by Orton, D. L.
An odd feeling comes over me, but given all that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours, I’m not sure what to make of it. My emotions are a mess, I’m exhausted from the trek down the mountain, and I’m running on two hours of sleep. I brush off the uneasiness and settle back into the leather seat, staring out at the raindrops racing sideways across the tinted window.
We head down the pass, the heavy rain and drenched roads eerily silent inside the massive vehicle. I close my eyes and try to rest for the thirty minutes it’s going to take, hoping to get back to the cabin tonight.
∞
My upper body shifts as the car goes around a tight curve, and I open my eyes. I must have dozed off, and it takes me a minute to realize where we are—or rather, where we aren’t.
“Hey?” I say. “We passed the town. I need to find a doctor and get back to the cabin.” I try to keep the desperation out of my voice. “Tonight.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll be there soon, sir.”
I lean over the front seat, attempting to see what’s on the computer. “Where are you taking me?” There’s text on the display but no map.
The guy picks up a three-ring notebook and tosses it over onto the seat next to me. “Like I said, we work for the government, Mr. Nadales, and you have been selected to assist in a top secret project of grave importance to the American people.”
“Screw the American people. I’m a citizen of Costa Rica, and I need to get back to Isabel.” I shove the notebook onto the floor. “Stop the car. I’m getting out.” I reach over into the cargo area, drag my backpack onto the seat next to me, and then kick mud all over the back of Mr. Johnson’s pristine seat. “I said stop the goddamn car.”
The guys exchange looks. “We can’t do that, sir. You’re part of the project now, and our orders are to take you directly to the mountain. We have the authority to do it by force, if that’s what it takes.”
Johnson jingles a set of plastic handcuffs over his shoulder. “If you would read the first few pages of the report, you’ll understand why the mission is so critical.”
I yank on the door handle. “Let me out of the fucking car!”
“Calm down, Mr. Nadales, and then we’ll see what can be done to save your wife.”
“God, I wish she was my wife—you goons destroyed the world before I had a chance to marry her!”
The driver glances over at Johnson, and he nods. The young guy peers at me in the rear-view mirror, his pale skin making him look like a vampire. “In exchange for your full cooperation, we will request that a medical team be dispatched in the morning, sir. Antibiotics, IVs, painkillers, the works.”
I slam my hands down on the back of their seat. “She could die tonight, you assholes. I’m not going anywhere until I know she’s okay.” I lunge for my gun, but the guy slams his pistol into my face, and I fall back in a daze, blood trickling down from my nose.
He glances over his shoulder at me. “Sorry about that, but I did advise you to calm down. We’ve been searching for you for weeks, Nadales, and there’s no way we’re letting you out of the car tonight. Our orders are to get you inside the mountain, and that’s what we intend to do.”
“If I’m that goddamn important, then send a helicopter with antibiotics up to the cabin tonight. I’ll give you the GPS coordinates.” I wipe the blood off with my sleeve. “Save Isabel, and I’ll do whatever you want.”
The guy who calls himself Johnson types something into the computer. “I’d say the chances of that are negative zero, but I’ll put in your request.”
A few minutes later the console beeps and Johnson reads the response. “Holy shit, you must have some powerful friends in high places.” He turns so he can look me in the face. “You give me your word that if we get medical attention to her tonight, you’ll cooperate fully?”
“Yes. But if I find out you lied to me, I will hunt you down and flay you with a rusty penknife.”
“Yeah, get in line.”
The driver chuckles. “Like that’s any worse than what’s already coming down the pike.”
Chapter 17
Isabel: Out of the Blue
I’m awakened by a loud thumping noise, and it takes me a moment to realize that it’s not coming from inside my head. The windows are dark, but lights flash across the ceiling and walls of the bedroom. I lie there in a feverish stupor, the sheets sticking to me, and wonder why an alien spaceship would be hovering over the cabin.
Just as I close my eyes, I hear male voices in the hallway, and my heart beats a little stronger.
He’s back?
The bedroom door opens, and a bright light blinds me. “Are you Isabel Sanborn-Kirkland?”
I stare up into the dazzling brilliance. “Diego?”
“Don’t worry, ma’am. Your husband is waiting for you at the hospital. We have orders to transport you there immediately.” The light shifts, and I hear more footsteps. “Get an IV started and then give her five cc’s of clindamycin. When you’re done, move her to the Black Hawk and start oh-two. I’ll get the laptop and meet you there. Once we’re airborne, you can take vitals. I don’t want to be on the ground a minute more than required.”
“Yes, sir.” Someone with cold hands lifts my wrist. “Just relax, ma’am. We’re paramedics.”
There’s a poke in my arm, and the sound of tape being torn. A minute later, I’m lifted onto a gurney and rolled out the front door. I hear Mrs. Malloy’s relieved voice. “Thank goodness Diego got to you in time.”
Cold raindrops spatter against my face as the men jostle me toward the bright lights. I notice two small piles of stones casting long shadows over by the rock outcropping and wonder who did that, the aliens?
I’m lifted into the helicopter and the door slides shut.
