Code Name: Luminous (22 page)

He’d be a lifer in the Navy, but he wasn’t planning on
hanging his ass out to get it shot off anymore, and yet, here he was. Rubbing
the sweat from the back of his neck, he turned his gaze into the tent. Ditz and
the new team guy, Ed “Cracker” Saxton, sat in a couple of field chairs gulping
back water. They’d stitched Ditz up, and he was back in the mission. A couple
of Marines joined them and the guys bantered back and forth. Most of the other
service personnel didn’t know why they were here. Alpha Squad kept a lid on the
details, but something told him it wouldn’t last long.

A truck rolled up, the driver’s door embossed with the
United States Geological Survey emblem. The dust swirled in the air when it
stopped in front of the tent. He stepped into the July sun to greet four
people, two men and two women.

“Captain Patrick Cobbs, United States Navy SEAL,” he said
sharply.

“Captain,” the tall redheaded woman greeted, stepping ahead
of her team. “We need to talk.”

“This way, ma’am.”
When they turned
for the tent, he called out, “Seaman Young.” Nathan jumped to his feet.
“Rally Alpha Squad and the members of DEVGRU.
Meeting.”

“Yes, sir.”
Ed scattered with him
to collect the team.

“Captain, I’m Dr. Sandy Clarke, director of USGS Pacific,
this is Assistant Director Hamilton Koch,” she motioned to the short, balding
man to her left.
And two of our best hydrologists, Lydia
Harper and Gabe Timmons.”

“Thank you for coming,” he shook their hands.

“Didn’t really have a choice,” Dr. Clarke said. “We were
ordered here by the White House, and I’d like to know why.”

“You will shortly. Admiral Austen is en route.”

As if summoned, a Black Hawk settled her skids to the desert
floor and Ghost disembarked, but he wasn’t alone. Tinman and Mace were by his
side.

He intercepted them. “USGS just arrived,” he reported to
Ghost.

“Call out the team, I want all
thinkin
’
heads present,” Ghost ordered.

“Already done.”

Pat stayed Tinman with his hand. “How is she?”

“Alive,” he said. He shook his head. “I was sure I’d lost
her.” Tinman took a deep breath and gazed at him. “I know you told me not to
lose my head, but I was ready to die beside her. There’s damage to her internal
tissue, permanent damage.”

“Internal organs?”

“Time will tell. They gave her blood thinners to stop the
clotting. Her heart and kidneys may be affected.”

“I’m sorry. We’re the ones that are expected to take the
collateral damage.”

Tinman blinked,
then
a small smile
spread across his face. “I’m not. She’s alive. She’s young and strong. I don’t
care what the outcome is. She’s my light and my lady, and we’ve got a whole
lifetime to love each other.”

Pat eyed him. “How soon before she’s up and around?” They
set off for the tent where the rest of the team gathered.

“Not long. They said once the symptoms disappear,
recuperation starts. The vaccine stopped the virus in its tracks.”

“Ten years, and I’ve never seen you so committed to one
woman. What changed?”

“I thought I was just like my dad. Lumin wouldn’t accept
that. I don’t know what she sees, but her vision is a lot clearer than mine.”
He shook his head. “Imagine me falling for a Catholic virgin.
Has to be some kind of strange intervention going on there.”

Pat chuckled. “Marg had some heavy-duty convincing with me
as well when we first started dating. I didn’t come from the best stock, but
she saw something in me. I think, no I know, it made me a better man.”

Tinman grinned. “I want a family of my own, with her.”

“You’ll get that chance, Tinman.”

“I hope so, but only if we stop this bug.”

“Let’s do it.” They fisted each other and joined the rest of
the men.

“This is Dr. Sandy Clarke, Director of USGS Pacific,” Pat
said, introducing Ghost.

Dr. Clarke motioned to Lydia, the hydrologist she’d brought
with her, and the woman opened a laptop. “We were asked to provide you with
information on the underground water system from three towns in New Mexico.
I’ve also heard the reports on the TV. The details are sparse, other than a bad
flu erupted causing severe fever. What’s really going on?”

Ghost shared a look with the director’s team. “It’s not
a flu
, it’s a
weaponized
virus.
Engineered for longevity and can live in air or water. The Bubonic plague was
spliced with Ebola.”

Dr. Clarke maintained her composure, but the ripple of shock
made her blink.
“Terrorism?”

Ghost nodded. “The vaccine has been located, but it will
take time to reproduce. The man who released the virus deployed it in three
towns.
Adelino
, Bosque, and Los Chaves.
Before we were notified and could
contain the towns, the populations continued their daily routines. All three of
the town’s waste systems filter out into the desert, but we need to know if any
of them have underground water that connects to major rivers or reservoirs.”

