The Cure

by Jeremy P Horgan

  Up ahead he saw the walls curve inwards and there was a metal framed vault door within the wall. This was it. A small port hole in the vault door showed nothing but water falling from above. ‘Right,’ said Danny, mentally preparing himself for what he needed to do.

  ***************

  Back at the prison Zack’s gun pressed against the Professor’s head, leaving a red mark against his temple, whilst the others watched on. Mendez edged ever closer towards the boy, but Zack was watching every move.

  ‘Seriously, you think I can’t see you?’ he said to Mendez.

  ‘Look Zack, whatever this is about, we can sit down and talk about it,’ said Logan.

  ‘Time for talking is over. Did you really think your little plan was going to work? They’ve known about your little gang of ungrateful losers since pretty much the beginning,’ said Zack.

  Logan looked at the others to see if they knew anything about what he was saying but the blank faces said it all.

  ‘Really? You think they knew anything about it. None of them had a clue. Not even Faye, may she rest in peace. Ha-ha. Jay, yes,’ he smiled ‘that was MacGregor and me. Don’t worry, he didn’t feel a thing. Ha-ha. Went down like a sack of spuds. Goldsmith told me to keep an eye on you after they had the initial meeting to put everything into place. He knew not to trust you. He said you were weak and that you would find a way to mess up any chance of a future.’ His finger on the trigger started to twitch.

  ‘We knew exactly what you were up to down to the last detail. Goldsmith said you’d come here. Although to be fair he thought our good Professor here would be long gone. That was the whole point of putting him with the worse human beings in the world. But here we all are,’ he chuckled.

  ‘And your plan was to what? Shoot the Professor and walk out of here alive?’ said Mendez.

  ‘Something like that,’ said Zack ‘I’m thinking more of a hostage situation to be honest. I hadn’t thought that far ahead,’ he snorted.

  ‘So, Goldsmith didn’t trust me? That’s interesting,’ said Logan ‘I’m a little distrusting myself if I’m honest. I mean like Jay just slipping like that. Sounded a bit fishy to me. You just turning up and finding him. Now you got to know that felt off to me,’ Logan started walking towards Zack.

  Zack started to feel a bit nervous and waved Logan away with the gun.

  ‘I’ve got no problem taking you out soldier boy. This is my destiny man. Save mankind.’

  ‘Hey, you know what, it’s almost like you think I didn’t know Goldsmith was going to have me watched. Trust is a two-way thing. That’s why I trusted everyone in this team, except you. That’s why I gave you an unloaded gun back at the base,’ said Logan.

  Zack froze like a rabbit in headlights and pointed the gun towards Logan’s chest. But Logan kept walking towards him. ‘You’re bluffing,’ he said.

  ‘Are you asking me or telling me?’ Logan smiled until the gun was now pressed against him

  ‘How? How did you know? You’re lying.’

  ‘Truth is I wasn’t sure back at the base about you. I had my doubts then. However, it wasn’t until Jay came around about half hour ago and contacted us on the satellite phone that I knew everything. He told me the last thing he saw was you in the reflection of a mirror in his room standing behind him.’

  ‘You’re lying,’ he panicked.

  ‘Why don’t you pull the trigger and find out.’

  ‘Logan, no,’ said Tallulah.

  Click. The gun went silent. Click, click, click. Nothing.

  Two of Mendez’s men ran towards Zack and pushed him to the floor his hands behind his back.

  ‘Very clever Mr. Mathers,’ said the Professor ‘Maybe I should give you more credit for this plan after all. You seem to have thought of everything.’

  ‘If there’s one thing I knew I could count on it was Goldsmith finding out what we were doing. He knew I’d struggle with the decision to use the toxin, and I knew he would send someone after me. I thought it would be McGregor though. Which means chances are he’s been sent after Danny. We need to let him know. What you going to do with Zack?’ he looked at Mendez.

  ‘If there is one thing we have in bountiful supply it is prison cells. Take him away,’ he motioned to his men who dragged Zack away, his legs flailing on the floor.

