The Project Eden Thrillers Box Set 1: Books 1 - 3 (Sick, Exit 9, & Pale Horse)

by Brett Battles

  “Great,” Matt said, as Ash and the others entered. He walked over and shook Ash’s hand. “Glad you’re here.”

  Ash exchanged quick greetings with Michael and Billy, then looked around at the thirty or so empty chairs in the room. “Is it just us, or are others coming?”

  “This meeting’s just us.” Matt gestured at the front row. “Please, everyone, have a seat.”

  Matt remained standing while the others filled the chairs in the front row.

  As soon as they were settled, he said, “Ash, everyone else here already knows this. I can tell you with certainty the day we’ve all been fearing will happen sometime in the next three weeks unless it can somehow be stopped.”

  The words weren’t a surprise, given what Browne had said about the depots. The time frame was, though. Ash looked at Matt, hoping it was some kind of joke, but there was no humor in the man’s eyes. Three weeks? Even after what Ash had seen, what he’d been through with his children, and living through the outbreak that killed his wife, he never really thought it would get to this, or even could get to this.

  “How do you know that?” he asked.

  “Did Tom tell you about the depots?”

  Ash nodded.“Without exception, at every depot we’re aware of, our people have witnessed the arrival of truckload after truckload of supplies. This began about three months ago, and finished at all the locations three and a half weeks ago. It would be foolish not to think the same has happened at their other warehouses.”

  “That still doesn’t mean they’re going to do something in three weeks.”

  “That’s true,” Matt said. “But I’m not finished. Over the past four months, most of our people who were able to infiltrate the Project have been rooted out and killed. Prior to this, we had already learned that while the leadership of Project Eden doesn’t share many details with its members, activity levels had been increasing, including the distribution of new instructions to various groups within the Project. We also know that in August, Project members were given an inoculation that they were told would ensure their being around to help restart humanity. Though we were unable to obtain a sample, we know it must have been a vaccine for KV-27a, something they undoubtedly developed from what they’d learned about the immunity you and your children have.”

  An image flashed through Ash’s mind—his kids strapped to hospital beds with needles in their arms, surrounded by monitors and members of Project Eden. It was all his imagination, of course. He hadn’t been there to see what was done to his children. He’d only arrived at the end, just before the late Dr. Karp was going to eliminate them.

  “Undoubtedly, it is similar to the vaccine we were able to come up with and have been trying to spread. The problem is, our production capabilities are horribly inadequate, even for the population of a medium-sized city. When we’re talking the world…” He shook his head.

  Ash was aware of the vaccine they’d been making based on a sample of his own blood. In fact, once he’d been reunited with his kids and found out about the resistance’s plan to develop it, he had offered more blood. What he hadn’t known was that Matt was trying to get the result of that out as far and wide as possible. No matter how small a dent that might make, at least it was good news.

  Matt pointed a remote control at the screen and clicked on a video file. For a moment the screen went black, then an image appeared that was all gray and white whipping around rapidly until it settled into what appeared to be a room shot from a high angle.

  “Because of the low light, he had to use night vision. What you’re looking at is a factory floor.”

  Ash could make that out now. The space was large, but unlike an assembly plant or machine shop, it appeared more like what he’d imagine a brewery would look. He could see at least a dozen large, covered tanks running down the center of the room, and there may have been more in the distance, out of range of the camera. Odder still were the people moving around the tanks. He was sure brewers didn’t wear biohazard suits when making a batch of ale.

  “What are they doing?” Ash asked.

  “Exactly what you think. This is one of who-knows-how-many mass production sites for KV-27a.”

  “Do you know where it is?”

  Matt shook his head. “No location was included.”

  “Have you tried to get in touch with your agent? We need to find this place.”

  Matt paused a moment. “Though the footage had been uploaded for over three weeks, it wasn’t discovered until eight days ago. He obviously had to upload it in a hurry and had mistakenly put it in a folder that doesn’t normally get checked.”

  “But you’re trying to get to him now, aren’t you?”

  “A week before we even knew about the file, his body was found washed up on a beach near Veracruz, Mexico.”

  Ash closed his eyes, shocked by the man’s death and frustrated by the lost opportunity.

  “There’s more,” Matt said.

  Ash reopened his eyes and focused on the screen.

  The new shot was of a loading area where large drums that must have held at least fifty gallons each were being moved into shipping containers. If Matt was right, each must have been filled with the virus.

  Matt stopped on an image of a loading dock where sealed shipping containers were being lowered onto big-rig trucks. He let it play for half a minute before turning it off.

  “So we don’t even know where they went from there?” Ash asked.

  “Does it matter?” Billy said. “Out into the world. The only reason we know none of it has been released yet is because there have been no reports of outbreaks.”

  Ash thought about it for a moment, his face becoming more confused. “None of this explains where the three-week window comes in.”

  “You’re right,” Matt said. “It doesn’t, but this does.”

