After breakfast we made our way to the office again. Today I didn't have ice skating as I ceased making reservations for lessons for the time being; at least until we had some resolution of this problem with James security. Just when that would come about was still the sixty-four dollar question.

The office, obviously, wasn't Cathy's favorite place to be even though she now had one of the conference rooms to play in along with a large number of toys which might appeal to children of her age; well... her age give or take maybe four years. I was still trying to decide if she was nearly four with a mind of nine or ten or if she was ten with a body of a four year old. I had the strangest feeling there was something her father hadn't been telling me, like maybe she was a visiting alien or something. Sometimes she was so perceptive it was scary. I watched her as she examined all the items of interest in the room, even though she still maintained a deathgrip on Andy's ear. I was even more beginning to think I might be the one needing a replacement stuffed toy and made yet another mental note, this one to think about finding another bear to replace Andy. That would be difficult because he had recently become my confidant.

I stifled a small chuckle as I thought about anyone who hadn't been at the offices during the past few days and who might walk into that conference room. Whoever it might be would be in for a rude surprise as it had been completely made over to provide a safe and interesting haven for up to eight or ten children. We had added a large number of toys and things for both her, and any others who might occupy it, to do.

Another change we made to the structure of our working concept was to use this opportunity to create a safe environment where children could be brought in from a few of the agent's families so they could play together. I also had Nicci hire several people to be the minders of our little people regardless of the time of day we might have them on premises. After all, we didn't want any... disagreements, to occur during play and there was always the possibility of slight, or more serious, injury; heaven forbid.

I should have done something like this some time ago. It made for a safe place for the children while the parents were working; eased the parents minds as well as saved them a little money since the company would be providing the day care for which they didn't need to pay. They also didn't need to claim the equivalent value on their taxes since it was a company decision to provide the care and medical, if needed, in an effort to ease the concerns of the parent or parents so they could better perform their jobs. Further, if someone was hung up for a while the child wouldn't be wondering where Mommy or Daddy was as they waited for their parent who couldn't be there on time. The day care person or any available agent could keep them occupied or supervised until the parent could show up.

After I took Cathy to the room, she almost immediately made a bee-line to the three story doll house which was almost taller than she was. There she plopped down to begin to play,all thoughts of Mommy obviously supplanted with those of something new to explore. I nodded to our new hire who was a licensed day-care attendent then headed off to my office where I pulled what remained of yesterday's paperwork out of my safe, hoping I could complete it before the next pile arrived on my desk. Once I had it back on my desk, it was sorted into the stacks I needed to examine. I picked up the three notes I had placed on top of it all. Ah yes, I needed to talk with Nicci again.

“Good Morning, Nicci. You're looking somewhat more well than usual. Did you have a good evening?”

“Yes, if you must know. Remember that partner I mentioned from the accounting firm upstairs?”

“Uhmmm. The guy with the short cut, blond hair, and goatee?”

“That's him.”

“What about him?”

“He asked me out.”

“Well, don't keep me in suspense; how was it?”

“Very nice. He was a gentleman and we went to Del's for supper.”

“Ohh, Del's huh?”

“Yes. Could have blown me over with a light breeze. I had a very nice evening and he asked if we might do it again next week sometime.”

“Good for you. So how was Del's? Should I put it on our entertainment list?”

“The food was good; pricey, but good. And the help were excellent. There didn't seem to be any riff-raff around either. ”

“Okay, let's tentatively mark it for one of the places we need to investigate further before possibly taking clients there. Does he know you're a partner here?”

“I don't think so. I think I'll just hold that in reserve until I see how things go for a while first. He's about the same level as I am in his business. Ten percent partner, but I don't think they do as much business as we do.”

“How did you meet him?”

“In the elevator one morning. We said 'good morning' to each other. The next day we met accidentally down at Soup and Salad, he was there eating when I came in. The place was pretty full so he invited me to share his table. We sat together and chatted during lunch. A couple of days later he cornered me in the lobby and asked me out.”

“Want me to have him checked out?”

“Not yet. If things start to percolate then maybe. How's things with you — Mommy?”

“You had to ask, didn't you?”

“That bad, Lynn?”

“No. In fact Cathy is settling in and the cook you sent out makes an excellent pot of coffee as well as breakfast...”

