The Rising Horde, Volume One by Stephen Knight

Author:Stephen Knight [Knight, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B007YMMIGG
Publisher: Ronin LLC
Published: 2012-04-28T06:00:00+00:00

12

Gartrell walked into the tent that housed the Personal Communications Center, or PCC, where task force personnel were allowed to contact their loved ones as schedules allowed. Privacy partitions sat atop two rows of tables, resulting in narrow cubicles that provided at least a modicum of seated privacy. In each cubicle, an IP phone was connected to a laptop equipped with a camera. The goal was for the task force soldier to be able to view his or her family through the laptop, presuming there was a camera on the other side of the link. Gartrell knew there was no camera on his intended party’s side, so he walked over to a bank of commercial satellite phones and pulled one from its charger. The PCC was empty save for one soldier making a call and the duty NCO who oversaw the center operations. Gartrell headed for the tent’s exit.

“Hey, Sarmajor! You’re not supposed to take those out of the tent,” the duty NCO said. He was an E-5 with a pimply face and a large, hooked nose. Even though he was skinny and geeky, he apparently wasn’t afraid to lay down the law with one of the task force’s senior noncommissioned officers.

“Then I recommend you keep quiet about it, Sergeant,” Gartrell said. He walked out of the tent and continued around the side, stepping over the tie downs that kept the structure rooted to the ground. He entered the narrow alleyway between the PCC and the next tent and punched a number into the satellite phone handset. It took a moment for the phone to link up with a communications satellite, but the delay was minimal, and he was rewarded with a ring on the other side of the link.

“Hello?” Laurie Gartrell’s voice was subdued and cautious, even though only family members had the number for the satellite phone Gartrell had purchased for use at their cabin in the Smokey Mountains.

“It’s me, hon.”

“Dave? Jesus, Dave! Where are you? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, sweetie. I’m in Texas right now. South of Odessa.”

“Texas? What the hell are you doing there?”

“The government’s bidding, as always. You doing all right? The girls are fine?”

“Yeah, we’re all doing okay. We’re secure. So far, we haven’t had any problems, but when we left Bragg, they were going into lockdown. And from what I hear on the radio, things aren’t so great in the world.”

“Nope. Things are definitely going to hell in a handbasket,” Gartrell said.

“When will you be able to come to us?”

“I don’t know, Laurie. The mission I’m on… it’s probably going to be kind of a long-term assignment. I’m with a JTF, and we’ve got a pretty big job to do. Listen, are you sure you and the girls are secure? You hid the ATVs? You’ve got all the weapons and food?”

“Yes, we’re good here. No one’s going to be able to find the ATVs unless they know where to look, and we’ve got all the guns and ammunition with us. Food’s good; we’ve got a month’s worth of supplies before we have to break out the freeze-dried goods.

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