by Hinze, Vicki
He hesitated and his tone tensed. “After testing her, David feels it’s highly probable she’ll contract.”
“Oh, no.” Every muscle seemed to lockdown at once. Emma stiffened against them. Her stomach curdled. She swallowed a lump in her throat. “If Olivia contracts, how long will it be before she becomes symptomatic?”
“Best estimate, a few hours.” Mason paused. “Remember, Emma. These pathogens are…special. Data isn’t readily shared. That said, I can’t see it taking longer than that and being effective.”
Chills coursed through Emma, head to toe. “Then you better get on the phone with headquarters and find someone in that little need-to-know loop fast.”
“I have. The request is working its way up the chain.”
What more could he do? “What do you know?”
“If she’s been infected,” Mason said, “then she needs antibiotics right away.”
Emma assessed his disclosure. “You want to treat her preemptively.”
“I can’t, Emma,” he said, his voice curt. “If I could, don’t you think I would?”
He was upset and disturbed. Naturally. He was close to Olivia and the whole family. Emma blew off his sharp retort and asked, “Okay, you can’t. But why not?”
“We don’t have antibiotics on the premises. They work on the base form of this, but this isn’t that. Antibiotic therapy is an arrow in the wind, but at the moment, it’s the only arrow we’ve got in our quiver.” He didn’t sound at all happy about that. Actually, he resented it deeply. “With Holly raging like a maniac outside, no one can get anything to us, and we can’t get out to get anything.”
They had no antibiotics and no defense weaponry, and at least one invading murderer on the loose inside the facility. Emma rubbed a knot from the muscle in her neck, scanned the tunnel she’d been exploring when he’d called. “Liz is working on this, too—trying to get supplies to us.” He needed to know she had already asked.
“She told me,” he said, disclosing they’d spoken. “She is trying, but odds aren’t in our favor. Not with winds nearly a hundred miles per hour blowing snow and ice. Everything is shut down tighter than a drum out there.”
“I’ll call her again and update her on the potential severity. I don’t know what else we can do.” Liz might come up with an unorthodox idea. She often did. “If Olivia shows symptoms, then how long does she have before…” Emma couldn’t say it. She could barely think the word die, much less when it related to the precious little girl.
“Once she’s symptomatic, my best guess is less than eight hours. Maybe sooner.” The pain that revelation brought Mason reflected in his voice. “She’ll steadily decline and then…die.”
Chapter Fifteen
Tuesday, December 18th
0330 (3:30 AM)
Liz didn’t answer her phone, so Emma left a message for her to call as soon as she could and then returned to inspecting the tunnels. If the team of invaders had come down through one of the entrances that led to the offices on the first sub-street level rather than entering the tunnels through the biometric elevator, they could have just walked down to the opening that left the lab’s rear wall vulnerable.
She’d searched all the tunnels now but had found no hard evidence of the initial team’s ingress or egress. John Taylor had restricted access to all tunnels, limiting it to his staff and the construction crew standing guard at the lab’s rear wall. All other employees on the premises had been reassigned from their regular duties to helping care for the five-thousand stranded passengers and to prevent any of them from entering the tunnels.
Emma had seen no signs of foot traffic or abandoned carts, or trucks. No drag marks in the dust or new scuffs on the tunnel walls. No overhead lights not lit up, and no people. While the backup team’s entry was evident by the hole in the mountain to the outside, the initial team’s entry point remained a mystery. Nothing had been found that could be remotely identified as the path they’d taken to enter the tunnels.
She checked her watch. They’d had five hours without another incident and, while she was grateful for that, she’d seen the tactic used before. Lull your enemy into complacency. Then attack. In this situation, that’s exactly what she’d do. Wait until the guards got comfortable, then bored and sleepy. That was the backup team’s best odds for success—and she’d warned the men against that. Hopefully, they had taken the warning to heart. Considering their necks were on the line, she felt certain they had.
