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This is the first draft of a story that is complete. (10/26/2020) |
| The day after Shadow Team kidnapped Major Steele and his son Nathan, I got up just before eight in the morning to the sound of knocking on my quarters door. By that time, I was lying in bed awake for the past fifteen minutes, so I was able to get up promptly to answer the door. When I opened up, I found Genel and Josh standing outside. They were dressed in fairly casual clothing – T-shirt and a button-down, respectively, and jeans. Both of them seemed to be in fairly good moods from the looks on their faces. “Good morning sleepyhead,” Josh chanted in a bit of a singsong voice, giving me a grin. “I see you’re still not ready for the day.” I didn’t have to glance down at myself to know he meant my unkempt hair and the fact I was still wearing the clothes I’d slept in. “I’m quite awake, thank you,” I told him, then glanced from him to Genel. “What’s going on? Time for another briefing?” Genel shook her head, her unfettered raven hair swaying from side to side. “Nope. Well, not yet anyway. We came to invite you over for breakfast. We haven’t eaten a meal together since you got here, you see.” I blinked. “Oh?” “Yeah,” Josh said eagerly, “Plus, it’ll be our own little New Year’s celebration.” “New Year’s?” I quickly ran my head through its internal calendar and realized that today was in fact, January first. Today was the first day of 2021. “Oh damn, that’s right.” I said in a bit of an awed tone. “Happy New Year, Chrissy,” Genel beamed at me, then before I could say or do anything, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me warmly. I was taken aback at the hug at first, but coming from Genel the gesture wasn’t unwelcome. Reciprocating the embrace, I squeezed Genel back and then let go. “Wish it were under different circumstances, but yes, Happy New Year to you guys,” I smiled at the two of them. “I’d hug you, but I think if I do we’ll never see you again,” Josh told me in a mock serious manner, standing right where he was. Laughing, I gave him a daring smirk. “I’ll take that chance if you will.” I spread my arms out and looked at him patiently. Josh quivered his mouth in a show of thoughtful consideration, then shrugged eventually. “Eh. All right, tiny. C’mere.” Stifling a bout of laughter, I stepped out into the hall and walked into Josh’s bear-sized embrace. I half expected him to crush me in a hug like a compactor would a heap of scrap, but when his arms came around me they were surprisingly gentle and comforting. It was like hugging a giant pillow that hugged you back. Because of his build he wasn’t quite as soft as a pillow, but his hug wasn’t at all unpleasant. When he released me, he jerked his head toward the inside of my quarters. “Why don’t you get dressed? We’ll head over to the mess hall once you’re ready.” “Sure thing. Give me a moment.” I retreated to my room and quickly changed into a black long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black leggings. I quickly tied my hair back in a ponytail with an elastic and put on my winter shoes. When I exited my room, Genel and Josh were still outside waiting for me. As they promised, the three of us headed over to the mess hall together. When we got to the mess hall however, I noticed that it was empty and that we were missing one person. As Genel and I settled in a booth while Josh went to the kitchen to get us pancakes and hash browns, I gave the tech specialist a questioning look. “Isn’t Knight going to be joining us?” I asked her from across the table. “Oh, no. He’s not really one for… get-togethers.” Genel was smiling, but somewhere in her eyes I could see she wasn’t pleased with the fact. To be honest, her eyes looked downcast even though the rest of her expression was bright and cheery. Three days ago I may have let this slide, but now that I felt I was actually part of this group, I wasn’t inclined to do the same this time around. “Why not?” I asked, figuring it was safe to ask Genel, if no one else. “Well… you know how he is, right?” “Yes and no. I’ve only been with you guys a few days, remember?” She raised her eyebrows briefly, then chuckled a bit morosely. “I guess you have a point. Well, Ian is… a bit of a hermit, really.” I laughed a little at her choice of words, but she appeared to be serious. When my laughter died down, I searched her eyes and found in them something distinctly gloomy beneath the lightheartedness. Early or not, she’s my friend now. I may not know everything about her, but I do feel I have to – no, want to – look after her. The same goes for Josh. I sighed lightly and gave Genel my best sincere look. “Genel.” She lifted her eyes. “Yeah?” “Do you want Knight to join us?” Genel seemed to hesitate, gauging the seriousness of my question. For a moment her eyes wandered about randomly until she bowed her head and while looking down, she nodded once. “Yeah, I do. But I already went and asked him, before Josh and I came to get you. He told me to go on without him. So… I guess it can’t be helped, then.” When she spoke, she sounded like a chastised child who was denied their toy for the fifth time in a row by a strict parent. I studied her for a few seconds, drew in a big breath, and steeled myself mentally. “Well, that won’t do now, will it?” I said with an assertive air, standing up from my seat. Genel looked up at me, confusion plain in her features. “Eh?” “Don’t you worry,” I gave her an assuring smile and a thumb pointing up. “I’ll go get him to join us this once.” Her eyes widened in surprise. “What? You will? But—” “Yup, just for you. I’ll convince him to eat with us.” “Why?” “Because you look like you really want him to join us, what else? Besides, even if it’s just for one breakfast, the four of us should get together for New Year’s and do something.” Genel suddenly looked skeptical. “I don’t know, Chrissy. He’s not really one for—” “Uh-uh. I’m not hearing you,” I cut across her, sliding out of the booth. “I’ll drag him here to have a meal with us if that’s what it takes.” “Where is this coming from, all of a sudden?” “I’m not sure, myself. Call it my inner XO kicking in,” I smirked playfully at her. Genel looked downright alarmed at my abrupt initiative, but she didn’t decline my offer any further. Clearly she really wanted our team leader to spend some non-mission time with us. A faint smile appeared on her face. “I’d really appreciate you trying, at least.” “No problem,” I replied with a reciprocating smile, “On one condition, though.” “Huh? What’s that?” “I’d like to hear a little more about the relationship between you two sometime.” Genel appeared taken aback at this, her eyebrows rising and her shoulders bunching slightly. After a moment however, she relaxed and nodded. “Fine, fine,” she said, her cheeks flushing just a little bit. “I’ll tell you some things within reason.” I gave her a two-fingered salute. “That’s enough for me.” I turned to leave, but before I left the mess hall I called out to Josh: “Josh? For how many people are you making those pancakes?” “Not really making, but for us three. Why?” he called back from the kitchen. “Prep for four, will you?” “You eat more than your size suggests.” “No, no. I mean I’m bringing Knight over.” “Huh? You?” “Yeah, me! Do it for me, will you?” “Uhh, sure.” I glanced back at Genel, who looked partly amused and partly coy. “I’ll be right back,” I told her, then took off at a brisk walk out of the mess hall. I headed down the corridor to the T-junction and took the right turn to get to where I knew Knight’s quarters were. As I walked the brightly lit hallway, I recalled with some trepidation what happened the last time I was in his room. The mere memory of it nearly made me hesitate, but I told myself I wasn’t doing this for myself; I was doing this for Genel, and for the team. When I arrived outside the door marked, ‘I. Alcantara’, I rapped my knuckles on the door three times and called to its occupant. “Knight? Knight, are you in there? It’s Angel.” Unlike last time, I didn’t have to invite myself in this once. The door swung inward and there in front of me appeared the Shadow Team leader, his expression as neutral as always. “Yes?” he said curtly. “Knight,” I began, forcing myself to talk fast for fear I might lose my nerve if I dragged my heels, “Will you come join us for breakfast?” The faintest hint of surprise crossed his features. I wasn’t sure if it was the result of what I was asking him, or if it was from the fact that I was the one asking him this. “No, but thanks for the invitation,” he answered in that deadpan tone, and then began to close the door in my face. I put my hand on the outer doorknob and gave him a slightly more determined stare. “It’s New Year’s Day. The whole team should do something to celebrate that, even if just for a little while.” He stared back at me with those deep, dark eyes of his. My knee-jerk thought was that he found this situation irritating or even a waste of time, but I couldn’t quite accept that. With crystal clarity, I remembered our trip to Dalemead and how he himself had volunteered to come with me. A garden variety hermit wouldn’t have come, much less volunteered to accompany me. I placed my faith in that Ian Alcantara. Whether that side of him was real or not I didn’t know, but for Genel’s sake I was willing to coax that one out. Knight and I continued to stare each other down for several seconds, then he closed his eyes and frowned. “I don’t have to be there. Besides, I was going to call for a briefing in a couple of hours.” He certainly looked annoyed, but at least he wasn’t fighting with me to shut the door. “This and that are different things,” I told him steadily, maintaining a straight face and tone. “I’m as eager as everyone