Starting from South America, speeding through the world

Chapter 146 Small Head Controls Big Head
North Carolina Army National Guard.

Raleigh Armory, east side office of the main administration building.

Army Captain David Sloan stood behind the table, his hands on his belt.

The moment the door was pushed open, he instinctively straightened his back.

The woman was wearing a light-colored shirt with the cuffs rolled up, higher than he had imagined.

Of course, it looks much better than in the photos.

"You're Ms. Watts?"

Natalie walked in, without extending her hand or exchanging pleasantries: "Just call me Natalie."

“David Sloan,” he said, tapping his fingers on the table as if to make up for a missed handshake. “Welcome.”

The woman looked around the room.

They did not show any particular interest, nor did they deliberately conceal their observation.

A metal cabinet was placed against the wall.

Several documents were on the table, pressed under a coffee cup, their edges curling up.

Natalie sat down and took out her notebook and a voice recorder.

She didn't turn it on; she just placed it aside.

David looked at the thing, hesitated for half a second before speaking: "You're not going to record the whole thing today, are you?"

“Of course not.” Natalie opened her notebook, pressing her thumb down on the left page. “Only with your permission.”

“Okay, of course, no problem.” David stared at her delicate face, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly.

Then, to cover up his embarrassment, he quickly said, "It sounds like you're quite experienced."

Natalie shook her head and replied politely but frankly, "Actually, this is my first time working on this topic."

“I used to be involved in politics all the time, Congress, elections, state governments. You know how it is.”

David asked curiously, "Then why aren't you doing these things anymore?"

“Going in a different direction is at least more interesting,” Natalie said, flipping through her notes.

“That’s true,” David agreed. “It’s less effort than watching them argue.”

Natalie nodded: "At least now we don't have to listen to five hours of hearings just to have a few sentences cut out."

“You know, we have people who take turns watching that, monitoring C-SPAN live every day.”

“This is an election year,” David reminded him.

“The more it’s an election year, the less people want to write about elections.”

After they finished speaking, neither of them responded.

The only sound in the room was the low-frequency hum of the air conditioner.

David didn't think there was anything wrong with remaining silent.

But after three or four seconds, he suddenly realized that he was sitting too upright and his body was tense.

Realizing this, he cleared his throat and asked again, "By the way, how did you find this place?"

"I don't recall receiving any media reports recently."

“Joe Danner referred me,” Natalie said. “From the state defense office.”

"Joe?"

He said you're quite reasonable.

Did he also say I was being nosy?

"He said you speak more clearly than the duty briefing."

David gave an awkward smile.

He stopped looking at her and stared at the crumpled schedule, asking in a low voice:
"Would you be disappointed if I talked less today?"

After he finished speaking, he realized that what he said sounded a bit off, and scratched his head awkwardly.

Instead of pointing out his rudeness, Natalie said with interest, "I believe you don't want to disappoint me."

Upon hearing this, David breathed a sigh of relief, glanced down at the table, and tried to find something he could do immediately.

"How about I show you a rough rotation structure first?"

As he spoke, he walked toward the file rack next to him, his speech faster than before, his movements carrying a sense of hurriedness and overexertion.

"You can look at this first."

David turned around, pulled out a few pages of paper, and spread them out on the table.

"This line of work involves setting up sentry posts, with three fixed posts and three shifts a day."

"The south gate, the vehicle access road, and the corridor leading to the weapons room."

He paused for a moment before remembering the matter of secrecy, and awkwardly added:

"However, this is not allowed to be filmed, and the location should not be specified in the article."

Natalie didn't write anything; she just stared at the paper quietly, then looked up at him.

"Didn't you ask about 'deployment methods'?" David seemed to be trying to cover something up, gently pushing the document forward slightly.

"I'm just trying to make it easier for you to understand."

"Thank you."

David nodded, but didn't withdraw his hand. His fingertips were still resting on the paper, as if he wanted to say something more, but hesitated.

"The afternoon's relocation will begin at the eastern preparation area," he finally said. "Three groups, traveling light."

"But the vehicle is indeed equipped with a cargo, and it is being deployed according to the official regulations."

As he spoke, he turned the page and pointed to the time in the upper right corner.

"Starting from 1330, it will end around 1515."

"We won't take the main road; we'll take the north side passage to avoid the construction area on the west side of the camp."

“This part isn’t suitable to appear in the article either,” Natalie reminded her, looking up.

“Of course,” David said immediately. “You can judge for yourself.”

The room fell silent again.

"Do you also have night shifts?" Natalie suddenly asked.

“Yes,” David answered instinctively, “starting from 1900, night watch until 0530.”

"Three-hour shifts, with double shifts at night."

As soon as he finished speaking, he regretted it.

The window shouldn't have been described in such detail, much less like a timetable.

Do you have any other plans for today?

It took David half a second to think of a way to change the subject, praying that everything that had just happened wouldn't cause him any trouble.

Natalie gently closed her notebook: "That's all."

"This time, I will only focus on the routine working relationship between the state military and local infrastructure, and will not conduct many interviews."

"Infrastructure?"

"Yes. Transportation coordination, communication nodes, and material handling," she said, standing up.

David nodded and casually tidied up the documents on the table.

"Shall we start the tour now?" he asked.

“Of course.” Natalie smiled. “If it’s not too much trouble for you.”

“Not at all.” David opened the door and stepped aside. “Ladies first.”

The corridor was somewhat dark.

The fluorescent lights on the ceiling flickered twice.

David followed behind Natalie, and after a few steps, he stood beside her.

“The maintenance yard is on the east side,” he said. “It’s about two hundred meters from the dormitory area to there.”

"The route will pass through a vehicle lane, so you'll have to wait until the crowd disperses before you can take pictures."

“I’m not in a hurry.” Natalie glanced at a worn-out diagram on the wall. “Have you been using this diagram for a long time?”

“It hasn’t been updated since Iraq,” David said with a wry smile. “The structure, however, hasn’t changed much.”

Where is TOC?

"Underground communication rooms are generally only activated during disaster preparedness periods."

"Does the camp have a tiered contingency plan for power outages?"

"Level I and Level II are both on file."

"If the power outage lasts more than three hours, the diesel generator set on the west side will start, but do you need to write this?"

“Perhaps.” Natalie said as she walked and looked around. “Infrastructure maintenance is part of my reporting.”

"Your state government is currently promoting public-private partnerships for cell tower construction. How long can satellite backhaul last?"

"If we rely solely on military links, it would take about 48 hours. But don't worry, we won't let it get to that point."

The two walked down the stairs.

Natalie didn't speak, but raised her hand to indicate an iron gate with a new lock.

"what is this?"

“A warehouse,” David replied. “Part of it is stockpiled ammunition, and there are also several types of storage equipment.”

"The key is held by Supply NCO and XO."

Natalie's gaze lingered on it for a few seconds before she looked away.

The two walked back along the corridor, passed through a short passage, and circled back to the front of the administration building through the side door of the machinery warehouse.

Only then did David speak:
"You should have seen enough for today, right?"

"The maintenance yard at the back was too sunny and there wasn't anything special about it."

"That's enough."

"Then," he paused, a hint of nervousness creeping into his expression, "are you still spending the night in Raleigh?"

"of course."

"Um, if you don't mind being tired, could I treat you to dinner later?"

Natalie tilted her head and sized him up for a while before slowly saying, "Goodbye, David."

(End of this chapter)