Colonel Zwerinski’s reaction raised my interest in the approaching group. From what he’d told me, the Garrison Commander of Redstone Arsenal was also a colonel, albeit an active-duty one. While I was sure he would salute the Garrison Commander, something about his reaction made me suspect there was a general among those approaching us.

Yeah, you heard me, a general.

It seemed counterintuitive to me. Why would a colonel command Redstone Arsenal if there were multiple generals present? Zwerinski had insisted that's the way it was, though. Apparently the colonel’s job was to manage the logistics of the base itself, while the generals often headed army-wide organizations headquartered here.

I honestly felt a little nervous. I’d gotten used to Colonel Zwerinski, but… were generals easy to offend? I felt like they would be. Maybe I should listen to Chester and be more respectful, if I could even figure out what that meant.

Gavin, not privy to my internal musings and unaware of Colonel Zwerinski’s tensely attentive stance, rushed the gate. To his credit, he did stop before exiting the “safety” of the enclosed area, instead scrambling up the fence and yelling. “That is AMAZING! It is like the biggest paper airplane EVER! Can I ride it too? I bet I can hold on tight enough. I have a Super Tail that is super strong! I found a cool rock by the water with lots of stripes, but I will give you it if you let me have a ride.”

I am sure everyone aboard the aircraft had ready responses prepared for a multitude of threats and situations, but how do you plan for Gavin?

By ignoring him, apparently.

It was clear from the way the approaching group arranged itself that the important one among their number was a balding elderly man with a quartet of stars on his shoulder. His escorts, three young people in military fatigues, let their eyes widen at Gavin’s shouts, but did not respond to him directly.

Gavin hopped down from the fence as they entered, but I was ready to grab him.

“Mom!” he whined, straining at my grip. “I need to give them my cool rock so they let me on their flyer!”

“Do you think they’ll take a rude boy flying with them?” I hissed.

Gavin slumped. “No…”

“They’re here to talk to Colonel Zwerinski. Don’t interrupt.”

“But I need to give them my rock!”

“Wait.”

“And then they’ll let me fly?”

“Kid, I doubt I’m gonna let you fly. But I’ll let you talk to them about it, if you can be patient.”

Gavin wasn’t happy, but he’d gotten the message: without good behavior, his chances of flight dropped from “low” to “none.” With a look of fierce determination, he grabbed my hand and dragged me over to where the newcomers were greeting the colonel.

I’d missed introductions while persuading Gavin not to cause a diplomatic incident. The leader had a smile on his face.

“...formally welcome you back. You’re a credit to the service.”

Well, anything else would have been asinine, but it was still good to hear. Colonel Zwerinski didn’t let his posture relax one hair, but some of the tension left his face.

The leader continued talking. “Now, as for this Fort Autumn of yours… Who is in command in your absence?”

“I remain in command, sir. I have Mental Speech and several supporting abilities, and we empowered a communication specialist before we left. We can converse at will.”

His response elicited a frown. “That’s not acceptable. You can only communicate with one person, who could interpret your orders as they choose. I can spare Major Fitzgerald to take command until you can return. Airman Stevens can drop him off.” He gestured at the woman in his escort.

“What? You can’t just… send some random person out and say they’re in charge.”

It was only after both the colonel and the general turned to look at me that I realized I’d interrupted. I felt my face get hot, but didn’t back down.

The general’s voice was dry. “That is, in fact, exactly what I can do. We are undeniably in a state of emergency, which puts authority in the hands of the military, Miss…?”

Colonel Zwerinski jumped in at his implied question. “General Heggins, sir, please allow me to introduce Meghan Moretti. She’s the woman who owns the Shop at the heart of Fort Autumn, and she and her family are traveling with us because she owns a second Shop blueprint. We intend to set it up northeast of here to alleviate the food shortages that led to our people’s capture.”

“Two Shop blueprints? I assume you got one from the Novelty challenge, but what was your source for the second?”

As I explained, his face grew sharp and thoughtful. “Very interesting. The aliens described the event as the ‘first’ mandatory trial, so we can expect more of the same. We paired up the strongest available soldiers with our weakest civilians to attempt to ensure their survival, but we should consider arranging for strike teams to take on the biggest challenges in future trials.”

“That’s probably a good call,” I said, “But I’m still telling you that you don’t need to send someone out to ‘command’ us. We can handle things ourselves. We’re organized, we’ve got civil elections planned. Fort Autumn is much tougher than what you’ve set up at this outpost. We’ve defended the Shop successfully once already. And that was before we got walls raised!”

“You’ve defended…?” His eyes slid to Dane. “I’ll need a full debriefing on that, colonel. Also… why are you holding elections? That’s a distraction in a crisis like this. Just appoint a civil leader and move on.”

“I had issues persuading civilians to accept my authority, sir. This was a compromise solution.”

General Heggins’ face darkened. “US citizens have a duty to follow the lead of the military during a breakdown of civil authority. I’m disappointed.”

