The Susquehanna Virus Box Set

by Steve McEllistrem

  “I’m sending the coordinates to your PlusPhone,” Lendra said as Jeremiah started for the door. She nodded to Hannah. “Keep him safe.”

  Jeremiah stepped into the hall, where Gil and Finn waited.

  “The fish team is ready to roll,” Finn said.

  “Get your gear on,” Jeremiah said. He was going to have to fly in a jet-copter, he realized. Why did that scare him? He’d handled hundreds of situations more dangerous than flying. And yet taking to the air always terrified him. He tried to keep his expression neutral, the fear out of his eyes. “I’ll meet you on the roof.” He pointed to Hannah’s interface. “Can you handle communications?”

  She nodded.

  “Good.” He put his PlusPhone in his pocket and led her to the roof. He could see rain coming from the southwest, but the sun was still a bright orange orb, coloring the sky with pinks and purples, compliments of all the particulates in the air, an oddly beautiful scene. The jet-copter, on the other hand, looked ugly, squat and buglike, no aerodynamics at all that he could see. It ought to plunge off the roof and tumble to the ground.

  “You okay?” Hannah asked.

  “Sure.”

  “When’s the last time you slept?”

  “I got a nap in the infirmary,” he said.

  “What about the pain?”

  “I’ll be fine,” he said. “You just worry about yourself.”

  A few seconds later Gil and Finn joined them, wearing their armor.

  Jeremiah nodded approvingly. Elite Ops troopers looked intimidating when suited up. Close to seven feet tall in their charcoal body armor, they wore mirrored helmets and carried Las-rifles as well as particle beam cannons. They looked identical except for their nameplates. They ought to scare the hell out of Manyara’s dark men.

  Hannah said, “Two Elite Ops squads are meeting us on site. They’ve been sent the coordinates as well.”

  Jeremiah climbed aboard the jet-copter with the others and they took off. The ride lasted only a couple minutes, fortunately. He kept his eyes shut the entire time, concentrating on his breathing, only opening them when they landed in the middle of the street, disrupting the early morning traffic.

  As they disembarked, sirens blaring in the distance and cars honking their horns, Hannah said, “The distortion is coming from inside that building.” She pointed at an office building—its front doors broken and hanging ajar. “We can’t get a good lock because of the dampening fields, but it’s got to be Manyara. It looks like seven bio-electric signatures—six bodyguards plus Manyara.”

  Jeremiah shook his head. It felt wrong. Still, they had to check it out. The wind, he noticed, had picked up, and he felt a drop of rain on his forehead.

  Within seconds, two squads of EOs appeared in four Bullets, large tank-like vehicles that weaved around the traffic and pulled up onto the sidewalks. From the lead Bullet came Major Payne, fully armored except for his helmet. The last time they’d met—when Major Payne had been under the influence of drugs and conditioning, and following the orders of the megalomaniac Richard Carlton—Jeremiah and Quark had bested him in battle at the Tessamae Shelter. Since then, Jeremiah knew, Major Payne had been freed of the conditioning and had even helped destroy one of the Las-cannons that the cadets had used to attack Earth, losing his eyes in the process. But he looked the same now as he had the last time Jeremiah saw him—though his regrown eyes appeared slightly larger. Probably they’d been genetically enhanced. Jeremiah wondered briefly if Major Payne still hated him, then dismissed the thought as unproductive.

  Major Payne came to a stop before Jeremiah. He nodded to Gil and Finn. “Fish team.”

  “Windol,” they replied.

  “We got cops on the way,” Major Payne said. He looked at Jeremiah. “What’s your plan?”

  Jeremiah said, “We need Manyara Harris alive, if possible. Actually, I’d like to take as many alive as I can. But that may be impossible. I understand that they’ve been conditioned to fight to the death to protect her.”

  “We’ll go in light,” Major Payne said. “Stun settings, everyone.” He looked at Jeremiah. “I assume you want a bull rush—speed and overwhelming force?”

  Jeremiah nodded. “Give them no time to think. We want them reacting only.” He glanced at the office building, at the doors askew in their openings. Why would Manyara hide inside the building? She had to know he was after her.

