The Awakening: Book 1 of Warner's World Page 5

  Dakota dropped in 20 paces behind her, scanning right. Emilio was next scanning left, followed by Warner. The rest of the team dovetailed in behind each scanning their respective arcs. Sue Chalker was tail end Charlie. It took a good three minutes to shake out into the staggered column formation. With 20 paces between each member the column stretched for over 100m. It was open country and they didn’t want to lose the whole team to a single bust from a pulse gun.

  Dai propped at the top of the mound. Everyone else followed suit, still scanning their allotted arcs. Emilio and Warner moved up next to Dai. She was pointing towards what looked like a building about a kilometre away. Warner took a good look through his scope.

  It was open undulating country. The odd copse of trees but mainly low scrub and grade 4 grazing fields through which a dry creek bed had carved out a scar on the landscape. Dave could smell the dry earth. It had been weeks since it rained. The coming summer was not going to be kind to this place.

  There it was – an all terrain vehicle. It would be a tight squeeze for all of them but in the absence of anything more suitable it would serve.

  The question was how to secure it without being observed. It was still late afternoon. The sun was shining and visibility was good. There was a slight gulley off to the right but it meant that the last 100m or so would be very exposed. It was better than any other approach. Warner moved closer to Emilio. “We’ll approach right along the gulley till it peters out. That location will be your base of fire. Then scout over to the building and secure the vehicle.”

  “I’m on it.” Emilio was all concentration now. He relayed his brief instructions over the net and within a few minutes they were again on the move. A slight wind was blowing from the west kicking up dust. It was dry as and soon Warner’s mouth was parched. There was plenty of sting still in the sun.

  Emilio had already deployed his gunners as Warner arrived at the base of fire position. Emilio said “Buster and I will scout forward. I’ll call Dai and Sue forward once we have reached the building. You right to stay here till we’ve secured the vehicle?”

  “Sure. I got your back” replied Warner. Dai and Sue were already prone and ready to fire. Warner did likewise.

  With a wave of his hand Cpl Buster Williams moved towards the building at a steady pace. Buster wasn’t the heaviest man around but he was trying to walk as lightly as he could. He had the focus of a technician, for in part he was. He was no longer the slightly built nerd that had signed up all those years ago. The muscles that flexed in his arm as he gripped the stock of his rifle testified to that. His face was set with a determination that was the hallmark of this veteran. He could flash a warm smile with the best of them but right now was not the time.

  Emilio was 20 paces behind. About 30m from the building Buster dropped to the ground. Emilio did the same. “Heard something” said Buster over the net.

  “What?” queried Emilio.

  “Not sure. Sounds like we have someone here.”

  “OK we have to deal with them. Move to that door and I’ll cover you.”

  “Roger that.”

  Buster rose slowly his rifle raised ready to fire. Glancing down to the ground as he positioned each step, careful to avoid making any noise, he made his way towards the door. He swivelled his back to the wall on the right hand side of the door, shouldered his rifle, taking his pistol in his left hand he beckoned Emilio to come forward. When Emilio arrived he took up position to the left, rifle at the port position. He then called Dai and Sue forward on the net.

  When they were about ten metres away they knelt facing the door. Buster moved his right hand to the door release and looked to Emilio to get the go ahead. Emilio nodded. Buster hit the release, the door slid open. It was completely dark inside. All windows were shuttered. The strong smell of hay pervaded the space. But then they heard the noise.

  Buster rolled right and Emilio went left. Buster ran into a bench a metre in, hitting his left knee in the process. He wanted to curse but held his tongue. Emilio found no cover at all that he could see. “Going thermal” said Emilio ever so quietly. Buster did likewise. Immediately there were heat signatures all around them. Big heat signatures. As his eyes adjusted Emilio realised what they were and couldn’t help himself chuckle. “Cows!” he said over the net. Warner let out a short soft laugh.

  Emilio and Buster emerged back out of the building. Emilio motioned Dai and Sue to scout to the far end of the big shed. Once there Dai reported “All clear. I can see the vehicle.”