I snorted, drawing the attention of both officers. The snort had been unintentional, but I wouldn't apologize for it. This guy needed a reality check. “You want to talk about duty? What’s the duty of the US military? Aren’t you supposed to be protecting us? You weren’t there when rams broke into houses and killed my neighbors. You weren’t there when an armed gang took prisoners to blackmail their families into obedience. You weren’t there when that same armed gang led an all-out attack on my house that left over a dozen people dead.” I shook my head. “I’m a stay-at-home mom, or I was. I’m not supposed to have to kill people to defend my home. Since I do have to, the rules change a little, don’t you think?”

As I spoke, the general’s face grew stiffer and less expressive. “You think we ought to have been able to predict and prepare for this? If anyone in the US government had the slightest hint this was coming, no rumor reached me. And at my clearance, it ought to have done so.”

I rubbed my forehead, frustrated. “I’m not blaming you. Well, not intellectually, anyhow. I’m just saying that if we’re taking on roles that ought not to have been ours, it’s fair that we take on some of the authority too.”

“Fair.” His face was a blank mask. “Ms. Moretti, do you know who I am?”

“General Heggins?”

He shook his head. “That is my name. I was referring to my role. I am the head of Army Materiel Command. We are responsible for the US army’s supplies, which includes procurement as well as distribution. That leaves me as the local ranking officer with the greatest familiarity with the domestic landscape, and as such, I am in charge of our efforts to reconnect with the US government and stabilize the region. I recognize that the situation is… beyond unusual. Unforeseeable, perhaps. But we are still a country. We still need to confront this threat together. We cannot break down into a thousand dictatorships, whether it is fair or not.”

Many of General Heggins’ arguments echoed sentiments I’d expressed myself, but my life had so many changes forced on it. I tried to make my tone calm and my words polite.

“Look, sir, I can’t say you’re wrong. But we’ve accepted Colonel Zwerinski’s leadership, and he’s part of your command structure. You don’t need to do this. It’s going to upset people. We’ve worked so hard to get control of our lives again. Don’t take that away.”

“Ms. Moretti, you seem to misunderstand. This ‘Fort Autumn’ of yours is not the only place I will bring under military control. Airman Stevens will be patrolling the metropolitan area and looking for any organized groups, and we will be providing leadership to each. She’ll also be looking for spots in need of organization and food, so we can dispatch teams to crisis areas. Everyone involved will benefit from sharing information and resources. Later, she or others like her will be sent on long-range missions to reconnect with other military installations and, eventually, our state and national government.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. I agreed with all of his goals, but I still didn’t like the idea of some random “Major Fitzgerald” showing up and throwing his weight around.

It’s just until the colonel gets done with this mission, I comforted myself. And I definitely want to know what’s going on in the rest of the country. Vince is so far away.

I didn’t really have the capability to prevent the general from sending someone out. I’d learned to divide the problems I faced, and this had to be filed in the “things I can’t change” box.

For now.

If I got back to Fort Autumn and disagreed with how things were going, I could start causing trouble then.

Satisfied by my silence, General Heggins refocused on Colonel Zwerinski. “You said you needed support to negotiate for your hostages’ release? We do have a man who was part of the team during the 2013 bunker crisis. I can send Stevens to get him.”

“I’d appreciate that, sir. Any chance of shaking loose a platoon for me?”

General Heggins grimaced. “We’re stretched pretty thin. We’ve re-enlisted a lot of the ex-military among the Arsenal employees, and we’ve drafted the majority of our civilians, but the new people need training, and all our transport specialists are working full-time getting food and water to people.”

“But sir, a new Shop-”

General Heggins held up a hand, “A new Shop clearly needs protecting. We’ve located five Shops thus far - six, including yours, Ms. Moretti - and two no longer function.”

That alarmed me. “Why? What happened to them?”

“We haven’t been able to gather specific intelligence.” He paused for a moment, as if debating saying more, but seemed to decide not to. “Regardless, I simply can’t dispatch troops in the numbers any of us would like, not if you want to get moving quickly. If you want to wait a few days, we’ll be far more ready to provide support.”

Colonel Zwerinski shook his head. “The situation is likely to deteriorate sharply, not just for our people, but for the civilians in the area in need of food.”

“I concur, even if it limits the support I can provide. Wait an hour. I can get you a squad with their own ground transportation, as well as a combat engineer. The engineer doesn’t have a supporting ability set, but his expertise will likely prove useful in selecting a site. I’ll send reinforcements after you’re entrenched.”

“Thank you, sir. We’ll make it work.”

The general turned. “Stevens! Head back to HQ and pick up Major White. I want to introduce him to the colonel here so we can stay in contact through the Mental Speech.”

“Uh, before she leaves…”

“Yes? Ms. Moretti.” The general turned toward me, his mouth pressed in a thin line. I’d interrupted him several times. This was important, though.

“If you have anyone with an Information Assistant, my daughter has hers with us. I know we’re in a time crunch, but even a brief exchange would let them share their most vital information. Pointy has made significant inroads on translating the alien language in the video files.”

His frown became thoughtful. “Noted. Thank you for the information.”

By my side, Gavin made a disgusted noise. “NO! Before she leaves I need to trade her my cool rock so she will take me flying!”