The Storm

Chapter Nineteen

The Upper Room

W e headed to another flight of stairs and then up to the third floor. As we went higher, I was amazed at the structural integrity of the old facility. Steel beams could be seen through the old walls and the sound of the creaking floor gave way to solid footing. We took a few steps to the right of the landing and were facing a white, framed door with chipped and peeling white paint curled up like small potato chips over the whole surface. Through the cracks around the door frame, I could see a flashing, blue light. A muffled, pulsing electrical sound could be heard through the old door. Gunny pushed opened the door and invited us to step in. The room was dark and illuminated only by three walls of electronic gear casting their eerie glow, that I have seen only in the movies about a black-ops command post. Henry spoke out, ”Goodnight, Gunny. What do you have goin' on here?” “Surveillance, Henry. Surveillance,” Gunny replied. “Who're you checkin' up on?” Henry asked. Gunny continued: “ Everyone that put us in the soup and anyone still lookin' to put us in the ground for our operations in Vietnam! I'm keepin' tabs on any dirty ops that are puttin' our guys at risk even today. I have satellite down-links, internet access, and security codes to the Pentagon, FBI, Homeland Security, and with agencies that support them. I have eyes on drone operations and airlift command. I have short wave transceivers and high frequency repeater radios that piggyback off sat- coms.”

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