  “Stay there. We’ll go round the other side.”

  Once there Emilio gave the all clear too. He ordered Dai and Sue to take up overwatch positions while he gave the go ahead for the gunners to join them. Warner tagged along quite relieved that cows were the only other living things here. As he walked he found himself wondering how on earth they could sustain cows in this dry place. When he got to the shed he took a look in with his thermal sights and noted a trough of water next to the feed trough. He still didn’t know where the water came from but didn’t have time to waste.

  By the time he got out Buster had the vehicle engine running and it was up to Warner to throw his backpack in the back and squeeze next to Emilio in the front cabin with his rifle between his knees. He took off his helmet and placed that on the floor out of sight. Now he wished they had all bought civvies. Oh well they would just have to pray they didn’t run into too many other vehicles out here.

  Buster had his console out with a satmap image of the area. He had marked out a route and showed it to Emilio and Warner. Basically it followed the track into Tindel. Warner pointed to a point short of the town and said “we’ll stop here and take a look.”

  “Got it” said Buster. He gunned the engine and headed westward along the track.

  Warner leaned over towards the driver and said “No need to race. We don’t want to draw any attention to ourselves.”

  Buster nodded and eased off the accelerator. They cruised along up a gentle rise, came to an intersection and turned right. Another vehicle, a large mining truck was heading towards them. Emilio warned those in the back. Warner tried to look his nonchalant best while at the same time his heartbeat quickened. Did they recognise this vehicle? Miners and farmers don’t usually mix, so unlikely. He relaxed a little. The big vehicle went past them in a rush. A huge dust plume engulfed the vehicle. Buster instinctively slowed down a little to cope with the poor visibility. The mining vehicle didn’t stop. They continued on.

  The sun was starting to settle towards the horizon as they approached Tindel a few minutes later. Buster pulled over off the track near a rock outcrop. Warner and Emilio got out. Warner had removed the sight from his rifle and was now scanning the small town from just under a kilometre. It was indeed a small town. Hamlet or village would have been a more apt description. The track they were on joined another larger track a few hundred metres ahead. It then became the main road into town. There were no more than 30 or so buildings, including several two storey establishments near the centre and a row of large sheds on the far side. There were three cross streets but you couldn’t really say the town was laid out in a grid or anything that reflected town planning. No it had just grown up over time higgledy-piggledy.

  Warner focused on the centre of town trying to scope out the tavern. There it was, replete with a weathered sign of sorts. The wind was increasing and the dust blew through town. There was virtually no one on the streets. That worried Warner. Maybe the weather but maybe things were not as they should be.

  The main road ran east west. Across the main road from the tavern were three two storey buildings. Next to the tavern on the westward side was a big parking lot with several mining trucks and a couple of all-terrain vehicles. It looked like it could hold a lot more vehicles. On the eastern side were two single storey buildings. What they were, Warner couldn’t make out.

  Handing the scope to Emilio he said “Take a look. The tavern’s down there next to the parking lot. Those two storey building
s might prove useful. We should check them out.”

  “Are we just going to drive in?” queried Emilio.

  “Guess so, but we’ll chuck a right at the second cross street and try and gain entry from the rear. It will be dusk soon. Let’s wait here for another twenty and then head out. Is that enough time for you to devise a plan and brief the others?”

  “Yeh, no worries.”

  “In the meantime I’ll keep watching.”

  Emilio went back to the vehicle.

  A few minutes later, several people came out onto the streets. One got into a vehicle and drove westwards out of town. Another made their way into one of the single storey buildings east of the tavern. They emerged a few minutes later. Probably a shop of some descript, thought Warner. Ok so this looks normal end of the day type activity. Warner felt more at ease.

  He made his way back to the vehicle and climbed in. He looked at Emilio. “We right to go?”

  “Sure.”

