by Lara Nance
“Douse your jets, Dope.” Min led him to one of the pods and knocked on the shell three times then two.
The curved door slid open and Ria sat in the reclining seat, her eyes bright and expectant.
“Linc!” She launched into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting a kiss on his cheek. “You’re okay.”
“Yes.” He nearly went limp from relief, nuzzling his face against the curve of her neck. Strength slowly returned to his body knowing she was safe. “How about you?”
She released him and stared in his eyes, regret shining in hers. “I’m so sorry. I wish I’d figured this out before now. I had to have missed signs of his deterioration.”
“It’s okay. He’s a consummate liar. I didn’t pick up on his devious plan, either.”
“But your brother… How devastating for you to hear that. I wish I could have stopped it.” She cupped his cheek with one hand, her eyes green pools of sympathy.
“I can’t blame you for that. I was as duped as everyone else.”
“If you guys are finished with the mutual guilt-fest, I suggest we get out of here.” Min jerked a thumb toward the exit.
“Yeah. Right.” Although Linc liked the feel of Ria’s arms around his neck, he had to focus on escape.
Min opened the door to the stairway, and they headed up. “Most of the soldiers are on the first level where the security and computer stations are located. Manson is probably still in his lab.”
“How are we going to get past the first level if it’s occupied?” Linc asked.
“We’re not going to go through the first level. I hacked into the blueprints and found a second emergency exit on Level Three where the kitchen and dining facilities are located. It opens on a tunnel that leads to the surface about a half mile from here.”
Linc’s heart thudded against the walls of his chest. “But once outside, we’ll face cannibals.”
“Which brings us back to our original problem, the virus.” Ria paused on the stairs, facing them. “We still have to do something about it.”
“Is there any way we could take over the lab from Manson and work on a solution that doesn’t require killing our embryo?” Linc rested a hand on the rail. A moral compulsion urged him to continue the quest to save the world from this disaster.
Minlo shook his head. “There are only three of us. They have the weapons. This place is made to withstand uprisings and invasion. In the first floor control room, they can seal off any floor. They’ll cut us off the minute they detect us.”
“There’s no way you can go into their system and disable some of their defenses?” Ria asked.
“Nope. This is a first-rate crypt, built to anticipate attacks and shut them down fast. They have at least three backup systems.”
Linc rubbed the back of his neck. “So we try to escape and what? Go to Omaha? I have to tell you, I’m against giving them a cure they plan to withhold from the South.”
“If we share it with the European and Asian countries, the South will eventually have access to it. It seems pointless to withhold it,” Ria said.
“The lag gives the parasite time to cause more devastation in the South, even if it’s a day or two,” Linc said bitterly. “What a bunch of assholes.”
“I agree,” Ria said. “But if we go south, we don’t have the data that’s in the lab in Omaha. We’d lose time recreating it.”
“Just find the cure,” Min said. “I’ll make sure everyone has access. Anything to foil the plans of those fucks that killed Lola.”
Linc hesitated, playing different scenarios in his head. Finally, he nodded. “We go north.”
***
At Level Five, Ria’s thighs burned from climbing, and sweat dripped from her face. She wished they could take a chance to collect their bags from the apartment, but it was too big a risk. Any minute, Manson would discover they’d escaped and the silo would go into lockdown. They had to reach the third level before then.
Every time the whizzing sound of the lift passed them, she jumped and her heart raced. She imagined each pass took Manson to the infirmary. Anger twisted with fear when she thought about the famous parasitologist. She’d nearly worshiped the man, postponing her career to serve as his assistant. The faith she’d placed in him crashed around her in agonizing shattered shards when he’d admitted creating that virus.
When an alarm went off and a red light flashed in the stairwell, she missed a step and nearly fell. She sucked in a breath.
“Hurry,” Linc said.
