Betsy and Doreen were each hunkered down in planning sessions, but independently of each other. Betsy had made copies of the text she had received on the 18th – the one offering to sell her some insurance. All of her underbosses had copies. Doreen was obviously trying to take advantage of the situation. From now on, nobody in Betsy's family would be talking with anybody in Doreen's family.
In their planning meetings, both Betsy and Doreen focused on defense, as in How do we protect ourselves from Annie and Christy? Annie was almost certainly behind the attack on the casino. Christy was bound to be looking at the liquor and insurance businesses. Neither Betsy nor Doreen had large goon resources but they spread them around their businesses as best as they could to defend themselves from any physical attacks. The sudden disappearance of all of Christy's goons was very worrisome. She obviously was planning a big surprise.
# # # # # # # #
Brigadier General MacLatchie was also planning a big surprise and it would have to go without a hitch. He was looking over the plans that Lucas had drawn up for placement of security personnel. It didn't look right. He decided to check. Do you have a moment, Lucas?
I'll be right down.
Down was the hold of the Wilizy/Asia where all of the data from the Wilizy's research had been stored. Jock had converted it to a full-blown Battle Command center, complete with a large screen display tied directly to his pinky-ring. Another large screen display held Melissa's battle plan. Jock knew that they had one more day of inactivity before they'd be engaging the enemy. If everything went well, they'd be finished in Toronto by the end of April.
"Hey," Lucas said as he entered the hold and sat down in the chair next to the general's table. Lucas didn't know what to call the man who was looking at him with a slight frown on his face. The adults called him Jock and he seemed quite comfortable with that. Wolf and Mac called him Dad, but that was normal. But the man was a brigadier-general in charge of the entire Saskatchewan armed forces. He was sitting in what was obviously now a military office. He had his Saskatchewan army uniform on. Not his dress uniform, but still an army uniform. No teenager would be calling him Jock. Lucas solved his problem of what to call the general by not calling him anything.
"I have a question about your plan for the deployment of our forces, Lucas. Do you have time to discuss this?"
The general was always polite, but when he said that he had a question, Lucas realized that he probably had done something wrong.
"Sure."
The general did some thinking and a street map of Toronto came onto the big screen. "Do you know where this is?"
"It's the area around Toronto's city hall."
"Do you want a street level view?"
"No. This is good."
"You put security forces in strength here, here, here, and here." With each here, a symbol popped up on the general's screen that indicated what kind of force was there and the number of personnel.
"Ahuh."
"I understand those placements. What I don't understand is why you have placed small forces here and here. Why are they there?" This time two red question marks appeared on the general's screen – each of them was a short distance away from the city hall.
"Can you switch to street level?" The general did and Lucas continued. "Do you see the grate down by the curb?" and he pointed with his finger.
"Hold on." The general passed Lucas a wand and sent a mental command to his pinky-ring. "Hold the top button down," he said.
Lucas did and the wand became a laser pointer. "OK. See this grate right here?"
"Push the right button to zoom in, the left button to zoom out."
Lucas pushed the right button. "This grate right here is part of the underground ventilation system that provides air to the pipes and tunnels under the street."
"OK."
"There are two metal lids right in front of that grate. They're on the sidewalk. See them?"
"Got it."
"Those lids form the roof of a hand-cranked cage that can lift a person from the tunnel below up to street level. It's an access system for moving workers and supplies into and out of the tunnels easily and quickly. These lids are all over the city. People walk on them all the time, not realizing that those lids could open right in front of them."
"And you put forces there because...?"
"A person who knew the underground tunnel system could leave City Hall, travel underground, and reappear several blocks away."
"Interesting. Did you check the route personally?"
"Too risky. But I did check the map that showed all the tunnels and an escape route is definitely possible to these two exits. They were easy to guard."
"Where was the map?"
"City Hall has an office where they store all sorts of maps for the city. All you have to do is go in and ask."
"Well done. Good thinking."
"It wasn't my idea, General. TG and Wolf found the office when they were searching for ways to rescue me. Theo told me about it. I only remembered what Theo told me." Lucas had decided to call the man in front of him General. After all, he was acting like one and Lucas was feeling very much like a lowly private right now.
"You don't want to take credit for this idea?"
"It wasn't my idea. I never would have thought of it on my own."
"Tell me your thinking about your other deployments."
# # # # # # # #
"Do you like puzzles, Lucas?"
"Depends on the kind. Not jigsaw puzzles, that's for sure."
"I have a different kind of puzzle for you to solve, if you're up for it."
