Dark Coup (5 page)

Mallory sat back and steepled her fingers.  “How much contact has there been between the camp and Redemption,” she asked.

“Minimal,” Ty said after thinking for a few seconds, “just due to logistics.”

Mallory nodded.  “But not none,” she said.

“No,” Ty shook his head and answered the Major’s next question before she asked.  “Standard procedure is to isolate the sick, and quarantine those who are likely to become ill from the rest of the healthy population.  I’ll find out who has been going back and forth between camp and town and confine them here for the duration.”

Ty sighed.  “I even have the legal authority to do that.”

Mallory nodded.

“Joel is not going to be happy,” Ty said.

“Why,” Mallory asked.

“He’s been going back and forth for the last couple of days,” Ty said.

Mallory kept her face blank and noticed that Ty had done the same.  Both of them had come to the same realization, although Mallory had taken a little longer.  Aurora.

…

“I’m
what
?” Joel shouted. 

Mallory had Ty with her to break the news to Joel.  Ty had been right, he wasn’t taking it well.  “We have a medical…situation,” she said.

“Joel,” Ty said, “we don’t know exactly what they brought in or how it’s transmitted.  We don’t know what the incubation period is, nothing.  Your contact was fairly minimal, considering, but you have been here a lot during the day, so you’re going to need to be included in the quarantine.”

Joel shook his head.  “I don’t think you understand,” he said.  He looked to have aged ten years in the ten seconds since they told him.  The horror was etched on his face.  “I have a two-month-old baby.”

“I know,” Mallory said, “and I know taking care of her round-the-clock without you is going to be hard on Rachael, but this is really best for both of them.”

“NO!”  Joel shouted again.  “You still don’t understand!  I have a two-month-old baby, who hasn’t had
any
vaccinations, for
anything!”

Joel looked at both Mallory and Ty as it slowly began to dawn on Ty.  “I’ve been back and forth for the last four days,” he said.  “I could have already exposed Aurora to whatever it is.”

By now the color had drained completely from Ty’s face.  “Joel,” he said.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t even think about that until just now.”

Ty looked at Mallory, back at Joel, and then at Mallory again.  “I have to go,” Ty said.  “I have to get in touch with Dan.  He needs to know everything that’s going on, and possibly set up an isolation ward in town.  I’m sorry, Joel, I just didn’t think.”

“But you did,” Mallory said after Ty was gone.  “Because that’s what you do.  The first day I met you, you were thinking about fires, and disease, and medications running out.”

Mallory shook her head.  “How do you do it?”

“Not now, Mal,” Joel said.

“I’m serious, Joel,” Mallory said.  “I can’t say they will be ok, but given how quickly the little girl started showing symptoms, I would think that something would have happened with your daughter by now.  I hate to say that, but there it is.  I know this is your family we’re talking about, and your baby girl.  But it’s been your family we’ve been talking about all along.”

Joel nodded but was floored by what he felt was Mallory’s rather cavalier attitude about his family, specifically his wife and newborn daughter.  “I need to call Rachael and tell her before someone else does,” Joel said.  “She deserves to hear it from me.”

Mallory gave him a small smile, “You can do it in here,” she said.  “Let me know when you’re done.”

…

Rachael was crying, holding Aurora in both arms, and trying to hold the stupid radio all at the same time.

“I really wasn’t around any of the new folks that much,” Joel said, trying to calm her down.

“Who knows how much it takes, though?”  Rachael sobbed.

“I know, hon, I know,” Joel said.  “Ty is going to talk to Dan and have him set up some kind of isolation ward to keep things, well, isolated, I guess.  I don’t actually know how it works but I’m sure they do.”

Rachael wasn’t in the mood to be cheered up.  “How long,” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Joel sighed.  “Neither Ty nor the Major said.  I can’t imagine that it could go on for too long.  It’ll be ok.  There’ll be people to help take care of you.  I’ll insist on that.  I’ll find some volunteers to go into isolation with you if I can, ok?”

“What about Maya and Josh,” Rachael asked.

“They’re going to have to stay up here with me,” Joel said.  “We already have a tent for the three of us.”

Rachael nodded and then realized that Joel couldn’t see her, and blew a snot bubble when she tried to laugh.  “Ok,” she said.  “You have to promise to follow the quarantine, all three of you.  Stay healthy so you can come home.”

