Infertile Grounds

by DB Carpenter

  "Go on," Sarah said.

  "Yesterday, when you described what you were doing and why you were doing it, at the time I just brushed it off. Not giving it any consideration but standing there in in the forest your words came back to me. I understood it, it clicked deep inside my brain and I knew that I didn't want to stop it and now I'm here, aren't I, not with the police but alone. That should be proof enough."

  She nodded. That was the one indisputable fact.

  "I could've gone to the authorities or done anything else I wanted. Instead here I am, more or less offering myself to you and your cause. I can help you."

  "I don't buy it," Seth said. "This doesn't smell right."

  Sarah was about to say something when the Latino Carrier burst into the room and said, "Come downstairs. You've got to see this."

  Everyone followed him downstairs. The female Asian Carrier was at a notebook computer. "I was checking my e-mail. I get daily updates from an underground news site. They give it like it is. Look at this headline. 'Virus Scare in Boston'."

  She proceeded to read the text aloud and launched a video clip of the WOTN anchorman that played until the clip went to static. "This is about us, isn't it?" She said as she turned and looked at Sarah. Her round face looked calm and controlled but her voice quivered. The other Carriers were chatting nervously, rapidly working themselves into a frenzy.

  "This can't be about us," Sarah said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "It must be something else. A Coincidence."

  "It sure sounds like it is," one of the frightened kids blurted.

  "It isn't," Seth said. "No way. Why don't you guys go load your stuff in the truck."

  Some of them looked like they wanted to argue but several headed for the door and the potential rabble rousers reluctantly followed.

  "How do they know?" Camilla asked as she too turned to Sarah.

  In one swift motion, Seth grabbed Chris' broken arm, twisted it behind his back and slammed him down onto a table. His face connected with the heavy wooden surface with a brain rattling crash. The pain didn't begin to equal that in his healing arm. It felt like Seth had stuck his fingers into the incision and was ripping the sutures apart one at a time. Chris cried out. Camilla jumped at the sudden attack.

  "What do you know about this?" Seth asked as he pressed Chris' arm up toward his shoulder blades and rammed a pistol barrel into the base of his skull. He cocked the gun. The metallic click of the hammer locking in position silenced the room.

  "Nothing," Chris replied as he struggled against Seth's hold.

  "It's just a big fucking coincidence, huh," Seth said. "You disappear for a few hours, and all of a sudden the whole world knows about us – about Gen96."

  "Seth, take it easy," Camilla said.

  Seth turned to her. "If you don't like it, you'd better leave the room because he's going to talk and he's going to do it now or I'm going to kill him."

  "Don't do it," Sarah said.

  "What, you too?" He cried. "Don't get soft now, Sarah. We're not done here. If she could find this on the web, you can be damn sure that every able-bodied federal agent is out there right now looking for us. The big question is do they know where we are, and that's what I'm going to find out. Why do you care about this guy anyway? You were willing to kill David but this guy is untouchable. I don't get it."

  Sarah looked from Seth to Chris, her mouth slightly agape and her brow furrowed. As she locked on Chris, her mouth closed and her forehead relaxed. He watched the compassion ooze from her as she morphed back into the cold Sarah Burns who wasn't going to lose. She was on a mission and nothing would get in her way. She would succeed.

  "Everybody out," Sarah said, stepping toward Seth.

  "What are you going to do?" Camilla asked.

  "Don't worry about it," Sarah said as everyone scampered from the room.

  Camilla twisted her mouth into an exaggerated frown, narrowed her eyes and glared at Sarah before turning and storming out. Seth pulled Chris off the table and pushed him into a chair, keeping his gun pointed at him. Sarah crossed her arms over her chest. The video segment on the computer kept looping.

  "Chris Foster," Sarah said. "You're one big pain in the ass."

  Seth scowled as he turned and shot the computer three times. The room was now completely silent.

