Short-short story, complete in this post.
4 October, 17:43
'Dobbins from AR3733.'
'Dobbins.'
'Local Sheriff here to "requisition" your trailer on behalf of the County Commissioners.'
'Wait one.'
'AR3733 from Dobbins.'
'AR3733.'
'Two armed helicopters with Marine strike teams on their way. ETA three minutes.'
'AR3733, out.'
"That's all, Dad? Two helicopters? No one on the ground?"
"Not for three minutes. The Major will be on the Sheriff's radio in..."
'Cochise County Sheriff. This is Major Jackson of the United States Air Force. You are attempting to enter a restricted research area and can be met with deadly force.'
'Listen to me, you stupid old fart! You try to stop us and I'll blow you away!'
'Sorry Sheriff, but you've made an erroneous assumption. Look to your North and East.'
Whump! Whump! Whump! Whump!
'Them's gunships!'
'As I said, this is Major Jackson of the USAF. You can stand down and go back to the County Commissioners and tell them that we are deadly serious about security or you can die here. Today.'
'How?'
'Back up about 100 yards and use your phone for video.'
'Of what?'
'Your SUV.'
'OK, I'm doing it.'
'Strike One, take out the SUV with flashing blue lights.'
'Strike One, roger.'
Whoosh!
BOOM!
'My SUV's gone! But... But...'
'Show that to the County Commissioners and remind them that you are under Martial Law for the duration. Martial Law means the military is the final authority. Do it now!'
'Yes sir.'
'Strike One, deploy your team.'
'Strike One, roger.'
'Strike Two, destroy one vehicle at each address on your list.'
'Strike Two, roger.'
'AR3733 from Dobbins.'
'AR3733.'
'Situation should be resolved. Leaving a squad overnight in case the Commissioners continue being stupid after each loses a vehicle.'
'Thank you. AR3733 out.'
"They just blew up the Sheriff's SUV?"
"Being stupid usually hurts. This time it cost him and each Commissioner a vehicle which can't easily be replaced in wartime. Next time it could be their lives. The signs around this property with 'US Military Research Site - No Trespassing - Deadly Force Authorized' mean exactly what they say. Trespassing here can get you shot, possibly with automatic weapons..."
"The things in the upstairs bedrooms and the new dormers in the attic?"
"Yes. The M240 machine guns. Our Marine visitors will be manning those tonight so plan to sleep on the sofa or in a sleeping bag."
"They'll be watching all the cameras?"
"And the motion sensors."
"Tell me again how you got this level of military support?"
"I was on my way back from the grocery store - having used up the rest of that month's ration points - when a military semi bucked to a halt in front of me as it turned off Floyd Road and into a gas station. Looked like he was trying to get to the diesel pumps."
"And?"
"I knew the station was out of diesel, so I went up and told the driver about the lack of diesel and then asked how much fuel he needed. He said enough to get to the re-activated Dobbins AFB so I told him I could provide kerosene and put some two cycle oil in it to keep the diesel fuel pump lubricated. He said four or five gallons would be enough and that he thought the Colonel would be very appreciative. I told him I was too old to carry an automatic weapon and a 60lb pack in the field but that I tried to help wherever I could. He checked in via radio then locked up the truck and set multiple alarms - it must have been very important cargo - then got in my truck. We drove to the house and I took him around to the shed so he could carry two of the 2.5 gallon kerosene jugs. I grabbed the bottle of 2 cycle oil. He was impressed that the shed had solar-powered lighting and asked me where I got it. Told him I designed and built it. He asked if I was knowledgeable about software so I walked him through my basement office and by my Information Systems degree with its 'With honors' tag. He then asked if I was interested in doing some research work for the Army. I asked 'Where and how much?' and told him I'm almost 80 years old so not exactly typical military recruit material."
"So that's how you got the trailer?"
"Not just a 'trailer'? It's a Solar Powered Southern Area Conditioned Trailer or SPSACT for short - some of the troops call it the 'spit sack'. It's 40 feet long and 8 feet wide so has 320 square feet of roof space which is room for eight 400 watt solar panels or 3200 watts. There's a large LiFePO4 battery bank mounted under the trailer but between the frame rails for protection. Half the trailer is built as a typical trailer but it's insulated and has high capacity, high efficiency fans for keeping its temperature near ambient temperature during summer. The other half is even better insulated and divided into multiple cooled sections consisting of high-efficiency compressor driven refrigerators and freezers and high-efficiency thermoelectric refrigerators and freezers using some new Peltier devices with liquid heat transfer to external radiators."
