Kerr glanced at him with a look of concern. “It healed up, what can I say?”
Jack nodded. “See that strapping biologist over there? Three days ago he got shot up real bad. It should probably have killed him, but within twenty-four hours he was back on his feet like nothing ever happened.”
“You think I have Salzburg disease?”
“It’s an extra chromosome, not a disease, and I’m not sure. Have you been tested?”
“No, and even if I had it, I wouldn’t want to know.”
Jack helped him with the arm straps. “Maybe you should. Some of the genes do unbelievable things. By the same token, if the wrong ones suddenly get activated, you’ll become a serious liability.”
“And what about your friend?” Kerr asked defiantly. “What makes you think he won’t turn into a liability?”
“Nothing, but he also understands if push comes to shove, we’ll leave him behind.”
Kerr let out a shallow, shaky breath. “Look, it’s true, I did go through a bad patch where I was laid out on my back for a few days. Couldn’t stand up or talk. Then it went away and I’ve been fine ever since. In fact, I’ve been better than fine. I’m stronger and my thoughts have a clarity I’ve never known. I haven’t said anything to Stokes or the others because I don’t want any one of them worrying, the way you’re worrying. This Salzburg stuff is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. If we meet one of those aliens, I’ll be the first one to kiss him on his big fat alien lips and say thank you.”
Jack clapped him on the shoulder and helped with the rest of his exoskeleton. If there was anything Jack had learned in this life, it was that every good thing came with a price. Jack couldn’t help but wonder if humanity’s debt was about to come due.
Chapter 33
25 hours, 33 minutes, 51 seconds
After getting geared up, the team crossed through the portal and into the ship’s alien biosphere. A heavy mist hung in the air, reducing visibility to less than ten feet. Stokes and the other Delta operators fanned out, their weapons at the ready. Following close behind were Jack and the rest of the science team. Next were the two pack animals, clomping along with surprising grace. Bringing up the rear were Yuri and Ivan.
They were no small group, an unsettling fact Jack was distinctly aware of. He had attuned his external audio receptors to detect the sound of rustling leaves as well as the rumble of an approaching behemoth. Twenty feet above their heads, one of Anna’s new drones circled as they moved forward. The course had already been plotted from images taken from the last mission. Anna fed the data into a second drone, which flew ahead to keep an eye out for hostiles in their path.
Gabby’s head was on a swivel.
“Oh, Jack, it’s beautiful,” she said. “Reminds me of the Appalachian Trail in fall.”
Jack caught sight of a half-dozen red wisps darting around one another.
“I was thinking more Dr. Seuss,” he replied, grinning. “Just don’t let your guard down. Nice as it looks, it’s got a nasty bite.”
“Maybe,” she said, mesmerized. “It’s just hard to believe this is an Atean ship.”
Her comment took him aback for several reasons. He had specifically asked everyone in the room to keep that particular piece of information under wraps.
She looked at him. “I mean they don’t look alike at all. I’m rambling.”
He motioned for her to go to another channel.
Jack frowned. “I thought we agreed to keep that to ourselves,” he said.
“Keep what?”
He could tell Gabby was playing dumb, which she sometimes did when caught doing something she shouldn’t. She rarely messed up, so when she did, it seemed hearing about it was so much harder to endure. “We can’t let Alan know that portal leads to a ship beneath base camp. There’s no telling what he’ll do with that information.”
She was shaking her head. “I never told him, I swear.”
“But by broadcasting over the main frequency that’s pretty much what you did. I don’t trust Yuri one bit.”
Gabby started to glance back and then stopped. “You think he’s the Russian spy General Dunham told us to watch out for?”
“Frankly, I don’t know. It might not even matter. Alan was the one who called him in. If he isn’t working for the Russians, he’s sure to report back what he knows to Alan.”
“I’m sorry, Jack,” she said, genuine remorse in her soft voice. She raised her hands, palm out, motioning to the exotic environment they were in. “I got caught up in the moment.”
