Elaine smiled at him and reached out to pat his hand. “I know, Nas told me, but you and I both know that if there is anyone who would survive it, it would be the Director. You know he wasn’t meeting with some nobody at the DHS. The higher ups would know about the airstrike and they’d either leave to a secure location or they’d use one of the secure bunkers we know are all over DC.”
He had to admit she had a point. The Director was a VIP when it came to government officials and there were plenty of secure places to go in DC that would weather napalm without an issue.
“I think he survived it and that’s why he’s so far behind us,” Elaine continued. “He’ll get here eventually. We need him.”
That had him frowning. “Are you worried we can’t do this without him?”
“No, I know that Omega can continue without him,” Elaine said with a sigh. “I just want him here for Angela. She is lost without him.”
“Really? She seems to have it all together.”
“I think that’s the psychiatrist in her. She knows what behaviour would make others concerned so she hides it. It was more apparent before you all arrived. You’ve been a distraction for her. She might have said that having therapy sessions with everybody was for them but it wasn’t. It was for her. She has always used work as a distraction.”
“You know her pretty well, huh? I mean, before you came here, you knew her.”
Elaine nodded, a wistful smile gracing her lips. “Yes, we were friends before this. Which is strange, I know. Psych and Analytics don’t usually cross paths but not too long after she joined, she sought me out for some advice and we became friends.”
“Well, you always were the best analyst.”
Elaine laughed lightly. “It was more personal. I was the only out woman she knew in the agency and she wanted some advice on how to handle it. The Director knew she was a lesbian and had told her it wasn’t an issue but she wanted to talk to someone who had actually been in the trenches. She knew that there were plenty of people who said it wasn’t an issue but still treated you differently.”
He knew exactly what Elaine was talking about. He’d been a witness to it himself when Elaine had endured offensive comments from their colleagues about her sexuality during his time in the agency.
“She was lucky to have you to help her,” he said.
“Yeah, well, she’s a good girl and she’s been a good friend to me.”
Elaine hit the call button again and recited her call sign and requested contact on the secure channel and then repeated it for the civilian channel.
A chime sounded and Elaine sat up straighter in her chair.
“Elaine, it’s Marcus.”
Elaine grinned and grabbed up the mic. “Hey Marcus, how are you doing today?”
“We’re good. Two of the goats gave birth last night. Brings our herd up to thirty eight now.”
“That’s great,” Elaine replied and then looked to Malcolm. “Marcus is with a group over in Minnesota. They started out in Minneapolis but headed west when it got bad. They ended up on a farm and started rounding up livestock.”
“So how goes it with you?”
“Great, some of our friends made it here a few days ago.”
“That’s great. Where did they come from? What was it like out there?”
“Virginia,” she told him. “Bad news is DC is gone. It got bombed.”
Malcolm waited until she had taken her finger off the call button before he spoke.
“You sure about sharing information with him? Anybody could be listening.”
She gave him a withering look over the top of her glasses. “Do you think this is my first rodeo? Neither one of us have provided details about exactly where we are. He’s on a farm somewhere west of Minneapolis, we’re on the water in Michigan. It’s safe.”
“That’s good to hear, I’m glad they found you,” Marcus said. “I managed to raise someone in Colorado two nights ago. Rumor has it that tons of government people were taken to some mountain complex outside Colorado Springs.”
“Cheyenne Mountain Complex,” he and Elaine said in unison and then laughed.
The complex was home to NORAD and it was built inside a mountain. Not only could it withstand a nuclear blast, as a self-contained unit it would be the perfect place to hide from a biological attack.
“Have they heard anything from the complex?” Elaine asked.
“That’s a negative. Seems to only be rumours right now but according to the guy I talked to, survivors are migrating there to find out if it’s true or not.”
“Well, I hope they’re able to find some help,” Elaine replied, though her voice was somber.
She knew as well as he did what happened to civilians who tangled with military. If there was some government operating at Cheyenne, it was just as likely that the survivors would be met with sealed blast doors at best, or soldiers gunning them down at worst.
“Doesn’t matter much to us, huh? Even if they’re there, it’s gonna be a long time before they make it here to help us.”
“True enough,” Elaine said and then a timer in the corner of her screen beeped the end of its countdown. “Hold on a second, Marcus, got to go dark for a bit.”
Elaine switched back over to the secure channel and recited off her ID and clearance. She waited for a reply but there was nothing but dead air coming over the channel.
She smiled sadly at Malcolm. “I know I shouldn’t still be disappointed every time I don’t get a reply but I can’t help it.”
Before he could tell her that hope wasn’t a bad thing the basement door opened and Harold emerged, looking surprised to see them. He checked his wristwatch and shook his head, as if he hadn’t realized the time.
“Uh, hello,” Harold said, bowing to him and Malcolm had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. The guy was awkward and it wouldn’t help him to shed that awkwardness if people laughed at him.
“Hey Harold, we missed you last night for the celebration,” Malcolm said.
“Oh, yes, well, I got caught up doing cultures last night,” he explained, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry, I just came up here to retrieve some more distilled water.”
