Sierra viewed the world unrealistically, he thought. Or at least hadn’t thought through exactly how long their trek was likely to take. With travel time, they’d be lucky if they made it back by Christmas, assuming they could negotiate the passes in the heavy snow the area regularly saw.
Lucas snuck a look at Sierra out of the corner of his eye, taking in her bronzed skin and earnest expression, and banished the doubt nagging in his gut.
Too late to back out now. He was knee deep in the swamp, and the only way out was following through on his promise to her.
For better or worse.
Chapter 13
Houston, Texas
Snake accompanied his retinue to the university hospital entrance, where Whitely and his entourage from Lubbock had organized a test of the newly developed Crew vaccine on a group sequestered in an isolation chamber. They strode down the dark halls to the stairwell that led to the basement, where Whitely greeted them with a troubled expression.
“Well?” Snake demanded.
“As you know, we exposed twenty test subjects to the virus yesterday after giving them the vaccine last week. Two of them experienced mild side effects after the shot, but that was expected in at least some cases.”
“What side effects?”
“Chills, fever, muscle soreness, somnolence.”
Snake didn’t understand the last term, but shrugged it off as though it didn’t matter. He wasn’t a medical expert, having never made it past ninth grade and having stopped paying attention since sixth, but he didn’t need to be – he was the head of the most powerful group in the region.
“So what’s the result? Cut to the chase,” Snake snapped.
“You can have a look yourself.”
Whitely led him to a window, where twenty men and women were locked in a large room. Fifteen of them were huddled on one side of the room, and five were on cots as far from the rest as they could be placed. Snake’s eyes narrowed as he took in the five, who were soaked in bodily fluids and laboring for breath.
He pointed at a woman who wasn’t moving. Her face was cyanotic, and her hands had curled into claws. “She’s dead.”
Whitely nodded. “The other four will be soon enough.”
“Seventy-five percent success isn’t a success.”
Whitely didn’t budge. “I know.”
“You’ve been directing this show for almost, how long, a year? And this is what you have to show for it?”
“Over a year. But I’m not a scientist. I’m in charge of security and of making sure the staff has whatever it needs. Magnus never intended me to direct the medical side of the project. I’m an engineer, not a doctor or a microbiologist.”
“Who’s heading up this effort?”
“Gabriel Kovaks. He replaced the traitor Magnus executed before…before he left.”
“I want to see him.”
“He’s in Lubbock. He couldn’t come. He’s still working on the vaccine, trying to figure out what’s gone wrong.”
Snake’s eyes narrowed to slits, and the tattoos on his face writhed like snakes. “Smart man. If he was here, I’d have him executed.”
Whitely didn’t respond for a long moment. “The problem is we don’t have anyone more qualified, so if you do, the project’s over.”
“Project? You mean the string of failures is over, don’t you? What has been accomplished, exactly, other than wasting a ton of time and resources?” Snake blurted.
“Magnus was told–”
Snake took a step closer to Whitely. “Magnus is dead. I’m in charge. You have something to say, you say it to me.”
Whitely swallowed and took a deep breath before continuing. “He was told that with this virus and our capabilities, there was no guarantee of success. That it was a long shot. Nothing about that has changed. The researchers are doing the best they can, but it may be impossible to develop a vaccine with a higher efficacy rate than what we’ve got now.”
“He believed that the Shangri-La team would create one that worked, and that would screw us. Why was his belief wrong?”
Whitely’s tone hardened. “We have no way of knowing whether that’s true or not. Until theirs surfaces – no, make that if it ever does – it’s conjecture, not fact. They’d have to know something we don’t to make a better vaccine.”
“They have the girl. The Apaches told us that much.”
“Which may or may not matter. We’re still not sure why she was of such importance. Jacob – the scientist who Magnus executed – never explained her relevance satisfactorily. She’s a question mark.”
Snake spat on the concrete floor. “This is a failure. I don’t need to watch the rest die to know that. Nobody in their right mind would use this vaccine, with a one in four chance of dying.”
Whitely shook his head. “Not necessarily. If the odds are a hundred percent of dying without it…”
Snake turned away. The meeting was over. “It’s not good enough. We both know that. Don’t piss me off trying to blow smoke, or you’ll never make it back to Lubbock.”
Whitely waited until Snake and his guards had left before he resumed breathing. When the Crew leader had vacated the building, he moved to the technicians in the room adjacent to the experiment chamber and broke the news.
“Snake isn’t happy. Let’s watch them for another twenty-four hours to see if more get sick. Then shut it down and burn the bodies.”
“What about the survivors?” a young tech asked.
“There won’t be any. Nobody can leave that room alive. Poison their water tomorrow and then dispose of them. We can’t afford any leaks on the result of the experiments.”
The tech blanched but nodded, as did his companions. They understood what they’d signed up for – most against their will, but that was immaterial. They knew the job would involve distasteful outcomes. It went with the territory of live experimentation.
The test subjects had all been taken from the civilian population of Houston at random. They’d been singled out as troublemakers by Crew informants, and it had been as good a way as any to silence opposition. Whether in a public execution or a secret lab, they were all dead anyway – it was simply a question of timing.
