by Addison Gunn
“In case you forgot,” Gray said, sitting halfway down the table from Harris and looking perturbed, “you’ve already tried NAPA-33 and there was some question as to its effect on pregnant women and children. Not the mention the ethical question.”
“That data was inconclusive,” Barrett said, her fingertips cradling her head at the temples. She sat across from Gray, not making eye contact with anyone. “With no practical evidence of that, there’s no reason not to try.”
“The only reason the data was inconclusive,” Gray argued, “was because the Infected found out he’d used it on them without their permission and started a revolution. Let’s not make the same mistake twice.”
“I think it’s a bit late to try and prevent a revolution,” Lewis muttered.
Only Miller caught the comment. He grunted quietly by way of reply.
“The only mistake that was made,” Harris went on, “was when the Infected discovered the air traps before we could fully understand the effectiveness of the formula. Now that they’ve mutated and built an immunity to the anti-parasitics, we have no choice but to further the NAPA-33 treatment, taking advantage of the larger breed of wasps, procured by Dr. Davenport.” He gestured to the end of the table, indicating the woman on the far side.
She’d showered and pulled her hair back since Miller had last seen her, but she looked strung out, as if she was still staring down terror-jaws in the alleyways of Brooklyn.
Davenport nodded toward the older gentleman sitting beside her—the one she’d called Linus. “We’ve uncovered no major side-effects in women or children with use of the wasps in Boston,” Davenport said. “Although, yes, the data on NAPA-33 itself is inconclusive. But the means of transmission affects everyone the same. All the wasps do is interrupt the parasite’s genetic replication, which should slow spreading of the parasite.”
“And since the Infected are already under attack via the smaller breed of wasp, there’s nothing we’re doing to them that wouldn’t happen anyway,” Linus stated.
Gray spread his fingers across the conference room table, his fingertips glowing white. “It doesn’t negate the fact that we’re experimenting on a population of people…”
“That depends on your definition of the word ‘people,’” Harris said to him. “Besides which, as I said, the order has already been given. We’re not here to debate this. We’re here to inform you of what’s been done.”
“Have you already launched the wasps?” Gray asked.
“Preparations have been underway since Dr. Davenport’s arrival. The air drops will begin tonight at oh-nine-hundred.”
Gray’s voice deepened to a husky timbre, his brow furrowed. “The board didn’t vote on this.”
“There was no need to hold a vote,” Harris insisted, his calm exterior showing no sign of decay. “NAPA-33 was approved long ago.”
“By you.” With a burst of spite, Gray turned away from Harris toward Barrett. “Did you know about this?”
She lifted her head from her fingers. “No. But I would have voted for it even if it had come to the board. We have to do something, Gray. We can’t just sit here. The compound will not survive another direct assault like Stockman’s.”
“Speaking to that,” Harris butt in, “we have another matter to discuss…”
“Are we going to actually discuss it or are you just going to tell us?” Miller asked.
The room quieted and all eyes turned toward him.
“You’re here as a professional courtesy,” Harris snapped. His cool exterior was starting to crack.
Good. About time.
“Plans for Operation Atlas Lion,” Harris kept on, puffing out his chest like a deranged peacock, “are underway.”
Gray’s face had paled. “What the hell is Atlas Lion?”
“After consulting with leaders of the security squads…” Harris began.
“Really?” Miller interrupted. “Which ones? Because I wasn’t in that meeting.”
Harris ignored him outright. “…We’ve devised a plan to permanently prevent the Infected from overrunning the compound.”
“This should be good,” Lewis commented under his breath.
“Using pheromone attractants derived from a yeast extract procured by Dr. Winters and Dr. Davenport, which has been highly effective on the Infected in Boston, we plan to lure the Infected to Lawrence Point, two miles from here, where they will be exterminated using a nuclear weapon.”
For just a fraction of a second, the words hung in the air. Eyes widened or blinked rapidly, mouths fell agape. Then the room erupted into shouting.
“Are you out of your mind?” Lewis demanded.
Barrett: “What the hell are you talking about?”
Miller: “How the fuck did you get a nuclear bomb?”
“You crazy bastard, you’ll kill half the people in the compound with radiation poisoning!” Gray yelled.
“Don’t be an idiot,” Harris shouted back. “We’ve a line on a nuclear-equipped tactical surface-to-air missile from North Korea. It’s point-five kilotons. The fallout will be minimal.”
“Says who?” Lewis asked.
“Just what do you mean, you ‘have a line’ on a SAM? How did you plan on paying for it?” Gray burst.
“It’s already done. It’s on the way here.”
The room fell silent again.
For just a moment, all Miller could hear was the shuttered breathing of a panicked room.
Panicked, save one.
Harris stood at the end of the conference table, arms crossed. “There’s a shipping route between China, Europe, and the East Coast—the missile should arrive within the week.”
“On whose authority did you purchase a nuclear weapon?” Gray seethed. “On whose authority?”
“On my authority,” Harris snapped sharply, his façade of control finally breaking. “I am the only one willing to take the necessary steps to procure safety for this compound. While you sit on your ass building farms, I’m the one fixing this infestation. Me.”
“How is setting off a nuclear bomb two miles from the compound supposed to make it safer?” Miller asked.
Harris reeled on him with a vengeance. “It’s going to get a hell of a lot more done than running around like a pack of deluded ninjas, killing one Infected Charismatic at a time—for all the fuck that did.” Twisting on his heel, he let loose on Gray. “Farms, Gray? Really? As if cows and chickens are going to stop the Infected. We’re in the middle of a war. Drastic measures have to be taken, and somehow, I’m the only one with balls enough to take them.”
