Author's note: I forgot to put in the disclaimer and authors note on the last chapter but I want to say thanks for the reviews. The story loses a lot if you don't know the show I'm crossing with so I am especially grateful that you are sticking with it. I'm pretty sure you will be familiar with the characters in this chapter. Enjoy.
Chapter 4 Cruz and Monroe
Lieutenant Swersky is finishing up roll call. He places all the officers with their partners in their respective units and when he is done, the only officer left without a partner is Sasha Monroe. She has been a floater for the past few months, filling in for anyone out sick or on vacation, but today there is no where to place her.
Lieu addresses her. "Monroe...since everyone is here for a change, I have a special detail for you. I was going to start this next week but it can't hurt to get an early jump on it."
"An early jump on what?"
"It's that time of year once again when we are expected to visit all the establishments that sell liquor and make sure that their licenses are up to speed."
"Oh no." she groans. "Didn't we just do that a little while ago?"
Sergeant Cruz walks in as Lieu is about to dismiss everyone. "Excuse me...Lieu, is there any chance you can loan us a body today? I'm tryen to get a line on a dealer and I need someone undercover to make some buys on the street."
"You're in luck. Monroe happens to be available."
She glances at Monroe with a scowl. "Ya got anyone else?"
"Take it or leave it."
"I'll take it. It's kind of appropriate I guess, the dealer I'm looken for is called 'Tar Cat the Rat'."
Sasha gives her a look that she is not amused.
"I'll give ya five minutes to change then meet me at my unmarked." She turns to follow Sasha out the door and Lieu calls her back.
"Sergeant..."
"Yah Lieu?"
He points a warning finger at her. "Play nice."
She gives him an innocent smile. "Always."
On the street
Monroe glances around cautiously and slips a wad of money, folded to the size of a match book, into the hand of the young man, who in turn looks quickly back and forth then slips a small package into Monroe's hand.
She turns and walks away without saying a word. "You bring your fine self around anytime." He calls after her. She leaves the alley and turns left expecting Cruz to come flying in to scoop him up, but nothing happens. She gets a nervous pang thinking that perhaps Cruz has something up her sleeve. She looks around and spots the unmarked car across the street, and Cruz is on the phone. "What the hell..." she says to herself.
She hurries across and hops into the car. "What the hell are you doing? I made the deal, were you even taping it?"
Cruz holds her finger up and says into the phone, "Right. I'll meet you there." She hangs up and starts the car. "Change of plans."
"Where are we going? What am I suppose to do with this?" She holds out the package she just purchased.
Cruz snatches it out of her hand. "I'll take care of it. I got a call from detective Rice."
"Who's that?"
"He's a federal agent. He hunts down terrorists. He got word of a boat coming into port. He believes they're smuggling something in."
"Something like what?"
"We'll know when we get there."
"Well why did he call you?"
"I helped him on the smart bomb case. I guess he likes my style."
They arrive at the pier and meet up with Dante Rice. He fills them in on the mission. The boat is coming into the harbor. The coast guard is going to intercept and disable it before it gets close enough to do harm if they try to cause an explosion. Once the boat is taken under control and deemed safe, the coast guard will bring it in to dock and Rice will then take charge of the terrorists. He called Cruz just to have plenty of backup.
Suddenly they get a call from the coast guard. When they contacted the boat and ordered them to stop, the message they were given by the crew was that they were sick. They were sent to release a disease as an act of biological warfare. The whole crew is sick and a few are already dead. The man refused to tell them what disease they are sick with, and it sounds as though he may not even know what he's got. The coast guard has the boat surrounded but they have no intentions of boarding it. They are asking Rice what he wants them to do.
"Why don't we just blow the boat? Wipe out them and what ever disease they brought with them." Cruz suggests.
"Because unless we know that it is not an airborne disease, we could finish what they started."
"So what do we do now, wait for them to die?"
"We call NIH and get a team of medical investigators here that specialize in contagious diseases."
In less than an hour
An army helicopter circles overhead looking for a safe place to land. "Man they really got here fast." Cruz says.
"It's a matter of National security. These are the country's best disease specialists." Rice tells her.
It touches ground and a side door opens and a man climbs out wearing a brown suede jacket. He ducks his head a little until he clears the copter blades, then he stands up more than straight, arching his shoulders back until his butt seems to stick out. He has a serious, stern gaze and he stops to scan the crowd looking for the person in charge. He spots Agent Rice, and then briskly walks towards him as if wearing blinders. It seems to Cruz, that he is carrying himself as though he is a superhero, and his attitude of self importance strikes her as comical. She glances at Sasha and they both crack a grin and then look away biting their lip.
Behind him a young woman climbs out carrying a medical bag and a laptop computer and behind her an even younger man who looks as though he just got out of high school. He seems to be the grunt, carrying a medical bag in his right hand with another slung over his shoulder and in his left hand he is carrying a large duffel bag.
The medical investigator holds out his hand to Rice and introduces himself. "I'm doctor Stephen Connor. We got here as fast as we could."
"I gotta say, that was the fastest response time I've ever witnessed by a government agency." Rice commends him as they shake hands.
