Death and The Divide (16 page)

Her comment struck a nerve. His constant internal battle of supporting his country against their blatant disregard for the environment. The vision of oilrig city in the Gulf rose to mind. “Oh, I love being a marine biologist. The problem is that it’s a struggle working for protection and conservation in a country that still denies global warming and the effects of activities like fracking, and deep sea oil drilling on creatures of the sea. Who knows? Maybe something we introduced into the environment in the past caused this problem.”

Her mouth fell open. “Linc! Maybe that is what happened.”

A quiver of apprehension had him hesitate before asking, “What do you mean?”

“How did this virus develop, and how was it able to invade a parasite that shouldn’t have one?” She leaned over her desk and swiped a finger across the screen of her computer. “I remember something Louis said when this started. I was talking about the ability of a parasite to mutate so quickly, and he said something about how this should take a hundred years or more. I’m going to look at devastating environmental accidents that affected the ocean back then.”

Linc’s stomach sunk as he realized the perfect scenario, and he held up a hand. “You don’t have to look. I can tell you everything that happened to the ocean for the past three hundred years. That’s my field of study, remember?”

She straightened. “Of course. What am I thinking? Do you have an idea?”

“There was an event in 2010 that affected sixty-eight thousand square miles of ocean in the Gulf of Mexico. An oil spill that proved devastating to not only sea life but coastal creatures, as well. It wasn’t the petroleum product alone, either. One point eighty-four million gallons of dispersant were dumped into the ocean and later proved to be a more toxic agent than originally thought, worse than the oil itself. We’ve been studying how that changed the ecosystem ever since.”

“I remember hearing about that from my studies. Something of that nature could certainly cause long-lasting mutation strands.” She bit her fingernail. “Can we determine if the chemical compound from the combination of oil and dispersant is a factor in our virus?”

Fear and regret twisted in his gut and caused a twinge of nausea. Why had man been so irresponsible in the past? Now future generations faced the deadly consequences. Still, a surge of enthusiasm for the possibility of this being an answer drove him forward. “If it’s there, we can trace the evolution. It’s a painstaking process and will take some time.”

She gave a grim smile. “Not to mention a bit of luck projecting the DNA changes backward.”

He nodded. The process would be difficult and time consuming, but it was the best lead they had on this dilemma so far, given that even the great Dr. Manson hadn’t come up with a clue. “Let’s do it. Knowing the catalyst may help us find a cure.” He crossed his arms. “It’s not like we have a more promising path to pursue.”

“That’s true.” She glanced at her comm-unit. “I’m going to call for food delivery.”

“Good. I’ll start working on the algorithms if I can use your computer.”

She gestured her agreement, and tapped her wrist comm. She mentioned names of unfamiliar food, but he couldn’t advise her. Everything he’d had here in the North had tasted delicious. He’d trust her to make the choice. She’d done great so far.

Before starting computations on the DNA evolution, he checked his e-mails and the account on the SatNet group. A coded message from Jack instructed him to attend an emergency IPP meeting tonight. That wasn’t going to happen. If they planned to continue with their coup, this wasn’t the best time. Countries in turmoil needed stability, even under less than ideal political control. His work here had become more important than his participation in IPP. They’d have to continue without him for now. He sent a return message about his current situation and urged the group to put off any action until the parasite crisis ended.

Jeff continued to feed him developments from the South. His latest report repeated the news of accelerated outbreaks and the corresponding actions the South’s government had taken mirroring those instituted by the North.  Their religious deviant prisons would empty to make room for victims not shot on sight, since research needed infected people. How merciful. He snorted.

Mexico had announced pockets of cannibal appearances along their coast and had closed their border with the South. Not that it was ever that open anyway. No one from Mexico wanted to cross the border into the ROA with that country’s view of illegal immigrants and persons of color. The Mexicans fleeing their country had taken to flying and boating to reach the DOA, a more attractive destination to begin a new life away from the rampant poverty that never ended in their country.

A trail of partially eaten bodies showed cannibal infiltration further inland, with one found only a hundred miles from The Divide. What would the infected cannibals do when they reached the huge electric fence? Would they try to attack a fortress and cross over? He drummed his fingers on the desk. Damn, this was bad news. Devastating news. Did they have any hope?

“Linc, I’m starting to worry. Shouldn’t Louis be back by now?”

He checked the time on the computer. Manson had left a little over two hours. “Can you call him?”

“I’m afraid of interrupting if he’s with the leaders,” she said.

“Give it another hour then try. He’d want to know about our theory of environmental influence.” He rose from the desk chair. “In fact, I’m surprised he hasn’t already thought of it.”

