The Army Comes Calling (17 page)

     “What’s going on?” he asked.

     “Oh, man. You’re not gonna believe this.”

Chapter 29

 
 
John and Frank approached the security console.

     “Hannah, would you have everyone stand down, and have Mark and Bryan meet us here?”

     “Sure, John.”

     Hannah got on the radio and gave the orders.

     “Aren’t you going to ask?” John asked her.

     “Ask what?”

     “Aren’t you going to ask what’s in the letter the man gave us?”

     “Nope. I figured you’d share it when the boys got here. And I’m not so curious that I need to know before then.”

     Mark and Bryan walked up at the same time, from opposite directions.

     “What’s up?”

     John answered, “It seems we’ve been invited to take a tour.”

     He unfolded the dispatch and read it again, this time aloud.

Dear Mr. Jacoby and Mr. Woodard,

     I owe you my humble apologies. I have been remiss in a promise I made to you when you so generously donated half of your livestock to help feed the people of San Antonio and Bexar County.

     On that day I told you I would host you at a later date on a tour of our facilities. It is important that you are able to see the good that your donation has done for this community.

     Your generosity has helped save the lives of many. We’d like for you to tour our facilities, to see what we’ve done with the seeds and the livestock you have shared with us.

     Perhaps you can glean some useful information from our processes to take back with you. In that manner, perhaps our two groups can continue to work together for our mutual benefit.

     I have cleared my schedule for the morning of 20 April, one week from today. Please select two people from your party who would be interested in taking the tour. I will pick you up in my personal helicopter at 0900 hours on that date.

     Please let my courier know whether you’d like to visit us. That’s all you need to do. We’ll make all necessary arrangements at that point.

     Should you decline this invitation but would like to do it another time, simply tell my courier. I will make a similar offer at some point in the future.

V/R,

Travis Montgomery, Colonel, U.S. Army

     Hannah asked, “What’s ‘V/R?’”

     Mark said, “Very respectfully. It’s how military officers end letters when they don’t particularly like whoever they’re writing to. It means the same as ‘up yours’ in the civilian world.”

     “Oh, be nice. I know he came across as rather heavy handed at first, but he did apologize, and we forgave him after we found out he was just trying to help people.”

     “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

     Sarah walked up with Sami.

     “So, what’s going on?”

     Hannah answered for the bunch.

     “The Army’s sending a helicopter. They’re going to take two of us to San Antonio so we can see what they’re doing with our seeds and animals.”

     “Cool. I wanna go. I love helicopters.”

     John asked, “So, we’re pretty much agreed, then? We should take them up on their offer?”

     He looked around at the small group, and didn’t see any faces that showed any concern.

     “Sure,” Mark said. “Why not?”

     Frank said, “Okay, then. I’ll go back out and tell the courier to tell the colonel to send his chopper. Now all we have to do is figure out who gets to make the trip.”

Chapter 30

     Frank stood, outside the wall on the east end of the compound, and watched the green staff car disappear in the distance.

     His radio came to life.

     “Hey, Frank, it’s Hannah. You might as well stay out there for a couple minutes. I can see Marty’s truck coming up the highway. He’ll be there shortly if you want to wait and greet him.”

     “Ten four.”

     Marty was surprised to see the welcoming party when he pulled his big rig up to the compound.

     He cranked down the window on the driver’s side of the tractor.

     “Well, hello there, friend.”

     As he came to a stop, Frank hopped up on the driver’s step and reached in to shake Marty’s hand.

     “Hello, partner. I guess it’s no secret what you’re hauling today, huh?”

     He was referring to the six foot high lettering on the sides of the red trailer Marty was towing.

     “SMITHSON PRODUCTS, INC: The Best Pet Foods in This World and Beyond.”

     A huge depiction of a golden retriever, romping through a city park, accompanied the words.

     “Yep. Twenty two pallets of dry dog food. I told Hannah it should be enough to last you guys at least ten years, maybe more if you don’t breed too many puppies.”

     “Did you bring the dogs?”

     “Yep. They’re in the trailer, in cages. Sue said they’d never been in a vehicle before she brought them to me, and they threw up all over the cab of her truck. My cab smells bad enough as it is without adding dog vomit to the mix.”

     “Can I ride around to the gate with you?”

     “Sure thing. Hop in.”

     Frank climbed into the cab and Marty rolled around the black wall and up to the drive-through gate.

     “All clear, Sami,” Hannah said over the radio after checking her monitors for activity. “Go ahead and let them in.”

     Ten minutes later, after Marty backed the trailer into the storage yard and dropped it, he and Frank brought the two German shepherds into the building and to the control center.

     “This is Shiloh and Misty. Dogs, this is my friend Hannah.”

     “Oh, Marty, they’re beautiful.”

