22.
GRAHAM’S ARRIVAL was timed perfectly. No sooner had he passed through arrivals than he was greeted by the approach of a stiff-lipped soldier. He was taken to a military jeep and escorted to the facility.
It was a military operation, so everything ran to the beat of military precision. Camps and huts were cramped together beside the main headquarters that would be Graham’s main base of operations.
“Doctor,” called a man dressed in standard military uniform.
He wiped his hands on the canvas fabric before shaking his hand with a few firm tugs.
“General Polinski,” the man said. “I’m here to supervise you and the safety of your team.”
The general ushered him into a building and out of the Nevada heat.
“I’ll give you a rundown of the toys we’ve brought for you,” General Polinski said as he took long strides through the corridors. “The very best equipment from every part of the world, as well as the experts to work them.”
“How many are there?” Graham said.
“We brought a strong team of eight scientists,” General Polinski said.
“Eight?” Graham said. “I was told there would be at least fourteen.”
“It was the best we could do on such short notice,” General Polinski said. “The rest will be joining us soon. You met the Secretary, I trust?”
Graham swallowed his irritation.
“Yes,” he said. “I had the pleasure.”
He could tell by the general’s expression he’d had to suffer a similar experience. Graham smiled. But when they pushed through a set of dented double doors, Graham’s smile fell.
Inside, the group of scientists that glanced up at him seemed frightened, confused, and disheveled. Did they kidnap these people?
“Good afternoon,” General Polinski said. “This here is Dr. Graham Beck. I’ll keep introductions amongst yourselves.”
Graham gave them a scan with his eyes. He took his cue from the general.
“Well, you’re probably wondering what you’re doing here,” he said. “I’m not going to sugar coat the pill. We’re here to find a cure to the virus, through any means possible. I know this is particularly daunting for you. You have families, people you love that are out there and at risk. But that’s exactly why we need to do this. So I ask that you give me your time and total focus. Every minute that goes by means more lost lives and the harder it will be for us to finally come up with an effective treatment.”
The team straightened and looked at him with varied expressions of intimidation and mounting hope.
“So, let’s just get to it,” Graham said. “Give me your name, age, and field of expertise.”
He pointed at the tallest scientist; a wild ginger haired woman with wide doe-eyes. She stammered, tugging her hands through her hair.
“Dr. Fran MacFadden,” she said with a prominent Irish accent. “Twenty-nine, astrophysics and biology.”
“Welcome,” Graham said, giving her a brief smile.
His eyes moved to the next recruit, a tall blond man with severe lines. Leadership fell over his shoulders like a cape. For once, Graham welcomed it.
“Next,” he said.
23.
“DR. BECK, the subject’s ready now.”
Dr. Priya Taub watched him with dark eyes. Graham had not spotted any error or misplaced tool as they prepared the test. Nevertheless, the nerves in his stomach tightened and his lips pursed into a thin line. Dr. Taub’s eyes shared his nervousness.
Despite her young age, Dr. Priya had turned out to be a very proficient medical professional.
“Right,” Graham said with a deep inhalation. “Is everyone ready?”
“Yes, sir,” Dr. Taub said.
Graham tugged his shirt down and stood up.
“Bring it in,” he said.
The wide doors inside the operating room parted moments later. A gurney, fastened with reinforced Kevlar straps and titanium buckles, was pushed in by a few military men in protective suits. Their black suits glowed only from the visors in their helmets and the lines of tech that tracked vital signs.
Graham didn’t have time to appraise the protective technology, too distracted by the Rage strapped to the gurney. He stepped as close as he could to the glass window, eyes wide. He had never seen one this close before.
“Dear God,” Dr. Taub said, voice a horrified whisper.
Graham agreed.
All over the Rage’s body were black and red sores that oozed pus. The skin around its face had peeled off in some areas, exposing teeth and blackened gums from a wide hole in its cheek. Blood leaked at a snail’s pace from its wounds, wounds that looked like bite marks. The subject was so covered in filth and blood that it was difficult to distinguish clothing from skin.
