by Lara Nance
She went to her knees, unbelieving yet unable to take her eyes from the scene. Pounding preceded a crash as guards broke through the locked lab’s door. One of them grabbed Manson by the shoulders and shook him. His lifeless body fell to one side.
They did their best to revive him with electro injections and old-fashioned CPR, but whatever he’d used was effective. He never regained consciousness.
She placed a hand over her mouth and moaned, leaning forward until her head almost touched the floor, sickened by the scene and the senseless loss of a great mind. Why? Why had he done such awful things? They’d worked together for over six years. She’d given up relationships, family commitments and friends to be at his beck and call, but always learning. The loss made her sick to her stomach. When had he lost the part of him that took joy simply from knowledge, from the exhilaration of discovery?
Linc placed an arm around her and lifted her to her feet. “Come to a chair. This is a terrible shock. Min, get Ria a cup of water or something.”
She pressed her trembling hands to her cheeks. She’d never seen a man commit suicide, either. That horrible finality as he went limp would stay with her forever. Linc’s strong arm acted like an anchor, and she didn’t want him to let go. She needed his strength now more than ever. He helped her to a chair and released her.
“You gonna be okay?” he asked, kneeling at her side.
“I just can’t believe he did it.”
Min handed her a glass of amber liquid. “I thought whiskey would be more appropriate.”
The sharp smell of alcohol made her squeeze her eyes shut a moment. Then she gulped down a swallow, letting the burn slap her like she needed. “Wow, whew!”
“You know, let’s have a round of that,” Linc said. “I could use a hit myself.”
Min gave a solemn nod and returned from the bar with two more glasses and a bottle.
“Linc, what are they going to do with him gone?” she asked, fanning her face after another scorching drink.
He tossed back a shot. “For one thing, I don’t think we need to worry about building that table drop. We just moved from undesirable prisoners to the best hope for humanity.”
It was true. Manson had gone, but the need to solve the virus problem still existed. As his assistant, she had the next best set of knowledge on the project, and Linc had been involved in the research up to now.
“I want to find a way to thumb those bastard RD fucks,” Min said, scowling. “If we get a cure, let’s not give it to them.”
She shook her head, disgusted at such a sentiment. “I’m not going to hold the cure hostage. Then I’d be like them.”
Linc sat forward, eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute. Maybe not.”
“What do you mean? You think we should punish the North? You didn’t feel that way when the RD talked about withholding it from the South,” she said, irritated at the suggestion.
“No. That’s not what I mean. If we find something, we have to give it to everyone. But why not use it to make some things right if we can?”
“Spell it out, Dope.” Min refilled their glasses. “This is getting interesting.”
“I have to think about it. Give me a few minutes.” He took a sip of the liquor, running his fingers through his tousled hair. It had grown about an inch since she first met him and no longer followed the short military lines of the original style.
The door to the lift slid open, and three guards entered. Ria gasped, frightened by their sudden appearance. They held blasters pointed at the floor though stood in tense poses. Their gazes went immediately to the screen where the aftermath of the disaster in the lab remained in view.
“You saw what happened to Dr. Manson?” one of them asked, stepping forward.
Linc rose. “Yes. Now what?”
“The plans are still in place. Our priority is to find a cure. That means you, Miss Moralez, and you, Dr. Butler, are needed to continue the research.”
She left her chair and stood side by side with Linc. There was no more Manson to rely on. She had to use her knowledge to stop this scourge. Resolve swept aside her uncertainties. “All right. Let’s go to the lab and get started.”
The soldier’s faces fell into planes of relief and their blaster nozzles lowered even more. They stood aside so she and her friends could enter the lift.
Inside the lab, Ria paused, clamping a hand over her mouth. Manson’s body had been removed, but the syringe still lay on the floor and the equipment he’d swept aside in his final rage littered the area.
The 3-D projector was irreparably damaged, and some of the storage units and file containers had cracked open. The lingering atmosphere of violence returned the vision of his end of life.
She took a deep breath clearing her mind. “We need to clean up, first.”
The soldiers did most of clearing the litter, while she, Linc and Minlo inspected equipment and computer files. Fortunately, the mad scientist hadn’t erased any of his previous work before taking his life.
“Do you think we should follow the theory of how the oil spill and dispersants might have affected the parasites, or is that a moot point now that we know the virus was manmade?” She swiped the computer screen, studying the files.
“Unfortunately, yes. We have to start over with this new knowledge.” Linc found the white nutrient cube where Manson had placed their budding embryo. No bigger than an inch square, it seemed strange to think of it holding the beginning of a baby. He stared at it a moment, resting in the palm of his hand, then slipped it into his shirt pocket. His action broke her heart.
“We should focus on disarming the replication.” She averted her gaze and placed a tray of memory chips on a shelf above the computer.
“I agree,” he said. “Let’s analyze the progression of mutations. That might give us a clue.”
A soldier cleared his throat. “Ma’am, do you need anything from us?”