  "Now listen to me and listen to me good, Chris." Seth said. "I'm not in the mood for games. You try to fuck around with me and you're dead."

  "Okay," Chris said.

  "Do they know where we are?"

  "How would I know?" Chris replied.

  Seth cocked the pistol. "Don't do it."

  "I have no idea what they know. They didn't get anything from me."

  Seth and Sarah exchanged looks.

  "Then where did you go?" Sarah asked.

  "I was going to run, but like I told you, I didn't. You're doing the right thing. Think about it. This shit back in Boston." He nodded toward the shattered notebook computer. "It started yesterday. I've been here for two days now. How could I even be remotely involved?"

  Seth wasn't going to believe anything Chris said. He was obviously itching to kill him, but Sarah seemed to be keeping her head. If Chris wanted to survive this, he needed her.

  "Let's be honest," Chris said to Sarah. "If I had wanted to get the cops here, they'd have been here by now. I could have done it."

  He let this sink in for a minute before continuing, "This news story, it's got cover up written all over it. The Feds are looking for us – for you – right now. No doubt about it and if I'd given you to them they could skip the embarrassing cover up step. Don't you think they'd rather just say 'We got the bad guys, everything's cool'? But they're not. They're wasting time and energy because they don't have answers – yet."

  Seth pulled Sarah to the side of the room, keeping Chris in the sights of his pistol. His logic was good, believable. Apparently, Seth didn't want to believe anything that came out of his mouth, but Sarah, for whatever reason, did.

  "So what do you think?" Sarah asked in a soft whisper that Chris could still hear in the small room.

  "I think he's a lot more involved than he says," Seth replied quickly. "Ever since he showed up, everything's gone sour."

  "He has been here while most of this has been going on," she said. "If the FBI knew that we were here, we'd know it by now. One way or the other."

  Seth grudgingly agreed with her.

  "We need to get out of here," Seth said.

  "Do you think?"

  "Absolutely. Just to be safe."

  She leaned against the wall and ran her fingers through her hair. She looked tired. "Fine. But we need to stick to our core plan," she said. "You get the Carriers off on their way and we'll head to the rallying point. After that, we can do whatever we have to with him. We've just got to set it in motion first."

  Seth reluctantly agreed. Once the Carriers were loose, it didn't matter what they did.

  "Go get them ready. Try to calm them down," she said looking at her watch. "A few hours and it is unstoppable."

  11:58 am PDT Eureka Municipal Airport, California

  Arthur Kent had his men set up operations in a hangar at the airport. They didn't have much time to put things together.

  In one corner of the large building, a small group of men dressed in Army greens were rapidly constructing a portable containment unit. These men were from the Technical Escort Unit's Rapid Response Team – the Army's experts in biological and germ warfare. Since 9/11 they had received a tremendous influx of cash that had allowed them to become the best crew in the world for dealing with either chemical or biological warfare. Today, their objective was to isolate anyone exposed to Gen96. They had trained for years for a situation just like this one. As undesirable as this job was, these men and women were prepared.

  Arthur gathered his agents for the pre-mission briefing and then opened it up for questions. The Q & A session went on for ten minutes before Arthur dismissed them and proceeded to walk
over to the containment area.

  "How's it going?" He asked the Sergeant, as he surveyed the quarantine area.

  "Good," replied the man. He breathed heavily and sweat peppered his high-brow as he stopped working to talk to Arthur. "We're almost all set – just a couple more things and this unit will be sealed."

  Arthur glanced at his watch. They had less than thirty minutes now. "Excellent," he muttered as he turned and walked away.

  He had his people stationed at various points around the relatively small airport. Some were dressed as baggage handlers, others as security people and some simply looked like people on business or vacation. Most were positioned at the loading and unloading zone. They had debated trying to grab the truck elsewhere before it got to the airport but there were simply too many roads and not enough agents to cover them all.

  Ideally, he wanted to grab these people before they got out of their car and into the airport. Containing them in the vehicle was the goal. They were on the lookout for a new white Suburban carrying a lot of people.

