Terra Nova (The Variant Conspiracy Book 3)

by Christine Hart

  “There’s really no point in disguising ourselves this time. No one will be there. If the police have the place under surveillance and they’re ready to pounce, it won’t matter what we look like when we go in,” said Josh.

  “Is there any way to know if they’ve got someone watching the place?” said Cole.

  “Give me a minute.” Ilya listened to something none of us could see or hear. “Nah, there’s nobody out there, variant or cop. The street’s asleep.”

  “Gemma, you stay in the van. Jonah, guard her,” I said flatly.

  “I don’t need a babysitter. I’m only sixteen months younger than you. And Ilya.” Gemma’s mouth formed the petulant pout she always used to get her way.

  “You’re still a kid, barely eighteen.”

  “I’m old enough.” Gemma eyed Cole again. “Okay, if you’re so worried about bringing me in or leaving me alone, leave the strong guy here with me.”

  Cole opened his mouth to answer, but I raised my hand. “We need him to bust open the safe, if we find one. Jonah is plenty strong enough to take on anyone who comes near this van.” I smiled at him, as I realized I meant every word.

  Jonah grinned back at me. His eyes glowed a little.

  “Don’t leave the van. Either of you.” I squeezed past Gemma out the door. Cole considered Gemma sympathetically, but I shoved him forward.

  Melissa gave the street a quick scan and opened a portal. We walked through quickly. I went through last taking one last survey of the street.

  In a blink, I was inside the Evonatura sitting room. In the dark, I couldn’t properly ascertain just how badly the fire had damaged the structure. But the smells of charcoal and melted plastic were strong.

  “Start checking picture frames. And look for locked cabinet drawers or doors,” said Melissa, already peeking behind an abstract splash of color.

  I left the sitting room paintings to the taller guys. I wanted to seize my chance to see what was down the hall of offices on the other side of Evonatura’s lunchroom.

  The hallway smelled far less pungent than the rest of the office space. I took a deep breath as I walked.

  Three doors were ajar and I peered into the first office, an administrator’s room. A plain wood desk with a hutch took up the corner. A single guest chair sat on the other side. There were no pictures on the wall and no personal effects on the table.

  I moved on to the next office. It was almost exactly the same as the first, with a few variations. The hutch rested flat along the wall, not backed into a corner. There were two guest chairs.

  The last office was clearly Claude’s. A window displayed a courtyard hidden from the street. His chair was a tall leather number, padded for comfort. He did not have a hutch, but a long glass-on-wood executive desk with a simple blotter at the center.

  Two pictures hung on Claude’s wall, a panorama of London and a painted portrait of Claude in a suit, sitting in an armchair, hands clasped in a gesture of satisfied achievement. The painting was just the sort of thing a self-involved CEO would commission. I lifted it off the wall and punched through the stiff canvas. I dropped it when I my eyes registered a wall safe where the portrait had been.

  “Cole, get in here!” I called.

  Heavy footsteps plodded toward me down the hall.

  “You found it?” Cole gave a rare smile of delight.

  “What do you think?” I pointed at the metal door with a numbered knob.

  “Awesome.” Cole shoved his fingers in between the drywall and the edges of the safe. He pulled the huge heavy metal box out of the wall with a loud scrape. It moved as easily as if he picked up a box of crackers off a shelf.

  He placed the container on the carpeted floor, door side up, and punched the front of the safe with a calculated blow. The blow allowed Cole to peel off the damaged door like a sticker from a page. “Let’s see what Evonatura thinks is worth hiding.”

  The others came into Claude’s office. Someone flicked on the light. Cole upended the safe dumping its contents on the opulent executive desk.

  Several wads of currency rolled away and onto the ground. British Pounds. American Dollars. The largest roll was Euros. I hastily gathered up the money and stuffed it into my backpack.

  “Hey, now someone other than me can pick up the tab,” said Melissa, hand on her hip.