  Chapter 10. Tindel 1800, 21 April

  Buster kicked life back into the vehicle and they headed into town doing a modest 60kph. Warner was scanning left, Emilio scanning right. They didn’t encounter anyone till approaching the second cross street. The two people on the side of the road didn’t even look at them. They were engrossed in some discussion. The sound of laughter pursued them as they made their right turn and then Buster pulled over to the left 50m along. The nearest building was 20m back.

  There wasn’t any real vegetation except for some low lying scrub that looked pretty hardy. Hell it had to be out here. So there was no cover at all just dirt, small stones and bigger rocks.

  Emilio spoke into his communicator and Dai and Sue got out of the back. They made their way in the soft fading light towards the back of the first two storey house. They could hear voices, so they went to the next. No voices, no lights, no indication of activity. Dai went closer, ascertained that the rear door was locked. Sue leapfrogged past her to the left side entrance. It was a big delivery door, capable of allowing large vehicles to enter. The sign at the entrance said Waco’s Plumbing.

  Sue reported in “Looks like a plumbing service centre or something. No one is here now. Do you want us to gain entry?”

  “Wait one. I’m coming to join you. Riley, you’re with me.” Emilio wasted no time in dismounting. Brian Riley rolled out the back adjusting his quanto as he did so. They closed up on the building staying in the shadow on the eastern side. The building was made of the same prefab slabs that adorned the rest of them in this street. ‘Some developer doing it on the cheap and making good money’ thought Emilio. He twitched his nose at the strong smell of lubricants.

  Five minutes later Emilio called in. “Building secure. Buster bring the vehicle around to the side entrance and drive right in.”

  Ten minutes later Sue and Warner were scanning the tavern entrance and parking lot from a window in a change room upstairs. The tavern was another of the two storey buildings but with a fake wood façade. Unlike every other building in town it had an actual awning that extended along the front and the side adjacent to the car park.

  The place was pretty filthy but beggars can’t be choosers. There were a few more vehicles in the car park now. A couple of people had entered the tavern, miners by the look of their attire.

  “Can you hear that sound and feel that vibration?” Warner asked Sue.

  “Yeh. It sounds like some kind of machinery. Maybe a pump.”

  “Of course. There must be a pump house extracting water from some artesian basin. Probably in those large sheds over there” said Warner pointing to the far side of town.

  By now the sun had set and it was starting to get dark. There wasn’t any street lighting - nothing so sophisticated. There was a lamp on the outside of the tavern near the front door, but that was all. There was still enough light to see but they had to hurry.

  Sue began changing into her civvies while Warner kept his eyes on the tavern. When she was done she said “You can turn around now.” As he did so, she asked “not too flashy?”

  “No, not flashy, but nice nonetheless. I reckon you’ll do” and he gave her a smile. “You got the sensor pack?”

  “Here it is” handing it to Warner. He took out the sound array which looked like piece of clear tape with one solid grey edge. “May I?” he asked, motioning towards the collar of her blouse.

  “Be my guest” and she smiled as he affixed the tape under her collar. He then took what looked like a pen from the pack and flicking a switch on it passed it over the grey edge. The edge changed colour to an olive green. He pulled out the small console from the pack and set the frequency to an alternate channel that could be accessed on their internal net. He didn’t want to use the main channel as this may get too busy. There would just be him and Sue on this channel.

  “OK let’s try it. Walk outside and down the corridor. Then start talking in your normal voice and make your way back here.”

  She did so and Warner confirmed that he could hear her. When she arrived back, he took out the “eyes on” devices. These looked like small badges. “Blue or red?” he asked.

  “Blue” she responded. “Goes with my eyes!” she added.

  Sure enough they did. Warner looked into her blue-grey eyes. Even in the fading light he could see they were smiling at him. He smiled back. “So they do! Here fix this to the outside of your blouse. If I may be so bold I would recommend here” pointing above her left breast pocket.

  She affixed the badge and he used the pen again to activate it. He turned to his console on his left arm, made some settings and lo and behold there was the back of his head on the screen. “Looks good! You’ve’ got your comms set to silent?”