else to learn about what you got out of questioning Steele, but that’s not what this is about. We can’t afford to throw parties but surely you can spare time to eat with your team, no?” His eyes opened again, though his expression barely changed. “I’d… really rather not,” he said, remaining taciturn. He started to push the door against me in an effort to shut it. Knowing I was no match for him in terms of physical strength, I played my last card hurriedly. “Knight, I know it would mean a whole lot to Genel if you had a meal with all of us.” He stopped dead when I mentioned Genel’s wish to have him eat with her. His eyes flitted downward and his jaw tightened slightly. It wasn’t often that I could read him, but ever since our shopping trip together he was starting to become less and less like a complete enigma to me. After watching him silently for a few seconds, I tentatively and gently pushed at his door to open it more. He did not fight against me to keep it closed. “What do you say?” I said in a small voice, braving a little smile even though he was avoiding my gaze. Knight appeared to be frozen like a statue again. I wasn’t sure if he had a natural knack for being so still, or if he even knew how remarkably statue-like he could be, but he didn’t answer me either way. With courage whose origins I wasn’t sure of, I slowly reached out my right hand and gingerly wrapped it around his left arm. He wasn’t wearing long sleeves this time, so my hand wound around the wrist that had the curious cord wrapped around it. When I touched his skin, my first instinct was to pull back and let go. A frantic part of me wondered why I was doing something akin to picking up a snake, but I quickly buried the thought. He’s no snake. He just… looks intimidating. I shouldn’t be so scared of him. There has to be a reason why Genel and Josh follow this man’s orders to the letter. There has to be a reason why they talk to him like he’s their friend. I tentatively began to tug lightly at his arm, but Knight pulled his arm away from my grasp. The way he did it wasn’t hostile, however. He merely gently took his arm back, even seeming a little wary about the movement. Despite his gentleness, I couldn’t help myself. Feeling just a little embarrassed, I said, “Sorry.” He continued to avoid my eyes, instead opting to look somewhere to my side. “It’s nothing.” He took a nearly silent, deep breath. “Fine. Give me a moment to get changed.” I couldn’t help opening my mouth in surprise at how seemingly easily I’d managed to convince him. “Oh. Mhm.” I murmured, nodding slightly. He closed the door gently without another word and without looking at me. I stood there waiting for him for five minutes. When he opened up, I saw he had changed into a long-sleeved, blue-green plaid shirt and gray cargo pants. I didn’t know exactly what it was about his attire, but when he wore something as vibrant as blue-green he seemed like a whole different person aesthetically. “I’d appreciate if we could get going right away.” I realized a bit late that he was talking to me, and that I was blocking his way out of his room. “Oh,” I mumbled sheepishly, once again feeling my neck burning. “Right. Let’s.” I moved out of his way, giving him more than enough room to step out into the hallway, but he stayed rooted to the spot and kept looking at me blankly. What? Why isn’t he moving? His eyes plainly shifted in the direction of the mess hall as if to silently tell me, “after you.” Oh. Okay. I leisurely walked ahead and made my way back to the mess hall. Knight’s equally paced footsteps followed me closely behind. Despite my minor embarrassment at having taken his arm and gotten brushed off, I felt satisfaction at being able to help Genel – and possibly even Knight too – with her New Year’s wish. I was glad I could help her out in a personal way. When I returned to the mess hall with Knight in tow, I found Genel and Josh already seated beside each other with four plates of pancakes laid out on the table in front of them. As Knight and I approached, Josh looked at us and threw his hands up in the air in shock. “Whoa! How’d you convince that crab to leave its sand castle?” he demanded in wonder. I smiled wryly as I slid into the booth such that I was sitting directly across from Genel who for the most part looked at me in awe. She smiled gratefully at me while Knight was distracted by Josh thumping him on the back. I simply shrugged at her to tell her I was glad I could help. When Josh had had enough slapping Knight on the back, which I thought the Shadow leader seemed to take rather absently, Genel met Knight’s gaze and smiled at him. “Happy New Year, Ian.” Knight took a few seconds before returning a “Happy New Year” of his own, minus the smile and cheerfulness Genel exhibited. Genel didn’t seem to mind, though. I couldn’t help smiling myself as the gloom in her eyes seemed to dispel near instantly. Breakfast was a relatively cheery and merry experience, the four of us taking part in conversations about comparatively trivial but no less entertaining matters. Intriguingly, while Genel and Josh seemed to dominate our get-together with rather lighthearted talk about our families, friends, histories, and aspirations, Knight almost seemed to be out of his element in the easy and casual chat between colleagues. He listened to us disproportionately more than he spoke, and even when Genel or Josh asked him questions he answered in one or two sentences in that same neutral way he always used. His awkwardness in the setting was so palpable to me that I felt awkward sitting beside him myself. Genel however, cared little for how seemingly out of place Knight was in the situation; she smiled and laughed the most out of all of us, easily. I felt a warmth in my heart knowing I had a hand in making that possible for her. Once we were done celebrating and had filled our stomachs with the pancakes on the table, Knight called for a briefing in the Command Room. Once we were all gathered around the table, we put our game faces back on – all of us except for Knight of course, who seemed to have worn his to breakfast in advance. He took over the briefing again, since he was the one who extracted intel from Bradley Steele. “Right,” he glanced around the table at each of us, “I managed to gather some new information from questioning the major last night. Unfortunately, none of it appears to be particularly good news.” He briefly consulted his TACPAD, then showed us a zoomed in view of part of the downtown area of the city. A red, square overlay surrounded a block that stood in the middle of 7th Avenue and 8th Avenue to the north and south, respectively; and Centre Street and 1st Street to the west and east, respectively. “According to Steele, he reported directly to a certain Lieutenant Colonel Steven Baker, who runs the whole show here in Calgary. When I asked where Baker was, Steele gave me this location. It’s the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Centre Street. While this is useful to know so we can at least pinpoint who and where the kingpin is in this city, I unfortunately don’t see a way we can get to Baker at this point. Steele warned me getting to the lieutenant colonel would be difficult if not borderline impossible, what with the US Army fortifying the downtown area and using it as its most secure stronghold. A sizeable portion of the enemy troops assigned to this city will most likely be concentrated around and in this hotel. We have to assume the opposition area numbers several hundred men. While we faced serious odds at the Stampede, one hundred versus five hundred or so is a big difference for us. It’s not as if we wiped out one hundred soldiers when we extracted Angel, either. We keep this intel on the backburner for now, but for when it’s time to cripple the US Army, Baker will be our priority target.” I nodded at him when he met my eyes. True, as much as I wanted to drive out the invaders from this city, the odds were simply too steeply stacked in our enemy’s favour. The four of us simply couldn’t hope to attack the head Army officer yet at this point in the mission. We needed support before we could attempt to make a move on Baker. “I’m guessing there’s still no word from HQ about support?” I asked, naturally glancing at Genel. She shook her head. “We’re still cut off from HQ there. I’ll keep trying to raise them, but ultimately the blackout is the result of problems on their end.” “There’s only so much four people can do to oust several hundred tyrants,” I said frustratedly. “Regardless, until the four of us have done all that four people can reasonably accomplish, we need to keep going,” Knight said in response to my comment. “Of course. Sorry,” I said to the other members. “Shouldn’t be so negative.” “We’re doing fine so far,” Josh gave me a soft little smile that eased me some. “Let’s keep this up.” I nodded back. He was right. Considering what we knew were up against, we could be doing a whole lot worse. “Moving on,” Knight projected a zoom-in of the city satellite view map to highlight what I recognized as the Calgary Stampede area just outside the downtown core. My body instantly went rigid at the sight. “The next piece of information directly concerns the prisoners being moved to the Stampede from other areas in the city. Steele told me he wasn’t in the know about why the Army came to Calgary, or the other cities for that matter.” “What?” I couldn’t help showing my utter incredulity, “An officer that high up doesn’t know why he’s being ordered to invade another country?” “It’s actually not uncommon for anyone under the rank of colonel or its equivalent to not be shown the full picture,” Genel told me in a calmer tone than my own. I glanced sharply at her, wanting to argue about how ridiculous the