He opened the email on his laptop. There it was, a message from Lundberg with the specifics of the president’s visit and strict instructions to be entirely cooperative. She was creating a safety net for herself just as she threw her subordinates under the bus.
Would Helmut kill the three people he’d abducted? Could Rath even imagine his friend doing that? Yes. In truth, he could. Within Helmut lurked a core of ice upon which his entire persona was built.
May God have mercy on them, he thought. And then, as he finished the email, his focus turned to himself. Lundberg had ordered him to ensure the mission failed, and the best way to do that was to tamper with the delivery canister. In fact, it was likely to be the only way given that his chances of being able to destroy the rocket itself were remote. But then, how could he possibly hide his interference from the president’s people, especially Baxter? And should he do it?
What sort of a coward would sabotage humanity’s best chance for recovery?
Rath sighed and fell back into his chair, looking up at the ceiling. What sort of a coward? His sort?
Chapter 20
Come together
Buzz watched through the window of the Black Hawk as it touched down on the spaceport asphalt. He’d not really been paying attention as the president’s new chief aide (a woman old enough to have worked for Reagan, Buzz reckoned) had droned on about the place, but he could now see that it had once been a small commercial airport onto which a launchpad had been built.
The woman had given up, and so Buzz had contented himself with Jodi’s company. He wished he could say that she’d shown herself to be a chip off the old block, but the way she’d outmaneuvered Kessler was way beyond anything he was capable of.
As soon as the former aide had insisted she leave the room, she’d become suspicious. And when Buzz wouldn’t tell her what he’d said, she worked out the reason or, at least, enough of the reason to be able to act.
She’d known that her uncle’s work was in danger, and she’d also known him well enough to realize that he would be far too wrapped up in excitement over his own cleverness to take the precautions needed to safeguard his achievement. So, as he’d slept, she’d taken the backup flash drive from his pocket and kept it safe. She’d followed Buzz to his lab and heard Kessler’s voice followed by her uncle’s angry shout.
And at that point, she’d run into Agent Pope. He was no scientist—neither was she, after all—but he’d grasped the importance of what she was holding. It turned out Pope had been suspicious of Kessler for some time, but the double agent had been smart enough to keep Pope from obtaining solid evidence against him. Now he had it, and he brought Jodi, and the flash drive, to the president. At the time Kessler came into the room with a thoroughly defeated Buzz, neither Pope nor Buchanan had opened the files, but Kessler convicted himself by the look on his face as he saw Jodi standing there.
The snake was now rotting in the same camp Buzz had visited, and Clarke, the man he’d spoken to, was now being security checked to join the Presidential team as a junior. All in all, it had worked out well.
The next step, however, filled Buzz with concern. So many questions, so few answers and so much riding on it. Under normal circumstances, he would feel confident that his design would work as intended. Drop a population of the xenobot strain near the South Pole and it would restore the polar ice cap. A process that would normally take tens of thousands of years reduced to less than a decade, with the sea level beginning to retreat within weeks.
Under normal circumstances. But with the future of humanity riding on it, Buzz couldn’t help but be terrified. He’d tried to talk himself down time and time again. After all, if he failed, mankind would be no worse off than it was at the moment. But he couldn’t kid himself. He was like the parched man who spies an oasis—the fact that he’ll be in no worse a situation if it turns out to be a mirage is no comfort.
And then there was the fact that they would have to rely on help from SaPIEnT, the very people they knew Kessler was working for. But no one else had the technology to take Buzz’s design and create a population of xenobots, or to transport them to their dispersal point. Lundberg had promised complete cooperation during her call with the president as the two of them pretended not to know of Lundberg’s treachery. Buchanan’s theory was that SaPIEnT wouldn’t openly defy the federal government, and that it might seek to ally itself in the hope of earning back some trust and, perhaps, government contracts. Whether she truly believed that or not, the stakes were so high that they had to roll the dice.
“Wow, look at that!” Jodi said, reaching over Buzz and pointing out the window as the rotors slowed and stopped.
Beyond the shimmering black tar of the runways stood a tall metal structure and clamped to one side like a drunk clasps a bottle of liquor stood a rocket straight out of Buzz’s memory. Suddenly, he was watching the launch of Apollo 11 on shaky videotape, knowing that, on the same night, he’d been born and launched on a career in science that had led here.
The Minotaur on the launchpad was no Saturn V, however. The rocket that launched Americans to the moon would have towered over the Minotaur, requiring a launch mount four times as high. But from here, their little rocket looked like anything but diminutive.
He felt Jodi tug on his arm followed by a rush of warm, dry air as the door opened, and the president’s cadre of agents escorted her out of the Black Hawk. Buzz followed Jodi as the two of them got down, barely noticed by the presidential group, and he spotted the long stride of Frederick Rath as he emerged from the Aviator Bar & Grill flanked by the shorter but more assured walk of Lundberg. If there was a Minotaur at the center of SaPIEnT’s maze of intrigue, it was her.
He lost sight of her as she headed straight for the president with her hand outstretched. Rath, on the other hand, after greeting Buchanan, veered away, moving directly toward Buzz.
