No Sanctuary Box Set: The No Sanctuary Omnibus - Books 1-6

by Mike Kraus

  Frank and Linda followed the lieutenant as he wound through the lines of vehicles parked in the middle of the field. He stopped in front of a large bulky truck that looked more like an RV than a cargo vehicle. He opened a door on the side and stepped in and the pair followed. Inside the vehicle were rows of seats placed near the walls of the vehicle on which were hung dozens of large and small computer monitors. A pair of keyboards and a mouse sat in front of each seat though only a few of them were filled, near the door where the trio entered.

  Lieutenant Jackson made his way to the far back of the vehicle where he sat down in one of the chairs and pointed at a pair across from him. “Sit down.” His tone was neutral but Linda could tell he was studying them carefully. She wasn’t sure how he knew who Frank was but she decided to test a hunch.

  “How do you know Sarah?” Linda eased into her seat, watching Jackson’s facial expression. It stayed unchanged except for the slightest twitch of one of his eyebrows. He stared back at her, studying her as much as she did him until he nodded, relenting.

  “I’ve worked with her on Agency business. Both officially and unofficially. She managed to contact me directly just before we had to evac the airfield. I don’t know how she still has access to the Milsat network, but… yeah.” He cleared his throat. “She told me you two found something out about the initial attacks. Said it was critically important and that I needed to drop everything and help you out.” Jackson raised his hands and gestured to his general surroundings. “We don’t have much to offer and I’m about to dedicate my men and resources to retaking the port. If you want anything then you’ll need to make a compelling case that I can run up the food chain.”

  “What do you know about a man named Farhad Omar?”

  Lieutenant Jackson’s eyebrow twitched again. “I’ve heard that you have a history with him. You’ve been looking for revenge on him for something for years.”

  Linda ignored the undertone in Jackson’s voice. “Omar’s the one who set up this whole attack. The initial destruction of our transportation infrastructure, the biological attacks and the upcoming nuclear attacks.”

  “Nuclear?” Jackson’s eyes widened. He glanced down the length of the vehicle and leaned in, lowering his voice so that the two soldiers and one airman near the front couldn’t hear him. “What do you mean by nuclear?”

  “Dirty bombs.” Linda whispered back to him. “He’s going to target the survivor cities with them. It’s likely that they’re already in place and he’s just waiting for more people to keep filtering in before he sets them off.”

  “No.” Jackson shook his head. “Impossible. We’ve got… countermeasures for that type of thing.”

  “Mobile detection units, yeah.” Linda shrugged. “Doesn’t matter when he knows their routes.”

  “How would he know that?”

  “Someone’s working with him on the inside. High enough up to have access to all that kind of information and more. Someone who’s been helping him plan his attack and give him and his cronies access to the country.”

  Lieutenant Jackson closed his eyes and sat back in his seat, trying to process the information Linda had just dumped on him. “I don’t… it can’t be true.” He shook his head. “The alphabet agencies would have been all over this.”

  “Again, man on the inside. High up. High enough to hide enough of the pieces that Omar never showed up on peoples’ radar.”

  Jackson opened his eyes and stared at Linda and Frank for a long moment before leaning forward again and speaking in a quiet voice. “I’m not saying I believe you and what I’m about to tell you never came from me. Got it?” Frank and Linda both nodded and Jackson continued. “We’ve had some incidents in a few cities.”

  “What kind of incidents?” Frank asked.

  Jackson licked his lips, struggling with how to phrase what he was about to say. “In the cities that were biologically affected there were post-infection incidents. Attacks on the rescue teams. Groups of heavily armed men ambushed the search and rescue crews. It seemed as though their goal was to keep us from saving any survivors of the biological attacks.”

  Linda looked at Frank and shook her head. “It’s all a diversion to push people toward the survivor cities. Corral as many as he can inside them, make everyone think the cities are the only safe places in the country.”

