The Seventh Seed

by Allison Maruska

  “Where’s everyone going?” Javier asked.

  “We’re leaving.” Liz slowed, allowing Charlie to pass her and motioning Javier and Sam to walk with her. “Trent said there’s a plan.”

  “There is,” Sam said. “I’ll fill you in on the way.”

  “On the way where? And what about him?” Javier held a hand out to Charlie.

  “He has to come with us,” Liz said.

  “What?” Javier shook his head. “No way. What about the guys who trashed the place? They might be looking for him.”

  “They didn’t stick around. I doubt they’re hanging out waiting for Charlie to make contact,” Liz said. “Besides, what other options do we have? Do you want him chasing us himself?”

  Javier scowled. “He’s not exactly fighting us. Why would he go along willingly when he was supposed to arrest us?”

  She shrugged. “Like I said, we don’t have any other options.” She hurried down the path to catch up, climbing into the back seat of Trent’s car, next to Charlie.

  Javier froze, watching everyone move around him. Sam grabbed his hand and pulled him. “Come on. We have to leave.”

  “What about Brenda?” Javier glanced back at the building.

  “Dad will call the cops when we’re half an hour away. We have to leave before they get here.”

  “Wait. Stop.” Javier yanked his hand away from Sam. “What the hell is going on? Where are we going? And what does your dad have to do with this?”

  She stepped towards him, whispering, “It’s a long story. We have about twenty hours of driving ahead of us. The person we’ll talk to when we get there will tell you everything.”

  “No. I need to know what this is about. Brenda is dead and the vaccine is destroyed and I need to know why.”

  “Hector . . .” She sighed. “You have to trust us. This is something we’ve been waiting for.” She took his hand and led him towards the street.

  He stopped her. “Wait. I have to tell you something.”

  She tilted her head. “What?”

  “I’m not . . .” He shut his eyes. “My name isn’t Hector.”

  She pulled her hand away. “What do you mean?”

  “Hector was the name of my friend back in Puerto Rico. My name is Javier.”

  “Javier.” Her eyes narrowed, and the corners of her mouth curled up. “I’m guessing the reason you lied is also a long story.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah. You can say that.”

  “Well,” she tilted her head towards the street, where Jonah had plopped himself behind the wheel of her car, “we have plenty of time for long stories.”

  Javier followed Sam to her car but stopped short of climbing in—his bees were gone, but maybe not all hope of creating a vaccine was lost. “Hold on. I need to grab something inside.” Without waiting for an argument, he jogged back up the path.

  After creeping through the silent lab, Javier grabbed a paper towel and reached into the guinea pig cage, wrapping his fingers around the smashed animal. He made a mental note to pick up a cooler and dry ice at their first stop.

  He stared at Brenda’s body one last time, his heart aching. “I’m not sure how yet, but I think we did something significant. And I’ll make sure we finish this.” He held up the guinea pig, as if she could see it and understand. Part of him wanted to believe she could. “They won’t win, Brenda. I promise.”

  Without another look back, he rushed out the door.

  ****

  Liz put Charlie’s gun in the pocket behind Trent’s seat but kept her eye on the cop. Charlie sat perfectly straight, with his hands bound behind him, though a few times since their journey started hours ago, he nodded off. Mattson glanced at them from the front seat periodically but stayed quiet, until he managed to scare the crap out of her and everyone else in the car with a “Hey!” shouted in Charlie’s direction.

  Charlie jerked awake, and as Liz’s pulse settled back to normal, he glared. “What the hell was that?”

  Mattson smirked. “I just realized I was right and wanted to rub it in.”

  “You were right?” Charlie shifted. “I’m only going along with this so you can see what’s really going on here.”

  “I’ll tell you what’s going on here.” Trent’s eyes darted from the windshield to the rear-view mirror. “We have to rush the plan.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

  “All right.” Liz crossed her arms. “I’m tired of the ‘saying stuff but not saying anything’ nonsense. Just say it. What plan?”

