Rainbow Six jr-9

by Tom Clancy

  So long, Chester, Killgore thought.

  "Okay," she said matter-of-factly. "Any symptoms with the others?"

  "None yet. Antibody tests are positive, however," Killgore replied. "Another week or so before we see frank symptoms, I expect."

  "We need a set of healthy test subjects," Barbara Archer said. "These people are too-too sick to be proper benchmarks for Shiva."

  "That means some risks."

  "I know that," Archer assured him. "And you know we need better test subjects."

  "Yes, but the risks are serious," Killgore observed.

  "And I know that, " Archer replied.

  "Okay, Barb, run it up the line. I won't object. You want to take care of Chester? I have to run over to see Steve."

  "Fine." She walked to the wall, picked up the phone, and punched three digits onto the keypad to get the disposal people.

  For his part, Killgore went into the changing area. He stopped in the decontamination chamber first of all, pushed the large square red button, and waited for the machinery to spray him down from all directions with the fog solution of antiseptics that were known to be immediately and totally lethal to the Shiva virus. Then he went through the door into the changing room itself, where he removed the blue plastic suit, tossed it into the bin for further and more dramatic decontamination-it wasn't really needed, but the people in the lab felt better about it then-then dressed in surgical greens. On the way out, he put on a white lab coat. The next stop was Steve Berg's shop. Neither he nor Barb Archer had said it out loud yet, but everyone would feel better if they had a working vaccine for Shiva.

  "Hey, John," Berg said, when his colleague came in.

  "'Morning, Steve," Killgore responded in greeting. "How're the vaccines coming?"

  "Well, we have 'A' and 'B' working now." Berg gestured to the monkey cages on the other side of the glass. " 'A' batch has the yellow stickers. 'B' is the blue, and the control group is red."

  Killgore looked. There were twenty of each, for a total of sixty rhesus monkeys. Cute little devils. "Too bad," he observed.

  "I don't like it, either, but that's how it's done, my friend." Neither man owned a fur coat.

  "When do you expect results?"

  "Oh, five to seven days for the 'A' group. Nine to fourteen for the control group. And the 'B' group-well, we have hopes for them, of course. How's it going on your side of the house?"

  "Lost one today."

  "This fast?" Berg asked, finding it disturbing.

  "His liver was off the chart to begin with. That's something we haven't considered fully enough. There will be people out there with an unusually high degree of vulnerability to our little friend."

  "They could be canaries, man," Berg worried, thinking of the songbirds used to warn miners about bad air. "And we learned how to deal with that two years ago, remember?"

  "I know." In a real sense, that was where the entire idea had come from. But they could do it better than the foreigners had. "What's the difference in time between humans and our little furry friends?"

  "Well, I didn't aerosol any of these, remember. This is a vaccine test, not an infection test."

  "Okay, I think you need to set up an aerosol control test. I hear you have an improved packing method."

  "Maggie wants me to do that. Okay. We have plenty of monkeys. I can set it up in two days, a full-up test of the notional delivery system."

  "With and without vaccines?"

  "I can do that." Berg nodded. You should have set it up already, idiot, Killgore didn't say to his colleague. Berg was smart, but he couldn't see very far beyond the limits of his microscopes. Well, nobody was perfect, even here. "I don't go out of my way to kill things, John," Berg wanted to make clear to his physician colleague.

  "I understand, Steve, but for every one we kill in proofing Shiva, we'll save a few hundred thousand in the wild, remember? And you take good care of them while they're here," he added. The test animals here lived an idyllic life, in comfortable cages, or even in large communal areas where the food was abundant and the water clear. The monkeys had a lot of room, with pseudotrees to climb, air temperature like that of their native Africa, and no predators to threaten them. As in human prisons, the condemned ate hearty meals to go along with their constitutional rights. But people like Steve Berg still didn't like it, important and indispensable as it was to the overall goal. Killgore wondered if his friend wept at night for the cute little brown-eyed creatures. Certainly Berg wasn't all that concerned with Chester-except that he might represent a canary, of course: That could indeed ruin anything, but that was also why Berg was developing "A" vaccine.

