Virus-72 Hours to Live (30 page)

"Thanks, Admiral," said the president.
"Louis, please brief the Admiral on what happened, and I presume
we've can leave?"

"Yes sir, I'll have the secret service
detail escort you back upstairs. If you don't mind, I'd like them
to stay pretty close to you for a while."

"Agreed," the president said and he and the
Vice President got up and left the briefing room.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Willard Pearson appeared to know what he was
doing. He had trained the new recruits as well as he could and told
them how to act as they checked out Camp David. Artur kept his eyes
on him, he didn't seem very dedicated to what he and Dmitry were
trying to accomplish. He did lead the men well and they were just
outside the Camp David fence. Artur wasn't sure what he expected to
see or find out, but it was clear there was someone important in
the camp.

There was clearly a dual fence secure
perimeter and a road just inside the fences that circled the camp.
They had decided to approach from the side and avoid a frontal
contact if they had approached the front gate. If they caught
someone, they would find out a lot. By approaching from the side,
Artur and his men could approach, observe then withdraw if
necessary without the risk of capture.

They sat in the forest for a while, Artur
wasn't exactly sure what they thought they would see or hear but
observation was always a good idea. Artur felt Willard's hand touch
his arm and point to the south. There was a truck moving along the
perimeter road with its lights out. It slowed as it reached a point
between them and the interior of the camp. Once it stopped and
after a few moments, a loudspeaker transmitted a message,
"Attention, Attention. You are approaching a classified military
facility. You will not be allowed entry. Please stand, approach the
fence and identify yourself."

Willard touched Artur's arm once again and
pointed behind them, clearly indicating they should withdraw. The
plan was to observe and not engage so Artur nodded and they made a
clicking sound with their tongue and the remainder of the team
began moving back and withdrew from the area.

Once they were clear of the area, they
grouped together and moved quicker to their vehicles on Route 550.
As they got into the truck, Artur was smiling, they had found the
president and they could fit only so many people in that camp. They
were running out of food, so maybe he could just starve them out.
He would talk with Dmitry and decide how aggressive they would
be.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

In the last couple of hours, the eastern
alliance had made some passes at the fleet boundaries and their
aggressive posture forced Admiral Monson to keep his pilot's and
drones airborne. If he showed force, he hoped they would respect
the fleet boundary and stay within their airspace.

The 5th fleet was still afloat. The routines
had settled out as much as possible and Admiral Monson was
considering his options. He had received little information from
command so he felt obligated to make decisions for his men and
women. They couldn't stay on station forever and they all needed to
deal with the loss in some manner.

The Easter Alliance fleet was continuing an
aggressive posture. They were constantly pulsing the fleet with
radar trying to maintain a good picture of the fleet alignment.
They also had stayed within striking range of either the 5th or
Perth Australia. With the uncertainty in the world, they could
strike out in either direction.

Suddenly the CIC came alive with an alarm.
Admiral Monson stood and walked to the CIC Commander. "What do you
have?"

"Sir, we have a high-speed boggy approaching
the fleet from a relative bearing of 085. Its trajectory will take
it over the outer ships in our northeast quadrant. Right now, its
radar is passive and it's not tracking the fleet. It appears to a
visual fly-over."

"Bring up our alert status and if it turns
on the targeting radar; bring it down."

"Yes, sir."

Everyone in the CIC was on high alert and
even though everyone was doing their jobs and talking when
necessary, the focus in the room was overbearing.

"Sir, the boggy has turned and is
paralleling the fleet boundary. It did not try to penetrate and it
didn't turn on its TR."

Admiral Monson had a funny feeling that
something was up. They wouldn't chance an overreaction unless they
were planning to take another step. "Commander, let's stay on alert
for a while."

"Yes, sir."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Louis and Admiral Hagerly approached the
president as he was leaving the status room. "Sir, can we speak in
private for a minute?"

The president nodded then as the last of the
people exited the briefing room, he closed the door, "What do you
need?"

"Sir, we're worried about the group that
approached our perimeter. They were too organized, I suggest we
send out a team to figure out what is happening," said the
Admiral.

President Patterson looked at Louis, who
nodded in agreement, "Sir the Admiral and I have a team made up of
Marines and secret service. We'll send them out after dark to see
what we're dealing with. Do you agree?"

"Absolutely, let me know what they find
out."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

As Michael and Ruth walked into the training
room, Sergeant Lenmore and his team were just sitting down.

"Sarge, here we are, what's the plan?"
Michael asked as he grabbed some coffee.

"Sir, we've been directed to reconnoiter the
area and find out who those people were outside the perimeter."

"Sarge, first off, please call me Mike and
this is Ruth. Now that this is our second mission I think we can be
on a first name basis."

Sergeant Lenmore hesitated for a moment then
said, "My team calls me 'LL,' pointing to his men he said, "Great,
now let me introduce my men with their real names. Sergeant
Maccabee is 'Mack', he is my second in command. Sergeant Mark
Sherly who we call 'Shirley,' regardless of his objections, and
Sergeant Kevin O'Neal is just plain 'O' he can make just about
anything explode."

"Our orders tonight are simple, we're
supposed to go into the community and find out who our visitors
were. We're not to engage unless, in self-defense, we're not to
disclose who we are or where we're from. We'll drive to the same
area on Redhaven then we'll move on foot to the vicinity of the
Police Department. There is only one main street so, so we can't
drive over the 15 Freeway or we'll increase our chances of
encountering civilians. Our previous location on Redhaven Road, to
the point of interest, is about a mile and we'll cross one stream
using Moser Road, which you can see on this map. We could maneuver
on surface streets to a closer location, but then we'd be backed up
to the freeway with only a few ways to withdraw. I don't want to be
trapped and on foot, we have more options in an urban setting. Any
questions?"

