The Pandora Effect Ch. 04

The image had taken its toll on Chief Holliday. "Holy – Mary –mother – of – God."

"Everybody find that fucking canister and let's get the hell off this ship," Adam screamed at his team.

Adam rushed over to Garrett and shook his shoulders. During the short fight, he stood motionless and unable to react. He could hear Adam screaming at him, but could do very little in the way of a response. Even with all the combat training he had, he was now like a rookie after his first kill.

"God damn it Garrett snap out of it," the Navy SEAL screamed.

"Did – did you – what was..."

"Shit! Jake, where would he put the canister for its highest effectiveness?"

"It could be anywhere on this ship Adam. We needed him alive to tell us."

Carl moved forward with his weapon trained on the now torn body of Mansur Alba. "It's not down on the port side Boss. We searched the whole ship on that side and only found bad guys and four zombie looking things."

"Our side is clear too Sir. We took down six tangos and two others. It looked like part of the crew Sir," John said quickly.

"Adam, if it's not below decks then the best place to put it is somewhere it could smash open. My guess is they were planning on ramming the ship into some thing or some place," Garrett said.

"Bob, you and John check the bow area. Carl and V-man do a perimeter search of the side."

The two separate teams moved out of the bridge in search of the deadly virus. When Adam looked back a Garrett, he was staring at Mansur's body with a blank expression. Kevin had warned him back in Predjama that a werewolf's greatest weapon was that of fear. Now he understood why.

"Jake, he's done. Get him back to the stern and wait for the rest of team. We'll find the canister and meet you there."

Jake slowly pulled his director towards the hatch, as Adam turned to look at Kevin. He still had his head bowed and gripping the Desert Eagle. For a moment, Adam felt sorry for his friend. He just couldn't determine if it was that he had to kill another werewolf, or that his closest friends just witnessed what wasn't supposed to be possible.

"Kevin, Kevin they don't..."

"They saw Adam. They all saw him as he truly was and now it's out there."

"Listen Kevin, they don't know about you. We can come up with a story about some kind of experiment Nadia was working..."

"Can you hear yourself Adam? They are going to find out and after that, I might as well find a quiet spot in the woods to live. That's where my kind belongs anyway isn't it? Way back where no one can find me and then it's just a fairy tale again."

Adam walked up slowly. When he was within reach, he backhanded Kevin across his cheek. Kevin was surprised at the action and when he spun his head back around, he glared hard at his Lieutenant. The only thing keeping him from attacking was the fact that it was his best friend standing next to him.

"Yeah, I see that look in your eye Dvorska. Go ahead, change, take me if you think you have the fucking guts."

"If you ever touch..."

"You'll what, be who you are? Now I understand what your father was trying to tell me back when he was alive. You hate being who you are. What I don't understand is why. You have friends and a girl back home that loves you. That's a hell of a lot more than most people have."

"You're a human, you couldn't possibly understand what..."

"Fine I don't. Are you happy now? No one other than a werewolf is going to know that. You see me running away stupid? Right now I need my point man who just happens to be the best fucking Navy SEAL I've ever seen. Are you in or out Petty Officer Dvorska?

"Once this mission is over, I'm out. All I ever wanted to be was normal. Now look what's happened. I've put my friends in danger again because I can't tell them what I truly am. This isn't a gift, it's a curse."

"Fine, now move your ass and find me a canister," Adam said sternly as he exited the bridge.

**********

Wilhelm Bauer slowly opened his eyes as he slumped against the railing. It was hard to breath and he felt a huge amount of pain in his chest. He slowly reached up and placed his hand to the right side of his upper torso. When he felt the dampness, he didn't need any more evidence on what had happened.

Maybe one of the others would have heard the shot. He was due to be relieved shortly by Raul, so he just had to hold on a little longer. He quickly wondered if whoever shot him also took out his relief. With clenched teeth to quiet the scream, he rolled to the side and retrieved his sniper rifle. He knew he had to retake his previous position sitting up just in case intruders were on board. He might be able to get a few shots off if they showed themselves.

His body reacted with even more pain as he pulled himself back up. As tears flowed down his cheeks, he turned his head slowly towards the stern and placed the high-powered rifle in his lap. To stay alert, he thought back to his younger days of stalking large deer in the hills of Germany. "Just stay still and quiet and the deer will come to you. Yes Papa, just like you showed me."

**********

Adam Dawson searched the main deck for any sign of the canister. Every so often, he would look around to check on Kevin, also to see if any more infected people were stumbling about. He was silently cursing himself for getting his team into this horrid mess when Bob's voice cracked over the comm gear.

"L-tee, I think we found it. Come up to the Bullnose."

Adam and Kevin raced forward to the other two SEALs who were looking down over the side. When Adam looked down, he saw a large gray canister dangling below him a few yards below. He moved his assault rifle down and grabbed the thick rope, pulling the deadly virus towards him.

"Jesus Adam, be careful pulling that shit up here. If it breaks open, we're screwed," Bob said in a worried voice.

"It would be helpful Chief if you wouldn't remind me what this is. I'm nervous enough right now being this close to it."

"Sorry Boss, just pretend it's a backpack with our mail in it."

As Adam placed the canister on the deck, he pressed his mike button. "Jake, do you copy?"

"I'm right here Adam. You have some explaining to do when get out of here," Garrett's voice echoed back.

