Kyla intertwined all her fingers, cracking the knuckles of both hands, before typing some more. At first, she only wanted to explore the network traffic within the NORAD system, but it surprised her to learn someone on their end had a link with what was left of the civilian internet.
“You didn’t…” It seemed incredible someone would leave a major hole in their security, but then again no one in North Dakota seemed overly concerned with security. The base had been wide open until they’d arrived, and the server room wasn’t even guarded. If someone on their side wanted to check an auction on Ebay while they took over the world, who was she to point out their error?
Ten minutes later, she found what she was looking for. It was—
“Kyla, we’re leaving in five. You okay in there? You weren’t lying about your wound, were you?”
“Yeah, Unk, I’m fine,” she replied in a hurry. “Just doing, uh, girl stuff.” She cringed, hating to have to use such a lame excuse, but it would serve its purpose. Mom had used similar outs a lot of times over the years to get guys off her back, though for reasons she never really thought about until that moment.
“Sounds good,” he said, clearly flustered. “We’ll leave when you’re ready.”
“Thanks!” she replied, getting right back to the computer operation in front of her. She soon found her way to the homepage for Rammstein Air Base in Germany. If there was time to poke around, she might have tried to track down someone on their end who was online and talk back and forth. There wasn’t time, however. Uncle Ted might further question her about what was taking so long. If she tried to use the girl-stuff excuse again, she was positive he’d enlist Meechum or Emily to come in and confirm. The shortcut was in front of her…
She clicked the ‘Contact Us’ tab and followed it to a form to fill out. When prompted, she selected the option to send a note to the public affairs group, assuming more than one person would check their email, thus increasing her chances of finding someone who would help her.
My name is Kyla Justice. My uncle is Major Ted MacInnis, USAF. I am on mainland USA, currently on the run from enemy forces. I cannot say where, as they could track me down using said information. I have learned the enemy headquarters is in NORAD mountain.
Something about that wasn’t right. Kyla couldn’t remember the exact place where the headquarters was located, and she couldn’t go ask her uncle or the others. Uncle Ted had said the name last night, but it wasn’t on the tip of her mind. NORAD was definitely at a mountain, though.
If you get this message, send a satellite over it or whatever you need to do. I was already able to take the nuclear briefcase offline, to protect this country, but they still have control over the arsenal from NORAD. You MUST destroy their headquarters as soon as possible. If you don’t, I’ll have to go there and do it myself.
Kyla remembered about OPSEC, operational security, as her uncle once taught her. In situations like this, where everything was on the line, she had to reveal places and names to establish she wasn’t some crackpot from crack town, but she didn’t want to give away her exact location, any routes they planned to take, the alive-or-dead status of her uncle or Ms. Williams, and so forth.
After a simple closing, Cordially, Kyla Justice, she hit send.
She ripped out the battery a second later, content there was no way anyone could have tracked her intrusion. Kyla packed both components into her ill-fitting black jumpsuit, patted her pistol to be certain it was with her, then unlocked the door.
All she had to do now was be patient. With a little luck, the US Air Force would get the message and blow NORAD sky high before they ever got close to danger.
Westby, MT
Ted wasn’t going to wait around for Kyla. He’d learned the hard way over the years you couldn’t flush out a woman from behind a closed door. Since they weren’t in an urgent rush, he gave her the space she needed to prep for the day. However, he went out into the front yard, craning his neck to see both ends of the short street of the tiny town.
Emily had followed him. “What are you looking for? Can I help?”
“Don’t hate me, but I’m going to stereotype residents of this town. If I find the right vehicle, I think maybe I’ll also find some more firepower.” He looked over his shoulder back toward the house. “Don’t let Kyla hear me say this, but I miss my rifles. They were built exactly the way I wanted them. Now some jerk from the other side is going to find them back at that grocery store.”
“You need a moment? I think there’s some tissues inside.” Her eyes sparkled with the mirth in her voice. She was right of course. It wasn’t worth worrying about personal items. He’d lost his Jeep, too, and he didn’t complain about it. They could always find new ones.
The best he could do was flash her a bah-humbug wave.
“So what are you looking for, exactly?” she continued, more seriously.
“We’re in Montana. Your parents live here.” He didn’t say lived, though that was more accurate. “Do they own rifles or some sort of guns?”
“My dad had a collection.
