The Susquehanna Virus Box Set

by Steve McEllistrem

  “Right. Anything new on the hunt for Manyara?”

  “Every CINTEP analyst and agent has been called in,” Lendra replied. “They’re closing in. Jay-Edgar’s coordinating the search with the Elite Ops troopers assigned to us.”

  “What about using crowd sourcing like they did in London? Getting everyone in the area looking for her. It worked over there.”

  “I’ve considered it. But putting that information out there where she could see it might just drive her underground until after this new strain is released. If she thinks she’s got a chance of escaping, we might be able to track her down in time.”

  “I don’t believe it,” Jay-Edgar interrupted.

  “What is it?” Lendra said.

  “Look.” Jay-Edgar pointed to a screen. “Tad and Rebecca Blanton—they’re at our front door. They say they have the antidote and they want to trade that for immunity.”

  “Amazing,” Lendra said as she fingered the glass bulb of her necklace—the one she claimed no longer held neo-dopamine. “Get them up here right now.”

  “Maybe this is the break we need,” Poole said.

  “Have you figured out yet how Manyara vanished?” Lendra asked Jay-Edgar.

  “Multiple dampening fields from multiple PlusPhones,” he replied. “I think she stole them from us. Right now we’re triangulating and extrapolating from last-known positions to determine a probable path. We’ll find her soon.”

  “What does that mean?” Lendra said. “Minutes, hours, days?”

  “Probably hours.”

  “It better be soon. We have less than twelve hours. Jeremiah can lead the questioning of the Blantons in room one.” She turned to Poole. “Get the truth drugs ready. I’m taking no chances on this. In the meantime, I’ll be in the infirmary.”

  “Right.” Poole headed for the door. She glanced up at the screen and saw Jeremiah get to his feet, the transfusion complete. He placed his hand on Sophie’s stomach, kept it there for a moment, and then walked toward the decontamination area.

  Poole dropped Jack off with the nanny, then hurried to the lab, where Dr. Omar Hassan and Dr. Helen Ellerth, CINTEP’s resident surgeons, were preparing to analyze the antidote the Blantons had just delivered. After Poole described what she needed, Helen helped her put together a kit. Then Poole headed for room one. Finn and Gil kept watch outside the door, Gil winking at her as she passed inside. Jeremiah stood before the Blantons, who sat in straight-back chairs wearing CINTEP coveralls, their clothes and PlusPhones no doubt being searched by the techs. Hannah and her former partner Wilson Adler stood behind Jeremiah, their expressions thunderous.

  Tad was tall with dark hair, Rebecca of average height and weight, with brown curly hair. Both were good looking. So these were the two people who had been in Cole’s Law before it blew up. Why hadn’t they been found earlier?

  They fidgeted in their chairs, keeping their eyes on Jeremiah. He smiled at them reassuringly, while Hannah and Adler scowled. Was this to be a good cop/bad cop interrogation?

  “We brought in the antidote,” Tad said. “We want to cooperate. And we gave you the codes to our PlusPhones, so you can find all our contacts.”

  “You’ve been helpful,” Jeremiah said, his voice quiet and measured. “And I appreciate it. I’m concerned now that the antidote you were given might be worthless. It might be nothing more than sugar water. We’ll have to test it to see if it really is effective. Meanwhile, we’d like to ask you some questions under truth drugs.”

  “We understand,” Tad said.

  “We won’t lie,” Rebecca added.

  “That’s good,” Jeremiah said with a smile. “If you tell the truth, you won’t feel a thing except a little more relaxed than normal.”

  He turned to Poole. “Doc?”

  “It’s very simple,” Poole said as she placed three patches on each of their right arms. The drugs were designed to enhance relaxation, compliance and trust in the subjects. After studying the data on the monitor, Poole adjusted the flow to maximize the Blantons’ cooperation. When the levels looked perfect, she nodded to Jeremiah.

  Jeremiah said, “Thank you for coming today. You’re doing us a great service. Now, do you have any idea where Sally’s lab is?”

