Fractured: V Plague Book 15

by Dirk Patton

  Sherman looked at me again, then turned to Lucas and nodded. They set off in the direction of the hangar, the other three SEALs falling in behind. Master Chief Baldwin paused at my side.

  “Hope you know what the fuck you’re doing,” he said.

  “Me, too.”

  “Good luck,” he said, slapped me on the shoulder and trotted off to catch up with Sherman.

  “Well, that went better than expected,” Nitro said when the SEALs were out of earshot.

  “Didn’t think their orders would go so far as getting into a firefight,” I said. “They might have roughed me up, bagged and tagged me for the flight, but they weren’t going to go to war.”

  “You’re so full of shit,” Nitro chuckled. “You didn’t know that.”

  “No, I didn’t,” I admitted, grinning. “And thanks for having my back.”

  I turned and looked at Bunny, Goose and Monk.

  “All of you. Thank you.”

  They nodded, then disappeared into the darkness. Nitro bumped my arm with his fist and followed. I watched them walk away, turning when the door opened and Rachel stepped out. She came close and took my hand.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  “Not really,” I said. “Feel kind of lost at the moment. Spent a lot of years regretting not having stayed in the Army and now here I go and quit again.”

  “For good reason,” Rachel said softly, earning a surprised look from me.

  “Thought you were opposed to this,” I said.

  “Because I’m not happy about something doesn’t mean I can’t recognize that it has to be done. I just wish it was the SEALs doing it, not you.”

  I squeezed her hand and smiled. Dog bumped my leg and I looked around to see Lucas approaching.

  “Thank you,” I said when he drew closer.

  “I should thank you!” he said, holding up an obviously heavy object.

  “What is that?”

  “Check it out,” he said, grinning as he stepped under the light.

  I heard Rachel catch her breath when we got a good look at what was in Lucas’s hand. It was a gold bar.

  “Where the hell did you get that?” I asked, reaching out and running a finger over the smooth, cool surface.

  “SEALs paid me for the fuel that went into the C-130,” Lucas said, still smiling. “Guess they brought a few with them since American cash isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.”

  “Are you kidding me? What’s that worth?”

  “Hell of a lot more than you are,” he said. “If they’d offered up another, I might have trussed you up myself and delivered you to the plane.”

  “Is there still time to catch them?” Rachel asked.

  “You two should take that act on the road,” I grumbled, shaking my head.

  “Gotta go show Ziggy,” Lucas said. “The kid’s college just got paid…”

  He stopped when he realized what he was saying. The excitement of being handed a brick of gold had momentarily driven our bleak reality from his head.

  “Yeah, well. Maybe I’ll just lock it in the safe,” he finally said before walking away.

  “So, what now?” Rachel asked.

  “Lucas has contacts in Sydney. I suspect we’ll be heading there soon.”

  “You think the Admiral is going to come after you?”

  “I think it’s a very real possibility,” I said, leading her into our quarters. “I imagine Commander Sherman will be on an encrypted call with him as soon as they’re in the air.”

  “Then shouldn’t we get out of here?” Rachel asked, dropping onto the edge of the mattress. “They know where we are.”

  “Soon,” I said.

  5

  An hour later, Nitro, Rachel and I were seated around a table beneath a large tree in the yard. Lucas was feeding Little John as Ziggy prepared breakfast on a large griddle that had been laid across the grill. Dog sat next to her, eyes glued to the source of several wonderful aromas.

  “Don’t you ever cook inside?” Nitro asked her.

  “Not with all you wankers to feed,” she said. “Kitchen isn’t big enough.”

  “That’s good,” Nitro said, turning back to face us. “Too fuckin’ hungry to wait.”

  Ziggy took a step away from the grill and slapped him in the middle of the back with a large, metal spatula. He arched away from the stinging blow, eyes flying wide in surprise.

  “Language!” Ziggy said, shaking the implement in his face and pointing at Little John.

  “Yes, ma’am. Sorry,” Nitro said, trying to reach the spot that hurt.

