“What’s she need?” Forrest said. “Write it all down exactly and I’ll go and get it.”
“What are you talking about?” Michael said. “You can’t go out there.”
“I can do any goddamn thing I want. Make me a list, Sean.”
“Jack, any intravenous antibiotics still out there aren’t likely to be any good by now. They need to be frozen in order to keep long-term, and even in that event they’re generally not kept longer than thirty days.”
“It’s twenty degrees out there,” Forrest said. “The whole world’s a freezer.”
“Jack…” West had known Forrest for a long time, and he knew the man just didn’t have any quit in him. “Even if you find some that are frozen, they may have thawed and refrozen by now. After five months it’s an extremely long shot you’re talking about.”
“Is it impossible, Sean? If I find some that are frozen, will you use them?”
“There would be very little to lose… so, yes, I would.”
Forrest and West went to Launch Control, where Vasquez was watching the monitors, and Forrest called for the rest of his men to join them there. After they gathered, West explained what he thought was wrong with Melissa and why. Forrest then told them that his intention was to go to the hospital in Lincoln to gather the items West needed to save her life.
“The entire run should take me less than twelve hours,” he concluded.
Not surprisingly, Ulrich was the first to speak out against the idea. “I think you need to consider this very seriously, Jack. As emotionally invested as you are—”
“I’m going, Wayne.”
Ulrich looked at the others, who, to his relief, didn’t seem overly keen on the idea of Forrest leaving the flock. “I think this is important enough that we need to take a vote,” he said regretfully. “There are too many other souls down here depending on you.”
Forrest stood looking at him. “You’re actually going to challenge me on this?”
“It’s not a challenge. This is the command structure we all agreed to. And you’re talking about doing exactly what we were all dead set against doing from the beginning.”
“You’re willing to let that girl die just to stand on fucking principle?”
“Oh, come on, Jack! Principle has nothing to do with this. Sean’s not even a hundred percent sure of the diagnosis, for Christ’s sake. And you want to go hunting for drugs that aren’t going to be any good anymore.”
“Then take your goddamn vote!”
“Hey, Jack,” Kane said gently. “We did all agree, man.”
Forrest looked at them, wanting badly to overrule them, but this was no longer the U.S. Army and he was no longer their captain. And he had agreed.
“So vote,” he said again.
“Before we do that,” Kane persisted, “we need to know if you’re gonna honor it. Or if you plan to take off in the middle of the night with our only Humvee.”
Forrest shook a cigarette from its pack and lit it right there in Launch Control, breaking his own rule. “You guys all know I’d never do that.”
“Okay,” Ulrich said. “What do you think, Oscar?”
“I think Wayne’s right,” Vasquez said. “I’m sorry, Jack. We haven’t even had to crack the hatch yet and you’re talking about lowering the lift elevator.”
“You should be more sympathetic than anyone,” Forrest argued, referring to Vasquez’s finite insulin supply.
“That’s not fair!” Ulrich said. “What about you, Linus? What’s your vote?”
“If there was a real chance of saving her, Captain”—for Danzig, old habits died hard—“I’d be with you, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to jeopardize the rest of the group. You’re too important down here.”
“Well, that’s it, then,” Ulrich said. “I’m sorry, Jack.”
“No, that’s not it. I want a show of hands. Who says I stay? Get ’em up!”
Three hands went up, but Kane’s remained in his pockets.
“Marcus?” Ulrich said.
Kane stood for a moment looking at the floor. “I’m going with him,” he said finally.
“What?!”
“This is a one-man mission, Marcus.”
“Either I go, Jack, or you don’t get my vote.” Only a 4 to 1 vote could override one of Forrest’s decisions.
“You’re both out of your goddamn minds!” Ulrich rapped, realizing he’d lost.
“The vote’s three to two,” Forrest said. “I win. I’m going into the bay to prep the Humvee. We’ll take two cases of MREs and plenty of water. Marcus, get us two M-4s, six bandoliers of ammo, and a pair of .45s out of the armory.”
Kane looked at Ulrich and shrugged. “It was a fair vote, Wayne, and the girl deserves a chance. You on board or not?”
“I think it’s a crazy fucking idea, but I don’t have a choice. Know this: if you two die out there, I’m gonna put my prosthetic foot up both your asses!”
“You’re always gonna do something to somebody’s ass when you get pissed,” Forrest said. “Why is that?”
“I had a fucked-up childhood. What’s your excuse?”
An hour later Veronica caught Forrest just as he was about to open the blast door into the cargo bay. “You were going to leave without even telling me?” she asked, very pissed.
“I’d planned on being back before you knew I was gone,” he said with a grin. “Who’s sitting with Melissa?”
“Michael’s with her. Which is where you should be too. She’s only asked for you half a dozen times.”
“Tell her I’m running to the pharmacy.”
“You’re not funny,” she said. “You can’t save her, Jack, but you can at least give her some comfort while she’s still conscious. How am I supposed to tell her that you’ve gone on a goddamn suicide mission?”
“It’s not a suicide mission, for Christ’s sake. You sound like Wayne.”
“Oh, yeah? Then why aren’t you taking Laddie with you?”
The door opened at the other end and Andie came into the tunnel. “Excuse me just a moment,” she said to Veronica, moving past her to kiss Forrest on the cheek. “Be careful please?”
“Of course,” he said with a smile.
Andie touched Veronica on the arm and left them alone.
Forrest waited until the door was sealed, then said, “See? That’s how you’re supposed to send a man off to battle.”
“You know, this is all just one big adventure for you, isn’t it?”
“At least I don’t look at it as one big social experiment. How’s the dichotomy working out for you these days?”
That hurt her feelings, and she turned away so he wouldn’t see the tears forming.
“I honestly don’t know how Monica did this. How many times did you leave her waiting to hear that you’d been killed?”
“Too many. She was even waiting when Daniel was killed. I can’t undo the past, Veronica. And I won’t hide down here and let that girl die when I know she can be saved. Now turn around and give me a kiss so I can go.”
She turned around without opening her eyes, reaching to put her arms around him. She kissed him on the lips and turned away again, going to the door and slipping out of the tunnel, absolutely certain that she had spoken to him for the last time.
People were eating one another out there.
Andie was waiting outside the door for her, and the two of them hugged and went to Launch Control to watch the monitors.
“I’m ready when you are, Marcus,” Kane heard Forrest announce in his earpiece.
“Roger that,” he said. “Opening blast door number two.”