Plagued: Book 1

by Eden Crowne

  Hugo spoke up. “My father and I and, I guess, my mother and brother are all working in a Black Ops capacity. The British Government will disavow all knowledge of our actions. Nor will they make any effort to help us if we are captured.”

  “That's why,” her mother said to Sky, “when Helena was taken, Quill came to Hugo and then took Kara. To force us to help.”

  “He's a nut case,” Sky said with feeling, looking straight at the Viscount. “Your son is a homicidal maniac.”

  “I am so sorry to involve your family like this, Emily, Sky, Eloise.” Philip looked genuinely upset. “Quill will do whatever he thinks is necessary to save his mother, mission be damned. At the best of times they have only the most tenuous hold on him. Now...I don't know.”

  Sky cupped her head in her hands and she shook it back and forth in frustration. “So Quill and his mom are the bad guys who are actually good guys in a psychotic sort of way. And the Americans are bad guys backed by good men with bad motives.”

  Philip nodded. “Yes, I think you've grasped it.”

  “Right. So, the history lesson was very interesting, but I'm sixteen and I can't save the world. I only care about one thing. Saving my sister. How do we do that?”

  “We have to rescue Helena, not only because of Quill's threats.” Her mother looked around the assembled group, “If they find others to transport the blood, we may not be able to destroy it and we must, at all costs, destroy this shipment. Assembling this much vaccine again will take years. We can buy the children of Europe and elsewhere some time. We must convince the profiteers to accept the money and give us the shipment.”

  “You know where the blood vault is. Why don't you just take the damn stuff?” Sky pointed out.

  The Viscount leaned forward, speaking earnestly. “We have only grasped the tail of the snake; we would like to find the head. That is where the true poison lies. Tomorrow is Halloween. The Masquerade Ball means all but the most essential Guard and Tactical personnel are at the festivities. That was already the day Quill and Helena planned for the exchange.”

  “And my group as well,” Hugo interrupted.

  Philip raised his eyebrows. “You hadn't told me that. So they plan to bring the two potential clients together and have a bidding war. All the better. Sky is the only one with easy access to the base. She will take Hugo as her date.”

  “I will do what?”

  “We must get Kara back. The only way to do that is to cooperate.”

  Her mother put her hand on her waist. “That means you have to commit treason.”

  Chapter 20

  Blood Allergies

  Sky looked from her mother to the Viscount and back. “Treason? You want me to commit treason?” She pulled away from her mother, backed away from all of them. “I am not okay with that, even for Kara.”

  Judging by their expressions, Sky thought no one knew what to say.

  It was Hugo who spoke first. “No one is asking you to actually commit a treasonable act. Just get me on base as your date. After that, stay at the party, be with your friends.”

  “Yes,” the Viscount nodded. “I believe Quill and his people already have their entrance planned to free Helena. He will provide us with time and place. I will know more later in the afternoon.”

  “That part of the operation will not involve Sky,” her mom said pointedly.

  “Definitely not, Emily. Sky,” Philip St. James spoke directly to her. “The only reason you are here is to understand we are in this together and will do anything necessary to retrieve your sister. The less you know of the details, the better.”

  Eloise stood. “I need to go. I have appointments waiting and tonight I'm on duty at the Power Company. Emily has a secure channel to contact me. Philip, will you see that Sky gets home when you're done?”

  “Of course, of course. I will drive her myself.”

  Emily got up and walked with her sister to the foyer. “Go ahead, ask me.”

  “All right.” Eloise cleared her throat. “Emily, what are you doing here?”

  “I took a personal day,” she answered as though speaking from a script. “I'm waiting for clearance to see Kara. I'm not sure if I'll get it.”

  Sky looked at her aunt and mother, she was about to ask what the heck they were talking about, when the Viscount put his finger to his lips.

  “What about Sky?” asked Eloise with great sincerity. Even though Sky was only standing across the room. “She could really use some time with her mother. Things are tough since Rickey was shot. She's devastated.”

  “Sky thinks I'm in the Persian Confederacy, we need to keep it that way for now. I can trust Kara to keep the visit to herself.”