  He slid out of his business suit and into a skycap uniform. He would be there with his men for this. It had to go smooth. As he walked toward his station in front of the terminal, he slipped a small receiver into his ear.

  "Kent," he said softly. He and all of his men were wired. "Status check."

  Each checked in. A smile spread across his tired face as he listened to the responses. He ran a tight ship, and it showed in his people's performance.

  "Anytime now," he said into his hidden microphone. "Be alert."

  He scanned the unloading zone. It was relatively quiet.

  12:00 pm PDT Bald Mountain, California

  Sarah had always tried to go with her instincts, and today her gut was telling her that she should disappear, get the hell out of here before something really bad happened, but she couldn't. This was the climax, the culmination of a lifetime's work. Hell, she should be nervous. It was normal, considering what they were doing.

  They were in the main lodge of an abandoned ski slope on Bald Mountain. This had been their designated rallying spot if they needed to abandon their primary location. Meet up here, regroup and then run, or, actually, get helicoptered out of here by the pilot who had been given a very large retainer to ensure he would be available on short notice and ready to go.

  Seven buildings were scattered across the base area ranging in size from a small shack that housed pumping equipment to the main lodge that was a substantial two-story structure. Another lodge lurked at the top of the mountain at the end of the still-in-place chair lift. Their cars were tucked away in a maintenance building.

  The buildings were approaching the point where they couldn't be salvaged – doors hung off their hinges, windows were broken, and they reeked of mold and decay. The main lodge had been converted to a teenage party spot and was littered with graffiti, empty bottles and trash. An empty 144 count box of condoms was at her feet. "So this is how you pass time in Eureka," she said as she kicked it across the floor and returned her gaze outside.

  As she stared out the window she saw the ghost of a reflection approaching her. Camilla walked up silently and wrapped her arms around Sarah's waist giving her a long, gentle hug. "What're you thinking?" She asked.

  Sarah took a deep breath and said in a sigh, "I was wondering what was going to happen to us."

  "Do you mean you and me – us, or us – everyone involved?"

  "Both."

  "It's scary, isn't it?" Camilla said as she let go and stood next to her.

  "In a way," Sarah replied. "We were careful not to leave a trail. The FBI knows who I am, and they might know about Seth and Jerry as well, but knowing that people exist is a lot different than knowing where they are. I think we're safe for now."

  Sarah had enough fake identification to get out of the country, and once she did, she could easily disappear for good. She didn't tell Camilla this though.

  "Then what're your plans now that we know that they're onto us?" Camilla asked.

  "Let's wait until Seth gets back, Camilla," Sarah replied. "Maybe we should split up. That way there would be no way for you to be implicated if they did catch up with Seth and me."

  Camilla gave her a fake smile and said, "I really wanted to hang here with you, Sarah. I've been looking forward to it, but going to jail..."

  "I'm right there with you," Sarah said. "I'd rather be dead than in jail for the rest of my life."

  The two women silently contemplated this last statement until Sarah said, "Where's Chris?"

  "He's with Jerry and Mark downstairs."

  "Let's go see what's going on," Sarah said.

  Camilla wrapped her arms tightly around her and gave her a deep, passionate kiss. When she finally let go, Camilla said, "I love you, Sarah. No matter what happens, I'll always know that we were doing the right thing."

  Sarah had to catch her breath before she could reply. "I know, Camilla. I know."

  12:10 pm Downtown Eureka, California

  Why had he let them get on the computer this morning? And they had definitely heard the confrontation with Foster. It was all a bit frantic and those two bad decisions ensured the Carriers were nervous wrecks now. Seth had forced Albert to drive. He had protested vigorously but Seth wanted to spend the ride calming and focusing the Carriers and he strong armed Albert into coming along.

  "You've all got your packets?" Seth asked as they rolled through town toward the airport.

