The two men skulked out like chastened hyenas, staring and scowling back over their shoulders at Christina.
'Owen!' screamed Woolf.
The slim athletic young man came running in and stood next to his boss. 'Yes, sir.'
'Get Christina ready to be moved. Don't tell her anything either. Is that clear?'
Owen went over to her bunk and collected her bottle of water and a towel. He pulled a small knife out of his pocket and slipping it under the rope that bound her elbows, with a few quick cuts, released the rope.
'Thank you, Owen,' she said, the pain in her shoulders subsiding.
'Come on, Christina,' Owen said and walked out of the room. ‘Be on your best behaviour. No good will come from you fighting them.’
She followed him out of the room and across the warehouse, past the three boats. Several armed guards were standing at the main door, talking to Woolf. Outside five trucks were parked, and Owen slipped a hand through her elbow.
'You get to go in the first one, Christina.'
'Where is Stuart? Is he okay? I haven't seen him since that witch drugged him.'
'Trust me, he is fine and already on one of the other trucks. I looked in on him a few times last night.'
'Thank you so much, Owen, you are nothing like the other men here.'
The young man grinned, his eyes lighting up.
A few minutes later, Christina was back in the truck. It was awkward sitting on the soft mattress with her hands bound behind her back. Owen had been so kind, and she felt her bottom lip start to tremble. Tears formed in her eyes, and she dropped her chin to her chest to hide her emotion.
'We are here, Christina,' Owen said.
'Where? We have barely left the warehouse.'
The back of the truck swung open with a metal clunk, and Owen helped her get to her feet and climb down onto a large open concrete area. She looked to her left for Stuart, only to see the distant hills and big grey cranes that surrounded the quayside. Owen spun her to her right and started walking her forward. Her mouth dropped open as she looked along the length of the ship. The name, Queen of Sheba, was painted in white on the black hull.
'Where are you taking me, Owen? Please tell me.'
'I can't, Christina. He would shoot me right here if I do that. I have seen him do it before.'
'Please tell me that Stuart is coming with me.'
Owen nodded and grabbed her arm and pushed her forward onto the narrow metal gangway. 'Walk up to the top and then to the right. Only once you are on board am I allowed to go and get Stuart.'
Christina smiled at him and moved up the gangway towards the small opening in the hull of the ship, as looking over her shoulder she scanned the row of five grey fusion trucks for her son. The one that she had arrived in started to move off and a second one pulled up. More men in khaki jumped out and started shouting at a group of people that climbed down.
'Hey, hurry up, will you. We cannot load up the others until you are safely tucked away,' a man in green army fatigues shouted from the doorway. She walked forward and ducked her head to walk through the door. A tall, brute of a man grabbed her arm and quickly walked her along a narrow white corridor. He knocked on one of the doors and waited. Another man in fatigues opened and spoke with an American accent.
'Welcome, Lady Muck. It's time for you to go home.'
'Where is this ship headed?' she asked, ducking through another small doorway.'
'Back to Boston.'
• • •
The ringing on the other end of the line droned on and on. Lord Butler gritted his loose teeth then squeezed the end-call button as if he was trying to end its life. He dialled the number for the third time.
'Hello, Kharon,' the voice said.
'Where the hell have you been? I have been trying to contact you for the last twenty-four hours.'
'There was a small complication…'
'Don't tell me you have cocked this up, John. I've paid you a shitload of money to execute this critical part of the plan.'
'Kharon, can I finish?'
Lord Butler's eyes widened as the darkness thumped inside his head. I told you to get Woolf to do it, you idiot.
He took a deep breath, squeezing the corner of his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. 'What is it, John?
'The message was successfully delivered to the target, and I silenced the loose end as you instructed. This Gibbs character managed to chase me halfway across London and nearly intercepted me twice.'
'I told you that he was as tenacious as a nuclear cockroach.'
'Nevertheless, we both had an accident, in which I nearly died. I was captured by a group of NEG troops, who seemed to be helping Gibbs. They dragged me to an army unit in Richmond Park. While I was being transported, I saw Gibbs been carried in on a stretcher.'
'Is he alive?' Lord Butler asked.
'Yes, sir. He is.'
'That is a relief,' Lord Butler said. 'How did you get out of there?'
'I am getting to that. I was interrogated by some men who seemed to be friends of Gibbs. They beat me about a bit and made all the usual threats. It was an old Russian bloke and a young kid. One of your informants at the camp managed to break me out under cover of darkness.'
'Wait! A Russian? What Russian?'
'A junior officer at the Richmond base who works for my friend said he is a friend of Gibbs. Dark hair with bits of grey in it. A chain smoker.’
Lord Butler smiled. 'So Kirilenko has arrived in London. I knew that he would try to help Christina, but I had no idea that he was so fond of Gibbs that he would come out of his NEG fortress in Hamburg.'
'They also had a visit from Tyson Scott, who I am told is Tom Scott's brother, and now the newly appointed Warlord of London.’
'Shit, that could be a minor problem. I am sure that he will want revenge for Tom's death.'
