Terra Nova (The Variant Conspiracy Book 3) (4 page)

A jolt from behind broke my contact with the bench and knocked me out of my vision. I landed back on the street across from an urban park. I whirled around to see what had hit me, angry that I didn’t get more information.

Jonah in his businessman disguise held my arm. Concern animated the unfamiliar face. “What happened when that guy bumped you? Are you all right?”

My other stranger companions stared at me with matching furrowed brows.

“Damn busy city. I was in the middle of a vision. I saw Ivan and Tatiana in a hotel room. Then Gemma joined them. That’s all I got!” I glared at the pedestrian traffic flowing beside me.

“A vision? From what, the bench?” Jonah looked at the simple seat in disbelief.

“They might be nearby then. One of them must have sat there.” Cole eyed the bench like a crime scene.

I contemplated touching it again for another attempt.

“Guys, I know this is thrilling, but we’re on the street in broad daylight. Not exactly a slow part of the city either,” said Ilya’s punk façade.

“I can’t get my head stuck in the search for Gemma right now. Let’s go get some dart guns.”

Chapter 4

Regent’s Park lived up to its name. Past the cement wall along the tube station entrance, an elegant black metal fence stretched around green space in both directions. Across the street opposite the park, large elegantly stuccoed, terraced houses gleamed with opulence. The whole neighborhood emanated a regal vibe.

Cole led us along the black fence and into the park past a small green sign for the London Zoo. The sign’s arrow pointed down a long wide pedestrian road lined with huge trees and wrought iron benches. Tourists milled about on the manicured path ahead which stretched into the horizon.

“How far does this thing go?” I said.

“We just keep walking straight until we hit the zoo,” said Cole.

“Is this going to take all day?” I took a deep breath trying to center myself.

“Calm down. It’s not that far,” said Josh.

“We’ve got the rest of the day anyway. We can’t risk hitting Rose and Sage until night time.” Jonah’s voice coming from a guy in a strange suit did not help calm me.

“Businessmen don’t hang out with punks, so you two should fall behind us a bit. As soon as I catch sight of a zoo employee, I can change us again,” Ilya said to Jonah and Cole.

“I’ll take point.” Dressed for construction work, Josh appeared very sure of himself.

“What?” I said.

“I’ll go first.” Josh jogged ahead into the park while Jonah and Cole stopped to play with their phones.

“If I could somehow have a vision of where Rose and Sage are staying, we might not have to wait for a chance to follow them home. If everyone bailed on Evonatura this morning, there’s no point in going back this afternoon. And we’ll lose a whole extra day waiting for them to lead us to where they’re crashing,” I said to Ilya as we walked.

I felt myself adjusting to the strange person next to me. Watching my own fake blond hair flow around me in the breeze entertained me.

We reached rows of red and white and yellow flowers sculpted into oval beds. Paths led off to more gardens on our right, but we couldn’t wander. We came to a beautiful stone three-tiered fountain and I paused, only for a moment.

“We’ll travel properly someday. You and Jonah, me and Faith. We’ll come back and we’ll see all the European cities the way they’re meant to be seen.” Ilya pulled gently on my arm and we resumed our brisk walk.

“What about Cole? And Gemma? We should bring them too.” Worry for Gemma’s safety quickly replaced the stab of guilt I felt when I pictured Cole’s endearing smile. I hadn’t seen him smile in weeks.

“Sure, why not. The more the merrier.”

“Once we get this gun, how are we going to get it back to the hostel?”

“I’ll disguise it somehow. Depends on what we find. I think some of these things are like rifles and some are like handguns. I’m hoping for the latter, since this a zoo and not a game reserve.”

We reached the London Zoo’s entrance gate. Josh was already inside and gave a quick wave from his seat on a cement barrier.

“Two please,” Ilya said politely to the grandmotherly ticket agent. She glowered at us as she passed our tickets back to us.

“Thank you!” I said cheerfully as I turned my back on her.

“Have you seen what you need of their uniforms?” said Josh.

I stole a glance back and saw Cole and Jonah at a ticket window.

“Oh yeah. We just need a quiet corner to ‘change’ and we’re good to go,” said Ilya.

Josh stole glances at the people around us. “I’m more concerned about finding the ‘equipment’ we need and making sure we’re undisturbed.”

“You’re just changing our clothes, right? We could say we’re new and that we got lost.” I rolled back on my heels. Being disguised liberated my typically dormant adventurous side.