  "Yeah," Berg admitted. "I still feel shitty about it, though."

  "You should see my side of the house," Killgore observed.

  "I suppose," Steve Berg responded diffidently.

  The overnight flight had come out of Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina, an hour's drive from Fort Bragg. The Boeing 757 touched down in an overcast drizzle to begin a taxi process almost as long as the flight itself, or so it often seemed to the passengers, as they finally came to the US Airways gate in Heathrow's Terminal 3.

  Chavez and Clark had come up together to meet him. They were dressed in civilian clothes, and Domingo held card with "MALLOY" printed on it. The fourth man was dressed in Marine Class-As, complete to his Sam Browne belt, gold wings, and four and a half rows of ribbons on the olive-colored uniform blouse. His blue-grayes saw the card and came to it as he half-dragged his canvas bag with him.

  "Nice to be met," Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Malloy observed. "Who are you guys?"

  "John Clark."

  "Domingo Chavez." Handshakes were exchanged.

  "Any more bags?" Ding asked.

  "This is all I had time to pack. Lead on, people," Colonel Malloy replied.

  "Need a hand with that?" Chavez asked a man about six inches taller and forty pounds heavier than himself.

  "I got it," the Marine assured him. "Where we going?"

  "Chopper is waiting for us. Car's this way." Clark headed through a side door, then down some steps to a waiting car. The driver took Malloy's bag and tossed it in the "boot" for the half-mile drive to a waiting British army Puma helicopter.

  Malloy looked around. It was a crummy day to fly, the ceiling about fifteen hundred feet, and the drizzle getting a little harder, but he was not a white-knuckle flyer. They loaded into the back of the helicopter. He watched the flight crew run through the start-up procedure professionally, reading off their printed checklist, just as he did it. With the rotor turning, they got on the radio for clearance to lift off. That took several minutes. It was a busy time at Heathrow, with lots of international flights arriving to deliver business people to their work of the day. Finally, the Puma lifted off, climbed to altitude, and headed off in an undetermined direction to wherever the hell he was going. At that point, Malloy got on the intercom.

  "Can anybody tell me what the hell this is all about?"

  "What did they tell you?"

  "Pack enough underwear for a week," Malloy replied, with a twinkle in his eye.

  "There's a nice department store a few miles from the base."

  "Hereford?"

  "Good guess," Chavez responded. "Been there?"

  "Lots of times. I recognized that crossroads down there from other flights. Okay, what's the story?"

  "You're going to be working with us, probably," Clark told him.

  "Who's `us,' sir?"

  "We're called Rainbow, and we don't exist."

  "Vienna?" Malloy said through the intercom. The way they both blinked was answer enough. "Okay, that looked a little slick for cops. What's the makeup of the team?"

  "NATO, mainly Americans and Brits, but others, too, plus an Israeli," John told him.

  "And you set this up without any rotorheads?"

  "Okay, goddamnit, I blew it, okay?" Clark observed. "I'm new at this command stuff."

  "What's that on your forearm, Clark?
Oh, what rank are you?"

  John pulled back on his jacket, exposing the red seal tattoo. "I'm a simulated two-star. Ding here is a simulated major."

  The marine examined the tattoo briefly. "I've heard of those, but never seen any. Third Special Operations Group, wasn't it? I knew a guy who worked with them."

  "Who's that?"

  "Dutch Voort, retired about five-six years ago as a fullbird."

  "Dutch Voort! Shit, haven't heard that name in a while," Clark replied at once. "I got shot down with him once."

  "You and a bunch of others. Great aviator, but his luck was kinda uneven."

  "How's your luck, Colonel?" Chavez asked.

  "Excellent, sonny, excellent," Malloy assured him. "And you can call me Bear."

