SOCOM Headquarters
2200 Hours EST
The Colonel was sleeping on the spare cot in his office when a Warrant Officer came in to wake him. “Sir, we have our first Sitrep from the 5th Group A-team number two. There are technical issues with the communications satellite they’re using and the air assets have had to return for refueling. Basically, Sir, they’re out of touch for at least several hours.”
The Colonel shook the cobwebs out of his head. He had been awake for thirty hours before grabbing three hours of sleep earlier this evening.
The Warrant Officer continued, “Sir, I have taken the liberty to type up a decoded, plain language version of the sitrep.” He handed the single page to the Colonel.
TS/SCI/Team 2 reports that their target has been secured. One team member was wounded, but will recover. Twelve hostiles are dead. One hostile was captured and will be interrogated when he is medically stabilized. One female, believed to be a U.S. Citizen, was rescued and is currently unconscious. She will be questioned as soon as possible. A laboratory set up to handle biological agents was discovered along with what is believed to be nanotechnology equipment. Just before he was shot by operators, the living hostile spoke in English, saying, “You should raise your hands and ask forgiveness from your God. But it won’t matter because we’re all dead.” He then threw two flasks of an unknown liquid at two operators, who shot him in both legs. Both operators being treated as bio-warfare casualties. The entire cave complex has been treated as a bio-warfare contaminated area. More to follow. End initial report.
“Dammit,” muttered the Colonel. “We need to know if that stuff has been contained or if any got out before we got there.”
“Sir,” the Warrant Officer said softly, “that’s a very good team on the ground there and I’m sure they’re both aware of the potential and are working to get those answers for us. With your authorization, I’ll have a drone sent back overhead with relay capabilities. It’ll be at least three or four hours before it can get there. I’m more worried about the two operators who had the bio-agent thrown at them. If this stuff is contagious, they’ll need to be quarantined.”
The Colonel was now completely awake. “Yes, I agree. Send the appropriate directions that no one is to leave the vicinity of those caves until they have been medically checked and decontaminated. The decon gear was staged for this mission wasn’t it?”
The Colonel’s face fell when he saw the look on his subordinate’s face. “Sir, the downsizing and budget cuts made it impossible to transport stored decon equipment for this mission. There wasn’t time or resources to get it done. The closest suitable equipment is in Germany. I’ll see that it is loaded and flying to Afghanistan within the next few hours.” The Colonel could read the level of frustration of the Warrant Officer matched his own.
On sudden inspiration, the Colonel asked, “What about the medivac chopper? Can’t that get signals out?” The Colonel’s voice sounded hopeful.
“No, Sir. That chopper was attacked at its staging area by mortars and small arms fire. A reaction team has taken out the insurgents, but the chopper is grounded until parts can be flown in from Dubai.”
“Do what you can, son.” The Colonel sighed. “I just hope and pray that people won’t die because of this. Oh, and on my authority, have two Apache’s, an A-10 and a Predator dispatched to provide air support. The priority on this mission just climbed to the top.” After giving that order, he lifted a special telephone and contacted the SOCOM Commanding General.
Chapter 57
The New Year - Plus Forty-Nine Days
Special Forces A-Team 2
Mountains of Southeastern Afghanistan
1600 Hours Local Time
Captain Schneider was shaken awake by his Master Sergeant after a forty-five minute nap. “Sir, the girl, Julie Carrithers is awake. Sir, you need to hear this.”
Schneider hurried from the chamber to near the mouth of the cave where Julie was sitting on a rock sipping coffee from a steel mug. She was telling the medic to leave her alone and that she better talk to someone who knew what was going on or everyone in the world would die.
“Miss,” said the Captain, “I’m in command here. Are you feeling better?” He asked the question in a soft voice, expecting the same mousy demeanor he had encountered in the steel walled room. He was to be surprised.
“No Captain, I am not feeling better!” She emphasized the words with dripping sarcasm. “I’ve been held captive for close to a year, I’ve been gang raped, and finally was injected with some kind of germ that killed everyone else in the room where you found me, except me. Now I’m talking to a hulking freak of a creature in some kind of bad movie suit. Does that sound like someone that is feeling better to you?” Her glare and all of her pent up anger was directed at the calm man in camouflage chemical suit with a hood and gas mask.
Fortunately, for everyone, the Captain was the proud father of three teenage daughters. He responded in a muffled voice, “Sounds like you’re feeling a lot better to me.” He then stood there and waited until she stopped her next sputtering tirade and noticed the twinkle in his eye through the clear faceplate of the mask. She could even tell he was smiling.
“Goddamn you,” she said, while at the same time fighting the urge to smile back at him. With a deep, calming breath, she said, “You guys better keep those suits on. The stuff these evil creatures have made is supposed to be the worst stuff the world has ever seen. Oh, and did I tell you they already sent fifteen of their so-called martyrs all over the world to spread this stuff? They think they will spread a plague commanded by their God to wipe out all the Infidels.”
“Julie, honey,” said the Captain with concern in his voice, “when did they send these martyrs out?”
