Field Commission 16

Evening of December 30, I'm reading a discarded western novella I found in the railcar, when the Brit CO shows, asks to speak privately. We step outside.
"That was some first class shooting Lt, took the pressure off us, pulling down all those planes. I'm recommending you people for a unit citation."
"Thank you ma'am."
"I suppose you are wondering how com devices failed. Seems they had a home made jammer. Totally disorganized us. Anyhow, look what we found in a raid. Read it now, not a word to your people, but start thinking."
I gasp.
Though not necessary, she leans closer, lowers her voice, "first time ever they've had neoSoviet time scatter devices. And look at how many!"
"Look at the date of the document ma'am, would have been easy to scoop, centralized storage. Now probably too late, deployed to units."
"Exactly what the SAS found, empty warehouse."
"Look at the bright side ma'am."
"There is a bright side?"
"Older make ma'am, still have the whistle sound. New ones, silent, would be more dangerous."
"Even then Lt, by the time you've heard the sound, odds are 50/50 it's already too late."
I groan aloud.
Carefully she tucks the document away, "ok Lt, what you just saw, all officers and the RSM will know. So you can speak freely if necessary. About noon tomorrow, you'll get the code word Indigo, means tell your people ASAP."
I nod.
"I'm aware you Yanks have a different Intel network, hear different things. Do I have your word, what comes next, you discuss only with me? No other officers, not the RSM."
"Yes ma'am."
"Read this."
Two Indian extremist organizations have loaned instructors to the Official IRA for the time scatter devices: one from Shiv Sena and six from RSS, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
I read it carefully twice.
"Your take Lt?"
"Want the quick version ma'am or full sermon?"
"Everything you know Lt, our lives are all in serious danger."
"In the view of the US Army ma'am, the Indian government is guilty of a colossal blunder. Like all democracies, they flirted too much with socialism, starved the army below critical mass. This wasn't a problem until IndoPak War Number 83."
She offers a cig, I pause, light, "now you see ma'am, they were so short on expertise they took lotta SS into their special forces, RSS into the regulars. Problem is, now these people are lots better trained than before, chose not to stop shooting just because the Indian government so ordered."
"That much I know. Now the $64 question. What's your take on this document, you the person, not you the US Army?"
"Ma'am suppose you wished to hide one particular elephant. Avoid scrutiny of one particular beast. What would you do?"
"In a herd of other elephants, the zoo."
"Ma'am the SS and RSS are two totally different entities, though they share common goals and a good cooperation level. There is just no way on earth an SS man would train these local yokels. We're talking brilliant, quirky, individualistic, ultra-professional people in the SS. Take decades to train the IRA to that level. So I ask you ma'am, let's say you wished to land a time scatter device on the hood of a moving vehicle 8 miles away, who would you pick?"
She gasps, "of course the SS man is an assassin. But you hide him among other instructors to fool people. Your take on the RSS Lt?"
"Thorough, ponderous, seen pictures of their mass rallies. Akin to the Nuremberg Rallies of Antiquity."
"So they'd train people to do a thunderous artillery barrage, something straight out of World War One."
Morosely I walk back into the railcar. The profanity stops at the poker games as all stare at me.
"I don't like to give orders, tell you what to do with your free time. But, maybe a suggestion, don't play poker half the night. Gonna need all the rest you can get."
Hatfield asks quietly, "we're talking huge, right?"
I nod.
"But you ain't allowed to tell us?"
"As of about noon tomorrow, I am. Til then, it's secret."
Tables finish their hands, head for bed.