  Ilya sifted through the papers and envelopes on the desk. “We’ve got passports!”

  “How many? From where?” Faith closed the distance to the desk.

  “Hang on, let me gather them.” Ilya brushed a few envelopes to the ground and cast more papers aside. “Two American, two Canadian, four British, one German, and I think three Russian.”

  “Check the stamps. If we’re getting on a plane or a boat or anywhere they check passports, we’ll need to talk about where we were last, when, and why.” Josh picked up an American passport and opened it.

  Ilya picked up a Canadian passport and started flipping through it. “Denmark, April eighth, O-two. Back to Britain, April fourteenth. Korea, September twenty-second, O-seven. Back again on that one. The most recent stamp is for Athens, Greece on March tenth of this year. No stamp back in though.”

  “I’ve got the same thing except there’s an older set of stamps for the Ukraine in nineteen-ninety-eight.” Faith held up another American passport.

  Josh flipped through each of the Russian passports. He threw them down on the table and kicked the leg. “Each of these only has a single stamp from Athens.”

  “What’s the problem? We’ve got passports,” I said.

  “According to the stamps, these passports never left Greece back in March,” said Cole.

  “So how the hell are they here now?” Faith asked.

  Josh swept his hand above the scattered booklets. “It doesn’t matter! We can’t use them in London!”

  “I can get us to the Greek island of Santorini.” Melissa picked up a passport and turned it over in her hand.

  Josh gawked her. “How can you do that?”

  “I went on vacation there with my parents as a child. It was a long time ago, but I can probably get us there.”

  “I could kiss you!” blurted Josh.

  “Buy me dinner first,” said Melissa with a wry smile.

  “Grab the passports and let’s go,” said Cole.

  Back in the van, Jonah and Gemma had waited patiently. Josh got behind the wheel and we tore out of the lot.

  “Can we risk staying the night in London?” I asked.

  “If Rose and Sage are on the loose, they would have gotten as far from here as they could,” said Jonah.

  “If they were smart,” said Cole.

  “Take us back to Soho. If you feel like being a Chinese tour group again, at least we know of a crappy hostel with plenty of vacancy.”

  Chapter 13

  When we checked into our old hostel, I was relieved to find no sign of Rose, Sage, or any form of police investigation. I’d already convinced myself the harpy twins were strong enough to break free from their pipe cages when fully awake and properly motivated over a long enough period of time.

  I pictured them forcing the pipes apart and flying out the tiny window one after the other. The hostel staff would find twisted and bent copper piping and simply shake their heads, perhaps pondering the scrap value.

  After a fitful sleep, I woke covered in sweat and goose bumps. I saw images of Tatiana injecting Ivan, of his hateful red eyes, and of his hand caressing the steel canisters which would bring humanity to extinction.

  I recalled the bodies at Chatham Park—on the lawn, in the main hall, in the back garden. So much death. Their faces flickered through my mind. Jonah slept soundly next to me, naked and dead to the world. I hadn’t fully grown accustomed to waking up with him next to me, undoubtedly beca
use I hadn’t thought he’d ever be able to withstand prolonged contact.

  I slipped out of bed and pulled on my clothes in our chilly room, cold from the morning shade on our side of the building. I sat in the chair, rubbing my arms vigorously to warm up without having to wake Jonah. Just because I couldn’t sleep didn’t mean he shouldn’t get precious rest.

  “Come back to bed,” he muttered into the pillow, otherwise motionless under the covers.

  “I’m freezing. I had to get dressed.”

  “You’re supposed to let me keep you warm.” He lifted his head to smile at me. His disheveled wavy black hair and blue eyes held my gaze and my heart fluttered.

  “I had nightmares.” I crept back into bed fully dressed. I let Jonah spoon me. Heat radiated from his body and I felt that pull once more, in spite of my tense exhaustion. The hostel’s lumpy mattress and flat pillows were uncomfortable, but with Jonah wrapped around me I didn’t want to move.

