Page 68 of Princess

King gave a nod.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Marinah

On the day Nikayla turned two weeks old, I was dead to the world and had no idea what time it was when Beck pounded on our door.King answered.

“Landan is on the radio.He needs to speak with Marinah immediately,” Beck all but yelled into the room so I would hear.

I quickly pulled on clothes.Beck had disturbed Nikayla, and she began to fuss.

“I’ll change Nikayla and bring her to you; go,” King said.

I charged after Beck.

“What did Landan say?”I asked.

“They found the Federation’s stronghold.”

I tore into our communications room and hit the talk button on the radio.“It’s Marinah.”

“This is Landan.My scouts located the main Federation camp on the Louisiana coast.They estimate two thousand troops.Most are seasoned soldiers with only a few red stripes.There are five ships in the gulf, and those ships are preparing to leave.The troop numbers do not include men aboard the vessels.There is another main camp of soldiers about a hundred miles from us, deep in the city.The majority are red stripes, but they also have hellhounds in semi-trucks.They’ve been moving in soldiers slowly.I didn’t get the information until yesterday evening.I was radioing you this morning to tell you about those soldiers, but my other scouts just returned with the new information.”

“What time is it now?”I asked.

“3 a.m.”

I was awake, but my lack of sleep made me feel sluggish.“Where is the main camp staging?”

“The area was difficult to get to, and my men found it purely by accident.It’s surrounded by swamps about fifty miles from New Orleans.”

New Orleans was demolished by bomb strikes after the first electromagnetic pulses hit.Survivors either joined the Federation or headed west to outpost territories.

“Why do they think it’s a main camp?”I asked.

“President Barnes was identified.One of my scouts escaped as a red stripe years ago, and he is very familiar with Barnes.”

My heart began beating double time.“Did he see Mrs.Barnes?”

“Was Mrs.Barnes identified?”Landan asked someone in the room with him.His voice was slightly muffled, so he must have turned away from the microphone.

“I didn’t see her,” came a reply.

“Would you know her if you did see her?”

“Yes.”

“Marinah, did you catch that?”

“Yes,” I said.“Any sign of a submarine?”

“No, and I asked specifically about it.”

“What about hellhounds?”

“There are semi-trucks in both camps.If they have hellhounds in them, and if they’re filled to capacity, you’re looking at a thousand hounds at the main camp.The camp in our territory holds another two thousand troops.The trucks are also being used defensively and surround the camps.At the Louisiana camp, the scouts watched them load large amounts of supplies on two ships, with three others waiting in the harbor.They think those were already loaded.One ship can carry a thousand men.”

I took a moment to absorb what he was saying.

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