Pushing her aching legs, she ran as fast as her depleted energy would allow. She used the handrail to help, pulling on it with her waning strength. Linc and Min panted as they passed Level Four. The snap of a door closing brought them to an abrupt halt. She leaned over, hands on knees, breathing hard. Listening.
Linc motioned them forward after a few seconds passed with no sound.
One more flight and they reached the door with a large black three painted on it.
“This is it,” Min whispered. “If the door isn’t locked, we still have a chance.”
She wrapped one arm around her stomach to brace her heaving chest. “No point waiting.”
“Here goes.” Linc pressed the lighted pad beside the door and it slid open.
She clapped a hand over her mouth in surprise and relief. It opened.
They hurried into a dining area. Linen covered tables and fancy, upholstered chairs filled the majority of the room. A lovely polished mahogany and brass bar stretched along one side, well stocked with liquor bottles. Sparkling crystal glasses dripped from an overhead rack.
“The kitchen is through those doors.” Min pointed. “The passage is in there behind a standing frozen storage unit.”
“Only, it’s been blocked due to the threat of outside infiltrators,” a gravely voice said behind them. “You know, the cannibals?”
Ria muffled a shriek and spun. She hadn’t even heard the lift open.
Damn it. Manson and four soldiers pointed blasters at them. The big man’s eyes shone glassy and fevered, his face haggard.
“I’m so disappointed in you, Annaria,” he said. “I counted on you to help me stop this disaster. Isn’t that what you always did? Assist the great Dr. Manson? You ran away when I needed you most.”
“Why? Why?” She raised her arms, shaking her hands. “You selfish, inhumane savage. You think I would help you after you devised this whole debacle? The great Dr. Louis Manson, direct descendant of Patrick Manson the father of parasitic discovery? You think the world owes you a Nobel Prize? We don’t owe you anything. I looked up to you. You were my mentor. I hate you!”
Linc caught her as her legs gave out, and she sobbed. Her whole life seemed like a facade, a lie. Every minute she’d spent with Louis Manson was a waste. “I…hate…you.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Ria.” Manson tucked his chin, staring down at her with an inscrutable expression. “I thought of you as a daughter, someone to be proud of in your accomplishments. I watched you develop into a fine researcher. That’s why I made you part of the virus. It’s my tribute to you. Don’t you understand?”
“I understand you’re completely mad,” she shouted. “You egotistical murderer.”
“Hey,” Linc said to the soldiers. “Did he tell you what he did? He started the virus that caused this cannibalism outbreak. You have to stop him.”
The two men and two women stood firm. One of the women said. “He says he can find a cure. Our orders are to make sure that a cure is found and we have orders to assist Dr. Manson. I’m afraid you’ll have to do as he says.”
“No!” Ria pulled from Linc and lunged for her former mentor, her hands curled into claws. An intense burning sensation entered her side, and she fell to the floor on her hands and knees, her body jerking. Then she passed out.
***
When she woke, she lay in the sterile white-walled room of her worst nightmare. Webbed restraints held her arms and legs immobile. Her side ached
where a stun blaster beam had hit her. She winced as she twisted her torso. Her head hurt on the left. She worked her jaw to ease it, but it didn’t help.
The door slid open, and Dr. Manson entered wearing a light blue sterile jumpsuit.
“Don’t worry, Ria. This won’t hurt. I can insert the collection tube using a nano-scanner. With local anesthesia, the most you’ll experience is some cramping. Very slight discomfort.”
He pulled on gloves and lowered a sterile field lamp. When he lowered the wide silver hood and turned it on, a warm brightness infused her.
“A few more straps to keep you stationary.” He pulled more webbing over her torso and her head then lowered the sheeting over her bottom half to expose her lower abdomen.
She whimpered. This was happening. He would stick that probe in her, take an egg from her ovary, and make it part of his monstrous plan. The head web sealed her mouth, making speech impossible. Her helplessness against this invasion caused tears to leak from the corners of her eyes. He was taking a precious part of her very core! He moved the clear scanner plate over her and lowered it until it rested just above the bare skin of her pelvis.