"You're testing fridges and freezers?"
"In one sense. What I'm testing is a near-front-line food storage unit for the military. Although MRE's are better than the WWII C-rations, fresh or frozen food is much better - easier to digest and the psychological positives are excellent."
"You spend some time in the trailer every day or so. Why?"
"The systems are designed to be self-monitoring and to report back status every hour via satellite. I'm monitoring those systems and verifying that the satellite reporting happens."
"What about the boxes you bring in and then take back out?"
"Those boxes have food in them and an independent temperature logger. I plug that logger into a laptop and download its data, then display the graph and see whether the temperature has remained within the safe range. That's compared to the outside ambient temperature and the temperature in the air-only section of the trailer. That data is then uploaded using the digital radio I used to contact Dobbins. We also eat some of the stored food to determine whether it has been kept at a temperature which maintains the proper food quality."
"You have a job and food in return for five gallons of kerosene?"
"It's a little more complex than that. Have you ever heard this proverb that been around since 1390 or so?
'For want of a nail, the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost.
For want of a horse, the rider was lost.
For want of a rider, the battle was lost.
For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.'"
"So what horseshoe nail was about to be lost?"
"The truck and trailer I got moving again with kerosene and two-cycle oil was one of the four launch control units for the Zeus* satellite-based missile system which was used to stop the attacks from Russia and China. The system needs at least two control units. One was delayed by a landslide of yet-to-be-determined cause in Colorado and another by a terrorist bomb taking out a bridge near Spokane. Without this unit, there would have been no launch capability in time to stop the first attack."
"That's a very big 'nail'!"
"It is, and you can't tell anyone other than your husband with his Top Secret clearance."
"If he doesn't already know - or has guessed."
"That's what they paid him the big bucks for in a previous job - making good guesses."
"But probably not this big a guess. Although he might have added in being part of the military convoy that brought us here from near Dulles and got 'high value trailer'."
"Moving you here was part of my 'pay' as this is a less likely target that being within 100 miles of D.C. and a 40 foot trailer can hold a lot of food."
"I see you're still being a full time dad."
"Well, that and maybe a little time as grandpa for a couple of young adults."
---
The end.
---
*Zeus - Greek god of the sky, often depicted with a lightning bolt in his hand.
4 October, 17:43
'Dobbins from AR3733.'
'Dobbins.'
'Local Sheriff here to "requisition" your trailer on behalf of the County Commissioners.'
'Wait one.'
'AR3733 from Dobbins.'
'AR3733.'
'Two armed helicopters with Marine strike teams on their way. ETA three minutes.'
'AR3733, out.'
"That's all, Dad? Two helicopters? No one on the ground?"
"Not for three minutes. The Major will be on the Sheriff's radio in..."
'Cochise County Sheriff. This is Major Jackson of the United States Air Force. You are attempting to enter a restricted research area and can be met with deadly force.'
'Listen to me, you stupid old fart! You try to stop us and I'll blow you away!'
'Sorry Sheriff, but you've made an erroneous assumption. Look to your North and East.'
Whump! Whump! Whump! Whump!
'Them's gunships!'
'As I said, this is Major Jackson of the USAF. You can stand down and go back to the County Commissioners and tell them that we are deadly serious about security or you can die here. Today.'
'How?'
'Back up about 100 yards and use your phone for video.'
'Of what?'
'Your SUV.'
'OK, I'm doing it.'
'Strike One, take out the SUV with flashing blue lights.'
'Strike One, roger.'
Whoosh!
BOOM!
'My SUV's gone! But... But...'
'Show that to the County Commissioners and remind them that you are under Martial Law for the duration. Martial Law means the military is the final authority. Do it now!'
'Yes sir.'
'Strike One, deploy your team.'
'Strike One, roger.'
'Strike Two, destroy one vehicle at each address on your list.'
'Strike Two, roger.'
'AR3733 from Dobbins.'
'AR3733.'
'Situation should be resolved. Leaving a squad overnight in case the Commissioners continue being stupid after each loses a vehicle.'
'Thank you. AR3733 out.'
"They just blew up the Sheriff's SUV?"
"Being stupid usually hurts. This time it cost him and each Commissioner a vehicle which can't easily be replaced in wartime. Next time it could be their lives. The signs around this property with 'US Military Research Site - No Trespassing - Deadly Force Authorized' mean exactly what they say. Trespassing here can get you shot, possibly with automatic weapons..."
"The things in the upstairs bedrooms and the new dormers in the attic?"
