John Ringo - To Sail a Darkling Sea

“I suspect it’s some deeply laid plot,” Faith said. “There were Pentagon weanies involved.”

“There usually are, ma’am,” Januscheitis said. “I think they’re all winnowed down.”

“And I can see survivors waving from a rooftop,” Faith said, lowering the binos. “Now if we can just figure out how to find them in this maze… ”

* * *

“Hello!” Faith said through the bullhorn. “This rescue is courtesy of the American taxpayers and the United States Marine Corps… ”

* * *

“Where the hell are these all coming from?” Derek asked, reloading.

“See all these little alleyways?” Faith said. She’d unassed from the little Toyota SUV they’d been using and was covering the rear.

“It was sort of rhetorical, ma’am,” Corporal Douglas said.

“Who gave you permission to use a three letter word, Corporal?” Faith said, dropping three infecteds with three shots.

“Freaking Barbie gun !” Kirby shouted, as the infected continued to stumble forward despite putting what felt like half a mag into him. “ Die already!”

“Oh, let me handle this,” Faith said, turning around. She dropped the remaining five infected forward and dropped her still partial magazine for a reload. “I swear five five six is designed to just piss bad guys off.”

“I’m starting to see what you mean, Skipper… ”

* * *

“Any other issues?” Lieutenant Chen asked.

Most of the survivors of the Boadicea were pitching in with a will to help clear it. A survey and recovery team, including a master mariner and a qualified engineer, were on the way from the Squadron. The Division was to stay in place until they arrived.

There had been thirty-two survivors found in San Sebastian De La Gomera. Together with the survivors from La Puntilla and La Playa, that made forty-eight survivors from a total of about four thousand inhabitants. Which was bloody awful.

“Patrick tells me we’ve sustained what appears to be a deadline,” Sophia said, raising her hand. “Oil pump for the tranny is out. He can probably jury-rig something, but there aren’t any parts in any of the parts places here in Gomera for it. And it would be a jury-rig. I’d hate to have it crap out on us at sea. You know how rough it can get.”

“I’m sure,” Chen said, drily. “I find this convenient, Lieutenant. Wouldn’t have anything to do with a really sweet seventy-five, would it?”

The marina of San Sebastian De La Gomera was huge compared to La Puntilla or La Playa. And it still had quite a few boats in it. Most were sailboats, which the flotilla couldn’t use, or small “fast” boats, outboards or inboard outboards. But a few large motor yachts had been left behind. And one of them, a 75' Maiora, Bella Senorita , was just sweet as hell. Benefits included that it was in working order and hadn’t been torn up by infecteds. Not to mention the marble counters and hot tub.

“Well, sir, that’s a point I hadn’t considered,” Sophia said, seriously. “We could use a bigger support boat for the Division, sir.”

“There is salvaging and grand theft, boat, Lieutenant,” Chen said, shaking his head. “I think your father has been teaching you bad manners.”

“Such as stealing a five-hundred- million -pound cruise liner, Lieutenant?” Staff Officer Kyle said.

“Point,” Chen said. “Officer Villa, you’re the only surviving government official we’ve found. Your call.”

“It is a very nice boat… ” Villa said, musingly, rubbing his chin and letting the Lieutenant sweat. “But the government of Spain willingly cedes this fine boat to the United States Navy in thanks for the clearance of its towns on the island of San Sebastian De La Gomera. And, besides, there are others… ”

“Approved,” Chen said. “Mission orders. Division One is to rendezvous with ‘Mechanical Clearance Division One,’ whatever that means, in Santa Cruz de la Tenerife harbor in two days.”

“You are going to try to clear Tenerife ?” Kyle said. “Good luck. It’s not a big city but it is a city , not a small town.”

The island of Tenerife was clearly visible from Gomera, the massive Teide volcano, nearly high as Mauna Loa, reared up above the snow-line in the distance. Given the basically tropical nature of the islands, the snow-capped mountain was quite a sight.

“We’re just providing support and possibly doing a landing depending on conditions,” Chen said. “At least, that’s what I got. But we’ll be pulling out tomorrow when the recovery teams are supposed to arrive. Is there anything that absolutely needs to be done between now then?”

“There are more weapons and ammunition coming with the support ships?” Villa asked.

“There are,” Chen said. “M4 rifles and an ammo supply. Do you have anyone who can use them?”

“There are two former soldiers among the survivors here,” Villa said. “I know them. They are trustworthy. We can ensure the security of La Playa. I would prefer to be here but it is… large for such a small force. And there are some of the people from the cruise ship who wish to stay as well… ”

“The… I don’t know what you’d call it, sir, but we’d call it a ‘strip mall’ by the ferry dock would make a very solid defensible position,” Januscheitis said. “The upper stories could easily be used as quarters. The downstairs has a bit of glass, but that’s reinforcible easily. And as you ensure the clearance you could probably spread out. Just the little strip center by the Marina Society or whatever would be plenty of room for the time being. Or the ferry building. Again, good defensible position if you board up those ground floor windows.”

“I’d arm up everybody,” Faith said. “You’ll need to think in terms of defense from the infecteds for a while. And it’s hard to know when one will turn up. Just three people out of fifty is… I mean, give them some basic training then I’d arm up everybody .”

“There are problems,” Villa said, shrugging. “I will keep your advice in mind.”

“Where you set up and how you set up is up to you and your people,” Chen said. “We can do one more sweep of Gomera before we leave. After that… up to you.”

“How long will the support teams remain?” Villa asked.

“They’re here primarily to get the Boadicea up and running again,” Chen said. “They may be able to offer some additional support. But, frankly, you’ve got three towns full of supplies and materials to draw upon, as well as plenty of functioning boats to fall back on or just live aboard. I think you can make it.”

* * *

“Tell me we’re not going to try to clear this bitch, ma’am,” Januscheitis said as the Bella Senorita came around a cape with a big volcanic cone and into sight of the main city. It sprawled for miles along the shoreline and up the sides of the volcanic mountains.

“Oh, I dunno,” Faith said. “It might be fun. If we could get some of those tanks off the Iwo … ”

* * *

“Okay, this is a new one,” Sophia said.

The supply ship was similar to the Grace Tan except for being smaller. The back was low, almost flush to the water, with a high forward bridge. There was a large crane on the back deck and two mostly standard cargo containers. The “mostly standard” was belied by a cluster of spikes on top and both ends. There appeared to be lights and some sort of motor, center on the top.

“We bringing zombie supplies?” Faith asked.

The ship had backed up to a pier and, keeping a fair distance, deployed the crane to pick up one of the containers. It lofted it over to the pier and set it down then lifted and repositioned until one end was jutting slightly off the pier.