Catalyst (Book 3): Ghost Country

by Franks, JK

  “Love you, too.”

  They kissed again. She held him at arm’s length, giving him a visual once-over. “You don’t look good, hon, you’ve lost a lot of weight.”

  “I’m fine,” he said wearily. “Just tired, put in a lot of miles.”

  “Finish being a hero then meet me down in medical. I want to draw some blood. And who was the attractive woman you brought back? Is this some habit with you that I should be aware of?”

  He shook his head and laughed, “They just needed….” he stopped realizing she got it. She was just jerking his chain. “So, tell me, woman—how do you know about the bomb?”

  She shrugged, “I have lived and breathed military for the last two years, you pick up some things. Besides, we have had to look at all contingency plans for controlling the spread.”

  He kissed her again, “Ok, I want to check in with the others, see how the attack went. I’ll see you in a few.”

  Todd and DeVonte accompanied him first to the radio room where Bobby updated them on the attack on the camp. “So, no signs of survivors?”

  Bobby shook his head, “That thing was a monster. Biggest conventional bomb in the world. There is literally no sign of the camp.”

  Scott nodded, “That’s good, I guess. I mean I hate it for those people, but that would have sped up the infection reaching us by months. Did you tell the Simpsons?” He was looking at Bobby.

  “They know,” he said sadly. “They are devastated, not just about Tre―they all had friends or family that had been taken to that camp.”

  The bile rose in his throat as the hatred Scott had for the president and her troops kept growing. He hated everything about these camps. So many lives lost, so many families ripped apart. There was nothing more he could do for now, but increasingly, all he wanted was vengeance. “Guys, where do we stand on repairs?”

  They all began to grin. “So, you haven’t talked to Tahir yet,” Todd said. “That little guy is amazing. The ship is well on her way back to fully functional. Wastewater recycling is down, along with a handful of other systems, but most of the major stuff―done! It works, Scott. In fact, in just a couple of weeks, we could take it out for a shake-down cruise…except...”

  “Except you need fuel. Right?”

  “Yeah. We really need Bartos for that,” DeVonte said.

  “He’s going to need some time. The Cajun is pretty banged up right now. Crazy bastard is lucky to even be alive. I’m heading down to the clinic and get checked out, but thank you, guys, for everything. I’m serious―you guys rock.”

  “Hey, Bro,” Bobby said. “That was a nice thing you did, staying out there. Not giving up on him.”

  Scott shrugged, “I didn’t do anything, hell, he all but saved himself….as usual.”

  Bobby nodded and smiled, “Still...”

  Scott gave a nod, he got it. We don’t abandon family, was the unspoken message. Bartos was family.

  “Hey, Uncle Scott,” Kaylie gave him a quick hug as he entered the clinic. She was starting an IV on Bartos who was sleeping away on the cot.

  “Jeeze, what did you give him to knock him out?”

  She was inserting the needle into a vein in his arm. “Him? Nothing, he just laid down and went to sleep. Not sure he’d gotten much rest out there. Multiple injuries, dehydration, cuts and hundreds of bug-bites.” She gave a tiny laugh. “Most men would be dead, but knowing him, he’ll probably be back to 100% by tomorrow.”

  “Kaylie, I brought back a mother and daughter, too. I’d appreciate it if you could check them as well. Severe malnutrition but could be more. They don’t talk much.”

  Gia walked in, lab coat and mask on. She was back in business mode. “God, I should have made you shower first. You really smell.” She removed Scott’s shirt and checked him out. She pulled a syringe from her lab coat and drew a few vials of blood and then had Kaylie take blood pressure and temps. “Scott, how far away from the labor camp were you? The one the Navy attacked.”

  The question sent chills through him. Am I infected? Have I just brought the damn disease here and contaminated the AG? At the same time, another voice whispered inside his head, Don’t be a pussy, stop acting afraid. “Um…I guess the closest I got would have been forty miles or so, but that was before the attack. I was sixty…or maybe seventy away when it all went down. Why?”

