your family is gonna be just fine.” Seamus checked his watch. “Come on then, we better get to work. You’ll feel better once we get busy.”
Chapter 14
The private leaned forward and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Hey man, are you a secret agent or something?”
John Sanderson just frowned and looked out the door. They both wore headphones but Sanderson and the private were on different com channels and he wasn’t in the mood to shout over the deafening noise from the rotors. The crew chief seated next to Sanderson shook his head at the private. He kept his mouth shut for the rest of the flight as the UH-60 Blackhawk screamed above the treetops toward the Windigo power plant.
After a few quiet days at home, he was relieved to be in the chopper and out of the house. Out of the city. He hated to admit it, but the incident with Kodiak had left him feeling shaken as if it just happened yesterday. He’d been having trouble sleeping and just not feeling like himself since. He was glad to be out of the office, away from judging eyes, and away from Sara. Pretending everything was fine was turning out to be a task he just didn’t have the strength for anymore.
The Blackhawk pitched and the view through the door filled entirely with the lush forest just a few hundred feet below. Sanderson considered his inspections of the power plant one of his shit jobs beneath his pay grade. Ever since his own incident months ago, he was assigned to Windigo to keep him out of the field and off any actual missions while under probation. Despite having come out of the investigation in good standing and getting his mission status back, the Windigo assignment stuck. Some excuse about budget cuts, as usual.
He didn’t complain too loudly because he enjoyed the helicopter ride. The Windigo plant resided in one of the last remaining wooded areas in northern Wisconsin. The air was actually clean enough to breathe without a mask, and on a good day you might get lucky and see a patch or two of blue sky.
Since the land below him was under heavy restriction for hundreds of square miles, few citizens were even aware the vast woods in the north existed. The State worked very hard at restricting travel and making it as difficult as possible. As a result, most people rarely left the crowded city and suburbs to the south.
Sanderson took a deep breath of the air rushing into the cabin and let himself smile. The trip to the plant and back again ate up most of the day, but the view from the helicopter was always worth it. The contrast from the bleak and dreary city back home always lifted his spirits.
He wasn’t sure why the State bothered to build the power plants in such remote locations. It must’ve cost a fortune and they could easily hide them in plain sight in the city. After all, there isn’t anything all that mysterious about a power plant by nature to begin with. John shook his head at the thought. One could make a full time job out of questioning the motives and decisions made by the government. That kind of thinking would lead to nothing but trouble.
The Blackhawk circled above a clearing in the trees and the landing pad below. Windigo wasn’t much to look at from the air and even less so from the ground. A good majority of the installation was built underground. The structure above was painted in earth tones and blended in with the dense forest surrounding it.
The helicopter landed on the small square of tarmac and powered down. Sanderson got out behind the private and a couple of other young soldiers, probably new recruits assigned to the plant. Lieutenant Hendricks’s personal aide, Staff Sergeant Grant was waiting for him.
“Afternoon, Razorback,” he nodded.
“Sergeant.”
“How was the ride out?”
“Scenic as usual.”
As they walked to the security doors, Sanderson thought of his conversation with Victor Young on the day he learned Hank would be working at Windigo. Running into Hank would be unlikely.
Chapter 14
The private leaned forward and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Hey man, are you a secret agent or something?”
John Sanderson just frowned and looked out the door. They both wore headphones but Sanderson and the private were on different com channels and he wasn’t in the mood to shout over the deafening noise from the rotors. The crew chief seated next to Sanderson shook his head at the private. He kept his mouth shut for the rest of the flight as the UH-60 Blackhawk screamed above the treetops toward the Windigo power plant.
After a few quiet days at home, he was relieved to be in the chopper and out of the house. Out of the city. He hated to admit it, but the incident with Kodiak had left him feeling shaken as if it just happened yesterday. He’d been having trouble sleeping and just not feeling like himself since. He was glad to be out of the office, away from judging eyes, and away from Sara. Pretending everything was fine was turning out to be a task he just didn’t have the strength for anymore.
The Blackhawk pitched and the view through the door filled entirely with the lush forest just a few hundred feet below. Sanderson considered his inspections of the power plant one of his shit jobs beneath his pay grade. Ever since his own incident months ago, he was assigned to Windigo to keep him out of the field and off any actual missions while under probation. Despite having come out of the investigation in good standing and getting his mission status back, the Windigo assignment stuck. Some excuse about budget cuts, as usual.
He didn’t complain too loudly because he enjoyed the helicopter ride. The Windigo plant resided in one of the last remaining wooded areas in northern Wisconsin. The air was actually clean enough to breathe without a mask, and on a good day you might get lucky and see a patch or two of blue sky.
Since the land below him was under heavy restriction for hundreds of square miles, few citizens were even aware the vast woods in the north existed. The State worked very hard at restricting travel and making it as difficult as possible. As a result, most people rarely left the crowded city and suburbs to the south.
Sanderson took a deep breath of the air rushing into the cabin and let himself smile. The trip to the plant and back again ate up most of the day, but the view from the helicopter was always worth it. The contrast from the bleak and dreary city back home always lifted his spirits.
He wasn’t sure why the State bothered to build the power plants in such remote locations. It must’ve cost a fortune and they could easily hide them in plain sight in the city. After all, there isn’t anything all that mysterious about a power plant by nature to begin with. John shook his head at the thought. One could make a full time job out of questioning the motives and decisions made by the government. That kind of thinking would lead to nothing but trouble.
The Blackhawk circled above a clearing in the trees and the landing pad below. Windigo wasn’t much to look at from the air and even less so from the ground. A good majority of the installation was built underground. The structure above was painted in earth tones and blended in with the dense forest surrounding it.
The helicopter landed on the small square of tarmac and powered down. Sanderson got out behind the private and a couple of other young soldiers, probably new recruits assigned to the plant. Lieutenant Hendricks’s personal aide, Staff Sergeant Grant was waiting for him.
“Afternoon, Razorback,” he nodded.
“Sergeant.”
“How was the ride out?”
“Scenic as usual.”
As they walked to the security doors, Sanderson thought of his conversation with Victor Young on the day he learned Hank would be working at Windigo. Running into Hank would be unlikely.
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