  “Robert—the man in Arizona—will explain all that.” Trent twisted around, eyeing Liz directly for a moment. “I’ll say this has been in the works for twenty-five years, and we’ve been waiting for the right time. It’s not the right time but now we have to move forward because of the Seventh.” He shook his head. “Sorry. Hayes. Because of Hayes.”

  Mattson sat back and nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. I read about this stuff. Underground plans? Secret meetings, right?” He punched Trent on the arm and leaned forward. “Right?”

  “Don’t touch me!” Trent glared at Mattson while the car drifted into the oncoming lane. Another car was a ways off but closing the distance between them.

  “Trent!” Liz held her breath.

  From behind them, Jonah honked.

  Trent’s attention snapped back to the road, and he corrected his course.

  Trent eyed Liz in the mirror again. “Does this kid have to stay with us?”

  “Yes.” She stared at Charlie. “We’d be dead if he hadn’t shown up.”

  ****

  Charlie scratched the back of his hand the best he could with them bound behind him—was the chip working? He’d argued with his supervisor when the department released the things, but after a rash of officer kidnappings and ransom demands, he agreed to the implant. Now, being tracked didn’t seem so bad. He’d missed his last scheduled check in. One more, and it would only be a matter of time before a team was dispatched. They’d be in Phoenix by then, and the woman’s gun would be of little use. He could then alert the team to whatever was going on with this “Robert” guy and get Mattson back to his mother.

  That is, if the chip was working. His hadn’t been in the recalled batch, but he’d never had reason to test it.

  Charlie arched his aching back, assuring himself that he’d have both relief from sitting and an answer in a few hours.

  Chapter Thirteen

  As Phoenix came into view, Javier shifted in his seat. Jonah had said they’d get answers there, but how could that be? All the work Javier and Brenda had done on the vaccine was stolen, and even if he had the bees and another virologist, they’d have to start all over—unless the guinea pig managed to survive its adventure in the miniature cooler.

  Sam’s brother had studied virology. Maybe he would know the best course of action, and Sam had said he would meet them when they arrived.

  In a busy commercial area, Jonah parked in the lot of a large building with a large, marble sign that said Desert Industry standing in the grass. “Come on. We’re a little late.”

  Trent parked in the neighboring spot, and everyone left the vehicles. A burst of heat hit Javier—Phoenix didn’t get a reprieve from summer, apparently, even in November. With Jonah taking the lead and Liz with a now-unrestrained Charlie bringing up the rear, they entered the building. Liz likely kept the gun in her purse until they were in a less public place, though Charlie went along as a compliant prisoner.

  A young man with tan skin and dark hair stood inside the front door. Sam rushed past the group, giving him a big hug. Javier scowled. That guy had better be her brother.

  Jonah hugged the stranger next, then faced the group. “This is my son, Damien. He works here with Robert.”

  Damien offered a casual wave. “I’ll take you to our lab. Follow me.” He led them past the elevators and to a stairwell. “Our space is in the basement and not accessible by elevator.”

  When they reached the correct floor, Javier
moved to the front of the group, walking next to Damien. “I was working on a vaccine for the virus. I was hoping you could help me start again on that.”

  They reached a door with white lab coats hanging outside it. “I’m afraid we have bigger fish to fry.”

  “Bigger than a pandemic?” Javier looked back to Sam and Jonah—had he been wrong to trust them? “People are dying.”

  “Yeah.” Damien pressed his thumb onto a glass plate, and the door hissed open. “You’ll see.”

  “No, stop. I’m beyond tired of no one explaining anything.” Javier glared. “People are dying. I had a way to keep that from happening, and not only was it stolen from me, the virologist helping me was murdered. That tells me we were on the right track.”

  “I understand. Robert can explain better than I can. I will tell you that if we solve the bigger problem, the virus will sort itself out.”

  “How? I’m not going in there until you tell me.”

  “Javier . . .” Sam put her hand on his shoulder. “LifeFarm already has a vaccine.”

