Rescue Branch (Kinsella Universe)

by Gina Marie Wylie

  The President drew himself up. “Then, I suppose, we should see it.”

  “Mr. President, I've been trying to limit the party sizes. Your group is, in my opinion, too large. Four or five, sir. Please.”

  He nodded. “Myself, my chief of staff, Able Whitehead, the secretary of the Federation Council, Denis Depuy, the President of the Senate, Richard Talbot, and because they will demand it anyway, one of my security team.”

  “Come with me, then,” Stephanie told them and seven of them, including Major Gordon. She entered the first enclosure with more aplomb than she managed before. Her daughter looked clearly distressed, but brightened considerably when she saw Stephanie. Stephanie held the small hand in hers.

  “Babies, Admiral?” the president asked after a few moments.

  Stephanie ignored him. “Major Gordon, go outside. Get on the radio; we need every medic they've got first. Whatever they've given them is wearing off.”

  “Yes, Admiral!”

  He hurried out and Stephanie did as she had so many times before, reaching for the card. She gently let the hand fall away and turned to the President, handing him the card. “It says, sir, “Daughter out of Stephanie Kinsella by Richard Rampling, plus our parent’s names.”

  “Those words?” he asked.

  “Yes, those very words. Like prize livestock.”

  “And this demonstrates what?”

  “Sir, this places the matter in context. There is more here that you can't see. All of the lines of numbers have meaning, I'm sure. The second group will demonstrate the full gravity of what's passed here. Perhaps you, sir, will fare better with the third group: I don't think it represents to you the cultural icon that it does to Americans.

  “Sir, the sight of the third group, the medic estimates, causes serious mental problems for half the observers. Justice Taylor died the instant she understood what she was seeing. The second group wasn't enough to prepare her for the third.”

  “Well, the second group then.”

  Stephanie was pleased that no one cried “Puppies!” and tried to step forward. Instead there was a moment of silence again. “Admiral, what are we seeing?” the president asked.

  As she'd said before, “Sir, you'll notice that they are looking at us. I don't think I'm anthropomorphizing when I say it looks to me like they are trying to understand us. As the infants in the other room, they exhibit a degree of curiosity that one wouldn't expect from puppies. While we haven’t confirmed this with DNA testing, we believe these are human-canine chimeras -- beings created with some of our DNA and much more canine DNA. How much -- what kind -- we have no idea. It may take months or years of research to learn what exactly we're seeing.”

  “You think they are intelligent?” the President of the Senate asked.

  “Sir, I don't know the answer to that. The question of how intelligent animals are has vexed us for a couple of generations now. We don't know how to peg the IQ of a dolphin or whale. Chimps and gorillas diverge from the human genome by a couple of percent -- we can't determine their intelligence either.”

  “And there is something worse waiting for us behind Door Number Three?” President Campbell asked.

  “I don't know how it will be for you; I know how it was for me. I think it would be worse if you're a North American, because of the iconic nature of the subject. But it's still a wrenching shock. You could see Justice Taylor understand what she was seeing -- and then she was falling a second later.

  “The odds are that at least one of you, and perhaps more than one, will be severely traumatized by what you see. It's a problem for people who think of themselves as tough, able to handle anything. It was nearly enough to break my spirit. I've had time to process it and I think I can deal with seeing it again... but sir, I am no longer as confident as I once was about that.”

  “Anyone who wants to stay behind can,” President Campbell told his group. “I'm going on.”

  Stephanie grimaced. That was a direct challenge; no self-respecting politician was going to turn it down.

  The same medic was there and he looked at Stephanie helplessly. “Admiral, they were agitated after what happened before. This is a really, really bad idea, sir.”

  “It's my thinking that the tranquilizer is wearing off.”

  “I think so, sir.” He turned to the President. “Sir, I'm just a medic; I'm not a doctor and certainly not a shrink. Still, it is my duty to tell you that I don't think this is advisable. If nothing else, could we do this in two groups? We're very short of personnel; I can deal with one person going down, not two.”

  “For heaven's sakes!” The senate president said, stepped forward and whisked the cover off the cage.

  Again, it took a moment for the realization to sink in. The senate president gave an anguished cry and sank to his knees, losing sphincter control.

  The President's chief of staff was drowning in a flood of tears. The President himself had a stone face, while the other senator stared fixedly into space, high up on the wall, above the cage.

  Stephanie saw the protective services agent was pale, but staring fixatedly at the President, ignoring the cage.

  “You're probably the smartest one here,” Stephanie told the agent softly. He didn't move his eyes; his face was pale as a sheet. The medic injected something into the chief of staff who was blubbering, then led the President of the Senate to a cot, just outside.

  President Campbell followed, leading his aide as well. Outside he turned to Stephanie. “That was as close of a run of a thing that I ever want to experience.”

  “Pictures are a little easier, sir. Verbal descriptions aren't bad at all... but don't do the shock justice. You just get very, very angry,” the medic offered.

  “And there is more?”

