The Emerald Virus (39 page)

    
Ted grunted and said, “No he didn’t. But for some reason that doesn’t surprise
me. A man like that keeps himself in reserve, but I’m glad to know that. Thank
you.”

    
“Sure, but I didn’t tell him I knew that, and I wouldn’t want to be the one to
upset him by talking too much, if you know what I mean.”

    
Col Greene smiled and said, “I knew you were a smart man Noah. We’ll keep this
between the two of us, at least for as long as circumstances will allow us to
do that. Besides, I’ve always had a great respect for another person’s privacy.”

    
The main door to the lobby opened and Danny stepped in, and with his perpetual
grin said, men, Sam would like you both to join her in her RV.”

    
When the four of them were seated in the living area Sam said, “Col Green,
Danny says it looks like we’re going to propose a militia this evening. Leading
a force of fighting men is a large responsibility, would you mind if we talked
about your background a little bit. I want to make sure I know what I’m doing
tonight, if I nominate you to lead our militia.”

    
The Colonel said, “Sam, I don’t mind at all. I probably appreciate more than
anyone the difficulties and responsibilities of such a position.

    
“I had a pretty typical Army career. I graduated from West Point, was a platoon
leader and then a company commander in the first gulf war. I was part of the
Corps that swept around the lines and attacked as three divisions. I knew some
remarkable senior commanders involved in that war and I patterned my career
after them.  ”

    
Danny spoke up and asked, “Colonel, what made them so remarkable.”

    
“I think the thing that surprised so many people was that they cared deeply for
human life, all human life. Of course their emphasis was on their own men first
and foremost. It was unusual for men trained for war to show restraint when
given an opportunity to fight with, and lead, the most powerful army ever
assembled. But these men realized early on that a few miles of desert wasn’t
worth the lives of their men.

    
“Some leaders of armored units and mechanized infantry units wanted to race to
the next group of Iraqi soldiers so they could destroy them and race to the
next group after that. After the first day we all knew that they couldn’t stop
us. Our equipment was incredibly good and our men as well trained as any
fighting force had ever been.

    
“But however good we were we could still be killed and at least some of our
leaders worked hard to keep our casualties to a minimum.”

    
Noah said, “I remember after the war some of the generals were criticized for
being too cautious.”

    
“Yes, but not by the parents of any of his soldiers who came home from that
conflict.”

    
“But it wasn’t just the war. For some, injuries and death during training was
part of the price of preparing men for war because everyone knows training
itself is dangerous. But that wasn’t true in my division. Our commander did not
accept a single death as a price for anything. He felt that the parents of his
young soldiers trusted him to return their sons and daughters to them unharmed,
and he allowed no excuses for accidents.

    
“So, it was easy to follow men like that, and it was easy to let them influence
you. I spent the rest of my career trying to emulate those leaders, and it
worked pretty well.”

    
Danny asked, “Why did you retire Colonel? A West Point Officer with combat experience
and a good record could make a good run at becoming a general officer himself.
Obviously the Army thought highly of you or they wouldn’t have made you a
Colonel.”

    
“I was a Regimental Commander when the second Gulf War started. Frankly, after
the first year of the war I realized we were being asked not to fight a war but
to win a peace. The Army has never been good at that, and I didn’t like the
thought that my men were being put on patrol to draw fire from guerrilla style
fighters, so we could kill the guerillas. It was kind of like saying ‘I can’t
find you any other way, so I’m going to sacrifice men so I can maybe have an
opportunity to kill someone’.

    
“I decided that since I felt we were prosecuting the war in a manner I couldn’t
support that I had to leave. The Army and the country deserved people more
committed to what they were doing to lead our troops. Afterwards it was painful
to watch it go on for so long.”

    
Sam said, “I think that’s enough Colonel, I like your background. But there is
a second reason I asked you for your resume. I think I’ll let Danny tell all of
us about that. I wanted to be sure who was going to lead the militia first,
since I want that person in on the ground floor. Danny, explain please.”

    
“First you need to know that I’m not here accidentally, although to tell you
the truth I thought I might show up during the winter sometime. I came now
because I was passing through a town north of Bozeman earlier this week, and I
noticed some RVs parked on a main street.

    
“I’ve been by myself since this started. The people who put together the RV for
me found a four wheel drive and chains for all of the tires. I was able to move
about pretty well since they also mounted a snow plow on the front. See, I’ve
been living in a town up on the Canadian border and we get a bit of snow there.
Anyway, I’ve been pretty mobile over the last week, although I did have to dig
myself out a couple of times.

    
“I thought it was curious that the RVs were there since I hadn’t seen anything
about them on the web, or heard anything on the radio. So I pulled into the
town from the Interstate and joined a group of men and women in a saloon.

    
“It was like an old western movie, when I walked in there was dead silence,
someone even put the CD player on pause. I almost laughed, but there were some
serious folks in there.

    
“I introduced myself and said I was looking for a drink and a little fun, if
they didn’t mind. One of the men stepped forward and said his name was Bob
Turner and that he was part of this little group, but that they were kind of
particular about who they let in.

    
“I told him I’d be happy to leave, that all I was looking for was a beer and a
conversation. This was about ten o’clock in the morning and the entire group of
about twelve men and six women all looked like they had been drinking for some
time.

    
“Bob finally smiled, kind of a funny sly smile, and said I was welcome to join
them for a beer.

