The adventures of the Star Traveler Andromeda that started in Among the Stars, Beyond the Farthest Planet, So Far From Home and The Voyage Home continues in Earth in Turmoil.
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Chapter 17
A tap on the head and Kacey snapped awake. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, stood and stretched.
"How long?" She asked.
"Thank you for not asking are we there yet, General. We are thirty minutes from our landing coordinates."
"What is the weather?"
"It has been snowing steadily for the last two hours. The temperature is hovering at five degrees with winds at twenty two K.P.H." He replied and handed her a cup of coffee.
"Wake the rest." She ordered.
"Yes ma'am."
Kacey sipped the strong hot beverage. Savoring the beverage as there would not be any once they landed, she checked the readouts on the computer. Mike and his crews would be taking off shortly in order to be in position to begin the attack run on time. Those squads headed for the compounds further away had left periodically during the past two days.
Timing for the attack had to be perfect. Ground crews had to be inside the compounds when the attack started so that the attention of the men would not be on the areas they were infiltrating. Kacey opened the the envelope that General Millhouse handed her just before they left. The second phase of her mission was to bring out their informant.
"Listen up everyone." Kacey ordered. All attention was on her when she continued. "We will be there in less than thirty minutes. Grab something to eat, do whatever wake up routine you do and check your equipment. We will leave the transport thirty minutes after we arrive. It is snowing and cold so that we will be in the worst case scenario. We practiced this. Make sure your weapons are fully charged and your backups are loaded."
"General you have an incoming video from Admiral Jensen on secured channel four."
"Send it to the back station." Kacey ordered as she headed to the rear compartment. "Kate is anything wrong?" She asked as the video started.
"No. I asked to be the one to relay the latest. Mike and his team lifted off. According to our person,the storm is keeping everyone inside so you will not run into any sentries. He has rigged their computers so that anyone watching the video feeds will only see empty areas. Your way will be as clear as possible."
"That is good to hear."
"He will be watching for you and will meet you in the woman's quarters. He will say leprechaun so that you know who he is."
"Understood, Kate."
"We are all thinking of you. Natalia sends her love as do we all."
Kacey looked around her at the activity, confident that no one was close enough to hear. "I love you all also."
"Be careful out there."
"I will do my best, Kate, but..."
"No, no, no, you get yourself back here safely. Do you hear me little sister?"
"Younger, but yes I hear you. I will do my absolute best to follow through with that."
"See that you do."
"Once we leave the transport, it will be a communications blackout to everyone outside the team. I will contact you when we leave with the women and children."
"I will wait for your call. Good luck." The screen went dark.
Rhea place a covered bowl on the desk. "General, I was ordered to give you this."
"What is it?"
"Something to eat. Your family knows how you are."
"Natalia?"
"Yep in addition to your parents, Kate, Anya. Even Bella told me to make sure you ate."
Kacey laughed. "Thanks Rhea." She opened the container and picked up the fork.
"The pilot said we will be landing in about twenty minutes. The storm has pushed back our arrival time."
"We have plenty of spare time to play with."
"Then eat because I sure as Hell do not want everyone on my ass if you collapse from hunger." Rhea stated as she walked away.
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The transport landed as close to the forest as possible. A slight bump told them they were down. The large transport settled into the soft cushion of snow. The team donned their arctic gear and prepared to leave the warmth and comfort of the transport. Once the door opened, lasers cleared a path to the tree line. Heavy snow continued to fall.
"Latest weather report has come in, General. Heavy snow with a temp of ten degrees with wind chill to minus fifteen. The lasers have cleared a path for you. Once inside the forest, you will be on your own, but the trees should block some of the snow fall."
"What about the other transports?"
"They will be arriving in about three hours."
"Keep an open comm link on us. I will check in every thirty minutes with five beeps to let you know the link is still running. You answer back with three beeps. Colonel Anderson will let you know when to move he transports into the access tunnel."
"Understood General. As soon as you enter the forest the shields will be raised. Your tracker is active and transmitting. We will be able to locate you at all times. Good luck General. The door will open in five minutes."
Kacey finished putting on her gear. "Night visions goggles will be turned on once we enter the trees." They stepped out into the frigid air.
Inside the trees the wind was lessened by the large trees. Kacey held up four fingers and pointed to the left and right. The team separated. They walked deeper into the forest, stopping periodically for a few seconds to consult their map. The green tint from the night goggles gave the forest an other worldly view.
Even inside the trees, they could still feel some of the stronger gusts of wind. The large canopy of bare branches gave them little protection from the falling snow. The evergreens did offer some protection. Every half hour Kacey sent five beeps over the radio and received three beeps back in return.
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Two thousand kilometers away, lights at the three houses were on as Kacey's family paced and waited for news. Kate alone knew how much danger Kacey and her team were walking towards. She watched Natalia pace as she held one of the babies. The older children were asleep after playing with their cousins.
