Voyage of the Dead - Book One Sovereign Spirit Saga (30 page)

“I’m afraid I can’t do either of those things, Admiral,” replied Scott earnestly. 

“The Hell you can’t!” blurted Captain Andrews.

“Well, I won’t,” Scott clarified.  “That would compromise the safety of my ship and jeopardize the success of the mission.  And I should probably inform you that before we left I installed explosives on the engines of the
Sovereign Spirit,
as well as scuttling charges, with orders to disable or destroy her before relinquishing command to
any
other authority.”  That response evoked looks of true outrage.

“What are you implying?” asked the Admiral in a deadpan tone of controlled anger.

“I think you know, Admiral,” replied Scott evenly.  “Your invitation to bring my ship to San Diego was nothing more than a spider inviting a fly to dinner.  Granted, you didn’t know that we have a vital mission to perform, but the fact remains that you were planning to commandeer my ship and throw me, my family and friends on the beach.  Do you deny it?”

“Hell no!” exploded the Admiral.  “I don’t deny it!  You’re damned right I would take your ship if I thought it would help me save more lives.  And damn you for being too selfish to see the logic of my position.  I’ve been given a mission from Hell!  I’m watching millions of Americans turn into monsters, that turn more people into monsters, and all of them have no other mission than to eat the rest of us alive!  I’ve got hundreds of thousands of refugees to care for and nowhere near enough resources to do it.  Your ship could house or transport over a thousand of them at a time.  And I understand it has other assets that could be useful as well.  So you damned well better get with the program,
commodore
!”

“I’m sorry, Admiral,” Scott said.  “I really can’t agree with you.  You have all the assets you need right here: An aircraft carrier and assault carriers, amphibious landing ships, troop transports, not to mention tanks and armored personnel carriers, helicopters, hundreds of thousands of guns, plus thousands of sailors and Marines to use it all.  You have a secure base and you
should
be able to wipe out every zombie in San Diego County, but instead you have pulled back into defensive positions and abandoned most of the civilians that the President ordered you to protect.  I don’t see how taking my ship will make the slightest difference to your chances for victory or survival here.  Whereas my ship
can
make a real difference for many other people, if you simply allow us to continue our mission.”

“You insolent bastard!” thundered the Admiral.  “I can’t decide if I should have you thrown in the brig or dumped in the refugee camp to see what it’s like for the people I’m trying to protect here!  Captain Andrews, place these traitors in irons!”

“Just a minute, Jerry,” General Barstow interjected for the first time.  “Let’s hear the young man out first.  I think he may actually have a point.”

“What?” Admiral Winchester sputtered.  “You can’t be serious!”  Captain Andrews paused in the act of ordering the Shore Patrol to remove the prisoners.

“Yes, I think I am,” the General continued.  “We might be getting a little myopic here, Jerry, focusing too much on the crisis in San Diego and ignoring the big picture.  Oh, I agree with the need to consolidate our defensive positions and protect as many refugees here as we can, before launching a coordinated counter attack on the Zs.  But it sounds like this
Sovereign Spirit
is headed north to assist other communities that we won’t be able to help for a long time yet; longer than most of the survivors will live without some kind of assistance.  So I’d like to hear what Commodore Allen plans to do, if that won’t compromise too much of your mission, son?”  The question was directed at Scott.

“Thank you, General,” Scott said in a relieved tone.  “Yes, under the circumstances, I suppose I can tell you about part of our mission and some of our future plans.  We have been tasked by DHS, FEMA and the CDC to rescue a scientist who is waiting for us north of Los Angeles and let him use the marine biology lab and telecommunications gear aboard the
Sovereign Spirit
.  We’ve been told by the CDC that his work might be crucial in fighting the spread of the infection, or even finding a cure.  That part of our mission could save millions of lives, which is one reason why I am so determined not to give up my ship. 