  From the back of the group, Charlie snickered, followed by an order from Liz to be quiet.

  “What?” Javier stepped back. “How could you know that? And if it’s true, why didn’t you tell me before I wasted all that time, risked my life, and got Brenda killed?” His yell echoed through the hall.

  Damien pursed his lips and stepped past Javier, addressing the others. “Please, step inside. Ma’am, you can leave your weapon with me. I’ll secure it for you.”

  Javier snapped around; Liz had the gun trained on Charlie again. If it was because of the laugh, she wasn’t putting up with any nonsense from him.

  “That’s not a good idea.” Liz tilted her head towards Charlie. “Maybe I’ll wait here with him. He probably shouldn’t know everything anyway.”

  Damien looked from Liz to Javier then back to Liz. “All right. Everyone else, come inside. Robert is waiting for us.” He held open the door.

  Liz made Charlie sit on the floor, and the others filed into the lab. Javier stood in place.

  “Come on.” Sam took Javier’s hand. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”

  “Nothing about this feels okay.” He glanced back at Liz guarding the cop. Would she be okay on her own?

  Sam reached out and squeezed his hand, leading him into the lab.

  The others had crowded around a workbench, where a tall, blond man stood with his hands clasped in front of him. He looked up and smiled when Sam and Javier entered. “Samantha! So good to see you again. Though I am surprised it is so soon.”

  “Hi, Robert. And I know.” She hugged Robert then gestured to Javier. After an introduction, she said, “He’s the one I told you about who was working on the vaccine.”

  “Oh, of course.” Robert approached Javier. “I’m sorry we couldn’t tell you the truth earlier. We thought if you and your virologist friend succeeded in creating the vaccine, it would create another front in our attack.”

  “Wait, what?” Javier held up his hand. “Sam was right? If that’s true, why was Brenda killed? They wouldn’t have cared if we created the vaccine when they already had it.”

  “If anyone else has the vaccine, they can’t extort people who need it. LifeFarm, and the government, must maintain control, and they will do anything to do so, even if it means killing the opposition.”

  Javier huffed, remembering waking up in the back seat of the sedan back in Colorado and Brenda’s body lying on the floor of the lab. “You have no idea.”

  Robert put a hand on Javier’s shoulder, leading him towards the workbench. “Again, I apologize most sincerely. Your discovery would have been a great asset. I trust what I’m about to tell you all will satisfy your curiosity. Please.” He tilted his head to an open space around the bench.

  Sighing, Javier squeezed between Mattson and Trent. Instead of scientific equipment covering the counter, as Javier had expected, a paper map of the U.S. took up every inch of space and hung over a few inches on one side. The map was marked with circled numbers on various locations, including Hayes, Iowa, which was covered with a circled number seven in red marker. In the middle of the country was a red, hand-drawn star.

  Robert took his place between Jonah and Damien. “It is time to execute the plan we’ve been forming for twenty-five years. The locations marked here have been activated, but before I explain, you need to know why these places exist. Trent, will you please describe what your job was in Hayes?”

  “Sure.” Crossing his arms, Trent focused on the map. “We were creating a longevity drug called Deinix.” He looked up, connecting with Javier. “That white powder in the lab. Until you and Brenda worked on the vaccine, Deinix was the only purpose for the lab’s existence.”

  “Longevity drug? What’s that?” Javier asked.

  “Exactly what it sounds like. It gives us longevity. Allows us to live longer than we could without it. Robert created it by accident 130 years ago. Twenty-five years ago, it fell into the wrong hands—”

  “Wait a second. Robert,” Javier pointed to the blond man, “that Robert, created something over a century ago?”

  “Exactly.” Trent held his hand out. “Robert is . . . what, 160 by now?”

  Robert laughed. “Close enough.”

  “How is that possible?” Javier held up his hands and backed away. “He looks like he’s in his forties. What’s really going on here?”

