to the Index or to the Recon Team R-101 page or back to A Challenger Appears

 

Saturday, 13 August 2140 Sunday, 14 August 2140 Monday, 22 August 2140 Tuesday, 23 August 2140 Wednesday, 24 August 2140 Friday, 26 August 2140 Saturday, 27 August 2140 Sunday, 28 August 2140 Monday, 29 August 2140 Tuesday, 30 August 2140 Wednesday, 31 August 2140 Thursday, 1 September 2140 Friday, 2 September 2140 Saturday, 3 September 2140 Sunday, 4 September 2140 Monday, 5 September 2140 - Wednesday, 7 September 2140 Thursday, 8 September 2140

 

"Take a nice thick carp filet and place it on a piece of cardboard.

Cover it on both sides with melted butter and scatter it with carmelized onions.

Sprinkle the carp with plenty of salt and pepper.

Bake it in the oven for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Remove it from the oven, throw away the carp, and eat the cardboard."

---

report covers:   13 August 2140 - 7 September 2140

 

Saturday, 13 August 2140

 

     The Calypso was anchored near the west end of Manitoulin Island at dawn.

 

Sunday, 14 August 2140

 

     Back at Lud, and then a trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes.

 

---

 

     From this point on, until August 21st, we're not going to break out everyone's activities day-by-day. At Sleeping Bear Dunes, the temperatures are moderate; some days are overcast or foggy, others are clear; brief light rain fell every few days.

     The team met with allies or potential allies, most notably the Canadian resistance. The senior liaison officer is:

 

• Kyle Griffin:  male, age 56, formerly a sergeant in the RCMP. Very skilled (80% level) at Fieldcraft, Psychology, Sneak, Spot Hidden, Tradecraft (22nd Century version) and several useful languages (including Cree and the three Anishinaabe languages found in the liberation force). He brought ten other members of the resistance with him (but none of those were ex-RCMP).
  

 

     They trained a few early arrivals, obtained and prepared vehicles for Operation CAC, and assembled the pontoon barge.

 

Take all skill checks.

 

Monday, 22 August 2140

 

weather:  light thunderstorm and rain from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.; scattered clouds and some light rain during the day.

 

     The Calypso departed just before sunrise, as a thunderstorm rolled over Sleeping Bear Dunes. Left behind to continue their training were dozens of recruits for the ... what's the whole organization called, anyway? Some ideas:

 

• MACO (Military Assistance Command, Ontario)

• Canadian Irregular Defense Group

• Mobile Strike Force
  

• Wolverine Force

• 3rd Special Service Force (the number is there to fool the Airborne Regiment)
  

• Fox Force Five ("But there are six of you ... ")

 

Tuesday, 23 August 2140

 

     Robert Fairhope and his team took a train to the borders of the EBT, and met up with some local truck owners. The fare to carry Fairhope, his men and cargo to the coast was $25.

 

Wednesday, 24 August 2140

 

weather:  scattered clouds, moderate temperatures

 

     Fairhope and his First Nation escort arrived on the shore of Lake Erie, and were picked up by the Calypso late in the day.

 

Friday, 26 August 2140

 

weather:  mostly cloudy, high temperature 77 F.

 

     Team R-101 arrived back at Sleeping Bear Dunes. In their absence, a small dock, target range, cookhouse, etc. had been built. Another hundred or so recruits had arrived.

 

Saturday, 27 August 2140

 

weather:  cloudy skies, temperatures in the high 70s F.

 

    With the pontoon barge in tow, and the three vehicles firmly lashed to the barge, the Calypso and about 20 First Nations troops, plus two of the resistance fighters, left on Operation "Cook A Carp". The trip was expected to take three days). 

 

Sunday, 28 August 2140

 

weather:  full moon

 

Monday, 29 August 2140

 

weather:  light showers until 6 a.m., fog all day until 5 p.m.

 

     Near the end of the day, the patrol boat and pontoon barge arrived on the shore of Lake Erie, about 10 or 15 kilometers from the Canadian military base at Hagersville. The weather was unpleasant all day, but no fishermen or coastal villages were going to see the Morrow Project vessels.

 

Tuesday, 30 August 2140

 

weather:  mostly cloudy, moderate temperatures.

 

the big ol' truck

 

     The Falcon, Miller-Meteor and the Kenworth were unloaded from the pontoon barge around dawn, and headed inland. A quartet of the Anishinaabe crew were left to guard the boat and barge, afloat.

