can’t tell, even under pressure or… the other thing that no one wants to talk about.

 

***

 

"This is not the location of the cabin," Morrison noted after having a shuttle drop them off parts north of Mackenzie. Only a few kilometers walk -- no -- trek to their current location. He supposed Cassie could have started at the town and spent a good part of her leave getting to this current spot. For that he was thankful.

 

“Cabin’s too hot,” she replied, in step with him along the path. “Whoever is after you will be watching it, thinking you might return.”

 

He nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I never did connect those at the cabin with those that beat me. Not like we got a good look at their faces." His cane never left his side and even so Morrison took point, leading them to a good vantage point. So they climbed higher. He grunted as he supported himself. "If it's not the leg it's my back. I feel so old now." Thinking of Cassie that hurt him the most. He was older, sure, but now the gap felt even greater.

 

They walked in silence for a while; she followed, watching him, especially his gait. “You okay walking, sir?”

 

"Nothing I can't handle." A lie. The walk was killing him slowly like tiny ants each taking a tiny bite.

 

“You should have joined the Corps, Commander,” she said. “We need men with endurance.”

 

She closed the gap slowly, until they were side-by-side. Shifting her ruck away from him, she continued, “A hike always goes better when you’re talking, if you’re up to it, Commander. There are a few things we need to discuss. We can do it now,” she shrugged, “or later.”

 

He smiled and glanced at her. "Now is always a time. Now that I'm back on Earth I have all the time in the world. "What's this about?"

 

“It’s about a lot of things, but let’s start with Coridan. We have a pretty good idea of who had you, but it will help if we can get your perspective, every detail you can remember.” She left it wide open, giving him the chance to begin wherever he was most comfortable.

 

"There are two sides to Coridan: the new pro-Federation side, and the old underbelly still infested with the cancer known as the Orion Syndicate." He stopped to consider his starting point. "Luckily no one on the entire planet knew me, so getting there and establishing myself required little effort. I found the dirtiest clothes I could get and set up shop repairing odds and ends. At first I had to look for problems. Offered help in exchange for food and shelter. Then as the weeks went by my reputation as a fixer grew. Gained enough credits to rent a hole in the wall." Morrison walked up a steeper incline which needed his concentration. Minutes passed before he started again.

 

"Business was good. I started to gain the trust of the locals. Breaking the ice with idle conversation proved easy and fruitful. It's interesting what people tell you when you can repair a long-broken diverter or old radio. Oh, I found out what the blank paper did." His excitement at this discovery showed and he stopped to tell her face to face.

 

Cass turned, waiting.

 

"The papers fitted end to end. That was the first part, but all I had was a folded tent on the table. Confounded me for a week. One night in the shop after closing time I placed this tent on top of a small flashlight pointing up at the ceiling. Unexpectedly it turned the room pitch black except for these tiny pinholes of light. Actually quite pretty. My own planetarium. Then I noticed something." He pointed up. "Something looked about the dots of light. Then it hit me. Sol, Andor, Alpha Centauri, Arcturus, Terra Nova. As plain as day. The center point was the Coridan system. I was looking at a star chart."

 

“Any idea why your father would include a star chart, or if the stars on the chart meant something beyond Coridan being the center?”

 

"I think so. The flashlight also emits light in wavelengths other than all at once. I tried all of the colors. The red was the last. The stars disappeared, but replaced by red lines. The lines and stars had to be related, so I flashed between the white and red lights. I looked up some of the systems on a star chart and noticed something. I think they were trade routes for outgoing dilithium shipments. Most endpoints stopped at probable Syndicate locations." He paused. "Needless to say this finding was particularly exciting, but on the Coridan itself I had no clues. I had to poke around some more." Morrison restarted his climb.

 

Granger fell in step. “So you poked.”

 

"Yes. And eventually drilling equipment breaks down. Just in case I needed it I studied it enough to perform a good diagnosis. My good deeds for the local neighborhood proved worth my time. Up to that point my customers have been normal humanoids that looked, well, human. One night a pair of Nassicans knocked at my door. They asked if I knew anything about repairing larger pieces of a more mechanical nature. I said yes and they made me a larger offer, but I'd have to leave right then. I packed my kit and went with them."

 

"I should have known Nausicaans lean more toward the muscle of an operation. They made sure I kept on their path. Walked a few kilometers out of town to some seemingly abandoned shack. It was the entrance to an extensive underground mine. They flanked me to each side as we made our descent." Morrison slipped on a branch and fell back into Cassie. "Damn."

 

She caught him just before he hit the ground, but the momentum carried them down, landing them face to face in a very compromising position.

 

Cass blinked, then grinned. “Commander, I think we better get to know one another first before we go any farther.”

 

"No, I placed that very branch there for this sole purpose. I'd hate to waste such grand planning."

 

“Well, you are a good planner, I’ll grant you that,” She nodded, her face pressed close to his as she was caught beneath him, “and you have impeccable timing. But the Marine hiding in the evergreen to our left? He might start a rumor. I think I’d better help you up.” It was more than a suggestion.

 

"I must be getting old." Morrison used his better arm to prop himself up, waiting to use his other hand to grab onto hers. "Either I didn't notice the Marine or didn't care."

 

Cass rolled to a stand and grasped a tight hold on his hand. “If you had noticed the Marine, I’d have his ass, Commander. I knew he was there because I know their positions. If I didn’t know his position and I spotted him, he would be a damn poor sniper and I’d hang him out to dry before I personally drummed him out of the Corps. Main cabin’s just around the corner. We should be there in a few minutes.”