drone of the generator at the far end of the building, meaning Captain Harlow must have switched over to the solar panels. I nodded to his secretary, went down the hall to his door, and knocked three times.
“Yes, come in.”
I entered. Gabriel and Lieutenant Jonas sat in armless metal chairs facing Captain Harlow’s desk. There was one chair left, so I took it.
“Captain,” I said, and then nodded to Jonas and Gabe.
“We’re short on time,” Harlow said, “so I’ll get straight to it. I just got off the horn with Central. Our orders have changed. All of Echo Company and the Ninth TVM are to remain on station to guard Hollow Rock while the townspeople make repairs to the gate. We also have about two thousand infected to dispose of, wounded to provide for, and dead enemy troops to examine. Sheriff Elliot and a few of my men are investigating what happened today. I doubt they’ll learn much.”
“Agreed,” Gabe said. “It was a well-planned attack.”
Harlow looked at him. “Any other observations, Mr. Garrett?”
“If I had to guess, I would say the enemy troops were North Korean Special Forces. They carried the same weapons and gear we keep seeing on insurgents and marauders from the Alliance. They didn’t hesitate to commit suicide when faced with overwhelming odds. The troops manning the artillery knew they were going to die. They had to have known about the armored cavalry and helicopters, but they carried out their mission anyway. You don’t see that level of brainwashed loyalty in most militaries.”
“Not to mention the hordes and the artillery,” I added. “And the fact that they got so close without a patrol spotting them. Doesn’t exactly give me a warm fuzzy feeling.”
Jonas said, “Which leads us to a few obvious questions.”
“First,” Harlow said, holding up a finger, “did they plan to attack the same day we deployed, or was it just coincidence?”
“Couple of possibilities there,” I said. “One, they planned it that way. Which means they knew when we were leaving. Which means somebody, somewhere along the line, is passing classified information along to our enemies.”
“Or,” Jonas cut in, “as Captain Harlow suggested, it was coincidence.”
“I don’t buy that,” I said. “We know those troops were KPA, so-”
“We don’t know that for certain,” Harlow interrupted.
“Who else could it be?”
No one said anything. I went on. “If they’re KPA, that means they had to come all the way out here from the west coast. That would have taken weeks, if not months. Anyone want to spot the hole in that logic?”
“We just got orders to move a few days ago,” Harlow said. “This operation has not officially been in the works for very long. A week at the most. And that’s at the command level.”
“They could have flown out,” Gabe said. “We know they have aircraft.”
“But do they have fuel that is still usable?” Harlow said. “It’s been three years since the Outbreak, so unless they have access to refining facilities and strategic oil supplies, any fuel they brought over from Asia would have gone inert by now.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Properly stored and treated, fuel can last up to a decade.”
“That’s true,” Harlow said. “So we acknowledge it as a possibility, but an unlikely one. Radar and satellite coverage is still pretty good. It would have been damned difficult for KPA forces to fly an aircraft big enough to haul those cannons without being detected, even if they split them among several aircraft.”
“But not impossible,” Gabe said.
I stood up and went to the window. Outside, the sun was high above the horizon. Warmth radiated from the wire-reinforced glass, telling me it was going to be an unseasonably warm day.
“It’s a moot point anyway,” I said. “Even if they flew the men and artillery out, that doesn’t explain how they managed to capture over a hundred infected and rig them with explosives,
“Yes, come in.”
I entered. Gabriel and Lieutenant Jonas sat in armless metal chairs facing Captain Harlow’s desk. There was one chair left, so I took it.
“Captain,” I said, and then nodded to Jonas and Gabe.
“We’re short on time,” Harlow said, “so I’ll get straight to it. I just got off the horn with Central. Our orders have changed. All of Echo Company and the Ninth TVM are to remain on station to guard Hollow Rock while the townspeople make repairs to the gate. We also have about two thousand infected to dispose of, wounded to provide for, and dead enemy troops to examine. Sheriff Elliot and a few of my men are investigating what happened today. I doubt they’ll learn much.”
“Agreed,” Gabe said. “It was a well-planned attack.”
Harlow looked at him. “Any other observations, Mr. Garrett?”
“If I had to guess, I would say the enemy troops were North Korean Special Forces. They carried the same weapons and gear we keep seeing on insurgents and marauders from the Alliance. They didn’t hesitate to commit suicide when faced with overwhelming odds. The troops manning the artillery knew they were going to die. They had to have known about the armored cavalry and helicopters, but they carried out their mission anyway. You don’t see that level of brainwashed loyalty in most militaries.”
“Not to mention the hordes and the artillery,” I added. “And the fact that they got so close without a patrol spotting them. Doesn’t exactly give me a warm fuzzy feeling.”
Jonas said, “Which leads us to a few obvious questions.”
“First,” Harlow said, holding up a finger, “did they plan to attack the same day we deployed, or was it just coincidence?”
“Couple of possibilities there,” I said. “One, they planned it that way. Which means they knew when we were leaving. Which means somebody, somewhere along the line, is passing classified information along to our enemies.”
“Or,” Jonas cut in, “as Captain Harlow suggested, it was coincidence.”
“I don’t buy that,” I said. “We know those troops were KPA, so-”
“We don’t know that for certain,” Harlow interrupted.
“Who else could it be?”
No one said anything. I went on. “If they’re KPA, that means they had to come all the way out here from the west coast. That would have taken weeks, if not months. Anyone want to spot the hole in that logic?”
“We just got orders to move a few days ago,” Harlow said. “This operation has not officially been in the works for very long. A week at the most. And that’s at the command level.”
“They could have flown out,” Gabe said. “We know they have aircraft.”
“But do they have fuel that is still usable?” Harlow said. “It’s been three years since the Outbreak, so unless they have access to refining facilities and strategic oil supplies, any fuel they brought over from Asia would have gone inert by now.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Properly stored and treated, fuel can last up to a decade.”
“That’s true,” Harlow said. “So we acknowledge it as a possibility, but an unlikely one. Radar and satellite coverage is still pretty good. It would have been damned difficult for KPA forces to fly an aircraft big enough to haul those cannons without being detected, even if they split them among several aircraft.”
“But not impossible,” Gabe said.
I stood up and went to the window. Outside, the sun was high above the horizon. Warmth radiated from the wire-reinforced glass, telling me it was going to be an unseasonably warm day.
“It’s a moot point anyway,” I said. “Even if they flew the men and artillery out, that doesn’t explain how they managed to capture over a hundred infected and rig them with explosives,
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