“Your scars aren’t so bad.” Sophia ran her hands over her short dark hair. “And short hair is easy to manage. I recommend it. With those cheekbones, you would be striking with a crop.”
Jude was stunned. Sophia was usually so sharp. He’d never heard her give out beauty advice before. Why was she in such a good mood?
“Was anyone else injured?” asked Sophia.
“It was just the three of us,” said Jude. “I left Tobias in the vehicle bay.”
“And he’s... unharmed?”
Jude grinned. Now he knew why Sophia was not so snappy. There was something going on between her and Tobias. Everyone thought it, even though they both denied it. “My brother is fine. I can ask him to drop by so you can check him over yourself, if you’re worried about him.”
“I’m not worried.” Sophia glared at Jude. “Stop hovering around me like an anxious bee. Your scan results are worse than Octavia’s. You should be resting, not loitering in my personal space.”
Jude shifted from foot to foot. “I feel—”
“If you say fine, I shall be the person landing the next punch on you.” Sophia arched an eyebrow. “Wait here. I’ll have Daisy administer serum to you both. Then you need bed rest.”
Jude loved the idea of bed rest with Octavia. His hand strayed to her back, and he ran his fingers down it.
Sophia frowned and shook her head. “I mean rest.” She stalked away.
Jude took hold of Octavia’s hand and grasped it between both of his. “Everything will be fine.”
The smile on Octavia’s face faded. “Will it, though? We lost the equipment. They took everything I had in my backpack. They’ve probably destroyed it.”
“They didn’t take mine,” said Jude. “When I came to, I was still carrying the backpack. The equipment you need is intact. That was how I made contact with the bunker; I used an old receiver.”
Octavia swung her legs off the bed. “We need to get to work.”
“No. You need to rest.”
“No way!”
“Doctor’s orders,” said Jude.
“You don’t understand. When I was in the interrogation center, I accessed their mainframe server.”
Jude’s eyebrows rose. “What did you find?”
“I couldn’t get a complete lock on the messages going backwards and forwards, not without the equipment. But I accessed logs and previous data. I found a pattern. I know the sequence they will use for future comms.”
This woman was something else. “We can use the equipment to track what they’re saying?”
Octavia nodded, determination on her face. “Then we’ll find out exactly what they’re doing and stop them.”
OCTAVIA FORCED HERSELF to stay on the bed in the medical bay, her fingers drumming against her arm. Jude had insisted she stay there, and he’d bring her the equipment she needed. But it was hard to resist grabbing a port screen and getting to work.
Daisy walked over with a full bag of serum in one hand. Her dark hair was pulled back in a scruffy ponytail. “Are you ready for your treatment?”
She eyed the bag and wrinkled her nose. “Can I just have an injection and get out of here?”
Daisy shook her head as she hooked up the fluids and inserted an IV line into Octavia’s right arm. “This is the best way. We only give those shots in emergency situations. Sophia insists you rest, so you’d better do as she says. You don’t want to get on her blacklist.”
Octavia nodded, her gaze shifting to the tiny office Sophia used. She liked her. She didn’t know Sophia well, but she was a no-nonsense woman and as smart as hell.
Daisy checked the line and smiled at Octavia. “You’re all set to go. I’ll come check on you in fifteen minutes. In the meantime, get some rest.”
The medical bay room door opened. Jude strode in with a port screen in his hand, along with the comms tracking device and two data chips she’d asked him to bring.
Octavia held her hands out. “Let me show you the pattern I was following.” She accessed the data chips and downloaded the files of information she’d sent herself. “Do you see that fluctuation point two minutes into the message?”
Jude stood so close she could feel his body heat. “I see it.”
She forced herself to concentrate on the data. “That’s when the frequency hops. It starts at two minutes and reduces every thirty seconds. Then it returns to its original pattern. That’s what they’ll be using to communicate with. This is the next pattern they’ll be using.”
The door opened again. Danni strode in. Her gaze ran over Octavia. “I’m glad to see you’re alive. Tobias gave me a debrief on the mission before returning to his assignment with Hive Two. What’s the situation with the communications from the State?”
“We figured out the pattern,” said Jude. “Well, Octavia did.”
Danni nodded. “What are they talking about?”
“We’re about to find out.” Octavia gestured to the small black box sitting on the side of the bed. “Can you switch that on?”
Jude powered up the box and linked it to the port screen.
“We need to give it a minute to sync in with the networks.” Octavia keyed in the information about the pattern the State were using.
Anticipation hung in the air as they waited quietly, watching the data streams run across the screen.
“Now we need a live data feed,” said Octavia. “We need to find the channel the State are broadcasting over. We need a radio.”
“Sophia will hate that,” said Jude.
“She won’t mind on this occasion,” said Danni. “She has her own portable unit in her office.”
“What won’t I mind?” called Sophia from her office.
“We need to listen to State communications,” said Danni. “Figure out what it is they’re talking about. Bring out your radio.”
Sophia emerged from her office and passed them her radio. “Go ahead.” She remained by the door.
Jude switched on the portable radio and scanned through the channels. It took several minutes, but he picked up the strange language on a sub channel network.
