THE ARK

“As most of you know things have started getting interesting around here,” RJ said as she began addressing the people who were gathered around the large conference table.

“Last night we were contacted by radio from the leader of a group of survivors who have apparently taken up residence in a town about twenty-five miles from here.

“Brad will be leading a team later this morning to establish a face to face meeting. While this sounds great, there are some real concerns. The information that this group has about us is troubling. In just the few minutes of contact we had with them last night it was obvious that they knew several vital pieces of information about us, our location, and our mission. That by itself is no major problem but it is a concern that we’ll have to further investigate.

“Also while talking to their leader last night; he explained that there are groups of raiders in the area. They attack violently and don’t hesitate to kill if they think you’ve something they want. We’ve confirmed that the injured civilians that we found yesterday evening were in fact attacked by raiders. These raiders are usually on motorcycles and in some cases other vehicles.

“To make things better yet, last night a group of twenty-five raiders attacked the south gate, they were planning to see what we had that could be of use to them.”

There were unsuppressed laughs at this statement. Most everyone had heard about the outcome of the battle and some almost felt sorry for the raiders who had no idea what they were attempting.

W Tam had walked directly to the gatehouse with her hands in the air. She had offered information about the coming attack in exchange for her freedom. What she didn’t learn until later was that her entire approach was monitored by a thermal imaging surveillance system and that reinforcements were in hiding around the gatehouse over five minutes before she could even see her target.

RJ continued, “This is Tam,” placing her hand on the shoulder of the girl at the table. “She informed us about the attack ahead of time and wants to work with us. The intelligence she’s provided has already proven invaluable.”

“We intentionally made sure that several of the raiders escaped last night and we had an Apache follow them back to what appears to be a semi-permanent encampment just southeast of here.

“Air One is currently returning here from dropping off a ten man recon team. Their instructions are to remain undetected and to monitor the activity in the camp. We will have air support on twenty-four-hour alert just in case that team gets into trouble.

“This means that we’re already going to be running short of personnel. After this meeting, we will be awakening another forty sleepers. Specifically combat troops, pilots, and medical personnel.

“Our limited medical personnel were overwhelmed twice yesterday, first with the three civilian casualties and later with the five wounded raiders who survived, so we’ll get that problem taken care of. There will also be a few construction people awakened to get the external personnel quarters back in shape because we’ll need them immediately. We will also be getting four more Humvees and two more UH-60 Black Hawks up and running. We’ll make a determination about another gunship after today’s meeting.”

As the meeting broke up RJ got Brad’s attention, and the two of them took a walk. “I want to make sure that you watch your back at that meeting,” RJ said. “I’ll be a little uneasy until there is an explanation as to how they know all that they do. I’m sure that there is a reasonable explanation but this just isn’t the way it was supposed to work.”

Brad Warren sat in the front seat of the UH-60 designated Air Two as it flew rapidly across the barren terrain. They had followed the Colorado River north for ten minutes before changing course to the west. In the back of the Black Hawk were Dr. Stephen Cross and a security team.

Dr. Cross would be able to assess the general health of the community and provide medical help to those who needed it.

All the members of the security team had undergone enough disaster relief training that they could assist in making an initial survey of the town and see what needed to be done to advance its condition.

There was also the fact that they didn’t know exactly what they were heading into and needed to be prepared in case this David wasn’t as friendly as he initially seemed. Backing Brad’s team up was a fully armed team aboard Air One. They were currently heading for the site where Travers had found the injured group the night before. They would investigate the scene and see if any more information could be learned as to the origin of the victims of the attack. If needed they could be over Brad Warren’s location in less than ten minutes.

The AH-64 Apache gunship, Air Three, was also in the air. Its function was to remain available if either of the aircrews or any ground crews needed air support.

Amy Travers brought the aircraft in for an easy landing a short distance from a large group that had gathered in what appeared to be the center of town. She wanted lots of open space on all sides of the aircraft. Safety was a factor but she was just as concerned with making sure that no one could approach the aircraft without being seen.

The first two soldiers out took up sentry positions on either side of the aircraft. Amy and Brad were the next two to climb out, quickly followed by Dr. Cross and the rest of the security team.

This was more of a diplomatic mission than it was a combat mission. Nevertheless, the security force still wore their Kevlar body armor and was armed. Most of their heavier weapons were secured in the Black Hawk but they still carried a side arm in a leg holster.

Since Brad was in command of this mission, Amy held back, prepared to assist if needed. They approached the group that had formed. There were obvious looks of pleasure and awe as they approached. About the time, they were twenty feet away the whole crowd broke into applause and soon ran forward hugging the team.

This was unexpected and even a bit disconcerting; Amy looked to Brad for guidance but saw he was looking back at her with a confused look on his face.

After a minute of this, quietness spread over the crowd. The center of the crowd spread to make way for a man who was approaching. He looked to be about seventy-five years old; he looked to be about six foot three and was dressed in a clean white dress shirt with light tan pants. On his head was a well-worn fedora. He had a short, neat beard and walked with a hand carved walking stick.

“My name is David; I’m the leader of these people,” the old man spoke while holding out his hand.

“I’m Brad Warren. I’m second in command of our team.” The two shook hands.

“Mr. Warren, we’ve been anxiously awaiting your awakening. I knew you were out here somewhere but I didn’t know the exact location of the Mountain.”

“You knew we were sleeping? The whole sleep project was classified, that was never supposed to get out,” Brad asked confused.

“When we came out of the shelter, I led these people here. I didn’t know your exact location but I knew it had to be in this general area. Also, I wanted a town that we could use as a good starting point for the rebuilding. This town is perfectly situated. We even have an airport. We don’t have any planes, but of course, I knew you did. For the last year, I’ve been working everyone here pretty hard, getting as much work done around this place to prepare it for your arrival.”

As he said this, he gestured with his right hand toward the area around them. Brad looked and understood. The description of dilapidated buildings that the previous day’s teams reported did not pertain to this town. There was new construction visible, everything was neat and clean, there were flowers in places and there was some grass that looked mowed.

“Sir, I think it’s great that you’ve gotten this all done and are ready to work with us, but I need to know how you know so much about us,” Brad said a little firmer.

David smiled. “I understand your concern. All that I know about you and your team I learned from my mother. Do you have someone named Amy Travers on your team?”

Brad looked behind him and Amy stepped forward. With a noticeable hesitation said. “I’m Amy Travers.”

The old man’s face lit up with delight. “My parents always spoke so highly of you. Other than my mother you were my father’s closest friend.”

“Who are you?” Amy asked nervously.

The old man smiled and answered, “My name is David Cowan; my father’s name was James.”