  “You will be sorry if the first words out of his mouth sound like a bloody soldier!” she said before turning back to the grill.

  Lucas was grinning at the dressing down Nitro had just received from a woman who couldn’t have come in at more than a third of his body weight, even soaking wet.

  “What’s the plan?” Lucas asked me once he was able to stop smiling.

  “Need to see your contacts in Sydney,” I said, looking over as Ziggy mounded a platter with eggs, bacon and toast.

  “Got visitors coming today,” he said. “Going to make this official. Well, unofficial official.”

  Ziggy walked over and placed the platter of food in front of Nitro, gently rubbing his back where she’d smacked him. He looked up and smiled.

  “What about the rest of us?” I asked her.

  “Get pushy, you get served last,” she said, shaking her finger in my direction before turning away.

  I shook my head and looked at Lucas, watching him burp his infant son.

  “Yeah, you told me someone was coming. Why?”

  “Welcome to the rebellion,” he said.

  Ziggy delivered the rest of the food at that point, Dog walking close beside her with his nose raised toward the large serving tray she carried. Nitro had already eaten half the food she’d given him and wasn’t showing any sign of slowing down. Before he could reach for seconds, I filled a plate. Dog bumped my hip with his nose and I gave him a handful of scrambled eggs that disappeared almost as fast as Nitro’s had.

  “So, senior military?” I asked.

  “Yep. Plans have been in the works since the day the Russians arrived. But no one had counted on what the virus is going to do to the world. They need to hear what you have to say and what we saw with the seagulls.”

  I nodded, but before I could ask anything further, one of Lucas’s older kids ran up with a satellite phone in her hand.

  “Been ringin’, Da,” she said, handing it to her father, snatching a piece of bacon off his plate and racing back to the house.

  Lucas picked it up and checked the screen, his forehead creasing in a frown.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Didn’t know you could block numbers on the satellite system,” he said, nearly dropping the phone when it began sounding a shrill ring.

  “Hello?”

  Lucas listened for a few seconds, his eyes swiveling to stare at me. Without saying anything, he held the handset out. With no small degree of trepidation, I took it and raised it my ear.

  “Yes?”

  “Don’t say my name,” Jessica said quietly. “You recognize my voice, right?”

  “Yes, I do,” I said, standing and taking a step away from the table.

  “A transport plane has been turned around. Do you understand what I mean?”

  “I do. How long do I have?”

  “Half an hour. Forty-five minutes at the most.”

  I grimaced, but shouldn’t have been surprised at the Admiral’s reaction.

  “Their orders?”

  “Don’t know,” she said. “But in five minutes, the satellite is going to be rebooted. It takes twenty minutes to come back online, then another five for the camera to calibrate and start providing an image. There’s nothing more I can do. Good luck!”

  There was a soft click and Jessica was gone.

  “We gotta move,” I said. “Admiral turned the SEALs around. They aren’t go
ing to be so polite this time.”

  “They won’t come in shooting!” Rachel said.

  “Probably not, but I’m not going to risk that! We’ve got a small window to get the hell away from here and possibly lose them.”

  Lucas leapt to his feet and handed Little John to Ziggy.

  “Who was that?”

  “A friend in Hawaii,” I said. “She’s taking sat surveillance offline in five minutes. Once it’s down, we’ve got about twenty-five minutes to get far enough away that they can’t find us again so easily.”

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, tossing them to me.

  “Van in the barn next to the hangar. Big enough for all of you. Maps in the glovie will get you to Sydney. Look up Wellington Security when you get there. Mate of mine owns it. If I can, I’ll be there before you, but I’ve got to be here when they show up.”

  “Nitro, roust the guys!” I barked and he set off at a dead run. “Rachel, get our gear packed up. I’m going for the van.”

  She set off for our temporary quarters, Dog trotting at her side.

  “Sorry,” I said to Lucas.

  “Nothing I can’t handle,” he said. “Get your arse in gear, mate! C’mon. I’ll give you a ride on the ATV.”