  He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Ash. On it was a series of letters coupled together. Lower on the paper was what he guessed was the decoded version:

  It’s a go. Sometime in the next seven weeks. Project Eden calls it Implementation Day.

  Best location BB n of sixty-six. Sci fac.

  “That was sent four weeks ago by the only person we have left on the inside.”

  “Implementation Day?”

  “That’s what they’re calling it.”

  “How confident are you that this time frame is right?”

  “Our man’s instructions were simple. The one and only time he was to contact us was if Project Eden moved into the active phase. Our confidence is one hundred percent.”

  Ash stared at the message for a second, then looked at the others. “We have to let someone know. It’s the only way to stop it.”

  “And who would that be?” Billy asked, as if the question was the stupidest thing he’d ever heard.

  “The government. The military. The media. There’s got to be someone who’d do something.”

  Matt stepped in before Billy could respond. “You’re probably right. There are good people in important positions who would try to step in and stop it. But they’d never get far. Your own experience should be proof of that. All the governments and military and media who could do anything are riddled with Project members in high positions who would do anything to protect the plan. The moment anyone tries to move against the Project, they’ll be discredited or even killed.” He paused. “I’m not just saying this because we think that’s what will happen. We know it will because we have tried. Many times. And each time we did, people died and nothing changed. We’ve even cut together news reports ourselves and uploaded them to the Internet, but they get pulled down almost quicker than we can put them up.”

  Pax turned to Ash. “We’re on our own. Just like we’ve always been.”

  “The last part of the message is perhaps the most valuable,” Matt said. “It gives us a ray of hope.”

  Ash glanced at the paper again, and reread the last line. When he looked up, Matt touched the remote, and a map of the
Arctic Circle appeared on the monitor.

  “BB refers to Bluebird,” Matt explained. “That’s the name Project Eden uses for its main headquarters. N of sixty-six?” He touched a dotted line on the map. “North of the Arctic Circle, where there are dozens of science facilities—sci fac. Right after we received the message, we sent out several teams to the Arctic in search of the Project’s headquarters.”

  The Arctic. It made a certain crazy sense to Ash. The isolation would provide not only a formidable natural defense against any rogue virus, but against man himself. And with technology these days, they could still maintain contact with their people throughout the world even in such harsh terrain.

  “Did you find it?” he asked.

  Rachel leaned forward. “We might have. One of our teams has gone missing. We sent another team to check on it. They found wreckage and a signal beacon, but no bodies.”

  “So it was an accident.”

  She shook her head. “The searchers believe that the debris was staged so we would think it was an accident. Looking back, there were also some irregularities in the last several contacts from the missing team. On the surface they could easily be explained away, but given what the searchers found, I think the real answer is something else.” She shot a look at Matt. “I think those transmissions were faked by the Project. I think our team was discovered at an earlier stop.”

  “When they found Bluebird.”

  She hesitated, then nodded.

  “Where?”

  She stood up and walked over to the map. “We’ve narrowed it down to what we believe are the two best possibilities.” She touched the screen. “Here on Ellef Ringnes Island, and here, on Yanok Island. After Ellef Ringnes, the inconsistencies become clearer.” She looked back at Ash. “Bluebird is where the orders to start will come from.” She drew a circle with her finger that included both islands. “Somewhere in here is where it will all begin.”

  Matt nodded, his eyes also on Ash. “And that’s what we want to talk to you about.”

  Ash had guessed as much.

  “Let’s be honest,” Matt said. “At this point, our time is better spent using our resources to try and mitigate the damage. Stop the outbreak where we can, minimize the effects where we can’t, and get out as much of our version of the vaccine as possible. The only actual way to stop their Implementation Day from even happening is to cut off the head, but that doesn’t seem very doable given the location and time of year. Rachel, though, has successfully convinced us we need to at least give it a try. Logistically, it would make no sense to send a large detachment. First off, we need the manpower here, doing what they can to keep people alive. But, perhaps more importantly, the larger the team, the likelier its discovery before it even arrives.”

  “How many people were on your missing scout team?”

  Rachel took a breath. “Two.”

  “Two,” Ash said, looking between her and her brother. “So unless you’re sending someone up there solo, there’s a good chance any-sized team is going to be discovered.”

  “You’re right. But there’s no way I would send anyone up there alone.”

  Ash was quiet for a moment. “You want me on the team.”

  “We want you to lead the team,” Matt said.

  “Lead the team?”

  “I’m sure if you think about it, you’ll realize you’re the best for the job,” Matt said as if reading Ash’s mind. “You have the training and experience. You’ve gone up against these people before in tight situations. If you say no, we’ll understand, but, Ash…” He paused. “It would be a hell of a lot better if you said yes.”

  A thousand thoughts crowded Ash’s mind, each vying for his attention. Foremost amongst them were his kids. How could he leave them?

  Then again, given what he’d be trying to stop and keep them from experiencing, how could he stay?

