Black Flagged Apex

Chapter 40





7:08 AM

The Jacksons' Residence

Fredericksburg, Virginia



Darryl Jackson leaned his hands against the brown granite kitchen island and stared at the television for a moment before turning to his wife.

"Guess where you're headed today?" she said.

"Princeton."

There was no other choice. He'd let his daughter Liz, convince him that she'd be fine with the water and food he'd brought on his trip. She'd listened to his exhaustive list of do's and don'ts, taking copious notes. Even Karl Berg had slightly eased his fears, stating that Princeton was an unlikely target based on the information he possessed. Darryl had countered with the fact that Mount Arlington hadn't exactly been a high-value target, but Al Qaeda had targeted it nonetheless. Berg told him that Al Qaeda was out of the picture and that the new threat matrix had shifted radically. Strategic targets like Fort Meade were the new focus. When he asked Berg if he would be drinking water from his tap at home tonight, the CIA agent had paused and said, "Nobody should be drinking water from their tap, in my opinion, but as long as she follows the rules, she's not in danger." He reminded Karl that everyone drank water down in Virginia too.

The president's address changed everything. Now, Darryl was less worried about the water and infinitely more concerned about a sudden breakdown of order across the country. Princeton was relatively isolated in the grand scheme of things, but it was damn near impossible to travel there without crossing through some of the most heavily urbanized areas of the country. If her school cancelled finals, he might not be able to reach her if the situation deteriorated. Based on what the president just told the entire nation, he expected it to deteriorate.



"…attack against Fort Meade, home of our National Security Agency, had been conducted by a domestic terrorist group with the capacity to strike again in multiple locations. Given the nation's expansive water distribution network, consisting of nearly 880,000 miles of piping, it would be impractical, if not impossible to secure the system against immediate attacks. Effective immediately, I am asking the American people to bear with their local and regional governments until reasonable safeguards are established to ensure that your drinking water is safe.

"Many towns and counties may elect to stop the delivery of water, and we are encouraging them to do so. FEMA and Homeland Security experts have assured us that this is the most effective way to prevent intentional contamination of your water. If you must consume water from a tap, it is imperative that you take precautions to sterilize the water. Simple sterilization procedures will kill the virus. Immediately following my broadcast, the Department of Health and Human Services will outline these procedures and other steps you can take to prevent infection in the unlikely event that your water is contaminated.

"Rest assured that we have committed the full weight of our federal law enforcement agencies to bringing these heinous terrorists to justice and preventing further attacks. The insidious attack at Fort Meade was perpetrated by a sadistic, fringe group, far separated from the free and democratic society that we enjoy as Americans…and they will be stopped. The next few days may be filled with doubt, but I trust that we will all conduct ourselves as heroes and citizens in the face of this crisis…"



Sure. Everyone would behave charitably and walk calmly down the streets…once they had secured water for themselves and their families. If he couldn't "persuade" his daughter to return home immediately, he would camp out in Princeton and cover her back.

"I'll load up the truck and get moving. Will you be okay here if I need to stay there until she finishes finals?"

"I'll be fine. I bought enough water yesterday to last a month. What should we do about Emily?"

His older daughter was in her third year at U.C. Berkeley and would not finish her final exams until May 15th, nearly two weeks away.

"Karl said that the threat appeared to be isolated to the East Coast."

"Did he give any more specifics?" Cheryl asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No. But he said they had no indications that the threat would spread west," he said, aware of the fact that Berg hadn't exactly given him an airtight case to present to Cheryl.

"That's not what I gathered from the president's address."

"The president can't make sweeping promises in the face of a biological weapons attack and run the risk of being wrong."

"Neither can we. I get the feeling they have no idea what they're up against."

Cheryl had her hands on her hips and that look on her face that would send most men scrambling for cover.

"I'll call in a few favors out west. If I can't get Emily home, I'll fly out myself."

"Thank you, honey. I'm going to load up my Land Rover on the way to work," she said.

"Bring a sheet to cover it up. I have a feeling that bottled water is about to become a valuable commodity."

"All right. I'm out of here," she said, stepping over to kiss him.

He could hear her phone buzzing in her purse. She had a long day ahead of her as deputy superintendent. They'd probably cancel school until Homeland Security could convince them that the water was safe.

"Be careful out there."

"Me? You're the one that can't stay out of trouble. You and Karl Berg."

"He really misses your home cooking," Darryl said.

She looked at him with soft, patient eyes. "You really miss him. Don't you?"

"He's a good friend."

"Well, if he can promise to keep you out of jail, I might be persuaded to extend a dinner invitation. Don't get excited. He'll have to eat the first meal out on the deck."

"I love you. Karl Berg or no Karl Berg," he said, embracing her.

"Good. Because if I so much as sense that he's asked you for another favor, the offer will be rescinded and never reissued." Cheryl broke their contact and backed up a few feet.

"You'll make a great superintendent one of these days. Tough as nails."

Once his wife left, Darryl descended into the basement to pick out a few items for his trip north. The kind of items that would be illegal to transport through the D.C. metropolitan area without one of the specialized permits he carried. Twenty minutes later, he emerged with a dark blue nylon gym bag filled with his personal insurance policy should law and order cease to exist.

The home phone rang, and he searched for one of their cordless handsets. After several rings, he finally found one of them buried in the couch. He thought the hidden phone phenomena would end when his daughters left for college, but Cheryl had apparently taught them everything they knew about misplacing remote controls and phones. If anything, the problem intensified when they left. He saw from the caller ID that it was the guilty party herself.

"What took you so long? You had me worried for a minute."

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I had a little trouble finding the phone you had buried between the cushions. What's up?"

"Don't bother stopping for water. The stores are mobbed. I couldn't even get close to Wegmans. I can't imagine Giant will be any better," she said.

"Give it a try. I don't want to take any from the house if you can't find more," he said.

"You'll need it if you're staying in a hotel. Take what you need. I can boil water from the creek if I have to."

"All right. Let me get moving here. I'm anticipating a mess trying to get through D.C."

"Business as usual. Drive safe. I love you," she said.

"I love you too. I'll give you a call from the road."