“That won’t buy us any time alone in their vet wing,” said Josh.

“I’ll hit on someone.” I flipped my hair playfully.

Jonah lifted his eyebrows. “Really?”

“What? It could work!” I said.

“No, it won’t. Have you met yourself? You’ve got the charm of a postal clerk. Let Josh handle it. First thing, we need uniforms. That alcove with the washrooms. Follow me.” Ilya beckoned us heatedly.

We followed Ilya into the men’s side and found the room empty. He wasted no time and I felt the misty fog around me once more. In the washroom’s mirror, I saw my blonde self upgraded to a uniform. My hair was tied back much more neatly. Impressive, I thought. If that messy baggy shirt girl were to clean up and come into work, this reflection was what I expected to see.

“Let’s go find a map,” said the middle-aged tradesman-turned-naturalist Josh.

We followed him single file out of the bathroom and toward an illustrated map poster in a nearby metal stand.

“Look for a building that says hospital. Or something unmarked altogether. They don’t want people in the vet space, so it’s going to be labeled discreetly or not at all,” said Josh.

We scanned the poster as a group.

“Hey, they’re building a lion exhibit,” Ilya said conversationally.

“Focus!” blurted Josh.

“Just trying to lighten the mood.” Ilya lifted the air in front of him.

“What about this? An education center.” Cole put his finger on the map.

“These buildings down here are unmarked.” Jonah peered more closely.

“No, it’s this one. Like a church, but there’s a plus sign on it. Doesn’t that mean medicine?” I said.

“It’s a place to start,” said Josh.

“And it’s just over there,” said Cole, pointing ahead.

We followed his line of sight across the courtyard to where a steeple peeked out over a bank of palm trees. Josh set off and we followed him.

Sure enough, a sign over the door read, ZSL Resident Care in large red letters. Another placard hung from plastic chain across the entrance. ‘No Entry. Sick animals are healing. Please don’t disturb them.’

“Let’s hope they’ve got more than meds in here,” said Jonah as he unhooked and lifted the plastic chain so we could all pass. Josh ran ahead to the glass window down the hall.

“Excuse me, hello?” he called out.

Adrenaline surged inside me, but I trusted Josh and kept silent. I peered into the room on the other side of the glass. The white room had a counter bordering the wall everywhere I could see with closed cabinet doors. In the middle of the room a stainless steel island displayed a monkey-like animal tied down with an IV in its back.

“Yes, how may I help you?” said an acne-ridden man with large yellow rubber gloves.

“We’re part of the American exchange program and we’re completing our orientation. I was told we would have a guide for the hospital,” said Josh confidently.

“I’m sorry. I have no idea what you mean. What exchange program?” The man’s eyebrows formed a confused V shape.

“We’re due in the aviary in half an hour. Do you mind taking some time now?” said Josh.

“Listen mate, I’m in the middle of hydration therapy for a lemur. I don’t have time to show you ‘round the vet’s quarters.”

“Not a problem, we’ll take a quick peek and get out of your hair.” Josh didn’t wait for the man to respond, but marched ahead toward the rooms at the back.

“We need to move quickly now. Ilya, once we find a gun, you’re going to have to think fast to turn it into something else as we leave.” Josh spoke just loudly enough for us to hear.

He opened the first door he found. The room was full of empty wire frame cages. The next room was a broom closet. The last door opened on a small room full of closed white cabinets. We filed inside and each of us started opening cupboard doors.

“It’s this one.” Josh rattled the handle on a door locked with a small deadbolt.

“I’ll get that.” Cole stepped between Josh and the cabinet, bending down to grab the door from a lip at the bottom. Cole gave a sharp tug on the door. A loud snap startled everyone but him.

The door swung open and a rack of rifles stared back at us. On a shelf above the rifles rested a stand with two handgun-style weapons alongside several trays of darts.

“Find a bag,” said Josh.

I ran back to the room of cages and grabbed a canvas tote bag I’d seen crumpled on a stack of crates.

“Here,” I thrust the bag at Josh. He transferred the handguns to the bag and emptied the trays of darts.

“Anyone want take out?” said Ilya as the bag blurred and resolved as a brown paper bag stamped with Salty’s Fish and Chips over the Union Jack flag.

“We go straight back to the bathroom. New disguises, and then directly back to the train station. Everyone clear?” said Josh.