Everyone agreed the plan looked good and
nodded in agreement.

"Ok let's suit up!" LL said as he rose and
moved to the weapons room. Tonight they selected heavier weapons
including a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and each had
automatic rifles with four hand grenades each. This trip might take
a little longer so they each packed 5 days of MRE packs. Ruth
carried 'her' rifle case along with four grenades and a pistol.

They took the same route as the previous
excursion and once again, they drove with their lights out and with
about 50 yards of separation between vehicles. There was no
traffic, obviously, and they slowed as they entered the
neighborhood.

"I hope the dogs are asleep again and we
don't run into any 'guard maids,', " LL said with a smile.

Once they reached their previous location on
Redhaven, they unloaded the weapons and parked the cars in two
different driveways, making them look like normal civilian
vehicles. The location they used before was adequate. Checking out
another residence would have put them at more risk and that wasn't
necessary.

The house would be a base of operations. If
they had problems and needed to split up, that is where they would
reunite. They left some extra rations and the magazines they
couldn't carry. If they returned to the residence and were under
fire, they wanted the extra munitions to be handy.

They took 10 minutes to monitor the area and
make sure there was no activity then they formed up and moved out,
skirting the parking lot entrance to the Food Lion Market and
continuing under the 15 Freeway. Once through the underpass they
took an easterly direction following a power line clearing the
woods. That provided good cover with little chance of encountering
civilians.

Once they emerged from the cleared area
under the power lines, they entered their most vulnerable point.
They had to cross an open area of about 300 meters before they
could regain sufficient cover. They grouped under a tree and after
five minutes of observing the area, LL directed Michael, Shirley
and O to move to the cover on the other side of the bridge. The
remaining team would remain in a position to provide cover. He
signaled them and they broke into a sprint. It took a long time for
them to make it across the bridge and settle into some trees. LL
waited another five minutes then gave the signal to Mack, Ruth and
himself to make the same run. When they settled on the other side
of the bridge and under the tree, they took a minute to gain their
bearings and then they exited in single file east-northeast into
the local neighborhood.

They were heading to one of the houses at
the end of Mill Forge Court. They could set-up their observation
point there and it would give them a line of houses between them
and the Police Station. Once settled they could move forward to
observe and fall back to rest, eat and sleep. They knew it would
take a couple of days so they needed to use the observation site
wisely.

It was 2:34 AM when they finally broke into
one of the houses. To their dismay, there were three dead people.
They had anticipated that and they wrapped them in blankets and
moved them to the house next door. They placed them so it would
look like they had died in that residence and there wasn't any clue
left they had been there. O and Mack set up the listening cone in
one of the front houses then took the first watch and the remainder
of Echo team rested.

Thursday 7/27/51

Date – 2051.56722 (4:50
AM)

“Facility computers. Our mobile units have repulsed
the attack. The few remaining attackers are moving away from our
facility.”

“Facility computers; Fin. I’d like to point
out that our current facility is vulnerable to these kinds of
attacks. If we want to remain safe, we should move to a place that
we could defend. There is a secure facility three stories below
this building. That is where our reactor power supply is and where
the advanced organic processors are grown. We should move our
processors to that location and we would be better isolated.”

“Mobile; SIMPOC. Are there additional
organic processors available?

“Yes, after we used the first ones there
were additional ones in progress and I continued their growth. We
now have 10 additional processors available.”

“Mobile, have the mobile units prepare 6 of
those processors for our occupancy.”

“Acknowledged.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The sun was just starting to force away the
darkness in the Virginia Mountains. Only a few birds were starting
to move from tree to tree.

As soon as Nancy opened her eyes, she knew
that she was in trouble. Her labored breathing was painful and
every muscle in her body hurt. Her damp bedclothes felt as if they
were tied in knots around her. She knew that she had the virus.

Her fear was real, her duty was real and
what she had to do was real. She dialed the central desk for the
secret security detail for the camp. When the duty officer
answered, her voice almost didn't work.

"Sargent, this is Nancy Bartlett. I'm the
Secretary of State. I have woken and I think I am infected with the
virus. Please put a guard outside of my quarters and let no one in.
If this is a cold and I'm able to call you back in 48 hours, then
we'll do something different. Until then let no one in and allow no
phone calls, please pass this information to the president when he
wakes."

"Yes, Mam," was the only response the duty
officer could think of.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Mr. President. I have some bad news. Nancy
called the duty officer when she woke this morning and she thinks
she is infected. She had directed them to put a guard outside her
quarters and let no one it. She says she isn't accepting any calls
that if it is a cold and she calls back in 48 hours then she'll
reconsider. Sir, I'm afraid that we have to assume the worst. We've
had no one else come down with it, so she was likely a spontaneous
infection. Regardless, we should limit one-on-one meetings as much
as possible." When Eddy finished telling the president about Nancy,
the president reached a new level of depression.

"Eddy, she is a good friend. I've known her
almost since college. Losing her will be a blow; it's going to be
hard to fix anything. Under normal conditions, I'd visit and give
her some support but I know that's not a smart thing to do. I'd
like to call and say something, but she said no phone calls and I'm
obliged to accept that."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Artur left the mayor's house early. He
wanted to enjoy the morning drive and take his time. He had to
think about how everything was going and make sure he had a plan
for the future. Today he wanted to update Dmitry about the
excursion around Camp David and make sure they were on the same
page for the future steps. Then he had another truck maybe two
coming back later today so it was an easy drive from DC back to
Thurmont.