Lydia began typing furiously, her eyes darting back and
forth as she retrieved information on her laptop. Dr. Clarke and Assistant
Director
Koch,
shared a concerned look. “Whoever the
terrorist is, he planned this out carefully.” Her brow wrinkled with worry.
“These towns sit right on the Rio Grande.
The third longest
river in the U.S.
It crosses the entire state from north to south. There
is a large underground lake called the
Ogalala
which
runs from southern New Mexico to Nebraska as well.”

Ghost seamed his lips, and nodded for her to continue.

“The Rio
Grande supplies the U.S. and Mexico with drinking water, irrigation, and plays
a huge role in recreation and ecology. If the virus makes it to the Rio Grande,
our food will be
tainted,
there will be no clean
drinking water. The domino effect will infect millions. New Mexico also has the
Pecos, Gila, and Canadian Rivers. All are main waterways with thousands of
tributaries.”

Ghost’s
expression became more and more rigid. None of them had considered the
far-reaching fingers and the intelligence of deploying the plague in New Mexico
and letting Mother Nature do the rest.

“There’s
more,” Dr. Clarke said, and Cobbs held his breath. The tension in the tent, and
the feeling that they’d underestimated Dafoe, hit full on.

“T
he
Continental Divide also crosses the state of New Mexico. It separates the
direction in which North America’s rivers flow. East of the Divide, rivers
drain into the Atlantic. Rivers west of the Divide drain into the Pacific. He
must have known this. The virus could make it to both coasts.”

Cobbs’ heart leaped in his chest. Marg and the girls! The
team had to stop this.

Chapter Seventeen

Tony had served with the Admiral long enough to know the
tight expression he wore meant he was nearing explosive.

“What about the drought? Haven’t the water tables been
dropping steadily in the west due to lack of rainfall?” the Admiral asked.

“Yes, and no,” Dr. Clarke answered. “The Rio Grande is fed
from the Colorado.”

“Don’t think that’s going to happen,” Ditz said, placing his
sat phone on the table. “You’re on speaker, Snow White,
repeat
your last comm.”

“Admiral Austen, a CDC report just received. La
Joya
, a small town south of Bosque, reported their
residents lining up outside the medical facility. All of them have high fevers
and flu-like symptoms.”

“How far south, Snow White?” the Admiral asked.

“Approximately eighteen miles.”

“Do we know where their water source comes from?”

“Yes, sir.”
Kayla paused.
“The Rio Grande.
Quarantine units and service members have
been dispatched. CDC is now taking water samples further downstream. No results
have been issued yet.”

“When was the first case reported?” Ghost asked.

“Estimated two hours ago.”

“Anything else?”

Tony watched Ghost. The man knew his wife was holding back.

“Affirmative.
The media must have
found a willing source. Twenty minutes ago, CBN reported the possibility of a
pandemic, and that
unfriendlies
have planted a virus
in the U.S.”

Ghost nodded. “Keep us advised, Snow White.”

“Roger that.”

“That’s close enough to the first three infected towns,
someone could have traveled there,” Mace offered.

They all looked down at the map spread out on the table.
“Let’s hope so,” Captain Cobbs said.

Ghost straightened to his full height and put his attention
on Tony. “I doubt it. Tinman, our luck has run out.”

He nodded, his nerves hopping with an internal clock that
started ticking double-time. “We have to divert it, and then kill it. Can CDC
confirm whether we can eradicate
this bacteria
with
heat or some other source?”

No one had an answer.

“Dr. Clarke, where is the narrowest and shallowest portion
of the Rio Grande?” Tony queried.

Her hydrologist, Lydia, turned her laptop. “Here,” Lydia
said, pointing at a spot near the northern end of the state. She turned her
confused expression on him. “You want to hold back the Rio Grande?”

“What about all the tributaries, cracks and crevices?” Ed
questioned, standing between Nathan and Stitch.

Mace snatched the phone off the table, dialed, then leaned
over it, waiting for someone to answer.

“Coronado Base Command,” Kayla answered.

“Snow White, patch Professor Linden into this line.”

“Standby.”

Professor Linden answered the phone. “Professor, this is
Petty Officer Mace Callahan. We need your help.”

“What can I do?”

“Sir, how do we kill this virus if it’s already in the
water?”

Professor Linden cleared his throat. “It’s relatively easy
to kill it. Even though it’s been spliced with Ebola, it’s still a weak
organism on its own. The problem is when it merges with a host, like a human,
we can’t kill it without killing the person. But you’ve got the vaccine.”

