The Little Prince in the Ossuary

00083 — #LakeNight–

#On a lake night, Fort Roberts (2)

The regiment’s major executives gathered in the briefing room.

Everyone in the room was ranked at least a major, all except for Gyeo-ul, who was the only lieutenant. Despite the difference in rank, those assembled welcomed the boy officer’s presence. Gyeo-ul sat between Lieutenant Colonel Capston and First Battalion Commander Farrell Ramos on the other side. The commander smiled and said hello to him.

“This typhoon is still a problem.”

The regiment’s operations manager took his chance. There were three aerial photographs on the conference room’s front screen. They all showed reservoirs full of water, which looked dangerous at a glance.

“Let me get to the point. There are three dams that we need to secure.”

After zooming in on the first photo, the operations manager dotted one side of it with a laser pointer.

“Our first goal is the Nacimiento Dam. It is located thirteen kilometers west of the base, and as you can see, the water level is dangerously high. It has a natural drainage structure when it reaches a dangerous level, but now it has more inflows than it can handle. According to the engineers’ calculations, it is likely that it will begin to collapse tomorrow afternoon at the latest.”

The regimental commander considered this for a few moments before asking, “How long will it take to collapse?”

“Once it starts, it’ll do so in a flash,” the operations manager promptly replied. “It’s because the Nacimiento Dam is a sand-built system. It’s pretty easy to understand if you think of pouring water into sand. If the dam were to collapse, the damage caused would be devastating. The rapids would reach the base in less than ten minutes, with an expected maximum flow rate of about twenty meters per second and a water level of more than six meters. So, we have to open all the floodgates.”

The murmuring rose at this. However, it was more of discontent than anxiety. An officer then raised his hand.

“The distance is so short that the occupation itself is a problem. Isn’t this warning too late? What have the engineers been doing?”

The construction and operation of dams in the United States was the responsibility of engineers. Therefore, engineering offices existed near major dams and beams. In the event of a problem with the facility, the primary responsibility was borne by the engineers.

However, not all responsibilities could be held solely by engineers. Apart from facility management, monitoring reservoirs and river levels was done in cooperation with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Amalgamation and the California Water Resources Administration.

The operations manager warned, “We should save time. Don’t make such meaningless complaints.”

“…”

The person who’d asked the question hesitated. He had thought it was an urgent situation. Even if the dam crumbled tomorrow, it was within four hours’ walking distance if you navigated properly.

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However, Gyeo-ul could understand. In the worst case, even if the floodgates were fully opened, the water level could still rise. Unless they knew how long the bad weather would continue, it was safest for them to hurry as fast as possible.

The briefing then continued.

“The next goal, the San Antonio Dam, is similar. It’s four kilometers north of the Nacimiento Dam, and it is expected to be easy to capture due to its proximity. In order to secure the two goals, we have a plan to deploy a company of engineers and a battalion at the same time. Please refer to the document I gave you.”

Gyeo-ul looked at the black-and-white map on the document. The two dams were indeed close together. He could see the half-cut for Roberts on one edge of the map. The scale of the map was very large—one grid square was only a kilometer long. It was proof that the distance was short.

The regimental commander then raised a question. “The entire First Battalion? Do we need that much force to occupy only two dams?”

The operational manager nodded. “If we simply wanted to take control of the facility, we could send one platoon at a time. If they just opened the floodgates and came back, technically, it would be over. But I am concerned about the mutants’ activities. They’re intelligent enough to deliberately hide in the base and set fires to disrupt aviation operations. Didn’t you recently report that some mutants besides the special types use simple tools? They are unlikely to spend their time quietly when bad weather has made air reconnaissance and bombing less frequent.”

The regiment commander responded in an embarrassed manner. “Do you think the mutants will attack the dam?”

“It’s possible. We have to prepare for every case. Think of the Christmas Eve raid—we didn’t expect them to use the EMP.” He turned to Gyeo-ul. “Lieutenant, what do you think?”

Gyeo-ul was not ready, so he stayed quiet for a moment. In the meantime, all the audience’s attention was focused on him. Eventually, the operations manager said, “Give me your honest opinion. This is one of the reasons I called you.”

“…I certainly think there’s a possibility. But it could be the opposite.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ve checked out the Black Mountain several times on transport escorts, and intelligent mutants act as scouts. And, of course, they’re near the base right now. As you said, air reconnaissance has become less frequent, so there may be more of them than usual.”

“And?”

“They can identify the troops going to secure the dam, and they can understand the significance of it.”

This was a warning for the officers in attendance to be more realistic than the operations manager. Gyeo-ul thought that a Grumble could break a dam. Its power could turn a Humvee into scrap metal and destroy a house at once. It wouldn’t take so long to destroy the dam.

‘…Perhaps half a day?’

Small cracks would be more than enough to start the collapse. The rest would soon be achieved by water pressure.

When the crowd was convinced, the operations staff changed the screen. It was the third dam. The reservoir looked smaller than the previous two, but this was pretty relative.

“This is the last goal, the Salinas Dam. It is fifty-six kilometers from the base and about seventy kilometers by actual travel distance, and its risk is low. If this collapses, Fort Roberts is not expected to suffer any direct damage.”

This was all thanks to the recent drainage work, explained the operations manager. “But the San Ardo oil field downstream is different. It’s attached to the river, so it would definitely be flooded. If the refinery is damaged, it will be difficult to restore it.”