“Mm, mm, mm.” She tried shaking her head, but it couldn’t move in the restraint. No! Her inner scream left her empty and raw.
A pinch and a sting initiated the local anesthesia. The scanner whirred and clicked, and Manson placed a mask over his face then leaned over her. He held the small probe positioned like a stylus in his big paw. She silently begged him to look at her. If he could see the anguish in her, maybe he would stop. But he didn’t.
A moment later, he finished. He retracted the probe, moved the scanner, and placed an adhesive pad over the small hole in her belly. He never allowed his gaze to meet hers, never said another word. After lifting the sterile field canopy, he stared at the probe in his hand for a moment then left the room.
She squeezed her eyes shut, letting warm tears trail down her temples and into her hair. If he’d raped her, she wouldn’t feel any less lost and invaded. He’d take what he wanted from Linc, too. Now he would create his blasphemous key to solve the scourge he’d created. Fuck him. She gritted her teeth. Fuck him.
Chapter Twenty-Four
A soldier came to remove the webbing from Linc. As much as he wanted to jump up and throttle the man, he remained limp, trying to process the disaster of Dr. Louis Manson. How could he have sunk so low?
“You can get dressed,” the soldier said, holding his blaster ready. “I’m instructed to take you and Miss Moralez to the lowest level so we can close off that section and lock you in.”
His anger had burned out when Manson left the room with his sample probe, a gleam of anticipation in his eyes. The scientist had remained silent throughout the procedure extracting Linc’s sperm. It was done. He couldn’t stop him. Defeat left him deflated. No doubt when the plan succeeded and he no longer needed their DNA, Manson would have them killed. He certainly wouldn’t want the world to know his role in the creation of the doomsday virus.
A trickle of energy moved into his arms and legs, so he swung off the table and retrieved his clothes. The guard waited, giving him no privacy.
“I can’t believe you’re going to let that mad man go free,” he couldn’t help saying, riled that the North’s soldiers had facilitated Manson’s vile plan.
“We’re following orders. The priority is securing the cure,” the man said after a moment, but his expression wavered.
Linc shook his head. The Triumvirate gave Manson free rein as long as he promised a cure? Who knew what they would do once he delivered it? Surely these soldiers would report the man’s dire deeds. Unless Manson planned to kill all of them to protect his secret. The master of parasites might unleash another pet to wipe out the last of the witnesses to his gruesome crime.
He led the way to the lift with the guard behind him. For a couple of seconds, he considered attacking and trying to steal the weapon. The guy could fire before he made a move, though. He liked to hope he still had a way out of this mess, but he was quickly losing optimism.
The lift arrived at the lowest level and its door slid open. Bright light blasted him along with a wave of calypso music, and he threw up a hand to shade his eyes. Did he dream? The sound of waves crashing against a surf and the calls of seagulls met his ears. What the hell? When his eyesight adjusted, the scene of a tropical beach stretched before him.
A panorama mural of a sandy seascape extended to open ocean on the far wall of the round room. In front of it, a pool of clear blue water formed a crescent with a hot tub in the center. Cushioned lounge chairs on fake grass fanned away from the pool. A few colorful beach umbrellas and tables interspersed the loungers.
A figure wrapped in a peach colored robe raised her head from one of the chairs where she curled in a fetal position.
Annaria.
Her expressionless face appeared pale, and her eyes looked huge, accentuated by purple circles under them. She made no move to greet him, just placed her head on the chaise’s pillow.
“Dr. Manson ordered you to stay here for now. You won’t be able to leave this floor.” The guard seemed about to say something else but clamped his lips together and left.
“Hey, you’re alive.” Minlo’s dark head popped up from another chair. He wore sunglasses and had removed his shirt. The white skin of his thin chest was nearly as blinding as the light meant to replicate the sun.
