“No, sir,” Kuzma asked. “It’s his handle. He’s a former Aussie para or so he says.”
“His daughters, sir,” Kuzma said. “And that’s part of the screwy part. Sir, none of these people really know what they’re doing. I mean, Seawolf is fifteen for God’s sake and she’s up for her own boat. Shewolf is one of the people who cleared the boat. She’s
“Yes, sir,” Kuzma said. “Sir… There really isn’t
“
“Yes, sir,” Kuzma said. “My… I have kids, sir.”
“Yes, sir,” Kuzma said. “He seems like a good guy, sir. But…I mean they really don’t know
* * *
“Wolf.”
“I’m in command of six small boats,” Steve said, calmly. “And a support vessel. In the World War Two British Navy I’d be a Reserve, Hostilities Only, Lieutenant Commander or so. I was given the moniker by my next senior captain and it was voted upon, against my wishes, by the captain’s board. Feel free to call me Mr. Wolf or Captain Wolf. May I have a name?”
“God,” Steve said, his eyes closing. “You’re the NCCC.”
“I was a history teacher,” Steve said. “Including twentieth century. My masters in history was on the defense of Malta during World War Two. I thought
“The subs aren’t infected but they also don’t have vaccine,” Steve said. “I’ve had time to think about this, sir.”
“I’m a naturalized American citizen, sir,” Steve said. “But at this point, I think borders are a bit passe. Be that as it may, I’m an American. Passport and everything. Two children who are quite American.”
“Fought their way out of the last concert in New York,” Steve said. “A tale I’d be more than happy to tell as soon as we can get you out of whatever fortress you’re in.”
“My plan had been to just survive,” Steve said. “Keep hiding. Find a place my family and I could survive. Let someone like, well, you, sir, handle this. But… You save one person and it gets addictive. And this situation… annoys me, sir. I…shortly after we took the
“So, yes, my goal, not plan, goal, is a zombie free world. I’ll start with the U.S. So that wasn’t a joke. Say the goal is to get to the point where a lightly armed convoy can pull up with busses and deliver vaccine to your people and then you can take over and I can go fishing. Don’t ask me what the
“I’ve only got a few boats, sir,” Steve said. “But if I have the CG personnel behind me, officially, it will help. I’ve got one active duty special forces sergeant but I’m going to need more help from surviving military. The sub personnel, especially, as soon as we can produce vaccine. I’m going to need their technical expertise if this is going to work.”
“
“I don’t know,” Steve said. “Can I get a written pardon?”
There was a long pause.
“I was not someone who…acquired the materials,” Steve said, cautiously. “I knew someone who was. And I know someone who was involved in production of vaccine.”
Steve thought about that for a long time.
“Yes.”
“Yes, although absent that pardon you’re going to have to break out thumbscrews to get me to say who. And thumbscrews won’t work.”
“That is better than we could have hoped for,” Dr. Dobson said. He had been brought in on the conversation early on.
“I still don’t think some drug dealer…” Commander Freeman started to say.
“Wolf, despite his grandiose name, does not sound like a drug dealer,” Galloway said, holding up a hand.
* * *
“Wolf.”
“None, essentially,” Steve said, carefully. “They were recruited by a clandestine, but highly professional, lab to assist in the production. They were the primary laboratory technician for the production of the vaccine my family used and currently has. We only have a few remaining doses, which I’m using for clearance personnel since they