Freefall

by Traci Hunter Abramson

  “Does this happen a lot?”

  “It’s hard to say,” Seth told her. “Sometimes they really do wait until the last minute before they decide they want our squad to come along. Whatever the reason, we don’t usually get a lot of warning that we’re shipping out.”

  “I’m just glad I took him seriously when Kel told me to keep a bag packed and in my car.”

  “Definitely good advice.” Seth laughed. “Especially when you don’t live within five minutes of the base.”

  Amy nodded and turned to log on to the computer. Seth walked her through the process of accessing the secure cable traffic and the intelligence reports she would need. After they reviewed the cable traffic pertinent to them, Seth stood up.

  “Come on. Let’s get started on that tour I promised you,” he said, motioning toward the door.

  “What are the chances that I won’t get lost at least once during this cruise?”

  “None.” Seth laughed and pulled open the door. “Don’t worry. We’ll draw up a map for everything you need to know.”

  Amy glanced back at Brent, the thought crossing through her mind that Seth couldn’t show her everything she needed to know. As hard as she tried to convince herself that the reasons didn’t matter, she needed to know why Brent had stopped caring for her. With an inward sigh, she stepped into the hallway prepared to deal with the challenges that she could conquer.

  CHAPTER 30

  Her first week on board the Truman Amy got lost more times that she cared to count. But gradually she learned her way around, and the number of wrong turns she made each day was now down into single digits. The crew was helpful and apparently accustomed to new personnel getting lost regularly.

  The rest of the squad spent most of their time in the air or engaged in other training exercises. Amy worked with the personnel on board to make sure everyone completed their qualifications on the various aircraft on board. She seldom saw any of them except when they popped in for prayer each morning and to check their schedules.

  Brent rarely said more than two words to her, and Amy often waffled between wanting him to come in so she could see him and hoping he stayed occupied elsewhere so she could pretend she wasn’t thinking about him. Though she hated to admit it, she had little doubt that Brent didn’t want her on board. During the first few days she came to realize that he wasn’t the only one.

  The first time she met the executive officer, Commander Dunnan, he gave her a curt nod and then spoke with Seth briefly before turning his attention elsewhere. Amy thought perhaps he was just busy and wasn’t the type for small talk until she overheard him talking to Kel. She had taken one of her many wrong turns their fourth day out and had been just about to turn the corner toward the mess hall when she heard Dunnan’s voice.

  “I don’t care who her father is, she shouldn’t be allowed to just roam the ship.”

  Kel’s voice was placating. “Come on, Al. She has top secret clearance just like the rest of us, and she’s not going to get in anyone’s way.”

  “How can you be so sure?” Dunnan shot back. “Civilians have no business being involved in day-to-day military operations. We have too much at stake out here to let some woman come on board so she can play soldier.”

  “It’s not like that and you know it,” Kel snapped. “Outside of the members of my squad, she’s the best intel officer I’ve ever had. Like it or not, you’re going to have to deal with it.”

  “I still think you’re making a mistake having her here.”

  Amy had ducked into a stairwell to avoid being seen when footsteps had sounded toward her. Since then she had decided to steer clear of the commander as much as possible, but Kel apparently had other ideas. Every time someone had reports or any other business for Dunnan, Kel sent Amy to take care of it. She deliberately kept her interactions with him as short and concise as possible, but it didn’t take much for people nearby to realize that the man didn’t like her.

  The excitement and novelty of being on a ship had worn off quickly as Amy spent much of her time alone in the squad’s boardroom. Between the cold shoulder she continued to receive from the executive officer, or XO as he was more commonly called, and Brent’s apparent apathy toward her, she was starting to wonder why she was even here. She had too much free time on her hands, and even her daily workouts and her frequent emails to her family didn’t completely diminish the feeling that she just didn’t belong.

  She walked toward the mess hall to get some lunch, looking forward to some human companionship for a few minutes. She had made a few acquaintances during her first week, but when she walked in she was surprised at how few people were sitting down eating. Instead, a crowd huddled around the television playing in the corner of the room.

  Amy felt the tension hanging in the air as she moved closer. On the screen, she saw images of a bus in London, bodies hanging lifelessly out the windows. On a nearby sidewalk a woman was sprawled beside a baby stroller.

  Amy felt her eyes tear as she considered that such a young life may have been cut short. She blinked hard, trying to piece together the tidbits of information.

  The sailor beside her shook his head. “Who would do something like this?”

  Amy swallowed hard and forced the words out of her mouth. “What happened?”

  “Someone released a biological agent on a bus in London. Everyone within a hundred yards was killed.”

  Amy immediately tensed, remembering vividly the attempt in the United States. She looked at the man beside her. “Have they said who is responsible?”

  He shook his head. “It only happened an hour ago.”

  Without a word, Amy rushed out of the mess hall and headed for her team’s boardroom. When she opened the door, Kel and Seth were standing in the middle of the room staring at the television.

  “I just heard,” Amy began, anger combining with sorrow as she glanced up at the horrific images once more. “Dagan’s responsible, isn’t he?”