  “This is something I have to pass up the chain of command.” Jackson started to stand up but Linda grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him back down into his seat with a thud. One of the soldiers up front turned and frowned at the noise but went back to his work after Jackson shot him a dirty look.

  “No!” Linda hissed under her breath. “We can’t be going around telling people about this willy-nilly!”

  “I’m not telling people, I’m passing it up the chain! I’m trying to get us some help to stop this guy!”

  “Did you miss the part where I told you he has someone on the inside? Maybe more than just one? Right now the only people who know the details of this are us three and Sarah. And she’s the only one that has enough perspective on what’s going on to decide who to tell.”

  Jackson arched his back and cracked his neck, bristling at Linda. “Don’t tell me how to handle my business, Rollins. I’ve got a job—”

  “Your job, Jackson, is to honor your oath.” Linda leaned forward, nearly touching her nose to the lieutenant’s as she snarled at him. “If you start shouting about this over channels that I guarantee you someone unsavory is listening to then you’re going to have the blood of millions on your hands if he decides to set off those bombs prematurely.”

  Frank found himself nearly falling out of his chair after unknowingly leaning away from Linda due to the intensity of how she spoke. She sat back after finishing her fiery tirade and watched Jackson carefully. She hadn’t gotten enough of a read on him to know whether he was going to let his pride get the better of him and do what he wanted regardless of what she said or whether he would actually listen to her. The seconds stretched on in agony as they stared each other down before he finally, mercifully, relented.

  “Fine.” Jackson shook his head as his shoulders slumped. “You’d better be right about this.”

  “We are.” Linda glanced at Frank, a look of relief washing over her face. “And thank you.”

  “Save it for the court-martial.” The lieutenant took a deep breath and looked at her again. “So what is it you want me to do?”

  After shooing out the two soldiers and the airman from the vehicle Linda produced the satellite phone from its case and powered it on. She dialed Sarah’s number as Jackson watched, trying to hide his surprise at seeing the phone connect to the military’s satellite network.

  “What is it this time?” Sarah wasted no time getting down to business.

  “The situation’s developing rapidly. A couple of big groups of survivors stormed the airfield and the port. We linked up with Lieutenant Jackson—”

  “I know Jackson. Did he give you any trouble?”

  Linda stifled a chuckle. “No, he’s been very helpful.”

  “What do you need from me, then?”

  “We need a game plan. If Omar’s distributing these bombs to the survivor cities then we need to get at him.”

  “Which we might have been able to do had you not lost Aref.” Sarah sighed. “I’m working on an alternative angle but you may be able to help speed it up. At the port, when you talked to the radiation detector operator, did you get any details from him on the dimensions or visual markings on the crates that tripped the sensors?”

  Linda and Frank glanced at each other. “No, I can’t say we did, though we didn’t really think of it.”

  “I assume Jackson’s been ordered to retake the port?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Lieutenant Jackson leaned towards the phone as he spoke. “We’ll be leaving in thirty.”

  “Good. You need to go with him there. Once they retake the port either talk to the operator or, if he’s dead, search their records. I
f we know what the crates look like or at least get their weight and dimensions then I can shoot up a flare and get some searches started in the cities.”

  “Will do. Do you have any other leads we can pursue to track down Omar?”

  “No. Especially not if Aref’s made it back to him to alert him to your presence. Speaking of which, you need to prepare for that eventuality.” Linda felt her stomach drop at Sarah’s words. She hadn’t thought about Aref making it back to Omar since, during her interrogation, he told her that Omar had his people split up into cells. With Aref’s escape she had started to doubt all of the questioning she performed on him and wondered how much of what he said had actually been true.

  “How cheery.” Frank replied. Linda was about to ask Sarah another question when the door to the vehicle flew open and a soldier breathlessly ran inside.

  “Lieutenant! We have a problem, sir!”