     The convoy drove till a bit after dark, about 500 kilometers this day, and camped. Here and there in the verdant countryside were the ruins of 20th Century towns and cities, all uninhabited by 2140. The Anishinaabe guards said that the local First Nations tribe -- the Mississauga -- worked with the Canadians and couldn't be trusted.

 

Wednesday, 31 August 2140

 

weather:  Fog from 2 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., scattered clouds except for rain shower around 5 p.m.; 20-30 kph winds in the afternoon until sunset, from the west and west-north-west.

 

     The convoy traveled along the road from before dawn to twilight, and made camp about 8 kilometers from CFS Carp. There were a few (bald) tire tracks on the dirt road, and a few hoof prints from shod horses, and some shoe or sandal tracks. It was clear that anyone who heard the unmuffled roar of the vehicles had left the road ten minutes before the convoy passed.

     While Roy listened for radio transmissions (and hear none that could be called "local"), the rest of the team snuck up near the Canadian base. As they had been told, there was a square wall, made of concrete sections almost 3 meters tall; inside were two trailer homes, a water tower, a watch tower, and an antenna (all visible over the wall). Having spied on their target, they returned to their night-time camp.

 

Thursday, 1 September 2140

 

weather:  Several light rain showers, fog or overcast otherwise, daytime temperatures around 60 F. Rain and fog end around 8:30 p.m., remains overcast. Late evening winds about 15 kph from the northeast. Dawn at 5:24 a.m. ET, sunset at 6:40 p.m. ET. The moon is waning, but still about 72% full, and rises at 9:30 p.m.; good thing there's overcast.

 

     The team rested during the day, trying to stay dry. At 6 a.m., and 6 p.m. the Canadians at Carp reported to CFS Petawawa by radio; the report was short, but there was a four digit "day code".

     Late at night, the Project team and their allies approached the fort. The flat thudding blast of 40mm grenades striking inside the compound -- and taking out the watch tower -- was the first notice the Canadians had of the attack. The Project members and some of the Anishinaabe allies swarmed over the defensive wall; Fairhope and Doc Perkins dealt with the resistance in one trailer, while Doyle flushed out the enemy from the other trailer with a tear gas grenade. In less than 30 seconds, the camp was in friendly hands.

     There were four enemy casualties:  the man standing radio watch; Alex Martin, the Caninja encountered at Sudbury; and the two men on tower watch. The still trailer which Martin's truck had hauled was burnt to a scorched, rusty ruin; but his truck was able to be salvaged.

 

loot from the Canadian base at Carp
#	items
11	C1A1 rifles, semi-auto (aka FN-FAL), in 7.62mm NATO
55	magazines for C1A1 rifles
2200	rounds of loose 7.62mm NATO ammunition, 22nd Century manufacture
2	C4 sub-machineguns (aka Sterling), in 9mm Parabellum
14	magazines for C4 sub-machineguns
2	Browning Hi-Power pistols, in 9mm Parabellum
6	magazines for Hi-Power pistols
1000	rounds of 9mm Parabellum ammunition, 22nd Century manufacture
2	C1 belt-fed Browning machine guns, in 7.62mm NATO ... these need some repair after the watchtower collapse
2	tripods for light machine guns ... these need some repair after the watchtower collapse
10	100 round belts of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, 22nd Century manufacture
1	15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 13 howitzer, on steel wheels, 2250 kg
40	canister rounds for 15 cm howitzer, 1600 kg not including wooden cases. The brass cases are kind of short -- clearly not the size used for regular shells.
1	CB radio
2	24 volt truck batteries
1	gasogen powered 10 kilowatt electric generator, on a two-wheeled wheeled trailer. It's an old piece of contractor equipment, with a lot of repairs and conversions. It's got an 18 HP (originally) 4 cylinder engine, that puts out 110/220 volt AC power (not very well regulated). The wheels and tires are "jeep" type.  It comes with a 30 meter power cable. Weight about 800 kg.
1	Charter Arms Bulldog .44 Special revolver. 2.5" barrel, 5 shot, 0.6 kg
30	rounds .44 Special ammunition, 22nd Century manufacture
1	1979 Ford Courier pickup truck, with a 2 liter methanol-burning 4-cylinder engine and manual transmission. It has a spare tire, but two of the installed tires are damaged, and the right side has a lot of damage from 40mm grenade fragments. A 200 liter stainless steel tank is carried in the bed, to hold methanol; the original fuel tank has been removed (or rusted out).
6	sets of Canadian Airborne Regiment uniforms ... this presumes you patch, clean up some, mix and match, and provide some of your own boots, web gear, etc.. These will fit medium-size persons. Main distinguishing items:  the beret and jacket, with insignia; jacket and pants are olive green.
lots	of charcoal for gasogen engines. You didn't weigh it, but probably topped off your trucks from the local supply.

 more to come for this list ...