  “Is everything all right at the office. You look tired.”

  “Things will work out, I'm sure,” she said stiffly. “ I just really want to see Kara.”

  “We miss you, Emily. All of us.”

  “I miss you, too.”

  They hugged and with a wave, Eloise walked out.

  Sky looked at her mother wide-eyed. “Can I talk now?”

  “Go ahead.'

  “What the hell was that conversation?”

  “Plausible deniability. Now if Eloise is questioned, she can say, yes, she did see me. I told her I was taking a personal day and that I would not see Sky but might visit Kara. Eloise hinted I looked tired, perhaps there was trouble at work.”

  “She can pass a lie detector test,” Hugo's dad added. “Since she will not be lying that the conversation took place.”

  She looked from her mother to Hugo and his father. “Who are you people?”

  The Viscount's cell phone buzzed. Looking at the screen, he held up one hand. “Give me a moment while I take this.” He walked out into the hall, speaking quietly.

  Sky's mother remained where she was. “Do you hate me, Sky? For lying to you?”

  Jumping off the couch, she went to her mother and hugged her fiercely. “I love you, mom. How could that change? I already knew you worked for the government. Just not quite how much. You're a patriot. I'm proud of that. I wish you didn't have to go away all the time. And what's with the lies about Persia? You couldn't say you were in New York or D.C.?”

  “Cover stories were not of my making.”

  “What's weird is thinking Dad was some kind of secret agent.” That, thought Sky to herself, was an understatement.

  Sky's mom worked her fingers through the tangles in Sky's ponytail. “Do you remember a lot about him?”

  “Kind of.” Then she shook her head. “No. That's a lie. Not much, actually. A couple of Christmases and birthdays that are sort of mixed together. Watching Disney movies with him and Kara. I have a really vivid picture in my head of him watering the flowers in the backyard and smoking a cigar. Is that strange?”

  “No. He loved gardening. And cigars. He'd like that you remembered that about him.”

  “You guys used to fight, Kara told me. She said she'd take me upstairs or into the backyard when that happened. Did he really die in the PharmCon riots?”

  “Yes, just not as a lawyer.”

  “Did you love him? I mean...” she nodded towards Hugo's father. He'd been watching them both and looked quickly away. “You know.”

  “I cared for him very much and I never regretted our marriage because I wouldn't have wanted any other children than my two girls.”

  Sky made a doubting face. “Really, Mom? Even Kara?”

  They exchanged conspiratorial smiles.

  “Even Kara. I'll get her back to us, Sky. But, God forgive me, I can't do it without help from you.”

  Sky stiffened and pulled away. “Mom, I'm not sure about this. There must be someone official who can help us. Everything I've learned in tactical training since I was a little kid was to prevent crimes, not abet them.”

  Her mom gave a deep sigh. “I know, I know. For one thing, I believe Quill is too smart for any of us. And I was not exaggerating when I said this conspiracy went high up. We could all just disapp
ear.” She snapped her fingers. “As quickly as that.”

  “Emily,” Hugo's dad motioned for her mother to join him. “I need to clear up a few things about tomorrow. Could I...” he let the sentence trail.

  Her mom nodded and with a last gentle tug at Sky's hair, went to join him.

  Sky had a few things to clear up herself. She walked over to stand by Hugo at the big picture window. “Quill said he came to the forest to kill me. So he certainly knew I was there. I think you lied when you said you didn't know who I was in the ER when we first met. You knew exactly who I was. You must have.”

  He thrust his hands in his pockets and looked down at the floor, hesitating before he spoke. “I...I didn't know what to say. It made it sound like I was stalking you.”

  “Did you know your brother wanted to kill me?

  “Yes,” he met her eyes then, unblinking. “He declared his intentions to do just that. Said he wanted to kill your mother and sister. I thought that's why he'd come. He didn't really care about the mission. That was my mother's duty.”

  Hugo's words sent an icy chill up and down her spine. “Why would he want to hurt us?”