“They left three days ago with them. I don’t know if Ahmed or that son of Satan, Ali is back yet, but when they’re back, it’s because the martyrs are on their way.” Quickly changing the subject, Julie continued, “Oh, and you know I’m blessed by God, don’t you? They shot me up with the bug and even stuck me in the room with six other prisoners and I barely got sick. Four of the prisoners didn’t even get shots of bugs, they just breathed it in. I heard Ali’s two flunkies say Ali had made the Chinese bugs even better using nanotechnology. They would even kill the Chinese Infidels, despite their vaccine.”
“Okay, Julie, this is really important, are you sure you heard them say Ali had gotten the bugs from the Chinese?” The concern on the Captain’s face was obvious, even on top of everything else.
“Oh, yeah. You see, when they figured out I was immune to their nasty bug, they treated me like a lab rat. I’m not sure whether that’s better than being treated like a whore, though.” With that change of thought, Julie began to cry.
“I did everything the evil bitch told me to,” she continued, “I taught them to speak English, I told them how to get through international customs, I even told them how to avoid attracting the attention of police. They were supposed to let me go after I did what they wanted. Instead, they handed me to the fifteen I had taught and they all took turns raping me. And laughing!” Her tears came in sobs. The Captain was next to her, holding her shoulders against his suit. Words were useless at this point.
After another ten minutes, the Captain let Julie know they were working on getting transportation out of there for her and asked Julie if she would share what she could with his intelligence sergeant. Through her sniffles, she said she would.
The hail of AK-47 bullets hit the walls of the cave mouth, throwing pieces of rock everywhere. Return fire was heard from somewhere outside as the perimeter security operators cut down the attackers. Waves of terrorists, who were returning from their two days in Kabul, advanced on the Americans. Over sixty terrorists, all of whom knew the area arou
nd the cave much better than did the operators, assaulted the cave mouth. Within minutes three operators were down with wounds, one of which was critical.
Julie was taken back into the tunnel, out of the line of fire, where in a calm voice, the intelligence sergeant continued his debriefing.
Outside the cave, operators had managed to drag their wounded team members into the cave, to receive attention from the medic. Other team members took up defensive positions. For the next thirty minutes they continued to beat back wave after wave of assaulting terrorists. Suddenly they were ordered to fall back to positions near the cave mouth. Quickly, they abandoned their tactically sound positions for new ones behind large boulders near the cave mouth. Firing at the carefully advancing terrorists continued until the area just outside their kill radius exploded. All around the area salvos of 30mm cannon fire blasted JOTP positions, missiles exploded and individuals trying to run away were cut down. In less than ten minutes, all firing stopped and the sounds of multiple Apache helicopters and an A-10 Warthog ground support airplane could be heard circling overhead. SOCOM had come through with reinforcements.
Chapter 58
The New Year - Plus Forty-Nine Days
SOCOM Headquarters
0800 Hours EST
FLASH/IMMEDIATE
TS/SCI/Team 2 reports debrief of JOTP prisoner Julie Carrithers ((source)) revealed 15 (fifteen) jihadi martyrs were dispatched to several parts of the world after being infected with unknown bio-weapon. Source also heard from her captors that the JOTP received the bio-weapon from unknown Chinese sources before altering it through nanotechnology methods to increase potency and to defeat Chinese vaccinations. Source reports “Ali,” the JOTP scientist handling the bio-weapon, spoke English and is believed to have received an advanced degree in the U.S. ((United States)). Source claims to have been “chosen by God” and given immunity to the bio-weapon. She also claims Ali was working on creating a vaccine from her blood, details of which may be contained in a laptop computer seized from Ali’s sleeping chamber. Initial assessment is that source is credible. NOTE: Investigation incomplete. Arrangements for source’s transport to CDC Atlanta delayed due her contaminated status.
Upon reading the Flash message, the Commanding Officer, SOCOM ordered the message be sent up the chain, Flash-Priority and picked up the secure phone and dialed the White House situation room. “Hello, son. This is the SOCOM Commander. I need to speak with whoever is in charge at the moment.” After listening for a moment, he said, “Yes, I’ll hold.
“Situation Room, this is John.” The voice on the phone sounded just like what he was. A political appointee whose main purpose was to insure none of the President’s wishes or policies were impacted by rash acts by people less in tune with political realities.
“Well, hello, John.” The General drew out the greeting while wondering exactly to whom he was speaking. “This is General Johnson, the SOCOM Commanding Officer, are you in charge over there? And exactly, who are you?”
“I told you, General. This is John. That’s all you need to know. Now do you have something interesting to tell me or are you wasting my time?”
“I called to advise you, John, fifteen highly contagious terrorists are currently flying to several parts of the world, presumably including the United States, and you, John, may want to get off your politically appointed, lazy ass and start doing something about it. Is that interesting enough for you?” By now, the General was shouting into the phone.
“That sounds like bullshit to me, General. How do you know this?”
“Some of my people raided a terrorist complex in Afghanistan yesterday evening. One of the cave complexes had a laboratory inside where bio-weapons were apparently being made. A rescued prisoner told my operators about the JOTP plans in detail. I can read the preliminary FLASH message they sent out if you like.”
“You do that, General.”