  It fit, both men decided of their visitor. He was Clark's height, six-one, and bulky, as though he pumped barbells for fun and drank his share of beer afterward. Chavez thought of his friend Julio Vega, another lover of free weights. Clark read over the medals. The DFC had two repeat clusters on it, as did the Silver Star. The shooting iron also proclaimed that Malloy was an expert marksman. Marines liked to shoot for entertainment and to prove that like all other Marines they were riflemen. In Malloy's case, a Distinguished Rifleman, which was as high as the awards went. But no Vietnam ribbons, Clark saw. Well, he would have been too young for that, which was another way for Clark to realize how old he'd grown. lie also saw that Malloy was about the right age for a half colonel, whereas someone with all those decorations should have made it younger. Had Malloy been passed over for full-bird colonel? One problem with special operations was that it often put one off the best career track. Special attention was often required to make sure such people got the promotions they merited - which wasn't a problem for enlisted men, but frequently a big one for commissioned officers.

  "I started off in search-and-rescue, then I shipped over to Recon Marines, you know, get 'em in, get 'em out. You gotta have a nice touch. I guess I do."

  "What are you current in?"

  "H-60, Hueys, of course, and H-53s. I bet you don't have any of those, right?"

  "'Fraid not," Chavez said, immediately and obviously disappointed.

  "Air Force 24th Special Operations Squadron at RAF Mildenhall has the MH-60K and MH-53. I am up to speed on both if you ever borrow them. They're part of Ist Special Operations Wing, and they're based both here and in Germany, last time I checked."

  "No shit?" Clark asked.

  "No shit, Simulated General, sir. I know the wing commander, Stanislas Dubrovnik, Stan the Man. Great helo driver. He's been around the block a few dozen times if you ever need a friend in a hurry."

  "I'll keep that in mind. What else you know how to fly?"

  "The Night Stalker, of course, but not many of them around. None based over here that I know of." The Puma turned then, circling, then flaring to settle into the Hereford pad. Malloy watched the pilot's stick work and decided he was competent, at least for straight-and-level stuff. "I'm not technically current on the MH-47 Chinook-we're only allowed to stay officially current on three types-technically I'm not current on Hueys either, but I was fucking born in a Huey, if you know what I mean, General. And I can handle the MH-47 If I have to."

  "The name's John, Mr. Bear," Clark said, with a smile. He knew a pro when he saw one.

  "I'm Ding. Once upon a time I was an 11-Bravo, but then the Agency kidnapped my ass. His fault," Chavez said. "John and I been working together a while."

  "I suppose you can't tell me the good stuff, then. Kinda surprised I never met you guys before. I've delivered a few spooks here and there from time to time, if you know what I mean. "Bring your package?" Clark asked, meaning his personnel file.

  Malloy patted his bag. "Yes, sir, and very creative writing, it is, if I do say so." The helicopter settled down. The crew chief jumped out to pull the sliding doors open. Malloy grabbed his bag, stepped down, and walked to the Rover parked just off the pad. There the driver, a corporal, took Malloy's bag and tossed it in the back. British hospitality, Malloy saw, hadn't changed very much. He returned the salute and got in the rear. The rain was picking up. English weather, the colonel thought, hadn't changed much either. Miserable place to fly helicopters, but not too bad if you wanted to get real close without teeing seen, and that wasn't too awful, was it? The Rover jeep took them to what looked like a headquarters building instead of his guest housing. Whoever they were, they were in a hurry.

  "Nice office, John," he said, looking around on the inside. "I guess you really are a simulated two-star."

  "I'm the boss," Clark admitted, "and that's enough. Sit down. Coffee?"

  "Always, Malloy confirmed, taking a cup a moment later. "Thanks."

  "How many hours?" Clark asked next. "Total? Sixty-seven-forty-two last time I added it up. Thirty-one hundred of that is special operations. And, oh, about five hundred combat time."

  "That much?"

  "Grenada, Lebanon, Somalia, couple of other places and the Gulf War. I fished four fast-mover drivers out and brought them back alive during that little fracas. One of them was a little exciting," Malloy allowed, "but I had some help overhead to smooth things out. You know, the job's pretty boring if you do it right."