“That’s it.” Octavia’s eyes brightened. “I think the device has it.” She blocked out all distractions, focusing on the incomprehensible babble coming through the radio. “If I’m right, they will change channels in five seconds. We’ll be with them when they do.”
She counted down in her head. The radio went dead, then the signal started again.
Jude grinned at her. “The program’s working.”
Octavia let out a sigh. It was perfect, following the pattern the State used to communicate and jumping channels with them.
“We’ll need Kade for this next bit,” said Jude. “He’ll decode it once he’s got a complete message to work with.” He commed Kade, asking him to meet them in the medical bay.
Octavia fought the tiredness creeping through her veins. The dragon serum was working. She felt less sore and her cheekbone didn’t ache, but she’d give a lot to have a good night’s sleep and a decent meal. That would come. They needed to focus on this first.
Kade walked through the doorway, his own port screen with him. “You have a message that needs cracking.”
“It’s almost complete,” said Octavia.
“I can run the data now,” said Kade. “See how much you’ve got.”
Kade linked his port screen to Octavia’s, and she shared the data she’d gathered.
“How much can you decode?” she asked.
“Give me a minute,” said Kade. “I’m good, but every program takes a little time to work.”
She bit her lip, wanting to urge him to hurry.
“It’s almost there.” Kade’s brow furrowed as he read the information on his screen. “Danni, you need to look at this.”
Danni peered over his shoulder.
“What’s it saying?” asked Octavia.
Danni shook her head. “We’ve only got a partial message. It mentions removing population members not deemed useful. They ha
ve a list: the elderly, the sick, and the disabled.”
“There’s no way they can wipe out so many people,” said Jude.
“Hold on, the final piece of data is syncing with my decoding program,” said Kade.
Letting go of Octavia’s hand, Jude joined Kade and Danni to look at the port screen.
Octavia strained her neck to see what they were reading.
Even Sophia joined them, her face impassive as she read the information.
“It’s a vaccine,” said Jude. “They’re introducing a new mandatory program. Everyone has to be vaccinated.”
“Against what?” asked Octavia.
“I don’t think it will protect them against illness,” said Sophia darkly. “This so-called vaccine will target the people the State want to remove.”
“How would that work?” Danni looked at Sophia.
Sophia raised her hands. “It could be a genetic marker. If they have access to our genome sequence, they could tag this vaccine to an abnormality in the genetic markers of people with illnesses or disabilities. They could do the same with our telomeres. Older people have shorter telomeres. A vaccine could attach to that and activate.”
“Then what?” asked Octavia.
Sophia frowned. “I’m not an expert on vaccines. Maybe it’s some sort of slow acting killer. It seeks certain genes, attaches to them, mutates and kills the person.”
“Here’s the final information coming through,” said Kade. “Whatever the hell it is they’re doing, anyone receiving the vaccine will be dead within a day.”
Danni shook her head. “Gather everyone for an emergency briefing.”
Panic flooded through Octavia. “We have to stop them from manufacturing this vaccine.”
“That’s exactly what we will do,” said Danni.
“When you do, I want in,” said Octavia. “I want to help stop the State.”
Chapter 16
“You’ve been through enough.” Jude moved back to Octavia’s bedside. He didn’t want her put at any more risk. She’d barely survived her last encounter with the State.
“I agree,” said Sophia. “Octavia, I understand your desire to help, but you need to rest. You’re still completing your first treatment of the dragon serum.”
“This is all I need,” said Octavia. “I’ll have this and be fine.”
Sophia smirked. “It doesn’t work that way. You’ve not been looking after yourself for a long time. The serum is good, but it can’t work miracles. If you push yourself to the breaking point, there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to put you back together, no matter how much serum I pump into your veins.”
“I’m prepared to take the risk.”
“I’m not.” Jude rested a hand on her shoulder. “You can still help. You don’t need to be in the thick of the action to do so. You can help from here.” He saw the anger in her eyes but refused to back down.
With a disgruntled sigh, Octavia nodded. “Fine. I’ll help from here. But only if you’ll be my partner.”
The words left Jude feeling good. He loved the thought of them working together and being partners. He wanted that in every aspect of their lives together.
“Gather everyone in the briefing room in an hour,” said Danni. “The priority is to figure out where this vaccine is being manufactured and how advanced they are.”
Jude felt Octavia tense under his hand. He looked at Sophia. “Will the serum infusion be complete by then?”
Sophia checked the serum bag. “It will be done in ten minutes. But I strongly recommend you don’t leave this bed.”
“I will only walk to the briefing room,” said Octavia. “I’ll go slow. Jude will help me if I need it.”
“I’ll be right by your side,” said Jude.
“You people seem to think I give out medical advice for fun.” Sophia stalked back to her office.
“There goes her good mood,” said Jude.
“That was a good mood?” asked Kade.
Danni gave them all a nod before heading to the door. “I’ll see you all in the briefing room.”
“I might be late.” Jude glanced at Octavia.
“We’ll be there,” said Octavia.
Danni’s eyebrows rose. “Only if you’re fit enough. Don’t push yourselves too hard.”