“By all means, don’t let me stop you,” Malcolm said and Harold made a beeline for the supply room.
He wondered if Harold was naturally nervous or if there was something about him specifically that set him off. Malcolm wasn’t stupid. He was a big black man and that tended to intimidate a lot of people.
Still, he remembered Veronica’s warning to him about the lab. Since then he had worked out a couple ways to get down there and now might be the best time to try one of them out. He stood up and moved to the supply room doorway, leaning against it.
“Sorry to bother you again, Harold, but I have been meaning to talk to you,” Malcolm said and he saw Harold’s shoulders tense before he slowly turned around, a bottle of distilled water in his hand.
“What about?”
“Well, we’ve done inventory of everything on the island except what’s in the lab,” he said. “I was thinking I could come down there and help you inventory it so we could add it to the master list.”
Harold gave him a tight smile. “No need. I already have a full inventory, accurate as of 0600 this morning. I’ll go print off a copy for you.”
Before Malcolm could say anything else, Harold was already breezing by him and through the basement door.
“Don’t take it personally,” Elaine said when he came back to the radio. “Harold is very particular about who goes into his lab. He strictly enforces the clearance the Director outlined for it. He is terrified that we will contaminate the place and ruin his work. You remember what the R&D guys were like, right?”
He didn’t have many interactions with them but that was more out of their preference. They stuck together and he had overheard them in the cafeteria more than a few times bitching about people from other departments in their labs.
“Have you seen any of his work?” he asked.
She nodded. “Not that most of it makes sense to me. I was never really good with biology. I do know that he’s come up with a formula for a vaccine so he’s been catching mice to test it on.”
“Do you really believe he can figure out a vaccine? I mean, if he has no hope, should we really be letting him waste our supplies doing whatever it is he does down there?”
Elaine looked over at the hallway and chewed on her bottom lip before she answered. “I think that he is our best bet. He was our biological weapons expert, one of the best at the agency. When the infection started, he was the lead on analyzing it. He was in communication with the CDC and other disease centres around the world. He could very well be the only person left on earth who has any chance at fixing this.”
While her words helped reassure him that Harold wasn’t wasting his time, it did nothing to sate his curiosity about the lab. It wasn’t even that he thought something was being hidden down there. Harold was probably the worst person to put in charge of keeping a secret. Malcolm was pretty sure that if he cornered him and raised an eyebrow the man would give up all his secrets.
No, what kept him wanting to get down there was the simple fact that he couldn’t handle not knowing.
The basement door opened again and Harold appeared with a couple sheets of paper in his hands.
“I hope these are sufficient,” Harold said, handing over the papers. “I will be sure to provide you with updates for the master list as I continue my work.”
“Speaking of which, I’d love to see the work you’ve been doing down there,” Malcolm said, needing to make another attempt. “You should give me a tour sometime.”
Harold blinked. “Do you have a Level 6 lab protocol certification?”
Malcolm chuckled. “No, I’m afraid I don’t.”
“Then I can’t allow you to enter the lab,” Harold replied, removing his glasses and pulling a cloth from his pocket to clean the lens. “The Director left strict orders to maintain the lab as a Level 6 classified sector. It’s an issue of contamination, you see. I cannot in good conscience allow anyone in without the proper clearance.”
“You sure you couldn’t make an exception for me? I was an agent once upon a time. I might not have up to date credentials but classified information isn’t new to me.”
Harold squared his shoulders and put his glasses back on so he could stare him in the eye.
“I have my orders,” Harold said. “I’m sure you understand.”
Malcolm knew then that there was no point in arguing with him. He knew that he intimidated Harold and if he was willing to look him in the eye and tell him no there was no changing his mind.
He was willing to let the man have this. Clearly, Harold was clinging to the order that government security gave him. He couldn’t fault the man for it but that didn’t mean he couldn’t work with him.
“What exactly does it take to get a Level 6 certification?” Malcolm asked and Harold blinked at him. “You could certify me and then there wouldn’t be an issue.”
“Uh...well, I’m not sure...that’s to say, I don’t really remember…” Harold glanced at Elaine, looking for her help. Malcolm wondered at that little exchange, the sly voice in the back of his head telling him that he couldn’t let this go.
“I’m sure a smart guy like you follows the protocol every time you go in there. You can teach me it and certify me.”
Malcolm saw the moment Harold realized that he had been backed into a corner.
“Yes, well, it will take some time to prepare,” Harold said, pushing his glasses up his nose. “I’ll have to write out all the information to present to you and create a test to pass to ensure the certification is valid.”
That sly voice was back, louder this time, telling him there was something off here. Harold didn’t want him in the lab for a reason. He usually trusted that voice. It was the same voice that had saved him more times than he could count when he was on a mission.
Still, he couldn’t be sure it wasn’t just Harold’s natural anxiety that pinged his radar. The man was a ball of nervous tension but he trusted Elaine and she was taking Harold’s behaviour in stride. Of course, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t see that lab, even if just to sate his curiosity.
