“There’s basically only the one road north,” the captain went on. “We’ll follow it to Glastine, where the big refugee camp is. We’re getting three coms a day from them, automated calls for anyone left to come there to receive medical care, food and shelter. We caught one tight, encoded broadcast going further north, to the secret research facility we believe. Our objective at Glastine is to learn what we can about the people running it. Cody unearthed some intel on our trip to New Damarkal indicating the general in charge may be compromised in some fashion.”
Reluctant to ask questions, being the newest member of the team and nonmilitary, she put a check on her curiosity and resolved to ask Cody later, when they were riding to the high pasture. She didn’t understand the issue with the person running the refugee camp and her conscience pricked her because she’d sent the few refugees from Rosewater to find the camp. I hope I didn’t send them into a worse situation than what there was in our town. The mention of a secret research facility was kind of jaw dropping as well. Was the old planetary government trying to find a cure for Western Flu? Tamping down the flare of excitement she felt at the idea because Jeff was still talking she waited for more.
“We’ll develop our strategy for Glastine once we scope the place out, before making contact,” he said. “This is a general overview briefing, not battle plans, not yet.”
“What about this town here,” Melly asked, indicating a spot bearing the legend ‘Millersville’. “Are we stopping there at all?”
“Not planning on it,” Jeff said.
“We’re not a rescue mission, I know,” she replied with a smile. “But the people there might be glad to see a doctor.”
The two of them had a silent standoff while everyone else sat and drank their coffee.
“I’ll re-evaluate conditions once we’re on the scene,” Jeff said finally.
“Thank you.” Melly seemed satisfied.
“After Glastine, depending on what we find, our next stop is the research facility. We don’t have the exact location pinpointed as yet but we know the vicinity. I’m hoping to acquire more intel at Glastine that’ll help us in pinpoint the place. And then finally we’ll head cross country to our veterans’ acres holdings where we’ll rest, regroup and formulate our next set of action plans. Any questions?”
Unsure of the etiquette, Tamsyn raised her hand. “Not a question exactly but I have an old friend up near Glastine and Millersville. He’s a tough old rancher name of Perry Norwood. If anyone can survive what’s going on these days, he could. If we can get in touch with him, he might be able to fill in some of the blanks for you about conditions in the area. I can give you his comlink.”
“We haven’t heard any broadcasts from him,” Zach said.
She shook her head. “Yeah, he’s the last person who’d be issuing invitations to come find him. He was kind of a doomsday guy, ready for any catastrophe. He was also the first person I know to be suspicious of the line the government was feeding us all about the flu. He tried to organize us ranchers at one point but the government shut him down. I only talked to him briefly once after that, but if he knows I’m with you, I’m sure he’ll at least talk to us.”
“If he’s still there,” Zach said. “Sure, give me the private link and I’ll try it.”
“Good suggestion,” Jeff told her. “Where’s his ranch along this route?”
Tamsyn left her chair and walked closer to the captain before indicating a segment of the highway between Verder’s Ford and Millersville. “His place isn’t shown here but it’s in this general area. I was there a couple of times as a kid when my father had business with the Norwoods but I didn’t pay much attention to the route. My impression is it’s pretty far off the highway and secluded.” She glanced at the group around the table. “We northern ranchers are all pretty spread out and isolated from the towns but we have—had—a council meeting in holo form once a month and some of us became good friends in subgroups. I’m sure Perry will help us if I ask him to.”
“Good enough,” Jeff said, making the map holo wink out. “All right, Cody and Tamsyn will get ready for their cattle drive today, with departure time dawn tomorrow. The rest of us will continue patrols as usual, finish the maintenance on the APC’s and begin packing up, preparatory to our exfil in four days’ time.”
“Tamsyn,” Melly said before the meeting broke up, “What do you need done here at the ranch in order to be able to leave with us on the fifth day? There must be some tasks? Or things you want to pack? We travel light though, I have to warn you.”
She appreciated the doctor’s thoroughness because her head was full of the necessity for this trip to the high acreage and of course Melly was right, there were a number of things to be done before she could walk away from the Double Comets for an unknown length of time. Or maybe even forever. She sat next to the doctor for a few minutes and discussed her priority list before she left the house to seek Cody out.
Chapter Nine
She found him in the barn with Zach as both men were doing chores and preparing to let the horses out into the corral. “You’ll have to ride this fella here,” she said to Cody as she patted a big piebald gelding on the neck. The horse nuzzled her shoulder and she offered him a slice of fruit. “His name is Mercury and I think he’s the only one up to your weight.”
“My biomechanical parts are made from special alloys,” he said. “Not as heavy as you may be thinking.”
“We’ll do a riding lesson this morning,” she said. “Tomorrow will be a hard day’s ride on the trail, I’m warning you. You’ll probably be sore in places you’ve never even thought about, since you aren’t used to riding.” She slipped a halter on the horse’s neck and led him outside, calling over her shoulder, “Grab that saddle and tack and bring it out here, would you?”
When Cody joined her, carrying the requested items, she said, “I appreciate you offering to come with me on this trip. I suppose Zach might have had experience when he was growing up but?—”
“I wasn’t about to let anyone else have three days alone with you,” Cody said, surprising her.
Blushing, she didn’t know what to say, so she began giving him instructions on how to properly saddle a horse. Luckily Mercury was a patient animal and Cody was a fast learner. Shortly he was in the saddle and doing laps of the corral under Tamsyn’s critical eye. She corrected fine points of his performance but was quite pleasantly surprised at how fast he caught on. The horse didn’t act skittish around him either, which had been a secret fear of hers, and obeyed the commands willingly.
“Mercury’s a trained cow pony,” she said when the lesson was over and they were removing the saddle and tack, ready to rub him down. “He’ll do the work when we reach the herd, although of course we’re not actually going to drive them anywhere.”
“What will you do with the horses when we leave?” Cody asked.
“Turn them loose. My horse Blaze is the alpha stallion so he’ll keep them safe in a herd. The reality of it all hasn’t hit me yet,” she admitted. “I’ll do the same with the goats and the chickens and then it’ll be up to them to survive. If I ever make it back here, I’ll have a heck of a time re-domesticating them.”
“You’ll be back,” he said with confidence. “We’re going to figure this situation out and get on top of it so the remaining people can live their lives.”
