“I have dozens of folks stopping by the station asking to get messages to loved ones who were caught out in traffic,” Howler said in an anxious and worried voice. “People, as much as I would like to help, I can’t. What I would like to suggest is that those of you who are lost and scared out there stay home.”
An MP with an assault rifle slung over his shoulder waved Joey off to one side of the street with a flashlight wrapped in a red plastic cone. Joey pulled the car over to a stop. When he’d tried to roll the window down at the checkpoint gate, the glass fragmented, falling out in chunks the way it was designed to do. The event, something that would have threatened to change his whole life just a few hours ago, had been anticlimactic.
“Can I see some ID, sir?” the soldier asked.
Joey still felt odd at being addressed as sir, but it made him feel kind of grown up while Jenny sat in the passenger seat. He pulled his papers from the dash. The sergeant manning the security gate had told him they would probably be needed as he progressed through the base.
The Ranger corporal glanced at the papers, then compared the driver’s license and military ID to Joey. “Are you Goose’s kid?”
Joey rankled a little at the “kid” tag. From sir to kid in nothing flat. “Yeah.” He didn’t want to get into the whole stepson issue, and he resented the fact that the corporal might have been only eight or ten years older than him.
“Are you okay?”
Before he could stop himself, Joey touched the swelling at the side of his face. Crusted blood clung to his skin, and his head was still pounding. “I got sideswiped while sitting at a stop sign when all of this started.”
“You look like you could use a doctor.”
“I’m still standing.” That was one of the things Goose said.
The corporal handed the papers back. “Your father’s a good man. His unit is having a hard go of it over there in Turkey.”
“Have you heard how things are going there?” Joey asked. His interest in Goose’s welfare outweighed any slight he might have suffered.
The corporal shook his head. “No. I’m sorry. I’m pulling for him. A lot of us are.”
“Thank you.”
“Where are you headed, Joey?”
“The special services building. My little brother Chris is there. My mom got called in and had to leave him there.” He didn’t add that his mom had dropped Chris off hours ago because he just didn’t need that kind of guilt.
“Do you know how to get there?”
“Yeah. Take the next right, up three blocks, and the building sits on the left.”
“Correct. We’re asking that all civilian personnel go to their homes until we get the base back up and running properly. I’ll radio up the line, let the guys who are working that area know what you’re doing there, but you’re only going to get a small reprieve. After that, they’ll make you get home.”
A rebellious anger ignited in Joey. The world was going crazy, Goose was over in Turkey fighting for his life, and he was being told—in effect—to go to his room. He wasn’t a kid; he needed someone to recognize that. Still, he held the anger under control, but only just.
“Don’t take the situation personally,” the corporal advised, obviously reading Joey’s expression. “Anyone who isn’t in uniform is being told the same thing. A lot of strange stuff has happened.” He sighed and shook his head. “We got people out here claiming aliens have invaded the planet, or that terrorists have set off some kind of electromagnetic pulse bomb that’s been coded to DNA sequencings. Base security has got to come first.”
Joey let go of as much of the anger as he could. He blew out his breath. “It’s cool,” he said. “I understand.” But he didn’t. Nothing made sense. Offered the choice of an alien invasion or terrorists with an EMP bomb coded for DNA sequencing, he didn’t want to choose either. There had to be another answer.
The corporal stepped back and waved Joey on.
Slipping the car’s transmission back into drive, Joey rolled forward. He couldn’t help looking around. Only a little farther on, MPs obviously had harsh words with two men in civilian clothing. The men had no clue about how to act with a sergeant giving orders. Some of the men who lived on base were husbands of military women. Having trouble with male spouses in a military family wasn’t new.
Around the corner, Joey spotted a woman almost freaking out as she talked to a two-man team of MPs. She gestured wildly and thrust a baby jumper out at the two soldiers.
“My baby!” the woman wailed through the open window of the car. “Please help me find my baby!”
Before he knew it, Joey’s foot pressed a little harder on the accelerator. His mom’s car clattered over the speed bumps. He made the next turn and pulled into the emergency services center.
Nearly twenty people stood outside the building, clustered around two Jeeps full of MPs.
Renewed anxiety screamed to life inside Joey, breaking loose like a flood shredding a dam. He turned to Jenny. “Out. Hurry. I’ve got to find Chris.” There was no way Chris could be sleeping through everything that was going on.
A siren screamed only a few blocks over, followed immediately by a voice thundering over a PA system.
If he’s not asleep, I can calm him down, Joey told himself. He’ll only have been worried for a few minutes. As late as I am, he’s probably