“Jesus,” Graham said, pressing his hand to his mouth.
Nothing else was said between the two scientists as they watched the soldiers work together to move the Rage onto the operating table.
“On my mark,” a soldier said. “Three, two, one.”
All four men pushed. The Rage’s body was laid down and strapped to the chrome table.
“Careful!” Graham said, before realizing they couldn’t hear him.
He sighed when the Rage remained unconscious. Graham’s shoulders sagged with relief.
“They sedated it with elephant tranquilizers,” Dr. Taub said next to Graham. “It shouldn’t wake anytime soon.”
Graham nodded and watched the soldiers pause to glance up at the glass window. He leaned over his desk and pressed the intercom button.
“We’re good to go,” he said. “Thank you. Fran, you’re up.”
The soldiers filed out of the room as soon as the doors opened to let in two suited scientists.
The door to the viewing room opened behind Graham. The two scientists glanced behind them with a start. General Polinski walked in, giving Priya a nod before turning a piercing gaze on Graham.
“General,” Graham said, eyebrows lifting to his hairline.
“I’m here to make sure there aren’t any screw-ups,” General Polinski said.
Graham’s stomach twisted again. He gave the tall stern man a nod and glanced back into the room.
“General, if you don’t mind me asking,” Dr. Taub said a tense moment later. “Where did you say you secured the subject?”
“South Korea,” General Polinski said with a gruff voice. “The subject was one of ours. I still fail to see why we must bring such a threat amongst us.”
“Because we need to see how this virus works on a human host,” Graham said.
General Polinski said nothing for a long moment.
“I hope to God you know what you’re doing,” he said.
Graham swallowed. Me too.
“Dr. Beck, we’re ready to apply the nodes,” Dr. MacFadden said through the speaker.
Graham raised a thumbs up through the window. The two scientists moved in practiced synchronicity. They pressed electrodes to the Rage’s skin.
“There’s some kind of excretion,” Dr. MacFadden said. “The electrodes won’t attach.”
“Try to wipe off as much as possible,” Graham said.
Electrodes successfully attached, the window lit up with lines of glowing information. Vital signs, electrocardiogram results, heart rate per minute; everything they needed to know. Graham knew the same information appeared on Dr. MacFadden and Dr. Michel’s visors.
“Dr. Beck, can you see everything?” Dr. MacFadden said.
“I can,” Graham said, swallowing up every fact and figure overhead. “Dr. Taub, are you recording this?”
He glanced to the bronze-skinned scientist. She was scribbling everything she saw on a tablet.
“Positive,” she said.
“Switching off the sedative drip. . .” Michels said.
They watched with baited breath as Michels’s suit reached over and pressed a hand over the Rage’s neck. The data appeared on the screen seconds later.
<
br /> “You’ve got eight minutes before it awakens fully,” Graham said. “Move quickly.”
“Injecting corticosteroids,” Dr. MacFadden said as Michels passed her the syringe. “In three, two, one.”
She injected the syringe into the subject’s arm. A twitch registered from the Rage’s finger. Graham blinked.
“What was that?” he said.
“Must’ve pressed on a nerve,” Dr. MacFadden said, voice calm.
“Increased brain function,” Dr. Taub read from the glass.
“This is too fast,” Graham said.
He pressed his hands on the window.
“Michels, pull back,” he said. “Switch the sedative back on.”
“I can’t,” Michels said. “I already injected the steroids. We don’t know what that could do to the subject.”
“Heart rate is increasing,” Dr. Taub said, reading again before she joined Graham by the glass. “BP’s elevating—140/90!”
Another twitch shook the Rage’s body, and this time, it’s eyes opened wide.
“Dr. MacFadden—MOVE!” Graham said.
