Genecaust

  Meret, feeling exactly the same, had wrapped one hand around the other to keep them still and had locked her knees together for the same reason. “We don’t have to go through local security, do we?”

  Steve replied, “No. Our INTERPOL contact told me after the takedown we'd be moving Katya’s gurney down a set of stairs directly to the tarmac where we’ll wait for a short ride to the company jet. Then it's on to a black site where Katya will tell all.” He lifted both hands with his fingers crossed.

  * * *

  Meret leaned against the large portal window of the company jet and watched the final approach to Dubai in silence. She knew this mission required running, so she’d dressed in a casual black pants suit and a gray hijab. Only her worn, glue-shoe running sneakers might challenge the local dress code. The last word they’d had from the agents on Katya's flight from Hong Kong indicated they were scheduled to land in twenty minutes. They had to get got to their arrival gate before the passengers deplaned. She cleared the chamber of her gun and tucked it out of sight.

  Granger leaned across the table and squeezed her had. “You’ve got this. We’ve reviewed the steps and they are sound. Take a deep breath.”

  Steve lifted his chin to her. Ready? Follow me down the stairs. INTERPOL has an ambulance waiting close-by. The timing is tight, so be prepared to move fast. Do you have extra SuperFlys in your pocket? Phone on and working?”

  She nodded. “How close can we get the ambulance to her plane?”

  “We’ll park it on the tarmac by her gate. You'll exit via the ramp and station yourself inside the airport opposite the check-in counter with a SpyFly in the air ready to hit her if needed. Granger will stand by the ramp's entrance next to the check-in counter as backup. I will stand by the juncture of the ramp and the plane and join the team on board with the INTERPOL HAZMAT team escorting Katya.”

  “Poppy and Zhen should have already met another INTERPOL ambulance at their gate and be in their HAZMAT suits, Granger said. That ambulance will have arrived at our gate with a team of our people and will help remove Katya from the plane and into their ambulance.”

  The plane eased into the side of the waiting ramp to discharge passengers to the terminal.

  Steve stood, “Game on.” He headed for the exit.

  Meret followed Granger down the stairs and ran toward the ambulance next to the ramp. Steve greeted his two INTERPOL contacts and they climbed into the back of the ambulance where they grabbed straps for the rapid ride to Katya’s gate.

  After a few minutes of flashing lights and siren squawks, the ambulance stopped. A man in the front seat opened the sliding window and shouted Steve and Meret sitting in the rear. “The other ambulance isn't here. Wait one. I'm making a call to see what’s holding them up.”

  The team groaned and shook their heads.

  The man up front barked through the partition. “Freaking gate change. Hold on, we can still make it.”

  Meret clenched her teeth. “What the—?”

  67

  Takedown

  October, Dubai International Airport - Chaos

  Wild zig-zag driving and a sudden stop threw the rear doors there stood two people in HAZMAT suits next to a gurney.

  Steve ran for the stairs of the plane taking them two at a time.

  Seeing the plane’s hatch still closed, Meret breathed again and tore out the door as well. Thanks to INTERPOL, the passengers were still inside and Steve took up his prearranged position. She joined Granger the two of them took a left turn and dashed up the ramp toward the ticket counter.

  Stopping at the top, she grabbed his upper arm. “We made it. I'm going to position over there.” She pointed to the wall on the other side of the wide concourse aside near the rest rooms. “I'll use the large potted plants as a cover and prep a SuperFly and land it where I can scan the faces of the arriving passengers as they leave the plane. Open a channel on your phone, so I can give you a real-time heads-up.”

  “Great idea, good hunting.” He moved off to position close to the security door between the passenger lounge and boarding ramp. Meret hustled to her own vantage point and launched her SuperFly toward the security door. Her personal view showed Granger taking a position behind several large potted scheffleras close to the check-in counter beyond. This would place Katya between them if she managed to get this far.

