John O'Brien - Reckoning

“So, they may not be checking on those with any regularity,” I comment.

“At least not by land, and the diagrams don’t show any connecting tunnels,” Frank says.

“Any ideas about them foraging in the outlying areas?” I ask.

“I don’t have any idea on that. There are fresh tracks leading out from #1, so it’s possible. I would guess that they have a large cache of supplies with them underground, but I have no idea how much or how long that would last.”

“Okay, fair enough. How about radar? Is there anything to indicate they have that capability?” I ask.

“I don’t know, Jack. I don’t see any sign of it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. Some of those lone buildings are large, wooden structures capable of housing a Doppler radar system. However, I would doubt it based on their location. That would give them a limited field of view. If they had that capability, they would place it on a hill and the nearest one is miles away. I don’t want to say that they don’t have it, but based on what I’m seeing, I’m placing the odds toward them having it as fairly low.”

“What about water storage? Where is that?” Lynn asks.

“There isn’t any sign of above-ground storage so it would have be underground. The diagram shows the holding tanks but there’s no corresponding building associated with it so I have to assume that they are underground, along with their pumping apparatus. A site of this size would require several wells, but I don’t see any indication of those on the video,” Frank replies.

“And this lone building here?” I ask, pointing on one of the pictures in hand. “I assume that’s an escape exit judging by the long tunnel leading to it.”

“That’s what I’d guess as that building is one of the few built of some kind of concrete cinder block or brick,” Frank says.

I rummage through the packet Frank presented, looking for something specific that I can’t locate.

“Can we get closer view of the outer fencing?” I ask.

“Yes. Is there anything you’re looking for in particular?”

“Three things. Tracks around the perimeter and/or pathways on the inside or outside of the fencing. I want to see if they conduct regular patrols. Let’s see if they have mounted cameras along the tops of the fencing poles. And, see if there is any disturbance on the ground outside of the fence, something that looks different than the surrounding ground,” I state.

“Sure, Jack. I’ll get some additional close-up images. I do know they have cameras mounted at intervals along the fencing, but I’ll take a look and see what I can come up with for the others,” Frank says.

As he rises and leaves to make additional photographs, there’s a discreet cough from behind me.

Lynn turns to the sound. “Yeah, Doc, come on over.”

“Excuse the interruption but you asked to be notified if there were any changes,” the doc expresses.

“Of course,” Lynn says.

“Greg has regained consciousness. He’s still groggy and in some pain, but he’s awake,” the doc states.

“Can we see him?” I ask, quickly rising from my chair.

“If you make it quick and don’t put him under any stress. He needs rest if he’s going to fully recover.”

I can tell the others are eager to go see how Greg is doing but I have them wait for Frank’s return and promise to give Greg their good wishes. Too many people descending on him, although nice to see that he’s well thought of, might overwhelm him having just awakened.

Lynn and I hurry to him with the doc in tow. Greg is lying on the bed with the IVs still stuck in him but with the oxygen mask removed. He opens his eyes and tries to smile but it comes across as a grimace.

“How are you?” I ask, feeling foolish for asking such a stupid question.

“My head feels like someone beat it with a hammer,” Greg says, his voice croaking.

The doc walks to him and gently tilts a small cup of water for Greg to drink. Greg nods his thanks but blinks tightly as the motion causes pain to shoot through his head. I sit next to him so that he won’t have to talk loudly.

“Sorry, my friend,” I say.

Greg tries smiling again but with the same result. “We both knew the risks.”

“I shouldn’t have sent you out.”

“I could have said no,” he responds. “Did you find the rest of the team?”

I just nod my reply. He knows what that nod means. Turning his head to the side, he is silent for a moment.

“And the others?” he eventually asks.

I again give him a nod.

“I failed them,” he eventually says.

“No, that’s on me and my fault. I should never have sent you out with so few,” I say.

“I feel bad for those we had with us. It ended up that I didn’t save them from shit,” Greg comments.

“It’s not your fault,” I reply.

“Did you happen to find out why?” Greg asks.

Wanting to keep it brief, I outline what we found out and what we did to the armored column.

“Good, I’m glad those bastards got what they deserved,” Greg states. “Jack, there’s something I want to talk with you about. I met these people—” Greg begins.

The doc interrupts, coughing lightly into his hand, signaling that it’s enough.

“We’ll talk about it later,” I say, patting Greg lightly on the shoulder.

“You get some rest now. It’s good to have you back with us,” Lynn remarks.

“Yeah, if my head would quit trying to crack open,” Greg says, trying to grin.

With that, Lynn and I leave, making our way back to the meeting. Frank has the pictures by the time Lynn and I arrive. I look over the new ones.

“Jack, as you can see, there aren’t any paths through the grass stubble around the fencing. There isn’t any indication that anyone moves through there with any regularity,” Frank says.

“Meaning they don’t have any patrols,” I state.

“Not that can be seen in the pictures. You can see the cameras better in these though and I would hazard a guess that they have multi-spectrum capabilities. It’s hard to tell about the surrounding ground though given the time since everything went down. They could have put in a mine field at the outset and just left it. If that happened, it would be hard to spot,” Frank explains.

“Okay, now we have a better picture of what we’re up against. Thank you, Frank. It looks to be a high-security facility. That means the possibility of a mine field surrounding the perimeter with low-light and infrared cameras covering. There will more than likely be the same type of cameras at the entrances and a manned security center with professionals monitoring. This won’t be like the prison. The outer doors and those leading to secure rooms will be key-coded with strong magnetic locks. And we have no idea about interior patrols,” I state.

“If it’s so secure, how come they don’t have patrols on the outside?” Robert asks.

“Good question. And the answer is that I don’t know. The reason we invent that kind of technology is to conserve manpower. While it’s extremely useful, those who have it sometimes rely on it too much. Although difficult, it can be fooled. It’s only a machine and technology can be circumvented. Those who use them tend to forget that. People are unpredictable and you can’t bypass them the way you can equipment. That’s why you use both. I don’t know why they aren’t doing this and it may be our way in,” I answer.

“That’s all fine and dandy, and great in theory, but what are we going to do?” Lynn asks.

“Good question. The way I see it, we have two basic options. We can either draw them out and use the Spooky, or we go in and get them,” I state.

“Do we really need to go in? Or do anything for that matter? We have aerial patrols and will see them coming. Couldn’t we just ride it out?” Bannerman queries.