  “Yes”.

  “Set your dead-switch to vibrate and stick it in your trouser pocket. One buzz means yes, two means no. If I see Manger, I’ll buzz three times. Four buzzes means get the hell out of there. Understood?”

  “Understood!” she confirmed.

  “Now remember try not to stand out. If anyone asks you what you’re doing there tell them you’re up from Niku to meet a prospective business partner. You’re thinking of setting up a vehicle maintenance centre. Avoid getting into conversations. When you enter try and pan around the place. He may already be in there. If he’s not, try and sit so you can cover the front door. But he may come in from another entrance, so keep your wits about you.”

  “Right!”

  “Money?”

  “Check!”

  “Pistol?”

  “Check!” she turned and patted the small of her back. Her blouse was billowed out covering the pistol from sight.

  “What if I spot trouble?”

  “Buzz four times and leave. Make your way back here. Best to make your way around the back, but if things go pear-shaped, just head straight over here. If we have been compromised, make your way to the rock outcrop we stopped at before entering the town. We’ll RV there as soon as we can. Are you right to go to work?”

  “Yeh I’m ready.” Warner noted the serious demeanour. This was it. Poker face on. Senses alert. Brain on overdrive. He knew her adrenalin was rising.

  “Remember, stay calm. You may need to be in there for several hours. I’ll be listening and watching. The rest of the team is here to back you up.”

  “Thanks.” She turned and disappeared into the now dark corridor. Warner heard her steps and then the elevator. He switched channels and advised “It’s show time folks.”

  “Almost forgot” he said to himself and reached for the communicator in his bum pack. He set a one minute alarm on his console and opened the channel to the warthog.

  “Parinya, we’re about to go in.”

  “Sir, understood. There’s an urgent message from the XO. ‘Snitch fired.’”

  “Shit” exclaimed Warner.

  “Sir, what’s happening?”

  “Trouble. I can’t keep this open much longer. Relay back this message to the XO. ‘Extreme caution. Keep Pug close. Will expedite.�
�� Got it?”

  “Extreme caution. Keep Pug close. Will expedite.”

  “Stay alert Parinya and be ready to move. Out.”

  ‘Damm it’ thought Warner. Manger better be in there now. OK he had to remain calm. He decided not to tell anyone else on the team about the message or its significance. They had to stay focussed on the task at hand and so had he. He found himself silently repeating his mantra. As he did so his mind became clearer. His heart beat reduced and he returned to the window. He raised the sight and switched to thermal. He did a 180 scan. Nothing untoward stood out. He kept the console below the window line and turned on the display.

  Sue was crossing the road. Her jacket was under her arm and her shoulder bag bounced lightly on her hip. She looked every inch the business person on a recce. She made her way through the front doors. The smell of cheese and broad beans mixed with the unmistakeable smell of wheat beer. ‘A pub by any other name’ thought Sue.

  She looked right and swept left. There were around a dozen people in the main bar area. Four people were seated and eating at a table on the right. Another couple were at the bar. There was only one guy behind the bar. Another three people to the left were deep in some discussion. One man was sitting at a table on the left, casting his eyes around the room. He certainly noticed Sue as she entered.

  Sitting in what went for a lounge were another couple, man and woman, drinks in hand and looking quite relaxed. Apart for the woman at the lounge Sue was the only other women in the place. Typical for a mining town thought Warner.

  But there was no Manger. Sue motioned towards the tables on the right. She picked up a menu and took the opportunity to get a closer look at the people seated at the table on the right. Warner hit the buzzer twice. Sue went to the bar and asked how long was dinner being served. The barman advised her that she better order soon. She turned back towards the two men at the bar. Warner again hit the buzzer twice. She then made her way to a table on the left. She placed her jacket over one of the chairs allowing a good look at the people at the nearby table and lounge. Again Warner hit the buzzer twice. As she sat down facing back towards the door “eyes on” took in the single man seated. Another two buzzes.