 

 

Friday, 2 September 2140

 

weather:  morning civil twilight at 5:17 a.m. ET, sunset civil twilight at 7:24 p.m. ET; daily high temp 68 F, low temp 51 F; fog from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., scattered clouds rest of the day, winds 8 kph from the NW.

 

     The team entered the Diefenbunker, and moved cautiously into the mildewed, dark hallways. The Airborne Regiment had spent 20-plus years hauling out anything of use in the post-apocalyptic world; there were still some corroded typewriters, cafeteria chairs, etc. but any useful tools, telephones, most light bulbs, etc. had been removed. Some large banks of batteries were still present and charged; they operated the sump pumps when activated by an automatic switch. A few inches of water damage on the lowest level indicated that this system wasn't foolproof.

     The main diesel generator was still present and operable -- it was installed before the bunker was finished, and was too large to haul out. Large fuel and lubricant tanks were present, though at least 3/4 empty. A toolbox in the machinery room was the only "not looted" gear, mostly tools specific to the generator -- Doc Perkins snagged it.

 

CFS Carp generator tool set
#	item	mass, kg
1	wheeled steel tool box; the smallish castering wheels are for use on shop floors, NOT over dirt. Two doors on front open into a two-level internal space; there are two drawers above that, and a (very dented) working surface on top.	21.4
1	15" crescent wrench	1.3
1	8 meter power cable, three outlets, 110/220 volt grounded	5
2	6" C-clamp	1
2	8" C-clamp	1.5
1	1/4" drill bit	0.1
1	electric portable drill for 1/4" bit, with 2 meter cord	3
12	hose gaskets, various sizes 1.5" to 2.5"	0.2
1	machinist's ball peen hammer	0.5
1	wad of oakum	0.5
1	jar of talcum powder (kind of solidified by 2140)	0.5
1	fire rake (not in the tool box)	1
1	general purpose shovel (not in the tool box)	1
13	washers, up to 4" diameter	0.5
1	socket wrench set, oversize (3/4" to 1" sizes)	15
1	11" monkey wrench	1.5
1	15' monkey wrench	2
1	14" pipe wrench	2
1	18" pipe wrench	2.5
1	straight jaw locking pliers, 7"	0.5
1	straight jaw locking pliers, 9"	1
--	various bits of wire, small pieces of metal, old nails, etc.	1
total		63

 

     Also in the machinery room were various chunks of heavy pipe, sheet metal, etc., a cart-mounted fire extinguisher (dubiously effective), some greasy lengths of hoses for transferring fuel and lubricant, and a set of binders with maintenance and operation instructions for the diesel generator and the sump pumps.

     Power to keep the batteries topped up was in fact coming from one of the two nuclear thermal-electric generators installed in 1989; it was still putting out several hundred watts of power. The "reactor room" (formerly a lounge) was shielded with metal blocks.

 

Seneh TEG

The Seneh is an air-cooled fast breeder reactor which uses semiconductors to convert heat directly to electrical power. It weighs about 400 kg, including shielding and 53 kg of 90% enriched U-235 (about 90% of critical mass). It's designed to provide 10 kilowatts of electricity; about 100 kilowatts of heat is also generated at full power, which is radiated into the air in the reactor room. Originally, fans sent the air out through some of the ventilation shafts to the surface; currently, the hot air just circulates within the bunker. The air does not come into contact with the uranium, so (in theory) it's not hazardous; in practice, the shielding and casing material are slowly becoming radioactive.      Externally, the generator is a stainless steel cylinder about 0.7 meter long (not including the cooling fins) and 0.75 meter in diameter, with cooling fins on one end; it has two integral cradles, and three lifting eyes. The outer casing is rated to 1000 psi of pressure. It's quite warm ... 5 kilowatts is a powerful free-standing electric heater for home use, so 10 kilowatts gets the casing and cooling fins toasty.      While the nuclear processes and mechanical components are working fine, many of the power conversion semi-conductors have failed, reducing the maximum electrical output to about 5 kilowatts. The power setting has been manually reduced to produce less than a kilowatt of electricity, currently. Some cooling fans, and the battery bank for the sump pumps, are the main load now.      The entire unit and installation would be a violation of many legal and engineering requirements in 1989; it's clearly a "quick fix".      Seneh is the Hebrew name of the burning bush from the Book of Exodus.