# # # # # # # #
"This is the view you would get if you were flying overhead. There's a heavily armed fortress on top of a hill. Three sides of that hill are essentially cliffs. They can be climbed, but not easily. The residents of the fortress have anticipated that some enemies might want to gain entry to their fortress by climbing the cliffs so they have ample men and guns to defend themselves. The south side of the fortress can be reached by a long, reasonably gentle slope. People inside the fortress use this slope for bringing in supplies. This path up to the fortress is well marked and heavily guarded. Any enemy force using that approach to attack the fortress would be without any cover and under heavy fire for several minutes. Even if they did reach the top of the hill, they'd still be at the bottom of the fortress facing a heavily secured gate. Enemy forces at the top of the fortress could kill them with ease. There would be no place to hide."
"It's like a castle, but without a moat. An attacking force can't climb the cliffs nor can it attack on the gentle slope."
"Precisely. The fortress has big sturdy outside walls with doors that can take a direct hit from an artillery gun. An empty square is in the middle of the fortress so that forces can be re-positioned easily from one side to another."
"Theo and I used to play games of Attack the Castle when we were kids. They were fun. Do I have another view?"
The general thought the command.
"OK. I see the long hill, steep cliffs, big thick walls, and the multi-storey castle. Why are you showing me this?"
"You've just been put in charge of the forces attacking the castle. Your forces are itemized on the lower right of the screen. You have triple the amount of men that the enemy has. Fully one-third of your forces are now trying to scale the north cliff. They started at midnight, but they've made slow progress and it is now dawn. The defenders know that they are there. They just can't kill them yet."
"Is this like a real castle? I have catapults; the other guy has boiling oil? I can sit there for months and starve them?"
"No. It's modern warfare. Your air force is engaging the enemy's air force. You cannot count on their support. The enemy will be reinforcing this fortress within 48 hours. He knows where you are; he will be coming at you from your rear. Your predecessor has been relieved of command because of his decision to put so many of his men and women in peril on that north cliff. Your forces are demoralize
d. You have no casualties yet. The enemy has gun placements at the top of his fortress that can reach your command post easily. They're holding off until their reinforcements arrive and at that point, your command post will take fire from two directions."
"Do you have a list of all my weaponry?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Theo and I always made rules about what the defender had and what the attacker had. We'd argue about who would get what. That was part of the fun. Trying to gain an advantage."
"Your armaments are on this next screen. Tell me when you have finished reading. You won't have access to this screen again."
"That's nasty. We never thought of that."
"A general doesn't have time to check a database when he's in a battle. He should know exactly what he has available for an upcoming battle and that will change when reports of casualties and destroyed equipment come in."
# # # # # # # #
"I'm ready."
"Issue your commands."
"All forces that are stranded partway up the north cliff are to retreat to the base of that cliff."
The map changed as the general thought the commands.
"All artillery units that are now covering the north, west, and south sides of the fortress should prepare for half of their forces to move."
"Done."
"Wait for nightfall."
"Done."
"Command center staff are to retreat out of range of the fortress guns. Artillery units on the north, west, and south sides of the fortress that were designated to move are now ordered to relocate so that they have firing lines on the east side of the fortress. Do I have laser guided shells?"
"You do now. Repositioning took an hour."
"Artillery forces on the east side are to destroy the enemy's guns on the top of the fortress using laser-guided shells."
"Enemy guns have been destroyed. They were heavily shielded. It took you an hour. You expended 120 laser-guided shells. The enemy retaliated by shelling the former position of your command post. You had no casualties because you had taken all personnel out of range."
"You won't tell me how many laser guided shells I have left, will you?"
"Nope. You should know that."
"I do. All forces are to go quiet. Ground forces who had been hunkered down at the base of the north wall are to relocate to the base of the east wall. All of our artillery guns at that east wall are to relocate to other walls."
"Done. That took half an hour."
"Artillery on the north, south, and west are to fire on the remaining guns at the top of the fortress. Give the fortress a withering fire for half an hour so that they'll keep their heads down. Our ground forces now hunkered down at the east side are to wait ten minutes before retreating straight back to base. Warn them that they may receive small arms fire, but no artillery fire since those guns have been destroyed. Get out fast!"
"Done. All but two of your ground personnel have now been brought out of danger safely. You fired 200 laser-guided shells. You knocked out 60% of the enemy's long-range guns. But they still have the capability to destroy any of your forces that attempt to attack up the gentle slope. The east wall had been vulnerable to attack but the enemy repositioned some of its remaining guns to cover that possibility."
"All troops on the ground. Re-deploy so that you have three sides of that gentle slope covered in case the enemy tries to come out and attack us. Artillery units, break out the mortars."
"Done. Half an hour consumed."
"Fire mortars at will. Set fuses so that they will explode at various heights inside the center courtyard."
"One hour consumed. Enemy forces are attempting a sortie."
"All forces with guns trained on the slope: Don't let them out. Force them back in."
"Enemy forces have retreated. You have no eyes or ears on the interior of the fortress. You may assume from their attempt to sortie that your mortars have had some success."
"Cease mortar fire. Do I have communications into the fortress?"
"You do now."
"Send message: Fortress Commander: Surrender now or I will finish destroying the fortress and everyone in it at dawn."
