Buck lifted his head and watched as the nearly naked woman fell into step behind the man who had just moments before stared at him. Neither seemed interested in him at all. Buck fought to get to his feet and stared at the couple as they slowly climbed the hill.
“What the heck is going on?”
“Ma’am, we’re going to have to turn back,” the chopper pilot announced through the headphones.
Dr. LaRue sat up from her notes and asked Why, then realized her voice wasn’t carrying through the mouthpiece. She looked around for the microphone key and punched the button. “Why’s that? They’re expecting me.”
“They didn’t exactly say why, ma’am,” the pilot explained. “The whole area has been declared a no-fly zone, ma’am.”
Dr. LaRue hated how they constantly said ‘ma’am’, but she hated even more how the military did things and never explained themselves. “Is there any way I can speak with Dr. Andrews? He’s the one who asked me to come here.”
“I’m not sure, ma’am,” the pilot replied. “I can’ try to patch you through.”
“Please do.” She huffed as she sat back in her seat. She put her research away and stared out the window. Of all the amazing things she had seen here in America, she loved this rough wilderness the most. The serenity of the woods, the mountains, the waterways, it was most breathtaking.
The pilot squawked in again, “Ma’am, I couldn’t reach Dr. Andrews, but I did reach a friend of mine at the airbase. He couldn’t really tell me anything, but there are ways of saying things without really saying things, if you know what I mean.” The pilot was beating around the bush. She truly wished he would just spit out what he had found out.
“And?”
“Well, ma’am, if what I’m hearing is correct, the reason we’re being redirected is, the area is about to be Ground Zero for a strafing run,” the pilot said. “It sounds like they’re about to bomb Yellowstone National Park.”
Vivian sat back in her chair, the shock evident in her face. “Are you certain?” She practically tried to climb forward in the cabin.
“Well, ma’am, no, I’m not certain. But from what I gather, that would be my best guess.” The pilot cleared his throat and said, “In fact, I’m supposed to land you about forty miles from the designated area and wait for the fallout.”
“Fallout?” She gasped. “Surely it’s not nuclear!”
The pilot laughed. “No, ma’am. That’s just an insider term that means, wait ’til the dust settles. In fact, from what I understand, they’re using very large, but very conventional weapons.” He tried to set her at ease.
“How can you ‘gather’ all of this if your friend didn’t really tell you anything?”
The pilot smiled and shot her a set of perfectly white teeth, reminding her of an automobile salesman. “It’s sort of a secret code that we air jockeys developed during the war, ma’am.” He chuckled again. She almost expected to hear him tell her, ‘I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.’
“I see.” She sighed. “So, there’s no way to communicate with those at the site?”
“My guess is they’re in the middle of bugging out. Most probably in transit or packing up and preparing to be in transit.”
Vivian shook her head. “This isn’t good.” She dug in her bag and pulled out her cell phone. It indicated no service and she slammed it on the seat beside her in frustration. Keying the radio again, she asked the pilot, “Is there any place we might fly this thing where I could get cell phone reception?”
“Not from inside the craft, ma’am,” he replied. “We have jamming systems that preclude the use of cellular devices.”
“Whatever for?” She was shocked she couldn’t at least try to call Joseph from the air. “Even commercial flights offer cell service.”
“This is a military craft, ma’am,” the pilot stated as if that should be the answer in and of itself.
“So? I need to reach Captain Andrews. If you can’t raise him by radio, perhaps I can call him.”
The pilot shook his head. “After Iraq and Afghanistan, all military craft are equipped with cellular jamming equipment. That way, if anybody sticks an explosive device onboard, they can’t set it off with a cellphone from a distance. No, ma’am, if you want to set off a bomb on this baby, you gotta be a suicide bomber and send yourself straight to Allah in bits and pieces.”
“That’s pure and utter lunacy,” she muttered, not realizing she had keyed her microphone again.
“Maybe, but it sure cut down on the number of craft lost.”
“Well, can you turn it off for just a few moments while I try to call Captain Andrews? You can turn it right back on once I’m finished and—”
“No can do, ma’am. It’s hardwired into the system. I have no control over it.”
Vivian sighed again in frustration. “Fine. How much longer until we reach our destination? Do you know if there will be cell service there?”
“We should be there in about thirty minutes, ma’am, but I can’t tell you for sure if you’ll have signal or not.”
Vivian clutched her phone and prayed. “Please let me reach him in time.”
All the way back toward the camp, the soldiers talked about how little time they had to pack their gear to ‘bug out.’ Andrews tried not to seem interested in their discussion as this was the first he had heard of the Army pulling out from the park, but he listened intently. Soldiers being soldiers, they tended to gripe and bitch about every little thing, blowing them out of proportion, but this…this was more than simply exaggeration.
Andrews realized a very important part of the plan had not been revealed to him… whatever Colonel Vickers had up his sleeve, he had not been informed. As they made their way