“But our secondary mission, that I am equally committed to, is providing assistance to as many survivors as possible.  We are in contact with dozens of friends, family and associates who are holding out, waiting for us to come get them, just like this family we just rescued in San Diego was.  And our assistance won’t be limited to our own friends.  We have already formed a flotilla of survivors who have their own boats and have decided to follow us.  I expect to find a lot more civilian vessels full of survivors offshore, or in harbors and marinas, north of here.  We will offer the
Sovereign Spirit
to serve as a mother ship for any who choose to join us. 

“Furthermore,” Scott continued.  “Although the
Sovereign Spirit
is not a war ship, we do have some impressive amphibious capabilities that should allow us to conduct rescue and recovery operations ashore, including acquiring provisions and fuel for our flotilla.  We won’t become pirates, or looters, but we will need to acquire supplies for the people who join us.   And of course we will also try to help any survivors we find ashore.”

“Those are some highly admirable and ambitious plans you have, Commodore Allen,” commented the General with a smile.  “And, yes, I think the title of commodore is quite appropriate for the leader of a civilian flotilla of survivors, don’t you agree Admiral Winchester?”

The Admiral had been frowning doubtfully, but forced himself to nod slowly, “Yes Butch, I think you might have point after all.  It never pays to jump to conclusions or forget that other people might have a better plan now and then.”  He turned back to Scott and continued, “So, assuming we accept your letter of safe passage and allow you to proceed, what else would you ask from us?”

“We would not ask for any direct assistance from you, sir,” replied Scott.  “Unless you have any surplus weapons, ammunition, or amphibious vehicles to spare?  But I can see that you have your hands full combating the crisis here.  I would ask, however, that you endorse Captain McCloud’s decision to assist us and suggest that any Coast Guard assets further up the coast do the same.”

“That sounds reasonable,” replied the Admiral.  “But of course I can’t spare any weapons or vehicles.  That’s out of the question.”

“Of course, sir” Scott agreed.  “But I had to ask.”

“That’s the spirit!” said General Barstow with a grin.  “I just might be able to help you in that regard.  Your ship will be passing Camp Pendleton soon, won’t it?”

“Yes, sir.  Any minute now actually,” Scott answered as he glanced at his watch.

“I have a combat team holding the harbor there in Oceanside,” the General explained.  “And you’re right about finding more civilians on boats up the coast.  There must be a couple of hundred people staying on their sailboats and cabin cruisers in the Oceanside Harbor now.  My men have demolished the ramps leading to the docks and the damned zombies don’t swim, so the people on those boats are safe for now.  But I don’t have the resources to provide them with food, water, or long term security.  I may even have to pull the rest of my men out of there soon and bring them down here to take part in our planned counter-offensive next week.  So maybe we can make a deal.”

“Damn it, Butch,” interrupted the admiral.  “Don’t violate operational security!”

“Relax, Jerry,” responded General Barstow.  “These people aren’t going to tell the fucking zombies about or plans!  And it wouldn’t make a spit of difference if they did.  I thought we settled that already. So what do you say, commodore?  Want to make a deal?”

“Yes sir?” Scott made it sound like a question.

“Here’s the deal,” said General Barstow as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.  “If you invite those boats to join your flotilla, I’ll see about getting you some of our surplus weapons and an amphibious assault vehicle or two.  I wouldn’t normally hand that stuff out to civilians, but these are not normal times and I wouldn’t want to send those people off defenseless either.  What do you say?”

“That would be fantastic!” Scott agreed immediately.  “It’s a deal.  What do you think you could spare?”

“Hold on a second, Butch!” Admiral Winchester interrupted.  “You can’t just give away guns and amphibious vehicles!  We might need all of them here.”

“Relax, Jerry,” responded the general calmly.  “I’ve got a lot more firepower and hardware than I have bodies to wield them at the moment.  And we aren’t the ones volunteering to go charging to the rescue of the desperate civilians up north, or even down here at the moment.  So I’ll decide what my Marines can spare and for whom.”

