Seattle - 2037
The WLF hospital was in the stadium proper, off the crowded concourse in a series of large interconnected rooms. In another life these might have been media rooms, or offices, now they were filled with all the apparatus of a prewar ER. The lights were bright and cool, and the smell was that of cleaning products. Medical staff bustled about busily, tending to their patients. Matt was once again suitably impressed.
"This way I think, she's around here somewhere" Manny said, himself a little lost. "I try to avoid coming here" He winked.
Rounding a corner, his face brightened at the sight of a petite young woman with dark, short cropped hair, early twenties, in surgical scrubs, writing something on a clipboard.
"Melon! I have a patient for you. This is my new best friend Matt, he brought me a tank!"
Looking up from her work, she took Matt in curiously.
"Not a patient, just need some basic supplies and some antibiotics" Matt said.
"Not a pharmacy" she replied briskly.
"Come on, he's been travelling the world on a big ship, he's got books"
"Manny. That's not how it works" she groaned.
"He's got a Kindle, millions of books, even some of that nerd shit you like. Just buy the stuff for him"
"What do you need the antibiotics for?"
"Cut myself at sea. Think it's infected" Matt lied, gesturing to his arm.
"Fine" she sighed.
"You be careful man, this chiquita is a hardass"
"No I'm not" she replied exasperated.
She may not have been, but she was fast. Before Matt could object, she'd rolled up his sleeve and was delicately probing the yellowing dressing wrapped around his wrist. Ah shit .
"Manny, can you give us a bit of privacy" she asked, casually, giving no indication that anything was wrong.
"Alright, but you be gentle to my new friend"
As he left, she closed the curtains. Just the two of them alone now. He briefly considered knocking her out and gapping it, but looking at her he wasn't confident that would be as straightforward as he liked. Besides Manny was out there, this place was a maze and he needed these people to help him.
"Mind taking a seat?"
"Sure" He'd see where this went.
She started unwrapping his arm revealing the bite he'd received weeks earlier, clearing infected from a derelict super yacht the Nijmagens crew had decided to plunder. To her credit 'Melon' remained perfectly calm, indeed she seemed more curious than anything else.
"This is a few weeks old isn't it? It's healing up ok, but whoever dressed it is shit and you definitely need antibiotics. I'll get you some amoxicillin. I'm Mel by the way"
"What? Melon isn't your real name? Think you're the first Doctor I've met who hasn't offered to euthanize me when I've come to them with a bite. You've seen this before haven't you? Immunity?"
"Ummm, not first hand, but you're definitely not the only one" she sounded pretty sure about that, but she also seemed troubled by it. Haunted even. Matt had always doubted his condition was unique, but he'd yet to encounter anyone like himself yet, so to hear Mel sound so confident he wasn't alone was interesting. Not why I'm here. He reminded himself.
"Do you mind if I take some samples, just a small tissue sample from your wound and some bloods?" She asked, preempting his answer and withdrawing the necessary tools from a cabinet.
"Sure" He shrugged, they always asked this. Who was he to deny anyone the chance to study his peculiar immunity.
"This will sting a little" Matt flinched as she made a tiny excision and wiped the wound site, before quickly drawing a blood sample "please keep this to yourself... the samples as well"
"Well I was kinda trying to. Aren't you the good guys though?" Matt asked?
"You think there are good guys?" she replied, without looking up from her work.
"I do, believe it or not…"
"What Manny said true, you been travelling the world?"
"Sure have, since the beginning. Nearly 25 years"
"And you chose to come to Seattle of all places?"
"Here looking for family" he said, handing over the Polaroid. Unlikely but worth a try. She peered at it intently.
"Cute" she said. Not the response he expected "the kids I mean. Twins?"
"Yeah"
"She looks like you"
"My sister"
"Hope you find them. Know where you're going to start looking?" she asked, handing it back and wrapping a fresh bandage around his arm.
"Yeah... The apartment was over in Queen Anne"
"Scar island?"
"Yeah. Can you tell me about them? The Seraphites?"
"Don't expect a warm welcome. They're pretty brutal..." she paused "but they're just people. Not an opinion many people here share. We can be pretty brutal ourselves"
"Why stay then?" He asked, sensing there was something in that.
"Got any Iain M Banks on that Kindle?" ignoring the question.
"Actually yes, fancy some Fully Automated Luxury Space Communism?" He asked, grinning, winning a smile, probably the first one he'd seen from her so far.
She finished dressing his wound and then looked at him with those piercing brown eyes considering the earlier question and the strange old man before her. She obviously needed an outlet of sorts and maybe it was the fact that he was just passing through, or that she held his own secret, or maybe it was just that Matt seemed to have this disarming effect on people sometimes. Regardless she pulled up a chair and flopped down opposite him.