  Lieutenant Jackson jumped up and glanced at Frank and Linda. “We’ll continue this later.” He hurried down to the soldier. “What is it?”

  We just lost contact with the patrol on our northern flank, sir. The loss of communication was accompanied by a brief burst of gunfire.”

  “Any visual on the patrol?”

  The soldier shook his head. “No, sir. They were two blocks away. Last check-in was 5 minutes ago when they were turning east.”

  Sarah, who had been able to hear the conversation spoke quickly to Frank and Linda. “You two stay safe. Get to the port and get me whatever information you have. I’ll be in touch soon.” The line went dead and Linda quickly put the phone away before joining Frank near Lieutenant Jackson.

  “Get everyone on alert,” Jackson said, “but do it quietly. We may be under surveillance right now and I don’t want them knowing that we know what’s going on. Move everyone into a defensive position with extra gunners facing north, but ensure all sides are covered. Get me an exit strategy from this field, too.”

  The soldier nodded. “Yes sir!” He ran out and Jackson turned to Frank and Linda.

  “Keep your heads down and stay in here. Got it? We’re going to roll out soon and this is the best place you—”

  Jackson’s words were cut short by the sharp, shrill whistle of an incoming projectile followed immediately by the deafening blast and intense heat of an explosion. The end of the vehicle where the three had been sitting while talking to Sarah was torn apart by the blast, sending a shower of hot metal and flames into the air. Frank felt pain in his right side as bits of metal and plastic caught him on the side of his body, cutting through his pants and shirt and burning his skin. The concussive force of the blast knocked him, Linda and Jackson over but aside from a few minor burns and cuts they escaped relatively unscathed thanks to their distance from the explosion.

  “Move!” Linda responded to the blast on instinct, shoving Jackson through the door and pulling Frank behind her. She pushed and dragged the two of them down to the next closest vehicle and flipped the safety off on her rifle which she and Frank had thankfully thought to bring with them when they got up from their seats just a moment before. Shaking off the ringing in her ears and the shouts coming from every direction around her Linda crouched to look up and over the vehicle they were hiding behind as she tried to locate the source of the gunfire.

  On the northern edge of the baseball field a group of soldiers were firing at a row of abandoned buildings across the street. Flashes of yellow light illuminated the interior of several of the windows of the buildings as those inside shot back, keeping the soldiers pinned down and unable to move from their position behind the field’s concession stands.

  Off to the west toward the airfield a cluster of airmen were bringing the most heavily armored vehicles around as they worked to form a half-circle covering the west and north side. They were being engaged by a group of hostiles that had some sort of high-caliber weaponry. Linda crouch-walked to the far end of the vehicle and looked out to the west when the whistle of another rocket-propelled grenade sounded out over her head. She instinctively dropped to the ground just as the projectile exploded a few dozen feet beyond the convoy, sending up a shower of pulverized grass and dirt.

  “Move out! Move out!” Jackson shouted at his subordinates, pointing off to the east. “Get off the field and move out to the secondary rendezvous! Get your asses moving!” He turned and bellowed out the orders at every man and woman he could see before pushing Frank and Linda to get into the vehicle the three of them had been hiding behind.

  “Where’s the backup site?” Linda slid behind the wheel before Frank or Jackson managed to do so. She started up the engine and pulled out, weaving a path between the other vehicles that were either just starting to move or which were still stationary.

  “East, half a klick.”

  “In the city?”

  “A big parking lot. Drone footage showed it being mostly empty.”

  Linda shook her head. “I don’t like the sound of that. We should go farther and spread out amongst the buildings. Force them to work to get to us.”

  Jackson looked at Frank then back at Linda, shaking his head vigorously. “No way! We’ll set up a defensive perimeter there and use the surrounding buildings as cover. These looters aren’t going to catch us with our pants down a second time.”