Admiral Winchester did not look like he agreed, but he had better sense than to pick a fight with the commander of the Marines who were defending his base, especially when the Marine in question had a lot more real combat experience than he did.  “If you say so, Butch,” The admiral relented reluctantly.  “Just don’t give away the farm, damn it.”

“Okay, Jerry,” the general replied and then turned back towards Scott to continue. “I’m thinking we could spare about a hundred of our older M-16A1 and A2 rifles and at least a thousand rounds of ammunition for each of them.   All of that should be in stock near the harbor and I can have my men deliver it to the docks.  As for vehicles, I know we have some working LVTP-7s that haven’t been fully upgraded to AAV-7 standards yet.  I could give you two of them, loaded with the guns and ammo I mentioned, if you like, plus their own weapons and ammo of course.”

“I think I’d like that a lot,” said Scott with a grin.  “That sounds like a great deal.”

“I bet it does!” said the general with a bark of laughter.  “A couple of Amtracs just might save your ass someday.  At least it’s something the zombies won’t be able to crack open.”

“If you say so, Butch,” confirmed the admiral with an air of resigned disappointment.

“So, Commodore,” continued the general.  “Is there anything else we can do for you, before we send you all on your merry way?”

“No, sir!” replied Scott with the tone he remembered from his time in US Army boot camp  almost 30 years ago.  Then he paused and continued more humbly.  “Well, actually sir, uh Admiral,” he said politely towards Winchester.  “Do you by chance happen to be listing the names of the refugees here on Coronado?  I mean, would it be possible for me to give you a list of friends and family from San Diego that we are looking for?  If you let us send a boat back to pick them up, it would be fewer mouths for you to feed.”

“I’ll take that under advisement, Mr. Allen,” replied the Admiral crisply.  Then, seeing the look General Barstow gave him, he added, “But, by all means, give me your list.  We don’t have a good accounting of survivors yet, but I’ll make sure that the names you provide are flagged for special attention when we do.”  Scott hoped that his
special attention
would be a good thing.

“Fare enough, sir,” replied Scott.  “If we are done here, I’ll need to communicate with the
Sovereign Spirit
and the
Stratton
to make sure they don’t steam past Oceanside and Pendleton before we can get back and make arrangements to pick up General Barstow’s ‘boat people’ and the hardware he has so generously offered to provide.”

“One more thing, son,” said General Barstow slowly.  “I’d also like to loan you a platoon of Recon Marines to man those vehicles and provide training to your people.”  That comment caused Scott to pause and lose his smile.

“That is very kind, sir, but is it really necessary?” Scott asked.

“Perhaps not,” replied the General with a smile that couldn’t hide the sharpness of his keen mind.  “But I would advise you to accept the offer.  It’s only a few dozen men, but they will be able to provide a lot of assistance, especially on your initial shore excursions.  Some of them have years of combat experience in the War on Terror, and they’ve all had a week of experience killing zombies now.   They can teach you a lot, especially about using the weapons and Amtracs.  Plus, I’d consider it a little insurance that your flotilla really doesn’t become some sort of pirate fleet too.”

“Yes, sir,” replied Scott.  “But, with all due respect, how do I know they won’t try to commandeer the ship after we take them aboard?”

“Jesus Christ, son,” laughed the General.  “I’m the guy who just convinced the admiral here
not
to commandeer your ship, or force you to destroy it!  And I’m giving you plenty of firepower to defend your selves.  Relax and don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.  You have my word as an officer and a gentleman that as long as you follow the plan you laid out here today, you have nothing to fear from me or my Marines.  I’ll even place them under your command and order them to protect you.  I’ll be sending one of my favorite old dogs of war to lead them, Sergeant Major O’Hara.  No snot nosed lieutenant.  You’ll be their commanding officer.  And I can assure you that O’Hara will teach you to be a good one.   Fare enough, Commodore?”