“Of course, do what you have to do for the certification,” Malcolm replied. “Well, better get back to the radio.”
Harold was quick to scamper back to his lab, glancing back at him to make sure he wasn’t following before he opened the door and disappeared down the stairs.
When the door closed Malcolm settled back on the stool. “He’s an odd one.”
Elaine snickered. “I told you, typical R&D guy.”
Yeah, he was but for all his brains, Malcolm had managed to lure him into his trap. Even if he had to jump through a bunch of hoops, he was going to see that lab and finally put his worries to rest.
“Alright, let’s get back on the horn and see if there’s anybody else out there.”
Subject File # 745
Administrator: Now that you’re here, are there any lingering fears you’re still dealing with?
Subject: I’m worried that I’m gonna stop bein’ useful. They don’t keep me ‘round ‘cause of my charmin’ personality. They keep me here ‘cause I provide somethin’ they need. If’n I stop doin’ that, why would they keep me ‘round here?
Jackson took a long swig from his water bottle, not even caring that it had turned lukewarm in the sun. He needed the water, feeling like he’d sweated out a couple gallons with the way his clothes clung to his skin. It was as hot as Satan’s balls up on the roof of the boathouse. There wasn’t even a cool breeze from the water to give them relief.
He almost regretted driving the ATV out here with Mendez to show off that they’d got it running. With their task accomplished, they’d been immediately drafted into helping build the boathouse perch. Sitting in the shade of the trees around the pumphouse had been a dream compared to the scorching heat that beat down on them up here.
The blue water that surrounded them was tempting. He’d considered just jumping off the roof into it more than a few times in the last hour but he’d resisted. They had a job to do here and their lunch break was coming up. First thing he was doing once they stopped was running down the dock and jumping in, boots and all.
He had to admit that Craig had been right to keep them at a hard pace this morning. Since he and Mendez had arrived, they’d already gotten the base of the shelter up on the roof and secured, which was a lot. They had to be precise with their placement to ensure the roof could bear the weight of it.
Now they had to build the rest of it, which was proving more difficult. Craig’s design for the fake dormer was too heavy to lift onto the roof assembled so they had to bring it up in pieces.
That meant Craig assembled what pieces he could on the dock before handing them off to Jackson and Banks, who hauled them up to Mendez on the roof.
When he had first seen the sketch of the perch, Jackson had been impressed with how roomy it looked. It was big enough for two people to sit up it in comfortably. Though now that he had to be the one hauling up the studs in this heat, he thought it could do with being a little smaller.
He put down his water bottle and grabbed the studs that would make up the second wall of the dormer. He climbed up a few rungs and Banks appeared on the edge of the roof. Jackson passed up the studs, letting Banks pull them up on the roof before he climbed the rest of the way up the ladder.
Mendez was over on the platform, drilling down brackets to secure the studs of the other wall to the base. Banks had already laid out the studs in their proper position on the roof. They would nail the pieces together to form the wall and then put it on the base and then secure it.
Craig had said they could break once they got the second wall up. They were so close.
“Jackson, tell me something,” Banks said when he had knelt down opposite him to help nail the studs to
gether. “What’s the deal with you and Veronica?”
Jackson looked up. “What do ya mean?”
“You know what I mean,” Banks said slyly as he pulled a nail from the pouch on his tool belt and positioned it. “Are you hitting that?”
The question had him missing the nail and he cursed as he barely got his fingers out of the way of the rogue hammer in time. He heard stifled laughter from one of them but he ignored it, righting his grip on the hammer and driving the nail home. “Nah, I ain’t hittin’ that.”
“So you wouldn’t mind if I started talking to her?”
“Ya can talk to anybody ya want.”
“Yeah, Banks doesn’t just mean talking,” Mendez told him, like he was stupid.
He knew exactly what Banks meant. But what he supposed to do? Get jealous and tell the guy to stay the hell away from her? He had no hold over Veronica even with their strange relationship.
“I ain’t her daddy,” Jackson told him. “Ya don’t gotta ask my permission.”
“Well then, I think I’ll ask her if she wants to take a walk after dinner,” Banks said with a smile.
Mendez smiled. “You should take her over to the marshy part on the east side. At night there’s a ton of fireflies out there. It’s very romantic. I guarantee you’ll get a kiss at the very least.”
Banks hummed as he pounded a nail in and moved to the last joint that needed securing. “Sounds like you speak from experience. Who did you romance?”
“A girl never kisses and tells,” Mendez said with a smirk.
“Yeah, well, I noticed you slip off with Angela and you two never came back.”
“I will neither confirm nor deny.” She drilled the last bracket in and stood up. “I will only say that if you want to score, go out there.”
“Duly noted,” Banks said with a wink and Jackson felt the back of his neck start to burn and it had nothing to do with the sun.
“Ya shouldn’t be talkin’ ‘bout her like that,” Jackson blurted out, his anger getting the better of him. “She ain’t some game you can score on.”
Banks gave him a once over and narrowed his eyes at him. “You sure you aren’t into her?”
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