  Lucas and I ran to the battered vehicle and I climbed on behind him, forced to grab him around the waist when he accelerated hard toward the distant buildings. The ride was rough and parts of me rubbed against parts of him that should have never met, but he had the throttle wide open and I didn’t have a choice other than to hang on for dear life.

  I was surprised when we dashed into the barn to find a relatively new Ford Transit Van. It was about as plain as they come, painted white with black steel wheels, but it was big enough to hold all of us. I jumped behind the wheel and Lucas spun the ATV around. He led the way back to the house where we pulled to a hard stop in a cloud of red dust.

  Monk, Bunny and Goose piled in while Nitro said a quick goodbye to Smyth, bent to kiss Ziggy on the cheek and cuffed Lucas on the shoulder. Rachel and Ziggy hugged, talking to each other in voices too low for me to hear.

  “Take that trail to the north,” Lucas said, pointing. “In about ten K, you’ll reach a slightly wider dirt road. Turn east for ‘bout a hundred and thirty K. That’ll get you to Coober Pedy and the Stuart Highway. Maps’ll get you the rest of the way.”

  “Watch your ass,” I said as he wrapped me in a rough hug.

  6

  Lieutenant Commander Adrienne Cable re-read the flash traffic message that had just been spat out by the North Carolina’s secure printer. There was no ambiguity in the order she had received and though she was loathe to admit it, a small thrill ran through her at the thought of getting back into the fight.

  Normally, she would have immediately delivered the message to Commander Talbot, the Captain of the boat, but he was out of commission with a serious respiratory infection. In isolation, for fear that whatever it was would spread throughout the contained atmosphere of the submarine, he was drifting in and out of consciousness. She was worried about him, knew he needed better treatment than what they carried with them, but heading back to Hawaii wasn’t an available option.

  With the skipper incapacitated, Adrienne had assumed command and elevated the Chief Engineering Officer, Lieutenant Hunt, to acting Executive Officer. The rail thin Texan stood near her side and she passed the slip of paper to him after scanning it a third time. He quickly read the text then hurried to follow as she headed for the sonar room.

  “Chief,” she said as she squeezed into the cramped space that was jammed full of electronics.

  Chief Petty Officer Graham was seated at the console, eyes closed with headphones pressed tight over his ears. He raised a hand, asking for silence, and Adrienne immediately complied. No other member of the crew could have gotten away with such behavior, but she well understood it wasn’t disrespect. The man was listening to something the sophisticated sonar array had detected, and that took priority. After nearly half a minute, he opened his eyes and turned to look up at his skipper.

  “Sorry, ma’am,” he said, removing the headphones.

  “No problem, Chief. Remember that contact from a couple of days ago? The one the computer couldn’t identify?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, curiosity twinkling in his eyes.

  “Gut feel. Was that a Russian boomer?”

  Graham didn’t even hesitate.

  “I’d bet my paycheck on it, ma’am,” he said, nodding emphatically.

  “Why?” she asked. “What makes you think you’re right when the computer couldn’t classify it.”

  “Been doing this a long time, ma’am,” he said with confidence. “I know what a shrouded Russian prop sounds like. And it’s a different sound than one of their Akula attack boats. A little deeper. More like a heartbeat. The Akula sounds more like bird wings.”

  Adrienne stared at him for a moment, then smiled.

  “I won’t pretend to understand the distinction,” she said. “Think you’d recognize it if you heard it again?”

  “Oh, yes ma’am! Plus, I saved it into the computer so I can compare the signatures for confirmation. If I may, why?”

  “Because we just got orders to hunt it down and sink it,” she said.

  “Going to have to go below the layer, ma’am,” he said, not flinching at the information. “We’ll be deaf for most surface traffic.”

  “You sure he’s still down there?” she asked.

  “If he’s still around, yes ma’am. I would have heard him if he’d come up. But he could have stayed deep and exited the area. Their boomers are damn quiet and he could have slipped away.”

  Adrienne thought about that for a moment.