  “Jeremiah?” Hannah said.

  He pulled himself from his reverie. “Yes?”

  “What’s wrong?”

  Major Payne said, “You think it’s a trap?”

  “Possibly. More likely she’s using this as a feint. We have no choice.” He looked over at the Washington Channel of the Potomac paralleling the road. A light rain had started, the wind driving it at an angle into his face. “Send your people in, Major.”

  “You’re waiting out here?” Major Payne’s voice carried disbelief.

  Jeremiah nodded.

  “All right,” Major Payne said. “Sending them in now.”

  Hannah touched his shoulder. “Something’s off. What is it?”

  Jeremiah nodded. “I just don’t see her hiding. She’ll run, sending her people into the building as a distraction. But she won’t hide.”

  “But there are seven bio-signatures.”

  “Exactly. It would be easy to abduct a few civilians and force them inside.” He walked across the street toward the marina where hundreds of boats were docked in their slips, their rigging catching the wind, producing a thrumming that sounded almost musical. Dozens of boats moved along the river. Hannah and Major Payne followed him. He pointed to the marina. “That’s how I’d get out.”

  Major Payne said, “Good thought. Launching drones now.”

  Jeremiah pulled out his PlusPhone and connected to Lendra. When she answered, he said, “I doubt Manyara’s in the building. Major Payne has drones over the river, scanning boats. We need to call in the Coast Guard to search vessels. I have a hunch she’ll try to escape by sea.”

  “Okay,” Lendra said. “Eli agrees with you. I’ll get the police to search every docked ship as well.”

  Major Payne said, “Getting images from the raid now. My men are taking the building by force. I see five men and two women. They’ve all been stunned. Checking the women—neither of them is Manyara. Checking the men—no, none of them either. Wait a second.”

  “What is it?” Jeremiah asked.

  “The five men are dead. How can that be? We only stunned them.”

  “Obviously she didn’t want them taken alive. Wake those two women up. Find out where they were taken. I’m betting it was close by.”

  Jeremiah began jogging toward the water, his knees and back aching, Gil and Finn by his side, Hannah and Major Payne keeping pace easily. Instinct pulled him here. He wondered if he could trust it; years had passed since he’d done this kind of work. But it made sense. From the river, Manyara could go inland or out toward sea, and there were plenty of places she could land the boat and make a run for it. But he believed she would stay onboard, make for sea and a possible rendezvous with some contact out there. It was the easiest way to leave the country.

  Lendra said, “Jay-Edgar and I are working on an extrapolation of data from the dampening fields, looking for anomalies that might tell us where Manyara separated from her bodyguards.”

  “She’s still got one of them with her,” Jeremiah replied. “You’ll want to look for two bio-signatures together—one male, one female, if you can break it down that far—or possibly three bio-signatures if they forced someone to drive the boat for them, though the Haitian might know how to pilot a boat. I’m guessing they’re heading toward Chesapeake Bay in something nondescript.”

  Lendra said, “I’m afraid we can’t break it down by gender. And we’re not picking up any kind of reading on a phone or dampening field or even a
jammer.”

  Major Payne said, “The women said they were taken a couple blocks from here about twenty minutes ago.”

  “Did we lose them?” Hannah asked.

  Jeremiah smiled. “Actually, we might have caught a break, if they’re still on the water. On land, they’d be almost impossible to spot, but if they’re on the river, we can still look for two or three human bio-signatures and cross-reference the absence of any tech signals. I’m betting they’ll try to run blind—no PlusPhones, no tablets, no technology of any kind—which should make them stand out pretty distinctly.”

  “That’s genius!” Major Payne said.

  Jeremiah shook his head. “The only reason you didn’t think of it is because you’re always wired in.”

  “The Coast Guard is sending a cutter,” Major Payne said. “It will be here in two minutes.”

  Jeremiah hurried toward the dock, limping slightly, but before he had gone five steps Gil and Finn grabbed his arms and lifted him off the ground, carrying him between them. “Hey,” he said, “I’m not helpless.”

