by RJ Plant
“Still, what guarantee will you have on my end?” he asked as if the conversation hadn’t paused. Maybe for him it hadn’t.
“That’s easy,” I said. “Me.”
Dancing. That’s all this was. Things like trust and guarantees are fairy tales for fools and children. But business is business. I needed Bernard distracted because I needed the lab here. Kaitlyn needed the lab. I didn’t trust Bernard. I’m sure the reverse was true as well. But as long as Bernard thought he had a chance at short-term control over Kazic, he’d play ball until he found a more permanent means of control. That’s what I was banking on. That, and the growing possibility that Agent Sean Bernard was suffering some serious psychological issues.
Besides, for now, we each had something to offer the other in pursuit of our own gains and that can buy a great deal of tolerance.
“Do we have a deal?” I asked.
“All right, Mr. Quinn. We have a deal. Bring your scientist here. But you’re on a schedule, and if you exceed that time limit, Kazic will be terminated. Do you understand?”
“Absolutely,” I said.
23
3 November 2042, Smoky Mountains, Free State of Tennessee, Former
U.S. Territory
“You did what?” Brinly said. “Tell me you’re joking.”
I’d expected this response, or one like it, which is why I had waited until we were tucked safely away in our hotel room before speaking up.
“What? Is this not conducive to Truepenny’s plans?” I said. Brinly huffed. “Calm down. Rian and Shaina can take care of themselves … You did tell Rian to go back to Belfast, didn’t you?”
“Of course I did. Jesus, Conor, are you insane? You have completely, completely and totally and utterly lost that microscopic speck you call a brain, haven’t you?”
Brinly seemed close to popping a blood vessel so I grabbed her biceps and moved her until she was sitting on the edge of the bed. She had to go get Kaitlyn, and fast. Because I had to get back to Birmingham.
And fast.
Brinly had uploaded the virus. We were pretty well on track. Disappearing for an extended period of time could derail us. I was working off the idea that “bring your scientist here” was interchangeable with “retrieve your scientist.” Still, I didn’t want to push my luck.
“Call Rian and give him a heads-up if you want,” I said. “Tell him that GDI will probably be staking out the flat for a bit. He just needs to lie low until I say otherwise.”
Brinly lunged at me and I rolled us, then jumped backward and onto my feet. She followed, throwing a fist at my face. I blocked the first, the second glanced off my forearm when I moved to block, but the third blow hit my ribs.
“This isn’t working, Brinly,” I said, wincing.
I already had the roller keys. I just had to get to the door.
I managed to grab her wrist when she threw another punch. I wrenched it behind her back, catching the other wrist and yanking her arm across her neck and applying just enough pressure to keep her still without hurting her. Of course, she’d hurt herself if she tried to get loose.
“I’m leaving,” I said. “Go get Kaitlyn and bring her to Birmingham. Then hang back for a day before you come in. I haven’t lost my mind. I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“If Bernard doesn’t kill you, if the virus doesn’t kill you … Rian is going to kill you,” Brinly said.
“I’ll be fine,” I said, spinning her to face me.
“You are so stupid,” Brinly said. She pulled me in close and kissed me, just a peck, on the lips.
“So stupid,” she repeated.
I grabbed my duffel bag and left.
I’d left the breathers with Brinly, so she and Kaitlyn would each have one. I went to the general store and bought a new one for myself using what was left in the stack Brinly had so generously given to me for the other breathers. On the lift down, before I had to put the breather on, I called Kait.
“Brinly is coming to get you,” I said.
“Why?”
“Because I need you in Birmingham. I have your samples and now I’m handing you the lab you need.”
“What? How?”
“In good time. Brinly should be there in a couple of hours.”
“What about Sully?” Kaitlyn asked, her voice hushed. “Bill hasn’t gotten any better.”
“Leave Sully. Give Madison some care instructions for Bill. Maybe Sully can work on him, get some details. But you have to leave with Brinly. This is our shot.”
I hung up before she could protest.
*****
3 November 2042, Birmingham, GDI Headquarters, Former U.S.
Territory
It was about noon when I made it back to GDI. This time things went a little differently. I had an escort to show me to my living quarters—a former hospital room on the third floor. It had a twin-size bed, a recliner, a nightstand, a bathroom. Basic hotel room setup in all respects.
Kaitlyn arrived about three hours after me. I met her at the door, then let her into my room and showed her where I’d set her bag of clothes. Then we took a bit of a tour around the compound.
Hardly a guided tour; instead we mostly wandered with no idea of where anything was and then tried to remember where we’d found what.
We walked down halls painted in different shades of beige, some cream hued and some more pinkish. A large number of hallways had a six-inch-wide wood-panel handrail running their length. Most of the signage had been taken down, the darker areas of paint next to the doors the only indication they’d been there at all.
It looked like there had been a leak at one point or another—various spots along the ceiling tile were discolored and bulging slightly. Whole sections of the complex were shut down, out of use, with empty bookcases and filing cabinets and various other items shoved behind former receptionists’ desks, the abandoned rooms lit by one or two overhead lights that had stubbornly refused to go out.
