Chapter Text
**Ain't Got No Home, Clarence Frogman Henry**
Ray stood at the edge of the highway overpass and looked across the river toward the Gateway Arch. The rag tag group of kids scattered to cop a squat on any dry surface they could find under the overhang. They had spent the last two hours trekking across East St. Louis on foot and everyone was weary and impatient.
"Four days ago you gathered us up and you promised us you'd find us Captain Chandler, Ray." A girl with thick reddish braids whined from a perch under a steel girder. "I see the ship but it doesn't look like there's anyone there." Ray squinted into the fog. The ship looked deserted, but he suspected there were guards somewhere. He didn't know what he'd do if they didn't find Chandler here in St. Louis.
He looked over their group. He, Dylan, Brie, and Colin were doing OK but the younger kids looked beat. They may have been vaccinated against the Red Flu but that didn't mean they were invincible. One of the youngest in their little band, a six year old named Luna, was currently trying to suck thick yellow snot into her mouth. He reached into his pocket for a handkerchief but only found a crusty gross one. Sighing he swung his pack down and dug around, but the best he could come up with was a gym sock. "Luna, that's gross." He knelt to help the little girl wipe her nose. Folding the sock he tucked it in her sleeve. "Use this or you'll get a chapped lip again."
He took a seat on the edge of the concrete barriers and ran a hand through his dark hair. His stomach gnawed hungrily and he felt itchy and dirty from four days on the road. The people Chandler had trusted to help them had indeed taken them to a youth shelter in Baton Rouge, but conditions there had been bad. There was only one older woman left to watch nearly forty skinny kids and they were living off of forty pound bags of popcorn and juice boxes that had been passed over for more nutritious foods when the Costco was raided. By comparison, Ray thought his group looked pretty good.
They had managed to scavenge and stretch the MREs Chandler had given them for four days with the shelter kids. But on the fifth day of scavenging they ran into some kind of local police officer that tried to make them stay in the youth shelter even though there was no food there. "You kids need to stay out of sight. The MCF is enforcing a strict curfew for all unregistered citizens."
"Unregistered citizens?" Ray's accent had become more pronounced at the familiar humiliation he felt whenever someone assumed he was an illegal just because he was poor and hispanic. "I was born in Miami! Look at my license. I am a US citizen."
"Save it kid." The man refused to take the card Ray pulled out of his wallet. "That won't do you any good. This is MCF territory now." He refused to tell them any more as he escorted them back to the shelter. At first, Ray could hardly believe the things the woman at the shelter told them. She explained that she was too busy to care who governed them and he'd had to accept that they were telling the truth. The decision to move on to St. Louis was made unanimously that night and they hit the road before dawn the next morning.
Now four days later they were hungry, tired, and chilled from the morning fog. "Let's take a snack break and see if people are moving around." Ray pulled a box of granola bars from his pack and began splitting them in half and handing them out to the younger kids. They had found a little grocery store open near where they ran out of gas last night. The people there had said the cure was in St. Louis, along with the President and that they could get food and other supplies. He looked across the river. He saw people coming and going from the park on the opposite shore, but from here he couldn't tell if they wore Navy uniforms.
"Ray?" An eight year old girl with two crooked pigtails tugged on his coat. "I'm still hungry." Several other kids nodded. Of course they were, he thought, they were growing kids and they needed about twice as much food as they were getting.
He leaned down to be on her eye level. "I know Sadie. Do you remember what I said when we first saw the arch this morning?"
She nodded, the big brown eyes behind her glasses going to look over his shoulder at the Gateway Arch. "You said that when we found this rainbow there would be a pot of soup or something else good for us at the end and that we had to walk without complaining or the leprechauns would take it away."
"That's right. Now we're almost there." He stood, threw his pack over his shoulder, and reached out to pull her hood up over her forehead. "This is it. Let's shake a leg people." Sadie slid her little sticky hand into his and they all headed for the bridge that would take them on the final leg into the city.
"The President has called a meeting at 0900 tomorrow. I want you to be there." Chandler was leaning against the connecting door between his office and Kara's as if he'd just asked her to bring in some extra paper clips instead of meet with the President. She was still unused to seeing him in anything other than NBDs but was glad he'd decided his office would work in service blues because it meant she could wear a uniform with a jacket. Already she felt ridiculous despite the fact that the swell of her baby was barely visible to people who hadn't known how trim she was before.
"Sir?" she began to question. After all, she'd only been at this job a few days and she still felt a little unsure in her temporary role as assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations. "Do you want me to write notes or record?"
For a moment his face froze in confusion. Then he tossed his head back and laughed in a way she'd rarely seen since they learned of the Red Flu last September. "Hell no. You are one of the best tactical analysts I've ever worked with." She blushed under his praise. "I want you there to listen to what he has to say and help us develop a strategy to meet the mission. Now that we have learned about the MCF from Val, Michener has been working on deciding our military priorities for the near future. It will be us, Master Chief, Slattery, Garnett, Burk, Green, Judge Siskin, and Senator Findley at the meeting. And Halsey of course." He patted the dog's head as he headed for the coffeepot on the banquette across from Kara's desk.
