We were thinking army, but it turned out the Marines had just the spot for Mr. T and his team, housed within a signals intelligence unit. SIGINT. No one had been able to intercept communications from the bugs, despite what was learned during the Battle for Los Angeles. The bugs flipped a switch or something and their communications went dark. The only subsequent intercepts were from channels left open by the bugs, likely left open on purpose. COMINT, communications intelligence, and ELINT, electronics intelligence, had gotten nowhere.
Mr. T received assurances we would have a good deal of autonomy. What about basic training and combat training? If Mr. T certified the team had, at the minimum, an equivalent level of training, they would accept it. With grandad around we had been in a kind of boot camp for almost 10 years already. In a manner of speaking. There was already a good deal of team cohesion and discipline. We were in good physical condition. We had taken wilderness survival courses. We could all qualify as marksmen.
Background checks would be a requirement for the team. Those would have to take place right away. There would be required tests of the written kind, especially for “those youngsters.” But for good old Mr. T, the team testing could be done at some convenient point in the future. Keep so-and-so in the loop. Thank you for your continuing service. Etc. Etc.
Our parents signed the documents. As it was, they took no thought that we were only 17. To them, that was just a number on a page. They already thought of us as adults and trusted our capacity to make reasoned and rational choices, even for something as important as this. I suppose we already knew they felt that way, but it gladdened our hearts to hear it anyway.
Of course, they expressed their fear for our safety. But signals intelligence didn’t sound so bad. And it was obvious there was no place that was actually safe unless you headed for the wilderness. Mr. T assured all of our parents; the government would take care of the cost of college; we would have nothing but the finest education. On top of that, our team would be involved in ground-breaking technologies. Yeah, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that there would be a whole lot of ground-breaking involved in what we would be doing.
We were as honest as we could be and even said there would be times of danger in our work. With the invasion, everyone was in danger all the time anyway. And we were in good hands with Mr. T. He would be the direct supervisor in our SIGINT department. We had been spending most of our time at Mr. Ts house anyway. Since the invasion we had been “working in the lab” as employees of Grandad. That was fine with all concerned. They trusted Grandad. And they knew his basement lab was built like a bomb-shelter. It was the safest place in the area.
But we would now need a good deal of autonomy, so there was no mention of staying close to home while doing our SIGINT work. No one would suspect we were still working out of the lab. We didn’t have to worry too much about being spotted in the neighborhood. No one ventured far from their homes. Besides, when in public, we were disguised.
Wherever this thing took us, we would be sure to keep a close eye on our zone. There have been no recent bug incursions in our local area. But if they were to come anywhere near our folks, there would be nothing that could stop Para and me from intervening.
***
+ BEGIN TIMELINE DROP.
NOTE: Communal sourced this information.
No one in the family knew. Viz and Para’s parents joined a resistance group to fight the bugs the day after signing the document presented by Mr. T. Having the girls work in a signals intelligence branch of the military seemed a good option, given the circumstances of the invasion. Now they could all be active in the effort to throw off the bug invaders.
There were a lot of displaced persons, many from southern California, that needed help. Camps had been established at several locations in the Olympic Mountains. Bugs didn’t seem to like mountains or large bodies of water. They hate rain. The Olympic Mountains are near large bodies of water and there is plenty of rain. Helicopter transports from Joint Base Lewis-McCord had moved tents, cots, medical supplies, and food to the remote locations. The bugs didn’t take much notice of the helicopters heading out to the isolated areas. After the camps were supplied, several routes were established to relocate people.
The bugs tolerated certain types of transportation. Such as railroad shipment of edibles and basic necessities. They mostly looked the other way when it came to short-haul truckers; railroad station to storage warehouse to retail stores. Of course, actually going to a grocery store was taking a risk. A bug patrol or a flier could show up anywhere at any time. Terror. Cargo ships were given free passage. Even small boat traffic was fairly safe. Bugs definitely took notice if there were vehicles traveling the roadways in a convoy.
Whenever possible the government still wanted people to shelter in place in urban areas as they distributed supplies curbside. But the refugee population continued to increase.
Viz and Para’s parents helped to move some of those refugees along a lightly traveled roadway near Puget Sound. The route skirted the north end of Case Inlet of Puget Sound and then hugged the Hood Canal to the town of Hoodsport. From there they headed into the Olympic Mountains.
Having the girls in a relatively