  Major Payne and Hannah pounded along behind them, Hannah laughing.

  “Just keeping you safe,” Gil said.

  “All part of the fish team service,” Finn added.

  They reached the dock only a few seconds before the cutter. Finn climbed aboard and Gil gave Jeremiah a hand as Hannah and Major Payne followed.

  “Stop treating me like an invalid,” Jeremiah said.

  “Just following orders,” Gil said as the cutter accelerated away.

  “Whose orders?” Jeremiah asked.

  “Mine,” Major Payne said. “We all know what you’ve been doing, infecting yourself with the virus. And my superiors have made it abundantly clear that you’re to be protected at all costs.” When Jeremiah frowned, Major Payne added, “If it’s any consolation, I don’t think it has to do with you so much as it does your immunity.”

  Finn and Gil grabbed Jeremiah’s arms and propelled him to the bow as the cutter torpedoed downriver toward Chesapeake Bay, leaving a massive wake that sent smaller boats bobbing.

  Hannah and Major Payne followed.

  Something must have shown in Jeremiah’s face, for Hannah said, “Get over it. You’re not a young man anymore.”

  Jeremiah glared at her for a moment, then nodded. He hated to admit it, but even with the painkillers his joints ached.

  “We’ve found two possible candidates so far,” Major Payne said as they caught up with him. “Both smaller boats—Mega-Mischief and Sarahnity. Both carrying two people.”

  “I’m getting details now,” Lendra said. Jeremiah had forgotten that she was still connected via the PlusPhone. “Who the owners are and when they usually go boating. Also, we’re putting up a blockade near Virginia Beach to keep them from getting to the ocean. And we’ve got another cutter coming your way from downstream.”

  The Navy cutter planed over the water, making sweeping curves as it sped downstream. Rain and spray caught Jeremiah in the face along with the smell of brackish water up ahead. A flock of seagulls squawked and scattered as the cutter approached. For a moment, Jeremiah imagined he was out here with Sophie, teaching her how to steer a boat. She was a young girl, and the day was sunny, the cooler full of food, and even Curtik was there, helping out his younger sister as she manned the wheel. What the hell was Curtik doing there and why was he being helpful? The dream vanished, Jeremiah suddenly back on the cutter.

  His muscles tensed. He hoped he was correct about this. If he wasn’t, every minute took them farther away from capturing Manyara. Damn it, this had to be right—all his training, instinct and experience told him she would flee this way. But what if he was wrong? What if he was headed away from her? What if she had gone to her lab to release the virus?

  “We’ve located the PlusPhone signal of Sarahnity’s owner in Georgetown,” Lendra said. “She’s not answering her PlusPhone, but assuming she’s actually in Georgetown, the Sarahnity is likely our target.”

  “Where is the boat now?” Jeremiah asked.

  “Passing Southern Park,” Major Payne said, “approaching Chesapeake Bay. We’ll catch them in ten or twelve minutes.”

  As they slowed to take a sharp turn to the right, Hannah said, “It’s almost a straight shot to the bay from here. We should see them soon.”

  “There they are.” Major Payne pointed at a tiny boat in the distance. Obviously he’d had his vision enhanced. “Looks like a thirty-five footer, sleeper below.”

  “I see ’em,” Gil said. “Dual inboard engines. Running full out.”

  Jeremiah smiled. The Elite Ops had incredible equipment. And yet Major Payne, even without his helmet, apparently could see as well as the fish team. “What’s Manyara wearing?” he asked.

  Major Payne said, “The cabin’s too dark to make out the individuals inside.”

  “I was kidding. You have amazing eyesight.”

  “What’s our plan?” Finn asked.

  Jeremiah said, “As soon as we’re close enough, take out their engines with a laser pulse. I want the boat disabled, not destroyed. We go in fast, just like the building back there. I don’t want her to have any time to react.”

  Jeremiah could see the other Coast Guard cutter approaching from the southeast now, blocking any escape. He hoped he was right about this or he was going to look damn foolish. More importantly, Manyara would have too big a head start if she were headed for her lab. He’d never be able to stop her in time.