The phone clipped to her waist vibrated, signaling an incoming call. Liz. Emma snagged it. “Miller.”
“Emma, sorry. Been tied up with headquarters, trying to get clearances resolved so we can learn more about what we’re facing.”
“I understand,” Emma said. She stopped and leaned back against a tunnel wall, propping her foot behind her. “Liz, I need a miracle.”
“Above my pay-grade,” she said. “But I’ll do what I can.”
Emma already knew the response but called for the supplies again anyway. “I need the best antibiotic and treatment for exposure to BP7PP, and I need weapons and ammo. I have one rifle, and I’m low on ammo. That’s it. I know Greer’s killer is down here somewhere. No sign of him or the backup team yet. I’m nearly done inspecting the most likely tunnels. Unless they dropped in via skyhook, I’m bound to encounter direct conflict shortly.”
“Situation understood,” Liz said. “And I know Olivia has a high probability of being infected. I’m doing everything I can, and that’s the truth.”
A lump in Emma’s throat settled. She absently rubbed her upper chest. Her clothes were gritty from the dust. “Are you getting anywhere with headquarters?”
“They’ve been briefed on all developments. Now, they’re walking through the request, but they’ve already warned me that there is no antidote.”
“I know that. We all know that.” Emma shut her eyes and demanded the bite leave her tone. Time was too scarce to rehash old ground. If Olivia contracted, she would die. “If they release all the clinical records and research to Mason, maybe he can come up with something.”
“That’s the argument we’ve both been making. Headquarters counters with if it were that easy, they’d have done it long ago. It’s not. Mason fought the good fight on the conference call with head honcho, so we’ll see how it works out. He earned my respect, I’ll tell you that. We should know something before long.”
Mason had always had more guts than sense, and if he was determined, nothing swayed him. She’d loved that resolve in him. Now it fed on the sense of urgency gripping Emma hard. “Olivia likely doesn’t have any time to waste.”
“I know. Mason told me she’s at high risk to contract.” Liz did know, and she too was feeling the strain of possibly losing a child. “But for now, we’ve done all we can do.”
Emma wanted to scream until someone did more than think. Until they acted. She bit her bitterness back and forced a calm she didn’t feel into her voice. “Right.”
“I do have identities on two of the invaders from your photos. Both are foreign nationals. Wealthy, well educated—in Australia—and members of CAR.”
“Central Asian Resistance?” Based on looks, they didn’t fit the profile. “The Stans?”
“Yes,” Liz said. “Tajikistan, I’m told, but it could be any of them. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan or Uzbekistan. The waters get a little muddy on intel coming out of there.”
The waters were always muddy on intel coming out of there. Nomadic people and the Silk Road made for a crossroads for the movement of people, goods and technology. Ideas, too, especially with Europe and Western, South and East Asia.
“These two, like many, have strong Russian ties, but also Ukrainian.”
“Ukrainian?” Emma stared off into space. “Why do they want BP7PP?”
“Leverage. Same as everyone else,” Liz said, sounding resigned.
“Tell me what you know about them from a tactical perspective.”
�
��CAR favors five-man teams. Your one murderer on the loose most likely makes your fifth person. Two or more team-members could be females.”
“Got it.” Emma lowered her propped foot to the ground. “Anything else notable?”
“Not that you don’t already know.”
Emma’s first mission had been in that area of the world. She’d been prepped and tested. Nothing like a trial by fire to burn details into your memory. “I’ll send more video as soon as the line’s free.” She started heading back to the rear of the lab, where the construction crew stood sentry. “The invaders blasted through the rock and they would now have entry access directly into the lab if not for the makeshift wall we’ve put into place, Liz.” No doubt, Liz would be as unhappy as Emma with that.
“Access to the HC lab proper, or the outer ring?”
“Proper,” Emma said. “The outer ring doesn’t encircle the entire HC lab’s inner ring.”