  “Payback for what was done to him. He blamed your mother for the vaccine. The generic vaccine formula that gave rise to ABRs.”

  “That doesn't make any sense. My mom worked in the lab as mathematician and in pattern recognition. Or so you say.”

  “God, I didn't think a family that keeps more secrets than mine existed.” He took his hands out of his pockets, reached out to take her arms and turn her to face him squarely. “Because she's the one who leaked the formula when she was released from lockdown at the lab. On orders from your government. They wanted Britain, China, Japan, and the rest to make variants of the vaccine. See what would happen. My father says they did not know the enhancements and blood plagues would follow. I don't believe him.” He dropped his hold and looked again at the floor, his face almost anguished. “Both our families have blood on their hands, Sky. No, not just on their hands. Their drowning in it and taking us down with them.”

  Sky felt herself go pale at his words. “You really think my mom is capable of something like that? My mother and your father?”

  “Scientists can be cruel and clinical beings. Aided and abetted by the government, well,” he gave a mirthless laugh. “That's how you get atomic bombs and fun things like that. And your family is not without a bit of clinical detachment.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?'

  “I've said too much,” his voice became flat, emotionless.

  She shoved him. “Don't play that game, Hugo. Everything you say is something you want me to hear. Even I have figured that much out about you.”

  “Do you really want to know?”

  She made a face at him. “Just tell me. You know you want to.”

  “Fine. Your sweet and lively pet psychic Aunt Eloise is a top interrogator for the Power Company. There's a bunker at the plant, a place Company people take suspects for interrogation. Underground so no one can hear the screams. Admittedly, most of them are not nice people and deserve to be on the receiving end of a bit of pain and suffering. She helps them suffer accordingly.”

  To Sky's great surprise, she slapped him as hard as she could. She hadn't really planned on doing that. It just happened. “You shut up! Just shut up. You don't know what you're talking about,” she raised her hand as though to hit him again.

  He didn't try to defend himself. He stood there, staring at her. “I do, actually. Ms. Murphy, could you come here for a moment?” he called over his shoulder. “Or should I call you Emily? I feel we know each other so well already.”

  Her mother and Philip St. James both stopped talking to stare at them. They must have heard the slap. The Viscount started to take a step forward. Taking his arm, her mom held him back, shaking her head.

  “Your daughter thinks her aunt is a good person. You and I both know she has another side.”

  Her mother's face hardened. “We all have another side. One we prefer to keep hidden from those we love. Your father, Eloise, and I have lived through horrifying times and been forced to do terrible things.”

  “Ah, you mean like leaking the vaccine to agents of the British government when you got out of lockdown? Those sorts of terrible things?”

  Emily Murphy gasped. “Hugo, no.”

  He waved one hand in the air. “Too late for that. She knows.”

  “She knows nothing!” Philip shouted at his son, coming into the room. “Nor do you.”

  Hugo's hands balled into fists as the Viscount closed the space between them. Sky's mom moved quickly, inserting herself bodily between father and son, arms wide to keep them apart. When she spoke, though, it was to Sky. “We thought we were doing good, I swear.”

  Hugo snorted in derision.

  She kept her eyes on Sky. “We were told the government wanted to keep the formula secret to ensure America's power. The people who approached us, people we trusted, said they disagreed. Hundreds of millions of lives were at stake. Five of us were able to smuggle out the information over the next six months.”

  “And you believed them?”

  “I was twenty-five years old, Hugo. A mathematical genius with little real world experience before they locked me up in the labs. Yes, I believed them.”

  “And do you still believe them, Mom?”

  Looking squarely into Sky's eyes, she said, “No, I do not.”

  For Sky, the room was quickly filling with the peppery smell of anger mixed with the cinnamon and sour sweat scent of strong emotion. There was something else as well. Flat and heavy, like drying mud. Looking carefully at her mother's face, she realized that must be the smell of despair.

  “I have connected far too many disparate dots over the past few years and realized the picture they make...” Without finishing her sentence, Emily Murphy abruptly left, walking across the living room and entry hall and out the front door.