Rachael barely held back another sob when she thought about her other two children.  “Give them my love,” she said, “and keep them safe too.”

“I promise.”

Chapter Five

May 29, 2013 - Promised Land Army Base, Natchez Trace State Park, Tennessee

“The raid on Ft. Campbell was two days ago,” Mallory said.  “We should have heard something from Ben by now.  Or at least something from one of the groups that evacuated before the raid even started.”

“Major Weaver, from Bragg, did check in late yesterday,” Sergeant Evan ‘Sparky’ Lake said.  “They let a pretty large group go after a little over a day of fighting.  It’s possible they just haven’t been in a position to check in.”

Mallory was visibly distressed about not hearing from or about Ben, and the fact that she was so overly interested in Ben’s well-being was driving Kyle nuts.  Every time she mentioned Ben, even indirectly, was yet another reminder that any possibility of a relationship between she and Kyle was slipping further and further away.  The thing that hurt the worst was that she didn’t even realize she was doing it, or seem to care.

“Give them time, Major,” Eric said.  “They may just be laying low for the time being.  We have thirty Black Hawks and their crews to take care of now, it’s not like you don’t have enough on your plate.”

…

May 29, 2013 - Fort Rucker, Alabama

Major Bradley Sanford was early for a meeting with Colonel Spencer Olsen and was about to knock on the door of his office when he heard the Colonel’s raised voice.  Apparently, somebody was getting chewed out inside.  Sanford wasn’t usually one to eavesdrop, but it was hard not to when you were standing right in front of the door, and you never knew when a piece of gossip may end up being valuable. 

“I understand that, Sir,” Sanford heard Olsen say through the door.

“Sir,”
Sanford thought. 
“Who is Olsen talking to in there?  For that matter, who could Olsen be reporting to?”

“Realistically,” Olsen said, “probably at
least
six months before the next phase can be implemented.”

“The next phase,”
Sanford thought, and looked around to see who else might be able to hear the Colonel.  Nobody was close enough to hear, though, as Sanford looked at his watch and continued to wait and listen, and wonder. 
“The next phase of what?”

“I’ve taken care of the holdout,” Olsen said.  “Two days ago.  Fort Campbell was taken, intact, with minimal loss of life or resources on our side.”

“Sir,” Olsen said, obviously trying to hold onto his patience.  “
I
care about the loss of life!  My soldiers aren’t a commodity, and they certainly can’t be replaced at the drop of a hat.”

 “No, Sir,” Olsen said after another pause.  “Well, of course California has already been disarmed.  It was all but disarmed
before
the power went out!”

“Heh,”
Sanford thought,
“good point, but what is he talking about?”

Olsen paused again as the person on the other end of the line spoke.  “With all due respect, Sir, you gave me the Southeastern United States.”  Olsen said.  “Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia.  Sir, are you aware that there are people living in the West Virginia mountains that still don’t know the power is even out?”

By now it was obvious to Sanford that Olsen was alone in his office, but on the radio with someone.  That begged the question, who in the world could he possibly be on the radio
with
?

“No, I’m
not
quite finished,” Olsen said.  It didn’t seem to matter.  From the sound of disgust Olsen had just made, Sanford was pretty sure the other end of the line had already broken the connection. Sanford heard a drawer slam shut and then waited for a count of ten before turning and knocking on the door.

“Come in!” Olsen yelled.

…

“Problem, Major?” Olsen asked, once their meeting had ended.

“No, Sir,” Sanford said.

“Are you sure,” Olsen asked again.

Sanford realized, belatedly, he’d been wearing his emotions on his sleeve and the Colonel had picked up on his unease.  He needed to cover himself to get the Colonel off his back.  “Absolutely, Sir,” he said.  “More of a question, if I may.”

“You can ask, Son,” Olsen said.  “No promises of an answer.”

Sanford nodded in understanding.

“What’s our endgame, Sir?”  Sanford asked.  “What are we ultimately trying to accomplish?  We haven’t heard from the President, or anyone else in the chain of succession, ever.  We found and dusted off ARCLiTE, and deployed it basically on our own authority …so,” Sanford shrugged, “what’s the end goal?”

Olsen leaned forward and folded his arms on his desk.  “Son,” he said, “I’m going to say this one time.  Things are under control.  You’re doing a fine job following orders, and as long as you continue to, things will work out just fine for you.”