Her brow wrinkled. “You know, you’re right. It’s not like him to miss a vital link like that.”

“Unless he did consider it and found a reason to disregard the notion.”

“Hmm, maybe so.” But she didn’t look convinced.

The next hour went by quickly and stretched into three as they became absorbed in the pursuit of their theory. After entering data for the first parasite DNA, they took a break to eat and then commenced with the second and third sets. His eyes burned and he fought to keep from rubbing them. The screen began to appear fuzzy, and he pressed his fingertips to his temples.

Ria placed a hand on his back. “You look exhausted.”

He shook his head. “Then I look the way I feel. What about you?”

She rolled her shoulders. “Tense and tired. Look at the time. I forgot to call Louis.”

A wave of unease washed over him, cold and disturbing. The big man had been gone for five hours. “Call him. Something must have gone wrong.”

She gave the command to her wrist-comm and waited as a steady beep continued uninterrupted. After what seemed an eternity, she ended the connection. “He’s turned off his answering service. What the hell? Where is he?”

“Can you contact someone at the capital? Maybe they know where he went when he left there.”

“Yes, I have the liaison’s connection data on my wrist-comm.” She touched the screen and initiated the call.

“Hello?” a female voice with a slight French accent greeted. “This is Madeline Jinee.”

“Hey, this is Annaria Moralez. I work with Dr. Manson, remember? He came to the capital for a meeting with the Triumvirate over five hours ago. I was expecting him to return to the lab, but I haven’t seen him. Do you know his location?”

Silence stretched so long Ria checked the device to make sure she was still connected. Then Miss Jinee answered in a flat tone, “I’m sorry Miss Moralez. I have no information on his whereabouts.”

“Did he meet with the Triumvirate?”

“Yes, he was here…earlier.”

“Maybe he said something to them.”

“I’ll be happy to check and get back to you. What’s your connection link?”

“HM2507.”

“Got it. I’ll let you know if I find anything. Are you, uh, still at the lab?”

“I’ll probably be here all night.”

“Is Dr. Butler with you?”

“Yes. We’re working on the DNA sequencing.”

“Of course. Thanks for your hard work. The, uh, government appreciates it.”

The link ended and she gave him a puzzled look. “Do you think that conversation was as weird as I do?”

He paced, thinking. Nothing held more importance than Dr. Louis Manson working on solving this crisis. By all accounts of reason, he should have returned to the lab and continued the investigation. Instead, he’d disappeared and the folks at the capital didn’t seem too worried about it.

Chapter Sixteen

“Linc, something’s gone wrong.” Ria flipped a stylus between her fingers. “There’s no way Louis wouldn’t return to the lab. He lives for this sort of work. He could have had an accident or something.”

“It also seems strange that Miss Madeline didn’t seem too concerned that the North’s best hope of solving the parasite crisis hasn’t been seen in the past five hours.” He rubbed his chin.

She stopped. “Right. Shouldn’t she worry he’s not here in the lab working on the problem?”

“I’m certainly troubled,” he said. “We need him.”

“What can we do, though? I don’t want to stop our progress to track him down.”

“He could have fallen asleep somewhere. He hasn’t been to bed in a while. What if he’s circling the city, napping on the monorail?”

She chewed her fingernail, panic rising in her chest like an inflating balloon. She couldn’t do this without Manson. He was the genius. She didn’t even have her PhD yet.

“Ria? What’s wrong? You look kind of green.” He left the computer and came to face her, eyes narrowed.

“I…” She ran her palms down the side of her thighs, imagining the worst. “What are we going to do if he doesn’t show up? I don’t know how to solve this puzzle.”

“Manson said you know as much as he does.”

She pressed her hands to the sides of her head, hoping the pressure would keep her brain from exploding from stress. “Sure, I know the names of the parasites, how they reproduce and what organisms they attack. But it’s more than that for people like him. He has a spark of something special that makes ideas ignite when he needs them. That’s the difference between geniuses and mere repositories of information. I don’t have that special something that allows me to piece together seemingly meaningless information into a coherent deduction. Manson does.”

“How do you know you don’t?” He took hold of her shoulders, his gaze direct. “You’ve never had the chance to work independently.”

“I just do. I’ve never had a flare of original ideas go off in my head the way it does for him.” She turned her face from him, unwilling to meet his gaze. Failure resonated within her. Always tripping along in Manson’s wake like a good little assistant. “I’ve been with him six years. I should have graduated by now, but I told myself I was incredibly lucky to work with him, so I put off my final semesters. The truth is, down deep I’m afraid. Connected with him, I was somebody. Once I have my degree and go off on my own, I’ll be exposed, doomed to low level teaching positions reserved for those who couldn’t hack the research route. A nobody.”