'Word on the street is that a tall blond German handled the warlord's death,' John said. ‘Tyson will find out sooner or later who that is.’
'Keep your ears to the ground, John. I don't want them getting close to the Kharon project by linking his death to us.'
'Yes, sir.'
'Where is Gibbs now?'
'Back at Carshalton House, sir. There hasn't been much movement there at all, although our mutual contact on the American side said that the NAG are supplying a strike team to help Gibbs with arms and ammunition.'
'All according to plan then. Gibbs is on his way here. I want you to keep an eye on them and also keep me informed of Kirilenko's movements. I would love to get that cancer-stick-loving bastard here too. I could wipe them off the face of the earth, all in one go.'
'How will you get him to the US? There are a lot of things happening here that the NEG have to worry about.'
'Andrei is a cagey bastard, but I think I may have a way to get him here too. Without much of a change to the master plan.'
• • •
Lord Butler felt light on his feet with happiness as he opened the door to the lab complex and was hit with a belt of warm air. Taking his coat off as he walked, he could feel that the darkness was satisfied with the way things were going. Years of yearning for revenge would soon be a distant memory. Years of demanding that he be patient with all the planning would soon be behind him. He opened the door to his new office and walked over to the desk. Sitting behind a laptop, he switched it on and stared at the bootup screen. Alex Brun had done a decent job to get him settled in, with a small desk and a printer next to the laptop. He had also connected the laptop to the Internet via some small red stick that was shoved into the side of the computer.
Against the side wall was an army cot, with white pillows and sheets, folded in with a dark green blanket. The throbbing pain from his stump sometimes caused chronic migraines that even the darkness couldn't handle, as formidable as it was. A few hours of sleep were always welcome. A small table with a basin of water, along with some bottled water, was placed in the corner to the right of the door.
Lord Butl
er typed in a web address to access his company webmail. He scanned down the list of unopened mail. Most were from wealthy men and women who were asking about the cure for their precious families. One email caught his attention and he opened it. Clicking on the two attachments, he smiled at the distraught face of Christina Anderson, and the tear-stained face of her son. Hitting the print button, he sat back and revelled in the satisfaction of it all. How Gibbs must be worrying about his precious wife and child. It would be killing him to be so helpless and unable to do anything. He would jump at any of the breadcrumbs of information that would be left for him along the way, and that would mean his downfall.
Picking up the photos, Lord Butler strode out of his office and down the corridors to the main laboratory control room. Walking in, he was faced with the backs of Pehr and Ruth Anderson, who both turned quickly at the intrusion.
'Ah, it is only you,' Pehr said.
'Cheer up, Pehr. I have some good news for you and Ruth.'
'I hope it is that that you will finally allow us to treat poor Alex.'
'Is he still on the antivirals?'
'Yes, but at best they will only stabilise him for six weeks or so. He is aware we have a cure here in these laboratories, a cure that you will not give him. It must be torture,' Ruth said.
'Don't fret about dear Alex. He has tortured hundreds of innocent people in his past, so will be able to endure some in return. On the topic of a little torture, I think that you two might find these interesting.'
Lord Butler handed them the two photos. Ruth Anderson let out a squeal as she lifted her hand to her mouth in shock. Pehr sat in silence, staring at the images. He raised his eyes to meet a smiling Lord Butler.
'Yes, Pehr. That is your grandson there, alongside the woman who betrayed me and was responsible for my arm,' he said, raising the bandaged stump.
'What have you done to them?' Ruth asked.
'They have been infected with the Kharon virus, which one of my small Minnesota labs has been cultivating.’
Ruth started to cry. 'You hideous little man.'
'As we speak, it is rampaging through their young bodies.'
'My God, Francis,' Pehr said. 'You have become a monster.'
Lord Butler walked over to the desk and pulled out the third chair and sat down. Ruth Anderson stood up and moved to stand behind her husband's chair, tears streaming down her face.
'Things are going to have to change dramatically. I believe that despite all the precautions, I may have been infected by Kharon on the ship over here. You yourselves will now have been exposed to Alex or me.'
Pehr looked up at Ruth, then back at Lord Butler. 'And that means that most of the workers and citizens of this town have been infected.'
'Very good, professor, but you already knew that. Now, what are we going to do to fix this unfortunate situation?' Lord Butler said as he sat back, a big grin on his face. 'No, let me rephrase that. What are you prepared to do to save all of these people?'
Chapter 19
Churchill, Manitoba, Canada - 2033
Pehr Anderson sat in the laboratory control room and rubbed his face with his hands. His good-looking Nordic features irritated Lord Butler, who sat across from him. Gritting his dentures, he leant in the chair, Christina looked so much like her father. The darkness stirred, and he rubbed his trigger finger and his thumb. 'Well, folks, what is it going to be?'
'We have no choice but to comply with your demands, now do we?' Pehr said.
'A wise summation of your situation.'
'Just go ahead and tell us what you bloody want from us. The less time we have to spend looking at you, the better.'
'No need to get personal, professor. All three of us are vital characters in this little saga.'
'I doubt that,' Pehr said.
