Chapter 37
"Larrin, you have to eat or use the bathroom at some point." Wolf said through the door as it was mid morning and he hadn't seen a sign of his sister except for when he'd ducked his head last night. She'd been asleep so he'd left her to rest and bunked down on the floor for the night given the lounge was too small for him. It hadn't been comfortable but he'd slept in worse places and there was no way he was going to use Garnett's bed.
"I'm not hungry." Larrin said through the door. Wolf looked to see Cruz and Miller pretending to be busy in the kitchen even though they were eavesdropping on conversation as this wasn't the first time he'd try to draw Larrin out of her room.
"That would be a first." Wolf said to her.
"Just go away." she huffed at him.
"What are we teenagers again? Open the door and talk to me." He told her.
"I'd rather not." Larrin replied, Wolf looked at the door and sized it up wondering if it had a lock and gaging how angry Garnett would be at him if he kicked it in. But before he decided to kick it in he'd try turning the handle.
"I'm coming in." Wolf told her.
"I'm naked." Larrin warned him.
"Yeah right, I'll take my chances." Wolf said, he turned the door handle and was grateful to it unlocked he opened the door to find Larrin still in bed. She luckily for his peace of mind was not undressed as he didn't need to see that. "Not naked." Wolf observed as Larrin was clothed in a yellow tshirt with 'Navy' written on it.
"You didn't bring any food." Larrin observed as he was indeed empty handed.
"You know where the kitchen is and you got legs, use them." He told her with a mocking smile as he moved to the bed and sat down on the edge and looked at her. "You looked wrecked." he told her as he took stock of her injuries; the bruises and the arm cast. He wanted to track down Julian and squeeze the life out of the man for thinking he could get away with this.
"I'm not talking about it." She said as she rolled over to put her back to him, basically shutting him out.
"I know enough. I know that this guy Julian is stalking you and he wants to take you to wherever and hunt you down like an animal. I take it the four guys you are accused of murdering are his friends. I know that Dad trained us to go on the offensive when attacked or being chased instead of running for the hills and hope for help."
"I met him in Colorado, he seemed normal until he was not. Things went bad and we parted ways for good or so I thought. Now he's back, so please just drop it." Larrin told him with a sigh.
"I can't given he's coming after you and now he knows where you are. He's not going to stop." Wolf told her.
"I know." Larrin told him.
"What is your plan?" Wolf asked her as he knew
"Well, my plan was to run but your Captain thinks it's best if I wait. So I'm waiting." Larrin huffed.
"I think we all need to get some sleep and come back to this in a couple hours." Mike said to Tom as they'd pulled an all nighter and right now he knew he could use the shut eye before everything hit the fan.
"Sir, we have someone hailing us on that frequency you gave me." Mason said from his station in the Command centre.
"They say who they are?" Tom asked him.
"It's sounds a lot like Dr Scott." Mason said with frown.
"Can you trace the radio signal?" Tom asked Val.
"We can try." Val told him. Tom motioned for Mason to put the sound through the loud speakers in the room as he walked over to his station and picked up the radio receiver.
"Dr Scott?" Tom asked, static crackled over the line.
"Captain, I'm to tell you that you have less than 48 hours to trade Larrin Taylor for my life." Rachel slurred over the radio. she sounded drunk or more likely heavily drugged. Mike and Tom exchanged looks of concern as it might be that she was suffering from a concussion or any other injury that could make her slur.
"Dr Scott, I'd like to speak to Julian Heldt." Tom told her.
"He doesn't want to speak to you directly." Rachel's voice said over speakers. Those in the room had been told Rachel was alive but he had a feeling they hadn't believed him until this moment.
"Are you ok?" He asked her.
"Laid up in hospital, drugs-" The line went quiet with static and Rachel's voice was replaced by a man's.
"Captain Chandler, I wouldn't want you asking her any questions that might endanger her life and spoil the deal." the man spoke with a smooth confidence.
"Julian Heldt, I presume." Tom said.
"Yes, I have to admit I'd prefer to use Dr Scott as a voice box as her voice was just made for radio." He drawled in appreciation.
"You know I won't trade Larrin for Dr Scott." Tom told him
"But you'll have to because this is how the new world operates and frankly you'll want to remove dear Rachel from me before I get any ideas."
"If you-"
"Yes, save your threats and listen. This is how things will proceed. On the morning, two days from now we'll meet at my favoured location." the man rattled off GPS coordinates before he continued. "We will trade the women. You get your precious doctor and I; my little rabbit. Then you can go back to pretending you can save the world and I'll continue as I have. There's no negotiations, no stalling because if you're not on time I will kill Dr Scott and leave her body in pieces for the buzzards." he promised them, the line played static and Tom knew the man was finished so he didn't bother trying to argue with him.
Tom looked to Mason and Val. Both shook their head which meant they weren't able to trace the source. Tom pursed his lips and placed the radio receiver carefully onto the table even though he really wanted to throw it at the wall.
