The Plague Forge [ARC] (11 page)

She thought back to when she’d first told him that Blackfield had come to Belém, hat in hand, asking for asylum. “Put him out the nearest airlock,” Skyler had said immediately.

Could it be they’d taken the prisoner along just to dispose of him? She wanted to believe Skyler had a bit more compassion than that, but perhaps he’d seen his chance and acted rashly. Perhaps it had been Ana’s idea. The girl had been known to do reckless things in the past, and maybe she held more sway on Skyler than he held on her.

Stop that, Tania
. There must be a reason. Skyler’s mission called for continuing on to Darwin to pick up the object Grillo held. Perhaps he felt Blackfield could be useful there. Maybe he intended to exchange the fugitive for the device. That plan seemed ridiculous to her. She knew nothing about Grillo, but if he saw the object as some kind of holy relic, she doubted he’d hand it over for a broken man like Russell.

No, there must be something else, something worth adding such a huge risk to their mission. Whatever it was, Skyler must think it’s a long shot or he would have made his case to take the prisoner along.

“Are you there?” Vanessa asked.

“Thank you. I’ll try to raise Tim once we land and get the details.”

“Copy that. I would have patched him through, but he was in a rush.”

“No problem.” Tania clicked off transmit mode and set the headset aside. Then she pinched the skin between her eyes to stem a coming headache. Too many pieces were moving at once. Too many variables, points of possible failure. She hated the feeling of not being in total control of a situation. More than that, she hated not having the luxury to analyze and plan. She lacked Skyler’s ability to act purely on instinct and never look back. It was a characteristic he shared with Neil Platz, and she knew it was the reason she felt incomplete when he wasn’t around.

Of course, it was also the reason she often felt infuriated when he was.

The
Helios
set down shortly after dark on a landing pad beside a dry lake. Tania found the location on her slate’s map and, when switched to historical view, saw that there had once been a man-made body of water here, created by a dam. A hundred or so years ago the water had dried up, either by choice or due to a shift in climate. Hydroelectric power had all but vanished in the face of much cheaper and more flexible thorium reactors, so it made sense that the dam had simply been shut off. The lake had once again become a stream.

However, the electrical infrastructure in place would still have been useful, and what Pablo had spotted on the infrared turned out to be a large complex with an array of thorium reactors inside. The units predated miniature versions but were nonetheless reliable enough that electricity still flowed despite a lack of supervision for the last seven years or so.

Tania studied all this from the tiny porthole window on the aircraft’s door. She longed to go outside, to stretch her legs and look around, but unsealing the cabin now would mean she’d be in her spacesuit for the duration of the trip and they still had no idea how much farther the search would take them.

So she remained inside, and watched. Since landing she’d turned all the lights off in her cabin, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness outside. The buildings were simple cube-shaped affairs with metal stairwells and catwalks attached to the outside. Each was identical from the last, save for one that was roughly half the size of the others, and had windows. An office, she guessed.

For five long minutes the immunes remained in the cockpit, studying the immediate area for movement or sound after the engines finally went quiet.

“All quiet,” Vanessa said. “We’re going out.”

“Okay,” Tania replied. “I’ll keep an eye from here and let you know if I see anything.”

A few seconds later she saw the pair walk out toward the reactor complex. They carried their assault rifles casually. Vanessa took the lead and walked purposefully to a metal box the size of a refrigerator a few meters away from the landing pad. Pablo followed, constantly turning to scan the area around them.

“Cover me,” Vanessa said.

Pablo walked a circuit around the charging station while Vanessa tried to open it.

“It’s locked,” she said after a short pause.

“Shoot it open?” Tania asked. She wondered if they’d brought any explosives, but then thought that might damage the unit.

“Too risky.”

“Might be a key in that office,” Pablo said.

Vanessa stood and looked toward the smallest of the six buildings. “We’ll try that first. You okay, Tania?”

“Yes,” she said despite a growing anxiety. She didn’t want to voice it, afraid she’d sound weak.
Who cares?
she told herself.
You are weak. You’re stuck inside here, isolated and helpless.
“Actually, no. Wait.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I …” She swallowed. “I’d feel better if you stayed with the aircraft, Vanessa. God forbid anything happens out there, but if it does, you’re the only way any of us are getting home.”

