Carlie Simmons (Book 2): In Too Deep (12 page)

Chapter 32

The flight over the Gulf of Mexico was
uneventful as they rendezvoused with the
USS Farragut
which was
ninety-seven miles from Galveston, Texas. The DDG99 Destroyer had been
stationed in Florida prior to the outbreak. Most of the crew had been on shore
leave when the pandemic struck but a portion of them made it back in time to retreat
to a safe distance out at sea.

As the Blackhawk landed on the rear
deck, Carlie and both of her teams exited and were met by the XO, Darrell
Young, who was well over six foot four and two hundred ten pounds with a low
crop of sandy hair under his blue hat. Next to him was his Master-At-Arms, Matt
Richards, whose short-limbed figure was dwarfed by the commander. Both were clad
in white uniforms and had the faraway look of men who spend their careers
gazing at the horizon for a living.

“Welcome aboard the
Farragut
, Ms.
Simmons,” Commander Young said, extending his shovel-like hand. “General Adams
informed us of your arrival and destination. Let’s get below so we can talk out
of this choppy wind and I don’t completely kill my vocal cords.”

As they shouldered their gear bags, weapons,
and mission-critical items Carlie walked alongside the commander as the rest of
her team followed. They strode past a CIWS Gatling gun that was mounted on a
rotating platform, a massive chain link for the anchor, and a 20 mm canon, two
of which were perched on either side of the deck.

Shane moved up alongside Carlie and
whispered in her ear, “I remember this dude. This is the same commander whose
ship provided maritime security in the Gulf of Oman in 2008 and during anti-piracy
work me and my SEAL team were doing near Somalia.”

“The world has gotten even smaller, it seems,”
said Carlie. “Looks like you’ll be right at home being amongst your fellow
swabbies.”

“Yeah, only this time we won’t be
intercepting illegal weapons caches of RPGs but whackin’ toad-faced mutants.”

“You mean ‘TFMs’ for short?” she said,
laughing.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, Jared Jr.”

As they descended into the ship, the
hatchway behind them was closed and the only sound was that of machinery, sonar
pings, and messages over the intercom.

“How many crew do you have on board?”
said Carlie as she followed Young.

“Normally, we have 290 officers and
enlisted but we’re operating with a skeleton crew due to the losses we suffered
while our crew was ashore during the outbreak and then, of course, there were a
few deserters. We had just finished doing a month of surface warfare training
maneuvers when we headed back to port in Florida for a few days of R & R.”

“Is this a typical size for a Destroyer?”
said Amy, whose head kept swiveling at the all the sights.

“Pretty close. Our vessel is a little
better equipped than some of the older ones out there. The
Farragut
’s combat
capability centers around the Aegis Weapon System which is composed of a
multi-function phased array radar and the Tomahawk Weapon System,” the XO said,
waving his hand around the room in a speech that was clearly well-rehearsed but
delivered with enthusiasm. “When its gas turbine propulsion system is operating
at maximum capacity, the Destroyer is capable of achieving 30 plus knot speeds
in open seas. You may have noticed that a pair of two SH-60 Sea Hawk
helicopters whose frames are secured to the deck with heavy cables allows us to
provide limited air support as well.”

When he was done speaking, Young looked
back at the group, who were still trying to process the blur of information he
had spouted.

“My Master-At-Arms will give you a tour
of the essential areas and show you to your racks,” said the commander. “We
will get underway for Cuba and keep you apprised of our ETA. In the meantime,
get settled in as it will be two days of choppy conditions and seaspray as we
are heading into a storm front. I need to attend to some duties on the bridge
but I welcome you all to join me and my officers for dinner at 1730 so we can
share intel and cover our first briefing.”

As Master-At-Arms Richards took charge,
he led Carlie and her group down to the second level. “A ship this size is like
a small town at sea and we have everything from a recreation area, vending
machines, computer center, doctor’s office, chow hall, fitness center, and even
a library.”

“What about a dentist?” said Jared.
“I’ve got a bum tooth that has been layin’ me low.”

“One deck below is medical and dental,
though we lost our dentist so you’ll be seeing his assistant.”

Young took them into the chow hall,
which was empty, its blue chairs and blue vinyl-covered tables still wet from
being sanitized after the last meal. Large framed pictures of the
Farragut
in action, its canons ablaze, adorned the walls, and two flat-screen TVs were
anchored in the corners farthest from the entrance. Beneath these were two
artificial trees bolted to the floor.