idea sounds, but then I remembered Genel was Canadian Army; she’d know more about military officers’ privileges than I would, so I swallowed my argument and backed down for now. “Much as I wanted a different answer myself, I unfortunately have no reason to disbelieve the major in that regard,” Knight said, crossing his arms over his chest. “How are you certain he wasn’t keeping information to himself?” I asked Knight. He looked me dead in the eye. “I gave him little incentive to be uncooperative.” I stifled a sigh. Whenever he looked at me with that ultra-serious expression, it was nigh impossible not to believe him. “He did however tell me what becomes of the prisoners being held at the Stampede,” he continued. I leaned forward in my seat at this. Beside me and across the table, Genel and Josh waited for the answer to that mystery with similar intense looks on their faces. Knight bowed his head almost imperceptibly, then his shoulders rose and fell as if he was resigning to tell us something quite unpleasant. He lifted his head again after a moment. “Prisoners are slated to be executed at the Calgary Stampede. Or they were going to be executed there, until we attacked it. Steele told me that was the general plan, but they were still finalizing their databases of each prisoner’s records using Canada’s health services databases, which naturally makes retrieving each person’s basic information easy.” I suspected this all along, but to hear my suspicions being confirmed by someone else was a shock all the same. “They’re keeping track of each person they plan to murder?” I said, my anger and urge to dismiss this notion as unreal mingling together, “Why? Why are they doing this at all?” “Unfortunately, the rationale was what Steele wasn’t sure about. He said all he heard were whispers and rumours from higher up the chain of command. You’ve all heard why the United States started to isolate itself from its allies, right?” “Yeah,” Josh said a bit uncertainly, “Allegedly, the significant cuts to certain kinds of jobs from the last five or so years resulted in mass layoffs with too many people not being employed. Supposedly the US gradually phased out all levels of immigration to keep its problems from getting any bigger.” “Right,” Knight nodded to Josh. “That’s what the major implied last night to me, at least. With little to no new jobs to offer immigrants and non-US citizens, it’s expected that the country would close off its borders to every other nation. Doing so effectively stopped their finite supply from further shrinking exponentially in response to an ever-expanding demand. Still… even if not a single person entered the US after the country shut down all means of accepting newcomers looking for better lives, the States already has upwards of three hundred and seventy million Americans in-country. Factoring in the significant decrease in jobs, and they’ve got little resources with an increasing number of mouths to feed – many of which aren’t earning their keep.” I listened intently to Knight, taking every word in. At least from my perspective, the reason he mentioned for the United States’ decision to cease international relations jibed with what I heard myself. “Steele mentioned rumours that the US government was looking to expand its territory, most likely to compensate for the lack of housing for unemployed workers.” Knight went on, “Following these lines, it would make sense for the US to move in on Canadian territory, politics and international laws aside. Canada’s population numbers just below forty million – that’s a significant difference in population size from the US’. Add to that how our national defense capabilities are rather sorely outmatched by those of our southern neighbour’s military might, and it becomes a simple numbers game eventually.” “So… what, that’s it? They’d just resort to genocide like that?” I asked, feeling indignation but trying to keep my tone level. “They couldn’t ask for help first?” Knight looked unfazed by my contained disbelief, though he did appear to share my sentiment. “Well, former allies of the United States haven’t exactly begged the country to return to the fold,” he said to me flatly. “If they had, the Clandestine Operations Sector may not have been established until two years or so later than it was.” “That sounds about right,” Genel chimed in, bringing her hand to cradle her chin in a pose of thoughtful consideration, “True, initially Europe, Canada, and other Western nations expressed strong disapproval of the United States’ decision to button up. In fact, it’s a miracle international trade wasn’t affected as badly as it could have been once the US essentially fell off the international stage. We did try for a few months to bring the country back but once it became clear the US wasn’t going to budge we practically planned around the implications of Americans turning isolationist.” “After a certain point Canada and our other allies essentially encouraged the US to ‘be and stay that way’,” Josh said with a resigned voice, “That further alienated the country and may have contributed to it feeling like it was being backed relentlessly into a country. Talking to us most probably dropped off the table of options. Not to belabor the obvious, but the US played itself there. Instead of swallowing pride they stuck to their guns and this is what happened.” “But to stoop to mass murder of citizens of another country? Isn’t that a bit extreme? Hasn’t this sort of thing been done before already in the last world war?” I asked, shaking my head. Knight shook his head too. “I agree, Angel. It is rather large a step. I feel obliged to remind everyone that Steele said this was all a rumour. It wasn’t the official reason he was provided by the brass. Still, the possibility sounds somewhat plausible if of course, you can get past the thought that the US conveniently forgot about what happened in World War Two. If this is in fact the rationale behind the invasion, then this time around the reason is more pragmatic even if the method may be similar. Instead of ethnic cleansing, we’re seeing more practical expansionism.” I clenched my fists underneath the table. I could sympathize with the economic and societal problems the US was facing, but never with its solution. A foreboding silence settled over the Command Room. I looked up to find Genel pursing her lips and looking grim. Josh didn’t have a trace of his jolly nature from earlier this morning. Knight stood stock still, looking up at the monitor showing the sat view of the Stampede. “We need to stop this. We can’t let this go on. We just can’t.” I spoke to no one in particular, but I said it aloud all the same. “We are stopping this,” Knight replied, sounding noticeably more serious than usual, “But we can’t save everyone, not as we are right now.” “Why not?” I demanded, my frustration rising to the surface and overriding my logical facilities. Knight did not answer me. I knew he understood I’d only let my emotions get the better of me, not that I genuinely didn’t know the reason. “Sorry,” I muttered, not looking at him, burning with equal parts shame and vexation. “I’m sorry.” The room was silent again for several seconds. It wasn’t until Genel broke the dead air that I managed to lift my head again. “Was there anything else Steele mentioned, Ian?” Knight took a second before nodding once. “Yes. It concerns the prisoners being taken to CFB Calgary.” I fought to keep myself calm. Knowing that another outburst may well come spilling out of my mouth next, I willed my lips to stay sealed for the time being. “What about them?” Genel pressed, probably noticing my abrupt silence and taking over engaging with Knight. Knight walked behind the chair at the end of the table and placed his hands on the backrest. His eyes seemed to darken even more than it already was. “This intel I found Steele most hesitant to give up. I had to really press him for this. He said twenty prisoners are transported from the Stampede to CFB Calgary every three days. Steele may supervise the flow of prisoners, but he told me he does not personally oversee each batch of prisoners going to the base. While he admitted to planning to dispose of a majority of the prisoners he processes, he also revealed he transfers a few to the base in regular intervals. Apparently, he met his contact outside of the USAF face-to-face only once, during the twenty-first of the last month. That was when the first batch of prisoners were taken to the location. He mentioned that he never saw his contact’s face that one time, as this person’s face was concealed by a hood. The only things he could tell me were that his contact goes by the name ‘Hornet’, that this ‘Hornet’ told him to supply them with prisoners every three days, and that this person looked distinctly military. Though, I do suspect this person isn’t Army or any other branch of the USAF.” “This might be too early a question to ask,” Josh said tentatively to Knight, inclining his head in the Shadow leader’s direction, “But what makes you certain about this ‘Hornet’ not being part of the US Armed Forces?” “The email I swiped, naturally. Also, Steele was initially heavily reluctant to share this information. Frankly, he looked terrified of speaking up. He mentioned his family back home would be in danger if word got out he told the enemy about ‘Hornet’ and those prisoners being transferred elsewhere for whatever reason.” “So it’s not just the US Army we’re up against then,” Genel mused aloud. “Unfortunately, it seems they’re only a tool being used by someone else,” Knight replied, “If a person or organization has the US Army in their back pocket, chances are they’re powerful and influential. We need to be careful. Right now we don’t know who’s pulling the strings yet.” He