  Linda slammed on the brakes and jerked the wheel to the right, careening wildly around the Humvee in front of them that abruptly turned into a glowing yellow ball of fire. Metal raked against the windows and armor of their vehicle and she gritted her teeth as the rough movement sent a shockwave of pain through her leg. “Seriously, Lieutenant? You think these are looters? Where’d they get the RPGs?”

  “From… the airfield?”

  Linda took her eyes off the road just long enough to give Jackson a death stare, sending him shrinking back into his seat. “Who do you think they are, then?”

  “It’s got to be Omar’s men.” Linda glanced in the side mirror, silently screaming for the others in the field to move faster. The soldiers and airmen were dealing with both the attack and with trying to move off the baseball field without suffering heavy losses. Three more vehicles went up in flames by the time Linda got to the edge of the field and decided to make her move.

  “Jackson!” Linda shouted at him in the back seat. “Get your ass on that gun!”

  Lieutenant Jackson, while initially taken aback by Linda’s takeover of the situation, had adjusted to the course of events and understood immediately what she wanted to do. “Strafe the north side, then head down the westerly flank?”

  “Damn right! We’ll be bobbing and weaving to avoid those RPGs so make sure you strap in!”

  Jackson nodded and unbolted the hatch to the mounted machine gun on top of the Humvee. A cross between a new and old model, the turret was completely enclosed on the top and all sides to protect the gunner but it required manual control to operate versus the remote-controlled systems in the newer vehicles. It had been a few years since Jackson had last used one of the turrets but as he fastened the leather straps around his shoulders and waist he felt his muscle memory engage.

  “Now!” Linda shouted from below and Jackson swiveled the gun to the right. Flashes of gunfire from the buildings showed him his primary targets and he squeezed the trigger on the gun’s handle. A spray of .50-caliber rounds flew forth from the barrel of the gun and into the front of the building in a long arc. A combination of phosphorous and armor-piercing rounds made for a stunning—and painful—show for those both inside and outside the building. The roar of the Humvee’s engine was too loud to hear anything going on outside but as Frank clung to his seat to avoid smashing into Linda or the passenger door he could imagine the screams of agony coming from the attackers.

  Linda kept the Humvee moving both forward and to the sides, alternating between slow side-to-side motions and quick ones. She alternated the speed of the Humvee too, applying the brakes and the gas at random intervals to try and keep the attackers from hitting them with an RPG. The counterattac
k was swift and surprising enough for the attackers that they didn’t get a chance to return fire on the Humvee, but pulled back instead to avoid being shot.

  It took Linda less than a minute to circle around the north and west sides of the field as Jackson laid down suppressive fire, but the distraction was more than adequate. Soldiers and airmen who had been pinned down by the incoming fire and RPGs quickly loaded into vehicles that roared off the field heading east. A pair of Humvees broke off from the convoy and followed in Linda’s path, spraying the buildings with fire before following the rest of the vehicles in a hasty retreat.

  For a moment Lieutenant Jackson considered ordering a halt to the retreat so that they could launch a counteroffensive but as they drove past the field and approached the tail end of the convoy he realized that they needed more time before they could hope to be successful enough to minimize their casualties.

  Several vehicles had either been destroyed or damaged enough that they were left behind on the baseball field and Linda could see that more than a few of the ones that were driving away with the convoy had sustained light and heavy damage. Gunfire mixed with the imprecise RPG fire had wreaked a moderate amount of havoc on the convoy but thanks to Linda’s quick thinking and Jackson’s skill on the machine gun far more people survived the surprise attack than otherwise would have.

  “Jackson!” Linda shouted at the lieutenant. He unbuckled himself from the gun and slid back down into the back seat as she continued. “When we get there you need to get everyone ready for another assault!”

  “Understood.” Jackson nodded, still breathing heavily from the adrenaline pumping through his veins.

  After a moment’s pause Frank spoke up. “We were right about these guys being from Omar. I caught a look at some of them in one of the buildings when Jackson was lighting them up. No way in hell are they looters.”