  “Understood, Chief,” she said. “We’re going deep as soon as I get a message off to Pearl.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’ll be ready.”

  “Thanks, Chief,” she said, turning to find the acting XO standing right behind her.

  “Lieutenant, get a search grid laid out. I’m going to acknowledge our orders then take us down. I want it ready in ten minutes.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Hunt said, hurrying away.

  “Ma’am,” Graham said, stopping Adrienne before she could leave. “One thing. The Russians were implementing a big upgrade to their sonar detection suite just before the attacks. Everything I’ve heard tells me they’re on par with us, now. Maybe even a little ahead.”

  “I haven’t heard that,” she said, frowning.

  “When we stopped in Pearl to resupply after the attacks, I got it word of mouth from a guy I know in intel, ma’am. It’s not official and didn’t sound like it had ever made it out into distribution. But if it’s true, they may hear us before we hear them.”

  “Chief’s network?” Adrienne asked.

  “Something like that, ma’am,” Graham said with a disarming grin. “Can’t always trust officers.”

  “Don’t I know it,” she said, smiling briefly before continuing. “Okay, Chief. Thanks. I’ll do my part and keep us slow and quiet.”

  Graham nodded and Adrienne turned to hurry to the bridge. Hunt and the Tactical Action Officer were leaned over an electronic table that displayed a chart of the part of the ocean they were about to search. She let them do their work, telling the Officer of the Deck to rig the boat for silent running.

  All non-essential systems would be shut down. No meal would be prepared. Anyone not on duty would be in their rack, staying quiet. It was the oldest method in the Navy to reduce the risk of inadvertently making a sound that could give away their position to the enemy.

  While the order was circulated throughout the boat, she stepped to the plotting table and peered at the work the two officers were doing. The TAO glanced up and cleared his throat.

  “Something on your mind, Lieutenant?” she asked.

  “Begging your pardon, ma’am, but have you ever served on a boomer?”

  “No, why?” she asked.

 
“I served two years on an Ohio class boat and it’s not something in the books, or that a skipper would normally ever do, but I got to thinking that times aren’t exactly normal. But there was one time, when things were heating up with North Korea. We were in the South China Sea and the damn Chinese were everywhere. Couldn’t swing a dead cat without…”

  “Spit it out, Lieutenant!” Adrienne barked, marshaling her impatience.

  “Well, ma’am. There was so much sonar listening for any little sound that the skipper just shut down and went dead in the water. We just hovered, still and silent. If we’d gotten the launch order, he could have brought us shallow, nice and slow, and there’s no way we would have been detected until our birds were in the air. Anyway, I’m wondering if maybe the Russian could be sitting down there, waiting. We’ll never find him on passive sonar if that’s the case and he’d probably hear us. We wouldn’t know he was there until there was an inbound torpedo.”

  Adrienne stared at the younger man for a moment before looking at Hunt.

  “XO? Thoughts?”

  “It’s possible,” he said. “But we don’t have a choice. We’d just better find the bastard before he finds us.”

  “Agreed,” she said, taking a deep breath before ordering the North Carolina to go deep and maintain a nearly silent speed of five knots.

  7

  I pushed hard when we pulled away from Lucas’s compound, keeping a close watch on the time. That’s harder than it sounds with only one functional eye. We’d departed with slightly less than twenty-one minutes remaining before the satellite surveillance system would come back up and the only times I backed off the throttle were when I was afraid I was going to break the vehicle. The ride was bad, but everyone knew we were fighting the clock so they held on as best they could and didn’t complain.

  I turned onto the larger dirt road, heading east, and had covered about six kilometers when time expired. Lowering our speed, I heard several grateful sighs of relief from the back of the vehicle.

  “Think it worked?” Rachel asked from the passenger seat.

  “Hope so,” I said. “We didn’t pull the van out of the barn until the system was down and now we’re far enough away that you can’t draw a direct relationship between us and Lucas’s compound. But I’d feel a whole lot better if there were any other vehicles on the road.”