  ‘Jay also told me that our father has given the order to send the toxin to the reservoir. They will be there within two days. If Danny is still alive, we need to get him to put everything in place in case you can’t deliver an antidote,’ said Zack.

  ‘Logan, I hate to tell you this but the chances of me being able to create an antidote are slim. Given the circumstances and my limited access to any chemicals I don’t know if I can find an antidote in the next ten years, let alone two days,’ said the Professor.

  ‘We don’t have two days,’ Tallulah spoke up ‘We’ve got less. I’m going back to the base and I’m going to get them to either change their minds or get a message out to the rest of the country not to drink the water,’ she pointed up at the television in the corner of the room.

  ‘Tallulah, no. I don’t want you going back. We need you here,’ said Logan.

  ‘Ah, Logan, you obviously do not know the Wanikiy stubbornness,’ the Professor said perceptively.

  ‘I’ve got to do this Logan. I need to right my father’s mistakes.’

  ‘But how will you even get back to the base?’ said Logan.

  Mendez stepped forward and waved out an arm ‘perhaps I can help with that. Follow me.’

  Following Mendez along the prison corridors, Logan and Tallulah filled in the rest of the group with what they had been told about The Cure and how it had been orchestrated by the government. In between gasps and Chuck’s ‘goddamns’ Mendez led them to the very back of the prison to two massive rear exit gates.

  ‘Through here my friend,’ said Mendez.

  The double door opened, and sun shone through them blinding them. Their eyes adjusted onto a huge airfield of around twenty airplanes ranging from small light aircraft to a military cargo plane.

  ‘Goddamn,’ said Chuck.

  ‘Goddamn indeed, although it was not God who got these planes,’ said Mendez.

  ‘This is amazing,’ said Logan. He looked at Tallulah. ‘you got to do this right?’ She nodded.

  ‘One problem,’ said Mendez. ‘We have lots of planes, but not so many pilots.’

  ‘But you do have a pilot?’ said Logan.

  ‘Mmmm. Yes. Kind of,’ replied Mendez.

  ‘Kind of?’

  ‘He can be a little grumpy. He’s over there by the gates.’

  Everyone turned to the gates, but no-one could see anyone. They shrugged their shoulders looking at each other. ‘Over there,’ Mendez pointed towards some broken crates and old potato sacks.

  ‘Hod! Come, meet our new friends. I have a mission for you,’ said Mendez.

  The sacks moved and what looked like a man on his knees held his arm up to shield the sun from his face.

  As they watched the man it became apparent that he was not on his knees, but he was stood a full three feet and change tall. Not only was he a dwarf but he had a patch over his eye.

  ‘A one-eyed dwarf?’ said Chuck to Mendez.

  Mendez shrugged ‘I think the term is one eyed midget.’

  ‘This is crazy,’ said Logan. ‘You expect this man to fly Tallulah across the country in a plane.’

  ‘Very good pilot Mr. Mathers,’ said the Professor ‘He made many flights across the border and hardly ever crashed, isn’t that right Hod?’

  The dwarf looked Tallulah up and down ‘Humph. I waited in this hovel ten years for a woman and you bring me a giant.’

  ‘She’s here to help save the world Hod and she needs your help,’ said Mendez.

  ‘Is he drunk?’ quizzed Chuck.

  Mendez held his hand up and moved it from side to side ‘maybe a little. He flies better that way.’

  ‘You’re going to let him fly you back t
o the base?’ said Logan.

  ‘Do we have a choice?’ said Tallulah, as Logan passed her a vial with half the toxin in it.

  Hod smiled at them both.

  They climbed into the small military fighter plane, Hod now wearing a Viking helmet in the front of the cockpit and a nervous looking Tallulah in the back. ‘wait,’ said the Professor. He took a step closer to the airplane and looked at Tallulah ‘Your family name. Wanikiy. You know what it means?’

  ‘Yes. It means Savior,’ she replied.

  ‘Your father once thought that it was prophecy that he would cure all the illness in the world. He was right. But it wasn’t because of a name. It was because he thought he was above everyone else and it backfired. Maybe that prophecy was true, but it wasn’t for him,’ he smiled, took her hand, kissed it and waved goodbye.

