“Please,” she said. “Try?”
“I’ll try.” Uncle Jay pushed through the bushes, and Anders followed, keeping an eye on Ivy.
She didn’t move to follow them, but as she bit into her peach, she stared Anders down, the suspicious look back in her eyes.
Anders hurried after his uncle, splashing across the creek with him. “Holy shit. You think that could have really happened?”
“I need to get a message to Haven.” Jay’s words rushed out as he quickened his pace, glancing back every few minutes to make sure the girl wasn’t trying to follow them.
They made it back to their vehicles in half the time it had taken them to get to the waypoint.
“When we pull through my gate,” his uncle said, ripping off his mask and breathing hard, “you go right into the house and wait for me, understand?”
Anders peeled off his own sweat-soaked mask and wiped at his face. “Let me come with you… I can help you send a message.”
“Patience, Anders. Remember your promise. You shouldn’t have said anything to Ivy.” His blue eyes were creased with worry. “I need to focus. I have to contact the next safe house… and get something to Haven. Then we have other things to discuss.”
Anders had never seen his uncle so worried… ever. It made his chest go tight. “Do you think this… root rot or whatever it is, is actually a threat to us… outside the quarantine zone?”
“Wait for me in the house.” His uncle opened the car door as Anders put on his helmet.
He was already pulling away when Anders realized he still had the gun holstered to his waist. He quickly removed it and put it in his backpack before strapping it on. Then he hopped on his bike to follow his uncle back to the homestead.
On the way, he had his first thought for his dad. He doubted he knew what was really going on in the quarantine zone. Or would ever know that Uncle Jay and Anders had helped people who had shot a Pandemic Control officer.
Right now, Anders and Uncle Jay probably knew more than any citizen outside the quarantine zone. Another boost of adrenaline rushed through him, and he sped up on his bike to boost the thrill of it all.
Working against the Coalition like this—breaking their laws—it was addictive. It’s what made Anders feel alive. The Coalition would crumble someday, and Anders would celebrate when it died.
But he’d sure as hell miss this thrill.
It was already late afternoon when Katherine swallowed a tablet of grimp and stepped onto the veranda with an umbrella, ready to get to the lab and back as quickly as possible. Izzy was already outside, waiting for her, surrounded by a security detail.
Katherine ignored her daughter and strode past her to Captain Wells, who waited at the top of the stairs.
The man looked very good today. She flashed him a small smile, and his lips turned up slightly in response.
“Afternoon, ma’am.”
She inclined her head and started walking, which set the rest of the security detail into motion behind her.
They headed down the flagstone path toward the hover pad, the rain misting Katherine’s umbrella. She flexed her arm, and the pain in her elbow worsened slightly. It always intensified when it rained. Beside her, Izzy slipped on the slick flagstones and pouted, huddling deeper under her own umbrella.
Useless. Can’t even walk without falling. Katherine picked up her pace, keeping her head high. It was a skill, walking in heels in the rain, and like all her skills, she had achieved it through practice and a desire to achieve mastery.
The cool, crisp air rejuvenated her, and the scent of rain and pine cleansed her, erasing her fatigue and lending her new energy after a trying morning managing the world.
Captain Wells gestured back at the other soldiers, and they fell behind with Izzy, giving Carson and Katherine some space and privacy.
“Any updates on the quarantine zone?” Katherine asked.
“Nothing yet, ma’am. Everything is going smoothly. Most of the infected have been relocated and are awaiting medication, except in the latest area. They’re still sweeping it. No sign of the runners yet. It’s possible they’re hiding inside the zone, but we’re sweeping through all neighboring counties. Headquarters did get a hit on a Protected girl, though. Telmont, Georgia, just outside the zone.”
“Interesting. Undocumented? We need to ensure there aren’t more.”
“She has an implant. No GPS on it. We couldn’t activate it remotely.”
Katherine’s brows shot up. “Who is she, then?”
“It’s a rural station. They don’t have the equipment to scan implants. Headquarters intends to send a team out to retrieve her and ensure there are no other Protecteds in the area.”
“Good,” Katherine said, turning the information over in her mind. Most of the Protecteds were contained at this point… The only free Protecteds, mostly children of well-connected families, had gotten secret exemptions, approved by Katherine personally. It had been a long time since they’d found any with implants. That meant the girl’s parents had taken an illegal treatment… or she was part of Infinitek’s original long-term study. There were only a handful of those unaccounted for. If that were the case, she would have to be the daughter of a lower-level Coalition employee.
The terrorists who had hacked into their system almost a year ago had deleted an enormous amount of the original data and multiple back-ups. Including thousands of patient files, which had created a data nightmare for Dr. Dalton.
Katherine internally shrugged, glad she’d swallowed her grimp before walking outside. She felt nothing but calm flowing through her at these normally irritating thoughts.
Soon they reached the landing pad and the Infinitek hover that was being prepped for flight. The other half of her security detail was finishing up their sweep for mechanical sabotage and hidden explosives.
Katherine gazed at the Infinity symbol on the hover’s side panel and the slogan beneath it. For a Better World.
Yes. The reason for everything.