Oooh... I may decide to come live at your house; at least for breakfast anyway.”

“Be my guest; anyway I'm pretty happy this morning except I miss the exercise I was getting ice-skating. How did it go here after I left yesterday?”

“Not too bad, Lynn. I took care of several things. You won't need to see the Motorola Rep. again. He said he could handle the extra upgrade stuff without coming in again. The orders you discussed with him while he was here have already had the transmitter and battery upgrades added to them. Since you didn't mention the upgrades for the other orders, he'll take care of that today then get back to us next week sometime with the additional expense information. He said since it's all happening at once he'll try to get it run through as a package deal. If he succeeds that will knock ten percent off the expense. I think he wants to keep us happy so he has a long-term income from our company. He said something about appreciating our staying with Motorola instead of going over to RCA.”

“Additional expenses... I might just run away and forget about all this. Good work, Nicci. I could use the break. I might even catch up on my paperwork,as if. What's the deal with RCA? I didn't know they were into two-way radio systems.”

“Apparently they hired some of the developers away from Motorola and added them to their existing team. They came up with a modular radio concept which is just a little smaller than the HT and which has fractionally better range but they don't offer an encryption system so repeaters can't be shared in isolation the way we do it now. From what our rep was saying, RCA is using conventional techniques for repeater use.”

“Too bad. I wonder what their prices are like.”

“I'll check on that a little more, but the little I've managed to learn so far seems to indicate they're about half to two-thirds the price of the HT. They call their radio the TacTec. It's pretty, if pictures are anything to go by. I think I've learned all I can short of our actually talking with a rep. I don't know how well their radios work but apparently the Motorola rep isn't too concerned about them since he brought them up. The research I've had done seems to indicate they are moving pretty rapidly in the two-way business so maybe we should have someone check on them in the future.”

“I'm not sure. I think I'd like to keep to one supplier in this particular case. You might have someone take a look at them once in a while. If they develop an encryption system which is any good and which allows us to do the same things the Motorola system does then we could take a closer look. Are the two compatible otherwise?”

“I don't know. I guess so. Do you want me to see if RCA has a rep in the area?”

“Yes, that might be interesting especially with our ever increasing costs in the communications area... then again... I don't want another rep knocking at my door. My time has become pretty valuable lately.”

“Why don't you push him or her off on our comm guys? Get them to do something to justify their pay.”

“I like that idea. They're the ones who originally pointed me at Motorola. Let them go through the preliminaries and then I want to personally see a range demonstration... portable to portable. Using the repeaters won't tell me anything because their whole purpose is to extend range. Next topic, what have we heard from the military about that weapons report? They seem to be dragging their heels.”

“That still hasn't come in. Apparently they are waiting for some technical experts to look at the communication gear they captured.”

“Would you let Lucy's office know that we would appreciate knowing about the weapons as quickly as possible since it could be important to our welfare? Comms might be useful to know about but right now I'm more concerned about enemy firepower.”

“I'll call again later this morning. Anything else?”

“I don't think so. Those weapons have me a little concerned is all.”

“Lucy will be in meetings this morning until ten, so I'll call just after that.”

“Good. Thanks Nicci and congratulations on your catch.”

“Hardly a catch yet, but if it keeps up like last night I just might begin to work on it. OH! Finance wants to talk with you.”

“About?”

“The military comms. She wants to know if we can pass some of those costs to Lucy's group.”

I bit my lip and pondered that.

“Some of them, maybe. They didn't direct us to order the stuff even if they had to give approval before Motorola would provide it. It was more for our convenience, especially if we were deployed somewhere. Maybe you could ask Lucy about that. They might help defray the upgrade costs since we already have a lot of the equipment.”

“I'll add it to the list of things to bring up. She might want to talk with you. Will you be available?”

“I'll try to be. Warn me before you call her. I'm going to go talk with Finance then I'll be in my office... tearing my hair out again.”

I winked and headed off to find Susan so I could placate her until we had some more definitive answers.