  “When?” he asked, his voice a whisper.

  But before Matt or Rachel could answer, the door slammed open, and Jordan, one of Matt’s top assistants, rushed in.

  “The Bluff,” he said. “We’ve lost contact!”

  Ten

  THEY RUSHED INTO the communications room, cramming around a computer station manned by a woman named Sarah.

  “I’ve been trying to raise the Bluff, but I’m not getting anything at all,” she said. “There’s no connection. It’s as if they turned everything off at their end.”

  “Try again,” Michael said, his tone desperate. He had left his wife Janice at the Bluff before flying out to the meeting. She was supposed to have come with him, but an illness had kept her at home.

  Sarah did as he asked. Once more there was no answer.

  Michael looked at Matt. “Is the plane still here? I need to go. I need to get out there.”

  “Hold on, Michael. We’ll get you there, but I want to make sure it’s safe first.”

  “I don’t care if it’s safe! Janice needs me, so I need to get out there now!”

  Rachel glanced quickly at Browne and Solomon. The two men immediately moved in beside Michael.

  “Come on,” Browne said. “We’ll help you get ready.”

  “I am ready.”

  “Michael,” Rachel said. “Just go with them.”

  “If I can’t fly out right now, I need to be here so I know what’s going on.” His voice cracked as he spoke.

  Rachel touched his arm. “You’re no help to Janice if you can’t focus and remain calm. Go with them. Get your bag, maybe change your clothes, and get something to eat. Just try to relax. In the meantime we’ll get the plane ready.”

  Michael, eyes wide, seemed temporarily paralyzed, but then he seemed to get a grip on himself. With a nod, he let Browne and Solomon lead him from the room.

  As soon as he was gone, Matt said, “Has anyone checked the Bluff’s security feed? Is that still running, or did that get cut off, too?”

  “Have it here, sir,” a young guy three terminals away said.

  Matt walked over, and everyone else followed.

  “It cut off about ten minutes ago, sir. But something was definitely going on.”

  “Show me.”

  After the man clicked a few keys, surveillance footage from near the Bluff’s front gate appeared on screen. “This is from sixteen minutes ago. Two intruders were spotted, a couple that Bluff security calls Adam and Eve. Apparently they’ve hopped the fence before and have been caught messing around on the property.”

  On the monitor, the young couple—Adam and Eve—ran playfully down the road before turning into the forest. The operator then skipped ahead forty-five seconds to when a security team appeared from the other direction. When the men reached the same point in the road, they turned after the couple.

  “Do we have anything showing the woods?” Matt asked.

  “No, sir. No one turned a camera in that direction.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know.” The operator said nothing for a moment, then pointed at the screen. “Here. This is the important part.”

  Suddenly one of the Bluff guards staggered into frame and collapsed on the road. A few moments later, the man and woman appeared, and dragged him back into the woods. Less than thirty seconds after that, the picture went dark.

  “That’s it?” Matt asked.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “What about from inside?”

  “All the footage inside was normal.”

  “Then perhaps the building is still safe.”

  “No way to know at the moment.”

  Matt looked at Pax. “Fire up the plane and get a team ready. I want you out there now.”

  “On it,” Pax said, moving over to a phone on an empty desk.

  “Billy, go grab what you think you’ll need and meet out front.” Matt looked at Ash. “Sorry, we’ll have to continue this later.”

  “I’m going.”

  Matt cocked his head. “You sure?”

  “I’m sure.” Janice was one of the people who had saved As
h’s life. He owed her and Michael at least this much. “I just need to let my kids know.”

  “Make it quick.”

  ASH FOUND BRANDON in the kitchen, sitting at the long table eating dessert with Bobbie.

  “Where’s your sister?”

  Brandon had just put a spoonful of chocolate ice cream in his mouth, so Bobbie said, “She’s in the library.”

  Careful not to say too much, Ash told her, “You should check in with Pax.”

  Bobbie grew instantly alert. As Ash left the room, he heard her get out of her chair and head over to the phone.

  The third-floor library was three times the size of the conference room downstairs. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined all four walls, breaking only for the windows, door, and the large fireplace at one end. A rolling ladder attached to a rail allowed access to the upper shelves. There were two long tables with wooden chairs around them in one half of the room, and in the other, a lounge area with overstuffed chairs and sofas near the fireplace, where flames were working their way through a couple of thick logs.

  He found Josie on one of the sofas, reading.

  “Sweetie, I need to talk to you.”

  Without looking up from her book, she said, “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”

  Of course she would guess that. “Just for the night.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “California.”

  That caused her to look over. “California?” It was where they’d been living when the Sage Flu struck. Where her mother had died.

  “Some friends need help.”

  He knew she was conflicted. It was written all over her. For months she’d been vacillating between acting like a disinterested teen and a rebellious youth, but neither fit her. She was too smart, too compassionate. Too old for her age.