This morning they were visiting one of the best-guarded research facilities in the world—a place almost no one knew existed—yet it provided far more in the way of progress and profit than anyone could guess. In only eight years, Infinitek had completely taken over the pharmaceutical industry and had destroyed their competition. No other corporation was capable of approaching the marvels coming out of that facility. And no other corporation could claim they’d made the world better than Infinitek already had.
Katherine’s lips curved into a small smile as she handed her umbrella off to one of the soldiers. Captain Wells stepped up into the hover and offered her a hand.
As she took his hand and made eye contact with him, heat stirred within her at the look in his gray eyes, the feel of his warm grasp.
Katherine settled into her seat and admired the way Carson’s uniform fit him as he helped Izzy up.
Izzy sent him a shy smile, and Katherine didn’t miss the smile he gave her back. Or the millisecond his eyes landed on her exposed cleavage. Izzy lingered there, her hand in his, giggling as she thanked him.
Interesting.
Izzy strapped in across from Katherine, and the captain walked to the front of the hover, past where the rest of the security detail was taking their seats.
He opened the door to the cockpit and said something to the pilot and co-pilot. The privacy glass emerged from the floor, rising to create a barrier between the roomy section where Katherine and Izzy sat and the area where the soldiers were strapped in. It was lightly tinted on their side but would look opaque from the other side.
Katherine scanned Izzy’s attire from across the space, her white coat, silver-hued low-cut top, and too-tight navy blue pants. A little flicker of irritation made it past Katherine’s calm, and she ground her teeth.
Izzy looked at Katherine. Then her eyes darted around the interior. “We’re safe. They did a sweep.”
Katherine’s throat tighten
ed, but she relaxed her features and offered Izzy a smile. “Yes, I’m aware. You don’t need to be afraid.”
“I’m not…” Izzy looked forward at Carson as he took his seat just on the other side of the soundproof glass. The color in her freckled cheeks heightened. “I know they won’t let anything happen to us.”
“Oh, honey,” Katherine said, her voice light. “He’s far too old for you. Besides, he doesn’t know you’re unwell. If he ever found out…”
Izzy went pale again. “I don’t—I wasn’t even thinking about him like that.” She pulled at her jacket’s sleeve, concealing the scabs marring her wrist, where Katherine had grabbed it the night before.
“Your time will come,” Katherine said, leaning over to pat Izzy’s knee kindly. “Don’t worry. Someday you’ll find a man who will love you as much as I do.”
Izzy blinked and pressed herself deeper into the seat as the hover started up and lifted off the ground.
Katherine looked out the windows as they rose into the sky and the Raines’ property grew smaller beneath them. After a minute, they’d left it behind and were heading toward Seattle.
“Has…” Izzy cleared her throat. “Has Dr. Dalton made any progress on the cure Dr. Phan was working on for me?”
“As soon as the quarantine is lifted, I’ll ensure he puts every resource back into the RGI Project.”
“Can we trust him like we trusted Dr. Phan?”
Katherine shook her head. “Our family’s dirty laundry is not his business, or anyone else’s business. Besides, the fewer people who know, the better. We certainly can’t risk Infinitek management getting wind of this and questioning your ability to lead, now can we?”
Izzy looked out the window, her eyes glittering as they approached downtown Seattle. The rain had ceased for the moment, and a few rays of sun streamed from the gray skies, hitting the Infinitek building. It seemed to sparkle from the middle of the city, a clear center of power.
“I’m sorry about last night… at dinner,” Izzy said in a near-whisper, pulling at her sleeve again. “It seemed important for one of us to go to the awards show. Even though you got Calliope6 to pull the footage of the… incident… people still talk. They wonder. I thought it would be good for us to prove to everyone that it didn’t affect us.”
“There’s nothing to prove,” Katherine snapped. “It was one mentally unstable man. His execution should have been enough to reassure the public that we can’t be intimidated and that the Coalition won’t tolerate terrorism now any more than we have in the past.”
Izzy looked away. “I understand. And I know we don’t have time to waste at PR events. I’m sorry, Mom.” Her voice was a near whisper again, full of remorse.
Katherine adjusted the jacket over her dress, smoothing the gray wool. “You shouldn’t make me so upset.”
“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
Katherine sighed. “It has been a long time since we appeared at a public event. What, three years since the press got their first snapshot of you?”
“Six,” Izzy said softly. “The charity event right after I turned eighteen.”
Katherine studied her daughter’s face, her mood lightening further at the defeat she saw there. She had no patience for the kind of behavior Izzy had displayed last night, but she’d seen the error of her ways and apologized.
Katherine’s rules were solely for her daughter’s benefit… but a good leader could also be benevolent, and Izzy needed to learn that, too.
“If you really want to go, you can go,” Katherine said, “but only with a full security detail.”
“But… really?”
Carson shifted in his seat on the other side of the privacy glass as he spoke to one of the men beside him. Katherine tilted her head, admiring the outline of his strong features.
“Really, Mom? I can go?” Izzy repeated, hesitant.
Katherine waved a dismissive hand. “As you said, we should have a representative. I’ll let my stylist know you need a gown.”
