Rafe stuffed my meager belongings into a small bag and zipped it up while I swung my feet over the side of my bed and watched him work. Thankfully, Marcus had left us alone; he was probably in a dungeon somewhere, planning more torture for me.
"James is bringing something for you to wear-all you have is pajamas," Rafe pointed out the obvious.
"Good. I hope it's comfortable," I said. "Shoes, too?"
"Of course. I can't wait to dress you in blue to match your eyes," he walked toward me and took my face in his hands. "An evening dress, perhaps, or a nice blouse." He leaned in to kiss me.
"You taste good," I said.
"Thank you. Do you want something else to eat?"
"No, the pancakes filled me up," I said. I'd had those with a glass of milk, and only finished about a third of what was placed in front of me.
"Do you still love me?" he leaned back to ask, his dark eyes begging me to say it was so.
"Honey, that's the only thing that brought me back," I said.
"Just what I wanted to hear," he murmured before kissing me again.
* * *
Flying in a military cargo plane was now on the list of things I hated. We were buckled into four rows of seats and the rest of our belongings, which hadn't already been sent ahead, were packed in crates and boxes and tied down behind us.
Sitting up that long was extremely uncomfortable after a while, and there wasn't any place to lie down. If Rafe and James hadn't sat with me, I might not have made it. Eventually, we landed at a naval airbase on Whidbey Island north of Seattle.
Our transfer to the new facility was done by helicopter after that, under a cloudy and darkening sky.
* * *
Ilya
I held Corinne close after the helicopters landed and we were allowed off. The facility had been excavated into the southern side of Mount Pilchuck, located north and east of Seattle, with only two camouflaged windows facing southwestward. I imagined that if we looked through those windows hard enough on a clear day, we might see Puget Sound.
At the summit of the mountain lies a fire lookout, and on the western side a popular hiking trail meanders upward. Where the facility was located, the mountain was much more inhospitable, with steep sides, rocky cliffs and pines lower down that jutted into the sky.
At one time, a ski resort was located not far from the western edge of our new facility. It closed in 1979 after a combination of weather problems resulted in a lack of snow and a subsequent refusal by the Forestry Service to renew the lease.
Sometime after that, the resort was destroyed by a mysterious fire. I didn't wish to investigate the cause or the outcome-I had no interest in it, after all.
"You need warmer clothing," I murmured against Corinne's hair when she shivered against me. She wrapped her arms about my waist and buried her head against my chest. The ride had been torture for her, and the ensuing helicopter flight only added to her misery. She needed to lie down.
"Let's get her inside," Dr. Shaw walked up beside us. "She needs rest."
We followed Colonel Hunter as he walked toward a thick, steel door, painted to match its rocky surroundings and nearly hidden behind pines and plants. It required a code and an eyescan to get inside. It made me wonder about Corinne's ability to defeat the security system in place, and whether it had been modified to prevent that.
An elevator stood at the end of a wide entry; we rode it to the main floor, where all offices and suites were located. At that moment, I hoped we'd have a kitchen.
* * *
Notes-Colonel Hunter
Cori was asleep on her feet when Rafe pulled her down the hall toward their shared suite. "We'll have a meeting in the morning, when she's awake," I said and opened the suite door for them. Rafe lifted her and carried her inside. I closed the door behind them and walked toward my new office.
The facility had been built after the attack on Fort Stevens in 1942 by the Japanese. Originally, it was built as a command center in World War II in case of further attacks, but it was never finished-the end of the war came. It sat there, an empty bunker, until nine presidents ago, when it was selected as a potential spot for local military personnel in case of an attack during the cold war.
That idea was abandoned the minute the wall fell outside East Germany, so it sat empty again, until the President considered it as a retreat for the Program. Recently, as in the last eight weeks, it had been modified to accommodate the Program. Thankfully, Madam President hadn't shared that information with Hal-she'd come to me and I'd secretly enlisted Navy engineers for the cause.