"Sorry. Twelve hour shift and I've been on my feet most of it… my friends I guess. More like family really"
"I take it they're more comfortable here then you?"
"This wasn't in my ten year plan… all the fighting. The war"
She did seem like the type to have a ten year plan, but Matt didn't want to poke fun at the kid as she opened up to him.
"There's a truce at the moment isn't there?"
"Yeah and I hope it lasts, but a lot of people don't want it to"
"Even your friends?"
She just shrugged and they slipped back into silence for a time.
"What do you want?" He asked.
"A nap" she sighed, resting her chin in her palms "a life less violent maybe. Family I guess"
"With a capital F?" he asked, a little surprised.
"Is that fucked? Wanting kids in this world?"
She seemed genuinely embarrassed.
"Not really… guess it depends on the why?" He said warmly.
"Gotta have something to live for... and a little person…" she trailed off "I must sound pretty stupid" her voice cracking slightly.
"Not at all. Nothing wrong with a little hope and happiness. Not everywhere is as fucked as Seattle you know"
"Everywhere I've been is" she said sceptically.
"The cities are all pretty much like this, but there's peace out there in the blue, community too, and I'm sure there is on dry land as well. Inland more maybe, Wyoming, Colorado, where there's room to stretch. You're a medic. You've got a desirable skill set"
"Maybe, but everything and everyone I know and love is right here"
"Look, we've just met. I'm not trying to convince you to uproot your life and do a Lewis and Clark, and you should absolutely take everything I say with a grain of salt, but Seattle isn't the world."
So he told her about a small town in Vanuatu and the last time he saw holder of the Medal of Zhukov and Hero of the Russian Federation Major Aleksandr Chernenko of the VDV's 45th Spetsnaz Brigade.
Vanuatu - 2022
The township was located southeast of Port Villa and unlike the now abandoned capital, was bustling with life. Isolated by geography and the rapid demise of international air travel, Cordyceps did not reach Vanuatu until early 2014. It's arrival was inevitable and it's people knew that, but they had a plan. This was a country of around eighty three islands, with a small population and a strong sense of community. They harnessed this, abandoning the density of Port Villa and the other larger towns, spreading out across the archipelago and returning to a more agrarian lifestyle. Cordyceps arrived, but did not flourish. Outbreaks were snuffed out, the world collapsed and the tides of time lapped against the white sanded shores.
The Vanuatuans were not the Seraphites however, so when a new type of society began to flourish at sea; traders, seasteaders and nomad groups; they were ready to engage, find mutual understanding and flourish. But there were new dangers now and so Matt, now second in command, found himself alongside the Major on a pristine beach drinking a Pina Colada, working out how they would take down the Goliath to their David.
"She is over twice our displacement, twice our speed, and has ASM's. We can't help these people Aleks"
Matt was referring to the USS Gabrielle Giffords. The ex-US Navy Littoral Combat Ship, or LCS, had been raising hell in the Pacific for years and until now the Anatoly had successfully avoided her. WIth the collapse of the military command structure, the crew of the fierce looking trimaran had faced the same choice as their own. Return to land and face the plague, or head out to sea and start a new sort of life. They had chosen the latter, but where their paths diverged was what that new life would look like. The crew of the Anatoly had chosen to sell their services, the crew of the Gabrielle had chosen to take what they wanted by the barrel of a gun.
The Gabrielle had raided this town twice this year already. Emptying their larders and butchering anyone who so much had looked at them funny. The small townships graveyard had dozens of freshly filled plots. In an act of intimidation and sheer bravado, they'd told the townspeople when they'd be back for more. The locals had desperately appealed to the ANZPAC City States, a loose collection of settlements and seasteading communities dotted around Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific, for assistance, to no avail. Matt wasn't surprised. The City States, believe it or not, still had ships and aircraft in limited numbers. What they lacked was the will to put them to use.
So when the Anatoly had made port to take on fresh water and the townspeople had seen the ships big 76mm gun they saw hope. They were hopelessly outmatched, but the Major thought they could put an end to the Gabrielle.
"We can take her. They are not expecting us and they won't even know we're here until it's too late" Aleks explained eagerly
"Your plan is reliant on line of sight. What if they don't enter the channel?" Matt reasoned
"They have every other time"
"What if they pick us up on radar"
"We will be too close to shore for them to distinguish us from the coast"
"What if they see us"
"They won't. The Dutch did it, so can we. Stop picking holes in my perfect plan" he laughed
The Major was referring to the HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen, a Dutch warship that during the Second World War, evaded detection by the Imperial Japanese Navy for weeks. It's crew achieved this remarkable feat by disguising their ship as an island, covering as much of the ship with foliage and debris as possible and painting every remaining inch to match.
