“Nothing to be sorry about,” Lauren said. “I really can’t imagine what it must’ve been like. But let me know if you need anything. Medicine, something to read to distract yourself, or just someone to talk to.”
Navid nodded. “Thanks.”
The lab door opened, and Peter came out. “We isolated some cells from the samples of the Goliath,” he announced.
“Perfect,” Lauren said. “Let’s prep the tissue for some protein assays. I want to know what’s making those things huge.”
“Huge? Goliaths?” Navid asked, cocking his head. “Are you talking about the giant crazy that chased me? Are there more?”
“That’s right,” Peter said. “I’m afraid they’re becoming more common.”
Lauren saw a spark of curiosity in Navid’s eyes. It reminded her of scientists she’d worked with in the past. Give them a problem, a mystery, and their mind would immediately start clicking into gear. “We’re hoping to figure out how or why the Oni Agent would turn someone into one of those monstrosities,” she said.
“You think those things were affected by the same bioweapon as everyone else?”
Peter lifted his shoulders in a noncommittal gesture. “Don’t know. Could be a different weapon, but that seems unlikely.”
“More likely,” Lauren said, “we think some people’s bodies are responding differently to the Oni Agent.”
“Makes sense.” Navid picked at a loose string on one of the splints around his fingers. “Kind of like how people might experience different side effects from drugs.”
Lauren nodded. She couldn’t help thinking about how Kara had almost died because of her reaction to the chelation therapy or how Glenn had experienced drastically increased bone mineral loss. “Bodies are complicated.”
“That they are,” Peter said.
Navid’s head bobbed slowly, but he appeared to be lost in thought rather than agreeing.
“Back to the lab?” Lauren asked Peter.
“These experiments won’t run themselves.”
Lauren stood and opened the door to the lab.
“Wait a second,” Navid said. “I didn’t see much of the Goliath. I mean, I was running away from the bastard. But they’re outright huge. Big arms, big legs. Big muscles.”
“Right,” Peter said.
“Acromegaly,” Navid said. “Like André the Giant.”
Lauren grinned. “You might be onto something. If the pituitary gland is overproducing hormones, it might cause rapid growth beyond statistically normal sizes.”
Peter scratched his chin. “I see. So maybe the pituitary gland is somehow affected by the Oni Agent. I’ll start running assays to test specifically for growth hormone production.” He disappeared into the lab.
“Good thinking, Navid,” Lauren said.
“Thanks.” Navid’s brow furrowed. “Dr. Winters, there’s one thing I don’t understand. Why does it matter if the Oni Agent turns some people into Goliaths? Wouldn’t finding a vaccine or cure fix everything? Why isn’t your team working on that instead of investigating Goliaths?”
“Good point.” Lauren couldn’t help the slight smile spreading across her face. The young man wasn’t afraid to ask hard, pointed questions. There was checkbox number two on her assessment of Navid’s scientific acumen. “Here’s the truth. We’re months away at best from finding an actual vaccine or cure. Even if we do find one, it’ll take even longer to produce and distribute. Then it’s a terrifyingly long waiting game.”
“Okay,” Navid said, clearly still not satisfied.
“But in the meantime, we’re running across more and more Goliaths. In fact, the Hunters found a new subtype of Skulls in Boston they’re calling Droolers. I want to know what’s causing these mutations. Each seems deadlier than the last. Our enemies, the Skulls, are getting harder and harder to kill.” She spoke in a hushed voice to make sure the family of survivors didn’t overhear her. “Eventually, I’m afraid our conventional weapons will be outclassed by these monsters. But if I find out why these things are changing, why the Oni Agent is transforming their bodies even more radically than we anticipated, then maybe we can fight back.”
“I see.” Navid seemed to consider that for a moment. “At least with acromegaly, it isn’t always an advantage, right? I mean, didn’t it eventually kill Andre the Giant?”
Lauren nodded. “Exactly. All great gains come with a tremendous price. And I want to make sure that whatever advantages the Skulls get from their new transformations are paid in full.”