They switched back to the main channel to find Dag telling a story. It was his first date with a girl he met online who wanted to know how he felt about being whipped. “I thought she meant whipped cream, so I told her I loved it. Let’s just say that when we got back to her place, things got weird.”
Grant bellowed laughter. “I can imagine. And you probably still have the scars to prove it.”
They came to an embankment covered in a gelatinous substance. The last time they were here, such an obstacle had resulted in Kerr’s twisted ankle and a nearly disastrous end for all of them. But now, wearing the exoskeleton suits, they were up and over it in three easy strides.
“Dr. Greer,” Anna asked, “should we stop and take a sample?” She was referring to the ooze.
“Not now,” he told her, conscious that they weren’t only racing against the clock, but hurrying to get out of the open.
They pressed on, trying not to let fears of what might be lurking in the thinning fog overwhelm them. Jack was confident—no, make that hopeful—that either Anna or her drones would pick up anything that strayed too close.
“It was nice of you to help Mia with her research,” Jack told Anna.
“I was happy to do it,” she replied, grabbing a yellow branch that had fallen onto the path and tossing it aside.
“Did she explain what she was looking for?” Jack pressed, curious to see how she might have seen her role in the study.
“I know Dr. Ward is attempting to understand the puzzling abilities imbued in patients with the complete Salzburg chromosome. She mentioned that my results would act as a baseline, which was to say, I would represent one of many without Salzburg. I was also excited Dr. Ward was kind enough to provide the genetic code for the 48th chromatid, which has enabled me to finally begin the decryption process.”
“That’s great,” he said. “I suppose what I’m really wondering is how you feel knowing you can never have Salzburg?”
Anna continued walking, but grew quiet for a moment. “You believe it is a reminder that I will never be fully human.”
“I worried it might.”
“Do you feel human, Dr. Greer?”
Jack instinctively glanced down at his arms and his legs wrapped in the stout metal braces powering him forward with every stride. “Sometimes less than I’d like to, but overall, yes, I feel human. Why do you ask?”
“You inferred that since I shall never have Salzburg I may feel somehow inadequate. But you do not have the extra chromosome, Dr. Greer, nor can you ‘get’ it. Which is why I wondered if you were really projecting your own concerns.”
Jack laughed. “Touché.”
Gabby nudged him. “Why on earth would she need it anyway? She’s stronger than any human, way more intelligent, will probably outlive us by decades and her components are already shielded against radiation. As for telepathy, she’s got a built-in radio. What more could she want?”
A soul, Jack thought, but didn’t dare say.
•••
Thirty minutes later they reached what was supposed to be a lake, but turned out to be more of a swamp. A red film clung to the undulating surface. The trunks of fallen trees stretched into the water along the shoreline.
“Are you quite certain there isn’t a way around?” Grant asked, looking about the group.
Stokes shook his head. “We went over the drone footage a dozen times. The water stretches from one end of the dome to the
other. Our suits are waterproof, of course, but crossing with the exoskeleton on would pretty much guarantee a trip to the bottom.”
They detached the pre-packaged inflatable raft from one of the robotic pack animals.
Dag surveyed the surface for ripples. “Nothing lives in there, right?”
“Of course not,” Jack lied. “Now give us a hand.”
They set the raft along the edge of the water and pulled the string. At once, the square package began to hiss, unfolding from its cocoon and slowly taking shape. The transformation took but a few minutes and when they were done, Jack marveled at its size. It looked like something out of Huckleberry Finn.
“Are you sure it will take Ivan’s weight?” Yuri asked, apprehensively.
Ivan rotated toward Yuri. “My current weight is two hundred kilograms.”
“Four hundred and fifty pounds,” Dag shouted in amazement. “Yuri, what are you feeding this guy?”
“I do not understand,” Ivan said, his glowing red eyes flickering as he struggled to process the comment.