Kate took the now sleeping baby and placed her in her bassinet, and stood before Natalia. The pacing stopped.
"Why don't you sit down. You have been going non stop for hours. You will wear yourself out."
"I can not sit still, Kate." Natalia said meeting Kate's eyes. "If I wasn't nursing, I would have a drink." She covered her face with her hands. She took a deep breath. "Where do you think they are now?"
Kate checked her watch. "They would have landed by now and are probably halfway through the forest."
"Kate I know you are as worried as I am. Do not try to insult my intelligence. You would not be here trying to keep me calm. I can see it in your eyes. Tell me truthfully, how much danger are they in?"
"Natalia,"
"No, Kacey is mother to our children, my wife, my partner, my love. I need to know. Damn it I have the right to know."
Kate sighed. "You are correct. You do have the right to know. Sit down while I make some tea, then I will tell you everything."
Natalia sat on the couch while Kate went into the kitchen. She returned with a tray holding a ceramic pot, two cups, honey and lemon. She poured a cup and handed it to Natalia. "It's Chamomile. Anya drinks this when she is upset or stressed out and needs or wants to relax."
"It is good." Natalia took a sip and placed the cup on the tray. She waited for Kate to speak.
"This mission has the potential to be extremely dangerous. Quite possibly more dangerous than any other mission she has been on."
"How so?"
"Right now they are hiking though a blizzard along with extremely cold temperatures. That alone can be dangerous to her whole team."
"What happens when they get through this forest?"
"They need to get inside the cavern without being seen. Hopefully they will be able to use the blizzard to help them. If there are sentries the storm will keep them inside. They will have a better chance of not being seen. Once inside the cavern then the mission becomes really dangerous. They will be inside when the attack starts. If everything is not timed to the exact second they run the risk of being seen and will have to fight their way to their objective and back outside. The attack is planned o keep the men's attention away from the women's and children's quarters."
"is that everything?" Kate hesitated. "I need to know."
"In order to answer that I need to fill you in on a little history. Over twenty years ago, during an eighteen month period, more than one hundred young women disappeared. They were abducted, tortured, raped, killed and dismembered. Authorities finally captured the person responsible. His name is Milo Corning. He was convicted of his crimes and sentenced to live out his life on a small domed island. Forced into complete solitude. He was not put to death because only the remains of some of his victims were found. A deal was made that each year he would turn over the name and location of five of his victims. All those women and their families deserve to be found for closure. As long as he provided the names he remained alive."
"What does this have to do with Kacey's mission?"
"Milo escaped his island prison and from what we have learned he is the leader."
"What? How?"
"I will not bore you with how he escaped, but the hope of this mission is that the attention of the men will be on the attack, far away from when Kacey is heading."
"But you are worried."
"I am and I am not ashamed to admit it, but I also have confidence in Kacey and her team."
"That is what She was hiding from me when she left. I knew she was holding something back."
"Don't be angry with her, for not telling you everything."
"Would you keep this sort of information from Anya?"
"I would without the slightest hesitation. I would deal with the consequences after it was over."
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After two hours of fighting the wind and blowing snow, Kacey whistled shrilly for her team to stop. She called them in. "This blasted weather is fighting us every step. We are about halfway to our goal. Take ten minutes everyone." She ordered over the howling wind. She consulted her map and read the weather report that popped up. "Damn it." She swore loudly.
"What is it?" Rhea asked as she handed Kacey a drink.
"Weather alert just came in. All the conditions are right for a white out. It could hit at any time."
"What do you want to do General?"
"We continue on. Listen up everyone." All eyes turned to her. "Stay within an arm's length of the person next to you. If the white out does hit us, we will only have a few seconds warning to gather together for safety. We have a little over five hours leeway to get into that access tunnel on schedule. Lets make the most of the five hours. Move out." She ordered. The troops spread out as they started walking. The wind and snow continued to batter them, making their hike harder.
A kilometer from their goal, they all head the first crash of thunder. Kacey looked up into the canopy of bare tree limbs. "This weather is going to shit. Pick up the pace and maybe we can beat this thing." She yelled over the howling wind. "Close ranks"
They walked faster. Kacey's strong legs powered through the snow drifts creating a path for the shorter members of her team. Lightning struck a tree a short way from them which spurred them into a run. Hours of fighting the wind and snow had snapped their strength, but with the lightning they were able to dig deep and push on.
The trees thinned as they neared the forest edge. The snow was deeper and the wind stronger. Thunder had been rumbling steadily for the past several minutes. Walking point Kacey felt the change in the air immediately. "Gather around that large tree and take cover. White out." She yelled.
The team huddled around the base of the sturdy tree as the snow and wind attacked them without mercy.