are more likely to get blood contamination. It works. None of us have contracted the disease and my daughter, handle Shewolf, contracted the virus after only the primer but survived. It was touch and go but she made it.”
* * *
“Sounds like his wife was the lab-tech,” Brice said, grimacing. “That had to be cold.”
“Can you define ‘highly qualified’?” Dr. Dobson said. “In a way that…”
“Corporate lab,” Dobson said, grimacing. “The FBI was aware they were around. New York, L.A. and San Francisco were particularly rife with them. They produced the vaccine for senior corporate officers and support. But they
* * *
“The problem is, as you probably know, doctor, quality control,” Steve said. “The doctor running the lab did the quality assurance. I was not directly involved. But I understand that getting the strands just right is critical. Not too much radiation, not too little, no contamination. And we sure as hell can’t do it with what we’ve got. We’ll need something resembling a lab and a good x-ray machine for sure. I don’t suppose any of the subs have one?”
* * *
Galloway looked at the Navy liaison who shook his head.
* * *
Steve looked at the deck and wanted to throw the radio as far as he could.
“Stand by, please.”
“
* * *
“Roger,” Bradburn said, looking at his screen. He’d popped the periscope up for the chat. “Transferring…”
* * *
“
“Go ahead.”
“That is a man on the ragged edge,” Brice said, quietly.
“A paladin in hell,” Ellington said.
“Excuse me?” Galloway said. “I understand the words…”
“Oh, my God,” Brice said, shaking her head. “Congratulations. You get the geek win for the
“Some context?” Galloway asked, tightly.
“Colonel?” Brice asked. “Would you care to explain?”
Ellington twitched and looked at her helplessly.
“General?” the NCCC asked.
“It’s from Dungeons and Dragons, sir,” Brice said, smiling tightly.
“Seriously?” Freeman said, snorting. Then he paused. “General, how did you…?”
“Air Force Academy,
“No, ma’am,” the commander said, holding his hand up to his mouth to hide the grin.
“There is a picture in one of the D &D books, sir,” Brice said, turning back to the NCCC. “A knight in armor standing on a precipice wielding a sword against a horde of demons. The caption is ‘A Paladin In Hell.’”
“Thinking about it, that does sound rather apropos of Commodore Wolf,” Galloway said, nodding at Ellington.
“Every material, every person, has a breaking point,” Ellington said, hauntedly. He was staring into the distance. “Fighting the darkness forces one to either be the light or embrace the dark. Every paladin finds his precipice.”
“Colonel?” Brice said, carefully as the silence dragged out. “Marine!”
“Ma’am!” Ellington said, snapping upright.
“Colonel, I’m not sure where you just went,” Brice said. “But we need you present in
“No, ma’am,” the colonel said, sharply. “Present and accounted for, General. My recommendation is a Naval Captaincy, sir.”
“Excuse me?” Galloway said.
“You’re joking, right?” Commander Freeman said, tightly.
“Granting the Commodore a Naval Captaincy would allow him to command military personnel as well as direct civilian technical experts, sir, thereby reducing his overall difficulty load. Furthermore, absent finding and rescuing a higher ranking military officer, which would require in all probability the clearance of a Nimitz class aircraft carrier or better or more likely the clearance of a major ground base, he would outrank any of the current submarine commanders. The Captaincy would be contingent upon allowance of communications by professional officers to assure some semblance of reasonable command responsibilities. Absent that choice, he could outline