Rescue Branch (Kinsella Universe)

by Gina Marie Wylie

  “Hot wire another vehicle if you have to; failing that, go to one of the houses and commandeer a civilian vehicle.

  “Let me talk to that policeman,” she concluded.

  He spoke into the radio, and then handed it to Stephanie. “This is Rear Admiral Kinsella, sir, who am I speaking to?”

  “I am Dieter Hoffman, the head of the Criminal Polizei, Erfurt. You don't know me, Admiral, but I was a party to the conference call with the heads of state you held after your ship returned with the plague warning.”

  “We have a serious situation here, Herr Hoffman. We only have a few Marines at the current time and I am trying to conserve them as best as possible. You may bring a car along the road to the installation at its end. You may bring along one officer. The Marines have been instructed to use deadly force against anyone doing something suspicious; you will want to drive slowly, exit your vehicle slowly and not alarm them in any way.”

  “That is the Koop Genomic Institute?”

  “Yes. Please, the matter is critical and highly time sensitive. If you bring someone, you'd better be sure of his or her ability not to talk. This isn't going to be good.”

  “I'll be there in a few minutes, Admiral. You can rely on my discretion.”

  She turned to the colonel. “I want a half dozen more men at the road block. I want a second road block just before the building here.” She hefted the radio. “You have a link to higher headquarters?”

  “Yes, Admiral.”

  “Get your staff duty officer for me.”

  “He's in Hawaii, sir.”

  “I don't care if he's on the moon. I need to talk to him.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He took the radio and spoke a few words, then again, before handing the phone back to Stephanie.

  A voice beat her to speaking first. “Lieutenant Colonel Church, sir.”

  “Colonel Church, this is Rear Admiral Stephanie Kinsella. Are you aware of the nature of Colonel Morse's duties and what my role is, in regard to them?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Colonel, I request and require you to get the Marine Commandant on this link as quickly as possible for a code word message.”

  “Yes, sir. It's a little late, so it may take a few minutes.”

  “Make it very few, Colonel. He'll be keeping the Federation Council waiting.”

  “Roger that, Admiral Kinsella. Just a moment.”

  He was back a moment later. “He's five minutes from the phone, Admiral.”

  “Can you release any of the ready forces available?”

  “Another company, sir. They are now at plus sixty minutes alert status.”

  “It will only save a few minutes, but I'd be obliged if you will get them coming. Send as many medics as you cram in. Send some veterinarians as well.”

  “Colonel Morse’s team has taken casualties?” he seemed startled.

  “I'll explain directly, but I believe he quoted me a third so far. Plus there are civilians affected.”

  “I'll see what we can do, Admiral.” He paused, “Here's the Commandant, Admiral.”

  “Joe Stark, Stephanie. Is this about that situation?”

  “Yes, Joe. We need people -- a lot more people. I'll have Admiral Castleman alerted here soon. But I'm going to need both of the ready brigades, as soon as you can get them here.”

  “It's as bad as that?”

  “Worse. I also need about three hundred pediatricians, a thousand nurses and lab techs... a mess of shrinks and psychologists. And, I’m sorry to say, a number of veterinaries.”

  “A mass casualty event?”

  “Joe, I don't want to characterize this except in the most general of terms. As soon as you have someone more senior than Colonel Morse here, I'll send Morse back to brief Fleet's leadership. This has a significant potential to get out of hand.”

  “Enough out of hand to require ten thousand Marines, locked and loaded?”

  “Yes, Joe.”

  “Christ! I'll get them going as fast as I can... hang on; Admiral Castleman just came in the building. Let me run and get him and we can coordinate this.”

  It took another five minutes, but the discussion was quick and fruitful. One of the nice things, Stephanie thought, was that when you're a known quantity, people didn't argue as much.

  At the end, Admiral Castleman was blunt. “Admiral Kinsella, we'll be sending fifteen thousand additional personnel to you. That's a major portion of the Fleet's available resources.”