Dr. MacFadden just started to move when the Rage latched onto her wrist. Michels burst into action, hurrying to grab another syringe. Dr. MacFadden panicked and tried to yank her arm out of the Rage’s grasp. The Rage let out a blood-curdling screech. Graham and Dr. Taub yelped and threw their hands to cover their ears.
“Dr. MacFadden, switch the sedative back on now!” Graham said.
“I can’t get it off!” Dr. MacFadden said. “I can’t get it off! Priya, help!”
“Applying fifty milligrams of etorphine,” Michels said, swinging an arm and knocking her companion’s helmet with her elbow.
He broke off with a curse, reeling. The tranquilizer flew from his grip and shattered on the floor.
“Get out of there!” Dr. Taub said.
“I’m calling in a squad,” General Polinski said, radio in hand. “This is out of control.”
“Not yet!” Graham said. “There’s still a chance—”
Dr. MacFadden let out another scream. When Graham turned to look, a profound feeling of horror shot through to his core. The Rage’s arms had ripped through the restraints, pulling through them as though they were paper. Black and red oozed from the wounds caused by the Kevlar, but the Rage was focused on one target; Dr. MacFadden.
“Dr. Taub, man the coms!” Graham said, abandoning his post.
“Dr. Beck, do not go in there!” General Polinski shouted. “Beck!”
Graham rushed to the adjacent room and found his protective suit hanging next to several others on a hanger. He yanked his arms and legs into the suit, pressing buttons in a hurry. He yanked his helmet on over his head.
“Hold it down, hold it down!” Dr. Taub said over the coms. “Dr. MacFadden, restrain it!”
Graham ran into the opposite room, his panicked breaths echoing in his ear. He pressed his gloved hand in the identification panel by the door of the operating room. The light flashed green and the doors opened.
A chair flew in Graham’s direction. He gasped and dove to the ground. The chair exploded against the closed doors in a rain of plastic and metal shrapnel.
Dr. MacFadden’s shrieked and sobbed in Graham’s ears. Dr. Beck hurried to his feet and found Dr. MacFadden struggling to keep the Rage’s head and snapping teeth from her neck.
“Dr. Beck,” Dr. Taub said, voice calm over the coms. “You need to sedate the Rage, otherwise it won’t let go of Dr. MacFadden. Her suit will protect her but we don’t have long.”
“Where’s the etorphine?” Graham said, hurrying toward the table of drugs and syringes.
He spotted a broken bottle labeled ‘Etorphine (elephant tranquilizer)’. It was the last one.
A wave of dismay rushed over Graham, his mind drawing a blank. He turned to see Dr. MacFadden. The Rage had her in a death hug, digging its fingers into the sleeves of her suit and scratching at the protective layers.
Graham jumped toward Dr. MacFadden, grabbing onto the Rage’s arms and pulling with all his might. His grip weakened and something crashed against Graham’s shoulder, batting him away. Graham stumbled.
Dr. Michels was at his shoulder, and together they leapt onto the Rage and pulled him off Dr. MacFadden. Graham came away with her, but Dr. Michels held on a moment too long and lost his footing.
The Rage took the opportunity of freedom and sunk its bloodied teeth in Dr. Michels’ shoulder. He shrieked.
“We need to sedate it!” Graham said through clenched teeth.
He redoubled his efforts to get Dr. Michels free. It was futile; the Rage was clamped tight like a tick. Dr. Michels’ desperate struggling did nothing to help Graham find a weak point.
The lights in the room blared red. Graham shot a look in the direction of the viewing room. Dr. Taub stood staring at them with helpless fear. A team of soldiers burst through the doors, armed with rifles and pistols.
Graham felt his stomach fall when they trained their weapons on both the Rage and Dr. Michels.
“Don’t shoot!” Graham said. “Don’t shoot!”
He jumped in front of them, arms waving.
“Don’t fire!” Graham said. “One wrong shot and you could kill Dr. Michels!”