“Naturally.” Liz’s sigh crackled in Emma’s ear. “It’s the lab’s rear wall that isn’t encircled, right?”
“Right,” Emma said. “That solves the mystery of why they blasted through at all.”
“I guess I missed a step. I’m not tracking you.”
“Blowing out the rear wall of the inner lab was the shortest, the most vulnerable and the most direct route into the HC lab’s inner hub.” Emma stared up at nothing at all. “If so few know this place exists, then I’m wondering how the invaders knew about it?”
“An insider?” Liz suggested.
“How else could they know?” Emma twisted her mouth. “You need to look into that.”
“I will. And I’ll talk to headquarters. I trust my sources there. They’ll dig deep.”
“Follow the money first.” Emma grimaced. “It’s always about money with CAR.”
“Will do.”
Standing up ahead, John Taylor spotted Emma’s approach and headed toward her. “Sounds good, Liz. I’ve got to go,” Emma said, and ended the call.
Shifting her attention to the Security Chief, she asked, “Any news, John?” Maybe everyone else around here consistently called him John Taylor, but if he didn’t object, she’d appreciate shortening it.
“John Taylor,” he said, correcting her. “John was my father. He was not a good man.”
Guess that was a bad idea. “I’m sorry, John Taylor. Any news?”
Dirt-smudged and weary, he still looked even more tense than Emma felt. “Four men were spotted violating the lockdown and leaving the terminal,” he said. “Security cameras picked them up outside Terminal C. I thought you’d want a look at them.” He manipulated his phone, then passed it to her.
On the footage, four men dressed like the ones neutralized in black tactical gear were moving away from the terminal and getting into a waiting black van. With all the heavy equipment around here, she couldn’t get five miles to a drugstore, but they could get out in a van? That made zero sense. “Any of the cameras pick up a tag?”
“Not on that footage, but another camera got it.” He wiggled his fingers, signaling her to pass the phone. She did, and he took it, maneuvered to the right footage, and then passed the phone back to her. “It’s on that one.”
She watched the short video, and her heart dropped into her stomach. “Diplomatic tags? Seriously?”
“Seriously.” John Taylor’s expression sobered even more. “They’re leaving the airport on the next video. Which tells me they’re determined but short on sense or they wouldn’t risk the storm. We’ll likely find them in a snowbank or a ditch somewhere close.” He rubbed at his chin. “Them leaving also says they got what they wanted here.”
Emma feared he was right, yet, aside from leaving the airport, the evidence didn’t support that conclusion. “If they wanted to get the pathogen, they failed.”
John Taylor squinted. “But if they wanted to infect the five-thousand people in the terminal, set a pandemic into motion, then maybe they didn’t fail.” He gave Emma a bold, steady look that chilled her to the bone. “Dr. M. says the one they were after is highly contagious. Doesn’t take long to spread.”
He had a point. It wasn’t consistent with CAR’s normal operations. They were after the money. They would want the virus to black-market sell it. To use it as leverage against other entities or governments. But if they wanted to breach a vial and contaminate the facility and those in it, then they had accomplished their mission. At least, they would leave confident they had succeeded. Fortunately, David and Mason had been onsite and immediately available to take steps to prevent a widespread contamination. If the lab hadn’t been shut down for the move, containment would have been far more complex. They might not have had complete success. They might not, anyway. Olivia ran through Emma’s mind. “It’d be anomalous, but it’s possible,” Emma said to John Taylor. “Where’s your emergency medical officer?”
“Snowed in at home.” John Taylor frowned. “He tried for hours to get here but couldn’t.”
“Can you take me to his office?” she asked. “I need some medical supplies.”
“If you’re after antibiotics for Olivia, Emma, I can save you the trip.” Regret burned in John Taylor’s eyes. “There aren’t any.”
More bad news. Catching a break, just once, would be great. “You’ve personally looked?”
“I have.” John Taylor nodded, lending weight to his claim. “Came up dry. I called the medical officer to verify. He said they don’t keep any pharmaceuticals onsite except aspirin.”