  “Sir, you can have my head if, afterwards, you don't think I was justified. Admiral Castleman, the plague was a terrible catastrophe; one we're still paying for. We caught it in time and dealt with it. Yes, it could have been much worse; but our reactions were quick and directed and I don't see how we could have done better, not with the obstacles we faced.

  “This event, sir, has the potential to cost us the stars.”

  “Is that hyperbole, Admiral?” Admiral Castleman's voice had become frosty.

  “If this isn't handled right, yes, sir, it could well happen. Three members of the Federation Supreme Court will be here within the hour. They will officially invoke Article XXIX of the Federation Charter. The President will be here shortly thereafter with a number of the members of the Federation Council. Things will start happening quickly, then. At some point, we'll need to make a full public disclosure. When that happens, we have to be ready for any contingency.”

  “General Stark, I want to see that officer courier the instant he returns.”

  “Aye, aye, Admiral. We'll have him back here in two hours or so.”

  Colonel Morse handed Stephanie a sheet of paper and she blinked. “Crap!” she said with heat.

  Chapter 4 -- Investigation

  General Stark laughed. “Gonna have to wash your mouth out after that, Steph!”

  “A preliminary inspection of the emails from this location reveals a considerable volume of communication between here and a lab in China, another in Russia, one in France, one in the UK and two in the US. Reserve at least a thousand Marines for those sites... but it will be up to the Federation President and the Council exactly what we do.”

  There was a sudden intake of breath. “And you can't characterize the situation, Admiral?” The Chief of Fleet Operations asked.

  “Sir, this is Stone Face. It hasn't been legally declared but there was no doubt in Colonel Morse's mind; there's none in mine. If there are more sites, more infractions, this could easily be worse than the plague.”

  “But it's not a plague?” asked the admiral.

  “A metaphorical plague on our houses. Admiral, if the person responsible for this was in front of me, it would take a number of very husky Marines to keep me from killing him. I am not being rhetorical; I'm not exaggerating. Sir, this has an unexpected personal dimension; I don't wish to dismiss it and I'll do my level best not to let it affect my judgment.” She laughed bitterly. “Unless that scum gets too close... then I’ll kill him.”

  “The additional troops are on their way,” the Marine Commandant told her.

  “Thanks, Joe. Now, clear the line. I have President Campbell waiting.”

  A second later she was speaking to the President of the Federation. “I'm sorry, sir, but the situation requires additional troops. I was arranging them.”

  “How many?”

  “A reinforced division.”

  There was a moment of silence. “Three members of the Supreme Court left moments ago. I was going to follow in an hour, to give them time to do their work.”

  “Sir, it won't take them nearly that long. Come sooner. If you could, sir, we need a head of state conference; schedule it for a half hour or so after your arrival.”

  “That's not much time to come up to speed, Admiral.”

  “Sir, this isn't rocket science. You will spend more time traveling here than it will take you to come up to speed.”

  “It's that bad?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Then I'll alert the other
s of my party for an earlier departure. We will be there perhaps forty minutes after the justices arrive.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  She turned the radio off and handed it to the colonel, ignoring the waiting German policeman. “Colonel, I hope you have a capable deputy. Do you have some preliminary photography?”

  “Yes, Admiral.”

  “Gather it up. Take my shuttle, and return to Maunalua. While en route, prepare to brief General Stark and Admiral Castleman and probably others almost immediately upon your arrival. Colonel, you must impress upon them that if the information is released prematurely, it is my intention to charge who ever leaked it as an accessory after the fact to a Crime Against Humanity. That crime is one of the few where the Federation reserves the death penalty as a sentencing option.

  “The decisions having to do with this are reserved to the Federation Council.”

  “Yes, Admiral.” He glanced around. “I'll be on my way in ten minutes.”

  “Don't run into our Federation Supreme Court justices.”