"Well, we're staying at the Waldorf. We happened to be in town for the MI convention."
"You're staying at the Waldorf?" Cruz says in surprise.
"Yes. We don't normally stay at a place that ritzy, but we had no choice. We were even lucky to get a room at all. Everything was booked for the convention. I don't want you to get the idea that we are frivolous with the government's money."
Cruz tips her head to the left and raises an eyebrow. "And yet you took a helicopter to drive ten blocks." Sasha turns away to hide her smile.
Dr. Connor turns to her and squares up his shoulders and says in a direct tone, "The helicopter is SOP. The nearest one is dispatched to us the minute a call comes in to the center no matter where we are, because our jobs are that important. We never know until we are in route where we are going. It may be a small unknown town in Texas, a famous landmark in California, or it may just be...in your back yard." He says dramatically.
"You're right, I didn't mean any disrespect. I'm just...uh...impressed." She says trying to sound sincere.
"I understand." He turns back to Dante. "So Agent Rice, what are we dealing with?"
"We don't know. That's why we called you."
"Well, I guess I better start by examining the patient."
"The victims are on a boat just outside the harbor. They are suspected terrorists and we don't have the vessel secured yet. We can get you out near it and you can get a closer look at what symptoms they have. That's the best we can do for now. We'll have the coast guard get you in radio contact with them as soon as we get on the boat."
"That's a start, but I'm afraid I will need to be hands on, to effectively eradicate this danger."
Rice studies him for a moment. "Right." Cruz chokes back a chuckle and quickly puts her hand up to conceal her smile. Rice ignores her and says to Connor, "Follow me, I'll take you to the boat."
Connor turns and says to the couple that followed him from the helicopter, "Lets go team. We have lives to save." He then follows rice without offering to carry anything for his 'team'.
A quick chuckle squeezes out of Cruz, and she turns her head and fakes a cough into her hand. The whole time he was talking, Cruz was having a hard time listening to him. She kept staring at his short, super blonde hair that doesn't seem to match his complexion. He has very blue eyes that most women may find attractive, but Cruz finds it unnatural. There is something about his looks that just don't seem right but she can't quite put her finger on it. He reminds her of a life size version of an action figure doll.
soon
They are speeding out of the harbor and the coast guard tells them that they have been watching the boat and there has been almost no movement inside. Everyone is either bedridden or dead. Even the man who talked on the radio moved lethargically as though he were very ill.
Dr. Connor is talking with one of the crew from the terrorist's boat. The sick man sounds scared and desperate. Connor explains who he is and why he is there. He tells him that no hospital in the country can help them, only he and his team can treat them for a rare and deadly disease. He wants to come aboard and try.
The man says that four of them have died already. Only three of them are still alive and they are all afraid. He wants help but he wants no police, only the doctor can come aboard. Connor argues that he needs his medical team to come with him. He promises there will be no police, just three doctors.
The man finally agrees to let the doctor and one helper come aboard. If anyone else tries to board they will be shot. As soon as Connor hangs up, agent Rice gets excited. "Great job doctor. I'll take it from here."
"What do you mean? I plan to go aboard and treat those men."
"And you will, as soon as I get them contained."
"Rice, I need to start diagnosing this disease right away. There is no time to waste. And I can't afford to have those men die before I can treat them."
"Connor, those men are terrorists, it really don't matter to me if they live or die."
"Well it matters to me. I need to use those men to figure out a treatment for this disease. Knowing what strain it is may not be enough. I need to see how different treatments react on it. I need them alive to do that. I can't risk the possibility of you killing those men before I can get my work done. And besides, I gave them my word."
"I am not going to let you board that boat until those men are in custody."
"And I have full authority on how we are going to handle this crisis. This situation has the potential of wiping out the whole east coast and possibly most of the eastern United States. Do you really want to be known as the man who could have prevented that...but didn't?"
Cruz pulls Dante aside. "You're not really going to let that guy go in there alone."
"I have no choice."
Soon doctor Connor and doctor Miles McCabe are wearing biohazard suits and have just boarded the terrorists boat. He calls out to the sick men that he has arrived to help them and they have no reason to be afraid. A weak voice calls out that they are in the cabin.
He opens the door and looks around. The man who spoke to him is sitting slouched in the drivers seat of the boat. His face and hair is soaked with sweat and his arm is laying limp over the steering wheel and he is holding a gun but it appears he doesn't have the strength to raise it or even pull the trigger. Another man is laying on his side on the floor next to the door and he appears to be dead. There are two men slouched down on one couch and they look to be just barely alive. There are three bodies on the opposite couch and they all appear to be dead.
"You are really a doctor?" The driver asks.
"Yes I am."
"And do you carry a weapon?"
"No, I carry only my medical equipment."
"You are the best doctor?"
"Yes. I am the best disease specialist in the country. If I can't save you...no one can."
"That's what I wanted to hear."
Suddenly the door slams closed behind them and all of the men leap to their feet and grab both doctors. Using a knife, they tear the protective suits away and the man in the drivers seat plunges a syringe into Connors arm. Another man injects doctor McCabe.
"Now there will be no one to stop the plague we have brought. Your people are doomed."