Linc took a few steps further into the room and winced. A stitch of pain caught him when he moved a certain way. A reminder of Manson’s invasion of his body.
“Ria, are you okay?” He went to her chair.
“I don’t know what I am, anymore,” she said in a small voice, not looking at him.
“At least those assholes didn’t put us in the jail cell with the cannibal fucks,” Min said. “I heard one of the guards suggest it. The creepy doctor said he had other plans for you, so they stuck us down here where they can close off the stairway and the lift without affecting other floors.”
The young man left his chair and came to stand beside Linc who detected the scent of coconut oil. Bottles of suntan lotion sat on a counter at one side of the room beside a kitchenette, and a replica tiki bar replete with a dried palm frond canopy.
Min went to sit on the end of a lounge chair beside Ria. “I offered to make her a margarita. There’s a full bar with all the mixers.”
“Did you investigate possible escape routes?” Linc asked.
“Yeah, and you can forget it. We’re sixteen levels below the surface here. The only way in and out is the stairwell or the lift.”
Ria uncurled from her tucked position and pushed back in the chair. She let out a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest as she glanced up at Linc. “Did Manson, you know, take your…”
He nodded and sat on the end of her chaise.
“I feel so invaded,” she said, rubbing her abdomen. “It seems like a small thing until you think about part of your body being removed and used against your will. I mean, it didn’t really hurt much, and it was over in minutes, but an egg is like a tiny me. You know? I would have killed him if I could have gotten my hands on him.”
“I understand completely,” he said. “I feel the same way. The worst part is, it left me feeling defeated. There’s nothing I can do to fight against this. The soldiers seem to think any means to an end. No matter what horrible things Manson does, nothing is as important as stopping the cannibal plague.”
“I hate him, but maybe they’re right.” She sighed. “It has to be stopped. There’s no denying that. If we donate and egg and sperm, is it so bad? Maybe I’m overreacting.”
“I think it’s bad. There has to be another way. Once he joins them and an embryo forms, it’s a life. When he takes a section to extract the DNA, it will no longer be vital. It’s murder as much as if he pulled out a blaster and shot one of us.”
She frowned but didn’t reply.
How could she ponder the morals of this action? It
was clear-cut murder. Of course, the lofty Northerner’s didn’t have the same opinion about abortion as the South. He had to remember that.
“Sooo, I’m gonna have that margarita now,” Min said, hurrying away.
“I’m sorry, Linc. It is horrible no matter how you look at it.” She sighed.
“Look, as much as this left me defeated, I still think we have to consider ways out of here.” He brushed a strand of curly black hair from her cheek. A rush of affection for her swept over him, warming his heart. He’d come to admire and respect her during their trials. Through it all, she’d kept going, determined to risk her life for the sake of humanity. A part of him wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her, although he didn’t know how she’d react to such a move.
A spark of interest lit her eyes. “Do you really think there’s hope we can survive this? I have a strong feeling he’s going to kill us when he has his great cure.”
“I’m not going to give up until my heart stops,” he said, strength of determination returning. “Unless this beach is set up as a gas chamber, they’ll have to come for us at some point. We have to think about that and take steps to turn that to our advantage.”
“You mean attack them?”
“If needed. Whatever it takes.”
She bit her bottom lip, staring at her hands in her lap for a while. Then she said, “You’re right. We can’t give up. What should we do?”
He stood and scanned the circular area. “Look for items we can use as weapons and have them ready. Then we can talk about a plan of attack.”
She left the lounger, a little pink returning to her cheeks. “I’ll get dressed. I didn’t have the energy when they first brought me here.”
She picked up a lump of clothing from a chair and headed to a small bathroom off the side of the kitchenette. A weight lifted from him at her acceptance of his suggestion. If she gave up, it would leave him hopeless. That would suck the life from him.
Min wandered over, a glass of green liquid in one hand. He sipped on a straw shaped like a pink flamingo. “This margarita is mondo!”