paused before speaking again. “That’s all Steele gave me. To be honest, I believe that’s all the valuable intel he had.” “Where is he now?” Josh asked. Knight didn’t bat an eyelash. “Not with us anymore.” “Oh,” Josh nodded slowly, not looking surprised at all. I finally managed to speak up, having calmed down somewhat. “So what’s our next move?” Knight glanced at me, looking as expressionless as ever. “We really only have one lead to follow up on at this point. We can try to recon—” “Wait, Ian.” Genel interrupted the team leader abruptly, which I was actually surprised at her for doing. Knight turned his head toward Genel, who was sitting up straight in her chair. “What is it?” “This might only be a stopgap measure of sorts, but if we’re looking to gain some support in preparation for bolder ops, I have an idea.” “Explain.” Genel stared straight at him with a subtly determined expression, her eyebrows set firmly and gaze unwavering. “The idea just occurred to me, but I’ll admit there’s no guarantee this will even work. Do you remember what I told you about the Canadian Army reservists posted in the city at the time the invasion began?” Knight nodded, keeping his eyes intently on Genel. “Your colleagues? You told me they – and you – were called in to defend the city right as this all kicked off.” “That’s right. Naturally I didn’t get to join my squad because C.O.S. takes priority, but the last I heard when I was monitoring their primary comms, the one hundred-ish of us Calgary-based 41 CBGs were on the back foot two days into this thing.” “You told me your unit and all others were wiped out.” Genel shook her head. “What I said was I lost comms with them at the time and haven’t heard from anyone I know since.” “You think some survived?” “I don’t know that. I’d like to think so.” “What’s your basis for this?” “Honestly, none. However, even we had fallback plans in the event of an emergency like this. In the formerly unlikely event that we were pushed back, we’re supposed to RV at an Army fallback point in the Mahogany area.” Knight appeared to consider this new piece of information for a moment. “The Canadian Army Reserves had fallback plans for this situation?” he asked Genel with a slightly dubious undertone. Genel nodded. “Not for exactly like this situation, but more like a sort of… insurance. Last ditch moves, if you will.” “This fallback base… it’s in Mahogany?” “Yeah. There’s a fairly spacious three-level basement under the community rec centre that was designated as a sort of muster point for if all else fails in an emergency situation. Think if it as the place we reservists are to commandeer if and only if the proverbial turd runs through the proverbial fan and we’ve got no means to counter a threat.” Knight raised one eyebrow slightly. “How big is this basement?” Genel sighed and stroked a lock of her hair away from her face, looking slightly concerned. “Have you been to the basement of the St. Patrick’s Church in Shawnessy?” “Yes,” Knight said a tad more stiffly. “Well, it’s like that, multiplied by three levels with identical spaces for each.” Knight paused for another moment, After some thought, he said, “All right. Why bring this up now?” Genel kept looking at him seriously. “I don’t know how many – if any – of my colleagues survived the first wave of the assault from the US forces. But if any of them did make it to the fallback point, I’m thinking they can help us with our mission of liberating the city.” I thought about this myself. If one hundred or so reservists in the Canadian Army couldn’t repel the invading forces, then I was doubtful they’d be effective in their diminished capacity. Still, between us and a group of surviving Canadian Army personnel, our odds of success do go up a little. “We’ll still need outside help from other cities and provinces to really dent the opposition here,” Genel added, obviously reading Knight’s poker face and seeing he wasn’t too convinced, “But with how things are we do need all the help we can get. Besides, even if they can’t help us fight directly, maybe they can take in any civilians we rescue or come across for now.” “In a basement.” Genel gave Knight a slightly stern look. “Look, it’s not a perfect solution, but wouldn’t you rather be in a crowded basement than outside in the cold worrying about running into US soldiers?” I took this chance to come to Genel’s aid in supporting this idea. “She does have a point. If we can confirm the survival of any Canadian Army reservists we’ll at least temporarily have a place to send civilians to. I get what Genel’s saying, that this is just a Band-Aid solution, but if any of her coworkers are still alive, it can’t hurt to have them in our corner.” “Mahogany itself appeared clear yesterday when we were on our way to ambush the convoy,” Josh piped up in Genel’s defense, “We’ve got potential to gain something here, boss.” Knight crossed his arms in front of him and frowned slightly. “It might well be occupied by patrols after our assault last night, but all right. I’m not against having allies. I just want to be assured we’re not chasing after nothing.” “We won’t know what we’ve got unless we check,” I told him steadily. I glanced at Genel, who gave me a grateful little nod. Knight took a deep breath. “All right. Genel, if you feel strongly about this, then we’ll make this our next op. Objective is to recon the area and find any reservists who may be hunkering down in the rec centre. If we don’t find anything, we’ll discuss the CFB Calgary matter then and move on. Is that fair?” Genel gave him a firm nod. “Affirmative.” Knight glanced at his TACPAD. “I do suggest we move on this lead about Mahogany tonight. The next prisoner transfer to CFB Calgary takes place tomorrow evening, so we need to prioritize following up on that tomorrow. We move out at 1800 tonight. Any objections?” No one said a word to that, “Good,” Knight said conclusively. “Genel, this is your op and you’re more Army than any of us will ever be, so if there’s anything you need to prepare or inform us about, best do it before we leave.” “Understood,” Genel nodded again. “All right. Everyone’s dismissed for now but be ready to go by 1800.” Shadow Team left Haven at 1800 hours as planned, making it to Mahogany in less than twenty minutes. Another drone recon conducted by Genel showed us several vehicle patrols driving up and down 52nd Street and the adjacent Copperfield neighbourhood – signs that the enemy was becoming more guarded in response to our assault on the convoy two days ago. The trucks of the convoy we disabled the last time we were in the area were still where we left them in the intersection, though the bodies of the soldiers we took down had been collected since then and were now nowhere to be seen. Rather than take our chances by truck, Knight had Goliath park our truck two kilometres short of the interchange between 22x and 52nd Street, where we hopped the guard rail and proceeded north on foot toward the Mahogany/Copperfield Community Association building. A fifteen-minute walk brought us close to the location. Approaching it from the east via Copperstone Road, we were fortunate not to have run into any of the patrolling Humvees we saw earlier from the sky. About two hundred metres from our destination, Knight instructed us to take cover while he scoped out the surrounding area with his special infrared-equipped binoculars. He panned the device slowly across the area surrounding the one-story building, which faced in a north easterly direction. After a moment, Genel crawled past me to hover over Knight’s shoulder while we sat behind a couple sedans for cover. “How’s it look?” Genel asked in a hushed voice, drawing her face almost beside Knight’s. “The front parking lot looks clear. Plenty of vehicles parked in front of the building, but from here I don’t see any movement,” Knight reported discreetly, still peering through his binoculars. “Shouldn’t your Army colleagues here at least have one guard posted outside?” Genel put her hand on top of Knight’s right shoulder and leaned further against him as she trained her eyes to the west. “Technically yes,” she whispered back, “I suppose it depends on how many of them are actually in there. Like I said before, I can’t possibly guess how many of my crew are left.” Knight gave a fleeting, noncommittal grunt from his throat before lowering his scope and turning his head toward Genel’s. From this angle, he looked almost to be whispering right into Genel’s ear. “How do you want to play this?” he asked her. I noted how physically close the two of them seemed to be. Surely Knight allowed Genel to be this way because of some history between the two of them; I certainly wouldn’t be able to pull off practically putting my chin on the man’s shoulder without embarrassing myself. “Hmm. I think it’d be better if I approached the front door alone.” “Right into the field of fire?” “Of my colleagues.” “We don’t know what or who is in there yet.” “We’ll look less like a threat if I approach openly by myself. If things do get hot, you three will be behind me to give cover.” Knight fell silent for a few seconds. Genel turned her head toward his. I turned back to Josh, who was crouched behind me and surreptitiously observing the exchange like I was. “They argue like this often?” I asked him in a tight whisper only he and I would hear. Josh gave a ghostly smirk. “Sometimes. She’s got some sway on him I’ve never had.” “Hmm.” “All right,” I turned to Genel and Knight in time to catch the team leader relenting. “Fine. We’ll hang back and keep you covered. If you’re fired upon, get into cover and we’ll return fire.” Knight glanced to me and Josh. “Listen up. We’re going to post up on the east side of this street while Archer knocks on the front door. We’ll keep her covered