The First SaR Mission Ch. 02

-The Full Moon Retreat-

Episode: The First Search and Rescue Mission

To the reader:

Thanks to everyone for your feedback. Wow! Tough crowd out there. Ok, I hear you. You don't like square brackets. Looking back on chapter one, I take your point. The square brackets are a bit much and the situation exacerbated by having to break up the paragraphs for the website. So, starting in chapter two, I shall apply them, in the main, to scene shifts only.

As for the technical content being distracting... Chapter one was written post scriptum to flesh out the Dawsons as characters. It did that, I hope. I saw the glossary of terms as a regrettable necessity. Flying is a very technical environment that exists in its own universe. For someone who has occupied the "left seat," and did not need the glossary, the story should have flowed much more smoothly. Although, he or she will, also recognize how much was actually glossed over in the telling of this portion of the story. Unfortunately, that reader would be the exception. The most that I can hope for is that the average reader came away with a bit better understanding of the pilot, Aaron, and the situation in which he found himself. We live and we learn.

Now, moving on to chapter two... There exists a partially written "prequel" telling of the origins of the Full Moon Retreat and its wolves. For now, it is sufficient to know that the retreat was set up at the behest of the Were Council as a unique pack to serve as a vacation resort for Weres of all "stripes" and to mingle Weres with the mundane human population and demonstrate their value to society. The retreat is operated by a normal Were pack as their principle industry. It is at once a "nudist" resort for the mundane, a vacation resort, and a social gathering point for Weres. The retreat is also charged with offering volunteer services such as search and rescue and disaster relief to the public, where the unique abilities of Weres can best be displayed. The cost of these services is entirely picked up by the Were Council.

In my editing of this chapter, I have reduced the "square bracket" use to scene changes. I have kept the character attribution at the beginning of a character's monolog. I will have to see how this plays with my readers, but in later chapters, there will be multiple scene locations in play with multiple characters contributing to the dialog. I think that this much may be necessary to keep track of who is speaking and where they are.

Again, special thanks to my Wife, Diane for proofreading for me.

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[06:20, Tuesday, balcony, Alpha's quarters of the Full Moon Retreat]

The day dawned clear and warm with blue skies and a pleasant breeze out of the southeast. Jack sat on the balcony of the alpha's quarters, Mari at his side, sipping his first cup of coffee of the morning. From their high visage, they watched as the compound began to stir. The kitchen crew had been hard at work for a couple of hours, now and the fragrance of bacon, sausage, fresh coffee and cinnamon rolls wafted on the breeze.

Jack McClintock: Gawd; I love sitting here watching the sun come up and the camp come to life.

Mari McClintock: How did yesterday go?

Jack: Oh, pretty well, all things considered. We had a couple of young pups end up in the infirmary squalling like they thought they were going to die. It seems they found a nest of ground wasps and thought it would be great fun to chase those big ugly bugs. They both got two or three hits to the snout before they realized their mistake. George came at a run when he heard all of the distress howls and squealing, grabbed them up and took them to the infirmary, then went for the parents.

The pups were so scared and in such pain, that the parents couldn't get them to concentrate long enough to shift back and tell them what was wrong. But... by that time, their muzzles had begun to swell and Doc figured it out. He gave them both a shot of antihistamine. Of course, that set them off again. It was a damned circus. I'll bet that they leave the wasps alone from now on, though.

And... Jerry and his helper caught three teens in the wolf-run around the adult area, last night. Stupid kids. Just following where their dicks lead them, I guess. They didn't realize that when they went over the outer fence, they tripped the alarm in the guardhouse. Jerry was standing there, on the path, waiting for them when they broke through the tree line. They were in human form. Jerry said that they stood there like they had been sucker punched, cocks as hard as iron rods. They finally fessed-up, said that they just wanted watch through the inner fence and jack-off. He took them to their parents, but they weren't much help. They didn't see what the big deal was.

