Dark Coup (23 page)

“I didn’t mention that the CDC has a location in Fort Collins, Colorado,” Hodges said.

“Which is only…” Sanford started.

“About seventy miles north of the Denver International Airport,” Tuttle finished.

Chapter Twenty-Three

“Something’s been eating at you ever since we got here,” Kyle said as he and Eric walked around the perimeter of the hangars at the airport.  “Your head hasn’t really been in it, and I don’t mean like before we left the base.”

“I’m fine,” Eric said.

“Oh,” Kyle said and rolled his eyes.  “I see.  You’re fine.  And I suppose you just want to be friends now, too.  It isn’t me, it’s you…”

“Knock it off, man,” Eric said.

“Then cut the BS and tell me what’s going on,” Kyle said.  “You obviously aren’t happy here.”

“No,” Eric said.  “I’m not.”

Eric’s frankness surprised Kyle.  “Ok,” he said.  “Admitting you have a problem is…”

“It’s not a problem,” Eric interrupted, “and it’s not a joke.  When we left, when
I
wanted to leave, it was to get away from everything–from all this.  Now what are we doing?  We’re still right here, not very far from where we started, and we’re building another town.”

Eric shook his head.  “This isn’t what I wanted, Kyle,” he said.  “I needed some space.  I didn’t want to be alone, but I didn’t want…”  Eric shrugged and looked around.  “I didn’t want
this
.”

“I’m sorry,” Kyle said.

“You don’t need to apologize,” Eric said.  “I’m a big boy, I could have said no at any step of the way.  I’m glad you found Amanda.  She and William
need
you and I think you need them too.  I’m happy for you, I really am.  At the same time this just isn’t what I wanted, what I want.”

Kyle shook his head as he looked around.  “I don’t know that
this
is going to work anyway,” he said.  “At least not here.”

“Probably not,” Eric agreed.  “The buildings here are no better than the ones in Redemption, or anywhere else for that matter, and log cabins just aren’t going to happen.”

“Nope,” Kyle agreed.  “Wrong kind of trees and not nearly enough of them for the numbers we need.”

“And we can’t live in the trailers forever,” Eric continued.  “Although they certainly didn’t skimp on the ones they picked.”

“True,” Kyle said.  “You’re getting at something, though.  Spit it out.”

Eric stopped between the hangars and the maintenance building.  “We both know this is temporary,” he said, “everything about it.  The location, transportation, the food situation; none of it is going to work long term.  You said it when we first got here.  We were lucky that they hadn’t dropped the Black Hawks here already, but what if they had?”

Kyle frowned and looked around.  “So where do you think we should go,” Kyle asked.  “I agree.  This isn’t ideal.”

At the look on Eric’s face Kyle gave in.  “Okay, fine,” he said.  “We have hardly any water or food, no livestock, no fields for crops–and no seeds anyway.  Obviously we have to do something, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to go beg at the base…at least not yet.”

Eric shook his head.  “Furthest thing from my mind,” he said.

…

“So how are things going,” Joel asked, “wherever you guys are?”

“We’re not dead yet,” Eric said, “which is a plus.  But where we are isn’t going to work long-term, and frankly, I think Mallory is going to want to take this place over eventually.  I’ll tell you where we are when we’re ready to leave.”

Joel snorted.  “Fair enough, I guess,” he said.  “So, to what do I owe the honor?”

“How is The Barge doing,” Eric asked, referring to the Bar-G horse ranch.  The Barge was what Travis was constantly telling people to call it.  “The last time I was down there was a month or so before…” Eric paused for a second, “before the quarantine.”

“Travis is doing pretty well,” Joel said.  “We’ve got probably a hundred people down there more or less full time to help the ranch hands he had before.  He’s up over a hundred head in his herd at last count.  Mostly Quarter Horses and maybe a dozen draft horses; Percherons, and a team of Belgians with an additional mare, I think.  He’s complaining that they’ll eat him out of house and home, but that hasn’t stopped him from breeding every last mare this year.”

“Is he ready to start doing business, do you think,” Eric asked.

“Uhm,” Joel said, stalling, “I don’t know.  But you need to know that the base is first in line, because they loaned him the portable mill and the manpower.”

“Hmmm,” Eric muttered.  “I can see the portable mill, but unless Mallory’s footing the bill for room and board, I don’t see how she can hold manpower over his head, or at least not much.”