The sound of something loud and hollow rang through the room causing everyone to whirl in its direction. The Rage collapsed to the ground, pulling Dr. Michels with it. Behind it stood General Polinski, brandishing a large metal pan. Graham and Dr. MacFadden leapt at the chance and yanked Dr. Michels from the Rage.
“Is it dead?” Dr. Michels said, panting.
“No,” General Polinski said. “Just stunned.”
He turned to his men.
“Open fire,” he said.
Graham exchanged wide-eyed looks with Dr. MacFadden.
“No, wait!” he said. “Don’t!”
The Rage let out a low howl, pushing itself to its knees. Graham got a good look at its face. It was mindless, pure, unadulterated anger in its black and red eyes. It chilled him to the core.
A shot. Graham ducked.
When he looked back at the Rage, it was on the ground with a gaping bullet hole in the center of its forehead. Black ichor seeped from the back of its head. Whatever it had been, it could still be shut down with a bullet to the brain.
Graham felt a wave of disappointment and irritation settle upon him. He whirled round, prepared to berate.
“Get that abomination out of here and burned immediately,” General Polinski said, forestalling him. “Dr. MacFadden, see to it that Dr. Michels is sent to the infirmary. Dr. Beck. My office. Now.”
Graham remained silent as everyone did as they were ordered. The red lights switched to white and in that moment, Graham saw Dr. Michels’ eyes. as Dr. MacFadden helped him to his feet.
His green irises were wide with shedding tears, blank and traumatized. It was an expression Graham would not forget for the rest of his life.
24.
THREE DAYS LATER, Beatrix arrived with an entourage of data and scientists. Graham’s reinforcements. He had never been so relieved.
“How are things going?” Beatrix said tentatively.
Graham had given her all the grisly details after he had recovered from the incident. It was not a pleasant thing to have lived through, never mind relay to someone else.
“As well as can be expected,” Graham said. “I have several traumatized scientists and a boss that doesn’t trust me.”
“They should trust you,” Beatrix said. “You’re the only one who had this thing pegged from the start. No one could have predicted what happened. You did the best you could, given the circumstances. General Polinski should understand that.”
“He did more than that,” Graham said.
“What do you mean?” Beatrix said.
“The military is getting involved,” Graham said. “They’re bringing in several caged Rages as we speak.”
Beatrix frowned.
“Wait, they’re
what?” she said.
“After the debacle with the experiment, the board agreed that although I had the right idea in bringing in live subjects, they doubted I could handle the experiments,” Graham said, still tasting the bitter bile at the back of his throat. “So, they turned it over to their division. General Polinski accepted responsibility so long it was done under his supervision.”
“What did John have to say about this?” Beatrix said.
“‘The President is very busy,’ was what his secretary told me,” Graham said coldly.
“I’m sorry, Graham,” Beatrix said. “But you’re allowed to continue with your own experiments, right?”
“At this stage, I don’t think there’s anything to lose,” Graham said.
He’d been deftly, if not so subtly, moved to the sidelines.
I’ll show them, Graham thought. I’ll show all of them. And right then, he was coming up with the idea that would do just that.
“Bea,” he said around a smile. “Do you remember the TV show Gladiator?”
25.
“SO, let me get this straight. . .” Beatrix said. “Your plan is to pit the most dangerous viruses we have against each other until we create a single virus that can take on and defeat the ET-V01?”
“Essentially, yes,” Graham said. “We dyed the various strains to more easily identify them. We’ll pit the strongest of them against ET-V01, then splice the strains together to create a super-strain that can defeat the virus.”
“Wait,” Beatrix said. “I don’t see how that helps. You’ll just be creating a more dangerous virus and unleashing it, won’t you?”
“But one we control,” Graham said. “We’ll build an off switch so we can turn it off anytime we want.”
“But aren’t there hundreds of strains?” Beatrix said.
“Thousands,” Graham said. “But we’re not testing them all. We narrowed down the most promising strains first that could counteract the harmful symptoms of the ET-V01 virus.”
After the Fall- The Complete series Box Set Page 73