Windburn by Kenny Soward & Mike Kraus

Author:Kenny Soward & Mike Kraus [Soward, Kenny & Kraus, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Muonic Press Inc
Published: 2019-12-03T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Jake, Providence, Rhode Island | 12:13 a.m., Friday

The SATCOM terminal was a green reflector dish about four feet in diameter with two thin bars that held out a smaller sub reflector, stretching upward into the night sky. The entire array sat atop a rotation and mounting mechanism that could be affixed to the back of a Humvee or placed on top of a tank. Connection wires hung from the side of the device, each of them capped against the weather.

Jake, Corporal Riley, and Specialist Murray lifted the tarp covering the terminal, raised it on poles, and tied down the edges to stakes so it would not blow away in the gusting wind. Then they rolled in some work lights and a generator and positioned the lights so that the entire space lit up in a bright bluish illumination that reflected off the tarp.

Marcy, Ashley, and the kids were sleeping in the tent almost thirty yards away, and Jake thought they must be sleeping soundly, not worried about more storms or X-Gang hunting them down.

Standing there with his hands on his hips, Jake surveyed the damage to the SATCOM terminal. Burn marks and bullet holes scored the housing of the equipment, and there were some marks on the outside of the dish itself, although Jake didn’t think they were particularly damaging.

Specialist Murray was a woman in her thirties with brown hair and a quiet demeanor, although she wasn’t bashful when it came to talking about communications devices.

“What happened to it?” Jake asked her.

“Raider hit a Humvee patrol on the outskirts of Boston,” she said, squatting down and running her hand over the housing. “The swivel mechanism was busted, and the wiring shredded. I repaired the wiring, so I think it needs a whole new central core.”

“If you’ve got a wiring kit, I’d like to redo that part to start with.”

The communications officer gave Jake a doubtful look, and he quickly added, “Hey, I don’t doubt you did a good job, but the wiring is key here. You know how these parts work. If the wires are not shielded properly, or there’s even a minor fluctuation, it won’t work.”

“If you guys have got this,” Corporal Riley said, “I’ll get back to patrolling.”

“We’ve got it,” Murray replied as she fished around in her equipment bag for some rewiring tools.

Riley nodded to both of them and stepped beneath the edge of the tarp, calling back over his shoulder. “We’ll be close by if you need us.”

“Great,” Jake said. “Let’s hope for a peaceful evening.”

They’d placed the entire SATCOM terminal on a long table for easier access to the sensitive electronics, and Jake and Specialist Murray squatted down and began loosening the screws around the housing. After lifting the heavy steel cover away, they placed it aside, and Jake watched as Murray pulled out the cable groups and explained to him what they did.

While Jake had a good idea of these things already, it was helpful to have Murray go over some of the electronic components in this upgraded model.

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