“Fair point,” Joel said.  “I’ll let you be the one to bring that up, though.”

“If I can work it right,” Eric said with a laugh, “I’ll let
Travis
be the one to bring it up.”

…

“Mr. Gibson,” Eric said as he got out of his truck.

“Please, call me Travis,” Travis said.

“Okay, Travis,” Eric said and stuck out his hand.  “Eric Tripp, I don’t know if you remember me or not.  I’ve been here a couple of times but we’ve never actually met.”

“I do,” Travis said, “but last time it was
Captain
Tripp if I’m not mistaken.  I don’t see any insignia or do-dads on the uniform, though.  I assume there’s been a change in situation.”

“There has,” Eric said.  “As far as I know it was amicable and no, I didn’t get kicked out.  I won’t bore you with the details but…”  Eric gave Travis a brief history of why he’d left.

Travis nodded.  “I’m sorry to hear that, Eric,” he said.  “You have my sympathies and condolences.  Believe me; I know how fragile life is and how quickly things can change.  But that’s not what brings you out here today, is it?”

“No, sir, I’d like to talk to you about some horses,” Eric said as they walked towards an arena and numerous paddocks where colorful horses were grazing, exercising, resting, or being groomed.  “I know the base has first dibs because of the saw mill and maybe because of the manpower…”

“Maybe not so much on the manpower,” Travis said.  “Most of these folks live here full-time now, and I’m providing for them.  Don’t get me wrong, while the initial influx of helping hands was great, it isn’t like the Major is sending down food and clothing for them on a regular basis or helping to build the bunkhouses or family cabins.”

It was Eric’s turn to nod.  At least he wasn’t going to have to convince the rancher that the base’s initial take of horses wasn’t going to be as big as Mallory might have hoped.

“I understand you’ve got mostly Quarter Horses,” Eric said, “with a few draft breeds.  Has the Major indicated what she’s most interested in to start with?”

“She’s said she would like the Quarters at first because they’re the most versatile,” Travis said, “although they are
not
draft horses.  You can only work them so long in harness or pulling something before they have to be switched out.  What are you looking for?”

“A combination,” Eric said, “but I understand that you’ve got to keep your breeding stock intact.  Before I get into that though, I assume you have a blacksmith?”

“I have a farrier with
some
blacksmithing capabilities,” Travis said.  “We make our own horseshoes and a few odds and ends.”

“How are you set for coal,” Eric asked.

“I’m almost completely out,” Travis said, “but we’ve been making and using our own charcoal.  It’s not nearly as efficient, but it gets the job done.  Can you get me actual coal?”

“Possibly,” Eric said.  “If I can, can your farrier make iron rims for wagon wheels?”

Travis’s eyes lit up.  “He may very well be able to, yes,” he said and then stopped.  “We’re going to need some additional metal stock though.  How many are you thinking?”

“Honestly,” Eric said, “I don’t know for sure.   Not less than ten, but it could be as many as forty.”

Travis’s jaw dropped.  “A hundred-and-sixty wheels,” he almost shouted.  “Are you crazy?  I’ll definitely need more stock…like, a
lot
more stock.”

Eric grinned.  “Actually,” Eric said, “since I
don’t
have anyone with blacksmithing experience, it’ll probably need to be more like two-hundred-wheels.  You know, a spare for each wagon.”

Travis just looked at Eric.  “This is going to take some time,” he said, “and once it starts, word is going to get out, you know.”

“Oh, I’m sure it will,” Eric said.  “In fact, you could become a very wealthy man in short order by making wagons
and
selling the horses to go with them.  It’s my job to come up with something to sell back to
you
.”

“Aside from the idea,” Travis asked.

“This was just to get you doing what
I
need you to do for me,” Eric said.  “Now, here’s what I think I can do for
you
…”

…

“How’d it go,” Kyle asked when Eric got back to the airport.

“Pretty good,” Eric said.  “I may have created a monster though.  You should have seen his eyes light up at the mention of wagon wheels and wagons in general, and he was almost as interested in getting his hands on actual coal for his forge as anything else.  He’s shrewd, I’ll give him that.”

“Any idea on time frame,” Kyle asked, “on anything?”