“You always remove your hat in the chow
hall; it shows respect for the wounded and the dead as this room serves as a
medical ward during emergencies, with bodies laid on tables, hence the vinyl
covers. Meals are at 0630, 1230, and 1730. Reveille is at 0600. Monday through
Friday.”

“What day is it?” said Matias.

Young shifted his eyes for a second as
if puzzled by the question. “It’s Friday…yes, Friday.” He continued walking,
turning his head back periodically to shout out instructions or important times
in the schedule as if he were on autopilot.

“After breakfast are the department head
meetings, so don’t drop into the chow hall then.”

He led them down the hall for five more
minutes, stepping through several round hatchways until they arrived at their
berthing area. “At night, the lights inside the ship are turned red,” he said
as he turned right into a small sleeping area which held a row of bunks three
high on each side.

“Each sleeping area has a sliding blue
curtain hanging off the top and a storage cabinet below—that is the only
personal space you will find on this entire ship. It will be your slice of
private heaven for eight hours each night so enjoy it. Life in a confining
space can make people edgy so relish your brief solitude.”

Jared poked his head inside the room,
which was seven feet wide and designed to sleep twelve people and all of their
personal belongings. “Geez, there’s barely enough room to change my mind in
here.”

“I’ll leave you all to get settled in,”
Young said. “Feel free to make yourselves at home on this level of the ship.
The lowest level, which houses engineering and our missile storage area, is off
limits unless your presence is requested.” Richards walked over towards Jared.
“If you’ll accompany me, I can take you to the dentist’s office now.”

Chapter 33

President Huntington stood before his
group of newly assigned advisors in the briefing room next to his office.
Besides General Adams and Doctor Efron, the other individuals were comprised of
the base security chief, the head physician, quartermaster, life-support
systems analyst, signal-intelligence officer and the newly assigned political liaison,
Phillip Alderman. Beside the double doors was Secret Service Agent Willis who
was standing with his large hands folded in front of his gray suitcoat.

After the others gave their reports,
they departed, leaving only the president, General Adams, Efron, and Phillip in
the room.

“Where are we on making headway with any
of our contacts in Great Britain, Europe, Russia—anywhere?” said Huntington.

“The House of Parliament along with MI6
is offline,” said Phillip, who was dressed in the three-piece suit he had
arrived in a few days earlier. “They may have gone dark or have been completely
wiped out. As for the rest of the world, I have made contact with what remains
of the governing bodies of Spain, Italy, Denmark, and Japan. We did pick up a
few brief transmissions coming out of Australia and western Canada but nothing
since the initial outbreak.”

“What about any further communications
within our own agencies or military installations in the U.S.?” Huntington said,
glancing over at General Adams.

The general slowly lifted up a single
sheet of white paper from the table. “This list contains all of the remaining
intact bases that we have received confirmation from in CONUS.” The paper
revealed eighteen places that were mainly in the western and northern regions
of the country. “The largest facility is at Ft. Lewis in Washington. They have
a full comms and intel center, several squadrons of men, and access to offshore
naval capabilities in addition to having much of their 1st Special Forces group
intact.”

The president was pacing around the
table and came to halt after Adams was done. “As Ft. Lewis is better equipped
for me to command from, I will be departing there in Air Force One shortly.
I’ve instructed General Adams to stay on here until I arrive.”

“The plane is being refueled now and the
rest of its inflight systems should be ready in a few hours, sir,” said Adams.

“Do we have any intel from that
encrypted laptop that was uncovered off the freighter in New Orleans by
Carlie?” said the president.

“The first level of security has been
penetrated,” said Adams. “There are several files listed that were recently
encoded before the outbreak. One in particular that is called Operation Clean
Sweep is connected to a clandestine research facility in Alaska but that’s all
we’ve unearthed. The other files, and there’s a ton of ‘em, are beyond our
capabilities here. Once we’re at Lewis, we should be able to proceed with
breaking through the security.”

Phillip was twisting around in his
swivel chair. “And what about Ms. Simmons and her teams—any SITREPs on their
mission?”

“That is information that doesn’t involve
you, Mr. Alderman,” said General Adams, who was sitting across from him.

“She was under my command in Tucson,
that’s all. Just wondering how she is faring out there in the world.”

Adams smirked, looking at the president
and then back at Phillip. “From what I know you’re only sitting here today
because of her.”