This way, their passing would at least serve a useful purpose.
Whitely eyed the techs and then grunted. “I’m heading back to Lubbock to break the news. Marshall, you’re in charge of cleaning this mess up. And I remind everyone – one word about this to anyone and the penalty will be swift and final. So keep your thoughts to yourselves.”
Whitely didn’t wait for a response and spun on his heel toward the door. The technicians weren’t important, and he suspected there was a better than fifty percent chance that he would never see them again. Snake had seemed dangerously unstable beneath his veneer of relative calm, even more so than the last times he’d encountered the man, and Whitely had seen the telltale signs of chronic meth use in his eyes and the sallow color of his skin, as well as the barely controlled tics and unconscious fidgeting and scratching. He could easily decide that the team needed to be taught a lesson, and Whitely wanted to be well away from Houston if Snake lashed out.
Whitely had survived Magnus, who was a hothead and unpredictably violent; but compared to Snake, the former leader had been the essence of patience and reason. Snake was obviously on a collision course with disaster if he kept on the road he was on, and Whitely wanted no part of the inevitable flameout that would be the reward for his addictions.
So Whitely would return to Lubbock without announcing his departure, and deal with any consequences from afar.
Chapter 14
Clouds gathered overhead as Lucas led Tango and Nugget on foot through the early morning fog to Ruby’s house, where Sierra was standing outside hugging Eve close as the little girl struggled to put a brave face on her distress at seeing the two people she was closest to in the world ride away. She looked up at the sound of the horses approaching and broke away from Sierra, surprising Lucas when she
threw her arms around his waist and sobbed.
He stopped midstride, unsure of how to react, and then Eve stepped away and fixed him with her piercing blue eyes.
“Promise me you’ll come back,” she said with precision beyond her years. “Both of you. Promise.”
“Don’t worry, Eve. We’ll be back,” he said.
“Then promise,” she pressed.
He glanced at Sierra, who nodded once, her eyebrows raised. He turned back to Eve and tried a smile.
She wasn’t buying it.
He sighed and knelt in front of her. “I promise.”
Eve pointed to Sierra. “And promise you’ll keep her safe.”
“You drive a hard bargain. You been getting lessons from Duke?”
“Promise,” she insisted.
“Okay. I promise I’ll keep Sierra safe and that we’ll come back. And I’ll do the same for Tango and Nugget. Throw them in for no extra charge. Satisfied?”
Eve visibly relaxed. “Okay.”
“Behave yourself with Ruby, you hear? I don’t want any reports of misbehavior,” he warned.
“I’m always good,” Eve said.
“I suppose you are. But I had to say it.”
Ruby emerged from her front door and seemed to float toward them through the fog. “I thought I heard a ruckus out here. Why, look at how pretty you are this morning, Eve! I swear you get bigger every day. And thank you for bringing Ellie.”
Sierra gave Ruby a kiss on the cheek in farewell. “Take good care of her,” she whispered to the older woman.
“I intend to spoil her relentlessly. You won’t recognize her when you get back.”
“Thanks, Ruby,” Lucas said, handing Sierra Nugget’s reins.
Ruby looked him up and down. “It’s time?”
“That it is.”
“Good luck.”
“Appreciate it.”
“Don’t worry about her. Terry and I will see that she gets three squares and proper beatings.”
Eve’s eyes widened, and Ruby smiled. “I’m kidding.”
The others were waiting by the conference center. Their saddlebags had already been packed with the vaccine, which was secured in polystyrene containers Elliot had filched from a Chinese restaurant in town to insulate the contents from drastic temperature variations. Arnold nodded a curt greeting to them, and Colt grunted a monosyllable. George and John filled out their group; both were already astride their horses, obviously anxious to hit the road.
Elliot emerged from the building and greeted them. “Good morning, lady and gentleman.”
“Morning,” Lucas allowed. Sierra nodded.
“I’ve already briefed the others, so they can fill you in on the trail.”
“There’ll be more than enough time.”
“Short version is you’re confirmed to rendezvous at a compound ten miles outside of Tulsa, where my associate Reynolds has a facility ready for vaccine production. Lower tech than we are, but the method of duplication is relatively straightforward now that we’ve got it right.”
“We just drop it off, and that’s it?” Sierra asked.
Elliot nodded. “That’s correct. They’ll take it from there.”
“And then we’re free to go?” Lucas asked, more a statement than a question.
“Yes. Do whatever you need to do.” Lucas had told Elliot that he’d be continuing south with Sierra once they’d fulfilled their obligation, and Elliot hadn’t raised any objection. “May God go with you all.”
Lucas climbed into the saddle after giving Sierra a leg up, and Arnold and Colt took the lead, the fog shrouding them so that they disappeared from view barely twenty yards along the road out of town.
Michael exited the building and walked to where Elliot stood staring at the blanket of white. “That the last group?” the younger man asked.
“Yes. Arnold and company.”
“Then it’s all in motion. Congratulations. Years in the making and finally coming to fruition.”
