For now, she held Denise as tight as she could. The two rocked softly back and forth on the bench seat.
"I was so afraid when I heard," Denise said with her head still buried in mom’s arms. "The first thing…the first thing I did was find a way out here. I jumped a train, and then I got a ride with a convoy. I was afraid I’d be too late."
"You’re pretty brave, to come all the way out here."
"I got here and they didn’t know what happened to you. They didn’t know."
"It's okay, sweat heart," Nina stroked Denise's hair. "You can calm down now."
Denise pulled her face out of those loving arms, wiped away a tear, and in a tone that quickly reversed from sad to excited said, "I met Trevor-I mean, I met the Emperor! He was sitting right here! I didn’t know it, I made such an ass-I mean, such an idiot — of myself. You should have-"
"Wait a sec," Nina interrupted. "You saw Trevor Stone here?"
"Yeah, that’s how I knew you were going to make it back."
"How? How did you know that?"
Denise told her, "Because he promised me you were coming back. The Emperor told me he was going to get you himself."
Nina did not know what to say but the obvious question came to mind: Why would the Emperor come all the way out here just for me?
"He promised you’d come home. He promised and he was right."
– "What’s the status of the 13 ^ th Brigade?"
Hoth’s aid-a gritty but dignified gray-haired woman-answered, "Captain Blue’s infantry have secured the intersection at Jamestown. The bulk of his force is proceeding toward Xenia on schedule."
"Signal Captain Downs to proceed with phase two. Remind him that he’s to have his Brigade across Caesar’s Creek in three hours or the schedule will be thrown off."
"I understand," the woman responded.
The aid walked off but Hoth-much to his chagrin-did not stand alone at the map-covered billiards table in the parlor. General Jerry Shepherd hovered at his side.
"Will, I’ve been looking over your rosters and I see you’ve got a couple of extra squads in reserve. I’m thinking I can grab a Blackhawk off Captain Dunston over at Second Tactical Wing and get this search going again."
"No."
Shep cocked his head. "Pardon me, General? I’m not sure I heard correctly."
Hoth came through loud and clear this time. "My orders are to quickly pacify the Ohio area. I can no longer spare troops and supplies to continue the search."
"Your orders come ultimately from Trevor Stone. He’s missing out there, somewhere."
"I’ve read the reports, General Shepherd, from both aerial reconnaissance and ground teams. I also have heard the eye witness reports of yourself and the Dark Wolves. You clearly state that the structure Trevor Stone entered disappeared without a trace."
"I reckon you’d better get to the point of this."
Hoth did. "The point is that Trevor Stone is not out there to be found. He has been killed or transported to another location. The best way to find out what happened is to insert science teams to evaluate the area. That can not happen until we secure that sector. That’s something I’m working on and because I’m now rushed into this action I need all my assets. With all due respect, this is exactly why I opposed the participation of senior staff in the search effort."
Shepherd nearly said something he might regret but managed to bite his tongue. Hoth, however, had more to say.
"General Shepherd, I believe you have been recalled to the estate to discuss this matter."
Shep had, indeed, received orders from Jon Brewer to return to the lakeside mansion to update the key players on the situation. The problem was that Shepherd was not sure of the situation, other than the obvious: they were leaderless. Fortunately, few people knew that yet.
"General Shepherd, leave this operation to my people. We’ve been preparing to push west for some time. Once we take control of the areas around Dayton we’ll be in a better position to analyze what happened. Until then, you’re just getting in my way."
Shep’s eyes widened. "Oh, now, we wouldn’t want to have that, now would we?"
Hoth did not respond. Shepherd knew Hoth did not need to respond because Shep figured that everyone in that room knew Hoth was right. Including Jerry.
Shep rubbed his tired eyes. "I suppose I’ll catch a flight back, then."
"All three of my Eagle shuttles are committed. You’ll need to take the train."
"Oh? Is that a fact?" The edge returned to the senior General’s voice.
Hoth chased that edge away. "It might be a good idea if you headed for the station right away. If memory serves, Captain Forest is taking the next train back east, too. It would be a good idea for her to be escorted by someone who knows her."
Shepherd bit his tongue yet again, nearly hard enough to draw blood, and mumbled, "Well, then, I guess that’s that. You have a really nice day now, you hear?"
Hoth heard.
– Jon Brewer and Ashley stood in the second floor office at the mansion. Gordon Knox sat in a chair along the wall.
"What do you mean, ‘missing’?"
"According to what Jerry Shepherd saw, the building Trevor entered vanished. Simply disappeared with everyone inside. We searched the area but found no trace. Once the area is secured by Army Group North we'll send Omar and science teams to the site to evaluate what actually happened."
"I don’t understand. He said he was going to Ohio to surprise the troops to boost morale. He didn’t tell me anything about leading a mission."
Jon paused, his eyes wandered, and he rocked back on his heals as he summoned the explanation he recently concocted. "Well, you know Trevor, um, he just got, well, out there and decided to do this, I guess."
Ashley’s eyes narrowed and locked on him, her mouth opened a little. Jon heard her thought as clearly as if she spoke the words, I can’t believe it. You just lied to me.
Jon looked at the floor.
"I see," she spoke in something akin to a growl. "And exactly what was this spur of the moment adventure he went off on?"
"One of our Special Forces units went missing. He decided to lead a rescue mission."
"A special forces unit?"
"It was the Dark Wolves. They’ve been our best over the years."
Ashley asked, "What was this building? What was in there? Who was in there?"
Brewer tried to slow things down. "Shep is on his way here to fill in the details. Like I said, he was on the ground with Trevor when it happened. Maybe he can shine light on all of this. But, hey, Ashley, according to the reports Trevor was alive when the place disappeared."
Gordon Knox sat in his chair observing the conversation without saying a word. Ashley decided to drag him in. "Gordon. What do you know about this building? What do you know about the aliens that took Trevor?"
Jon could only guess at how much Gordon knew about Trevor and Nina's relationship. On one hand, he had not joined the movement until long after that episode. At the same time, his business was information and he had grown close to Trevor in recent years.
Knox replied, "Well, they weren’t aliens. Isn’t that right, Jon?"
"People?" Ashley turned fast on Brewer. "Why didn’t you tell me that? Who were they?"
"Calm down," Jon raised a reassuring hand but he quickly realized that Ashley now looked to Gordon for answers.
"Anita has nothing on record that matches the type of structure Shepherd says he saw. Captain. Forest went to the area originally after receiving a radio transmission requesting help."
"Forest?"
Gordon said, "Captain Nina Forest. She’s the commanding officer of the Dark Wolves."
"I know that name."
"Yes you do," Jon tried desperately to gain control over the conversation. "Nina was one of the original band of survivors. She and Shep came to the estate those first few months."