  “I'll try not to, sir.” He formally saluted and she returned it.

  Stephanie turned to the policeman. “I'm sorry for the delay, Herr Hoffman.”

  “Clearly you are busy, Admiral. I've been busy a few times in my life; such things are the burden we bear for all of those fine perks we earn.”

  Stephanie nodded. “Sir, we can do this one of two ways. In either case, first you promise to keep what you are about to see secret until the Federation releases it.”

  “That is what you referred to a moment ago? Unauthorized releases would result in the rather significant charges?”

  “Yes, Herr Hoffman.”

  “I have no desire to be on the wrong side of a courtroom, Admiral. You have my word.”

  “As I said, now you have two options. It would save you a half hour or so if you were to take my word in advance about the importance of what you would see -- and skip the tour. That would give you time to call your office and turn out every officer that you have available. We probably will not release this until much later today or perhaps tomorrow morning; but when we do there is the potential for significant public unrest. You will want to have every officer you can lay your hands on available at short notice.

  “While I believe that you have the half hour and probably more, none of those who perpetrated this crime are to be found on the premises. One possible scenario would be a premature release of the story to facilitate their flight. The other option would be to show you what there is to see now, without delay. A half hour or so.”

  He stared at her. “Admiral, I mentioned that I saw you on that conference call. A great many of those in our government saw it; I was the head of the Prime Minister's security detail.

  “I was -- livid -- afterwards. So were a great many others. The minister was -- cavalier -- about the risks facing the German Republic, the German people. Fortunately the Chinese broke his obduracy in a thorough manner, before it could significantly harm us. I, like many others, was not happy when our party leadership decided not to hold him accountable.

  “I resigned once the worst of the emergency had passed. I came here, to a nice town in the forest, I thought, away from all of that.”

  He laughed bitterly. “One of the things you've done, Admiral, is reduce the Earth to a very small place, where no place is that far from another. Give me a moment to call in, then I will see what there is to see.”

  He was briskly efficient, only stopping at the end. “My deputy wants to know if we should call out our Laender -- the district -- reserves as well.”

  “Put them on alert, but don't bring them in.”

  He said a few more words and then turned to Stephanie. “It is in process, Admiral.”

  Stephanie looked from him to the German police officer who had stood mute to one side. She nodded in her flag lieutenant's direction. “There stands my flag lieutenant. She hasn't been permitted inside, Herr Hoffman. Sir, the Marines have suffered thirty percent casualties past the second stop.”

  The police chief quirked a small smile. “Herman, my shadow -- please join the lieutenant over there. Tell her about your nasty boss who never lets you see the awful things. She can tell you about her boss who spares her those things as well. Wait until we return.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  She led him them inside, and then down the steps. She stopped as they entered the large room. “The colonel was in a hurry and didn't stop here for very long. Sir, consider the size of the room.”

  “Two hundred meters by seventy,” he told her. “There is an exhibit hall not far from here that is slightly larger. Here there are a lot of curtained off areas.”

  “Those cubicles are -- groups -- of victims, screened off from each other. And us.”

  “How many victims?”

  “The current count is six hundred and fifty-one in one hundred and sixty-five groups.” She paused, because her voice was too choked with emotion.

  “All infants,” she added.

  The policeman's eyes narrowed.

  “Sir, the first group isn't remarkable, until you learn the context.”

  Stephanie pulled the curtains apart and the policeman preceded her. Stephanie walked to the one bassinet. When she got close the baby's eyes once again lighted on her. The baby’s expression went from bored to happy, and she made sounds indicating her pleasure, waving her hands in the air. Stephanie put one finger close to one of the waving hands and it was immediately gripped.

  “Babies,” the policeman said unnecessarily.

  Stephanie reached for the card at the head of the bassinet, unable and unwilling to avoid the grasping hand. She gently disengaged her finger and handed the card to Hoffman.

  He took it and grimaced. “This is... unpleasant,” he told her.