"Yes. The M240 machine guns. Our Marine visitors will be manning those tonight so plan to sleep on the sofa or in a sleeping bag."
"They'll be watching all the cameras?"
"And the motion sensors."
"Tell me again how you got this level of military support?"
"I was on my way back from the grocery store - having used up the rest of that month's ration points - when a military semi bucked to a halt in front of me as it turned off Floyd Road and into a gas station. Looked like he was trying to get to the diesel pumps."
"And?"
"I knew the station was out of diesel, so I went up and told the driver about the lack of diesel and then asked how much fuel he needed. He said enough to get to the re-activated Dobbins AFB so I told him I could provide kerosene and put some two cycle oil in it to keep the diesel fuel pump lubricated. He said four or five gallons would be enough and that he thought the Colonel would be very appreciative. I told him I was too old to carry an automatic weapon and a 60lb pack in the field but that I tried to help wherever I could. He checked in via radio then locked up the truck and set multiple alarms - it must have been very important cargo - then got in my truck. We drove to the house and I took him around to the shed so he could carry two of the 2.5 gallon kerosene jugs. I grabbed the bottle of 2 cycle oil. He was impressed that the shed had solar-powered lighting and asked me where I got it. Told him I designed and built it. He asked if I was knowledgeable about software so I walked him through my basement office and by my Information Systems degree with its 'With honors' tag. He then asked if I was interested in doing some research work for the Army. I asked 'Where and how much?' and told him I'm almost 80 years old so not exactly typical military recruit material."
"So that's how you got the trailer?"
"Not just a 'trailer'? It's a Solar Powered Southern Area Conditioned Trailer or SPSACT for short - some of the troops call it the 'spit sack'. It's 40 feet long and 8 feet wide so has 320 square feet of roof space which is room for eight 400 watt solar panels or 3200 watts. There's a large LiFePO4 battery bank mounted under the trailer but between the frame rails for protection. Half the trailer is built as a typical trailer but it's insulated and has high capacity, high efficiency fans for keeping its temperature near ambient temperature during summer. The other half is even better insulated and divided into multiple cooled sections consisting of high-efficiency compressor driven refrigerators and freezers and high-efficiency thermoelectric refrigerators and freezers using some new Peltier devices with liquid heat transfer to external radiators."
"You're testing fridges and freezers?"
"In one sense. What I'm testing is a near-front-line food storage unit for the military. Although MRE's are better than the WWII C-rations, fresh or frozen food is much better - easier to digest and the psychological positives are excellent."
"You spend some time in the trailer every day or so. Why?"
"The systems are designed to be self-monitoring and to report back status every hour via satellite. I'm monitoring those systems and verifying that the satellite reporting happens."
"What about the boxes you bring in and then take back out?"
"Those boxes have food in them and an independent temperature logger. I plug that logger into a laptop and download its data, then display the graph and see whether the temperature has remained within the safe range. That's compared to the outside ambient temperature and the temperature in the air-only section of the trailer. That data is then uploaded using the digital radio I used to contact Dobbins. We also eat some of the stored food to determine whether it has been kept at a temperature which maintains the proper food quality."
"You have a job and food in return for five gallons of kerosene?"
"It's a little more complex than that. Have you ever heard this proverb that been around since 1390 or so?
'For want of a nail, the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost.
For want of a horse, the rider was lost.
For want of a rider, the battle was lost.
For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.'"
"So what horseshoe nail was about to be lost?"
"The truck and trailer I got moving again with kerosene and two-cycle oil was one of the four launch control units for the Zeus* satellite-based missile system which was used to stop the attacks from Russia and China. The system needs at least two control units. One was delayed by a landslide of yet-to-be-determined cause in Colorado and another by a terrorist bomb taking out a bridge near Spokane. Without this unit, there would have been no launch capability in time to stop the first attack."
"That's a very big 'nail'!"
"It is, and you can't tell anyone other than your husband with his Top Secret clearance."
"If he doesn't already know - or has guessed."
"That's what they paid him the big bucks for in a previous job - making good guesses."
"But probably not this big a guess. Although he might have added in being part of the military convoy that brought us here from near Dulles and got 'high value trailer'."
"Moving you here was part of my 'pay' as this is a less likely target that being within 100 miles of D.C. and a 40 foot trailer can hold a lot of food."
"I see you're still being a full time dad."
"Well, that and maybe a little time as grandpa for a couple of young adults."
---
The end.
---
*Zeus - Greek god of the sky, often depicted with a lightning bolt in his hand.
