She opened it. Inside was a handheld radio, not a standard competition radio, not an Iron Ridge unit, but a military specification encrypted communications device of the type. Rebecca recognized immediately and did not expect to see on a civilian emergency response competition site. She turned it over in her hands. She looked at the frequency settings.
He looked at Frank. "Where did this come from? " Frank said. Rebecca was quiet for a moment. She thought about the unauthorized access, the moved markers, the generator component that had been replaced with an identical incorrect part, the access road collapse that had blocked the primary egress. Each of those things individually had an innocent explanation.
Taken together with this radio in his hands, they told a different story. Someone had been on this site before this event with a specific purpose. The flares being removed was not theft flares were not valuable. The flares being removed meant someone did not want those flares available during this specific event. And the radio being placed meant someone wanted a specific communications capability present that was not part of the official event infrastructure.
Rebecca's training had given her a particular skill for pattern recognition in ambiguous situations. The pattern here was not ambiguous. Someone had intended for this event to become an emergency. The question was why lock this room, Rebecca said to Frank. Nobody comes in or out except our core team.
Don't tell anyone what you found yet. Frank nodded and moved to the door. Rebecca picked up her radio. Rachel, he said quietly. I need Gerald Hutchkins in this room right now.
A pause. Rebecca Gerald is in the medical tent helping Doc with Right now, Rachel. She heard the quality of her voice. Copy, she said. Gerald Hutchkins came through the door 4 minutes later, moving faster than his hip usually allowed.
She looked at Rebecca, then at the radio on the table. Her face did the same thing it had done in the front row of the exhibition, the thing where the color changed. You recognize that, Rebecca said. Gerald sat down heavily in the nearest chair. That's a Taccom 7, he said.
Encrypted tactical communications device, standard issue for certain joint special operations elements. She looked at Rebecca, the type that gets fielded when a team is operating in a location where they don't want their communications tracked by standard military monitoring. What kind of team uses that in a civilian location? The kind that's not supposed to be in a civilian location, Gerald said. Rebecca stood very still.
Gerald, is there anyone at this event who would have reason to want to communicate outside standard channels? Gerald looked at him for a long moment. I don't know who, he said. But I know what I'm looking at. And I know what it means when someone places a covert communications device in a civilian facility.
It means someone was planning to use this location for something other than what it's being used for. Yes. Or someone was planning to use this situation, Rebecca said quietly. A controlled emergency, isolated site, compromised communications, 200 people who can't leave. Gerald was very quiet.
You think this was manufactured? He said, I think some of it was accelerated. Rebecca said the storm was real. The storm was always coming, but the road collapsed, the generator component failure, the marker relocation, the missing flares. She paused.
Someone took a situation that was going to be difficult and made sure it became critical. To what end? Rebecca looked at the radio. I don't know yet, he said. But I know that 200 people on an isolated site in a crisis are a very controllable population.
She picked up the radio and someone wanted to control this population. 3:48 in the afternoon. Derek's third check-in came in 4 minutes late. The delay was 11 seconds over Rebecca's 15-minute standard, and those 11 seconds produced a specific quality of attention in the operations room that outsiders would not have recognized as fear, but was closely related to it. Then the radio crackled.
Operations, this is South team, we have a problem. Rachel looked at Rebecca. Rebecca picked up the radio. Derek, what's your situation? We're at the foot bridge junction.
The north return route is compromised. The secondary creek has overflowed its banks. The 40 m detour you gave me is underwater. We have 21 people and one carry assist and we cannot cross what's in front of us. A pause.
I need options. Rebecca looked at the map. She looked at it for 8 seconds. How deep is the overflow? Mid thigh on Crawford.
She went in to check. It's fast. How wide? 30 ft. Maybe 35.
Rebecca looked at the equipment inventory list. Derek, do you have the emergency rope kit? Yes. Two anchor trees on your side of the crossing. A pause.
Then yes. Cedar both of them. Big enough. Set attention. Traverse.