Mari, I'll tell you... If I didn't have to bow to the mundane human's sense of social prudishness, I'd tear down those damned fences and just let everyone fuck wherever the notion struck them. Most packs don't have any restrictions. I have to tell people that they can only screw in the secrecy of their rooms and cabins. That, just, isn't the way of our wolf. Our wolves don't care who's looking. They don't understand this social stupidity. Aw well... I guess I should be glad that's the biggest problem I have, just, now. What about you? What were you up to, yesterday?

Mari: Oh, nothing, really, major. The omegas were chased out of the laundry room yesterday, when one of the big, commercial washing machines tore off of its mounts and went hopping across the room. Someone let the load get out of balance, and for some reason, the machine didn't shut down. Well, not before it jumped across the room far enough to tear the power cable out of the wall. Anyway, I called the company to come out and see if they can put the washer back together. And, I called an electrician to fix the electrics.

And, a couple of the female guests got into a catfight. Kicking and scratching. A couple of our betas put a stop to it. When I talked to them, it seemed, pretty, minor. I didn't throw them out... didn't think it was worth taking a hit to our rep. They promised to behave and I sent them on their way. That was about it for yesterday.

Jack: Yeah, I'm sure that was a good call. As much as I don't like it, we can't really enforce discipline on small issues. If we throw someone out, then it creates a voice that will diss us every time we come up in a conversation. That goes against one of our major objectives. We need the human population to think that we're the greatest thing since the invention of sliced bread... Hell, we need the Weres to think the same thing, too. So, good call.

Hey, let's get on down to the dining hall. Breakfast really smells good and I'm hunnn-gry!

Mari: Oh, well, we can't have any hungry Werewolves on the loose. Let's go.

[07:20, Tuesday, the Dining Hall]

Jack: Damn, Mari, that was good. Be sure to give my compliments to the kitchen crew. Well, I guess I'll get a cup of coffee and make my rounds. Meet n' greet, so, maybe, I won't have beat n' eat!

[08:05, Tuesday, the retreat's compound]

While chatting with a couple of guests, Mari hails Jack over their bond...

Mari: Jack, Vickey, on the receptionist desk, is holding a call from the State Emergency Management Agency.

Jack: Ok, Mari. Would you have her pass along that it will take me a minute to get to a phone, but I'm on my way.

Jogging to the nearest building with a telephone, the grounds keeper's office, Jack finds Larry Wheaton, head of facilities management, at his desk...

Jack: Larry may I borrow your phone. I need to take, what might be, an important call.

Larry Wheaton: Of course, Jack. Here. Have a seat.

Larry bolts from his chair and offers Jack his desk. Jack sits down, picks up the handset, and dials the front desk...

Jack: Vickey, this is Jack. Would you, please, transfer that call that's holding for me, over to extension 21?

Vickey Grear: Sure, Jack. Hold on.

Jack: Hello. This is John McClintock, Pack Alpha. What can I do for you?

Berry Thornton: Jack, this is Berry Thornton, with 'Emergency Management'. We met at the public safety conference two months ago.

Jack: Oh, Hi, Berry. How's your wife, Betty doing?

Thornton: She's good. How's Mari?

Jack: She's doing fine. She's running around here somewhere.

Thornton: Say, Jack, we have a situation developing here. We have a light plane missing and presumed down, in the mountains, with a family of four on board. We have started looking for them with aircraft flying search patterns, but we're not having much luck. We aren't getting an emergency beacon, but, we're sure that they are down somewhere within a five by ten-mile area. The trouble is that this area is a series of deep valleys with steep, thickly forested walls. There is a lot of cloud hanging around the ridge tops and thick fog in the valleys. Just to add insult to injury, our weather people are forecasting an area of heavy drizzle and mist moving in and hanging around for several days.

Our ground search crews think that it will take them three or four days just to penetrate the area and running any kind of search grid has got them scratching their heads. We don't know if this family survived the crash, but even if they did, by the time that we can find them and get to them, even given everything that we can bring to the game, this is going to turn into a body recovery operation. I really hate to admit it, but conditions have just about fought us to a standstill. Jack... We're out of options and, well... We are wondering if some good tracking noses with four-paw drive might be able to get in there. If we could, just, find them, then, maybe, we could get a chopper in to pick them up. Jack... What do you think?

