A Glimpse Of Decay (Book 1): Red Storm) by A.J. Santiago Page A

it,” Michael agreed.  “He’s a fanatic.  He would have been a great S.S. trooper, that’s for sure.”
    Irene raised her pinky finger to her mouth and nervously began to nibble at her nail.  “I know there’s more to this than they’re telling us.”
    “Yeah, I just hope they’re not dropping us into some sort of meat grinder.  I really don’t trust that guy.  To be honest with you, I think he has the potential to hurt us if we don’t do as he says.”
    “You really think so?” Irene asked.
    “I know so.  He’s hooked up with the N.S.A.  He’s gotta be.  They have the power to do anything they want in the name of national security.  They could kill us with the snap of a finger.”
    “No wonder the directors at the C.D.C. sugar coated this whole expedition.”  Irene turned her head slightly and spat out a bit of nail.  “It’s the only way they could have sold it to us.
    “Well, we just need to keep our eyes open when we get on the ground.  I just have this bad feeling that there is something else going on here, something else besides the whole ‘chemical accident’ story.”
    “Believe me, I feel the same way,” Irene agreed.  “I think things must be real bad if they have a guy like that calling the shots.”  She thumbed in the direction that Roberts had walked away.
    Michael sighed out loud.  “I knew things were gonna be real bad when they took away our cell phones and searched us back at the Air Force base.  I guess now we know why we can’t even get on the internet.”
    ***
    As Roberts made his way down the stairs and into the cargo hold of the behemoth aircraft, he reached into his cargo pocket and retrieved a rather large looking cell phone.  He pressed a button on the phone and placed it to his ear.  After three rings, a groggy voice answered.
    “Admiral Jenkinson,” Roberts said nervously.  He could tell that he had just awoken the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
    “Go ahead, Conrad.”
    “Sir, we’ve been informed that the Kazakhs have at least six infected subjects at a hospital in Kostanay.  We’ll try to find out as much as we can when we get there, but I would recommend that we have a contingency plan in place to secure several of these infected subjects, especially if the situation deteriorates over there, even if that means flying a mission into Kazakhstan to secure these subjects—by force if necessary.”
    “You do know the seriousness of implementing such a contingency plan should the need arise?” Jenkinson asked.
    “Yes sir, I do.  But, if we do have to go that route, hopefully we can avoid the ‘force’ part of it by simply advising them that we’re better suited and equipped for evaluating, studying and treating this incident.  I’m sure they would be willing to accept any help that we offer.”
    “Okay, I’ll have a transport on station out of Georgia,” Jenkinson said through a yawn.  “I don’t think the Russians plan on invading it again anytime soon.  If we do have to resort to a contingency plan, it’s imperative that you let us know with enough time when and where you want the transport to land in order to secure the subjects.  Also, we’ll have to arrange fighter escort for you once you depart Kazakhstan.  I’m sure the Russians won’t be too thrilled knowing that we have potential evidence showing that they’re still fucking around with bio weapons.  I wouldn’t put it past them to actually try to intercept anything leaving that area.” 
    “I’m sure they would blow us out of the sky if they knew what we were up to.”
    “Just make sure we have no other options left before we put that contingency plan into play.  You’ll be the one making the call on that.  Oh, one more thing.”  Jenkinson paused for a moment and cleared his throat.  “Our civilian doctors…are they onboard with the operation right now?”
    “Well, they’re idealists, that’s for sure.  I’ve filled them in with as