by Jamie Davis
“This is Dr. Alison Nboto, Kurt. She is a liaison to the GEU as part of our infectious disease containment division. She’s from the CDC. She will be heading up this briefing. It was her and her superiors who asked us to facilitate the opportunity to meet with you.“
“No problem,” Kurt said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Nboto. If you don’t mind me asking, when are you due?”
The woman didn’t crack a smile. “I do mind you asking. It’s none of your business. I’m here to find out if you’re the right man for a particularly sensitive job we have. I don’t have time for small talk.”
Kurt realized despite Jeff’s openness and friendliness, Dr. Nboto was all business.
“Well, then, I guess we should get this meeting going,” Kurt said. “Jeff, I don’t suppose we could maybe get some coffee. I left my place in a hurry this morning and didn’t have time to get anything because of rush hour traffic.”
“Oh, yes of course. Shareen, why don’t you go and get us each a coffee. Dr. Nboto, would you care for anything?”
“No thank you. I am fine with a drink from the water cooler over in the corner.”
“Very well, then,” Jeff said. He turned back to Shareen. “So that’s two coffees and whatever you care to have.” Shareen got up. Judging from the way she glared at Kurt, he was likely going to pay for this at some point in the future. That didn’t matter now, of course. Right now, he enjoyed every minute of making her fetch him coffee.
Kurt turned his attention back to Dr. Nboto. “So, you’re with the CDC. I suppose the Centers for Disease Control have some reason for needing me to do a job for them?”
“That’s correct, Mr. Carter. We compiled a list of parameters for an urgent task. The computer kicked out three names. One of them is dead, the other is currently off-world and unreachable, and then there’s you.”
“I don’t suppose you tell me where I fell in that order. Was I the first person to come out of the list or the third?”
“The question is irrelevant as we are here talking to you now. As far as we’re concerned you’re now first on the list.“
“Alright,” Kurt said. “So what does the CDC want with me?”
“Before we get to that,” the doctor said. “I’d like to verify a few things with you. According to our records, you have extensive training in various types of isolation equipment. Is that true?”
“If by isolation equipment you mean training with hazmat suits then yeah. My special-ops team all received extensive training in that gear while we were in the service. Honestly, if that’s all you need, any old former special-ops person would fit the bill. Why do you need me?”
“Also according to our records, you have some magical abilities and have exhibited both offensive and defensive magic use during operations.” She looked at him with one eyebrow raised, turning the statement into a question requiring a response.
“Yes, that is also true. Look, if you already have my military records in front of you, you don’t need me to answer these questions. You know the answers already. Why don’t we cut to the chase? What do you need me to do?”
“One thing at a time, Kurt,” Jeff said. “Dr. Nboto here is curious about your past and present endeavors. That is why we brought Captain Henderson in on this meeting. We found that she had had interactions with you in the past and wanted to get a sense from her of your character and specific abilities.”
“I’m surprised she recommended me so highly,” Kurt said with a laugh.
Dr. Nboto shook her head. “Actually, she was quite adamant that you were the most ill-suited person for this endeavor. However, your records don’t lie. That coupled with a recommendation from one of my more unconventional resources tells me that you are the person who can best help us solve our particular problem.”
Unconventional resources sounded a lot like her contacts in the Elven community. Kurt knew he was somewhat well known for his work transporting and delivering people and items through gates. His occasional magic and technology supplier, Jonesey, was quite open about her recommendations of him to her colleagues. Clearly, that recommendation had filtered up to Dr. Nboto.
“You keep talking about your particular endeavor and the problem you need solved. I could do a lot more to answer your questions if I knew what you were talking about.”
Dr. Nboto opened her mouth to speak but closed it when Shareen came in carrying a tray with two mugs, a small bowl of individual coffee creamers, and a separate container with different types of sweeteners.
“Why, thank you, Shareen,” Kurt said with a smile lifting one of the mugs from the tray as she walked by.
She glared at him as she set the tray down at the end of the table near her boss. Jeff reached out and grabbed a creamer and a couple of sugar packets and slid the tray over to Kurt for him to take what he needed to make up his coffee. Kurt smiled and took his time, stirring in both creamer and some artificial sweetener. Shareen glared at him the entire time.
“Dr. Nboto, here, was just telling me that you didn’t have a particularly good recommendation for me, Shareen. I have to wonder what you have against me?”
“You know damn well what I have against you, Kurt Carter,” Shareen snapped. “You’ve avoided getting caught smuggling illegal items so far, but you’re not going to be able to get away with it forever. One of these days I’m going to catch you dealing in a black market transport. When I do, I’m going to make sure they throw the book at you.”
“That is enough, Captain Henderson.” Jeff stood and leaned over the conference table, glaring at the GEU officer. “Mr. Carter is our guest at the present moment, he is not a suspect in any current investigation. You will treat him as our guest until such a time as his status changes.”
Kurt didn’t quite like the sound of that last bit, but it was fun watching Shareen get dressed down by her boss again. He decided another smile would be too much, even for her, Kurt returned his attention to the pregnant doctor.
