John Ringo - Under a Graveyard Sky

One of them on a lower balcony lurched to his feet and started to climb the rail.

“No, no, no,” Faith shouted.

“No! No! Sharks! Sharks! Sharks!” Sophia shouted over the loudhailer.

The man couldn’t seem to hear or understand. He more fell than dove over the side.

Hocieniec started firing from the aft deck but there was no way. There were sharks everywhere. It was unlikely that he was the first person who’d taken that way out in preference to starvation or dehydration. The man didn’t even scream as he was taken under.

“Why, damnit, why?” Faith shouted. She picked up the mike for the loudhailer. “STAY WHERE YOU FUCKING ARE ! WE WILL COME FOR YOU. JUST HOLD ON !”

“How?” Sophia asked. “There’s no entries. And that promenade…”

It wasn’t really a promenade. It was the life-boat deck. And that was fifty feet above the flying bridge of the Endeavor .

“How the hell am I supposed to know?” Faith repeated.

“You’re the entry specialist,” Sophia said, calmly. “I’m trying not to stress you. I really am asking.”

“Hooch,” Faith shouted. “How would the Marines board this thing?”

“A helicopter!” Hooch shouted back. “Or a boarding ladder.”

“There’s a helo on the Alpha ,” Sophia said.

“You know how to fly one?” Faith asked, somewhat hysterically.

“Faith, take some breaths, sis,” Sophia said, calmly. “We’re going to do this. We are.”

“Okay, okay,” Faith said. “We get a grapnel up. Then… I dunno, maybe with some knots in it or something?”

“There we go,” Sophia said. “It’s going to be a bitch to climb.”

“Yeah,” Faith said. “Especially in armor. And if we drop in the drink… Shit…”

“Keep going,” Sophia said.

“Well…” Faith said, then stopped. “Or maybe we could ask the sub if they’ve got an idea.”

“What su…” Sophia said, looking around, then stopped.

“Local Wolf Squadron boats, USS Dallas . Looking for the boarding action commander. Please switch to Channel Thirty-Three. All captains may monitor but request not break. Again, USS Dallas looking for boarding action commander. Shewolf, you on the Endeavor, over?”

“So we’re Wolf Squadron, huh?” Sophia said, picking up the radio and handing it to Faith. “Faith, honey, take a deep breath and don’t get hysterical when you’re talking to him.”

“I’m not the boarding action commander,” Faith said. “That’s Da.”

“You’re the closest,” Sophia said. “Want me to take it?”

“No,” Faith said, her face firming. She took the radio and cleared her throat. “Thirty three?”

“You’re on,” Sophia said.

“ Dallas , Shewolf,” Faith said. “Over.”

“Shewolf, we’ve been monitoring your squadron’s communications. Your reputation precedes you. The man who is filling in as president says that the moment he meets you he’s going to cover you with so many medals, you’re not going to be able to move. Of course the same can be said of everyone in this squadron. But we know you’re the Squadron’s premier clearance specialist. This has got to be a nightmare for you. Over.”

“Got it in one,” Faith said. “Over.”

“We can’t get out of this tin can. We’re still uninfected and can’t change that for any reason. But we are going to do everything else we can to help. Have you discussed how to do entry?”

“Roger,” Faith said. “All we’ve got so far is throw up a grapnel with a knotted rope. Lance Corporal Hocieniec is still not really in shape. And I’m not what you call a great climber. That completely skips the whole man-eating sharks, part. And the zombies at the top. Still thinkin it, over. Over.” ///copy editor: sic///

“We have an assault boarding ladder,” Dallas replied. “We will float that off along with all of our onboard shotgun ammo and the shotguns. We use nine mil onboard. Can you use that, over?”

“Not really,” Faith said. “Limited guns for it and we carry mostly forty-five. We’re okay, for now, on forty-five. The shotgun ammo is, yeah, going to be helpful. But,” she unkeyed the mike for a second. “Hey, Hooch, you know how to use an ‘assault boarding ladder’?”

“Yeah!” Hooch said. “Sort of. I mean, I’ve seen it done.”

“ Dallas , we may need somebody to coach us through using an assault boarding ladder, over,” Faith said.

“We’ll do that, Shewolf,” Dallas responded. “The tough part is the throw. It’s got a double line. You get the grapnel up, make sure it’s on, then pull in on one of the lines. That pulls the ladder up and it hooks in at the top. Then it’s just a matter of climbing the ladder. Stand by….”

“Roger,” Faith said, shrugging at Sophia’s look.

“Shewolf, have your boats pull back. We’re going to do a close approach and send up a party to clear off some of the zombies from your boarding area. We may, say again may, be able to get the ladder in place for you.”

“ Don’t get yourselves contaminated doing that,” Faith replied, sharply. “You’re the closest thing we’ve got to home left, Dallas . Look… Just. Standby.”

“Roger, Shewolf.”

“Hooch,” Faith called. “They want to shoot some zombies off the side and maybe get the boarding ladder in place. I’m afraid they’re going to get contaminated.”

“They’ve got suits like moonsuits onboard, Faith,” Hooch called back. “And a machinegun. I think they can do it. The question is can they get the zombies up to the boarding area?”

“ Dallas , you sure you can do this and not contaminate yourself?” Faith asked. “Cause I just thought of something.”

* * *

“She’s more worried about losing a sub than her own life,” Galloway said. “I am going to cover that girl in medals. So help me God.”

* * *

“What is your suggestion, Shewolf?”

“We’ve got some vaccine,” she said, looking at Sophia. “It’s still good, right?” she whispered.

“Should be,” Sophia said. “We even stabilized it.”

“Not a lot left, but enough for a small team. We’d really appreciate the help with the boarding. But I’m worried about the rest of your crew getting contaminated. So… Your guys clear the group off. Get the ladder up if they can. Then put them off in a lifeboat or something. We’ll get them some vaccine. It’s supposed to take two weeks to work. But they can’t get the blood pathogen except with a bite or getting blood in a cut. And if that’s all you get, well, I survived after just the primer. So all they get, maybe, is the flu bug. And we’ll keep away from them so they shouldn’t get that. I guess you can float them rations or something. So… They hang out until they’re boosted. Ten days on a raft. Most of the…squadron has done two months. If you can spare them and if somebody wants to volunteer. And if that makes any sort of sense. Over.”

“Interesting plan. Considering that, Shewolf. Being discussed by experts. We have volunteers either one way or both. Have your boats clear back from the port side. We are going to do a close approach for direct fire.”

“Roger, Dallas ,” Faith said. “Thanks. Really, really appreciate it.”

“Hey, you’ve got the tough part, miss. Dallas out.”

“Squadron, this is Seawolf,” Sophia said over the flotilla net. She engaged the engines to full and turned to port as she said it. “Clear the port side, say again, port side of the ship. Dallas is going to do a ‘close approach for direct fire.’ Get way, way back. In fact, get forward and way back or on the far side of the ship. Ricochets from machine-gun fire can kill you at a mile.”