Hatcher shrugged. “Probably. If I could know what to expect, but I don’t.”
“You can’t prepare for every contingency. It’s just not possible. We don’t have the resources.”
Hatcher studied him closely. “Meaning?”
“Meaning, if there was an air attack…there ain’t shit we could do to fend off one of those.” Hatcher blanched at the thought. “Now, if a different group of marauders came knocking, we might be able to fight them off. For a while anyway.”
“Depends on their numbers,” Hatcher nearly whispered.
“The Zulus are about starved out, from what I’m hearing. The few that remain aren’t smart enough to get past the defenses that Stanton has in place. That is, if his homemade mortars are still active.” He looked to Hatcher for verification.
“They are.”
Coop nodded. “Then I don’t think there’s much else you can do.” He leaned back in the bed and slid his hands under his pillow, bracing his neck. “Trust that your people will do their jobs.”
Hatcher sighed heavily and hung his head. “It’s tough, ya know. Everybody looking to me for the answers and…”
“And you feel that you have to be ready for whatever happens.” Coop shook his head. “You’ve put together a good group of people. Everybody pulls their weight…well, except me.” He winked at him playfully. “But we have food, water, power, flushing shitters…what more could anybody ask for?”
Hatcher groaned as he came to his feet. “Peace of mind?”
Kevin slipped out of his room and made his way down the short hallway to the laboratory. He kept the main lights off as he sat in the dimly lit room and tried to think of how he should rid himself of the body in his quarters.
“Maybe I can go back after my shift and be surprised that there’s a dead body in my shower?” He fought the urge to hit something. “What if somebody saw us leave the mess decks together?”
He came up from the rollaway stool and paced the small room. “Maybe I could work my way topside and dump him?” He sighed heavily and pressed his forehead to the cold stainless steel bench top. “Too many guards on the upper deck.”
He turned and slid to the floor, his brain racing as hundreds of thoughts formed and dissipated. He clenched his jaw and squeezed his fists together tightly, fighting the urge to pound the flooring.
His head popped up and he blinked rapidly in the low light. “I could just slip him into the hallway outside my room. Maybe wet the floor so they’ll think he slipped?”
He slowly began to smile. “Yeah. And I either didn’t hear a thing or I was here in the lab or—” His thoughts were cut short by loud noise in the hallway.
The door to the lab flew open and the lights came on, temporarily blinding him.
“Get your ass in there and keep quiet. The skipper wants to have a word with you.” Equipment clanged to the floor and Kevin shot to his feet.
“What the hell is…” He stood open mouthed, staring at a rather rough looking Dr. Broussard. “Andre?”
The older researcher turned and gave him a tight lipped smile, the cut above his eyebrow caked with dry blood. “Bonjour, Dr. McAlester.”
“You try to leave this lab before the skipper gets here and the armed guards outside the door won’t hesitate to tune you up.”
“What is the meaning of this?” Kevin squared his shoulders. “You do realize that this man may have single handedly saved the human race?”
The soldier leaned close to Kevin and sneered. “I don’t give two shits if the Frog walked on the moon, he went AWOL.”
Kevin gave him a sardonic smile. “Well, that’s impossible since he’d have to be a soldier to go AWOL and last I heard, he’s a foreign national.”
The soldier cocked his head to the side and clenched his jaw tightly. “You really think there’s any ‘laws’ left, Doctor?” He stepped closer and poked at Kevin’s chest. “The only law around here is the lawful orders given by the skipper and he said to bring the Frog back.” The soldier sucked at his teeth and gave him a derisive snort. “Best watch yourself or I’ll have the guards come in and tune you up as well.”
Kevin looked down at the shorter man and gave him a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I’d like to see them try.”
“That’s enough!”
All eyes turned to the man walking into the lab and the soldier snapped to attention. “Attention on deck.”
“At ease.” The skipper stepped around him and reached out to grip Dr. Broussard’s chin. He tilted the man’s head to the side and groaned at the gash over his eye. “Who did this?”
Dr. Broussard raised a brow at him. “Three guesses.”
“No idea, sir!” the soldier barked. “He was in this condition when we found him.”
Broussard snorted and sat down heavily on the rollaway stool. “One of your hounds tackled me to the ground and another stood on the back of my head while they handcuffed me.” He met the captain’s gaze. “Sorry, but I couldn’t see the name tag on his shirt.”
The captain squared his shoulders then turned and faced the Marine behind him. He whispered something in the man’s ear and both researchers watched the soldier’s face drop. He swallowed hard then marched out of the lab.
The captain turned back to the researchers and took a relaxed pose. “Apologies, Dr. Broussard. Apparently somewhere along the chain of command wires got crossed.” He glanced around the room. “And Dr. Chaplain?”
Broussard gave him a deadpanned look. “Your soldiers refused to bring her back.”
The captain seemed genuinely surprised. “She’s alive?”
“When I last saw her, yes.” Broussard limped toward the sink and peered into the mirror. He reached for a towel and dampened it. “Might I ask under whose authority I was kidnapped and brought back here?”
The captain gave him a surprised look. “Mine.” He stepped behind Dr. Broussard and watched as the man scrubbed