  ‘So, Savior,’ said Hod ‘are you ready for the ride of your life?’

  ‘What were you in prison for?’ Tallulah shouted through to the cockpit.

  ‘Drug smuggling for the cartels. Would’ve got away with it though, but I ran out of fuel above a military airbase. Weeeeeeee, bang,’ he mimicked a plane falling from the sky.

  The others watched on as Hod attempted to start the plane, then again, then again.

  ‘Third times a charm,’ he winked, barely able to look out the window.

  The plane stuttered and stumbled along the makeshift runway and straining the wheels lifted off the ground and gradually began to climb up and up. Then she was gone.

  ‘Professor. It’s time,’ said Logan.

  The group retreated back into the prison and to the Professor’s laboratory which doubled as the infirmary. As they entered, they knew then why the professor had been skeptical about an antidote. The laboratory was mainly full of plants and looked nothing like the high-tech labs back at the base.

  The sole reason for this laboratory had been to look at ways of self-sustainability and ways that they could fuel the prison and find new and different ways to grow food. What wasn’t there to help long-term growth of the prison was day to day medicine to treat minor illnesses from before The Cure. The team looked at each other concerned and both the Professor and Mendez picked up on it straight away.

  ‘I’m sorry Logan. I’m not sure what you were expecting. This is a prison,’ said the Professor.

  ‘I know Sir. It’s fine. I knew it was a long shot.’

  ‘Give me the rest of the Toxin and let me see what I can do,’ he said.

  An hour passed and all the group were spaced around the laboratory listening to the Professor clatter around with test tubes and other laboratory kit, but no shouts of Eureka. Nobody spoke and most had their head in their hands.

  ‘Is there anything we can do to help,’ said Xander, who had run out of cigarettes and had moved on to prison rollups that he’d scrounged off inmates.

  ‘No son, sorry, no luck and no ideas of what he has used. Whatever he has put in this it is diluted so much that it’s almost impossible to split into separate chemicals,’ said the Professor.

  ‘Just keep trying Professor. You’re our only hope,’ said Scott.

  The professor looked over the top of his glasses ‘aren’t you the ray of sunshine?’ he laughed.

  ***************

  Meanwhile Hod was giving Tallulah a running commentary of everything they passed over, but she couldn’t hear a word. The flight would take about four hours and she now had to work out how she would get back into the base without being seen and into the communications room. She had a plan, but it would be costly and right now with tears in her eyes she couldn’t think about it. She wiped them away and gritted her teeth, sat up straight and listened to the half blind dwarf flying the plane.

  ***************

  Logan had been trying to get hold of Danny for a couple of hours with no luck. The radio crackled and spluttered but nothing from his brother. Jay had given them a heads up, but it wasn’t looking good on all fronts. The Professor was out of his depth without the necessary equipment and with Tallulah gone hope was fading fast. The radio crackled and a voice spoke.

  ‘Lo….Lo….over,’ came the voice.

  ‘Danny. Is that you, over?’

  Lo…. Logan? Logan,’ came Danny’s voice.

  ‘Danny, can you hear me? Over.’

  ‘Thank goodness, I’ve been trying to get hold of you Logan. McGregor….Over.’

  ‘Yes Danny, we know. Jay told us. Goldsmith sent Zack after us and McGregor after you. Over.’

  ‘Are you all ok Logan? Did you find the Professor? Is Tallulah ok? Over.’

  ‘We have the professor, he’s alive. He’s working on an antidote, but it doesn’t look good. Over.’

  ‘And Tallulah? Over.’

  Logan paused.

  ‘She’s fine Danny, she’s helping the Professor. Over,’ he lied.

  ‘Good good. I think McGregor is dead. I’m at the reservoir and at the vault. Over.’

  ‘Jay says that they are sending the toxin now. They are already on their way. You have maybe a day and a half if we’re lucky. You need to set those explosives. Over.’

  ‘OK Bro, I’m on it. How long do I give it until I blow it? Over.’

  ‘Leave it until you hear from me or the second one of those soldiers come walking through that door. Then get out. Over.’