  “Yes, sir. There are more birdcages; there are some fish tanks... it's flip to say, sir, but true. It's a zoo down here.”

  “Fish tanks?” the President's voice cracked.

  “Yes, sir. There are about fifty primates of one sort or another, then smaller animals. We've gathered reports on all the groups, although we don't have people sitting on each of them yet.

  “Help will be here in a matter of minutes,” Stephanie told him.

  “Medical help?”

  “That's what I asked them to send down first.”

  “I'd like to get people with each group,” the medic said. “At least one at first; I'd like at least one, and maybe two or three on permanent assignment.” He made a face. “Not that the docs won't have their own ideas.”

  Stephanie had had a couple of experiences with doctors. They had a different kind of arrogance than some of the flag officers and politicians she'd met over the years, but it was still arrogance.

  “Mr. President,” Stephanie spoke up. “There is another time-critical issue. Our preliminary investigation revealed that this lab exchanged a considerable volume of email with labs in China, Russia, France, the UK and two in the US. This could be only one of many such labs.”

  President Campbell's face stiffened. “One -- one such lab is mind-altering. More than one? I can't believe so many people could have been involved in such a thing.”

  “Sir, yesterday evening, local time we were alerted of a possible bio-war lab here in Erfurt, at this location. Admiral Castleman and General Stark applied for a Federation warrant and sent a company of Marines to secure the location and do a preliminary recon.

  “I do not think we should try to do that with so many locations in so many countries. I think we need to once again call a national leader conference call. The countries involved -- plus a half dozen others -- those involved plus Japan, Australia, Canada, Poland, Sweden and Brazil. If other labs like this are found, I think we should send the national forces from other countries to secure the locations and do the investigations.”

  “They'll never agree to foreign nationals doing that,” he disagreed. “They are all going to demand that they be permitted to conduct the investigations themselves.”

&nb
sp; “Sir, remind them that if the word gets out about these labs -- as it surely will -- they are going to want to have some cover. Sir, Germany's government will certainly fall a few hours after this hits the news -- they have too much history. There may well be riots; certainly the lab personnel who worked here would be at significant risk, but it is possible that researchers from other biotechnology labs will also be at risk.

  “Mobs are strange beasts, sir. It is possible that between the plague and this, sir, people could lose it just like those here have lost it. They would stop being rational. We could have an anti-technology surge that could steamroller everything in its path.

  “We're going to need to be very proactive in this regard, sir.”

  “It would seem so.” He looked at his chief of staff, who was, by then, sedated and asleep.

  He turned to the senator who'd dealt with the situation. “Sir, there is nothing in the Federation Charter that permits what I'm about to ask of you. On the other hand, it's not forbidden either. Sir, as one person to another, I need your assistance. I need to take care of a number of details; one of those is of particular importance. I'd like you to arrange for an emergency head-of-state teleconference, as quickly as the leaders can be brought in. They’ve been alerted as to the possibility -- now we need to make it a reality.

  “I need the heads of China, Russia, Germany, France, the UK, the EU, and the US. Once you have those arranged, I need to have the heads of state available from Japan, Poland, Sweden, Canada, Australia, and Brazil. Tell them all that you are calling on my behalf, and that I support you totally.”

  “Yes, sir. I can do that.”

  “Then do it.”

  Overhead, the sky grew suddenly dark. A two hundred and fifty meter starship was barely three kilometers above ground. Even as people grew aware of its presence, it began to spit combat shuttles.

  They landed in lines in the field just south of the facility, landing from north to south, so that the first shuttles unloaded closest to the command group. Each shuttle carried a hundred people, and they could disembark those passengers in seconds. Three rows of six shuttles each, putting nearly a sixth of the division aground at once.

  Stephanie saluted General Stark, when he came up, one of the first off.

  “Admiral, the Marines have landed.”

  “Thanks, Joe. I hope the first off are medics or doctors.”

  He laughed. “I grabbed every doc in Hawaii I could lay my hands on as well; first groups are medics. I’m not sure why vets, but they’ll be down soon.”

  “Have those down, form up on me, over there,” she told him, pointing at the entrance to the building.

  She walked rapidly, and a colonel with a Fleet medical red shipsuit trailed along behind her. She stopped at the top of the three steps leading into the building. The colonel pumped his arm in the classic, “Form up on me!” signal.

  “Anyone here who isn't at least medic certified, step back for a minute,” she told them.

  About forty of the group moved back, leaving a couple of hundred close by.

  “This is the scene of what has been determined to be a crime against humanity. The matter currently has the highest security classification in the Federation -- Federation, tippy, tippy, tippy, ultra top secret.

  “This is a biotechnology lab, where the researchers used their imaginations creating human-animal chimeras. Some of these aren't much different than you might see in a zoo -- except they are, to some as yet unknown degree, human.

  “Some, I'm sorry to say, they exercised their imaginations with.

  “You will be assigned a group of victims; two, maybe three of you to each group. It appears as though many of the individuals were tranquilized and those medications appear to be wearing off. All appear to be infants, but maturation times vary widely between species. You will need to be careful and keep your assumptions to a minimum.

