The Peacekeepers. Books 7 - 9 (The Peacekeepers Boxset Book 3)

by Ricky Sides

  In the small town in northern Arkansas where the doctor and nurse had treated the Hispanic family, the townspeople who had not yet succumbed to the disease, left the community en masse. They fled into the surrounding states. In many cases, they carried the plague with them, introducing it into Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

  ***

  The mayor of New Orleans stood on the exterior balcony of his old, Victorian era, home. Looking out at the city, he saw numerous fires that served as confirmation that the people of the city were ignoring his orders not to fire the plague stricken sections of the city. He had argued strongly against the burning of portions of the city because the medical experts had warned that doing so would drive rodents into the yet unaffected sections of the city. They had advised a strict night curfew in order to prevent arson, and the mayor had instituted it because he knew they were right. However, he lacked the manpower to enforce that curfew.

  “Mr. Mayor, your wife said I’d find you here,” the police chief said from the doorway behind Mayor Reagan.

  “Join me here for the view,” the mayor invited in a sad tone of voice.

  The police chief stepped up to the right of the mayor and stared out at the city. “The fools!” he said angrily.

  “We can hardly blame them, Marshall. They are terrified and believe that they can burn out the diseased section. When good men panic, even the best of men can commit unspeakable deeds.”

  “But if the doctors are right, then they are just hastening the demise of the city,” the police chief noted as he stared at the flames, which had now reached the historic French quarter. Turning his gaze away from the view of the burning city, he stared at the mayor a moment, noting that the trials of the last few years had prematurely aged the mayor, whose temples had turned noticeably gray. “Have you reached a decision?”

  The mayor sighed audibly. “Yes. Send the message to the peacekeepers. Tell them that we will accept the untried vaccine. We have to do something. Another thousand died today.”

  “Thirteen hundred forty-seven, sir, and that’s just those we can confirm. No doubt, there will be others who were still alive, but hiding in their homes until the fires consumed them.”

  “Hiding you say? Why would they be hiding?” the mayor asked.

  “Two hours ago, teams of men, wearing an assortment of protective gear, began going door to door in the stricken sectors. They began pulling the sick out into the streets where men taped plastic bags over their heads until they suffocated, and then they poured fuel oil on the bodies and set them ablaze in the streets.”

  “What are we doing about that?” asked the mayor angrily.

  “Nothing, Mr. Mayor. The men are heavily armed and threatened to kill any of my men I sent in against them. They say they will do what it takes to save the city because we won’t. I sent in a SWAT unit. They were killed in minutes. Some of the men doing this apparently have a great deal of combat experience.”

  “You almost sound as if you approve of their actions,” the mayor said bitterly.

  “I don’t think I deserve that!” the police chief stated angrily. “I knew the men of the SWAT team, and I sent them all to their deaths trying to stop what is going on in the city.”

  “Yes. Yes, of course you did. I’m sorry, Marshall. I know you’re doing your best, and if your elite team didn’t stand a chance there’s not much your other men can do,” the mayor said and rubbed his face in frustration.

  “Send the message. Tell the peacekeepers I said we can’t wait. We’ll let the people decide if they want to use the vaccine before it is tested.”

  The police chief used his radio to send a coded message to the dispatcher that would set the wheels in motion. While he did so, the mayor turned to face the burning city once more.

  Marshall left the mayor to his introspection as he waited for the return message from the dispatcher. Like the mayor, he stared out at the city. He wondered if there would be anything left to save.

  Minutes later, the squawking of his shoulder radio alerted the chief that he had an incoming message. He listened attentively as the dispatcher delivered a coded message. His mind automatically translated the code.

  He confirmed receipt of the message and turned to the mayor. “The peacekeepers say that they took the liberty of sending an APC with vaccine to the Lake Charles base. That APC is already in the air and will meet us at the pre-designated location.”

  “Then we’d better get there. Have a strong team of your men meet us at the location. I’ll ride with you.”

  “Yes, Mr. Mayor.”

  ***

  Maggie was working in one of the Reager Industries Quonset huts at an isolated location in the Texas desert. The location had been selected because it was all but impossible to reach by ground transportation, and was so far off the beaten path that there wasn’t the faintest of signs of human activity.

  Pol was working near her, and she had a staff of four medical experts who were also involved in testing the vaccine.

  Every stage of the experiment had been meticulously documented. They’d begun the experiment by injecting forty lab rats with the vaccine. The dates and times that the animals had received their vaccines were noted. After that step, they would have to wait for two weeks before they could actually conduct the test because it would take a minimum of ten days for the vaccine to build up the immune system. The maximum was fourteen days, and Maggie wanted to give it the maximum amount of time to become effective.

  None of the disease germ had been introduced yet. There was no point to the risk when it would be fourteen days before the vaccinated animals were ready for testing.

  “I think that’s all we can do at this point, Pol,” Maggie said as she placed a rat back in its container. She had been examining it for any sign of an adverse reaction to the vaccine. So far, there had been none, but they had received the vaccine only four days ago.