“You cannot and will not circumvent the authority of this board by making rogue decisions of this magnitude without our consent,” Gray seethed. “We will not authorize use of a nuclear weapon.” Pounding his fist on the table, his face coloured to a bright purple. “And if this Operation Atlas Lion is to ever take place, it will do so with the unanimous vote of this board—and nothing else. Until that happens, I am ordering Miller and the Cobalt team to commandeer the missile when it arrives from North Korea. Is that clear enough, Harris? Did that have enough balls for you?”
Harris pushed his shoulders back. “We cannot continue to occupy the same island with a mob of Infected militants without expecting more to arrive. We must make an example of the remains of Stockman’s men and remove any chances of them re-amassing.”
“With a goddamned nuke?” Gray shouted. “The fallout alone could wipe out the entire compound…” He gestured toward Dr. Davenport and Winters, who looked just as dumbfounded as the rest of them.
“Technically speaking,” Dr. Winters said, “if we’re looking at a point-five kiloton surface blast, the fallout radius would only be about a half-mile.”
“More than enough breathing room,” Dr. Davenport added, a hint of irony in her tone.
“The casualties would be in the thousands,” Miller said, standing from his chair. “Tens of thousands.”
“Not to mention any civilians who may still be holding
out in the blast radius,” Lewis said.
“The populous is minimal at this point. I’m willing to lose a couple hundred in collateral damage if it means saving the thousands inside this compound,” Harris said.
“This will not happen,” Gray insisted. “I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but you are not the one calling the shots around here.”
Harris’s expression hardened as his jaw set. For a moment, Miller expected him to dive across the conference table and smack Gray across the face. Instead, he inhaled sharply and said, “We’ll see about that.”
Harris stormed out of the room, his footsteps echoing down the hallway.
Miller let his breath out and unclenched his fists.
The remaining people in the room looked shell-shocked. The doctors excused themselves awkwardly, and Barrett slapped her phablet into the palm of her hand and stalked out.
Lewis, sensing the tension between Gray and Miller, patted Miller on the shoulder and limped out of the conference room with instructions for Miller to come to his office later.
Gray ran both hands through his hair and pulled his face tight. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
“If the warhead arrives within the week, we have only a few days to get ahead of this. We can contact the vessel, turn them back.”
“You think Harris is going to tell us how to get in touch with the ship?” Gray shook his head and scooped his phablet off the conference room table. “I should have listened to you.”
“When? I’ve been right more than once.”
Gray shook his head, his face gone slack. “You told me to keep a tighter leash on him. You knew he was going to pull something like this.”
“I never imagined this.”
Gray’s eyes locked on Miller’s and his mouth thinned to a fine line. “We should have left when we had the chance. I never should have let him build this fortress. Now he’s willing to blow up the rest of the city to save it.”
Miller nodded, the weight of his shoulders making him feel heavy. “And whether it would save anything is a whole other debate.”
Gray stood to leave the conference room, speaking over his shoulder as he walked away. “That crazy son of a bitch won’t be happy until we’re all dead.”
ABOUT THE
AUTHORS
Extinction Biome is the creation of jungle warrior, revolutionary, counter-revolutionary and outdoorsperson Addison Gunn. But who is Addison Gunn? Addison’s too damn busy to answer that. Instead Gunn’s wrangled some of the best new talents in the genre to pen this exciting new series...
After writing for children’s television, Anne Tibbets found her way to writing novels by following what she loves: books, strong female characters, twisted family dynamics, magic, sword fights, quick moving plots, and ferocious and cuddly animals. Anne divides her time between writing, her family, and two furry creatures that she secretly believes are plotting her assassination.
Malcolm Cross lives in London and enjoys the personal space and privacy that the city is known for. When not misdirecting tourists to nonexistent landmarks, Malcolm is likely to be writing. A member of the furry fandom, he won the 2012 Ursa Major Award for Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction.
While collecting a team of Schaefer-Yeager scientists from Infected territory, Alex discovers the Archaeans, a group of Infected with a degree more control over themselves, falling victim less slowly to the Archaeobiome. He also meets their leader: his ex-girlfriend, Samantha.
On returning to the compound, they learn that the nuclear warhead Harris had sent for had arrived in the East River, but the freighter was damaged, its crew lost or incapacitated. Gray sends Miller on OPERATION SEA MINK, a mission to retrieve the warhead before an increasingly paranoid and ambitious Harris gets to it...
Extinction Biome is a new military-SF series about a world overrun by an ancient ecology, awakened from a millennia-long dormancy to destroy the human race; and about the decisions we must make to try and survive.
www.abaddonbooks.com
New York City is a ruin, swarming with the Infected, with clouds of giant parasitic wasps, with the rampaging beasts of the Archaeobiome. Betrayed by Harris, trapped outside the Astoria Compound with dwindling supplies, Alex Miller and Cobalt are seemingly lost. But they have one thing: Harris’s warhead.
OPERATION ATLAS LION: a Hail Mary pass, a plan of last resort. Draw the hordes of the Infected together and immolate them in nuclear fire. It was an insane plan, but – with some adjustment, and with Samantha’s help – it may be the only chance for the last survivors of New York City.
Extinction Biome is a new military-SF series about a world overrun by an ancient ecology, awakened from a millennia-long dormancy to destroy the human race; and about the decisions we must make to try and survive.
www.abaddonbooks.com
