Authors: Rich Goldhaber
“Okay, it looks like they’re getting onto
Route 20. The guy in the army jeep is in the lead,
and the red SUV is third in the convoy. They’re
heading south on Route 20 in the direction of Augusta, Georgia. I’d say they’re traveling at a speed
of about seventy miles per hour.”
By the time Elizabeth and I had started up
the U-Haul, Arnie was just about to lose the live
video feed. “The next satellite passes over in exactly
fifty-seven minutes. Lieutenant Monroe and his
men are in California to help defend their community. We’ve got about a dozen soldiers left on the
base. I’ll put together a rescue team. I’ll call you
before the satellite makes its next pass.”
With Elizabeth providing directions on the
navigation system, we found Route 20 and headed
south toward Augusta, Georgia. I kept my speed at
seventy miles per hour, and we both kept a lookout
for the convoy up ahead.
We drove along in total silence. I was thinking about Jessie. Why hadn’t they killed her? Of
course I knew the answer. If she hadn’t been raped
already, it would only be a matter of time. Even if
Arnie could assemble a rescue team quickly, it
would still take them several hours to reach us,
assuming they could get Sammy Lafayette to fly
them up in a helicopter.
For right now, we would have to figure this
out for ourselves, and the highest priority was to
follow the bad guys to their destination. I wanted
to speed up to ensure we didn’t lose the convoy,
but we couldn’t risk being seen. I set the cruise
control to seventy miles per hour, and we both
looked ahead to make sure we weren’t closing in on
the caravan.
About forty-five minutes into our drive I
reached the crest of a hill and saw the last few cars
in the convoy. I immediately slammed on the
brakes and waited for five minutes before I reset
the cruise control to sixty-five.
Our navigation system indicated it would
take a little over ten minutes to reach the outskirts
of Augusta, Georgia. I looked at my watch; we had
another seven minutes before the next satellite
made a flyover, and Arnie still hadn’t called back. I
thought about calling him and decided not to interfere. A road sign indicated it was another fifteen
miles to Augusta.
We just passed the sign when Arnie called
back. “There’ll be five of us squeezing into Sammy’s
helicopter. He’s flying back from the campus now. I
don’t want to leave until we know where they’re
going. The next satellite will be live in another
three minutes. How are you guys doing?”
“We almost snuck up to their caravan. I
backed off on our speed. I’m guessing they’re just
reaching the Augusta area now.”
Arnie interrupted, “We’re live guys. I see
their convoy. It’s still on Interstate 20 and they’ve
passed through the city and now they’re just west
of Augusta. I’m guessing they’re heading for Fort
Gordon. The Fourth Infantry is located there. I’ll
know in another two minutes. If they turn south
on Route 383, then I’ll know where they’re headed.”
“Not good Jim. I’m sure they gained access
to the armory, and they’ll have some major weapons systems. The key question is how many
knowledgeable soldiers they have in their group.
They’ll probably have access to Bradley M2
Fighting Vehicles and the usual array of small
arms weapons like grenades, and handheld missiles.”
Arnie interrupted, “They just turned south
on Route 383. They’re definitely headed for Fort
Gordon. I’ve got about five more minutes of viewing
time on this satellite. The next one will be overhead
in forty-seven minutes. I’ve looked ahead at the
Fort Gordon complex and the bad news is I can see
dozens of people just milling around.
Here’s what I want you guys to do. I’m going to route you to a back entrance to the military
post. Take Interstate 520 south. It’s the ring road
around Augusta. Then take Route 1 southwest to
Mirror Lake Road. Take a right turn, and the road
leads directly into Range Road. You’ll probably
come to a wire fence and an abandoned gate where
the road ends at Fort Gordon.”
“Elizabeth is loading it into our navigation
system right now. We’ll contact you when we get
there.”
“Okay Jim; don’t do anything stupid. We’ll
be gathering equipment and loading stuff into the
helicopter.”