It was two weeks later, nearing the end of November. The snow wasn't sticking yet other than making a mess of half-melted, half-frozen slosh everywhere dependent completely on the clouds, sun, shadows, and the shifting daytime / nighttime temperatures. When we arrived at work Cathy ran off to the play room leaving me in the dust, forgetting even to say, “Bye Mommy” until she was just around the corner of the hallway, then she peeked back around to look at me to say it before vanishing again. So soon we are taken for granted. The last few days it had been difficult to get her to leave her friends if I decided to go home early. She liked her new friends and they all liked the toys which were there. After a couple of days with the doll-house that fascination had departed. She became enamored with the record player just as she had at home. Frequently when I came here to check on her during the day or to take her to lunch, she would be listening to music.

“Hi Mommy. This is from ' the wind is gone', isn't it pretty?”

“'Gone with the Wind', Sweetheart; and yes it is.”

“Not 'the wind is gone'?” she scowled at me.

“No. The wind isn't gone but instead something went away without us being able to stop it much like the wind departs. We can't stop it either. What it means is that all things change with time; sometimes for the better and sometimes not.”

“What's that mean?”

I sighed, “Ask me again when you are a few years older and understand more words. I'll try to explain it then.”

I watched her digest that before she screwed up her face and closed her eyes. For some reason I had the feeling she just put what I said on a shelf to come back to after it collected a little dust and cobwebs so she could receive that explanation. Now where have I seen that expression before?

When we returned from lunch we were barely in the door of the building when she shed her coat leaving it and me in the dust once more as she rushed up the stairs headed for her precious records. Since none of the other children wanted to deal with the record player she felt it was hers to do with as she wished. I sighed, picked up her coat from the floor and followed her... slowly... feeling every year as I went. I wasn't looking forward to having her learn to skate... or ski. I had this numbing feeling that once she could ski reasonably well that she would be zooming past her father and hell-bent-for-leather down the most dangerous courses. I was beginning to feel old.

The weapons report finally arrived. Apparently the military had their “experts” examine the radios which were used by those persons who had so rudely interrupted James business and released their preliminary information; or at least released all they were prepared to say about it all. The report came in by FAX and Nicci brought it to me as soon as she was aware of it. At a guess, it had only been read by five or six agents before I saw it. It wasn't a totally crushed mess with sticky lunch fingerprints on it, just a little dog-eared at the corners.

Items below recovered following attack on the Thompson residence. All bear the mark “BFF” on them at some location.

Manufacturer’s stamp: BFF found stamped on barrels or inside cases
Company: Beatrium Fulwerk Fabrique GmbH (found on one of the magazines)
Factory Location: not listed in manufacturer’s index; location not yet determined
Production quantities: not known
Funding: not known. Presumed illicit sales to third world countries
Products noted herein: Seven, although there are possibly more.

Flechette Weapons:

Pistol: KPS- 33 (found on inside of grip)

Weight: 1.45 pounds (unloaded)

Barrel: six & one-quarter inch smoothbore

Chamber: floating, semi-sealed attached to barrel

Chamber Exhaust: side venting ports beginning at 1/3 of length

Barrel Exhaust: upward directing

Audibility (20ft): 44.4 dbA (A-weighted); 49.6 dbA (CCIR-468)
Audibility (100ft): 26.7 dbA (A-weighted); 30.2 dbA (CCIR-468)

Weapon Tracking:  ± .03 % across range at 50 feet.

Range: 20 fully-automatic releases

Magazine: top fed, spring tensioned, “jam-proof” suspension with cup lock (disengaged upon insertion in weapon).

Capacity: 65 (est)

Projectile: 7/8 inch long flechette, 1/8 inch diam with 1/4 inch stabilizing expansion fins. Wt: 0.38 oz unladen, 0.51 oz laden. Piezo-electrically ignited solid propellant.

velocity at muzzle: 1340 fps (feet per second) (Pact Chrono); mode: single shot.

velocity at 20 feet: 3150 fps

rate of fire: 1 (single rate) to 102 (repeat rate) (calculated).

Special Munitions:

Hypo - chemically induced limited nerve paralysis - fast acting (.4 second to 10 seconds - - local to full body) potentially deadly.
Disabling - explosive charge .1 gm dynacor equiv to 1/4 stick of dynamite. This was proven through test of a captured weapon and munitions.
Piercing - anti- armored carrier - 3/4 inch steel. (50 ft.)