  “What were the nightmares about? Regular dreams or real ones?”

  “I think it was my mind re-hashing the visions I had of Ivan in Nairobi blended with the carnage at Chatham Park. All those poor people. There were a few hints of the creature inside Ivan laced in there. I still remember the first time I saw its eyes, outside my motel room in Victoria. I feel like it’s been haunting me for years.”

  “What do you think it wants? If Ivan’s sick from the creature being inside him, does it crave blood or bone marrow? Maybe Ivan needs to study your genes or Ilya’s to perfect some kind of gene therapy.”

  “Awesome, Jonah. You’re really making me feel better.”

  “They’re not going to get anywhere near you. Between me and Cole and Josh, nobody will so much as touch you. Or Ilya for that matter.”

  “I can take care of myself, thanks.” I climbed out of bed again.

  He reached for me and I pushed him back telekinetically to prove my point.

  “I’m not trying to say you’re weak. I’m trying to remind you that you’ve got me to back you up.”

  I let my shoulders drop. I knew it wasn’t his style to dominate. I knew he would take a bullet for me, and I for him. “I know you’re trying to help, but nothing will get better until we’ve dealt with Ivan, Tatiana, and Terra Nova. I’ve a creepy sense we’re going to have to kill them. Do you go to hell for killing your father if he’s under the influence of an alien demon?”

  “If you’re saving an entire sentient species, it ought to keep you from eternal damnation. Not that I think there is such a thing.”

  “Either way, the decision is pretty much made, so I should brace myself for whatever consequences come.”

  “Why don’t we grab the others and go for breakfast?”

  Back under Ilya’s illusion that we were Chinese students, we met on the street in front of the Berwick’s stairwell. We agreed on The Lazy Toad again.

  The pub was only half-full of patrons, so we got seated and served quickly. We wolfed down our traditional breakfasts in record time.

  Faith adjusted her eyebrow ring. “So what’s our game plan once we arrive in Crete, Melissa?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I’m going to put us on a hillside just outside a town called Fira. I don’t remember the streets well enough to know where the alleys and corners and parks or any other hidden spots will be. And it’s been about twenty years, so a lot could have changed.”

  “What if the hillside is a suburb now?” Josh gulped on a mug of coffee.

  “I tested the spot briefly last night. It was dark, but the area looks like it’s still pretty open.”

  “Can we leave right away?” I said.

  “It would be safer to wait for the cover of night,” said Josh, lifting his eyebrows.

  “There’s no time to waste. Ivan and Tatiana aren’t waiting,” said Cole, also downing coffee.

  Gemma watched everyone carefully, surprisingly thoughtful, and silent.

  “Jinhua certainly isn’t waiting. That air current full of poison is devastating, but it won’t be enough to affect the global climate as quickly as they want. More will come, from points around the world,” said Jonah, his face grim.

  “It’s too bad we don’t have Adelaide to question about what Evonatura could have up their sleeve.” Faith studied the ceiling for inspiration as she stretched.

  “Have you been able to get any more concrete project objectives from The Compendium files?” Josh asked Melissa.

  “Those Jinhua Energy assholes have four coal refineries scattered across northern China. Those facilities have an ongoing assignment to produce poorly refined coal, the effect of which is to increase emissions over time. No mega disaster event potential there.” Faith sounded so cold discussing engineered environmental decay.

  “I found an Evonatura subsidiary with offices in Turkey and Syria. They’re working on something like the fracking earthquake technology, only their machine causes sandstorms. There are test results measuring wind velocity and displacement of top soil.” Melissa sipped her tea carefully.

  “Sons of bitches,” said Cole under his breath.

  Faith took a deep breath. Her dark eyeliner gave a hint of malevolence to the already frightening information. “Innoviro had subsidiaries as well, throughout California and the southern US. Everything from power plants and waste processing facilities to industrial agriculture and silviculture farms, probably all of which are doing business as usual even with Innoviro leadership in the wind. Some of those facilities could have ‘accidents’ with huge environmental impact, but I never found any timelines or future projects.”