"Ok. I'll be ready Sir." She felt a flicker of pride to hear her name mentioned in that group. She was constantly worried about how she could continue to contribute to the rebuilding effort now that she was on shore duty until after her maternity leave.
"What's on the schedule today?" He poured the aromatic coffee. The smell made her mouth water, but it also made her slightly nauseous. She hoped today was one of the days when he opened the outer window to let in some of the brisk January air. Although they had electricity up and running, the President had asked everyone to be extremely conservative because the local power plant was coal fired and they weren't sure if they were going to be able to source enough coal to last all winter. Slattery had already set up a civilian task force to develop strategies to help survivors cope but there was still plenty of work to do.
"Val and Mason are coming in at 0800 to discuss their progress on communications and monitoring the MCF. Lieutenant Commander Garnett will be here at 0900 for her update on repairs to the Nathan James and I scheduled the new city engineer...a Mr. Hinkley for the slot right after that. I though you could formally introduce the two since he's going to want to find out what emergency fixes her crew have done since we got here. He wants to talk to you about security plans and targeted reopening of city services so I invited Slattery to the meeting too. Hinkley thinks he could significantly expand the area being served by the water plant if he can get a little help for the next couple of weeks. And then I have left you free until after lunch so you can go see Dr. Milowsky on his efforts to get the mass production lab going over at the university. He insists that the best way to honor Dr. Scott's memory is to keep working on spreading the cure, of course."
As he had since Rachel's death, Chandler just ignored her attempt to bring Rachel up in conversation. He leaned back against the banquette as he sipped his coffee. "And I'm spending the rest of the afternoon with Master Chief and Lieutenant Burk discussing military recruiting and civilian training, correct?"
"Yes Sir. There's a folder with some materials to review before that on your desk. I also laid out the city map on your table for discussion with Mr. Hinkley."
"Efficient as ever!" He smiled easily. "You're handling this like a seasoned XO Foster." She was reminded why serving on the Nathan James was such a desired assignment. Chandler was well known as a good mentor. "If you want to go back to sea when you come off maternity leave, it's this kind of attention to detail that will.."
He never got to finish the statement as shouting sounded down the corridor. Halsey immediately started butting against her legs, trying to herd her into the inner office.
"Everyone wants to see Commander Chandler. Now, put the gun down and go back down to the secure area. The guard there will help you call to make an appointment. Go now, or I'll have to shoot you." The agitated voice of the upstairs security guard, who was usually posted at the top of the stairs, drifted in from the hall. Tom turned toward the door in alarm.
"Sir!" Kara just managed to grab his shirt sleeve. "You cannot go out there un-armed!" Her heart pounded wildly as she recalled the terror from the night of the inaugural ball.
He shrugged off her grip, but halted a few steps from the door. "You got a better idea Foster? I'm certainly not letting you go out there."
She crossed to her desk and opened the lower drawer. In the hall, the man could be heard pleading with the guard. "Please, I have kids to feed. Chandler's going to want to see me and to hear what I have to say." They had already had several people try to get past security to the President in their first week in St. Louis, but this was the first time someone had come looking for Chandler.
Withdrawing a pistol from under some files she passed it across the desk. He immediately picked it up and commented. "An A1? This isn't ours."
"My father's sir. Now be careful out there. This man could have valuable information to share." Chandler nodded and motioned toward the back office. She hated once again feeling like she needed to be coddled or protected, but she would go along without argument for Flutter's sake.
Only two minutes later Chandler knocked on the door. "All clear Kara." She was relieved to hear a note of humor in his voice when he said "It was friends rather than foes."
She poked her head out to see two teens sitting bashfully in the chairs in front of her desk. She took in Ray's scruffy, unwashed face and the heavy droop of Brie's eyelids. "Ray! Brie! What is going on here? And where are the rest of the kids?" she asked as she accepted her weapon back from Chandler and returned it to her drawer. Halsey greeted the kids with a swinging tail, forcing his head under Ray's outstretched hand.
"Baton Rouge, it was no good!" Ray exclaimed. The young woman next to him gripped the arms of the chair and nodded avidly. "There is a real food shortage there and once we shared the food you gave us with the other kids at the shelter, there was nothing else to do but leave." Ray's voice was rough with exhaustion.
Brie glanced nervously at Ray. "I know you said to stay there Sir, but the kids were so unhappy. It was a unanimous vote to come here." She pleaded with her eyes. "Please don't make us go back! If you still won't let us enlist until we're officially 18, surely we can find something to do for work so we can get paid and feed the kids? They depend on us now." Kara's heart constricted. Brie was just a kid, maybe 16 years old, and she shouldn't have these burdens.
She reached out and took the girl's hand in her own, noting how dirty her skin and clothes were. "It will be OK." The girl squeezed her hand tightly but looked to Chandler to confirm.
Tom was less comforting. Like a parent, relieved yet still angry that a rule had been broken, he scolded them. "It's still dangerous on the road! You could have been robbed or killed or worse! You shouldn't have risked the trip!" Brie hung her head while Ray and Kara watched him pace in front of the banquette in silence. The smell of the coffee and the tension were making Kara's stomach queasy. After a few moments Chandler sighed scratching his head. "Where are the other kids now?"