Jack: Berry, how much rope work, do you think it would take to get up and down the valley walls and over the ridges? You know, our wolves need to travel, pretty, light. We can pack in some rope and climbing gear, but, if they have to shift to climb, then you've got naked humans exposed in cold, wet conditions.

Thornton: Well, we hadn't thought of that aspect of the task, but, we think that there are enough places along the ridges that your wolves should be able to get over them.

Jack: Ok, Berry, it's going to take me a couple of hours to round up volunteers and transportation and get on the road. Can we get to you if we're traveling in tour buses?

Thornton: Yeah. That should be no problem.

Jack: Listen, Berry, I'm going to hand you over to Larry Wheaton to work out our route and any other details. He's my facilities manager. I need to go start rounding up volunteers. I'm going to try for about fifty people and plan to send them out in pairs.

Thornton: Jack... Thanks... Oh, and you had better bring a spokesman with you. With all of the satellite trucks that are showing up, it is starting to look like a mushroom farm.

Jack: Ok, Berry. I'll do that. I'm going to put you on hold for a second, so that I can fill Larry in on what's going on and he'll get back on with you in just a minute. See you soon.

Punching the hold button, Jack turns to Larry Wheaton

Jack: Larry, did you catch the gist of that?

Larry: Yeah, I think so. Will two full-size tour buses do it?

Jack: That should be enough. Oh, and rent a semi tractor with a trailer, a good sized tow-behind generator, and a fuel trailer, too. Make everything diesel. We'll need to run the kitchen and lighting for the six big tents, computers and radios. We'll plan to take three or four of the Suburbans, as well. We may need them to handle extra people and run errands. Grab as many of the level three betas, as you need to do pick-ups. Get everything for a week, open-ended, if you can. And... Make sure that we have drivers. Ok, this guy's name is Berry Thornton. He's head of the State Emergency Management Agency. Coordinate locations and timing with him.

Jack jumps up and gets out from behind Larry's desk. Larry drops back into his chair.

Larry: Got it, Jack. Go do.

Rushing out the door, Jack opens his bond with Mari.

Jack: Mari, If you aren't tied up at the moment, would you, please, get a couple of pack members and have them start unloading the boxes, marked for the search and rescue teams, out of the storage room. Just have them stack them under the portico. Be sure that they, also, get the boxes marked "radio equipment," "clothes," "rain gear" and "MREs." Have them pull all six of our special occasion tents out of storage along with folding tables and chairs. Figure on support for 150 people for a week. I'll be there as soon as I can and explain what's going on. Oh, also, how do you feel about being the interface with the press? I'm told that we're going to be knee deep in them.

Mari: Ok, Jack. I'm on it. And... Yeah, fine. I can hardly wait...NOT!

Jack: Sorry. I'm afraid that, if I have to deal with them, I might get flustered. As gratifying as it might be, it would be, really, bad for our reputation, if I were to eat a couple of them. We need someone that is smart, calm, and can speak with authority to keep the press happy. I love you and you are the strength that holds me together.

Jack is hurrying to the dining hall, which, being the pack's largest enclosed area, also serves as the assembly hall, as he opens his alpha bond to the entire pack.

Jack: Attention... All pack members and guests: The pack has been asked to help in a search and rescue mission. We have a light aircraft that is down and missing. There is a family of four onboard. The initial search area is five miles by ten miles in size. I'm looking for volunteers. I intend to deploy in teams of, at least, two so, mated pairs are welcome and they will deploy together. You may have heard that it takes nine men to support each soldier. We, also, need people to help with the logistics. So, if you can't or simply don't want to trek through the wilderness, I hope that you will still join us and help out. We need radio operators, technicians, electricians, and cooks.

I'm told that the terrain is heavily forested, steep hills and valleys. I'm also told that the weather is foggy and drizzly, so, unfortunately, this isn't going to be a pleasant run under a summer moon. People! This is the first time; in the history of Werewolves... that we have been called upon, to show the world what we can do... what we are good at. So, join us...make this pack blow their minds! Sign-up will be in the dining hall. We will roll out in two hours and briefings and training sessions will be held, en route, on the buses.

