“Thirteen,” Whiteshead said. “Month shy of fourteen. And number six in the Marine chain of command. Which sort of covers how bad it is, sir. They’re operating off of a civilian boat. No Navy platforms survived.”
“Bloody hell,” Harry said, shaking his head.
“Gunny,” Faith said.
“Ma’am,” Gunny Sands said. “Last of this lift is onboard. They even had them chalked for a 53.”
“Good to hear,” Faith said. “Let’s get clear…Gunny, moment of your time?” she said, as they cleared the bird to let it lift off.
“Ma’am?”
“Could you please handle interacting with the prince?” Faith asked.
“I…can, ma’am,” Gunny Sands said. “But it would normally be the platoon leader’s job.”
“I had to go all Marine or I was going to babble,” Faith said.
“If you would like the recommendation of your gunnery sergeant, ma’am,” Sands said, trying not to smile, “stay all Marine.”
“I wanted to meet him, now I’m trying not to act like a brain-dead cheerleader,” Faith said, grinning tightly. “I don’t do this well. Where’s some infected to shoot?”
“Tomorrow, ma’am,” Gunny Sands said. “All you can wish for, unless I miss my guess.”
“Oorah,” Faith said, walking back over to the two officers. “Thanks for having them chalked up.”
The Gurkha guards were busy getting the rations stored in the White Tower and the Marines were getting names of the evacuees. All was in order so she sort of had to make small talk.
“Not a problem,” Captain Whiteshead said. “We assumed it would be Marines or Navy coming in so it would probably be Super Stallions, according to Captain Wales.”
“So what’s with the Captain Wales, thing?” Faith asked.
“Captain Mountbatten-Windsor sounds sort of pompous, don’t you think?” Harry asked, grinning.
“I dunno,” Faith said. “Is it your name?”
“Yes?” Harry said.
“Then it’s just your name,” Faith said.
“May I inquire why you carry a kukri, Lieutenant?” Captain Whiteshead said to fill in the pause.
“’Cause they’re good for cutting off the hands of infected that grab me,” Faith said. “Good for necks, too. Either direction.”
“Have you had much of an…opportunity…?” Captain Wales asked.
“There’s kind of a video that covers that,” Faith said. “Sir. How many people are you holding back? I’m asking for two reasons. One, is it enough to hold the perimeter, and two, we could use more troops. We sort of shanghaied some Dutch Marines from Statia but there’s a big fucking world to clear.”
“How much of it have you cleared?” Harry asked.
“Ten liners, two super-max, the rest ranging down, one helo carrier, sort-of cleared six towns in the Canary Islands,” Faith said, ticking off her fingers. “Bunch of piddly freighters and oil tankers. One oil platform. Gitmo and three…no, four islands in the Caribbean. St. Barts and Saba are only half-ass cleared. Anguilla and Statia are sort of chartreuse, maybe lime green. Still some betas running around but all the alphas are seagull bait.”
“And how much of that have you been involved in, Lieutenant?” a new officer asked. He had a thick accent and was clearly a Gurkha.
“Captain Dattahadur Thapa, Lieutenant Faith Smith,” Captain Whiteshead said.
“Sir,” Faith said, nodding. “And pretty much all of it, sir. I’ve been clearing in the Atlantic since before we hooked up with the Navy, sir. Over eight thousand hours combat time in the last nine months. Starting in New York, sir. Like I said to these gentlemen, there’s a video. So, again, how many troops are we getting? ’Cause we’re really bleeding for troops.”
“Seventy-two,” Captain Thapa replied. “We’re leaving twenty-six including myself and the chief warder. Will that do?”
“It’ll help,” Faith said, making another note. “Hell, we’ll be outnumbered. As soon as we get them back in shape. And retrain them on clearance.”
“Retrain Gurkhas, Lieutenant?” Captain Whiteshead said, smiling in amusement.
“Fighting infected ain’t the same as fighting people, Captain,” Faith said, looking him in the eye. “If you use the techniques you use fighting people, you get in the scrum. Which is fun, don’t get me wrong; bashing heads with a Halligan tool and chopping necks is what makes the job worth doing. But it ain’t getting the mission done. So, yes, sir, retrain Gurkhas, sir. Just like I had to retrain an SF sergeant and all my Marines, sir. Although at least Gurkhas know how to use a knife when they get in the scrum, sir. Which is when you really need a kukri. Nothing better for cutting off hands. Except a machete, maybe.”
“I…see,” Whiteshead said.
“May I inquire what the badge is, Lieutenant?” Thapa said after a moment.
“Master Boarder Badge, sir,” Faith said. “Struck post-Plague. Nine million feet of belowdecks cleared of infected, sir.”
“Nine million?” Harry said.
“Estimated, sir,” Faith said. “I got it after only two super-max cruise ships, the Iwo and a couple of piddly ones. I’m not sure it was well thought out, sir. Stand by…” She held her earbud and nodded. “Roger. Understood. Bird’s on its way back.”
“Where is the ship?” Captain Whiteshead asked.
“Mouth of the river, sir,” Faith said, thumbing over her shoulder. “It’s nothing but wrecks from one end to the other, sir. Couldn’t safely get any closer. We talked about doing a water insertion but we had the helo so…”
“Even getting through to the Traitors’ Gate would be tough,” Harry said.
“I have, trust me, done crazier shit, sir,” Faith said. “But we had the helo so we took the easy way. I’ve got to do a rope insertion tomorrow and I’m still arguing for fighting our way in on foot. Do not like rope insertions. Stand by, please, sirs. Gunny! Bird’s on the way back! Chalk ’em up!”
“Aye, aye, ma’am,” Gunnery Sergeant Sands yelled.
“You guys okay for ammo?” Faith asked. “We’ve got a bird coming back after this and we use Barbie ammo if you need some.”
“Barbie ammo?” Captain Whiteshead said, confused.
“Sorry, sir,” Faith said, tapping her M4. “Five-five-six. Also seven-six-two. Barbie ammo for five-five-six ’cause it’s a Barbie gun,” she said, tapping the weapon again. “And it don’t kill infected for shit. I’m carrying my Saiga tomorrow. Stand by… Kodiak, Shewolf, over… Need the ammo drop… Roger… GUNNY!”
“Ma’am?”
“Ammo drop coming in on this bird! Get some bodies!”
“Aye, aye, ma’am!”
“Figures the colonel would anticipate me,” Faith said.
“Can you cover some of the conditions outside, Lieutenant?” Harry asked. “Do you know…anything about the rest of the Royal Family?”
“We have a pretty good report, fairly confirmed, that your grandmother passed away, sir,” Faith said gently. “Pneumonia from a non H7 influenza. I’m sorry for your loss never cuts it, but…sorry for your loss.”
“I see,” Harry said, shaking his head.
“Other than that,” Faith said, shrugging. “We’ve got about four thousand or so that we’ve picked up one place or another. Started with small boats and life rafts, then liners and small towns. If we can get the vaccine produced we can vaccinate the sub crews and that’ll be another four thousand or so. We just…find people. And get the ones that want to help helping. We sort of dumped most of the people we found in the Caribbean on Statia. Most. Oh, you may know some princess named…Shit…” She stopped and pawed through her notebook. “I just call her Rapunzel…long story…Julianna Gustavason?”