"Outside on the steps Sir." Brie glanced toward the windows, a nervous furrow between her brow. "I should get back to them before they go looking for food or worse, come looking for us. Some of them are quite scared to be alone after Baton Rouge." She began to rise. "Ray can fill you in on the rest." For his part, Ray swallowed hard but nodded in agreement with Brie.
Seizing her opportunity to get fresh air and to see for herself that the other kids were OK, Kara spoke up. "Sir, I'll take them to the mess and then see about getting some accommodations set up." Kara gestured to Brie. "Come on. Bring me to the kids and we'll see what we need to do."
The rest of the day passed in a blur as she scrambled to help Brie manage the kids. Once they were fed and set up in four hotel rooms she went in search of some toiletries and towels for them. After they showered she took their clothes to the basement and got them started in the laundry. Finding that half of their items were falling apart, she then took the group down the street to buy them some new items.
Although stores weren't exactly open, in the week since the Nathan James had arrived a market of sorts sprang up everyday along the sidewalks. Despite being fairly certain that many of the items for sale had been stolen from the surrounding shops, she and Brie bought at least one clean outfit per kid and she picked up a few other items to entertain the younger kids too. Along the way one little boy almost got hit by a car and another accidentally knocked over a rolling clothes rack. The icing on the cake was when she had to argue with a man that she should not have to buy his stock because Luna had not really scared away his customers when she sneezed near his table full of wrinkly fruit.
Finally, mid-afternoon she made it back to her room. Lounging on the couch while she and Danny shared their day she found herself bursting into tears. "It's only 3 PM and I am totally worn out. If this is what it's like chasing kids all day, I'm going to be a complete failure!" She sobbed. "I don't think I'm cut out for this."
He pulled her into his lap. "That was 14 kids Kara. And a crisis situation to boot. You will be great with Flutter." He rubbed her back while she dripped onto his shoulder and after a while it did help her feel better. Beneath her belly button, Flutter thumped and bumped around so she calmed herself by focusing on the feeling.
She had nearly fallen asleep when he said "Chandler sent Ray to come talk to me about training. Apparently he's going to let him train four hours a day but he's not to take on any duties until he's 18. Says we can do that with other kids who will be 18 in less than 4 months." He sounded discouraged rather than happy.
"I wonder what made Chandler change his mind?" It was a rare day when Tom Chandler changed his course without new information. "I left his office before Ray told him whatever happened in Baton Rouge." She recalled the mix of anger and fear in Ray's eyes when he'd told Chandler that they hadn't been able to stay there.
"It's real." His voice was so grim that she sat up to see his face. His jaw was firm and his brows pressed into a solid line. "The MCF isn't just a rumor or something being talked about online. They were in Baton Rouge and they were in control there. Ray said everything was very quiet, very low key in town, but they saw convoys with large artillery being brought into town as they were leaving. Sounds like the only reason we got past them is that they weren't monitoring the river yet."
The implication that they would be controlling river traffic now sank in her stomach like a brick. The MCF was more organized than she'd thought and they weren't just confined to the West. "We're the f-ing Navy and we're landlocked? It's incomprehensible!"
She got up to pace. "Did Ray have any idea of who they really are?" She was still trying to wrap her head around the idea of a group trying to break away from the United States. "I don't understand what the motivation could be. What do they gain economically or socially?" She wrung her hands. "I would understand if they were taking control as a new party, hoping to fill a significant number of spots when congress re-assembles, hoping to insert a new political agenda, but leave the US? It's incomprehensible!"
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I do not think that word means what you think it means." She looked over toward where he sat on the couch, idly stroking one of Halsey's ears. How could he joke at a time like this?
"This is serious Danny!" She gave him a flat stare. "We're getting our intel from kids damn it! We need to start planning an operation to infiltrate this MCF's leadership. I hate to say it, but we're going to need to get people out there into their structure and you'll probably be one of them." She was on a roll now. She needed a pad of paper and a pen so she could start a list of the critical strategic questions and begin planning suggestions for Chandler.
"Kara come on. Let's not borrow trouble." He rose to his feet. "Tomorrow at the President's meeting will be soon enough to worry about these things." He glanced at his watch. "We've got about an hour before Bacon opens the dinning room and I have a watch at 7. I was thinking we could go downstairs, check out the hotel gym, and relax a little. Tomorrow's a big day and it will be good to release a little stress."
He took her hands in his and she felt a little tension melt away into his larger, warmer hands. It would be nice to work up a little sweat. "I suppose. I did see there was a Nordic Track and I love those things." She would go along. Working out was a good time to let her mind wander and do some creative problem solving. "Plus Flutter really wants to have some dessert tonight."
Danny's face split in a glowing grin. "Oh yeah? Flutter has developed a sweet tooth before developing teeth?" She giggled and they set about changing to workout. It wasn't until she had been swishing along on the skier for 30 minutes that she wondered what he meant by a big day tomorrow. And although she resolved to find out, she fell asleep immediately after finishing the cookies she smuggled up from dinner.