  “I don't know much German, sir. The names are enough to concern me... and the phrasing is -- as much as I could decipher -- odd.”

  “A girl?”

  “It is my belief, sir. I haven't worked up the courage to actually check.”

  “This is disgusting. I'm sure the first word is the abbreviation of 'daughter.' It reads, 'Daughter out of Stephanie Kinsella by Richard Rampling.' It adds each of their parent names. Then a long series of number and letters without an explanation.”

  He looked at her. “The terminology is out of a stock book, relating the family trees of horses, cows, and other valuable livestock.”

  He sighed. “Still, while a grave ethical error on someone's part I don't see it as a crime against humanity.”

  “And the other ten lines on that card?”

  “Letters and numbers; no doubt important to someone.”

  “No doubt. Sir, I ask of you now to get a solid grip on your emotions. What is next will be the worst thing you've ever seen in your life.”

  She led the way, and again the four black labs regarded them gravely.

  She could see the confusion on his face, the same sort that would have been on hers. Then the realization of the truth.

  “Dear God! What have we done to deserve this! Please God, this can't happen again! Lord God! What have we done that you've forsaken us so!”

  She managed to get a chair under him when he started to sag.

  “It is our belief that these are human-canine chimeras,” she explained.

  He nodded, clearly numb. “You are wrong, Admiral... this is not a crime against humanity. This is a crime against God.”

  He drew himself up, standing by main force of will. “Whatever you desire, Admiral. Your least wish is our command. My people are shamed once again in the eyes of the world. Atonement...” he shook his head. “How can we ever atone for this?”

  “Well, we believe the leader was Dutch, so maybe you have an out. There also may be similar labs in other countries as well.

  “For now, the low hanging fruit. I am severely short of people. I need to see the Mayor, his or her deputy, any city council president; the president and or chancellor of the university,
the leadership of the college of medicine. We need to determine as quickly as possible a list of staff of the Koop Institute and get arrest warrants for them.”

  “We can do that,” he assured her. “A minute after I call it in.”

  “I don't think it will be necessary at this point to arrest the city leaders; we just need to talk to them. We will need warrants for the university officials, the medical school staff and the people who worked here. Also warrants to search all of the related offices at the university and for their computers, records and the like. And warrants to search the homes for everyone who worked here.”

  “It shall be done!”

  He waved towards the rest of the room. “And is this worse?”

  “I haven't seen it; I got this far and had to stop. Others, however, have seen more. They assure me it is much, much, much worse.”

  “I will attend to this!” he said in a stern, authoritarian voice and strode from the room. Stephanie trailed along behind, thinking.

  When she reached the ground floor, a major was there, talking with the two guards on the stairwell.

  “Admiral, I’m Major Dan Gordon. Colonel Morse’s deputy. I'm sorry for my earlier indisposition.”

  “And the contents of the downstairs was the cause of that indisposition?”

  “Yes, sir. Colonel Morse stopped after the third group. I continued, wanting to evaluate the situation fully.” He sighed heavily. “I'm going to have nightmares the rest of my life. I managed thirty groups, Admiral. Then I had the screaming mimis.”

  “Obviously, we are short of people. Still, I want four men on this door. No one is to go downstairs until further notice unless I'm standing here, permitting it. Anyone who brings anything at all upstairs is to be most thoroughly searched. If anyone is found attempting to remove a victim, they are to be detained at once and I am to be called -- even if I just went to sleep. There will be no excuses and no exceptions, none. Everything that comes out, no matter how small, will be carefully examined. If you have any doubts, act. I will back you fully. Screw up and I will see you thoroughly screwed... don't take chances!

  “I will soon repeat this to everyone, so there is no possibility of a misunderstanding. What happened here is a crime against humanity; the chief cop at Erfurt calls it a crime against God. Those who perpetrated this will go before a Federation Court; they will be on trial for their lives.