 

     It was clear from looking (briefly) at the reactor room that there had originally been two Seneh generators installed, and that the Airborne Regiment had removed one.

     The vault doors were closed; the team spent a while drilling out the two locks on the smaller, round door. Inside the vault was the remainder of the Project Paragon gold supply:  

 

• 4,000 Canadian $5 coins (~ 33 kg), with dates from 1912 to 1914, in 200 paper wrappers of 20 coins each
  

• 600 Canadian $10 coins (~ 10 kg), with dates from 1912 to 1914, in 30 paper wrappers of 20 coins each

• 300 Imperial Russian 10 rubles from 1897 to 1911, 8.6 grams each (~ $5 in 2140 terms), total 2.58 kg
  

• 150 Polish 20 złotych from circa 1925, 6.45 grams each (~ $3.85 in 2140 terms), total 0.97 kg
  

• 120 British sovereigns from 1925, 8 grams each (~ $4.78 in 2140 terms), total 0.96 kg
  

• 75 Italian 20 lire with various dates from 1888 to 1914, 6.45 grams each (~ $3.85 in 2140 terms), total 0.48 kg
  

 

... about 48 kg of gold. The gold, and the tool set, were lugged up to the surface -- four flights of stairs, and a 15 meter vertical ladder, were the hard parts.

     By dawn, the camp had been searched, the pickup truck pushed out of the camp (it wasn't in running condition at the moment), the gold carried to the surface, the team's vehicles driven up to the camp, and Doc Perkins' tool set hauled up last. The team washed up a bit (especially anyone who'd been in the tear-gassed trailer, or had searched the prisoners).

     The nine Canadian survivors had been separated, searched and questioned. It was pretty clear they were the dregs of the Airborne Regiment; the sergeant was a lush, and the other men were stupid, rebellious, or mentally unbalanced -- pick two! While the list of day codes was obtained, the Morrow Project team didn't feel very confident of fooling the army base at Petawawa at 6 a.m.

     Only four of the Canadians were people that the Project members (or their Anishinaabe allies) could imagine keeping around, and of those only two took up the Project's offer to "defect". Those two, and the sergeant, were loaded onto the semi-trailer, along with the pickup truck, the gold, the tool box, and any other "swag".

 

Answers given by Canadians under questioning will be presented here later.

 

     A bit before noon, the little convoy was headed back towards Lake Erie. They only drove five hours that day, being very tired by that point, and camped off the road among some maple trees.

 

Saturday, 3 September 2140

 

weather: high temperature 69 F, low temperature 46 F; almost no wind; clear before dawn, scattered clouds rest of the day

 

     The convoy drove for 10 hours this day, back towards the shore of Lake Erie.

 

Sunday, 4 September 2140

 

weather: high temperature 73 F, low temperature 44 F; wind 8 kph from the southeast; scattered clouds all day.

 

     Back at the shore near Hagersville, about noon. Preparing the pontoon barge, and loading all the vehicles back aboard, used up the rest of the daylight hours. The Calypso and the barge moved a few kilometers offshore; the evening was spent afloat, while the Calypso's crew rested and cleaned up.

 

Monday, 5 September 2140 - Wednesday, 7 September 2140

 

weather: typically high temperatures in the 70s or low 80s; drizzle or scattered clouds, fog from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.

 

     Three days of motoring on the Great Lakes, back to Sleeping Bear Dunes. The Calypso and the pontoon barge arrived at the Canadian Liberation Force camp late in the day on the 7th.

     By that date, there were about a thousand people present at the camp! Between the 26th of August and the 2nd of September, about a hundred recruits were showing up every day; the number of daily recruits had dwindled to a doze or so by the 7th.

 

Thursday, 8 September 2140

 

weather: mid-day high temperature 84 F, night time low 66 F; wind usuall 13 kph from the southwest; fog from pre-dawn to sunrise, followed by drizzle (or very heavy fog) to 9 a.m. and overcast till 10 p.m, when the fog returns ...

 

     The adventures continue from this day!

 

on to Assault on Thunder Bay