“Yup.” Ilya led the way back through the animal hospital.

I glanced over at the genuine zoo employee as we passed. He intently prodded the lemur’s back.

Back in the zoo bathroom, Ilya transformed us again. I became a curvy redhead in a white dress with blue flowers and a lavender cardigan. I’d impersonated a girl from the Little House on the Prairie.

Josh had become a grizzly middle-aged man with silver beard stubble and a leather jacket. Cole, Jonah, and Ilya all became plaid-clad fedora-topped hipsters in front of my eyes. The hipsters left first, then Josh nodded at me and I fell in a few paces behind him.

We marched back to the train station without breaking stride, keeping our formation until we reunited in the stairwell of the Berwick Hostel. Relief washed over me as Ilya lifted his disguises.

“Knock, knock,” said Ilya as he opened the door to the double room where Faith and Melissa had been trying to crack
The Compendium
files.

“Any luck so far?” said Cole.

Melissa glanced up, steel blue eyes intent. “The drive I downloaded contained exactly what I’d thought. The folders are meticulously organized into work sites, research projects, and personnel files.”

“We found a floor plan, project summary and physiological projections for Terra Nova. It’s not happening here in London. Soho is just an office, a glorified filing cabinet. The real work is being done at a large lab under a lavish estate called Chatham Park,” said Faith.

“The estate’s administrator is a variant aligned with Claude Mueller. If these docs are up-to-date, Chatham Park is where the biological oil is being manufactured. This place has the supply Ivan needs to start a global pandemic. There’s still no way of knowing if Chatham is the only location,” said Melissa.

“Are you sure about this? An old world estate isn’t the kind of place you’d expect to find a lab,” said Cole.

“If the original owner was an eccentric cult member, you’d be surprised what kind of underground levels the place could have.” Melissa re-clipped her glossy dark hair into her signature twist.

“What now?” I said.

“She’s not kidding. I saw the floor plan. There’s a memo here from Tatiana to Ivan that says, and I quote, ‘
The proprietor assures me the main house’s underground levels are intact and suitable for our purposes. Access can be gained from the property of a church in the nearby town to ensure we are not discovered. We may encounter fumes due to additional excavation attempted by the original owner. We should pursue extensive site testing before we commit to manufacturing Terra Nova at this location
,’” read Faith.

“We don’t really need to break into the Soho office at all then,” said Cole.

“We still need Gemma back!” I rubbed my face after I noticed the volume in my voice.

“Sorry, yes, of course we do.” Cole put his hand on my shoulder and took it away again quickly.

“I’ll go by myself if necessary. I’m not leaving her.” I swallowed hard, feeling hot tears welling in my eyes.

“No, we’ll stick to the plan. We still need to corner Rose and Sage alone. Why don’t you try for that vision now?” said Jonah.

I blinked up at him to find his jet-black hair and bright blue eyes as handsome as ever. “I’ll get my cards.”

I went straight back to mine and Jonah’s room. I found my cards and sat down on the bed to shuffle them. I peeked out our tiny window at the fire escape outside and the brick wall across the alley. Were Rose and Sage in a room just like this one? Somewhere nearby? Or the fancy hotel where I’d seen the Krylovs?

I concentrated on their faces as I shuffled the cards. The glasses and the hotplate on the side table started to rattle as I focused harder.

The room around me grew dim and my eyes fluttered. When I could focus again, I wasn’t in my hotel room. I was in the rafters of a building with huge stained glass flower windows, like a church. I willed my perspective down to the wood plank floor of the room and squinted back up to see Rose and Sage hanging down, their wings wrapped around them like cloak-cocoons as they slept.

I nudged my viewpoint out through one of the glass flowers and looked back to the building. It was a huge gothic cathedral with two rectangular towers shooting up into the sky. I closed my eyes and pictured my hotel room. When I opened my eyes, I was sitting on my bed again. I took a deep breath. It wouldn’t take long to find out how many large gothic cathedrals were in the London core.

Jonah opened the door and shut it carefully. “Did you see anything?”

“They’re in a cathedral. I think we can assume it’s nearby. I’ll recognize the building when I see it.”

Jonah sat next to me on the bed and his scent caught me. The dirt of our trip still lingered without access to laundry. But his well-groomed body smelled luscious. I leaned toward him instinctively. He needed no other encouragement to meet my lips with his. The magnetic draw of his new energized aura drew me against his body.