"Enemy fortress fired long range shells at where he presumed you were stationed. No casualties."
"How long to dawn?"
"Dawn is approaching now."
"Send message: Fortress Commander: Do you wish to pluck out your own eyeballs or should I let the buzzards take care of that?"
"Why did you send that kind of communication?"
"Theo and I always tried to end our battles with a gory call for surrender. We figured the other guy would have to refuse the first call for surrender. He'd be looking for an excuse on the second."
"Enemy has capitulated."
"What's that mean?"
"They gave up."
# # # # # # # #
Winnie wasn't giving up. She had been energized the night of Operation Flush, but that soon passed. At least she had been involved in the battle. She had read Jock's battle board and knew what was coming up and what she would not be doing.
"Why can't I be on the raid, Mom?"
"I've already explained. It's too dangerous. These people have weapons. We don't know how they'll respond."
"But Mommmm."
"It doesn't matter how much you whine, Winnie. You're too young. You'll be staying on the ship where it's safe."
# # # # # # # #
The general had given Lucas three more pretend battles to solve. Lucas found them fun and won all three. The general didn't say much – just asked him if he enjoyed what he called simulations. Pretend battles.
"Yeah. They're way better than what Theo and I could do. The computer has different views, data sheets, and everything."
"That data sheet on your first battle. Do you remember what you had as commander?"
"Sure."
"Tell me what you had."
Lucas did. When he and Theo played, they had to remember what they had started with so that the other person couldn't trick them. The next questions surprised him.
"Have you ever seen death first hand?"
"Animals, yes. We had to hunt to eat and make clothes.
"Is that where you saw buzzards plucking eyeballs?"
"We didn't have buzzards near the compound. Crows, for sure. I made them into buzzards for the enemy guy because they're more scary."
"Are you scared of buzzards plucking your eyeballs out?"
"Not if I'm dead."
"You've killed animals. Did you ever kill a human?"
"Yeah. In the battle against the Alaskans. I shot down three of their airplanes. The planes crashed. I didn't see the pilots die."
"Did that bother you? The fact that you were going to kill three men?"
"They had attacked us. They were trying to kill us. We were only defending ourselves."
"I have heard you say negative things about yourself. That you're dumb. Do you consider yourself dumb?"
"I'm dumber than everybody in the family. I'm always making mistakes. Theo protects me – tells me to think things through. Wizard is the thinker in the family; sometimes I wish I could be like him. But I like fighting and he doesn't, so I probably wouldn't want to change places."
"I have news for you, Lucas. You're not dumb."
"I'm not?"
"You're not. I just gave you the entrance exam that we give people who want to join a part of the Saskatchewan army. You passed. I thought you were smart when you were working on the plans for City Hall. The test confirms it."
"But I didn't think up the part about finding the underground plans. I never would have thought of that on my own."
"Part of being smart is using other people's ideas to solve problems of your own. Very few people have brand new ideas that nobody has ever thought of before. The idea of using mortars to destroy the enemy inside a walled fortress has been used thousands and thousands of times before. Sending troops to scale the cliff was a dumb idea – that's
why that pretend officer was removed from duty. Rescuing your troops by focusing the enemy's attention elsewhere was smart; firing mortars into the castle was smart. Who cares if thousands of other people had used that idea before? You had a problem; you chose that tactic to solve your problem. That's what a good battle commander does."
"Huh."
"You aren't dumb, but you are impulsive. You think of something part way through and then act too quickly. You did that in simulation #2. The army has a way of discouraging people from doing that."
"How?"
"We put them in positions where a single mistake can cost people in their command their lives. We show them how a disciplined way of thinking can reduce deaths."
"Huh."
"Have you ever thought of a career in the military?"
"Some."
"You should consider it. You've already passed Saskatchewan's entrance exam. Come see me if you're interested." The general didn't tell Lucas that the test he had passed was for recruits wanting to be officers.
"OK. Thanks."
"Good work on the plans for City Hall. Dismissed."
# # # # # # # #
Later that evening, Jock and Hank were in the Battle Command center. Jock had explained what he had done with Lucas earlier and why.
"Yah, he's always been more daring and impulsive than he should be. You believe he's that good?"
"I do. Memory, tactic selection, knowledge of armaments, willingness to act in lethal situations.... He passed all of them with flying colours."
"Yolanda..."
"Talk with her. At some point..."
"Yeah. She has to let him go. She and I are always on opposite sides of that argument. On that point, Winnie is giving Yolanda a lot of grief. She wants to be involved in the raids. Do you have anything that you could give her that would be a challenge for her but without risk of injury or death?"
"Let me think on that."
"Winnie will sneak into our next battle if we can't find some other assignment for her. We have to get her out of town."
# # # # # # # #
Louise Wilson was thinking something like that too. She had to get a young girl out of town. In her case, the young girl was Maddy and the town she had to leave was Dickinson, North Dakota.