Day of Doom (10 page)

“That’s not so, Ian. I wasn’t behind it. Someone else was. When I found out I took the steps necessary to see that my children were not hurt.”

“When I called and told you Natalie

had been taken, you said you didn’t have

any
 
children.”

“Because that’s how I felt back then, son. I felt abandoned. By you and your sister. You must forgive an unfortunate

choice of words.”

“So what’s changed, then?”

She held up her damaged arm once

more.   “This.
 
This
 
has changed. This

makes   a   person   stop   and   think. Reprioritize. I’m not immortal, Ian. I’m nearly fifty, even though I barely look thirty. But I don’t have all that much time left. I want to make the most of it.”

She drew a deep breath and focusedthose large, soft eyes on her son.

“I want my family, what’s left of it,back, Ian. I want my children back. Withtheir mother, where they belong.”

Ian was sniffling now. “How do Iknow I can trust you?”

“How can anyone know that aboutanyone? But you
 
are
 
a Lucian. You can’tdeny that. You competed mightily against

Amy and Dan and the others, and you didwell. Very well. It was your true nature. And being Lucians, our natural home iswith the Vespers. It’s how we’re wired. We’re not tree huggers. We’re not for thegreater good. We’re for the greater
 
us
 
. Butnow here you are, working
 
with
 
them. Andagainst your family. How can that be, son? You are going against everything youbelieve in. Indeed, I’m the one who shouldbe asking how I can trust
 
you
.”

Ian broke down crying. “I’m . . . I’msorry, Mother. I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right, baby. Mother knows.” Her voice was silky smooth, comforting. “Don’t cry, my sweet boy. It will be allright. Mother will make it all right.”

Ian wiped his eyes. “What do youwant me to do?”

“You have to prove your loyalty to me, Ian. It is imperative in my final days on earth.”

“How?”

“It will not be easy. But the important

things in life never are.”

“What is it?”

“I want you to kill one of the hostages. Not your sister, of course. But any of the others will do. If you execute that order, I will welcome you and your sister back into the family with open arms for the time I have left.”

“Do I really have to?” he wailed. “I mean, kill someone?”

“Yes, darling, you really do,” she cooed back. “But it won’t be that hard. Just think like a Lucian. It’ll come

naturally. We’re very good at killing. It’s

not actually that difficult. You just have to really want to.”

“And if I don’t?”

“The consequences will be severe, Ian. For you and your sister. I hope I’ve made myself clear. I love you both, but I’ve worked too hard to let my grand plan slip away.”

“Can I ask a favor first?” said Ian

timidly.

Isabel’s face hardened but almost

immediately   relaxed   once   more. “Certainly, sweetheart. Ask away.”

“I’d like to see Natalie. I’ve really missed her.”

“Of course, baby. Of course you can see her. You’re right. You’ve been separated for far too long. You’ll see her right now.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

She blew him a little kiss. “I’ll see

you soon, darling.”

On a cue from Isabel, Casper led Ian

away.

A figure came out of the shadows. It was Cheyenne. She looked at Isabel, who was still up on the screen.

Cheyenne said, “I hope you’re not getting weak.”

“Meaning what precisely?” snapped Isabel.

“You told Ian not to kill his sister.”

“Oh, that?” Isabel laughed. “That was rather selfish on my part.”

“Yeah,  I  get  that.   She’s  your daughter.”

Isabel’s features turned ice-cold. “I

have no daughter. I didn’t want Ian to kill

her because if he fails to do what I have instructed, I want the pleasure of killing them
 
both
 
. Personally. Now why don’t you go do something useful, like maim someone? Oh, and tell that thickheaded brother of yours that if he screws up again like he did in Switzerland, there won’t be enough left of him to put in a tablespoon.”

“Sorry to hear about your being poisoned,” Cheyenne said snidely.

Isabel smiled imperiously. “You didn’t really believe that rubbish, did you?” She held up her arm, revealing the ugly mass. She rubbed at it with a cloth she took from her pocket. The colors from the mass came off on the cloth.

“Works great for Halloween parties,

too,” she said icily.

“You are one cold woman.”

“Well, cold beats warmth every time.

And don’t ever forget it.”

The screen went black.

The Chicago Limited train pulled out of Union Station in Washington, DC, with along groan of metal wheels on metal rails. The train was packed because, ironicallyenough in the twenty-first century, with allflights grounded, the train was proving theonly   real   option   left   to   coverexceptionally long distances. Few peoplewanted to spend a solid week drivingthemselves across the country. Indeed,

Amtrak had added more cars to allow forthe sudden demand to ride the rails instead

of the not-so-friendly skies.

Dan and Amy were sharing one sleeper compartment while Jake and Atticus were rooming together in another. Dan sat glumly in his little seat, staring out the window. He checked his cell phone. Reception was spotty. He keyed his laptop, tried to get on the Internet. He succeeded, and then when they went through a tunnel, he lost the connection. He sighed and looked at Amy.

“This sucks,” he said.

“What does?”

