***
*COMMUNAL: Here’s a Spotlight on Para. Every day, we get to know the team members a little better. Here’s the scoop from our guys in Data Mining.
Mr. T was chatting with Marj one afternoon, and recalled how Mia would often stand up for those who needed help. She had gotten into trouble for that more than once. Mia was involved in such an event in middle school. Mr. T had stopped by to surprise the girls and pick them up from school. There was Mia, beyond a grassy area on the other side of the high chain-link fence.
A couple of girls were hurting a third girl. No, it was worse than that. The poor girl was on the ground and they were brutally kicking her. Mia saw what was happening and was on them like a whirlwind. Mr. T’s practiced eye picked up on how careful Mia was to NOT hurt the bullies. Well, not hurt them too badly. Let’s say, she was very strategic and careful with her response.
As it was, a teacher came around a corner and witnessed Mia’s defense of the poor girl. Unfortunately, all the teacher saw was Mia performing some adept martial arts moves and three other girls on the ground. She was brought to the office and promptly suspended. There was no attempt to interview witnesses or get to the bottom of the event. Zero tolerance for violence.
Mr. T knew this situation was not the sort envisioned by a zero-tolerance violence policy. Going directly to the office to help give some perspective to the situation would be futile. That would be seen as a grandfather’s biased attempt to reconcile a brutal attack.
It was indeed a brutal attack, with the hero mistaken as the attacker. No bias there. It wasn’t difficult to find a student who had videoed the entire event. A quick text message later and Mr. T was on his way to the office.
He met immediate resistance. How had he gotten onto campus? Shall they call the police? But people are usually quite reasonable when addressed with politeness and a calm demeanor; a few relaxed and precise words; a video displayed on the principal’s computer screen. How had that gotten there?
Mia was reinstated on the spot. The police would be called, but Mr. T and Mia were free to go, and with the school principal’s fervent thanks. Oh, that it was always so simple.
We now return to your regularly scheduled Journal program.
***
Yeah, let’s let them have it. That sure is a sinister giggle you have Sis. And a good idea. It’s time to do some recon work, interrogate a queen, and appropriate a ship.
We, as a team, could do most of the work. But, actually taking the ship would be the problem. You know, moving the thing. Flying it was out of the question. It had to be heavy, at least 10,000 tons or more. Transporting the ship would be a huge endeavor, especially in a compressed timeframe. The military would need to handle that. And they would have to move fast, before bug high command figured out what was going on. We decided to go local and take the ship that had recently landed in our own area.
Mr. T contacted an old friend, an admiral at Naval Base Kitsap, Admiral Blake. There is a large naval station in Bremerton, and a submarine base not too far from there. At least it’s not far as the crow flies. We were able to listen in on the conversation.
*Mr. T: “Chuck, how would you like for me to hand over the keys to a bug nest ship. All you have to do is tow it quickly from Federal Way to ... I suppose it would have to be Bremerton. The sub base would be a better place to hide it, that could happen later, right now I don’t think you’d have the time. Oh, you’ll need a team to do a bit of blasting to get the nest ship into the water.”
*Admiral Blake: “So DARPA finally drove you nuts. I warned you about that back in the day.”
*Mr. T: “Chuck, I’m serious. There’s a better than good chance my team is going to have a bug ship. Tomorrow. The one in Federal Way. But I can’t move the thing.”
*Admiral Blake: “Well, I’ll be. Of course I want a danged bug ship. We can hide it well enough at Bremerton. Even set up a complete electronic cover. The bugs can probably access our sat feeds though. I’ll need to get authorization for a complete overhead blackout. What the #&$$ <expletive deleted>. I’m game. Give me what I need from your OPORD and I’ll have the tugs and a team on site ready to take delivery.”
*Mr. T: “Thanks Chuck. That takes a huge load off.”
The bug nest ship had planted in a recreation field, in Federal Way. The location did make strategic sense. It was almost dead center between Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Naval Base Kitsap. It was also near the major population centers of the Puget Sound. And the location was great for us. It was in a spot from which the military could coax it to slide downhill into the beautiful waters of Puget Sound.
Blast some trees. Set up a nice detonation to undercut the slope adjacent to the bug ship. Add a few thousand gallons of water to keep it moving and the result would be a nice slippy-slide. Bug ships are tough. Even