Anna slapped his back with a hollow gong. “It is called irony,” she explained. “I struggle with it myself. When we get back, I will write you a program to ease some of the confusion. For example, by analyzing the speaker’s tone of voice and facial features, it is possible to tell when an element of humor is involved.”
“In this case,” Yuri said, “I don’t find it very funny.”
“All right, enough chitchat,” Stokes said, handing out telescoping paddles to Grant, Dag, Diaz and Conroy.
Ivan rolled onto the platform first. Jack had half expected to see his heavy treads puncture the plastic polymer fabric, dooming the robot to a watery grave, but somehow it held. Moreover, the raft appeared to be stable. Next, Anna and Gabby climbed onboard. Those remaining pushed the craft away from shore, jumping on at the last minute. The men with paddles then took up positions at each corner.
“I feel like Hannibal crossing the Rhône River,” Grant said, digging his paddle in and pulling it through the water.
“Let’s hope things turn out better for us than they did for Hannibal,” Stokes said, magnifying the view on his glasses to scout the opposite shoreline.
They were less than a quarter of the way across the hundred-yard body of water when Anna said, “I am detecting movement.”
Jack looked at her, concerned. “Where?” Somehow he hoped she was about to say it was on the shore behind them.
She piped the feed from the drone overhead into Jack’s glasses. At once, he spotted a large disturbance in the water, thirty yards on their port side. Jack turned in that direction to see a wake rapidly moving toward them. But it wasn’t the wave that worried him, it was whatever was creating it.
Chapter 34
The same night they destroyed the missile at the Kennedy Space Center, Ollie had the team pack up and move to a safe house south of Tampa along the Gulf Coast. The authorities would no doubt find the Zodiac and begin tearing the area apart. Eventually, they would locate the pink bungalow on Sisson Road, but it would take them a few days to piece together the fact that the couple living there were not who they seemed to be. And by then, it wouldn’t matter.
The new safe house was a modern two-storied job surrounded by palm trees on one side and beautiful emerald water on the other. It was a paradise and Kay secretly wished that they could stay here forever.
But even the sound of waves crashing against the shore couldn’t help her finish the blog post she was struggling to write. It had to be presented as a news report on the sabotage at Kennedy Space Center, without giving away clues Kay herself had been part of the operation. The deception was an unfortunate byproduct of doing what she could to keep people informed. She justified it with the idea that she was a reporter embedded with the resistance.
But in reality, here she was, sitting on a balcony overlooking paradise and struggling for the first time in her life to come up with the words to fill a news report.
Ollie came onto the balcony, wearing swimming trunks and clutching two beer bottles. He handed one to Kay and fell into the seat next to her, squinting into the hot sun.
“I’ve seen that look before,” he said mysteriously.
Ollie was eyeing the waves, but Kay could tell he was looking right through her.
“I’ve got writer’s block.” Kay decided it was better to admit her shortcomings rather than sweep them under the rug.
“I can tell, but that’s not the look I’m referring to.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, wondering if she was really that transparent.
“You did what you had to do,” he told her flatly. “Just like I did with Sandusky. For all I know the bloke had a wife and kids who loved him. I won’t say I don’t care, ’cause it’s not true. But I will say I’ve learned to tune those things out.” He twisted an imaginary knob at his temple and smiled.
Kay’s lips parted, about to reply, when Ollie cut her off.
“You, my dear, must learn to pick your battles.”
She paused. “What do you mean?”
“Think of an emergency room doctor. Imagine one night four patients get wheeled in. All four are in critical condition. Which one should the doctor work on first?”
“I don’t know, the most serious, I guess?”
“Perhaps, but if she does, the other three may die.”
“Well, given the scenario, she can’t be expected to save them all.”
He took a swig of his beer, savoring the taste. “That’s my point. If she wants a fighting chance, she’ll have to make a choice. Pick your battles and learn to live with the consequences.”
Armoni stepped onto the balcony. She started to open an umbrella and then stopped and put it down. “You know, ever since I came out of my Salzburg stupor, I’m no longer allergic to the sun.”