  “There’s more, but it’s going to take time to really make sense of the data. It’s organized, but the documents are long and wordy.” Melissa blotted her lips gently with a napkin. “Without big picture information from Compendium architects, it’s like putting together a ten-thousand-piece puzzle.”

  “Then we get back on the road from Greece as quickly as possible.” Cole crumpled his napkin to a pile of crumbs.

  Gemma’s eyes widened briefly and she opened her mouth. Cole glanced at her and then back at the paper bits on the table. They both flushed for a second.

  Melissa crossed her arms with a satisfied air. “It won’t be a road per-say. I found a ferry from Santorini to Heraklion on Crete. From there, we can buy airfare to Cairo. From Cairo, we should be able to get a direct flight to Nairobi.”

  “Remind me to take you out for that dinner someday.” Josh smiled at Melissa.

  She returned the smile and then turned away. “Who’s got the British pounds? My credit card needs a break.”

  “You bet. I’ve got you covered.” I jumped up and paid our server at the bar.

  The alley beside The Lazy Toad smelled as foul as the one next to The Incinerator, but it was a bittersweet odor with the anticipation of our journey at hand.

  Melissa opened a portal and I paused to watch it. The swirling silver oval gave off no light, but it imitated liquid metal.

  Faith, Ilya, and the others plunged through the silver pool. I lingered. I wanted one more vision to show me we were on the right path. I hesitated, thinking I should see past Ivan’s arrival in Nairobi. If I concentrated hard enough, would I see the outcome of our sacrifice and peril? I saw nothing but black behind my eyelids, so I stepped through the portal.

  A torrent of dust and sand engulfed me immediately in coarse brown curtains filling the air. I tried to open my eyes. Sand burned my skin and choked me. I walked forward. My foot hit something hard, knocking me off balance. My backpack lurched against my shoulders. I hit the ground, face first.

  Chapter 14

  The sandstorm beat my body. I choked. The air whooshed from my lungs. I curled my arms around my head, shielding my face. I cupped my hands around my mouth, desperate for a space to breathe.

  A
large hand grabbed my arm, yanking me to my feet. Jonah opened his jacket, enveloped me, and put his lips to my ear. His voice rose over the screeching wind and he said, “Something went wrong.”

  “You think?” I shouted back.

  “We have to find Melissa to get out of here. Cole has your sister. Ilya and Faith are here too, but we haven’t located Melissa or Josh.”

  “We need to find shelter first and wait out the storm.” Jonah lifted his jacket enough for me to see Cole with his arms wrapped around Gemma. Ilya had his shirt up over his mouth and nose. Faith had pulled her dreadlocks around her face like a veil.

  “Irina thinks we should find shelter and wait out the storm,” Jonah yelled to the group.

  “Bad plan,” Cole yelled back. “The storm could last for hours. Melissa and Josh could get a long way from here in that time.”

  “Can’t you hear them?” I yelled at Ilya.

  He shook his head and yelled back at me. “No better than you can ‘see’ them!”

  “Try again! Concentrate!” Faith shouted at Ilya.

  “Wait, I have an idea,” I blurted.

  I closed my eyes to focus and burrowed into Jonah’s jacket to escape the storm. I pictured the sand stopping mid-air and dropping to the ground, dust and all. I pictured us inside a bubble of calm air, like a glass dome popped up around us in the swirling mass of loose dirt. The crackling chaos around us went silent.

  “Irina!” yelled Ilya, way too loudly.

  “Nicely done!” said Faith.

  I came out from inside Jonah’s jacket and I saw the reality of what my telekinetic ability had produced.

  There was no glass dome. Not all the sand had been pushed away. It was like being inside a beige snow globe. Granules of dirt and dust floated as though moving inside liquid.