An hour later,
"I'm not letting you trade my sister to that bastard for Dr Scott." Wolf told them flat out as he and Larrin stood in Michener's plush office listening to Tom lay out his plan. He couldn't believe after everything they'd gone through together. The sacrifices and hard work he'd given to the Nathan James their plan was to toss Larrin over to Julian for Dr Scott.
"You don't really get a say in this." Michener told him, Tom placed a hand on Wolf's shoulder and shook his head as if to say 'It's not worth it'.
"Sir-" Tom started to say as he could feel the situation about to explode as he hadn't taken into account that Wolf would be taking this more personally. He understood why but he'd hope the man would see the logic behind the plan and know they weren't abandoning Larrin. They were just trying to make the most of the exchange. Larrin while was injured they felt between the two Larrin had a higher chance of survival in the exchange than leaving them as they were.
"No, let me make this clear to you all. We don't have many scientists left in this world especially one with Dr Scott's experience and knowledge. She created the cure that saved many people. Her recovery is paramount. So unless you can come up with a plan where both can be saved at the same time then let's hear it. For now we give him what he wants." Michener told them in a firm tone that said he wasn't going to change his mind.
"So you'd throw my sister into the wilds with monsters." Wolf said in disgust.
"Your sister isn't exactly some innocent simpering miss. While I appreciate she has intelligence; she has nothing on what Dr Scott has. We need Dr Scott. The Captain's plans have flaws but it seems to me to be the best move." Michener told Wolf, not even ruffled by the man.
"I doubt you'd feel the same if it you that we were tossing out there." Wolf argued.
"If I knew it would help. I'd volunteer." Michener told him, but his eyes betrayed him as he was scared of leaving the safety of St Louis and his protective detail.
"Which is why I'll do it." Larrin said speaking for this first time. The men all looked at her and saw how completely resigned she was. There were no tears, no false bravado, no begging.
"Larrin." Wolf started but she threw him a look that made him stop.
"It's my unfinished business that is putting a lot of people's lives at risk. The plan while slight harebrained seems like the best way to tackle the scavenger issue. You should radio Julian and move up the exchange by a day. It'll throw him and frankly I can injure him without bringing snipers into the mix. If you attack him, he'll retaliate. With me, he'll be amused." Larrin said to them, she didn't want to go back to Julian. She didn't want to do anything but curl up into a ball and wait for it all the pass but it wasn't going to. Michener had it right, she was dispensable while Rachel wasn't.
"I'm not allowing this." Wolf told Tom and Michener.
"You're not my father, I'm adult and the President's right. Dr Scott is more vital moving forward than I am." Larrin told Wolf, she looked to Tom. "Tell me where to go to get the tracker put in my arm. So we can get this over with." She said in a resigned manner.
"Now, we're looking for volunteers to act as sport." Mike finished, he'd called in majority of the crew that fit the archetypes that the scavengers liked including those who had field experience to help support the operators. He looked at the 40 men and women in the room. They all looked a mixture of shocked, angry and disgusted. He didn't blame them as he felt the same way as he explained the extent of how much their country had changed and the situation of civilians being tossed into the wilds and they had a plan to take the scavengers out. He hadn't gone into details as he was letting Lt Commander Burk go into that as he was up to speed so he could answer any questions. He watched as Cruz raised his hand.
"Yes?" Mike asked.
"I'm volunteering to be sport. Sir." Cruz clarified.
"Ok, anyone else want to raise their hands to be sport do so now." Mike said, he felt a sense of pride and respect as majority of them raised their hands. They didn't need them all only ten but if it worked this time round then they could replicate it in other parts of America. He looked to Lt Commander Burk and he stepped up.
"We're only taking ten this time round. Those ten will have a tracker implanted in their hip. They will be paired with two operators. What we know is that you'll be put into the back of a truck and taken to a location in the black zone. You'll be released and the scavengers will hunt you down. Now our plan is to turn the game on them. The operators will track and rendezvous with you in the field. You'll track and capture your hunter preferably alive so he can be transported back to the prison. We need intel on how many scavengers are out there and where they rest when they aren't terrorizing innocent people. Yes?" Cameron asked as he saw Miller raise his hand.
"Sir, what about the trade?" Miller asked, he wanted to know what was going to happen with Larrin. He knew this wasn't the time to ask but he felt given the Commander told them Dr Scott was actually alive and they were trading for her freedom with Wolf's sister. He felt it was safe to ask. Majority of the crew respected Wolf and Miller couldn't believe they were letting her be exchanged. It didn't feel right to him.
"The trade is going to go as planned. Miss Taylor will go with Julian Heldt the leader. We need to do our part as efficiently as we can. We can't have one scavenger escape knowing what we're doing." Cameron told him.
"Yes, but what's happening to get her out?" Miller asked, he watched as Mike and Cameron exchanged looks for a moment before Mike spoke up.
"Tex and one of the operators will be assigned to follow Larrin and retrieve. We're going on for a 48 hour run on this mission. The intel we can collect will help us retrieve her as we believe she'll be taken to wherever their hideout is which is why it's important we capture them alive." Mike told him.