Eric shook his head.  “Unfortunately not,” he said.  “He’s let the base know that the herd is to a point that he’s willing to start trading, but hasn’t heard anything back.  He’s going to let them know that the window for them to exercise their first right of refusal is finite because he can’t just let the herd keep growing while they sit there and can’t make a decision.  He’s even willing to hold onto any horses they want for as long as they need since the base is most likely not set up to take care of them yet, but they need to figure it out, and soon.”

Kyle grinned.  “Why does that warm my heart,” he asked.

“Because you hold a grudge like nobody I’ve ever met,” Eric said, “and you’ve been looking for a way to stick it to Mallory.”

Kyle put on a pained expression.  “What on earth could make you say such a thing,” he asked.

“April 7, 2003,” Eric started.  “We were on the outskirts of Baghdad…”

“Don’t you say another word,” Kyle growled.  “That was
not
my fault.”

“It never is,” Eric said with a grin.

“I hadn’t even had anything to drink yet,” Kyle said with a slight whine to his voice.

“And yet seven years later…” Eric poked.

“He deserved it,” Kyle said.  “Pure and simple, and now it’s forgiven…and had been forgotten until just now.  Thanks a lot, three years of therapy, pfft, gone!”

“Right,” Eric said his grin wider than ever.

…

“I know nothing about horses,” Mallory said to her command group, “but we need to make some decisions or we’re going to lose our place in line with the Bar-G.  Apparently, Mr. Gibson’s herd is up to the point that he can start making trades and doing business and we’re holding up the works.”

Stewart and Jackson looked at each other then looked at Halstead, but avoided looking at the Major directly.

“What,” she asked.  “What am I missing this time?”

“Well, Ma’am,” Halstead said, being the most senior in the room, “what everybody is trying to avoid saying, and failing miserably at bringing up, is that none of us really has any experience with horses either.”

“But…” Mallory prodded.

“But,” Halstead continued with a sigh, “we used to have someone who grew up on a farm.”

“Who,” Mallory started to ask and then cut off the question in mid-breath.  “Oh for the love of… That man will be the death of me.”

“We’ll ask around and see who else can help out,” Stewart said.

“Where are we going to put them,” Jackson asked, being a bit more practical.

“They’ll stay at the ranch for the time being,” Mallory said.  “And Mr. Gibson will keep the saw mill in trade.  We also talked about the fact that he’s providing for the people that are working there and, frankly, it’s a load off our backs that we don’t have to worry about them, so I’m not pushing for the labor to be included in the deal.”

The three men nodded.  That seemed only fair.

“We’ll get to it and should have at least one person who can tell a mare from a stallion by tonight,” Halstead said.

…

“I can get you the coal,” Eric said as he got out of his truck.

“Before you say anything more,” Travis said, “we need to talk.”  Travis didn’t look upset, but he didn’t look like he was pleased with what he was going to have to say either.

Kyle and Eric had already made a run to the abandoned power plant and grabbed a couple full truckloads of coal and Eric was planning on coming down in the next day or two to drop it off.  He even had a couple of burlap sacks in the back of the truck now as a gesture of good faith.  He hoped he wasn’t going to have to learn how to build coal-burning fireplaces to use what he and Kyle had gone out and grabbed.

“So…” Eric prompted after they’d walked away from the bulk of people and towards one of the newly-constructed outbuildings.

“My farrier isn’t going to be able to make the wheel rims,” Travis said.  “We discussed it and he just doesn’t have the skill or the tools.  The forge isn’t large enough, and although he’s seen it done a couple of times, it was a long time ago and there was a bunch of, well, special equipment used to forge it and put it on the wheel.”

Eric bit his lip.

“Even building the wheels and hubs is a specialized craft,” Travis continued.  “I had no idea when I tentatively agreed what I was getting myself into.”

Eric nodded.  It looked like he may be learning how to build fireplaces after all.

“However,” Travis said as he started walking towards the building, “all is not lost.  I can’t put iron rims on wooden wheels, but who said they had to be iron rims or wooden wheels?”

Travis opened the door and ushered Eric into what was apparently a workshop.  It took several seconds for Eric’s eyes to adjust, but when they did he couldn’t help but smile.

In front of him lay the beginnings of a wagon.  The skeleton showed that it would have a wooden bottom and sides, and it obviously had wooden axles.  What was just as obvious was that it had been fitted with four automobile wheels and tires.  More precisely, they looked to be off of a truck or SUV.