FOREST OF HURT

WIND STORM

CHAPTER 1

The room reminded her of any number of hotel rooms that she had been in over the years. It was certainly not up to four star quality and it lacked the individual nature that so many similar places had here in Europe. To put it simply, if she did not look out the window then this room could have been any road side motel back home in the states. That probably had a lot to do with exactly how new it was.

She wandered over to the window and did look out. She had a good view of the area. There was a lot of construction going on out there. That was true of the temporary housing units, the main complex, the office park, and even the transportation terminal. Even the supersonic trains, that ran directly to Heathrow, down by London, were less than two years old. The only building in the entire Coven Hill area, that even looked to have age on it was the old Royal Air Force Bunker that was half built into a small mound. It was officially called Building Thirteen and it was the reason why everything else was here.

She held the little recorder up and pushed the red button as she looked out on the complex and spoke, “I suppose that is the point to all the normality here. It might explain why the staff goes to such lengths to make people feel like this is all so average, ordinary, even mundane. The truth is that there is nothing in the human experience that can even compare to the function of this instant city on the English/Welsh border.”

Again she removed her finger from the button and thought about those words. She then looked back to the image on her laptop screen. Did those words actually match the footage she had? Were there any words that could truly describe this place? Sometimes she wondered if that were really the case. She debated the issues in her mind and then decided to just fix it in post. She began recording again, “this once quiet, mountainous, rural area has become one of the most important cities on planet Earth. It is an instant city filled with every technology that our species has invented. This is in stark contrast to it’s purpose. Here we stand on the border of another world, a forgotten world, and an ancient race that we had forgotten. They are a species that had become legend and myth, only to reveal exactly how short human memory truly is.”

Was any of that even really true? She wondered about that as she paused again. This time a knock at her door made her quickly sum up for the recorder, “this is Patricia Walsh reporting to you from the Coven Hill International Embarkation Facility.” Patty plugged the little recorder back into the laptop as she walked to her door. Whatever problems she had, again, she figured she would just fix it in post.

The man who had been knocking was such an unassuming little guy that Patty almost had trouble believing he was a soldier. His uniform said otherwise but, the guy was just so, pleasant? He smiled without really smiling. His voice was pleasant to listen too and he had this kind of trust quality about him. “Miss Walsh? I’m Major Conner. I trust that you were notified about the procedures….”

Two weeks of endless briefings, medical check ups, form filling, and every other kind of torture that a modern bureaucracy can dream of, had left Patty very procedured out. She told Conner, “I think someone mentioned it Major. Has something changed?”

“Um,” Conner just shrugged at the question and then replied, “I suppose you could call it that Miss Walsh. We’re leaving in four hours. If you want to be with us then I’ve been told that you need to pack and be at battalion in two. Can you do that?”

That almost made Patty want to laugh. She smirked instead. Then she winked at the Major and said, “I’ll be there in their ten minutes. That good enough?”

The man never changed his demeanor. He simply nodded, put his hat back on his head, and pleasantly replied, “see you there Miss Walsh.”

Patty watched the man walk back down the breezeway. She realized he would probably not answer but, she did call out to him before he got on an elevator, “Major? What do you think of all this?”

Just as the elevator doors opened, Conner shrugged and replied, “I’m in the US Army Miss Walsh. I try not to do anything like that. See you soon.” He stepped on the elevator and was gone. Patty got to packing.

____________________

While most of the Coven Hill facility was built to be used by civilians in what was hoped to be a trading bonanza, the fact was that all of it had been intended to double as military facilities depending on the need. Robert sat in the back of the car, looking out the window, and studied the endless rows of paved over, fenced in, compounds where an impressive collection of international military vehicles were parked. It was quite a variety and almost made him think of an international armor show. Several nations participated in the security mission for C.H.I.E.F. They periodically rotated military units in an out of here. Robert’s kids were not a part of that mission though. His troops were probably the only ones in the international zone that were not.

Each compound sat at the end of a row of barracks. Bob studied both even if the barracks were further back from the road and not all too visible from his vantage point. Still, he did not need to see them as much as the tarmac full of vehicles and they told him plenty. There was no unusual activity going on. Bob saw a few crews, around a few vehicles, who all just seemed to be securing from a regular days work. The sun was almost down now and all of the soldiers, from the various nations, looked like men who were getting ready to go kick back and drink beer. They did not even seem to be in a hurry to do that much.

As they passed the last of the motor pools and barracks, and reached the turn off for the office park, Robert let a laugh slip from his lips. His driver, Sergeant Breathed, glanced back over his shoulder and asked about it. Robert just snickered, “looking at all the hardware out there, you’d kind of get the idea that somebody thinks this place is important.”

Breathed had his own agenda, “I just hope when we get to where we’re going, sir, that they let me drive on the proper side of the road again.”