Armed thugs were going to be an ongoing
problem, but now my mind was focused on freeing
Jessie. It would be at least four hours before Arnie’s rescue team could arrive on the scene, and it
wasn’t like they were going to just land at the military complex and free her. I was certain they would
land to the south, far enough away to be certain
the chopper wasn’t heard at the military base.
They probably wouldn’t arrive on the scene for at
least five hours, and they would need to be picked
up at their landing point.
What could Elizabeth and I accomplish in
the next few hours? The answer was pretty simple;
reconnaissance would be our major short-term
goal.
We followed Arnie Connors’ directions, and
it took us almost an hour to find Range Road. The
road was nothing more than a gravel path cut
through a dense pine forest just south of Fort Gordon. About a half mile up the road we arrived at a
rusted chain-link fence with a gate that looked like
it hadn’t been opened since one of the world wars.
I drove the U-Haul in reverse and parked off
the road in a heavily wooded area not visible from
inside the fort. Private Duncan was back from a
brief rest and called me on my satellite phone. “Hey
guys, I guess I’ve missed a lot of the action. Sorry,
but I had to get a few hours of shut-eye.”
“I’ve got you spotted on a satellite flying
overhead now. I’ve located the caravan. They’ve all
pulled into the main entrance to the fort. I can’t
see Jessie, but I think she might be in one of the
barracks near the parking lot. All the people seem
to be located in this part of the facility.
“I want you to reposition your U-Haul to a
new area closer to where all the action is taking
place. Part of the forest stops real close to there
and you might be able to monitor things better
from this new position.”
Elizabeth plotted our new course on the
navigations system, and it took us another ten
minutes to move our U-Haul along a narrow gully.
I could see tank track impressions along the dirt
pathway, and assumed the path through the forest
was used for training purposes. We hid the truck
in a cropping of trees and began walking north
through the forest.
It took us another ten minutes to reach the
edge of the woods and climb over an old rusty
fence. We positioned ourselves behind a large
boulder and observed the parking lot about a half
mile away. We could see people walking around
but couldn’t make out any more details. It was too
far away. I had to get closer.
Just as I was debating whether to move
closer to the parking lot, Arnie Connors called in.
“Jim we’re about ten minutes from taking off from
our base. We’re loaded with arms and other supplies. We’re going to land in a parking lot on the
corner of Route 1 and Route 221 in a town called
Wrens. We’re estimating we’ll land about 1845
hours. Meet us there.”
“Don’t try anything stupid Jim. Wait until
we get there. We’ve got Private Duncan manning
the satellite images, and he has a better chance of
figuring out where she’s being held than you do.”
It was good advice, but whether I would
heed it was another matter. Elizabeth and I looked
at our watches. They would be landing in just under four hours. Elizabeth needed to allow sixty
minutes to get back to the car and find the meeting
point. I would keep the satellite phone and stay in
touch with Adrian while Elizabeth met the rescue
team.
Elizabeth and I kept watch from the protection behind the boulder for another half hour. During that time we had not seen another person between our position and the parking lot. Adrian,
keeping close watch with his spy satellites, confirmed all of the action was taking place on the
north side of the parking lot. “Jim, I think I’ve figured out where Jessie might be held prisoner.
There’s a building one block west of the parking lot
and two guards are stationed outside.”
“Not yet, I’d wait till sundown. I’ve got infrared imaging on these birds, and I can guide you
more safely then.”
With nothing better to do than wait for the
others to arrive, Elizabeth left me and returned to
the U-Haul. She might as well wait for the others
at the meeting point, and if she left, I might be able
to sneak a little closer to where Jessie might be
held.
Elizabeth wished me good luck and ordered
me to stay put until the others arrived. Why was
everyone telling me what to do? I guess I already
knew the answer.
A light rain began falling as I hid behind the
large boulder. The people waiting in the parking lot
scattered into some of the nearby army barracks
surrounding the three sides of the parking lot. I
stepped back into the woods and waited under a
tree as the drizzle turned into a downpour. With
everyone waiting inside for the rain to stop, I wondered if now was the time to move closer to the
place where Jessie might be held prisoner.
