Backlash: Prequel to The Wildblood Series (2 page)

Sept 21, The Vista, morning shift

“Well, that can't be good any way you look at it,” Lambert commented as they parked across the street from Station Two.  Shannon was driving, he was riding shotgun; she'd needed some overnight hours, and now she had them.  The sun was up and it seemed like it was going to be warmer out than the past week. 

Wade and Mac were waiting outside the station, standing in the walkway, looking bored.

“They haven't gone off-duty yet,” Shan observed.

“Let's go find out why.”

“Callout?” Mac figured.

“Yeah, Dispatch had a report of intruders out on the west loop,” Lambert related the story.  “Turns out it was the Carter brothers.”

“On the Loop?  On foot?” Mac laughed.  It was nearly four miles from town.

“They went on a binge and had been fighting loudly and publicly for about twelve hours.  Normal for them, but you know how it is, people let us know about it.”

“Were they as belligerent as usual?” Wade asked.

Lambert nodded.  “The younger one?  Clive?  He pointed a gun at Officer Allen.”

“Did you shoot him?” Mac asked her, a bit more serious.  He'd dealt with them and knew they were mostly harmless, even armed.  She just smiled.

“As soon as he saw she was a girl, he was all sober apologies and cooperation,” Lambert finished.  “We loaded them in the car and just dropped them off at the hospital because if we took them home, they'd be drunk on the streets again by noon.”

“So now they'll sleep it off, give the hospital staff a ration of shit, and be back on the streets by nightfall,” Mac surmised the likely events of the day.

“That sounds about right,” Lambert agreed.

“How long would it take you to pack?” Wade asked them, as subtle as usual.  Anyone that  had known him more than a week understood how methodical he was.  The question came with real consequences.

“Ten minutes,” Lambert said without hesitation.

“For how long?” Shan countered, not as eager to commit.

“A week to ten days.”

“And what sort of facilities will we be staying at?”

“The depot in Dillon,” Wade revealed.

“An hour,” Shan answered after considering it carefully.

“We're going to Dillon?” Lambert wanted to confirm.

“We are,” Wade said.  “Command told me to get out there and start running shifts.”

“Who's going?” Shan wondered.

“Taylor, Green, Ballentyne, Noel, Ferretti, Jasso, Lambert, the usual,” he said.  “Teams One and Five, at least temporarily.  Keep in mind, not all of them are part of my security group.  Mac and Lambert are going to round up the supplies we need.  I'm taking you home to explain to your parents the best I can why you're going to Dillon.”

“Michael won't have a problem with it.  Deirdre, well, you know my mother,” Shan shrugged.

“I do and that's exactly why I'm going with you.”

“Why are we going to Dillon?”

“Training.  It's the end of the season and Command wants the rookies ready for next spring.  Last chance to get some time on the road.”

“I know someone named 'Wade' that's going to be pulling a shift in the com room right off,” Mac grinned, eager to get going.

“What bet?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.  “If you owe Mac a shift, there was a bet.”

“Of course there was.  I said you'd jump at the chance to go.  Mac said you'd play 'Twenty Questions' first.”

Lambert laughed, seeing great humor in it.

“I didn't ask twenty questions,” Shan felt the need to tell them. 

“I said you'd go with no questions.”

“I wasn't questioning you, I was questioning the conditions.  If I'm going to be out there a week or a month, I want to know what to expect.”

“Expect to be doing a lot of driving,” Wade already had a plan, it's what he did.  “You'll have your own room.  You've been to the depot, you understand it's going to be crowded.  Expect quick, plain meals, a warm place to sleep and more hours than you're used to.  Expect to learn more in the next week than you have all summer.  If I catch you slacking off or not doing your job, expect that I'll stick you back in dispatch for another year.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Shannon,” her radio crackled with static, snapping her out of a restless sleep.  It was Wade; they had a private channel.  Most teams did.

“Go ahead,” she answered groggily.  Her watch read 9:30 pm and she was supposed to go on duty at 2:00 am.  An hour – she'd been asleep an hour.

“Gear up.  I'll be there in five minutes to get you.”

“What's going on?” she wondered, rubbing her eyes.

“Don't ask, just do.”

He didn't sound like they might be playing wargames.  Shan moved.

