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Charlie do? Exhaling, she chose to go back to basics.
    “ We go step-wise. I need an
assessment of our supplies. Do we have enough food and water to
sustain us for a week or more? Cheyenne Mountain has environmental
control. Next step is food. Troy, can you look for medical
supplies? We may need those.”
    Matthew and Troy set to work at their tasks.
Alex sighed. At least if they were working, they weren’t
bitching.
    “ Major?” Vince asked. “I was
able to use your pocket computer to hook into the base computers.
Your Sergeant helped me re-run our models. I believe we’ve seen the
last of the major explosions. It’s possible there is one more
pocket of methane about ten miles from here.”
    “ Houses?”
    “ Still wilderness. Thank
God. I also have live feed from Zack. I can project it. Would you
like to see it?”
    Alex nodded.
    The screen at the front of the room lit up
to show the horrifying destruction. The mountain had been ripped
apart by the blasts. The pine forest was engulfed in flame. What
had been old growth forest and meadow was now barren rock, dirt,
dust and fire. Forest Service planes dropped water onto the
fire.
    Matthew and Troy moved to stand next to her.
Raz stood behind Alex. Stunned by the devastation of pristine
wilderness, they couldn’t tear their eyes away.
    “ These are explosion sites,”
Vince walked to the screen to point to areas of forest. “I would
guess we’ll find explosives at every site we chose. We won’t know
for sure until we check, but I’d bet a hundred bucks they were set
off by hand.”
    “ Because of the delay?” Alex
asked.
    “ Right,” Vince
said.
    “ We have a leak but it’s not
within our group,” Matthew said. “We’re looking at someone with a
lot of money and access to our… computers?”
    “ Or theirs,” Raz said. He
pointed to the guards. “You report your location?”
    “ Yes sir,” The guard
said.
    “ Your life insurance is paid
up?” Troy asked.
    Alex turned back to the control panel table
and her pocket computer.
    “ Sergeant?”
    “ Yes, Major?”
    “ Can you ask the Jakker to
check heat and radar for people? While you’re at it, can you send
the satellite feed… uh...?”
    “ Heat, motion and visual,”
Raz said.
    “ Did you get
that?”
    “ Yes Major,” her Sergeant
said. “What are we looking for?”
    “ People. I’d hate to meet
shooters on our way out of this room.”
    “ Yes Major.”
    “ Also, can you start the
paper chain for a quiet check of our other sites?”
    “ Yes, Major.”
    “ Thanks.”
    “ Major?”
    “ Yes, Sergeant,” Alex
said.
    “ Your father called. He
asked me to tell you, ‘eeny, meeny, miny, moe’.”
    “ Yes, thank you, Sergeant,
“Alex said.
    Alex closed her eyes. Unable to deal with
the expectation on the men’s faces, she turned away from them.
    What the hell did her father mean?
    “ Major?” Vince
asked.
    Turning toward him, she saw the satellite
imaging on the screen.
    “ Can you and Raz work with
that?” Alex asked. Walking toward the east wall, Alex pointed, “The
latrines are here. Water is located...”
    “ It’s here with the MREs,”
Troy said.
    “ Thanks. I need a moment,”
Alex said. Matthew moved toward her but she shook her head. Smiling
to reassure him, she said, “Need to think.”
    Taking a bottle of water from Troy, she
walked to a chair near the back of the room. From her location, she
watched the men work with the satellite imaging. She was so lost in
thought, she didn’t notice Jessie until he spoke.
    “ Boo.” He laughed when she
startled. “I always wanted to say that.”
    She smiled at him.
    “ Bet you wondered where I’ve
been,” he said.
    She nodded while taking a drink of
water.
    “ I was bored with being
stuck in rooms.”
    She laughed. Jesse had been her constant
companion last fall.
    “ Eeny, meeny, miny, moe?”
she mumbled into her water bottle.
    “ Walls. Count the walls.
You’ve forgotten.”
    She shrugged her ‘What else is