“At a steep price,” Elliot reminded him.
“True, but one that had to be paid for the country to survive. You were absolutely right when you said that if we’re ever going to rebuild, we need to take the lead in solving the big problems so people stop acting like savages.”
Elliot managed a faint smile. “That was a long time ago. You have a better memory than I.”
“You also said that it’s not what you accomplish that defines you, it’s what you’re willing to try to do – the difference you attempt to make in the lives of those around you. Yes, I remember that speech well. Some things stay with you.”
Elliot nodded. “We’ve built a strong community, but it’s underpopulated now. That’s the next problem we need to address. Too many of our best didn’t make it, and we need more like-minded folks.”
“True. We could go into Santa Fe again and try to recruit.”
The older man shook his head. “Too dangerous. When the Crew comes looking for us, that’s one of the first stops they’ll make. No, I have something else in mind. Something subtler.”
“Such as?”
“I’m thinking that we may be able to coerce Duke into coming out of his recent retirement and starting up a trading post a reasonable distance away, at a crossroads that sees some traffic – but not too much. He can act as a qualifying filter for us and direct promising candidates our way.”
“Anyplace specific in mind?”
“I believe Alamosa’s a couple of days’ ride.”
Michael frowned. “More like three.”
Elliot shrugged. “Details.”
“Duke’s set for life. Why would he go back to trading?”
“To help. Boredom. Because he likes the challenge. All or none of those. We won’t know until we ask, will we?”
“When would you be thinking of establishing this outpost?”
“Soon, actually. Most certainly before the weather gets bad. He won’t see much traffic anywhere around there once the snow comes to stay.”
Michael nodded slowly. “It could work. But it would take a long time to get our numbers back up. That’s not a main artery.”
“We’re not after speed. We’re after quality.”
“And the Crew?”
Elliot looked away. “They’ll do whatever they do. We’re largely out of the equation now, I’d think, as long as we stay out of their way. The vaccine’s been deployed, so we won that battle.”
“Not until it’s in widespread distribution,” Michael reminded him.
“Which it will be soon enough.” Elliot paused. “Assuming all goes well.”
“What was it you were so fond of saying? Hope for the best but prepare for the worst?”
That drew a smile from the older man. “Hoisted with my own petard, eh? Going to use my words against me?”
Michael matched the smile. “You had a valid point.”
“Well, it’s too late for second-guessing now, isn’t it? The teams are on the road, and what’s done is done. So we’ll take what we have and make a stew. Hopefully it will get us through the winter, and by spring everything will be clearer. Arnold’s defenses seem thorough, so as long as we maintain discipline, we should be fine. And soon the weather will be our ally – nobody will be traveling secondary roads in blizzard conditions.”
As if to underscore Elliot’s statement, a low rumble of thunder shook the ground and the sky darkened.
“Looks like it’ll start pouring shortly,” Michael said.
“Then back in we go. We can continue our discussion under cover. No point catching our death.”
Chapter 15
Snake looked up from his meal with tired eyes. The head of his Houston security team entered the dining room, which was empty save for Snake, his guards ensuring that he wasn’t disturbed. Snake scowled at the man and forked another chunk of ham into his mouth.
“What is it?” he demanded.
“There’s a ship entering the harbor. Looks like a naval vessel.”
The man nodded. “It showed up twenty minutes ago. Got the call on my two-way just now from the outpost by the port.”
“But…how?” Snake blurted, his hands twitching as he tried to process the impossible news. There was no Navy any longer. No ships. No way of powering them or of manning a crew. The security head might as well have announced that extraterrestrials had landed in the main plaza and demanded to be shown to the Earth’s leader.
“I don’t know. It’s looking like it’s going to dock.”
“And there’s no sign of who it is?”
The man shook his head. “No.” He paused. “What do you want to do?”
“Get gunmen down there now. Heavily armed. The more the better.” Snake cocked his head. “Alert my guards that we’re going to the port.”
The security head nodded. “Will do. When?”
“Five minutes. I want to see this for myself.”
The security chief left, and Snake paced for a few minutes before returning to the table and staring at his half-eaten meal. What did the appearance of a functioning naval ship mean? Obviously that whoever was operating it had access to fuel, which was surprising in and of itself – Magnus had been convinced that all the diesel had gone bad by now and had heard of no working refineries. But the presence of a vessel was proof that, like the assumption that it would be child’s play to overthrow Shangri-La, Magnus had been more than mistaken.
More ominous was that Snake’s tenuous hold on power might be in jeopardy. If the military was operational again and was beginning to restore order in the country…
He cursed under his breath and then stopped the panic that threatened to overtake him. He’d received no reports of the authorities reasserting themselves from the far reaches of his empire, which he certainly would have if there were a regional move to regain control. So this was probably something else. The first step in taking Houston back?
“Over my dead body,” Snake growled. He hadn’t connived and killed to get to the top of the heap only to have his power stripped from him, boat or no boat. If that was their plan, they’d find it harder to do than they’d ever imagined.
The Day After Never Bundle (First 4 novels) Page 79