***
Dom relished the moments he’d spent with his daughters while they sailed from Boston to the Chesapeake. For the first time in years, he’d eaten breakfast, lunch, and dinner with them. But now duty beckoned, and it was time to prepare for another land-bound, Skull-infested mission in the wasteland the United States had become.
“Captain,” Meredith greeted him on their way from the mess hall to the electronics workshop. Her formal greeting was paired with a saucy smile, and Dom answered it with a grin. She walked side by side with him, striding down the passageway. “Thought I’d catch you with Sadie and Kara.”
“Me, too.” Dom forced a laugh. “Thing is, seems like Kara is pretty damned focused on those molecular simulations. Even when we’re together, it seems like that’s the only thing she talks about. She’s determined to find a cure.”
“Wonder where she gets that from?” Meredith offered a wry grin. Their boots tapped along the metal deck, punctuating the silence between them for several steps.
“Look, Meredith—”
“You’re not about to warn me off from another mission, are you?”
Dom held up his hands in a placating gesture. “No, I know better than that.” He paused in the passageway. “I just wanted to say that it’s...nice, having you by my side.”
“That isn’t the word I’d normally use to describe anything in a world filled with bloodthirsty monsters. But I’m certainly thankful to be facing it with you.”
“It’s good to be partners again, out in the field.”
“The feeling’s mutual. Better than being Charlie to your Angels.”
Dom chortled. “I’m not much of an angel, huh?”
“A bit rough around the edges.” Meredith gave him a playful look. “But I’ll take what I can get.” Her spirited expression faded, and she glanced sideways down the passageway. “Do you have a minute? There’s something I want to talk about.”
Dom glanced at his smartwatch. “We’ve got an hour before the briefing, and I still need to go over the data package Kinsey sent us.”
“This won’t be long.” Meredith nodded at the hatch to her quarters.
Dom raised an eyebrow but followed her in. She shut the hatch after he entered. Her quarters were almost bare. A solitary pack rested in one corner. On her foldaway desk, a laptop and two open books rested. “Like what you’ve done with the place.”
“Left all my Picassos in Virginia.”
“Oh, come on, I know you better than that. You aren’t exactly the abstract type. Photorealism is more your taste.”
“True,” Meredith said. “But back in the day, a certain field agent gave me a print of ‘The Old Guitarist.’”
“Ah, yeah, sorry about that. But you kept it?”
“You think I’d toss something you gave me?” She wrapped her arms around his neck.
Dom brushed her red hair back, tucking it behind her ear, and leaned in. Their lips met, and Meredith’s back arched. He tightened his arms around her waist, and they pressed their bodies close, heat radiating off each other. All the pent-up frustrations of dealing with Kinsey and managing the Huntress seemed to fade for a moment. Meredith’s hands caressed his back, sending tingles through his skin. They parted slowly, his palms still on her lower back.
Meredith’s eyes opened slowly, and she let out a long sigh. “God, I’ve wanted to do that for a while.”
“Damn shame I can’t just move the briefing back.”
“Eh,
just tell Kinsey we’re not coming after all. In fact, tell him he can shove the whole mission up his ass. He’s probably hoping the Skulls eat us all so he doesn’t have to deal with you anymore.”
Dom shook his head. Her gallows humor probably wasn’t too far off from the truth.
Meredith pulled away. Her hands traced down his shoulders, his arms, then his fingers. She laced her hands with his. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Kinsey?”
“Right,” Meredith said. “I don’t like being the spearhead in a mission where he holds all the cards. He gives us the data and vague promises of reinforcements and support. Tells us when and where to go.”
“You’re saying we shouldn’t trust him.”
“We need to be careful.”
“Sounds about the same to me.” Dom let go of her and took a step back.
“Whatever it sounds like, we’re being used.”
“Being used?” Dom huffed. “Meredith, what do you really think our relationship was when you were at the CIA? We took missions from you. We did the CIA’s dirty work.”
