by MJ Blehart
“Huh.” Jace thought about that. “Like the clones that were assassinated alongside Palmer Cadoret.”
“Yes,” Onima said. “We’ll have to run their designations against Dr. Deng’s notes and see if he worked on them directly.”
“I would bet he did,” Jace said. “The dying clone shot at the same time as Palmer Cadoret said what at first seemed like nonsensical words to me before he expired. Gray and Chuang, Deng, and Naz. He told us about this connection with his dying breath.”
Onima nodded.
Just then, Dr. Patel arrived in the MBCC and headed over to meet the rest of the team.
“Morning, all,” she addressed them. “I have test results and wanted to share what we found.”
“The virus?” Onima asked.
Dr. Patel shook her head. “No. The clones who had been taken were not infected. But there was something else in their bloodstreams.”
“What do you mean?” asked Onima.
Dr. Patel withdrew a datacard from her lab coat and swiped toward the group, producing a holographic screen. “This is an antiviral protein in their blood that is engineered. I need to take a closer look at Dr. Deng’s notes, but from what I gather, he was seeing if this would have a negative impact on the clones.”
“Like make them sick?” Jace asked.
“Or otherwise do harm,” Dr. Patel agreed. “Because based on what I am seeing, this is not a new virus. It’s an antidote.”
“A cure for his virus,” Jace said. “He was going to infect them.”
“But first he was testing if the cure caused another illness,” said Dr. Patel. “He gave them the cure before making them sick. I would guess he probably also wanted to see if it produced a vaccination effect of some sort, such as leaving detectable antibodies.”
“I have no doubt that information is in Dr. Deng’s notes,” Teru said.
“Most likely. At any rate, the clones can be released from the warehouse and returned to their homes,” Dr. Patel said.
“I’ll arrange to have them flown back to Pao-hui-burg,” Onima stated. “That way, they will move without being observed by other people in such a large group and risk arousing suspicion or curiosity.”
“Fortunately, Pao-hui-burg is far enough away from Lebassier City that nobody will notice,” Kara said.
Jace was still hung up on a different line of thought. “Dr. Patel, how did the clones receive that antidote? Were they injected or given it in food or drink?”
“I doubt it,” Dr. Patel said. “The room they were in had a very specific environmental control system. It was part of a closed network.”
“Which means,” Kara began, “that you could introduce something into the air of that room alone?”
“Exactly,” Dr. Patel replied. “We have seen evidence of unknown substance canisters that could have been attached to that system.”
“If you had an engineered virus you were going to distribute in the air,” Jace continued, “would it make sense to distribute an antidote the same way?”
“In theory, yes,” Dr. Patel said.
Jace took a deep breath. “Onima, we may already be too late. Dr. Deng might have made the virus airborne.”
“He claimed it wasn’t ready yet, didn’t he?” Kara asked.
Jace replied with, “What he said, specifically, was ‘the process wasn’t begun yet. We hadn’t gotten the optimal conditions set up yet.’ That doesn’t mean it wasn’t ready—just that he didn’t deploy it.”
“We have everything that was in that warehouse,” Onima said. “Dr. Patel, can your team take another look at what’s down there?”
“I’ll make arrangements,” Dr. Patel said.
Jace shook his head. “It may not matter. Remember, they’ve used other labs. Dr. Deng and his research were here. But given the direct connection to Gray and Chuang and Ivanov, do you think they’d manufacture the virus for distribution here, too?”
“No,” Onima concluded.
“If this was the test of the cure,” Jace continued, “the implication, to me, is that the virus has in fact been reengineered to be airborne. Likely, it was done at another of their labs, since they liked to decentralize everything to lessen potential evidence.”
“La shi,” Kara cursed. “Feroz made it clear that Dr. Deng was no longer necessary right before he shot him in the head.”
“I’d better reach out to Samarin,” Onima said. “I think we need to get into Mr. Ivanov’s office sooner rather than later. Like, before the end of the day today.”
“If Feroz is here, maybe Bettani and Nazari are too,” remarked Jace.
“I doubt it,” Kara said. “He was their errand boy. Besides, I’m not necessarily sure he was there for us.”