Closing his bond with the pack, Jack opens it to his lead betas

Jack: Leon and Jay! You have both set in on the planning meetings for this, so, go to the dining hall and start signing them up. I think that we will try to take as many teams as we can get and don't forget logistics people.

Again, shifting his bond...

Jack: Loretta, where are you?

Loretta Swinson: In the kitchen, boss.

Arriving in the kitchen, he finds Loretta waiting for him.

Loretta: I heard your announcement boss. I'm already on it.

Jack: Good. I'm figuring on being able to support 150 wolves for a week. Take your propane kitchen. We should have a generator for electricity, though. I expect it to be cold and wet, so, figure on a high protein, high energy...so, steak and potatoes sort of diet. Hot stew or soup, coffee and pastries, 24/7. If we are to keep our wolves well fed, then I expect that we will have everyone there drooling so, figure on support for fifty humans, on top of everything else. I'll have two of the large freezer chests loaded on the truck. Have some of your staff load them up with what you are taking. I'm guessing it'll be a six hour round trip for re-supply, so take as much as you can. We'll send the truck out for more supplies, if this drags on. If you need stuff up front, grab a level three beta and send them out in the van. So, is there anything else?

Loretta: I don't think so, at the moment. "Have soup kitchen - will travel".

Jack: Alright. I'm going to try to roll out in two hours.

Loretta: Got it, boss.

Jack: Ok, I'm going back to my office, if you need anything.

Back in his office, Jack calls Councilman Osmon Hamil, the pack's representative on the Were Council...

Jack: Good morning, Osmon. This is Jack McClintock. I wanted to give you a heads-up. The pack is deploying on our first search and rescue mission and it looks like it will be a big affair and a hot news item.

Osmon Hamil: Well, fantastic, Jack. That's just what the Council was hoping for. Give me some details.

Jack: Less than an hour ago, I received a call from Berry Thornton, who is the head of the state Emergency Management Agency. They have a light aircraft down, in the mountains, with a family of four on board. They have narrowed the search down to a fifty square mile area, however, the weather is so bad that they can't search with aircraft and the terrain is so rugged that they say that it would take them three or four days, just to get into the search area, on foot. Thornton remembered my presentation at a public safety conference, a couple of months back. They are hoping that wolves can get into this series of valleys to search them.

Osmon: Do you think that you can do it?

Jack: Osmon, I won't know that until we get there. I figure that if it can be done, then we can do it. Fifty square miles of rough terrain in bad weather makes for a tall order. I made the announcement seeking volunteers for search teams and I am hoping for at least fifty, but I am prepared to take twice that if I can get them. Luckily, the retreat if full to capacity with vacationing Weres. I hoping that even in crappy weather, a lot of the wolves will jump at the chance to go for a romp in a true rugged wilderness.

Osmon: Yeah, I would bet that you will get all that you need.

Jack: From what I have been told, there is a media frenzy building around this. So, it is likely to be very "high profile". I'm going prepared to stay up to seven days. The cost is likely to be pretty high. Do you think that the Council is going to be comfortable picking up the tab?

Osmon: Jack, you get in there and put on a good show for the press and the Council will be ecstatic, but no matter what happens, let me worry about the funding. I'll see that the retreat's costs are covered.

Jack: Osmon, I am glad to hear that. The entire concept of the retreat is so unique and new that I am still not sure what to expect. If the Council will back us, I will work like the devil to get them what they are looking for.

Osmon:: I know you will, Jack. You came out on top of the heap of a lot of Beta Primes that were considered for this Alpha position. I'm not worried and you shouldn't be, either. If you can't make this work, then I would have to accept that the whole concept never had merit. You have already worked miracles in organizing and building the retreat. You won't fail.

Jack: Well, I appreciate your confidence, Osmon. We'll get the Council the good press that they want so badly.

Osmon: Ok, Jack. Good luck and good hunting. Don't worry, the retreat's costs will be covered. So, keep me informed, but go amaze the world with what we can do. We will talk soon. Goodbye, Jack.