“I know, but that was...different. You had a choice.”
“And we have a choice now. I’m choosing to help our country.” He could feel his face growing red, and the heat had nothing to do with Meredith’s proximity. “Besides, if this is what it takes to ally ourselves with what’s left of the government, then it has to be done. We need to earn Kinsey’s trust, regardless of whether we trust him. Not only do we prove our usefulness, but it also gives us a direct hand on the tiller. We can help guide the future of this country.”
Meredith blinked and leaned slightly away from him. “That sounds like a power play, Dom.”
“No, that’s not what I mean.” He gestured to her, then himself. “You, me. This crew. We can’t save the goddamned world on our own. We need someone with more influence, with more resources than us.”
“And you think Kinsey’s it?”
“I think Kinsey is all we’ve got.”
“That’s a lot of praying and hoping. You seem to have a lot more faith in this general than he has in us.”
“I understand your skepticism,” Dom said, placing a hand against the bulkhead. “But damn it, we’re caught in between a rock and hard place, and there are goddamn Skulls, Droolers, and Goliaths in there with us. We don’t have time to collect months’ worth of intel on the man or his motives. You’re not in the CIA anymore, Meredith. This new world moves fast.”
Meredith’s lips tightened into a thin, white line. Her face was almost as red as her hair. “Okay, Captain Holland,” she said. “It’s your ship, your crew. Your mission. I’m not trying to instigate a mutiny here, but I thought I needed to voice my concern.”
“Noted,” Dom said. He couldn’t stand to see the anger in her eyes or hear the coldness in her voice, but he had to be a leader first. If that meant that their fledging romance never got off the ground, then it was a sacrifice he could make. Not happily, but he would make it. “I appreciate your candidness with me, but the time for deliberation and indecision is long past. It’s time for action.”
-26-
Meredith stood beside the other Hunters in the electronics workshop. It took all her strength and practice at hiding her emotions to stand there quietly, gazing with polite interest at Dom, when all she wanted to do was shake him until he saw sense. A bevy of monitors glowed before them with maps displaying DC, Bethesda, and a closer view of the NIH complex.
Dom paced beneath the screen. “General Kinsey has asked us to join him in what he’s calling Operation Salvage. The goal is to take back the NIH facilities in Bethesda. This will give the government access to clinical and research facilities adjacent to metro access. Kinsey assures us that another component of Operation Salvage is to secure and repower the area’s light rail system. By battening down individual metro stations, the military will have another way to safely shuttle civilians and military units between strategic points in the DC area. Most importantly, they’ll have direct access from the Pentagon to the NIH without resorting to ground or air transit, both of which have a tendency to attract swarms of Skulls.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Miguel said. “Damn things seem to love Frank’s chopper.”
Dom gave Miguel a cold stare, and the Hunter closed his mouth with a snap. Meredith felt a twinge of guilt—but also satisfaction. Apparently Dom felt just as lousy as she did after their fight.
“Our mission will be to secure the Vaccine Production Program Lab,” he continued. “We need this lab and its facilities. Without the ability to mass-produce a vaccine, it doesn’t matter what Lauren’s team finds.”
Dom gestured to Chao, and the comm specialist magnified the image of the NIH complex. He pointed to one of the buildings. “Here’s our mission. For all intents and purposes, we can ignore the rest of the complex. Kinsey’s reports indicate minimal Skull activity within the facilities. Most of the non-critical staff was evacuated during the outbreak. Prior to the outbreak, the NIH maintained strict security measures, and the walls and fences along the perimeter appear to still be intact.”
Dom scanned their faces, his expression stern. “Make no mistake. We’ll be on high alert as always.” He glanced at Meredith and caught her eye. “And this is the first time we’re embarking on a joint mission. We’re used to working alone, but now we’re lucky to be working directly with the US military. However, please use caution. Not only caution in regards to the Skulls, but also with the people we’re working with. We have no idea how well these units can handle the Skulls.