The weight of Olsen’s gaze, and the only thinly-veiled threat, dried Sanford’s mouth.

“Trust me,” Olsen said.  “You don’t want to end up on the wrong side of this one.”

…

May 30, 2013 - On the road between Fort Campbell and Promised Land

“Do we have a final count yet,” Ben asked the current radio operator in his Humvee.

Ben had been on the move for two days and had slept for maybe four hours total since leaving the base.  He still couldn’t use the word ‘abandon’, but he was too much of a realist to use ‘egress’. 

“Sir,” the Sergeant said, “we had to leave eighty-one that were too wounded to move.  We lost seventeen.  Nobody new since the final push out the back.”

Ben shook his head. 
“Including the walking wounded, that’s almost three-hundred men.”

“Sir,” the Sergeant manning the radio interrupted Ben’s reverie.  “The lead Humvee is requesting a destination.”

The group Ben headed made quite a sight with all of their Light Attack Vehicles, Humvees, civilian vehicles, and heavy equipment.  Coordinating the movements of this mixed force over deteriorating highways and side roads was quickly becoming problematic.

He had a limited supply of fuel and rations, so he couldn’t keep moving forever.  Ben reached for the radio.

…

“Ben!” Mallory almost shouted when she got on the radio in her office.  “Where have you been?  Are you ok?”

“Good to talk to you, too,” Ben said.  “I’ve been around.  We’ve had to keep our heads down for the last couple of days to keep the heat off of anyone else.  We took some casualties and,” Ben paused, and then swallowed, “I ended up leaving almost a hundred men on base because we couldn’t move them.”

“I’m sorry,” Mallory said.  “But most of you made it out in one piece?”

“That we did,” Ben said.  “Which brings me to the other reason for this call; we need a place to call home.”

“Of course,”
Mallory almost said without thinking.  Instead, she caught herself and was more realistic with her answer.

“Ben,” she said.  “It’s complicated.  I hate to have to say that but it is.”

“Okay,” Ben said.  “Go on.”

“Well,” Mallory said, “a couple of things.  First of all, we have an illness of unknown origin in camp, and everyone would have to be under quarantine.  Second, because of the quarantine, I don’t know where we would put your people.  Speaking of which, how many of you are there?”

Ben was silent for several seconds and Mallory wondered if she’d lost him.  “Ben,” she said, “you still there?”

“Yeah,” Ben said.  “I’ve got just under forty-five hundred people.”

It was Mallory’s turn to be silent.

“We’re not coming empty-handed, Mallory,” Ben said.  “We have food, fuel, heavy equipment, and munitions.  We’ve also got everything we need to rough it for the time being.”

Mallory took a deep breath and keyed the microphone.  “We’ll find a place, Ben,” she said.  “When will you get here?”

“How long do you need,” Ben asked.  “I’ve still got a lot I need to coordinate on my end.”

“Can you give me a week,” Mallory asked.  “I may be able to have some land cleared by then.”

“That’ll be fine.  See you then,” Ben said.

“Ben,” Mallory said, before they signed off, “be safe.”

…

Karen was fanning herself and rubbing the back of her neck when Eric walked into their tent.  “Long day?” he asked.

“No more than usual,” she said.  “I’m just tired, and this headache is killing me.”  Karen rolled her head to try to stretch her neck.

“Early bedtime after dinner,” Eric said as he sat behind her on the pair of cots they kept pushed together in the corner of their tent to take over massaging, and realized her skin felt much warmer than usual.

“I’m really not hungry,” Karen said.

“What have you had to eat today, babe,” Eric asked.

Karen shrugged.  “Not much, I just haven’t been hungry, why?”

“I think you have a fever, and something
is
going around camp,” Eric said, and reached around to feel her forehead.  “Yup, you have a fever.”

Eric opened his canteen and offered it to her.  “Drink some water and get in bed, I’m going to get Ty.”

“I’m fine, I just need some rest, maybe,” Karen said.

Eric shook his head.  “No, you are not fine,” he said.  “Yes, you are going to start with some rest but I’m going to get Ty.  Drink the water.  You haven’t eaten today and I bet you haven’t had anything to drink either.  I don’t want you getting dehydrated.  Be in bed when I get back,” Eric said.  “You have ten minutes or you may be embarrassed when Ty walks in on you changing.”