  Each carrier said they did. The packets contained credit cards, tickets, cash, and lists of destinations. They also carried Gen96. Some had it in liquid form; others had it in aerosol cans disguised as hair spray or deodorant.

  "Don't let what you saw this morning get you upset," he said. "I know it's distracting and you're bound to be nervous, but everything will still go as planned. You have your numbered accounts in Switzerland with your payday. There're only two of us who know who you are, and we'll never tell a soul."

  He looked at each person individually and tried to loosen them up and calm them down. A few tried to smile but failed. They had the same look on their faces that men about to go into battle have – jaws set, lips pressed together, eyes alert. Seth was the general, pumping up his young troops in a rocking boat off the coast of Normandy.

  "Your stories are simple – you're taking a semester off. Young people out experiencing the world like college kids have always done. You've got all of the papers and supporting documents you'll ever need. You'll be safe as long as you keep your cool."

  He expected some sort of response from at least one of them, but got nothing but silence.

  "This is going to set you up for life," he said as he turned back toward the front of the Suburban. "Hell, I wish someone would have given me half a million dollars to travel when I was your age."

  He pulled the pistol out and placed the shotgun on the floor between his feet as they pulled into the entrance of the small regional airport. There was a single two-story terminal – the top deck for departures, the bottom for arrivals. They drove toward the swooping ramp that led to the main drop-off area. Two Delta employees stood on the other side of a hurricane fence that separated the road from the tarmac. The two men stared at him until his eyes met theirs, then they hurriedly turned and went about their business. Seth gritted his teeth and cracked his neck. He had been getting more skittish over the past few days and assumed that this nervousness was just an extension of that. Surely those men weren't anybody who would be after them. The Feds weren't behind every tree or fence. Stay cool, his own words echoed in his head. Stay cool. It was easier said than done.

  He glanced across the seat at Albert whose knuckles were white from clenching the wheel. He seemed to be looking everywhere but at the moderately busy road as he drove.

  "Relax," Seth said.

  Albert nodded. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead. His scalp and face were flushed a light pink. "I can't help it," he replied.

  They were now under the roof of the terminal an
d approached the unloading zone. Seth scanned the busy area – vacationers, business travelers, some security, and skycaps – a normal day at the airport. But he had a feeling, a premonition. Something was terribly wrong. The truck slowed down and pulled over to the curb.

  He looked frantically up and down the sidewalk and was about to put it off to nerves again when it clicked. All of the airport personnel looked as though they had just stepped out of the gym and barbershop. Each was clean-shaven, well groomed – not one of them was overweight. These people were not your normal, motley crew of airport workers.

  "Don't stop, Albert!" He cried. "Get us out of here."

  "What?" Albert said as he continued to pull over and decelerate.

  Seth instantly raised the cocked pistol and said, "You heard what I said. Get us out of here!"

  A stocky, middle-age man walked toward the crawling Suburban as Seth rammed the pistol into Albert's ribs.

  "Drive this truck right now or you're a dead man."

  Albert stomped on the accelerator, and the truck lurched forward.

  "What's going on?" Albert screamed at Seth as he pulled from the curb and accelerated down the airport road. Several of the Carriers yelled from the back.

  "Something wasn't right," Seth said as he glared at Albert, who didn't turn to meet his icy stare. "What do you know about that, Albert?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "You seemed to hesitate a lot back there – like you were debating what you should do."

  "I don't know what you're talking about."

  Seth grunted. "We'll talk about it later. Right now just get us the hell out of here and fast."

  He turned and looked out the back window.

  "Someone's after us," one of the Carriers said.

  Seth picked up the shotgun, jacked a shell into the chamber and rolled down his window. The Suburban was approaching seventy miles an hour as they rounded the turn that led toward the main exit. This vehicle was not designed for high-speed cornering, and Albert wrestled with the wheel to keep the truck on the road. As they sped toward the exit, two cars came from out of nowhere and skidded to a stop in the middle of the road blocking the exit.