  “This is the truth, Hector . . . or Javier, I guess.” Trent gestured down the line. “Jonah is forty-eight. I’m fifty. We all take the drug, and it slows our aging. A pharmaceutical company attained it several years ago, and they developed it. Rather than sell it or give it away to help people, they used it to protect their own interests in the government.”

  Javier connected the dots in his head. “They lobbied with it. Made sure legislation always worked in their favor.”

  “Precisely,” Robert interjected. “And these . . .” He put his finger on each numbered circle, in order, “are Seed communities. My colleague and I planted them, if you will, back when the drug left our control. We trained young scientists, like Trent, in small towns to develop Deinix and quietly distribute it to prepare for what we now face—we would need a large number of young people who knew the truth to defend it and save the country from the oligarchs and corporate interests.” He put his finger on the circled seven. “Hayes was the seventh, and the last, Seed. As you can see, no two communities are within a thousand miles of each other, and only the head scientist in each one—Trent, in this case—knows about the other communities.”

  Mattson looked up from the map. “Okay, but how will a bunch of random people fight the government like that?”

  Trent put his finger on the red star, centered over St. Louis. “That’s where this comes in. There’s a facility near here—”

  A siren wailed from the hallway, followed by white smoke spilling under the door.

  ****

  Thick smoke poured from one of the grenades that had bounced down the hall, and Liz covered her face with her shirt collar. The gas from the other still managed to break through and burn her throat.

  Coughing, Charlie jumped to his feet and squeezed her arm, grabbing the gun. She gripped with all her strength, but with a twist the cop had relieved her of the weapon.

  He pointed it at her. “Up the stairs. Now.” His eyes were watering but he ignored them.

  Overhead sprinklers came to life, showering them with cold water.

  “Shit.” Charlie nudged her in the back with the barrel. “Hurry up. My people are out there.”

  “Your people? How did they—” She coughed. “How did they find us?”

  “Just go!”

  As water and smoke blurred her vision, she reached the stairwell. A man dressed in riot gear handed Charlie a gas mask.

  Riot Gear man grabbed Liz’s arm and pulled her up the stairs. As they reached the ground floor, the air cleared. He led her across the lobby and through the front door.

&nbs
p; ****

  Removing the mask, Charlie examined the lot—five cars and a Homeland Security van. Overhead, a drone monitored the property. Perfect. They could capture everyone and leave without breaking a sweat.

  He turned around, facing the door. Mattson and the others would appear any minute. That gas was pungent as hell.

  “Chief.” A middle-aged man wearing a suit shook Charlie’s hand. “Glad to see you’re okay. We responded as quickly as we could when your unit alerted us to your location. When we followed the signal downstairs and saw the woman holding you at gunpoint, we called for backup and moved in.”

  “Thank you. A group should be here any second.” Where were they? Where was Mattson? “There probably isn’t another exit from the basement.”

  “Captain!” A uniformed officer yelled from across the parking lot. “We’ve got runners!” She ran around the side of the building, followed by three other officers.

  “Shit.” Charlie ran after them. How the hell did they get out?

  From the back of the building, a group that included Mattson ran into an alley. One of the officers pointed her sidearm at them, keeping the other cops from pursuing.

  “No! My nephew is one of them!” Charlie ran ahead, into the line of fire.

  “They held you hostage, sir. We have orders to shoot on sight.”

  “Give me a second!” Charlie rushed towards the group.

  The officer’s voice came from behind him, sounding like she spoke into her radio. “Are you sure? The Chief is going after them.”

  After a pause, a bang echoed off the neighboring buildings, followed by a whizzing sound.

  Charlie spun around and froze. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “I have orders, Chief. You might want to get out of the way.” The officer held up her firearm.

  “I’m getting my nephew! I’d rather not get shot doing it.” Heart pounding, Charlie sped up.

  Another bang. Another zing.

  Mattson looked back as the group reached the street. He didn’t slow. A blond man holding a large paper under his arm led the way. Overhead, the drone kept up with them. What was the range on that thing?