“I think they’ve got her in a building west of
the parking lot, one block away. There’s a tall tenstory building one street over. It’s built with red
brick. Do you see it?”
“Okay, the building of interest is located
one block to the east and exactly in front of the tall
building.”
“Well if you’re going to risk it, then wait for
six more minutes. That’s when the next bird is
overhead. I can make sure people aren’t in the area
of the building with the infrared imagery.”
I agreed, and the next six minutes took forever. Finally Adrian was back on the phone, and I
left the protection of the woods and sprinted across
an open field and headed for a group of buildings
just south of the tall building I was trying to reach.
Adrian was watching me on his computer screen,
and he was providing real-time directions on where
to go.
A nearby lightning strike and booming
crack of thunder broke the silence. I was soaking
wet, but I kept following Adrian’s directions and
eventually reached the tall red brick building.
Empty liquor bottles were scattered all around the
entrance. On close inspection, the place looked like
some type of administrative facility.
The building looked deserted. Out of
breath, I rested in the lobby. After a minute, I
found the stairs and walked up to the top floor.
The large office area took up the entire floor. The
temperature was almost ninety degrees, and the
place was already showing mold growth on the
walls. I walked over to the east side of the floor and
looked out the large floor to ceiling window.
My new perch provided a perfect view of the
building Adrian had been monitoring. Adrian had
observed two guards in front of the building. I was
looking at the back, and there appeared to be nobody guarding the rear.
I was soaking wet. I took off my clothes and
squeezed out the water from my shirt and pants. I
let them dry out on the back of two chairs. I sat
down in my wet underwear at a desk facing the
window and tried calling Adrian. I waited for a signal, and then I remembered I needed to be outside
to use the phone. As soon as the rain stopped, I
would move onto the building’s roof and contact
Adrian and Arnie Connors. I was going to be the
team’s advance scout.
As I waited for the rain to stop and my
clothes to dry, I began thinking about how our
team would be able to infiltrate the base and free
Jessie from her prison. The bad guys all seemed to
be congregated to the east of where I was situated.
At night our team could probably enter the fort a
little west of where Elizabeth and I were watching
and then easily make it to my building.
The rain suddenly stopped, and the sun
broke through the dark grey clouds. A rainbow appeared, and I decided to move onto the roof. I put
on my damp clothes and found a staircase leading
up to the building’s roof. The door to the roof was
unlocked, and I stepped out onto a flat metal roof.
No expensive roof tiles here at the army base. This
was the military version of the lowest cost supplier.
I walked all around the roof. It had a perfect
view of the entire fort. After the rain stopped, dozens of people began leaving various buildings and
congregating once again out in the parking lot.
I called Adrian. “It’s stopped raining and I’m
standing on the roof of the building. I’ll be staying
up here to monitor things.”
“I just talked to Major Connors. They’re
about ninety minutes away from the meeting
point.”
I carried a chair from the office area onto
the roof and placed the chair so I was partially
hidden behind a non-functional air-conditioning
system. The team probably wouldn’t arrive for another two hours. It would be dark by then, and
they should be able to reach my building without
being seen. I had plenty of time to observe what
was going on.
I thought about the dynamics of this group
of no-goods. How did they survive from day to day?
Where did they get their food? They had none of
the conveniences of our community: no electricity,
no running water, no working toilets, nothing to
create even a marginal lifestyle. Jessie had it right
from the beginning; this subset of humanity would
always exist. For whatever the reason, they didn’t
want to work to make things better. They just
wanted to live from day to day off the hard work of
others. The bigger question was how these people
always managed to find each other. It was just like
Brad Davis and his friends. They found each other
and bonded in a matter of hours. I wondered
whether Brad and his friends were with this group.
They hadn’t been part of the Tampa thugs who attacked the campus. We had definitely seen his picture from the satellite in his red shirt. Maybe he
suspected we would defend our community with all
our effort and decided not to participate. I made it
a point to keep a lookout for a guy in a red shirt.