It was nearly finished, a few windows and upgrades notwithstanding, and we had a tunnel, complete with electric vehicles to drive through it, which ended in a ranch farther down the mountain.
I found it amusing that our exit hole was located near a resident's home, converted from an old train caboose. While I had no desire of my own to live in a converted train caboose, I silently applauded the inventive repurposing of the abandoned car.
From the exit, we could take one of the waiting SUVs if we needed to drive to Seattle or anywhere else. Several military agents were set up to treat the property as their own and guard the tunnel entrance. They were already in place, and some of them would act as bodyguards for us if needed.
Shaw worried that some of ours would get cabin fever, being so far from everything. An occasional outing would be allowed, unless we were under lockdown. Laci was also being moved-to a nice house in Seattle. I promised I'd see her at least once a week.
I wanted the others to visit the city, too, to eat out or shop. They'd have guards with them, watching from a safe distance. Once Corinne approved the personnel we'd brought with us, I was hoping to loosen the restraints we'd worn closer to the Capital.
* * *
Ilya
Shaw arranged for sunlamps to be installed in every suite until the engineers and their staff could cut windows in the side of the mountain containing our rooms. That would take time.
I made sure Corinne was covered warmly after putting her to bed. I sat beside her, toying with the tablet Colonel Hunter had given me-several dozen photographs were loaded on it and I was checking them first to see whether I recognized anyone before Corinne looked.
I considered, too, what Baikov might be doing and where he could be at the moment. If I knew anything about him (and I did), then he was likely plotting death and destruction for someone.
"Honey, stop obsessing. I can feel it in my sleep," Corinne mumbled.
"Cabbage?" I set the tablet aside to scoot into position beside her. "How's my darling?" Pulling her against me, I settled her head onto my shoulder.
"Tired," she lifted her hand to cover a yawn.
"That plane ride was too much," I grumbled. She was already asleep again when I tucked a strand of pale blonde hair behind her ear.
* * *
Notes-Colonel Hunter
"Corinne's sunlamp burned out this morning," James informed me when I walked into our shared office, stifling a yawn.
"She can have mine," I said. "What happened? Those things are new."
"Just got a bad one, I guess-hardly anybody else has used theirs, but she had it turned on this morning and it just went out. She changed the bulb, but that wasn't the problem."
"Was she writing when it blew?"
"Of course. Rafe said she sneaked out of bed, went into her office next to their bedroom and sat down at the computer without waking him. She was writing when he got up an hour later. Here are those photographs you gave her, with notes," he handed a tablet to me.
"She got those done, too?" I scrolled through the photographs, reading the short blurbs she'd sent. Several had crimes listed beneath the photographs; a few had lists of evidence to gather to prove their guilt. None of them were clones-at least she hadn't identified them as such.
Two of them were members of Congress. I was least surprised about them and gave a snort when I read their information. Their crimes were of the white-collar va
riety, and I wondered if Madam President would even bother to investigate.
"Nothing about the enemy," I said. "Dr. Farrell says the autopsy on the lizard woman makes for interesting reading. He's forwarding that information to us later today."
"Did he give you anything at all about her?" James asked.
"He says the DNA shows she's mostly humanoid, but he's still trying to get a lock on the rest of it."
"How can that happen?" James asked, his mouth settling into a puzzled frown. "Gene splicing?"
"I don't think that's it," I said. "He and I have a guess, but we can't prove anything at this point."
What I didn't tell James was that I knew significantly more about the Program now than I did a month ago. Farrell and I'd had several discussions, and the more I learned, the more it concerned me.
I felt we were lucky that Corinne survived a second round of the drug. It had never been attempted twice on anyone else, because the death toll on the first round was much too high. Actually, where she was concerned, I considered that we'd hit the drug lottery twice and didn't want to jinx it by discussing her survival.
Conversations with Farrell and his medical team were ongoing, too, about the clones. How they were made, how quickly they were made-we had too many questions and too few answers where those were concerned.