“Look, Doctor, I don’t know what it is you want me to do and I can’t tell you if it’s something I’m capable of doing until you fill me in on what exactly the job is.”
“There is a sensitive matter on a gateway world that is an exact alternate analog of Earth Prime. This world was originally opened up for settlement and homesteading by people here. There have been, however, some complications over the intervening ten years requiring constant biological surveillance. We’ve been unable to solve those problems until very recently. Now that we have, we need you to help us put the solution into place.”
“You’re talking around in circles again, Doc. So this is an Earth copy very similar to our own, perhaps almost exactly like our own in some ways. Yet, there’s a problem there, one of a medical nature. Am I correct so far?”
Doctor Nboto nodded.
“Good,” Kurt said. “If you don’t mind, I’ll keep going, then. You said there’s been a problem that cropped up since the settlers went through. This problem has been unsolved until recently. You’ve also asked me about my experience with hazardous materials and containment systems. For the third and final point, you are from the CDC. Let’s cut to the chase, Doc, shall we? You’ve got some sort of infectious outbreak going on and you’re trying to make sure it doesn’t spread here to Earth Prime. How am I doing so far?” Kurt asked.
Dr. Nboto stared at Kurt for a few, long seconds. It was almost as if she were searching his face for something. Finally, she nodded. “So far, your reasoning is sound.”
“Great, so what are we talking about here. Full blown plague or some kind of rampant STD?” Kurt laughed and continued. ”Did all the settlers suddenly come up with a raging case of drug-resistant syphilis?”
“This is no laughing matter, Mr. Carter.” Doctor Nboto’s voice was as cold as ice, shutting down Kurt’s laughter. “Thousands of people have died and it could still get far worse. What I need to know is, are you up to the task of transporting medical supplies of a particularly important nature from here to a
specialized CDC lab set up on the other side?”
“That depends. There’s something you’re not telling me, something important. I’m afraid that if you don’t fill me in on all the details, I can’t possibly take on this particular job.
“Not even if we take care of the blood debt you owe?” Doctor Nboto asked, holding Kurt’s gaze.
Kurt was taken aback by her knowledge of that particular situation. How had she found out about that? He didn’t think that would be in a file anywhere unless it was from Shareen. She might know about it from Clara, his ex-wife.
“Look, it’s true I do have a current situation going on between myself and a recreational club of motorcycle enthusiasts.”
Shareen laughed out loud. “The Hell’s Gate Clan is not what I would consider a club of motorcycle enthusiasts you idiot. Do you think we are fools, Kurt? Dr. Nboto knows all about the problems you’re dealing with.”
“So you’re offering to somehow settle my debt with the Hell’s Gaters? I haven’t been able to figure out exactly how to do that on my own, and it makes me wonder what you here in the government could possibly do that would be both legal and permanent.”
“I didn’t say the government would be the one solving your problem,” the doctor said. She gave him the barest hint of a smile. “You make assumptions where you do not know all the answers, Mr. Carter. There are other resources available to us than just the Federal government.”
Kurt’s thoughts ran through the possible meanings of what she said. If it wasn’t the government, then who could it be?” He didn’t think they’d deal with another criminal organization that might have some sort of feud with the Hell’s Gate Clan. That left only one other thing, the private sector.
“Sounds to me like the CDC has some sort of partnership going on with a company that has a vested interest in what goes on on the other side of this gateway?”
Dr. Nboto nodded and again gave the merest hint of a smile. “Very good, Mr. Carter. I didn’t think you’d make the connection quite so quickly. Let’s just say that there is a company that is willing to pay quite a bit of money to make sure this medical delivery gets from here to the CDC lab on the other side. They have their reasons for assisting us. You are coming along to ensure our delivery is made safely and that the report from the lab makes it back to the CDC here on Earth Prime.”
“And the name of this company is?” Kurt asked.
Jeff cleared his throat. “The name of the company is going to be left off the table for now. You’ll find out soon enough once further arrangements have been made. The question I have for you is what do you need to know to adequately prepare for the coming mission?”
“I don’t really know yet,” Kurt said. “The doctor here hasn’t told me anything other than there’s some kind of plague going on. There’s a lot of open variables in there that haven’t been adequately answered.“
“So ask your questions, Mr. Carter,” Doctor Nboto said. “I’ll answer the ones I can, but at the end of them, I’ll expect an answer from you on how quickly you can pull together the things you need for this particular mission.”
“Question number one: How far is it from the gate location in this other earth to the lab I need to travel to?”
The half-elf nodded and answered. “On foot, the distance is approximately seven to ten days.”
“What is the nature of this particular illness and what are its dangers to myself and anyone else I escort through the gateway?”
“We can vaccinate you and any of your colleagues that may join us. The challenge is making sure proper containment is maintained upon your return and your discretion about what you see on the other side.”
“What? Are there zombies on the other side or something?”
Dr. Nboto just stared at him, completely silent.
The uncomfortable silence lasted for nearly ten seconds before Kurt realized she wasn’t answering. He knew then why they were all being so circumspect about this problem.
