Ninety Degrees Out

The dining hall at Stargazer Ranch was full. The buzz of conversation ebbed and flowed as people helped themselves to breakfast from the heated buffet at the back of the room.

Hakan sat beside Kanti, with Armaruq on her other side. He missed his children with a quiet ache in his belly. Pushing his plate away half finished, his brain wandered through plans for defence. Arimina was the only child still on the ranch. All the others were on his parent’s homestead. With Edward Narson and his wife there, he felt they were relatively safe. They had a good medic and radios to call for help.

Captain Whipper sat across from him, Sargent Stan beside her. At least he had allies in this fight. The coast guard helicopter sat on his runway gleaming yellow in the morning sun.

Earl and Deborah were at the next table over. Erik sat with Meg. The woman deserved a second chance. She nearly drowned as she was thrown into Twig Creek. The leader of the bike gang they were all worried about was devoid of morals and now he found a teen aged devil in Angel to pander to his unholy nature.

The side door opened, letting cool morning air into the overcrowded room as Mac and Randy entered. Now that was a surprise. The two of them must be camped somewhere close. The gruff mountain men were as opposite as night and day. To see Randy at a gathering like this meant something was wrong. He avoided people like the plague.

Noticing Randy’s wince, he went up to him with a plate from the buffet table.

“Hey, man, grab some food and we’ll go outside to eat.” He pointed to a picnic table just outside the door.

Aaron looked up from his cheese omelet where he sat with Sara Markham. “Randolph Creely?”

“Shit man, I thought you were dead.” Randy pulled at his beard and stepped toward the bearded biker.

Aaron stood turning to meet him, the men embraced with the lower arm grip of old military comrades. “Get your food. I’ll join you outside.” He turned to whisper something in Sara’s ear, and she patted his hand before pushing him toward his friend.

Hakan shook his head. Another connection. The way people found each other continued to confound him. He turned to Erik and said, “Take the meeting, will you? I need to see what these two have to say. It might be something we can use.”

Randy heaped a mountain of food on his plate, grabbed a bottle of water and head back out the door. His shoulders relaxed as he drew a deep breath before straddling a bench to sit. He ate like a starved wolf, shoving breakfast sausage in whole.

Hakan wondered what he was doing for nutrition, but Randy swallowed, guzzled half of his water and then patted his stomach.

“Great food. My compliments to the cook. We were on jerky and water on the way down. In a hurry too. Jogging most of the way,” Randy nodded at Mac.

His buddy savored a slice of bear bacon. “We heard you guys need help down here. If we don’t put our skills in the pot, we’re next. These jerks won’t stop. Once the ransack the ranch, they’ll be looking for more.” Mac wiped the grease out of his moustache and reached for a piece of toast.

“We’ve got our rifles out there in the meadow where someone else was camped a while ago. Looked like a pretty good set up by the way,” Randy continued.

“That was Edward Narson. Medic. Him and his family,” Aaron said. “Good guy and smart too. He’s up at the homestead with his kids and almost all of the kids from around here.”

Mac nodded. “You are growing a good community. I see the Coast Guard is here too. Got good friends too. But what you don’t have is experienced snipers.”

Hakan rocked back on the bench. This was an unexpected bonus. “You’re saying you’re willing to help us out?”

“Damn rights we are.” Randy nodded as Mac spoke for both of them.

“And I’ll be with them,” Aaron insisted. “I’m sure Sara will be okay with it. In fact, the two of them can stay with us. We’ve got the room, and those bastards will want to take our place. They almost destroyed it last time they took over. Not this time.”

“Bro, we have some talking to do,” Randy said.

“We’ll get to it. You need to meet my woman. A braver soul I’ve never met,” Aaron told him.

“Do you two have room for a couple more horses up there?” Hakan asked. “I can’t have you with no way to get around.”

“We’ll use our feet. Nothing better or quieter,” Mac insisted.

“Answer me on thing,” Hakan said as he looked at each of them in turn. He could see the unit forming. The three of them were reverting back to old training. “How do you know Randy, Aaron.?”

“I was his spotter. Ask Captain Whipper if she can get me a proper scope. I’m sure she can get her hands on something. We’ll set up on the roof. Early warning and if necessary, early defense.” Aaron’s smile turned feral.

“I know you’re not comfortable with all those people in there, so Aaron will brief you later. Go get your gear. Come back down here and you’ll get horses anyway. Not for when things get serious, but so you can get the lay of the land around here and scout out your best spots to set up.” Hakan stood up as he spoke. “I have to get in there and run the show. We’re putting our defence plans together. You ready to roll Aaron?”

“Got it, boss. I’ll make sure to get them up to speed.” He gathered the empty dishes stacking plates and utensils together to carry in one hand.

“We’ll see you in a couple hours or so. Back here?” Mac asked.

“That’s good enough. We’ll figure out the rest later. Welcome aboard men.” Hakan turned to go back inside.

Erik looked up as he walked to the front of the dining hall. Standing in front of the windows, lit from behind by the morning sun, the tall Swede’s blonde brush cut glowed like a halo.

“Just finished the volcano report, boss,” he said as Hakan approached.4

“Thanks, Erik, Catherine,” Hakan said. “We’ll deal with a piece of good news. Those two, Randy and Mac are snipers. They’ve come down to join our fight. Rightly, they pointed out, we need to take a stand. We need to put an end to this bike gang here. If we don’t, Rico and his bunch will continue looting and killing. It stops here.”

The roar of applause and whistles made him smile.

“Let’s get down to assigning patrols. Everyone works in pairs. I’ll be asking you for some extra equipment, Captain.” He pointed at Janice and she nodded. “I’ll post the pairings. No one goes out unarmed. The rest of you? Self defense classes continue up at Chay’s place. You’ll hone your marksmanship behind the barn with me.

“Alicia, what’s the status on the bears? Randy has a report on the polar bear fishing in his creek.”

He listened with half an ear as his future sister in law gave her run down. Ursa’s cubs were growing well, and there was more than one polar bear learning how to fish. Her biggest concern was if the Kodiaks and polar bears would interbreed. Her research indicated their genes were compatible. He groaned silently at the thought of a bear with a snaky head and the huge grizzly hump.

“Eyes open everyone. If you notice anything, even as small as a smoke from a campfire, report it. We need to know where Rico and his gang are hiding. Everything along Dahl Road and along the banks of Twig Creek, is ours. The road the the valleys up to Stargazer Homestead is ours as well. So are all the people who live up the side hides from there. Keep your radios charged and your firearms at the ready.”

He paused before closing the meeting. Listening to the smatterings of conversations, he heard determination and unity. Their community would stand together.