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 Chapter 10

   The tests found many new chemicals that no one had any idea of how
humans would react to them.  There were funguses and other airborne issues
here as well.  Most of the insects seemed normal to their world.  The few
animals and lizards caught were also nothing new.  Plants seemed very
normal and not affected by the new chemicals or the airborne life forms.

   The scientists were not very worried about health problems with the
troops.  There just did not seem to be a key factor that would cause harm?
So now the decisions needed to be made.  David had found one location that
looked like it was a command center.

   Dink had been watching the goings on for some time now.  She saw men
leaving and watched them head into the mountains.  They just seemed to
disappear?  You saw them leave and start up the mountain and then all of a
sudden they just vanished.  It was there she decides the real HQ must be.
The large defensive fort was just to draw fighters into that position. 
Then they would be attacked from the rear.  But the mountainside must be
loaded with many caves and they had to connect someway?

   Debbie, Colonel Grinder and Joji was sitting at the table looking at the
many photos.  "I see several ways to handle this.  We can move a force in
as they wish, while placing one above them by chopper.  The one above has
the advantage of high ground and the one below the disadvantage of the low
ground.  The fort I see now value in at all?  But fighting these people in
the mountains is going to be there advantage, as it was to the fight in
Afghanistan.  So if I had my choice I would just ignore this place until it
becomes a problem." The Colonel was very much ready to just not do anything
here.

   David had listened to that over the video feed.  "I agree it is just a
bad killing zone.  I could most likely take it out with a fuel air
explosive.  But I would rather know it is a real problem before I do that.
We would leave a lot of dead bodies in those caves.  Of which I am sure
there are women and children.  That kind of killing happened when we fought
the Taliban far to often.  Of course here there are no reporters and news
crews to point out the results.  But I still don't like random killing
without knowing the enemy is there."

   "Here we know they have no respect for us and our ways.  We are seen a
cowards and not willing to fight.  So it is two different philosophies in
play here.  Ours values life and theirs does not." Debbie was on solid
ground.

   "We can't change either their ideas of ours.  So we will just kill off
their leaders for now.  David for now why not take a bunker buster and just
level the fort?  Lets see how they respond to that?" Dink wanted some
action taken and quickly.

   "You know we are limited on those bombs?"

   "We have them to use and I see no reason not to do so?  If you don't
agree then tell me why?" She had no time to play here.

   "I will take the fort out before your craft hit the beach.  No one will
see where the bomb came from and the aircraft will be at 30,000 feet.  So
no one will see it either as it will not be leaving a vapor trail.  Tell
your people to be very careful when going inside.  That place will not be
stable at all.  I expect they have many floors below ground that will get
taken out or weakened." David had his worries also.

   "Done we will go first thing in the morning.  Make sure the engineers
get the first look inside.  Give them red and green spray cans of paint to
mark where they have checked and what they found." That at least should
give them clues where things were not safe she thought?

   They broke up for the day and each had things to get ready for the next
morning.

   One land craft was loaded with engineers and one with troops.  Everyone
was well armed and looking forward to finally getting into a real fight. 
These troops had been there before and fighting was not new to them.

   The landing craft came onto the beach when they saw the fort literally
had crumbled.  There was no stone in any structural form, but a pile and
not one room or building stood.  When the craft stopped the engineers went
down and started climbing the piles of stone.  They were not finding live
bodies and most were not intact at all.  This place was a mess.

   Up the mountain you could see some dark clouds of dust coming from many
places in the mountain.  It was almost like the gasses from the bomb here
had pushed a cloud of debris in front of it underground.  Slowly people
came out of the many caves and were coughing and choked on the dust.  Men
with weapons were shot quickly by the troops.  A group of troops that had
been landed above these people herded them down the mountain.

   They were a ragged group of women and children mostly.  The language
could be understood, but you had to really listen.  It was a form of
Japanese that had not been used for thousands of years now.  But there were
common roots and listening you could follow what was being said.