“What do you think this place is?” Kaitlyn asked.
“Fecking creepy,” I said. “That’s what.”
We quickly angled away from the abandon sections.
People walked along the halls with us, a mix of gray scrubs, decent suits, and fully decked-out soldiers. Every now and again we found a group huddled in discussion, but for the most part people passed each other without so much as a word or a glance.
It was early evening by the time we’d finished wandering the halls. Kaitlyn plopped down on the bed, then decided it seemed safe enough to lie back. Within minutes, she was asleep.
I sat in the recliner and let myself fade in and out throughout the night, waking up at odd sounds every now and again. I would need solid sleep at one point. A meal would have been nice too. I wondered when Kaitlyn had eaten last.
5:00.
6:00.
Minutes rolled into hours, pushing into morning. I took a shower while Kaitlyn slept, leaving the door open so I could hear.
“I’m awake,” she said as I was finishing up.
It sounded like she was still on the bed.
“Don’t open your eyes and you won’t be shocked,” I said.
I dried, dressed, and returned to the recliner.
“Any particular reason you couldn’t shower in your room? Or with the door shut?” she asked.
“This is my room,” I said.
“Oh. Did you leave any hot water?”
“I’m sure I did. Go and indulge. I’ll wait here.”
“That’s not creepy at all,” she said.
“My room,” I reminded her.
She yawned, rubbed her face, and got up. Her hair was down, a mess of curls reaching out in every direction. As she passed me on the way to the shower, I could feel myself drifting off again. My worn muscles pulled at me, the weight like lead. Eight hours would be so good. Even thirty minutes would be—
A knock.
I jerked, almost falling out of the recliner.
“Well?” I yelled, walking to the
door.
“New warrant cards,” said a muffled voice.
I opened the door.
“Bernard,” I said.
“Mr. Quinn. You know Dr. Henderson has her own room,” he said, nodding toward the suite beside mine.
“I didn’t,” I said. “Anyway, I have to protect my asset.”
Bernard smiled.
“The new cards give you extended access to this base. Only this base. Dr. Henderson will be able to access whatever onsite facilities she needs—as well as her own room—and you have all the clearance of a fully instated agent while you’re here.”
I took the cards.
“I will remind you, you are on a schedule,” Bernard said.
“I haven’t forgotten,” I said.
“And for your end of the bargain?”
I told Bernard where to find Rian, then shut the door.
*****
4 November 2042, Birmingham, GDI Headquarters, Former U.S.
Territory
I gave Kaitlyn her samples and we walked to the sixth floor, where Bernard had said the BSL-4 lab was. It was apparently GDI’s addition to the original hospital. It looked to be no more than a couple of years old.
Kaitlyn took the samples into a sealed-off room. I stood at the large window that overlooked the lab and waited. I started getting nervous about thirty minutes in. I paced, but that didn’t help.
Finally, Kaitlyn appeared in the window in an orange space suit with all kinds of hoses plugged into it. She gave me a thumbs-up, then a shooing motion. I waited until she turned around, then headed back to my room for a little sleep. I knew her work would take a while.
24
4 November 2042, Birmingham, GDI Headquarters, Former U.S.
Territory
I wasn’t sure how long I’d slept. A banging on the door woke me up. I rose, slower than I would have liked, and opened the door.
“You told me to get you when I was done up there,” Kaitlyn said, a little unsure. Her sweaty hair was stuck to her forehead, like she’d spent hours in a sauna.
“I did,” I said, my voice thick. I cleared my throat and said again, “I did.”
“Well, I’m done. I might have found something, but I can work through most of it in a BSL-2. Did you want to come?”
“Are you afraid someone will kill you if they don’t have to spend the better part of an hour putting on a protective spacesuit first?” I asked.
“Sure,” she said.
So I followed her to one of the labs on the fourth floor, which had fewer security precautions than the BSL-4. I took a seat in the corner and leaned my head against the wall.
“What did you find?” I asked. “And before you answer, think like a five-year-old.”
“I might have found a way to suppress the virus long enough to get blood samples from Felix. The tissue from your finger and tissue from Dr. Esposito shows a mutation in the virus as it passes from the original host to a new one, although technically I don’t have a sample size substantial enough to back that hypothesis. Just sort of going with what I’ve got, right now. Anyway, since the viral incubation to death ratio seems to be much, much faster in Felix’s victims than in Felix, a consistent mutation as the cause seems likely.”
“Right,” I said. “Now I remember what happened last time I asked you to explain something like I was five.”
“Virus very deadly in Felix, sphincter-clenchingly deadly in anyone he touches.”
“And you want to suppress it long enough to get a blood sample from him,” I said, sitting up straight.
“Yes, so I can have traces of the original virus, as it’s active. What I found in your finger—which had more of your DNA than Felix’s—was extremely weakened and most of the virus cells were already breaking down.”
“Sorry, I … I can’t get past the point where it sounds like you want to make Felix more dangerous than he currently is. Which is a lot.”