This was also Aleksandrs plan. The Anatoly would be anchored close to shore and concealed near the town, a skeleton crew onboard to man the big gun. The rest of the crew, along with irregulars from the small Vanuatuan defence force would be dug in and concealed around the entrance to the channel leading into the bay in which the town sat. If the Gabrielle did as expected and entered the channel, her superior speed and firepower would be of little use as they'd be hit from all sides by ATGM's, thermobaric rockets and mortars from the emplaced mercs, and the gun of the Anatoly. There would be no warnings. No attempt at negotiation, the Majors Spetsnaz experience coming to the fore, prosecuting the enemy with maximum savagery.
The plan was good and these people needed help, so Matt acquiesced. They'd be putting an end to a scourge on this area of the world if it worked.
"You're a mad bastard Aleks"
Matt found Konstantin standing in the middle of a small clearing, perfectly still, looking a bit like a small tree clad in his ghillie suit. He was absorbed by the flittering flight of a small bird, darting between the branches above him. He snapped out of his reverie as Matt approached.
"Species?" Matt asked
"Satin Swiftlet" Konstantin replied immediately. Of course he'd know.
The two men stood in silence, taking in the sounds of the rainforest, punctuated by the low crash of waves lapping ashore down the hill.
"They spend most of their lives in the air, Swifts, constantly moving. Even when they sleep they don't touch the ground, they hang vertical from tree trunks"
"Sounds like us"
He nodded and they returned to their silence.
"We're staying here" Konstantin said quietly "Well if we don't die today"
Konstantin and Yael did compliment each other perfectly. He was soft, hopeful and nurturing, she was pragmatic and strong willed. Both were fiercely loyal to each other and to the rest of the crew.
"Really?"
"We're expecting and we think the Anatoly is no place for a child" Konstantin smiled softly
"Congratulations!" Matt exclaimed loudly. The fluttering bird spooked and fled. Konstantins eyes following it's flight "But today… the mission..."
"I could not ask her to sit while we fight"
Matt nodded in understanding. That wouldn't be Yael's style.
"Does the Major know?"
"He does"
"He'll keep and eye on her"
"I know"
"Shall we?"
They moved further down the hill, ahead of them the rainforest opened up revealing the strait where they would engage the Gabrielle. Emplaced in a dugout covered in twisted branches was a Kornet laser guided anti-tank missile launcher on it's heavy duty tripod, which if all went to plan they should be able to employ to devastating effect. Operated by a two man team and designed for targets significantly smaller, the launcher lacked the firepower to destroy the Gabrielle outright. However, the tanks it was designed to destroy were far more heavily armoured than modern warships, which were designed to fight battles at vast distances, so what it lacked in destructive capability, it made up for in its ability to penetrate the hull of the Gabrielle and with steady aim, cripple its weapon and propulsion systems.
They had two of these launchers operated by Matts Green team. Further up the hill behind them was Blue and their four mortar emplacements. Below them, down towards the shore was Red, led by the Major himself. If the Gabrielle came close enough, they'd engage her with shoulder mounted thermobaric rocket launchers and they'd also form a skirmish line to engage the pirates if they made it to shore.
They didn't have to wait long.
The USS Gabrielle Giffords slid into the strait blissfully unaware, flying a large Star Spangled Banner. These were Americans Matt remembered. Should that make me feel something? He'd never been terribly patriotic, he'd joined up to put a roof over his sisters head, and that had not changed with the apocalypse. Besides, they may be Americans, but they had murdered countless innocents across the pacific during their reign of terror and would no doubt murder countless more if given the chance. In his years travelling and fighting during the age of Cordyceps, the worst monsters he had encountered had been men.
With the help of the Vanuatuans, the crew had done a spectacular job of disguising their ship. First they had removed virtually anything that wasn't bolted down, reducing the Anatolys draft as much as possible so as to move it closer to the shore. They had spent days covering the ship in plant matter, vines to coat her sides and entire trees to break up her shape. Nestled in against the coast, she was virtually invisible to the naked eye.
"You are free to engage" came the Major's voice.
The big gun of the Anatoly roared into life, speaking loudly across the bay, sending branches and greenery flying off it's deck with the concussion. It struck home knocking out the Gabrielles CIWS mount, clearing the way for Green's missiles.
"Good effect on target" Matt said into his headset as Kornets streaked out from their position.
The first impacted the Gabrielle below it's 57mm main gun, hopefully disabling the ammunition elevator and putting that particular weapon out of action.
