Indestructible: V Plague Book 7 by Dirk Patton Read Free Book Online Page B

decanter of the same drink
sat on a silver tray that rested on a table that separated the two chairs.
    “Good evening, Colonel.  Drink?”  He held up the glass, his
tone belying the gravity of the moment. 
    Colonel Crawford holstered his weapon and moved slowly into
the room, taking a seat.  Triplett held up the decanter and when Crawford
nodded he poured a healthy slug into the waiting glass.  The Colonel picked it
up, his eyes never leaving the superior officer.
    “To the United States of America,” The General leaned
forward and held his glass out towards the Colonel.  Crawford picked up his
drink, clinked it against the other man’s glass and they drank together.
    “You know why I’m here, sir.”  Crawford said, placing his
glass back on the silver tray with most of the bourbon still in it.
    “How many dead outside?”  Triplett asked as if Crawford
hadn’t spoken.
    “I’m not sure.  Several of mine and several of yours.  One
is too many.  This didn’t need to happen this way.”
    “I’m not the one in the room committing treason, Colonel.” 
The General’s eyes flashed.
    “No, sir.  You’re not, and neither am I.  The only person
guilty of that is President Clark.  I admire and respect your conviction to
your oath, but the office that you swore to defend has been corrupted.  That
only leaves our oath to defend the Constitution, and I’m truly sorry you don’t
see it that way.”  Crawford’s words were respectful, but his voice was like
cold iron.
    The General sat quietly, puffing on a cigar that he finally
placed in a gleaming crystal ashtray.  Downing the remainder of his drink he gently
set it next to Crawford’s glass.
    “Are you here to kill me, Colonel?”  He met Crawford’s eyes,
his gaze steady.
    “No, sir.  I’m not.  You and your wife are restricted to
your quarters.  My men will search the house and remove any weapons and means
of communication, then you will not be troubled further unless you try to
leave.  You will not be allowed any visitors and my men will be outside and not
intrude on your privacy.  If you need anything, just ask, and if we can
accommodate you we will.”  Crawford said, noting the shadow at the door as the
General’s wife listened in from the hallway.
    Crawford had left, placing a Lieutenant in charge of
guarding the General.  The next several hours had been tense as word spread
across the large Air Force base of the arrest and detention of their commanding
officer by the Army.  The Colonel had spent the remainder of the night speaking
personally with every Air Force officer over the rank of Lieutenant, explaining
the situation and even playing the recording of President Clark talking to the
Russian President.
    Three officers who were loyal to General Triplett refused to
accept the circumstances and follow Colonel Crawford’s orders.  They were also
placed under house arrest.  The rest were aghast when they heard their President
negotiating for her new home in Russia in exchange for ordering the US Military
to stand down, and pledged their support.  A couple of them were too quick to
agree to take orders from Crawford and the Colonel singled them out for Captain
Blanchard to keep an eye on.
    “Don’t suppose there’s any word from our wayward Major,”
Crawford asked.
    “No, sir.”  Blanchard responded.  “I had the satellite feed
streaming to storage and am waiting for the techs to get me a working
computer.  The servers are heavily EMP shielded, so I should be able to access
the files and see where he was when the pulse burned out our birds.”
    “When will the drones be on target?”  Crawford was referring
to four Predator drones that had been launched to check on the movement of the
massive herds that had been approaching Tinker.  Without satellite coverage
they were scrambling to get surveillance flights in the air to find out if the
EMP had shut down the Russian transmission.
    “Within the hour, sir.  I’ll