  “Nothing has been confirmed,” Kel started, pausing as he looked over at her. “But it sure looks that way.”

  Amy turned away from the terrifying scene on the television and logged onto her computer. She glanced at the day’s schedule long enough to see that Brent and Quinn were currently in an F-14 somewhere over the Med, and that Tristan was most likely still sleeping after returning from a flight early that morning.

  She had just sat down to read the new cable traffic when Kel spoke. “Amy, you and Brent have the most firsthand knowledge of Abolstan of anyone on board. It looks like this is about to become command central as soon as intel confirms that Dagan is behind this attack.”

  “That could take hours, even days.”

  “Don’t worry,” Kel said. “An ensign is on his way down now with a detailed map of Abolstan and the surrounding area along with all of the recent aerial photos. Somehow we’ve got to figure out where they’re making this stuff so we can destroy it.”

  No sooner had he spoken than the door opened. The ensign was about Amy’s age, and he looked around anxiously until he recognized Kel as the commanding officer in the room. “Here you are, sir.”

  “Thanks.” Kel motioned for him to set the map and the thick envelope he carried on the work table.

  After setting down his packages, the man turned to Kel once more. “Is there anything else, sir?”

  Kel nodded. “I’d appreciate it if you could run down to the mess hall and grab some lunch for us. I have a feeling it’s going to be a while before we make it there ourselves.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  By the time the ensign left the room, Seth had already dumped out the aerial photos and started sorting through them while Kel rolled open the map and tacked it to the oversized bulletin board on the wall.

  “How do we go about this?” Amy sat across the table from Seth and picked up a box of colored pushpins.

  “We use those pins to code the map, marking it with the locations of the military installations. Blue pins for ones with naval ba
ses, white for ones with air capability, and so on,” Seth explained. He showed her how to identify the photographs, comparing them to the locations on the map.

  Slowly, meticulously, they coded the map to identify where various military assets were located. When they had reviewed all of the latest photos, Kel stood with his hands on his hips staring at the map. “They could be making this stuff anywhere.”

  Amy moved to stand beside him, her mind whirling. “Before I was taken hostage, an intel officer at the embassy said it was dangerous to transport the evidence to the United States. I have to assume he meant the biological agent.”

  “Yeah,” Kel responded. “He wouldn’t have wanted to take the risk of it getting released on board an aircraft.”

  “But the terrorists all transported it safely,” Amy pointed out. “I don’t understand how they could transport it, but we couldn’t.”

  “There must be something that makes it unstable that the intel officer was concerned about,” Seth suggested.

  “That could be anything: the altitude, air pressure, heat . . .” Kel trailed off as they all looked at each another.

  Seth’s eyes darkened. “If the biological agent is unstable in hot or cold temperatures, he wouldn’t have been able to transport it in his baggage because the baggage compartments aren’t climate controlled.”

  Kel nodded in agreement. “Call our friends at the CIA and find out everything they know about this stuff.”

  “I’m on it.”

  While Seth headed for a phone, Amy and Kel turned their attention back to the map.

  “If it’s sensitive to hot or cold, it probably isn’t being produced anywhere in the desert. The temperatures are too extreme,” Amy suggested, remembering vividly how cold the nights had been when she and Brent had traveled through that part of the country.

  “That would eliminate most of their military installations.” Kel tapped on the map where three pushpins were located, two on the coast and one about twenty miles inland. “Only these three are located in the milder climate.”

  Seth hung up the phone and grinned. “Our boys at CIA are sending us the report on the biological agent. Apparently it doesn’t like high temperatures.” He rocked back on his heels. “It also seems some of the components that go into it can’t develop in the presence of salt water.”

  “Then this must be the place.” Kel removed the green pin that had identified it as a military base and replaced it with a red one to distinguish it from the others. “That was almost too easy. Amy, find the photos of this one.”

  Amy nodded, shuffling through the photos as Kel called out which map grid she was looking for. After searching for a minute, she finally found the right one and pushed the others aside. “Got it.”

  “Let’s take a look.” Kel sat down at the table as Seth and Amy looked over his shoulder. The photo showed two clusters of antiaircraft guns, several unidentified buildings, and a number of tanks positioned around the perimeter of the facility.

  Seth tapped the center of the photo. “Since there isn’t a runway, they must be getting their air support from one of the nearby bases.”

  Kel nodded. “Take a look and find out which one is the closest with air combat capability.”

  As Seth checked the map and started shuffling through the photos once more, Amy glanced up at the television and the most recent newscast. She took a deep breath and forced herself to ask, “How many more attacks do you think they have planned?”

  Kel looked at her, hesitating a moment before confirming her fears. “I would expect two or three more if they’re using a plan like the one they had in DC.”

  “I just don’t understand how these people think. What motivates them to kill innocent people?”

  “It’s their way of sending the world a message.” Kel glanced up at the television for a moment before continuing. “The United Kingdom and the U.S. were the most outspoken countries about stopping Abolstan from developing biological weapons. They started out by taking some of our people hostage, and now they’re waging war on us.”

  “Then we have to assume they’ll eventually try for another target in the U.S.”

