As another weekend of grand celebrations were taking place all across the nation, the men and women at the training facility continued to hone their respective crafts. The women had been running miles each day both on the flatlands surrounding the facility, and on nearby Bird Mountain via a lift from the helicopter. As a consequence, they were in better physical shape than when they had arrived. Additionally, each of them had continued to practice their hand to hand combat and martial arts techniques, while also learning some basic medical skills in the event they were needed. The group of twenty that had been assigned to be evenly split between the two eastern sites had arrived at the training facility on July seventh, and had been joined by five others in the late days of August. Those five most recent arrivals had been recruited for missions that although less lengthy, contained more complexities than what would be required of their sisters in the east. Unlike the drivers back east who would mainly be used for the retrieval of the attacking forces and their subsequent safe return to Texas, the drivers for the singular western assault had mission assignments both before and after the day of attack.

Three black suburban’s would need to be driven from Amarillo to various locations throughout Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico during the days surrounding the impending attack, with two of those women drivers being called upon to impersonate government officials on a least one occasion. Recruited solely for their skills as jet pilots, the final two women had a more dangerous task ahead of them. As such they focused on little else than increased physical fitness to assist with that task, and how their flying skills could be best utilized. That personal quest was aided by intense study of various maps which detailed the exacting terrain for their upcoming flights.

Although offered to receive time off from her labors for the holiday weekend as she was the only one with a husband and children, the eldest of the now twenty-five women had declined. Having been designated as their leader, she felt that it would have been an unfair advantage over the others to escape the late summer heat of west Texas for a few days. More significantly, accepting such favoritism would have also delivered a poor message to the collective that could upset the balance of team unity.

A minimal addition to the forty-two men of the assault teams were Mr. Capra and Mr. Fisk, but like the pilots who had joined the group of women, their mindset was also of a singular focus. Beyond that belief was an exception to their training that would set them apart from the other newcomers. The two helicopter pilots had been informed that they would also embark on a refresher course with regard to the art of parachuting to safety. Although both had performed numerous jumps during the training and military service of yesteryear, neither had utilized such a skill for several years. It was hoped that said action wouldn’t be required within the body of the plan, but if for some reason one or both of them needed to bailout, refreshing them on how to do so seemed prudent.

When Mr. Fisk then asked, “Why aren’t the women who will fly the jets be going through the course with us?”

The lead recruiter at the facility replied, “Because they won’t have any parachutes to jump with.”

In a reply of obvious puzzlement, he asked, “They won’t, why not?”

“Well think about it Mr. Fisk. The flight status of the ladies is quite different from that of you and Mr. Capra. Most of your flying will be pre-mission during the training stage, and then the repositioning and delivery of the western attack force. With yourself included in the equation, you will be carrying a valuable set of assets on every flight. Should the helicopter develop mechanical problems or failure while doing so; the safety of those assets must be protected. As the attacking air personnel will always have parachutes for those training jumps and flights, it only makes sense that you do as well. In short, we can perhaps replace the helicopter with a back-up, but those of the attacking force or the pilots that will deliver them are more of a challenge.”

After a moment of contemplation Mr. Fisk replied, “Alright, I understand your point, but what about during the mission? Won’t the two women pilots have parachutes then?”

“No they won’t. But if it’s any comfort to you Mr. Fisk, you won’t have one during the mission either.”

Knowing that none of them could be taken alive, Mr. Fisk suddenly realized why he wouldn’t have a parachute during the mission. If the helicopter were to be shot down by an opposing force, then he and all hands on board would perish in the act.

With knowledge that the training aspects of the air and ground personnel were firmly under control, and with his son Mason spending much of his time in west Texas under the tutelage of number thirty one, Samuel took the opportunity to offer Courtney a special mission of her own. He had seen something within his daughter-in-law that led him to believe she was capable, but he didn’t taint Courtney’s decision process by providing her with that insight. Samuel informed her only that if she accepted the challenge, and he wanted her to take a few days to sufficiently ponder over that decision, then there would be no turning back. Her training for the mission, although just as physically and mentally demanding, would be separate from all of the other recruits. The content of her assignment in various locations would be dealt with in complete secrecy. No one other than Courtney, Samuel, and number twenty three as a contact would know anything about her mission parameters from the moment of her initial briefing on through and beyond the execution of those tasks.