Kade unhooked his port screen and followed Danni to the door. “I’ll run this data through another program. It will clean up a couple of patches of muddled data. But we’ve got what we need. We can decode the conversations.”
As soon as Kade and Danni had gone, Octavia glared at Jude.
He pressed a finger against her lips before she spoke. “I know you’re pissed at me for saying you can’t go into the field. I just need to keep you safe. Damn, when I saw you injured, when I thought something bad had happened to you...” Jude looked away.
The anger in her eyes faded as she pushed his finger away. “I understand. But I can keep myself safe.”
“You don’t have to do it on your own anymore,” said Jude. “You have this whole place looking out for you. Make use of it.”
“There is something I’d like to make use of.” She slid from the bed, stood on her tiptoes, and pressed a kiss to his lips.
Jude inhaled her scent, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her to him as he did so, being careful not to disturb her serum IV.
She pulled back and laughed self-consciously. “I look hideous. I can’t believe you still want me.”
He kissed the scars on her cheek and ran his hands over her head. “I’ll admit, it’s an unusual look. But I’ll want you no matter what you look like.” He rested a hand over her heart. “It’s here that counts.”
She inhaled sharply and kissed him again. “You remember that when I am old and haggard and complaining about you leaving your socks on the floor.”
“Are you planning to be around for that long?” His grip tightened on her waist.
“You can count on it.”
Jude bent and covered her mouth with his, sliding his tongue in to meet hers.
Sophia cleared her throat loudly.
Jude broke their kiss and looked up.
Sophia stood in the doorway of her office, her arms folded over her chest. “When you’ve finished molesting my patient, I suggest you leave. Otherwise, I’ll insist you have a second round of treatment.”
Jude pressed another kiss to Octavia’s lips. “Can the patient have bed rest away from the medical bay?”
Sophia nodded. “So long as she’s appropriately monitored. Checks every two hours.”
“I don’t need monitoring,” said Octavia. “This serum is great. And the pain relief Daisy gave me means I can barely feel the laser burn.”
“You need someone to look after you in case there’s a complication,” said Sophia. “The serum will be doing its work, but you still need to be monitored.”
Jude looked at her. “You can stay with me until you’re recovered. If that’s okay with Sophia. I want whatever’s best for Octavia.”
“That’s fine by me,” said Sophia. “One less patient clogging up the beds is not a bad thing. Daisy, unhook Octavia from the IV. Make sure she comes back tomorrow for a check up.”
Daisy nodded as she got to work. “You shouldn’t feel any ill effects from the serum. If you get sick or dizzy, come back here right away.”
“I will.” Octavia held her arm out as Daisy unhooked the IV. “I’ve got someone keeping an eye on me. He won’t let me get away with anything.”
Daisy grinned and ducked her head. “It’s good to have someone like that.”
Jude wrapped his arm around Octavia’s waist, feeling like he was handling a precious package. They left the medical bay and took their time walking toward his quarters.
“Once we figure out where the vaccine is being manufactured, I’ve got a network of listeners who can help,” said Octavia. “We can use them to pass on warnings about the vaccine and destroy any supplies that might already be in circulation.”
&nbs
p; “That will be crucial if it’s already out there,” said Jude.
“We should do that now.” Octavia turned to Jude.
He shook his head and tugged her along the corridor. “We need more information before we send anything out. We can’t panic people before we know everything.”
Octavia sighed but then nodded. “It sounds as if the State are still making the vaccine. We might have intercepted this in time.”
“There have been no reports of mass deaths or sickness. The State will want this to be coordinated. I bet they’ll promote the vaccine as some super cure to get people ready for it. They’ll have to vaccinate over a short time frame. They can’t risk people realizing what’s going on or they won’t get vaccinated.” Jude unlocked his quarters and they walked in.
Octavia sagged against him. “There’s so much to think about.”
He held her up as he led her toward his bed. “No more thinking for you. You get some sleep. We’ll figure this out. Kade needs to work his magic on the rest of the information. Once that’s fully decoded, then we’ll have our answers, and can figure out how to stop them.”
“I still want to help.” She turned toward him.
His heart clenched as he saw the worry in Octavia’s eyes. He needed to get rid of that look. “You have helped. You’ve done more than you need to. No more fighting.”
THE EXHAUSTION AND fear Octavia had held back for so long surfaced in a breath-stealing rush. She felt her legs give way beneath her.
Jude’s strong arms caught her as she sagged against him again.
Resting her head against his broad chest, she took several deep breaths. The capture by the soldiers, the imprisonment, the threat of a mind wipe, almost losing Jude, and now this sick, twisted vaccine. Holy dragons, it was too much.
Jude didn’t hurry her as she worked through the panic. He let her lean on him. She wrapped her arms around his chest and pulled him to her. She drank in his scent, and felt the rub of his shirt against her tender cheek and the way his fingers held her tightly. They were finally alone. She could stop pretending she was a super woman. She’d been so terrified in the interrogation center. She’d been certain she would die. Or worse still, Jude had been killed, and she’d lost him.
Jude (sci-fi romance - The Ember Quest Book 5) Page 16