He gave her a shake that forced her to look at him. “Stop it! Ria. You’re wrong. I’ve been with you for enough days to know that you are smart and intuitive. You have to stop being safe in Manson’s shadow and step out into the sun. You have everything it takes. You were the one who thought of the possible link to previous ecological events, right?”

Tears crept into the corners of her eyes. She was so tired. God, she would never have admitted those things if she wasn’t exhausted. She couldn’t ignore the importance of keeping her fears buried. She placed her palms on his chest and gently pushed away from him. “Linc, I appreciate what you’ve said, but the truth is we’re handicapped without Manson.”

“We have to keep at it, though. I’ll message the others on the team and see if he’s contacted any of them. Plus they’ll need to know he’s out of the picture right now, too.” He went to her computer and logged into the SatNet. His expression registered shock as he stared at the screen.

“What is it?” she asked. She hurried to his side. The number of messages from Southern members and Jeff were rolling off the page. “What the hell?”

“Something big happened,” he muttered and opened the first message from Jeff. They read in silence.

“This can’t be real,” she said. “An attack on your government?”

A muscle twitched in his jaw then he read aloud, “A bloody massacre at the capital with the president held hostage, hundreds of army and capital security guards dead.”

He scrolled down and they read the other entries - panicked members of their team alerting them to the upheaval and more from Jeff. The final e-mails stated the country was in chaos with fighting in the streets and the cannibal problem placed on the back burner by revolution.

“This is unbelievable,” she said. “Who would do such a thing?”

“Unfortunately, I think I know.” He grimaced.

She gave him a questioning look.

“There’s a group called the IPP, Independent Political Party. It formed because the government in the South had become too slanted to those with money who could afford to buy favors and gain power. The poor and even the middle class lost its voice due to prejudiced redistricting for voters and inability to afford quality education.”

“You have to pay for education?” She couldn’t believe such nonsense.

He let out an exasperated breath. “It’s like this. There are no taxes, but you can make donations to the government. The donation amount earns privileges like better housing, jobs, and schools. With low donations, it’s a vicious downward spiral and the poor get poorer. We wanted to change that.”

“We?” she exclaimed, stepping backward.

“Yes. I’m in the IPP, but this isn’t what we wanted. Our plan was always for a peaceful, bloodless takeover of the government.”

“Then what happened? Because it looks like a bloody mess down there.” She planted her hands on her hips, furious that this move occurred when they needed the focus on solving the cannibal problem.

“There were members who wanted to handle the coup differently. They may have been secret members of the Wrath of Freedom. It looks like they made the decision to strike without the approval of the main group.”

“This is a disaster!”

“I agree. Let me check my other e-mails. I might have a message from the leader of the IPP.”

“First send the message to the team about Manson. We can’t let this bullshit derail our mission.”

He nodded and sent a group note then transferred to one of his e-mail accounts. “Yes, this is from Jack.”

She peered over his shoulder, reading. “So this guy, Carlton, took over and tried to kill him?”

“And now he’s in hiding, trying to form a way to regroup IPP members to defeat these WOF revolutionaries.”

“He wants you to talk to the other members and rally them to help remove Carlton from his position of power? Doesn’t he know you’re up here trying to save the world? These people sound like idiots.”

“He probably doesn’t know how involved I am. Plus I’m not sure how much the citizens know about the team. With this brewing, he probably had his hands too full trying to stop it to worry about my involvement in the research group.”

“Well, this is just dandy. Manson’s disappeared and the South has imploded.” She plopped into a chair beside him. “We’re doomed. Even if we find a cure, your country’s in no shape to coordinate with the North in deploying it.”

He pounded his fist on the desktop, anger and frustration writ on his face.

The door to the lab slid open. Anxious for Manson’s return, she stiffened when armed soldiers in navy uniforms flooded the room. She and Linc jumped to their feet.

“Who are you?” she yelled, fear tightening her chest.

A man with gray hair approached them. “Are you Miss Moralez and Dr. Butler?”

“Yes, and we have important work to do. What is the meaning of this interruption?”

“We’ve been sent to bring you to the capital for your own safety.”

“Safety from what? This is a university.” She waved her hands. “We don’t need national security guards to protect us.”

He cleared his throat. “We’re not from National Security. We’re with R.D….Radical Democracy. Now please come with us.” He reached out and wrapped his hand around her upper arm as another two guards came to take Linc.