  She ignored the question. Damn, his future wife had no bedside manner. Probably best she didn’t work with humans. She looked over the chart adding a few things.

  “Any nausea?”

  “Yes, some.”

  “Bowel movements?”

  “Really…no, I mean, yes. I think.”

  “Headaches?”

  It went on until she asked, “Favorite color?”

  He smiled, “Blue―no, yellow.”

  “Off you go,” she said smiling.

  “To the bridge of death,” he replied, quoting from the scene in an old Monty Python movie.

  Kaylie just looked perplexed.

  Scott questioned, “Is anything wrong, Gia? I mean, I know I was out there a while, and I lost a little weight, but I feel fine.”

  “I’m sure you are, love,” she said, now, fully back as the love of his life. “I just want to make sure. Have to keep you alive until the wedding at least.”

  She gave him a quick peck. “Some of your stats are a bit off, and you have some bruising around your back and stomach. Probably nothing, but I’ll want to check you out again. For now, though, just go get a shower.”

  Kaylie echoed the instructions, holding her nose as she did so.

  “Gladly, and love you both, but y'all are horrible doctors. Try not to kill Bartos, it would upset Solo.”

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Despite Bartos’ resilience, Scott beat him by several days recovering and resuming his normal duties. Bartos ambled around the ship for days with an arm in a sling and a crutch. Todd mocked him for being a baby. Jack was somewhat more sympathetic. “Jesus, man, I thought you were tougher than this―you going soft? Getting captured by NSF mercs….what’s next?”

  “Screw you.”

  “What about those farmers, a couple were down in the infirmary with me, not talking much. All the rest get here ok?”

  Jack nodded, “Yeah, I am sticking around a few more days just to keep an eye on ‘em. They were treated bad….really bad. Honestly, I think they all want to go kill as many of the black-clad bastards as they can. We have most of ‘em housed out at the old Harrison place. Figured they would prefer to be on a farm for now. Plus, all the stuff we brought down is there. Except for the supplies, of course, they are already in the ship’s hold. Angelique and Ms. Mahalia are having some canning and freezing parties trying to put up as much of the fresh stuff as they can.”

  “Good…good,” Bartos said. “Farmers are a tough lot, I’m sure it bugs the shit out of ‘em – what happened. Do you think they’ll leave with us? I mean, when the AG sets sail?”

  “If it gets as bad as Scott and Skybox say….shit, yeah. Hell, everyone is going to want on this boat. Before then, though, you gotta get back into the diesel making business.”

  Bartos knew that. He’d already been out to the refinery site twice in the time he’d been back. “I know, I know. I have Scoots and a few of the Navy people picking up waste oil now. If I can get this arm working again, we’ll be back in business.”

  “What can I do to help?” Jack asked. “I’ll be heading out again in a few days. What should I be looking for?”

  Skybox was with Ghost and Solo when Scott found them. Seeing Tommy up close like this was still unnerving. The man could stand like a statue and then move with such fluid animation as to seem inhuman.

  “What’s up, Scott?”

  “I talked to Bartos, he agreed to keep the meeting you had with those other guys quiet for now.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I haven’t mentioned it either, but I don’t like keeping secrets from my friends, my fiancée. Especially when it involv
es our future. Can you give me some idea of what’s going on?”

  Skybox sat down on the grass, idly throwing a ball for Solo to catch and occasionally bring back. “I’m sorry, Scott, but no. Not really, just please understand that we are a country at war, and the line between friend and foe isn’t that clear yet.”

  “But those guys were your friends?”

  “They are my fellow soldiers. We are all Praetorian Guards. That is not the same as friends. We have orders that seem to be in opposition at the moment.”

  “So, you didn’t tell them about us?”

  “No,” he looked at Scott with a look that was hard to read. “Honestly, they didn’t even bother asking, they knew I wouldn’t reveal it.”

  Scott understood Skybox’s reluctance to discuss it, but the whole situation was so unusual he couldn’t let it go. “So, they didn’t tell you anything? Nothing about their orders or who was giving them?”