“Well, there are two sides to every
story, sir. Perhaps you might want to hear mine some time?” Phillip said,
straightening his wrinkled tie.

Before Adams could respond, a red alarm
on the wall began flashing and the sirens overhead began blaring. Agent Willis
was standing near the door and intently listening to his earpiece, then removed
his MP-7 submachine guns from his shoulder holsters. “Sir, there are numerous
outbreaks of mutants in the east and south wings on this level. We need to get
you to Air Force One now before that route is impassable.”

Huntington sprung up and raced to the
door. “Not without my daughter.”

Chapter 34

An hour before dinner, Carlie was
walking from the bridge to her quarters after meeting with the XO briefly. She
saw Jared standing on an open section of the lower deck. He was staring at the whipping
saltwater spray and heaving waves that had increased since they arrived.

She strolled up next to him. “Hey, how’s
the toothache?”

Jared pulled his attention back from the
waves below and turned to face her while leaning his left arm on the railing.
“The dentist said no more double mocha lattes with processed sugar though
apparently aspartame is fine and isn’t conducive to long-term tooth decay.”

Carlie tried to hold back a smile and
shook her head instead. “So you gonna tell me what was so important back at
your uncle’s restaurant that we made that detour?”

Jared reached into his pocket and pulled
out a tarnished bronze timepiece with the inscribed image of a butterfly on the
front. He stared at it, rubbing his thumb over the mottled surface as if
waiting for something to emerge. He pried back his fingers and handed it to
Carlie.

She depressed the side button and opened
the watch to reveal the faded photo of a young girl with a lock of her sandy
brown hair partially obscuring the beautiful face.

“She’s a lovely girl. Who is she?”

“My sister, Beth.”

“Was she in New Orleans?”

“I have no idea. We were separated after
my mom died over twenty years ago after both bouncing around countless foster
homes. My drunken excuse for a dad only came to get me a few years later
because he needed a male to help him with his street cons. Beth got lost in the
system and I’ve never been able to find her.”

“Why didn’t your uncle take care of you
and your sister?”

“Sometimes you’re only related to family
biologically. I’ve been closer to my friends over the years than any blood kin of
mine.”

Carlie gave the piece back to him then
placed both her hands in her pockets while looking out over the waves. “I’m
sorry to hear about your separation from her. There’s nothing like the bond
between a brother and a sister.”

“No sweat. I’ve dealt with it, mostly. I
only hope she is still out there making her way in the world. I’ve always had
this fantasy that one day when I’m older, we would reunite and act like no time
had passed. Now that seems even more unlikely.”

Carlie was quiet for a moment, listening
to the rush of waves below. “Is that why you’re always pushing people away with
your acid humor?”

Jared looked at her, taking in her
hardened but enchanting eyes. “Pff…I’m just a naturally funny guy, Carlie. Some
people have to develop such comedic talent but not me. Besides, when you’ve
endured the joyous childhood I had, you’re only going to make it through life
by poking fun at it.”

“Sometimes when you’re young, you make
the wrong choices to get you to the right place later on.”

“I doubt you’ve ever taken a wrong turn
before. I may have been mistaken earlier when I chided you about adhering to a
code. It’s admirable to live for something beyond yourself, though don’t count
on me to do the self-sacrifice thing any time soon. You Secret Service and DEA types
are another breed of human being.”

“I have no immediate plans to immolate
myself—not without a damn good reason,” she said, clenching the cold metal
railing and scrunching her eyebrows together. “I also have family that I’m
going to get back to one day.”

Jared frowned and looked at her with a
half-smile. “I can totally see you as a bossy, over-protective big sister. I
bet your siblings probably never had to worry about getting their asses kicked
on the way home from school.”

Carlie felt something unfamiliar welling
up inside of her—a feeling of comfort that she hadn’t known in a long time and
had briefly felt before around Jared. He was an enigmatic figure—a lawbreaker
but at the same time someone who had a vein of deep compassion even if he tried
to hide it with his cocky rebukes. Whenever she looked at him she found the
logical part of her brain shooting up red flags because of his checkered past.
But the other part of her, that she kept hidden away, felt at ease around him. 
He reminded her not to take herself so seriously. Carlie took a deep breath and
forced the emotion back down into that compartment of discipline whose hinges had
partially thawed. She pulled back from the railing and started to walk away.

“You’re a good man, Jared. I don’t care
what the others say about you,” she said with a crooked grin.