- - - - - -

Rifle: KMR-32 (Stamped on receiver)

Weight: 8.9 pounds unloaded

Barrel: 19 & 5/8 inches, smoothbore; vertically vented at approximately four inch spacings along barrel.

Chamber: floating, semi-sealed; side venting beginning at 1/3 of length

Audibility (20ft): 41.1 dbA (A-weighted); 48.3 dbA (CCIR-468)
Audibility (100ft): 30.2 dbA (A-weighted); 29.9 dbA (CCIR-468)

weapon Tracking:  ± .03 % across range at 100 feet.

Range: 20 fully-automatic releases

Magazine: top fed, spring tensioned, “jam-proof” suspension with cup lock (disengaged upon insertion in weapon).

Capacity: 250 (est)

Projectile: 7/8 inch long flechette, 1/8 inch diam with 1/4 inch stabilizing expansion fins. Wt: 0.38 oz unladen, 0.51 oz laden. Piezo-electrically ignited solid propellant.

velocity at muzzle: 1890 fps (feet per second) (Pact Chrono); mode: single shot

velocity at 20 feet: 3420 fps

rate of fire: 1 (single rate) to 125 (repeat rate) (calculated)

Special Munitions:

Hypo - chemically induced limited nerve paralysis - fast acting (.4 second to 10 seconds - - local to full body) potentially deadly.
Disabling - explosive charge .1 gm dynacor equiv to 1/4 stick of dynamite. This was proven through test of a captured weapon and munitions.
Piercing - anti- armored carrier - 3/4 inch steel. (50 ft.)

- - - - - -

Communication Device:

Device: JRS-73q Beatrium Fulwerk Fabrique GmbH

Description: personal communication device frequency range 21.2 to 29.9 MHz; 139.4 to 147.6 MHz. Actual frequencies in use depends on mode type selected and was determined through the use of a spectrum analyzer. Transmitter output visible on spectrum analyzer but method of operation precludes decryption of data stream by most present radio systems or any which are not linked to the frequency hopping scheme in use by the device itself.

Output Power: uncertain, suspected to be approximately one to one and a half watts. Output power is difficult to measure due to constant shifting of the frequencies in use sometimes taking it outside the range of the plug in RF to DC convertors in the power meter. The nature of the method of transmission appears to be a form of frequency shift, pulse modulation.

Battery: 16 volts DC nominal (+8,0,-8). Peak voltage 17.1 (8.55, 0, -8.55).

Use: Xmt: 173 ma.; Rcv: 32 ma.; Stby: 6 ma.

Duration: 40 Hrs. approximately (20%, 20%, 60%) (measured.)

Usable Range: 4 miles. Determined by line of sight testing of two devices which maintained clear communication even during attempted pink-noise jamming.

Controls: volume, mode, VOX / Std, Sensitivity, Power (on-off), Numeric keypad (unknown purpose)

Special Note: Test devices maintained communication despite attempts to jam those communications. Increase in number of jamming transmitters (up to ten) operating in the spectrum used by the devices and with output powers of up to 20 watts per transmitter failed to interfere with clear communication between captured devices at a 4 mile range but became more invasive as range increased beyond that distance until causing loss of communication at a six mile range. The range without jamming reached up to eight miles with varying success. Jamming transmitters were each set for 1 MHz band-spread with a pink noise modulation level of 90% (Am and Fm tests were made independently as noted in complete report). No interference of the communications between the test devices was noted except as indicated above.

Once I saw that report I put another call in to Lucy but didn't make contact for nearly three hours even after leaving a summary of my thoughts concerning the communications device. Turns out they were far ahead of me and further testing showed the device was markedly similar to those modified PRC-25s we had used a few years back.

I was also brought up to speed on the weapons which had originally been researched by an Australian firm that had a break-in a year or so back where nothing was taken. Things were beginning to look just a little suspicious not only to me but to Lucy and her people. I was beginning to wonder just what James' company was doing for the government and why it would have prompted an open attack. At this point I decided it might be a good idea to bring the number of personnel on Cathy's detail back up to its former levels despite the lack of apparent interest in her whereabouts. This I did gradually as agents became available.