  As the cutter neared the Sarahnity, Gil, Finn and Major Payne all aimed their Las-rifles at the small boat, which Jeremiah could now identify. They must have been communicating silently, for all three fired at once, purple pulses that struck the engines.

  Immediately the Sarahnity slowed, its engines dead.

  The cutter slowed as it came up on the bobbing boat, while the second cutter held back a few hundred yards, its captain obviously thinking the same thing Jeremiah was. Manyara might have a bomb or possibly the virus. This boat might even be her lab, however unlikely the possibility.

  “You know you aren’t boarding that vessel,” Major Payne said as the cutter pulled up alongside the boat. Jeremiah leaned against the railing and looked down.

  For a moment there was no activity in the Sarahnity. Then an old woman emerged from the cabin. Manyara.

  Jeremiah felt a surge of relief.

  Manyara wore something strapped around her midsection as she stepped to the stern and stopped beside a gate. The dark man stayed inside the cabin. Jeremiah caught a glimpse of him in the shadows, tucked behind the doorjamb. Was he holding a detonator or a Las-pistol or something else?

  “She’s wearing a bomb,” Hannah said.

  “Or the virus,” Major Payne said. “We should blow her out of the water right now.”

  “No,” Jeremiah said.

  “She’s too dangerous,” Hannah said, her voice rising. “She might have the virus with her. We can’t take any chances.”

  Lendra said, “It’s your call, Jeremiah. Whatever you decide, we’ll support you. But don’t get too close.”

  “Okay,” Jeremiah said. “Calm down, everyone.” He called down to Manyara: “It’s all over now. You might as well surrender and tell us where your lab is.”

  Manyara spoke too softly for Jeremiah to hear. He looked to Major Payne, who said, “Give me a second. There.”

  “Jones,” he heard Manyara say. “Took you long enough.”

  Major Payne said, “Gil and Finn are amplifying everything now. You can speak normally.”

  “Thanks,” Jeremiah said. He looked back down at Manyara. “We caught Sally2. We’re bringing one of her people here.”

  “Is Eli with you?” Manyara asked.

  “No.”

  Manyara nodded. “I’m sure you’re connected to Lendra, and she’s probably connected to him. I
did care for Eli, at one time. It’s just that . . .”

  Lendra said, “Do you want me to put Eli on to speak with her?”

  “No,” Jeremiah said softly. He raised his voice and said to Manyara, “You can tell him yourself. I’m sure he’d like to hear from you personally.”

  Manyara glanced at the other cutter, several hundred yards distant, before returning her attention to him. “I don’t think so.”

  Did she have a bomb? Was she trying to decide if it had enough power to destroy the other cutter?

  “It’s only a matter of time,” Jeremiah said, “before we find your lab. We stopped the virus in London and we’ll stop it here.”

  “You think you’ve won?” Manyara said. “You think I didn’t plan for this contingency?”

  “I’m sure you did. You always were smarter than everybody else. That’s why you were able to fool us for so long.”

  “Don’t bullshit me,” Manyara said.

  “I’m serious,” Jeremiah said. “Eli always talked about how bright you are, and how it was such a shame that your license was revoked. He said he used to run ideas by you all the time. I’m sure that’s how you got some of your information.”

  Manyara stared at him for a moment. Then she said, “Do yourself a favor. Stay out here on the water for the next three hours. Better yet, head to sea.”

  “So we have three hours before the virus is released?”

  She shook her head, then opened the gate and stepped off the boat, sinking fast.

  The dark man ran out of the cabin toward her.

  “Stop him,” Jeremiah said.

  Finn and Gil fired at the same time, blue laser pulses that knocked him to the deck.

  “What did she do?” Hannah asked.

  “Should we go after her?” Major Payne asked.

  “Let the other Coast Guard cutter retrieve her body,” Lendra said. “We’ve got more important things to worry about. The virus—it might be on the boat. And we’ll want to question that dark man.”

  “The fish team will bring him out,” Major Payne said.

  Lendra said, “Send the vid to us as you’re searching the cabin. I’ll want to look at everything to make certain it’s safe.”