  "I'll have to buy you a pint, Bear," Clark said. "I've always been nice to the SAR guys."

  "And I never turn down a free beer. The Brits in your team. ex-SAS?"

  "Mainly. Worked with 'em before?"

  "Exercises, here and over at Bragg. They are okay troops. right up there with Force Recon and my pals at Bragg." This was meant to be generous, Clark knew, though the local Brits might take slight umbrage at being compared to anyone. "Anyway, I suppose you need a delivery boy, right?"

  "Something like that. Ding, let's run Mr. Bear through the last field operation."

  "Roge-o, Mr. C." Chavez unrolled the big photo of the Schloss Ostermann on Clark's conference table and started his brief, as Stanley and Covington came in to join the conference.

  "Yeah," Malloy said when the explanation ended. "You really did need somebody like me for that one, guys." He paused. "Best thing would be a long-rope deployment to put three or four on the roof… right about… here." He tapped the photo. "Nice flat roof to make it easy."

  "That's about what I was thinking. Not as easy as a zipline, but probably safer," Chavez agreed.

  "Yeah, it's easy if you know what you're doing. Your boys will have to learn to land with soft feet, of course, but nice to have three or four people inside the castle when you need 'em. From how good the takedown went, I imagine your people know how to shoot and stuff."

  "Fairly well," Covington allowed, in a neutral voice.

  Clark was taking a quick rifle through Malloy's personnel file, while Chavez presented his successful mission. Married to Frances nee Hutchins Malloy, he saw, two daughters, ten and eight. Wife was a civilian nurse working for the Navy. Well, that was easy to fix. Sandy could set that up at her hospital pretty easy. LTC Dan Malloy, USMC, was definitely a keeper.

  For his part, Malloy was intrigued. Whoever these people were, they had serious horsepower. His orders to fly to England had come directly from the office of CINCSNAKE himself, "Big Sam" Wilson, and the people he'd met so far looked fairly serious. The small one, Chavez, he thought, was one competent little fucker, the way he'd walked him through the Vienna job and, from examining the overhead photo, his team must have been pretty good, too; especially the two who'd crept up to the house to take the last bunch of bad guys in the back. Invisibility was a pretty cool gig if you could bring it off, but a fucking disaster if you blew it. The good news, he reflected, was that the bad guys weren't all that good at their fieldcraft. Not trained like his Marines were. That deficiency almost canceled out their viciousness-but not quite. Like most people in uniform, Malloy despised terrorists as cowardly sub-human animals who merited only violent and immediate death.

  Chavez next took him to his team's own building, where Malloy met his troops, shook hands, and evalu
ated what he saw there. Yeah, they were serious, as were Covington's Team-1 people in the next building over. Some people just had the look, the relaxed intensity that made them evaluate everyone they met, and decide at once if the person was a threat. It wasn't that they liked killing and maiming, just that it was their job, and that job spilled over into how they viewed the world. Malloy they evaluated as a potential friend, a man worthy of their trust and respect, and that warmed the Marine aviator. He'd be the guy whom they had to trust to get them where they needed to be, quickly, stealthily, and safely-and then get them out in the same way. The remaining tour of the training base was pure vanilla to one schooled in the business. The usual buildings, simulated airplane interiors, three real railroad passenger cars, and the other things they practiced to storm; the weapons range with the pop-up targets (he'd have to play there himself to prove that he was good enough to be here, Malloy knew, since every special-ops guy was and had to be a shooter, just as every Marine was a rifleman). By noon they were back in Clark's headquarters building. "Well, Mr. Bear, what do you think?" Rainbow Six asked.

  Malloy smiled as he sat down. "I think I'm seriously jet lagged. And I think you have a nice team here. So, you want me?"

  Clark nodded. "I think we do, yes."

  "Start tomorrow morning?"

  "Flying what?"

  "I called that Air Force bunch you told us about. They're going to lend us an MH-60 for you to play with."