  Kel nodded. “I expect that as soon as we can identify Abolstan as being behind this, we’ll strike before they get the chance.”

  Seth stacked all but two of the photos and set them aside, then laid the remaining two in the center of the table. “These two are close enough to provide immediate support. One is a small airbase, and the other is the naval base on the coast that is probably their most heavily armed base in the country.”

  The door opened and the ensign walked in along with a seaman carrying their lunch.

  Seth picked up the aerial photos and set them beside one of the computers to make room for the food. The two men had barely set the trays down when Kel started barking out orders. He sent the seaman down to wake up Tristan, and the ensign was recruited to track down the executive officer while they continued to gather their facts.

  As soon as they left the room, Kel turned back to Amy and Seth. “Seth, I want you to get on the phone with the CIA or whoever can tell us what to expect if we blow up the plant where they’re making this stuff. Basically, we need to know where the kill zone is so we can see what kind of civilian casualties we can expect.

  “Amy, I know it won’t be easy, but see what you can find out about the situation in London. Start by calling the intel officer at our embassy there. Make sure they know that they should expect more attacks, and let’s see if we can help identify who’s responsible.” Kel picked up a sandwich and moved to a computer. “I’m going to start working on a mission plan in case we’re right about this.” He motioned to the food on the table. “Grab something to eat while you have the chance. It’s going to be a long day.”

  CHAPTER 31

  Brent’s first reaction when he heard the news was gratitude that Amy hadn’t taken that assignment in London after all. His second thought was that it was time they put a stop to Namir Dagan and the terror he was unleashing on innocent civilians.

  The minute he and Quinn had returned from their training flight, someone had been waiting with the latest updates on the situation along with orders for them to report immediately to their commanding officer. They had quickly changed out of their flight gear and headed straight for their boardroom.

  Brent pushed the door open and was surprised to see Commander Dunnan, the XO, sitting at the table shoulder to shoulder with Amy. Neither of them even looked up, and Brent moved closer to see the papers spread out in front of them.

  Amy tapped one of the papers in front of her. “I’m telling you, this has to be the route they’re taking to transport this stuff out of there.”

  “You want me to take out a road even though we don’t know if they’re responsible?” Commander Dunnan asked in a condescending tone.

  “Actually, taking out the bridge here would be better,” Amy answered with a shrug, ignoring Dunnan’s skepticism and his tone. “They can just reroute if the road is damaged, but if they can’t get past the river, the only way to get the stuff out would be by helicopter.”

  Before Brent managed to find his voice, Quinn asked the question, “What are we working on?”

  Dunnan glanced over at him and tapped the stack of photos in front of him. “These are the latest satellite photos of Abolstan. Assuming the theory is correct and Dagan is responsible, we are working up a strike plan.” He nodded at the map. “We think we know where they’re manufacturing their biological weapons, but the president isn’t likely to authorize a strike until we can identify the culprit.”

  “Which is why we need to take out this bridge,” Amy insisted. “We don’t even have to claim responsibility. With the accuracy of our weapons, I’m sure some mid-range weapon could take care of it in one shot.”

  Dunnan let out a sigh. “We still need authorization.”

  Brent listened half-heartedly to the debate while Kel brought him and Quinn up to date on the situation. He turned to se
e Amy push back from the table, and from the look on her face he wondered if she was debating calling for authorization herself. When she picked up the phone, he was relieved when she didn’t start the conversation with, “Hello, Mr. President.”

  Sitting beside her, Seth hung up the phone and pushed out of his seat. “We just got the estimate on the kill zone if we blow up the plant.” He held out the satellite photo and tapped a finger on the map. “They estimate that the vapors from the explosion would affect everyone within a twenty-mile radius.”

  “The closest village is just outside that range,” Kel said with a shrug. “It’s risky, but the villagers should be okay.”

  Brent sensed Amy standing beside him. He looked down at her, startled by how pale she was. “Are you okay?”

  She shook her head, and a tear spilled over. “The CIA just confirmed two more attacks. One was in Edinburgh, the other in Belfast.”

  “What?” Brent stepped back so he could see her more clearly as everyone stopped talking.

  “When?” Kel interrupted.

  “One was only fifteen minutes ago, the other a few minutes before that.” Amy drew in a shaky breath and continued. “One of my contacts at the CIA was keeping track of the live satellite images from the base we’ve identified. Three cars just left the installation and are heading for the border.”

  Dunnan grabbed the nearest phone, motioning to Amy at the same time. “Find out how long it will take for those cars to reach the bridge.” He then updated the captain with Amy’s new information, detailing the plan to eliminate the bridge.

  Amy made her call, and she had her answer in less than thirty seconds. “Their ETA at the bridge is twelve minutes.”

  “I don’t know if our patrol is close enough to take out the bridge before then.” Dunnan shook his head as he once again relayed the information to the captain. He hung up a moment later and turned to Kel. “I’m going to head back up to CIC.” He glanced at Amy and added, “That’s the Combat Information Center. I want you to keep me informed of any new developments.” With a nod to Amy he turned and left the room.