by Jacob Hammes
Stephen’s mind was full of anger. Red haze covered his eyes and his vision was blurred by tears. He had already known what injuries she had suffered, but still he had to ask. Secretly, he hoped the doctor had somehow fixed her.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have a magic lamp to rub. What he did have, however, was a chance to help the rest of his team find the bastard that did this to her. He squeezed the doctor’s hand until he yelped in pain and then left without another word. He would be there tomorrow to see her eyes open. Though he hadn’t counted on meeting her parents this way, he would also be doing that. What happened in between would be something Stephen had done quite well for a very long time.
He was going to kill the son of a bitch responsible for nearly killing Brenda Vaughn.
“He’s in,” Marcus said, grinning as he tossed his phone aside. He had been counting on Stephen to come along. The ex-SEAL would be more than welcome in this fight. Marcus had a bad feeling about how it was going to go down which meant that any help would be welcome. It was especially bad since the NSA had told them that they would be going on this mission alone.
Marcus didn’t mind though. He shrugged when he was told they would be operating out of the jurisdiction of the NSA. They would be getting their warrants and exercising their rights as special federal agents, but that didn’t mean everything. They had to ensure pedestrians were kept safe and that property damage was kept to a minimum. If they flew across the country and came up empty handed, they would be facing the chopping block. At the minimum, they would get a stern talking-to, which Marcus hated.
It was the same scenario they had gone through time and time again. The government had created the UOD to deal with unsavory cases they wished to be distanced from. That they would step outside their normal realm of operation was not unheard of. In fact, Marcus loved to take advantage of the old adage: do what your rank can handle.
Marcus still hadn’t seen how far that could truly keep him out of trouble.
“Everyone ready?” Marcus looked around at his team, assembled in the sunlight of a break area on the roof.
“Ready as we’ll ever be,” Cynthia said, patting the pistol on her hip.
“Yes,” David said solemnly. “We’re all ready for this.”
“Good,” Marcus said as he threw a wink to Henry. “Good news is that we will be splitting up again. David, Phillip, and Stephen will be headed up north while Cynthia, Henry, and I head out west. Maybe someone can figure out what happened up there and get a lead on where our bad guy are headed next.”
“Maybe you can even find the missing girl,” Gregory said, smothering a cigar he had been chewing on for hours. His loafer-clad feet were kicked up on a wooden coffee table. “Just remember to call and confirm any changes of plan with me and the division before you go off making a mess we can’t clean up.”
“Don’t worry, boss,” Cynthia said, patting the older gentlemen on his knee. “We’ll be fine and we promise to check in with daddy before anything crazy happens.”
“Shut it,” he growled. “I’d like my agents all back here in one piece this time. Don’t let anyone get the jump on you and for God sakes, don’t get yourselves hurt.”
“We won’t,” Marcus answered for the group. “In fact, we might have some local law enforcement help, too, if we play our cards right. Any help is good help.”
“That’s true.” Gregory nodded his head in approval. “But you’d better get a move on. The chopper is going to take you guys north in just under an hour. If you can get a lead on what’s going on by just checking out the apartment, great. If not, you may have to do some digging.”
“North Brother Island,” Marcus wondered aloud.
“I didn’t say anything at all,” Gregory said. “I do think you have a warrant, though. Exercise them wisely.”
“We intend to,” Marcus muttered. “Any other news on the Cerberus project?”
“Nothing new,” Gregory admitted. “The analysts have been researching every known medical condition that could account for what we’ve seen and so far they have turned up nothing. We can only speculate as to what has been infecting these people—I’d say use caution. We don’t know whether or not it’s contagious, or whether or not it can jump bodies at will.”
“Doesn’t seem that way,” Sheila said from her spot near the end of the park-style bench they were all gathered on or around. “I think it’s got to be a little more complex than just sneezing on someone.”
“Doesn’t rule out our bite theory, though,” Marcus said. “We need to be careful around these people. We don’t know who has been infected, how they can transfer bodies—hell, we don’t even know if this thing can be deadly to the majority of the world. Maybe it just chooses the right host to infect.”
“All that aside,” Cynthia said, grinning from ear to ear, “I really hope we get to kill that asshole Stewart.”
Everyone chuckled. Secretly, they were all hoping to have a run-in with Stewart. That way they might be able to catch him without his suit of explosives and take him down once and for all. They also had Lambert to worry about. So far he hadn’t come up for air, which left Marcus wondering whether or not the old man was dead.
Though none of them knew how this would turn out, Marcus had a good feeling in his stomach. His gut was telling him that soon they would put this case to rest. He also wondered how many of his beliefs would be questioned.
Assuming that the ‘parasite’ was real and capable of taking control of a human being would mean that higher intelligence existed. That would put his mind wondering as to whether or not aliens had planted the bacteria or if it had simply been the product of some government experiment gone wrong.
He hoped for the former. Marcus wanted alien contact even more than he wanted a good burger and a shake.