  The other man threw the ball again, Solo turned and sprinted off after it. “We talked, Scott, that’s about all I can say. They may not be our allies, not yet, but I don’t think they are the enemy…not the real enemy at least.”

  Scott wasn’t ready to give up, he knew his friend wasn’t telling him something. He glanced up at Tommy stoically facing out across the grassland. Skybox felt a deep loyalty to the Guard, he knew that. It likely ran much deeper than the friendship they had developed, but Skybox had put himself in danger when he squared off against those men. “Sky, I get it…I think. Never been in the military, but my dad was, Todd was. I know there is a brotherhood there, a bond that you won’t break. Someone is imprisoning Americans without cause and using them as forced labor. When they are threatened, they are using a bio-weapon on these same innocent civilians. Do you know who this is, and do you have a plan to stop it?”

  Skybox looked at Tommy, Scott realized they were making eye contact. Tommy was staring back at Sky; he wasn’t sure what was passing between them, but they were communicating on some level. Skybox nodded and stood, giving Solo a quick scratch behind the ears. “Working on it, Scott.”

  Scott stared blankly at the tablet trying again to makes something appear that wasn’t there. The food supplies had dramatically improved, but there was still a problem. The figures in the table he had gotten from Angel left no doubt the AG would need more supplies to be able to leave for any significant length of time.

  “We gots a problem, Boss.” DeVonte walked into the ship’s cabin Scott used as an office and flopped down into one of the floral covered chairs opposite the desk.

  “I don’t have time for problems.”

  “This one is serious, Scott, a girl done gone missin.”

  Scott slowly lowered the tablet he was holding to the desk and gave the boy his full attention. “Who is it, and what do we know?”

  “It’s one of Kaylie’s friends, Diana. You know, kinda short, blonde hair.”

  Scott nodded, he knew her. She was the daughter of one of Todd’s friends. Her parents didn’t make it through the collapse, but she had proven to be a lot stronger than them. “I know her,” he said grimly. “What happened?”

  DeVonte gave a small shrug, “Well, you see, that’s just it. No one seems real sure. She just wasn’t where she was supposed to be. She’s been working most days over at the Harrison place with the farmers. Didn’t show up yesterday, and she wasn’t in her cabin. Angel said she hasn’t been in for any meals in a couple of days.

  The Harrison’s was one of many old farms that had been supported by the community in exchange for food. No one with any lineage to the original owners remained, but it would forever be known as the Harrison’s. Jack had set it up as a kind of hub for the rescued farmers. They bitched and complained about the sandy soil and how much worse it was than Yokena, but damn if they weren’t plowing and planting before that first week was done.

  “Well, shit,” Scott said. The community lacked any sort of police force other than Bartos and Skybox when he was around. After the Messengers’ battle, they had spent a month or two using deputized search parties going after the few survivors who had escaped the storm. One small group turned out to be Marauders. The ruthless bastards who had been second only to the Judges in the levels of cruelty they dispensed. The Messengers’ ‘Army of God’ were all a murderous bunch, but they had been rounded up and dealt with. After that, things had calmed down around Harris Springs. Yeah, they had the occasional fights and disagreements, but those rarely needed any law enforcement. “So, who was the last to see her?”

  “Scott…we got this. Bartos just wanted me to make sure you were aware. They are working it as a missing person. Nothing sinister here…at least not yet. One of the Navy guys here is an MA, and he’s helping out.”

  Scott nodded, MAs in the Navy were Masters-at-arms; basically, they were the law enforcement guys in the service. “That’s helpful, please let Garret know I appreciate that. Keep me posted on it, ok?”

  “Course I will. BTW, Scott, I was wrong.”

  Scott’s eyebrow raised slightly.

  “You remember when I said you getting laid would help you be less grumpy? Yeah…I was totally wrong on that.”

  “DeVonte.”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Get the fuck out.”

  The kid got up grinning and put his hand up, “Sorry, man, sorry. Just call it like I sees it.”

