“Are you ever going to tell Aunt Nancy and Aunt Margaret?” Brad asked.
“I will never say never, Brad, but for now I want my existence to be a secret,” Patrick said. “You can’t tell anyone either. Only President Martindale, President Phoenix, Chris Wohl, and a handful of others know. Not even Dr. Kaddiri and Dr. Richter at Sky Masters know, and their company is the prime contractor on the Cybernetic Infantry Devices. To everyone else, I’m just a call sign.”
“What’s that?”
There was a slight pause, then Patrick replied, “?‘Resurrection.’?”
“We think it can be done, sir,” Chris Wohl said as he and his men entered the hangar early the next morning. He set a bag of breakfast sandwiches on the table in the conference room where Brad was sleeping.
Brad was awake instantly, and he followed Wohl and his men into the main hangar, where the CID was standing. “You came up with a plan so soon?” he remarked. “It’s not even six A.M.”
“The general said as soon as possible,” Wohl said matter-of-factly. “We worked all night.” To Patrick in the CID he said, “Sir, we downloaded maps of the campus and the surrounding area, and obtained information on the campus security police unit, city police, San Luis Obispo county sheriff’s department, California Highway Patrol, and federal law enforcement agencies based in and near the city of San Luis Obispo. All agencies are very well staffed and trained. The campus police have an extensive camera surveillance system—virtually every door and hallway in the education and administration buildings, almost every street corner, and every exterior doorway in every other building on campus, have cameras and are recorded. Major crime on campus does not appear to be a big problem.
“There are approximately nineteen thousand students on campus,” he went on. “The student population is primarily from California, primarily white, Hispanic, and Asian; only two percent of the student population is from other countries, and only fifteen percent of foreign students are from Eastern Europe. The county is rural and hilly and does not appear to have a serious gang presence, although there are numerous reports of meth labs and marijuana farms in the countryside that are quickly eradicated by county, state, and federal agencies that appear to work closely with each other.
“Problems: Access to the campus and most all the buildings is not normally controlled, although the campus’s buildings, labs, and classrooms can be remotely locked down electronically by campus security; and emergency communications via text messaging is excellent,” Wohl continued. “However, because access is not controlled, it would be easy for my team to go on campus if necessary. Identifying an attacker or surveillance among all the students would be difficult, and countersurveillance tactics training should be mandatory so Bradley can identify a shadow. Weapons are not allowed on campus, and concealed-carry firearm permits are almost impossible to get in that county or the entire state for that matter, but there were a great number of reports of armed students. ‘Policeman’ might be able to help get a concealed-carry firearm permit. The county jail is less than two miles south, and the California Men’s Colony, a minimum- and medium-security state prison, is less than three miles to the northwest. The San Luis Obispo Regional Airport is four-point-two miles south.
“My recommendation, sir, based on our preliminary analysis, would be for your son to move back on campus as soon as possible, but not into the mass dormitories,” Wohl concluded. “Our recommendation would be to have him move to the housing unit known as Poly Canyon. It is more like an apartment building complex, has fewer students, is farther away from the main campus, each building has its own dedicated full-time manager and full-time security team, and each floor has shifts of student resident assistants, so there appears to be a lot of eyes open twenty-four/seven. We estimate that he would have a moderate to good chance of survival if he gets some proper countersurveillance, self-defense, and weapons training, and carries a firearm.”
“I’d love to do all that stuff!” Brad exclaimed. “When do I start?”
The CID remained motionless for several long moments, but it finally moved its head. “Excellent report, Sergeant Major,” Patrick said. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, sir.”
“Set up a training schedule for Bradley at a local gym or similar facility,” Patrick said. “I believe Chief Ratel is still in the area. Get started as soon as possible. I’ll contact ‘Policeman’ and have him work on a legal concealed-carry permit and getting into Poly Canyon. Train Brad on how to use and carry a gun anyway until we get a legal unlimited concealed-carry permit.”
“Yes, sir,” Wohl responded, and turned and went into the conference room with his teammates.
“Kylie.” Patrick spoke into his communication system.