   Joji had come this morning to question any prisoners they came up with.
He had worked on his language skills to assure he could clearly communicate
with these people.  So he was not surprised to learn that they had killed
no one of importance here.  It was just an outpost and had just lower
ranking officers.  The women and children were mostly the fighting men's.
But he did get answers as to where the main forts were.  It was just
assumed that he would know so why lie?

   He fixed the forts locations on photo maps and all were close to the
shorelines.  It seemed that the people who lived further inland had no use
for them.  If they tried to go that was they were met with force and killed
if possible.

   So the divisions between groups here were just as bad as in Joji's
world. Hate seemed to exist everywhere.  People were not tolerant of others
and that could cost you your life.  This was especially true after the
crash.  The EU broke apart because of national divisions.  For someone not
from that country to try to find work would bring death fast.  The same had
happened to him in Japan.  He had not been born there even though he was of
that race.  So he was an outsider and the government that had brought him
to Japan fell quickly after the flood of workers.

   The big question here was why did these people keep coming to the
Islands?  That had brought no real answers so far.  It was always because
they were ordered to do it.

   The work just being sure people were not left trapped was a long
process. A prison camp was set up for the women and children, as well as
the male fighting men.  There were all showered, deloused and medical tests
done.  They were given clean clothing and bedding and shown to tents in
their parts of the compound.  The wire was electrically charged, so no one
was leaving except out the front gate.

   The fighters were not given so comfortable a living condition as the
women and children.  Their food was not nearly as good either and they had
to cook it.  But no one would starve here.  Once the clothing and other
items were collected they were burned.  It just did not make sense to allow
the vermin back into human contact.

   Before the light was gone the landing craft left to go back to the ship
with the engineers.  The combat troops were left running the camp.  A guard
force of 250 men was enough for this time and location.

   Dink walked into the control center and looked at the cameras showing
the new prison camp.  She and Joji had gone over the information he had
elicited from the captured people.  It added a lot to what they thought and
the little they had known from before this.

   "I like the way the camp is set up, but am concerned about the open
space.  It is almost impossible to guard at night." Dink said this as much
to her self as the people in the room.

   "You have many pit guard posts out around the camp.  They will change
locations each night so getting around them is no easy thing.  But we can
not move them until after dark each day." This came from the security
captain sitting and watching the screens.

   "How much of an area between the security posts and the camp fence?"

   "It is eight hundred yards right now.  We have good electronics for IR
to advise us of any intrusions.  We know if a mouse is moving if needed."

   That made her feel better, as the weapons she knew of right now were
noting special.  Bows, arrows, spears and swords were as much as they had
seen, collected and cataloged so far.  They did find some nasty poisons
they dipped their arrow or spear points in.

   "Have you heard from the lab on how they are coming along to treat the
poisons found?" Now it was the captain's worries.

   "Yes they are building an antidote for both of them.  It looks like just
one will be needed for either.  Both are similarly derived from closely
related plants." Dink had checked this out before she came here.

   "How do you think they will fight now?"

   "I expect them in the early morning.  Just before sunrise and it will
not be a large group.  They don't know what happened and I think are afraid
we did this by some magic?  Remember they never saw the aircraft or the
bomb.  We see some filtering into the caves in that mountain now.  But
there was not much left standing even in there.  It almost looks like the
mountain collapsed.  So they will be careful, but not fearful yet.  I would
have two gun ships up say about 5 AM.  One for the trails coming down the
mountain and one for the perimeter of the camp."

   "Done and I want to be on one of them to see how this plays out." The
captain was one who liked first hand knowledge.

   "Don't expect any major leader until after this is reported.  We just
have not caused any fear yet and it might take getting slapped down a few
times before they understand it all the way to the top."

   The captain chuckled as he was sure Dink was right.  "Joji told me of
the big cavalry charge one of the men was so impressed with.  With two 50
caliber machine guns it could have been completely wiped out.  You can't
fight their way against our weapons."