  Scott buried his face in the palms of his hands. “This job really sucks.”

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  DJ looked at his mentor confused. “But…but all of this work on the Archaea, are you saying that it was all for nothing?”

  “DJ,“ Dr. Gia Colton said, watching for Tahir’s reaction as well. “You can’t study life, especially microbial life without studying death as well. Our planet has had at least five major extinctions so far. It is a self-correcting eco-system. We hear about the one that killed the dinosaurs, a massive asteroid impact, but there are lots of others, some many times bigger. The largest to ever occur on Earth, the end-Permian mass extinction, or ‘The Great Dying,’ is described as the most severe biodiversity crisis in Earth history. It alone wiped out 95% of marine life and 70% of life on land about 252 million years ago.

  “Keep in mind the simple fact that 99.9% of all life before us, all life that ever was on this planet, is now gone…extinct. There is a cycle to life itself, it begins, evolves, adapts and then dies. Even humans. You’ve both heard of LUCA?”

  Tahir spoke softly, almost reverently, “Life’s Universal Common Ancestor.”

  “Yes. Where did we come from, what genesis separated itself from chemistry to become life? This primitive cell was something more, something amazing.”

  “This would predate the Archaea then,” DJ said questioningly.

  Instead of a direct answer, she said, “If you could send your DNA off to be traced back to the very beginning, not just human evolution, that would only be a few hundred thousand years, but back to the very beginning, you would discover LUCA. Yes, Archaea would show up in our past, but that would not be at the beginning. It is one of the six kingdoms, one of only two without a nuclei. It's not a plant or an animal, so what is it?

  “Life,” said Tahir.

  She sat on the edge of her desk looking very much the part of the beautiful college professor. “Why are we here? How long do we have? Can we survive?

  Gentlemen, you see, life is way more complex than we know. For billions of years, it has been an endless series of adaptations, test and fail, success and mutate. The process is constantly building a better lifeform. We argue whether a virus is a lifeform like that is really a question. We can’t look at complex biochemistry and separate out what is life and what is not. From LUCA to now, the process has been one of constant adaptation.

  “Humans are the sum of all that has come before, but…we are not the end. We will also face an end. Perhaps we are already facing it. There is a rather controversial field of study called dysgenics which reveals that humans may have peaked already on
the evolutionary chart. We may even be devolving, getting increasingly less intelligent, not more. Our comfortable existence, man’s ability to adapt his environment to supply, not just his needs, but his wants, has made us not just soft but dumb. If true, the simple fact that less intelligent people tend to reproduce in greater numbers than more intelligent people will inevitably cause the decline to increase.”

  “So, how does all that fit into this…into the Chimera?” Tahir asked.

  She moved to the board and began to draw. “Hidden inside all of us is inactive genetic material that, if we knew how to activate it, could radically alter us as humans. We know, in fact, that all humans carry a secondary DNA called an i-motif. It looks nothing like the typical double-helix, behaves completely different and is nearly impossible to study—so what does it do? Why is it there?”

  “A relic, just a vestigial artifact, like wisdom teeth,” DJ offered.

  Gia tapped the marker against her teeth making a clicking noise. “So, something that was essential to humans at some point but is no longer needed?”

  “Yes,” DJ said triumphantly.

  “No,” she said flatly, deflating her brightest researcher.

  “Tahir, are you familiar with the MAOA gene?”

  The young man thought briefly but shook his head.

  DJ spoke up, “The Psycho gene.”

  Gia frowned. “That…is one name for it―the ‘Warrior’ gene is another. It was discovered years ago and suspected long before its existence was proved. It is one factor in contributing to the aggressiveness in humans. What makes some people great fighters, or, if you take it to the extreme, even callous murderers. Perhaps it is biology as much as anything. Originally, we thought it was a mutation, an aberration and quite rare. After all, most people don’t go around beating other people to death. Imagine our surprise when we found that all of us, 100% of humans, carry the MAOA mutation. What is different is how that gene is expressed, at what levels and also the interplay with other genetic factors.”