“Get us out of here, lieutenant.” Someone puts an oxygen mask over my face and covers me with another blanket. The sound of gravity being beaten into submission blocks out the rest of the world, and I drift off into oblivion.
Sometime later—hours or perhaps days, I can’t say for sure which—I dream I’m back in the hotel fire, the smashed piano resting next to me on the hard atrium floor. In the back of my mind, I know that Diego will be here soon, and once he finds me, everything will be okay. So I force down my apprehensions and lie there in the dark, watching the flames leap closer.
“Isabel?”
I try to reply, but in the dream, I’m mute. My heart races.
What if he can’t find me?
And then I remember that I need to press the piano keys. If he hears them, he’ll know I’m alive. I try to reach out, but my arm is tangled up in something.
Diego! Don’t leave me!
“Isabel? Can you hear me?” I feel him lift my hand, and relief washes over me.
The dream fades…
“Hey, princess. How are you feeling?”
I open my eyes, trying to clear the cobwebs in my brain, and stare up into Dave’s smiling face.
“Welcome to the world of the living.”
I let out a startled cry, fully awake.
He laughs. “Nice to see you too.”
I lie there for a minute, trying to put all the pieces together, and then glance around the hospital room. “Where’s Diego?”
“How the hell should I know? He dumped you just like he did the last time—hung around long enough to get you pregnant and then high-tailed it out of the country, the bastard.”
I try to sit up, but my arm is tangled in the IV. “You tricked me!”
“No,” he says, “I just saved your ass. Maybe you could show a little appreciation.”
A pretty nurse walks in carrying a small tray. She nods at Dave and smiles at me. “Good evening, Mrs. Kirkland! How are you feeling?” She sets down the tray and holds out a small cup of pills and a glass of water. “Oh, you look so much better already.”
Dave takes the cups out of her hands. “My wife is still a bit disoriented, but I’ll see that she takes these before I leave.”
“I’m not his wife,” I say, “and I’m not taking any more drugs.”
The nurse raises her eyebrows.
“Thank you, lieutenant—” Dave glances at her badge. “Wilson. That will be all for now.”
“Yes, Mr. Kirkland. I’ll be back in twenty minutes to check on her, sir.” The nurse walks out, Dave’s eyes glued to her ass.
I round on him. “Why did she just call me Mrs. Kirkland, and why did you just say that I’m your wife? We’re divorced, Dave. Remember?”
“Will you give me a minute?” He sets the medicine down on the nightstand and runs his hands through his thinning hair. “Or shall I just get you a flamethrower?”
I roll my eyes and try to sit up.
“Here. Let me help.” He lifts up my shoulders and stuffs two pillows behind my back. “What the hell possessed you to go live in that shack in the woods, Isabel? You should have come here months ago—both of you. Bad shit is coming down, and I can’t protect you out there.” He fluffs the pillows and softens his tone. “Better?”
“Yes,” I say. “Thank you. Where are we?”
“In a military hospital on Powers Air Force base. You’ve been here for almost two weeks, but the doctor kept you sedated until your fever broke this afternoon. Between the blood loss, the deep gash on your thigh, and the sepsis, we weren’t sure you were going to make it.”
I untangle my IV and slide my hands under the covers. My breasts are tender to the touch, but my stomach is squishy and flat. The revelation bubbles up panic in my chest, and I can feel my heart pounding. “Where are the twins?”
He rubs the back of his neck.
“I was pregnant, Dave, with twins.” I force the words out. “Where are they? I want to see them.”
He meets my gaze, the self-assured look on his face wavering. “You had a miscarriage, Isabel. Before I could get to you.”
And then it all comes flooding back… the pain, the blood, the tiny lifeless fingers.
“Oh god, no.” I cover my face with my hands, the two piles of stones casing long shadows vivid in my memory now. “They died, and Diego buried them. I’ve… lost the babies.”
“Yes. I’m sorry. If you had come to me sooner, it could have turned out differently.” He strokes my face and hair. “I can’t believe that bastard abandoned you when you were pregnant and dying. If I could get my hands on him, I’d wring his useless neck.”
I push him away. “He didn’t abandon me, Dave, he went for help.”
“Yeah? Well, he waited too fucking long.” He holds my shoulders and looks into my face. “But you’re going to be fine now, princess. Just fine.”
“Thank you for sending the helicopter.” I pull away from him and lean back into the pillow. “I do appreciate all you’ve done for me, Dave, but I want to go home.”
“Take your meds, and we’ll talk in the morning.” He holds out the cup and pills.
“Why did you tell the nurse I’m your wife?” I ask, still not putting all the pieces together.
“I had to use all the resources at my disposal. Jet fuel is nearly impossible to get, and it’s dangerous to fly in remote areas.” He tucks the covers in around me. “So I exaggerated a little.”
“How did you know where to find me? And that I was dying?”
“Now, princess. Long story, and you don’t need to worry about that right now. The important thing is you’re safe.”
I force my brain to work. “Diego told you, didn’t he? He made it down the mountain and got help.”
It all makes sense now.
“You know, Isabel, I still love you. I’d be willing to call it all off if you’d stay here—”
“Don’t start, Dave. All we did was fight. Since the first time you tried to jump me.”