The regimental commander groaned. “That would be a problem. We’d better secure it regardless of the risk.”

“I agree, but… distance is the problem. The previous two goals are very close to the base, so sending a battalion is no burden. Because we can install wired networks, they can come back and provide support when things happen at the base and vice versa. But this one’s too far. We have no choice but to send a small force. Communication will be impossible because it is far away. It will be a dangerous mission.”

The operations manager stared at Gyeo-ul. He guessed that Lieutenant Colonel Capston had known this much. After all, he had a mission that required Gyeo-ul. When he chose someone to undertake a dangerous mission at Fort Roberts, he couldn’t just leave the boy officer out. It would have been the operational manager who’d had them call Gyeo-ul in the first place.

The regimental commander asked Gyeo-ul, “What is the lieutenant’s opinion? The staff thought you were the right person to attend the meeting.”

“I will obey your orders.”

“No, I want to hear your opinion. If you don’t like it, I’ll give it to someone else. You are a valuable asset. I don’t want to let you away from the base at a time like this.”

This was unexpected. Gyeo-ul shook his head after a moment of thought. “I’d better go.”

“Really? How many troops do you think you’ll need?”

“One platoon will be enough. It’s better than nothing.”

An embarrassing reaction then spread throughout.

“You’re pretty reckless. It will be impossible for you to defend the entire dam with one platoon.”

“I won’t have to defend it.”

“How come?”

“There are seven cities on the map between the base and the dam. It’s that long a distance. We could be exposed to a few of them on the way. But it will be impossible for them to keep up with the speed of the vehicle. So even if we’re found by mutants when we reach our destination, it’s very unlikely that they’ll realize the relationship between Fort Roberts and the dam.”

“Do you mean that even if mutants attacked, their target would be you and the platoon, not the dam?”

“Yes. That’s if we’re not tracked down by Tricksters—they can communicate with each other over long distances. But Tricksters aren’t that common. And on the map, there are no cities, no villages within a ten-kilometer radius of the Salinas Dam. How many mutants will be there? We could get in and out of the way without being seen by them.”

Gyeo-ul intended to walk from a certain distance. The Noisemaker would not be used, and the rain and wind would erase many sounds, anyway.

As usual, Third Battalion soldiers would be sent out to support the boy officer. Gyeo-ul wanted to take the alliance’s combatants with him, but that would be considered greedy. The command would not grant it; this was too important an operation to use refugee volunteers.

The regiment commander instructed Lieutenant Colonel Capston and his military and staff to give Gyeo-ul all the resources he requested. He seemed satisfied with the boy officer’s confidence.

Once their roles were set, the briefing was quickly completed.

Before leaving the room, Ramos asked Gyeo-ul to shake his hand. “You are always brave. Good luck, Lieutenant.”

“You too. The First Battalion will not be fully staffed yet. Take it easy.”

“I’m not as tough as you are. I looked at the records, and you were in all the major operations. If you were inside, I would have forced you to rest.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

The colonel patted the boy on the shoulder, smiled briefly at Capston, and left the briefing room. Capston then asked, “Is there a platoon you want in particular?”

“Well, people who have worked with me a lot would be better. In fact, I’d be satisfied if it was just Charlie Company. But just gather people from the applicants. As I told you earlier, I’m okay with just a platoon. I don’t want to force anybody to do anything dangerous.”

Especially Jeffrey and his platoon. They wouldn’t avoid Gyeo-ul’s request, but he was worried he used them too often.

Capston shook his head. “I’m worried about it. You won’t even be able to use a walkie-talkie. In the event of an unexpected accident, you will not be able to respond. There should at least be backup personnel there. Think about it again. Even if you asked for a whole company, they would approve it easily.”

He couldn’t use the radio because of the captured Trickster, which would detect the radio waves and follow them. Besides, it didn’t even go around alone. It had appeared alone on Christmas Eve only because it wanted to be caught by them.

Gyeo-ul formed a gentle smile. “Thank you for your concern. But it’s really okay. If we don’t want to be found by them, it’ll be better to have fewer numbers. Most of the eastern part of the dam is forest… and under the same conditions, it would be faster for me to find a mutant than for a mutant to find me. Even if I get caught by one, I can easily get away. But if there’s a lot of soldiers with me, it’ll be rather hard for me to handle them.”

“…I’ll try to find some candidates. I’ll get them together in the drill in half an hour. If you change your mind in the meantime, make sure to tell me.”

After saying goodbye to Capston, Gyeo-ul immediately moved to the training ground. The suppliers who had been instructed to go there first were waiting. With their help, Gyeo-ul loaded the vehicle with the necessary equipment, tools, food, and ammunition. In particular, he loaded plenty of food and fuel to prepare for the dam’s isolation.

‘It’s raining a lot. It’s not strange when the road is lost.’

The boy then reached out his hand to weigh the rain. It felt heavy on his gloves.

After waiting a while, he heard the sounds of footsteps on the wet ground. He could see Lieutenant Sullivan leading a company. He was the third platoon commander, and after the promotion of Lieutenant Colonel Capston, he had been appointed company commander.

The company lined up in the rain in front of Gyeo-ul.

Gyeo-ul tilted his head. “What’s brought you all out here?”

Sullivan replied, “Lieutenant, I heard you were looking for candidates?”

“Are you interested?”

“Well… the whole company volunteered for it. You can choose whoever you want.”

They all wore faces that seemed to hold back laughter. Gyeo-ul had now become a little bit difficult.