Page 66 of Viral Justice

Max pulled his head away from the scope. “That is an excellent point. They can’t be camped in the village or the refugee camp. It’s got to be somewhere close, though.” He glanced at Tom and noted his amazed expression. “What?”

More gunshots echoed and both men dove for their scopes to discover the gunmen shooting at a second group of people from the tents.

“Holy fuck,” Tom said, his voice vibrating with fury. “Someone needs to kill those assholes.”

“I might let you when our backup gets here.”

Once again, Tom turned his head to look at him, surprise lifting his eyebrows. “You calling in the troops?”

“A full Special Forces team along with another lab. I’m also going to order a supply drop for cover when they’re ready to come in.”

Tom’s grin was lethal. “Fuckin’ A, Dad.”

Again with the shock and awe at intelligent ideas. When he had ten minutes and no one was trying to kill them, he was going to ask why every fucking soldier on this mission thought he was an idiot.

Leaving Tom to his observations, Max pulled out his satellite phone and called General Stone direct.

After the issues with one of his other teams a few months earlier, Max had insisted on the lead physician having a more reliable way to communicate with their command than cellular phones or the same radio communication system that the rest of the team had. His doctor had had to resort to near suicidal actions in order to achieve her mission because someone used a cellular phone blocker in the area.

“Stone,” the general answered. “You’re still alive I take it, Max?”

“Yes, sir,” he replied as quietly as he could in English. Being overheard by someone in one of the houses nearby would not bode well for the future of their mission. “We’ve run into some problems and need support.”

“Problems?”

Max didn’t have to ask for clarification. Stone wanted to know what had gone wrong.

“My contact was dead of the disease by the time we arrived. Another aid worker met us and took us to what they were using for a hospital. I was able to identify the virus as influenza, but a large group of armed men set fire to the house. We got out, but my equipment didn’t. Bull and our aid worker friend dropped out of contact. The armed men had them and executed the aid worker before we could get him and Bull out of there.”

“Bull?”

“He’s fine. Some bruised ribs. He told us our aid worker friend was CIA. Do you know anything about that?”

“No.” The word was spoken like the general was spitting it through clenched teeth. “I’ll look into it, but I want you and your team out of there.”

“Sir, this influenza virus has a high infection and mortality rate. We’re seeing bodies dumped outside houses and in the streets. This could get away from us in only a few hours. Hell, it could be too late to stop it already. I can’t come in. To have any hope of getting ahead of it, I have to identify the strain. If I don’t, we could be looking at a staggering number of dead and a virus that’s out of anyone’s control.”

“A pandemic.”

“Yes.”

“You’re not blowing hot air up my skirt?”

“No, sir.”

The following pause was more than a little bit pregnant. “What do you need?”

“Thank you, sir. I want a full Special Forces twelve-man ‘A-Team’, another portable lab, along with a few extras I can have my assistant, Eugene, prepare. I also want a series of supply drops made close to dawn as cover for the team as they come in. We have armed men keeping the people here from coming and going. Sir, there’s a deep game going on here.”

“Akbar?”

“I don’t know. I’ve seen no sign of him, just well-armed men looking for Americans and me. That bounty is becoming a pain in the ass. Bull did overhear some of the men that held him captive mention a very scary man in charge.”

Another pause, then General Stone barked, “Tell your assistant to have whatever gear you need ready in one hour. I’m sending you a dirty dozen along with the hardware.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Stay alive, Max.”

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