“What do you mean?” asked Jace.
“Feroz may have been at the warehouse to do exactly what he did. Eliminate Dr. Deng,” Kara said.
Jace had not considered that.
“You may be right,” Onima said. “Ivanov too?”
“Sure,” Kara said. “Ivanov is likely not the only connection in Gray and Chuang. But odds are, if the conspirators wanted to take Dr. Deng out of the picture, they may have wanted to take him out as well.”
“It’s too bad we didn’t get to look at what equipment Feroz and his team had in their APC,” Jace said. “It’s possible they were going to make it look like an accident and burn it all down. Hell of a way to get rid of all the evidence.”
“And the less direct elements of the conspiracy,” Kara said.
“What’s more, I highly doubt Nazari and Bettani are the lone architects of this whole scheme,” Onima said. "There are other former NEEA and NECC officials who would probably love to get jobs in a new government after the AECC collapses.”
“If Feroz was present to remove Dr. Deng,” added Kara, “then they’re probably getting ready to move from conspiring to overthrow the government to actively acting to overthrow the government.”
Jace looked around at the team. His infantry mindset saw all their strengths and weaknesses. Though they were not soldiers in the traditional sense, soldiers they were.
“We have two problems on our hands,” Onima said. “The first is the conspirators and the moves they’ll make to take down the AECC and its leadership. That, we have not ascertained in the slightest.
“If that virus is airborne and they distribute it into a clone slum—or more than one clone slum—hundreds or even thousands of clones could die. That many clones dying will also have an impact on non-clones, especially if they learn it’s a virus. The Confederation will be forced to act, probably to dispatch forces to multiple locations.”
“Further isolation of my kind,” Jace said. “And after a virus starts decimating us, any survivors will face even more shunning and other, less pleasant consequences. Which will keep the AECC forces’ attention.”
“That,” Kara began, “will leave the Confederation leadership exposed on multiple fronts. Whatever the next move the conspirators have planned is, it might meet little or no resistance.”
“And that next move is still not entirely clear,” added Teru.
Jace just shook his head. For all they had, there were still too many variables to draw any one conclusion. And time was running out.
“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Onima concluded.
<->
The investigation is nearing its conclusion. Check out the final part:
Bold Moves
Forgotten Fodder – Book 4
Acknowledgements
There are several people I would like to thank for all their continued help and encouragement.
In no particular order:
My editor, Rebekah Becker. This is the third time I have work with her, and I look forward to working with her on many more books.
My cover artist, Starla Huchton. She is awesome and keeps providing me with incredible covers and assistance on my blurbs.
My wife Chrissie. Your support makes this work possible. You a
re the best! Also, you should know that *name redacted* will totally surprise *name redacted* in the next book.
My cats, Thalia and Cosima. Thank you, oh feline overlords, for allowing me to live in this apartment and work. Also, Thalia - thanks for not meowing during the recording of the audiobook.
My family for all their support.
All my friends who keep offering encouragement and support for my writing. Thank you for following along on social media as I yap on about this process.
Last, and certainly not least, YOU. I love and appreciate all my readers, and I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
The end of the investigation is near! But the end of the series? That’s another story.
About the Author
MJ BLEHART has been writing stories of high fantasy and sci-fi/space opera throughout his life - the first when he was nine years old. Star Wars and Star Trek were some major influences in his youth.
He is a history aficionado. MJ has been a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA - a medieval re-enactment society) for over twenty-nine years. In the SCA, he studies and teaches 16th century rapier combat (fencing) and court heraldry, enjoys archery, social interactions with people from all over the world, and spending time with friends.
MJ loves to read sci-fi and fantasy, and loves many sci-fi and fantasy films and TV shows
MJ currently resides in south New Jersey near Philadelphia with his wife and two feline overlords (cats).
Links
Author website:
mjblehart.com
Podcast, Awareness for Everyone: awarenessforeveryone.com
YA Fantasy series The Source Chronicles: sourcechronicles.com
Follow MJ on twitter @mjblehart
Instagram @mjblehart
Facebook @blehartmj