  “We honestly don’t know,” Rebecca answered.

  “She gave us a piece of paper with an address written on it,” Tad explained. “But we threw it away. That woman’s crazy.”

  “Yes,” Jeremiah said, his voice soothing. “Do you know where you were when you threw the paper away?”

  “I don’t remember. Just on the street somewhere.”

  “What kind of paper was it? Do you remember?”

  “I think it was that new flake paper—the kind that dissolves after a few hours.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Jeremiah said. “That’s good. Now, what about the address? Do you remember that?”

  “No,” Rebecca said. “We don’t remember. I wish we did. We were simply trying to get away from her.”

  “All we did was run her communications network,” Tad said. “We had nothing to do with the virus.”

  “You helped kill millions,” Hannah said. She stepped in front of Jeremiah, her face reddening. “Perhaps billions.”

  “No,” Rebecca said. “We’re just believers in a new world order. We’re Earth Guardians.”

  Hannah grabbed Rebecca’s shoulder and shook it. “You aided her efforts to eradicate humanity.”

  “We didn’t go get the virus when she asked us to. We knew it was wrong. Besides, she created it years ago—long before she met us. She was going to kill people regardless. All we did was help her communicate with her followers. We shared a vision of a new Earth, free of the pollution and destruction of old humanity. And from that vision, the Earth Guardians were born.”

  Jeremiah touched Hannah’s arm and she freed Rebecca from her grasp. Adler reached out a hand for her but she brushed it away. “I’m okay,” she said. “I just lost control for a second.”

  “I understand,” Jeremiah said. “You’re angry. But the Blantons want to help. They’re trying to remember. So relax. We’re all friends here.”

  Poole smiled at the calmness in his voice. She knew he was just as angry as Hannah and yet he acted as if he liked the Blantons and wanted nothing more than to chat with them.

  He glanced at Poole. “Any problems with the drugs?”

  Poole understood that he was asking if they were showing any signs of deception. She shook her head. “Their systems are tolerating the drugs perfectly.”

  “Great,” Jeremiah said. He turned back to the Blantons. “Let’s talk about your meeting with Manyara Harris—Sally1.”

  “Rebecca said she was crazy,” Tad replied. “I didn’t realize how batty she’d become until we met with her tonight.”

  “She’s got her dark men with her,” Rebecca said.

  “Dark men?” Jeremiah asked. “Who are they?”

  “Six bodyguards. Rumor has it that she conditioned them to protect her with their lives.”

  “I bet they’re scary,” Jeremiah said. “Heavily armed, with some sort of military vehicle.”

  “We didn’t see any vehicle,” Tad said. “Right?”

  “She just appeared out of the darkness,” Rebecca said. “And I didn’t see any weapons. But they must have had a vehicle of some sort.”

  “You think maybe they didn’t have any weapons?” Jeremiah asked.

  “No, I’m sure they were armed,” Rebecca said. “We just didn’t see any weapons.”

  “That makes sense,” Jeremiah said, his voice mellifluous and sincere. “I’m sure you’re right. And they just appeared out of nowhere.”

  “As we came out of the warehouse.”

  “What can you tell me about these dark men?” Jeremiah said. He sounded so concerned, so sincere, that P
oole wanted to answer the question herself. My God, he’s good at this.

  “The one that spoke had some kind of accent,” Tad said.

  “Haitian,” Rebecca said. “I recognized it. He’s Haitian.”

  “Good. Anything else?”

  “They’re all big,” Tad said. “Muscular. They moved like athletes.”

  Jay-Edgar contacted Poole via her interface: “We’ve tracked the Blantons’ movements for the past twenty-four hours. Sending you the data now.”

  Poole transferred the data to a screen so Jeremiah and the Blantons could see it.

  Jeremiah said, “Can you show me where you met Sally1?”

  Tad pointed out the location on the screen, just north of the Sculpture Park in Silver Spring, Maryland.

  “That’s the warehouse. Good. We’ll look into that. And it looks like you went south after leaving her?” Jeremiah pointed to the screen.