“We do, but it’s made its way into a large body of water.
How do we stop it?”

“Without poisoning the water?”

“Yes, it’s made it to the Rio Grande.”

“Oh, dear.
The safest way is to
ozonate
the water. It has the capability of inactivating
bacteria and viruses, but I have no idea how you could do that to a river as
large as the Rio Grande.”

Options whirled in his mind. “Deployment isn’t the problem,
but how do we get our hands on enough
ozonated
material that can be deployed?”

“I’m not
sure,
you’d have to talk
to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.”

“We’re on it, guys,” Snow White said. “I’ll advise when I
know more.”

Tony stared at the map.

“What the hell are you thinking, Tinman?” Mace asked.

“Here,” he pointed. “We need to stop the Rio Grande above
the first infected town. Close the dam down here at
Caballo
and trap it.
Ozonate
it, and then open her again.”

“It might work,” Dr. Clarke said.
“This
area here.”
She pointed. “The river runs through a canyon. The cliff
walls are over a hundred feet high on either side. We’ll have to check, but I
think this reservoir next to
Caballo
Dam is very
large.”

Ghost, like him, was filtering and assessing every idea
placed on the table by the team.

Ghost said, “Tinman, you want to bring down the canyon to
stop the water within the Rio Grande Norte area?”

“It’s plausible. This looks like another dam,” he said
pointing to the northern part of the state.

“It is,” Lydia confirmed. “
There’s
about eight dams north of Los Chaves.”

Demolitions and heavy weaponry were his specialization.
“There’s too much distance between those two dams even if we lock them down.
What if we created another here, North of Isleta
Pueblo.
”

“What do you mean created?” Mace asked.

“If we’re able to
ozonate
the
water caught in the reservoir near
Caballo
, we need
to have as little flow as possible. We create another block north of Los Chaves
and blow a trench into the desert to divert more of the
flow,
we can treat the infected water, killing the virus.” He waited for the USGS
team to disagree. “How long would we have, Dr. Clarke, before the water would
make it over the temporary block?”

Dr. Clarke turned to the hydrologist, Gabe Timmons.

“There’s a problem,” Timmons said. All heads turned his way.
“I’ve just been checking the weather. Colorado and Arizona have been
experiencing a lot of summer storms. It’s causing a drain-off into the Rio
Grande.”

“If we block it, how much time?”
Tinman asked again.

“What would you put in its path?” Dr. Clarke asked.

Tinman saw it. New Mexico state highways wouldn’t like the
idea.
“Right there.”
He pointed at the map. “We blow
it and create a trench into the desert here. We can’t
stopped
it, but we might bring it down to a trickle.”

The doc swayed her head. “Water will always find a way
around. You might have a few hours max before she’d climb up and over. You’re
talking about a major river with a lot of power behind it. The northern dam
you’re looking at is called the
Cochito
. If we lock
that off too, it will help.”

The phone rang, and Tinman answered. “Go ahead, Snow White.”

“I just spoke with the EPA. They said there is a company in
Sacramento that has begun production on commercial-sized canisters for
ozonating
large bodies of water. The plan was to use it in reservoirs
or lakes. Would that do?”

“Hell, yes,” Tinman said. “How much do they have in
storage?”

“A lot.
I called the company;
needless to say, they were overjoyed hearing the U.S. Navy was interested in
purchasing everything they had. We’re going to need a massive airdrop. They
gave me a formula to use.”

“For what?”
Ghost asked.

“How much water can be cleansed per hour based on the number
of canisters
deployed.
”

“What’s the magic number, Snow White?” Tony asked.

“I need the volume of water to finish the calculation.”

“Are you near a map?” Tinman asked.

“Satellite, I’ve got it sitting over the Rio Grande.”

“Jesus, woman,” Ghost hollered.

“What?” Snow White snapped back. “It’s an emergency and it’s
fast.”

Ghost rolled his eyes.
“Faster than Google
Maps?”

Tinman grinned as did the rest of the team, knowing the hell
she took for cracking the U.S. Navy’s satellite codes and redirecting them when
they were deployed. “There’s a reservoir in front of the
Caballo
Dam. If we drop the majority of the canisters there and in mile intervals
northward toward
Adelino
we should cover the area,”
Tony said.

Snow White let out a little groan after calculating. “Not
enough canisters.”

“Is there another source?” Mace asked.

“Negative. I’ve already searched, not unless you want to go
to every pet store and buy aquarium-sized
ozonators
.”