We'd done autopsies on the Becker clones, first. They'd all been identical to him in every way. Farrell had some theories, but without testing them, we couldn't be sure.
A research lab for our new location was in the process of being built. The moment it became operational, Farrell and his team would move in. I considered that I might have to put a rush on the windows-we needed natural sunlight.
"James, what about a patio or outside garden?" I asked.
He blinked at me-I'd gone from one subject straight into another, which made absolutely no sense.
"You mean, build that while they're cutting windows?"
"Yes. We can camouflage it with plants, trees and such. We can't open the windows they'll build. This will allow us outside air every day."
"I'll ask the engineers to draw up plans."
"Have them design it so the audio and video can be easily turned off and on."
"Will do. Anticipating private conversations?"
"Don't you think we need someplace for that?"
"Probably." He reached for his phone.
"Good. Keep me informed; I have a call with the President this morning, to discuss this." I held the tablet aloft.
"I'll see that you're not disturbed, Colonel."
"If Corinne or Rafe decide to disturb me, send them in. The President wants to speak with them, too. Eventually."
"Yes, sir."
* * *
Corinne
Our suite was three thousand square feet and included my office, a study for Rafe, a huge bedroom, a kitchen and a dining area. The dining area included a long table with seating for eight. I imagined Auggie had been instrumental in arranging that.
We had plenty of storage, plus an extra bedroom and bathroom. The kitchen was everything Rafe and I could want, with a huge island and six barstools lined up along one side.
"Only oatmeal?" Rafe lifted an eyebrow at me. We'd made eggs, sausage and toast for him, but I'd made a small portion of oatmeal for myself.
"It's all I want," I shrugged. "I'll ask James if he can order protein shakes for me."
I knew we had the bugs turned on in our suite when James arrived ten minutes later to help himself to leftover eggs and sausage while I made fresh toast for him.
He used his tablet to order bottles of protein drink for me in several flavors while he ate. "Want more OJ?" I lifted the bottle in James' direction.
"Just coffee," he said. I made a fresh cup and set it at his elbow.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"I'm better than I was yesterday. Thanks for getting me a new sunlamp, by the way. I'll try not to break this one."
"How soon can we make arrangements to go to Seattle?" Rafe asked. "I owe my cabbage dinner," he added, coming to a stop behind me and kissing the top of my head.
"Can I come?" James asked hopefully.
"Of course, if it will mean one less guard, no matter how discreet," Rafe grinned. "We much prefer your company."
"If you say Colonel Hunter and his wife can come, I think I can make it happen soon," James said. "Very soon."
"Then make it happen," Rafe agreed.
"I'm all for that," Auggie walked into our kitchen. "Thanks for the information, Cori," he nodded to me. "The President may have other photographs soon. I have a feeling you'll be seeing some of the crime bosses from drug cartels."
"She thinks they may be involved in some of this?" I asked.
"It's possible," he shrugged.
"Yeah. It's possible," I agreed. There was another question I wanted to ask, and it involved the handful of people who'd survived the drug in Montana. More and more, that was on my mind and I figured the President hadn't told Auggie what happened to those people or where they were.
That, of course, could turn into a huge mistake.
Chapter 2
Corinne
Nick and Maye joined us for lunch; Jeff tagged along with them. I guess Auggie had this planned ahead of time, because he and James showed up, too, with Leo Shaw right behind them. Then, Marcus came looking for everybody else and decided he wanted soup and a sandwich.
"We have an appointment at two," Marcus reminded me.
"Did you get special classes on day-ruining?" I asked, handing him a plate of food. "James, we'll need to restock the pantry soon," I said, turning to him.
"On it," James said, pulling out his tablet.
"I got an A in day-ruining," Marcus grinned and bit into his ham sandwich.
"You're too competitive," I pointed a finger at him.
"Have to be the best," he agreed.