  “Yeah,” Rebecca said. “Is that important?”

  “That was probably in the direction of the lab if you were trying to lull her into thinking you were going there.”

  “That’s right,” Tad said. “It was south . . . and I think east.”

  “Very smart. Keep her in the dark.” His voice carried a hint of approval. “That’s what I would have done too. I wonder where she and her dark men went.”

  “We just wanted to leave,” Rebecca said. “She said she was going to fly away.”

  “Interesting. She used those exact words? Fly away?”

  “Yes. Is that important?”

  “Maybe. Did she say where?”

  “No,” Tad said. “But she also called herself a river. Remember?”

  “That’s right,” Rebecca said. “And she smirked when she said she was going to fly away. I don’t know if that means anything.”

  Jeremiah nodded. “Okay. Now I want you to think about numbers and names. Do you think it was a numbered street or did it have a name?”

  “I think it was a name,” Rebecca said.

  “Excellent.” Jeremiah smiled and nodded. “Was it a familiar name, or one you’d never heard before? A state name, maybe? Or something that reminded you of a smell or a sound?”

  Tad and Rebecca shook their heads. “I don’t remember,” they said in unison.

  Jeremiah crouched down in front of them. “I’d like to put you under—a drug-induced hypnosis to see if you can recall the street name or the address, or even where you threw away that paper.”

  “Will it hurt?” Rebecca asked.

  Jeremiah turned to Poole.

  She shook her head. “It’s a painless process.”

  “Thank you,” Jeremiah said to Rebecca and Tad. He touched their shoulders gently, looking them in the eye. “We really appreciate this. You’ve been a big help. Dr. Poole will set up the hypnosis for you now. Okay?”

  They both nodded.

  “Excellent,” Jeremiah said. He gestured to Poole to follow him to the door. Hannah shadowed him. Adler remained where he was. Lendra must have ordered him to watch the Blantons.

  “Stay friendly,” Jeremiah whispered to Poole. “Stay calm. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that’s the way to handle them. You’re as aware as I am that any anxiety will just decrease the effectiveness of the process.”

  “You’re leaving?”

  “I’ve got some ideas about Manyara from what the Blantons said. Besides, you don’t need me, Doc. You had them figured out the moment you walked into the room. Lendra was just tossing me a bone letting me conduct the interview.”

  Poole smiled. She put her hand on his shoulder. “Thank you. I know what you’re doing, trying to make me feel better, but there’s no way I would have figured out how to handle them as quickly as you did. That gentle touch was genius. You’re amazing.”

  Jeremiah scowled. Hannah smiled, which made Poole smile in turn.

  “You’re so predictable,” Poole said.

  “What?”

  “You detest being complimented.” Poole shook her head. “When will you accept that you’re a good man?”

  “When I become one. Thanks, Doc.”

  “You’re welcome. We’ll set it up now. Might take ten minutes. Might take a few hours. You understand that we might not get anything of value?”

  “We’ve got very little of value now,” he replied. “Anything you find, let me or Lendra know. We’ll be hunting Manyara.”

  Chapter 28

  Jeremiah walked to Lendra’s office, Hannah beside him. His joints hurt only a little. It felt good to have a purpose, to be a predator again. He’d almost forgotten what it felt like to be closing in on a target. The thrill of the chase still intoxicated him. He reached her office door just as Lendra emerged from the decontamination room of the infirmary.

  Sophie. How could he have forgotten about her?

  Lendra approached him unsteadily, eyes red, her arms opening for a hug. He let her in, enfolding her in his arms.

  “Oh, Jeremiah,” she said as she hugged him back. “What if Sophie...”

  “She’ll be fine,” he said as he held Lendra, allowing her to take what comfort she needed. Truth was, now that his mind was back on Sophie, he needed it too. As much as he’d tried to distance himself from his daughter, her innocence had sucked him in. It wasn’t her fault that she’d been conceived against his will and without his knowledge. She now existed; he couldn’t deny that. And he loved her as much as if he’d wanted her in the first place.

  After a while, Lendra stiffened and pulled away. “We have work to do.”