Tinman let out a frustrated breath. “That means we have to
get rid of some water.”

“Infected water,” Ed said.

“People die in times like this. It’s to be expected. We
can’t save everyone.”

The entire group of men looked up to see who had spoken.

Wearing a sharply-pressed work uniform, the clean, lean
officer nodded. “Lieutenant Abraham Lewis reporting for duty, sir,” he said,
looking at Admiral Austen. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

The team’s eyes darted around the table and then back at
Lewis. Tinman didn’t like judging a book by his cover, but Lewis came with a
reputation. There wasn’t a thread out of place or a five o’clock shadow on his
face. They all looked like they’d been on a mission for weeks.

Admiral Austen sized him up as well, and his ice blue eyes
radiated a thought. One the team could recognize, but probably not Lewis.
“Lieutenant Lewis, lives have already been lost. More U.S. citizens will also
die before the virus is contained. We will mitigate loss of life as a primary
goal.”

Ghost’s gaze cut the rigid if not arrogant expression on
Lewis’ face to shreds. It changed quickly to one with a shadow of wariness. At
least the guy wasn’t a total idiot, Tony thought to himself.

“Snow White, get a hold of the district in
Caballo
.
Advise
them the dam needs
to be closed immediately,” Ghost ordered.

“They won’t listen to me. They don’t know who the hell I
am,” Kayla shot back.

Ghost nodded. “Get on the phone to Admiral Hoskins. He’s
still at the White House with the President. Tell him what we need.”

“Will do.”
Kayla paused. “What the
hell?”

“What is it?” Ghost asked.

“Sit down, right now,” Kayla said to someone. “Nina just
walked in the door.” Kayla held the phone away, but she came through loud and
clear. “Are you out of your
bleedin
’ mind? You need
to be in bed. You look like shit.” Kayla laughed. “Nice.”

Mace grinned. “She just gave
ya
the one finger salute, didn’t she?”

“Yup.
What a harpy. I’ll advise
once I’ve spoken to Admiral Hoskins and we get confirmation the dam has been
closed.”

Tinman disconnected the phone. “What’s the
chances
the virus has already reached the
Caballo
Dam?” he asked the hydrologists.

Dr. Clarke bit down on her lip and swerved a look at her
team. “We’ll let CDC give you that answer, but let’s hope it’s negative.”

“We’re going to need as many men as we can muster to pull
this off. Let’s take Alpha Squad and ten more men from Bravo Squad to survey
the area.”

“I’ll ride along with you on this one, Tinman,” Cobbs said.

Tinman was glad to hear it; Cobbs also specialized in
demolitions. “We need Fox as well.”

“I’ll call him in,” Ditz advised.

“Tell me your plan.” Lewis paused to look at his nametag.
“Petty Officer Bale, you’re part of my squad, is that right?”

Tony straightened and turned to the squad’s newly acquired
lieutenant. “Sir, you’re
gonna
have to catch up as we
go. Clock is ticking on this one.”

“I understand that,” he said, his eyes narrowing, “However,
you’ll report to me before initiating the plan. I’ll approve it and then you
can proceed.”

The tent quieted once again, and Admiral Austen and Captain
Cobbs stopped their conversation to listen. Tony stepped around the table and
into Lewis’ airspace. He saluted. There were a few ways to do it; he used the
universal “bite me,” a sign of zero respect to an officer.

“Sir, I don’t have an issue with the chain of command, but I
do have an issue with millions of people dying. If you want to know the plan
—sir—then follow
us to that Black Hawk, it’s time to turf
the daily dress and put on some
cammo
. You’re going
to need it.”

Lewis removed his cap and swept a hand through a short
regulation cut. Something he and the guys rarely did unless they were home for
a while and the girlfriends made them remove the scruff.

“Bale, there is a chain of command. I’m it. I’ll remain
here, but before you depart I’d like to know what your intentions will be.”

“We work as a team, Lieutenant. You’re in or you’re out.
That’s your decision. Everyone has their way. If you want a good example of
leadership and teamwork, that’s the man standing over there.” He pointed at
Cobbs. “He’s been our lieutenant for eleven years. We have to prove our
abilities. You have to prove we can trust you.”

“I don’t need your trust, Bale. I need you to follow orders,
and with all due respect, Captain Cobbs, I have my way of doing things. It’s
called by the book.”

He turned his stare on Tony as if it was supposed to
intimidate him.
Wasn’t really working though.
Tony
shrugged and eyed the guys. “We’re wasting time. You want a
report,
I can tell you how to fuck off in four different languages—”

“Bale,” the Admiral said sharply.