“We sure are. I’m Sergeant Squid, the guy who called you.”
“Is this a safe area to set up a CP?”
“Yes.”
Denke pumped “Squid” for more information, using the SOP. Finally Denke turned to Jazz and frowned.
“Okay, sir, get dressed.”
NINETEEN
Ten minutes later Jazz and Quinn, dressed in bomb suits, drove slowly toward the demolition range where the vehicle was supposed to be. Quinn was Jazz’s P2. He sat on the tailgate of the HUMMVEE and payed out the hard-wire comm reel.
As they got closer, Jazz could make out a government sedan. Yurwitz was leaning on it. He figured that it must be the “vehicle.” Yurwitz was there to grade his performance.
They stopped forty feet away and hopped out of their vehicle.
“Walk the box down next to the vehicle while I get situated,” said Jazz.
“Aye, aye, Lieutenant.”
Quinn reeled the comm box out more and set it next to the vehicle as Jazz put on the response pack and grabbed the portable x-ray.
“Great, Quinn. Thanks. Now return to the CP. Let me know when you get there.”
“Hooya, LT.”
Quinn jogged stiffly back to the CP under the weight of the Kevlar.
Jazz studied the gym bag through the car window. He swept the opening with his penlight. The OIC spoke loudly so the comm box would pickup his voice.
“CP, P1. I can see in this bag pretty well. Inside is a box that is opened just a little bit. I can make out some dynamite, a timer, and a blasting cap into the dynamite.
Denke’s voice came back at him. “Is it ticking?”
“No.”
“Sure it ain’t road flares and an alarm clock, LT?”
Jazz could hear his teammates laughing at the joke again in the background.
“No, it is not, Senior.”
“You are happy with everything you see?”
“Affirmative. It is in a cardboard box, but the box is partially opened. Did this guy open it?”
Knowing if the intended victim has opened the box could give the P1 some insight on the stability of the IED. If he opened it, it was disturbed at least once.
“We’ll find out… so do we need to x-ray it?”
Everything was settling down in the CP. Ashland pulled out a paper copy of the sixty series publication on IEDs from the portable safe. He settled on the grass next to the dually and began to read.
Delgado sat on a camping stool in front of the computer set on the dually’s tailgate and began to log everything that was happening, especially the conversations between the CP and the P1. Sinclair finished setting up the detachment’s portable computer, also on the dually’s tailgate, and called up the CD-rom version of the 60 series pub that Ashland was reading.
“T-Ball,” Denke said. “Set up a second dearmer down the road a bit, closer downrange. Make sure you mark it with a bravo flag. We’ll use it as backup.”
“Roger that, Senior.”
“Sinclair, I want you to set up the developer for the x-ray.”
“No problem, Senior.”
T-Ball donned a flak jacket and helmet. He hopped into the bed of the dually and found the case marked “JEREMY.”
Thirty five feet in front of the CP he set it down and opened it. First he put on a set of protective glasses that were in the case, then he removed a red flag that signified the letter “B” or “BRAVO” in semaphore. This flag denoted explosives or flammable material present. He hung the flag from a tree branch. Next he extracted a stand of plywood and plastic pipe that the det used to store dearmers when they were primed with an explosive charge. T-Ball conducted the buildup of both tools as he had hundreds of times before.
Walking back to the CP he observed Denke and Keating talking together. It was obvious that they did not get along. T-Ball noted that he had great respect for both of them. He appreciated each of their leadership styles. Keating was a mentor, the kind of LCPO that coached you, let you make mistakes. Denke was a taskmaster of the old school, a disciplinarian, but men found they could accomplish much more under his scrutiny than they ever imagined.
T-Ball surmised that Keating was going to be the detachment’s “mother” while Denke was the “father” personality. The OIC would determine if Det Four would be close-knit or dysfunctional.
Jazz slipped off the response pack and removed a tripod from a long thin pocket on the side. He set the tripod up close to the car door and fastened the x-ray on top of it. Next he quickly placed the film cartridge so that it would capture the x-rays emissions.
He noted that Yurwitz was still leaning on the car observing him. The petty officer said nothing.
Jazz flipped a switch on the back of the x-ray and ran behind the HUMMVEE. Once there he keyed his radio.
“CP, P1. I just initialized the x-ray. Give me a wait time.”
Denke’s voice came back at him. “Roger. Do not forget, tools in- tools out, LT. We want you to bring everything home… Okay… time. Take some photos with the digital camera, do what ya gotta do, and come back.”
Jazz recovered the film cartridge and the x-ray. He grabbed the digital camera and took several quick photos of the scene, especially of the bag and its position in the car. He picked up the response pack and checked his digital photography on the display screen on the back of the camera. The IED came out clearly.
Fifteen minutes after arriving downrange, Jazz was driving back toward the CP.
When he arrived at the CP he noted that Quinn was still dressed out in a bomb suit bouncing on the balls of his feet. He appeared to be in the on deck circle. Jazz saw that Denke and Keating standing on the other side of the road from where the CP was set up. They seemed to be arguing. Potter and the other instructors were all leaning on their vehicle, arms crossed, silently observing.
Jazz took off his helmet and set it on the dually’s open tailgate. Delgado was still at the hardened laptop stationed there. Jazz removed the disk from the digital camera and handed it to him.
“Here’s the photos. Call’em up.”
Jazz handed his X-ray film cartridge to Sinclair to develop. The lieutenant expected Denke to come over and pump him for information… but he and Keating were still in conference. Jazz decided to give them their space.
After the film was developed, everyone huddled around the computer including Potter.
Finally Keating spoke. “Definitely a mercury switch there. Good photos, LT.”
“Thanks.”
“I say we hit it with a dearmer. It will probably go, but nobody will get killed and we may get lucky and do only minor damage to the car.”
“Negative,” said Denke. “Quinn’s gonna go down there and start cutting wires.”
Denke’s comment stung. He did not want Jazz to go back downrange again. Was this what the chiefs were fighting about?
“Senior Chief, Chief… come with me.”
Jazz spun on his heel and walked away from the group to the spot across the road where the chiefs had just been standing.
T-Ball expressed concern to his teammates as their khakis walked away.
“I gotta tell ya fellas… this could get ugly real fast…”
“Nah,” said Ash. “They’ll work it out. Giv’em time, these guys will work it out.”
“I dunno,” said Delgado. “They all seem pretty bull-headed, especially the lieutenant.”
“They may be bull-headed,” Ash agreed. “The time to worry fellas is when they stop talking. If Keating stops giving input and sits in the CP with a scowl on his face and his arms crossed over his chest… that is when the det is in trouble.”
Jazz heard the footsteps of his two senior enlisted behind him. When he was out of earshot of everyone else, he did another about face and faced them.