Robert snickered at that, only this time he got out of the back door as the car came to a stop, at the sheltered drop off, on the back side of the non descript office building that housed the US delegation. Breathed drove off to the park the car as Bob returned the salute of two US Marines who were stationed by the elevator. With one swipe of his identity card the elevator spoke to him in a calm sounding feminine voice, “welcome Colonel Isaacs. Your destination will be sub level three, please board when ready.”

“Never get used to that shit,” Robert mumbled to himself as he stepped in the opening doors and rode the lift down three floors. A familiar looking face, one that did not surprise Bob in the least, was waiting for him when he stepped off the elevator. Bob took his hat off and, as the man joined him in the journey down the hall, it seemed a good enough time to get it all out in the open, “General, I was told a minimum of a weeks notice.” He thought about it and then added, “that is if we got a notice at all. If I recall, I was told that was unlikely at best.”

Jim Garret puffed away at a cigar. It was posted that there was no smoking anywhere in the facility but, somehow, Jim had learned to ignore such signs when he got the second star on his collar. He also had the luxury of being able to equally ignore angry colonels when he felt like it. Still, Jim replied and even if he was not as emotional as his subordinate, “cause when I told you that Bob, it was true at the time. Hell, I don’t have to tell you that the truth changes every five minutes in this business.”

What Robert had been in the Army long enough to know was, that was about the only answer he was going to get from Garret. That’s why Bob decided to ask a more relevant question, “what happened?” As they continued to walk down the hall, Robert was pretty sure he saw part of the answer in a cracked doorway that led to another conference room. There were a few familiar faces in there, including a British Officer by the name of David Cross. Bob knew the guy had been formerly Special Air Services, but now, whoever he worked for was apparently some kind of double secret crap. He wore a black uniform and was supposed to be permanently stationed here at Coven Hill.

There were also several of his ‘friends,’ with him and that included a someone that was seldom not by his side. She was one of ‘them.’ Like most of their military she wore a tan uniform and beret that varied in color depending on what job they had. This woman, and Bob was pretty sure she was a Major, had a red beret shoved under the tabs on her shoulder. That meant she was their equivalent of infantry but, their military was quite confusing. It was an understatement to say that they did not do things the way the US Army did and, for that matter, probably any human military at all.

That was the real kicker. At a glance you would not think too much about her. It was almost hard to not think of her as anything but another relatively attractive woman. Then your eyes drifted to those pointed ears and you realized exactly how far off the farm you had gone. She was not human and you got two reminders every time you looked at her head. If that had been the only difference between human’s and elves, then Bob could have lived with it. After some time, the sight of those pointed appendages started to look normal enough. Bob, unlike most people, had at least some opportunities to directly work with a few Elves back at Fort Reilly and he had learned something important. The differences were well beyond the aesthetic and, even worse, was the fact that Bob was not even sure how that was true but, somehow, it was.

General Garret apparently already knew who was in that conference room. He noted Bob’s reaction but, had none himself. He got his colonel back on track by answering the question as best he could, “the truth is, I have no clue why these orders came down. I wouldn’t worry so much about that. Let’s just say the situation is fluid and leave it at that.” Then Garret went on by adding, “I’m setting up a forward HQ over there. We’re calling it an advanced NATO observation whatever.”

That told Bob something, “this isn’t a UN operation then?”

“Not right now,” Jim replied. “”You’ll be getting your orders from my people and nobody else.” Garret stopped at the door that was their final destination. He waited for Bob to enter and then made introductions. Of course, Bob already knew Garret’s Sergeant Major, Lenny Price, who was a short little black man with very alert eyes. In many ways, when you looked at him, Price was the last thing you would think of as a Sergeant Major. That look was very deceptive however.

Bob also knew who the ambassador was, a guy that looked almost opposite of the Sergeant Major. He was a tall, balding, white man with a barrel chest and booming voice that hinted of east Tennessee. In truth, Samuel P Bunker was from North Carolina but, it mattered very little to Bob. The ambassador had on a suite but, his sleeves were rolled up and his tie was loosened. He greeted Garret and then nodded to Bob with a, “Colonel Isaacs. Sorry about the lack of formalities but, welcome to my world.”

That seemed to amuse Jim Garret who went and poured himself a cup of coffee as he told Bunker, “Bob here, was just wondering why it was that we were sending him up shit creek without any real notice.”

If there was a word that Bob had to describe this guy, Bunker, it would be frustrated, “sorry Colonel but, if you find me somebody that knows then he’ll be the first guy with an answer that I’ve met. The sorry truth of it is, the White House hasn’t bothered to inform me of why.”

Bob looked at the eyes of the various staffers who were in the conference room. He could see it in their faces. They really had no clue. Bob then decided to put it to the ambassador, “what do we know sir?”