“You can keep him under control. And it’s very temporary. His DNA, his body, it’ll still break down, just at a slower rate.”
“I don’t like this,” I said.
“I don’t know of another way to get a pure sample of the virus,” she said, then continued working without another word.
I leaned back again and closed my eyes.
Several hours passed. I thought of all the ways I could use Felix, all the contingencies for a plan that had not been terribly well thought out to begin with.
“How close are you, Kaitlyn?” I asked, a little annoyed. When she’d said she found something, I thought she meant she had this something ready.
“Hours? A day, maybe,” she said.
“So not terribly close, then.” I was trying not to worry about what would happen if I couldn’t control Felix. He’d only fought through once, true, and it was while I was under extreme stress but … I doubted that meant he couldn’t do it again. “Kaitlyn … it would help a great deal if you could convince Felix to work with us.”
Kaitlyn turned away from her work to look at me.
“You made him kill one his closest friends,” she said.
“Seth was trying to kill me, to kill us,” I said.
“And Dr. Esposito. Who else have you used Felix to kill?”
“Only two other people, I think,” I said. Or three, maybe, but I kept that to myself.
“Only two other people,” Kaitlyn repeated.
“It’ll be easier if Felix isn’t fighting me. We need to work together until this is done. He might actually listen to you, so just tell him anything he wants to hear.”
“Yeah,” she said, and turned back to her work. By the time she added, “All right,” she sounded even less convinced.
“Kaitlyn, is this going to be a problem?”
“I don’t like lying. I’m not very good at it.”
“I don’t like responsibility, but here I am.” She looked at me but didn’t say anything. I added, “You do realize I have the real-world experience of a ten-year-old, if that. Everything I know is because Felix knows it.”
“Ah. And since you’re a man, you’re only half that mature. I see, now. That explains why you want me to talk to you like a five-year-old.”
As we stared at each other the corners of her mouth moved briefly upward before she forced them back down.
“Ah, Kaitie, love,” I said, my own smile not at all suppressed. “You made a wee joke.”
She laughed. It was a wonderful sound. She needed to do it more often.
“You seem to be handling life in the world okay for all your inexperience,” she said after a while.
“It’s like …” How the feck to explain a thing like this? “It’s like watching a film or a program. I watch and learn and pick up social norms and the like, but as you saw when we first met, there’s a learning curve when I’m actually in the driver’s seat.”
“Rusty motor skills,” she said.
I shrugged and leaned my head against the wall, letting Kait get back to it. I was in and out while she worked. I got us some food at one point. If I sat too long, I’d fall asleep. Brinly would arrive tonight after making her report to Olwen. As far as Bernard knew, she was my agent, not Rian’s. Or Truepenny’s for that matter. And if she was mine, she was GDI’s.
While here, she could check on the virus that she’d uploaded, make sure it had done its job and wiped all the info GDI had on Kazic. Without setting off any alarms. We weren’t dead yet, which meant no one knew. That was a good sign.
“I think this is it,” Kaitlyn said after an hour or so of my post-food, on and off dozing. “It’s done.”
“Are you sure? How do you know it won’t kill me?”
“Oh, everything has its risks,” she teased.
She walked over, ready to inject me with her magic science potion. My stomach did something I couldn’t name. My palms were sweating again.
“Hang on. Is it absolutely certain you are that this is going to work?” I asked. It was fear, that feeling. A bit of life or deat
h panic that got me out of the chair.
“Conor,” she said. “This will work. Now sit down.”
I sat. On the very edge of the seat, but I sat.
She tied my arm off, pumped my vein, and said, “Bring Felix out.”
“Do you have more durable gloves?” I asked, not sure now who I was most scared for.
“I’m wearing three pairs,” she said. “Now switch.”
I took a deep breath. It sounded ragged.
I called to Felix and left myself drift away.
*****
Don’t move, Felix. Don’t even breathe.
Conor’s voice came just before the tiny pinch of a needle in my upper arm. Took everything I had to hold still. The full-body pain eased. I sagged in the chair, breathing hard. Noticed the tourniquet around my bicep. Then the questions began to flood my mind, bringing on a wave of adrenaline and fear. How long?
I tried to calm myself, digging my fingers into my palms and focusing on the pressure. And then I caught sight of my right hand. I stared at it for a long time, the wiggling nub where my pinky had been. Looked like it had happened months ago. Months …
How long?
How long was I gone?
A sound escaped me. One I didn’t want to define.
I felt lost. I’d lost time, part of my life. I looked around. Was I back in Kaitlyn’s lab? No. This was different. Machines, appliances on the counters I didn’t recognize. How long had it been? And where was here?
“Where am I? What’s going on?” I said.
“Felix?” Kaitlyn said, then almost breathed, “I can’t believe it worked.’
I knew it! Conor yelled. Tell her I heard that.
“Kaitlyn. Where are we?” I asked, reaching a hand out, ignoring Conor.
“Don’t,” she said, took a step back. “You’re still contagious. You can’t touch anyone, not skin on skin contact, not unless you want to kill them.”