“Doctor Baxter,” he said, offering a limp handshake. Buzz looked into his eyes and saw that the man was terrified. “Shall we go inside?”
Buzz glanced at Jodi and gestured at her to come along. Rath glanced at her too, but Buzz said, “She works with me,” and, after a moment’s consideration, he nodded. “Very good.” Good grief, it seemed as though the man couldn’t care less anymore. Buzz remembered him as a fussy person, the sort who regarded protocol and respect as the founding principles of civilization, but now he had all the confidence of a death row inmate on his last morning.
They accelerated past the president’s party and took a side door into the restaurant. Buzz hadn’t even shut the door when Rath turned to him, glanced at Jodi, and said “This is a disaster!”
Buzz guided him to a seat at a small, round table beside a window that looked out on the runway and, beyond it, the launchpad. “Calm down, Frederick.”
He’d never heard anyone call Rath by his first name, but even that got no reaction. He wondered just how bad things must be for the man to be in this sort of a state.
Jodi settled in beside Buzz, exchanging worried glances with him.
“Just tell me what the problem is.”
Rath shook his head, then stared out at the rocket. “There’s no way out,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Buzz, whose own nerves—and patience—were wearing paper-thin, groaned. “Let’s have it.”
Rath’s eyes flitted from Buzz to Jodi, and then around the room, searching every corner for spies in the shadows, or listening devices. “No, she couldn’t have bugged here,” he said to himself. “She would know the Secret Service would check. But, all the same, we must keep our voices down.”
Buzz found himself following Rath’s eyes, though he wondered whether his former superior had already crossed the threshold of madness.
But he and Jodi leaned in as Rath gestured to them. “You know a boy called Max.”
“What?” Buzz said, louder than intended. Those were just about the last words he expected Rath to say.
“Yes, he’s our friend,” Jodi said
, all eagerness. “Hold on, are you saying you’ve seen him? What about the others?”
Rath nodded, then looked quickly around the room again as if expecting spies to come leaping out and tackle him to the ground. “They are at the institute.”
“How the hell did they get there?”
“They were apprehended by one of our operatives.”
“Why? Oh, because you thought it was me breaking into your server. You idiots sent people after an old man, a washed-up actor, a mouthy tour guide and an autistic boy?”
Rath’s face dropped.
“What?” Jodi asked. “Are they alright?”
“One of them—the old man, as you call him—died when our operative apprehended them. It was an accident!” he said, holding up his hands as Buzz leaped to his feet.
Hank had been the one of the four he’d had the most time for. Ever since Buzz had let him into the compound, he’d done his best to make himself useful. A calming influence, especially on the boy. Buzz felt his heart sink. He wanted to know what had happened, but there was no time.
“Finish what you have to say.”
Rath nodded, looking close to exhaustion, patches of sore redness inside his eyelids. “Lundberg has ordered our operative to…dispose of the remaining three. She believes they know too much.”
“Are you serious?” Buzz hissed. “What does she think this is? An airport novel? You don’t just kill people like that.”
Shrugging, Rath said, “She does. I think, Doctor Baxter…”
“Buzz.”
“Buzz. But you see, if you want to save your friends, then you must act now.”
Buzz leaned forward conspiratorially. “How?”
“I do not know whether our agent will carry out her commands. Helmut is a hard man, but I have never known him to kill deliberately without reason. And one of them is a woman. But I’ve also never known him to refuse to carry out an order given by his senior. I fear for your friends. Helmut knows what is at stake, and he will not wish to be on the wrong side of history.”
“What can we do?” Jodi asked.
“He has told me of his plan which is, in itself, curious. You must intercept him and rescue your friends. Tell him I sent you and it might be enough to restrain him.” He slid a set of car keys over the table. “You can drive? Good. There is a cement factory south of here on 70.” He scribbled a rough map onto the back of a menu and handed it to her. “Remember, he is a professional—there is no point in trying to fight him. You must reason.”
“Are you insane?” Buzz said, looking open-mouthed at the two of them. “I’ll go!”
Jodi shook her head. “No way! Stop treating me like a kid. We wouldn’t be here without me. You’d still be in Hazleton pretending your experiment was a failure. I can do this!”
“And you cannot go,” Rath added. “You are needed here. We have work to do.”
Jodi took the keys and bent down to peck Buzz on the cheek. “I’ll take care, honest. I can’t leave Max and the others without giving it my best shot.”
It was utterly surreal to watch her as she followed Rath’s pointing finger through the window to where a red Honda sat in the parking lot. Ever since he’d been forced by Agent Pope to get into a Black Hawk on the orders of the president, he’d had the feeling he was living in some sort of unreality. So, perhaps his niece heading off to face down the kidnapper of three friends was just par for the course, but he couldn’t help wondering at this immature kid he’d always looked out for as she turned into a woman looking out for others.
As soon as she’d gone, Rath turned to Buzz, his voice suddenly urgent. “We have work to do, Buzz. I think there is more at play here than even I know about. Lundberg has revealed herself to be a monster, but I don’t think she is truly in control. For reasons I don’t understand, she wishes for your mission to fail, but she requires me to pretend to help you. I wish I understood why she is doing this. Your plan could save millions of lives, and potentially the future of humanity.”