“I feel like I’m back in the nineteenth

century. What do we take after the train, a

stagecoach?”

“It is what it is, Dan,” replied Amy.

“And need I remind you that the train was

your
 
idea?”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

Amy looked back down at the book she was reading.

“Is that chick lit?” asked Dan sullenly.

“And what if it is?” she shot back.

“The world is about to end and

you’re reading about guys and girls and sappy love stories?”

She held up the book. “It’s actually a book on subduction zones and their

geological makeup. I found it in the science section of the train station bookstore. So no sappy love stories required.”

Dan’s face flushed and he looked

away. “Good, okay, just checking.”

Amy shook her head and went backto reading.

Dan’s cell phone vibrated. When helooked down his heart nearly stopped. Hequickly glanced up to see if his sister hadheard the vibration, but she still wasreading her book.

Dan quietly picked up the phone andread the text that had just dropped in hismailbox. It was from his father. Dan hadbeen getting a series of these. It was hisonly thread of hope that his father had notperished in the fire with Dan’s mother, Hope Cahill. But it was not as simple asthat. While Dan wanted to believe that hisfather was a good man and loved hischildren, he was far from convinced thiswas the case. In fact, part of Dansuspected his father of being Vesper One.

If he was alive, that meant he had escapedfrom the fire Isabel Kabra had set. If he

had escaped, that meant he had left his wife —  their mother —  to die in the

flames. That was unforgivable.

Arthur Trent had been a nonlinear dynamics   and  quantum  field  theory professor. Dan had no real idea what that meant, but he assumed one had to be pretty smart to teach it. His father also had been a Vesper, although he had thought it was just a cool secret society and not the source of global menace. He had dropped out of West Point and been given the assignment of tracking down Hope Cahill and making her fall in love with him. But Arthur had learned some awful things about the Vespers by then. And the other thing was, he’d fallen in love with Dan’s

mother. For real. Renouncing the Vespers, he and Hope Cahill had spent much of their life together on the run from their enemies, namely the Vespers, who felt betrayed by Dan’s father.

That was one version of the facts. But Dan could not get over the suspicion that he was being played. That his father was actually evil and working with the Vespers.

Dan looked down at the text again.

Have the serum ready, son. It may be the only thing that would allow us to be victorious.

Dan had spent a lot of time and effortcollecting   the   strange   ingredientsnecessary to make the formula. He glancedat his knapsack. And in there, hidden inthe depths of his other stuff, was the silver

flask with the completed serum.

He surreptitiously thumbed a text back to his father.

Stop texting me. If you are alive, then you left Mom to die. If you did that, I hate you.

The   response   came   back

immediately.
 
I tried to save your mother. I was badly burned in the fire. I’ve had to go into hiding to avoid capture by the Vespers. I am working against them and with you, son. I wish I could prove it to you, but I can’t. I don’t blame you for being suspicious. Your mother and I taught you to be independent and look out for danger because we wanted you to be prepared. But I want you to know that whatever happens, I love you and your sister. And I will do anything I can to

help you. I hope one day we can all be

reunited.

As Dan read this text his heart grewheavy and his eyes misty.

He debated for a long time beforeanswering this text.

It’s ready. I will not fail. Dan.

Part of him had wanted to write,
 
Ilove you.
 
But he couldn’t bring himself todo it. He shook his head. Life just shouldnot be this complicated.

The reply text came back almostimmediately.

Good job, Dan. I love you. And Ihope to see you and your sister soon. Dad.

Dan texted back,
 
Okay, but if you’rea Vesper, you’re going down, too!!!

Dan  put  his  phone  down  and

continued to stare out the window. It was very dark now. And the train slowed to twist and work its way around some hills like a snake over an obstacle course. They entered a tunnel and things became darker still.

Amy looked at him. “I say we have apowwow to discuss what we’re going todo to kick the Vespers’ butts.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Dan,avoiding the urge to glance at hisknapsack, where the serum was located.

Amy picked up her phone and sent atext. A minute later there was a knock on

their compartment door. She opened it, and Jake and Atticus came in and sat

down.

Atticus said, “The weird happenings

around the planet are getting worse. All

planes are still grounded. The militaries around the world are also having to coordinate to make sure that no computerguided warships or nuclear missiles go astray.”

“Go astray!” exclaimed Amy. “A nuke going astray?”

Atticus looked at her. “Well, they’re all computer-controlled systems these days. And computers are particularly sensitive to changes in magnetic fields and the   overall   polarity   of  the   Earth. Accidental launches could happen.”

“Well, let’s hope they don’t,” said Jake. “We have our hands full as it is.”

Amy gave him a warm smile at this comment and Jake looked back at her all goofy-eyed.

Dan saw this exchange and wrinkled

his nose. Really, their timing sucked, he thought. He said, “Okay, we’re here to come up with a plan for when we get to the West Coast. All we need to do is hook up with the others, find the hostages before   they’re   killed,   locate   the Doomsday device, destroy it, and capture Vesper One and all his team. Any thoughts? Anybody? Come on. How hard can it be?”