"Nice to see you're back with us Garrett. We have the canister. What do you want me to do with it?"

"All teams, I repeat all teams, rally at the starboard stern for extraction. Garrett out."

The four SEALs looked at each other with confusion. They heard a sense of fear out of Garrett Brown's voice. Suddenly, Adam circled two fingers in the air and then pointed them aft. Bob and John went down the starboard side, covering the area as they went. As Kevin was about to follow, Adam grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Kevin, I'm sorry for what I said in the bridge. You're my best friend and I should have known better. Don't worry about the others, I'll take the heat for the secrecy shit. No one has to know about you. I swear on it."

"Shut up Adam. If you take all that heat, you'll be kicked out of the teams. I couldn't live with that. Besides, your lovely wife would have my ass," Kevin replied with a smile and then headed off after the others.

After everyone was assembled on the stern, Garrett took the canister from Adam. As he inspected the outside for any damage, he stunned the team when he opened the lid. He knew it was a normal reaction as the SEALs all backed away. The only one who remained in position was Jake. Although you could see in his face the displeasure of being as close as he was.

"Garrett, what in God's name are you doing?" Adam asked quickly.

"I'm taking a few vials with us for the lab guys. We have to find a way to stop this thing if we don't find the others. After that, I'm going to drop this shit overboard and let it rest of the bottom of the Med."

"I don't understand. What if they break open down there?"

"It won't matter Adam. It needs air to survive after being released. So if they do, it will be harmless."

Garrett placed two vials in his vest pocket, and then with a twist of his body, heaved the canister out into the night. As he heard the splash in the water, he slumped down on the deck in relief.

"Okay, the canister is now secure. Let's get the hell off this..."

Suddenly, the report of a rifle shattered the night air. Instinctively, all weapons now pointed outward and V-man saw the sniper he thought he put down chamber another round. "Contact, port side superstructure."

With extreme prejudice, all weapons opened up on full auto at the lone sniper. His body thrashed violently as the SEAL team emptied their magazines into his upper torso. When the MP5's were empty, they all ejected the spent mags and slammed fresh ones home quickly.

They scanned the area for any more tangos. Then Adam turned towards the group. His heart sank when he looked down and saw his best friend, Kevin Dvorska, lying face down in a spreading puddle of blood.

"Oh Jesus, no! Man down, Doc, get over here!"

Hospital Corpsman Second Class John Henry Balch rushed to Kevin's side. He saw a small entry wound about halfway up on the left side. As Adam and John turned Kevin over, the SEAL medic saw a large opening near Kevin's heart. He quickly opened his backpack and retrieved a large compression bandage and placed it over the wound.

With bloody fingers, he felt Kevin's carotid artery. His pulse was weak and fading quickly. John muttered to himself, and then carefully inserted his fingers into the opening in Kevin's chest.

"Damn it! Son of bitch hit an artery near the heart," John said quickly.

"What do you need Doc? What can I do to help?" Adam replied in a shaky voice.

"I need on that submarine Sir, like right now, or we're going to lose him. Carl, get those clamps out of my bag, the ones that have a slight curve on the end." As Carl handed the clamps to him, he peered down at the opening.

"I can't see anything. Someone put some light down here."

While Bob held a small flashlight at the opening, John placed a clamp on each side of the shattered artery. After taping them in place, he covered the wound and secured it in place. When he looked up, he saw his Lieutenant flashing his own light towards the water behind them.

USS Tarpon Springs (SSN-745), two miles behind the Naqada.

Commander Michael Reinhardt peered through the night vision capable periscope. He could make out the SEAL team as they returned fire on someone. When he saw everyone load new clips in, he knew that someone just got his ass handed to him.

"Man, you guys don't fuck around when you want someone dead," he muttered softly.

Suddenly a series of flashes came from the stern of the merchant ship. The crew around him could hear their skipper saying something slowly, but it was so low they couldn't make it out. They were startled when he slammed the handles up and turned towards his Executive Officer.

"XO, surface the boat and bring us to within fifty feet of the contact."

"Aye, aye Skipper."

"Sonar, Con. Report all contacts."

"Con, my only contact is tango 137, thirty five hundred yards, bearing 090."

Reinhardt turned towards Master Chief Stewart. "COB, get Doc awake and have him suit up for surgery. I don't know what to tell him to prepare for so just have him standby for the worst."

The Commander rubbed his tired eyes as he thought of what might have gone wrong. "Why can't I ever get the easy missions where I just get to blow shit up?"

**********

"The sub should be surfacing any minute. Doc, Carl, and Bob, you guys get Kevin onboard. Once he's inside, Carl you make a return trip for the rest of us.

Carl picked up Kevin and carefully placed him over his muscular shoulder, then started to climb down the ladder slowly to the awaiting zodiac. John picked up his bag, slung it over his shoulder, and quickly followed down after Carl. He silently wondered if Kevin would even last for the short ride to the sub.

**********

Kristine paced back and forth in the situation room at Langley. She kept turning her head towards the large screen on the wall. She must have asked Jack a hundred times to try to get the satellite image closer on the Naqada. She felt helpless as she watched someone climb down the stern ladder with what appeared to be a body. She couldn't tell if it was Mansur or one of the team members.

"Oh God please let that be Mansur. Please, please, please don't let that be one of mine."