in case it’s not Canadian Army in there. Understood?” “Roger,” I responded. “Move. Keep to this side of the street.” Moving in a rough single file with Knight in the lead, we briskly but quietly made our way down Copperstone Road until we were right across from the recreation centre. The streetlamps in this neighbourhood were all still working, so it would be easy to anyone approaching the building before they even crossed the parking lot. The evening air wasn’t as chilly as it was the last few nights, but nonetheless I found the stillness of my surroundings slightly disconcerting. Some light flurries had begun falling from the overcast sky since we left our truck, but there was no breeze in the air. The four of us crouched behind a white pickup truck parked by the sidewalk in front of a row of duplex residences, our heads peeking from cover, our eyes on the rec centre. The building appeared to be empty – its windows were all black from the lack of light shining from the inside. There was only one entrance that we could see from here, and that was the front door. A blue wooden sign hung above the deck of the front area bearing the white font reading: ‘Mahogany | Copperfield Community Association’. The majority of the parking lot out front was illuminated by two tall lamps, and the deck in front of the main entrance was lit by a couple of fluorescents flanking the double door entrance. Despite these lights being on, the building itself was quiet, and appeared to be deserted from the outside. Genel drew in a breath. “Okay, I’m crossing the street. Here, hold on to this.” She held out her SRS A2 to Knight, who took the rifle by the barrel after a second. “Stay sharp,” Knight told her, laying down the sniper rifle by his feet. “Copy,” Genel nodded, standing up. She walked around the truck at a leisurely pace with her arms and her arms at her sides, exactly as a normal civilian would. “Angel, Goliath, cover the windows and the door,” Knight instructed, training his assault rifle in the direction of the rec centre. “Roger that,” I said promptly, getting off my haunches and maneuvering over to Josh’s left side, mounting my Vector on the hood of the car directly behind the pickup truck. I kept my holographic sight’s reticle on the two large windows to the left of the entrance, all the while keeping Genel in my peripheral view. “Archer here. Do you all copy?” Genel’s whisper reached me on my earpiece. She did not stop walking but took her time crossing the street. “We read you, Archer,” I murmured, keeping the rail of my Vector pressed against my right cheek. “Loud and clear,” Knight responded over the team channel. “All right. I’m about to cross the parking lot. I’m leaving my comms open so you can hear if anything happens.” “We’ve got you,” Josh said in a low voice. Through my earpiece I faintly heard Genel’s footsteps as she mounted the sidewalk, cut through a patch of snow, and finally planted her feet in the parking lot. I gently slid my right index finger through the guard of my Vector and lightly placed my fingertip on the trigger, keeping my aim steady on the dark windows. Genel walked between two parked cars and kept moving forward on her way to the entrance. She was well lit in that parking lot now, so if anyone was peering out of one of those windows, they’d easily see her making her way to the door. She was just past the flagpole standing in the middle of the parking lot when through the mic she left on I heard a man’s voice shout out abruptly: “Don’t move! Hands over your head!” Genel promptly obeyed, halting her advance and raising her arms up to head height. “Anyone have visual?” Josh muttered tersely several feet to my right, slowly panning his Stoner assault rifle in a narrow arc from behind the pickup truck. I caught a shadow moving behind the wall next to the second window to the left of the entrance. It darted out of view but not fast enough to elude my sight completely. “Possible contact, second window from the left,” I murmured, holding my aim steady.. “Another one, second window from the right,” Knight added faintly. “Hold fire,” Genel whispered calmly. A second after she said that, the front door started to sway outward. I snapped my sights to that door and waited for whoever was exiting to come into view. A lean soldier carefully stepped out of the rec centre’s main door, aiming what appeared to be an M4 carbine from this distance. For a moment I genuinely feared for Genel’s safety, but when I observed the soldier’s uniform I noticed that he was wearing a different battle dress uniform than those the US Army soldiers we’d seen so far wore. Instead of solid navy blue, the soldier standing on the deck was wearing a digital green shirt and pants that initially resembled woodland wear. He was also wearing no helmet and overall looked less equipped than the grunts I was used to seeing by this point. This soldier wasn’t wearing standard Kevlar for a vest, instead sporting an olive combat harness that held a couple extra magazines for his rifle. He also didn’t appear to be carrying a pistol holster on either leg. His overall posture was similar to that of any armed forces personnel but his uniform and gear were quite different from the ones used by the US Army. “Identify yourself!” I heard the soldier call out to Genel, still aiming his rifle at her. “Master Warrant Officer Genel Martinez,” Genel promptly called back, keeping her hands out in the open. “Are you with the 41 Canadian Brigade Group?” The green-clad soldier seemed to freeze and hesitate. After a few seconds, he gave Genel a one-word answer. “Queen.” “Tartan,” Genel responded immediately. A brief silence followed before the man lowered his rifle with some reluctance. “Master Warrant Officer Martinez? We heard you were MIA.” “That’s… a long story. Who are you?” “Master Corporal Timothy Lane, ma’am.” “All right,” Genel lowered her hands slowly to her sides. “Who’s in charge here, Corporal?” “Sergeant Damon Burke is acting CO, ma’am.” Genel breathed a faint sigh through the comms and her posture slightly relaxed. “Understood, Corporal. I’m with three friendlies positioned across the street behind me. Hold your fire to the east. I’m bringing them in, got it?” The soldier briefly hesitated, then nodded. “Understood. Friendlies coming in from the east, hold fire!” “Okay Knight, you’re good to come on over,” Genel said. Knight stood up from his position at the front of the pickup truck. “Copy. Let’s move, Shadow.” Josh and I rose to our feet and followed Knight across Copperstone Road. We cut through the parking lot and met Angel in front of the desk with Master Corporal Lane. When the soldier saw us up close, I noticed his eyebrows go up quite a bit. I suppose it was expected – compared to him, we dressed mostly like civilians but were just as armed as regular soldiers. Genel turned back to Lane. “Take us to the sergeant, Lane.” The soldier’s eyes shifted warily from her to the rest of us. “They’re with me, Corporal,” Genel said, softening her voice, “Trust me, they’re on our side. I’ll explain the situation to Sergeant Burke.” Lane’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “Yes, ma’am. Right this way.” “Come on,” Genel gestured for us to follow the corporal inside. Knight followed closely behind Genel and Josh and I went after him. Inside, we stepped into a small dark lobby with one soldier posted on either side of the door – the ones we sighted from across the street. The lobby felt cold, as though the heating here stopped working days ago. A white receptionist’s desk stood at the far end of the rectangular room, with a plastic sign reading: ‘Welcome to the Mahogany-Copperfield Community Association Centre! A staff member will be with you shortly’ facing us from the edge of the desk. A matching white vase holding long-wilted hyacinths sat several inches to the right of the welcome sign. On the walls on either side of the hall were picture frames featuring photos of events that took place over the recent years. On the left side of the receptionist’s desk was a windowed wooden door that appeared to lead into a fair-sized multi-purpose hall, while to the right of it was a fire exit door. The corporal took out a torch from his pocket and shone it ahead of him to give us some light. “This way, ma’am.” We followed him and Genel through the fire exit door and down a couple flights of stone steps into the basement levels. As we were descending, I heard Knight faintly whisper to Genel: “You’ll explain the situation?” Genel whispered back: “Yes, and no. This is going to be a bit awkward.” “Awkward?” “I’m not sure how much of my occupation to tell Damon.” True, this would probably be the first time the Canadian Army would be in the know about us operators. As far as I knew, we weren’t supposed to reveal ourselves in any capacity to even the country’s military and law enforcement personnel. A huge part of why the Clandestine Operations Sector could operate the way it does was because as the name states, it is clandestine. We agents ultimately answer to the Chairmen of the Board, who then answer to the Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. The Director of the CSIS sometimes coordinates with the Chief of the Defence Staff as necessary, who then ultimately works under the Governor General of Canada – the representative of Queen Elizabeth II, the country’s commander-in-chief. This means that not every branch, department, or level of the Canadian government and military know about the C.O.S.. The exceptions to this were the Chief of the Defence Staff, the Governor General, the Prime Minister, and the Queen herself. These were different and desperate times, though. I waited a few seconds for Knight to decide on how much to disclose, but what came out of his mouth first wasn’t