After reading the Flash message to John, the General waited for further questions. “General, first I want to know if this source has been thoroughly vetted. Has she?”
“No, John, she has not. There has been no time. My people on the ground have been doing this sort of thing for a long time and they believe her.”
John cut the General off. “Second, she says the Chinese gave this bio-weapon to a terrorist group? Are you kidding me? That on its face is clearly in the bullshit category. Next, she says she’s chosen by God to be immune to this bio-weapon? You’re taking the word of a religious nut? Where are the other bodies of test victims? Hell, General, there are so many holes in this I can’t believe you’re taking it seriously! Let me tell you what we’re not going to do, is to react in any way to this unverified, fantastical story and make a laughing stock of this administration. Anything else, General?”
The General looked at the phone in utter disbelief. Softly, in a voice even John understood was deadly serious, the General said, “John, if intelligence that my people believe true is, in fact, true, and my country is hit with a devastating bio-weapon, I will personally come to Washington, D.C., stand before the TV cameras and identify you as the man who had the last chance to stop it all. You disgust me.” The General hung up the phone. He hoped and prayed that John, whoever he was, would manage to relieve him of his command. That would mean John had been right. In his gut, he knew that wasn’t the case.
Two hours later, when the FLASH message came into the situation room, John was waiting for it. He tore off the paper copy, wrote “Handled” on it and placed it in the bin to be filed. The electronic copy was redirected to a file that did not require any action. Across the intelligence community, after a quick call to the Situation Room, most other agencies handled the FLASH message the same way. Those that did not were instructed by the Director of National Intelligence and Secretary of Defense to table the issue pending more concrete information. John was sure that the President wanted nothing pointing at the Chinese at this point in time. Especially something that amounted to an act of war. The Fontaine administration’s emasculation of the U.S. intelligence capability was now complete.
Chapter 59
The New Year - Plus Forty-Nine Days
Outside of Cronin, Kentucky
0825 Hours EST
Mike was worried. A standoff had occurred at the front gate of the neighborhood between two of the security teams and a group of about thirty rough, grizzled men wearing Homeland Security jackets and carrying some serious firearms. The new gates had been locked when a convoy arrived an hour earlier. When their truck had attempted to break through the gates, spikes had erupted from a concealed trench in the pavement and punctured both front tires of the two lead vehicles, effectively blocking the roadway. On each side of the gate were two, staggered, newly built, bulletproof bunkers, each manned by five members of the security team. They had over watch duty to the team leader, who was at the gate talking with the leader of the Homeland Security group. When the DHS leader had shouted to two men to take the team leader, both nests of security men had locked and loaded their rifles and pointed them at the DHS team leader. Both groups had backed off for the time being and a runner had been sent for Mike.
Watching the standoff from a distance, Mike softly discussed the situation with Linda, who was telling him, “Mike, if you let them into the neighborhood, you’ve acceded to their authority. I’m telling you, it’s best if you stop them right where they are.”
“Linda, what if one of those fools shoots one of my friends? It could start off a war.”
“Look at me, Mike.” Her voice was soft, but had steel in it. “It’s important that you understand this. They are not your friends, now. They are your security people and subordinates. You need to think of them and treat them that way. They know and all of us know what we’re in for and they know the danger. Vo
lunteers, every one of them. They trust me, but they trust you more. You need to show the same level of trust in them.”
After a moment’s thought, Mike nodded at her wisdom and said, “Okay, I see what you’re saying.”
Linda nodded with satisfaction at Mike’s quick understanding and acceptance of a leadership concept that is missed by most. It reinforced her intuition that he was, in fact, a natural leader and a quick learner. He was just a little rough around the edges.
“Mike,” Linda said, “I’ve been here before. Resolve and a firm hand will work, even if a few rounds are fired. I’ve told everyone something unusual for me. I told them not to shoot to kill unless they absolutely have to. If taking out an arm or leg will do, then they are to do that. You know those thugs don’t have the same restrictions or even care one way or the other, but that’s what will keep us on the right side.”
Two hours later, power was cut to the entire neighborhood. It wasn’t known to Mike and the others until later in the day, but power had failed throughout the area as well, due to lack of money for maintenance and the Fontaine administrations having shut down all coal fired power plants in the country. Fifteen minutes after that the DHS force leader shouted over a loudspeaker, “Who’s in charge there? I want to talk to the man in charge!”
Per SOP the security team leader shouted back, “I’m in charge right now. If you want to parley, you can talk to me. From there.”
This response didn’t please the DHS force leader at all. He had already tried to send some men around the sides of the entrance to flank the security team only to find more security people down each side of the neighborhood. One of the dumber DHS guys had tried to step over the electrified cattle wire fence, only to be struck in the flank with a pellet gun. That was directly followed by a young woman telling him, conversationally, that he was staring at the barrel of her other rifle, which was a .243 caliber varmint rifle. Her shot groups at 100 yards were less than an inch, so she figured she could remove one of his testicles with the first shot. After all, he was a lot closer than 100 yards. He promptly moved back across the cattle fence and went back to report that side was well defended by several men with what looked like fully automatic rifles, and they were behind cover.
The Final Proclamation (An America Reborn Thriller Book 2) Page 30