ARISEN, Book Twelve - Carnage by Michael Stephen Fuchs Read Free Book Online Page A

Park and Sarah looked at him.
    “Go where?” Sarah asked. “Aren’t we trapped in here?”
    “There’s always a way out,” Lovell said. “And if this ship falls… he can’t be on it.” He unclipped his rifle and laid it on a lab bench. “Come on. Show me what you need, and I’ll help you gather it up.”
    Sarah moved to assist, but as she did so, her pocket rang, to her considerable surprise. It was the satphone Handon had given her. She got it out, found the answer button, and took the call, as she watched the other three moving through the lab at high speed.
    “Go for Cameron. Handon? Oh, my God—”
    But before she could say or hear more, they all heard the sound of heavy objects crashing to the deck, urgent shouting in two languages, and then rapid firing, all coming from outside in the hospital. And they all pretty much knew what that was.
    Spetsnaz fighting their way in through the barricade.

Last Man Standing
    JFK – 02 Deck
    Browning was one of the few NSF personnel still left alive from the very beginning, and so now one of the most experienced. He was also, in addition to being a crack shot, one of the steadiest men in the unit. He wasn’t a born leader, but Derwin had no choice but to work with what he had. Particularly since what he had was being reduced out from under him in real time.
    So it was that Browning now led a four-man NSF team toward the hospital, with orders to link up with Sarah Cameron and help protect Dr. Park – “no matter what.” Browning didn’t know that Derwin was using Wesley’s exact words. But it didn’t matter. He understood the importance of the assignment, and was determined to complete it.
    He moved forward with his three junior shore patrolmen behind – the old salty dog Rob Callum, and the young kids Dooley and Kate, all of whom had very recently been rated as Storekeepers (Third Class in the case of the younger two). All three had been drafted into NSF after Wesley saw them perform well in the Captain’s In Extremis Force, clearing the flight deck in the Battle of the JFK .
    Nonetheless, Browning knew it was basically him and three uniform-fillers. But they were his people now, and he had to lead them, and just trust they could do their jobs. All had been getting trained by Derwin and his cadre, put through local versions of the Security Reaction Force — Basic (SRF-B) course. But they were less than a week into it. And Kate, for one, looked like her helmet was two sizes too big and might swallow her, and with her wide eyes and youthful features, she also genuinely looked to Browning like she was about fourteen years old. Like she was playing dress-up.
    The four of them moved forward across 02 Deck, rifles up, expecting to get jumped at any second. Browning saw there was a lot of expended brass on the deck crunching beneath their boots. But whatever had gone down here seemed to be over. For now.
    But then as they approached the final turn to the passageway the hospital was on, all four froze at the sound of muted explosions ahead, and just out of sight. Following Browning’s lead, the other three pressed themselves up against the bulkheads and crouched down.
    Thinking fast, Browning considered that this wasn’t the first explosion they’d heard down here. But it was the closest. And it also sounded like it came from exactly where they were going – the damned hospital. As he thought through this, he realized what it had to be.
    And what they had to do in response.
    Crouching and waiting was exactly the wrong reaction. They had to go – now! “Come on!” he shouted, rising and taking off, and throwing stealth to the wind. “Follow me!”
    They did. But into what, they dared not imagine.
    * * *
    The Spetsnaz besiegers came harder, faster, and much sooner than either Walker or Patrick had imagined they would. The Marine probably should have known. If you have to assault a fixed position, the last thing you want to do is give the defenders time to