don’t need you anymore.”
C HAPTER E IGHT
The team’s two Chinooks landed in a perimeter established by the advance party. Though they had preceded the contact team by less than 45 minutes, the advance party had accomplished a remarkable amount in the time they’d had. A small shelter system had been erected about 100 feet away from where their helicopter came to rest. A generator could be heard running in the distance, presumably providing power for the well-lit entrance to the newly constructed command post.
“Where did all these soldiers come from?” Camilla asked as she exited the aircraft.
“A team from the 101st Air Assault division, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and their payload preceded us. I wasn’t sure they’d get here before us, but I’m glad they did. Although they received their movement order earlier than we did; they had farther to travel. That’s the majority of them. The rest are members of our advance party. They left the better part of an hour before we did. They’d been standing by since we received word of the anomaly and were able to leave immediately once we determined we were dealing with a landing site and not an impact zone. Another team of Air Force security forces should have arrived earlier at the Salina, Kansas airport on a C-17, but they have to travel by road to get from there to here. They won’t arrive for another hour. Unfortunately, that is the closest airfield with a runway long enough to allow a C-17 to take off. We can use the Chinooks to get to Salina in the future. For now, they’ll have to drive. We beat them here, but that’ll be the fastest route back from here on out," Web replied in an uncharacteristically verbose fashion. He’d been in a particularly good mood since they’d left the SCIF. It was not lost on anyone that Web’s change in demeanor coincided with Sam’s departure.
“Jesus Christ, I had no idea corn grew so tall!” Jack exclaimed as he joined the rest of the team on the recently trampled cornfield. Growing up in Miami and spending nearly all of his life on and around various Air Force bases, Jack had never been closer to a cornfield than a distant fly-over.
“Corn frequently grows much higher than this, particularly when it’s to be used for fodder.” Camilla responded in a tone that left no doubt she didn’t appreciate either his ignorance or his choice of expletive. “I expected it would be over our heads. It’s why we brought the lifts.” She gestured toward the three scissor lifts being outfitted with cameras and other equipment around the perimeter on the side facing the landing area.
“Jack, please double check that all of the preparations we requested are going according to plan. The rest of you, please join me in the CP.” Web started walking toward the entrance to the shelter. The rest of the team followed.
Though nearly everyone in the military continued to call any sort of temporary outdoor shelter ‘tent,’ the inside of this shelter belied that term. It had a clean, hard, non-slip floor, a 10-foot tall ceiling, regularly spaced electric outlets, a series of desks along the left wall and three large screen monitors mounted along the right. Technicians were continuing to set up and test equipment and connections throughout the room, but the monitors were already functional. Each of them showed a different view of a section of a cornfield. Web took a moment to scan each of them. Apparently satisfied, he turned back to the team.
“In about ten minutes the world as we know it will change. We will not get a second chance at first contact. I know you’re all tired and I know this is about as unusual a day as a person is likely to have, but it is the day we were given. Other people are doing everything possible to ensure our systems are as ready as we can make them. What I need you to do is prepare yourselves. Grab a cup of coffee or a bottle of water. Do some push-ups or jog in place. Meditate or
C HAPTER E IGHT
The team’s two Chinooks landed in a perimeter established by the advance party. Though they had preceded the contact team by less than 45 minutes, the advance party had accomplished a remarkable amount in the time they’d had. A small shelter system had been erected about 100 feet away from where their helicopter came to rest. A generator could be heard running in the distance, presumably providing power for the well-lit entrance to the newly constructed command post.
“Where did all these soldiers come from?” Camilla asked as she exited the aircraft.
“A team from the 101st Air Assault division, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and their payload preceded us. I wasn’t sure they’d get here before us, but I’m glad they did. Although they received their movement order earlier than we did; they had farther to travel. That’s the majority of them. The rest are members of our advance party. They left the better part of an hour before we did. They’d been standing by since we received word of the anomaly and were able to leave immediately once we determined we were dealing with a landing site and not an impact zone. Another team of Air Force security forces should have arrived earlier at the Salina, Kansas airport on a C-17, but they have to travel by road to get from there to here. They won’t arrive for another hour. Unfortunately, that is the closest airfield with a runway long enough to allow a C-17 to take off. We can use the Chinooks to get to Salina in the future. For now, they’ll have to drive. We beat them here, but that’ll be the fastest route back from here on out," Web replied in an uncharacteristically verbose fashion. He’d been in a particularly good mood since they’d left the SCIF. It was not lost on anyone that Web’s change in demeanor coincided with Sam’s departure.
“Jesus Christ, I had no idea corn grew so tall!” Jack exclaimed as he joined the rest of the team on the recently trampled cornfield. Growing up in Miami and spending nearly all of his life on and around various Air Force bases, Jack had never been closer to a cornfield than a distant fly-over.
“Corn frequently grows much higher than this, particularly when it’s to be used for fodder.” Camilla responded in a tone that left no doubt she didn’t appreciate either his ignorance or his choice of expletive. “I expected it would be over our heads. It’s why we brought the lifts.” She gestured toward the three scissor lifts being outfitted with cameras and other equipment around the perimeter on the side facing the landing area.
“Jack, please double check that all of the preparations we requested are going according to plan. The rest of you, please join me in the CP.” Web started walking toward the entrance to the shelter. The rest of the team followed.
Though nearly everyone in the military continued to call any sort of temporary outdoor shelter ‘tent,’ the inside of this shelter belied that term. It had a clean, hard, non-slip floor, a 10-foot tall ceiling, regularly spaced electric outlets, a series of desks along the left wall and three large screen monitors mounted along the right. Technicians were continuing to set up and test equipment and connections throughout the room, but the monitors were already functional. Each of them showed a different view of a section of a cornfield. Web took a moment to scan each of them. Apparently satisfied, he turned back to the team.
“In about ten minutes the world as we know it will change. We will not get a second chance at first contact. I know you’re all tired and I know this is about as unusual a day as a person is likely to have, but it is the day we were given. Other people are doing everything possible to ensure our systems are as ready as we can make them. What I need you to do is prepare yourselves. Grab a cup of coffee or a bottle of water. Do some push-ups or jog in place. Meditate or
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