I also added one more who's duty it was to follow Cathy around nearly wherever she went. That including standing (or sitting) around in our new play-room whenever she was in it. A week later one of the female agents came available and I immediately added her to the mix so during the day Cathy could have someone who could go anywhere with her, even to the bathrooms if necessary. Since that agent liked children that worked out well and left me free to contemplate my navel as I tried to decide if there would be another attempt at kidnaping her or James... or both. I finally had Nicci flash a warning to my people via our recently established radio / phone line link that they were to be ever vigilant, and that I expected things to go hot in the near future now that we were supposedly lulled into complacency.

Things weren't quite adding up and I had a bad feeling about all of this deep in my guts. Even so, Christmas continued to loom ever nearer and we had, had our first sticking snow which didn't turn to slush immediately after landing. It looked like it was going to be a white Christmas.

As I gave it all more thought, I finally took Cathy aside and gave her some instruction.

“If something happens and anyone tells you to 'bolt', this is where you go. You don't come out unless I, your Daddy, Mr. Bear, or Nicci tells you it's okay. You remember Nicci?”

“No.”

“The fun lady who danced with you when you were at my office yesterday?”

“The fun lady...” At least she nodded her head.

“Now, if someone say to 'bolt' you run here in my bedroom, go into the closet over there and at the back there is a funny little door. Go through to the inside like we are now, and once you are in here you close the door then push these three slides into place. Understand?”

She nodded her head again.

“Okay. Go ahead, push them into place.”

It took her some effort but she managed to get two out of three pretty quickly and a minute later the third one was in place.

“Good. When those are in place like that, no one can get in and you will be safe. If the house catches on fire, or people shoot at the place you are in, nothing will happen. We added some stuff so the bad men can't hurt you. This is a pretty big room and over on those shelves is food and water. In the little room over there is a bathroom, remember to leave that door closed or it could get a little stinky in here. Now, see this button?”

Cathy nodded her head again.

“Push it.”

She pressed against it.

“Harder, sweetheart. It takes a lot of effort so someone doesn't press it by mistake.”

She practically leaned into it to get it to move. It finally lit up red and a few seconds later the screen began to light up. A few seconds after that there was one of my agents on the screen.

“What's up Lynn? You need a response? We didn't get any alarms.”

“No, everything's fine. This is Cathy and I'm teaching her how to use the bolt-hole.”

“Ah. Okay. I'll tell everyone that it was a training exercise.”

“Thanks. Sorry, I should have called first but this is good for her to see.”

“Yeah. Hi Cathy, nice to meet you. I hope we don't need to meet like this again but if we do then you will need to tell whoever you see on the screen about everything that's happening over there. We can send help.”

“Cathy. That's George, and the man you see behind him is Tony. Tony, is Nicci available?”

“I'll check, but I think I saw her leave for a late lunch. Just be a moment.”

I continued to show Cathy some of the features of the bolt-hole omitting, of course, the weapons cabinet. While we looked around I checked the expiration dates on some of the foodstuffs and made a mental note to rotate most of the food which would reach expiration in a few months.

“Lynn?”

I looked back at the screen, “Yes Tony?”

“Nicci left for lunch and isn't expected back for thirty to forty minutes. Do you want to leave a message?”

“No; it's all right. I was just going to let Cathy see her again so she would remember what Nicci looked and sounded like. Thanks anyway.”

“Sure thing. Got to go, bye Cathy, Lynn.”

“Bye.”

“You can shut down the link, George.”

“Okay, Lynn. Apparently you didn't tell the team that you were going in the hole, they were looking for you. We told them you were in the hole giving Cathy a training session. See you later.”

“Thanks George. Bye.”

The screen faded to black with a white dot diminishing in size and brilliance near the middle of the screen; the red button turned out and everything returned to what passed for normal.

I had Cathy unlock the bolts then we opened the door and went out to be collected by two agents who were waiting for us in the bedroom.

As Christmas approached, Cathy began to become more excited. She continually vacillated between hoping for a 'doggie' and then for a 'horsey'. I was hoping for neither at the moment because neither James nor I had horse approved properties and I wasn't ready to handle house-breaking a dog. Cathy meanwhile wasn't daunted in the least occasionally hoping to receive both, along with ice-skates, growing four more inches, more books to read, some new clothes and shoes, etc. etc. and so forth. I was considering taking out a loan on the house just to keep up with her.