Before the second missile could hit, all hell broke loose. Heavy weapons fire erupted from the Gabrielle, it's autocannons and machine guns raking their position. Chaff blasted out from dispensers on the big trimaran, filling the space between the ship and the shore with smoke and foil, confusing the laser guidance of the few remaining Kornets. Mortar rounds splashed short. Not Matts problem, they'd find home soon as Blue compensated.
Black smoke was pouring from the Anatolys funnel as her skeleton crew crash started her engines and she slowly came under way, her gun still chipping away at the Gabrielle.
From the LCS's rear came her landing force. Four big rigid inflatables loaded with troops. As they closed the distance to the shore, Red opened fire and one of the RIBs seemed to disintegrate as the blastwave from a thermobaric rocket impacted it, sending it's passengers, well bits of them at least, flying into the warm pacific waters. The remaining three opened fire with machine guns and miniguns, shredding rainforest and sending Red into cover. They slammed ashore, disgorging their troops.
Greens missiles and the Anatolys gun were having the desired effect, and now the mortars were hitting home as well. They were taking the Gabrielle apart. She'd now lost power and was drifting toward the far shore, ablaze and listing.
Another four RIBs loaded with pirates rounded the corner into the bay.
"Where the fuck did they come from" Matt shouted as Konstantin let loose the last Kornet.
An explosion to their left sent debris flying and the blastwave knocked them over. The other missile position had been hit by something. Matt looked to his right, past the strait and out to sea. His stomach dropped.
"There's fucking two of them!" Matt yelled into his mic
"Repeat Green" Aleks voice said
"There's another fucking LCS out there"
It was as if he was seeing double. A ship identical to the Gabrielle Giffords was shelling them from beyond the bay. A missile erupted from one of her launch cells and streaked in towards the lumbering Anatoly, whose CIWS sprang to life with a noise that sounded like a particularly loud zip. Firing thousands of rounds in mere seconds the big rotary cannon dispatched the missile before it could strike home. It couldn't keep it up, that thing chewed through ammunition at a prodigious rate. Another missile streaked in and hit the Anatoly amidships, where the minesweepers complete lack of anything remotely resembling armor worked to her favor as the missile penetrated right through her without time to arm, detonating on the shore behind.
"Green! Get moving, into the treeline!" Matt ordered as more shells hit home, sending eruption of dirt and greenery into the air. His guys obliged, making speed into the forest below, weapons at the ready.
Small arms fire was chattering away below as Red engaged the pirates in the forest. It was chaos as leaves, branches and massive splinters flew from trees split by the bombardment from the other LCS.
Konstantin slid and ducked as an American in grey camo fatigues burst from the undergrowth, opening fire. Matt following behind dropped him with a short burst, pulling Konstantin to his feet as he ran. Hearing a loud drone, Matt looked up. A plane? They've got a fucking plane as well? But before he could consider that further his radio crackled to life and Aleks voice rang out.
"Fall back, fall back, fall back to Blue"
"Red we are in the forest, we need to stay in cover"
The radio crackled and there was no response. This was turning to shit. Matt just about ran into Tam as the big Māori retreated, firing into the thick bush as he went. He swung his weapon around, but held his fire.
"Tam! Where's Aleks"
"Don't know, there's fucking millions of them" he roared, swinging his rifle back toward the enemy and dropping another pirate.
More fire erupted from behind him and Matt turned. The locals were moving up. While they largely lacked body armor and possessed a weird assortment of firearms, they knew the bush and how to fight in it. Following their momentum, Matts squad and the remnants of Red team they'd encountered pushed back down towards the shore as well. Mortar rounds from Blue team were hammering into the forest in front of them.
"Blue, cease firing, we're pushing down"
"Roger that Green, that boat is still out there"
Matt stumbled into a clearing, once again catching sight of the other LCS, raining destruction down on the rainforest around them. There was no sign of the plane.
Suddenly a small black shape, moving incredibly fast, streaked in from the ships starboard. The LCS's CIWS roared into life and it shattered into a thousand pieces, but not before a second projectile swept in and slammed into it.
The whole ship seemed to lift from the water and crack in half like a baguette as a massive explosion roared out from where it's missile cells were located. It settled back down into the waves as secondary detonations erupted and, it's back broken, began sinking at a terrifying rate. Matt standing stupefied, snapped out of it as Azim erupted from the forest panting. The noise of small arms fire was deafening.
"Azim, where are the others!"
"They were behind me!"