She faced him, one hand on her hip. “Yes, bring the tech devices you took from us when we arrived. My wrist-comm and tech-pad. Min’s too. We’ll also need food and water brought so we can continue to work. Make sure you keep hot coffee available at all times.”
“Yes, Ma’am. At once.” He turned smartly and marched from the lab.
By the time he returned, they’d managed to arrange the equipment and data into a semblance of order. The man placed her wrist-comm and pad on the counter beside the micro-viewer and handed Minlo his. She stared at the reordered lab, forcing aside thoughts of Louis. The cure was up to them now.
“I’ve set the sequencer to provide a timeline of the mutations,” Linc said. “It should finish in a few minutes. Min, give us some idea of what’s going on outside.”
“It looks bad,” he said in a subdued voice. “The cities with shields are the only ones really safe. Others are under attack. The cannibals have organized into military-like units. The armies of the North and South are hindered by riots and demonstrations from citizens protesting government takeovers.
“Across the pond, European and Asian countries are reporting outbreaks. Armies are using everything they have to repel the infected from cities where the people in rural areas have fled. Massive loss of sea life, as well. Mounds of whales, dolphins, seagulls, you name it, are piled on beaches everywhere.”
The news was so disheartening it almost overwhelmed her. Could they still stop the spread in time to preserve the remaining life on Earth? It was moving too fast.
Linc scratched the three-day growth of beard on his face. “What a disaster.”
Ria shook off her despair and pointed to the young man. “Min, can you do some math and figure out how much time we have as this escalates?”
His brows went up. “You mean until everyone is dead?”
She ran her tongue over her dry lips, hating to say the words. “That’s exactly what I mean.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Linc rested his head against a shelf beside the desk where he worked. His eyes burned, and he seemed to yawn ev
ery ten minutes. Minlo had his head down in front of a computer screen, dead asleep. Ria made adjustments to the sequencer and re-entered data they’d been working on. The first round had an error, and they had to wade through quite a few computations before they found it. A big waste of precious time.
“What did they bring us to eat?” she asked, making the final entry and sliding the port closed.
“Looks like something wrapped in bread.” He leaned over to inspect the tray on the table beside him. “There might be a fruit mash up of some kind, too.”
She glanced at him with a half-smile. “You don’t understand Northern food yet, do you?”
“No. Looks a lot like my idea of Mexican, Italian, French, and Japanese rolled into one.” He poked one of the bread rolls with a finger. “I’ll try it though. I’m hungry.”
She picked one up. “It’s called Jicbamba. It’s dough on the outside and a mix of peppers, honey and beef on the inside. The fruit dish is Sweet Malay.”
“I’ve eaten raw squid, so I’ll try just about anything as long as it’s not shrimp,” he said, taking a bite of the roll. The blend of hot, sweet, and savory actually tasted good. “Hmm, not bad.”
She shook Minlo’s shoulder. “Wake up and eat.”
He slowly raised his head, blinking against the lab’s bright lights. “Are we home yet?”
“Keep dreaming, Binky.” Linc snorted. “This is hell.”
“Oh, yeah. Now I remember,” he said, rubbing his face. “And it’s not a good memory.”
“Back to work,” Ria said. “Give us a news update.”
“I’m still working on your doomsday countdown,” he grumbled. “I’ll take a look at the world, though.”
Linc tried the fruit dish, also not bad, while the young man scrolled the news.
“Uh-oh,” Min said, munching on his roll.
“What did you find?” Ria asked.
“Before I dozed off, I broke through the security of the military headquarters in the two capitals. The data coming in isn’t good. The north is talking about bombing the South, saying the bulk of the cannibals are there and need to be eliminated. This alleged attempt to stop the spread of the virus is a thinly veiled attempt to wipe out a bunch of Southerners that’s not fooling anyone.
“Meanwhile, the South caught wind of the North’s stupid plan and is mounting a major initiative to attack The Divide and invade the North. Nobody anywhere, other than the dumb-ass leaders, thinks this is a bright idea. The people continue to riot. Security forces are hunting and killing cannibals, and really have no time to spare for a war across The Divide. The prisons are filled to overflowing with the living infected, and the international community thinks both of our countries are idiots and want to nuke us.” He looked up. “That’s it in a nutshell, folks. Stay tuned for an update on news at eleven.”
“All this stupid politics! Why can’t they do the right thing for the people?” Linc felt as though he’d been shot. Frustration, anger, despair all rolled into a bullet of white hot heat that seared into him. And here he was, stuck in bunker unable to help. He shook his head at the insanity. What would he do if he wasn’t here? Probably nothing that would stop these actions, but at least he could try. At least he could yell at someone and tell them to stop being idiots.
“What are we going to do?” Ria asked.
“I vote we lock this place down and stay for a few years until this mess is over,” Min said. “We have plenty of supplies, and I’m dying to take a dip in that pool.”
“Be serious,” she retorted.
“If we had a cure, we’d have leverage,” Linc mused, searching for some way to make a difference in outside events. He scratched his chin, wishing he could at least take a break and shave. His beard itched the hell out of his face.