    
“I spent the rest of the week with them. They talked quietly amongst themselves
and didn’t include me in their group discussions, but they all drank, and drank
too much. I don’t even like beer so nursing one for a couple of hours isn’t
hard for me.

    
“Over the course of the next couple of days I picked up bits and pieces of
conversations, usually when I was talking to someone else. I guess they thought
I couldn’t talk and listen at the same time.

    
“What I learned is that you guys really irritated Bob Turner and one of the
other guys, a young fat guy. They’re planning to sneak in here one night with
all the weapons they can carry and light up your RVs. They’re sure that you
don’t put out guards and that they can easily get within rifle range on a
moonlit night.

    
“Even if they don’t kill anyone the loss of an RV is a critical thing in this
new world. And if they are going to indiscriminately shoot up a closely packed
group of RVs, someone’s liable to die.

    
“I thought I’d come over here and give you people a heads up. I can’t tell you
for sure if they will actually mount an attack, you never know when you mix
alcohol with words what the outcome will be.”

    
Ted looked at the group and said, “This makes the meeting this evening even
more important. There is still only one way in here and one way out. I believe
it is in our best interest to completely block the entrance to the park each evening
and open it in the morning. We can leave a sign board out saying people are
welcome but they’ll have to wait until morning to join us.

    
“I’ll gather up my folks and start preparing some defensive measures and a
couple of listening posts.”

    
Danny said, “Good ideas Colonel, but I haven’t told you the worst part yet. I
overheard Bob Turner bragging to one of the women that they had an insider here
in the Park who was letting them know what was happening here.”

    
“Damn Danny, is there anything else?”

    
“No, that’s about it.

    
Danny continued, “We have a second option of course. We could just go over
there and deal with them. It isn’t that far, and there are only eighteen of
them, including the women.”

    
Sam said, “I’m not ready to start a war yet. I think we should start with
defensive movements, as the Colonel said. After all it could be the booze
talking. I’d have a tough time with killing people if I wasn’t sure of the
need.”

    
Danny responded, “I wasn’t talking about going in shooting. We could take their
weapons, although that would be a temporary thing. Or we could slice all of the
tires on the RVs. They could still live in them but couldn’t move them.

    
“Even so, it would be easy enough to find other vehicles in town and go out and
get more RVs, even if they wouldn’t be the prepared ones.

    
“And no matter what we do, in this kind of an operation someone is always
liable to get hurt.”

    
Noah said as he smiled, “Do you always do your thinking out loud?”

    
“Only when I’m with friends and I’m interested in their thoughts also.”

    
Sam said, “Well, you didn’t offer any real viable options, so let’s let the
Colonel use his skill to prepare defenses. Is that alright Colonel?”

    
“Of course it is. We can always change plans later if we feel the need. Danny,
I have to ask this. Are you willing to go back and visit that group to get an
update?”

    
“I am, and I’m aware of the risks. If they put a watch on the entrance and see
me going in or coming out of the park in between visits with them I’d be asking
for trouble. But, I wouldn’t have come here if I wasn’t willing to help. But if
I go back there I’ll have to tell them what you are doing here. If they are
getting information from this group I can’t afford to contradict that person.
What we are able to do with only the people you trust can remain a secret
however.   

    
“That second trailer I’m towing has got some pretty special gear in it.
Colonel, its gear you might be able to use, but I’m not willing to part with
all of it. Some of the equipment I consider for my own use. I’ll need to leave
that trailer here, under guard, when I’m gone.”

  
  Sam spoke up excitedly and said, “I forgot, but speaking of specialty
weapons, I have a ZR-50 if that will help.”

    
Both Ted and Danny looked at her in amazement. Ted said, “Sam, how in the
blazes did you get that thing?”

    
Sam smiled and said, “Actually Ben has it. His grandfather gave it to us before
he died. It was still in the crate.”

    
Danny added, “I’ve never been close to one, although I did see a short demo of
one once on a CD. I can’t imagine you have one. His grandfather must have been really
rich or really well connected to get one of those.”

    
Sam said, “I don’t think he was either. He was one of the best gunsmiths in
Montana though, and he said a friend gave it to him when he found out Ben was a
survivor.”

    
“Ammunition?”

    
“Seven hundred rounds, Wiley said that was it. Once we ran out there was no
replacement ammo available.”

    
Danny said, “Seven hundred rounds can do more damage than you could even
imagine. I didn’t think there would be that much in one place anywhere in the
country. I read a lot of on-line articles and that gun is only a rumor right
now.

    
“Colonel I do have some listening equipment with me. Not enough to cover all of
the options available to someone interested in doing us harm, but enough to
cover the most likely places. Maybe you and I can find a couple of snowmobiles
and do some scouting later today.”

    
“That sound like a good idea to me. I actually brought a snow mobile with me.”

    
Sam said, “I’ve got one in my horse trailer just outside. You’re welcome to use
it.

    
“My head is spinning at the moment but I think we covered everything. Ted,
you’re going to convene your group of veterans, and Danny, are you going to
join that group?”

    
“If that’s alright with the Colonel I’d like to do that.”

     
“Great, of course it’s alright with me. I can use your help.”

    
As everyone got up to leave Noah looked at Danny and said, “Danny, Stan used a
nickname for you once or twice. Weren’t you called The Trapper?”

    
“I was.” And now Danny’s perpetual smile was gone.

    
With a smile Sam said, “Danny was that because you trapped wild game?”

    
A little of his smile came back as he said, “No Sam, that wasn’t the reason.”