"Come on, we're pushing down"
They found them a few minutes later, Aleksander lying on top of Yael. Konstantin gently rolled the Major off. His eyes were shut and he looked peaceful, like he was sleeping, a hint of a smile on his face. His back was slick with blood, massive splinters jutting out from all directions and a large chunk of his right leg seemed to be missing entirely. Azim grabbed his arm, gripping it tightly and placing his forehead on the back of the Majors hand. Yael was unconscious, but alive, blood was pouring from her shredded left leg and Konstantin was calmly and methodically getting to work, not a hint of emotion on his face save for the tears welling in his bright blue eyes.
They never found out the name of the second LCS, it sank too fast and no one felt like diving down to check. The aircraft Matt had briefly seen was an ANZPAC Orion, it had arrived on the scene and lazed the LCS for the Frigate Te Kaha's Harpoon missiles which the warship had launched from over 100 miles away. The City States had grown a backbone and dispatched the largest warship their tiny navy could muster.
The crew of the Anatoly Zheleznyakov had suffered greatly. Seven dead, dozens wounded. The survivors from the two ex-American warships were loaded aboard the Te Kaha, to be tried back in the City States. Their dead were buried at sea.
Major Aleksandr Chernenko was laid to rest in the townships small graveyard alongside his six fallen comrades. He had died protecting Yael, throwing himself over her as a shell detonated in front of them.
Of the four stages of grief, Matt spent the longest time on anger. This hadn't been their fight, the Major shouldn't have died. These people needed their help, but they were mercenaries, not superheros.
"You didn't know him as I did. Before Cordyceps" Konstantin had told him after the funeral, sensing Matt's grief.
"He was at heart a romantic. He spent his whole life waging war for the motherland, seeing the worst that people could offer, Beslan, Grozny, but he always believed there was goodness at the heart of mankind, if only there could be an end to war. I think he saw opportunity in the plague, not to profit, but to end the old wars, the nations and divisions. That's why he did it I think. He found paradise here and peace. If only he could win one more battle. He wanted it for all of us, not just Yael and me… He was a paratrooper, he loved to fly, but he knew he couldn't fly forever. I just wish he had been able to jump one last time"
Matt pondered this for the next few months while they repaired the damage to the ship and themselves. It really was a paradise. The people opened their hearts and doors for the crew of the Anatoly. There was space here and community. The chance for a new life and a chance for family, free from the scourge of the Gabrielle and under the protection of a more outward looking ANZPAC government. Matt helped Konstantin build a home. The quiet Russian medic began to smile more as Yael's belly grew. Relentless, she took the loss of her left leg and the end of her soldiering days in stride.
Azim mourned the loss of his adopted father, the man who had taken him in when he needed it the most and protected him. To start with, his anger was different. He had wanted to lash out and punish the men who had taken Aleks' life, but grief is a journey and he had inherited the Majors softness and optimism. He was restless though and so was Matt.
The Anatoly was now Matts command, but her compliment was reduced. Peace and security called to many of the crew and the Vanuatuans offered them space and a future. Like Matt and Azim, Tam and some of the old crew were like the Satin Swiftlet. And so one autumn morning, they cast off, farewelling their friends and an opportunity for something resembling a normal life.
Matt stood aft as the island receded behind them and the sun rose through light cloud, casting mottled shadow across the island and the great expanse of the pacific. He considered his life and their next steps, pulling out the faded polaroid. Now was his chance, they could go anywhere, why not home? But he didn't find the old familiar feelings of longing and homesickness. Only fear. Fear of what he would find in that broken country. Fear of a conclusion to his story. He still needed to fly.
Seattle - 2037
The little medic was curled up in her chair, head resting on her knees, visibly exhausted, her expression unreadable but her eyes gazing into his soul.
"You're a dick" she said finally.
"Yeah… I am" he admitted.
"I think I get it though. It's easier to run and hide than fight"
He just nodded.
"Sorry… I'm exhausted and…" she trailed off again
"Don't be. I've spent twenty five years running and hiding. But that's not really the moral of the story. Life can be different out there. It can be hard to find it, but it's there. Don't be me, be Konstantin"
"Thank you" she said softly, the hint of another smile.
Getting up and clicking her knee joints loudly, she went to a small cabinet, rifled through it and withdrew a small packet.
"Amoxicillin. Two week course. Take it three times daily with food. It might make you nauseous and your shit might look weird for a while. I'm going to give you some more dressing material. Try and change it daily and do a better job with it than last time please"
"Thanks doc"
"Thanks for letting me vent. Manny should be outside somewhere…"
"Nice to meet you Mel, I hope you find what you're looking for"
"I'm meant to say 'I hope I don't see you again anytime soon', but I hope I do and I hope you find your family" she smiled and held out her hand.
He grasped it firmly and shook.
"See you around Melon"