quite what I expected. “Damon, huh,” he mumbled impassively but with a subtly probing undertone. “Explain later,” Genel hissed at him, sounding a little annoyed, “So what… rather, how much do I tell the CO?” “That we’re off the books. If anyone makes a fuss, direct them to me.” “Sure.” Master Corporal Lane eventually brought us through another fire exit door that led into what appeared to be another multi-purpose hall the size of a corporate office floor. There were lights on in this room, so we could clearly see our surroundings here. As I stepped through the fire exit door, I saw some military comms equipment set up immediately to our right, with three soldiers sitting in front of laptops and speaking into headset microphones. Further along the wall on the right were a dozen single beds and accompanying mattresses, most of them occupied by a Canadian Army soldier – some of them with varying degrees of injuries that at a glance ranged from cuts and bruises to second-degree burns and gunshot wounds. Only around three or four men and women in this room appeared uninjured and either tending to the wounded or performing other tasks. On the opposite wall was where a meager stock of MREs, medical equipment, and other provisions were stacked against. Doing a quick head count of the soldiers in this room and estimating the amount of supplies I could see by the wall, I wagered these reservists had at most just over a week’s worth of supplies left. At the back wall were three doors that probably led to smaller, private meeting rooms. One of them stood slightly ajar, and I presumed this Sergeant Burke was behind it. I noticed several pairs of eyes staring at us as we walked into the room – wary, as they naturally would be considering we looked armed to the teeth by comparison to them – but no one appeared to look at us as though we were hostiles. Lane waited until we were all through of the door before he spoke to Genel again. “If you’ll wait here, I’ll go get the sergeant.” “Thank you, Corporal Lane.” As the soldier walked off in the direction of the doors on the far end, Genel sighed audibly and turned to the side, looking at neither us nor the doors through which Sergeant Burke may be coming out of. Her eyebrows furrowed, she frowned and swayed slightly from side to side minutely, and her fingers kept tapping restlessly on the body of her SRS rifle. I stepped forward to stand right beside Knight. “Are you okay, Gen— Archer?” She looked up and glanced at me hastily, then nodded a little. “Yes, I’m all right.” “I heard you were Canadian Army, but I didn’t know you were a Master Warrant Officer. That’s impressive.” “Uhh… yeah, that’s impressive, I guess.” I peered at her preoccupied eyes. “Are you sure you’re feeling all right?” “Yeah. Yeah, it’s just… awkward being around these people while I’m not dressed like them.” “Loosen up,” Josh said gently from behind me, “Don’t you technically outrank everyone here?” “Well yes, but that’s not why I’m—” “Gen?” A new voice called out from behind Genel. Our tech specialist turned toward the source of the sound. Standing about twenty feet away from us, clearly having come out of one of the meeting rooms, was a tall man in the same digital green fatigues. He had slightly tanned skin, brown hair several centimetres too long for Army regulations, dark brown eyes, and a lean but muscular build. He appeared rather young, perhaps two or three years mine or Knight’s junior. He looked mildly sleep deprived, with dark circles gathering beneath his eyes. He also had a few small cuts running along his forehead, cheek, and the side of his neck. Despite his look and condition, his eyes lit up considerably when they found Genel. Without further fanfare, he briskly crossed the distance between him and us and to my surprise, enveloped Genel in a big hug and buried her face against his chest. “H-Hey,” I heard Genel stuttering frantically against his body, “Protocol, you idiot! Is this how you greet an officer of higher rank?” She squirmed in his arms another second before she lifted her boot and kicked the younger man in the shin with just a bit of force. As the soldier grunted in pain and staggered backwards, effectively releasing Genel, I glanced sideways and up at Knight, whose eyes seemed to be on the ceiling and avoiding the spectacle in front of us. Sergeant Burke, I presumed, bounced on one foot for a few seconds before giving Genel a mildly rueful look and standing up straight. He lifted his right arm and saluted our sniper. “Apologies, Warrant Officer,” he said, his face turning pink as he spoke, “It’s good to see you, ma’am.” “I… Yes, ahem, it’s rather… I mean I’m…” Genel stiffened as she tried to answer back to her subordinate but seemed to stumble over each word she managed to release. I couldn’t help feeling curious about the situation. I’d seen Genel flustered maybe once or twice, but she’d never gotten this bad. Her posture erratically shifted back and forth between uncomfortable and lax. After several shifts, she deflated and sighed tiredly. “Okay, I’ll let protocol out the window this once,” she said wryly to the sergeant. “I’m not even in uniform.” Burke sighed too but nodded at her. “Okay. I’m so glad to see you’re okay, ma— Gen.” “Me too, Damon. Listen… I know you’ve got a lot a questions but—” “Yeah,” Burke said, then looked past Genel at me, Knight, and Josh. “I do.” Genel glanced at Knight over her right shoulder, looking timid. “Is it all right if I have a moment with Sergeant Burke here?” Knight nodded almost imperceptibly. “Sure.” Sergeant Burke eyed us with passing interest, his gaze lingering on Knight. “I don’t know who… or what you guys are, but if you’re with Genel then you’re okay for now. Feel free to have a seat over there.” He pointed to some folding chairs already set up beside the supply station by the left wall. “Thank you, Sergeant,” I gave him a firm nod, then reached out and gave Genel a tiny push behind her shoulder. “Go on. We’ll be out here.” Genel smiled at me with relief etched in her features. “Thanks. I’ll try not to take too long.” “Don’t worry, we’ll wait.” “Try not to throw any weight around, all right?” Genel looked to Knight in particular, fixing him with a knowing stare, “We’re guests here.” Knight mounted his G36C to the side of his backpack and crossed his arms over his chest. “Whatever you say.” Genel nodded once, then turned back to Burke. “All right, Damon. Can we talk… in private?” “Sure thing, Gen. Follow me to my office.” With one last glance at us, the sergeant turned around and led Genel to the leftmost door at the far end of the floor. I watched as he let Genel enter first, then did so himself and shut the door. I stared after the two who disappeared behind that door for a few seconds, then I felt Josh partially squeeze between me and Knight with his shoulder. “I don’t know about you two, but I never knew Genel to have a side like that to her,” he murmured, sounding partly amused and quite intrigued. Glancing back at him, I asked curiously, “No? Really?” “Really. But ah, whatever. It was cute.” In spite of the situation, I failed to stifle a tiny smile of my own. “I don’t disagree. Did you know she was like that, Knight?” The Shadow leader closed his eyes momentarily, bowing his head slightly and letting out a quiet breath through his mouth. “Mhm. From experience.” “Eh?” Josh sounded equally as surprised as I felt. “What do you mean ‘experience’?” “Nothing. I was simply saying I’ve seen that before.” “What? Care to elaborate on that?” Knight turned around and walked past the curious Josh. “You want to know more, ask the source.” “Man, you’re a tease,” Josh commented, sounding mildly put out. I watched as Knight posted up by the exit to the stairs and again assumed a statue-like state by the door, his arms crossed and his eyes on the far end of the floor. “That guy, I swear,” Josh turned to me, looking a bit exasperated, “Dangles a carrot in front of us then snatches it away.” It struck me as strange that Knight would volunteer even hints of personal matters like that, since he’d always been more of an all-business sort from what I could see. Still, I knew little about him. Oddly enough, I internally echoed Josh’s sentiments; for whatever reason, I was rather curious about him. I didn’t want to admit it at first, but Knight struck me as the type who tried to look like a puddle but once you dipped a finger past the surface you’d never touch the bottom until you were up to your shoulder in water. Josh headed over to the wall closest to the supplies and settled on one of the folding chairs set up there, unclipping his backpack and leaning his assault rifle against the wall. After observing the beds holding the injured soldiers, I took a seat beside Josh and waited in silence for Genel to return. It was almost half an hour later when the leftmost meeting room door opened. Genel came out, left the door open just a crack, then strode over to us. Josh and I rose from our seats and joined Knight by the door, who inclined his head as if waking from a standing nap as Genel approached. From a glance, I could see that Genel’s face was slightly red and her posture had stiffened even more. Her eyes seemed clouded over and a rather melancholic frown had settled on her lips. Still, she looked up at Knight and said to him curtly: “Sergeant Burke wants to speak to the one in charge.” Knight did not move for a second, then he gave a tiny nod. “All right.” “Knight, can I come along?” I stepped forward as the team leader began to walk toward the meeting room. He stopped and glanced at me, “If you like.” I nodded firmly to him, then turned briefly to Genel and Josh. “I’ll be right back.” “Sure thing, Angel,” Josh replied. Genel simply nodded at me. Knight walked at a leisurely pace toward the meeting