Re: Phase 1 Complete
As she relaxed, Clarke reflected on how the day had gone.
The early meeting had gone off very well indeed, then the transport to UBC. The VIPs were given lunch, then the tour of the community. They were very impressed with the facilities and organisation.
There was an agreement of cooperation between West Vancouver and the civil government. Not just mutual protection, but Clarke was able to promise MacArthur that in time he would have a supply of coal from the Island where it was ample. Enough to run his train, or one day soon provide heat and electrical power.
Also, the government on the Island could supply considerable amounts of small arms and ammunition, which could be made in simple basement shops. Unfortunately, electronics and complicated weapons simply weren't possible.
Meanwhile, her team had done a few housekeeping tasks like cleaning weapons and so on, then some had caught up on a little sleep.
In the evening it started raining, and the VIPs decided to stay the night.
Clarke had a beer with her people, but cut it short as this conflicted with the CF's formerly ironclad tradition of social separation between the officers and "other ranks" (enlisted). As this wasn't too big a breach of protocol, it was forgivable, and she did have important work to do.
She was to meet with Belanger, Taras and Bulat. Taras' idea for an intelligence gathering unit (as yet unnamed) had gotten a lot of interest. Tomorrow they would start sending the word for volunteers from not only UBC and West Van, but the Musqueam. Also, the next day the RCMP would start fanning out through the neighborhood of Kitsilano and Kerrisdale, taking a census.
Of course, the discussion turned to the Stickmen.
Rumour was there was up to a hundred of them, but no firm numbers. Their origins were uncertain. They used a low-tech organisation that nonetheless showed a high degree of sophistication and discipline. Somehow, they had quantities of liquid fuel, enough to use as petrol bombs.
Not only were they able to detect and react to incursions on their territory, they were capable of planning and launching a retaliatory strike far from their own territory.
One possible angle was that, big as the park was, they possibly couldn't get all they needed to survive from it. The fishing boats they'd seen on Burrard Inlet could have belonged to them, and it was possible they also traded with people either in the West End, the urban neighborhood that was in between the downtown and the park.
Back at the bar, Andy, Mac and Kelsey hung out and flirted with some of the locals. They were former UBC students, teachers, staff and refugees from elsewhere in the city. Although many of the younger ones seemed a little on the hippie side, no one seemed to hold the fact they were soldiers were against them. Sam, the reporter, came in and sat with them, chatting but not talking business.
It was only around 2100 hours or so, but this was a working agricultural community, and it was clear that the party wasn't going to go very late, if at all.