John O'Brien - Reckoning

“I have no idea,” Robert says, and turns back to flying.

A few minutes pass with the deck tilting periodically under her feet. Outside, there is only darkness which, now that she knows they will be descending, makes her anxious. From her vantage point, it looks like they are flying into an abyss and she expects a mountainside to suddenly appear out of the dark. The moment and image passes quickly.

In the darkened cockpit, illuminated only by dim red light and the faint glow from the instruments, Lynn looks to Robert and notices he isn’t wearing NVGs. She never really thought about it before with the frenzy of activity, but she now knows that he must have gained the same night vision capabilities as Jack. The aircraft banks again and levels.

“Sis, you better get strapped in,” Craig states.

“Yeah, this could be a little bumpy,” Robert chimes in without turning.

Lynn places a hand on Robert’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze and does the same to Bri. Resting her hand on Craig’s shoulder, he turns and gives her a smile, which Lynn returns. Craig then turns back to the front, moving his hand to the gear handle and pushes it down.

Lynn retreats to the cargo compartment and sits on one of the red nylon seats. The roar of the engines change pitch as Robert alters the throttles to keep them on airspeed and glide path. She holds up her hand with her fingers extended.

“Five minutes,” she calls.

The shout is passed down the line of soldiers gripping their carbines between their knees.

With the yell, there’s a collective sigh. The hours of drilling holes in the air is nearing an end. Ahead, there is a coming fight. It’s not an ‘if they meet the enemy’, it’s a definite. They are going to wage battle against those that struck at them. In their minds, though, there is no glorious song being played; there is no warm feeling of justice being served. There is, perhaps, a thought of their fallen comrades, but not the feeling that they are going forth to avenge them. Inside each is tension and anxiety about the upcoming action. Each one is lost in their own thoughts—none of them the same. Some have loved ones on their minds, those that are with them or that they’ve lost, some worry about getting shot, while others think about the people around them; their buddies or comrades. No heroic speeches are made. None are needed. They know what has to be done.

The jolt takes them all by surprise. The aircraft rocks back and forth. They are down. Lynn hears the engines reverse their thrust and is thrown against her straps. Before the aircraft comes to a complete stop, the rear ramp begins to lower. Red light dimly illuminates the interior, only bright enough to keep everyone from running into walls.

“Let’s move,” Lynn yells, seeing the ramp fall past the level position.

Soldiers rise and head down the ramp. Outside, the roar of the engines idling fills the night air, making it difficult to be heard. It’s completely dark outside but all of the soldiers have their NVGs on. Lynn directs the teams to the side of the aircraft, making sure to stay away from the huge props which are generating gale force winds to the rear.

Once to the side of the aircraft, after verifying that everyone is present, she gives a wave to Craig who is looking out of one of the cockpit windows, wearing his own set of NVGs. Knowing she has his attention, she gives a clear thumbs-up. He nods and the rear ramp begins closing. The big engines begin revving up. Everyone on the ground turns their back to the aircraft and kneels as the 130 starts turning away from them.

Lynn feels the wind and dirt swirl around her. After it passes, she turns to see the 130 facing in the opposite direction, lit only by the green glow of her goggles. The roar of the engines increase and the behemoth begins rolling across the lumpy dirt field, picking up speed quickly. It vanishes beyond her sight but she can hear the engines roaring, straining to gain enough airspeed for the 130 to lift off the ground. The noise of the engines seems to go on forever and there’s a moment of worry that the aircraft won’t get aloft. Then, the roar changes pitch and she knows that it’s safely airborne. The sound slowly fades until there is only the quiet of the night and the noise of shifting soldiers. They’re on the ground and ready to begin the next phase of the plan.

Lynn quietly and quickly organizes the teams. She hasn’t heard from Jack since the last relay from Robert but she has to go on the assumption that everything is still on plan. They landed not far from the bunker so they won’t have to travel as far as Jack did. Lynn sets a line of march with two teams in the lead to the left and right with Lynn and Black Team behind. The others follow in spaced intervals.

Before long, they reach a position directly west of the correct pole but far enough out that the cameras won’t be able to see them. Over the radio, she clicks twice to initiate communication and let Jack know that a message is following. Hearing his replying clicks, she then clicks the pre-briefed number of times to signal that they are close to the fence. A minute later, she hears the signal letting them that it’s okay to proceed. Again, she feels a measure of relief that Jack is okay.

Lynn has the two front teams spread out to find the cord Jack left to indicate the safe passage. The brown cord on the ground will be hard to find, especially with night vision, so Lynn has them proceed slowly.

Of course, if I know Jack, he’ll have hidden it as well , Lynn thinks as they start slowly forward.

A soldier from Blue Team stops, bends down, and holds up his arm. He signals to Horace who, in turn, signals Lynn. Hidden within the grass stubble is a thin cord snaking its way across the ground toward the fence. If they hadn’t been carefully looking for the line, they would have missed it. Lynn traces it with her eyes and is unable to see any evidence of Jack’s passage. Bending closer, she makes out scuff marks along the dirt only after parting the grass. Shaking her head, she gathers the team leaders and tells them to follow the cord in single file.

Reaching the fence without incident, Lynn sees where Jack cut it. The teams are through quickly and race across the intervening space to the exit building. It’s completely quiet except for the swish of grass against pant legs. Reaching the structure, the teams fan out forming a perimeter.

Lynn peeks around the corner to the front and immediately sees what Jack meant by leaving a key under the mat. Looped on the door handle is an ID card. Taking the card, she places it against the screen above the keypad next to the door. A light turns green and she hears the click of the door unlocking.

She takes a quick peek inside to ensure that the way is clear. “Everyone, inside and quickly.”

Horace leads her team inside, taking the forefront. Lynn feels the tension emanating from each soldier as they pass. On the heels of Blue Team, she leads her own inside. She watches as Horace checks around the first corner of the stairs and moves on. At the bottom of the steps, they begin moving down a hall. It’s not wide enough for the teams to spread out so they move in a single column, each soldier staggered on opposite walls. They move at a crouch quickly down the corridor, Horace and another, on the opposite wall, lead with their M-4s trained on the security door at the end.

From here, anyone they meet will be taken down quickly. There won’t be any call to surrender. They are still extremely vulnerable in the enclosed space and it wouldn’t take much to hold them up. A couple of people sighting around corners could wipe out all of the teams in a short period of time. Having only a couple in front, it will be difficult to achieve fire superiority. With these thoughts in mind, Lynn hustles behind Horace and moves her team to the door.