“But I’ve fought beside each and every one of you. I’d trust any of you with my life, and I hope the feeling is mutual. At the end of the day, if everything goes to shit, you know who you can rely on.”
The Hunters murmured their agreement.
“Kinsey might be using us as his vanguard, but that doesn’t mean we should let down our guard. Frank will be nearby, ready for an immediate evac should we need it.”
Dom nodded to Chao, and the map of the VPPL switched to one of another building. It appeared to be five stories with sheer glass walls and white support structures. “This is the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The NINDS may contain research to complement the work we salvaged from Boston. Kinsey’s men aren’t trained to recognize or appreciate biomedical research. He’s requested one of our Hunters join a group of Marines infiltrating the NINDS. He believes it would be an asset to his team to ensure no vital research or facility is destroyed or left behind in this initial operation.”
Renee cleared her throat. “He wants just one of us? Are we really going to let one of our own go out there alone?”
“That’s what he wants,” Dom said. “But that’s not how we operate. We watch each other’s backs. I’m asking for two volunteers willing to go with the Marines.”
Meredith’s hand shot up. Of the Hunters, she was the newest. They all had served years together. She figured she’d be the least missed on the team.
“And I’ll be her second,” Andris said, winking at Meredith. “We make a good team.”
“Good,” Dom said. “Keep her safe.”
The corners of Andris’s lips twitched up in a smirk. “Ah, if our mission’s anything like Boston, she’ll be the one keeping me safe.”
“Meredith, Andris, the AW109 can’t take all of us, so Kinsey’s sending a Huey to pick you up. Everyone else, prepare to load up in two hours. Dismissed!”
The Hunters filed out, rushing toward their quarters and the armory. Meredith followed, Andris falling in beside her.
“You spoke to Dom about what we talked about before?” he asked.
“I tried.”
“Didn’t go well?”
“Could’ve gone better.”
Andris shrugged as he opened the hatch to the armory. “At least he heard our concerns. For now, the best thing we can do is kick some Skull ass.”
“You got that right, partner.”
Meredith loaded her magazines and rechecked her rifle, making sure everything was in working order. She adjusted the chin strap to her helmet and slung her weapon over her back. After performing a final check to ensure she had all her gear, she stood. Her nerves started to tingle as a wave of nervousness spread through her. She doubted she could ever get used to venturing back into Skull-infested territory no matter how many missions she went on. And this time, she was going with a group of strangers.
“Huey’s here!” Adam announced, poking his head into the armory.
Andris and Meredith followed him up the ladders to the helipad. Rotor wash greeted them when they reached the deck. Adam waved them toward the gray Huey near the stern, and Meredith sprinted low and hopped into the open side door.
A group of four Marines acknowledged with slight nods, and one slammed the door shut. The chopper ascended, giving Meredith little time to situate herself in a seat or secure her harness. She stole a final glance at the Huntress as they sped away. Dom had joined Adam on the top deck, standing stoically as he watched the Huey ascend. A moment later, they banked sharply to the left, and she lost sight of the Huntress and her captain.
One of the Marines handed her a mic and earpiece. She stuck the earpiece in place and secured the throat mic. Andris did likewise. The roar of the Huey’s engine continued, but at least now they could hear the voices of the Marines in the cabin.
One square-jawed man reached out a gloved hand. “Sergeant Ford.” He gestured to the other three. “Rollins, Evans, and Grant.”
The Marines nodded, and Meredith tried to pick out a distinguishing feature to keep them straight in her mind. Rollins had a heavy five o’clock shadow, Evans was the one with the black plastic-framed 5A glasses, and Grant had a thin mustache.
“Meredith Webb,” she said. “And this is Andris Jansons.”
Sergeant Ford surveyed them. “Webb, you ever served?”
“I was an operative for the CIA.”
“CIA? Really?” Ford didn’t sound impressed. He let out an audible sigh and shared a look of dismay with the others. “What about you, Jansons?”
The Tide (Book 3): Salvage Page 18