  “We need basic medical evaluations of each group. Take all of the standard, non-invasive tests that you can safely make. Blood pressure, pulse, respiration and the like.

  “I'm going to be blunt. Some of these are in birdcages; some are in fish tanks... God knows what all situations they are in. Do not take any chances. You cannot allow any of the fliers to escape. You have to treat these victims with the same respect you would treat a human infant; some of them certainly look like human infants -- but most don't.

  “We'll assign personnel permanently to each group for now. You stay with them, until relieved. If you need a break, stick your head out of the door and ask for help. Once someone is assigned a group, that's it -- they'll stay with them. Under no circumstances will an individual attempt to deal with more than one group.

  “Outside the enclosures surrounding each group, we'll have officers that you will report to. You senior officers, I cannot stress this enough. If you poke your head in on a group, just one group, the odds are you'll be fine. Twice... your odds go way down. Three times... you are seriously risking your life. People are dead! Don't go pushing your luck!

  “The enormity of this can not be understated. I want a layer of officers that five medical teams report to, another layer of officers that five of the junior officers report to... and then, you, Colonel. Captains, majors and you.

  “This is no time to try to show how tough you are. You will do as you are told and nothing else. If you exceed your orders, I'll charge you with rendering yourself unfit for duty in a combat situation. You will be court-martialed and will most likely serve jail time. Don't be stupid.”

  She turned to the colonel. “Line them up, five medics, and then a captain; five of those groups and a major. Get them inside.”

  “Yes, sir!” the colonel said, saluting.

  A runner appeared at her side. “Admiral, sir, the President says that the conference call starts in five minutes.”

  “Thank you,” she replied.

  She watched the Marines being organized and assigned; she mentally crossed her fingers and headed back to the see the President. She ran into Herr Hoffman just outside the President’s shuttle.

  “Herr Hoffman.”

  “Admiral, the first of those we've detained will be here within the hour. I have some news, however.”

  “What is that?”

  “Frau Erica Mueller was the senior biologist here. When we put her name into the computer it came right back. Last night, she committed suicide by jumping from a hotel balcony in Erfurt on the 20th floor.”

  “What happened?”

  “She checked in a little after 8 PM, asking for a room with a view of the city, a balcony and on floor 14 or higher. The bellman said that he thought there was something odd about her two bags. When they got to the room, she told him to wait, while she went to the balcony. He said that she opened the door and went outside and looked at the city for a moment. He was waiting for a tip, of course.”

  Herr Hoffman shrugged. “He reported that she returned and gestured at her purse she'd dropped on the bed and said, 'Take whatever you wish, there's nothing there I need.' She then, he said, pulled off her wedding ring and tossed it next to the purse. 'That is the least of the vows I've broken.' He said she turned and walked back out on the balcony. There was no hesitation, he said. She put one hand down on the railing and vaulted over it. He said she looked like a gymnast doing a mount. She fell to her death.”

  Stephanie made a face. “And the purse, the ring?”

  “He called us; he is an honorable man and took nothing.”

  “Find out what was in there; if you won't give it to him, I will. If his wife doesn't have a wedding ring, he can have his pick.”

  The policeman bobbed his head.

  “There is, of course, one thing I would like from you.”

  “Admiral, anything.”

  “I'm off for a conference call; among others your former boss will be in on it. I'd like you there, if you can spare the time. As before, you won't be acknowledged.”

  “No problem, Admiral.”

  Chapter 5 -
- Communications

  She made her way to the shuttle. President Campbell made no mention of the guest, just pointing him to one side where the two remaining justices from the Supreme Court were going to listen, along with a few aides.

  Stephanie and the President sat next to each other at a small table.

  The screens came alive and for a moment there was a back and forth until all of the principals were together.

  The Prime Minister of China spoke first. “I'm sorry to interrupt what is obviously quite important, but there is something I must say first. Admiral Kinsella, I've had a lot of time to think since the last time we spoke. Please, one of these days -- soon -- please stop by and we'll share some tea.”

  “Tea, sir?”

  “Yes, tea. We Chinese aren't as formal about that as our Japanese cousins, but we do have some fine teas. I assume this meeting has been called about the events in Germany.”

  The German President grunted. “I hear you are landing more troops, many more troops, in Erfurt. I want an explanation.”

  “We've finished landing troops,” President Campbell replied. “Roughly twelve thousand. I did this once before, and now I'm doing it again. I'm turning the meeting over to Admiral Kinsella. I'll be available after her briefing to explain the Federation's position in more detail.”

  “I am told there was a bio-war lab in Erfurt,” the German President interjected.

  “That was the original tip, sir,” Stephanie told him. “The initial investigation team took one look and called it in. The preliminary evaluation was that this is the site of a crime against humanity. I was called and I came and viewed it. I suppose we'll call it a crime against humanity; I've heard someone call it a crime against God, another person said it was a crime against nature.”

  “And the nature of this supposed crime?” the German pressed.