Chapter 20
Phillip was excited to get on the road. They had to use secret exits to leave the headquarters—all of them had a sneaking suspicion they were being watched, and they weren’t wrong. He kept his head down until the entire team had left and then gave a small hoot of rejoice in the taxi ride to the airport. Though they would be going separate ways again and had been sternly reminded not to cause a ruckus or risk their own termination from employment, he was happy he was technically back on the case.
In fact, Phillip was more than excited. He hoped he could make up for the heartache that Henry and Brenda had gone through.
The trip was quick and the helicopter they had requisitioned took off after the others boarded a flight to the west coast. Marcus and his crew found a non-stop shot that would get them to Seattle in less than five hours, which didn’t mean much considering they weren’t supposed to be there anyway. He grinned, knowing full well they could all get in some serious trouble for what they were doing.
He hailed a taxi for his group of three and jumped in. The airport, Teterboro, was located in New Jersey. Being the only small airport in the area, it was either that or walk. Fortunately, it was just about fifteen miles from downtown and exactly the type of place they wanted to be. Adding to the allure was the fact that they were in a fairly low-traffic area.
He could see the top of the city poking out from over white birch trees and blooming oaks. The sprawling city was hardly visible from such a distance, but the suburbs were pressing up against the airport, separated only by the thin trees. With the sun high in the afternoon sky, it was a beautiful sight, one he wished he could sit and stare at for hours. Instead, they hopped in the taxi and headed into the busy downtown area so they could try their hardest to get some information on their bad guys.
Though Phillip doubted he would have to contend with anyone like Stewart, he hoped it would come down to an arrest. Officially, he had been told to investigate the apartment and head back to D.C. Unofficially, he was given the go-ahead to check out the bird sanctuary and figure out where the power spikes were coming from.
When asked, the NSA agents had very briefly told them they should still investigate, but on
ly under the guise of helping out with the machine-weapon, which they had finally dubbed Cerberus’ Collar. It was applicable, seeing as how it was originally created as part of the Cerberus project, and its main intent was to essentially bring the dead back to life.
They all thought it was a good name. Even Gregory had smirked at the suggestion, knowing that Sheila would be putting the name on every file they had.
The taxi ride was a half an hour of nail-biting fun as the taxi jogged between traffic jams and shot down off ramps at maximum speed. Phillip found himself accidentally grabbing David a few times to stop himself from being thrown into the window. Stephen, who would usually be giggling, glowered in the front seat, angry at the world for the near-loss of his girlfriend and teammate.
They arrived to the apartment building, which seemed as if everything had already returned to normal. Stephen paid the cabbie his fee, which was a ridiculous amount of money, before all of them jumped out onto the sidewalk. People hustled by the forty-plus story building as if nothing had ever happened there. In fact, most of New York and the rest of the world would never hear the truth about what happened that day, unless they saw the original report.
The local reporters had retracted their old story. The newest one insisted that wiring in the old building coupled with a massive power spike had been the issue. People had been treated, law enforcement had answered questions according to the script the NSA had put together for them, and less than twenty-four hours later everything had returned to normal. Even the inhabitants of the building went about their business nonchalantly as if they were trying to forget the things they had seen.
Those who had died were simply casualties. Their family would fight for them in civil court, if there were ever any trials assigning blame.
“You guys live here?” a cop in her dress uniform asked inside the building. “You don’t look like residents here.”
“We’re visiting a friend,” Phillip said, cool as a cucumber. His glasses hid the bloodshot eyes he usually sported. His gun was secured beneath his left bicep, but the dress jacket, loose tie, and white shirt did a good job of hiding his gear.
“Only residents are allowed in the building until this whole electrical incident is sorted out,” the police woman said, stepping forward. “You’ll have to reschedule your visit for a later date.”
“Electrical incident,” Stephen said, quizzically. “I never heard about no electrical incident.”
“Some strange stuff,” the woman said, brushing a lock of red hair from her face. “Made quite a stir on the local news, but then again the local news is crap. Unfortunately you’re going to have to come back when this whole problem has been sorted out.”
“We’ve got a warrant,” David said blatantly, ruining the chances Stephen and Phillip had at stealth. “We’re with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and we’ve come to investigate any possibility of foul play.”
“The Feds,” the cop said, taken aback. “Why didn’t you just say so?”
“Trying to keep a low profile,” Stephen said, glaring at David. “We don’t want people to know we’re here, in case this investigation turns up something nasty.”
“I’d rather just start investigating instead of mincing words for the next century,” David shot back. “Besides, she’s a cop and we’re Feds. We should be working together anyway.”
“People can buy costumes at a costume shop and pretend to be whoever they want to be,” Stephen said, grumpily.
“Well trust me,” the woman said, pulling out her identification, “I’m a cop with the city. If you guys want to check my credentials, go for it.”
“Forgive my associates,” Phillip said, stepping in. “But what apartment was the spike pinpointed in? If you don’t mind, we’re going to head up and check it out.”
“We’ve actually been expecting you,” the police woman said. “I was sent down here to wait for you guys by someone at headquarters. You need anything, you just let me know.”