     Misty apparently appreciated the compliment. She jumped on Hannah immediately and started licking her face.

     “Ewww! Your breath smells awful, girl!”

     Misty didn’t care one bit. Her tail wagged like the wind, and she continued to slobber all over Hannah.

     “Yeah, well, sorry about that. It turns out they’re both prone to motion sickness.”

     “Oh, you poor babies. You won’t have to worry about that now. Mister Marty brought you home, and there’s no reason for you to ever take another car trip again. Not ever.”

     Misty, as though understanding Hannah’s words, barked once. It was easy to see the joy on her face.

     Hannah got on the radio and made a general announcement.

     “Our new dogs are at the control center, for anyone who wants to see them.”

     Within seconds people started appearing from every corner of the compound. Many of the adults’ eyes moistened, and they relished in the moment. Dogs did survive after all. Here was living proof, and in a way the world had just become a bit more normal again.

     Hannah watched little Markie as he broke free from his father’s hand and ran headlong to the dogs, then stopped short.

     He’d never seen a dog before. Not in person, anyway. He was at a loss.

     Little Markie looked at Mommy, and the expression said it all: “What do I do? Is it okay to hug it? To chase it? To lay on top of it?”

     “Go ahead, honey. You can pet her. Her name is Misty.”

     “Misty…”

     He repeated the name as though it were a magical spell, capable of great and wondrous things.

     And perhaps it was. For Markie was happier now than he’d been in a very long time.

     Hannah’s eyes moistened as she watched her son hug Misty and express his undying love to her.

     “Thank you for doing this, Marty. I hope someday I can find a way to repay you.”

     “Yeah, well about that…”

     Hannah turned to look at him.

     “I was hoping to ask you a favor.”

     “Oh, so you had an ulterior motive all along, you old scoundrel.”

     She laughed. He knew there was no animosity in her words.

     “Well, yeah… but not a big one.”

     “Name it. I owe you a big one, and I’m ready to make good.”

     “Are you sure? You haven’t heard my request yet.”

     “I don’t care. Nothing is off the table except my honor, and that’s only because I owe it to my husband to stay faithful to him.”

     Marty chuckled, “Oh, well if
that’s
off the table, then maybe there’s nothing else I want.”

     She laughed.

     “You’re a goober head, you know that?”

     “Yep. I know.”

     “So what kind of favor can I do for you?”

     “I didn’t know if you planned to breed these two, so I specifically asked Sue if they were safe to breed.

     “She said yes, they are. They’re far enough removed so that there shouldn’t be any problems.

     “So, I was wondering…”

     “Marty, you want a puppy?”

     “Well, yes, if you have any and don’t mind giving one of them up…”

     “Oh, Marty, of course! It’s the least we can do. You don’t even have to ask. You’ll get your pick of the very first litter. Heck, you can have the whole first litter if you want. After all, if it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t have gotten them at all.”

     “Well actually, all I did was play middleman between you and Sue. You having chickens to trade is what got you the dogs.”

     “I wonder why she didn’t just give you a dog.”

     “You don’t know Sue. She won’t give you the time of day unless she gets something in return.

     “And here’s the deal. Before the meteorite hit the earth and turned everything cold, I always had a dog. I mean
always,
dating back to when I was a boy. As long as I had a dog, I was never alone. A dog is a perfect companion.

     “My last dog, Millie, died of old age just a couple of weeks before Saris 7 hit the earth. I didn’t get another one because I wasn’t sure of my own survival, much less a dog’s.

     “But I sure miss Millie, and dogs in general.

     “Hey, speaking of Saris 7, someone told me that you were the first person who spotted it, and knew it was gonna hit the earth. Is that true?”

     “No. Actually, NASA and the NSA already knew about it but were trying to keep it hush hush. Some of the other governments around the world knew about it, but they were keeping it a secret too. I was just the first one to defy them and try to let the public know. Well, Sarah and I. We were in it together.”

     “That’s why I’ll never trust governments, or anyone who works for them. They always watch out only for their own self interests, and try to hide things the people have a right to know.

     “Another reason I prefer dogs. Dogs don’t try to hide anything. Except when they poop behind the couch. And then you can tell immediately from looking at their faces that they’re guilty of something.

     “Dogs suck at keeping secrets.”

     Hannah laughed.

     “Well, puppy number one belongs to you. And I promise you, you’ll never be puppyless again.”

     “Is that a word?
Puppyless
?”

     “It is if I say so.”

     “Well, okay, then. I guess it is.”

     Hannah grew reflective.

     “Marty, can I ask you something personal?”

     “Sure.”

     “You’re a very handsome man, and you have a heart of gold. You’ve got no character flaws that I can see. So how come you don’t have a girl?”