  Meret guided her SuperFly, Sly, to a perch on the top of welcome sign at the top of the passenger ramp just before they entered the ticket counter’s waiting area. That perch put the SuperFly in a perfect position to scan the long line of arriving passengers and give her time to confirm Katya would soon be in position for the take down.

  “Granger, I'm in position and my bot’s scanning the ramp. No passengers, yet.”

  “Copy that. Standing by.”

  Steve said, “They’re opening the plane’s hatch.”

  In short order Meret’s screen picked up people entering the ramp below in fits and starts and double-checked she’d activated the facial recognition icon. Damn. “About a dozen First-Class have deplaned, but I don’t see her.”

  In a corner of her screen, Meret recognized one of the agents who flew with Katya from Hong Kong. He looked in several directions with a worried look as he spoke into his cuff. “No sign of Katya in the exiting First Class queue. My partner is making a sweep of the First Class restrooms and galley areas. I have constant eyes on the plane’s hatch and business class passengers are approaching the door.”

  Meret’s heart hammered double time and she just barely resisted the urge to fly her bot inside the plane to look for herself. They couldn’t let Katya get away and for every second she didn’t show, the possibility she somehow eluded them loomed larger.

  Steve said, “I’m standing inside at he juncture where First Class and Business merge to exit. The numbers of people filling the ramp has increased and while most had their heads down, pulling suitcases, carrying large personal bags, or guiding children, one passenger seemed different. She had no luggage and her eyes darted about as though scanning for surveillance cameras. The woman wore a black business suit, a black hijab, and dark glasses. A small black shoulder purse, more like an attaché, hung across her chest. Hold it.” He paused, “The woman stopped just before the ramp begins and leaned against the wall. I think she’s checking the small cargo door as a possible exit. It’s guarded by two workers. She changed her mind and rejoined the mob on the ramp.”

  Meret reacted, Katya and selected Granger’s icon. “Suspicious woman in black has stopped to scan the ramp area before continuing up.”

  “Copy.”

  Glancing at the onset of people moving toward her, she tagged the woman's image and hit the facial recognition button. A spinning wheel on the screen turned yellow. Come on, Sly, come on.

  The slow connection to the cloud was killing her.

  She hit the green tracking icon knowing her SuperFly would stick with the bitch. When it was time, she would hit the yellow icon and nock her out good with the virus. If she did that while Katya was still on the ramp there would be a riot of passengers trying to escape what ever struck her.

  Four women in black burkas exited the plane and enter the ramp.

  Ah. Clever. She’s waiting for cover.

  The facial recognition icon kept spinning, looking for the cloud.

  “Granger, we have four women in black burkas but only one in a business suit. My money's on her. That's got to be Katya.”

  From her physical position across the wide concourse, she held her finger above the Yellow icon that would initiate the knock-out virus once Katya was clear of the narrow ramp. She continued monitoring her slow exit surrounded by four women in burkas and failed to recognize Granger, mostly hidden by the scheffleras, reach into the collection of black to yank Katya in and behind the thick collection of plants.

  Several women screamed and ran from the area. As the commotion increased, Meret hesitated and checked her screen to confirm the SpyFly has correctly identified the
woman as Katya. She can almost see Granger in the corner behind the fern with Katya firmly pinned to the wall with one hand on her throat. He thumbed his cell with the other hand before Katya kicked it away and grabbed his wrist. His gun fell to the rug with a dull thud.

  She grabs her Glock and runs toward Granger, and holsters her cell, assuming he initiated the virus.

  Granger sagged to the floor like a string-less puppet and Katya closed on his face with her bare hands.

  Meret fixated by the image of his situation can only mutter. “Oh, dear God, shit,

  Sweet Jesus. She hasn’t been injected.

  With no clear shot she grabbed her cell and hit the bot's ‘sedate’ icon. Running across the wide concourse through the growing crowd of onlookers she yelled into her cell, “Gun, gun, Katya has Granger, top left side of the ramp. Gun, gun” Reaching the potted trees in time to see Katya force Granger's gun under his jaw, Meret leaped and grabbed Granger’s Glock with both hands forcibly removing it from his head.

