Danger's Cure: (Holly Danger Book 4)

by Amanda Carlson

  “That can’t be your answer for everything,” I said. “Brock Shannon didn’t start the medi-pod program. Who started the program?”

  “Brock Shannon,” Reed insisted.

  “Why did he start the program?” Darby asked.

  “His wife was infected by Plush. It’s why he started killing seekers and placing them on stakes in front of his residence. After he escaped, he fled down South and did what he had to do to save her.”

  That made some sense, if in fact Brock Shannon had survived. “So Brock Shannon’s original mission was to save seekers? Then when he died, they closed the program down?”

  “He didn’t die.”

  I fought my urge to pace in a small circle in front of the guy. “If Brock Shannon’s still alive, then why is the medi-pod program inactive? I thought his goal was to save seekers?”

  “It was deemed evil to save those who are defective,” Reed said. “They destroyed all of the medi-pods.”

  “Are you sure about that?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Who gave the order?” I asked.

  “Tillman.”

  “Of course he did,” I said.

  Darby leaned over, studying Reed’s face and eyes as he asked, “Has anybody you know ever been cured of anything? Something you didn’t think was possible?”

  “Yes.”

  “Please be specific,” Darby said. “What kind of ailments did they have, and when were they cured? Were they brought to the city for treatment?”

  I could see where Darby was going with this and was grateful he was here. Our rapid-fire questions were producing answers, but they weren’t exactly leading us in the right direction. Darby had the skills and finesse we needed.

  “Yes, they were taken to the city,” Reed confirmed. “Grave injuries were healed because we are on the correct path to salvation. Rewards are bountiful if you believe.”

  “Did the people who were cured go to the Medi Center?” Darby continued.

  “No.”

  “Where did they go?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I think it’s pretty clear Reed is a foot soldier,” I said. “The higher-ups wouldn’t share much with someone of his rank.”

  “According to his answers,” Lockland said, “there’s a good possibility they kept one of the medi-pods working to cure those in their group who needed it, just like you thought. It must be powerful in its own right, capable of doing much more than mending a seeker.”

  “Have you ever been inside the building that the Bureau of Truth occupies in Government Square?” Darby asked.

  “Yes,” Reed replied.

  “How many people reside in that building?”

  “Twelve members live there.”

  “Are you free to go anywhere in the building?” Darby asked.

  “No.”

  “What rooms are off-limits?”

  “We must remain on the main floor. There is a large meeting room and three guest rooms. The rest of the building is classified.”

  I bet it was.

  “What are the names of the members?” Darby asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “What you mean you don’t know?” I asked. “You said you’ve been there and had meetings.”

  “He didn’t say he’s been to meetings,” Darby clarified. “He said there’s a meeting room. If they’re trying to maintain their secret, as they have for thirty years, it makes sense that they would cloak the identities of the members who live and work in the city. If anything happens, and the militia is defeated, these guys can blend into the general populace without anyone ever knowing they were involved. From everything Reed’s said so far, my guess is these twelve are the responsible authority. They make the decisions and communicate directly with Tillman, who then makes sure their orders are carried out. Almost like a big corporation would have operated before the dark days. These twelve would’ve been the top executives.”

  “Twelve’s an okay number,” Bender said. “We won’t have trouble getting rid of twelve.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “But they’re going to have precautions in place if something goes wrong. Tillman’s probably been instructed to start an all-out war on the city if something happens to them. They’ve had literally years and years to plan this. For all we know, they’ve planted doomsday bombs all over town, set to destroy with the punch of a button.”

  Darby said, “It would be a mistake not to be cognizant of their agenda before we strike. Holly’s right. It’s been in place for years. Nothing about this seems hurried. It’s been methodically planned, down to brainwashing foot soldiers as children. Their willingness to wait until the timing is considered perfect speaks volumes. If we enter that building and take them out, we risk retaliation on the city itself. At this point, we have to believe they will fight fiercely to keep their power.”

  I sat, leaning over as I brought my hands to my face, rubbing my eyes. We all needed a little time to think and process everything we’d just heard. There had to be a solution to all this. I refused to believe there wasn’t a way we could win this war.

  Daze surprised me by getting out of his seat and walking up to Reed. I raised my head to watch. “Reed, do you come to the city at set times?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “When?” the kid asked.

  “We come once per annum.”

  Only once a year? That was surprising. But if they were trying to keep things a secret, that would do it. Having strange people constantly entering and exiting the city at all times would call attention to them.

  “Is this your designated time to be in the city?” Daze continued.

  “No.”

  “Why were you called here?”

  “We must take care of the threat before they find out about us,” Reed answered. We didn’t have to guess to know who they were.

  Too late, your secret has been exposed.

  “How many people came with you?” Daze asked. The kid was good at this.

  “Three.”

  “Was one of them Tillman?”

  “No. Tillman resides twenty kilometers from the base.”

  “What happens if you fail?” Daze asked.

  “Death. But I welcome it.”

  Yeah, we know that.

  “If all three of you die, will they send three more?” Daze asked.

  “No, Tillman will come.”