“Yeah, but the sex was always good.”
I let out a cynical laugh. “You don’t love me. You just want me in your harem.” I glance away. “I want to go home. Please.”
“If that’s what you want, I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you.” I look more carefully at him. “So what are you doing at an Air Force base?”
“Kirkland Enterprises is building a biodome here, and I’m supervising the project. We’ve been recruiting street kids with brains and good survival skills and then bringing the best of them here to train. You’d be perfect to head up the research lab, what with your biodome expertise and your medical background.”
I give him a disbelieving look. “With all the shit going down, you must be a very popular man.”
He taps me on the nose. “Well, I don’t spend all my time rescuing headstrong women from certain death, if that’s what you mean.” He lifts up the meds. “But feel free to throw it all away.”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “Okay. I’ll take the pills.”
“I need your help, Izzy-Bee.” He watches me swallow the tablets. “We’re almost done building the biodome, but we can’t seal it unless we get it balanced: plants and animals, oxygen and carbon dioxide, worms and bird shit—your area of expertise. That’s turning out to be the tricky part.”
“Uh huh.”
“Like I said, Isabel, things are getting pretty fucked up out there.” He’s struggling to keep the annoyance out of his voice. “And if I can make this biodome viable, people will be begging me to build them all over the world. Lots of people. I could end up saving mankind.”
I can almost see the dollar signs in his eyes. “Okay. So what do you want from me?”
“Your patents—and all your research data.”
I let out a cynical laugh. “If I agree, will you take me back to the cabin and leave me in peace?”
“You should stay here where it’s safe and live with—”
“I want to go home, Dave.”
“Well, if you insist on going back to that shack, I’ll drive you there myself.” He reaches out to stroke my face, but I pull away, and he closes his hand into a fist. “Right. I’ll have my attorney stop by in the morning with the paperwork.”
“And you’ll take me back to the cabin tomorrow?”
“Why don’t we give it a couple of weeks to make sure you’re healthy?” He takes my empty glass and stands up. “You might actually like it here, Isabel. I call the shots, and I can get almost anything: books, clothes, even coffee and chocolate. You could continue your research—we could work together. The rest of the world is going to hell in a hand basket, but if you stay with me, you can live like a queen.”
“Thanks, Dave, but I’m not really the type.” I slide back down under the covers. “The cabin is my home. It’s where my children are buried, and where my heart lies.”
“He’s not coming back, doll.”
I look up at him, my teeth clenched. “Yes, he is. He’s probably there now.”
“If he’s not, you owe me a six-pack.”
I roll over, my eyes full of tears.
A moment later, the lights go off, and I hear the door shut. I fall asleep imagining Diego’s arms around me, the twins napping next to us.
Yes, he is.
In the morning, I insist on getting dressed before seeing Dave’s lawyer. After the nurse removes the IV, I take a shower, and she goes in search of clothes. I’m weak and a bit wobbly on my feet, but otherwise, I feel fine.
When she returns, I get dressed and then eat breakfast: scrambled eggs, melon, and coffee with fresh cream. It’s divine, and I feel much better after eating something. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Mrs. Kirkland. If you’re ready, I’ll let the attorney know.”
It takes me ten minutes to sign away my life’s work.
Not much chance I’m going to use
it anyway, and maybe it can do some good.
As the lawyer is putting the documents into his briefcase, he asks, “Could you give me the password for your hard drive, please? I’ve been informed that the research data on it is encrypted.”
I start at him. “How did you get my computer?”
His face reddens. “It was brought with you when you were airlifted to safety.”
“It was, was it. More like you stole it from my cabin.”
“Your computer contains information that is critical for the success of the biodome project, Mrs. Kirkland. It would have been irresponsible to leave it behind.”
“I see. You sent a helicopter to get my computer and brought me along as an afterthought.”
“As I understand it, Mr. Kirkland’s intervention saved your life.” He pushes a pen and a sheet of paper across the small table. “If you want to go home, I suggest you give me the password.”
“And if I don’t?”
“This is a military base, Mrs. Kirkland. You’ll be nice and safe here.”
I scribble my password on the paper, and he tucks it into his briefcase. “Thank you. It’s been a pleasure.”
“When do I go home?”
“You will need to speak to Mr. Kirkland about that, ma’am. Good day.”
After he leaves, I pack up the small ditty bag from the bathroom, read through my chart, and then walk out to the nurses’ station. “Thanks for everything. All of you have been very kind, but I’m ready to go home.”
The two nurses look at each over and then the older woman speaks, “We’ve been given instructions to keep you here until your doctor is available to see you.”
“Okay. How long will that be?”
“I’m not sure. Possibly a week or two. He’s away on a training mission.”
I narrow my eyes. “And you only have one doctor here at the hospital?”
She gives a forced laugh. “Of course not, but your doctor is away.”
“Could you get another doctor to check me out, please?”
“Yes, ma’am. Let me make a few calls and see what can be arranged.” She gives the other woman a nervous glance and then picks up the phone, taps a button, and speaks into the receiver. “Get me Mr. Kirkland.” She covers the bottom half of the phone with her hand. “If you would be so kind as to wait in your room, please.”