  “I agree. We may as well head back to the Damroyal. I think Jim wants us to help oversee some aspects of the Ark Program in the interim,” Pol responded.

  “Has he told Evan the big news?” asked Maggie.

  “No. He told me he wanted Evan to learn through proper channels.”

  “Well, you know how Jim is. He’s always concerned about not showing favoritism.”

  Turning to her subordinates, Maggie said, “We’re going to return to the Damroyal for now. Remember to monitor these animals. If they show any adverse affects from the vaccine, document it and contact me aboard the fortress.”

  “You can count on us,” said Sam Gray, the lead assistant on the project.

  “I need to address the guards for a moment. Please excuse me,” said Pol. Maggie nodded her understanding and began collecting some paperwork she wanted to take back to the ship with her.

  Pol exited the inner door of the building and stepped into the small decontamination room. Had any trace of the disease threat been present, he would then have activated a decontamination spray composed of a cocktail of cleaning agents known to kill the disease. However, since there was no potential threat, he skipped the decontamination process and exited the building.

  When Maggie exited the lab, she found Pol talking quietly to the guard contingent responsible for the security for the lab. When he saw her waiting, Pol left the group and came toward her with the APC commander who would fly them back to the fortress and then return with additional provisions for the lab contingent.

  During the flight to the Damroyal, Pol said, “The Commander informed me that New Orleans requested the untested vaccine last night. The admiral thinks we should move the Damroyal closer to the city so that you can receive reports and the ship will be within reasonable action distance, should you need to visit the city.”

  “That makes sense. If this works out, it could make our work at the lab obsolete,” Maggie observed.

  “You’re assuming that the people of New Orleans have two weeks. Unfortunately, they may not have that much time.”

&
nbsp; “It’s that bad there already?” Maggie asked.

  “If the reports are true, then yes, I’m afraid it is almost too late. By the time the vaccine could take affect, most of the population will have succumbed to the disease.”

  “I don’t understand. Reagan is smarter than that. Isn’t he taking precautions?”

  “The mayor has done what he can, but the people of the city are on the verge of taking control. They fired large portions of the city last night and are dragging people from their homes and killing the sick.”

  Maggie shook her head in stunned disbelief.

  ***

  Evan’s strike team raced to offload the cargo from the APC. Lisa and Evan assisted by undoing the strapping that retained the parcels during flight. When they had the entire load free of the restraints, Evan waited for a clear space and then he darted past the crew. Lisa did the same. Moments later, both had returned to their seats and secured their harnesses. Evan raced through the liftoff checklist, making sure everything was as it should be. Therefore, when Ralph yelled, “Ready!” he was prepared to lift off the surface of the desert.

  Their APC was at full altitude by the time the door had properly sealed. Spinning the aircraft on its axis, Evan aligned it with the proper direction and then he shot the throttle full forward. He winced when he heard what sounded like someone falling in the cargo bay, but he had no time to check on them. He strictly adhered to the flight plan on the return trip to the base, wondering as he did so why the flight plans seemed so insanely erratic. The flight plan was so complex that he had to have Lisa read the different courses he needed to set at the appropriate times. During this portion of the drill, she was an invaluable assistant.

  They set down outside the citadel at their designated landing location, which was currently in the shadow of the giant battle fortress. Evan noted that the Valiant was sitting on the ground beside their slot and briefly wondered why. “Time!” he shouted.

  “Forty-two minutes,” Lisa responded. Then she said, “I think we did it. I think we finally did it!”

  Three times, Evan’s team had attempted to perform the drill in the allotted forty-five minute time limit. They had failed on both attempts with times of fifty-one minutes and the forty-eight. Helping with the cargo straps had made a difference, but the main difference had been in Evan’s flying. He had learned to handle the course changes in the APC at full speed. It made the ride rough, but it shaved considerable time off their overall flight times.

  When Evan and his team stepped out of the APC, the base commander greeted them. “Congratulations, your official time is forty-two minutes, fifteen seconds, so you have passed this portion of your training and are ready to begin the next. But first, I have an announcement to make, so assemble your team outside the APC.”

  “Thank you, sir. I’ll get the team,” Evan responded.

  When Evan stood at attention with the rest of his team, he noted that his father had arrived and was standing with Tim, Pol, Lina, Patricia, Maggie, and Pol. They were all looking at him expectantly.

  Commander Finch cleared his voice and said, “JT1, I have an announcement to make. You didn’t know it, but I was recently assigned a task by the council. Because of its large payload and passenger capacity, the council feels the Valiant is needed for the ark program. They wanted the junior teams tested. I was informed that I was to devise a series of training missions, each progressively harder than the last. The first to reach this stage of your training was to be awarded the privilege of utilizing her in the program. Your team has done so a full day ahead of the other two teams. There can be no doubt that JT1 is the clear winner.”

  Evan was stunned. That meant that their team would be flying the Valiant during their participation in the Ark Program.

  Jim stepped forward and said, “Commander, if I may.”

  “Of course, Admiral,” Finch said and stepped aside so that Jim could address the team.