  I stood and made my way to the kid, settling my hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze, letting him know he was doing a good job. “How many will come with Tillman?” I asked, picking up Daze’s thread.

  “Tillman’s army contains thirty men.”

  “How many live at the militia base?” I asked.

  “One hundred seventy-six.”

  Lockland cleared his throat, appearing tired. We had to wrap this up soon. “How do the twelve in Government Square communicate with Tillman?”

  “We have private bandwidths set up,” he replied.

  Damn, that was handy.

  And had probably taken a lot of time to organize—like, years. Private bandwidths meant they had their own radio towers.

  “Do the twelve have set schedules?” Lockland asked. “Do they all work within the government?”

  “Yes. They all have government jobs.”

  “Do their coworkers know who they are?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “So they blend,” I said. “But people must see them coming in and out of that building.”

  “Not necessarily,” Darby said. “Remember the hologram map? There are three entrances into the basement of that building. My guess is they utilize at least one of those exclusively. We need to get back to the barracks and study the map again. See if there’s a direct route to someplace nearby where they could enter without being seen.”

  I nodded. “Who knows? Maybe they have a pneumatic-tube system like the Emporium does. It wouldn’t be that farfetched.” We wouldn’t know until we got there. Reed’s head dropped for
ward, and he began to moan. The Babble was wearing off. Lockland needed a break, so this worked fine. “I agree with Darby,” I said as I bent down to unshackle Reed’s legs. “We need to get back to the hologram map. We get this guy to the barracks and secure him until we dose him again. I’m all for getting the mover drone out of here as well. If Port Station changes their mind and decides to track us down, the barracks is off the radar.”

  “I’ll stay here with Lockland until he’s done in the pod,” Bender said. “Then we’ll follow you back.” Lockland’s craft was wrecked, and Bender’s was back at the barracks. That left only Seven and the mover drone parked out front.

  I glanced at Case, who addressed Bender. “We’ll take the mover drone, since we have five. You take my craft. There are no tricks, just a standard startup.”

  “I can handle it.” Bender nodded.

  “We’ll leave the hatch unlocked,” Case said. “Look for the mover drone straight west of the barracks and park next to it. It’s best we keep all the crafts away from our location for now.”

  “Will do,” Bender said.

  “Do you need Darby to stay?” I asked. Darby was key to deciphering the hologram map, but if Lockland needed him, that was the priority.

  Lockland glanced at Darby. “Bender just has to press a button, right?”

  Darby nodded. “Yes. The diagnostics are all locked in. You’re patient one in the system right now. Bender is patient two.”

  “After Bender takes his turn, we’re making one stop before we head to the barracks,” Lockland said as he limped toward the machine.

  “Where to?” I asked.

  “We need Claire.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  “Where in the hell are they?” I asked. It was going on four hours since we’d arrived back with Reed, who was currently dosed up on Quell. No amount of dissuading had convinced Lockland not to go get Claire. He was right that we needed her. But taking Seven anywhere near the city was incredibly risky. “I knew I should’ve gone with them.”

  “Lockland laid out his plan,” Case said. “You heard him. Claire knows how to dodge the tail if she’s being followed. They also have a meeting place that no one knows about. Plus, the meet-up was planned after blackout, which gives them ample cover.”

  All of those things were true, but it didn’t make me feel much better.

  “Yeah,” I said. “But from what Reed said, the Bureau of Truth is sneaky and content to wait, even if it takes years. If they’ve discovered Claire is part of our team, they might lie in wait for this kind of rendezvous, knowing she’ll meet up with us at some point.”

  “I thought you always kept your connection with Claire out of the public eye,” Case said.

  “We did—I mean, we do,” I grumbled. We’d always been careful to keep Claire at a distance, so no one would know how close she was to us. “But this was before we knew any specifics about the Bureau of Truth. Claire helped smuggle Darby out of his incarceration a short time ago, so it’s feasible that they suspect her. Honestly, if I were nervous that I was about to be discovered, like the Bureau of Truth seems to be, I’d have a sharp eye on anyone and everyone.”

  “Come look at this,” Darby called from the tech table, where he and Daze had their heads together.

  As I moved in their direction, I glanced at the sleeping pod that held Reed, his arms and legs bound. We’d given him Quell because, once he’d awoken fully right after we arrived back, he’d started threatening to take his own life every five minutes. We had no idea how he would achieve such a thing, since we’d taken his weapons and his kill pill, but I didn’t trust the bastard. We needed more information from his head, so we weren’t willing to risk it.

  I sat down on the couch next to Darby.

  He pointed at the building next to the one we believed the Bureau of Truth was headquartered in. “I believe the twelve members come in through this building here. It used to be the Residence Assistance Office, the agency that once helped people set up housing and provided a few supplies. It hasn’t been used as that for a long time, but I’m fairly certain there are still offices in there, and people come and go, so it would raise less suspicion.” His finger trailed over a path, leaving a quickly evaporating red line. “If you head into this room, there’s a hidden stairway behind this door.” He tapped on the location. “Whoever occupies that office knows the staircase exists. It would be the perfect cover for people entering this building.” He slid his finger over the Bureau of Truth building, his finger moving down to the basement, through a short tunnel, and back up the hidden staircase. “It’s the perfect concealed route.”