“To do what, exactly?” She reached for another roll.
“I’ve been thinking. Even if we have a cure, the deployment will be the key. Right now, it appears neither side has the focus needed to make this a priority. If things continue to degrade, they won’t have the resources, either.”
Min’s features lifted as the preverbal light went on above his head. “Blackmail. I love it!”
“Are you still talking about withholding the cure from one side?” Ria wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“No. Both.” He crossed his arms. “The only way they’ll make proper use of a cure is to revert to the previous regimes. We also have to settle the protests. So we have the people in charge issue public statements that they will allow the original government officials to resume their posts and that any change in government has to be approved by popular vote on both sides.”
She pursed her lips and motioned for him to keep going.
“We’ll give them one hour to make their statement and begin transitions. Then we send the information only to the members of the previous governments. There’s a catch there, too.” He warmed to his idea and the burning in his gut eased. “The North and South have to also agree to begin working together and sharing of information.”
“What about your group, the IPP, and their desire to have more equity in the government? That was important to you.” Ria handed him and Min packs of water.
“It is, but that can come in time after the governments are re-established and the virus is remedied. Too many changes at one time won’t work. That’s why we have the current mess.”
“There will be some who oppose this enough to try and kill us, too,” she said. “Remember our T.M. who was almost assassinated?”
“At least for a while we’ll have the bunker to protect us. Then we can follow Min to Norway and hide.” He grinned hoping she appreciated his attempt to lighten the mood. They had no choice really. Their lives were worth it if this plan saved millions and stabilized their countries.
“Very funny,” she said, unsuccessfully trying to force the quirk from one side of her mouth.
“It’s a great idea,” Minlo said. “I vote yes.”
“Is this going to be based on votes?” she asked, raising one brow.
“No,” Linc said. “It has to be a unanimous decision.”
The atmosphere hung heavy in their silence as they finished their meals and contemplated this plan.
He’d been brought up on the words of historical leaders his father found inspiring. Some of that inspiration and hope of the worthiness of man must have rubbed off on him. If they’d believed in a better future and the willingness of people to fight for the greater good, then he did, too. He wanted to see the two countries develop in a better way and have a possibility of coming together again.
“Your reasoning is sound, I suppose,” Ria said after a while.
“Let me give you another of my father’s favorite Lincoln quotes. He said, ‘America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves’.”
“We can’t let that happen,” Minlo said, serious.
“All right. I agree.” She threw up her hands. “Now we just need a cure.”
Linc’s heart pumped elation through him. They had to do it. They had to save their countries. “Let’s look at that last mutation again on the micro-viewer. Maybe we’re missing something in its structure.”
She retrieved a chip from the insulated container on a shelf, and inserted it in the slot. The clear specimen square was drawn in, and the light of the screen glowed blue then green. The clear focus on the sample appeared. This came from the live batch of parasites he and Ria had brought from Deltaville. The little devils slowly moved in the limited space of the life-slide, hugely magnified.
He entered a command to provide an analysis of any new changes. They had none. No new mutations, at least in these captured specimens.
The sequencer completed its job, and she transferred the report to the computer screens. “There’s no evidence that using the DNA will make any difference. Louis was wrong.”
Her wristband vibrated on the table beside the sequencer, and she move
d to pick it up. “It’s my parents. Should I answer it?”
“No. I don’t want to take a chance they can track us in some way.” He looked over his shoulder at Minlo. “Is that possible?”
“Who knows? They may have placed a tracking program in it after they confiscated it. I’d have to analyze it.”
“It doesn’t matter. They’re already worried. I don’t have time to talk and explain anything, anyway.” She removed her hand from the metal band with a wistful gaze.
He hated that she worried about them but they had no room for distraction at this point. He returned to his study of the parasites and noticed something seemed different. “Did you change the magnification?”
“No. Why?”
“There’s, uh…Ria! What happened? They’re not moving.” He left his chair to stand before the piece of equipment. “Looks like they’re squashed.”
She hurried to his side, and Min joined them.
Ria keyed in a command to analyze, and a red light blinked. “Linc. They’re dead.”
***
She couldn’t believe her eyes and hit the command link again. Nothing. The red light continued to blink. “How is that possible?”
“The specimen should be secure in the life-slide,” Linc said. “They were fine just seconds ago.”
“Uh, Dopes, something killed them. You need to find out what it was,” Min said in a low voice.
The parasites had died instantaneously, as far as she could tell. As Linc said, seconds ago they had thrived. A fluttering in her stomach set in. “So an event occurred and they died. We need to trace everything that happened in the past minute. What could it have been?”
Linc covered his mouth with one hand, his eyes wide and shining with hope. “We need to retrace every moment and action. If we can determine the cause, then we have a way to kill the buggers. It’s the key.”
Her chest tightened as her blood pumped wildly at the thought they might have the solution. “I’ll test the integrity of the slide to make sure nothing got to them from the outside.”
Linc tapped his finger on the desk, waiting.