Her mother was in the kitchen.  Deirdre Allen was five foot three, with pale blond hair, hazel eyes, and was one of The Vista's actual doctors.  She'd been twenty-nine when civilization ended.  “The hospital just called me in,” she announced.  “Are you on-call?”

“I am now.  Wade didn't tell me why.”

“War games?”

“No,” Shan told her.  “Not this time.  I know you don't like carrying, but I think this is serious.  Take a sidearm, Mom, please.”

Deirdre nodded.  “For your peace of mind I will.” She knew how to use it; she'd been forced to in the past and hoped she never would again.  “Whatever it is, be careful.”

“I am, and Wade wouldn't let me get away with anything else.”

She hugged her.  “I mean it.”

“I'll see you in the morning,” Shan said, hearing a car.  “That's Wade.  If he tells me it's practice, I'll let you know.”  She didn't think it was likely, but he'd fooled her before.

The moment she dropped into the passenger seat, she knew it was real.  “Can you tell me now?”  She'd dressed in winter camos with body armor, both Sigs and a boot gun, clips in all her pockets, plus an array of knives.  Her pack held spare ammo, food rations and various bits of survival equipment.  The usual for Security.

He glanced sideways at her, heading towards Station Two with a purpose.  “We lost a Scout at Wisdom about an hour ago.”

“Lost?” she repeated, not expecting it.

“DOA.  They've called your mother in, too.  This is strictly Security, don't be exchanging information with her Shannon, not on this, not now.  We don't know what's going on out there yet.  I'm going to concur on a Code Nineteen as soon as we get someone else from Command at the Station.”

Code Nineteen was a Blackout.  It had been nearly six years since the last one.  “Where's Mac?” she wanted to know before anything else.

“He should be at the station by the time we get there.  He wasn't out, relax.”  Wade could feel her tension without any effort.

“Which Scout?”   She knew a lot of them.

“I don't know,” he told her bluntly.  “How many more questions are you going to ask me today?  We're getting close to twenty.”

She nodded, aware he wasn't angry at her.  A Blackout was one step away from evacuating people.  It put him on edge; it put all of Security on edge.  Shan understood why.  She'd seen the detonation on Missouri Breaks that caused the last Blackout.

Station Two had no place open to park.  Wade left the car in the middle of the street, with enough room for everyone to move.  “Keep quiet, follow my lead, don't do things you know will piss someone off,” he instructed.

“Got it.”

Once inside, they went directly to the com-room.  It was already crowded.

“Capt. Wade is here,” Cmdr. Duncan spoke to someone on the radio.  “Go ahead.”

“This is Cmdr. Perro, retired,” he introduced himself.  “Security Command.”

“You're aware of the circumstances of the Code Thirteen less than an hour ago,” Wade said.  “Because we don't know which direction the intruders have moved and the fact it's just seventy-five miles from The Vista, I'm issuing a Code Nineteen.”

There was a moment of silence.  “I agree,” Perro said.  “Go to Blackout.  I'll inform the other members of Command.”

“Officer Allen,” Duncan said.  “I'll need a hand with dispatch.  Someone that's qualified.  Take a seat.”  He went on the air.  “All stations, all teams, Central Dispatch, Cmdr. Duncan.  Code Nineteen, repeat Code Nineteen.  Stations and depots go to Blackout conditions immediately, Alert Two.  Secondary teams return to your stations.”  To Wade he directed, “Get your partner and get to Dillon.  We need someone watching the southern corridor.”

Shan spotted Mac in the main room; he knew that look when he saw it and nodded at her.  They wouldn't get a chance at private words, not with a Blackout going in to effect.  He'd call in their status later and she'd hear him on the air at least.

“Both of you,” she told Wade.  “Watch your backs.”

“We're going to play hide and seek out there in the dark,” Duncan explained.  “Lead them away from here, away from Station One.”  Station Three was remote enough, it wasn't a worry.  “You know your assignments.  If you don't, step up and I'll give you one.”  The floor cleared as Security moved in to high gear. 

Aware of protocol and having practiced over the summer, Shan got on the radio.  If Duncan didn't approve, he'd tell her.  “Central Dispatch, Station One, primary Team to the I-15, I-90 interchange.”  She paused for a moment.  “Central Dispatch, Station Two, primary Team to the I-90 and 12 interchange.  Central Dispatch, Station Three, you are out of the target zone,  Alert One.”

