Like butter scraped over too much bread...
"There has to be some kind of pattern to these attacks" You think, as you go through the files for the hundredth time. You have been working for weeks, day after day to the point of exhaustion and it shows. Your eyes are red from staring at thousands of papers and the dark circles under them are deep and pronounced. It's four in the morning and the facility is almost deserted.
You look up at the map hanging on the wall and suddenly you have an idea, it seems crazy and you don't know if it's the lack of sleep or the enormous amount of coffee you have in your body, but something tells you that’s what you are searching for.
You frantically start marking each of the places where there was an attack similar to the one that wiped out your company. When you finish, you stand back and look at your work from afar. The attacks are focused on specific areas, each strike circumscribing an area on the map, as if they started from a central point and radiated a few kilometers away.
"There has to be something in the center of those areas" you mutter to yourself as you write down one by one all the areas that were demarcated. You run through the corridors, surely someone must be in the developing room, there is too much material to process. You breathe a sigh of relief when you see the little red light on, above the door and start banging like crazy. "Whoever's in there, I'm Lieutenant Davidson, please open me up, it's urgent"
After a few minutes the light goes out and the door opens, you surely look like a crazy person, because the soldier at the door looks at you with wide eyes. "Ma'am, how can I help you?" He salutes you and moves to let you pass. "I need all aerial photographs of any of these areas," you say as you hand over your notes.
After reading it carefully, he approaches a file cabinet that he has behind and begins to search. "There are some pretty big areas, I'm not sure we have full perimeter photos." You sigh as he hands you envelopes full of photos. "What are you looking for?" he says as he continues searching. "Military installations, a compound, some guarded place in the center of these locations... I really don't know for sure."
Hours pass slowly until the soldier holds up a photograph with a triumphant smile "I think I found something" You move closer to him and lean over the photo to get a better look, it is essentially a photo of a forest but your face lights up when in a corner you see what appears to be a security checkpoint, a motorcycle on one side and a barrier "Are there more photos of this area?" He nods, but with some sadness "Only one, the plane was attacked while doing reconnaissance and it came back miraculously" The photo he hands you is blurry but you can make out the outlines of several trucks and part of a building "Do you have coordinates for this place?
A few moments later you leave the room with the information you were looking for, a smile on your face and eyes full of determination. You approach a metal door and knock loudly, nobody answers and you knock louder again, nobody answers. You're losing patience, so you knock on the door even harder and yell "Howard! I know you're in there! Can you ask the current bimbo you have in there, to please get dressed and come out immediately? We need to talk, it's urgent!"
You walk a few steps back and the door opens, a half-dressed girl rushes out with her clothes in her hands, her head is down and she doesn’t look at you. "Miller!" The girl stops in her tracks when she hears your voice, but doesn't turn around "In the future you and I are going to have a very serious conversation about leaving your position unattended" she nods and continues walking.
Howard is standing in the doorway with a smile and his shirt half opened "Jealous dear?" you scoff "Of you? Never, but I’ve already told you in several occasions, that the barracks is not your playground and that you can’t seduce the officers"
"Just a bit of a distraction, you know I have my eyes on a bigger prize." You roll your eyes in disgust. "Howard, please stop talking about me like I'm some kind of prize cow, we have more pressing matters and fix your shirt." He moves to let you pass and closes the door behind you "How can I help you?"
"I need you to take me to the front, I need to talk to Phillips, I have a lead on a military facility that may be connected to the strange attacks" He looks at you and shakes his head "No"
"Sorry, I didn't hear you, did you say no?" You look at him surprised and he sighs "Victoria, have you looked in the mirror lately? When was the last time you slept more than a couple of hours?" You see the concern on his face and you know he's right, you're heading to absolute exhaustion, but you can't stop, not now, if you stop the nightmares will never go away, the guilt will not let you live. Tears gather in your eyes and you fight them back "I can't, I can't do that. I'm going to get to Phillips, whether you help me or not, but it will be faster if you help me"
"My dear, I'm only worried about you" You wipe the tear that escaped from your cheek and you look at him defiantly "The only thing you should be worry about is winning the war as soon as possible" you know that you are being unfair with him, that he really cares about you and that he is just as committed to ending the war as you are, but you can't afford to be weak. The lead is solid, you know you're on the right track, but you need Phillips, even you know you can't do this alone.
Howard looks sad, what you said was hurtful, but you can't waver, finally he sighs and says "I'll help you, but you have to promise me that during the trip you're going to sleep for a few hours" You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding and your expression softens, you approach him with a small smile and hug him "Thanks Howard, I knew I could count on you"
A few hours later you're lying on Howard's plane, catching up on some precious sleep en route to meet the Colonel, not really knowing what you were getting yourself into.