  Katya kicked, scratched, and bit Meret wherever she could make contact, but couldn’t regain control of Granger’s gun. They wrestled to the floor for control. The bitch was strong but Meret’s rage fueled her own strength. Neither gained dominance until Katya buried her teeth in the back of Meret’s hand and she releases Katya’s wrist. Katya forced the gun barrel toward to Meret’s face and hissed through clenched teeth. “Pity we don’t have more time to make you mine. This is where you die.”

  Through her rage, Meret wondered why Granger’s or her bot hadn’t infected Katya. She remembered Zhen’s words.

  “The bot needs exposed skin to inject the sedative.”

  Gambling on her last living seconds, she pulled the arm pinned under Katya free and yanked the hijab from her head.

  Katya eyes flared “Like the hair color?”

  Meret couldn't see the SuperFly but knew the physical symptoms of the no-talk virus were immediate and painful.

  The bitch was still talking.

  Suddenly Katya's arms flew wide and her body shook as though she’d been hit by a TASER “What—”

  Katya’s convulsions caused the gun to fire.

  Meret shoulder filled with pain.

  People knocked over potted plants and hands grabbed her while others subdued Katya's convulsive body. Meret, concerned only for Granger, watched with relief as two medics attend to him.

  With everyone talking at once she couldn’t follow what anyone said and soon, blackness closed in.

  68

  Flight to DC

  October, somewhere over the Atlantic - confusion in the night

  Meret regained consciousness strapped to a gurney in the rear of the company jet.

  Her shoulder burned so, she gasped for breath. What happened? Two drip lines hung from a small monitor close to the thick pillows someone had positioned to prop her head and shoulders up. She glanced to the right and left using her eyes only and saw that her gurney, positioned in the middle of the aisle, gave passing room for anyone interested in access to nearby tables and pairs of matching leather seats. Looking between her feet she saw another gurney and another set of feet. Whoever the patient was had more than safety straps holding her in place. Katya. Was it Katya? This patient continually thrashed about but did not call out.

  Blinking unsuccessfully, to clear her vision, she saw cluster of tables she thought hosted two to three additional sleeping forms. When a pair of dark blue scrubs approached her and stood on each side of her gurney, she didn’t recognize either. The one standing to her right held a large tab, the other, a small tray.

  “Good morning, Dr. Mather. I'm Dr. Evans. This is Nurse Rogers. We are here to check your dressing. How are you feeling?”

  How was she feeling? Stupid question. Doctors were forever asking stupid questions. “Hurts,” she mumbled.

  “I expect it does. See this button?” He placed her thumb on it. “It will release a painkiller for you. Don’t go wild on it. The amount releases each hour is limited. It won’t work after you’ve had your full dose.” He looked down at his chart while the nurse smoothed out her blanket.

  Meret ignored his lesson about pain meds. “Tell me about Katya.”

  “I imagine you would like a medical update since we have interfered with your rest.” He didn't wait for her reply. “The gunshot wound is closer to your clavicle than I would have liked, but the arthroscopic procedure allowed us to rule out the presence of bullet fragments or problems with the articulation of your shoulder joint.”

  Didn’t they hear her? “Katya? What about Katya?

  “We found no dead, contaminated, adherent tissue, or foreign material. The fluid drips, as you probably surmised, are fortified with antibiotics and some basic pain meds. You should heal nicely.” He showed her a small bottle containing the head of a bullet. “This is for you.” He held it with his thumb and forefinger and shook it. “Totally intact.” He handed it to her.

  She wanted to scream. Maybe she did. “Katya?”

  Ah yes.” Dr. Evans tilted his head toward the gurney at her feet. “Resting uncomfortably.”

  “You know she’s extremely dangerous and will require another dose soon. Poppy. can do it. She knows how much to give her. Where’s Dr. Zhen? My eyes are still foggy.”