The pair walked back to Tania’s window so they could see her. “If anything happens out there,” Vanessa said patiently, “we’re better off handling it as a team. But … you don’t look convinced.”

“I’m trying.”

“Okay,” Vanessa said. “I explained this to Pablo already but you should know, too. If something happens to me, suit up and get to the cockpit. There’s an autopilot unit just above your head when seated in the pilot’s chair, and before we left I set it to record our departure position. Tap the option to execute, then confirm, then power up. The
Helios
will fly back to Belém, no further action required. Just make sure they clear the landing pad, because it will set down exactly where we took off from.”

Tania balked initially, but when the words sank in she found a surprising amount of comfort there. Her anxiety melted away. “Thanks, Vanessa. I understand.”

“Good. Stay put, we’ll be back in a few minutes.”

They moved more purposefully now, reminding Tania of Special Forces teams she’d seen in dozens of action-thriller sensories. She noted how Vanessa always took point, her focus on the goal unwavering, while Pablo came behind, his gun and gaze sweeping in a circle around them, then up above, too. It amazed her that just a few years ago they’d been a lawyer and a farmer, respectively. Skyler had trained them well, and despite all the firearms training and the endless hours of Krav Maga sparring, Tania realized then she still had no idea what she was doing. Worse, she doubted she’d ever have thought to look in the office building for a key to the charging unit, yet Pablo had suggested the idea almost instantly. A scavenger’s instincts, as if he’d been at it all his life.

She watched as they took positions on each side of a first-floor doorway. They were almost two hundred meters away now, but even from this distance she could see Vanessa count to three on her fingers. Then Pablo kicked in the door, causing a sudden distorted burst of sound in Tania’s ear. He took a step back and Vanessa stormed inside.

Tania remained glued to her window, watching the door, listening to her headset. Other than breathing and the occasional footstep she heard nothing, as the two immunes were working as silently as possible.

They’re good. They’re really good.
Skyler would know this already, but she made a mental note to tell him later. Skill like this deserved recognition.

“Clear,” Vanessa said a short time later.

“Clear,” Pablo agreed.

Tania let out a relieved sigh. She listened in silence to the sounds of them searching the building. In her mind’s eye she saw them rifling through desk drawers and coat closets, perhaps knocking aside things that in any other circumstance would have been collected and returned to the colony.

A subtle movement caught Tania’s eye. Something small crept along the edge of the landing pad. A cat? It was just a shadow in the darkness, bobbing along the lip of the circular raised platform. Then it stopped, and Tania went still.

An arm appeared over the edge, hoisting a rifle. The weapon was set down on the pad, and then she saw another arm. He or she placed both hands on the landing pad and thrust up on to it, one leg swinging over the side and then the other. The person picked up the gun and stayed crouched at the edge of the pad, studying the
Helios
. A man, Tania numbly realized. He had a catlike litheness to the way he moved, and he seemed to be staring right at her.

Tania tried to speak and couldn’t. She didn’t move, unsure if she’d been spotted. She wanted to duck away, to find a gun and wait in the corner. A sudden panic filled her when she realized she wasn’t suited. If this intruder opened the cabin door from the outside, she’d be exposed. Her pulse pounded in her ears and her hands were shaking. Tania swallowed, made two fists, and squeezed. She took a deep breath and exhaled it.

“There’s someone here,” she finally managed to say. Her voice cracked, and sounded childlike.

“Repeat that?” Pablo said.

“Someone’s on the landing pad.”

“A sub?”

“No,” Tania said. “An immune I think. He’s got a rifle.”

“What’s he doing?” Vanessa asked, urgency in her voice.

“Just crouching there, looking at the aircraft.”

“Okay. We’re coming back. Pablo found a key ring.”

The man on the landing pad stood and began to walk—no, creep—around the aircraft. It took all the willpower Tania had to remain still, knowing she’d killed the lights in the cabin upon landing, which meant her window would be dark. She moved back a little, just to be safe.