“What I do know,” Bunker replied as he sat down at the seat where his laptop and papers were gathered, “is that a few hours ago the Feyland Ambassador, in DC, requested a meeting with the President. Your op orders were generated not long after that meeting ended.”

Garret added, “I just got off the horn with operations in the Pentagon. They told me that the White House situation room handed them a Case Garden Scenario.”

That was enough to pump up Bob’s frustration level to match that of the Ambassador, “that means we don’t know what the hell we’re walking into.” Bob looked to Garret and told him, “look, I know politics is not my area of interest here but, I have to figure they are when they directly impact what my mission is.” He turned back to the ambassador, “has there been anything going on over there unusual?”

That drew a genuine laugh from Bunker, “colonel, everything that goes on over there is unusual. With this though,” Bunker put his hands up, “I don’t know what to tell you. They went around me on this one. That’s not exactly unusual for them ether. Some times I think them damn elves secretly wrote the book for Machiavelli.”

Garret sat down with his coffee, “the truth is Bob, they’ve been pushing us since day one.”

Bunker added, “we thought all along that was what they really wanted, you know, our toys. We know that some, uh,” it was obvious that Bunker was picking his words very carefully now, “lets call them elements of the British Government, had been quietly buying up weapons and sending through the Dell, even before the Elves went public. Now…”

It was simple math and Bob could do that easy enough, “there’s billions of us and only millions of them.” Bob had also been included in the briefs about the problems that the Feyland Empire was having in it’s northern highlands. The math added up, “so they showed up cause they want us to fight a war for them. I had kind of gotten the feeling that the President was not so enthused about that.”

Again, Bunker simply shrugged, “the President tells the camera’s what the opinion polls say. What can I tell you colonel, he’s a lame duck now. Public opinion doesn’t mean as much as it used too, not for him. If it will make you feel any better though, the Secretary of State has assured me that his feelings on the matter have not changed. He is still not very enthused about the idea of boots on the ground over there.”

Bob grumbled, “apparently not as much as he used to be.”

Garret and Bunker exchanged glances and it was very apparent that their silence was really a mutual agreement of some kind. Garret asked everyone, but Bob, to clear the room and when the door shut, the General said, “something you don’t know about Bob, Operation Prairie Storm. You were not cleared for this but, as of now, I’m changing that cause you do need to know.”

That told Bob why he was really over here. This was a little more than a standard brief. The fact that the ambassador spoke up next, only reinforced that opinion, “we, along with our allies, conducted a joint raid beyond the borders of Feyland. I’m not at liberty to tell you everything about that operation but, I can tell you this much, it rattled a few people in the administration.”

Bob got the feeling that it was not worth probing for any other information. At this point, that seemed like a complete waste of the short amount of time that he had left. He decided to stick with the details that were really his concern, “where are we going, when we get to the other side, that is?”

“For now,” Garret replied, “we’re going to set your battalion up at R.A.F. Merlin. Don’t worry, you’re not going there to help with the security of that base. The Brits have all that completely under control.”

Bunker added, “it’s the largest human run airfield in the country. It’s also just outside of the Fey’s capital of Cheau-Gan. We’ve already made arrangements for logistics, supplies, all that crap. It’s not a hundred percent but, it’ll do until we get a real system in place.”

“That’s all fine and well,” Bob replied, “it’s just I figure I could sit on my ass here at C.H.I.E.F a lot cheaper than I could over there. What am I going to do when I’m there? My aviation assets aren’t even in place yet.”

Garret noted, “the Night Stalkers have been over there for a, um, while now. I know that’s not enough to handle your battalion but, SOCOM did put them under my command for the time being. They’ll be able to help out some. That is, I should say, to take care of whatever comes up. Let’s just hope like hell that nothing does. Till we know, you just keep training your people. Hopefully, whatever silly bullshit political mess this is, will get sorted out by then.”

When it was obvious that Isaacs was not so happy about this, and Garret could not really blame the guy, the General decided to lay it on the table, “look Bobby, you got the only unit in the entire US Army that is certified for this mission. Your rangers are the only ones that completed the ITTC, at Reilly, as a unit set. I know there’s a lot more questions about this than we got answers but, somebody seems to think this is pretty important. I know you can handle it, do you?”

Bob did not shrink from the challenge, “I can handle it General. I’m not questioning my orders ether. I just hope it’s worth it, that’s all. Speaking off the record, the Fey have not exactly engendered a great deal of trust with me.”

That caused the ambassador to laugh, “wait till you’ve dealt with them as much as I have.” Bunker stood up and said, “now that I know things are running smoothly here, it’s time for me to head off too DC. General Garret, Colonel Isaacs, when I get back I’ll let you gentlemen know what kind of pooch screw the administration has in mind for this operation. Till then, good luck.”