   "Once more they don't know that all the way to the top.  It has worked
for thousands of years now.  So why would it not work now, that is how they
will think I am sure?  Life for them is simple as are the rules they live
by.  What has worked before will surely work now." Dink was repeating this
once more as Joji had the same questions.

   "OK Joji said much the same thing.  But to me it still seems dumb."

   "Think of it his way.  If our world were attacked from outer space and
the weapons they used were so advanced we did not understand them, what
would people believe?"

   Now the entire problem solved itself for the captain.  "I see your point
and have to agree.  I am sure our weapons must seem just as futuristic as
your suggestion.  But they must know about them from people going to our
world and coming back?"

   "The weapons the islands had before we came were nothing compared to
now. They may have brought back a few guns, but once the bullets were gone
they were useless and could never be used again.  If the powder became wet
it would not fire either depending on the times?  So would you worry about
something that could not be used without some special thing?  They make
arrows by the thousands.  We make bullets by the hundreds of millions.  But
they had no idea we did that from their few people coming back.  How could
some little round noised bullet be a dangerous thing?  They had no
knowledge of gunpowder and how to make it or the nitrates needed?  If
gunpowder becomes known the balance of power here will shift and fast to
the more aggressive culture.  That happened in our world back some time
ago."

   Now the captain had a lot to think about.  "OK I get the picture and
don't much like what we could leave behind.  We will need to be very
careful just what is left when we leave."

   Dink just walked from the room knowing it did not really matter.  Just
their coming was going to change this world.  The using of weapons was
going to open some minds to how to develop their own?  Wars started
technology advancing very quickly.  So here it would happen as well. 
People here were not all dumb and there were educated men here who would
figure it out.

   That next morning Dink was in the command center and watching the
monitors for what she was sure was coming.  The two gun ships were circling
over their positions now.  You could see may be fifty men crawling trying
to go into the area close to the camps.

   Coming down the mountain trail was well over two hundred men.  They were
armed with bows and arrows, shields, swords and knives.  For this time and
development they were well armed.

   As the first rays of light started to show the attack of the men coming
down the mountain started.  The gun ship cut them down so fast it was not
believable to most of the ones who saw it.  You could hear the sounds
coming from the gun ships and see the fire coming out of the barrels.  But
not one of the two hundred men lasted two minutes time.  It was just over
that fast and there were bodies all over the ground.

   The men working their way inside were also quickly stopped by the gun
ship.  It just did not make sense to let them know how much had been seen
and watched by the troops in the guard boxes.  They wanted to know just how
good these people were at infiltration?  How did you best protect your
troops from them?  They had a lot of things now to look at and plan on.

   It was a mess of a job to get the hole dug by backhoe and fill it with
the many dead bodies.  Each had been sprayed to kill vermin before being
picked up and dumped into the hole.  Quicklime was dusted into the hole as
they went and it would kill the odor and help the decomposition.  Once they
were done the hole was filled in and the extra dirt mounded over the
bodies.

   The weapons were loaded with the backhoe and sent to the ship for
examination and testing.  Dink's favorite comment was the rule and that was
"Never assume anything." You can bet her people did not assume anything
with her.  If they did something it followed her rules.  Every corpse had
blood drawn before being sprayed and then buried.  She wanted to know
exactly what types of illnesses they carried or had.  Any jewelry was
removed to be checked out as well.

   She looked at this as a different war and was making rules as she went.
But it would be the book for fighting here.  She knew this and wanted to be
sure it was right in everything she added to it.  John had told her to
write the book on this and she was going to do just that for real.  There
was nothing else people could use to fight this kind of war.

   Someone with more technology could loose a war here if they did not
follow a code of conduct.  Technology was nice, but it was not favorable in
every circumstance.  So if you allowed your enemy to limit your fighting
area they could reduce your advantage.  Technology today required a much
larger battlefield than in the past.  It was a trade off for the more
powerful weapons.

   Of course today many bombs, rockets, shells had better guidance packages
and far better aiming devices.  But if you were to close it could do a lot
of damage to your body.  If you were in a confined area it could kill you
just as fast as your enemy.