  Jim looked at Evan. For just a moment, he remembered the eight-year-old boy he had first met and he felt a lump in his throat. Then he looked at Evan closely and noted how tall and strong he had grown. “Lacey would have been so proud of you, son. I am proud of you,” he said in soft tones that only Evan heard. Then, he cleared his throat and said, “You have all worked hard to get to this point. You’ve earned this opportunity to prove yourselves capable of becoming permanent crewmembers on a peacekeeper ship. Do well at your remaining tasks and I’ll see to it that you are transferred to full active duty aboard a ship. You are several people shy of a full crew. Lieutenant Patricia Wilison has a short list of twenty qualified junior team applicants who have passed their initial training, but weren’t selected for the JT program. Most of those people weren’t passed over because of a lack of qualifications. Their specialties simply weren’t needed aboard an APC. Evan, you will be moving up to become acting captain. It will be your responsibility to select your remaining crewmembers from among the available candidates. You’ll need a pilot.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Evan responded. He could barely believe that this was happening.

  “You earned it,” Jim said simply.

  The admiral stepped in front of Lisa and said, “Lisa, you have performed so well in your capacity as both gunner and communications that you have your choice of either assignment on the Valiant, but I need to know now, so, which do you prefer?”

  “Communications please, Admiral,” she responded quickly.

  “Done,” Jim said with a nod of his head.

  “Noted,” Patricia stated. She made an official note in a personnel log.

  Moving to stand before Ralph, Jim said, “Ralph, you have improved dramatically in the past year. Your trainers have informed me that you show great promise. I would like you to take the strike team leader position.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Ralph said in a calm voice. A slow smile spread across his face and Jim could see that he was struggling to control his excitement. He moved on before the young man’s exuberance could embarrass him, knowing that he’d calm down as he listened to what was said to the rest of the crew.

  Next, Jim stepped in front of Harvey. “Harvey, Maggie tells me that you have excelled in your advanced training. You’ll be medic for the ship.”

  “Thank you, Admiral. I owe it all to her great training. I promise I won’t let her down and I won’t let you down either, sir.”

  “I’m sure you won’t.”

  One by one, Jim addressed the remaining men, thanked them for their hard work, and then asked them to remain aboard as strike team members. Then he stopped in front of John. “John, you got off to a rough start, but from what I’ve heard, you’ve really turned your attitude around. I understand that you have a relationship with a girl on the base, and that’s none of my business. However, you need to understand that being assigned to the Valiant is different from being assigned to an APC. The Valiant will be out for days, possibly weeks at a time, and you come back to a base at the captain’s discretion or by order of the council.”

  “Understood, sir. It won’t be a problem. Karen and her parents will be leaving soon. They are participating in the ark program with her grandparents.”

  “You’re sure then?”

  “In a few days, I won’t even know where she is,” John stated bitterly.

  “Actually, you will,” Jim said cryptically, adding, “so I want you to think about it. If you change your mind, inform Evan the first thing in the morning.”

  “I won’t, sir. But thank you.”

  Jim nodded and returned to stand in front of Evan. This time, Tim and Pol stepped forward to stand alongside him.

  “Commander Evan Wilison,” Pol said. “You are hereby promoted to acting captain of the Valiant. For the duration of your new status, you are hereby granted all of the privileges and authority of a captain. Congratulations, Captain,” Pol said with a smile. He stepped forward, removed the commander insignia from Evan’s uniform collars, and attached the captain’s rank insignia. He then stepped
back and saluted.

  Chapter 11

  “Admiral, you have an incoming message from Admiral Banes of the Royal Navy,” the communications specialist stated.

  “I’ll take it here,” Jim responded from his seat on the bridge of the Damroyal. He said, “Good day to you, Admiral Banes.”

  “Good day, Admiral Wilison. I trust you survived your recent battle with the pirates with no serious loses.”

  “Unfortunately, no. We lost several good fighter pilots and numerous drones,” Jim said vaguely. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the British admiral, but the peacekeepers seldom gave out casualty numbers to outsiders.

  The British admiral hadn’t expected specific numbers, and he was not offended. He would have responded in a similar manner to such a query for the same reason. “My condolences, sir,” Banes replied.

  He waited a respectful moment in silence, and then Admiral Banes said, “We are now within range of your broadcast, Admiral.”

  “Communications, send the admiral our test package we prepared.”

  To the British admiral, Jim said, “We are sending a test communication.”

  “Sent, Admiral,” the communications officer reported.

  “You should receive the message any moment,” Jim explained to the British officer.

  “My people tell me it just arrived.”

  “Very well. We are standing by for confirmation.”

  “We just received their answer, sir. They are prepared.”

  “Send the real package,” Jim ordered.

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Admiral Banes, we are sending the package.”

  Moments later, Banes said, “My people tell me that they are receiving it as we speak. Thank you for the information.”

  “You’re welcome, Admiral. I just hope it helps you.”

  “I’m confident that it will. Now, I wanted to tell you that our communications people suggested that we drop a string of buoys with communications relay capabilities. They tell me that we will need to service them periodically, but that they should make it possible for us to communicate ship to ship with our computers from my country.”