'It is quite simple really. Go and get some of the vaccine I told you to make for all of my employees and inject all three of us. We will, after all, make the very best of guinea pigs.'
Pehr looked across at his wife before easing up out of his chair and walking out of the room. Ruth looked back at Lord Butler, tears in her eyes.
'Now, now, Ruth. If you behave and make sure that we are all cured, then things will all go to plan,' he said to her. 'Young Stuart is growing up quickly, isn't he? Although it’s a pity he resembles his damn father. Oh wait, you haven't met either of the Gibbs men, have you?'
'You are a bastard, Francis. You were such a decent man back when we met all those years ago.'
'And then I met your daughter, and she destroyed my life.'
The door opened, and Pehr walked through with a small tray of vaccination bottles and a few plastic packages. He placed them down on the main desk, looking down at the Styx Enterprises labels on all the syringes.
'We are all going to make a lot of money, folks. Now let's do this so we can move onto the next phase,' Lord Butler said.
Pehr ripped open the three packages and removed the syringes. Attaching the needles, he grabbed three small bottles and placed them on the desk.
'Roll up your sleeve,' he said to Lord Butler.
'After you, Pehr. Then do Ruth next if you don’t mind.'
'You don’t trust many people, do you,' Pehr said.
'I trusted Alex once, but he betrayed me, so no.'
Pehr pierced the rubber top of the bottle with the needle and lifted the bottle upwards, extracting a green liquid. Removing his white coat, he unbuttoned his shirt, pulling the open collar down to expose his shoulder. Ruth slipped the sharp needle into his flesh and pushed on the plunger, giving the spot a small rub with her finger. Pehr looked into her eyes and smiled as he picked up the vial and syringe. Methodically he drew the liquid out and injected her shoulder with it. The clinking sound of a belt buckle loosening made him look at Lord Butler, who had pushed his black pants down to reveal the top of his white buttocks.
‘Now, Pehr, before you vent all your anger and try to inflict me with undue pain. I must remind you of the fragile lives I hold in my power.’
Pehr injected him, and then threw the syringe down on the desk. It bounced off the table and skidded off the top onto the floor.
'How often will we need testing?' Lord Butler asked.
'We will take blood every day for a week to make sure, but it works. I will stake Christina and Stuart's life on it.’
'I am glad you mentioned them, Pehr,' Lord Butler said and reached into his jacket to pull out a folded envelope. ‘This is a legal document where you sign over all development, production and distribution rights for the Kharon serum to Styx Enterprises. In it, you and Ruth will get one percent of all revenue from all subsequent sales and trades.’
'Don't be ridiculous, Francis. This should all be for free. It should be given to the masses of people who are going to die because of your actions. Why would we want any of the blood money you are offering?'
'Fair enough, I'll just leave the clause in. I do not care either way. Now, both of you just sign the bloody document.'
Ruth stepped forward and grabbed the document. 'What if we refuse to sign?'
'I lied when I said that we had infected both Christina and Stuart. In fact, Christina is still Kharon-free, and I intend to keep it that way for the time being. She is separated from Stuart at the moment, so if you refuse to sign, I will instruct my men to remove Stuart from the ship the minute they land, and none of you will see him again. You can then explain to your daughter why you let them take her son away.'
Ruth looked up at Lord Butler, and just shook her head.
'Yes, yes. You hate me. Stuart is still infected so just sign so we can move along,' Lord Butler said.
'Will you call and make sure that Christina is not infected?' Pehr asked.
'Of course, Pehr. It will only take a quick phone call to arrange all that. Although a lot will depend on her now, as she seems to be causing my men a little trouble. What a feisty woman she is proving to be. My men are only leaving her alone at my command.'
• • •
Pehr looked back at Lord Butler. ‘You are working this man too hard. He barely rests or eats anymore. He will die of the virus unless you let him rest for a few weeks, or at least give him the damn cure.'
Lord Butler looked at the man in the green fatigues. 'You have been shadowing Alex for the past few months, have you not?
'Yes, sir.'
'Take him to the airstrip and make sure the pilot flies both of you out of here and then get him back to my residence. Is that clear? Get my nurse to give him the drugs that I have locked away in the house. She knows where they are. It will make your last days on this planet a little more comfortable.'
Alex came around and struggled to get up. Pehr and the soldier helped him up. He looked at Lord Butler. 'Come on, Francis, let me have the vaccine so I can continue to serve you.'
Lord Butler looked at his ex-lover and sneered. 'No, Alex. I will never forgive you for allowing Gibbs to kill my beautiful David. You just left him to die alone on that cold concrete floor. Where was the mercy for David then? No, you will die like he did, in agony.'
Lord Butler looked across to the two scientists. 'See, Pehr, this is what happens to people who betray me.'
Alex grimaced and nodded his head.
'You can rest and spend your final days at my house,' Lord Butler said. 'Now, take him to the airstrip.'
Outside, it was snowing heavily. White snow flurries drifted across the icy road outside the lab as they turned left and walked to six waiting trucks. A tall major in a large green fur-lined parka walked up to him and saluted.
Kharon Page 12
