Khandola listened to his radio, then informed Lee of the transmission.
"we have elements in place covering the east and western entrances to the shipyard."
He then reminded Taras that his vehicle was parked elsewhere, a short walk away.
"Taras, your jeep is still parked a little ways away. You can walk there now to bring it here, or I can drop you off to pick it up when we start moving."
It was still quite peaceful, with birds chirping in the trees and insects buzzing near the river's muddy edge.
Near the wharf, trash like a white plastic pail and truck tire was partially sunk into the black mire.
The ground was still metaphorically shifting under the team's feet. They had landed not unlike like the Canadian troops at Juno Beach in Normandy, prepared if necessary to wage immediate and bloody war in the ruins to restore order from chaos.
It started dawning on them that their mission had taken on a somewhat different slant. Instead of a black and white struggle to oust an invading faceless enemy, the conflict would be what was called after Gulf War II and before the Twilight War "Military Operations Other Than War" or "Effects Based Operations".
They had been briefed along these lines before leaving, but sometimes old habits and mindsets die hard. Of them all, Lee's experience in wartime policing had the most experience dealing in the uncomfortable interface between civilian and soldier.
Simply thinking in terms of firepower and maneuver would be insufficient, and conducting diplomacy down the barrel of a gun highly counter-productive. There would have to be an emphasis on "hearts and minds", non-violent conflict resolution, even working with their former enemies where it served their purpose.
Speaking of that, even the "Russian" guy wasn't actually Russian! Another element that wasn't quite as clear-cut as expected.
Another 10 minutes or so passed as the LAV was winched over the end of the wharf, then gently lowered to the wooden planks. The weathered timber squealed in protest as 16 plus tons settled on them. Next was the trailer, and the crew began preparing that for relocation to behind the LAV.
Up on the roof, McRae came alert as he spotted a blue Chevy van driving south down Balaclava towards the reaction element blocking the intersection with Celtic. The vehicle and occupants seemed to be familiar to the Mountie and the militia waiting there.
The Mountie stepped into the road in front of the van. It stopped so he could talk to the driver, then motioned the van off to the shoulder so that it wasn't blocking the road.
On the hood was the well-known symbol of Canada's public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, aks "CBC" aka the "Mother Corp.". It had been over a year since any one of the newcomers had seen or even heard of the like.
McRae saw what looked to be a woman, an honest-to-God reporter accompanied by a cameraman get out the side and passenger door of the van. While the reporter asked the Mountie some kind of question, the cameraman put his video camera on his shoulder and commenced videotaping the scene. The sound man/driver maneuvered a boom microphone out the window above the reporter's head.
In the yard, again, Khandola listened to his radio.
"It seems the local media has arrived. They are volunteers, mostly former CBC employees and telecommunications students. Their work is supposedly for posterity, and they are fixing up one of the television transmitters here on campus."
"Apparently, this is a historic occasion. They wish to get a statement from your spokesperson regarding your mission, if you have one."
"I have had much experience in dealing with these people, and trust me, telling them "no comment" or ignoring them only whets their appetite and sharpens their persistence."
It seemed there was a note of amused resignation in his voice over the situation.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:31, Sat 02 Feb 2008.