room with me at his heels. He pushed open the door and stepped inside. The meeting room turned out to be a lot smaller than I had expected – only about five metres long and wide. A plain wooden office desk sat nearly to the far wall, with an office chair between it and the wall. The walls to the right and left of the desk were decorated with numerous flyers and posters bearing news about past and upcoming neighbourhood events like movie nights, children’s story nights, and various skill and team-building workshops. Sergeant Burke sat behind the desk in the office chair. He looked considerably more serious and tired than he was just thirty minutes ago, His eyes lifted to meet ours rather slowly as Knight and I walked in. I closed the door behind me and stood a little behind Knight, waiting for either of the men to speak. It was the sergeant who did so first. He sized us up briefly before speaking to Knight. “Are you the one in charge?” Knight nodded slightly. “I am.” Burke’s eyes shifted over to me briefly. “And she is—?” “My second-in-command,” Knight answered before I could consider doing it myself. “Whatever you can say to me, you can say to her, Sergeant.” Burke stared at me for a second before turning his gaze back to Knight. He sighed, his shoulders heaving once, then spoke again. “Master Warrant Officer Martinez informed about… what you’re here for. But I do have a few questions for you first.” “If we can answer them, we will.” “Then, who are you?” “You can call me Knight. This is Angel, the team XO.” Burke raised an eyebrow. “Codenames?” “Callsigns.” “The warrant officer was quite vague about who and what you guys are, and frankly I was hoping you’d be more open with me than she was.” “As she was supposed to be.” Knight seemed to dance through the blades of suspicion the sergeant was throwing at him. “I understand you find it hard to believe Genel Martinez has a second occupation.” “That’s right, I do,” Burke’s voice tightened and his eyes seemed to narrow at us. “Our unit and all of the Reserves were called in when all this began, but she refused to report in. I don’t wish to speak ill of her, but to some her actions would be considered desertion.” I wanted to step forward to defend Genel in her behalf, but Knight did not pause. “If it helps, Sergeant, I can assure you she did not shed her duties to the Army for personal reasons. Your and my objectives run closely alongside each other, and Archer was merely called in to honour her responsibilities as one of us.” “What responsibility? And what are you supposed to be?” “Fine, I’ll be as blunt as I can. My team and I work for the Canadian government… ultimately. I can’t disclose which organization or group we are directly representing. We work in the dark and are obliged to keep our affiliation a secret from those not in the know about us, and unfortunately that includes the Canadian Army. However, while our affiliations are different, I can say that our goals are similar if not identical. We’re here to seek out your help.” Burke’s hardened eyes widened a little. “Our help?” “Yes. To be honest, four people against an invading army presents rather lopsided odds. We were hoping to gain allies in you and your troops.” The sergeant leaned back in his seat, now slightly less agitated but still quite reluctant. “We don’t have the numbers for a counterattack, either,” he said frankly. “I see that. How many men do you have?” Knight asked, his voice as straight as ever. Burke hesitated momentarily, then replied grudgingly, “Seventeen men and women here in this hideout. We have seven wounded in total.” Knight paused for a couple of seconds, his eyes lowering briefly and rising again. “Hardly decent numbers, but it’ll have to do.” “What do you mean?” Burke demanded with some impatience. “Our mission is to liberate the city from US Army occupation, Sergeant Burke. Not an overnight task as you know, but one that definitely needs doing. However, we need support if we’re going to pull it off.” “And you want us to support you?” “That’s correct.” Burke leaned forward in his seat again, frowning deeply. “I don’t even know who you all are. For all I know you’re working with the enemy to find the last of us to wipe out.” “Oh?” Knight’s voice rose in pitch just a little as he inclined his head slightly, “Do you believe Genel Martinez would work against you and sell out her comrades?” This appeared to stun the sergeant. Clearly he wasn’t thinking all this through. I understood he was shouldering a lot of responsibilities right now and was strained close to his limits, so it wasn’t unusual that his logic may have slipped for a moment. Moreover… I looked up at Knight, whose stony expression did not once change and whose deadpan gaze seemed zeroed in on the soldier. I couldn’t help admiring a little how calm he was, and how he seemed to be on top of this conversation even though he was technically the one asking for assistance. Burke took several seconds to recover from his blunder. He leaned back again, ran his hand over his hair, and sighed heavily. “No, I don’t. I don’t agree with her reasons for leaving us high and dry, but no… I don’t see her as that. That wasn’t my intention.” “I’m aware,” Knight said, then his tone subtly took a more empathetic edge. “It’s been a difficult last several days.” “Yes, it has.” Knight paused briefly, then asked, “Are you in contact with any Army reinforcements?” Burke looked at him now with a vastly less distrustful expression. “No. Our comms operators can’t seem to get through to Command. Ever since our Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant were killed in action, I’ve been in charge. I’m just barely holding things here.” “You got your men this far,” Knight told him with a tone of importance, “It’s sometimes the best we can hope for in circumstances this dire. As for us, we can’t get through to our superiors, either. Our comms equipment at our own hideout do work, but it appears the problem is on the other end. Before we lost contact, we were given our mission and told that the government was planning to mobilize a detachment of Canadian Army personnel to assist us here, but we weren’t given a timeline.” Burke seemed to sigh with relief as he ran his hand through his hair again. “I see. So there’s still hope left. That’s good.” “Not to douse that hope, but as things stand unless a detachment of Canadian Army personnel numbers equal to the enemy troops here in Calgary, a frontal assault is unlikely to go well. We should reasonably expect only one, two hundred at best in terms of reinforcements.” Burke nodded. “Agreed. Now… what do you want from us, Knight?” Knight took a breath and said steadily, “Ideally, any direct support you can give us. My team and I are running destabilization operations here in the city to try and disorganize the enemy and make a future frontal assault on the enemy’s downtown stronghold feasible… or at least possible. So far we’ve managed just fine, but the more we hit the enemy the harder things become. We need numbers.” Burke rubbed at his days-old stubble lining his chin, looking thoughtful. “I can see why you’d naturally turn to us. We’re probably the last Army presence in the city right now. Unfortunately, ten good men don’t sound like much by way of support. I can’t even spare all ten, as I need some to stay here to man comms and tend to our wounded.” Knight nodded patiently, clearly expecting this response. “I understand. We do try to operate by ourselves, but inevitably we do need your help here and there.” The sergeant nodded with a sort of ‘I-understand-what-you’re saying’ sort of look. “Right. I’m not sure what good we can do as we are now, but… I’m not against working with people with objectives like yours.” “That is appreciated, Sergeant. If direct combat support is a little out of the question at the moment, what say you to some non-combat support?” “What do you mean?” “Are you aware of the US Army detaining civilians at camps in this city?” Burke nodded slowly. “We were pushed back shortly before we learned of this, but yes. We don’t know why they’re doing it, though. In fact, we don’t have a clue why they attacked us at all.” “We’re working at the same questions, actually. In any case, the way I see it, at some point or several my team and I may come across some civilians who escaped or are seeking refuge from the enemy. We were wondering if you’d be able to lend a hand on that front, at least.” Burke considered this for a moment. “That sounds more… possible, however we currently have just enough to sustain ourselves here, and we’re on borrowed time with how little we have. We’ve gone on a couple supply runs over the last week but with our wounded and the need for some of us to stay as guards and medics we just can’t haul much back here from the nearby grocery and convenience stores. We have two military four-wheel drives but both of them have next to zero fuel left.” “I see,” Knight nodded back, lowering his eyes and appearing to ponder something. After a moment, he lifted his head again. “Sergeant Burke, how many people can this rec centre reasonably hold?” “About… well, a hundred, if we’re talking going without much elbow room and cutting down on some luxuries. Why?” Knight suddenly glanced at me while I wasn’t expecting him to. Truth be told, I thought he’d forgotten I was ever here until that moment. “Angel, what do you think?” “Huh— I mean, of what, Knight?” “Of the feasibility of this place as a refuge for any civilians we might find.” “Oh. Hmm.” I quickly thought it over. Back in the Stampede, there were way more than one hundred prisoners – perhaps three or even four or five times that by my estimation. This place couldn’t possibly house that number. Surely there were still others in camps or outposts besides the