Terra Nova (The Variant Conspiracy Book 3)

by Christine Hart

  Ilya eyed Yu for a moment. “He’s telling the truth.”

  “You had us travel across the Pacific Ocean for assurances?” said Jonah.

  “How about an apology?” said Faith.

  “You do have my apologies. And more,” said Yu.

  “More?” I said.

  “I would like to hire you. All four of you, and your other friends as well if they are willing,” said Yu.

  “Hire us to do what?” said Jonah.

  “He wants us to clean everything up, properly, with real funding,” said Ilya.

  “Are you kidding? You want us to clean up your mess?” said Faith.

  I knew she saw the value in his proposal, but took offense merely to be difficult. I opened my mouth, contemplating telling Yu that we were all on the same page. My friends and I already wanted to take this mission. We would make similar plans regardless.

  “I want you to help me make amends for evils we all had a hand setting in motion. How long were the four of you Innoviro employees?” Yu gave Faith a cold hard stare.

  “This would be paid work?” said Jonah.

  “You will be very well paid. More than you’ll be able to fetch in Canada,” said Yu.

  “What exactly do you want us to do?” said Jonah.

  “I want you to share your Compendium documents with me and cross reference everything you have against our database of worldwide geographical events and ecological threats.”

  “So we identify Compendium damage, flag outstanding malicious projects, and restore balance?” I said.

  “Essentially, this is my offer,” said Yu.

  “Why do you even care?” said Faith.

  “He’s worried about the bad fortune coming for him and his descendants if he doesn’t make this right.” Ilya eyed Yu curiously.

  “It’s not like we’re working on anything else.” Jonah leaned back in his chair.

  “Guys, we were already considering doing this on our own.” I had to share the concession.

  “Sign contracts for one year and we can re-evaluate your progress and your interest in continuing after that.” Yu leaned forward with an earnest expression, hoping to emphasis his sincerity.

  “I’ll do it.” Ilya appeared pleased.

  “Sure, why not?” Faith gave a small frown, but stopped short of rolling her eyes.

  “Can we have a day to think about it? We need to talk amongst ourselves,” I said.

  “I will have my assistant prepare the contracts. You can sign when you return tomorrow. In the meantime, I have arranged for you to enjoy a cruise on my private yacht along the river and around to the ocean for a proper view of Shanghai,” said Yu.

  “That sounds pretty awesome,” said Jonah. Yu had definitely won over my boyfriend.

  “Hang on, if you’ve got all this money, why did you let Ivan and Claude push you around? What did they have on you that made you do so much evil crap that you didn’t want to do?” said Faith, her eyes narrowing at Yu.

  “If I was willing to bend my company to their will to keep my secrets, what makes you think I would confide in you?” Yu sounded polite, but firm.

  “That cruise sounds lovely. We’ll see you tomorrow.” I stood and put my hand on Faith’s shoulder.

  Harold Yu’s private yacht was nothing short of opulent. We followed his assistant’s instructions to a nearby riverside marina. His boat sat moored alongside dozens of others, all slick and bright white.

  We were escorted on board by two men in pale gray uniforms. The men seated us at a table with a crescent sofa at the bow of the boat. He told us a gourmet meal would be served very soon. We had the best seat in the house as the boat pulled away from the dock.

  Shanghai slid past as the boat glided through the water.

  “Did you ever think we would be here, living like this?” Ilya’s cleaned up new look suited the atmosphere. He took a beer from the cooler next to us, stared at the Chinese characters briefly, and cracked the cap.

  “We’re not living like anything. This is Yu’s boat. I don’t think we’ll ever see it again after tonight.” Faith accepted a beer from Ilya.

  “Ever the optimist. Maybe this is the start of a great relationship. What if Yu turns out to be the leader Ivan wasn’t?” Jonah gazed up at the Shanghai skyline, reaching his arms out along the back of the sofa in a relaxed pose.

  “I’m going to take a little walk while we wait for that food.” I smiled and left everyone, making my way along the deck to the back of the boat. I peeked in through the tinted windows at the boat’s main quarters. I refocused on my reflection, my eyes travelling from my carefully straightened cinnamon hair down to my fitted jersey-cotton dress.

  Clothes like this would not last much longer. I turned my attention to the city gliding by. I had a lot on my mind. Where would I live? How would I make my living in the long run? What would my life become?

  I sensed Jonah standing behind me.

  “There’s something I need to tell you.” I turned to face his vibrant eyes. I hoped I wouldn’t have to say more than that. “I’m happy to get on board and work for Jinhua, but I’ll need a break in about half a year. May tenth specifically.”

  “What do you mean? What’s happening on May tenth?” Jonah’s furrowed brow suddenly softened and his eyebrows arched. There it was. He understood. He gripped the boat’s railing to steady himself.

  “How long have you known?”

  “Since we got settled in your apartment back in Victoria. When we got home after Sombrio Beach, I noticed I still felt sick the way I had in London, Cairo and Nairobi. I thought it was stress, or something horrible, like a secondary Compendium virus. I went to a clinic and the doctor gave me a pregnancy test.”

  “Wow, I just . . . it never occurred to me.”

  “It never occurred to me either.” I’d already decided to have the baby. I hoped for a bit more excitement from Jonah. “So, what do you think?”

  “I think it’s amazing!” Jonah’s face lit up and he picked me up in a crushing hug. “Oh no, sorry. I’ll be careful.” He gently put me back down. He put his hand on my belly. “Do you know what it is?”

  “Not yet, but I know it’ll be a variant. That much is pretty certain.” I placed my hand over his.

  “Can we tell Ilya and Faith?”

  “I was just waiting to tell you first.” I caught Ilya and Faith staring at us from a few yards down the boat deck. I could see from their faces that the announcement wasn’t necessary. I smiled at my brother and he grinned back. “You know Ilya. There’s obviously a chance he already picked it up at some point.”

  Also from Soul Mate Publishing and Christina Hart:

  IN IRINA’S CARDS

  Irina Proffer leaves mundane small-town life behind when she experiences visions inspired by a strange deck of tarot cards. To get answers, she travels from her northern British Columbia home to the province’s coastal capital. She quickly discovers a world of fringe genetic science and supernatural mystery.

  Working for Innoviro Industries, Irina is drawn in by a powerful first love and compelling, yet dangerous questions about the nature of the company’s business. Meeting other 'variants' brings Irina closer and closer to the dark truth about her origins. She finds herself at the heart of two overlapping love triangles as she scrambles to escape her employer's grip. Before she leaves the city, Irina realizes she has merely scratched the surface of a frightening conspiracy on a global scale.

  Available now on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/hnma37h

  THE COMPENDIUM

  Irina and her renegade variant friends are scrambling to pick up the trail of their former employer, Ivan, and his globally catastrophic scheme. After strategically sharing their story with the media, the group heads south from Vancouver to Seattle hoping to recruit mo
re experienced—and lethal—variants to their cause.

  Their attention develops a laser focus on an engineered disaster mere days ahead of them. Ivan is using what staff and resources remain of Innoviro Industries to set off a violent earthquake in San Francisco. While they fight to stop the earthquake, Irina pushes the love of her life Jonah as far away as she can, trying to keep his unstable genetic degradation in check.

  Irina’s friends think they’ve seen the worst that Innoviro could bring forth by the time they reach a secret facility in the Mojave Desert. As they near the property, the group uncovers a horror none of them had ever imagined.

  Available now on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/jn9rxch