"Uh-huh. How long do you intend to torture me? Besides, you should consult with Rafe, because he can give you pointers on that sort of thing, in addition to honing your Krav Maga skills."
"An hour. He can teach me Krav Maga?"
"I can," Rafe confirmed with a nod. "Let me know when you have an hour or two to train on most days. I'll take care of it."
"You're moving pretty well today," Leo said, nodding in my direction. "How do you feel?"
"Good," I said.
"When do you think you can start running and training with Rafe?" Auggie asked.
"I'll let you know, Colonel Hunter," Marcus said.
"I will temper his assessment with my own," Rafe interjected. I could tell he was a bit annoyed with Marcus. Well, I was a bit annoyed with Marcus, too. He needed to consider his patient and not his brownie points, as far as I was concerned.
"How about I tell you when I'm ready?" I told Auggie. "I'll let Leo know, too, so we'll all be on the same page."
"I'll take all reports from all sources in a week," Auggie said, ending the debate.
"Good enough," I said. "Anybody want ice cream?"
* * *
"I hear you're pretty special," Marcus said while putting me through my exercise torture later.
"I don't think of myself as special in any way," I grunted as I lifted five-pound weights and held them until he said I could let my arms down. "The next time you're a hostage of terrorists and watch a bunch of people die, come see me. We'll talk special then."
"Dr. Shaw told me," he said. "After Colonel Hunter said he could."
"Of course he did," I muttered, dropping my arms when he gave the signal. I was sweating, and we'd only done fifteen minutes of exercises. "Is there any chance we can get in a pool and do exercises there?"
"There's no water in it, yet," Marcus offered a smile. He wanted to see me sweat.
The bastard.
"When will there be water in it?" I hefted the weights again.
"Maybe next week. Okay, let your arms down-we're done with weights for now. Get on the treadmill. I'll see how far you ca
n walk."
* * *
I could have walked farther, but that would only make Marcus ask for more next time, so I settled for two miles.
Leo saw me after I'd showered and dressed.
"We haven't talked yet about you getting shot a second time and getting the drug a second time," he settled into the comfortable chair across from mine in his new office.
"We haven't talked about you being schlepped from pillar to post after all the bombings and moves," I countered.
"This session isn't about me," he said, but he smiled anyway.
"I thought about not coming back," I said.
"What made you decide to?" I could read the unasked question behind that-he was surprised that I thought I'd had a choice in the matter. Oddly enough, this time, that's exactly how it was.
"Rafe," I shrugged. "I came back because he wanted me to. I was worried about how all of you would see me now-that in your eyes, I might be a monster, able to kill on what some might think a whim. That has never been the case, but you might not understand that."
"I can see how you might think that," he said. "But Colonel Hunter and I trust you with our lives; you've saved them often enough. Maye and Nick have been briefed, and we've discussed your abilities in a few sessions. Both agree-without you, we'd all be dead."
"That's not a light burden," I pointed out. It wasn't. I felt responsible for so many people and so many things, now. It ramped up my anxiety to another, much higher level. After I'd wakened this time, Dr. Shaw hadn't put me on any drugs for my anxiety or PTSD. I knew he wanted to see how things stood before recommending anything.
I didn't want any of that, and didn't intend to take anything he prescribed. No, I wouldn't recommend going against doctor's orders for anyone else. Things were different for me, now, and I had personal checks and balances to ensure that all those internal things were managed without the use of medication-for the most part. In fact, I was doing exactly that while talking with Leo.
I recalled vividly the pain in my chest and the last rush of fear as I fell when Hal Prentice's clone shot me. I knew I'd die. Leo had an injection of the drug ready. He and Auggie had made plans for such an emergency, and had needles ready for Rafe and me.
Rafe hadn't needed another injection; his shields held and Hal Prentice's clone never had a chance when Rafe broke his neck, in addition to breaking the device that kept him from dying when I'd attempted to kill him.
Cloud Invasion: R-D 2 (R-D Series) Page 2
