To Sail a Darkling Sea

right now.”

“Moving out,” Sophia said.

* * *

“Oh, no,” Faith said. “No, no, no, no… ”

The Tenerife harbor was fairly large for such a small city. And the south harbor had had several large ships tied alongside. Those ships had blocked a full view of the north harbor. Which had a cruise ship terminal. And three cruise ships tied up alongside, one of them a “supermax” like the Voyage Under Stars. One of the others was about the size of the Boadicea and the other somewhere in between. They were all big.

“There’s no way they’d expect us to clear all those,” Januscheitis said.

“Bet you a dollar,” Faith said, picking up the radio. “DivOne, Ground Clearance Officer.”

“Shewolf,” Chen said, cautiously. “What do you think?”

“First, we’ll need to somehow block the pier,” Faith said. “We’re going to head into the harbor and examine that. Then we’ll determine the… Break… Need a word. Not possibility. Think it’s got a z in it.”

“Feasibility?” Sophia said, rolling her eyes.

“Once we’ve looked at blocking the pier from access by the infected, we’ll determine the feasibility of doing an entry and clearance. But this is an all-hands evolution. Over.”

“Roger. I’m on the horn with Squadron on that subject. They were aware of these ships and were discussing it. What about moving the mechanicals over? Over.”

“Stand by,” Faith said, thinking. “My first response to that is they’ll draw too many infected. I think we might be able to do this sort of on the quiet. Maybe.”

“I’d agree, ma’am,” Januscheitis said.

“Negative on the mechanicals, Division. They’ll tend to draw too many infected. Keep them in the south harbor is my recommendation. Possibly they’ll act as a… distraction, keep some of the city infected off us. This is something that we really should bring Squadron or Marine Higher in on, but that’s my recommendation. Over.”

“Roger, stand by… Switch to twenty-three at this time, over.”

“Switching,” Faith said.

“Faith, Da. How bad in your opinion?”

“We haven’t gotten close enough to do any serious survey,” Faith said.

“The Boise says they don’t see any survivors in the cabins.”

“No way they’d make it this long,” Faith said. “If they took the way the Boadicea did it, there could be a fair number. But I’d bet on another Voyage situation. Hopefully, with fewer infected. They’re running out of any source of hydration at this point. It won’t be as bad, but it’ll be bad. And we’ll mostly be using Barbie ammo. We’re really going to need the Boadicea for this one. Anchor it mid-harbor if we can, shuttle survivors over. And we’ll need… stand by.”

She pulled out a pocket calculator and started figuring numbers.

“Based on my estimate of what we used on the Voyage versus what we used on the Boadicea, we’ll need at least a hundred thousand rounds of Barbie ammo or twenty thousand rounds of shotgun if we all had Saigas. We’re also going to have to block the pier from infiltration by the infecteds. We’re working on that at this end. But you might as well load up the Tan with ammo and bring it over. Oh, and we could use a few more Marines and some more Barbie barrels cause this is going to wear our guns out, some of those H amp;K Barbie guns, and well, help, over.”

* * *

“Barbie ammo?” Captain Milo Wilkes said.

The Marine helo pilot, the only pilot they’d found so far, had been plucked from a lifeboat more or less stationary where it had been dropped in the Sargasso Sea. There had been several lifeboats found in the area by a passing boat and seven more Marines as well as twenty Navy survivors had been found.

“Anything 5.56, sir,” Gunny Sands whispered. “The lieutenant is no great fan of the M4 or 5.56.”

“I see,” Wilkes said, nodding. He’d been shocked to find that a thirteen-year-old had been commissioned a Marine lieutenant and even more shocked that the Gunny seemed to think it not just a good idea but a great one.

He’d seen the video. He understood she was bad-ass for a thirteen-year-old girl. But there was more to being a Marine officer than being a bad-ass. Admittedly, it was sort of the cornerstone but…

“And my Marines want to know where we’re going to hold the Marine Corps Ball, Da. I think these are going to be a little too messed up. I’m recommending the main saloon on the Alpha. Might be able to use the Boadicea. It’s not too bad. Might be a bit smelly, still, but we’re Marines. We can take it.”

“I think that’s a discussion for later, Lieutenant,” Captain Smith said, grinning tightly.

“Better put it on the agenda, Squadron. I never got to go to prom. I’m not missing my first Marine Corps Ball. I’ll hold it on this supermax if I have to. Invite a few infected, have a few laughs. Roger, we can block this pier with two or three containers. There’s some sort of fenced area but no gate. Why have a fence with no gate? Oh, it’s to keep people from falling in the water… There’s limited infected presence on the pier at this time. We’re just going to do a hard entry off the Senorita and recon the embarkation ports.”

“Is that wise, Lieutenant?” Captain Smith said.

“When I said ‘light’ I meant no more than ten in view on a mile-long pier, Squadron. I’ve no interest in dropping in the dunny on this. We just need to see if the embarkation ports are open. Want Senorita to keep the channel open?”

“Roger,” Steve said, shrugging.

“Sir… ” Captain Wilkes said. “If I may recommend against this? I mean, is there any real need? Why not wait until… ”

“Older and wiser heads arrive, Captain?” the Commodore said. “Because our enemy in this, always, is time, Captain. Ask me for anything but time. And if Faith says she can recon the pier then she can recon the pier.” He keyed the radio. “DivOne, Squadron.”

“Squadron, DivOne.”

“What is the infected level on the cruise terminal, over?”

“Light. Very light. Or I’d tell Shewolf no effing way. We also are standing by for fire support, over.”

“Roger, DivOne. We’ll monitor. Keep us apprised if there is anything we need to know. Be advised, we’re picking up all our toys and heading your way at this time. We’re going to leave the Pit Stop to load ammo and additional materials. The rest of us are already on the way.”

“Roger, Squadron, good to hear. This is… How did you clear one of these with four people, Squadron?”

“One compartment at a time, Division, one compartment at a time. Squadron to monitor. Okay, Gunny, who plans the Marine Corps Ball?”

“Seriously, sir?” Captain Wilkes said. “Is that really important right now?”

“We are underway, Captain,” Steve said, mildly. “All critical decisions have been made. Gunnery Sergeant? Or should I refer it to the captain?”

“The plans were already in place, sir,” Gunny Sands said. “I’d already scheduled the main saloon in the Alpha for the evening, sir. Dunnage, including dress uniform, of all surviving Marines is in storage. The only person who doesn’t have appropriate uniform and accoutrements is Miss… Lieutenant Smith and I was going to bring it up with her when I had a moment, sir. All under control, sir.”

“We’ll probably be clearing on the 10th,” Captain Wilkes said. “I believe you said ‘ask me for anything but time,’ Captain.”