Post Grid: An Arizona EMP Adventure Read Online Free PDF

job, you're right—I mean correct,” said Jose.
    Jess smiled to himself. He glanced over at Cadet Sergeant Rabbinowitz, who was sitting in the back seat with him. The guys in her Civil Air Patrol squadron called her Lynn. The younger Rabbinowitz' long, jet-black hair was rolled into a tight bun at the nape of her neck, military fashion. High school volleyball had toned and tanned her entire body. Jess hoped he hadn't had a stupid look on his face when he glanced over at her.
    “Let me see that map,” Lynn said. She reached for it, but Jess moved it just out of her reach.
    “I'm the map reader. You can be the survival expert, first aid person or anything else you want today,” Jess said.
    “Oh, come on,” said Lynn. “It's not like we're looking for a real crash site or anything.”
    “No, but on these SAREXs (Search and Rescue Exercises) you have to pretend—prepare for the real thing.”
    “We don't get that many here, do we, Dad?” Lynn looked to her father for reinforcement.
    “Don't get me in on this, Lynn,” said Major Dennis Rabbinowitz. “But they do say we have too much good weather here in Arizona for many plane searches—the land of the never-ending sun.”
    “I got to go on a real search,” said Jess. “It was in the White Mountains. A helicopter crashed in a deep canyon. We drove almost all night to get there, then went into the canyon at dawn.
    “You did not,” chided Lynn. “You couldn't have been qualified yet. I didn't get my SAR qual 'til six months after that search.”
    “Did too, you can ask my Dad. He was there.”
    “Yep, Lynn,” said Jose. “He'd passed his SAR practicals not two weeks before.”
    “It was cool, there were two dead bodies,” Jess said, then wished he hadn't said it with so much enthusiasm. Lynn wrinkled up her nose and turned her head away. “I mean, they didn't let us see them up close or anything, because we weren't supposed to mess up the evidence. Just Major LaGuardia got to go in, he's a paramedic.”
    Captain Jose Herrero slowed and steered the lifted, fire-engine red Ford Expedition onto the dirt road from the Beeline Highway. The phone in Lynn's BDU (battle dress uniform) pants pocket fired off three loud beeps.
    “Dad, it's time for Ops Normal,” Lynn looked at Dennis and held out her hand.
    “Mic please, Major Rabbi Daddy.”
    “There you are, Sergeant Daughter,” Dennis said as he handed the radio microphone over the seat to Lynn.
    Lynn cleared her throat and got ready to transmit. “Mission Base, Red Rock Three Seven, over.”
    “Red Rock Three Seven, Mission Base, over.” A young teen voice replied from the VHF radio speaker. Jess thought it sounded like a cadet in his squadron.
    “Ops Normal, Red Rock Three Seven, out.” Handing the mic back to her dad she said,” Now the Incident Commander knows that we are safe and secure, I feel much better.”
    “That must have been John on the radio,” said Jess. “I mean, Cadet Curry. I thought he was supposed to be marshalling aircraft on the flight line today, not working the radios.”
    “They could have him doing both. They were short on cadets today for Mission Base; most were out in the field,” said Dennis.
    “This is a very big SAREX (search and rescue exercise) this weekend,” Jose said, “And it's especially important that Mission Base keeps track of us. Since we are the special surprise . We are not on the regular mission plan, but are supposed to be off doing something else . We don't have a tactical call sign for this mission either. As far as anyone listening knows, the good chaplain and his helpers are out ministering to the troops. Dennis, why don't you have a more distinctive call sign—say, Gawd One?” Jose asked, changing God into a two syllable word.
    “That is a bit much for a humble Torah student like me,” retorted Rabbi Rabbinowitz.
    Jess and Lynn both suppressed a laugh on hearing their fathers' banter. The SUV turned off the pavement toward the mountains,