“Station Two, Car Seventeen responding.”

Duncan stepped out to direct officers looking for something to do.  “Car Eighty-Eight responding from here,” he called to her after a few moments.  Their high-tech office equipment included clipboards to keep track of who was where.

She didn't look to see who had been south earlier, figuring she'd know soon enough.

After the first pass of Teams running routes, Duncan had everyone positioned where they needed to be.  He took a seat.  “You weren't scheduled to be on until third shift.”

“No, sir,” Shan agreed.  “When I get a call to be ready, which shift I'm working isn't my first concern.  Scout runs are three days long, not a few hours.”

He chuckled.  “You're going to fit in with Team Three just fine.  I'll see how things have settled down at 2am.  There are a couple people in the building that can work Dispatch.  If you get too tired, and I mean too tired to be answering calls during a Blackout, say so.”

“I will,” she told him.

“Can I talk to you frankly, Officer Allen?”

“Yes,” she nodded, well aware Duncan wouldn't sugar-coat things for her.  “Please.”

“There were women in Vista Security before you, back in the beginning when we didn't have planned training or a defense for ourselves.  You're the first woman in Security since we've developed those.  It's been ten years.”

“I understand not everyone is comfortable with me being in Security, and that my position as a Scout makes it more controversial.  Some people would say it isn't safe.”  Shan thought of the many lectures her mother had given her.  “Other don't think I'm qualified and I'm sure there are those that think even less of how I got to be in Security.”

“I know you wouldn't be sitting here talking to me now if you weren't qualified as a Scout. I've interviewed the officers you work with, and those are the opinions that count.”

“Is this my training exit consult?”

“Part of it,” he confessed, mildly surprised she'd picked that up already.  “I'm supposed to observe you while you work, preferably during a code call.  Seeing that this is a Blackout, it's a little unusual.  No, it's a lot unusual, but that's acceptable.  Command has high expectations for you.”

“I won't disappoint,” she said, reasonably certain she could hold up to their scrutiny.  The rest of their conversation was cut short by an incoming call. 

“Code Eight, Team Twelve,” a Guardian came on the air, hurried.  “We're under fire, two miles south of Divide on the access road.”  They both stood to go to work, access to the consoles easier. 

“I've got this,” Duncan said calmly.  “You handle the Stations.”

Shan nodded.

“Central Dispatch, Team Twelve.  Team Three is just south of you, try to regroup with them,” Duncan told them.  “You got that, Team Three?”

“Central Dispatch, Station One, Station Two.  Secondary teams stand-by, reserves stand-by,” Shan announced.

“Team Three, Central Dispatch.  We're five miles south, en route.”  It was Mac; it didn't reassure her.

“I know you want to be out there,” Duncan told her.  “Just take a breath and do your job here.  Soon enough, Officer Allen, soon enough.”

“Blackouts don't happen every week, or every year,” she noted.  “I'm damned glad for that, but yes, I want to be out there right now.”

“This Blackout isn't going to be over anytime soon, not from the way things are going tonight.  Stay sharp.”

The mood of the room changed completely a few moments later.  “Code Thirteen,” the call came in from Team Twelve.  “We are disabled and under fire.  There are at least six intruders.”

“Get the secondary teams out,” Duncan told her, going back on the air.  “Central Dispatch, all primary teams respond to Divide.” 

“Central Dispatch, all secondary teams cover primary.  Repeat, secondary teams go to primary, Blackout protocol.”  She had to consciously make an effort to not fidget at the work desk.  “Reservists get orders from your Stations.”

He switched over to the station's com system.  “This is Duncan, I need qualified Dispatchers on the floor now.”

“Sir, I'm fine . . .” Shannon began.

“You're not being relieved; you're considered a secondary team.  I want you patrolling the boundary of The Vista a minute after your replacement is here.  You're not cleared to leave the city, Officer Allen.  Tonight, a whole class of rookies is going to make sure no one sneaks into The Vista.  In this case, it is absolutely not better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission - do you understand me?”

“Yes, sir.”  She knew the consequences of screwing up during a Blackout.

“Be very fucking careful out there.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At daybreak, she found the rest of her team taking a break in the kitchen of Station Two.  There wasn't anyone else there, but she wouldn't have cared if there was.  Shan threw her arms around Mac's neck, holding on.