   So new ideas were needed to bring the battle into a safe condition for
modern technology.  You did not fight a battle in a wooded area with large
numbers of troops.  But you did win them using tactics and small groups
fighting, ambushing and making your enemy afraid of that woods.

   Dink walked into the command center and just shook her head.  "You know
they are going to keep coming at us this way?  It just is not going to stop
until someone far up is sure they can't win this way."

   "You spelled out exactly what was going to happen this morning.  I don't
think we could ask for better information than what was given us.  We
cannot control their ways of fighting.  So the best we have is to be ready
for them and try to end it fast as possible.  It will save more of our
people and may be change their ideas also?" The captain was now a Dink
admirer.

   "We can always hope captain.  But leaders here have shown little regard
for the lives of their people.  They are spent freely and never missed
later.  It is very much like old Japan back 500 to a thousand years ago."
Dink just did not like the old Japan and some of today's beliefs were
abhorrent to her.  What they had done to the Japanese Americans they
brought in was wrong and there was no excuse for it.

   It was true and everyone in the center knew it.  It did not shame these
people as they had been Americans and most had left the old beliefs behind
generations ago.

   Colonel Grinder was walking the camp and looking at its defenses.  He
made a few suggestions and them moved on to the next area.  Over all he was
pleased with how the camp had been set up and the division between the
fighting men and the women and children.

   "Why are your men walking the fighting camp with German Shepard's?"

   "The men think they are wolves and are scared to death of them.  We have
not had one attempted attack on a guard." The camp commander stated.

   "It makes sense then to keep doing that.  I don't see any in the other
camp.  Why?"

   "They are not needed.  The women were told any attacks and we would take
ten men and place them in a pen with ten wolves.  The women are afraid of
the men and know they would be hunted down and killed by the men later.  So
they do nothing to anger the men at all.  They also control the children so
as not to make the men mad."

   Primitive, but effective he thought.  As he walked he saw men digging in
a lot of different places inside the fences.  "What are the men up to?"

   "We are digging houch's in and will roof the areas over head.  There
will be no blasts to be stopped, but a poison arrow could ruin a good
nights sleep.  So we will sand bag around the roof and the ground with just
ports to be opened if needed.  But the men should get a good nights sleep
with no worry of being killed from outside the fence.  They also will be
protected from wind, cold and rain or snow." The camp commander was pleased
with his men's ability to make life as good as possible here.

   The colonel could remember the stories of Nam and how nice a houch could
be made.  It was a home away from home for many men in that war.  "I
approve and any thing they need to make those comfortable let me know. 
This is not going to be a fast war so they need to be able to live
therefore some time.  This place will grow and the men need to be
comfortable as possible."

   "Thanks colonel I was afraid you were not going to like this much.  I
have my command center built the same way.  So we have good communications
and a place to work in some comfort now.  We have left large areas open
with just fence around them.  That should allow for more people later.  My
guess is we can accommodate may be twenty thousand at most.  We don't do
their cooking, so they must cook for themselves as we supply the food.  A
cart goes through each day and provides water for the day.  Each section
has one 500 gallon water barrel with a tap.  One woman picks up wastes and
body waste as well each day.  We have a large hole dug for emptying that
each day and the cart is washed out and down."

   "Do these people bathe?" The colonel did not know much about this enemy
yet.

   "Yes, but not as often as we do.  So once a week we have a moving hot
tub for them to use.  It will do the job and keep them from causing
sickness.  As we grow I will build one tub per compound.  But they will
have to be wood heated from under the tubs.  This is just a temporary camp
and spending a lot of money here is a waste."

   That the colonel was not sure of at all.  The more he saw and heard the
less he liked the conclusions he came to.  It just might not be a few
months time getting these people to leave his world alone.  This fight
could last years and still not be close to ending?

   "I hope your right, but I fear we are into a much deeper hole than we
expected." It was a flat statement and left no room for comment.

