We did as we were told and my radio again went silent. There were two guards watching me and I presumed a couple more watching Oswald. After a quiet 20 minutes under the stars the major was back online.
"You can go." he said. "But keep your mouths shut." That had become SOP ages ago but the emphasis brought it all back. This was not to be barracks gossip. Ozzy and I headed for the Ark."Hey Eddy, thanks for the night out. Never a dull moment."
"Don't mention it Ozzy." I replied. "Good times are to be shared with good friends."
He laughed and another voice cut in. It was Pearce.
"Glad to hear you two are in such fine spirits. Because you are now in it officialy up to your ears and you're both going out again tomorrow night. As they say, when it rains it pours."
"Go away Captain." said Oswald before Boyer cut in.
"It was a routine flight, kind of dull actually. Flew out, flew back, called it a night."
"Yes mother Boyer." said Oswald. "We'll be sure to tell all our friends."
"That's right Ozzy. Be a good boy because Santa is always watching."
We didn't need him to elaborate on that. Major Kass was going to keep an eye on us at all times. Going out again wasn't sounding so bad. I filed a short, boring report, took a hot shower and fell asleep in no time. The Ark was progressing nicely and I had good quarters. Roomy and clean but no exactly aestheticaly pleasing. A couple of buddies had tried to chat but I cut them off by claiming fatigue.
The next day was mostly routine and I divided it between reading and rumors. There was talk about a botched mission the night before but I ignored it. The lack of a GPS was disconcerting so I stowed one in an ammo box around noon and loaded it into our helicopter when an armorer asked me to lend a hand. As the afternoon faded I was back in my SPE suit and having a go at the features I hadn't figured out the day before. Twice, alerts were sounded but nothing came of either one. The howitzers thundered into life a few times but it must not have been anything too important. Just the usual case of desperate people trying to find refuge in a hole that didn't have any more room. For dinner we had pork chops.
At 21:00, Ozzy came to see me and he didn't seem too happy.
Part Three: Glendive
"How are you doing?" He asked."Oh, well enough." I answered. "How about yourself?"
"About the same. I was just wondering when we were going to seal ourselves in and trying to decide whether or not it's a good idea."
"You want to stay out here?" I asked. "Are you crazy?"
"Yes I want to stay out here and no, I am not crazy. I just feel like we're running away."
"Well we're not running far, that's for sure."
"But we're running just the same."
"Everyone is going to die Oswald, and I don't want to be one of them."
"Neither do I, but I don't want to sleep for a hundred years either."
"Could be less." I countered. "Ten or fifteen if all goes well."
"And if it doesn't?"
"We've got decades of hydropower before Yellowtail silts up and the nuke plant has fifty years of fuel."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"Don't get me wrong Eddy. I'm grateful to have made the cut but noone else in my family did. They're all stuck in North Dakota and I haven't been allowed to contact any of them. They could be dead for all I know."
I didn't say anything because he wouldn't want to hear my negative opinion as to the health of his family. I had heard all about them and seen their pictures which was more than enough to depress me. Anyone who didn't make the cut was dead or soon to die.
"Maybe they are, maybe they aren't."Yamada walked over and put a stop to all talking. Actually, we saw him coming a ways off and shut up before he could use his long range microphone to listen in. He seemed like a pretty good guy but at the same time he had his own agenda and he wasn't about to share it with us.
"Are you both ready?" he asked."Ever ready." said Oswald while I just nodded.
"The pilots won't be here for a few minutes but they've already been briefed. No point in hiding where we're going, clear skies and a bright moon will tell you that we're heading for the northeast part of the state. Either of you ever been to Glendive?"
"We've both been there I'm sure." I said and this time it was Oswald who did the nodding. "What's there that nots here?"
"A package." said Yamada. "And a person. The person isn't important; the package is."
"How important?" asked Oswald.
"Important enough that we're sending out our best helicopter to pick it up." answered Yamada.
And he was right. Our Venom was the cats ass. We had extra tanks for extended range, the best electronic countermeasures as well as hardened systems that couldn't be jammed and some extra armor where we needed it. All the gear added weight which was why we carried a small crew.
"Just one person?" I asked. "Are you sure?""Yes I'm sure." said Yamada. "And again, the person isn't all that important but the package is and they're a set."
"So just to be sure I've got this right," said Oswald. "If push comes to shove you want the package more than the person."
"Precisely." said Yamada.
"Just checking." said Oswald.
Pearce and Boyer walked up and looked us over.
"Everyone ready?" asked Boyer."All ready." said Yamada while Oswald and I just nodded.
"Suit up." said Pearce and we all attached our helmets and did a quick check on the man next to us.
"In case Yamada didn't tell you, we're going to Glendive. Your suits have the necessary maps in them already but watch out for changes. The whole place has become a major base ever since Glasgow became Glasglow."
We all winced at that. It was an old cold war airfield that had been pressed into service then nuked. There wasn't much up there to begin with and now there was even less. I hadn't known anyone there but both Pearce and Boyer had lost friends. Someone had made the decision to move everything to Glendive since Malmstrom was also a smoking pile of slag.
"We're going to approach from the west but not sure if we'll fly out that way. The airfield is surrounded but the perimeter is porous. Our side launched a counter attack yesterday that drove them back and gives us a way to slip in. At our briefing we were told they should hold with no problem but a couple of pathfinders I talked to seemed to think otherwise."Yamada started to say something but stopped. Pearce had probably said something he shouldn't have and he changed the topic.
"Eddy, you and Oswald will be dropped off three or four kilometers out and you'll have to walk in. That's as close as they'll let us get. And even that might change by the time we get there. Once you hit the airfield, find the target and get out. You have passes programed into your onboard computers and Yamada has written passes to back them up just in case. Any questions?"We didn't have any so after a final check we took off. In a few minutes we cruised over the Yellowstone River, heading north. The next two and a half hours consisted of us hugging the terrain and occasionaly setting down and shutting down all systems. We kept all of our transmitters off with the exception of our IR which didn't go far enough for anyone to jack in.