10
At the Capitol base, Milo and Corel continued to monitor events in the arena. It was coming up to 1:00 o'clock in the morning at the base, nearly midnight in the arena. Beetee and Finnick Odair had wrapped the lightning tree in wire. Katniss Everdeen and Johanna Mason were feeding the wire down towards the beach. The telecast was featuring Katniss and Johanna when the wire they were unspooling suddenly went slack. Moments later, Joanna attacked Katniss dealing her an apparently mortal injury. The screens switched back to the clearing around the tree. As the golden wire recoiled in loops and tangles, Finnick swore and then sprinted full speed into the jungle in the direction of the women. The cameras briefly followed him but then snapped back to the clearing where Beetee was acting in a very peculiar fashion. He had wrapped a length of wire around a knife and was preparing to stab at the force field. The force of contact blew Beetee backwards in an unmoving heap.
"What was that all about?" muttered Corel.
A number of jump shots brought the viewer to a confrontation between Brutus and Chaff. The death of Chaff was interesting, but not exceptional. Unexpected was Peeta Melark's arrival on the scene, apparently out of nowhere, catching Brutus off-guard and killing him.
"Now, you see," said Milo, "things are getting interesting."
The broadcast cut back again to the clearing around the lightning tree. Katniss Everdeen had lurched into the scene, her face a mask of blood, her arm crudely bandaged and dripping blood in a nearly steady flow. She spotted Beetee and stumbled towards him, collapsed by his side and apparently tried to revive him. Soon she was wailing Peeta's name like a maniac.
Crashing noises in the nearby jungle led to the sudden appearance of the tributes Finnick and Enobaria, They searched madly about the clearing, but neither spotted Katniss. They did see each other and began the approach to a final, deadly confrontation. Katniss had spotted them. She armed her bow, that deadly bow, and took a bead on Enobaria.
"Yes!" hissed Milo avidly, his face hard and his eyes glittering.
But instead of firing, Katniss hesitated... and she hesitated. Enobaria and Finnick came closer and closer, each fully intent on the other, each looking for some small weakness, some little opening, some tiny advantage. Both were in plain view to Katniss, but Katniss did not fire. Katniss relaxed her bow and turned back to Beetee. Katniss turned back to Beetee as though lost in some dream, oblivious to the unfolding drama around her.
"What now?" asked Corel.
Katniss took the wire that Beetee had wrapped around the knife and wrapped it around her arrow. Then she raised her bow and fired into the air where it could strike only the force field. Astonishingly, the arrow was not destroyed in a flash of light. Instead, it vanished from view, dragging the wire after it. And then the lightning struck.
The screen went black, but flickered back, seconds later, the scene picked up by another camera a short distance away. All the tributes around the tree were now laying on the ground, apparently unconscious... or dead. Fireworks erupted into the sky.
"What the hell is going on?" demanded Corel.
"How the hell should I know!" responded Milo.
Again the screen went black, but this time it did not flicker back.
The two sat in the sudden silence staring at each other. Time stretched out and they both turned expectantly towards the blank screen. Nothing was there. Milo sat staring at the screen and drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair. Corel started shuffling papers on his desk, but then stopped. He slammed his hands on the desk in frustration.
"Is that it? It's over just like that?"
"Can't be." said Milo, sounding perplexed. "There'll have to be some kind of explanation. Something."
As time dragged on, the screen remained blank. The two men fidgeted, neither willing to give up on the broadcast, each waiting for the other to take the lead. Finally, it was Corel who stood up.
"It's late." he said, "If that's the end of it, I'm calling it a night."
A quiet beeping was heard.
"What's that?" asked Corel.
Milo gave a startled jerk, as though suddenly brought back to reality.
"My communicator." he said, taking a small object from his pocket and holding it to his ear.
"Yes?" he asked, and paused momentarily. "Of course." he said, followed by another pause. "Yes, sir!" he said, suddenly sitting up straight. Another long pause followed. "Immediately!" he said and put the communicator back in his pocket.
As he looked at Corel, a knock came at the office door.
"One moment." said Milo before Corel could respond to the knock. "Change of plans. You are to launch immediately. Direct orders from President Snow."
"What?" asked Corel, "We're hitting 13 tonight?"
"No." said Milo. "New target. District 12."
"12!" exclaimed Corel. "Are you insane?"
"Do you question your orders?" demanded Milo as another, more insistent knock came at the door.
"Come!" barked the Commander.
The door opened to reveal a soldier who snapped to attention and offered a brisk salute.
"Encrypted message from Peacekeeper Command, District 2, Commander." he said proffering a piece of paper printed with an elaborate barcode, "Your eyes only."
Commander Corel took the paper. "Wait there." he told the soldier, and taking the paper to his desk, he fed it into an unobtrusive black machine. He sat silent, reading the message that appeared on a small screen. "Get my second." he told the soldier in a strangely subdued voice. "Stat."
The soldier departed.
"Confirmation of the order." he said to Milo. "And more. We're bugging out. Abandoning the base. After 12 is bombed, the group is to proceed to the base outside District 8."
He shook his head disbelievingly. All those big plans abandoned just like that. A major strategy tossed to the wind. Then a thought occurred to him and he looked at Milo. "Aren't there still Peacekeepers in 12? What about them?"
Milo shrugged. "Collateral damage." he said, "Collateral damage."
Corel's second in command appeared at the door.
"The group is to launch immediately." he was told by Corel. "You will lead it. The target is District 12. We are ordered to obliterate it. It will be tough to eliminate an entire district, even one as small as 12, with the force we have, but hopefully you can spawn a firestorm. The Victor's Village is to be spared, so that helps, and it's a coal district, so there's plenty of fuel on the ground. When the bombing is completed, the group will proceed to District 8. Make sure all cameras are running. The Capitol wants a live feed. Tell one bomber to stand down, send the captain to me. Make sure he knows where Captain Thread was positioned. And tell the captain of the garrison to report as well. Go."
Within moments, klaxons started sounding and the base erupted into action.
Two officers appeared at the door to the office.
"Unload your bombs." said Corel. "Deploy them throughout the base for maximum destruction of defenses and communications, rig them for remote detonation, then get your troops aboard the hovercraft. Do it now."
He stood at a window overlooking the central compound as the hovercrafts started to lift off. Ground troops were using all available equipment to unload the one remaining and distribute the explosives. Minutes later, the squadron had assembled above the base and headed off on a vector to District 12.
"We'll take the remaining craft and pick up Thread." said Corel.
"Are those your orders?" asked Milo.
Corel did not reply.
Within half an hour, he and Milo were aboard the hovercraft and in the air with the remainder of the garrison. At a nod, the explosives left behind were detonated, the concussion shaking the craft as it departed. Their initial heading was the same as the group, but as soon as Corel was confident that they were beyond the view of 13's outposts, the craft veered off in the direction of that district.