Stampede, too. When it comes down to it, we’d need someplace at least twenty times larger than this rec centre. A stadium or something similar would be best, preferably a building that’s large with a roof to protect people against the elements. Was that realistic? “Angel,” Knight prompted me for an answer, his eyes boring into mine. Still… this is a start, Better than nothing. We’ll cross the refuge capacity bridge later on. “I think it’s not ideal, but it works for the time being,” I finally replied to Knight. He nodded, then turned back to Sergeant Burke. “All right. Sergeant, hypothetically, if you had all your other men at one hundred percent would you be able to organize supply runs more effectively?” Burke frowned thoughtfully, considering the question. After a few seconds, he gave us a certain nod. “Barring us having to deal with any enemies on our way to and from the stores to replenish our stocks, yes.” “Understood. What specific supplies are you most in need of?” The sergeant took another moment to consider the question. “Let’s see… Right now, it’s medical supplies. Morphine, gauze, alcohol, bandages, antibiotics, those kinds of things. Mostly for getting our wounded up and on their feet again, but some in reserve would be ideal in the event of emergencies.” “Anything else? What about food or water?” “Those would be good in more amounts, but with the close proximity we have to a Sobeys and a couple convenience stores we can scavenge those from there for a while. In terms of power, the city still has that for now. The enemy forces must have taken over some power stations to keep the lights going, and fortunately we’re in an area that that power flows to.” “Right. Anything else?” Burke sighed. “Well, weapons and ammo. We’re damn near out of rounds at this point from fighting the US Army before we had to fall back here. If they attacked us here and now we’d… well, we’d be putting our hopes on you and yours.” He gestured at Knight’s G36C adhered to his backpack and the Vector I was holding. Knight nodded again. “I see. Understood.” He pulled up his windbreaker’s right sleeve to access his TACPAD. Seconds later, his voice came through on my earpiece, meaning he’d just opened a team channel. “Archer, come in,” he began. “Archer here. What is it?” Genel replied right away. “How are we doing on medical supplies back at Haven?” “Well, we’ve hardly touched our stock.” “I know. Do you think we can spare any for Sergeant Burke and his men?” Genel didn’t reply for a few seconds. She must’ve been mulling the question over. “Affirmative,” she answered after some thought, “We can afford to give up to twenty percent of our stock so these guys can have enough with some left in reserve for emergencies. We can of course donate more depending on how fast you think we can wrap this whole mission up.” Twenty percent was a decent amount, even factoring in the increased number of possible users of the supplies here. If this helps us get some assistance from the Canadian Army reservists posted here, then the trade-off was worth it. “Copy, Archer,” Knight said, “Goliath, are you there?” “Here, boss,” Josh answered back. “Do you think we can spare weapons? Ammo?” “Depends what kinds we’re talking about. We don’t have a lot of anti-vehicle weaponry like launchers and mines, but if we’re talking small arms, five-five-sixers, regular frag grenades and the like, we can afford to arm a hundred men and still have enough for ourselves for half a year of on-off fighting. Rough estimate.” “Hmm. Copy that. We’ll discuss this more at Haven. Knight out.” I watched Knight in something akin to wonder as he looked back at the Army sergeant. “Sergeant Burke, I think we can help you out by resupplying you with some weapons, ammo, and medical supplies,” he told the soldier, who looked rather taken aback at how rapidly some of the problems he surely had on his mind seemed to be fading. Burke eyed Knight as if the Shadow leader was the tooth fairy. After a moment of stunned silence, he finally spoke with clear awe in his tone. He rose to his feet. “Well, I… I’m frankly at a loss for words. I mean, damn, just who exactly are you guys? Seems like you may have fallen from the heavens with that good an offer you’re bringing us.” Knight stepped forward and approached the other side of the sergeant’s desk. “Nowhere that divine, but to answer your question: allies. We’re on the same side, after all.” For the first time tonight, the sergeant cracked a relieved, genuine smile aimed at us. “Well, if you’re offering, I won’t say no to your help.” “We’d appreciate it if you could help us out too with our mission,” Knight told him, “Any direct or indirect support you can provide would go a long way to our success here until more reinforcements arrive to help all of us.” Burke nodded readily, looking almost eager. “Sure. We’ll give you an assist where possible. We’ll also work on clearing space in the bottom two basement levels to accommodate anyone looking for shelter and protection.” “Thank you,” Knight said with a minute nod. “No, thank you,” Burke reached across the desk and put out his right hand. Knight shook his hand firmly. “Archer will be in touch with the details,” Knight added, letting go of the soldier’s hand. “I’m thinking we can be by again in two days with part of your resupply. Unfortunately, we don’t have large vehicles so your supplies will have to come in installments.” Burke waved his hand dismissively. “That’s no problem at all. We appreciate your offer nonetheless. And… Archer is Gen, right?” “Correct. The other big man with us is Goliath.” “I see, I see. How can we reach you?” “Give us your radio frequency and we’ll contact you later by comms. We have to take precautions to keep our location hidden, but we’ll set up a way for you to talk to us without our position being given away, just in case.” “I understand. Speak to Private Jillian Thorne over by our comms station, by the exit. Tell her I’ve authorized her to give you our frequency.” “All right. Well, if there’s nothing else, we’ll be taking our leave, Sergeant. We’ll be in touch and return in a couple days to resupply you.” “Yes, yes, thank you. Thank you for your help.” “And thank you for yours, Sergeant Burke. Talk soon.” Knight turned toward the door and walked past me. “Let’s move.” As he opened the door and left the room, I glanced back at the young sergeant. “Thank you, Sergeant,” I said to him, starting to turn toward the door. He nodded solemnly, then gave me a shrewd look. “Sorry, what was your codename again?” “Callsign. I’m Angel.” “Okay, I’ll try to remember that. I hope you don’t mind my asking, but… how old are all of you?” I blinked, quickly concluding that my appearance had yet again made someone do a double take. “We’re all around the same age, sir. Mid-twenties. I’m twenty-five.” “Oh. I see. You look… younger than that. Than me, even. Oh, I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m just still trying to wrap my head around how you guys showed up and just offered to help us when we really needed it.” “Like Knight says, sir: we’re all on the same side. Might as well work together.” “True. Well, thank you again for your help, Angel.” “You’re welcome. We’ll see you soon.” “Actually Angel, can I ask you for a small favour?” I turned back to him, already halfway out the door. “Yes?” “Would it be all right if you asked… err, Archer to come back here? There’s something I need to tell her.” Sergeant Burke’s eyes seemed to take on a subtly crestfallen look, as if he remembered something that had been troubling him for a while. “Of course, Sergeant. I’ll have her come back here.” “Thank you. Really. Take care out there.” “Likewise.” I left the room and returned to the rest of Shadow, who were all hovering over the shoulders of one of the reservists who was wearing a headset and working on a laptop by the comms station. Josh and Knight hung back a little while Genel was practically sitting beside the communications attendant, alternating looking up at the laptop’s screen and consulting her TACPAD. She looked to be taking note of the reservists’ radio frequency so she could reach them later. I got close to Genel just in time to catch her straightening up and patting the younger female private on the shoulder. “Thank you, Private Thorne.” “Are we good?” Knight asked, looking at Genel. Genel drew the sleeve of her coat back over her forearm. “We’re good. Just need to do my magic back at Haven and we’ll be able to contact and be contacted by this frequency securely.” I tapped Genel on the shoulder, who then turned her head in my direction. “Before we leave,” I told her, jerking my thumb toward the sergeant’s room behind me, “The sergeant said he wanted to tell you something, Archer.” Genel had no visible reaction for about two seconds, then she slumped her shoulders tiredly, her face forming a half-worried, half-resigned expression. She looked past me at Knight, who was eyeing her silently. “Sorry Knight, I—” He shook his head lightly before Genel could finish her sentence, still largely impassive. “I understand. Go ahead.” “Y-you do?” Genel’s voice seemed to increase in pitch, her cheeks flushing slightly. Knight sighed discreetly, once again crossing his arms over his chest. “No, not really. Tell me later or don’t.” Genel gave Knight a half-fond, half-pitying grimace, then walked past us and slipped back into the sergeant’s office. This time, she barely took two minutes before she came back out with her face the colour of crimson and her expression no longer troubled but rather pensive. “Ready to go?” Knight peered at her eyes with a trace amount of interest in his tone as Genel shuffled back over to us. Genel nodded, absently adjusting her winter scarf. “Yeah. Ready.” |
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