   David had been flying reconnaissance flights to the points Dink had
given him.  The forts were well hidden and would not be easy to attack. 
Two were in towns and you could see people all over them.  They were not
troops, but just normal citizens he believed?  It was a make any attack
expensive to those making it and the population as well.

   Any military fort was in need of just two things at this level of
knowledge.  That was food and water for people to keep fighting.  There was
a river that went for some reason underground going into the two cities. 
But he saw no good place for food storage in the towns or forts?  It just
had to be below the forts and the cities.  So he needed more pictures and
better views of where the rivers just disappeared.  The two towns looked
somewhat alike and yet there was just one that might be the upper level
post.

   The other forts were like the one they took apart.  Most likely they
were steps up the food chain, but not near the top.  He knew they had to
take the head off to start any change happening.  The game was where was
the head?

   His search was to find the head and he knew it was not going to be easy
or done quickly.  Getting the first camp built was a help as it provided a
point for the head to attack his forces.

   His model was just starting to show some small signs of allowing some
planning.  It was not close to being accurate yet and he would wait for
more information.  What Joji had provided had been a major step forward and
it got his plan moving.  But he questioned just how much any common
fighting man would know?

   They needed a lot more information and he wanted it more quickly.  So
capturing more fighting men in places close to the cities would need to
happen.  But how to get there and get back out quickly and not heard?

   "Dink I need two scouting parties of say twelve men.  My best guess is
the entry to the forts is at the point the rivers go underground.  It would
be nice to know that.  But my main concern is that neither city is where
the top people are.  If that is the case why waste time with them?  We need
to know where the leadership is and find a way to get them."

   "I agree and like the idea of scouting parties.  But how do we question
these men captured?"

   "I think Joji has to do the questioning.  He did very well with the
first group.  So he needs to be set up back at the camp and we will bring
captured prisoners to him.  I think seeing the reactions of the men we have
might also tell us things."

   This Dink considered for a time before she agreed.  "OK I don't like
using him and leaving him at the camp.  But we do need data and he is the
best one to get it.  So I'll ask him to do it.  But he has every right to
say no."

   "You know he won't do that Dink.  He is very professional and damn good
at his job, so he will jump at the chance." David knew Joji well and if
Dink asked him to do anything he would be off like a shot.

   It was time to get his mapping aircraft up to get the picture Dink would
need for the teams.  He did not want anyone walking into trouble.

   The pictures gotten the second time were of great value.  One showed the
river going into a mountainside and just never reappearing.  In the second
town it was simply covered and there was no way in.  But it did become
redirected for a good part of the stream moving off a different direction.
It ran along a rock cliff and was may be two thirds the size.  He wondered
if there was a second place where the stream did feed the city?

   It took him a couple hours to finally see it.  There was a nice dry cave
in the rock wall.  But across from it was what looked like the base of a
bridge.  It was really a water entry point to feed the city.  They had used
one point to misdirect what you expected to see and then camouflaged the
one they used.

   It raised his appreciation of the abilities of his enemy.  So he pointed
these things out for Joji, to be sure he would see the peoples engineering
abilities.  David was sure he would be impressed with the skills shown.

   The over all maps created for the teams and for Joji to work with were
ready.  He sent them over to their printers and knew good copies would be
produced.

   Dink had pulled together two teams of top rangers from the army.  The
groups had been well trained for infiltration and capturing prisoners. 
They were told to set up watch points and pick their targets carefully. 
Officers were preferred is they could get them.

   "We will know who the officers are.  They don't ride out front as they
don't risk their lives.  It is up to their men to protect them.  That shows
them to be an elite class of men."

   "Well plan your hiding places well and we will use tranquilizer guns for
the captures.  I don't want dead bodies to leave a trail.  It will be
interesting how they explain the loss of an officer and may be a sergeant?
Your going to have to move out of there fast once you have taken your
targets.  We will move you to a second location for more observation work."
Dink had her own plans.

   Joji was fine with his part of this.  He had more questions now for some
of the men he had talked with before.