“Without a word of a lie, the first time I met this girl,” Ollie said, hooking a thumb over his shoulder, “I was sure she was a vampire.”
The initial bloom of a smile began to take shape on Armoni’s face before it faded. Kay saw she had something on her mind.
“Any luck finding Mia?” Ollie asked, turning to face her with a hopeful, if not worried, look.
Armoni sat down. “Not yet, but I’m working on it. After she was kidnapped from Rome her trail went cold and I haven’t been able to pick up the scent. Most of the chatter on Sentinel’s main channels is about the Atlas rocket we blew up.”
Ollie cackled laughter. “Oh, I’ll bet they’re crying like a bunch of kids with full nappies.”
“Hmm, not exactly.”
He spun around. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Apparently the team sent in to destroy the missile pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base was intercepted before they even set foot out the door.”
Ollie’s face fell. “So you’re saying the second missile was launched?”
Armoni nodded.
Ollie had suddenly lost the ability to speak.
“And was the ship destroyed?” Kay asked, taking over.
“It appears to have been, based on the initial reports, at least. But I’m waiting for confirmation.”
Armoni stood up and left. Ollie went back to his beer.
A few quiet moments went by as Kay drew in the salty breeze and thought about the future.
“You miss her, don’t you?” Kay asked.
Ollie took another swig. “What on earth gives you that idea?”
“I also lost someone I loved,” she reminded him. “I know how difficult it can be. At least in your case, you might be able to find her again.”
“Maybe,” he said. “But I have a job to do first.”
“You love her a lot,” Kay said. It was more of a statement than a question.
“Reckon I do. But I can’t imagine she feels the same way, not after what I did.”
In spite of herself, Kay didn’t push for details. “I’m sure she does.” Her mind turned back to the missiles again and the reason sh
e had joined them in the first place. “I hoped things would turn out differently, about our mission to destroy the missiles, I mean. But I fulfilled my end of the bargain. Now it’s your turn.”
Chapter 35
Mia pushed open the lab door on Northern Star to find Eugene squinting inches away from the computer monitor of an electron microscope.
“I catch you at a bad time?” she asked.
He slid his glasses back on. “Oh, hey, Mia. No, I was just trying to make sense of something.”
“I never realized you had trouble seeing,” she admitted.
Eugene laughed. “An occupational hazard for a reformed television addict. As a kid, my mom would yell at me for sitting too close. ‘You’re gonna go blind.’ I guess I should have listened.”
“I won’t keep you then. Have you seen Grant?”
Eugene swiveled around in his chair and shook his head. “He and Gabby went through the portal with Jack.”
“You didn’t want to join them?”
Eugene smiled and looked away. “After facing off against those Israelis in the Mesonyx city, I guess I lost my appetite for near-death experiences.” He stood up and covered his mouth while he yawned.
“That’s too bad,” she said, joining him. “Jack had suggested I speak with him about my research. He mentioned Grant had information on morphic something or other. Whatever that is.”
“Oh, morphic fields,” Eugene said, rolling his eyes. “Yes, we know all about Grant’s pet theory. You find yourself stuck in a lab with the guy long enough and you’ll become an expert in it too.”
Mia’s face crinkled. “What can you tell me?”
“In a nutshell, the theory posits that our minds aren’t a product of our brains the way we’ve been taught. He believes the mind operates externally from the brain, which acts like a radio receiver for our thoughts. Sounds simple, but it has all types of far-out implications. First off, rather than perception being a passive event—you know, light hitting the retina in your eyeballs—it involves your mind actually reaching out to touch the object being perceived. He believes this explains why we often get a strange feeling when a person is staring at us. He also believes it might provide a framework for unexplained phenomena like telepathy.” Eugene stopped and threw his hands in the air. “Hey, you all right? You look a little freaked out. I’m not saying I believe any of this stuff, I’m only laying out Grant’s crazy idea.”
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