Emma bit back her disappointment. “When someone needs something, where do they get it?”
“Portal Drugs. It delivers.”
Hope soared. “How far is the store from here?”
“About three miles off campus, so about five miles total. But it might as well be a thousand miles. You aren’t getting five miles in that storm, Emma. If it were possible, I’d have gone myself.”
“All the heavy equipment around here, and we have nothing that will get us five miles?”
“Not in a hundred mile-per-hour winds.” He lifted his hands. “It’s suicide.”
There had to be a way. She had to keep thinking.
“I hate it, too, but it’s a dead-end, Emma. Forget it. Focus on what you can do,” he said, then suddenly stilled and his eyes took on a faraway look, signaling some thought had hit him and he was weighing it.
“What?” She prodded him. He definitely had something in mind. It was written all over his face. “Will you answer me?”
“It was just an idea. Won’t work. Sorry.” He hitched his pants. “You should get to the lab.” Compassion burned in John Taylor’s eyes. “Mason could use some help from someone who is thinking straight and is not terrified of losing his daughter.”
“Will he let me in?” He’d been adamant she not return earlier.
“He’s got the outer ring decontaminated.” John Taylor nodded. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this down here. Anything at all odd happens, I’ll call you right away.”
“Thanks, John Taylor.” Emma took off back down the tunnel toward the lab, eager to see Mason with her own eyes. To know he was okay.
Chapter Sixteen
Tuesday, December 18th
0413 (4:13 AM)
Glad Mason hadn’t followed through on his threat and changed the code, Emma left the tunnel and entered the lab through the outer door.
Changes had occurred in the outer ring. A row of four security monitors had been set up on a long table positioned near the coat hooks. She checked the screens, recognized the views of Terminals A, B and C and the tented area called the Main. A fifth monitor sat on a desk beside the table holding the four. On the screen was a live shot of David’s family’s quarters. Olivia was stretched out in bed, the covers pulled up to her chin. Her shower cap was slightly askew. Her mother adjusted it from her seat beside Olivia’s bed. Sophia looked calm, but she had to be scared half out of her mind. Jacob had a stranglehold on Bandit. He stood against the wall, away from Olivia but close enough tha
t he could talk to her. Sophia kept talking to her children, reassuring them they would all be fine. How did she manage to sound so convincing using hushed tones? Emma’s mother would have been hysterical.
Sophia looked at the camera and her mask slipped. The fear etching into her face nearly knocked Emma to her knees. One thing was clear. Sophia was a strong woman. Strong and determined to not give up hope. Not to let her children be afraid. Not to lose her daughter without a fight.
Emma admired that, and wondered if in that position, how she would react. She honestly couldn’t imagine. Getting too emotional, Emma backed away and looked around. Where was Mason? David? Both of their offices were empty.
She would solve that puzzle in a minute. First, she had to talk to Liz. She retrieved her phone from its case at her waist, then called.
“Hi, Emma.”
“Liz, I have a priority update.”
“Go ahead.” She paused, then added, “Recording now.”
“Four unidentified men violated lockdown and left the terminal via a black van with diplomatic tags.” Emma continued, reeling off the tag number and descriptions of each of the men. “A fifth man was driving.”
“Not one of the original backup team-members?”
“No. An additional man.” Emma scratched her cheek. “John Taylor believes he was in the facility beforehand. He’s matched him to a man blending in as a passenger. We have several frames of him in security footage before the escape. The frames and footage of their departure is in your inbox. So are photos.”
“I’ll get an APB issued on that right away. With the storm, they won’t get far.”
“I’ve warned the Chief that they could double back here so to stay on alert.”
“Good. They’d have to be desperate to return after a clean exit. My main concern is it’ll be tricky to stop and detain them with diplomatic immunity.”
Emma had a plan. “Tell them they were exposed to a lethal pathogen, and if they don’t want to die to do what authorities say.”