Her eyes lingered on David as she told them she would help. Maybe no one noticed, but David sure did.
The four of them went up the elevator and into the hallway. The police officer looked over the warrants briefly and called into her headquarters to alert them to the appearance of the UOD agents, but that was it. Everything seemed to be panning out like the NSA agents said it would.
Phillip flipped a coin through his fingers nonchalantly in the pocket of his jacket as they walked. The building was huge and nice. It made Phillip a little jealous, but then he remembered who had funded the apartment—a multi-millionaire.
The door had no special yellow tape around it, nor did it have an armed guard. The only thing dictating that the room was the one they were looking for was an official letter taped to the door.
“Do not enter,” Phillip said with a smirk. “Guess that will keep the bad guys out.”
“Not really,” the officer retorted as she unlocked the door. “But it keeps nosey people from poking around, especially if they think the apartment is flooded with harmful radiation.”
Inside, the apartment was just as nice as he had imagined it would be. Tall ceilings housed nice pot lights that created an ambience to match the décor. Fine leather couches lined the living room and Persian rugs lie over marble tile. The paint was bright white and here and there lit up picture frames showed art from hundreds of years ago.
David looked pale. He could tell there was a Relic, an electromagnetically charged antique that had yet to be explained by any modern science, in the apartment. He smiled casually to try and hide the grimace that distorted his face, but it did little for his color.
“So,” David said, trying hard to swallow the bile that rose in his throat. “What are we looking for here? Something is screwing with me, so I’d rather not spend too much time in here.”
“Documents,” Phillip said, taking the lead. “We need to find out whether or not these guys are leaving the area anytime soon. They’re obviously sneaking about—we just need to catch them before they decide to move again.”
“Anything we can use to identify these guys” Stephen said. “Car rentals, plane ticket purchases, dry cleaning... Is there a Relic up here?”
“Sure feels like it,” David said, making for the kitchen. “I’ll check the usual places. If I find it, I’ll let you know.”
“There is a computer on the desk, but it was smashed to bits before your perps made off,” the officer said. “It looks like someone took a hammer to it. We were instructed to leave it alone until you guys got here. After that, we’re sending it off for analysis.”
The three spread out around the vast apartment, looking for any sign of usable evidence. Though none of them were exactly sure as to what they were looking for, they hoped to get a handle on why the device was used again in such a populated place. If they could find out a location to where they had fled, it would be even more beneficial.
Stephen eyed a wall that had been scorched nearly black. The source of the fiery remnants seemed to come from an overloaded power outlet.
Ten minutes into the search and each of them had a small handful of documents. The machine, unfortunately, had been taken when the group had fled, but that was about all they had time to take. Phillip had been the one to investigate the room in which Amy had been living. He could smell the sweat and see the restraints that had been used to hold her down. Though he didn’t know what had happened in the room, it was fairly obvious someone was being held against their will.
Voicing his concerns about what he had seen, he decided to call Gregory with an update. Their boss was short on praise. He’d hoped they’d turn up more than that, but let them off the hook without much yelling.
That was when Phillip decided to check out the computer the officer had informed them about. He found it lying exactly where she said it was, beneath a pile of paper and books. Phillip brushed them off onto the floor and flipped the screen open. It was smashed. Most of the keys were missing and the chassis had been a
ll but destroyed.
Fortunately, Phillip had his ways with computers. He knew where the hard drive was; something the perpetrators must not have known. Though the center of the computer had been smashed pretty well, the hard drive was offset and spared from harm.
Phillip grabbed his own computer bag, complete with a plethora of cables and hacking tools, and started working. In just a few minutes, he had the hard drive pulled out and hooked up to his own system. A few minutes more and Phillip was in, scrolling through the files and saved websites like the system had belonged to him all along.
The e-mail was the first thing Phillip figured he should check. The sent box was full of juicy material explaining nearly everything that had happened over the last few days. Whoever owned the equipment also had inside information into what had been transpiring in the states.
Someone with the e-mail name Trist was on the receiving end. They had been communicating about giving their patient treatments, bringing back the ‘master’ and even monitoring the local police broadcasts. Nothing stated names, in particular Lambert or Stewart, but one specific piece of information was more than enough to give Phillip the feeling that Amy was with them.
“The plan is coming together nicely…” Phillip was reading the last e-mail sent with the help of some translation software. “The subject of our therapy is doing worse than expected. She has an incredible resilience about her which seems to be fighting against our man at every turn. It is as if the master chose her for the challenge, not the longevity he seems to believe in so much.
“We are leaving tonight. Because of her tenacity, we have been forced to move our plans up or risk losing him for good. We are also being tailed by some form of government agency, so communication will be limited. We are on the cusp of a change, brothers, but not quite there yet. Stay vigilant.
“Be sure to have the boats ready—the shipments must go out.”
Phillip scratched his head. He had no idea what any of that meant, though he knew it had to do with Amy. He had seen her only briefly in a picture, but he figured they were referring to her. As to all the other talk, Phillip couldn’t make heads or tails as to what they meant.
