“Cranton! Where the hell are you!” The major's face appeared above John’s as the VR meeting hardware slowly opened.

“Yes sir, what's wrong?”

“Mary, my wife. She was on the last transport. Same with some of my kids.” Cranton’s face went pale and he pulled up his phone. The things were tied into the base's internal comms software, and each officer had one. One of the many little inventions that seemed to improve everything.

“I found her on the manifest sir.” Cranton said as John pulled himself out of the command suit. “She’s marked as injured, but in stable condition. Here sir.” He handed John the device and John read the information. It wasn’t much info, but it gave him hope. She was alive, but had a head injury of some kind. Several names of his grandchildren who had escorted her were listed under her as stable or with only minor injuries. No one was dead. He thanked God as he finished reading.

“Take me down there, now.”

“Yes sir.”

“General Stevens, you here?” A young, burly man who looked more like a door kicker than a pencil pusher stood and soluted. He had taken his place at the secondary command suit and was doing his job. “You have the base until I return. It, it might be some time.”

“Understood General McIntire. I have the base.” John turned on his heels, and followed Cranton out of the room, down some stairs, and into the belly of the beast he commanded. Neither of them spoke as they got aboard the internal transportation rail system, and took it to the hospital at the base of the third section of the fort. John didn’t remember much about the walk through the labyrinthian corridors, only his numb panic and fear.

When he finally entered the medical ward John breathed a sigh of relief. Two tall, young men stood next to a bed, where the most beautiful silver haired woman he had ever laid eyes on sat, laughing at a bad joke someone had shared. Tears filled his eyes, and the room went quiet. He walked to the bed and Mary, the love of his life, beamed up at him. “I was hoping to surprise you but . . .” She didn’t finish what she said before he bent down and enfolded her in a gentle embrace.

“I’m so happy you’re okay.” He said as he hugged her close.

“Me and the boys are fine, John. We’re fine. I’m glad you’re alright.” Her voice was calm, and soothed his worries. He released her and hugged both of his eldest grandkids. “When I heard there had been fighting, I was worried you had been hurt.” John laughed.

“You three have seen better days, I think I might have gotten a papercut but other than that I'm fine.” The two grandkids laughed. John still thought of them as kids, but really they were both men. With families of their own. “Did you break that?” He asked motioned towards the eldest of the two.

“No sir. Just a bad bruise and a few stitches. I’ll be fine.” His eldest grandchild, Billy, smiled a tired smile. “Though I honestly could use some chow and sleep sir.” Billy had been a private in the army for two tours in afghanistan. Before the pull out and its subsequent fall to the Taliban a few years before the integration. Now, he worked as a construction foreman. Or, did before everything changed.

“Understood. And you Glen?” John asked, looking towards the younger of the two. Glen was a tech wiz of some kind. Something to do with cyber security. John didn’t quite understand it all, but he had it on good authority his grandson was damn good at his job. What Billy was to the enemy, Glen was to those who wished to infiltrate US Government Software.

“Doing alright gramps. Mom sends her best by the way. She’s at the rocky mountain facility along with everyone else. We had the opportunity to come here, instead of being evacuated, and we took it. Figured you could use all the help you could get out here.” John smiled and nodded.

“Thank you boys. Both of you. Your skills will be put to good use I promise. Beyond that, you brought your grandma here safely. For that, i’ll never forget.” He reached down and gently squeezed marys hand and she smiled up at him. “Now, I was told you had a head injury?”

“Oh, those doctors are such worry warts. I wore my seatbelt, and I was perfectly safe. I bumped my head on the emergency exit is is all.”

“YOu were inside the crash? I was told most people were ejected.”

“Like I said John, I wore my seatbelt.” John smiled and shook his head slightly. He honestly didn’t care how it had happened. He was just happy she was safe.

“Major Cranton, please ensure arrangements are made for my family.” Cranton nodded, and stepped up from behind John where he had been giving the general some much needed space. John looked back to his family. “I have a lot of work I have to get too, but Cranton will take care of you. He and his people are excellent.”

“I’ll take care of the arrangements personally, General.” With that assurance, and a final hug for each of his kin, John headed back to his station. One thought coursed through his mind.

General McOn’a is a dead man.