The Incident at Pine Hills Mounds Page 11
Black-eyed kids and other shenanigans.
Staging Area: 1600 Hours
At 1600 hours, a dozen sheriff’s office vehicles and one Mackenson County Mobile Command Center took their positions on FM 1821 alongside Theodore Lang’s property. Shortly after that, a white van joined them. It was a Mackenson Institute van. Originally designed for 15 passengers, at this time the van was mainly used for cargo. It carried Dr. Robert Williamson, Dr. Hannah Wilson (head of security), camera operator Nicole Sutherland, and Irving Barr Mackenson (security).
Not too long after this, Theodore Lang’s vehicle pulled up carrying Lang and Jon Huffman. His truck turned onto his driveway and drove slowly toward the farmhouse. Lang and the sheriff had argued about Lang’s presence near a potential firefight. In the end, Lang won. He couldn’t stay with the police and the military, of course, but he was free to return home. He didn’t really like it, but he returned to his residence with the understanding that he could not leave his house until further notice. He brought Jon along, and they quickly saw that all was not well. Jon’s truck was still in the driveway—but Israel Vidal’s was too—and Israel had brought Ramon to work in that same truck. Sighing, Lang called the sheriff and reported the two men as missing. In turn, Sheriff Barton sent a deputy to do a walk-through of Lang’s house. The house was deemed safe (no intruders), and the deputy returned to his post. The sheriff then informed Dr. Williamson and Colonel Williams that at least two more citizens were missing.
A final car, a white four door sedan driven by Dr. Emma Easton, materialized out of the semi-darkness. It pulled in behind the Mackenson Institute van, and the petite doctor got out of the vehicle. She was wearing a black trench coat along with a rain bonnet that protected her long blonde hair. The woman also wore some type of paramilitary uniform, along with black combat boots. Further, she was accompanied by an attractive young lady carrying what looked to be a laptop case.
Dr. Easton was Mackenson Institute’s Assistant Curator and one of the Institute’s newest employees. In academia, she was renowned as an expert on the burial architecture of various ancient cultures, from ancient Egypt to Native America. Today the expertise of the young doctor would be used to determine, if possible, what kind of mound lay on Theodore Lang’s farm. Was it a burial mound? Ceremonial? Something else? Dr. Easton was eager to get a look at the earthwork.
Dr. Easton’s companion was Ms. Ghalia Williamson, the stepdaughter of Director Robert Williamson. Ghalia was one of the newer members of Mackenson Institute’s campus security force. Next to nothing was known about her, and she didn’t have much work experience. Despite this, she was said to possess certain physical talents that could potentially make her valuable on this particular mission. Emma Easton noted also that the girl was apparently the smartest person on this mission, as she had an umbrella and no one else did.
Soon there was a loud rumbling and two tractor trucks pulling lowboy trailers appeared on the gloomy highway. They parked just behind the vehicles that were already on site. Each lowboy carried two tracked vehicles, most of them variants of a troop carrier with the model number M113. The first trailer carried two M132 Armored Flamethrowers, vehicles that typically required a two man crew. Its primary weapon was (obviously) a flamethrower, but each vehicle also carried a 50 caliber machine gun. The M132 had been obsolete for years, but they were valuable machines under certain conditions. They could incinerate any hostile personnel that might be encountered, and the machine guns could destroy most enemy equipment.
The second lowboy carried the previously mentioned M113, which is a troop carrier that is now obsolete in the U.S. but is still used throughout the world. They may be found in service, occasionally, within certain police departments. They are often useful in SWAT operations, and the military versions most often come armed with a 50-caliber machine gun.
The second lowboy also carried a M577 Command Post Vehicle, another variant of the M113. On this mission, the 577 would act as the tactical operations center for a drone operation. The commander of the M577 would also act as the pilot of the drone, the Shadow-9.r.7.
The Shadow-9.r.7 was superior, in every way, to the drone that Jesse Mendez had flown over the property. Like Jesse’s drone, it had no attack capability—but that’s where the similarity ended. The Shadow could fly up to 138 MPH for six hours. It was small in size, being 12 by 14 inches, and it had a range of 70 miles. Its small size and speed made it extremely unlikely that the nearby hostile civilians could successfully attack the aircraft. There was some concern about advanced weaponry, but it was hoped that tonight’s mission—under the cover of darkness—would render ineffective any advanced weapons that the enemy may bring to bear. Whatever the case, at the first sign of trouble, the surveillance bird could swiftly escape. Fortunately, while the operation was taking place, the pilot was not beholden to obey any law of the sky.
In addition to the two person crews, each M113 variant carried six soldiers. These 24 soldiers were special operations forces that had earlier flown into the Clarkston Airport. The men stayed put until the truck operators made ready the ramps. The track operators then backed the tracked vehicles off of the trailers, and formed a line behind the military trucks. As they came to a stop, the drivers pulled the handles to the rear ramps. The ramps descended, and the soldiers inside came out, weapons in hand. Ghalia noted that the men were wearing what appeared to be white hazmat suits with large, tinted glass helmets. They began to form a perimeter. Some gathered at the Command Post to erect a tent for the staff and the drone operator. Others began to make ready more hazmat suits: One for each person on site.
Half of the sheriff’s deputies set up a roadblock, and the other half traveled the highway to the west side of Lang’s property, where they created a roadblock as well. The deputies themselves looked like a formidable fighting force, something right out of a science fiction movie. Each was armed with a sidearm and a shotgun. They looked a little bit like aliens, wearing bulky hazmat suits.
A man named Sergeant Savoy prepared the Shadow drone for its mission. He was joined at the command carrier tent by Sheriff Barton, Dr. Williamson, Master Sergeant Gilbert, and Colonel Williams. A short time later, Ghalia Williamson was invited in as well. Dr. Easton stepped inside the large tent, and she brought Nicole Sutherland with her. Dr. Easton had not been specifically invited, but her presence was not challenged. She began to speak with Nicole about recording the mission that was about to take place.
Dr. Robert Williamson nodded at Ghalia and gestured toward Colonel Williams, signaling that he was in charge of the operation. She nodded, and the colonel began to speak. At this point everyone stopped talking and turned their attention to the colonel’s speech. “We have a confirmed incursion,” he said, “and we are about to launch a mission to determine what we’re dealing with. We’ve already seen two humanoid life-forms, advanced laser type weaponry, and human captives. We don’t have an exact number of captives, but we hope to know very soon. We are prepared to get them to a facility where they can be treated, at least physically. We won’t know about mentally until they are rescued. That’s above my pay grade.”
“We’ll have the cover of darkness in our favor,” the colonel continued. “We’ll have night vision, and we’ll have a drone with advanced night vision. We have 24 special operators on location and almost the entire sheriff’s office. We have an air package on standby, and we are prepared to make a report to the local news about an accident that occurred here. Yes, it’s going to be a cover-up. A truck driver carrying a toxic solvent accidentally got off Highway 80 onto FM 1821 and ended up jackknifed right here at Pine Hills.”
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