  ‘I hear you. I’ll be in touch. Love you man. Over and out.’

  ‘Love you too Danny. Over and out.’

  The radio crackled to nothingness at Logan’s end. Then the silence was broken with shouts from the laboratory. Logan ran back into the room.

  ‘We may have found something,’ said the Professor.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Hod lay back on his sun lounger, rays of heat shining down on his face from the blistering sun above the Mediterranean Sea and the forty-foot yacht slowly cutting its way through the water. He held a Cuban cigar in one hand and not far from his other was a cocktail on a table laden down with exotic fruit. Life could not get much better he thought to himself, and he turned to look at the bikini clad supermodel on the lounger next to him. He smiled and picked a grape from the table, popping it in his mouth and nodding appreciably to the female waitress who had just brought him another drink.

  But for all this, Hod felt that something wasn’t completely right, and he heard a far and distant voice in his head calling his name ‘Hod, Hod.’ He furrowed his brow trying to make out the voice and where it was coming from but looking back around, he decided that he was far too content in his current surroundings to be bothered.

  In the back of the airplane Tallulah slammed her hand against the glass partition between her and the cockpit. ‘Hod, Hod, wake up, wake up.’ Hod awoke with a jump to see, with his one good eye, the ground hurtling towards him at two hundred miles an hour. ‘arrrrrgh.’ he yelled pulling at the controls in front of him and bringing the aircraft back to a level less concerning. ‘It’s fine it’s fine, I wasn’t asleep. I was just taking us down out to avoid any turbulence,’ he said. Tallulah mumbled under her breath ‘asshole.’

  ‘Not long now Missy, maybe thirty minutes or so. Hope you’ve got a plan.’

  ‘You just worry about getting us there in one piece and I’ll worry about the plan,’ she said.

  Minutes passed and she could make out the town above the base. She wondered whether they were watching the plane. Surely everyone on the base would now know what they had done. Maybe Goldsmith had kept it to himself, in the hope that no-one else on the base ever found out of the plan to release the toxin. Only time would tell and Hod had begun the descent.

  ‘Over there, away from the town, we’ll walk in from a couple of miles away,’ she said.

  ‘Walk? I don’t think so. Once we’re down that as far as I go. I’ll wait with the plane but any signs of trouble and I’m outta here.’

  ‘Thanks, you’re a real hero.’

  ‘I’d wait until we’ve landed before you start calling me names,’ he said.

  As the air
craft got closer to the ground Hod started saying something that sounded like the Lord’s Prayer, before the wheels touched the floor and he put the brakes on. Finally, the plane came to a stop and Hod crossed his chest and breathed a sigh of relief ‘Landing was never one of my fortes.’

  ‘Neither is staying awake, apparently.’ she said with contempt in her voice. ‘Stay here.’

  Hod saluted.

  As Tallulah got closer to the base she begin to panic. The exits were always manned, and she had no reason to believe today would be any different. She decided that the best course of action was to walk up and knock on the door as if nothing had happened. Not the most intricate plan, but a plan all the same. Yes, there would be questions, but once she was in, she could break away and get to the communications room. Once inside she could get the message out to anyone with access to a television of the plan to poison the water system.

  As it was, she didn’t even need to knock as two soldiers, one male and one female, came out to greet her. Saying nothing they both took an arm and frog marched her back into the base. She realized that she had made a grave mistake in returning alone and that she would most likely be brought in front of the President to answer some burning questions then thrown into the base confinement.

  ‘What’s going on,’ she asked the soldiers. ‘Where are you taking me?’ Neither answered.

  Led through the underground tunnels around the base and not through the main halls they didn’t pass another person. ‘Where is everyone? You can’t do this to me.’ They stopped at a door.

  ‘Where are we? What are you going to do to me?’ she pleaded, but nothing.

  The soldiers released their grip on her and the male soldier took out a key card and touched it against the electronic lock of the door. It beeped and the light went red. Again, a beep and then red. The soldier shook his head and bent down to inspect the lock. As he did the female soldier brought a cosh down on his head and he slumped to the floor out cold.