  Dr. Evans said, “They briefed the extraction team with Katya’s protocols. We’ll be careful. Dr. Zhen and your assistant Poppy are sleeping in the seats next to her.”

  “Granger? Oh my god, how’s Granger?” She tried to sit up, and the nurse placed a gentle but firm hand on her good arm.

  “We’re under orders to keep him heavily sedated until we can make a handoff at headquarters in DC.” Dr. Evans said. “He has no physical wounds, but she obviously did something to him. Now, try to relax while I inspect that shoulder of yours and Rogers here puts a new dressing on your wound.” He nodded to the nurse who injected something cold in her drip line. Damn. She still had questions. Granger—

  * * *

  Meret woke and blinked several times to clear the fog from her vision. A numbing soreness covered her left shoulder and neck. The black portals on both sides of the plane indicated night, but she could only guess at the hour. Where was everyone?

  A dark figure holding anything he or she would reach for support, stumbled more then walked toward her. Meret couldn’t identify the person in spite of their slow progress and her breathing became more like panting panic.

  She was hesitant and called softly. “Hello?”

  No response.

  Meret said, “Hello” louder and recognized alarm in her voice.

  The figure tripped but righted itself by grabbing the back of a chair.

  Whoever it was, was almost upon her now.

  Meret jerked on her restraints but couldn’t get free. She wanted to scream and couldn’t. The figure reached her gurney and in one smooth motion covered her mouth with a strong hand.

  “Shhh, Meret. It’s me, Poppy. I had a bad dream and had to know that you were okay. I didn’t want you to call out. I’m sorry I startled you.”

  “Poppy. For Christ’s sake. Startled my ass. You scared the living crap out of me.” She tried to keep her voice at a whisper but was so rattled it rose in volume. “If I’d a gun or something sharp you'd be dead now.” She calmed a fraction and took a deep breath. “Who's after me in your dream?”

  “For starters, that bitch is in the gurney in front of you. You were nuts to take her on, hand-to-hand.”

  “She wore gloves and covered herself so well I worried the SuperFly couldn't find a bare spot of skin to infect her.”

  “In that regard, when they examined Katya, they found multiple bot strikes on the back of her neck. None of the medics can figure out why she didn’t die from an overdose.” She wiped Meret's forehead with a cold towel. “I got this from the woman's restroom up front. Water's cold as ice. I almost dropped it trying to navigate the maze of medical gear in the dark aisle.” She dabbled a bit on Meret's forehead. “I'm truly sorry about
creeping up on you like that.”

  “I’ll survive. Truly,” she added to assure her friend. “What time is it and how soon will we land at D.C.?”

  Poppy checked her cell. “3:45 am. We’ll arrive in four hours.”

  “What else can I tell you?”

  Meret took Poppy’s hand from her forehead and squeezed it. “You’ve done nothing except astound and amaze me with your work and your mind. I couldn’t ask for a better partner.”

  “It’s good of you to say all that. I’m still sorry if I woke you with a fright.”

  Meret shook her hand in protest. “I’ll tell you what’s scary. It's what might happen to our leaders if I fuck this up. More than two hundred men and women could die if I can’t get that bitch to tell us the details of how she and her billionaire friends plan to assassinate them. How the hell does someone interrogate some like Katya? We almost killed her once and I’m beginning to think we'll count ourselves lucky if we can keep her alive long enough to get her in a padded cell.”

  “Dr. Evans said the extraction team knows all they need to know on how to handle Katya. That’s got to be a positive point for our success.”

  Poppy exhaled a heavy sigh. “She's still one scary woman.”

  “How’s Granger?”

  “Don’t know. He’s on the other plane headed for D.C. with Special Agent Fairchild and two other agents who were in on the extraction.”

  “Dr. Evans said Granger had to be heavily sedated. Why?”

  She made a face. “Don’t you know?”

  “What?”

  She wrinkled her brow and Meret thought she might cry. “Don’t you remember? When Granger first woke, he tried to kill you.”

  69

  The DC LitterBox