The day before Christmas our rent-a-Santa showed up and per the unspoken agreement with all our agent's families, everyone was at the office along with their kids; who all went bananas when Santa's sleigh came down the street and turned into our parking lot. It caused a bit of a stir at the other businesses who were renting space in our building as well. The few kids who had come to work with parents at those businesses somehow got into the act so our Santa had a rough dozen more kids than was expected. Fortunately he had prepared for contingencies and had small gifts for them all while he spoke with all the kids. Two hours later he got back into his sleigh and he and his reindeer left the parking lot and went back down the street to wherever his staging area had been.

The kids were disappointed that he didn't fly away but one of my agents had everyone gather the kids together then he managed to get them all to swear to secrecy before he told them that Santa didn't want everyone to know he was the real Santa. “That's the reason he didn't fly away. You can't tell anyone that he's the real Santa because it's a secret. Okay?”

The kids all became quiet and agreed quickly. They had a secret they could only share with themselves. They quickly went back inside the building to get out of the cold, taking their small treasures with them. They had talked with the real Santa, not a store Santa, and they had patted his reindeer. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

I was awakened bright and early Christmas morning but not by Cathy. My detail had just gone on alert.

“You're needed, immediately, in the command center, Lynn.”

I threw my robe on over my nightgown and was out the bedroom door in moments.

When I reached the command center I asked, “Is Cathy all right?” even as I reached the monitors and could see for myself.

“We have someone getting her up and dressed. All four agents who are on watch are aware of the alert and the call for the support force has gone out and been acknowledged by all but one. He still has five minutes to respond before we check on him.”

“Who sent the alert?”

“Our team watching James. The links are still up and the remainder of the team is on their way. The military have been notified, but there hasn't been any further contact wi...”

“Condition Red. I repeat RED. Enemy activity at Thompson residence, shots fired, agent dow...” thundered in over the radio and phone line link.

We heard a burst of one of our weapons and a strange ripping sound then a thump and the signal vanished as quickly as it had come.

“Alert everyone who isn't on an assignment. Get Cathy to the bolt-hole and electronically sweep the grounds. If anything, and I mean anything, seems out of place call condition red. As soon as the female agent shows, put her in the bolt-hole with Cathy and get some of Cathy's Christmas presents in there too. That way there will be something to distract her. Don't close up the bolt-hole unless we begin taking fire within the house. I'm going to go get dressed.”

Having given my instructions, I rushed back to my room stopping for a moment to talk with Cathy before she went into the bolt-hole; telling her that Mommy might need to fight some 'bad guys' and Janet would be here soon to keep her company.

Fifteen minutes later I was on my way to the command center again and Janet had arrived and went into the bolt-hole with Cathy.

“Condition Red. Condition Red. Intruders approaching on south lawn. Visuals show five, repeat, five.”
Oh well, so much for thinking about going back to sleep.

After I reached the command center the security door was closed which essentially rendered the center impregnable. On the screens we could see the personnel deployments, both theirs and ours. My men were to remain inside if possible, I didn't want any dead heroes and if they decided to try to burn us out they would find that to be extremely difficult for a variety of reasons, in fact now that the thought passed across what I called 'my mind'...

“Activate the yard fire suppression system for ten seconds.”

“Do what?”

“The fire suppression system in the yard. Activate it for ten seconds.”

The agent got this sly smile on his face before he went to the suppression panel and selected a switch. He turned back to me with a raised eyebrow.

“Do it.”

He turned the switch and the fogging system began to spew water in the form of a thick mist all around the bottom story of the house and for twenty feet out. After ten seconds I figured they had had enough, “Shut it down.”

He turned the switch back the other way then returned to his post before the tv monitors. The intruders were shaking themselves off and one raised and shook his fist at the house before they continued on. They knew we knew they were there but they continued on anyway; obviously not happy with the soaking, especially in the cold weather. I hoped they all came down with colds.

Glancing at the screen for the bolt-hole I could see Cathy and Janet sitting on a cot with Cathy beginning to open one of her presents. If this went on for very long it was going to play merry hell with the Christmas party we were planning to hold here beginning early this afternoon. I hoped the cooks weren't being inconvenienced too badly.

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DUTY CALLS, L.J. Stevens Vol. One Copyright  © 2013 USA, Earth by D. A.Trask.

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