  “Indeed.” He opened the door to her office, gestured for her and Hannah to precede him, then entered the room and said to Jay-Edgar: “I think we might have something on Manyara.”

  “Anything would help,” Jay-Edgar said. “We’re still trying to penetrate the dampening fields.”

  “Is that even possible?”

  “Normally it wouldn’t be, but since she stole the dampening fields from us and we know all the frequencies, the bio-electrical impulses, the jamming technology they use, we should be able to infiltrate their PlusPhones to find her, assuming she hasn’t turned the devices off.”

  “Pull up the vid from the search of Manyara’s apartment,” Jeremiah said. “And get Eli on holo-projection.”

  Lendra said, “What are you thinking?”

  “Remember that fly away comment?”

  “Did that mean something?”

  “Maybe,” Jeremiah replied. “I think she was deliberately misleading the Blantons in case they bailed on her. And I recall seeing something in the vid.”

  Eli appeared via holo-projection and Jeremiah brought him up to date. Then he gestured for Jay-Edgar to start the vid. It showed a small, cluttered apartment, nothing out of the ordinary—two chairs, a table, a bookcase covered with knickknacks, a kitchenette, bedroom and bathroom, and a computer space that the techs had spent most of their time on, going through thousands of files.

  “What do you see?” Hannah asked.

  “I want a close-up of the bookcase,” Jeremiah said.

  Jay-Edgar manipulated the vid footage until the shelves became larger. Dozens of small models of bridges filled the shelves.

  Lendra said, “You think these might be important, Jeremiah?”

  “It’s possible. Are any of those bridges in the DC area?”

  Lendra nodded, her eyes unfocused as she accessed her interface. “The Arlington Memorial Bridge, the Frederick Douglass Bridge, the Key Bridge, the Arland D. Williams Memorial Bridge, the Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge and the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Bridge.”

  “I wonder why so many. I could understand a replica of the Golden Gate Bridge or London Bridge.”

  “This is where she lives,” Hannah said.

  Lendra said, “I’m sending officers to check every bridge in the area for a
nything suspicious. You think she’ll try to get out by water?” Lendra asked.

  “Hold on,” Eli said. “Did you say she called herself a river?”

  “That’s right,” Jeremiah replied.

  “Well, I seem to recall that her grandmother was from Haiti—some sort of Voodoo priestess—and rivers are important in that religion.”

  “Good. Let’s transpose Manyara’s last known movements with where she met Tad and Rebecca.”

  Jay-Edgar nodded. “And then work south and east to see if there are any lines of agreement.”

  Lendra said, “Let’s also see if we’re getting any strange electrical readings—pockets of nothingness or distortions along that path.”

  “Right,” Jay-Edgar said.

  For a few minutes no one spoke. Various images appeared on the screens, trails of movements and areas of electrical distortions that weren’t necessarily from dampening fields. Jeremiah realized this sort of work was largely beyond his capabilities. He let Lendra and Jay-Edgar do the comparisons and analyses. He glanced over at Hannah, but apparently she was assisting them, for she had the vacant stare of someone accessing her interface. Even Eli was helping, tapping a screen from inside his cell. It was hard not to feel useless as he watched everyone else contribute to finding Manyara.

  “That might be them,” Lendra finally said.

  Jay-Edgar nodded. “It looks promising.”

  “What have you got?” Jeremiah asked.

  “Down by the river,” Lendra said. “On Water Street. This might be her.”

  Jay-Edgar added: “It’s an odd distortion to the grid that could be caused by multiple dampening fields.”

  “Let’s check it out,” Jeremiah said. “I want a squad or two of Elite Ops to accompany me.”

  Lendra frowned. “You aren’t going to insist on doing this yourself?”

  “This isn’t a covert mission. We want to go in with force, give them no option but to fight or surrender. Obviously we want to take her alive, but if these dark men Rebecca Blanton told us about are conditioned to protect her at any cost, we’ll want maximum firepower.”

  “Good hunting, Jeremiah,” Eli said.