“Maybe she’s just a psychopath.”
“No, there is some other power behind her. She is trying to find a path between all these competing interests.”
“And this involves sabotaging the mission while pretending to cooperate?”
He smiled. “Indeed. I am to be the fall guy. Your mission will fail because of me.”
Buzz could hear the sounds of people moving in the room next door and guessed that the presidential cavalcade was about to move on. “But why go along with it? You know it’s wrong!”
Rath sighed and shook his head. “I am a coward, Buzz. I know what she is capable of. I have…family. If I do not cooperate, they will suffer and so will I. So, I must do as she is doing, do all I can to cooperate while trying to do the right thing.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Buzz asked, finding it hard to keep the disgust out of his voice.
“Because she will have someone check our work. I told you, I can see no way out. If she discovers I have attempted to deceive her, she will delay the launch until she can find a way to complete it. She must believe she has succeeded, or your mission will never take off.”
The door burst open and there stood Else Lundberg, the president looking over her shoulder into the bar. “There you are,” Lundberg said, as if talking to two children who’d been discovered with smuggled candy. “Talking shop? Good. I trust Frederick has assured you of his delivery mechanism, Doctor Baxter? We look forward to playing our part in this glorious mission.”
The blood had drained from Rath’s face as he looked from Lundberg to Buchanan to Buzz.
“Yes, Professor Lundberg,” Buzz said, “I know exactly what I have to do.”
Chapter 21
Terminator
“Where are you taking us?” Max asked as he sat alongside Jager in the front of the car.
The German showed no sign of even hearing the boy, and Ellie sat in the back as the terror threatened to overwhelm her. It was as obvious to her as it was to Patrick what was happening. Max had broken into a vault of company secrets and, worst of all, he’d exposed the fact that Buzz was developing a new—whatever it was, “bot” something—that would lower the water levels again. It seemed obvious to her that SaPIEnT wanted that research buried or, at the very least, controlled. And they couldn’t risk having three others to share the secret with. She’d thought they might keep them captive for the duration, but it seemed even that was considered too dangerous. So, they were to be eliminated.
She glanced across at Patrick as they sat in the back of the truck, each handcuffed to a door handle. It was a hot day and the pickup’s air con couldn’t keep all of the road dust out as they headed east along the highway. She and Patrick had been gagged, but Jager had, for some reason, spared Max that at least. She couldn’t imagine it was for the boy’s conversation skills.
“You should not have hacked into the server, you know that?”
“I’m sorry,” Max said. “I wish I hadn’t done it. I didn’t really understand what I found.”
She could see the German’s head shake slowly. “Nein. I do not believe that. You are clever. Too clever.”
“What are you going to do to me?”
Ellie noticed Max didn’t include them in his pleading.
“I am ordered to eliminate you,” the German said, without a hint of emotion. Max began to sob gently, but Ellie couldn’t help thinking it would be like trying to get sympathy from a terminator.
Ellie glanced across at Patrick, who was gazing out at the passing highway, lost in his own thoughts and paying no attention to what was going on outside.
Perhaps it was a mercy that the journey was short. It could only have been twenty minutes or so before Jager turned off the road past a sign saying Rock Valley Cement. Oh, surely he wasn’t going to push them into a vat of concrete? What was this, one of Patrick’s movies? But yes, that was what he intended. And it terrified her.
She saw no one else. No one to call out to, no one to rescue her.
The car pulled in and came to a halt beside a tall tower shaped like an upturned funnel.
Jager got out, pulled a pistol from his pocket, and dragged Max out of the car. He handed the boy a key and ordered him to release the others from their handcuffs.
“Do not try anything or I will not hesitate to shoot.”
Ellie ripped the duct tape from her mouth. “Are you serious? You’re going to kill us anyway.”
“You have the choice,” he said. “Die now or die later. Now stand together where I can see you.”
It all happened in a split second.
Max, who’d just released Patrick’s handcuffs, swung around and hurled them at Jager, who instinctively flung his arm up. In that moment, Patrick leaped, grabbing for Jager’s arm, but the big German brought it around, slamming his elbow into the side of Patrick’s head.
But Ellie was already moving. As Jager’s momentum carried him around, she threw herself at his side with every ounce of pent-up, terrified strength. He staggered backwards and if Patrick had still been in the game, they might have together overwhelmed the German. But he was collapsed on the white-dust-covered ground clutching his head, so Jager was able to take one step back, then lunge forward, grabbing Ellie by the throat.
Then he yelled in pain and his fingers opened, leaving Ellie to fall backward as the German dropped to the ground and Max stood over him with a brick in his hand. But he only stood there for a moment. Jager twisted with astonishing speed, knocking the boy down and bringing his pistol to bear. And then it was gone. Patrick’s boot swung through the air, kicking the gun from the German’s hand, but leaving Reid flat on his back, groaning.
As Ellie got to her knees, rubbing at her throat and coughing, she gasped. Max stood over Jager, the gun pointing at the German’s head.
Survivors: Deluge Book 3: (A Thrilling Post-Apocalyptic Survival Story) Page 17