The hover was making good time, and they were already past the city, flying over thick forests, following the winding road that led north, to the Protected District.
The self-sustaining district had been modeled, in part, on Infinitek’s space colony fleet plans, and it functioned beautifully, with almost no outside supplies or intervention… except for the Infinitek guards that kept order.
The district had grown a lot in the eight years since its inception. Rectangular housing and facilities dotted the ground in long, even rows for miles, built of concrete and metal. Bright lights dotted the outer edges, where new construction was going up to accommodate the tens of thousands of Protecteds who had been moved here when Katherine had made the decision to close the smaller New York district for good.
Infinitek had invested an enormous amount in the original construction of the camp and its facilities, but it was nothing compared to the revenue the Protecteds had unknowingly generated for her since then.
The Protected Project was the most lucrative research Infinitek had ever funded. They’d had to officially end their research when the “Defective” problem came to light, but the research and revenue generated from the Protecteds hadn’t ended there. Katherine had simply moved it underground. Literally.
Once the hover passed beyond the far wall of the district, they crossed into restricted airspace—private woodland owned by the Raines family.
It took ten more minutes to reach the small clearing in the dense forest, and a series of lights lit up briefly to guide the hover down.
Katherine gripped the armrests of her seat as the hover landed.
Another security detail, men wearing Infinitek troop uniforms, emerged from the woods to escort them to the lab. There wouldn’t be terrorists out here, but her soldiers were well-trained and followed protocol everywhere. As soon as Katherine and Izzy stepped off the hover, they surrounded them in a tight formation to escort them to the lab’s secret entrance.
Katherine’s heels sank slightly into the damp earth as they entered the forest, following a narrow dirt path. A cold drop of water from the earlier rain fell through the thick forest canopy and landed on her cheek.
She wiped it away and took a deep breath. Perhaps she’d spend a few weeks in the smaller, more rustic home her father had built a few miles from here, deep in the woods. The Raines family had spent many summers there, but she hadn’t been back in over eight years. Perhaps it was time for a change of pace.
Too soon, Katherine found herself at the lab’s entrance: reinforced steel doors surrounded by concrete, set into the side of a small artificial rise.
Izzy tensed beside Katherine as the team scanned themselves in and the doors unlocked, revealing a concrete stairwell that led straight down into the ground. Their footsteps echoed on the stairs as they descended, and one of the lights flickered oddly at the bottom, where the elevator was.
The team checked the elevator, despite the fact that they’d almost certainly swept it before she’d arrived.
When they’d cleared it, she stepped into the spacious interior and looked at herself in the mirrored doors, smoothing her hair back into its bun, steeling herself for her meeting. She was not leaving here without a guarantee that all requested medication shipments would be delivered to the quarantine zone by tomorrow morning. She’d had enough of this bothersome quarantine situation, and it needed to be over so she could move on to more pressing matters. Like teaching Calliope6 a lesson about attempting to move into Infinitek-owned industries. And gathering enough intel on the Eastern European Alliance to destroy them once and for all.
Katherine’s lips curved up at the edges as the elevator carried them down hundreds of feet—and into a different world.
The doors slid open, and Katherine blinked against the bright light. A stark white room with metal benches awaited them, along with a cluster of scientists in white lab coats.
The lead researcher stepped forward
with a slight limp and held out a hand. “Katherine.”
Katherine looked him over. The tall man was just past the age of retirement, and his recent experience had aged him considerably. But his watery eyes were still sharp and intelligent. Impressive, considering what he’d been through. But it didn’t matter. She would replace the obnoxious man the instant she found a candidate capable of taking over his position.
“Good morning, Dr. Dalton. We’re eager to see your progress.”
Katherine and Izzy followed Dr. Dalton deep into the secret facility, down half a dozen blindingly white corridors.
The old man’s limp was even more pronounced than before. A few assistants peeked out from doorways, gawking as Katherine passed but inclining their heads with respect when they caught her looking.
Excellent. They knew who they really worked for.
When they finally reached a pair of reinforced steel doors, Dalton turned to them. He looked like he was going to say something but began wheezing and coughing instead, leaning against the door for support.
Katherine narrowed her eyes, watching his weasely face turn red.
When he’d caught his breath, he stared rudely at Izzy and pointed at her. “Who is she, and why is she here?”
“Her name is Isabela, and she is my daughter. I brought her before, when Dr. Phan ran the facility, when you were in New York. She has full clearance to see this sector.”
Dalton stared Izzy down again, a calculating look in his eyes, a false smile on his face. “I apologize. I knew you had a daughter but didn’t imagine she’d be so… lovely.” The old man coughed again.
“Dr. Dalton,” Katherine said, just barely keeping herself from snapping at him, “you claimed you’d be fully recovered from the virus by now.”
“I said it could take twelve months to recover from the attack. It’s only been eleven.” He turned back to the wall panel, beginning the complicated process of verifying his clearance.
Izzy looked at Katherine with a veiled expression, and Katherine balled her hands into fists, frustrated with the slow progress they were making. She would find a replacement for this man.
Defective (Fractured Era Book 1) Page 24