A sudden blinding light fell upon her, and she leapt backward. A flashlight, she realized with dread. She moved away from the door, stumbled on the water bottle she’d left on the ground, and almost fell. Her heart raced. Had he heard that? The light slid away, then swept across the window, then fixed on the window again. Tania willed herself to calm. Maybe he hadn’t seen her after all.

“We’re coming out,” Vanessa said quietly in Tania’s ear. “What’s happening now? Where is he?”

Tania gathered her wits and pressed herself against the wall by the aircraft door. The light became very bright and began to dart around the inside of the cabin. “He’s right at the door. Has a flashlight. I think he saw me.”

“Relax, Tania,” Vanessa said. “Don’t assume he means harm. He’s just a survivor, probably saw us land and came to see what was going on. We might be the first people he’s encountered since the virus swept through here.”

The words made perfect and complete sense, or at least would if she hadn’t seen the way the man moved. Curious didn’t apply. Tania thought him more like a thief trying to find an open window.

“We see him, almost there,” Vanessa said.

Once again the light shifted away from the window. Tania heard something soft and mechanical. She looked down to see the large door lever starting to turn.

“Oh God!” she exclaimed, and grabbed it with both hands. She pushed it back with more force than she’d intended. The man outside reacted a split second later, pushing from his side. Tania strained, squeezed her eyes shut as she leaned into the lever arm, and pushed with both arms. The lever remained caught between two positions.

Then, one horrid centimeter at a time, it began to move in his favor.

“No …” Tania grunted. She gave up a few centimeters to get better footing, then shoved with every bit of strength she had. Still the lever arm ratcheted toward open.

Vanessa spoke in her ear. “What is it?”

“He’s trying to open the door.” The words came out like an angry growl. A burning sensation began to rise in Tania’s shoulders and at the base of her spine. For one fleeting second she wanted to laugh. Months of training and all of it worthless now. And yet she knew that was dishonest. A year ago she wouldn’t have been able to push back on the handle at all. She’d been soft. Not anymore. “Hurry, dammit!” she shouted.

Through the strain she turned and glanced at the porthole beside her. Centimeters away from her was the gaunt face of a survivor. He had a shaggy beard and wore spectacles. His weathered skin was filthy, and as he strained to move the door handle she saw a row of dirty, uneven teeth in his snarling mouth.

She met his gaze. The man might be an immune, but his eyes had the same insanity that a subhuman’s did.

“You! Step away!” Vanessa’s voice.

The man ignored the command. Maybe he hadn’t heard it; maybe he didn’t understand English. The door latch clicked into the open position. One pull from the outside and the cabin would flood with contaminated air.

I’m going to die. Or worse.

“My suit,” Tania said breathlessly. She shot a glance across the cabin, looking for the case. With horror she realized it wouldn’t matter. The suit would fill with the same air as she put it on in, and there was no way she’d get it on before he opened the door. “No time.” She turned toward the door instead, braced one foot against the wall, and pulled the handle toward her, hoping against hope she could keep it closed with the seal integrity intact. She only needed to last until the others returned.

The man outside started to laugh.

A distant gunshot interrupted him. Tania heard it a fraction of a second later in her headset. Vanessa or Pablo had fired, and Tania heard the round ricochet off the airplane’s fuselage. Two more shots followed, these much closer. The man, returning fire. A third and fourth came a split second later, sounding farther away. Tania heard a dull
smack
as a round pelted the porthole window.

Then silence.

“He’s down,” Vanessa said.

Tania realized she’d closed her eyes. With trepidation she stopped pulling on the lever. Somehow she had the presence of mind to yank it into the closed position again. Only then did she look out the window. Blood, and what she assumed was bits of skull, dripped down the clear surface. Through the red she could see Vanessa and Pablo, still only halfway to the aircraft and running hard.

“Is he dead?” Tania asked.

“Unsure.”

Tania tried to crane her neck to see the body on the ground, but it was useless. She could only wait and watch through a lens of blood as her companions raced back up the steps to the landing pad.