“Freaking zombies? Are you kidding me? This changes everything. If there’s some sort of undead plague over there, then that means that most of the population on the other side, the hundreds of thousands of people you mentioned, aren’t just victims. They’re all likely infected and ready to eat my brains when I get there.”
The doctor nodded but said nothing.
Kurt noticed Shareen was smiling at him now. That wasn’t a good sign.
“Great, freaking zombies and I’ve got to outlast them for what, two to three weeks on a round trip while traveling through who knows what kind of country?”
“That is the mission, Kurt,” Jeff said. “Are you in, or are you out?”
Kurt weighed the options open to him as he stared at the wall behind Jeff’s head. After a few seconds, he made up his mind. The opportunity to end the blood debt with the Hell’s Gate Clan was too good to pass up.
“I’ll do it.”
“Excellent,” Jeff said. “See, Shareen, I told you we’d be able to get him to listen to reason.”
“You did, however, the mission isn’t a success yet. Kurt and his team might get killed before they make the delivery.”
“Hey,” Kurt objected. “You sound like you would like it if I didn’t return from the job or complete the mission.”
“Your point?” Shareen asked.
Kurt let it drop. He turned back to Jeff and Dr. Nboto. “I’ll need to know everything you know about the infected individuals on the other side including incubation time, transmission methods, and anything else you have on the terrain and available resources on the other side of the gateway.”
The doctor rose and gestured to the door. “If you’ll come with me, Mr. Carter, I have some videos to show you in my office that will give you a better idea of what you’ll be facing.”
“Lead the way, Doc. Let’s get started planning.”
Chapter 4
Kurt followed Dr. Nboto down to her office two floors below. She had a large desk covered with scattered papers and forms. He found the clutter amusing in the midst of a digital age where so much was handled in an online and electronic environment.
She noticed him glance at her desk and she waved her hand at the piles. “I deal with many locations on opposite sides of the gates where they still use hard copies of everything to keep track of outbreaks. It makes my job a little bit harder and I have to send them back replies by hard copy as well.”
“I wasn’t judging, Doc,” Kurt said. “I’ve been to more than my share of pre-digital societies on my travels through gates as well. So, you said you had some video to show me and give me a little more background on what I’ll be facing when I make this delivery?”
Dr. Nboto gestured for Kurt to sit in a chair in front of her desk. As he sat down, she tapped a few keys on her wrist computer bringing up a holo-screen against the far wall. “This video is from the recovery team sent through the gateway after an annual contact health and welfare report was not received as scheduled. This particular location has limited gate traffic and therefore the local government, formed of mostly homesteaders from here on Earth Prime, sends back a report once a year to the company that funded their settlements.”
“This year, that report was not received. The company notified us of the lapse and they assembled recovery team, including a CDC rep. The unit was sent through to investigate the situation. Of the twelve members of the recovery team who transferred through the gateway, only six returned alive three weeks later. Those who returned we’re all infected with a strange illness we could not immediately identify. They were all placed in immediate quarantine. What you’re about to see was recorded in that containment unit just one day after their return.”
She tapped her wrist comp again and a holovid came up on the screen. It showed a large white room with several tables and chairs and a group of people seated eating a meal. Kurt counted six individuals on the screen wearing plain hospital scrubs. He realized this must be the recovery team’s survivors.
As
Kurt watched, one of the a man in the video threw their tray off the table causing their food and drink to splatter on the floor. He arched his back and clawed at his throat before slumping over to fall to the floor motionless.
“It was at this point the first team member died,” Dr. Nboto relayed as the video played. “I’ll push the forward scan button to speed things up a bit. Watch as all but one of the team members collapsed to be discovered deceased by the medical responders.”
Indeed, her description was played out on the screen in front of them as she fast forwarded. One after another of the team members collapsed during their meal and medical teams rushed in to care for them, only to discover they were already dead.
At the end of the video sequence, there was one African-American woman left seated in a chair against the far wall.
Kurt leaned forward and squinted at the holo screen. She looked familiar.
Then, it hit him.
“That’s you,” Kurt said. He shifted his gaze to Dr. Nboto and waited for her answer.
“Yes,” she replied after a few seconds, nodding. “That’s me. I am the lone survivor of that recovery team. Soon after the collapse of the last of my surviving comrades, the first of them shifted and reanimated inside the morgue. Each of them reanimated in the order in which they died, until they were all attacking the medical staff in and around the containment facility. It took security an hour to hunt the last of them down. Then the whole building was put on lockdown while those who’d been bitten or scratched by the infected members of the recovery team waited to see if they became infected, too.”
“And?” Kurt asked.
“All of them succumbed to the disease and were appropriately dispatched by cremation before reanimation.”
“What’s that mean? If I’m going to fight my way through hordes of these undead, I need to know what it takes to put one down.“
“All the deceased were cremated so that they could not reanimate. For those of the original team who began attacking the medical staff in the facility, a single headshot did the trick, though sufficiently massive thoracic trauma would also incapacitate and kill one.”