***

Linc’s forced calm teetered on the edge of dissolving as the guards ushered them past a set of gates and into the capital building. He’d seen pictures of the North’s seat of government but never imagined he’d go inside it. When he had asked the guards for details of their surprising appearance, none offered a single reply.

He and Ria were forced into a place that must have served as a sitting room. It had no tall windows as in the other rooms they’d passed, but rich upholstery covered the furniture and an ornate glass light sculpture hung from the ceiling. A young woman with a cap of white hair sat on a sofa, her eyes red-rimmed.

“Wait here,” one of the guards ordered, then he and his compatriots filed out. Unfortunately, one of them took his gun.

“Madeline, what’s going on?” Ria advanced on the other woman. “Those men said they’re with the RD. Where are the national security forces?”

The white-haired lady rose, and fresh tears trailed her cheeks. “These armed men rushed in and stunned the guards and anyone who resisted. They’re holding the Triumvirate members somewhere, I don’t know. This is horrible.”

He crossed to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Damn, he hated it when women cried. “Calm down. You’re okay, right?”

“Yes.” She sniffed. “But this means the intruders control the government. This is beyond terrible. I don’t understand what happened, it was so sudden.”

Ria took her other arm. “Listen, did Manson leave before this happened?”

“Y, y, yes. He met with the T.M.’s then left in a military car with a bunch of the T.M.’s personal troops. I assumed he was going to the lab. No one told me anything.” She scrunched a tissue between her fingers. “A couple hours later, the intruders entered.”

“They were here when you were talking to me?” Ria asked.

“Yes, I’m sorry. They made me ask where you were and told me what to say. They said they needed to secure you and Dr. Butler.”

Linc fell into a chair. “Just when I thought fighting a cannibal virus was the worst thing that could happen…”

Ria rubbed her hand over her forehead. “I can’t believe this. We had a stable government. Why would anyone do this?”

“They said they want more liberal laws and to keep the North from any possibility of reunification with the South. I heard one of them say they were the ones who tried to kill T.M. Rominoff, and they also set off that bomb in the Plaza as a warning.”

“What?” Ria bolted to her feet. “They did that? It wasn’t the South?”

Madeline returned to her seat on the couch. “That’s right. They wanted us to think it was so it would build more hatred for Southerners and they’d gain support for non-reunification.”

Ria melted to her knees beside the chair and pounded its seat cushion with both fists. “Fucking bastards. Fucking bastards! They killed my sister.”

“We can’t let them know we have that information,” Linc said. He wanted to go to her and offer comfort, but the situation demanded a hard, cold analysis. It could mean their lives.

“How can I do that?” She glared at him, her face infused with redness. “They murdered Lola!”

He leaned forward. “I understand. But we have to be smart about this. They are going to want us to continue the research, you can count on that. If we go along with them and act sympathetic, we’ll have more freedom. If you accuse them of being murderers and show them hatred, they’re going to lock us up. Then we’ll have no hope of escape.”

She sat back on her heels and let her head hang to her chest.

“The most important thing right now is freedom so we can move around the city and make a decision about how to carry forward.” He hoped his reasoning got through to her. He glanced at the door. They had little time.

“He’s right,” Madeline said in a dead voice, her face gone blank. “It’s politics. Never show your true face. Thank you for reminding me. I can’t help my government if they lock me away, either.”

Ria slowly raised her head, her eyes hollow and sad. “What do you want me to do?”

“Let them do the talking. Agree with continuing the work. We’ll tell them we don’t care about who runs the country as long as they let us stop this parasite. I’m sure that’s important to them, otherwise, they won’t have a country.”

She pushed her unruly black curls out of her face and crawled into her seat. She rested her head in her hands, elbows propped on her knees, a picture of dejection.

He let out a soft sigh of relief. He didn’t know anything about this Radical Democracy. He’d never heard it mentioned in his IPP meetings. It didn’t sound anything like what his Southern group touted. For now, he’d keep his involvement in that faction between Ria and him.

The door opened, and a tall man with graying hair entered. He paused inside the doorway, adjusting the lapels of his formal black tunic, then motioned a couple of guards to follow him inside.

“Hello, I’m Everett Boston.” He nodded with no move to shake hands and took a seat. “Please, be at ease. We brought you here for your own safety. Although we completely control the government and military at this point, there could be some citizen unrest after the news broadcast this evening.”

Linc watched Ria, hoping she’d stay silent. She appeared numb, unmoving, with her hands folded in her lap. She didn’t even look at the man.