Over the next three days the cave headquarters transformed from a tranquil holding station to a mass of activity. All available personnel, even Edens waiting to move down the Railroad line, were drafted to help. The temperature had begun to drop and the sky grew heavy and gray. Foraging parties brought food and wood into the caves, preparing for the influx of rescued prisoners.
“You sure this is going to work?” asked Flyboy, holding up a detonator and a one-kilo brick of C4 plastic explosive. “Maybe it’ll just blow up the drone.”
“Oh, it’s going to blow up all right,” said Tarzan. “What you have in your hands is enough to kill all of us.”
“Why isn’t Shortfuse here doing this himself?” asked Stitch.
“He’s with Reaper and Skull,” said Hawkeye. “Had to go get something important. No worries. This is simple stuff. Blasting cap, C4, tape, wires…nothing to it.”
Flyboy laid the items carefully on the table. “I mean, can Livewire really control these things remotely? And all at the same time?”
“I’m programming their flight paths now,” said Livewire from a table off to the side, not looking up from his laptops. “We’ll hijack the drones and bring them here. Then we’ll load up the explosives and send them in. Piece of cake.”
“Huh,” said Flyboy. “Electronics plus high explosives plus unmanned vehicles plus terrible weather equals what could possibly go wrong?”
“You got a better idea?” asked Spirit.
“Yeah, as a matter of fact I do. There’s an Army aviation base not thirty miles from here. Put me in the cockpit of a helicopter gunship and I can fly over and take out the whole camp.”
“In a storm?”
“Well, obviously it would have to be before the storm.”
“Then the enemy quick reaction team could come with their gunships.”
“Damn.”
“It’s a good thing you look good, because you’re dumb, son.” said Bunny.
“You finally copped to my outstanding good looks!”
“Sorry, not quite good enough,” said Bunny.
The group laughed.
“Damn,” said Flyboy. “Will I ever get to fly something?”
“You can fly a drone,” Livewire said.
“Not the same thing at all.”
Buzz stood up and began to walk toward the exit.
“Where are you going?” asked Hawkeye.
“I’m going to take a dump, if you must know,” Buzz answered. “Is that a problem?”
“Nope. Long as you don’t forget to wipe,” answered Spirit, exchanging a high five with Bunny.
Derrick poked his head into their alcove. “Anyone seen Spooky?”
***
The mole made his way through the busy camp, nodding and smiling at people he’d deliberately befriended. When he went outside the perimeter, Derrick’s people waved at him.
Making his way along a steep hillside, the mole stopped several times to make sure no one was following him. He circled back to double-check. Finally, he hiked a straight line toward his destination on the opposite side of the hill from the caves. He’d need to move fast so no one on his team got suspicious.
He found the tree with the identifying mark he’d placed a few days before. Digging in the leaves and dirt at the base of the tree, he exposed a large zip-lock bag. He’d carried it deep in his pack all the way from Colombia, but at every opportunity had hidden it somewhere else...just in case.
Reaching down inside the bag, he pulled out a secure satellite phone, and then the spring charger that served as a battery. Connecting the two, he cranked the handle until its innards had wound tight like an old-fashioned clock, and then flipped the switch that would slowly let the kinetic energy power the tiny electric generator.
Turning on the phone, the mole lifted it toward the sky, waiting for it to gain signal. Once it had, he called a number. After two rings it picked up.
“This is Gopher,” said the mole. “SITREP update.”
“Go ahead,” said the man at the other end.
“The attack on the camp is a go. Scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, when the blizzard hits. Same number of attackers as previous report.”
“Are they still in the caves at the GPS location you gave us?”
“Yes, but I recommend against attacking them here. It’s a highly defensible position and there are backdoors I don’t know about. Recommend waiting until they attack, then surround and eliminate. Without most of the shooters, the cave location will be much easier to mop up.”
“What’s their exfil plan?”
“Unknown. Also, they believe they can hijack the camp’s drones and use them to deliver explosives.”
“Let them try,” said the man. “We’ll change the encryption protocols shortly before the attack.”
The mole cleared his throat. “This will be my last transmission until it’s over. I can’t risk any more contact.”
“That is not convenient.”
“It will have to be. They also have someone on the inside. If you warn the camp too soon, it may tip them off that you know.”
There came a long pause from the other end, muffled voices in the background. “Understood. Our plan doesn’t require the camp personnel to know the attack is coming until the last minute. Just remember your success parameters.”
“I know. Eliminate the key personnel.”
“Yes. When that’s done, you can exfil to the rendezvous.”
“It might be harder than it sounds.”
“You won’t get your payoff if you don’t.”
“If I succeed, I’ll have earned it. And there aren’t so many like me around, remember.”
“You’ll be useless as a mole once you’re blown.”
“There are other organizations to be infiltrated. Plastic surgery will change my face.”
“Good luck, Gopher. You’re almost home.”
When the man returned to camp, he saw the others laying out an odd assortment of materials, such as aluminum foil, bare copper wire mesh, and extra metallized thermal blankets. Rather than admit his ignorance, he sat down quietly in the shadows to watch the others.
“What’s all this?” said Spirit.
“Hell if I know,” said Tarzan.
“Just follow my instructions and don’t think too hard,” said Hawkeye.
“Hey, we work better if we know what’s going on,” said Bunny.
“It’s need-to-know.”
“You don’t know either, do you?”
Hawkeye rolled his eyes. “Shut up and listen. We’re making reinforced bags with the blanket material and duct tape, then lining them with foil and this wire screen. First, cut up your thermal blanket into four equal pieces…”