  Sky didn't know you could feel your heart actually break. How naïve she was, because you could. Really feel it. The stabbing pain as her heart ripped made her gasp. Everything Hugo had told her over the past few days was true.

  After only a moment's hesitation, Philip followed, striding out and slamming the door. Sky saw the two of them through the window on the porch. He put his arms around her and Sky's mom didn't resist.

  Hugo took a step closer.

  Sky held out both hands. “Get away from me Hugo St. James. Don't you dare touch me.”

  He stopped, both hands outstretched. “Sky, please.”

  “Sky, please what?” she groaned. “What else can your family possibly have to say or do to me? You and your brother's plots and counter-plots have wrecked us. Maybe forever.”

  “I'm leaving. After the Coronation.”

  She actually hadn't expected him to say that.

  “What?”

  “I'm dying.” He gave a rueful grin. “The plague is in my system. Still dormant but only a matter of time. A month, maybe two if I'm lucky. I was hoping to make it until Christmas, now, though.”

  “But a full blood transfusion...”

  “Is not going to help,” he finished her sentence. “Not once the virus is in the circulatory system. I'm sorry, I've been a real ass this past week. Trying to come to terms with the mission, the threats to you, to Europe, to all of us. I found out that night in the hospital. The first night we met. I just,” he shrugged. “I know I should never have taken that first step. Never have made contact. I think though, all this would have happened anyway. It's too big for me, Sky.”

  Rickey had said the same thing. She made a move, almost reached out to touch him before she stopped herself.

  He stayed where he was. “My mother and I...well, neither of us have had an easy life. There's not much time left and I want,” he hesitated. “I want to spend some time with her. Before...you know. Away from Quill, away from all of them. I'm not asking you to break the law. Just get me on Base.”

&
nbsp; “And if I help you get your mother, you'll help my sister?”

  “No, I'm not saying that. God no. I will help your sister no matter what. This is not blackmail. I'm just...” He threw his hands in the air, his voice anguished. “I don't know what I am. I don't know who I am anymore.”

  And he grabbed her, pulling her close in a grip she couldn't fight.

  He was so much stronger than her. He kissed her. Hard. Crushing her to him until she couldn't breath. And then he was gone, running out of the room, leaving Sky standing there alone, her heart in pieces.

  Chapter 20

  Blood Donors

  The Halloween Ball was the highlight of the autumn season. An inter-service masquerade party that anyone in the Home Guard or on active duty in Tactical could attend. The base operated with a skeleton crew on masquerade night since everyone who could get out of duty, would. Traditionally, Juniors and Seniors had the night off.

  The whole squad had been planning their costumes for months. Dates were allowed as long as you registered their I.D. and got a pass for the front gate and a ticket for inside.

  She picked up Hugo at his house, refusing to make eye contact. He tried to speak with her once. She shook her head and he stopped. After that, they drove in silence.

  Following her mother's orders, Sky had her duffel bag of gear including her uniform, just in case. They were easy to explain away when the metal detector at the gate picked up a reading as Sky being a bit over zealous in her interpretation of always having to carry her equipment. Hugo insisted on slinging the heavy bag over his shoulder and walking to the locker room with her.

  Sky was hoping she wouldn't need it. Hoping other, stronger, smarter, older people had a plan for tonight that would rescue Kara.

  Slamming the locker door, Hugo excused himself. Saying he would meet her inside later.

  She felt only relief. Hugo was not someone she wanted to be with right now. There were too many secrets between them. Life and death, his and hers and everyone she loved, were realities that were reaching out to choke her.

  The party was held in the ballroom next to the commissary. She walked towards the entrance trying to keep her balance, not only because her heels kept catching in the rough and pitted tarmac. Her head and heart were a whirling dust devil of conflicting emotions. Excited and horrified all at the same time. Sky had been dreaming of going to the Ball since she was twelve and started training. It was a turning point for Redneck girls and boys. An unofficial coming-out party, the transition from kids to young men and women. For the first time, Juniors were expected to mix socially with officers and soldiers, not just a bunch of other teenagers trying to be grown-up at a school get-together.