  I sat back. “So, if we find out who has an office in there, we might find one of the twelve?”

  “I would think so,” Darby answered.

  “Where’s Claire’s office?”

  Darby brought both his hands up and redirected the hologram with a few swiping motions. The map shifted quickly, changing locations under his ministrations. He was getting good at running the program, which was a surprise to exactly no one. “I’m pretty sure this is her office.” He tapped the screen, marking it with three red dots. “At least, this is where the orphan project is set up.”

  “Can you shrink it down so we can see everything at once?” I asked. He did, and I leaned forward, squinting. “They’re not too far apart. She might have dealings there.” I stood up, still feeling anxious. My friends’ near-fatal dronecraft accident wasn’t far from my mind. How could it be? “Where are they? I’m giving them ten minutes, and then we go after them.”

  “I’d wait,” Darby cautioned. “Lockland and Claire interact all the time. They have a system in place. The medi-pod had to have taken a couple hours to finish the healing process on both Lockland and Bender.”

  “Yes, but it’s been four hours, not two. Are you forgetting that the last time our friends didn’t show up, they’d most likely be dead if we hadn’t gone after them?” I asked.

  “I haven’t forgotten. But you went after them because they had a prisoner and a set time they were supposed to arrive back,” Darby said. “We don’t know where they are right now, so even if you wanted to, how would you find them?”

  “They have to contact Claire by tech phone,” I said. “I could use mine if I had to.”

  “True, but—”

  A muffled sound cut him off.

  “I’ll check it out.” Case stood, making his way back to the battery room, where he’d left the hatch ajar.

  I followed. As soon as I got inside the room, I heard a woman’s voice outside, and she sounded pissed. “That has to be Claire,” I muttered, letting myself relax by a few degrees.

  “I’m thinking the same thing,” Case said.

  A few minutes later, we heard Bender’s voice. “We had no choice but to walk. We can’t leave a craft out in the open when people are trying to track us down.”

  “Well, you could’ve dropped me off,” Claire grumbled. “I live and work in Government Square. What part of me is ready to hike through the wild for two kilometers?”

  I climbed up, opening the hatch fully and popping my head out. “You’re here,” I said, catching sight of them, relieved to see Lockland walking without a limp.

  “Of course we are,” Claire answered with a wry grin. “Lockland beeped me and said it was important, so I came. It took me a while to lose my tail, but I did. Those bastards are still monitoring us.”

  I backed out of the way so they had enough room to enter.

  Case helped Claire down, then Lockland and Bender jumped through. Case climbed up after, pulled the hatch closed, and secured it.

  Bender proceeded to shake himself off like I imagined some kind of wild animal would have a long time ago. “Damn rain never stops,” he growled as water droplets sprayed everywhere.

  “Yeah,” I quipped. “Thanks for sharing a portion of yours.” I led them through the battery room.

  As we passed, Claire exclaimed, “Are these batteries real?”

  �
��Yep,” I said. “Pretend you don’t see them.”

  “Pretending,” she said.

  It was extremely illegal to have this much battery power. If we were caught, there would be severe consequences. “We’re technically outside the city limits,” I said. “So we’d have a solid argument for not revealing them.”

  “The jurisdiction of our government presides over everything within its reach,” Claire stated, using her official government tone. “This is definitely within its reach. Not to mention, it looks like original government property.” Her head bobbed as she examined the space, taking it all in.

  I stopped next to a crate of dried protein flakes. “It is. Just keep pretending.”

  She smiled, spreading her arms wide, coming in for an embrace. I closed my eyes, relishing the fact that she was here, safe and sound. When she stepped away, she tugged off her helmet. Claire was strong and compact. Her creamy brown skin was flawless, her hair—even though it’d been tucked away under her helmet—was still perfectly secured in its tidy bun. “You know my pretending skills are worthless,” she commented. “She who speaks the truth never lies. But I’ll keep it to myself, like everything else. I won’t have to lie if nobody asks me about it. And who’s going to ask me if I know about secret barracks thirty kilometers south by the sea with a room full of batteries and enough food to feed a substantial number of people for years?”

  I chuckled. “I hope nobody.” Darby and Daze stood over by the seating area, waiting for us, the hologram map behind them. I led Claire over. “You remember Daze.” I nodded toward the kid as Darby came around the couch to give Claire a hug.

  “Of course,” Claire said after she stepped back from Darby. “How are you, Daze? Is Holly treating you well? If she’s not, I know some of her hidden weaknesses.” She gave him a conspiratorial wink.

  Daze surprised me by coming forward and wrapping his arms around Claire’s waist. She rolled with it like a pro, hugging him back, leaning over to plant a kiss on the top of his head like they’d known each other forever.

  But, honestly, the pair of them each had that effect on people, so it wasn’t surprising. If he hadn’t done it, and she hadn’t reacted the way she had, I’d probably be more shocked.